Itazura na Kiss

Itazura na Kiss (イタズラな) is a 25 episode slice of life romance anime based on the manga of the same name by Tada Kaoru.  The anime originally aired during the Spring and Summer of 2006.

 

     The story begins with the senior year of high school for Aihara Kotoko.  Kotoko lives alone with her father, a restaurant owner, her mother died when she was young. She isn’t the brightest bulb in the pack but she is kind hearted and honest. Since entering high school she has been madly in love with the top student of her class, the venerable Irie Naoki. She instantly fell in love with him while he was giving the speech for their class during the opening ceremonies and has only been drawn to him since.  In the beginning of her senior year she finally gathers up enough courage to confess to him with a love letter. He outright refuses the letter and tells her he has absolutely no interest in stupid girls. Heart broken, and in despair, her friends decide to cheer her up and have a party at her new house, which her father built by hand. One of her friends at the party, Kinnosuke, has been vocally in love with Kotoko since the beginning of school; almost to the point were some people think they are actually dating. In a fit of love fueled rage he goes off about his love for her and how wretched of a person Irie is. He begins to bang his head against a support beam in frustration and the house begins to shake. Everyone escapes to the street before the entire thing comes down due to an earthquake, everyone except for Kotoko’s father. As they scramble to find him in the rubble they discover that Kotoko’s mothers alter saved him from certain doom. They are safe, but homeless, due to the shoddy construction. 

 

    At school everyone hears about how the girl from the remedial class lost her home the previous night during the low grade earth quake, one which barely disturbed anyone else in town. Her friends start a fund drive to help her and her dad out.  When Naoki offers some cash in a snide manner. Kotoko rejects his money and tells him off, saying she doesn’t need his charity. That evening her father tells her that he ran into his childhood friend and they will be staying with them until they find a place to live. They head off to their new temporary home with her fathers childhood friend, who lives in a high end part of town.  Her fathers friend and his wife greet them enthusiastically and welcome them into their home. They introduce the first of their two children, the young Yuki. When they introduce their other son Kotoko’s jaw hits the floor, it is none other than Naoki, the man who she was rejected by and who’s help she outright rejected. Now, faced with no other option, she must live under the same room as the man she both desires and despises.

 

     Normally, you would think this would be the end of the story progression and the rest of the series would be her adjusting to living with Naoki ,while trying to win his heart. That is actually not true, we follow the characters through many years of life, high school, college and beyond.

 

 

     High school ends and Kotoko finds herself still under the same roof as Naoki. Not only is he cold and mean to her but his younger brother is as well. Her parents, on the other hand, absolutely adore her and Mrs. Irie is trying her hardest to make sure that Kotoko and Naoki get married. In an attempt to prove Irie wrong about her intelligence, Kotoko studies her brains out in order to get accepted into a community college. As Kotoko makes it into college Irie announces, to every ones surprise that he will be attending the same college. Meanwhile Kinnosuke has vowed to become the man Kotoko needs and begins training under her father, with the hopes of taking over the restaurant for him.

 

    In college Naoki begins to show uncertainty, he has no idea what he wants to do with his life. His father wants him to take over his company, but he isn't sold on the idea. During this time Yuki ends up in the hospital and while the family visits him they meet a young boy who is chronically ill named Nobuhiro. One night while heading home from the hospital, Kotoko convinces Naoki that he should become a doctor, because she knows he is smart enough to find a cure for children like Nobuhiro.  In a surprising move Naoki follows her advice and chooses to become a doctor, much to his fathers’ dismay. Mr. Naoki suffers a heart attack from the shocking news and during his hospital  stay his employers try to set up an arranged marriage between Naoki and the daughter of one of the companies European partners.  Naoki agrees to the meeting and soon jealousy and rivalries flare. Kinnosuke sees this as his golden opportunity.  Kotoko, believing that Naoki is truly lost to the English girl Chris, decides to go out with Kinnosuke.  In a whirlwind of emotions between Naoki, Kotoko, Kinnosuke and Chris everyone’s true feelings come out, will Kotoko ever get her happily ever after?

  

     Ok, so I went through a good chunk of the story, which is fine, there is so much more than this overview I have provided and I didn’t really spoil anything, plus this stuff takes up the first half of the series. The series is 25 episodes, but the final episode, that wraps everything up and puts a nice tidy bow on is episode 24, 25 is just a nice, last chance, to spend time with these characters.

 

 

     When I first began watching this series I was over joyed, it seemed like a return to the classic romantic comedies of the late 80’s and early 90’s. It was nice to see that these kinds of stories were still being made, and then I found out the reason for the resemblance was that the manga began in the early 90’s. The character design and back ground art is nothing to write home about, but it doesn’t need to be. The characters were modernized compared to the look in the original source material. You can see that style in the eye catch but it was nice that they updated it. They also updated some of the elements of the story as well, such as cell phones. The art isn’t what this anime is about, it’s the story.  While the story is rushed at times, the manga ran for a decade or so, the story is still well written and easy to follow. This is a prime example of the classic romantic comedy. Yet unlike most, this one actually progresses time and show more than most. 

    While the typical romantic story which follows the chase for the love of another and ends with the love being captured is all nice, it is much nicer to show beyond that, to show resolution and continuation.  I especially enjoyed that with the manga for Suzuka.  This anime continues with that kind of idea as well, following the characters through close to 10 years of their lives as they grow, change and live. Some of the characters get pushed off to the side as time progresses, like Kotoko’s childhood friends, only to pop up in short cameos later, but that is fine, the real story is about Kotoko and Naoki.  It was only slightly bitter sweet to say good bye to these characters but not due to not caring for them, it was more due to the end of the story being very satisfying.  It will be sad to not spend time with them anymore, but I couldn’t ask for more from the anime, it did what it had to do and it did it well. Know I will begin reading more of the manga so I can see what was skipped and glossed over with the rapid story telling of the anime. It would have been nice to have this series be stretched out to at least three or four seasons, but they did a good job with just two seasons. So, if you are a fan of romantic comedies or just plain romances, this is a great series that isn’t filled with all the high school stupidity. It’s pretty realistic in it’s representation of relationship woes and troubles but sometimes you do just want to yell and smack the characters and tell them to wake up.

 

 UPDATE: As of October 2013 this anime has not been released or licensed in North America nor is the manga.  That's a real shame... 

 

UPDATE: As of September 2023 this anime has been made commercially available in English.  It is currently streaming on Hulu in North America  The 2013/2014 live action series' are available on Crunchyroll.  The manga is also available in English.

 

Code Geass

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ) is an original 25 episode military anime created by Sunrise.  The series originally aired In the Fall of 2006 and Spring of 2007.  

 

    The story takes place a bit in the future, 11 years after Japan has been conquered by the Britannian Empire and renamed as Area 11. The Japanese people, now 11's, are assimilated into the culture of their new masters and are branded as 2nd class citizens. Most of the populace bow their heads to their new rulers and shuffle about going on with life the best they can, hmm sounds normal. Yet there are small pockets of underground resistance that rely on their samurai heritage to try and regain their rights as Japanese and not 11's. The Britannian Empire is far superior in man power and technology, (what, the English/Americans have better tech then the Japanese weird). Using a powerful mech the Britannian's (again England developing a mech before the Japanese) wield unrelenting power and dominance.
   

    Skipping school to hustle chess against an aristocrat, a young Britannian named Lelouch, gets caught up in a military campaign against Japanese national terrorists. The terrorists have stolen a canister of deadly gas and the military is trying to stop them from using it. Lelouch, who ends up following the stolen vehicle, finds not gas inside but a weird comatose woman. Intrigued, he helps the woman escape from the sewers. They end up exiting into a warehouse in which a group of Britannian soldiers have just executed Japanese citizens in the guise of them being terrorists. Lelouch and the woman are caught. The head of the soldier's fires on Lelouch but the woman takes the bullet in the head for him. As she dies Lelouch holds her hand, with this a strange power is transferred to him, the Geass. She asks him to fulfill his destiny as the price for this gift. His destiny is taking down the empire. Lelouch stands up, confident and cocky; he begins commanding the soldiers, ordering them to kill themselves. This is when his power takes control, by making eye contact with them while giving the order they are forced to comply, happily. They all smile, agree to the order and shoot themselves in the head. Lelouch, with the geass, now has the power to exact his revenge upon the empire.

 

    Lelouch is a lost Britannian prince. 11 years prior, his mother was killed and his sister gravely wounded in an assassination attempt. He knew his father, the emperor, was behind it. Now, with this amazing power, he can exact said revenge and topple the Britannian Empire, by cutting off its head. His first target, under the guise of a Japanese rebellion, is his brother Clovis. Upon successfully controlling the rebel faction and assassinating his brother, he throws the entire empire into chaos. Lelouch seizes this opportunity to take command of the rebel forces, called the Black Knights, as a masked, unknown leader calling himself Zero. Zero works to gather all of the renegade forces under his banner.  Using his incredible intelligence and tactical abilities he wages a real life chess game against his siblings and father, under the guise of freeing the 11's from domination. Using his soldiers and his geass he brings the rebel factions into the spotlight of the nation and garners open support from the populace along with a bounty from the Britannian royal family. Lelouch must now live three lives; a normal Britannian high school student, the leader of the Japanese rebellion and a royal prince in hiding. The only catch with the geass is that it only works once on a person, after that they are immune to it, but they most obey his one command absolutely. As the rebellion picks up speed he finds that his secret is a very delicate thing to hide from everyone around him. Will he be able to accomplish his goal of revenge for his mothers death and sister crippling? How far will the rebel factions trust in him? How long until he loses this grand game of chess and falls victim to his own emotions?

 

Code Geass is dark and twisted tale of suffering and false hope. The mech designs are pretty slick, they reminded me a little of the mechs from Escaflowne. Lelouch is a great anti-hero and I have only found myself rooting for him to win, even as he systematically kills off his own rebel soldiers. All that I'm waiting for now is the story to be resolved; however they chose to do that…only time will tell. So check out this great anime when you can, if you like great mech action and military intrigue.

Macross Zero

    Macross Zero (マクロス ゼロ) is a 5 episode mecha OAV series that is part of the larger Macross narrative.  The series was released between 2002 and 2004.  It was created by the original creator of Macross, Kawamori Shoji.

     This first new Macross title since the mid 90’s takes the story back to the very first introduction of the variable fighters. Humanity has split into 2 warring factions after the large alien ship crashed into Earth, bringing with it a plethora of advanced technology that would eventually lead to the Super Dimensional Fortress Macross. Before this though, the factions warred against each other for control of the alien technology and various resources.  

    The story for Zero takes place in the south pacific and brings the evils of greed and hatred to an isolated island tribe. In a first contact battle, as the UN forces are scouting out the remains of an alien/artifact, a young pilot is shot down and washes up on the island of Mayan. The pilot, Shin, awakens in the middle of a hut, bandaged up with no one around. He quickly secures a weapon, a wicked looking pointed stick, and begins to explore his surroundings. On the outskirts of the village he runs into the first villager, an elder, who calmly greets him. Soon the rest of the village appears and a beautiful young woman approaches him sternly and tells him to leave saying that he is going to bring great tragedy to their people. The woman, Sara, the tribe’s priestess, is strongly rooted to her people’s traditions and shuns all outside influences. Her younger sister, Mao, is the opposite and quickly latches onto the beleaguered Shin. Soon a dog fight erupts in the skis above the islands between the two factions. In the aftermath Sara gladly see’s Shin leave the island after being rescued.

    Shin is rejoined with his copilot and they are drafted into the elite and secretive Skull Squadron, under the command of Roy Focker and once again he finds himself back on the Mayan islands, this time escorting a scientist who is leading the search for the alien/artifact. The scientist begins ruffling Sara’s feathers as she begins to collect data about the islanders and Shin must try to smooth things over between both sides. The Mayan’s eagerly help in the research, much to Sara’s horror and she begins to see the end of the world according to their mythology being eminent. In their mythos a bird human created all and gave up its head so the people could survive. If the bird human regained his head he would begin to sing the song of destruction, thus wiping everything out. Both world factions are actually pursuing this bird human in an attempt to use it as a weapon. Shin must figure out what matters most to him, his military duty or trying to save the peaceful inhabitants of the island. He must also choose between his growing feelings for Sara and Mao’s feelings for him. As the search, and ultimate battle for control of the bird human, comes to a head the islanders find themselves caught in the middle and Sara must face her own past mistakes and try to save her people from destruction.

     This is a well done series. Some of the computer animation is a bit dated but it does not detract from the series it’s self. The soundtrack, as with all of the Macross titles since the mid 90’s, is well done and wide ranging. This one was not, however, done by Yoko Kanno. The story line it’s self is nice on the micro scale, but when it comes to the larger story line things become a bit confusion and some things are just never clarified. Unless something was missed from the original Macross lexicon, some of the terms used are a bit confusing…although I’m not one to use as an example…I kind of fell asleep during the whole massive explanation dealing with protoculture and deculture in the original Macross series way back in the day and never bothered to properly understand it. In some ways, dealing with the side characters, you feel as if you are thrown into the middle of something and you don’t know what. I don’t particularly remember anything about a 2 faction global conflict before the launch of the SDF Macross, but the original series is really fuzzy to me now a days, it’s been over 14 years since I last watched it. Or, it might be something new in the world of Macross, anyways, some stuff was confusing. 

    I think the only thing that really matters in the story is the relationships between Shin, Mao and Sara. Everything else is just background, fan service, history and set up. While short and a little rushed, the series sits well at 5 episodes, even though when it initially was being released everyone was tearing their hair out waiting 6 months between each installment. The series has been out and done for a number of years now so that is no longer an issue, what is an issue is that this has not yet been licensed in America and most likely won’t be due to weird agreements and copyrights between the Japanese holders and the American company Harmony Gold. Although with Macross Frontier broadcasting in Japan right now and a good possibility of it coming to America soon, there might be a push for Zero to come out finally as well. All in all, the series is good, its a bit depressing and sad.  I recommend it to fans of the Macross series.  People who might not be into Macross its self might enjoy it as the focus isn’t on the mecha so much. I think I need to rewatch the original Macross series’ though now...

UPDATE: As of October 2013 this series is still unavailable commercially in the United States due to the aforementioned issue between Bandai and Harmony Gold.

 

UPDATE: As of September 2023, Macross Zero has yet to be released commercially in North America.  Harmony Golds control and restriction of Macross titles being released has been lifted but this title has yet to be scheduled for distribution, instead focusing on releasing Macross Delta and redoing Macross Plus.

Lucky Star

Lucky Star (らき☆すた) is a 24 episode slice of life comedy based on the manga of the sane name by Yoshimizu Kagami.  The series originally aired over the Spring and Fall seasons of 2007.

     Lucky Star follows the daily lives of four high school students as they wander aimlessly through life. Konata; the intelligent and athletically gifted slacker otaku, Kagami; the older twin who is the normal, sane member, Tsukasa; the younger twin who is scatter brained and Miyuki; the cute, smart and rich shy girl. The series is based on the 4 panel manga by the same name and follows a segmented approach to the anime, even with events that are related, much like Azumanga Daioh. Common themes include food, video games, otaku, laziness and other such general observations.

 Konata is the most colorful and prominent member of the core group.  Even though she is gifted in school she barely applies herself and focuses all of her energy in being a massive otaku. She frequently stays up all night playing RPG’s or watching late night anime. Konata lives alone with her otaku father, which explains all of her hobbies. Kagami and Tsukasa are twins but appearance is the only thing common with them. Kagami works hard and takes pride in her school efforts.  While she is friends with Konata she continuously harps on her for her lack of effort and obsession with anime/manga/video games. Tsukasa on the other hand is air headed, struggles at school and is unreliable. Miyuki is the epitome of moe, according to Konata; she is quiet, soft spoken, well mannered, wears glasses, is perfect at school and all around desirable to the typical otaku in every way possible.  Konata frequently comments on how every thing she does expels feelings of moe.

 

  

There is no over all plot, the series ambles on and some events continue on through out, such as one of Konata’s cousins moving in with her and her father, but ultimately there is no definitive end or order to the series. The only thing that really marks the progression of the show is a small end bit after each episode called Lucky Channel that is like a commentary spot featuring two of the minor characters in the show. The characters/voice actors are Akira Kogame and Minoru Shiraishi. They start out, usually, talking about the episode but quickly Akiras rage boils over and changes from happy go lucky to abrupt and disgruntled, continuously complaining about her voice acting contract, her role as a minor character, etc, etc. All while the grateful Minoru tries to continue the facade of the show and appease Akira. They talk about what episode of the series just aired and how many are left, which is the only real indicator of continuity in the series. The end credits in the first half for the series has the four main characters doing karaoke, many of the songs are anime themes, such as the Doraemon theme. The ending credits for the second half of the series are live action videos of Minoru Shiraishi poorly singing a variety of songs and eventually incorporating bad live action TV series effects into the process. The opening theme has a video sequence of the main characters doing there own version of the Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu dance.

     This series is funny, goofy and makes fun of Japanese pop culture and general otaku tendencies. From beginning to end you will be laughing. It was done by Kyoto animation which shamelessly plugs its other productions in the show, most prominently being Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu. The feel of the entire series is warm hearted and easy going, with only Lucky Channel being sarcastic and aggressive. All of the characters are goof balls and they  produce plenty of laughs. This is a series aimed at otaku with a firm grasp of different anime and manga titles. Many times through out the series a conversation will mention an anime, but due to licensing issues and general comedic delivery, part of the name will be bleeped out. As the series goes the bleeps migrate to different parts of the name and even change in sound. This is pretty much a gag in it’s self.  The studio takes great liberty in abusing its own property as well.

 

    The manga is currently being released in America and the anime is right around the corner. Out of all of the similar titles this is the best that has come out, so pass up Pani Poni Dash, Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei or Hidamari Sketch if you are tight on funds or time and watch this series first, you won’t be disappointed by it.

UPDATE: The anime was released in North America on DVD by Bandai Entertainment.

Tona-Gura

Tona-Gura (となグラ!) is a 13 episode romantic comedy based on the manga of the same name by Kakei Hidetaka.  It originally aired in Japan over the summer of 2006.

 

    Kazuki fell in love with her childhood neighbor, Yuji. Yuji and his family moved away and Kazuki was unable to give him a letter confessing her love for him before they left. After 10 years apart, her Yuji and his family move back, much to Kazuki’s delight.  Kazuki has kept her love focused on Yuji all these years, pumping up his image as the perfect boy and her knight in shinning armor, but her dreams are crushed when he returns as the king of perverts. Now Kazuki, abhorred with her long lost love’s seemingly new personality, must try and come to terms with him or lose him forever, while Yuji has to deal with the changed perception of his old friend.

     OK, this is a pretty standard romantic comedy series, with lots of ecchi joke and your typical miscommunication and misunderstanding between the main characters with all the supporting characters doing everything they can to make the main ones come to their senses. The one thing that really got me into this series was Yuji’s younger sister, Marie, who is incredibly quirky. The stoic and mature Marie brings it upon herself to control her brother’s perverted ways, by force. Clad in British style sailor outfits she is armed to the teeth in high tech pellet weapons, ready at a moments notice to dispense high RPM plastic fueled punishment on her brother for groping, thinking about groping, peeping and anything else that is deemed perverted. For the most part this reoccurring joke is actually pretty entertaining, especially at the end of one episode where one side character uses this revenge as a form of entertainment. The character continues to flash Yuji, who is then cut down by a barrage of pellets from Marie who is perched in a tree outside of the school.

 

 

 

     Aside from that one event the series is a standard one.  I found the characters to be very likable and near the end I was definitely rooting for them to get together. They go through their typical ups and downs, all stemming from misunderstandings and what not. The designs are typical but the art quality is pretty above average for a TV series. The music is forgettable standard fare and by the end of the series I was sad to see the characters go.

     If you like the romantic comedies this is a nice, in the mold, light hearted one filled with a lot of light hearted ecchi humor and some bizarre characters, including a Japan-o-phile foreign classmate and the main characters’ carefree adventure seeking parents, who are absent for most of the series on a bizarre adventure. This isn’t the best rom-com out these but it fairs better than some.

UPDATE: As of August 2016 this series has not been licensed for North America.

Coyote Ragtime Show

Coyote Ragtime Show (コヨーテ ラグタイムショー) is an original action series created by ufotable.  The series originally aired during the Summer of 2006.

    Far into the future of mankind, which is now spread through out the cosmos, vagabonds, pirates and jacks-of-all-trade type people are known as Coyotes. One of the most infamous Coyotes known only as Mister has been missing for some time and is being hunted by a very persistent, by the book, detective named Angelica. She tracks him down in a remote prison where he is soon to be released after serving time for a mundane offense. The day before he is scheduled to be released, Mister, with the help of two companions, Bishop and Katana, breaks out of prison in a very spectacular way. As he breaks out of jail a powerful mobster named Marciano has sent her cyborg minions to capture him.  In one fell swoop Mister breaks out of jail, destroys the place, evades the mob and the law, ready to take on his next adventure.

    Before he was jailed his best friend, the King of the Coyotes was murdered by Marciano. He adopted his young daughter Franka who also inherited his vast wealth. Marciano is not only after the treasure of the late King but also after Misters head. Mister heads off to his safe house to pick up Franka and then head out to retrieve her late fathers inheritance. Aside from the people chasing them the biggest problem they have is that the planet the treasure is on is scheduled to be obliterated by the galactic government due to a disagreement with the planets inhabitants. Mister must use all of his cunning and skill, as well as that of his partners, if he is going to secure the King of the Coyotes treasure before it is destroyed or falls into someone else’s hands.

    This is a well drawn, action packed, adventure that is reminiscent of Cowboy BeBop, Black Lagoon and Gunsmith Cats. This is a balls to the wall space action series that gives us bad guys that are truly bad and good guys that are unscrupulous. There is plenty of fan service in a number of ways, the most obvious one being Marciano’s 12 killer androids, who all happen to be girls dressed up as Victorian maids. If there was anything more fan boy pleasing than cute, archetype ready, girls in frilly costumes wielding large and deadly weapons killing with zeal, I don’t know what it would be. What this also offers in the fan service departments is loose cannon, fun loving heroes who can’t lose or die, kind of like a classic Hollywood action film. The animation is above average in quality while the character design is reminiscent of this genre from the mid 90’s OAV’s. The typical pop opening and ending themes are forgettable for anyone other than the ones who will go out and buy the soundtrack(s). The characters are pretty transparent and don’t leave the stereotypes they were cast in. The viewer just sits back, enjoys the ride and waits for it to end, which isn’t always a bad thing. There are series' that are more entertaining and better written than this one, but all in all, it’s a fun little jaunt and at only 12 episodes you’re not wasting a lot of time watching it.

    So if you enjoyed Cowboy BeBop, Gunsmith Cats, Black Lagoon, Lethal Weapons 1-10 or any other action series that deal with persistently optimistic good guys, this is a good series to pick up and watch while drinking beer.

 

UPDATE: ADV/Funimation released all 12 episodes to DVD in the North American market. It is currently available on Crunchyroll as well.

Jyu Oh Sei

Jyu oh Sei or Planet of the Beast King (獣王星) is an 11 episode sci-fi series that ran in the spring of 2006 in Japan and is based the manga of the same name by Itsuki Natsumi.

    The story takes place far into the future of mankind, which has spread through out the cosmos. Twin brothers, Rai and Thor, find themselves shanghaied on a remote prison planet, Chimera, after they witness their parent’s murder. Shortly after arriving on this bizarre, mega-flora infested world, they are attacked by a group of armed men. During the attack the ground opens up and a large carnivorous plant consumes some of the attackers along with Rai. Thor ends up being taken to the palace of one of the planets tribes, or Rings. The leader of each Ring is called Top and is succeeded by Second and Third. The Top’s are the rulers of the planet and make all of the decisions that affect their Ring and its members.  Since the inhabitants of the planet are prisoners, the law of the land is that of strength and power. Each Top was appointed by killing the previous Top. 

    The Rings war with each other over resources and territory but also try to work together when needed. The two biggest threats the planet offers are plants that cover it, which are carnivorous and semi-intelligent, and Chimera’s weather.  The plants rotation matches its years orbit with the night time portion of the year being extremely cold and deadly.  For the prisoners, there is only one chance of escape, to claim the title of Jyu Oh (Beast King), by defeating the other Top’s, and ascending an orbital elevator that leads to a space station.  Determined to survive and discover the reason for his parent’s murder and his banishment, Thor has vowed to become the Jyu Oh.  Thor, who is naïve and young, must learn to quickly adapt to the harsh realities of Chimera, between the wanton blood lust and the dangerous environment. While he climbs to the rank of Jyu Oh he also tries to maintain his humanity and compassion, not wanting to become a beast in the process.

    The animation is distinct and a bit odd. It reminds of the artwork from Escaflowne with a little more bi-shonen flare. The series is pretty much split into two parts. The first part follows Thor as an adolescent as he learns how to survive on Chimera and how to obtain his goal of escaping the planet. Along the way he discovers clues to his banishment and his parent’s death. The second part, which takes place a number of years later, finds Thor on his way to becoming the Jyu Oh. He has attained the rank of Top and built many strong alliances. As he gets closer to his goal of escaping the planet his past begins to unfold and the reason for everything up to that point comes into focus. The general time line of the story moves incredibly fast, we really only see a very short amount of time in Thor's life, a couple of weeks worth, but much happens in-between. It would have been nice to have had it a bit more fleshed out. Yet on the converse the series does not drag and is easy to follow whats happening until the very end, when things start to get a bit fuzzy. In the last episode and a half some things are left a little unclear as to what’s going on and why something’s happened, but all in all, the conclusion is understandable and complete.

    The show is mature and brutal in nature; main characters have a tendency to die off, which is a nice change from most action shows. This is a nice, short, well done series that can be watched in a day if needed. The plot only focuses around 2 time lines in the characters life and ever so often, in retrospect, it can drag a bit. When you have an 11 episode series that covers a number of years it doesn't make too much sense to have 1 whole episode pretty much devoted to Thor visiting an oracle and girl who falls for him and her growing affection…yet it is excusable because it was also a vehicle to explain more about the world as well as to set up Thor's fate.

    The series is available in America, even in dub (although I have not watched the dub) and I recommend it pretty highly, due to its length, for any fan of sci-fi and adventure anime. It’s a fun show, I wish there was a bit more to it, but it does the job and does it efficiently.

Noein - to your other self

Noein (ノエイン もうひとりの君へ) is an original 24 episode sci-fi anime written by Onogi Hiroshi.  The series originally aired in Japan between 2005 and 2006.

 

     The story revolves around a girl named Haruka, her friend/love interest Yu and their friends. They live in Japan in modern times and wile away their normal student lives. One night Yu is trying to run away from home, as he and Haruka had planned on previously. Haruka is resistant and Yu is filled with angst at his mother’s strict ways. During an argument, between Haruka and Yu, time freezes and only Haruka is unaffected. She is approached by a mysterious cloaked man. When he reaches his hand out to her a mystical necklace appears around her neck. He recognizes it as the artifact he and his companions have been searching for known as the "Dragon Torque". He disappears and time returns to normal but Haruka remembers the event. The man is named Karasu (Crow) and he is part of a group called the "Dragon Cavalry" who are from a different dimension. They are traveling through the many alternate dimensions in search of the "Dragon Torque" in order to use it to fight against a horrid enemy known as "Shangri-la", which threatens all of the dimensions. Haruka, Yu and their friends have strange connections with the "Dragon Cavalry" and the fight is on to use the "Dragon Torque" to save all of reality.

    With the Dragon Torque having been located the Dragon Cavalry must protect it from the Shangri-la and figure out how to use it against them. Kurasu and a few other members stay in Haruka’s dimension to help protect her and figure out how to use the artifact. At the same time other factions within the Dragon Cavalry are rebelling and trying to do things their own way, which leads to some long standing rivalries flaring. On top of that the children all living around Haruka, have to deal with their own problems, not only involving the inter-dimensional beings but their daily lives. As the threat to all reality becomes more pronounced the secrets behind the Dragon Cavalry, Shangri-la and the Dragon Torque are revealed leading up to a spectacular climax. 

 

    I was turned onto this series near the end of its run in Japan by a couple of my friends and was a little bit leery in the beginning. I watched the first episode then it took me a couple of weeks to watch the second one, partly because of all the other things I was watching. I was initially intrigued, particularly due to the opening sequence, but the art style was a bit too weird for me at first. The opening sequence is with a few of the Dragon Cavalry fighting against an invading Shangri-la. The Shangri-la are gigantic bio-mechanical representations of Buddhist styled statues. They have incredible power and are very large. As stated their goal is to destroy all of reality. The Dragon Cavalry end up facing a Sangril-la in their own dimension.  Karasu ultimately defeats it, but ends up being blown out of his own reality and inadvertently sent to Haruka's reality. The Dragon Cavalry track him, show up to retrieve him and investigate signals the Dragon Torque is giving off.

 

    My only complaint with the series, as, stated, is the animation. The adult female characters are the most bothersome; they all have big puffy lips with bright lipstick...especially Haruka's mother. The characters are simply drawn, sometimes to the point of being bad. I got over this quirk and just enjoyed the series without analyzing it too much. The story is in-depth and deals a bit with quantum mechanics and chaos theory, which hits a soft spot in my heart. They even have a little nod towards Schrödinger’s Cat. The story flows well, keeps you guessing throughout and ends well. All in all I would say this is a very good series and recommend it to anyone who enjoys action packed sci-fi titles. 

 

    It is available outside of Japan in it’s entirety and even ran on TV in America.  Various disc releases are available from FUNimation.

Xam'd

OK, so to christen this new venue, here is a double dose.

    During the middle of the summer anime season, usually filled with tide me over titles to hold over the masses until the fall season kicks off, a new show by Bones took me by surprise and has become a glimmer of hope in the lagging TV anime offerings. This new show is titled Bounen no Xamdou or Xam'd: Lost Memories. The series is a cross between the book 1984 and Last Exile with hints of Naussica, Cowboy Bebop and Guyver.

    It follows the slacker high school student, Akiyuki, as life on his peaceful island town is shattered.  First, by a suicide bomber who is responsible for giving him the power of the mysterious Xam'd, second, by a renewed war between the southern and northern continents. The Xam'd is a symbiotic creature that takes over Akiyuki's body and turns him into a mutant justice seeking MMA fighter. During his rampage against the attacking enemy creatures a mysterious red haired girl, who just so happens to be working on a postal ship, drops in and suppresses the Xam'd. Akiyuki finds himself the girls unwitting hostage aboard the flying mail truck and has to put up with its rag-tag colorful crew all while learning to suppress the demon inside of him.

    There is a lot going on in this anime and a lot of stuff that has yet to be explained, which hopefully will as I am already into episode 6. The cast of characters is large and the world is well fleshed out, now it's just a matter of the background and the progression of the current story arcs. Unfortunately, to some degree, this feels like another 26 episode tidy story, likely along the lines of The Third. Which isn't a bad thing, that series didn't really get into the real story until the half way point but it was still a really fun show to watch. So far Xam'd is a nice change of pace from the recent crop of anime, sure it's not original, nothing really is any more, but it's fun to watch. The characters are well designed, I have heard people reference Overman King Gainer, which Bones had a minor role in. Either way the characters are cool, the art is neat and the bioweapons are interesting as well as the whole backdrop of this entire series. There is a lot of political and social commentary and it only looks like it's going to get more vocal. There is also a slight resemblance to Pumpkin Scissors, with the rouge band of capable individuals being caught up in something much larger than them but being powerless to stop their own personal interaction with altering the fate of their world for the better. There is sure to be loads of people doing things because they think it is the right thing to do but are not necessarily correct or good. Additionally the opening theme is provided by Boom Boom Satellites, who have been enjoying a growing fanbase in the past few years due to their increased musical contributions to anime.

    From what I have found it seems American PS3 owners can purchase episodes of this anime on the PS network...but I have yet to confirm this or even find out if it's subtitled if true.

New spot

So this is the new home for the Otaku Network world of postings. New posts will be done multiple times through out the week. Please feel free to comment away. Soon to come will be initial thoughts on Xam'd, a recap of the first season of Minami-ke and some other random things that have yet to be covered. So enjoy and thanks for coming.