What?

Who is this guy writing this post? What is this show, is it still on? Holy crap! Over here in real-world-land, it’s off the charts. But I’ll spare you the gory details, because you didn’t come here for excuses! You came here for panty-shots and exploding heads, right?

Well, tough shit, because this is Allison & Lillia!

I give myself the challenge of writing 3 sentences about each missed episode, hoping that you good people will forgive me. I realize also that I call you “you good people” now, where a few weeks ago it was “you ungrateful curs.” Such is life. But don’t worry, I’m not crying. It’s just the fickle way of fate, whose mercurial winds have blown the dust of backlogged anime into my eyes. Ow!

Episode 7:

1. She’s not Francesca.
2. Plane race through the town!
3. Benedict is a player with an eye for a grand entrance.

Episode 8:

1. OK, yeah, I’m not her, but I’m her twin sister, I swear.
2. You killed my sister — prepare to die.
3. Why exactly did Nihito fall off the roof when he was standing so far from the edge?

Episode 9:

1. Name me one freaking episode of this show where the characters didn’t sit and drink tea around a table.
2. Glasses: the only disguise you’ll need.
3. Allison in a fancy dress but still wearing army boots may be the remaining reason I watch this show; I know it must fulfill at least one of Shin’s many fetishes.
4. Bonus: Shotguns do not use bullets.

Also: Wil is a big dumb poopyhead, and Allison is fast becoming too cool for her own ever-slipping series. I tagged this post with “guns,” “trains,” and “airplanes,” and yet nothing really exciting happened in any of these episodes.

Escape is easy… a good night’s sleep is hard. At least for Wil.

I’m not going to berate you this week, because I’m late anyway! Lay off me, it was my birthday!

Well, those villagers sure seemed nasty, but turns out none of them made Wil squeal like a pig, just locked them in a basement with a convenient window to get out of, and boxes to stand on to making reaching said window just a little easier. Thanks, guys.

Getting out of the basement is only the beginning; fortunately, Benedict has arrived to make the rest of the escape easier, provided Allison doesn’t brain him with a shovel first. A couple strokes of luck later and the crew are hiding out with Benedict’s new friend Fiona at her house. She’s prepared to harbor them, provided they agree to sneak her out to the capital to meet this Owen Nihito guy. Why? She’s Princess Francesca, the last surviving member of the murdered royal family. Those of you in the pool, you owe me (and Atarashii Prelude’s Shin) money.

That night, while Wil shares a bed with Allison’s sprawling limbs, Benedict and Fiona share a little moment. She’s nervous about revealing herself, so she asks Major Kerr if people treat him differently now that he’s somewhat famous. The answer is a disappointing yes, but he says it just makes him more glad to have friends like Allison and Wil who don’t — and she can count on the same from him. Nice words from a guy you barely know, but he does have a trustworthy face, no?

Escape proves easy once again, thanks to Benedict’s brilliant Operation Winter Camouflage, a.k.a. Operation Let’s Get Under A White Sheet and Walk Through The Snow. Primitive, yes. Silly, almost certainly. Marginally effective — surprisingly so. Marginally. When they’re found out, though, it’s all over. Or is it?

Fiona/Francesca asserts herself to the village leader, and — surprise again — he turns out to be cool with it. See, he knows. Or at least, he knows that her grandfather thought she was Francesca. Strangely, he seems a bit skeptical, but maybe I’m reading too much into it.

Fun Facts

• No conflict in the Allison and Lillia universe that looks awful at the end of an episode is really all that bad at the beginning of the next one. It’s like Geass that way.
• Allison is all to keen to sleep in Wil’s bed, but not to let him have his half, or his blankets.
• Backup plans are useful: Operation Winter Camouflage may not have been great, the crew were able to quickly move on to Operation Chewbacca-style Fake Prisoner and, when that too failed, Operation Punch That Guy In The Gut.
• It appears that Benedict has found himself a lady.

Next week: showdown with Lenin Owen

Will there be a twist? Who knows, this storyline has breezed by without a lot of real conflict. Things have fallen into place fairly easily. Complain if you will about a too-conveniently-placed window, or villagers who let our heroes go without a fight. But to me those bear a strong resemblance to Rollo conveniently Geassing Suzaku at the moment that LeDouche gets written into a hole he can’t mua-ha-ha his way out of.

In a parallel with the last arc, Wil gets a gun (Benedict confiscates it from Fiona when he starts to get scared she’ll try to assassinate Nihito), but this time he knows firsthand how difficult it is to use one on a human being. I’m sure this will be a major factor, but what else is going to happen when Fiona announces herself to the world? There are enough questions waiting to be answered that the climax to this short arc should be a winner.

Never trust small-town folk! A lesson learned from the best show you ungrateful curs aren’t watching!

The Closed Forest

Well, A&L totally skipped over the school portion of Wil’s life, and if you watch enough anime you’re probably thinking you dodged a bullet there. Enough school, people! Not to mention, I’m sure Wil is exceptionally boring at school.

Onward! Wil does get to do some extracurricular studying over winter break, funded by Allison, in a country called Ikstova (a thinly veiled Russia). But just as he gets off the bus and starts admiring the scenery, he’s kidnapped by a group of big ugly mugs who insist they “aren’t anyone suspicious.“

The head kidnapper reveals her identity — it’s Allison, who orchestrated the whole thing to get a little Wil time for herself. She’s in Ikstova for a joint military exercise with the Sou Beil folks (including Lt. Ker, who’s now world-famous Major Ker, having unwittingly taken the credit for ending the war). But as she and Wil jaunt off for a spot of tea, they’re caught in a nasty snowstorm.

They take refuge in a small village, but the eerie strains of Dueling Banjos start to play as soon as they roll into town. The suspicious villagers begin arming themselves, and before Allison and Wil know what hit them, a seemingly kind old lady slips a roofy in their tea.

Fortunately, Benedict has been worrying about them out in the blizzard, and he’s on their trail, but he’s derailed as well when he meets a very strange girl named Fiona outside the village.

Poor Allison

A recurring theme in this episode found Allison attempting to ask Wil to move in with her in Roxche’s capital city after he graduates. Of course, that’s a heavy question with a little more implication than “roommate,” or at least it seems that way from her flustered inability to ask it. The first time she tries, she gives up. The second time, they hit the blizzard. And the last, when she finally manages to get it out, she turns to find Wil out cold from the drugged tea. What does she see in Wil, who’s about as interesting as a head of iceberg lettuce? I dunno, but seeing a bold and confident character like her get all wound up and unable to speak is super charming. Wil is obviously a little more typical anime, being so doltish he can’t grasp what’s going on.

The Royalty Story

Shin has a theory that Fiona is going to be an Anastasia type character. The entire royal family of Ikstova was murdered mysteriously some time ago, and Fiona gets jumpy and sad around a picture of politician Owen Nihito. I’m betting on something similar, but I really have nothing useful to add. Even if that’s not the case, though, this story should have a nice element of mystery to it, so I’m looking forward. Seems like the pace is really quick, so I’m guessing they have a lot of material to get through. That might sacrifice depth, but at least we won’t be bored.

You know, the three of us who watch this.

The world must know the TRUTH!

Recap

This episode begins with that vintage fighter plane dogfight we’ve all been waiting for. Allison’s a crack pilot and she manages to evade Lt. Kerr. But when she shoots at him, Wil’s horrified to discover their plane is loaded with paint rounds, and Love Letter has real bullets.

Not to worry! He’s not aiming to kill them at all — turns out he wants to help them get the treasure, since old man Wally managed to get a deathbed promise out of him.

Wait! Worry, after all! Kerr’s superiors, who didn’t trust him to begin with, show up to try and shoot both of them down. Unfortunately for them, he’s one of the best pilots in Sou Beil, and he and Allison take them down. As they let out a collective sigh of relief, twin mountains loom on the horizon — their first marker. But they’re not out of the woods yet! More Sou Beil military are after them; this time it’s not to shoot them down, but to follow them to the treasure.

The trio treks through caves until they find Walter’s marker, and there it is, ahead of them: cave paintings? Yep. Cave paintings, depicting the dawn of civilization. And what do you know, Roxche and Sou Beil started their lives not as rival countries, but cooperative buddies. Kerr presumes that Walter was indeed Lt. Col. MacMillan, who headed up the poison gas operation back during the war. And the reason he was so hip to join his fallen comrades was because he himself had killed them, all in the name of preserving this “treasure.”

Back during the war, and in the gloomy aftermath of it, the illustration would have been meaningless. But now, with much of the memories of blood fading from people’s minds, the time is right. But as they prepare to tell the world, the two pursuers appear. The grumpy treasure-hunters don’t believe the story, and make a move to gun down the trio. Not so fast! Pacifist Wil whips out the pistol given to him in episode 2 and uses his shooting prowess to hit the machine gunner in the shoulder. All should be well, he’s disarmed but not dead — except he tries to shoot anyway, causing a collapse of rock on top of their heads when he’s unable to handle the recoil. Poor Wil, he caused two deaths despite his efforts. But the good news… peace is here! Wait. Already?

Thoughts

Let me pick this quick bone with Allison To Lillia before I go on the you-damn-kids rant that’s been brewing in my typing fingers. Dear A&L: What are you planning? I was promised an adventuresome and epic treasure hunt, but you’ve resolved that rather quickly. Now it looks like this show is going to be more about a series of shorter adventures. Bizarre, and a little unsatisfying, but still potentially fun. Now, presumably Wil has to go back to school, and Allison back to her post, but judging from the preview it looks like they find a way to get back together and cause more shenanigans. Here’s to shenanigans.

Question for you, dear readers

Last episode’s post garnered me a single solitary comment, which was Shin (who does some enjoyable write-ups of the series himself) saying that he could count the number of people watching this on two hands. And he’s right. Maybe even one hand. I’ll admit, this episode was a little confusingly truncated, but not disappointing.

Bear with me: Anime is a medium, yes, but it’s also a sort of “meta-genre,” and whether it’s mecha, harem, or hentai, there are certain conventions and commonalities. I think we all are aware of that. But A&L doesn’t cater to these: it only uses anime as a medium to tell a story that’s not explicitly anime-like. No robots, no lolis, no unrequited love (thus far), no school skirts, no green hair, no festival scene with a main character in a yukata, running with tears in her eyes — in fact, no Japan at all. Personally, that’s what I find refreshing, but I guess I can see why some people might find it off-putting, like they’re watching some other form of cartoon that happens to use the same medium as their beloved shows. Is this why people aren’t watching? Not anime enough?

So tell, me, people: What keeps you off this show? Any plans to watch it after the season’s up if reviews are favorable?

A daring escape… and back to the sky!

Recap

Right into it! Allison and Wil come to a military base that’s built like a castle, and use their fancy blue uniforms to request a tour. Allison seems to have a lot of fun playing up her role as a bigtime officer-type, bossing around the soldiers on base. The two even go as far as to specifically demand to see the basement, where they suspect the old man is being held.

True enough, there he is, in a cell guarded by two soliders. After dispatching his guards, Allison lends a hairpin to him, and the escape is on. But just before the grand moment, the duo crosses paths with Lieutenant Love Letter, aka 2nd Lt. Kerr, the soldier who wanted to take Allison out. Turns out, he’s a player, but more importantly, he’s well aware that she’s not Sou Beil military. And whether intentional or not (seems a mix), he lets them escape from under his nose. He’s more than a bit intrigued by the whole treasure-that-can-end-a-war story, and he seems suspicious of his superiors’ treatment of the old alleged spy.

First it’s a rendezvous in the underground sewer-ish tunnels, then on to a hangar where they plan to hijack a seaplane. Oji-san, with a pistol in hand and a pocket full of clips, holds off the soldiers while Allison and Wil escape in the plane. He says he’ll follow, but he clearly has no intention of doing anything other than joining his fallen comrades in death. He facilitates the escape, and his own exit from this mortal coil, by exploding a few dozen drums of fuel.

Fearing rightfully that the old man may have told the kids where the treasure was, the Sou Beil military goes in hot pursuit of the seaplane, led by none other than Lt. Love Letter. But his superiors think something’s up with him, and send a tail to check up on him — and to shoot him down if he tries anything funny.

Thoughts

This episode favored action over last week’s dose of backstory and characterization, but we still got some of that in the form of Lieutenant Love Letter. The officer is obviously going to be a wild card in the chase — which his superiors are aware of — but could also be a monkeywrench in Allison and Wil’s relationship. So far we haven’t seen any romantic leanings, but our two leads certainly have a meaningful thing going on, and no man’s above jealousy — I’ll bet not even calm Wil.

The direction of the series is surprising to me already, it looks like the treasure will already appear next episode. That makes me think there is much more to it than we might have imagined before, especially with the old man’s amazed awe in the flashback.

Shot down in enemy territory, plus… sharing a bed! Read on for high adventure!

Recap

Allison and Wil’s glorious flying dream is cut short by fear and uncertainty when Wil realizes that they’ve just flown over the river into Sou Beil, the enemy country. Allison, well aware of what she was doing, was prepared though. When a fighter plane starts shooting, a little fancy low flying and a release of smoke trick the fighter pilot into thinking he’s shot them down. Unfortunately, it works a little too well, and the plane crashes and burns after snagging on some power lines.

Stranded in Sou Beil, Allison and Wil reminisce on their childhoods at house of future, an orphanage run by an old Sou Beil woman called Grandma Moot. Seems their current situation isn’t exactly a new occurance: Allison gets a scheme, Allison drags Wil into it, Wil goes along to try to stop her, but ends up an accomplice. That’s the pattern.

Things get worse when they spook a mother deer, and Wil nobly puts his noggin between its hoof and Allison. The deer hurts him worse than the plane crash. Allison winds up carrying him to the first place they find, the small home of a lady living on her own in the forest. The lady, Travas Rabias, promises to turn them in come morning, but takes care of Wil’s wounds. When she demands honesty from Allison, she can only shake her head about the treasure hunt, one of countless that she’s heard of.

After commercial break, Allison apologizes to Wil as he rests, but he won’t have any of it. You granted my dream of actually seeing Sou Beil, he says, and refuses her act of contrition — sleeping outside — in favor of giving up half his bed. It’s my bed tonight, and I can do what I want with it, he insists. Allison’s warnings that she has bad sleeping habits prove true, and eventually Wil’s left with zero blankets and about a quarter of a bed. Travas covers him up though, and she’s caught off guard hearing both kids talk in their sleep about Grandma Moot.

In the morning, she asks Wil if they were in fact raised by old lady Moot, and he tells the story: He was left at Moot’s door by his parents at age three, and Allison was brought there at eight when her father died in the war. Instead of crying when she arrived, Allison pointed at Wil and declared that he would be her henchman, like a blonde (and likable) version of Haruhi.

Allison finally wakes from her deep slumber, which has spilled onto the floor, and suddenly things start to come together. Her jacket’s ripped, and her insignia falls out. She explains that no one really knows what the insignias mean except for the special forces, but Wil’s wheels are turning — the old man did know what the insignia (a cuckoo) meant. Adding up his kidnapping with the likelihood that he was in the special forces, it’s not too much of a stretch to think that maybe his war-ending treasure might be real.

Travas is charmed by the kids, and as a grieving mother of two dead soldiers, she’s given hope at the prospect of the war ending. So instead of turning them in, she donates her sons’ elite unit uniforms and a pistol. Allison and Wil now can not only move about the country freely, they can get into military locations that even other soldiers can’t. And with that, they’re off in a delivery truck to find the old man.

Thoughts

First off, howdy! This is otou-san, your guide to, um, exciting adventure with Allison & Lillia for hopefully the rest of the season. You can normally find me writing about robots at Shameful Otaku Secret! but I can’t say no to cookies.

Allison & Lillia really caught me from moment one — the first episode establishes a nostalgic and almost wholesome vibe before launching straight into a real caper. Fantastic. The only potential problem I can see with that is that the writers left themselves with a couple possible ways to handle the exposition: gradually draw it out, or get it out of the way as soon after the hook as you can. They went with option B, and after the initial excitement of the plane crash we got an episode largely full of back story. Judging from the preview, though, next episode will hop right into action mode with the kids’ rescue attempt.

Either way, it retained the charm of the first episode, especially in the scene with Allison by Wil’s bedside, up to the point where she climbs in. Tell me that wasn’t really sweet, even with characters we’ve only just met. Travas’s acceptance of the kids was a bit of a plot contrivance I think, but I’m ok with it — I’d rather have the plot get steered a little at the beginning than suffer from some divine intervention at the end.

I’m really starting to enjoy the characters as well. They could easily be stereotypes, with their typical character attributes, but they feel pretty well thought-out, and like the show itself, they’re charming. Next episode should really throw us into the thick of things, so I’m pretty excited.

Finally it’s subbed …

Summary:

Will is studying under a tree until he’s interrupted by Mr. Folk’s class. The teacher asks Will to teach his students who mistake Will as some sort of delinquent. Since this is a geography lesson, Will decides to teach them about Roxche and Sou Beil, two different countries divided by the Lutoni River and the Central Mountains. Both areas have been at war for over 130 years, arguing between who the rightful ancestors are. Suddenly, an airplane soars over them and all the students run towards the craft as it lands safely ahead. The pilot takes off her mask and greets Will, who is her childhood friend. Later, the pair hang out beside a stream and Allison explains that she visited since she was flying across this area anyway. They share the things that have been happening recently, including Allison receiving a love letter and rejecting the man. Next Will rides on a motorcycle with Allison, taking her back to his place when they stop, encountering an old man who’s nicknamed “lying old fart” for telling so many engrossing lies to children. He asks for a ride home since his legs are tired and Allison agrees straight away.

Once they reach his place, he invites them inside for a cup of tea. Here he tells them about a treasure that can save the conflict between Roxche, their country, and the other side, Sou Beil. At first, Will and Allison doubt him because of his reputation as a constant liar, but he claims that he’s honestly speaking the truth. The old man reminds them of Roxche’s poison gas operation which saved this country just as it was about to collide. He tells them it was all a lie because history was made to suit people but not speak the truth. He then informs them that the treasure is hidden in a buffer zone near the Lutoni River in Sou Beil. Allison suggests that she take the old man over there with Will because she’s a pilot. Another man, who claims he’s from the town hall, comes in and mistakes Allison and Will for the old man’s relatives. The old man goes off with the man in a suit due to tax issues. Just as the depart, Will points out that the worker who took the old man isn’t a local, Allison jumps on his motorcycle and rides off, Will following shortly afterwards. They chase the automobile with the old man in it but when a gun is aimed at them, they tumble off course, losing sight of their enemy. However, the pair manage to track them down and witness a strange plane soaring above. Spotting a spare plane in the hangar, Allison decides to pilot it and follow the other craft.

Thoughts:

Overall, I thought this was a pretty decent episode because even though there was a lot of interesting explaining stuff going on, the artwork was sort of not the best, but you can’t expect too much of an anime. I definitely see potential and it will be the episodes following that will really determine how good this series will be. I’m certainly going to watch and blog the next couple of episodes to see how it will turn out, plus I just added another load of work on me — I’ve decided to continue blogging Kanokon. But news about that later, Allison to Lilia is a series worth keeping an eye on. Even though the first episode wasn’t the best and Will’s voice is much too young for him, I think I’ll be able to get used to as should everyone else. And thanks to Shinsen-subs (one of my favourite fansubbing group) and Formula Sub for releasing this episode with the OP and ED. I haven’t exactly seen it yet but you should expect it on this post soon.

Are you ready? We are!

Here is a compiled list of anime, manga, J-dramas and J-movies the writers of Yukan Blog! will be covering for Spring, later on in the future, and what we’ll be continuing. If you wish to visit the official site of a particular show, please click on the image. Also, we are making a new section called ‘J-Music Downloads’ where one of our newest writers, morfx, will provide links to the latest albums and singles for you to download, including her thoughts on the artist or artists. Because to get everyone’s thoughts together straight away is difficult due to the different area and time, this post will be updated frequently. If you wish to see the entire list of Anime airing in Spring, please click here. As I, Blissmo, have mentioned in many of my earlier and recent posts, I have very high hopes for this blog in the future. Other writers’ thoughts will be added on later once I receive their reply through email. All summaries are taken directly from Wikipedia, ANN and MyAnimeList or from the English official site itself. Another thing is if you come back sometime later on, I will reveal the writers and the images they will show before each post, so you don’t get confused with who’s blogging or writing what.

• Baccano! OVA (Anime)

• Summary:

In 1711, a group of alchemists seeking eternal life gathered on a boat to summon the “demon” that held the secret. The demon agreed to give them what they wanted—an elixir of life, the method to create more, and the secret to ending their new-found existence. The following night, alchemists began disappearing, “eaten” by one of their own. Realizing the threat posed by being close together, they decided to scatter across the world.Centuries later, in Prohibition-era America, the immortals have come together once again, and the “stupid commotion” starts.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: Of course, if you’ve seen Baccano! then the OVAs are a special continue of it. I love this anime and recommend it to everyone who loves to be confused. At first, I found this show particularly boring and dull, but when I reached episode 5, I couldn’t stop watching it. I’ve seen this series 3 times already and each time I re-watched it, I came to understand it more and more. I will definitely continue blogging this!

• Kyouran Kazoku Nikki (Anime)

• Summary:

The inaugural November issue of FB Online, the web information magazine for Enterbrain’s Famitsu Bunko imprint, has announced that Akira’s Kyōran Kazoku Nikki (”Frenzied Family Journal”) light novel series will get an anime in 2008. The artist x6suke (”pekeRokusuke”) illustrates the novels. The novels depict the not-so-normal life of a “family” that includes a catgirl “mother,” a lion “son,” a living land-combat android weapon “son,” a jellyfish-like otherworldly “daughter,” and a hapless 27-year-old military officer as their “father.” This motley “family” was assembled as part of the Imperial Japanese Anti-Paranormal Phenomena Section’s Special Operations Forces to save Earth in 2063.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: This anime sounds really humorous so I’m going to watch the first episode, but I’m not sure whether anyone will be blogging this for certain.

• ROOKIES (JDrama)

• Summary:

The story revolves around a high school teacher and coach that tries to reform delinquents by having them join the baseball team.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: I don’t really have anything to say about this one …

• BLASSREITER -genetic- (Anime)

• Summary:

Set in the near-future, in a town in Germany. There have been incidents of dead people coming back to life, transforming into “grotesque shadows”, and attacking people. Living people show up who can transform themselves into demons whenever they want. They used to be regular humans, but when they gained this power to transform, people rejected them and called them demons. But they still use their powers, each for his own reason. However, they cannot deny their fate: to fight in a deadly battle royal with others who have turned into demons.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: I’ve watched the trailer and it seems really interesting, but the 3D effects somewhat bother and don’t bother me. And I hate pink-heads and it was hard enough putting up with Sakura from Naruto, but if this girl can kick as like Kallen, I’ll make it acceptable. I’m certainly going to check out the first episode but if the first one doesn’t strike me, I’m not going to bother with the next because I have an 18GB download limit. I’m saving them for J-Dramas this Spring.

Ice: To be honest, I hated the music on the trailer. It gave me some sort of creepy but at the same time relaxing feeling while the action in the trailer is anything but relaxing. I think I understand what the concept was of this trailer but the animation team just failed to execute it properly. The trailer already makes me suspect that the keywords of this anime will be dark, demons and combat and I’m almost 100% sure that the fighting scenes will be enormously, spectacular and very precisely animated. The only thing that’s still missing is a decent plot and I really hope that this won’t become a ‘What monster will we slay this week’ anime! Before the trailer was out, I was still doubting if I would blog this anime but I’m sure now: I’ll blog this anime. I look forward to blog the first episode of Blassreiter which will air on 8 April.

• Himitsu – Top Secret (Anime)

• Summary:

A manga, written by Reiko Shimizu (Moon Child, Kaguya Hime etc) and serialized in the josei manga magazine Melody, from Hakusensha (Hana to Yume publisher). Its home to authors like Minami Narita (author of Cipher) and Fumi Yoshinaga (Oo oku), etc, as well as the fan favourite Ppoi!

Himitsu is a Sci-Fi / horror manga, as well as a police/detective story. In the near future, a way to access information in the human brain post mortem was discovered, which revolutionized the police work. Everything a person sees up to 5 years prior to death can now be accessed and transfered to a screen, so that the police can see exactly the same thing the dead person saw. This is now used in order to solve old, unsolved crimes, as well as a way to solve recent crimes (looking through a dead victim’s memory in order to catch a glimse of the killer, etc).

The series deals both with the moral aspect of this intrusion of a person’s private life even post mortem, but most of all with the people working at the part of the Police where this kind of work is conducted. Not all can handle looking through the mind of a killer.

So far, 4 complete mysteries has been published (4th volume to be published early next year), and so far they have all completely rocked! I’m pretty sure the anime will be toned down considerably from the manga, that can be pretty gory and graphic in its violence, but the phsychological horror is what makes this manga such a great story, so even with less gore, it could still be great.

• CODE GEASS: Hangyaku no Lelouch R2 (Anime)

• Summary:

One year after the incidents of the first season and the failure of the Black Rebellion (ブラックリベリオン, Burakku Riberion), headed by Zero’s Black Knights, Area 11 has been demoted by the Emperor of Britannia to the rank of a Remedial Area territory. This has resulted in the Empire enforcing harsher rulings and punishments on Area 11 and beginning a thorough crackdown on the Black Knights, arresting several of its members and shutting down its operations. The Empire is also at serious tensions with two of the other major world superpowers, the EEU, that has been fighting a lengthy war against it, and the Chinese Federation, which itself seeks to conquer Area 11 without fighting a war.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: This is a definitely on my Anime Watch List. I aboslutely adored the first season because of the action-packed scenes, deep plot-line and especially Lelouch because of his resemblance yet unlikeliness to Yagami Light. The ending of the first season was just too sudden and unexpected, however, the second season will take off from one year later. Looks like all our favourite characters are still alive! I’ve spoiled myself with everything I could find on CODE GEASS R2, but since I have a very tight schedule, darkangelr2 will be blogging this in place of me. I’ll post up my thoughts though because I think they’re important to read.

• Crystal Blaze (Anime)

• Summary:

S&A Detective Agency is a jack-of-all-trades in Lags Town placed on the outskirts of Diver City. Shu used to be a hot-shot police detective and fought for justice. He stood up against state authority but lost everything he had as a consequence and drifted into this town. Now he lives an easy life with his right-hand man (Akira), two assistants (Manami and Ayaka) but feels empty inside.One day, an incident leads Shu to come across the mysterious heroine, Sara, who has no memory of her past. The unprecedented truth is about to be revealed as he investigates the incident, and it will provoke a crisis involving the entire Diver City…

Can Shu and his buddies protect what they cherish?
And what is the future of Diver City…?

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: This anime sounds pretty interesting and I’ll blog the first few episodes, but, if this anime rubs me the wrong way, then I have every reason to drop it. I’m not fond of the animation but the action looks awesome plus the Sara chick looks like some gangstah, and I’ll watch any anime where the chick kicks butt. So I’m giving this one a go even though I don’t have high expectations for it.

Ice: I really don’t know what to think of this anime. The animation and character design are decent to very good in my personal opinion but the plot is so vague. I think the anime is going to be some sort of detective story in which the detective will encounter some supernatural and don’t want to believe it at first. Even though it’s still pretty vague of what to expect of this anime, I’m going to watch it…

• Deadman Wonderland (Anime, Manga)

• Summary:

Ten years have passed since the ‘Great Tokyo Earthquake’, a massive natural distaster that sank over 70 percent of Tokyo into the ocean. Ganta Igarashi is an unassuming 14-year old middle school student in Nagano Prefecture. Ganta is an ‘escapee’, a Tokyo survivor of the earthquake, but he has no memories of the disaster and simply wishes to play soccer and live a normal life. All that changes one day when a mysterious man covered in blood appears outside his classroom window. The ‘Red Man’ slaughters Ganta’s classmates, but strangly leaves him alive after imbedding a crimson crystal in his chest. Ganta’s life goes from bad to worse when he is blamed for the grisly murders and sentenced to life imprisonment in ‘Deadman Wonderland’.

Deadman Wonderland is Japan’s only publically operated prison, build after the earthquake as a tourist attraction to help revive Tokyo. The prisoners serve as staff and ‘entertainment’ for visitors. Due to the heinous nature of Ganta’s crime, he is give DW’s ‘death sentence’. A metal collar around his neck slowly injects poison into his body. The only way to delay his ‘execution’ is by consuming a special candy-like antidote every three days. Shortly after arriving at the prison, Ganga meets a mysterious girl named Shiro, who seems to know Ganta from the past. He also befriends a prisoner named Yoh (pronounced Yo, as in yo-yo), a kleptomaniac with a talent for locating things.

Continuing to profess his innocence, Ganta becomes obsessed with finding the ‘Red Man’, who may be somewhere within the prison, and clearing his name. In the course of his search, Ganta begins to develop a strange ability to control his blood. He soon discovers a secret level below the prison that contains DW’s ‘Deadmen’. These deadmen, like Ganta, can control their blood and use it as a weapon. Ganta is forced to participate in secret gladiatorial deathmatches against other deadmen, in which anonymous people pay large sums of money to watch. The winner receives a large sum of prison credits (cost points) and a piece of antidote candy. The loser, if they survive the match, has a part of their body, selected by a macabre roulette game, removed for research.

• Shorter Summary:

Ganta Igarashi has been convicted of a crime that he hasn’t committed, and was sent to a new privately owned and operated prison, where the inmates are the main attraction in a modern day twist to the gladiatorial coliseums of ancient times. Throw in a healthy dose of weird little girl, some new-found super powers, and a little conspiracy theory, and you have Deadman Wonderland.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: I’m already blogging the manga and I’m definitely continuing it. I just love the quirkiness the chapters deliver each time they’re released from SnoopyCool and oh, the graphics and pictures are just brilliant. Everything is so wild and twisted that every bit of detail will have you yearning to know more! I know, for sure, that this manga is definitely going to be animated in the future, therefore have noted that it’s an anime. Because once this does become an anime, I’ll be the first one blogging it! Even if it means watching RAW.

• To Love-Ru (Anime)

• Summary:

The story is about Yuuki Rito, a high-school boy who cannot confess to the girl of his dreams, Sairenji Haruna. One day when coming home and sulking in the bath-tub a mysterious, nude girl, appears out of nowhere. Her name is Lala and she comes from the planet Deviluke, where she is the heir to the throne. Her father wants her to return to her home planet so she can marry one of the husband candidates, but she decides that she wants to marry Rito in order to stay on Earth.

• Prince of Tennis (Live Action Movie)

• Summary:

Echizen Ryoma is tested to prove himself as Seigaku’s pillar of support when he and the rest of the Seigaku Tennis Club face Hyotei Gakuen on the courts. However, Hyotei has a surprise player up their sleeve: a violent player named Egate Mcleod Higaki.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: I know the movie was out ages ago, but I’ve never had the time to watch this movie, and morfx wanted to blog this anyway. I’ve seen the anime up to episode 100 but stopped because, well, I guess, I got tired of it. I can’t stand anime that go on forever, particularly if it’s a sport one. I can withstand ones like Naruto and Bleach because the story-line is much thicker compared to wanting to win, winning again, losing, winning, running away themes. I also stopped watching the anime because the girl with plaits was getting on my nerves and her friend with that squeaky voice of hers. The live-action movie looks very cosplayic (that’s not even a word >_>) but what the heck, I might as well watch this for a tease.

• RD Sennou Chousashitsu (Anime)

• Summary:

2061 AD. Fifty years have passed since mankind developed the Network society. It was anticipated that this new infrastructure would realize a utopia where people connected with each other at the level of consciousness. However, new social problems such as personal data leaks and proliferation of manipulated information began to surface. Nevertheless, people still relied on the Network to exchange information, and proved unable to opt to abandon it.

In due course, a new Network realm with more effective security measures was developed. This was called Meta Real Network, usually abbreviated as “the Metal.”

The Metal accommodated personal memory data within protected virtual stand-alone organic cyber enclaves called bubble shells and eventually pervaded the everyday lives of people.

However, people gradually learned to release and explode their instincts within the secure environment of the Metal. The unleashed instincts pushed each individual’s consciousness to drown in the sea of information and to be exposed to the pressures of desire. Meanwhile, norms and regulations continued to bind their real world lives. Thus, strange friction between the two worlds began to manifest themselves as aberrations beyond the bounds of the imaginable.
Experts who challenged the deep sea of the Metal to investigate and decipher such aberrations were called cyber divers.

This is a story of a cyber diver, Masamichi Haru, who investigates the incidents that lie between Reality and the Metal.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: Nope, this anime doesn’t sound really interesting to me but I enjoy sci-fic anime so I’ll give it a go. I also watched the preview and the animation isn’t that bad. I’m hoping that there’s going to be a lot of fighting or a huge plot twist no one was expecting to come. Other than that, I don’t need to see more.

• PERSONA -trinity soul- (Anime)

• Summary:

The stage is Ayanagi City, a city near the Japan Sea. It is a futuristic city that was built to carry out the recovery from the calamity caused by the “Apathy Syndrome” ten years previous. High school student Shin Kanzato with his little brother Jun, meet with their elder brother Ryō, who is the chief of the Ayanagi City Police, again after ten years. At that time, a series of strange incidents happen in Ayanagi City such as the crew of a submarine that suddenly disappears while in their submarine, or a spiritless symptom which disturbs the world after ten years, or the case of the inside out corpse where a student took on a cruel appearance. Ryō tracks down the organization behind the string of incidents, and having become involved in the incidents, Shin awakens the “Persona”.

• Vampire Knight (Anime)

• Summary:

Yuki’s earliest memory is of a stormy night in winter, wherein she was attacked by a vampire… And then rescued by another. Now 10 years later, Yuki Cross, the adapted daughter of the headmaster of Cross Academy, has grown up and become a guardian of the vampire race, protecting her savior, Kaname, from discovery as he leads a group of vampires at the elite boarding school. But also at her side is Zero Kiryu, a childhood friend who’s hatred for the creatures that destroyed everything he held dear, is now determined never to trust them. This coexisting arrangement seems all well and good, but have the vampires truly renounced their murderous ways, or is there a darker truth behind their actions. Is Kaname’s infatuation with Yuki the beginning of a forbidden romance, or is it something in her forgotten past that draws him to her. Because in this world of secrets, nothing is as it seems. And the price of misplaced trust may even be worse than death.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: I’m not going to bother with this anime, not because I don’t like the sound of it or the manga version of it, but because I think it’s rather typical and reminds me too much of a novel called Twilight. But to be more honest, I can’t be bothered watching this series even though I love the character Zero (any guy with white anime-ish hair strikess me! ><”) If the first episode that I read sounds good enough, I’ll get rid of that negative feeling of it being too predictable and watch it. But I’ve got better anime to watch and better manga to read right now.

• Soul Eater (Anime)

• Summary:

The story takes place at the Shinigami Weaponry Vocational School, a school for creating Death Scythes for Gods of Death. The human and demon students seek the seeds of the souls of 99 humans and the soul of one witch, all of which are needed to turn just one of the demon students into a Death Scythe. One of the human students, Maka Alban, is paired with Soul Eater, a boyish demon whose true form is a scythe, as they collect the needed souls to transform Soul Eater.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: At first I wasn’t sure if I should watch this series since it sounded like another copy of D.Gray-man, just like Nabari no Ou sounded like another copy of Naruto. Anyway, after watching the trailer off YouTube, I was … astonished. I can’t believe how good it is and the only turn-off for me was Soul’s voice. It was too manly when he looks just like a kid, but other than that, the others had awesome voices. According to ANN this series might run for 13 episodes, but the producers are saying 50+. All I’m hoping is that it doesn’t drag on for 200+ episodes, and then again, I can’t see this anime with this sort of plot-line only going for 13 episodes. I suppose 52-56 episodes would be enough to finish it. I sense a lot of friendship developing themes and maybe there’s some romance in it too. I am definitely blogging this series and hopefully I won’t be disappointed. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can watch this RAW like I do in true tears, so I’ll have to wait until the subs are out.

Ice: What I feared when I first saw some pictures of Soul Eater has come true in the trailer. Especially the design of the main characters is too childish in my opinion. I don’t like these kind of designs as they always make me feel like I’m watching some sort of American cartoon. Besides the somewhat childish animation, the animation of the battle in the trailer looks smooth and very spectacular. Some other positive remarks are the general plot which is kinda interesting (reminds me of D.Gray-man in some weird way…) and the general idea of having a weapon meister and a human weapon. Due to this special relationships that the characters share (that some have to transform in some weapon while others have to wield their fellow fighters), I hope that besides the fighting there will be some place for conflicts between characters and character development like some characters who refuse to cooperate with others etc. Even though it’s not really my taste (character design-wise), I’m going to try to neglect the designs and give this anime a fair try.

• Blade of Immortal

• Bleach (Anime)

• Summary:

15 year old Kurosaki Ichigo is not your everyday high school student. He has from as far he can remember always had the ability to see ghosts and spirits. A fateful day arrives as Ichigo encounters the shinigami Kuchiki Rukia, who saves him and his family from a Hollow at the cost of injuring herself. During this encounter, with Rukia unable to defeat the hollow she transfers her shinigami powers into Ichigo. In the aftermath, unable to continue with her job, Rukia allows Ichigo to take on the role of a shinigami in her place as they together defeat the Hollows plaguing Ichigo’s town. Based on the manga by Tite Kubo.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: I will never ever blog this anime or manga unless vpatrickd is too busy to do so. I believe Naruto is and will always be better than Bleach, but that being said, I’m probably the one cursed in denial. Bleach is too draggy and filler-ish for its own good while the manga just keeps droning on. Even though I love all the characters, mostly Toushiro, I can’t stand to watch this series any longer. And the manga just keeps getting boring. Seriously, if this anime had ended after they saved Rukia, then maybe I would’ve considered this better than Naruto. But no, Aizen had to be evil and Tite just had to throw in this huge awesome twist.

Vpatrickd: I agree with Blissmo.. Naruto is better than Bleach. However, Bleach is not that far behind. IMO it’s bad only because the good characters never die (you can see that in Naruto, Kishi-sensei lets his good characters die, but Kubo-sensei doesn’t). This somehow ruins the ‘expectations’ and twisted the storyline until it’s ‘unclear’ (just how many times Kurosaki Ichigo avoided death?). Yes, the Soul Society arc was without question fantastic. But since the start of Hueco Mundo arc, its ‘fantastic’ aspect disappears overtime. But anyway, Bleach is still fun to read/watch because of its violent fights (^_^), and it’s definitely fun to blog about.

• Amatsuki (Anime)

• Summary:

The high schooler Tokidoki failed in history and now is forced to visit a virtual reality of old Tokyo to do some serious studying. Unexpectedly he is attacked by a monster and loses his left eye. Then he discovers that he cannot leave the simulation anymore…

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: I’m not excited about this series, but midnightrose said she’ll be blogging this, however, it’ll be one day late. I’ll add my thoughts on it though!

• Monochrome Factor (Anime)

• Summary:

Akira Nikaido is a typical slacker high school student who thinks he has a normal life–until a mysterious man called Shirogane appears and tells him to meet him at the school that night. He is skeptical but goes anyway…and gets attacked by a shadow monster! Shirogane convinces him that the balance between the human world and the shadow world has been distorted, and that Akira must become a shin–a creature of the shadow world–in order to help restore the balance.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: One word–Bleach.

• Kurogane no Line Barrel (Anime)

• Summary:

The story centers on a middle school boy named Kōichi Hayase who was seriously injured by an apparent accident: the fall of an artificial satellite in 2013. Hayase wakes up half a year later with strange powers. Then, in 2016, a mysterious 21-meter-tall robot named Linebarrel appears before him. Hayase joins Linebarrel’s other pilot, Emi Kizaki, in fighting for Juda, the world’s largest medical equipment maker which happens to secretly own seven Machina robots like Linebarrel.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: I’m currently blogging the manga and will continue to do so even though the main protagonist is one evil bastard that pisses me off. Even though he’s somewhat like Yagami Light from DEATH NOTE, Koichi is something worse, mainly because of his looks and his no sense of justice. But because Koichi was designed for us to hate him (I think–well, that’s the impression I’m getting from the mangaka), it’s interesting to read. Plus, I enjoy mecha fighting, especially in Code Geass. Also, I want to see Koichi die for I have a feeling that he will. I hope it’s one hell of a painful death, otherwise I’ll slap myself. So far, only two scanlated chapters have come out and even though this paragraph may not sound as enthusiastic as it should be, this is one of my favourite manga yet.

• L Change the World (Live Action Movie)

• Summary:

Ken’ichi Matsuyama reprises his role as L Lawliet from the previous Death Note films. The film chronicles the final 23 days of L’s life, and follows L as he solves one final case. Change The World does not continue or expand the plot line established and concluded in the first two movies. Instead, L is the protagonist of this film. Shunji Fujimura also reprises his role as Watari, but, having died in The Last Name, he is killed off early in this film. Despite being depicted on the promotional poster, Misa Amane and the Death God Ryuk have very brief cameos in the film, appearing on screen for less than thirty seconds each. A video still of Light Yagami is also used in the film.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: DUH I’M WATCHING THIS! But I won’t be the one blogging it. I just lo-ved the first two movies and the anime. Seriously, I can’t wait for this to come out and will do whatever it takes to get my hands on the first subbed release. There’s no point in watching the RAW since I won’t understand jack. Even though this movie has nothing to do with the anime or Yagami Light, I’m still excited because, hey, who doesn’t want to see more of Ken’ichi as L?!

• The Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of URUK (Anime)

• Summary:

It is said that every few years, there is what’s known as the “Summer of Anu.” During that summer, thanks to the divine protection of the sky-god Anu, all of the demons in the tower lose their power. The country of Uruk has begun an invasion of the tower in order to suppress the demons. They’ve built up positions inside the tower, with their sights set on getting to the upper levels. The Uruk army knows that this is the third Summer of Anu-a perfect time to launch a mission to suppress the monster Druaga once and for all. The army soldiers aren’t the only ones in the tower, though. An enitre city called Meskia has formed inside the tower’s first floor. It plays host not just to soldiers, but also to adventurers who have heard rumors about a legendary treasure called the Blue Crystal Rod, which is said to rest at the very top of the tower. With all these different groups in the mix, each with its own agenda, one can only guess how things will play out during this unusual summer.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: After watching the second promo for this anime, I really regret for not choosing to blog this before Icelo did, but oh wells, I hope he does a nice job on it. The animation looks really awesome and the characters have nice designs. I’m expecting heaps of action and a little bit of romance as suggested in the preview XD I really can’t wait for this anime to come out, and it’s probably second to Code Geass R2 on my What I Must Watch list. And I think I’m going to go all fangirl over the hot guy with the arrow, lols. All the girls look so pretty and hot and the guys look cool~~ *drools*

Ice: While the first preview of the Tower of Druaga left me with more mysteries than the little summary did, the second preview already introduced some of the main characters and some small but nice fighting scenes. The quality of the animation is superb and the character designs are unique, very detailed and rather refreshing. I really hope that Gonzo will continue to produce the anime with the same quality as they did with the two previews. Especially one character keeps popping up in my head and that’s the blond haired woman with what I suspect is a fire shooting broom xD. Tower of Druaga promises to be a very interesting anime to watch! To conclude: I can’t wait to blog the first episode which airs on 4 April…

Geektress: I’m not much for anime that deals with kings and warriors. I much prefer anime that is set in a modern era. At the moment, I don’t think I`ll be too much into this anime, but I`ll give it a look when the first episode comes out. Maybe I`ll be proven wrong. Either way, with a storyline that is distinct in this time of cutter cookie anime, it may prove a hit.

• Natsume Yuujin Chou (Anime)

• Summary:

The story revolves around Natsume, a boy who has been able to see ghosts since he was little. Unfortunately, humans shun him, and there is not much fondness between him and ghosts either. One day, he inherits a Yūjin-Chō (”Book of Friends”) from his grandmother. The book is actually full of contracts that his grandmother made to trap ghosts. As one ghost after another shows up, Natsume tries to release or help them — even while many of them seek vengeance on him.

• Nabari no Ou (Anime)

• Summary:

Rokujou Miharu is a boy who has a hijustu (hidden technique) living inside of him. This hijustu is the power of creation. Many ninja clans are seeking it as the one who posesses it becomes the ruler of the ninja world. Rokujou’s classmate Kouichi started a nindou (”Way of the Ninja”) club at school with Kumohira, his English teacher. Both Kouichi and Kumohira are secretly ninjas. They tried to persuade Rokujou to join the ninjustu club. At first, he was reluctant, but after being attacked by group of ninjas trying to get his hijutsu, he joins. He must become the Ruler of Nabari in order to survive.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: The animation looks great and I love shounen anime so this is a definitely watch and blog for me. I’ve already scanned through chapters 1-3 so far, and it’s proving really great. There’s not much killings as seen in Deadman Wonderland, but even so, I enjoy looking at the pictures and the funny facial expressions that the characters make. The “evil” character is yet to be introduced, but I’m pretty sure the girl who’s sealed in Miharu is bad too. Ah, she’s really evil and scary too. This anime will probably be better than Naruto, no doubt, unless they drag it or add fillers. Hopefully not. The manga is really good but I haven’t been able to find chapter 4.

Ice: When I first read the summary of Nabari no Ou, I was afraid that it was going to be Naruto all over again however this time set in the current time. But after watching the preview, I’m a little bit relieved that it’s not. The animation is clean and very smooth, the small fighting scene was superb and in my eyes already demonstrated that the battles in Nabari no Ou are going to be more interesting than Naruto. I only hope two things for this anime. First that they aren’t going to bleed it to death like Naruto and just keep the anime rather short (24 episodes?) but very entertaining… So quality before quantity. And second that it’s not going to be trapped in the shadow of Naruto and become its little modern brother but that it evolves in something far different and much better than Naruto… In any case it’s an anime to follow!

Geektress: The animation and character design are superb. Honestly, that is one of the originating factors in what helps me to determine if I want to watch an anime or not. I like how it’s set in the modern day, rather than in a universe like Naruto. It’ll be interesting to see how this anime will pan out in regards to the manga, and well as the reception it will have with the public.

• Toshokan Sensou (Anime)

• Summary:

Based on the light novel series by Hiro Arikawa, Illustrations by Sakumo Tokadan, and published by Dengeki Bunko

It is 2019, and the crime-riddled society suffers under a strongly implemented Media Ryoukahou (Media Enhancement Law? something like Martial Law). Unbeknownst to the powerful Media Enhancement Law Commission, the Library has been secretly arming itself …

# The objective of the “Media Ryoukahou メディア良化法” is to make the society “be free of any discrimination and be politically correct” by oppressing the freedom of speech and writing.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: I’m only going to watch this because I love books, it reminds me of Full Metal Alchemist and because usagijen seems to be really enjoying it. Since she loves Noe and hates KoichixMao, I’m counting on her word for it!

• Naruto Shippuuden (Anime, Manga, Movie)

• Summary:

Naruto Shipuuden is the continuation of the original animated TV series Naruto.The story revolves around an older and slightly more matured Uzumaki Naruto and his quest to save his friend Uchiha Sasuke from the grips of the snake-like Shinobi, Orochimaru. After 2 and a half years Naruto finally returns to his village of Konoha, and sets about putting his ambitions to work, though it will not be easy, as He has amassed a few (more dangerous) enemies, in the likes of the shinobi organization; Akatsuki.

• Summary for Movie 4:

Demons that once almost destroyed the world, are revived by someone. To prevent the world from being destroyed, the demon has to be sealed and the only one who can do it is the shrine maiden Shion from the country of demons, who has two powers; one is sealing demons and the other is predicting the deaths of humans. This time Naruto’s mission is to guard Shion, but she predicts Naruto’s death. The only way to escape it, is to get away from Shion, which would leave her unguarded, then the demon, whose only goal is to kill Shion will do so, thus meaning the end of the world. Naruto decides to challenge this “prediction of death”, but fails to prove Shion’s prediction wrong and supposedly dies in vain.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: Since I’m going to be really busy with all the new anime I plan on blogging, I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up with Naruto Shippuuden, or the manga either for that matter. However, I’ll continue posting up my stupid predictions for people to read. Anyway, I’m mostly anticipating the 4th movie which will come out sometime in August and damn it for being released in Japan last year. I can’t remember but I think I heard negative comments on it. Even so, I’ll watch it because Naruto was the anime that brought me into this world. The anime seems to slowly be picking up its normal pace with the manga so we all should expect some superb and breath-taking action soon!

• Kurosagi (Live Action Movie)

• Summary:

Kurosaki is a young man whose family was destroyed by swindlers. Despite that, Kurosaki grows up to become a con artist known as Kurosagi. As Kurosagi, he swindles other con artists and returns the money to the original victim. He works with the master swindler Katsuragi Toshio even though Toshio had a hand in the destruction of Kurosaki’s family. Kurosaki’s life begins to change when he meets Yoshikawa Tsurara, a young law student who disapproves of his disrespect of the law. Can she persuade Kurosaki to give up swindling and his quest for revenge?

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: After watching episode 5, I gave up on the drama long ago and when I heard that a movie was coming out, my first reaction was: “What’s a Kurosagi?” Even though it stars Yamapi, I couldn’t stand it because the episodes and “problems” kept repeating itself over and over again. I scanned through the last episode though (I always do) and I did happen to get hooked for a while, but the moment that chick that also stars in Hana Kimi and plays the role of the girl pretending to be a guy, got on-screen, I walked off. I can’t stand her since she’s in like … everything! But that’s like Brad Pitt being in nearly every awesome movie. Still … but then, I got used to her after a while and managed to finish the last episode entirely. Oh and the girl with the big ears ticked me off too. Those ears …

• Special A (Anime)

• Summary:

Hikari Hanazono has always been second to Kei Takishima. When they were six years old, their pro-wrestling loving fathers introduced them to each other. Assuming that she was the best in wrestling, young Hikari challenged Kei to a wrestling match only to be thoroughly defeated by him.

Ever since that fateful incident, Hikari swore to beat Kei in school grades, a sporting event – anything. To do this, she has enrolled in the same school as Kei since elementary. Now she attends Hakusenkan, an ultra elite school, that costs her carpenter father a lot of money. Hikari and Kei are the top two students in the school, with Kei holding firmly to that number one position. While Hikari considers Kei to be a rival and important friend, she is completely unaware that Kei loves her.

The story primarily focuses on Hikari and her constant attempts to defeat her one and only rival, Kei, and how she finds love in their rivalry.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: I haven’t seen the trailer yet, well, a little bit about it, but I ‘m going to watch this since it sounds really interesting. I’m not into this type, but I’ll give it a go anyway since Hinano made it sound good.

• Allison to Lilia (Anime)

• Summary:

Airing on the 3rd of April, Allison to Lilia is about the adventures of an air force pilot known as Allison and her childhood friend Will. The time of this anime is set in the 1930s of our world being separated into two different areas by an enormous mountain range and an elongated river. These two cultures have been challenging each other in many wars for hundreds of years. Will has a special ability to remember everything he sees including even the smallest of detail. Allison and Will put themselves into a wild chase after a group of kidnappers, robbing a plane to take them across this river. Luckily, they are able to speak both languages … but how will that affect what lies ahead?

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: This anime doesn’t sound interesting enough for me to watch or blog, but that was the same reaction I received after watching the true tears promo, and now I absolutely love it. So I think I’ll give this anime a few episodes before finally deciding if it’s worth it or not. The pictures don’t seem that great either but Allison and Will look really cute together. While he’s the sort of “dorky” one, she’s half tsundere.

• Kure-nai (Anime)

• Summary:

Based on a series of light novels, Kure-nai is about the adventures and misadventures of 16-year-old Shintaro Kurenai. Shintaro is an authority in settling disputes between people, and is one day approached by Murasaki Kuhouin, the daughter of a powerful plutocratic family, asking him to be her bodyguard.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: I really enjoyed watching Aishiteru ze Baby and this anime reminds me of it, so I’m going to give it a go. That and also because the animation looks excellent and it involves detective things. I’m not 100% that I’ll be blogging it all, but I’m going to see if I have enough time, so yeah.

• Kaiba (Anime)

• Summary:

The official Japanese website for Madhouse’s Kaiba “science-fiction love suspense” anime has posted a 25-second promotional video. The television series is the latest surreal work from Masaaki Yuasa, the avant-garde co-creator of Cat Soup and director of Mind Game. The video includes some animation clips, the opening theme “Never” by Seira, and a short message from the three main voice castmembers (Mamiko Noto as Neiro, Houko Kuwashima as Kaiba, and Romi Paku as Popo) urging people to watch. A separate three-minute video has the cast and Yuasa commenting on the project.

• Thoughts:

Blissmo: I’m going to blog the first episode to see how it is, but more than that is a no-no.

• JMusic

• Well, I hope you enjoyed that! Please leave us a comment with what you thought of it and if there’s any anime out there that we haven’t mentioned that you think sounds good, please tell us! Also, I’ll be posting the vintage for each of them later on, but now I need to sleep, so yeah. Like THAT Anime Blog, I’ve given each writer a different colour since there seems to be a lot of us lately. You’ll see … once they add their thoughts … you’ll see …

NOTE! THE LIST IS STILL INCOMPLETE! MORE J-DRAMAS, MOVIES, MANGA AND ANIME EXPECTED TO BE SEEN ON THIS LIST SOON! DETAILS ON OTHERS WILL BE ADDED BY TOMORROW! IF YOU WISH TO KNOW WHO’S BLOGGING WHAT, CLICK HERE!

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