THE SECOND LAST PARAGRAPH CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS!

“Though having never once in her life seen her father, Hyun-soo has never felt his absence, as there is a perfect mother for her. Her mother is also a renowned plastic surgeon, so she is never lonely, surrounded by girls who want beauty consultations from her mother. But her happiness comes to an end as her friends who have received facial surgery from her mother start to commit mysterious suicides by cutting out their faces. She also starts to feel that there is someone else in the house where she lives alone with her mother. One day, she discovers a hidden basement and there, she comes to find a secret from her past, which will bring great turmoil to mother and daughter.”

I watched this movie ages ago when I was still a wimpy girl, so you imagine me being freaked out by all the amount of blood, which is really and totally not cool. Anyway, unlike Chakushin Ari where the movie reached the point of explaining all this crap about the ghost’s past and its purpose of haunting and killing people, etc, Cinderella actually shows you what happened to the spirit, and gives a brief explanation of its ill intentions of harming others so that you don’t have to bore yourself to death reading subtitles. It’s an epic horror film directed by Bong Man Dae, whoever the hell that is, in the year 2006.

WARNING! THE ENDING IS SPOILED IN THIS PARAGRAPH!

Unlike any other horror film I’ve seen, like the Taiwanese version of Shutter, Cinderella was full-on both thrilling and disgusting. In addition to that, there was also a huge twist to the plot, a spice of confusion and from start to about near the end, everything just continued to get heaps better. Amazingly, the film held great suspense throughout, provoking the audience’s interest with the repetitive line said by the ghost to all the chicks who had plastic surgery: “I can make you pretty …” The one thing that disappointed me, however, was the typical ending of the mother sacrificing her own life in order to save her daughter, and disappear forever with the grudging spirit, who is in fact just a lost and baffled girl.

>> START OF MAJOR SPOILERS!!! <<

Watching this movie may give you a nightmare, but now that I reflect on it, the show is quite interesting overall. My favourite part would be when Hyun-soo, the main character, sees her two friends using a pallet knife in the art room to “fix” each others’ faces as if they were a plastic surgeon. My second favourite part is when one of Hyun-soo’s friend looks into the mirror, sees that it’s not “herself”, and smashing the glass and taking a piece into her hands, she tries to take out all the skin on her face, but only manages to get half of it off. And since I just love to spoil people, Hyun-soo’s face doesn’t belong to her — it belongs to the angry ghost who is out seeking revenge against her, targeting Hyun-soo’s friends whose faces all underwent plastic surgery given by the mother.

Apparently when Hyun-soo was young, she was locked in the car when the mother paid a visit to her husband, only to witness him cheating on her with another woman. Just as the mother returns to the vehicle, it blows up and Hyun-soo’s face is screwed for life. Suffering major depression and anxiety, the mother stumbles across a lost child and takes her in. For a while, the mother takes care of the kid until she decides to take the orphan’s face and place it on her real daughter’s instead. The orphan grew up and so did Hyun-soo. The mother locked the orphan into a room inside the basement where she was never allowed to go outside. On Hyun-soo’s birthday, the orphan wanted to come out and celebrate but the mother scolded her and forced her to remain inside her own room. Later that night when everyone was asleep, the mother came to the orphan with a birthday cake for her, but discovered a hanging corpse.

>>  ZE END OF MAJOR SPOILERS!!! <<

Of course, I recommend everyone to watch this because it was just so purely awesome; a great masterpiece with a plot-twist and disgusting scenes. The blood looks terribly realistic and the actresses all play their part extremely well. It’s probably not one of the scariest shit I’ve ever laid eyes on, but it will give you a fright, unless you’re like my friend who just giggled throughout the entire film. He did admit that he got scared towards the end, though. This is a magnificent horror film that will turn you into a crazy, murderous killer like me. The tale is quite sad, even though it contains so much blood. To me, it’s really originial and a well-planned out movie.

SEAMO! :3

I watched xxxHolic Kei for the heck of it and I actually really enjoyed it. Although the OP theme didn’t please me much (turthfully, I didn’t bother listening to it ‘cos I was more into just watching the episode), but I couldn’t help but listen to the ending since I heard this song last year. It became one of my favourite JPOP songs and SEAMO became one of my favourite JPOP artists. But what I couldn’t stand was why the ED theme for xxxHolic Kei was different to the one I had originally heard. No offence, but I think AYUSE KOZUE just completely ruined the song, so because I had time and wasn’t feeling very lazy as usual, I decided to upload the version I had first heard and fell in love with, and the link to the xxxHolic Kei ending was just taken randomly from a MegaUpload link I found through Google.

SEAMO’s real name is Naoki Takada and he is famous as a Japanese rapper and hip-hop artist. It was not until he did a duo with BENNIE K entitled “a love story” that people started recognizing his talent. Altogether he has 3 albums and 8 singles. His latest album is called Round About (2007), and if you really enjoyed listening to his song Honey Honey, then I’m sure you’ll love his other songs as well. In my opinion, second to that song would be Kiseki. I just love the piano in it. And call me lame for not liking the song featuring AYUSE KOZUE and tell me that I’m overreacting, but I just wanted to share the version I like.

• Title: xxxHolic Kei Ending Theme

Artist(s): SEAMO feat. AYUSE KOZUE

Host: MegaUpload*

File Size: 3.44MB

Download: Here

(*I hope you guys don’t mind much that I used MegaUpload for that link, I seriously hate MegaUpload)

• Title: Honey Honey

Artist(s): SEAMO (and I think AYUSE KOZUE, but she doesn’t sing much)

Single: DRIVE

Host: Mediafire

File Size: 6.42MB

Download: Here

And morfx reassured me that the download link won’t become undownloadable unless I delete it. I hope she’s right …

Utada Hikaru has returned after 2 long years with another album!

HEART STATION, Utada’s new album, was released on the 19th of March, 2008. This is her 5th Japanese album and for this album, she released 4 singles.

Track Listing:

1. Fight The Blues

2. Heart Station

3. Beautiful World

4. Flavor of Life -Ballad Version-

5. Stay Gold

6. Kiss & Cry

7. Gentle Beast – Interlude-

8. Celebrate

9. Prisoner of Love

10. Teiku 5 (Take 5)

11. Boku wa Kuma

12. Niji-iro Basu (Rainbow coloured Bus)

13. *Bonus Track* Flavor of Life

Midnightrose Review:

Track 1 – Fight The Blues: It has a constant beat in the background, and she sings out of time with the beats, which sounds really weird but cool. Her pronunciations in English are fluent, which makes me like it even more. It uses a blend of mystical and digital instruments. Her voice sound is strong and powerful, with plenty of emotion in it.

Track 2 – HEART STATION: Somewhat reminds me of ‘Passion’, an earlier single of hers, which was used in Kingdom Hearts 2. It has a nice, calming vibe to it, that makes me wanna sleep. It was used in a commercial for Recochoku. It was the last single in this album to be released.

Track 3 – Beautiful World: One of my favourite Utada songs! Mystical, strange and magical! It was used as a theme song for the first anime (NO WAAAY!) installment movie of Rebuild of EVANGELION. Her vocals are emotional, but are a bit shaky in some parts, but other than that, I LOVE THIS SONG!

Track 4 – Flavor of Life -Ballad Version-: A very, very, very, very sad song. Used as an insert song for the second season of Hana Yori Dango Live Action Drama, it was used in every single episode. … I think. Utada displays raw emotion in this song, as she divorced with her husband shortly after this release. Her voice wavers, but after all, this song is SO SAD, that I nearly cry after hearing this song. The instruments are the ones used in the original orchestra, with plenty of strings.

Track 5 – Stay Gold: Released on the same single with HEART STATION. It was used in a shampoo ad (yes people, shampoo. The one you use on your head). It starts off with a gentle piano solo and breaks into a repeating beat. Utada’s voice is beautiful in this song, and her tone constantly changes. It can get a bit boring after a few repeats, but still a beautiful song.

Track 6 – Kiss & Cry: A jazzy kind of song. The verses are a bit odd, but the chorus is where she shines. The chorus is what I got really addicted to in this song and Utada’s voice is so wonderful in it. This song was used as an ad for Freedom Cup Noodles. Yes, people, NOODLES!

Track 7 – Gentle Beast -Interlude-: Well, as the title says, IT’S AN INTERLUDE! No singing (except for a few ‘ah’s and whispers. It sounds… mysterious. Like nearly everything on this album. And it automatically cuts straight into the next song.

Track 8 – Celebrate: An upbeat song, about (guess what?) CELEBRATING! She adds some English words here and there like ‘just enjoy the art of life’, ‘mr DJ’ and ’sexy lady’. I don’t know what that last word was for but ah well, it’s a fantastic song with a digital feel to it.

Track 9 – Prisoner of Love: My favourite new song that’s on this album. It will be a tie-in for an upcoming drama called ‘Last Friends’ which will be released on the 10th of April this year. Her voice is so powerful and emotional in this song, with the feeling of asking for someone to stay with her. I’m not professional in Japanese, so I have no idea what she’s saying. And the way she says the line in the chorus ‘I’m just a prisoner of love, just a prisoner of love,’ is so strong to my ears. The ending where she repeats ‘Stay with me’ sounds so sad, I just wanna cry. But that would ruin my reputation.

Track 10 – Take 5: One word: WOW! The intro kinda scared me a bit cause it sounded so… spacey. Utada’s voice is so weird, distorted maybe, but it fits in with the song. The vibe of it sounds strange. It’s my least favourite song off the album.

Track 11 – Boku wa Kuma: Just to warn you: THIS IS A KID’S SONG! When I first heard this, I was like ‘O.o” what the hell is going on?’ It’s a kid’s song and yes, if you love kid’s song, THIS IS FOR YOU! It’s cutesy-poo and adorable, with words that even I can sort of understand. She repeats the line ‘Boku wa Kuma’ which is in fact the song’s title. This song was used for a children’s TV show from October 2006 till January 2007.

Track 12 – Niji-iro Bus: An upbeat song. It sounds a bit like Boku wa Kuma but has a mature kind of tone to it. The song has a ‘poppy’ feel to it. I’m not really that into it.

Final Verdict: Utada has done a pretty nice job. I found even the song Boku wa Kuma awesome! Apart from Take 5 and Niji-iro Bus I found the album had a mystic vibe to it. It certainly showed another side of Utada Hikaru I’ve never heard before. The new digital feel to her song made a big impact to the album. My favourites were Prisoner of Love and Beautiful World which will probably be in my mind!

Rating: 9/10. I didn’t like Take 5 and Niji-iro Bus. Everything else was … WOW!

Brought to you by morfx.

GREEEEN is probably my favorite band. They make the greatest tracks and hit singles that never fail to amaze me. Also, they make nice MVs. It’s quite interesting how they have never yet shown their faces to the public – I wonder why – but it doesn’t really matter; their music rocks.

[2008.04.02]

Thoughts:

So THAT’S the reason why!! It’s quite strange that they aspire to be dentists…a very different thing happening there, but nonetheless, it just means they not only make great music, they’ll make great teeth!! [bad joke].

[2008.03.30]

Thoughts:

YAY! ROOKIES, a drama I’m looking forward to seeing, has my favorite band doing the theme song!!! So excited – can’t wait until I hear it. I DO hope they don’t disappoint me, the drama AND GReeeeN.

[2008.03.21]

Thoughts:

AWESOME. Another GReeeeN song to look forward to! BONUS – YUI!!

Thoughts:

I reckon YUI is full of great talent, and she’s so young as well! She has a great voice, even if she doesn’t do stuff like vibrato or whatits, she’s still great, and yeah…talented. She can sing AND act [TAIYOU NO UTA; amane kaoru].

[2008.04.03]

[2008.03.21]

Singer-songwriter YUI and pop group GReeeeN have been separately tapped to provide theme songs for Fuji TV’s “Mezamashi” programs, starting in April.

YUI’s currently untitled song will be used on “Mezamashi News,” which airs in the early morning Monday to Saturday. Meanwhile, GReeeeN’s “Chikyugo” will appear on “Mezamashi Saturday,” which airs on Saturday mornings.

Thoughts:

I’m not a great fan of ALL AT singles but they’ve been releasing stuff I like to hear recently, so they are on my radar. GO AT!

[2008.03.25]

Thoughts:

I’m excited to hear that there’s a new AT song coming out! They haven’t released anything recently, so I hope this is good!

Thoughts:

I’d have to say that Orange Range comes up with the strangest lyrics! – Or maybe I’m just not used to it – but that’s beside the point. I don’t understand what they’re singing half the time, but the music they create is awesome.

[2008.04.02]

Thoughts:

It’s only been a month or two after their latest single 「KIMI STATION」, but orange range always comes out with good stuff, so not complaining. J

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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