K

Title: K
Rating: 3.5 of 5

This was a rather interesting series.  This has a contemporary setting with a slight twist.  Many years ago, there was a discovery of an object that gave mystical power to people, who could then in turn grant powers to others.  These Kings (seven in total) each have their own color designation.  So far we have met the Silver King (oldest and most powerful), the Gold King (second in power), the Blue King (who serves as a police force), the Red King (who loosely leads a band of street thugs), and the Colorless King (who wants to take over the world).  The first few episodes where confusing (not providing the whole story) but eventually the episodes pieced together.  It was fun watching this series and it seems that they left enough open to continue with an entirely new story line.

Legend of Basara

Title: Legend of Basara
Rating: 3.5 of 5

This is a rather interesting series with quite a few twists and turns.  It takes place several hundred years in the future after the demise of civilization.  A pair of fraternal twins born in a small village, the brother Tatara being prophesied as the savior who will overthrow the evil emperor and unite Japan.  As the first twist of the plot, Tatara is killed by the Red King (the local ruler) and his sister Sarasa steps up and becomes Tatara.  There are a select few who know the truth but they are behind her and support her in the struggle against the corrupt empire.

Now for the real twist, the Red King and Sarasa meet and fall in love with each other not knowing their true identities.  After the first 13 episodes, they have both acknowledged their love of each other (marriage proposal) and silently, their vows to destroy each other.  They have just killed the Blue King (one of Red King's three older brothers).

Now as I was watching, there is no where in the prophesy that they can't join up to overthrow the emperor and unite Japan together...  Who knows?

Btooom!

Title: Btooom!
Rating: 3.5 of 5

Btooom! is another anime which involves people who are taken from their everyday lives and placed into a 'game' setting.  In this particular case, the people/players are brought into the game of Btooom!.  It is a first player shooter but instead of using projectile weapons, only BIMs or explosives are used.  The main character starts off with no recollection of how he got to the jungle but quickly learns from another player what happened in the plane that brought them all here and the rules of winning (get 8 crystals).  He needs to deal with having to kill other players in real life.

There are several different types of explosives (eight in total?) that have been displayed so far...
   Crackers, explosives that explode on contact
   Timers, explosives that explode when the timer reaches '00'
   Impoders, explosives that draw in from the surrounding area then forms an implosive circle.

In addition, each of the players is fitted with a crystal in the back of their hand which can act as a sonar locating players in the surrounding area.  Players that are hiding (not moving) will not be displayed.  Expert players, like the main character, can use their sonar ping to cancel the sonar from an enemy player.

What does BAKA mean?

The term BAKA is used in many anime series and I would assume that it's used in common every day Japanese as well (can some kind Japanese person confirm?).  It's a generic term for idiot, dummy, retard, fool, and generic dumb ass.

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

Title: Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo
Rating: 3 of 5 (rated R, some nudity)

This series centers on a normal high school boy who has decided to move into a dormitory reserved for special students.  Besides the dorm advisor, there are a few other students who live there.  The most active is  a published anime artist, another her accompanying script writer, and the last is a well paid contract computer programmer.  Adding to the mix is a world-renown artist, who doesn't know how to take care of herself.  There is a connection between the main character and the new artist and that's the story line so far.

Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne

Title: Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne
Rating: 4 of 5

This is a rather amusing series.  I've watched the first two episodes and so far we have the following cast of characters.  Akito and Akiko are twins who were separated for the past 6 years and have suddenly gotten back together in the same school.  Living with them in the school dorms is the president, vice-president, and treasurer of their class.  They all happen to be female and are all (including Akiko) romantically interested in Akito.  Maybe it's a cultural difference but some of the things that Akiko does are really funny and it just happens that each of the other interests have unique personalities.  Akiko is the average person in both looks and personality.  The president is a little mature for her age being a little taller and fuller than the others.  The vice-president is the prim and proper one with her blond-hair in two pony tails.  The treasurer is a long-standing friend from his last school who has silver hair and is riding near the caboose of the puberty train.

I can see a lot of fun and games as Akiko flirts with Akito and fights with the others for his interest....

New season of Anime

Looks like we're into the first few weeks of the new anime season.  Here's a bunch of new titles that I may be reviewing if they don't look too much like they are targetted to young girls.  If anyone has any preference in which these are viewed, please let me know and I'll try to accommodate.

Thanks!


Chousoku Henkei Gyrozetter
Aikatsu!
Medaka Box Abnormal
Robotics;Notes
Psycho-Pass
Girls und Panzer
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo
Teekyuu
Bakuman 3
Magi
Ixion Saga DT
Code:Breaker
Say I Love You
Little Busters!
Monsuno
Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Lite
Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (2012)
Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb
To LOVE-Ru Darkness
Busou Shinki
Btooom!
K
Zetsuen no Tempest

Kamisama Hajimemashita

Wooser no Sono Higurashi

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!

Hayate the Combat Butler! Can't Take My Eyes Off You

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun

Shinsekai yori

Code Geass: Boukoku no Akito

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!

Gokicha!! Cockroach Girl!

Mai no Mahou to Katei no Hi

Kyousougiga

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Finale

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (2012)

Title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (2012)
Rating: 2 of 5

I'm not sure if this is a re-make of a series but the setting is England in the late 19th century.  The main character is Joseph Joestar (JoJo) who starts off somewhere in his mid to late teens.  He was raised from a rather affluent family (estate, servants, etc...) while the main protagonist, Dio Brando, was raised in the mean back streets.  JoJo grew up spoiled with everything while Dio had to scratch and fight for everything he could keep.  As the first episode begins, Dio's father is dying (his mother already passed), and he is sent by his father to go live with the Joestar's due to an obligation.  As Dio arrives, he's already determined that he will make the Joestar estate his and become the richest man in the world.  He bullies JoJo and tries to break his spirit.  He almost succeeds except for a romantic interest which brings JoJo from the brink of collapse.  In an attempt to remove the interest, Dio steals a kiss (forcibly) from the interest which infuriates JoJo.  JoJo uses this to dig deep inside and defeats Dio in an altercation.  As Dio pulls a knife, it fight is stopped by JoJo's father before it can go any further.  This allows JoJo to regain some of his standing in his mind and starts his path to strengthen his inner self and become a true gentlemen.

While I did think that the episode was getting better as it went along and developed the story line and characters, I don't believe that this is the type of series for me.  If this is something that interests you, I would suggest watching the first few episodes (they are coming out currently) and see how things come along.

Term: Harem in Anime

HAREM:

For those who haven't seem many (or the right ones), there is a typical theme that goes through many of the different series.  Specially, there is a single male protagonist with many female supporting characters.  This is referred to as Harem when describing the anime.

I haven't seem it the other way but there very well may be some as well.  If you have seen any, let me know, I'd be interested in knowing if there are any series with a single female protagonist surrounded by many male characters.

.hack// Beyond the World

Title:  .hack//Beyond the World
Rating:  4 of 5

For those who haven't seen any of the .hack series of anime, it resolves around a virtual world (called THE WORLD), similar to World of Warcraft, and the internet in general.  I don't know if they are all made by the same director/authors (maybe someone who can read Japanese can let me know) but the ones that I have seen seem to have different feels, so I would guess that there are multiple authors and they use the this virtual world as a central point and go out from there.

This particular series centers around a young girl who due to her curiosity and some gentle pressure of her classmates, ventures into THE WORLD.  There is a rather comical introduction as she is walking around with a bunch of bubbles over her head which representing the graphical interface used by players (similar to a program's menu options).  As she's walking around, some players notice and ask her to get rid of the bubbles.  Her first attempt at removing the bubbles ends with her holding two bananas that she can't drop.  Out of embarrassment, she runs to a secluded location where she is met by a strange glowing woman, who gives her a glowing cube that fuses with her digital character.  This obviously plays an important part of the play but she quickly forgets (or neglects) to tell her classmates until later.  As with the other .hack series, there is an issue with the world which renders people who are in the world unconscious.  One of her classmates who has feelings for the main character is one of the unfortunate souls who is impacted, which gives her additional reason to move forward and search for a solution to the developing problem.

With the aid of an American special agent and her grandfather and friends, she has to deliver the glowing cube back to the woman to save the world.  I was actually engrosses by the movie (it was almost 2 hours long) and didn't realize the length until I took a look at the clock.  Ignoring the few grammatical errors in the subtitles, let me know if you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Ebiten: Kouritsu Ebisugawa Koukou Tenmonbu

Title: Ebiten: Kouritsu Ebisugawa Koukou Tenmonbu
Rating: 3 of 5

This is a rather amusing little series regarding several girls who are in an "Asstronomy" club.  A club where the just ass around (yes, I said ass around).  There are some scenes with some panty shots and some sexual themes but no direct nudity (I guess it's PG, not R-rated).  It's something to watch if you want a laugh and not want to think too terribly about things.

Enjoy!

Baldr Force EXE

Title: Baldr Force EXE
Rating: 4 of 5

I enjoyed watching this 4-part series and found that the storyline was a little overused but it was still fun to watch...

The story revolves around Toru a young teenage hacker is part of a small hacking team called Steppenwolf who travel the virtual world in mechanized robots causing mischief as fun.  As they are on their last hurrah, they are caught by FLAK (the cyber cops) and the leader of the team is killed by one of the FLAK officers.  Instead of facing jail time, Toru joins with FLAK to find the killer and avenge the death of his friend.  It's a rather wild ride as he's kidnapped by VSS, rescued by the Fei Dao, and he finds that he was part of a joint FLAK/VSS experiment when he was a child.  His sister was also part of the experiment and has since shed her mortal flesh and become a ghost in the machine.  Unbeknownst to everyone, his little sister has another personality where she absorbs data in the virtual world and kills the people in the real world (heads blowing up is rather comical).  Well, the end comes faster then desired and Toru is in a battle against his little sister to save the world.

Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden... AWESOME

Title: Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden
Rating:  6 out of 5

Let me start off by saying this is by far my overall favorite anime series and for those who haven't seen Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden, you are missing some great Anime. These are actually two different series centered around the same character.  The first series Naruto show the main character Uzumaki Naruto (Japanese have the family name first) as a child entering the Ninja Academy (similar to grade school) and the formation of their team (Team 7).  The team is made up of Naruto, two other students, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, and their team captain and teacher Hatake Kakashi, whose views don't necessarily follow the typical Ninja mentality.  According to the typical Ninja mentality, a ninja who fails his mission is worthless but in his eyes, one who abandons his team members is worse.  The series does well in developing each of the characters as well as the relationships between all the team members.  There are a ton of sites that describe each of the members in detail and the story line.  Just understand that there is a deep secret that everyone but Naruto knows, which impacted his life and has focused his determination to be accepted by everyone and become the Hokage - the #1 ninja and leader of Konoha (the Leaf Village).  The series takes a lot of twists and turns with some learning and growing for each of the young ninja as well as some betrayals and unexpected events.  The series ends with Naruto leaving the village under the guidance and protection of one of the greatest Leaf Ninjas, Jiraiya or as Naruto calls him, pervy sage.  The Naruto series was aired between October 3, 2002 and February 8, 2007 and is comprised of 220 episodes (that's 110 hours of viewing pleasure!!!).

The second series Naruto Shippuuden (shippuuden translates to hurricane chronicles) shows Naruto returning to the village a few years later and continues with his growth and education learning new ninja techniques.  The development and interaction of the characters continues well in this series.  As the characters are a few years older (late teens), the intended audience has also aged as well as some of the themes aren't geared for elementary school kids.  The second series has the death of some major characters and the changing of a crush love to a more mature love between several of the characters for example.  The episodes began airing on February 15, 2007 and are currently in production.  Right now, they are in Season 12 and it will be going on for a while longer.  As of today, episode 274 was released where we find everyone involved in the fourth Ninja War (a war involving all the Ninja nations).

FYI, these are all based on a manga (Japanese comic book) for those who would rather read than watch anime.  I would imagine that this may be one of the largest anime series.

If you have questions or would like additional information, please let me know and I'll see what I can do for you!

Thanks for reading... :)

What do Nosebleeds in Anime signify?

Often times you will see one of the characters (typically a male character) experience a nosebleed.  This phenomena is associated with sexual excitement.  I don't understand why the Japanese associate this with nosebleeds but there have been some that launch the character into the sky so hard that they disappear with the stereotypical vanishing *ding*.  This has been accepted into the common Anime.  So if you see this occur, you can expect that some undergarment or nudity preceding the event.

Saint Seiya Omega

Title:  Saint Seiya Omega
Rating:  3.5 of 5

Toss in an old school martial arts movie where the student's benefactor is kidnapped and mix in some Voltron, Pokemon, and you get this Anime.  I wasn't sure if I was going to like it but it's turned out fairly watchable.  You even get a little history lesson with ancient Greek gods and some information on constellations.  Basically, our young hero was born under the Saint's star and has been raised on an island trained to become a saint.  The island is attacked by the big bad boss man and his benefactor is kid napped.  So he sets out to become stronger and free his benefactor from the big bad evil dude.

It's a fun little Anime that you can watch if  you have the time...

The meaning of crows flying overhead... Aho, Aho!

As stated in my introduction, I am not Japanese and do not understand some simple references that are used commonly in Anime.  I once read as an author's note while I was watching an anime (don't remember which), when the animators have crows flying overhead saying 'Aho, aho,' it had a certain meaning.  I wasn't able to remember the meaning, so I had to look it up.  See the following explanation below taken from the following site... (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotCrows):

Idiot Crows

When a boke (silly or idiotic character) says something stupid or foolish, one or more crows may be seen flying past, crying "aho! aho!" or "ba-ka, ba-ka". Aho is Japanese for "idiot". It's also the kansai-ben equivalent to the all-purpose insult baka (one functional translation of aho is "dumbass"); kansai-ben is used by both the Boke and Tsukkomi Routine and The Idiot from Osaka.

Much more common in comedy series than serious dramatic anime, but sometimes found at lighter moments in serious series, too.

Ravens and Crows also have a more serious purpose in anime — as in Western mythology, crows are seen as heralds of death in Japanese folklore. The Idiot Crows are not usually meant to symbolize this darker meaning.

Not to be confused with, the idiocy of Crow T. Robot or a particular nuclear powered raven who is an idiot.

Also note that "aho" is a pun; it's also Japanese onomatopoeia for a crow's call, hence why it's used so often in comedic situations.

Hunter x Hunter

Title: Hunter x Hunter
Rating 5 of 5

This is a fun little series which centers around a young boy named Gon, who in the steps of his father, wants to become a hunter.  On his way to and during the test to become a hunter, he befriends several other aspiring hunters and their adventures begin.

Sword Art Online

Title:  Sword Art Online
Rating: 4 of 5

This series centers around the players in an online MMO (similar to WOW).  The players interface this world using a virtual reality helmet which intercepts the brain signals to the players actual body and sends them to through the helmet to the game.  On the opening day, the players began to realize there was no 'exit' option on the user interface.  Soon after, all the players were summoned to the city center and an announcement by the creator of the game was made.  He announced that they were all trapped in the game until someone beats the boss on the highest level of the tower.  A death in the game would mean death to the player in the real world, as would any attempt to disrupt the connection between the player and the VR helmet.  The main character of was one of the beta testers and has a slight advantage over the beginners.  At the end of the first episode, he leaves to go go greener pastures as his solitary nature emerges.

Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai.

Title: Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai.
Rating : 4 of 5 (some nudity and sexual content, not for kiddies)

This series centers around a high school student who has entered into a temporary contract with a young, breasty red-headed grim reaper.  The grim reaper has foretold of his pending demise and has promised to save him if he can help her find a superior soul from which she can gather strength.  The contract they have formed uses his perversion/horniness as the source of his energy and as a young, high-school male, this is almost limitless.

Campione!

Title: Campione!
Rating : 3.5 of 5

This is a new series centering around a young boy who was delivering a stone tablet for his grandfather but ended up using its hidden powers to kill an ancient god.  The heroine is a young, busty blonde who is a knight in the order of the Copper Black Cross.  She uses a sword and magic to battle for justice.

Divergence Eve

Title:  Divergence Eve
Rating 2 of 5 (some nudity)

The series is about a space station that serves as the gateway between Earth and space travel.  It creates wormholes to distant places in the universe.  But, there is an alien race (called Ghouls) which are attracted to the wormholes, which causes the friction for the series.

The series started okay building the story line throughout the 1st 10 or so episodes.  Using flashbacks at the beginning of each episode, during the establishment of the space station, there were attacks by the Ghouls which apparently altered the DNA of its human victims.  As scientists (of Alchemy) try to discover the purpose of these changes, they are shut down by the Alchemy management because it may be too dangerous.  So the scientists devise a secret plan to continue their research by infecting infants with the changed DNA.  The main character of the series is one of these experiments.

The last couple of episodes weren't very well done and the ending was anti-climatic.  Things jumped around and they added clones.  It seems like they had to suddenly wrap things up and end them before they were ready.  Only thing worth seeing are the scantily clad characters.

Hagure Yuusha no Estetica Episodes Online

Title: Hagure Yuusha no Estetica Episodes Online
Rating : 4 of 5 (some nudity, no kiddies)

The main character is a human teen who was summoned to another world where he was known as the Maverick Hero.  In that world, he gained fighting powers and defeated the local demon king.  As the demon king's dying request, be entrusted his daughter to the hero to protect.  So he takes the daughter back to his world where they are enrolled in Babel, the school where kids are taught to use their powers.  As part of the plot, there is some secret prophesy about the main character as the Supreme King.  As part of their first day at Babel, their fighting powers are tested.  The daughter (magician) smashes the teacher into the wall of the arena and is taken off to the infirmary.  The student body president who was hoping for an opportunity steps in a tests the hero.  As the hero and his 'sister' are walking off, the president announces that he wants the hero's power....

NarutoSD: Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden

Title:   NarutoSD: Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden
Rating: 4 of 5

This is a spin-off from the Naruto Shippuuden series, with Rock Lee and his team members as the main characters.  This is a purely comical series in nature and nothing like the original Naruto series.  It's a fun little series to watch but I know that there are some jokes that I just don't get not fully understanding Japanese culture and language.

Introduction

Let me start off by saying I am not Japanese and do not speak or read Japanese.  I only like to watch Anime.  I will be reviewing the ones that I watch and commenting on them.  If you have different opinions or if my comments/reviews help, please let me know.  Thanks!