In this episode we get to see the process of summoning and contracting a Celestial Spirit thank to Lucy, who summons a "spirit pet," a Nicolas variety (looks kinda like a cute little snowman) that she names Plue. After that, Natsu and Happy get Lucy to join them as part of their team within the guild, and they take on their first job.
 
The animation has remained consistant from the first episode, which is good-- it'll probably never go super high-caliber, but if it doesn't drop off to QUALITY! over time, that'll be very nice. I wonder how many episodes they're planning to do? The story follows the manga pretty closely so far, and this is our first two-part episode so far.

Vital Stats:

Title: Astro Boy
Studio: Imagi
Based On: Osamu Tezuka's classic manga

The Story

     
 
 

The Review

 Let me say from the get-go: I enjoyed the Astro Boy film. It had its faults, to be sure, but most of them were small or very, very understandable.
 
Now, the question is: will YOU like it? And to answer that, I'd have to ask what kind of Astro Boy fan are you. If you're more familiar with Naoki Urasawa's grown-up take on the concept, Pluto, or interested in Astro Boy from a more historical stance than anything else, then this film is probably going to be way too kiddie-oriented for you. I've seen plenty of critics complain that it's merely fluff, but I wonder if its historical significance, as it were, doesn't raise their expectations slightly.
 
One of the main themes of manga-- the difference between humans and robots, between programming free will and actual free will, and then between programmed emotions and human emotions --are all there, but it's with a light touch. This is at its core aimed at being a kids flick, to get kids into the Astro Boy franchise, not like Urasawa's mature, more in-depth take. Additionally, I think it's a bit unfair to expect the film to cover everything that Tezuka managed to cram into 16 years and 23 volumes of manga (or anything close to it) in a 90-minute pic. All in all, I thought it did a fair job of touching on these concepts for a children's movie.
 
Which is not to say that there aren't some missteps. Side character Cora is okay, but not terribly interesting (in fact, her resolution is downright boring), and the main villain-- a politician whose desperation to get re-elected is more belief-defying than the machine guns in Astro Boy's butt --is less interesting than Nathan Lane's robot deathmatch host. Not to mention the deus-ex-machina decision that takes place at the end of the film to get Astro back in the action-- eesh.
 
Still, even with those factored in, I found myself enjoying the movie. If you're familiar with Tezuka's work, you'll find plenty of things tucked in here and there for you to enjoy-- the obvious choice is the character made to look like Tezuka himself (glasses and a beret-- early in the film), although my personal favorite is the appearance of the weird pig character Tezuka liked to throw in as a random joke-teller breaking the fourth wall. He appears as a logo on a building that gets smashed towards the end, although possibly also a few other places.
 
I've seen some complaints about Nicolas Cage playing Astro's dad, Dr. Tenma, but I didn't have any problems with any of the voice acting. Some of it wasn't particularly outstanding-- Kristen Bell's Cora could be just about anyone as far as I could tell, and as much as I love Samuel L. Jackson, I would have liked his ZOG better if it had been constrained to the one really awesome line, instead of a few more later on. But Freddie Highmore, who I'm fond of for his turns in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Finding Neverland, does great as the title character, and as I mentioned before, Nathan Lane's character is great.
 
Visually the film is quite a treat. The style isn't particularly unique, but it's bright, vivid, and pleasant to look at. The design of Metro City and all of the characters are true to Tezuka's original without particularly trying to mimic the original anime or manga. So I'm definitely in favor of that.
 
...But it's all certainly not on the level of, say, the recent film Up, or the less-recent but really awesome Finding Nemo. So while I think fans of Tezuka's original manga will enjoy it, I wouldn't force yourself through it just for the sake of it being manga related, unless you can enjoy kids' films in general.
 

IF, THEN, BUT

If you like these titles, you may like the Astro Boy flick.
-  Wall-E (but, uh, with more anime and manga style)
-  Metropolis (but more kid-focused, though this Tezuka work featured similar themes)

Release Info

US Release Date: in theatres Oct. 23rd

...Visually speaking. There are a few points where if you pause you'll notice some wonkiness in the art. That's not too surprising with a shounen series, which will usually wind up being rather long and threfore having a smaller per-episode budget than a shorter show (or an OVA or movie).
 
But I'm still totally loving this show. I'm especially interested in seeing how Niche turns out-- we're only a couple of episodes away from where I am in the manga. Her voice is interesting; reminds me of Rie Kugimiya a bit, but isn't her.

In the second episode, Lucy meets the Fairy Tail guild and joins with, as far as we can tell, zero research into her qualifications. Then again, she did just witness the guild's food-fight-turned-magic-brawl, so maybe there just wasn't any point in trying to test her. 
 
Natsu runs off to try and find another Fairy Tail member who's disappeared, Macao, and with a bit of help and/or distraction from  Lucy, succeeds. Lucy decides that she's happy to have joined the guild...even though it suffers from a lot of complaints from the Guild Council.
 
All in all another really fun episode, featuring the first appearances of fan-fave characters like Gray and Mirajane, as well as horny monkeys and a couple more of Lucy's summons.

Warning: this review may be slightly skewed by the fact that I have now read the first volume of the manga, so I'm a little bit further story-wise than just this episode.
 
That said, the story continues on strong, and I would be ery surprised if we didn't start seeing people cosplaying Letter Bees-- all they'd need to do, really, is adapt their Fullmetal Alchemist military uniforms, right? --in pretty short order, certainly by next year's convention season. 
 
I don't know why, maybe it was because Lag spent so much of the series either playful or crying that resulted in slightly more over-the-top voice acting, but I reeeeally noticed the similarities this episode between Lag's voice and Yoru's in Shugo Chara! (they're both played by the same actor). I found it very mildly distracting, but hopefully you won't. (And if you're not a Shugo Chara! addict like me, well...you won't!)

Vital Stats:

Title: Oh! My Brother
JP Publisher: Hakusensha
Licensor: CMX
Mangaka: Ken Saito
 

The Story

    

The Review

Ken Saito, author of The Name of the Flower, is a pretty strong shoujo creator...but Oh! My Brother is probably nothing to write home about.
 
Those of you who favor a slightly silly but studiously not over-the-top kind of shoujo series will probably like Oh! My Brother. The romance, such as it is, is kept very light in the first volume, although there are a couple of moments where I wondered if there was some incest to be had here-- but for those of you who aren't a fan of the stuff, never fear. This stays firmly in the realm of PG appropriateness.
 
It's a pretty fun first volume, but I kind of doubt that the series could go on for more than just the one--  although it looks like volume two, which comes out in March 2010, will be the finale, so I may still check it out to see if it holds up or not.  (I've also seen reports online that it was four volumes in Japan, but there just isn't enough material here for me to fathom that, unless additional stuff pops up, of course.)

That said, those less fond of sexual humor will be relieved to know that in spite of a boy living in his sister's body, none of the standard sort of humor-- where she freaks out when he talks to her taking a bath, say, or he criticizes the size of her breasts while making her body fondle them, or anything along those lines --is present here, at least so far.
 
All in all, a good mild read if that's what you're in the mood for, but otherwise, there's probably always something better to be had.
 
 

IF, THEN, BUT

If you like these manga, you might like Oh! My Brother.
- Ginban Kaleidoscope (but less ice-skating)
- The Name of the Flower (but the family death is different...and that whole possession thing)

Release Info:

Released: Oct. 13, 2009
Length: 192 pages
Omake: 
- Bonus (unrelated) story
- Bonus (related) chapter
- Note from the mangaka

Vital Stats:

Title: 11eyes
Studio: Doga Kobo
Licensor: Crunchyroll
Director: Masami Shimoda
Based On: Eroge of the same name
 

The Story

  
 
 

The Review

 First off, let me just say: by the end of the episode, I wanted Yuka-chan to get eaten by one of those blobs. She's one of those characters who is nothing but nice and cute, which might be fun in the real world, but can make for a rather grating character...it was especially all her damn giggling that set me off. I really hope the hot redhead who appears in the episode but doesn't really do anything winds up being the real love interest.
 
Let me also note that I noticed several spots throughout the episode where, with my limited knowledge of Japanese, I could tell that the subtitles were significantly different than the literal translation of what was being said. Mostly these subs were aimed at the true implication rather than the literal meaning, which is fine, but in one case it seemed a bit sloppy, if totally minor (one of the characters says "Otou-san! Okaa-san!" and it gets translated as "Mom! Dad!" when it should be the reverse).
 
Getting past these issues, though, you've got a solid setup for a sort of supernatural fighting/mystery sort of show. The character design on some of these kids is great, and I particularly find myself liking Kakeru's design, although I'm not so sure I like him. In fact, I think the only character I really found myself "liking" was Yuka's female friend, who is paired with a pervy guy and gets to beat him mercilessly. That was fun.
 
There are some very random moments in the show, most notably when all of a sudden Kakeru turns to his life-long best friend and asks her why she's "always" carrying a particular penguin-shaped pouch, which (as far as I could tell) never appeared in a single frame prior to that moment. She shows him the toy, which can be squeezed such that a fish comes out of the penguin's mouth, like he's regurgitating to feed his young, I guess. The scene then moves on elsewhere. I don't know if the penguin purse plays a greater role later or if it was just a blatant attempt to market what will most assuredly become a real product, but it was still a very odd moment.
 
The first episode did a pretty good job of introducing the characters, although if you've ever watched a romantic comedy, moe, and/or harem anime, you're already pretty familiar with who these people are-- it's just a matter of introducing their situations, now. And actually, most of them are still a mystery.  Hopefully the characters will grow out of their simplified-for-pacing's-sake first-episode selves into something with a touch more depth, but we'll see how it goes. 
 
Voice-acting, as always, is solid, except perhaps for Yuka's annoying-ness. They try a couple of funny tricks with the visuals-- in two spots you see the frame(s) go into sort of frozen panels, almost like a comic. I'm not sure yet whether I like it or not, but it was kind of interesting, so we'll see if they keep playing with it. The OP and ED were so-so (the OP for the game is soooo superior), and the animation quality is also very middling.
 
So, to sum up: if moe and drama is your thing, you've got a potential hit here. There's also some potential, I think, for those who want supernatural mystery and/or fighting.
 

Ratings (of 5):

Story: ♥♥♥
Animation: ♥♥½
Characters: ♥♥½
OP/ED Themes: ♥♥½

Overall: ♥♥½ 
 

If, Then, But

If you like these shows, you might like 11eyes.
- Fate/Stay Night (but even moe-er)
- Rental Magica (but slightly darker)
- Night Wizard (but moe-er AND darker!)

Release Info:

Released: October 14th, 2009
Length: Ongoing; unknown
Features:
- English subtitles 
- Simulcast-- watch here (Anime Members-only until one week from release date)

Vital Stats:

Title: Miracle Train ~Ooedosen e Youkoso~
Japanese Title:  ミラクルトレイン～大江戸線へようこそ～
Studio: Yumeta Company
Licensor: Crunchyroll
Director: Kenichi Kasai
Based On: Japan's Ooedo subway line
 

The Story

 
  

The Review

In theory, I like to support anime series aimed at girls. Most anime is aimed at guys with the knowledge that girls will cross over readily enough, but guys are less likely to do so-- as such, those shoujo and josei series that occur, I tend to think favorably on.
 
But Miracle Train is...well, if you get enjoyment out of it, it's probably not because the series is really any good. It's not horrendously bad, mind, but it simply doesn't go far enough in any direction to make an impression, based on the first episode alone. The characters are standard archetypes that show no hint at betraying said types; the set-up is...somehow both weird and completely uninteresting at the same time; and the first episode's story is also pretty meh at best.
 
The boys are pretty enough, I'll give you that-- the character designs are probably the best thing about the show, but it's a shame that the characters themselves wind up flatter than the actually drawings that they consist of. There are a couple of cute moments, but they're decidedly calculated. I think they might get further if they actually go into more on the personifications themselves, but since they're subway stations that exist in real life, I don't know if that's even possible. I suppose if you wanted to you could try to think of the show as simply "understated" next to its over-the-top spiritual siblings, like Ouran High School Host Club and the like, but the problem is that it's not really stating anything to begin with.
 
There are worse things you could watch, though, to be sure. If all you need to make you happy is some pretty boys running around trying to make a young lady's life easier-- and who could blame you? It's not like this stuff actually happens in real life --then you've got a friend in Miracle Train. Could it get better? Absolutely, and some shows do. But so far? It's not worth your time unless you're really hard up for bishies.
 

Ratings (of 5):

Story: ♥♥
Animation: ♥♥½
Characters: ♥♥½
OP/ED Themes: ♥♥

Overall: ♥♥  
 

IF, THEN

If you like these shows, you might like  Miracle Train.
- Ouran High School Host Club (but not as funny)
- Saiunkoku Monogatari (but less soap opera)
- xxxHOLiC (but less dark and less cool)

Release Info:

Released: October 4th, 2009
Length: Ongoing; unknown
Features:
- English subtitles 
- Simulcast-- watch here (first episode available only to subscribers until October 11th; free thereafter)

Vital Stats:

Title: Tegami Bachi
Japanese Title:  テガミバチ
Studio: Pierrot
Licensor: Crunchyroll
Director: Akira Iwanaga
Based On:  Hiroyuki Asada's manga of the same name
 

The Story

 
 
 

The Review

I have to confess, I am biased: I have totally been looking forward to this series since I first stumbled upon a Japanese copy of the manga a year or so ago. The visual style is just phenomenal-- enough so that it can overshadow everything else, at least for the time being. I say this as a warning, because it's always possible that I'm just not noticing some of the not-so-good stuff going on because it's so freakin' gorgeous.
 
That said, this shounen series is probably most easily compared to D.Gray-Man, which also has a certain amount of steampunk sensibility, but it's got a much softer tone and slightly younger aim, I suspect. The palette is decidedly blue-heavy, largely due to the eternal night of Amberground, the land in which we find ourselves. We are introduced first not to Lag Seeing, our hero, but to Gauche Suede-- our hero's hero. Gauche is a Letter Bee assigned to deliver Lag from his deserted and burned-down home to a former neighbor's current location.
 
It's worth noting here that Gauche is voiced by none other than Jun Fukuyama, who most of you are probably most familiar with as Code Geass' Lelouch. Fukuyama has played many roles, but the slightly socially-awkward but well-meaning Gauche is a little bit different for him-- and it works really, really well. It is his second character to have a younger sister with mobility problems, however. And like Lelouch, Gauche has a bit of a taste for the flamboyant...suffice it to say, it looks like he took a Bedazzler to his magic gun.
 
Lag is a young boy who has, as far as he can tell, just been completely abandoned by his mother, and he's about as to be expected there. Tearful and demanding and upset, though occasionally curious and amusing as well. From what I've seen of the manga, most of the series features him somewhat more grown-up (although not quite Gauche's age), so it's too early to tell how compelling a character he might be.
 
Still, with an interesting setup (albeit kind of cheesy-- Letter Bees must put a fragment of their "heart" in the bullets they fire to eliminate the vaguely steampunk creatures that try to prevent them from doing their jobs) and some of the most beautiful design I've seen in anime in the last few seasons, the style alone will certainly propel Tegami Bachi for a couple of episodes. We'll see if it holds onto it as the novelty wears off.
 

Ratings (of 5):

Story: ♥♥♥ 
Animation: ♥♥♥♥ 
Characters: ♥♥♥
OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥

Overall: ♥♥♥ ½
 

IF, THEN

If you like these shows, you might like Tegami Bachi.
- D.Gray-Man
- Soul Eater
- Shigofumi

Release Info:

Released: October 3rd, 2009
Length: Ongoing; unknown
Features:
- English subtitles 
- Simulcast-- watch here (available only to subscribers until October 10th; free thereafter)

Vital Stats:

Title: InuYasha the Final Act
Japanese Title:  犬夜叉 完結編 
Studio: Sunrise
Licensor: VIZ Media
Director: Yasunao Aoki
Based On: Rumiko Takahashi's manga of the same name.

The Story

    
Cramming the basic story of InuYasha into 60 seconds is HARD.
 
Now when we last left our heroes, they were trying to locate and destroy Naraku's heart...preferably without Kagome failing school.  (Although how she hasn't already completely failed is well beyond me.)
 

The Review

I usually try to avoid anyone else's comments about something before I write my review on it, but in this case-- where I was watching the first episode of a sequel years after having watched the original, which I'd never finished anyway so I was way behind and trying to play catch-up --a friend's complaints made me go back and re-watch the episode before I decided that he was right.
 
The thing he was right about is that the first episode of InuYasha: The Final Act is...fast. Very, very fast. What would have probably been a five-episode arc in the original series has been crammed into a single episode here. Is it just panic at trying to get so much content into fewer episodes-- potentially a sign of a budget problem? Alternatively, is it just that they really want to catch readers by throwing a lot of Big Happenings out very early on? That I don't know.
 
Setting aside the matter of pacing, it seems like pretty standard InuYasha fare. I wouldn't try jumping into it if you're not already familiar with the story via the manga or first anime series-- it really jumps right into the middle of things and you'll end up rather bewildered by it all, I expect. But all the standard setups-- Kagome trying to pass school , the weirdness with Kikyo, Miroku trying to sneak out on Sango, Jaken being a doofus, all that good stuff --are in there. 
 
Hopefully Sunrise will cool it with the pacing in the next couple of episodes, or we might get through to the ending in RECORD BLITZ TIME.
 
This is a rathe unique series, since it's being simulcast on Hulu. That means that now that you've read the review, you can watch the episode...right here!
 
 
  
 

Ratings (of 5):

Story: ♥♥
Animation: ♥♥♥
Characters: ♥♥♥
OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥

Overall: ♥♥ ♥
 

IF, THEN

If you like these shows, you might like InuYasha The Final Act.
- InuYasha
- Dororo
- Bleach

Release Info:

Released: October 3rd, 2009
Length: Ongoing; unknown
Features:
- English subtitles 
- Simulcast-- watch here.

Vital Stats:

Title: Tatakau Shisho The Book of Bantorra
Japanese Title:  戦う支所 The Book of Bantorra
Studio: david production
Licensor: Crunchyroll
Director: Toshiya Shinohara
Based On:  Ishio Yamagata's light novel series
 

The Story

  
 

The Review

Okay, you guys know I've been excited for this one: librarians ruling a fantasy world? Totally up my alley. But does it live up to my expectations?
 
Well, I definitely had a problem with the opening. For a show that is primarily cool by virtue of sounding different, I'm disappointed that they decided to go with an ALI Project opening. The songs aren't bad-- I even like them --but they always sound like the same song done over again. On top of that, some of the geometric look of the opening video sequence is vaguely reminiscent of Eden of the East. Not a great start.
 
Fortunately, the story itself looks interesting. We open with Hamutz Meseta listening in on some of the upper echelon of the church, who talk about various things. One of them is a clear mustachio'd black hat-type character, even if he has neither a mustache nor a black hat-- he talks loftily of living the happiest life known to man and dying and becoming a big fat book of awesome. (Did I mention that people turn into books when they die here?) He's also overly disdainful of the "meat," which appears to refer to some kind of zombified commoner.
 
There's a lot of story here to dig through in the upcoming episodes, and a couple of people told me that they felt a bit overloaded on information that wasn't fully explained. I didn't have a problem with it-- I'm just interested in learning about the world they've set up, and they're pretty good about not just directly explicating to the audience, preferring to show rather than tell as much as is feasible in a fantasy series like this.
 
The characters have potential-- Hamutz is kind of an interesting mix. I mean, she's this total badass, but like I mention, she's rocking this totally girly bow. There's a "meat" that will be playing a role of some kind, although it's not clear exactly what yet, and with him still kind of zombie-like he doesn't have much personality. Hamutz's team members who join her on the mission in the first ep aren't too vivacious yet, though there are definite hints of back story to tell. And the girls who work at the library are pretty cute.
 
So, to sum up: lots of potential here. Hopefully it'll live up to it.
 

Ratings (of 5):

Story: ♥♥♥ 
Animation: ♥♥♥♥ 
Characters: ♥♥½
OP/ED Themes: ♥♥

Overall: ♥♥♥ ½  
 

IF, THEN

If you like these shows, you might like Tatakau Shisho.
- Read or Die
- Fullmetal Alchemist
- Xam'd: Lost Memories

Release Info:

Released: October 2nd, 2009
Length: Ongoing; unknown
Features:
- English subtitles 
- Simulcast-- watch here (available only to subscribers until October 9th; free thereafter)

Vital Stats:

Title: Fairy Tail
Japanese Title:  フェアリーテイル
Studio: A1 Pictures x Satelight
Licensor: Crunchyroll
Director: Shinji Ishihara
Based On: Hiro Mashima's manga of the same name
 

The Story

 
 
 

The Review

Fairy Tail! One of the most anticipated series this fall, and in no small part because it's-- dun dun dunnnn --a big-name lengthy shounen show, with the potential to be on-par with One Piece, if not quite at the Bleach/Naruto level-- we'll see.  Many series are vying for the title, like D.Gray-Man and Soul Eater, but none has quite gotten there yet...
 
I will warn you right now that I always have difficulty with shounen series. Even the ones I like, like D.Gray-Man, I tend to fall off the wagon pretty quickly. So I will in no way promise that I will definitely continue Fairy Tail to its end-- but I really enjoyed it and plan to continue it.
 
With that out of the way, let's go into detail: I have two complaints of any significance, and both are to be expected of a show like this. First is that the animation quality is only decent; this is pretty typical for any shounen show of any length, which Fairy Tail is likely to be if it proves popular. I had some specific complaints, mostly that some of the special effects could have gone a bit further; towards the end of the episode Natsu shows off his fire-eating skills, but it looks a bit choppy...Natsu is eating, and then very suddenly he's done. That could have been clippiness due to the streaming (my parents' DSL is terrible), but I don't believe it was.
 
The other complaint is also dismissible, and that is that Aya Hirano sounds exactly like Aya Hirano. There are roles where she sounds pretty different-- her slightly younger-sounding but lackadaisical voice for Konata in Lucky Star, her decidedly more subtle turn in Nijuu Mensou no Musume, but this is very standard Aya. You will recognize her as Haruhi in particular. If this bothers you, you might find it hard to like Lucy. I didn't have much trouble with it, though it did briefly pull me out of the action.
 
Other than that, you've got what is so far a pretty solid adaptation of the manga. The voice acting is strong, animation decent, and the opening and ending themes are fun too (Shugo Chara! fans will probably particularely enjoy the ending). So what remains to be seen is how closely the anime adheres to its original, whether filler appears, etc. With 17 manga volumes to date, I'm hoping it'll be a while before we find out that last bit...
 

Ratings (of 5):

Story: ♥♥♥
Animation: ♥♥½
Characters: ♥♥♥½
OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥

Overall: ♥♥♥
 

If, Then, But

If you like these shows, you might like Fairy Tail.
- One Piece (but fewer pirates and more magic)
- InuYasha (but more European-style)
- Slayers (but with less Lina)

Release Info:

Released: October 12th, 2009
Length: Ongoing; unknown
Features:
- English subtitles 
- Simulcast-- watch here (for paying Anime Members only)

  
  

Vital Stats:

Title: Zone-00
JP Publisher: Kadokawa Shoten
Licensor: TOKYOPOP
Mangaka: Kiyo Qjo

The Story

To keep it short and simple: Kujo is a normal high school kid who's a paranormal otaku. One day a new kid named Shima transfers in, along with a girl named Majoko, who turn out to be an exorcist charged with keeping the peace between humans and Creatures (and destroying any Creatures who harm humans) and a witch/Creature, respectively. Majoko is one of two witches, the second being Hime, and both of them have their own Creature familiars (a cat and a dog who can both transform into humans). 
 
These are just the beginning slew in a handful of Creature and Creature-related characters, including Byakko, a nine-tailed fox demon who runs a bar, Benten, a Creature whose exact role is unclear at this time, Fenril (supposed to be Fenrir?), a pair of siblings who turn into demon Harley motorcycles, and that's just the semi-regular cast. Oh, and Shima also has a robot butler and maid, the first a badass and the second a, um, dominatrix, I guess.
 
Anyway, Kujo instantly attaches himself to Shima, declaring him "mysterious!" with wide-eyed glee. They're all hanging out at Byakko's bar when Kujo is killed, except that it actually turns out that Kujo has within him an ogre who Shima is supposed to kill, cue drama.

The Review

...Oof. If the above description sounded kind of vague, that's because, well, it's presented vaguely...but not in a mysterious way. The art is fantastic but too much gets jammed onto each page, including words as well as pictures. You get the sense that Qjo is trying to very quickly establish an ensemble cast for some rollicking adventures followed by more serious plot, but he does it SO quickly that it becomes very, very easy to lose track of them...especially in the big action scenes.
 
These action scenes are also done way too quickly, such that even on reading through it a second time you're not entirely sure what happens. There's one scene in which a character shoots Shima in the stomach via ricochet, but you don't see the shot happen anywhere...it's just all kind of lost in the shuffle. Those of you who are interested in the monster/supernatural side of it won't see a lot of what you want, either...all the monsters are excessively human-like, and even the dog and cat familiars transform into humans most of the time. The magic abilities shown are minimal so far, too.
 
That said, the characters themselves do have some fun little interactions, and if you're really, really hardcore into violent action and silly random bathhouse scenes, you might find a few things here worth looking at (oh, and if fanservice is your game, there's a fair bit of that too-- both of the men and women). Yes, the visuals are, while sometimes confusing and distracting, nice to look at. But based on this first volume, I can't say you're going to get much more out of it than that.

IF, THEN

If you like these manga, you might like Zone-00.
- Descendents of Darkness
- Hellsing
- Trinity Blood

Release Info:

Released: Aug. 4, 2009
Length: 192 pages
Features:
- Character descriptions in the back, for ALL of them, which is quite a few.
- Preview of the next chapter.

  
  

Vital Stats:

Title: Kannagi
Japanese Title: かんなぎ
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Licensor: Aniplex/ Bandai Entertainment
Director: Yutaka Yamamoto
Based On: Touka Takei's light novel series (illustrated by Eri Takenashi &, Kasumu Kirino)

The Story

A boy named Jin carves a statue out of what had once been a tree at a shrine that was torn down. The statue turns into a goddess, Nagi, who freaks out because her sacred tree was torn down and no one but she really cares. She declares that an array of “impurities” will now invade the town and moves in with Jin so that he can help her defeat them with his heretofore unknown mystical abilities (he can see spirits).

Nagi is demanding, selfish, and somewhat tsundere...nothing particularly new about her, nor about the much put-upon Jin, although at least he's usually more inclined to amusing sardonic remarks rather than wide-eyed incredulity. His childhood friend, slightly shy but cheerful, friendly, and ultimately Normal, doesn't add much of a zing.

Of the primary cast, only Zange-chan-- Nagi's sister, whose sacred tree still stands –provides much interest. It's clear that (SPOILER ALERT!) she's taken on a human's body in order to accomplish her goals, a feat which disgusts Nagi (whose 'body' was provided by the wood of her tree). Zange-chan is rather two-faced, one side being a sweet would-be idol and the other being a manipulative and conniving bitch. Like I said-- she's actually interesting.

Nagi decides to take on Zange-chan's idea to accrue followers-- and by extension, their faith and therefore more magic power –and it is this goal that sucks up most of the seven episodes, once the intro is out of the way. Actually, it's amazing how little time Nagi spends on impurities and how much she spends on her own random whims, though occasionally she tries to avoid being too much burden on Jin (like when she got a job to buy her own clothes).

More interesting than all four main characters combined are Jin's art clubmates, especially the two fetishist senior girls. These characters exist primarily for comic relief, although the heavy dependence on otaku in-jokes-- references to character archetypes, for example, or the entirety of Akiba-kun's persona (he's an otaku who refuses to let others lump all otaku into one, at the same time proving all those stereotypes true) –will probably be uninteresting at best to fans who aren't in the know, and old hat to some of those who are. I will confess that director Yamakan's appearance in the show was pretty cute though.

All in all, I found Kannagi overwhelmingly mediocre. I've said a million times that I'm not into moe, and though I watched the entire DVD, I found little to piquemy interest in the adventures of Nagi and company.

IF, THEN

If you like these shows, you might like Kannagi.
- Kanokon (but with less fanservice)
- Wagaya no Oinari-sama (but with less action, more romance)
- Toradora! (but with more supernatural activity)

DVD Info:

Released: July 16, 2009
Length: 7 episodes
Features:
- English subtitles (no dub)
- Creditless OP
- Creditless ED for episode 7 (Lolikko Cutie's ED)
- Bandai previews
- Staff & Cast and DVD Credits

  
 

Vital Stats:

Title: Astro Boy
Japanese Title:  鉄腕アトム
JP Publisher: Kobunsha/ Kodansha
Licensor: Dark Horse
Mangaka: Osamu Tezuka

The Story

A brilliant scientist creates a superb robot to replace his son, who died in a car crash. For some reason, he gifts his son with abilities like flying and shooting machine guns out his ass. Then he realizes that a robot can't grow up, and sells the robot off to a vendor. Exactly what happened to the robot during that time frame is unknown, but some time later a genius scientist who also happens to be the head of Japan's Ministry of Science. Professor Ochanomizu "adopts" Astro Boy, who attends school like a normal human, and saves the world from robots and vicious humans, like abormal robots.
 
The release I'm reviewing here is Dark Horse's copy of volumes 1 and 2 of a later release of the Astro Boy manga, I believe by Kodansha. This collection features Astro Boy in its entirety, 23 volumes (22 books in English, since the first two were released as one volume), and at least in this volume, each of the new stories (not each chapter, but each unique arc) also features a Tezuka-drawn "introduction," starring Tezuka himself. Some of these can be mildly disconcerting as it's hard to tell when they end and the story begins (since they sometimes actually take place theoretically right before the story starts), but it's charming and insightful enough to be well worth any tiny difficulty there.
 
As for the content itself...this is a manga that was last drawn over 40 years ago, and started 57 years ago, and it was aimed at kids even then. So these are primarily tales of good versus not-good, if not entirely evil-- I was impressed at how well Tezuka was able to incorporate motivations for a couple of those not-good characters, though others are somewhat more of the black-hat twirling-moustache type). They are truly "sophisticated," I think, only in the context of its era and its target demographic. 
 
This particular volume, however, is clearly aimed not at children but at manga afficionados, and anyone who is interested in the history of manga and a classic title should most assuredly pick up at least this book, if not the entirety of the series. If you're curious about the story entirely of its own merit, there's definitely plenty of enjoyment to be had: even a jaded reader like myself finds some joy in Tezuka's fourth-wall-breaking asides and notes (like a large robot with the words "too big to draw" on it), and it's particularly fascinating to read this volume after having read the first few of Naoki Urasawa's Pluto, a modern, darker take on the same themes of human and robot living amongst one another.
 
However, it is still a kids' series, so if you're looking for something darker or deeper, you'll probably feel mildly unsatisfied with Astro Boy on its surface. (Those with a more scholastic bent will have a lot of fun picking apart aspects of the manga that have influenced current artists, as well as deeper meanings behind Tezuka's stories, characters, and words. And I would love to read the resulting essays!)
 
I would actually like to see a release of Astro Boy that was more aimed at kids, though. I still think that it compares favorably to a lot of kids' stuff coming out these days.

IF, THEN

If you like these manga, you might like Astro Boy.
- Black Jack
- Pluto
- Speed Racer

Release Info:

Released: Sept. 17, 2008 
Length: 424 pages
Features:
- Foreword by Frederik L. Schodt
- Tezuka's own interspersed intros to the stories
- A Tezuka biography

  
 

Vital Stats:

Title: Hanasakeru Seishounen
Japanese Title: 花咲ける青少年
Studio: Studio Pierrot
Licensor: Crunchyroll
Based On: Natsumi Itsuki's manga of the same name.

The Story

Kajika Burnsworth is the daughter of one of the wealthiest businessmen in the world. As a child, her mother died protecting her from being kidnapped, so her dad had her raised by a bunch of locals on a small Caribbean island with only a leopard and, occasionally, Lee-Leng Huang (of the also-wealthy Huang family). She lived there happily until she was about 15, when her leopard dies. Sometime after that her dad decides to let her do what she wants and she decides to go to school in Japan.
 
This is where things get weird. I mean, she has the protoypical anime high school experience: her classmates are dumbfounded by her poise and guilelessness, makes a friend, has some major drama with some bitchy girls in school, and then gets in trouble with a senior who's dating a mob boss or something...all in the span of like, ten minutes.
 
Which...might be an okay intro, except that immediately thereafter she is whisked right back out of Japan and into New York, where her father tells her that he'd like to tell her about her "destiny" within the family, but can't do so until she selects a husband. He proposes a game in which he causes her to come upon three men of his choosing-- without telling them OR her who they are --and if she picks one of them to marry (and gets him to love her back), she "wins." It's unclear WHAT she wins, except for her dad telling her about this mysterious "destiny."
 
In the second episode we meet what we assume is the first of these men, who reminds Kajika of her pet leopard, and is a beautiful but damaged bishounen who doesn't care about anyone or anything, including himself on some level. You can see where this is going-- considering the comparisons Kajika makes between this young man, Eugene, and her old pal Lee-Leng, I foresee a pattern of making wealthy pretty boys happier via her perfectly pure nature.
 

The Review

I've talked a few times about how sad it is that while women will happily cross over into entertainment more geared towards men, men as a whole avoid any entertainment that smacks of femininity. At the same time, I look at Hanasakeru Seishounen and think, "well, this is why." The animation is mediocre at best, and during Kajika's time at school in Japan-- or any time when the focus of the show is on women rather than men --it looks downright sub-par. No, considerably more time and expense is used on our bishies here.
 
The plot is at once both predictable and mystifying. It's predictable in that you can figure out exactly what has to happen for this kind of story to move forward, and mystifying because the characters' justification for doing and saying things seems often nonexistant. Considering how much she whines about her father's game in the second episode, you wonder why the heck she agreed to it in the first. Her father offered her no great prize, it's not even totally clear he'll explain this "destiny" to her.
 
Another problem with the series: with the exception of a 2-second reaction from Kajika's classmates in the first episode (when she talks about her true love, then confesses he's a leopard), the show is entirely humorless. Given the ridiculousness of the situation Kajika is placed in, a little humor would go a long way.
 
But that just isn't this show. This is classic, stereotypical romantic drama. So if that's what you like, this show will probably sit well with you. It's not without redeeming qualities even to me; against my better judgment I find myself curious about what monstrously awful platitude Kajika will use to tame Eugene. The meh look of the show may only be distracting if one isn't absorbed by the drama. Still, outside of its genre, the show doesn't have much to offer that you can't get better elsewhere.

IF, THEN

If you like these shows, you may like Hanasakeru Seishounen.
- Saiunkoku Monogatari
- Marmalade Boy
- Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru

Release Info

Released in US: Summer 2009
Status: Ongoing
Episodes:
- Currently episodes 1-2 and 16-17 are available on Crunchyroll here. Episode 17 is, as of this posting, only available to paid members.

Quick Stats:

Title: Kanamemo
Studio: Feel.
Genre: Slice-of-Life/Comedy
Availability: Simulcast on Crunchyroll

Ratings (of 5)

Story: ♥♥½
Animation: ♥♥½
Characters: ♥♥♥½
OP/ED Themes: ♥♥½

Overall:♥♥♥

ONE-LINER: Pedo lesbian newspaper orgy!...but not.

Thoughts:

So, Kanamemo is the tale of a young girl named Kana-- an orphan living with her grandmother. Well, she was, until her grandmother died. When she saw men carrying out her grandmother's things, she freaked out and ran away, fearing for her own safety.

Searching for a job and a safe place to stay, Kana finds both. Well, “safe” might be an exaggeration, but she stumbles upon a newspaper delivery office seeking help and offering both room and board. The employees are all women-- starting with the grade-school-age boss, moving on to the drunk college student, the ronin (a would-be college student who keeps failing her exams), a hyper young patissier-in-training, and...well, a character who's reminiscent of Azumanga Daioh's Sakaki, except in love the patissier.

Did I mention that the drunk student keeps fondling her female coworkers/roommates? Yeah.

Don't get too excited, though: the lesbian themes are not joined by massive amount of fanservice all in all. No panty shots, relatively few D-cups, and only one bath scene (so far). Just as well, as our lead is a mere lass of 13 and one of the secondary leads is in something like third grade.

All in all, it looks like a cute show with some potential-- there are a few more similariites to Azumanga Daioh, in fact; the drunk college student is like a more easy-going Yukari-sensei, Kana has a couple of moments that remind me of Chiyo-chan (though Kana's considerably less intelligent), and the Sakaki-like character I mentioned earlier could actually be described as Sakaki and Kaorin's love-child, a combo of calmness and girl-crush.

But the similarities don't last too long: the humor doesn't contain the surprising punch of Azumanga Daioh's, and the characters aren't as fresh, either. The animation is decent but nothing special, ditto the OP, although the ED is pretty good. For a summer fun-fest, you could do worse.

Some of you are probably already familiar with Sumomomo, Momomo by virtue of its anime, or perhaps by reading chapters of it in Yen Press ' Yen+ anthology. Now it's out in its full tankobon form, so I thought I'd give it a read through to see how fun it is in collected form.
 
Turns out: it's very fun, in very much the same way as said anime was. Definitely a good pick for fans of series like Ranma 1/2 , KenIchi the Mightiest Disciple , and Jubei-chan .

The Gurren Lagann manga that I'm the most excited about right now is not the one currently being held in my hands. I really, really want Bandai to pick up the license to Gurren Gakuen Hen , or "Gurren High School Version," in which all of the characters from the famed anime appear as high school characters together. Kind of like the Shinji Ikari Raising Project, but probably sillier.

But we don't have that one yet, so in the meantime, let's make do with the manga adaptation of the anime, by Kotaru Mori.

All in all I thought I get the sense that it's true to the tone, and that they MAY make some interesting changes later. So far, though, it's faithful to the anime, to the degree that those who've watched the anime might not want to bother. It could be an easily-accessible entrance into the franchise for a newbie, though, if any of you haven't picked it up yet. Still, the anime is definitely superior.

How about you guys? Any of you checked this out yet, or planning to? Why or why not?

A while back I reported on an anime video that was being produced to celebrate Takashi Murakami and Louis Vuitton's partnership, titled Superflat First Love. That video is now up on YouTube for your perusal.

The video has a storyline, which goes something like this: a Japanese schoolgirl (Rei- and Asuka-style schoolgirl, even) walk past a Louis Vuitton shop, obviously plotting to shoplift the expensive bags. Or maybe they were talking about becoming call girls to afford them.

Anyway, the girl spots a Murakami-style bear creature, and like the fool that she is, picks it up. It promptly eats her, which should teach all of you not to go messing around with strange animals, especially day-glo ones.

In the creature's bowels, the girl travels back in time to the workshop of a young Gaston Louis Vuitton in the late 19th century, where she falls in love with the bagmaker and admires his (ahem) giant trunk. She then hides in said trunk and reappears in modern-day Japan.

A cautionary tale indeed. Seriously though, it's cute and vivacious, so check it out!