Clannad…thoughts

KeyAni’s gift of 2007. Clannad is enjoyable. Having never played any visual novel by Key I have no idea what I might be missing from the anime. The anime is going well and I’m loving it just as I loved Kyoto Animation’s adaption of Kanon.

Clannad is different than Kanon and AIR in the fact that it almost seems to have more substance in the case of it’s character development than it’s recurring themes and dream sequences. Don’t get me wrong I like the themes and dream sequences, Infact I especially love Clanad’s sequences which involve the robotic boy meeting the lonely girl, I almost prefer them over Kanon’s (excuse me if I got tired of Ayu’s “yume…”)

So far on the theme of Clannad. I already know it to be “Family”. It’s mainly because connected to Tomoya that it is known. So far we’ve only touched the issues with him and his father….once. That’s definitely going to change. Air recurring theme was strongly repeated. I think I should have watched are more gently than I did (I can hardly remember it aswell a I remember Kanon).

So far Fuko’s route has ended and we’re already on Kotomi. So far my favorite characters are Tomoyo (tough-silent-machine-gun-punchkick-shoujo) and Kyou (Do I really need to explain? ……she’s bi LOL).

Now as something random. I’ve typed up all of Key’s well known game’s and put a brief of their them. I even included Moon.

The “Sad girls in ____” is intended as comedic. The other theme is not.

 

Moon,.

Don’t even ask. I hear it’s not a very happy game.

 

ONE	I know nothing about this game. All I know is that it’s basically a introduction to the “dream world” in all of KEY’s games

Kanon

Sad girls in snow

The persistence of miracles

AIR

Sad girls in summer

The sky and how it is the one thing humans cannot reach…despite being everywhere

CLANNAD

Girls in Spring

Family

Planetarian

One happy girl in a post-apocalyptic world

Not to sure. I think it’s likely about beauty of things when surrounded by ugliness

Little Busters!

Extraordinarily happy girls playing baseball

Childhood

Excuse the broken table code.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Strikers – thoughts and review

Just a rant about Nanoha.

Hayate no Gotoku, Nanoha StrikerS, other

Well Hayate finally aired (and I’m late to post this). The first two episodes have aired. It seems to be doing a nice adaption of the manga. The anime has been picked up by atleast three fansub groups (2 of which I have watched).

Also airing on the same day is………Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS. The third season in the Nanoha series (which I have watched). The first episode of this was very good. And I am watching the second now. (By the way Mahou Shoujo = Magical Girl)

I’ve seen the first 2 episodes of “Romeo X Juliet” (an anime adaption of Shakespeare’s play). And I really enjoy it. For me it’s interesting to watch……because I’m also learning about the original play in English studies. So as far as I can tell the anime doesn’t adapt the play in the fullest sense (:-) LOL)

I have been getting into some manga aswell. “Nagasarete Airantou” (a comedic harem-esque series) and “Seto no Hanayome” (a comedic romance series). Both of these series have anime adaptions that are currently airing.

On my “to watch” list (which is also a manga I’m reading) is Kaibutsu Ojo (translates: “Princess Resurrection). A very cool supernatural series. About a young boy who finds himself in the service of a aristocratic woman who fights demons. The anime is airing on…….Friday the 13th.

Also Higurashi’s second season has been set to air this July. My only worry is that it appears to be using some “original stories” (therefore will not be based off the games).

Other stuff I’m watching (that has already aired)

Mahoraba ~ Heartful Days~ —- Both watching and reading. This series has nice characters and humor. I;m almost done watching the anime. And am on the last volume of the manga.

AIR —- Been meaning to watch this. Since I have watched Kanon (another series based off a work by the same company – KEY. and animated by the same people who animated air Kyoto animation).

Yami to Boshi to hon Habibito —- (pronounce that ten times fast) VERY VERY odd series. Seemed interesting at first. But seems alittle more bizzare in it’s ending episodes. A related series (related by creation of the same studio and creator) Touka Gettan is currently airing.

Other anime that is currently airing….that I am watching.

Rozen Maiden

Rozen Maiden to me is a fun series that has an intriguing story and beautiful characters.
Personally I’m a fan of the black winged Suigintou (shown above). The series is adapted from a manga created by a group known as PEACH-PIT. The anime is currently composed of two seasons (both 12 episodes long) and two special OVA’s (dedicated to Shinku and Suigintou).
I have recently watched all of the anime (including the OVA’s). The anime is by studio NOMAD.
And in-case you were wondering about the title I assume it is rough German for “Rose Maiden”.

The story’s main character is Jun Sakurada, a young hikikomori (This is a Japanese term, it basically defines a person who doesn’t go to school/outside the home because of trauma).
Jun is into occult objects and he ends up with a european-esque doll. He later finds that the doll is sentient and her name is Shinku – “the fifth doll of the Rozen Maiden Collection”
Shinku

The story progresses as Jun and Shinku encounter more dolls (some who become permanent members of his household) and more of the so-called “Alice Game” is revealed. Each of the doll’s have their own personality. I’ll list all of the “Maidens” in in the first season.

Suigintou – first maiden
Suiseiseki -third maiden
Souseiseki – fourth maiden
Shinku – fifth maiden
Hina Ichigo – sixth maiden

My favorite character (as I said before) is Suigintou, she is the primary antogonist in the first season. She has a playful, sinister, personality (you might call her arrogant) that she does not hold back on. She takes everything as a sort of joke because she considers almost everything tp be beneath her. Her appearance is very cool,I won’t describe it because it’s better to see it all in the show for yourself (also ther’s a screenshot above)

She has a rivalry with Shinku,

Shinku is a bit aristocratic, she is demanding of Jun (who she refers to as “her servant”) but not in the stereotypical way. Her personality hides some of her feelings, but overall she very direct, especially when arguing with Suigintou (even as they fight).

My opinion: I like this series in a bizzare way. I think the atmosphere of the series is one of it’s best features. The atmosphere is mysterious, and somewhat intriguing. The characters are all good, with a nice balance of serious nature and some of comedic nature (some episodes of the anime are totally dedicated to comedic moments). I hope to read the manga in the near future, and the likely-hood of a third season to the anime is also likely (season 2 ends in on a in-conclusive note).

I’m keeping this review/summary short. So you can all see it for yourself. Geneon has licensed this series for American distribution. And it is also licensed by French and German companies.

Just some updates

Alright first important news…………..KANON has one episode left! I’m looking forward to it’s conclusion on thursday. It’s been such a wonderful series. Beautiful atmosphere, beautiful characters. and a nice, peaceful world. All the characters have gotten they’re story explained by now. But they didn’t give Nayuki enough love. But she might have her moment in the last episode. I really have enjoed Kanon. And will coninue to see what else Kyoto animation can do.

2007 Spring anime starts…..next month pretty much. This is what i’m looking forward to.
Anime coming out in 2007.

Hayate no Gotoku: I became addicted to the manga (like I said earlier). I want to see this adaption. It looks exciting. The animation studio SP Synergy has only done one major work before this one. And from the preview the voices and animation are looking fine. Currently on volume 5 of the manga.

RomeoXJuliet: Character designs are alright. Want to know about the story, for those saying “you don’t know Romeo and Juliet?”, this anime version takes place in a futuristic fanstasy world. With Romeo’s family as a dictatorship lording over a people. With Juliet leading a rebellion (she fights well) . By Gonzo

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS: I’ve been trying to get into the Nanoha series (there have been two seasons running before this one both 13 episodes long). They made the characters grow up for this story. By studio Seven Arcs.

Devil May Cry: I like the story and action of the games (though playing the game is another story) I will watch atleast one episode of this. Other than my knowledge of the game’s (I’ve played 1 and 3 which are considered the best) I have little to no clue about what the anime will be about. By MADHOUSE.

Sola: Also know nothing about. Besides the fact that there is also a manga. Might not watch all of this.

True Tears: I like the artwork. Based off a visual novel I know nothing about. Like above I might ot watch all of it (atlteast for now).

Other future series (that are not Spring anime) but are planned for 2007 (that I know I will watch)

Otome wa Boku ni Koishteru 2nd season (rumored)

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni 2nd season (confirmed)

Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2nd season (rumored but highly likely)

Prism Arc

This is why Archer from Fate/stay night is awsome

This is the incantation he chants to summon his ultimate Reality Marble (area he summons to concentrate a ultimate attack.

I am the bone of my sword
（訳）我、我が剣の骨格

Steel is my body, and fire is my blood
（訳）我が肉体は鋼　我が血液は炎

I have created all thousand blades
（訳）我、千の刃を鍛え

Unknown to death
（訳）死の恐れなく

Nor known to life
（訳）生の実感もなく

Have withstood pain to create many weapons
（訳）苦痛に逆らい　数多の武器を創る

Yet those hands will never hold anything
（訳）しかもなお　その手に掴むものは何もなく

So as I pray, unlimited blade works
（訳）故に我唱う　無限の　剣製

This is cited from the Fate/stay night encyclopedia

You can also watch the anime adaption in episode 14.

New things…. Minagoroshi-hen partial review

Alright. Last week I finally completed my 4+ week long task of setting up my computer to run Japanese software so I could play some translated visual novels.

But before I get into that, some 2007 anime news.

Byōsoku 5 Centimetre has been completed!!!! Should be released in Japan soon.

Paprika after it’s November 2006 release in Japan will be released here May 25th. This is exciting because it is by Satoshi Kon the creator of many philosophical anime works that use social commentary. See a cool clip of it here, infact just listen to it if you want. Susumu Hirasawa’s music is great.

Onto visual novels. After setting up my computer for Japanese software (which took time in making Microsoft work haha bad pun) I was able to install “Higurashi no Naku Koro ni kai: Matsuribayashi-hen” and the trial version of “Fate/Stay night”.

Both of these games have fan translations so there was no problem in understanding the language. You may ask “What the hell is so special about these when they have anime adaptions that give you the story in a much simpler way”. My defense? Fate/stay night is incredibly different from it’s anime adaption, the prologue specifically which is told from another persons point of view.

There is a definite reason to play Higurashi. Because the first season of the anime did not adapt the last to chapters (Minagaroshi-hen and Matsuribayashi-hen) I can now read through the second to last chapter (which is included with the last chpater of the game) Minagarishi-hen.

Minagoroshi-hen
The game is entitled Matsuriyabashi-hen because it contains
that chapter. However It also includes Minagorshi-hen,
which is what I’ll be talking about

Ok first off. It as fun to read through (though I could only get to the fifth chapter because the rest haven’t been translated yet), and fun to get to know the side of the mystery I didn’t see in the anime (but likely will see in the second season)

Screenshots:

The first chapter is all in omnipotent narrative. Therefore it is simply a description of what has been going on in Hinamizawa.

Then the narrative shifts over to Rika’s point of view as she describes her life in Hinamizawa (for people who know the twist, I’m sorry that I won’t post spoilers here).

Keichii gives a doll to Mion, this event is important.

Overall this chapter explores Rika’s understand of the relationships between her friends. Keichii has just won a doll at a game session that he, Mion, Rena, Satoko, and Rika just participated in. The scene above shows how Mion acts boyish but wants Keichi to treat her like a girl, therefore she wants him to give her the doll as gift. But Keichii is shy of this fact. In the end Rika interjects and asks Keichii to give the doll to Mion.

Rika gives encouragement to Keichii

This next event is Keichi’s point of view talking to all his friends about the upcoming festival. His job at the festival will be an auctioneer. An important scene in this event is how it reflects on a specific event in Onikakushi-hen (one of the past games).

Tsukihime fan’s should know that this is homage
to one of the main heroines.

Where did I get the game? Himeya shop
Credits to the translation group Zettai Makenai

Fate/stay night trial

The trial edition only has the very long prologue. Is it cool? Yes. However I was really hoping to see Shiro and Rin’s meeting. But I’m satsified.

The entire prologue is told from Rin’s point of view. It shows her summon Archer and her times at school before the present time (which I presume is told from Shirou’s poin of view).

I’ll post some shots of it later.

Credits to the translation group insani.

2007 anime.

Alright this is what I’ve found appealing for the first run of anime in 2007.

SHUFFLE! memories

Semi-sequel to the 2005-06 anime “SHUFFLE!”. For those who don’t SHUFFLE! is, I’m going to writing a full section on it. So far from thew 2 episodes that have been released (and from information I can assume by looking at the titles of future episodes) most of the series will be summarizing stuff about what happened in the original series. After episode 1 which reintroduces the world and characters. All episodes up to atleast 6 will be focusing on each of the main female characters. This is both good and bad. Good: for each girl we get a different opening theme song by that characters voice actress. Bad: Like I said they’re a freaking summary episodes which are quite pointless because 1. Why would you watch the semi-sequel to show if you had know idea what it’s about? 2. Because of that why would you need a summary if you know what it’s about? By the studio: Shuffle! Media Partners

Kyoshirou to Towa no Sora

Based of the manga of the same name. This is series is compiled using different elements from the author’s past work. Characters from the anime/manga “Kannazuki no Miko” appear here with similar/different roles. Overall the story is about a Kuu (pictured, yes I know here name is too easy to pronounce) who met a prince in her childhood. At her school she meets the latest student, who (*gasp*) is a prince and greatly resembles the one she met from the past, his name is Kyoshirou. She then finds herself in the middle of a battle between two mech-wielding beings, known as “Absolute Angels”, and she is saved by. Kyoshirou’s acquaintance (who is also a angel) named Setsuna. The story follows from there. Of the two episodes I’ve watched so far, the show has my mixed review. I like the character designs but…honestly the fact that Kuu narrates some of the show, gets a little annoying. I’ll just have to play it out (it’s only 12 episodes anuway). By studio : TNK.

Hayate no Gotoku!
Sorry I can’t find a good shot of this series. Anyway I actually just got addicted to the manga of this….two nights ago (the 16th) and am almost finished with volume three. The anime should be able to follow this manga pretty well as ten volumes of it have been released.
The manga is by Kenjiro Hata, it’s comedy and has some great characters, I actually don’t know what to compare this too, but I recommend it if you like comedy. The story is about a 16-year old boy named Hayate, whose parents are dirt poor and he is the only one in his family who works. While trying to get some money through illegal methods he meets Nagi the heir of a rich family. By helping her and her maid Maria, Hayate becomes Nagi’s butler. And not much more I can say, you should juts read it to find more, I’ve mentioned the three main characters, they also a have a huge summary on wikipedia. I’m forward to this anime. If you can’t find the scanlations go here for the links to the downloads. This series hasn’t started yet.

Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!

I almost know nothing about this series, it’s by ufotable (both the manga and anime) and I need to get a taste of their work before I see their adaption of Kara no Kyoukai. Anyway I like the look of the animation and I’ll just have to wait until it gets fan subtitled. From what I do
know: the series is about a bunch of highschool girls in future where brithrates have dropped. 2 episodes have been released.

(thanks go to Omni of Random Curiosity for the images for Manabi Straight and Hayate no Gotoku).

Anime films

Kara no Kyoukai – the Garden of Sinners
As I’ve mentioned earlier. This is something I can’t wait for. Also by ufotable. This is based off a light novel by TYPE-MOON that was released in 1998 and re-released in 2004. It is very similar to Tsukihime (also by TYPE-MOON) which stars Shiki Tohno and Arcuied Brunestud.

The story is about Shiki Ryougi and her friend Mikiya Kokutou. Shiki is a androgynous highschool student who wears a kimono is school, she is also recovering from a two year coma. Mikiya is her friend who has had affection for her…..That’s all I can really …….say. Besides the fact that the story is very supernatural. I actually have only read a bit of the light novel. For now if you want anything else that has to do with TYPE-MOON, read the Tsukihime manga (which has been released in North American by Drmaster up to volume 3). The only preview thta has been released is some screenshots of the characters with some nice dark music in the background.

Byōsoku 5 Centimetre
From Makoto Shinkai, the creator of “Voices of a Distant Star” and Kumo no Mukō, Yakusoku no Basho. Along with studio CoMix Wave Inc. The title translates to
“5 Centimeters per Second” and is subtitled (in english) “a chain of stories about their distance”.
The story is nice and simple, and is about two childhood friends who reunite – their reunion from another person’s perspective – and the how thier lives are after the reunion. The plot is not the thing that interests me (which is surprising because I usually care about plot), the fact that Shinai is making this interests me. I’ve see his earlier work and I personally don’t know if I dislike or like his work. His first film “Distant Star” was….uninteresting to me, but was incredible because he made it on his own (no studio assistance. His second film “Yakusoku no Basho” I liked, the plot was cool (alternate history, sells me 60% percent of the time) but lacked a good character depth focus (though the characters were alright). “5 Centimeter” from the awsome trailers that have been released, show some great animation (very high definition resolution) and music (piano). So I’m keeping my eye out for this.

Top anime of 2006

What was great? Was nice? what was overrated? What was semi-overrated but has redeeming qualities?

The answer: I don’t know but I’m giving you my opinion. And a summary of each anime to give you an idea of whta they are like.

In no particular order (yet).

Utawarerumono
Alright, I think I must like this series too much.
As soon as I watched all episodes to date (up to 16, the series is finished now of course), I downloaded nearly every piece of media related. This anime is created by Aqua Plus. It is adapted from the PC-game of 2002 by the company Leaf. Summary: Utawarerumono tells the story of Hakuoro a man with no memories, and a irremovable mask attached to his face. He wakes up in a village, in the care of the village elder, Tusukuru, and her daughters Erurru and Arurru (Erurru is pictured). As he begins his life in the village he begins to become a leader of sorts and helps them kill the lion mistress of the forest, Mutipaka, who is terrorizing the villagers. Later the story gets deeper and more characters are introduced and eventually Hakuoro’s leadership rises to becoming an emperor and to face on oncoming threat. The world of the story is based of Ainu period Japan. There are no modern weapons but of course there are swords, spears, or in Hakuoro’s case a metallic fan. The peoples of the world all have animal features (Ears, tails, and wing) and this is my joy of the character design. Opinion: I personally like Utwarerumono alot, the story is paced well and the scenes are fine. However if anyone dislikes this anime, I can understand. The concept is easy to like and hate, some may not like the how may turn from serious to happy. But I will say that this anime has impressed me. My only criticism is that many good scenes from the game were left out and some of the characters are not developed enough. Overall if I had any favorite characters they would have to be Touka and Erurru. Of note the series is planned to be released in North American by the anime company ADV.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Higurashi is a horror/comedy/psychological thriller anime produced by Studio Deen. It is based of a series of visual novels published from 2002 to 2006 by the (soon to be former) dojin group o7thExpansion. The anime only adapts six of the eight chapters which is disappointing because last two chapters reveal the mystery in the story. There is a second season planned for 2007 and I’m looking forward to it. Summary: the story takes place in a Japanese village known as “Hinamizawa”. Now you’d expect the chapters I previously spoke of as normal plot moving chapters. This is not the

case. All chapters show different aspects of the village, the mystery, and the character’s pasts. Therefore the chapters are only connected with a few elements and not story wise. I’ll use the first chapter (episodes 1-4) as the summary. The main character is Keichii Maebara and his four friends (who are all girls by the way) Rena, Mion, Rika, and Satoko. They all reside in Hinamizawa and attend the same school (it’s a small school). Keichii is new in Hinamizawa and after spending some time with his friends one day he finds that the village’s history is anything but normal. He discovers that Hinamizawa was scheduled to be demolished for a dam project, but a series of gruesome murders prevented it. His friends say that they don’t know anything about the project but he begins to suspect that they know more than they’re saying. After each day Keichii lesrn more about the mystery and his friends seem to get more menacing, and soon he is given the question of “is a curse supernatural or artificially planned?”. I won’t spoil anything more but if you do watch this show….watch it at night. Opinion: Like many anime of this year Higurashi is based off a game. And this anime adaption misses alot of info. The anime way be hard to watch for people who dislike chibi anmation (which is only sort-of frequent), I really like how the story is slowly revealed. I can understand people who don’t get the “horror feeling of the show (some probably won’t be scared) but Higurashi is one of two anime that has made me scared (the other being the xxxHolic movie). One of the messages Higurashi tries to show in the end is that people being doubted can destroy the people in question.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (In Japanese: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu)
Ok if you don’t know about this show then you have not gotten into anime enough. This show has been incredibly popular and is the second of three reasons Kyoto Animation (the studio for the show) has been so successful (the first being the anime adaption of AIR the third being their adaption of Kanon).
This anime is based of a series of light novels written by Nagaru Tanagawa and illustrated by Noizi Ito. Summary: The story is told in both a narrative way and a third person way. The series is narrated by the main character Kyon, a regular teenage boy who is entering highschool for the first time. Things start getting weird from the first day of school when he meets Haruhi Suzumiya. He first impression is her self-introduction in which she proclaims that she wishes for “Time-travelers, Espers, and Aliens” to come follow her. Kyon begins to learn more about Haruhi from his friend and his own observations. He then begins to talk with her (which gives us some of the best reflection of her no-nonsense, harsh talking, attitude) and actually becomes the one of the first people to have full conversation with her. He then is dragged by Haruhi into helping her create her club (named the SOS-brigade). He helps her out (Of course, not enthusiastically) and becomes part of events that soon reveal that what Haruhi was looking for is much closer to her. (Note: I’m not going into anymore detail to save you from spoilers) Opinion: I like this series. It has a funny and cool plot (however I don’t like it enough to be a fanboy). Nice characters and pacing in the story is not an issue at all. The series in shown out of order (Episode twelve comes first, Episode 1 comes after that, gets more mixed up) which is something I enjoy. The anime adapts a the beginning and ending of the first novel, and adapts the some stories from the other novels.
The series may be considered over-rated. And I’ll agree with that to an extent. A second season is planned .This anime has been licensed for North American release by Kadokowa and Bandai.

Fate/stay night
Also produced by Studio DEEN. Adapted from the 2004 hit visual novel from TYPE-MOON the creator’s of Tsukihime which became incredibly popular for it’s great story. Fate also gets it share of love from the fans of Tsukihime. Summary: The story takes place in the city of Fuyuki. Shiro Emiya is teenager who lives alone after his father Kiritsugu Emiya died. He then becomes part of the “Holy Grail” war in which 7 people (called: “Masters”) summon 7 spirits from legend or history to control (Called “Servants”). The war follows as the 7 must compete for the “Holy Grail” which instead of giving eternal life, grants the wish of the master that takes it. Shiro accidentally summons a Saber-class servant, who is named Saber. He then becomes allied (and then friends) with Rin Tohsaka, whose family has fought in for along time, and Rin’s Archer-servant. Shiro takes up his foster father’s (His father fought in the previous war) goal of becoming the “Hero of Justice” and to prevent innocent people from dying in the war. The anime changes focus on the relationship between Shiro, Saber, and Rin (and other characters that get explored later). Opinion: This is the second of three adaptions of TYPE-MOON works. The first was the Tsukihime anime produced by J.C.STAFF (which I feel was incredibly bad as it did not explore any of the best aspects of the story, and ruined the characters) and the third is the planned Kara no Kyoukai movie by ufotable. From what I know this adapts the game to a moderately good level by adapting the “Fate” scenario. I really like the blend of action and character dialogue. The characters are nice (I really like TYPE-MOON characters) and their consistent attitudes really make story great. I really hope for another TYPE-MOON adaption like this (and I do have faith for Kara no Kyoukai). The anime has been licensed for North American release by Geneon.

Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru
By studios Feel and Starchild. Based on the 2005 game by Caramel box. Before I begin the summary I will introduce you to a term that is becoming “sort of widely used”. “Trap”, “A Trap” refers to a character who looks female but is actually male. Traps were used in the anime Simoun (don’t know much about this series) and Happiness! (look at Jun here). Summary: Mizuho is a effeminate-looking boy who looks at his grandfather’s will. The will states that his grandfather requests his grandson (Mizuho) to attend the school Seiō Jogakuin the bizzare thing about his school is that is infact and all-girls school. Mizuho protests this request at first but his child friend Mariya dresses him as a girl (both Mizuho and Mariya are pictured) and heads off to the school with him. As soon as he is introduced to the student-body he not only is seen as a girl he is seen as a beautiful girl. Which quickly makes him popular. The story focuses on character conflicts and how Mizuho is able to help his fellow room-mates with their problems. Opinion: Otome was Boku ni Koishteru (nicknamed “Otoboku”) has a funny but nice plot and cute characters. This can easily
lead to many disliking the series for what it is. I guess that this series got my attention because I found it sort of funny and enjoyable. The show is 80% comedy and humor and 20% serious (this is only in 12 episodes, a 13th one is planned). If you don’t like this series, I won’t blame you.

Anime running through 2006 (and therefore are running in 2007)

I won’t be writing detailed summaries for these, because these series aren’t finished yet.



CODE GEASS
By Sunrise. Using characters by the manga group CLAMP. Summary: CODE GEASS tells a alternate history in which America is still run by the British now known as the Holy Brittania empire. Which takes over Japan in 2010 with mech technology known as the Knightmare frame (of note: Knightmares are actually not an important plot device as say the Gundams from every Gundam series). A boy at the time, Lelouch (pictured) swears he will destroy Brittania because of their Imperialism. Flashforward to 2017, Lelouch now a teenager, is caught up in a series of events. That end up having him acquire the ultimate weapon for accomplishing his sworn goal. Opinion: the series is on episode 13 now. I really like it. The story plays out in a way that unexpected and cool. I will probably write a full story on this sometime. There are hints that this series may go on for more than 25 episodes.

Kanon
By Kyoto animation. Adapted from the 1999 game by Key. There was a first Kanon anime by Toei animation in 2002 that 13 episodes + an OVA and is regarded as having poor character designs. This 2006 version is set to have 26 episodes and has incredible animation. Summary: Kanon is a bit of sentimental adventure. It tells the story of Yuuichi a boy who visited his relatives city seven years ago, and has returned to live with his aunt, Akiko, and cousin, Nayuki (pictured). As he slowly begins to remember things he starts meeting people from his past, specifically five girls (including Nayuki) who remember him and were affected by him in some way.
Opinion: I was always interested in Kanon but I could never find out how get information on it. This new anime is my answer. On episode 15 now, it has already captured me with it’s emotional atmosphere and it’s nice sense of magic.

Pumpkin Scissors
Based of a still running manga by Ryoutarou Iwanaga. By studio GONZO. Pumpkin Scissors is a military action series. Summary: The story takes place in a fictional world (bearing many similarities to wartime (WWII) Europe) in which the long war between the “Royal Empire” and the “Republic of Frost” has ended, and three years later the war relief unit known as “Pumpkin Scissors” must combat the rogue soldiers of the empire. The unit is led by Alice and she later meets Oland a soldeir of extreme power unit. Opinion: Haven’t been watching much of this. I really want to get the manga, as it looks like the author puts alot of detail into how the guns of this world work. Oland is a nice character were he be kind or…violent……..but you should atleast watch the first episode to see what I’m talking about.

More to come?