Durarara!!

Durarara!! has resuscitated an otherwise comatose few months of anime. It provided mystery, intrigue, excitement, action, all grounded with substantial characters that drove each episode in their own ways.

In the beginning, there is a lot of flipping around to different storylines and the questions just start piling up. What is this chatroom about? Whoa, what's going on here? Who are all these people? Okay, what's this high schooler's story? Now we are following these other people? This guy is dangerous. This other guy's even more dangerous.

Later on my thoughts were all about connecting the dots, and it just seems to get better from there. Characters start to shine, layers of story fall together creating the big picture, you get interested in what's going to happen in the next episode. And the realization that you now know the large number of characters in the opening theme.

Does it get boring after that? Don't worry, there is a new opening theme later on, with plenty of new faces to shake every character's world a little.

If you've seen Baccano, just be pleased that you are being treated to second serving from the same group. If you've seen anime, listen closely for some fun references from the otaku characters. If you are a restless high schooler looking for the something that will change your life...you can live through Mikado.

Favorite characters so far are the smooth-talking best friend and the bursting-with-emotion black rider. But there are still quite a few mysteries, and a few new ones introduced in the mix. I can count on this anime to give things a little spin.

Watch 2 or 3 episodes, so it can set the roots for this anime that has fun waiting behind every turn, before you decide to run with Durarara!!!.

I really like the ending theme, so I might put that in the sidebar soon.

Recommendations:

• Baccano >>...an obvious must if you like intertangled stories of a dozen characters colliding and congealing with a splashy violent jazz era backdrop
• Black Lagoon >>...organized gangs bump shoulders in a city full of criminals with comedic violence in chaotic finishes
  

Video Sample:



Do you plan to watch Durarara!!?


See the description for Durarara!!! on AnimeDB.net >>

Guin Saga

Guin Saga - Don't let the strange appearance fool you. By the time the dust settles, it's obvious that he is the man. The story begins on the crest of a coup taking control of a royal palace. We are introduced to two young royals, a prince and a princess. Their character and emotions are worn on their sleeves from the start. Thanks to an ancient power they are cast to a faraway land and wake up in unfriendly territory. Guin, a mysterious warrior appears and that's when the adventurous journey begins. They meet a few new companions and the story begins to mix and move, folding in new faces and growing the world around them for viewers to sink their teeth into. This isn't some shallow RPG adaptation animated. This story has some high level strategy, character twists and mysteries.

Will the royal twins return to their kingdom? What will become of the throne? Where did Guin come from and why is his past forgotten? Where will the characters end up if not as allies? And near the end, was Istovan out of his mind?

The opening theme really captures the "saga" feel of the anime. This first season has ended, but the story is far from over.

Recommendations:

• Record of Lodoss War >>...dragons, warriors of every cloth, and an evil that keeps rebirthing under a new guise, this keeps fantasy and dark adventure alive
  
• Heroic Age...battles so big they can only take place in outer space, a handful of clans are grappling for control while trying to fulfill a prophecy that takes a young man far from his modest home >>
  

Video Sample:



Do you plan to watch Guin Saga?


See the description for Guin Saga on AnimeDB.net >>

September 2009 List of Picks

This past season brought a good number of interesting anime. Some surprised me with how much I liked them, even though the premise can be a little strange at first. I also picked up a couple of anime that are not from this season, which goes to show you that there is plenty of golden anime out there waiting to be discovered. Good news when you can't find anything to your taste in the current season

Sometimes I am interested in checking out new anime and want to list them, but then end up dropping a series or two and picking up others. This is a list of anime that I ended up watching this last season.

What I've been watching this past season:

• Aoi Hana >>...a sentimental girl returns to a small town, and is reunited with her childhood friend, whose friendship sees her through new and difficult situations
  
• Canaan >>...human beings survive mutations due to covered-up viral experiments, bringing the mess to the doorstep of a seasoned assassin with a past she's ready to put to rest
• Guin Saga...a mysterious leopard-headed warrior and a pair of displaced royal twins escaping enemy attack, and strike out on a journey home in the midst of ongoing war >>
  
• Hanasakeru Seishounen >>...a sheltered rich girl is challenged by her father to select a husband, but his bet is that she'll choose a man out of four men he has secretly selected, hearts, lives, and family empires are at stake
• Hatsukoi Gentei >>...this light-hearted anime focuses on the difficult and comic challenges of unrequited love, and cashes in on borderline shameless fan service opportunities at times, making up with breakthroughs later on
  
• Tokyo Magnitude...a jaded girl and her little brother are on an outing when an earthquake hits and their lives and world are left shaken, holding on to hope that they can make it home safely and that their parents are still alive >>
• Umineko Naku Koro ni...a gruesome game of whodunit is proposed when a witch takes a recently reunited rich family hostage and kills them off as the hour chimes until her challenge is met >>

Series still watching:

• Hetalia: Axis Powers...update: country-characters don't always fight, sometimes they just try to go another day without killing each other, tidbit webisode entertainment >>
• Valkyria Chronicles >>...update: happy times are in the past when armies are face to face, and things are down to the wire, the element of a superpowered descendant joins the fray
• Tears to Tiara >>...update: put the day-to-day character circus on the backburner, we'll see where this rebellion really going, who's the old guy in the opening theme, and what the demon king has truly set his sights on
• Phantom: Requiem for Phantom...update: it's no longer all about Zwei/Reiji, now it's an in-family fight amongst the Phantoms, old and new, and not everyone is left standing at the end >>
  

Picked up late:

• Kemono no Soujo Erin...Erin gets cooler and cooler with just her hardships, kindness and dedication to taken for granted beasts backing her up, but there's no shortage of attempts to tie her down by laws fueled by past tragedies >>

Loose episodes:

• Les Miserables Shoujo Cosette...update: finally someone kind and competent takes the little french girl under his wing, but now they are on the run from the police >>
• Eve no Jikan (Time of Eve) >>...a web anime about how androids have become ingrained into everyday human life, the story centers around a mysterious cafe that temporarily hides the line between android and human

Out of season anime:

• Last Exile....the story is always on the move with two friends that grew up flying their own aircraft in hopes that they'll someday conquer the natural force that took their fathers' lives >>
• Kigeki (Comedy) >>...there's hardly much to laugh about when a grim demon-like man is approached with a young girl's request to rid her town of invaders
  

Jury is still out:

• Sora no Mani Mani >>....an overexcited, shouty happy character is reunited with a quiet bookworm who thought he'd managed to escape her starry-eyed escapades until he caught her attention on his first day back in town

Watched a few episodes and then dropped:

• Koukaku no Regios >>...it became unbearable for me to watch when I couldn't tell why I was still watching after the 5th episode

Video Sample:

Kigeki (Comedy)



Do you plan to watch any of these anime?

July 2009 List of Picks

This past season has been some slim pickings for me. A few anime have been sustaining me, and some leftover episodes pop up, also some trailing anime. Sometimes I am interested in checking out new anime and want to list them, but then end up dropping a series or two and picking up others. This is a list of anime that I ended up watching this last season.

What I've been watching this past season:

• Souten Kouro...the time for change has come and one man is at the eye of the storm, bloodshed and crooked politicians don't phase him (See Anime Spotlight)
• Sengoku Basara...let's have some fun action with flashy characters, styled art, and two main characters whose rivalry takes them straight to the Demon King (See Anime Spotlight)
• Genji Monogatari Sennenki...shield the children's eyes, it's the man that steals the hearts of maidens whose tale is told through the ages
• Eden of the East...mysteries unfold around a young man found nude and armed, with a phone to die for (See Anime Spotlight)
• Hetalia: Axis Powers...don't think, just indulge in the stereotype-seeped characters of Hetalia and how they go way back (See Anime Spotlight)
• Hatsukoi Gentei...a kappa, a bijin, and a kaibutsu are a few of the trail mix of characters you'll get with this light high school comedy with underlying blooming romances
• Valkyria Chronicles...if you've got the clueless commander, they've got a tank for him to command in this wartime story sprinkled with action, comedy and suspense
• Tears to Tiara...don't be fooled by the first episode, this anime provides surprising laughs, characters straight out of an RPG, and some long-awaited mysteries
• K-On!...this was light, airy fun with some high school girls banding together to experience being in a high school music club
• Phantom: Requiem for Phantom...really want to finish this cold and slightly haunting anime about an assassin in-training (See Anime Spotlight)
• Koukaku no Regios...this is good for some laughs, and a decent time filler if you mute the fighting music and don't expect too much
• xxxHolic Shunmuki...I enjoyed the xxxHolic team, but think I would have enjoyed it much more if I had finished Tsubasa Chronicles

Picked up late:

• Kemono no Soujo Erin...one episode won me over, will be watching till I have no more episodes left (See Anime Spotlight)

Loose episodes:

• Les Miserables Shoujo Cosette...classic story about a little french girl who sees hard times (See Anime Spotlight)
• Porfy no Nagai Tabi...I've seen a few episodes to be interested, but have a feeling these kids aren't going to have it easy
• Denpateki na Kanojo...it gets twisted when a high school delinquint gains a new stalker and a serial murder surfaces (See Anime Spotlight)
• Cat Soup...this was a bit surreal, watch when you have time to admire the animation
• DOGS: Bullets & Carnage...caught two episodes and it was action that entertained
• Kannagi ep 14 DVD episode...you could tell this was for fans because it went nowhere in fun

Out of season anime:

• Kurozuka...a romance borne at a gruesome beginning spires a familiar chase that spins on throughout the ages

Watched a few episodes and then dropped:

• 07-Ghost...it got boring for me after a handful of episodes
• Pandora Hearts...it got creepy and boring for me after a few episodes

Do you plan to watch any of these anime?

April 2009 List of Picks

Sometimes I am interested in checking out new anime and want to list them, but then end up dropping a series or two and picking up others. This is a list of anime that I ended up watching this last season:

• Astro Fighter Sunred...sing the theme song and fight courteous villains >>
• Bounen no Xamdou...you say your body is taken over by a religious cult's only hope at salvation? >>
• Ga-Rei Zero...the slaughter of gifted task force and the friendship that led up to it >>
  
• Himitsu: the Revelation...dead men tell no tales, but their brains are a different matter >>
• Jigoku Shoujo: Mitsuganae >>...just when you thought the gates of hell stopped handing out straw dolls, a new pawn appears
• Kuroshitsuji...a young heir and his dark butler and the business of revenge >>
• Michiko to Hatchin...A duo of brazen beauty and reasonable kindness, these fugitives bust border after border chasing a dead man>>
• Minamike Okaeri >>...the sisters three are back and their mundane lives are an open book
  
• Mouryou no Hako >>...chopped up body parts are a gruesome start to a young woman's puzzling past
  
• Munto >>...a young girl gets strength from friends, and encounters another magical world hidden in the sky
  
• Skip Beat!...betrayal and revenge kick-start a surprisingly funny story about rebirth >>
  
• Soul Eater...youths take the forms of weapons and wielders when Death himself needs a little help to keep the peace >>
• Tales of the Abyss >>...a sheltered prince's bubble is broken when he runs into his doppelganger and the world comes crashing down at his hand
  
• Viper's Creed...the arrival of a young rookie signals the end of the stalemate between the military and a terrorist group, with Team Viper in the middle >>
• White Album >>...the heaviest of moments are buried in the silences between two people in this romantic drama
  
• Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou...Natsume, the book and nyanko sensei are back and face new youkai as enemies and as allies >>

It's too early in the season to make a list of anime that I'm eagerly watching. As only one or two episodes have aired for a lot of new anime, I have a long list of first episodes to wade through. Hopefully this season will have a healthy crop of great anime.

Video Sample:

Out of the above batches theme songs, Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou's ending song is great and it surprisingly grew on me by the time the season ended. I don't often get to post ending themes and thought it deserved a spotlight.

The song is:
Aishiteru 「愛してる」 by Kourin 高鈴

January 2009 List of Picks

My List of Picks from Anime that start airing in January 2009:

• Minami-ke: Okaeri! (another season of Minami-ke, more wily Kana and bit more of the other characters)
• Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou (second season of Natsume Yuujinchou, more of Natsume and his needy youkai friends) (See Anime Spotlight)
• White Album (light, romance, that takes its precious time, must be patient to watch this)
• Ichigo Mashimaro Encore (Sequel of Ichigo Mashimaro OVA...four young girls and their happy go lucky days of friendship bring another season)

Watching these currently fansubbed series with much interest:

• Michiko to Hatchin (See Anime Spotlight)
  
• Skip Beat (See Anime Spotlight)
• Himitsu (See Anime Spotlight)
• Soul Eater (See Anime Spotlight)
  
• Tales of the Abyss

List of Picks: February 2008 - Anime Movies

Give yourself a break from anime series and watch these anime movies. Just sit back and relax and don't worry about finding the next episode.


Description on AnimeDB.net

Paprika (be warned, there's a naked lady in there somewhere, the movie is really amazing to watch. It's made by the same company that did some of these movie gems that you should also check out.

Recommendations:

• Tokyo Godfathers...unlikely heroes have their own stories to tell, and bumbling situations somehow turn miracle
  
• Milennium Actress...an interviewer is whisked away through the life of an actress as she revisits the many exciting roles she's had
  
• Perfect Blue...suspense, terrifying psychological mess with a screaming-freaky ending
• Toki Wo Kakeru Shoujo...what begins as a refreshing everyday world following a young high schooler, quickly reels out of control once she travels through time and finds a ticking counter
• Tekkon Kinkreet...two young boys band together in a lawless world where gangsters and youngsters mix on the rooftops and in the gutters
• Howl's Moving castle...a hatmaker is swept off her feet by a wizard Howl, and overcomes struggles such as a curse and keeping the moving house from falling apart
  
• Spirited Away...a little girl is whisked away into a spirit world, she works in a witch's bathhouse in hopes of escaping this world and saving her parents
  
• Tales from Earthsea...fantasy adventure following a young lad, sword, villain, and...doppelganger?
  

Video Sample:

This season's picks

Tried some new anime, a lot I didn't like. I usually don't write about anime that I don't like. I'm not much of a critic. I'd rather talk about anime that I did like. The only anime that is keeping me alive this season are:

• Love Complex...I've already read all the scanlations available, and went ahead to read up to volume 8 in raws..kanzaiben is a tricky beast to read for me (See Anime Spotlight)
• Emma...ah, trying my best not to peek ahead at the manga
• Nodame Cantabile...love it. honey and clover replacement
• Bokurano...ah, just messed up sometimes (See Anime Spotlight)
  
• Naruto Shippuuden...Sakura is better, still hasn't impressed me (See Anime Spotlight)
• Seto no Hanayome...the characters are hilarious together, forget the plot
• Kaibutsu Oujo...that ending theme has some slightly disturbing sights (See Anime Spotlight)
  
• Ookiku Furikabutte...it's good so far. I don't know much about baseball, though (See Anime Spotlight)
  
• Claymore...it's not bad, but it's not as entertaining as it could be (See Anime Spotlight)
  
• Seirei no Moribito...gah, she can fight, take hits and strategize (See Anime Spotlight)
  
• Kekkaishi...barriers never got so much attention before this anime (See Anime Spotlight)