Thursday, July 26, 2012

Oreimo

    Ok, I was going to talk about another anime this week, but when I learned about an exciting news about this anime I decided that I had to write about this show instead. At the end, I’ll share the big news with you guys; but right now, let talk about what makes this anime tick the way it does. The full name of this show is “Ore no Imoto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai,” in English, “My Little Sister can’t be This Cute.” The show is about a 17 year boy name Kyosuke and his love/ hate relationship with his little sister Kirino. After coming home from school one day, Kyosuke finds a magical girl anime DVD laying on the floor near the doorway. He then cooks up a story around his family’s dinner table about his friend suggesting an anime (the same anime that he found earlier) for him to watch and letting him borrow it. All just to see their reactions in attempts to find out where the magical girl DVD came from. After witnessing Kirino’s strange reaction, he then decides to confront her; and when he does so, he learns that not only does the DVD belongs to her, but she’s been secretly hiding the fact that she’s an otaku who’s a big fan of any moe anime and she loves playing “little sister” scenario eroge (Japanese adult games). After learning this, Kyosuke agrees to help Kirino keep her otaku life a secret and help her live a full otaku life at the same time, turning his normal life into a life filled with crazy otaku adventures one after another. Adventures that he’s forced in to thanks to his little sister.
    Directing this series is Hiroyuki Kanbe. Kanbe-san has had many titles under his belt. He was the key animation for Afro Samurai, Blue Exorcist in episode 2, Cowboy Bebop the movie, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and many another series. He was also the animation director for Hellsing, Rosario + Vampire, Full Metal Panic, and more.
    This show is really funny and I absolutely love it, and the reason why I love this show is because it as two big messages that I made me fall in love with this series. The first message is that no matter who you are, being an otaku is perfectly ok. The second and most important message; whatever you might think about any hobby, if your younger sibling enjoys it you should support them. As an older brother to a sister and a bother, this hits home to me. Their hobbies might not be for me, but as long as I see them happy and safe I’m going do whatever I can to support them. This was the most important message for this series, and the fact Kyosuke puts his feelings aside and put up with Kirino’s craziness for her happiness is very touching.
    Ok, now for the news. I was late on learning this, but as soon as I learned this it didn’t matter how late I was. On April 1st. 2012, Animenewsnetwork.com revealed that Oreimo has been green lit for production of season 2! It was announced at the Anime Contents Expo during the “Yuichi no Manma 2~ Taketatsu to Hanazaua ga Debut Suru Wake ga Nai,” stage event. No word yet on when the second will be released, but as soon as it’s announced I’ll let you know. Until then, you can check season 1 of Oreimo on crunchyroll.com before season 2 comes, and see why this series is worth a second season.


Thursday, July 19, 2012

Guilty Crown

    Ok, let me explain how I first go into this show. The Anime Expo’s website has this weekly online show called AX Live, and it talks about the latest anime, manga, video game, and toy news; and I was watching the an show a while back, where one of the co-host was showing how much she has a huge obsession with Guilty Crown. After watching how much she loves this show, I decided to check out the show and find out why she loves it so much; and because of that, I’ve became obsessed with this show as well.
    With that said, let’s talk about the plot. In 2029, a severe epidemic called the Apocalypse Virus broke out in Japan causing people to turn in to crystal and scattering them into the wind. The first day of the outbreak was nicknamed the Lost Christmas because outbreak was on Christmas Eve and it caused a nation wide spread of panic, chaos, and even the collapse of the Japanese government and being replaced with a multinational military force called the GHQ. Ten years later, Shu Ouma, an average 17 year old high school student, meets Inori Yuzuriha, a popular signer who’s taking the internet world by storm. After meeting Inori, Shu learns that she’s member in a terrorist organization, labeled by GHQ, called the Funeral Patrol. The Funeral Patrol mission is to destroy the GHQ and freeing the Japanese people from GHQ’s oppression. He then learns that he has develop a special power that give him the ability to pull out a person’s void, a materialized weapon or item that comes of his or her heart. Because of this new found power, Shu is then recruited by the Funeral Patrol’s leader, Gin in hopes of putting an end to the GHQ.
    The director for Guilty Crown is none other than Tetsuro Araki. Araki-san has directed other animes such as Death Note and High School of the Dead. He was also the episode director for episodes 3 and 9 of Black Lagoon and served on the storyboard of episode 5 of Blade. Araki-san graduated from Senshu University and works with Madhouse, the studio that brought you hit animes Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D: Blood Lust, Trigun, and Death Note.
    When I decided to watch this show, it took me the first ten minutes to understand why the AX Live co-host was obsessed, which then made me obsessed. Guilty Crown is filled with suspense to keep your entire attention on the show, and the show alone. To see what I mean, you can watch Guilty Crown on the Funimation website at www.funimation.com/guilty-crown; and if you want to check AX Live to see if there’s any other animes that the hosts might love with a passion, AX Live comes on every Thursday at 7 pm (pst) at www.anime-expo.org/ex-online/ax-live.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse

    On July 1st, 2012, the Anime Expo hosted the American premier screening of the new Muv-Luv anime Total Eclipse. The screening feature Kouki Yoshimune, the master mind of the show, sharing his thoughts about the anime, and a live mini concert featuring Minami Kuribayashi and Ayami who sings a few of the show’s songs. The show starts off with a brief explanation of the situation. In the late 1950’s, an alien force known as BETA, Being of Extra Terrestrial, begins their process of invading the Earth. The battle first starts off on the Moon, an attempt by the human race to stop the BETA from invading the Earth, but fails. As the years passes by, all of Eurasia falls and Japan is on the verge of falling to the BETA. After America was able to successfully fight off the BETA and both America and Japan agrees that the only way to defeat the BETA and stop them from a complete take over of the Earth they must partner up. One of the main characters of the show is Yui Takamura, who has been a member of the Imperial Royal Guard, the official Japanese guard designed to fight the BETA, since she was in high school and is very dedicated in defeating the BETA. Her reasons for her dedication are all answered in episodes 1 and 2.
    As stated earlier, Kouki Yoshimune is the master mind of Total Eclipse. Yoshimune-san is the CEO of ACID which the company that owns the Age brand. He wrote ML/A, TE, Chronicles Adoration, Schwarzemaken, and other project. Also in his time with ML/A, he did base mechanical and character designs.
    This anime pretty much has everything I want in an anime, a kick ass action scenes and hot girls in tight pilot suits. The graphics are really cool and since we’re dealing with an alien invasion the show is also really gory as well, but it has interesting storyline to follow. Also if you’re an American patriot who also loves Japan as well, like me, then you’ll love the fact that Japan and America are working together to fight off the BETA invasion. I can’t say more about the show because it is currently airing, but if you want to see what I’m talking, you can check out this show on Crunchyroll.com. New episodes are release every Saturday after midnight. If you are a premium member, you’ll be able to see new episodes when they’re release; If not, then you’ll have to wait a week later; but ether way, it’s worth the wait and worth the watch.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt

If you haven’t seen Panty and Stocking  with Garterbelt yet, when you do you’ll be in for a lot of craziness fun. Here’s the plot, Panty and Stocking are two fowled mouth angels that are kicked out of Heaven for bad behavior. Panty has a huge obsession with men; in fact, her goal is to have sex with a thousand men before return to Heaven. As for her younger sister, Stocking, she has an equally huge obsession for sweets. So much,  she can have a meal out of sweets alone and she claims that the only weight she gains is in her breast. The two angels are sent to Daten City, which is located between Heaven and Earth, to slay evil ghost that haunts the city. Every time a ghost is destroyed Panty and Stocking receive Heavens coins in which they’ll need a certain amount in order to return to Heaven. As they are slaying Ghost, eating sweets, and sleeping with different men, they are under the supervision of the Rev. Garterbelt, who has a perverted problem of his own.
    Besides the storyline, and the random cursing and sexual references, the show uses different styles of animation and artwork. For starters, the regular drawing of Panty and Stocking looks something out of 90’s Nickelodeon, but when they’re in there angel from, they look more like the original style of drawing that’s used in drawing anime. Also, whenever a ghost is defeated, the ghost explodes in claymation. The fact that the creators used all sorts of styles brings more to love for the show.
    July 10th Funimation will release the English dub version of Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, but I was able to get it exclusively at the Funamation booth at the Anime Expo. The voice actors for the major roles are all very experienced and gifted. The English voice of Panty is played by Jamie Marchi. Some of Ms. Marchi pass anime roles includes Shizuka Nekonome form Rosario + Vampire, Aki Hinata from Sgt. Frog, and Liz from Soul Eater. The voice she give to Panty is the stereotypical white high school valley girl who just does not care about anything but herself, which is perfect because Panty is exactly that. The voice of Stocking is played by Monica Rial. Her roles includes Bulma in Dragon Ball Z Kai, Chihiro Shindou in both EF: A Tale of Memories and A Tale of Melodies, and Lara Gonzalez from School Rumble. I liked the voice that she gave to Stocking, but I personally believe that Stocking’s voice should have been a little sweeter, but it’s properly because the Japanese voice of Stocking was really sweet. Now for the voice of Garterbelt, he played by Christopher R. Sabet. When I found this out my first thought was, “Ok, is Garterbelt going to have Piccolo’s voice or Vegeta’s voice.” I’m happy to announce that Garterbelt is not going to have either voice. The English voice of Garterbelt is similar to a bad ass black action movie star, like Samuel L. Jackson. This was a major upgrade for Garterbelt because in the Japanese version Garterbelt sounded like Heihachi Mashima from the Tekken game series. Overall, the English dub is just good as it is dirty.
    As I stated before, Funimation had a booth at the Anime Expo where they were selling Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt exclusively to the attendees. If you didn’t attend the Anime Expo or you didn’t by the DVD when you were there, then I heavily advise you to do so on July 10th. DO NOT LET THIS SLIDE!!!!!!!!!! It’s rated TV MA due to it language and dialogue, but don’t let that chase you away because it is seriously funny and you will love it.