Otaku Review

Asu no Yoichi – Ep 3
Studio: AIC
Genre: Harem Comedy

Talent is introducing and ruining two characters within one episode while still telling a mostly fulfilling story.

The Story

Two more characters are introduced in episode three in the form of Tsubasa and her caretaker (for lack of a better term) Angela. Followers of the Swallow Benten style of martial arts, they have arrived in the city for one reason and that is to defeat Yoichi. Hired by a mysterious person who promised money and support to rebuild their school, the two will infiltrate the school in order to accomplish their goal.

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Maria Holic - Ep 3
Studio: SHAFT
Air Date: 1/18/09
Genre: Yuri Comedy

The Story

In the third episode of ‘Maria Holic’, it’s going to be a very busy day for Kanako. It’s time for her to learn how to say her prayers properly but she doesn’t have a rosary. Maria, being as generous as he is, loans her a very valuable rosary just to see her stress about taking care of it but also gives her a brand new bag that seems to have something living inside of it. Not sure what it is but according to Maria: it’s slimy, can eat an elephant whole, can be considered cute once you got used to it and may not be from this world. Meanwhile, Haruka’s fans are still bullying Kanako for stealing her away from them.

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Digging back into my pile tonight, I decided to close out the first season to another series with my volume and eventually overall thoughts on xxxHolic Vol 6 from Funimation.

In the final four episodes of ‘xxxHolic’ (season one), Watanuki will start the volume learning a lesson about respecting the spirit behind adages and proverbs. For the next two episodes, a short story arc will introduce Watanuki to a mysterious woman. With Yuko out of town on business, Watanuki is left with a lot of free time which he decides to spend with a kind woman he’s met. Meeting with her everyday though causes a strain on his body and leads to him getting ill despite warnings from Yuko and Doumeki.

In the final episode of the TV series, ‘xxxHolic’ will close things out with a one episode side story. In this episode, the audience will get to see Watanuki as he was in the sixth grade. Meeting another boy who can see spirits, this episode shows Watanuki learning about the power that cursed him his entire life while making a new friend.

Rideback – Ep 2
Studio: Madhouse
Air Date: 1/18/09
Genre: Mech

A pretty race is not enough to keep an audience coming back and apparently little else in this series is either.

The Story

In the second episode of ‘Rideback’, Rin , her friends and members of the Rideback club are still buzzing over the moves that Rin showed in episode one (while audience members are busier working on Rin’s happy (excited? psychotic?) face). So much so that Rin has caught the eye of the club’s president who challenges her to a race. Meanwhile, more terrorist attacks have been occurring against the ruling government. Continue Reading »

You know THAT title. That everyone loves. You know that one. With the characters and story and the things. You know what I mean? Yeah, me either.

The word has gone out about a certain interview with a Geneon rep that has surfaced online. A blogger in Japan posted a screen shot of the interview which included the line “that title which everyone loves” will get a third season. Initially sites were speculating that the title in question would be ‘Shakugan no Shana’ seeing the third season but nothing has been confirmed and there are other series that could possibly be described as “that title which everyone loves”.

So, anyone want to venture a guess?

AnimeVice pointed this out last night and if you’re in the UK, one can only hope that this law gets overturned in a real hurry. New laws in the UK will soon go into effect which could essentially make many comic books and manga possibly illegal. The new law states that it will be illegal for anyone to possess “extreme pornography” defined as any “extreme image” that is created “solely or principally for the purpose of sexual arousal”.

How do you know if you possess “extreme pornography”? Well, according to the government if it is an “extreme image” or any sort of moving or still image (i.e. hentai or more than a few manga titles though those are my examples, not theirs) that contains a character that a “reasonable person” would consider engaging in sexual activities with an animal or corpse or just being sexually injured. Personally the “reasonable person” bit is what gets me the fastest because of course we all have the same definition of “reasonable”.

It does get better as there is a second half to the law. In the second half, the Coroners and Justice Bill, currently going through Parliament procedures, will make it illegal to possess any image that has a character engaged in any sexual activities. How do you know if a character passes this standard? The material has to have “the impression conveyed … is that the person shown is a child”.

Ironically live action films are being specifically excluded from these laws. Once again, take a look at your collection of manga, anime and possibly eroge games… got anything in there that you should be worried about after these laws go into effect?

Any readers in the UK have any thoughts on these laws? I’d love to hear the perspectives of manga and comic fans from the other side of the pond.

The official website of ‘Natsu no Arashi!’ has been updated with cast/crew information and a scheduled start of April 09. Originally created by Jin Kobayashi (School Rumble), the fantasy comedy follows a 13 year old hero who meets a mysterious 16 year old girl with strange powers being pursued. The series will be animated by SHAFT and feature Ryouko Shiraishi and Yuuko Sanpei as the female and male leads respectively.

Originally a game and soon to be an anime, it has been announced that the ‘Tears to Tiara’ series will also be getting a manga series starting in February. The manga will run in ‘Monthly Comic Alive’ and be drawn by Shirotsumekusa. In the original eroge, the story follows a demon king named Arawn resurrected by an evil priest only to be pulled into being the husband of the girl who was supposed to be sacrificed to him. The anime itself will be produced by AQUAPLUS and animated by White Fox.

Taking on the lead roles of Arawn, his wife Rhiannon and her brother Arthur will be Toru Ohkawa, Yuko Goto and Makoto Ishii respectively. Other notables in the cast include Mai Nakahara as the female warrior Morgan and Ami Koshimizu as the house elf Limwris. The anime series will premiere this spring.

The dream match has been set up for March! In celebration of NTV’s 55^th anniversary, a new anime special will air which will pit Detective Conan vs. Lupin. The special will be a joint production between Monkey Punch and Goushou Aoyama and is promising to feature an entirely original story featuring characters from both franchises pitting the best detective against the best thief. I don’t have an exact date for everyone just yet but as soon as I find one I’ll update the post.

So, who are your bets on everyone? Do you see the world’s greatest detective getting the upper hand on Lupin? Is Lupin too crafty to ever be caught by the world’s greatest detective? Or is it just going to end in a big stalemate that attempts to keep everyone happy?

It was announced today that the four panel animal gag manga ‘Higepiyo’ (Mustache Peep) will be adapted into an anime. The series follows a baby chicken with a mustache named Hiyoko and the human boy who wins her, Hiroshi. No details are available yet regarding who is going to be animating this series or when it is going to be released but new details are promised in the April issue of Chorus magazine.

I don’t know, does this sound like something that you would enjoy watching? This does kind of sound like something that I might enjoy checking out simply because it is a chicken in a mustache.