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Anime

Winter 2006 Anime Preview! Part four!

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora

Hantsuki
Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora, or Hantsuki for short, seems like it’ll be one of the more dramatic anime of the new season. The story (or what I gather from the translation at anidb) is about a guy with hepatitis (b?) and a beautiful girl he meets at the hospital. Problem is, she doesn’t have that much time to live. This kind of story reminds me of those Korean soap operas that my mom loves to watch. Inevitably, someone is always sick with some terminal disease, has weeks to live, and dies at the end. Still, the girl is really cute (I have a weakness for girls with hairclips), so I’ll probably end up watching the whole thing and crying at the end. Also, the music during the promo sounds pretty good too.

Check out my first impressions on Hantsuki here

Lemon Angel Project

Lemon Angel Project

Lemon Angel Project is an anime about an idol group who mysteriously disbands and then reforms 10 months later. That’s pretty much all the info I have about it. I guess the plot of this anime could be compared to Wandaba Style, except without the whole flying to the moon part. I’m not too sure I’ll like this anime, but the character designs seem cute and unique enough to keep me watching for at least the first episode. I don’t even know what the plot will be about, really, so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see on this one.

Read about my first impressions of Lemon Angel Project

Rakugo Tennyo Oyui

Rakugo Tennyo Oyui

Rakugo Tennyo Oyui is about six girls who have been given magical powers to fight evil. Wait, haven’t I already heard of this plot a billion times before? There’s nothing really noteworthy about this anime, besides the fact that it’s by m.o.e (Master of Entertainment). That said, you can probably expect the girls to fight evil by showing evil their panties or something to that effect. I really loved Rizelmine (another m.o.e. production), but lately, m.o.e. has built a reputation of producing utter crap. I might give this a shot due purely to loyalty to Rizelmine. Please, m.o.e, win one for the Old Gipper!

Now that my quadrilogy is complete, why not head over to the ol’ forum to vote for your favorite new anime of the season? Do it!

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Anime

Winter 2006 Anime Preview! Part three!

Kagihime Monogatari Eikyuu Alice Rinbukyoku

 Kagihime Monogatari Eikyuu Alice Rinbukyoku
From what I know of Kagihime Monogatari Eikyuu Alice Rinbukyoku, it has a really long name. It also has some cute bunny-mimi characters. From the official trailer, and the not so official animenfo story translation, it kinda seems like this anime will be about a fight to the death between bunny-eared girls for pages from a magical book! It doesn’t seem like the most original plot, but hey, it could be good! And plus bunny ears!

Read about my first impressions of Kagihime here!

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Anime Blogging Software

WordPress 2.0 Upgrade Impressions

So I finally decided to upgrade to WordPress 2.0 after reading about how awesome it is at itsumo anime blog. The process was pretty painless. Mostly I was worried that the entire blog would be burned to the ground. Most of the process is backing up in case the process fails, but the upgrade is so easy that it’s kind of hard to screw it up.

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Anime

Winter 2006 Anime Preview! Part two!

Continuing my coverage of Winter 2006 anime, here are some more possibly noteworthy anime to check out in the new year:

Ergo Proxy

Ergo Proxy
Another highly anticipated anime, Ergo Proxy features smooth, high-quality animation (or at least that’s what I saw in the trailer). I think one of its main selling points is that it’s the first anime to be released in 1080i resolution. The trailer seemed to hint a plot sort of like Elfen Lied or something. I’m not too sold on the style of this anime yet, although it does look pretty cool as eye candy.

REC

REC
REC appears to be a love story involving a normal guy and a female seiyuu. I’m kind of surprised about how many characters in anime are aspiring voice actors. It seems like a weird subject, since the people voicing the characters are voice actors themselves! Anyway, I’m looking forward to this anime because the girl in this picture looks pretty cute, and that’s all the info I have about this series!

Binchou-tan

Binchou-tan
Binchou-tan is this cute girl with a log strapped on her head. I think she’s a mascot for a game company or something like that. I believe the episodes are going to be 15 minutes long or so, based on the first episode (available on animate.tv). I found the first episode to be pretty mellow. Binchou-tan just kinda starts her day and does everyday stuff (if riding on ducks is your idea of everyday stuff). She is super omega kawaii, so I’ll give her props for that.

(hey, remember you can vote for your favorite in the forums!)

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Anime

Winter 2006 Anime Preview! Part one!

In preparation for the new year, I’m going to go through a few of the new season’s anime. Nothing in-depth here, since I haven’t even heard of most of these anime, and I can’t read the Japanese on the webpages (darn kanji!). Please enjoy the following conjecture and pretty pictures: 

(P.S. You can vote for your most anticipated Winter 2006 anime at the forums!)

Fate/stay night

 Fate/stay night
Arguably the most anticipated new anime of the season, Fate/stay night is based on an h-game turned manga. This anime comes from the same studio that did Tsukihime. I really liked that one, so I’ll keep an eye on Fate/stay night. From the website, all of the character models look pretty cute too.

Read about my first impressions on Fate/stay night here!

 

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Anime

BasuGasuBakuhatsu Forums up and running!

Hey all! I just finished implementing the new forums for Basugasubakuhatsu. Now, do I expect anyone to register? I certainly hope so, but for now it’s just me and my cousin (Mr. Rogers). Yep, it’s pretty lame. I really made the forums so I could gain the experience, but if enough people joined to make a community, that would be super awesome! Come join in on the discussion if you wish at forums.basugasubakuhatsu.com.

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Anime

BasuGasuBakuhatsu’s Top 5 Anime of 2005!

Alright, so I already posted these as separate posts, but since I wrote them pretty early in my blog’s life, and I don’t have much time to write new stuff due to the holidays, I thought I’d fix up and consolidate my top 5 anime of 2005 into one uber post! Without further ado, here are my picks for top anime of 2005:

 

5. Hachimitsu to Clover

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I was really surprised by how enjoyable this series was to watch. Basically a slice of life anime with one particular insane gag character to keep it interesting, this anime kept my attention until the very end. The thing is, nothing monumental happens. No giant Gundams are forced upon the characters, no magical powers are given to the girl. Even so, all of the characters are well developed, and the art style is really cool. I especially like the water color backgrounds used in the animation.

As far as cuteness goes, Hagu holds up nicely, although I find it kind of creepy that these college students are infatuated with a girl who looks like she could be 8 years old…

The OP by Yuki, "Dramatic" is great, and so is the ED by Suneohair. I liked it so much I made it my cell phone’s ringtone! The first ED could have stayed for the whole series as I was not too fond of the second ED.

Overall Honey & Clover was one of my favorite anime of this year. Hopefully it gets licensed along with the manga so I can check out what happens after the TV series’ end!

4. Pani Poni Dash!

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Say what you will about crazy gag anime, but I like them. Pani Poni Dash is yet another anime that is set in a high school with a short person as the main character. You’ll recall Azumanga Daioh had a young genius Chiyo-chan, and Sensei no Ojikan had the short teacher Mika. In Pani Poni Dash, we get the best of both worlds with Rebecca Miyamoto, a short, young genius teacher!

There are a lot of things in this series that seem like a rip off of other shows, but remember, this is a mainly a parody anime. With that in mind, the character designs are really original. The characters are all damn cute (even the "plain" ones), and the animation is among the better that I have seen.

Because the series has so many parodies, one thing to watch out for (at least in the Oyasumi subs I’ve been watching) is the insane number of obscure cultural references thrown into the show. Personally, I like knowing about the small blurry object that just flew past the screen in .03 seconds, so I keep the pause button handy.

The OP is above average, and so is the ED. The animation for the OP is a pretty cool mission impossible type spy intro. I’d also like to note that the ED contains some good examples of Engrish (Girlppi?)

I haven’t finished watching this series yet, so I can’t say whether it will continue to meet my expectations or flop like a dead fish. Hopefully it’ll remain one of the best anime "of the year!"*

*if you haven’t watched yet, you won’t get this reference!

 

3. Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan

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My next pick for top 5 anime of 2005 is Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan, which translates to "Beat to Death Angel Dokuro-chan." This series combines the the violence of Elfen Lied (ok, maybe not quite as much violence) and the cuteness of Pita-Ten (ok, maybe not quite as cute). Dokuro-chan is a guardian angel for Kusakabe Sakura, but she doesn’t do much protecting. Actually, basically all she does is put him in compromising situations (read: seeing her naked), beat him to death for it, and then revive him with her magical spell (pi piru piru piru pi piru pi!). This anime basically has no plot, besides Dokuro finding new ways to expose herself and in the process, kill Sakura, but it’s an OVA, so I can forgive it a little.

Because it’s an OVA, the character design for the 4 main characters and animation is excellent. You really learn to appreciate the super high framerate blood and gore animation that an OVA provides. Dokuro-chan is top among her peers in cuteness too, unless you count the scenes where she’s having diarrhea (you need to have seen the anime to understand).

The OP is fun and catchy, and it’s running in my head as I write this. The ED is pretty slick too. I’d recommend both, although I can’t see myself driving in my car while "pi piru piru piru pi piru pi" plays in the background…

This series is short, only 4 episodes long (well, 8 if you believe their marketing department), so it’s basically a no commitment anime. Overall, the high animation quality and excessive violence do it for me as I name Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan one of 2005’s top anime.

 

2. Animal Yokocho

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Animal Yokocho translates to "Animal Alley." The plot revolves around this 5 year old girl and cute animal friends that visit her from a secret door in her room. Ok, so I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking this is a kid’s anime. Actually, I’m not too sure myself if this anime targeted at kids, but I like it anyway. What you really get is a weird gag show (which seem be be prominent on my top 5, I’ve just now noticed) that sort of resembles a kid’s show in between the weirdness. The animals, Iyo the rabbit, Kenta the bear, and Issa the panda (making this anime a bit bear-heavy) pretty much torment Ami-chan as she tries to live a normal kindergarten life. There’s also a horse (that resembles nothing like a horse) named Yamanami-san that drops by from time to time.

The animation really isn’t that great, but I think the animators do a good job with what they have. The characters are all fairly cute. Nothing spectacular here though. The show mainly counts on its multiple comedy gags and occasional parodies to keep it going. I find it especially entertaining seeing the normally cute characters make their surprised reaction faces. I’ve included a bunch of those with the screencaps.

The OP is this sort of schizophrenic ska/rock tune. Good enough for an OP, I guess. The opening animation complements it well. The ED, "Fantasista Girl" done by The Indigo is surprisingly good. You might recognize The Indigo from their songs on series like Ai Yori Aoshi and Someday’s Dreamers.

This series is still fairly new, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it, so for that it has a place in the top 5 Anime of 2005.

 

1. Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~

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The final anime in the top 5 anime of 2005 is Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~. I wrote earlier that these anime are in no particular order, but I didn’t say that I couldn’t pick the best for last! This show is another slice of life anime following the story of Shiratori Ryuji and the other residents of his apartment complex. Most of the fun of this series has to do with the other residents dragging Shiratori from his homework and making him do things for them. In each episode you learn more about each character, and they’ve all got a backstory involved. I really love how Asami-chan is so poor that she has to water down her orange juice before she drinks it. Kawaii!

All of the character designs are unique and way cute (er, except perhaps the old man with a dog puppet). In fact, even the male lead is cute (and dresses in drag a few episodes too…)! Actually, one issue I have with this show is that the characters might in fact be too cute. Shiratori looks like he could pass for a middle school student. He really doesn’t seem like a college student at all.

The OP and ED are pretty standard fare here. They’re not the reasons I watch this anime, and they’re decent enough to do the job. The ED features some pretty cute picture book-type drawings.

All things considered, it’s really the awesome character designs and character development that make this anime my favorite of 2005. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I would definitely recommend this.

As a matter of fact, all of the anime in the top 5 that I listed are unlicensed and available right now at animesuki.com. You have no excuse, go forth and bittorrent!

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Anime

Slam Dunk manga artist accused of plagiarism

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I was just browsing around ANN and I found this article about Takehiko Inoue plagiarising from photos of NBA players for his manga, Slam Dunk.

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Anime First Impressions

Ginban Kaleidoscope – Anime First Impressions

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Ginban Kaleidoscope had totally flown under my radar for the last few months. I finally decided to take a look at it.  The story follows Sakurano Tazusa, a Japanese figure skater supposedly worth $10 billion dollars (give or take, based on the current strength of the yen). After taking a bad fall at a competition in Canada, she finds that a Canadian stunt pilot has possessed her! I sense already that this is not your typical sports anime. 

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Anime First Impressions

Noein – Anime First Impressions

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Noein starts off with an epic battle between a giant anthropomorphic spaceship and some bungie jumping humans from the future! The rest of the episode takes place in the present day. The Anidb description for this anime is totally cryptic, but here’s what I got: