Greetings and felicitations, ladies and gentlemen of the Internet! Anna speaking.


Wow...two posts in as many days...this has to be a record (Nick, I hope you're happy!).


Anywho, so I have recently been re-reading one of my most favorite manga of all time, Inuyasha. I love this series so much and I have always been impressed with Rumiko Takahashi's work (with the small exception of One Pound Gospel.). Naturally, I was delighted to hear about her newest project, Kyokai no Rin-ne.


Kyokai no Rin-ne tells the story of high-schooler Sakura Mamiya, a girl with the unwanted ability to see and communicate with spirits. Sakura's ESP leads her to meet Rinne Rokudo, a bizarre classmate of Sakura's. Rinne turns out to be a kind of shinigami, a death god of sorts (Death Note fans know what I'm talking about...). The manga follows their adventures in exorcisms and stopping evil death spirits.


When I read Kyokai no Rin-ne, all I could say was, "...haven't I read this somewhere before?" And then I realised it. Kyokai no Rin-ne is a sad little smoothie of Bleach and Inuyasha with a miniscule splash of Death Note and a sprinkle of Ranma 1/2. Rinne is half-human, half-shinigami (Sound familiar, coughInuyashacough?). Sakura can see ghosts but doesn't want to (Sound even more familiar, coughBleachcough?). Rinne has to deal with guys vying for the attentions of Sakura, who he likes but he can't tell her (Bells should being going off now, coughRanmacough.). Rinne and Sakura fight ghost monsters all while attempting to reach a common end (COUGHBLEACHANDINUYASHACOUGH!). And the worst part of it all is this: THE STORY ISN'T THAT GREAT! I found the characters to be one-dimensional and trite. The bad guys (If you can even call them that...) are way too easy to beat. The scenarios aren't convincing and they get resolved in the most feeble ways possible. I was, all in all, seriously disappointed with Takahashi-sensei.


Rating: D- (I am seriously upset about the unoriginality of this manga.)


Well, that's all I have to report for now. Happy geeking!


~Anna

When it comes to Marvel Comics there is rarely a series as critically praised and awarded as Runaways. The popular teen comic, which follows a group of teenagers who discover that their parents are supervillains, has been awarded with Harvey, Eisner, and even YALSA awards for excellency in writing and quality. However, when the series is created by such sci-fi masterminds as Joss Whedon and Brian K Vaughan this doesn't come as a surprise.

It is little surprise that Marvel would want to capitalize on the ever popular comic series, and today Deadline.com is reporting that the series will in fact recieve a film production. The reported director is Peter Sollett, who is most famous for his work on Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. No release date has been announced yet.

~Opening~

Oh man, I am at a loss for words at this one. Even after the anime upon anime I watched today, I was able to stay focused on the sheer love I now have of Katanagatari.

~Story~
A sword fight story taking place in Edo era . Yasuri Shichika is the seventh head of the Kyotou school of Japanese sword martial arts and lives in Fushou Island with his sister Nanami. He inherited a style of swordsmanship in which the swordsman doesn't actually use a sword. With the order from a female samurai general Togame, he sets out for a trip to collect the twelve treasured swords created by a legendary swordsmith Shikizaki Kiki.

~Review~
Well this will probably be really biased cause I enjoyed it so much but here it goes: Katanagatari is a fun shonen action anime with an elegant yet simplistic art style. Honestly it is hard to explain everything. The story is good, but it it's far from original. The samurai searching for swords has been done before and it's not a new concept, but it works. I found that though it may be simplistic art, a lack of originality, and an easy to follow story; it works . If your looking for a story with violence, insanity, and really new ideas this isn't it.
Overall:

Art: 15
Story: 15
Originality: 10
Character Depth: 10

Overall: 70

Your probably asking where the extra 20 points came from. Well I decided that with anime, even if all things said out loud about it point to one thing, it can always surprise you. And it's based on my opinion anyway sooooooo . . . I really think this is the anime to watch if your just an old school anime fan or not a huge fan of the intense violence that seems to seperate popular fighting anime from shoujo nowadays.

Lu~kun!

~Opening~

My third review on the anime for the winter season is Sora No Woto. Starting out as an anime, Sora No Woto has no manga (well had, it does now) or pre-existing fan base and personally I love the idea.

~Story~

The story focuses on Kanata Sorami. When she is separated from her parents at a young age, she found inspiration in a trumpeter she met. She decides to join the army and become a bugler, despite the fact she can't play. She is assigned to the town of Seize, where she is taken care of by Rio Kazumiya, her bugler instructor who plays the trumpet, and the rest of the squadron.

~Review~

I might make Anna-chan do a serious review of this cause it isn't exactly up my alley so to speak. The character design really resembles K-ON and it seems like a really shoujo anime. Despite that, I thought it was good. A really touchy, feely type of story revolving around friendship no doubt. The animation is great (if i were to relate it to something it would be movie grade level animation) and the soundtrack/background music is even better. The voice acting is interesting and it's original. Like I said before I'm not a good judge of shoujo stories but it was all around a good anime. The only real downside I can think of is that it had no conflict whatsoever in the first episode (which is all that is subbed so far).

Overall:

Animation: 20
Story: 18?
Originality: 16 (seems just alittle too much like K-ON)
Characters: 15 (Not really that interesting)

Overall: 69
(again, I'm not the best judge of shoujo but it was good and I think it has more of an appeal to girls)

Lu~kun!

~Opening~
The second Anime worth watching this winter season: the anime version of Dance in the Vampire Bund is a tad different from the manga version, but it seems good so far. As for the opening sequence I decided I'd rather not talk about it rather it trigger my H-thoughts/darkside
.

~Story~

The story focuses on Mina Tepes (Vlad Tepes?? hinthint), princess-ruler of all vampires, and her "protector," Akira. Like other vampires, she has been in hiding with her people for many years. Seeking to end centuries of isolation, Mina gains permission to create a special district for vampires, "The Bund", off the coast of Japan by paying off the national debt of the Japanese government. Mina then reveals to the world the existence of vampires and her desire for both races to live together. Tensions, however, run high as fearful humans and extremist vampire factions begin to interfere with Mina's wish for peace with the human world.

~Review~

Off the start this anime is a bit different from many of the other vampire anime out there (cause heaven knows there's a lot). Mina shows the world, rather violently, that vampires are real off the start. The animation is beautiful, yet has a subtle grittiness to it (think Trinity Blood). Of course (considering the fact it's all about vampire's) it's violent and bloody. So far the story is simple to explain and a great concept. One of the most awkward parts of the story, however, is that it is partially a romance anime and the main protagonist is an ancient vampire who looks like an 11-year-old (can you say "excuse for lolicon" 3 times fast?). Also there is a bit of ecchi-ness here and there, but it doesn't take to much time from the story. It's actually pretty good despite all the suggestive images used to advertise it and worth the watch if you like the idea of vampires trying to get along with humans (and then there are the werewolves later . . .).
Overall:
Animation: 20
Story: 20
Characters: 16
Originality: 15 (still a vampire anime)

Overall: 71 (worth watching)

Lu~kun!

~Opening~

Honestly, I jumped the gun a bit when I reviewed this yesterday and I'm noticing now that it's not bad.

~Story~

A youth who yearns for an un-mundane life, a hoodlum, a stalker denpa-girl, a young man who deals in information ‘for fun’, a black-market doctor, a high-schooler obsessed with magic, as well as a ‘headless rider’ riding a bike painted black. These unusual people begin a series of abnormal stories that never fail to create headaches. But, although their personalities are all twisted— they still talk about love. (ripped from one manga, I didn't think it was good enough to try and explain myself at first)

~Review~

Okay so the art is not that great, not that it's awful but nothing stands out. The limited use of grays in between black and white, as well as the huge amount of negative space leave the eye wandering a bit and it makes it hard to focus on the dialogue which is the same color as everything else. The characters, however are interesting and really hard to understand their personalities/train of thought. If there is one thing I enjoy, that's insanity and confusion which is included into the story frequently.
As for the story, it's pretty painful to get into and extremely odd once you do. Oh and when I find a clear cut answer to the question "What is Durarara about?" I'll tell you. Though I mus say the originality in this series is good. It's not your average Shonen, fight the baddies, manga. Much like Baccano, the line between good and evil is blurred constantly.
Overall I'd say:

Story: 15
Art: 10
Dialogue: 15
Originality: 25
Overall: 65 (Okay)

The weirdest thing the anime is actually pretty good. Maybe i'll do a separate review of that later.

~Lu-kun

~Opening~
Let me start by saying if you are familiar with peachpit's work , shouldn't care much about this review. If you don't know Peachpit, think Rozen Maiden. If you don't know Rozen Maiden (this is becoming a pattern) then just keep reading.
~Story~
To put it simply, the main protagonist Michiru Kita is weak. She is a quiet, meek pushover who hides a rather burdensome secret. Without her glasses, Michiru can see how long before a person dies. It shows up as a ring around a person's neck, "a line to cut along" and when it turns completely black you die. But when two guys in her class, Chicka Akatsuki and Shito Tachibana, are walking around with the black rings, she follows them to find out how. Turns out that both had died in an accident and took out a loan on their lives. Now they are bound to fight along side eachother to pay off the debt(though they hate eachother most of the time) and Michiru is caught in the middle. Soon after, she is catapulted into a world of the undead, running for her life most of the time.
~Review~
I wish I could say that I was more of a peachpit fan, but their work always loses my attention. Overall the story isn't bad and the art is decent, but its a very typical Shonen battle manga with very little originality. I often find myself bored with it about halfway through (most of the time) and it feels like every tankoban is the same basic story but with different zombies and problems. Originality wouldn't be a problem with a really good combination of art and story but everything is sub par. The dialogue (following the pattern) is okay, but not very interesting.
In the end I think:

Story: 18
Art: 20
Dialogue: 15
Originality: 10

Overall: 63 (ehh)

Honestly, if you're a fan of Peachpit/Rozen Maiden then you'll probably like Zombie-Loan, but other than that it's probably a hit-or-miss. (which is weird cause I get the new tankoban every time)

Lu~kun!!