Current Summer Anime

Hey there anime fans. I was just wondering if you were keeping up with the current midsummer anime season. If not you can check out what's being aired on this ridiculously large picture below.


Seriously, it's huge. But that's besides the point. I personally have only been keeping up with a few of them, but I can still tell you a bit about what on the plate for summer anime.

First up, my favorite this summer: High School of the Dead. That picture alone is a good enough reason to watch this anime, but if you still need some more convincing, listen up. This anime starts off with a few short bursts of up close zombie shots, followed by a view of the top of a school building as three students (two male, one female) bludgeon their way through a small horde of zombies in an attempt to reach the schools observatory. A few bloody zombie thwacks and an obligatory fanservice upskirt of the female character later, the opening scene comes to a close, followed by a very nice opening.

After that, we go back in time to just before all hell breaks loose. That's about as much actual spoilers as I feel like giving you at the moment, so I'll just finish up by saying a few more things. There are only four episodes out so far, so catching up won't be a problem (and you definitely need to catch up if you haven't already). The zombies look totally awesome and completely gross, just like zombies should. There were a few moments when I cringed and shouted at the characters for doing things that you aren't suppose to do during a zombie apocalypse...I have a complete Zombie Contingency Plan written up on my computer :P
There are a wide assortment of characters that bring plenty of life to the story, and the female characters are all quite busty. I give this anime so far a 9.5/10 (-.5 for acting stupidly during the zombie apocalypse).

The next anime on my "To Watch" list is: Setokai Yakuindomo
Basically, this anime follows the members of the student council of a previously all girls private academy...now obviously going co-ed for the first time. Needless to say, hilarity ensues, and one unlucky(lucky?) boy gets picked to be the only male member of the student council, much to his dismay.

It turns out the the two taller female members of the council are totally and completely perverted, and the duty of keeping them in check falls to the new (horrified) male member, backed up by the shorter, more mature female member of the council. I have to say, this anime has me laughing almost throughout every episode, and if you happen to be a fan of comedy, with perhaps a very slight amount of ecchi thrown in, then this anime is a must see! I give it an 8.25/10

My next pick is: Ookamisan Shichinin no Nakama-tachi The story follows three "main" characters, Ryōko Ōkami who is a freshman girl, renown for her fierce demeanor, Ringo Akai who is a short, cute, loli-esque freshman girl who is Ōkami-sans best friend, and Ryōshi Morino, an incredibly shy boy with a big-time crush on Ōkami-san, he's pretty darn good with a slingshot.

The anime follows Ōkami, and Ringo, two members of a club that "fixes" problems for prospective clients called Otogi High School Bank, and Ryōshi, the shy guy who is finally able to confess his love to Ōkami only to be recruited into the club. Despite being a comedy/romance type anime, there are plenty of good fights(Ōkami is a darn good fist fighter), and as long as nobody is looking at Ryōshi he can hold his own pretty well with his slingshot. For the most part, this is a nice lighthearted anime that I would give a 7.75/10.

The last two animes that I would keep an eye out for would be Nurarihyon no Mago. An anime following an elementary school student who is destined to be the next head of the Nura youkai clan, even though he desperately wants to stay human. And the last one would be The Legend of the Legendary Heroes.
Despite having a redundant sounding name, there have been some pretty cool magic fights, and a decent bit of humor thrown in as well. The story follows Raina Lute, a lazy student of a Magicians school who sets out on a journey to find a magical artifact from one of history's "Legendary Heroes".

I urge you to take a look at that big picture up there and try out a few of the animes I've mentioned. There is always something new out there for someone.

Anime Review for 07-Ghost

I decided to review 07-Ghost, seeing as it is one of the most recent anime’s that I’ve watched.

Ok, where to start…Well, the original run for this anime was from April – September of 2009, containing 25 episodes. It was produced by Studio DEEN which also helped produce Fate Stay Night, Fruits Basket and is currently working on Nurarihyon no Mago for the midsummer anime season.

07-Ghost is set in a gothically illustrated fantasy world following an orphaned slave by the name of Teito Klein. It follows him from his escape from a top military school after an unexpected turn of events causes him to become a convict, to a mysterious church where he invokes the law of sanctuary. We watch as he attempts to uncover secrets about his past (he has had amnesia since being a child), where he comes from, who he is, what connection he might have to a dethroned king and why a mystical artifact known as “The Eye of Mikhael” is causing the Empire to chase him.

Teito is the protagonist throughout the series, a “combat slave” being brought up in the Barsburg Empire. Teito is pretty much a loner except for his only friend Mikage who often teases Teito because he’s quite short. Since being raised in a military academy, he is quite good at using Zaiphon and Bascules. Zaiphon is the 07-Ghost universe’s “magic”. It is the ability to convert life energy into different forms of power, and is controlled by converting strong emotions into magical energy, which sometimes causes the Zaiphon to take on the shape of words. Zaiphon is grouped into three main categories; Healing, Offensive and Manipulation. Teito is an Offensive Zaiphon type caster. Bascule are weapons of varying size and shape, mostly in the form of rods and staves that are used to channel and manipulate Zaiphon.

The animation itself is smooth and wonderful and the overall style for 07-Ghost would combine fantasy, action and drama with plenty of comedic relief thrown in. The story is written to be quite emotional, so the characters are mostly complex, and the character design is a bit bishōnen. I would say that when action in this anime happens, it’s pretty much awesome, but there tends to be a bit of back story flashback type stuff, Teito moping around the 7^th District Church, and other stuff happening.

The plot tends to stay on course, and complex enough to hold interest, and there are a few…emotional moments between Teito and Mikage, not enough to be yaoi, but yea.

There could be a second season for this anime sometime in the future, however there isn’t one currently in production, and there isn’t a start date as of yet. I would recommend this anime to everyone, and I personally give it an 8.25/10

In the Beginning...

...there was a college student who found himself with extra time between summer classes and working at Wal-mart. His roommate had recently acquired one of these "girlfriends" things people tend to have every once in a while and he felt bored, and left out of all the fun. So, that college student fled to the vast chasm of the Internet in search of entertainment, and perhaps a sense of purpose to fill his life with. That was when he discovered "blogging". Which is where his story begins.

So here I am...blogging on the internet. Something I never really thought I would be doing before. I generally don't think of myself as someone who other people would gather around and listen to, however if there is one thing in the entire universe that I feel like I could speak of forever, it would be anime. "Anime?" You ask? well, I suppose I could tell you a little of what I know. Ahem...

Anime as it is referred to is short for "animation", particularly Japanese animation. It is thought to have first hit the world sometime in the beginning of the 20th century, 1917 or so. In the late 1930's is when anime really started going strong, some say it was influenced by Disney's Snow White. Anime has a style all to it's own, and some people (including me) consider it an art form. While sometimes considered a form of "limited animation" this is just part of what makes anime what it is. In fact, some anime techniques can be traced back to cost cutting as a result of tight budgets during World War II. But most importantly, anime is a medium of story telling, and its just plain AWESOME.

Since this is my first post, I haven't really decided on what anime to start off with, so I'll be reviewing my first anime here in a couple of day when I post my next...post. Look forward to it!