Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 51 Watch

The World God Only Knows season 2 episode 1 eng

2011-07-22T01:17:00.000-07:00

sequel of (The) World God Only Knows (TV)

Alternative title:
Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai (Japanese)
神のみぞ知るセカイ (Japanese)

Genres: comedy, romance, supernatural
Themes: moe, ren'ai, school life, spirits

The website of the Japanese toy retail group Takarajima Create Group has posted a solicitation sheet that revealed that the second season of the Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai anime has been green-lit for broadcast in April of next year.

The World Only God Knows II Episode 1

The World Only God Knows II Episode 1 part 2

The first volume of this two-part series is pitched perfectly to the expectations of the pedestrian BL consumer. It takes place in a school catering to the offspring of the powerful and features a burgeoning romantic relationship between two students, the up and coming Tamiya and the rich bad boy Tohdou. Tamiya is a neurotic nerd, conscious of his classmates' inherited privilege and deeply contemptuous of it. Tohdou is a seemingly carefree soul with secret depths who may remind Yoshinaga fans of a long-haired Ono, from Antique Bakery. A wild kiss at a drunken party is an explosively introduces the two men to each other. But while Tohdou fast proves himself to be a libertine who is open about his homosexuality, Tamiya is in every respect his opposite, and although he secretly fantasizes about Tohdou, he is absolutely unwilling to admit that they are anything more than friends. However, when he develops an unreciprocated crush on one of his professors, he Tamiya realizes that he can no longer deny the nature of his attraction to others and falls into Tohdou's arms for a night.

Tiger & Bunny Episode 4 streaming ost

2011-05-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

Release date 2011-04
Alternative title:
タイガー＆バニー (Japanese)
Themes: mecha

The anime's website
http://www.tigerandbunny.net/

Cast
Hiroaki Hirata as Kotetsu T. Kaburagi (Wild Tiger)
Masakazu Morita as Barnaby Brooks Jr.
Minako Kotobuki as Karina Lyle (Blue Rose)
Taiten Kusunoki as Rock Bison
Mariya Ise as Dragon Kid
Kenjiro Tsuda as Fire Emblem
Go Inoue as Sky High
Nobuhiko Okamoto as Origami Cyclone

Tiger & Bunny 04
http://www.mediafire.com/?diw546s5ahc49pw
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Tiger and Bunny Episode 4 part 1

Tiger and Bunny Episode 4 part 2

Tiger & Bunny 03
http://www.mediafire.com/?5eei8gnt2ekkc30

Crisis's world also offers many opportunities for action, which the series seizes with zeal uncharacteristic of a romantic comedy. The series kicks off with an episode that has Ryuji and Eriko in a running gun-battle punctuated by Rose torching a city block; by episode three it has knocked a skyscraper in half X-style and instigated a flame-shrouded dragon death-match. Later arcs are less spectacular, but solid animation—particularly of fluid, textured flames, but also of Ai the wolf girl's athletic burgling and other less spectacular magical effects—keep the action interesting, and occasionally intense. The action scenes' biggest foes are Masashi Ishihama's character designs, whose irregular chipmunk cheeks and wide-eyed innocence just don't lend themselves to ass-kicking coolness. A score that functions as a kind of blinking applause light for your emotions isn't exactly beneficial either, especially as it's at its most unsubtle when trying to goose up the action. Both the score and the designs, which are cute if not cool, work better with the series' lighter content, which also showcases Studio DEEN's subtler character animation without the interference of the shortcuts necessitated by involved action sequences. Studio Tulip does its usual job with the backgrounds, as does Yui Horie with the interesting start-and-stop opening theme.

Of course, Dragon Crisis!'s action is no more imaginative than the rest of it. You'd need to excavate a goodly portion of your brain and stow it between the frozen peas and double-fudge ice-cream not to see the conclusion of every fight even before they begin. But hey, that's why they put the word dumb in dumb fun. Keep your expectations in check and the show won't hurt you...too bad.

A Channel Episode 4 sub

2011-05-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

Genres: comedy, slice of life
Original creator: bb Kuroda

Cast

Aoi Yūki as Tōru
Kaori Fukuhara as Run
Minako Kotobuki as Yūko
Yumi Uchiyama as Nagi

The story revolves around the everyday life of four high school girls: the flighty Run, the reckless Tōru, the timid Yūko, and the level-headed Nagi.

watch A Channel Episode 4 part 1

watch A Channel Episode 4 part 2

A Channel 04
http://www.mediafire.com/?94ukzo5lvgn343m
A Channel 03
http://www.mediafire.com/?98cjkjv09n332bc

Where most companies handle dubs with kid gloves, Funimation often wades in barehanded. Such is the case with Tsubasa. Some passages, particularly those Fai/Kurogane exchanges that flirt with shounen-ai, are altered to the point that the feel and in some cases, even the meaning are nearly lost. But then, Tsubasa is hardly a sacred cow. To be sure the changes that alter entire scenes are questionable, but most of the others (and there are enough to send sticklers for accuracy into the hills) are positive. The script is livelier than the original (which isn't a great feat) and periodically quite clever in its translations (a potentially sticky sequence involving formal Japanese is defused by using, would you believe it, formal English), and the performances, still cast and acted with perception and skill, are warmer and easier to relate to. It remains a fine work, so long as you ignore that nagging urge to make fresh-squeezed rabbit-thing juice out of strident little Mokona.

Ao no Exorcist Episode 2 video update

2011-04-26T06:32:00.000-07:00

adapted from Blue Exorcist (manga)

Alternative title:
Blue Exorcist
青の祓魔師（エクソシスト） (Japanese)
Genres: action, comedy, drama, supernatural
Themes: demons

Animation Production: A-1 Pictures Inc.
Broadcaster:
MBS (2011-04-10)
TBS (2011-04)
Production:
Ao No Exorcist Production Committee
MBS

Ao no Exorcist Episode 2

Ao no Exorcist Episode 2 part 2

Ao no Exorcist 01
http://www.mediafire.com/?6b91u5h0e14yt5h

Unfortunately, this run also suffers from most of the major flaws of the franchise, too. Most evident here is the gross overuse of lengthy flashbacks, both to earlier scenes in this set and to new background scenes. Granted, some of these are necessary to establish firm character motivations for key characters, but not every character needs a full episode (or more) of background-building, and certainly not in the middle of a battle every single time and with the same sappy recorder tune every single time. Some of these flashbacks are just flat-out tedious and even the most dedicated fans are likely to groan upon seeing nearly half of a ten episode block chewed up by these flashbacks at one point. The series has shown signs of trying much, much too hard to make its non-star characters sympathetic ever since about the midpoint of the Chunin exams, and this may be the worst run of episodes in that respect. Even Sasuke's absolutely crucial background scenes beat certain points into the ground.

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 43

2011-04-24T00:13:00.000-07:00

Summary: The Fairytale World is in trouble. Its princesses and their respective worlds are disappearing, causing a ripple effect in the human world where their stories are popular. In order to save the Fairytale World, the Queen sends three magic animals, Sei, Dai, and Ryoku, to the human world with magic gems to find three girls who can become the "Super Miracle Idols," the princesses Snow White, Cinderella, and Kaguya-hime. Those "princesses" end up being three little girls: Yukimori Ringo, Takashiro Layla, and Sasahara Natsuki. But the gems transform them into older singing superstars, and after their accidental debut at the singer Wish's concert, they become known as "Little Princesses," or "LilPri." Now they must collect Happiness Tones from humans in order to restore the Fairytale World.

watch Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 43 part 1

watch Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 43 part 2

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri 43 http://www.mediafire.com/?tt73ll3vlmq4d47
Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri 42 http://www.mediafire.com/?ggn0g9kk1dk2a07
Vampire Knight DVD 3
Perhaps aware that its love triangle was eating it whole, this is the show setting out to prove that it can move beyond lovelorn teens and perverse romance and still succeed. The short of it? It does.

OP Yuria 100 Shiki Chapter 70

2011-04-20T02:14:00.005-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/yuria_100_shiki/

Although the first episode doesn't make it clear, the premise of this apparently original anime project will involve Jinta having to reassemble the members of the old gang to bring resolution to Menma's last wish - and, by implication, to themselves as well. Given what has been shown so far, that won't be easy to do, as the friends have drifted far apart in the wake of Menma's death, but that is also exactly what gives the series so much potential. While the first half of the episode has a lighter feel, the second half (i.e. from the point where viewers should figure out that Menma is dead) has all of the feel and form of a weighty drama, the kind which seems determined to explore deeply-ingrained emotions rather than just treat them as tools for manipulating viewers, and so far it is executing that well. The writing is definitely a grade above most series this season; one scene where Menma returns to visit her family is silently wrenching, but little of the other dialog seems trite, either. The background art is sharp, the character designs, while not up to the background art standards in rendering, are not entirely generic, the gentle musical score hits just the right note, and the opener is one of the neatest of the season to date.

The “ghost girl” idea may be a little gimmicky, but the execution so far makes this one a winner.

Anime Area no Kishi Ch 69

2011-04-20T02:14:00.004-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/area_no_kishi/

Jinta “Jintan” Yadomi was once the leader of the “Super Peace Busters,” a group of friends who hung out together in elementary school. The group drifted apart in high school, though, with Jintan becoming a virtual shut-in. The only one from the group that he still associates with is Meiko “Menma” Honma, a girl whose wish he once promise to fulfill. There's just one big catch: Meiko is dead, and has been for several years. No one else can see the Menma who hangs around with him, though she does seem to have a physical presence. Jintan is not the only one of the former friends who seems to carry regrets about Menma, though his are the biggest, for the day she died was the day he had intended to apologize for something mean that he had said to her, something that he didn't mean at all.

Hajimete no Aku Chapter 107 106

2011-04-20T02:14:00.003-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/hajimete_no_aku/

Of all the wide variety of titles coming out this season, this one may be the most eccentric. Nothing much actually happens plot-wise beyond the introduction of what appears will be the principle characters; instead, the story depends entirely on Erio's weird behaviors, Makoto's reactions to it, and the aunt generally avoiding reacting to it. In this case, though, that's enough to carry the story for now, for clearly something abnormal has happened with Erio and sorting out the truth of the matter should prove to be interesting. On the downside, the writing has a tendency to be overly talkative and seems to be reaching to try to be clever, with an extreme level of familiarity with modern Japan (not just anime) required to catch all of the random references. The business with Erio does have a certain degree of sweet charm, though, and the cutesy closer is quite pleasant. It looks good, too.

If the gently eccentric nature doesn't work for a viewer than the title will come across as boring, as it does not yet have a foundation beyond that, but at least this isn't just another random weird events title.

Anime Yandere Kanojo Chapter 26.2 27 26.1

2011-04-20T02:14:00.001-07:00

Yandere Kanojo 27.1

15-year-old Makoto Niwa is living the cliché: his parents are going to work overseas so he's moving to the big city to live with his aunt and attend school. Though he was led to believe that his aunt lives alone, upon arriving at her house he immediately discovers something very curious: what may (or may not) be a girl whose upper half is wrapped up by a futon that she does not take off, even to eat. Even stranger, Makoto's aunt resolutely discounts the presence of this individual who may or may not be her daughter and who, when sufficiently poked, spouts off a lot of strange babble and claims to be an alien. Assorted odd behaviors eventually lead to her unveiling in a supermarket parking lot one night, where Makoto discovers that his cousin Erio Touwa, for all her odd behavior and insistence on being a half-alien, is also stunningly gorgeous.

Anime AIKI Chapter 64

2011-04-20T02:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/aiki/

Deadman Wonderland is an extremely well-made series, featuring some of the season's best artistry and technical merits, especially in character design and rendering (Shiro could easily compete for being the season's hottest-looking female character), and an effective, hard-edged musical score. It is also the season's bloodiest title, with some hazy censoring used on the most intensely graphic parts. The pacing is brisk and loaded with all sorts of plot hooks to draw viewers in and the concept, even though it rips off the collars from Battle Royale and borrows from several Hollywood movies, still feels sharp in execution.

It also has one of the most odious set-ups of any recent anime.

The beginning moments - where the Red Man shows up and Ganta must deal with the immediate consequences of the attack - are fantastic, but then it subjects viewers to the “railroad Ganta” process which, even for a semi-dystopian, near-future set-up where ethical practices have clearly changed, seems improbable and forced to the point of revulsion. (An appointed defender who refuses to file appeals? Ganta being allowed to carry any kind of video device in court? Really?) Get over that hurdle and you have a potentially great series here, but it is a hurdle which could turn away some viewers.

Anime The One Chapter 77 manga

2011-04-20T02:13:00.002-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/the_one/

Middle school student Ganta is having an ordinary day with his classmates, including the lovely Mimi, when the Red Man shows up outside the classroom window and messily slaughters everyone but him (including beheading poor Mimi) and implants something within Ganta's chest that will, of course, later result in him having Special Powers. First, though, he must contend with being accused and convicted of the crime of murdering his classmates, a set-up that includes a damning video he doesn't remember making and a public defender who clearly (to the viewer) has ulterior motives. He is sentenced to death and shipped off to Deadman Wonderland, a private prison where prisoners become the attractions in a cruel amusement park-like setting. There he meets the sexy but cold dominatrix/warden and, more oddly, a beautiful albino girl wearing mittens and a striped body suit who is a dead ringer for Mimi and can kick some (but not all) butt. When Ganta and Shiro's (i.e. the Mimi look-a-like's) lives are endangered, his Special Powers activate.

anime Blazer Drive Chapter 26

2011-04-20T02:13:00.001-07:00

Blazer Drive 26

This series likely won't get much attention from anime fans because it is far outside of mainstream anime interests; it is a hard-core work of historical fiction likely aimed at older male viewers, one heavily ground in period detail and featuring none of the usual anime style points. It throws out plenty of bones for history buffs and has some good artistry and technical merits (and a jazzy opener reminiscent of ‘70s American TV series), but much of the entertainment value of the first episode actually comes from watching Sasuke's bemusing facial expressions as his obsession gets the better of him. One scene has him imagining fellow vassals and military officers in more conspicuous styles of dress during a meeting with Nobunaga, while others have him chasing down the lid of a famous pot that has been flung through the air, daydreaming about said pot, or rolling around on the floor petulantly when something doesn't look right. The net effect is one of the oddest takes on a traditional samurai series. If you are looking for something well off the beaten anime path, this might be it.

Anime Full Metal Panic! Sigma Chapter 40

2011-04-20T02:13:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/full_metal_panic_sigma/

Like Battle Girls, this one is set in the 1570s during the height of the Warring States era and prominently features Nobunaga Oda. In this case, though, the characters all have their traditional genders and the story focuses on Sasuke Furuta (aka Kageysau or Oribe Furuta), a real historical figure who was, later in life (during Iyesau Tokugawa's reign), one of the most famous tea masters of his era. In 1577, Sasuke is still the vassal and chief messenger of Nobunaga, and in this fictional interpretation, he is also a total aesthete, one who has to be careful lest he becomes completely absorbed in the visual and designs elements of anything from clothing to a ship to a famous work of pottery. Around him trek many notable names and plenty of typical samurai machismo, discipline, and scheming, but Sasuke has his own priorities.

Kenji Chapter 201 200 199 198 197 196 195 anime

2011-04-12T20:08:00.007-07:00

Forget the pedestrian tastes of Andrew Zimmern. Forget the rote ingredients of Gordon Ramsay. It's now the Gourmet Era, and culinary artistry is experiencing a new Renaissance. Tens of thousands of new, delicious ingredients have been discovered, from massive fish with snow crab claws, to giant hogs with pats of butter on their backs. These succulent creatures are coveted by five-star kitchens around the world, but they come at a hefty price. Many of these animals can only be taken down by trained armies, bolstered with heavy artillery.

And then there's Toriko, a brawny, meat-headed, testosterone-loaded Gourmet Hunter who encompasses every campy quality a shonen hero should possess. He takes down animals the size of semi trucks by punching them in the face. His secret weapons are his fists—one has the slicing quality of a knife, the other has the clawed tines of a fork. If he lived in modern times, half of his t-shirt collection would surely reference buying Tickets to the Gun Show. He is undeterred by any and all creatures, big or small, thinking only of the juicy meat they possess.

http://www.mangareader.net/1709/kenji.html

Get Love!! Soccer Prince Chapter 23b 24

2011-04-12T20:08:00.006-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/915/get-love.html

The dangerously dippy Run, who seems to have an abundance of guy friends, is a longtime friend (and implied love interest) of tiny Tooru, who is known to drag a bat around and assault people who get too close to Run. Because Tooru is a year younger, she got separated from Run for a while when Run entered high school but passed the entrance exams to join Run at her high school the next year. There she discovers that Run has also made two newer friends from her class: the pig-tailed, sardonic Nagi and the more full-figured Yuuko, who makes Tooru unreasonably jealous even though her behavior towards Run seems innocent. As the threesome gradually develops into a foursome, they experience all kinds of mundane activities together.

Relative newcomer Studio Gokumi, whose only other production credit is the borderline hentai OVA Koe de Oshitogo!, gives the series some very pretty background aired paired with some mediocre character designs but does get ambitious on a couple of its animated sequences, especially the opening run through the school by Tooru. Pony Cannon dishes up some appropriately light and fluffy background music to properly set the mood. The writing suggests at least a thread of story involving the Run/Tooru relationship running through the background, and speculation will certainly be rampant about the yuri possibilities therein, but for the most part this one succeeds or fails on the execution of its vignettes and, so far, they are more hit than miss.

Anime Shiawase Kissa Sanchoume Chapter 49

2011-04-12T20:08:00.005-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/686/shiawase-kissa-sanchoume.html

If categorized in terms of other anime titles, this series based on a 4-panel manga collection would come out somewhere between K-ON! and Lucky Star and was almost certainly either inspired by, or meant to be a spiritual successor to, one or both (and, by extension, also Azumanga Daioh, too). While it does not have the musical theme of the former, or the blatant otaku pandering of the latter, it nonetheless has stylistic and character design similarities to both and either one will be a good determiner for how tolerable this series will be. And yes, that means that if moe titles make you break out in hives, you might want to stay well away.

Ares Chapter 205 Anime

2011-04-12T20:08:00.004-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/480/ares.html

And oh, yes, the fan service is definitely where this one's bread and butter is at. The first episode does not hesitate to show frequent panty shots, characters dressed only in lingerie, or how a girl's breasts might be moving under her blouse. It also does not hesitate to have a seeming little girl speak, in broken Japanese, a very inappropriate line or two involving kittens and monsters. (Think about it a second.) The girls look and act like a standard ero game distribution, too.

Given the lack of clarity on where the series is going or what its intent is (if any) beyond its fan service, the rating given here reflects total ambivalence on this one. Another episode or two will definitely be required to determine where this series stands.

OVA Saint Seiya - The Lost Canvas Chapter 222

2011-04-12T20:08:00.003-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/421/saint-seiya-the-lost-canvas.html

Anyone who has watched previous anime adaptations of ero games should almost instantly recognize this effort as being of the same pedigree. Based on a game developed by NAVEL (the creator of Shuffle!), We, Without Wings launches with an enormously confusing first episode which throws out at least a dozen named characters in little introductory snippets without a clear indication of how everything is related (or even if it is) and what direction things are going. Events seem to center around three male characters: high school student Takashi Haneda, who has a ready-made harem of enthusiastic classmates and who may or may not really be a knight from a fantasy kingdom on some kind of special mission; Susuke Chitose, an excitable young man who hangs out at the maid café Alexander and is on either friendly or combative terms with some of the waitresses; and Hayato Narita, an antisocial young man trying to scrape by as a handyman who has various encounters with girls on the busy streets. A gimmick involving an old TV is used to switch between these scenarios and some kind of dedicated fan service channel.

Oniichan Control Chapter 11 Anime

2011-04-12T20:08:00.002-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/442/oniichan-control.html

Let me be straight about one thing up front: I generally abhor Boys Love manga/anime and all of the style points that go with it, in part because I find the actual BL content repellent, and this one certainly has full doses of both the style (all of the guys have the requisite tall, lanky builds) and guys being romantic with other guys. Set that aside, though, and this one has some promise. It looks like it will be walking viewers through the process of creating and publishing shojo manga, which in itself could be interesting, and gives Ritsu a somewhat twisted personality which flares up on a couple of occasions to the backing of some delicious perversions of the normally-fluffy musical score. The first episode also shows a functional sense of humor, too, especially in the extremes of the “cycle“ that the shojo manga division goes through. Studio DEEN's artistic technical merits are not particularly strong here, but for content like this they don't need to be.

If you're already a fan of BL, this looks like it could be a good one. Others might appreciate it if they can tolerate the BL content.

All Rounder Meguru Chapter 39 anime

2011-04-12T20:08:00.001-07:00

Back in high school, Ritsu Onadera developed a deep crush on a male upperclassman, but years have passed since then and he has now become a jaded 25-year-old editor. While he had intended to take up a job in literature when he transferred to a new publishing house, he instead ended up in the shojo manga department, a division staffed by an oddball bunch of bishonen, including a chief editor who finds Ritsu vaguely familiar. After being labeled as “useless” by his new chief editor due in part to his lack of enthusiasm for the content (but also being caught in a surprise kiss by said chief editor), Ritsu responds by taking a crash course on the ins and outs of shojo manga publishing.

http://www.mangareader.net/1155/all-rounder-meguru.html

Umisho Chapter 131 Anime

2011-04-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

And yes, this is even more tasteless in execution than the concept sounds in writing. In fact, this may be the most tasteless non-hentai anime series ever made - and that's saying a lot. Very basic artistry and animation don't help, but even those aren't the real problem with the first episode. No, that belongs to the pervasive censoring, which is so prevalent both on-screen and in the dialog (and even episode and lesson titles!) that it entirely defeats the purpose for the episode even existing. What is the point of having an episode which is supposed to teach lessons about becoming successfully sexually active when a viewer cannot even read the advice being given? Why even bother to broadcast something that is going to be censored so heavily?

Even if you have an interest in the concept, do not waste your time with this version. Wait until an uncensored broadcast or the inevitable DVD/Blu-Ray release is available.

http://www.mangareader.net/377/umisho.html

Toshi Densetsu Chapter 3 online

2011-04-10T19:28:00.001-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/toshi-densetsu

Lacking is any degree of substance. Cless-Mint and Chester-Arche romances are hinted at but never much carried through, and the regular doses of action offer little time for character development beyond the standard one-note profiles: Cless is the aggressive, headstrong one, Mint is the pacifistic nurturer, Claus (Klarth in some versions of the game) is the flamboyant mage, Arche is the delightfully cutesy, playful one, and Chester is the taciturn fellow. Some of Dhaos's dialogue and actions imply that he is not truly be a completely bad guy, but again, not much is made of this. The one character who does see significant development is the knight Reisen in the past timeline, who initially comes across as arrogant but changes markedly when he sees the devastation that results from his arrogance, but he is not one of the core cast members. Opportunities for their greater development certainly exist, but the series doesn't take the time to explore them.

Fist of the North Star Rei Gaiden Chapter 32 online

2011-04-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/1156/fist-of-the-north-star-rei-gaiden.html

Based on a highly popular fantasy console game, the anime version of Tales of Phantasia is a OVA series composed of four 30-minute episodes, which collectively provide a highly condensed summary of the story told in the game. Although the anime is obviously targeted at fans of the game, the characters and story are basic enough that one need not have any familiarity with the game in order to understand and appreciate the anime. Some background and character development may be lost if you haven't played the game, but anyone familiar with console or paper-and-dice fantasy RPGs should have no trouble figuring this one out.

The series' game origin permeates every aspect of the show, as the story essentially involves completing various quests in order to defeat Dhaos, the main villain. All of the standard elements of fantasy RPGs are present: warriors, archers, magic-users, clerics, and even a ninja, although Suzu, the ninja character, does not appear until the third episode or interact much with the rest of the heroes. (In the original version of the game she was not a playable character.) Spirit forms get summoned, offensive, defensive, and healing magic gets thrown around, elves pop up, monsters of all sorts maraud across the land, special magical swords must be found, a girl flies around on a broom, and all sorts of random Norse mythological references get tossed around. Possibly the coolest element is the Magitech weapon that appears in the past storyline, which ultimately becomes something of a plot device. All-in-all, it's a lot of good, clean fantasy fun.

Transfer Student Storm Bringer Chapter 10 online

2011-04-10T19:27:00.005-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/transfer-student-storm-bringer

The warrior Cless, cleric Mint, archer Chester, and sorcerer Morrison have banded together to defeat a marauding knight who has destroyed their village, but their efforts to stop him before he frees the imprisoned Demon King Dhaos come up short. The magic of the time is not sufficient to defeat or reseal Dhaos, so Reisen sends Cless and Mint a century into the past to enlist the aid of the legendary summoner Claus F. Lester and half-elf magic-user Arche Klaine, who are engaged in their own battle against the monster armies of Dhaos. When even that aid proves insufficient to corner Dhaos, a trip to the future is in order for the whole gang (minus Reisen). But although Dhaos seems intent on exterminating humanity, is it possible he has motives beyond that?

Nineteen, Twenty-One Chapter 21 manga online

2011-04-10T19:27:00.003-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/nineteen-twenty-one

With the showy cinematic flourishes of the latest climax behind him, Naoki Urasawa is back to invisibly building suspense with his uncanny grasp of human expression, noirish use of shadow, and manipulation of deceptively simple panel layouts. It wouldn't be exactly correct to call his art attractive—there're too many ugly people with big European noses for that—but it is devilishly effective. Urasawa is a master of pacing; he never wastes any space nor does he allow the art to get crowded or rushed, despite the wealth of detail in every panel. He regulates the tempo of each scene masterfully, leading the eye with well-oiled ease from one cover to the other.

Other than moving the glossy next-volume preview from the back to the front, this volume is everything one has come to expect from Viz' presentation of the series: the overall graphic design is a perfect match for the content, the Japanese sound effects are left intact with a glossary in the back, and there's nil for extras.

Monster has earned every ounce of its praise thus far, and if it feels like it's relaxing a little after last volume's halfway-point climax, that's perfectly excusable. And at least this arc isn't wasting any time with side-trips (yet), preferring instead to wind itself up for what appears to be a nasty little climax in the offing, with plenty of twists and shocks along the way.

Chaser Chapter 25 manga online

2011-04-10T19:27:00.002-07:00

The series sets aside the heavier issues of Johan's evil and Tenma's deadly quest for this volume, a move that reduces the intensity of the plot without turning it lightweight. The resurrection of the ghost of 511 Kinderheim, one of the series' more unpleasant past concepts, is a canny move, as is a late-occurring revelation about Grimmer that casts some serious doubts on his moral character. There are also plenty of ruthless little touches—Suk's impossible crush, a harrowing torture by nail-clippers—and as always, murder and madness lurk around the bend of each of the volume's several twists. However, as interesting as it all is, the impatient desire to get beyond the setup to the real meat of the main plot still casts a shadow over much of the volume.

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Magician chapter 33 manga online

2011-04-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

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After orchestrating a stunning climax in volume nine, Monster immediately settles in to begin a new story arc. This opening volume is rather tangential to the main plot for now; Johan is but a specter as of yet, and Tenma only appears long enough to mull over the consequences of his last confrontation with Johan. There are, of course, hints as to where Grimmer's investigation fits into the puzzle of Johan's life, and this arc, as with most of Monster's tangents so far, will undoubtedly be insinuated into the main plot eventually. But for now it's Grimmer's show.

It's impossible not to miss Johan and Tenma after the central role they played in the Schuwald arc, and coming down off the giddy high of the last volume makes decelerating for another slow boil difficult, but Grimmer easily shoulders the burden of supporting the plot, which for its part is another engrossing tale of sinister conspiracies and double crosses. Grimmer's design, with his lazy eyes and perpetual grin, is initially off-putting; it doesn't take long though for his obvious intelligence and casual honesty to rectify that problem. The rest of the cast introduced in this volume display the series' usual deft touch with characterization. Detective Suk is easy to empathize with, if something of a sap, there's an old Monster of a behavioral scientist who isn't nearly as simplistic as he seems, and there's a depth and complexity to the rogue's gallery of highly suspect supporting players that belies their limited roles.

Desperate Housewives Season 7 Episode 18 19 20 21 22 Download

2011-04-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

As an illustration of Dumb Things Anime Fans Love About Anime, Kujibiki Unbalance is pretty much spot on, whether it's on screen or on the page or as a fictional series-within-a-series. But as actual entertainment, this manga version falls well short. With no room to build an epic storyline and let the characters grow, there's just no way to develop the undying devotion that the Genshiken characters have for this series, and what little space remains is given to weak storytelling that's too straight-up to enjoy as parody and too clichéd to enjoy straight-up. You want high school hijinks? You want explosive adventures? You might as well walk over to a bookshelf of manga and pick out something by lottery, because chances are it'll fall into one of those genres anyway. Just try not to have the misfortune of choosing this one.

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2011-04-05T08:09:00.002-07:00

Perhaps the one thing that saves Kujibiki Unbalance from being downright bad is the eye-catching art—not particularly inventive (the most recognizable characters are the ones with design elements already established in Genshiken), but still lively and cute enough to please the modern otaku eye. Impossibly baby-faced girls with impossibly well-endowed bodies, strategic angles for panty viewing, and a confident sense of line—it may not be to everyone's taste, but at least Koume Keito can put pen on paper without looking like an amateur. In fact, Keito's action scenes are the real hidden gem of this series: they may not be the most logical, but the varied and dramatic layouts capture a sense of motion that other works in the genre would be hard pressed to match. And once he gets over his addiction to filling in everything with gray tones, Keito could emerge as a great action-adventure manga-ka in his own right.

With the story as weak and formulaic as it is, it should come as no surprise that the dialogue is at its best when the characters just shut up and let the action flow. Otherwise, it's a morass of incomprehensible expository dialogue (often squeezed into too-tight speech bubbles, making it even harder to read) or the characters spouting stock phrases at each other. When the time comes for battle, though, the images truly speak for themselves; even sound effects remain infrequent, and the small translations placed next to the original characters stay neatly out of the way. A short cultural glossary and some author's notes (basically comparing how the manga was adapted from the TV series) make for fairly typical extras, but a bonus Genshiken short is probably going to garner the biggest laugh in this volume.

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2011-04-05T08:09:00.000-07:00

A different kind of energy is at play in the final arc, which is perhaps the only time the series starts getting decent. Instead of scattering clichés randomly, the last few chapters attain a laserlike focus in bringing together old chestnuts like "Actually, the villain is secretly the long lost brother!" and "Your father wasn't your real father," along with the revelation that the weakest girl is the one with the greatest hidden power. Despite these predictable (and sometimes arbitrary) plot points, the buildup of tension and the cathartic climax work well, and by the time the characters say their parting words, one almost starts to feel a genuine empathy ... until realizing that this entire series is two volumes long and will probably be forgotten in 24-48 hours.

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2011-04-05T08:08:00.002-07:00

Kujibiki Unbalance's journey from concept to comic is almost as convoluted as one of Chihiro Enomoto's aleatory adventures: serialized concurrently with the anime, which was derived from the OAV, which in turn was the realization of a fictional series in the slice-of-otaku-life comedy Genshiken. Yes, when it's been filtered through that many levels of adaptation, one can only expect mediocre things from this nonsensical schoolyard romp. Oh, there's plenty of action, and the girls are cute, but ... cute girls and action can be found in just about any other series. And most of them are more satisfying than this cheap cash-in which spans a mind-boggling two volumes yet still manages to hit almost every major cliché known to fandom. Of course, that's probably the point, but in that case it should have stayed in the pages of Genshiken where it belongs.

The first two chapters waste no time in committing various errors of storytelling: too many characters, hard-to-follow story logic, and even harder-to-follow battle scenes. Funnily enough, these are the exact things that often make hardcore fans fall in love with!! manga and anime—but when distilled to a form as concentrated as this, it stops being fun and starts becoming nonsense. Fortunately, the following chapters are a little easier on the brain, if only because they switch to other modes of failure: forced melodrama and pointless, predictable comedy. The Chihiro/Ritsuko/Tokino childhood-love-triangle chapter almost squeezes out some poignancy ... but only on a shallow level, as there's nowhere near enough story background or development to make it meaningful. Then comes the customary "lots of girls chasing one boy!" chapter, which actually turns out to the most entertaining thing in this volume—it may not be terribly creative, but the lack of plotline obligations allows a lot more room for freewheeling energy.

Fringe Season 3 Episode 19 20 21 22 23 24 Free

2011-04-05T08:08:00.001-07:00

Bloodline

On the Other Side, Bolivia discovers that there are men that will stop at nothing to obtain her unborn baby, which may hold the secret to safe travel to This Side.

Chihiro Enomoto has the worst luck in the world—until the fateful day when he's admitted to Rikkyoin High School, an exclusive academy where everything is decided by lottery. In an even more astonishing stroke of luck, Chihiro has been selected to be next year's student council president. But the current student council has some tasks for Chihiro before he and his staff can take office, like hunting down a spy lurking among the student body. In the meantime, Chihiro also learns that the current president has a tender side, and discovers the curse of unwanted romantic attention when a love potion goes wrong. Then comes the final test of Chihiro's leadership skills, when a mad ninja kidnaps two of his classmates. Does he have the courage—and luck—to pull through this one?

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2011-04-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

In a series first, the music that has been at the heart of the show and been beloved by fans comes to life for Grey's Anatomy: The Music Event. A cataclysmic event rattles the doctors of Seattle Grace to the core, as Callie, on the verge of an enormous life-changing moment with Arizona, envisions her hospital and friends as it has never-been-seen before. "Chasing Cars" (Snow Patrol), "How to Save a Life" (The Fray) and "The Story" (Brandi Carlile) are among the songs performed by the cast.

The alien robot invaders aren't free of the kookiness, either, as their design is decidedly weird--take the first alien that attacks Marin, which looks like a giant pink gorilla head. They're kind of ambiguous, as Meran looks sort of like a robot but bleeds when wounded and eats enormous amounts of rice...and yet when he's not needed he transforms into a tiny blue ampoule which Marin can carry around in her pocket. There's also a weird green rabbit-monkey thing that appears to be the show's mascot, although it doesn't seem to have any real connection to the plot; it just shows up occasionally and is in the closing credits and 'next episode' shorts.

The art style is fairly retro, in keeping with the 60s setting, with simple, cartoony character designs and huge eyes. There's an interesting contrast between the muted colours of Marin's neighbourhood and the bright colours of Marin herself or the Monomakia. The music is very good, with a beautiful opening song and BGM strongly reminiscent of Yoko Kanno.

Wolf Guy Ookami no Monshou Chapter 83 manga read

2011-04-02T09:40:00.001-07:00

Although this manga is centered on girls and features magic as a principal theme, don't be tricked into calling Ultra Maniac a magical girl series. The anime might have fooled some folks, but Wataru Yoshizumi's original vision is something subtler. The only frilly outfits you'll find are the stylish fashion drawings that bookend each chapter, and there's nary an animal mascot or transformation sequence to be seen. Instead, what we get is a charming schoolyard comedy that just happens to involve magic. With distinctive characters and fun, fluid artwork, Ultra Maniac gets off to a promising start.

Some familiar story ideas set up the driving force behind the series: an odd-couple friendship between a straitlaced character and the irritating yet well-meaning comic relief, set in middle school with a dash of wizardry. Okay, so maybe we're thinking something along the lines of Sabrina the Teenage Witch or a goofy version of Harry Potter, but this is a story with its own unique personality. The humor takes its cue from the realistic side of the story, namely the trouble between young teenage girls and boys; from that point, it's Nina's nutty spells that provide the punchline. The situations are often predictable, being standard sitcom fare, but they're delivered with a panache and energy that still makes them fun. There's no epic plot at hand yet—so far, each chapter stands on its own, although sometimes alluding briefly to previous points in the story. This simplicity of structure allows the story to focus more on the characters and the world that they live in, not to mention delivering pure entertainment.

Wolf Guy Ookami no Monshou
Summary:By the mangaka team of Akumetsu. Akira Inugami just transfered into his new school. The principal and teachers fear w...

http://www.mangachapter.net/2968/wolf-guy-ookami-no-monshou.html

Working!! manga chapter 58 read free

2011-04-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

Ayu Tateishi is one of the most sensible students at school, but that's all about to change when she inadvertently helps new student Nina find her electronic "spellbook." Suddenly Ayu has earned the devoted friendship of a flighty witch-in-training who insists on helping her at every opportunity... with magic. Unfortunately for Ayu, most of Nina's spells end in embarrassment. Whether it's being turned into a boy, zapping any guy who comes in contact with her, giving love candy to the wrong person, or trying to extract the truth from someone, Ayu's school career has just taken a magical turn thanks to the machinations of "ultra maniac" Nina.

Working!!
Summary:Takahashi gets a job at a family restaurant... nothing remotely funny ensues.
A 4-koma manga (Four-panel comics).

http://www.mangachapter.net/887/working.html

Toukaidou Hisame - Kagerou Chapter 14 read manga

2011-04-02T09:33:00.005-07:00

I may not be 12 anymore, and I realize kids have a unique ability to remember words and phrases from TV shows they love that have their own particular language, but a slightly clearer translation would have been nicer. Having to go back and read word balloons full of jargon that you can barely recognize from previous volumes is like wading through mud just so you can figure out what's going on. It's a good story, but sometimes it gets weighed down by how much exposition is necessary in order for the reader to even understand the narrative. Excessive jargon isn't really appreciated.

Bleach fans will no doubt be absolutely thrilled by this volume, and even jaded manga readers will find some excitement, which says a lot in Bleach's favor given how clichéd and derivative the proceedings are. It's tough not to care a little bit about the characters, and the artwork really pops. You won't really find a better shonen adventure title on the market right now, at least not one that's aimed for younger teens like Bleach is. If you find yourself sometimes needing a dose of silly, over-the-top adventure, consider giving this one a shot.

Summary:Halfway through the Tokaido, Hisame’s adventure continues with his childhood friend Itsuki. The plot thickens as Hisame ...
http://www.mangachapter.net/878/toukaidou-hisame--kagerou.html

O/A Chapter 10 manga read

2011-04-02T09:33:00.003-07:00

Tite Kubo's spectacularly edgy artwork helps Bleach stand out even more, and this volume is no exception. Straight, clean angles and very distinct characters (although they do seem as though they're all going to the same hairstylist at times) make every image leap off the page, with the action sequences feeling much more ‘alive’ than they do in other, similar titles. At moments Bleach resembles the kind of hyper-stylized graffiti art you see spray-painted or airbrushed on overpasses and snowboards, and it's a style very much unlike any other manga title out there. If you're a student of art or just like to appreciate uncommon (but not totally out-there) manga style, definitely check Bleach out.

There's a contingency of manga fans out there who just love to complain about translations, and I can't see them complaining much about the translation here, but I most certainly will. The language in Bleach practically requires a lexicon at the back of every volume simply so you can understand what the heck these people are talking about half the time. Like any shonen adventure manga, the characters all stand around and shout expository dialogue both at each other and at themselves; Bleach is especially heavy on this sort of thing, and the translation is very much worse for the wear. There are simply far too many obscure Japanese words and complicated English phrases in them. Here's a sample:

O/A

Genres:Comedy , Seinen

Author:Watarai Keiji

Artist(s):

Released:2009
Summary:What to do when a popular idol gets food poisoning and can't leave the toilet, as she's debuting as a radio presenter? Y...
http://www.mangachapter.net/1825/oa.html

Heart no Kuni no Alice ch 35 read manga

2011-04-02T09:33:00.002-07:00

Heart no Kuni no Alice

Summary:The girly but bloody otome game re-imagining of Lewis Carroll's classic fantasy novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland w...

http://www.mangachapter.net/1566/heart-no-kuni-no-alice.html

If the storyline sounds really familiar, that's because it is. There isn't a single new idea in Bleach; it's literally all been done before. Plucky young hero with powers he doesn't understand slowly becomes more and more powerful, gains new friends and funny talking animal sidekicks along the road to challenging the evil establishment and ultimately overcoming all odds with his ridiculous new powers. The formula's been done again and again to the point where reading Shonen Jump titles sometimes feels like you're reading the same book of Mad Libs where a different author has scratched out the names of the characters and changed the visual trappings of the story around just enough so it might feel different. Bleach suffers from this syndrome, but it also happens to be one of the better iterations of this storyline; the whole “Soul Reaper” thing, the characters themselves and the very basic tenets of the story itself keep the viewer engaged, even though they've read this story probably ten times in the last few years.

Hakuji Chapter 7 read manga online

2011-04-02T09:33:00.001-07:00

Ichigo's hyperkinetic ghost-bustin' adventures continue in volume 8 of Bleach, Tite Kubo's mass marketing machine straight from the pages of Shonen Jump. Simply put, if you know what to expect from this series and like that kind of thing, then this is not only a particularly good volume of the series, it's one of the more important volumes at that. If you're not a Bleach fan, this will be yet more over-the-top incomprehensible nonsense that apes everything that's come before it. Either way, Bleach is what it is.

Volume 8 finds Ichigo trapped at the bottom of the “Shattered Shaft” where his “Chain of Fate” is in danger of self-consumption; if it succeeds, he'll be transformed into a Hollow and will become the very thing he's fighting against. The climax of this volume is one of the more important events so far in the series, with Ichigo wielding a new blade and becoming a full-on Soul Reaper on his way to save Ruika from the villainous Soul Society. For fans of the series, this is one of those big “holy crap” shonen moments, and Kubo pulls it off with as much shonen-style flair as anyone could ask for; one could even say the author's particularly kinetic art style is edgy enough to be perfectly suited to this kind of story. That it's pulled off so well means it'll be compelling and fun enough even for the most jaded and cynical of anime fans, and that's saying a lot. Bleach's high points are in its likable (yet sometimes ridiculously vast) collage of colorful characters and its competent pacing. There's a brief moment in this volume where they spend a chapter or two at a summer festival and the pacing slows down a lot, but it's forgivable given how plot-heavy it is overall.

Hakuji

The beautiful, white skin of high school student Ichijo Seika stole the heart of the pai...

http://www.mangachapter.net/2249/hakuji.html

Kyou kara Ore wa!! Chapter 257 read manga

2011-04-02T09:32:00.001-07:00

In order to pull Ruika from the clutches of the Soul Society, Ichigo has to enter that world, and in order to do that he's going to be pushed further than he's ever been pushed before. Painful and demanding training are necesarry to push Ichigo to the edge and unveil his Soul Reaper powers; with his own Chain of Fate consuming itself, will Ichigo be able to prevail and rescue Ruika?

Kyou kara Ore wa!!
Summary:After Mitsuhashi’s family moves into a new neighborhood, he decides to use the opportunity to become a delinquent. Upon ...
http://www.mangachapter.net/911/kyou-kara-ore-wa.html

Kinkyori Renai Chapter 9 read manga

2011-04-02T09:25:00.002-07:00

Artist Masayuki Taguchi's hunky heroes and buxom beauties may detract from Battle Royale's impact, but his is an unusual and very appealing style. There is a lot of detail in every panel, and although his character designs are sometimes bizarre, Taguchi gets a lot of human emotion into his drawings. But his over-the-top rendering of Battle Royale's wanton violence cheapens the horror of the situation. The brains splattering out of people's heads, the eyeballs dangling from their sockets, and the fountains of blood border on the ridiculous. The gore would actually be more horrific--and far more effective--if it were toned down a notch.

Overall, Battle Royale the manga is not as good as Battle Royale the movie. But it still manages to capture the macabre appeal of the film. Fans of the live-action incarnation should at least check it out. Newcomers to the shocking tale should definitely seek out the movie first, however. Though it will likely never be licensed for American distribution, legitimate all-region import DVDs with English subtitles are readily available for order online. Ultimately this deadpan spoof of TV and movie violence gone mad works best on the TV or at the movies.

Kinkyori Renai
Uni is a prodigy with a cool reserve who is accomplished in everything except for Engl...

http://www.mangachapter.net/1185/kinkyori-renai.html

Kaiji Chapter 149 manga read online

2011-04-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

Mr. Kamon makes for a suitably sadistic villain, but he's impersonal: the kids don't know him. Unlike the movie's Mr. Kitano, he has no preexisting grudge against these children, and in this aspect the film is decidedly superior to the manga. As evil as he his, Kamon is just doing his job; he's not out to exact revenge on “deliquent” children who refuse to attend school. In fact, the entire concept of the Program being in place to whip Japan's children into shape is mysteriously dropped. This was a key point of the film - an early scene shows almost all of the students boycotting Kitano's class. The kids in the manga are way too noble to do such a thing.

This idealistic, heroic portrayal of the children is at odds with film's cast of normal everykids and is the manga's biggest weakness. Shuuya is presented as a macho, pretty-boy rebel instead of the slightly nerdy, unassuming protagonist from the movie. The main heroine, Noriko, has been transformed from an “ugly shrimp” to a typically hot anime schoolgirl. Martial-arts warrior Sugimura and cool-as-ice Shinji look like the kind of guys who could take on an army of evil monsters without batting an eyelash. The movie's greatest appeal is its stable of ordinary children stuck in an extraordinary predicament; the manga's hyperbolic characters are far less engaging.

Summary:Japan, 1995. After graduating from high school, Itō Kaiji moves to Tokyo to get a job, but he fails to find steady emplo...
Kaiji
http://www.mangachapter.net/1799/kaiji.html

Legend of the Sun Knight Chapter 7 manga

2011-04-02T09:24:00.002-07:00

Co-written by Koushun Takami, author of the original novel on which the movie was based, the manga sticks much closer to the plot of the book than the film version does. Takami takes more time to explore the backgrounds and motivations of the lesser players in his large cast. Paranoid, half-crazed characters that are dispassionately dispatched onscreen come across as sympathetic victims on the page. The political climate of Battle Royale's alternate future is also touched upon; the Imperial Japanese flag adorning everything from schoolbuses to water bottles suggests a totalitarian society in which Japan emerged victorious from World War II. And the notion of the Program as an enormously popular reality TV show is a brilliant bit of satire the movie chooses not to emphasize.

There is also a new addition to the cast, absent from the movie and barely mentioned in the novel, which adds greatly to the emotional impact of the story. Though her role is comparatively minor, the ill-fated Miss Ryoko provides motivation for the main characters and ups the chill factor of an already gruesome tale. The kindhearted foster parent of students Shuuya and Yoshitoki is staunchly opposed to the Program but never dreams that her own wards would be subjected to its horrors. After the children awaken on the island, Program Head Mr. Kamon gleefully recounts the torture Ryoko was subjected to after she objected to their inclusion in the game. Powerless to do anything about it, Yoshitoki launches into a rage with fatal results, while Kamon merely smiles.

Legend of the Sun Knight http://www.mangachapter.net/1595/legend-of-the-sun-knight.html
Meet the Sun Knight, the dashing leader of the Twelve Holy Knights. With his ...

Meteor Chapter 20 manga

2011-04-02T09:24:00.001-07:00

Adapted from the infamous live-action movie and novel of the same name, the one-and-only Battle Royale manga has finally been unleashed in the US. While not as hard-hitting as its better known (yet still officially unavailable in America) cinematic counterpart, the manga version retains all the controversy that surrounds the Battle Royale name. Introspective commentary on the public's appetite for violence, or merely crass exploitation in disguise? Either way, it's a story you'll likely never forget.

Like its previous incarnations, Battle Royale is supposedly a satire of media violence, yet it often revels in its own gore to the point of hypocrisy. The story works much more effectively as an emotional human drama--it is the characters' varied reactions to their horrible predicament that make it a truly remarkable and thought-provoking work. Some kids outright reject the game and commit suicide, others try to beat the system while most try merely to survive until the bitter end. And a few actually embrace it, like Mitsuko, the class slut who has no qualms about carving up her classmates in order live. The pantheon of characters exhibits every logical and illogical response imaginable. Unfortunately volume 1 of the manga doesn't have time to get into all of that just yet and covers little more than the exposition. But it's a morbidly enticing setup.

Meteor http://www.mangachapter.net/1361/meteor.html
Summary:Kawana Tomoko, a 15 year school girl, doesn’t care about much. Everything from her social life to school life is a blur....

Nichijou Chapter 20 read manga

2011-04-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

In a nightmarish alternate-reality Japan, the most popular show on TV is “The Program.” Once a year a class of ninth grade students is chosen at random to participate in the ghastly event. Shuuya Nanahara thought his class was going on a simple field trip, but when they wake up on a deserted island the horrible truth is made plain. Each student has three days to kill all of his classmates; if more than one remains alive at the end of the third day the metal collars secured to their necks will explode and finish them all. Shuuya tries to think of a way out of the Program, but the madness and paranoia the game breeds makes it impossible to trust anyone. He may have found a friend in Noriko Nakagawa, but with classmates like Mitsuko Souma eagerly murdering her friends in a desperate bid to survive, they will be hard-pressed to live through the Battle Royale.

Nichijou
While title means “everyday life,” the contents are anything but everyday. It follo...

http://www.mangachapter.net/968/nichijou.html

Toshi Densetsu Chapter 2 1 0 Scan

2011-03-25T02:25:00.001-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/toshi_densetsu/

Mikami and Takada are both introduced in quicker new scenes right at the beginning because Mello's arc with the mafia has been completely removed, and the death of a key member of the Kira Task Force that took place during that arc is only mentioned in passing once during the film. Unfortunate that this character was utterly discarded, but this choice only makes it obvious how unnecessary those episodes were, along with 75% of Near's arc that has also been cut. Where such abridging would normally be confusing, this particularly bloated arc of Death Note is actually much more enjoyable in condensed form, and the new scenes add clarity to the end result, although those that know the series well will quickly point out the plotholes left by eliminating Mello's involvement until Takada's kidnapping. After the initial slough of new scenes, the movie concludes with a replay of the last two episodes, only marginally cut for time, and we realize we've been watching a recap movie once again. At the very least the ending is spectacular, even in slightly abridged form.

Oh, Chunja Chunja! High School Bullying Chapter 5

2011-03-25T02:25:00.000-07:00

It also serves another purpose. The iffy jump in logic that Near reached to learn so much about Kira in so little time is mostly buttered over with melodrama in the TV series. Following L's speech in this version however, Near lays out the facts alongside a better understanding of his mentor's nature to arrive more naturally at his suspicion of Light. Their first conversation is also altered significantly to make “L #2” even more suspect and at last, Near's thought process actually makes sense...at great detriment to Light's intelligence, however.

Actually, the few changes made in this new introduction dumb Light down quite a bit and also make his character more psychotic, as he revels in a gore-tastic new scene more reminiscent of Final Destination than Death Note when Mikami publically “deletes” anti-Kira debaters live on NHN in…creative ways. The TV series made it clear that Light would not normally condone such wild behavior, but hey, at least it's entertaining, as is Mikami's equally bloody assault on the SPK, also completely reanimated to be better than it was visually and narratively. (Why not write in the notebook: “…and shoot anyone else left alive before killing themselves” if not all the SPK members are known? The movie addresses this.)

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/oh_chunja_chunja_high_school_bullying/

I Like a Beautiful Guy Chapter 20 scan

2011-03-25T02:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/i_like_a_beautiful_guy/

To be strictly accurate, the story has not been changed, and the new scenes are not monumental in that regard, but neither are they superfluous. The special begins with the extra graveyard scene from the first ReLight movie (making that film even more pointless as that was its only new scene,) which transitions into Light's rise to power. The introduction of prodigies Near and Mello follows and it's old news but the scene immediately after is a juicy one: a flashback to L tutoring at Wammy's House. One of the children asks him if there's anything he can't do or that frightens him and, surprisingly enough, he has an eye-opening answer that reveals a great deal about his character and his real relationship with Light. Besides that, it's a very poetic little soliloquy all on its own, certainly the most sensitive that Death Note ever gets.

GIRL (Hwang Mi Ri) Chapter 2 Scan

2011-03-25T02:22:00.000-07:00

Do anime fans ever really skip recap episodes? No, like the diehards we are, we watch the stupid things, hoping against hope that there is some invaluable extra scene hiding in the 20 minute dearth of enthusiasm and piles of recycled footage. Sometimes there is and we are rewarded, but we're always angry that we had to watch it to find that extra nugget of entertainment. That's kinda what watching Death Note Relight is like, although it does have a bit more to offer than that. The movie opens with despondent-looking detective L introducing the characters and retracing everything that took place. (Yep, a recap of a recap movie in another recap movie. We're through the looking glass here, people.) Thankfully, the sharp editing and L's mellifluous, droll narration make it quite painless. Far better, what follows is a treat: nearly 20 solid minutes of new footage.

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/girl_hwang_mi_ri/

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days Chapter 16

2011-03-25T02:20:00.004-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kingdom_hearts_358_2_days/

Four years have passed since the Kira case was turned on its head, putting the serial killer in charge of his own investigation and in control of the entire world. In this dark age, while Kira has been accepted as a righteous god by much of the world, L's successors bide their time and prepare to take the murderous mastermind down, fiercely competing to see who can outdo their mentor first. Faced with L's craftiness once again, the “god of the new world” decides to go on the offensive and make sure both of the detective's agents regret having defied him. Divided as they are, will Mello and Near be conquered and pay the ultimate price for crossing Light Yagami, or has his reign of terror finally come to a bitter end?

Futago Chapter 7 Scan

2011-03-25T02:20:00.003-07:00

That's not to say the animation is bad, per se, it's simply awkward and, in the age of motion-captured films like Beowulf, it does look a little amateurish when held up to other productions using a similar technique. Regardless, the film's physical beauty can not be ignored, and is easily the highlight of what is, at its core, an undemanding but entertaining action movie that will keep anime fans – and fans of action movies of all sorts - happy for a little under two hours.

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/futago/

Tokyo Alice Chapter 6 scan

2011-03-25T02:20:00.002-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/tokyo_alice/

The problem is, Appleseed: Ex Machina stops looking so incredible once things start moving. While the motion-captured movement in the first film was vastly clunkier, many of the problems that plagued the animation then are still around for the sequel. Character movement is unnatural, unsubtle and unconvincing, for the most part. There are moments of believable movement, but generally, the animation looks more like someone with invisible hands moving dolls around than it looks like natural human movement. For whatever reason, there seems to be a reluctance to fully animate characters' hands; they are static unless they're holding something, and the result makes everyone look like they're moving their arms but not their hands. Nothing ever seems like it has any weight to it, either. Deunan moves the same regardless of whether or not she's holding a beer bottle or a massive automatic weapon. Also, due to the film's look and the animation method, it's difficult to shake the feeling that you're watching a series of videogame cutscenes – a feeling that is not relieved by the script, which ends quite literally with a perilous final dungeon, a mini-boss battle, and a final boss.

Sekine-kun no Koi Chapter 2 Scan

2011-03-25T02:20:00.001-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/sekine_kun_no_koi/

The story is helped immensely by the inclusion of an open, obvious romance between Briareos and Deunan. Although it's difficult not to think about the obvious issues their relationship would have (how do they have sex, anyway? Is Briareos even “equipped” for that scenario? Surely that can't be… oh, nevermind), the element of romance adds a very welcome, surprisingly honest and relatable human element to a film that could have potentially been very cold. Their relationship is the “heart” of the film, and without it, it's difficult to say if the movie would've been capable of conjuring any emotion from the viewer at all aside from “huh, neat explosions”, especially considering how blank and personality-free most of the characters seem to be.

Obviously, the most important thing about Ex Machina is the visuals, and in terms of art design and execution, it's a knockout. The previous film's cel-shaded “anyone remember Reboot?” look has been replaced with a sort of halfway point between the old look and standard two-dimensional character designs, and the result is much more pleasing to the eye. The film's color palette in particular is deserving of praise – the city of Olympus really pops off the screen, and there are moments where you could pause the film and have an image worthy of framing and hanging on your wall.

She's Scary Chapter 22 scan

2011-03-25T02:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/she_s_scary/

It's a refreshingly straightforward plot for a big-budget anime sci-fi action picture. The genre has historically been plagued with insanely complex (or, in the case of the first Appleseed movie, insanely boring) plots. Ex Machina feels a bit more like an American action movie, with a simple plot that zips right along from action sequence to action sequence, stopping occasionally for brief expository conversations between the principal characters. It's a far cry from the head games of movies like Ghost in the Shell: Innocence and its ilk, resulting in an experience that's a lot less draining (or sleep-inducing). The dialogue leaves something to be desired, to be sure – nearly every conversation is belabored exposition, often with characters telling each other things they already know for the sake of the audience – but it's not enough to drag the whole thing down.

Father Complex Chapter 5 scan

2011-03-25T02:15:00.005-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/father_complex/

In what will likely be a surprise to nobody, Appleseed: Ex Machina is light years better than the previous Appleseed film (the 2004 CG effort, not the ancient OVA from the 80's) in every conceivable way. The art direction, the animation, the music, the script, the storyline – it's all a vast improvement. That isn't enough to save it from being little more than a lightweight action pic with some pretty visuals, though.

The storyline is blissfully uncomplicated; there's a virus, transmitted via futuristic celphone things that look like in-ear Bluetooth headsets, that threatens to bring the entire human (and cyborg and Bioroid) population under a single controlled consciousness, thereby eliminating things like “individuality” and “freedom of choice”. This devious scheme was cooked up by a rogue group of scientists who operate under the notion that if everyone effectively shares the same heart and mind, total world peace will be achieved (which is an odd goal for this lot, considering that when their plan is executed it results in mass riots, major property damage and countless casualties, seemingly by design). Oh, and there's a half-hearted love triangle (that ultimately doesn't really go anywhere) between tough-as-nails ES.W.A.T. babe Deunan Knute, her robot-headed cyborg lover Briareos, and Tereus, the latest model of Bioroid created using Briareos' DNA, which makes him an exact copy, this time with a human face instead of the metal mug Briareos sports. Naturally, his status as an exact copy means he shares Briareos' feelings for Deunan. You can see where this is heading.

Momotan Chapter 2 Scan

2011-03-25T02:15:00.004-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/momotan/

The utopian city of Olympus is under attack by high-minded terrorists bent on controlling the will of the world's population - be they human, cyborg or the artificially-created Bioroids - and it's up to spunky ES.W.A.T. enforcer Deunan Knute, her impossibly skilled cyborg partner (and lover) Briareos, to bring them down. Added to the mix is a brand new Bioroid model named Tereus, created from Briareos' DNA, who finds himself developing feelings for Deunan.

Abarenbou Kareshi Chapter 5 scan

2011-03-25T02:15:00.002-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/abarenbou_kareshi/

At the time of this writing Cross Game is only available in streaming form at Viz Media's video site, so, naturally, it is only available in subbed form. The subtitling job is a respectable one, but the Japanese dub suffers a bit because the actors make little or no effort to adjust the voices of their characters appropriately for the different ages at which they appear; Akaishi sounds just as deep-voiced at age 11 as he does at age 15, for instance, and that will not change as the series progresses and the years pass. The acting is otherwise pretty good, but that just seems lazy.

Western fans often find themselves turned off by sports anime because of the genre's routine stylistic elements and the necessity to appreciate the sport being played to be able to appreciate the anime. For those who fall into that category, this one might change your mind. This wonderful intersection of love, loss, and baseball (and a little comedy, too) is easily one of the most accessible and distinctive of all sports anime and has the potential to be one of the best. Its slower and more deliberate pacing may not suit some, but the series has too many other merits to ignore it just for that reason.

Psychic Odagiri Kyouko's Lies Chapter 4 scan

2011-03-25T02:15:00.001-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/psychic_odagiri_kyouko_s_lies/

The musical score, contrarily, is one of the series' strengths. Kotaro Nakagawa, who has also done scores for series like Planetes and Code Geass, turns in quality work here with a light touch and much more understated effort, one which superbly captures the mood of the material. The maudlin song "Koi Kogarete Mita Yume” is a wonderful choice to play behind the tragic parts of the first episode, as it evokes a sense of loss and wistful remembrance which also fits perfectly as the series' closer. Opener “Summer Rain” is a solid but less remarkable number. Also well-used are the series' dramatic crescendos, which occasionally even get twisted for comedy purposes.

Go Go! Purin Teikoku Chapter 26 scan

2011-03-25T02:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/go_go_purin_teikoku/

Unfortunately the technical merits are not at the same standard as the writing. Crafted by Synergy SP, a studio more known for in-between work which has only previously taken the lead on Hayate the Combat Butler and the fourth season of Major, this is not a series which is going to win people over with its visuals. The lead characters and Wakaba have appealing enough looks, but beyond them the quality of the character designs degrades quickly, with some characters practically becoming caricatures and ridiculously-exaggerated and crudely-drawn overbites being common features of disposable bit players. The designs do make a notable effort to diversify the cast's look by having prominent heavy-set male characters (and there will later be a similar female character, too), do use strictly real Japanese hair colors, and the artistry and animation do show a good knowledge of correct baseball form, mechanics, and effective scene-staging, but the background art, coloring, and animation beyond the baseball aspects are nothing special. Don't expect much for facial expressiveness, either, as each character beyond Wakaba has one set default expression and rarely strays from that.

City Hunter Chapter 79 scan

2011-03-25T02:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/city_hunter/

The greatest strengths of the series so far lie in its writing. Based fairly faithfully on a manga by Mitsuru Adachi, who has made a career mostly out of creating stories about the mixing of love and sports, it eschews most common anime conventions in favor of a sophisticated, carefully-crafted style which typically remains understated and often relies heavily on subtleties, thus requiring the audience to pay attention; for instance, it never highlights what is hanging on Ko's bedroom wall after the time jump but instead expects its audience to notice that it is still there and appreciate its significance, while on another occasion a simple action is all that is needed for one character to impress upon another that something phenomenally inappropriate has just been said. Although the storytelling does find a time and place for comedy – it can be very funny in some scenes, especially in one scene about a clothes thief getting caught – it normally takes an understated approach which moves the plot along gradually but surely without exaggerated bursts of drama, stock scenes, or descents into chibi foolishness. Though it features youths and is tame enough to carry a TV G rating (one character is very briefly shown in a bra, but it is hardly a provocative shot), this is a series that adults will appreciate quite well.

Magi Chapter 13 Scan

2011-03-25T02:11:00.001-07:00

After its powerhouse opener the series settles down a bit, and infuses in a bit more comedy, as it jumps the timeline forward four years to late-middle-school days, where the main story truly starts. Here the baseball element becomes more prominent, but unlike most sports series, it is not the entirety of the story. The presence of the one who was lost four years ago still lingers in both overt and more subtle touches, regularly remaining in the thoughts of the series' characters and occasionally even guiding their actions; in fact, in a sense the story is as much about the enduring legacy of the lost character as it is about anything else. The advancement of the timeline also shows how some people can change drastically as they mature while others remain the same; tough guy Akaishi now plays on the side of the angels, for instance, while Aoba seems to have become even more prickly towards Ko as time has passed. The opening credits (which also, curiously, show the lost character in a much older form – you'll have to watch well past the scope of the episodes reviewed here to learn what's up with that, though) and certain hints dropped so far suggest that Ko and Aoba will eventually hook up, but right now the journey towards that goal looks to be a long and interesting one indeed.

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/magi/

Dageki Joi Saori Chapter 9 Scan

2011-03-25T02:11:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/dageki_joi_saori/

At its beginning Cross Game seems to be a warm and charming tale about budding young love, one which only peripherally involves baseball and occasionally inserts some silly elements for a good laugh. There comes a moment at the end of the first episode, though, which simply and powerfully shows that there will be far more to this series than that – and no, it actually isn't the big tragedy, which does swiftly change the direction of the series and help define its ongoing plot. No, the most important moment actually comes after that, when Ko witnesses Akaishi, the character apparently being set up as the bully, crying over the tragic event and realizes that shedding tears is the one thing he has been unable to do so far but has most needed to do. Backed by a sad and gentle song, it is an especially poignant scene which embodies the soul of the series, the kind of moment which elevates a series from being merely a very good one to being a truly special one. Very rarely are anime series able to induce strong emotional reactions with their first episodes, but this one can, and rarely will an anime series sell itself better with its first episode than this one does.

Okusan no Mousouteki Nichijou Chapter 6 scan

2011-03-25T02:10:00.002-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/okusan_no_mousouteki_nichijou/

Four years pass. Ko now approaches high school without ever having become more than a casual baseball player, while Aoba has become one of the most skilled and diligent members of the middle school's baseball team. Ko is not the only person touched by Wakaba's dream, however, and one other affected by it, who recognizes Ko's prodigious talent, convinces him to train seriously (and secretly) to become a pitcher in high school. Trouble looms on the high school baseball horizon, though, and Aoba still can't seem to tolerate Ko even though the rest of the Tsukishimas adore him.

Hanamaru Youchien Chapter 11 scan

2011-03-25T02:10:00.001-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/hanamaru_youchien/

Fifth-graders Ko Kitamura and Wakaba Tsukishima are closely-linked: not only are they neighbors and from families with complementary businesses (the Kitamuras own a sporting goods store, the Tsukishimas operate the local batting facility and adjoining café), but they also share the same birthday and are on the verge of falling in love, much to the consternation of Wakaba's tomboy sister Aoba, who resents Ko for drawing Wakaba's attention away from her. Though Ko shows little interest in baseball beyond batting, Wakaba has high expectations for him, dreaming that he will one day pitch at Koshien, site of Japan's national high school baseball championships, and planning out their future together. But Fate has an unpleasant way of intervening, and one tragic summer day changes the lives of Ko, Aoba, and others forever.

Kamisama Dolls Chapter 11 scan

2011-03-25T02:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kamisama_dolls/

As the story progresses, new relationships are formed, enemies become lovers and friends become enemies, but one thing that remains constant is excellent, emotionally charged story telling. Ayashi no Ceres is as good as Shojou gets, and regardless of whether or not you are a fan of Shojou, this is one Manga worth looking into!

Viz Comics will be releasing the first of 14 volumes (190 pages each) of Ayashi no Ceres this summer.

Two Keys Chapter 5 scan

2011-03-25T02:06:00.004-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/two_keys/

Toya, Aya's mysterious "sauveur" who has no recollection of his past yet seems inexplicably linked to Ceres. Despite saving Aya on numerous occasions, Toya is pledged to the Mikages and may be her most potent enemy.

Suzumi Aogiri is drawn to Aya because she has also inherited the blood of a nymph, although Aya's is much more potent. When Aya is forced to flee from her family Suzumi brings Aya into her home and appoints her younger brother, Yuhi Aogiri, to be Aya's bodyguard. Although the 16-year-old Yuhi is a formidable fighter, he wants nothing to do with this story of nymphs and would rather be in the kitchen cooking up a ménage of wonderful foods for his family. Fortunately for Aya, although much to her own disliking at times, Suzumi is a very persuasive woman, leaving Yuhi with little choice but to protect Aya.

Ryouko no Shinrei Jikenbo Chapter 11 Scan

2011-03-25T02:06:00.003-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/ryouko_no_shinrei_jikenbo/

Ayashi no Ceres is the latest Manga and Anime series from Yuu Watase, best known as the creator of Fushiigi Yugi

Other characters include Aya's bishonen twin brother Aki, who also holds an important part in this celestial fairy tale. Aya and Aki have been best friends their entire lives, but following the events of their 16th birthday, they may never be able to see each other again.

Aoi Hana Chapter 38 Scan

2011-03-25T02:06:00.002-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/aoi_hana/

That's how the ancient Japanese legend goes… But the Mikage family knows a different ending to the story; The celestial Nymph never found the Robe although she did one day come to realize that it had been her husband who had stolen and hidden the robe. She cursed his descendents, her own descendents, for this, and vowed that through her blood she would be resurrected in the body of one of her descendents and exact revenge upon the fisherman's descendants, as well as find her robe and return to the heavens.

It would seem that 16-year-old Aya Mikage is the re-incarnation of the celestial Nymph, Ceres. Will Aya kill her family, or will they kill her first? Or will she be able to resist Ceres and survive her family's attempts to kill her?

S.L.H Chapter 13 scan

2011-03-25T02:06:00.001-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/s_l_h/

The Nymph bore the fisherman several children and one day, several years later, one of the children sang a song that spoke of the Robe, hidden by her husband, and of its location.

With her robe returned to her the Celestial Nymph returned once more to the heavens for which she yearned…

Leaving behind her husband…

And her children…

Hoozuki-san Chi no Aneki Chapter 27 scan

2011-03-25T02:06:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there lived a simple fisherman who one day, while strolling on the shore of the ocean, came upon a group of beautiful, young women who were bathing in the water. Nearby, at the foot of a pine tree, he found a beautiful robe made of very rare materials. The young man realized that the robe must belong to one of the lovely nymphs. He stole the robe and took it home with him.

Without her gossamer robe Ceres, the Celestial Nymph, could not return to the heavens. When she saw the young man she asked him, "Do you know where my robe is? If it is you who has it I beg of you to return it to me." But the young man made as if he knew nothing about the whereabouts of the robe. Unable to return home the Nymph cried all the tears her body had to cry and finished by eventually marrying the young man.

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/hoozuki_san_chi_no_aneki/

Kuranoa Chapter 6 scan

2011-03-25T02:03:00.000-07:00

Notwithstanding this, “Stray Dog of Anime” is a very solid discussion of both a major anime director and several major anime titles, some of which have never been analyzed critically before. As is the case with all books on film studies, some movie fans will invariably go “what's the point, movies are made to be watched, not analyzed.” For those who want something more, though –whether they are longtime fans of Oshii's works, or have only seen one or two of his films – this is an excellent resource. In fact, much as Oshii himself is more than merely an anime director, this book holds its own very well indeed when compared to discussions of the major modern cinema directors in general.

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kuranoa/

Little Busters! EX the 4-Koma Chapter 4 scan

2011-03-25T02:02:00.002-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/little_busters_ex_the_4_koma/

However, he stays away from overloading the chapters with either endnotes and references or specialized terminology, and does not presuppose a familiarity with literary criticism to nearly the degree that Napier does. And although his analyses tend to focus on the content of the texts being analyzed, rather than on their technical qualities as either anime, animation, or cinema, one extremely strong point is that Ruh never forgets that anime is inherently commercial. Accordingly, each chapter also discusses the specific ways a given title was created, the role of the studio that worked on it, and that of other staff members. This kind of analysis is frequently missing from writings on anime, and a discussion of how Jin-Roh the final product differed from Oshii's original vision for it – and why – is very much appreciated. On the other hand, one thing that very much isn't appreciated are the character lists and synopses that take up as much as a half of the book. These – invaluable as they may be to a student two hours away from having to hand in a paper – give the book somewhat of a flavor of a Cliff's Notes-style reference brochure. This volume is presumably meant to be a companion to Oshii's films, not a replacement for them, so the purpose of the synopses remains unclear – unless, of course, they are merely padding to drive the overall length of the work to the point where it can be comfortably sold.

Billion Girl Chapter 33 scan

2011-03-25T02:02:00.001-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/billion_girl/

The author's background is in the humanities, and he relies on it wholeheartedly to present what is, essentially, a multidisciplinary and highly accessible overview of several major anime titles, from the well-known (Ghost in the Shell) to the thoroughly obscure (Twilight Q2: Labyrinth Objects File538). His analyses are essentially close readings that discuss both plot points, themes, and specific elements. Some of the topics he focuses on include example the mythological underpinnings of Jin-Roh, uses of Biblical reference in the second Patlabor film, nakedness and sexuality in Ghost in the Shell, and the way the image and idea of labyrinths is used in Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer. When appropriate – but definitely in moderation – Ruh brings in specific sources. These include both writings on Japanese animation in general and analyses of specific titles, especially Patlabor and Ghost in the Shell, and broader writings on topics like the uses of Arthurian imagery in science fiction (in reference to Avalon) and Mary Douglas' concept of “ideological pollution” (which he uses to discuss Beautiful Dreamer).

Get Goal!! Chapter 23 scan

2011-03-25T02:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/get_goal/

In just under 200 pages, Ruh sets out to present a “primer” for the works of Oshii, whom, in the book's very first sentence, he calls “a filmmaker who exemplifies the breadth and complexities of modern Japanese cinema like no other.” The volume opens with the expected argument for why it is that the author has chosen to focus on Oshii, as opposed to any other major anime director. The same chapter then goes on to discuss Oshii's biography, and overview some of the major “themes and images” present in his films – an eclectic list that includes ruins, animals, military hardware, religion, and surveillance. The body of the book consists of seven chapters on specific titles Oshii worked on, from Urusei Yatsura, through Angel's Egg, Patlabor, and Ghost in the Shell, and concluding with the 2000 live-action feature Avalon. Four of the chapters focus on single works, two on multi-title properties (Oshii was involved with some but not all of the projects in the Urusei Yatsura and Patlabor franchises), and one bundles together Jin-Roh and Blood: The Last Vampire, both of which Oshii worked on but did not direct. The chapters are arranged chronologically, and Oshii's “minor” works, such as the OVA Dallos and two live-action films, are addressed within the relevant pages. Each chapter, in turn, consists of a general discussion of the title or titles, with an emphasis on the technical and business aspects of its creation, a listing of character, a synopsis, and a longer “commentary and analysis” section. The ninth and final chapter is almost a self-contained essay comparing Oshii to Miyazaki, although it also briefly discusses his recent and forthcoming live-action and animated projects. In addition, the book includes a complete Oshii flexography and sixteen pages of color illustrations.

Captain Tsubasa - Kaigai Kekidou-Hen - En La Liga Chapter 47

2011-03-25T01:59:00.003-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/captain_tsubasa_kaigai_kekidou_hen_en_la_liga/

Brian Ruh received an undergraduate degree in philosophy at Purdue University, went on to complete a master's in Asian Cultures and Languages at the University of Texas at Austin, and is now a doctoral candidate at Indiana University. At UTA, he worked closely with Dr. Napier, and was a teaching assistant for one of the courses on anime she teaches. Himself an anime fan, Ruh focused on two of Oshii's films in his master's thesis, and then combined his connections with an interest in scholarly approaches to Japanese animation in general to pitch the idea of a full-length study of Oshii's works to the academic publisher Palgrave Macmillan. Due in part to the very warm critical reception of Napier's volume also published by Palgrave, his pitch was successful, and now, over two years later, the product is before us.

Tonari no Koigataki Chapter 2 scan

2011-03-25T01:59:00.002-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/tonari_no_koigataki/

The first generation of books on Japanese popular visual culture, from Frederik Schodt's 1983 “Manga! Manga!” to Susan Napier's 2001 “Anime from Akira to Mononoke” have, for all of their differences, shared one trait. They approach the entirety of the anime and manga media, and it is no surprise that, since by the very virtue of the original concept, books like these are forced to make sweeping generalizations, for every point they make, dozens of counterpoints, exceptions, and alternative arguments can be presented. A sign of mature analysis in any field is analysis that is focused. In history, this may mean writing on a specific time period, or a specific event; in literary criticism, this would be writing on a specific author or book. In the growing field of critical studies of Japanese animation, the equivalent is a book that would focus on a single title, or, at least, a single director. The first such book, Helen McCarthy's “Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation”, appeared several years ago and another book on Miyazaki is due out in the next year or so. But at the same time, many would argue that Miyazaki and his films are an anomaly, in fact, that the films he makes are not “anime,” except in the broadest possible sense of the term. This is why “Stray Dog of Anime: The Films of Mamoru Oshii” is such a welcome addition to this field.

Washizu - Enma no Touhai chapter 6 scan

2011-03-25T01:59:00.001-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/washizu_enma_no_touhai/

It may be impossible to beat Lewis Carroll at his own game, but as Alice in the Country of Hearts shows, there are still ways to succeed ... simply by adding new rules to the game. The non-canonical elements of this series add fresh quirks to the realm of Wonderland, raising questions that other authors and readers may not have thought of. How does life and death work in Wonderland? (And as an aside to that, how come no one has ever seen an actual beheading carried out by the Queen of Hearts?) And who's really pulling the strings in a world where the monarchy is just one political player among many others? Unfortunately, the story is often too skittish to tackle these intriguing questions; instead, this volume is quite happy to let Alice ramble about and continue meeting the pretty boys of Wonderland. As far as Alice spinoffs go, this surely has potential, but much of it remains unfulfilled.

Close to My Sweetheart Chapter 8 scan

2011-03-25T01:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/close_to_my_sweetheart/

Wordplay is pretty much a lost cause in foreign interpretations of Alice in Wonderland, but this English translation of a Japanese work at least tries to spice up the text. It's most noticeable in the White Rabbit's dialogue, as he occasionally lapses into poetic rhyme. By some kind of linguistic miracle, though, it hardly ever sounds forced; in fact, many of the rhymes find a clever way to fit themselves into the script. The other characters aren't quite as ornate with their words—it's mostly standard conversational English—but it still leans more towards formal speech patterns that would have made sense in Victorian times, rather than loose sentence fragments or slang. Sound effects, on the other hand, are handled with less care: if it's a big noise or something essential to the plot, the translation is there, but a lot of times the minor sounds are simply left untranslated (not that they have much impact on the story anyway).

-Hitogatana- Chapter 10 scan

2011-03-25T01:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/hitogatana/

Then again, these deficiencies in story are easily overlooked when one is being distracted by a healthy dose of eye candy. There's no shortage of attractive characters here, although the male-to-female ratio is clearly a bit skewed. The specific roles of each Wonderland character also result in distinctive costuming, from cat and rabbit ears to more conventional modes of 19th-century dress. The sharp linework and visual clarity also help to keep the story understandable—when people talk to each other, they actually talk to each other, rather than disappear in a shower of tones and special effects. The panel layouts, too, maintain a strict rectangular form that's more pleasing to the eye than an overload of decorative clutter. The only situation where this restrained style might be a drawback is in the backgrounds, which are perhaps too sparse to put the "wonder" in Wonderland.

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 42

2011-03-24T00:13:00.000-07:00

Summary: The Fairytale World is in trouble. Its princesses and their respective worlds are disappearing, causing a ripple effect in the human world where their stories are popular. In order to save the Fairytale World, the Queen sends three magic animals, Sei, Dai, and Ryoku, to the human world with magic gems to find three girls who can become the "Super Miracle Idols," the princesses Snow White, Cinderella, and Kaguya-hime. Those "princesses" end up being three little girls: Yukimori Ringo, Takashiro Layla, and Sasahara Natsuki. But the gems transform them into older singing superstars, and after their accidental debut at the singer Wish's concert, they become known as "Little Princesses," or "LilPri." Now they must collect Happiness Tones from humans in order to restore the Fairytale World.

watch Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 42 part 1

watch Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 42 part 2

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri 41 http://www.mediafire.com/?xv70ofv71bl146t

How to Draw Shojo Manga
More than just a guide for shojo specialists, this book offers advice that applies to all types of manga—and where better to learn from than real industry insiders?

The Bride of the Water God Chapter 98 水神的新娘

2011-03-21T05:15:00.003-07:00

Description
When Soah's impoverished, desperate village decides to sacrifice her to the Water God Habaek to end a long drought, they believe that drowning one beautiful girl will save their entire community and bring much-needed rain. Not only is Soah surprised to be rescued by the Water God-instead of killed-she never imagined she'd be a welcomed guest in Habaek's magical kingdom, where an exciting new life awaits her! Most surprising, however, is the Water God himself... and how very different he is from the monster Soah imagined.

http://www.mangareader.net/110/the-bride-of-the-water-god.html

Leaving the safety of allied lands behind, Zola's intrepid shadow-wielders make straight for the enemy stronghold of Grankingdom. The way is dangerous, but they are determined to retrieve the seven pages of the Book of the Beginning that were stolen from them. Deep in that shadowy land, under overcast skies and jags of lightning that herald his supreme evilness, Nene, the evil overlord of Grankingdom awaits them. Nene is displeased, and not just because the Laws of Evil Villaindom require him to be green, bald and saddled with an annoying evil pet. His forces are breaking against the might of the alliance of Good arrayed against him, and he has so far been unable to destroy Zola and her diminutive buddies. All that might just change when Shu and the rest of the shadow-wielders finally come face-to-face with ruthless General Logi and his brigade of evil Shadow warriors. Ready... Set... Shadow-box!

The Bride of the Water God Chapter 97 水神的新娘

2011-03-21T05:15:00.002-07:00

Description
When Soah's impoverished, desperate village decides to sacrifice her to the Water God Habaek to end a long drought, they believe that drowning one beautiful girl will save their entire community and bring much-needed rain. Not only is Soah surprised to be rescued by the Water God-instead of killed-she never imagined she'd be a welcomed guest in Habaek's magical kingdom, where an exciting new life awaits her! Most surprising, however, is the Water God himself... and how very different he is from the monster Soah imagined.

http://www.mangareader.net/110/the-bride-of-the-water-god.html

There are series that I love to hate, and then there's Blue Dragon. Criticizing Blue Dragon always feels a little like clubbing baby seals. It may be necessary (particularly if you're hungry or irritable), but you can't help but wish there were a gentler way to do it. It isn't as if Blue Dragon's awfulness is intentional or malicious (with the exception of the sadistically revamped opening sequence), it just is. Which is why this is possibly the easiest Blue Dragon volume to review yet. After all, there's finally something vaguely positive to say.

Prior to the first two episodes on this disc, Blue Dragon's positive qualities wouldn't fill a midget's thimble. By the time these two episodes have concluded, they could fill a normal thimble quite handily, and maybe even have a little left over. The hike in quality isn't magic, or even terribly unexpected; it's merely the product of the series finally allowing one-on-one battles (the strong suit of shonen fighting series) to extend past a single episode. The de facto tournament structure of the fight isn't anything new, and the inconclusive result is disappointing, but so long as the parallel fights are running, the series can actually hold one's attention for an astounding thirty seconds at a time without it wandering on to more pressing matters, such as the length of one's toenails or whether the closets need fresh mothballs. Compared to shows with proper characters and real dialogue perhaps that isn't much, but for Blue Dragon it's an improvement of Biblical proportions.

The Bride of the Water God Chapter 96 水神的新娘

2011-03-21T05:15:00.001-07:00

Description
When Soah's impoverished, desperate village decides to sacrifice her to the Water God Habaek to end a long drought, they believe that drowning one beautiful girl will save their entire community and bring much-needed rain. Not only is Soah surprised to be rescued by the Water God-instead of killed-she never imagined she'd be a welcomed guest in Habaek's magical kingdom, where an exciting new life awaits her! Most surprising, however, is the Water God himself... and how very different he is from the monster Soah imagined.

http://www.mangareader.net/110/the-bride-of-the-water-god.html

Unfortunately, after that, it's back to clubbing baby seals as the series follows the two-episode battle with a pair of well-intentioned but unbelievably misguided “serious” episodes. The first is of the “enemies unknowingly meet and bond together” variety, while the second is a straightforward back-story/character-building tale, but both make the fatal mistake of trying to inspire deep emotion with stupendously shallow characters. Jiro and Shu are so desperately one-dimensional that only Akira Toriyama's distinctive designs keep them from being forgotten even as the episodes run. Expecting them to effectively evoke bittersweet life lessons is plainly out of the question. And yet the series tries, even as it becomes obvious that its writers can't express themselves except in the broadest of platitudes. Watching the series attempt emotional pirouettes with its script of flabby clichés is kind of funny in its utter futility, but like a figure-skating sumo wrestler, mostly you just want it to take the leotard off and return to more suitable pastimes.

The Bride of the Water God Chapter 95 水神的新娘

2011-03-21T05:15:00.000-07:00

Naruto Chapter 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

2011-03-12T05:02:00.000-08:00

Naruto Chapter 540 火影忍者; 狐忍; read online

2011-03-12T05:01:00.000-08:00

Before Naruto's birth, a great demon fox had attacked the Hidden Leaf Village. A man known as the 4th Hokage sealed the demon inside the newly born Naruto, causing him to unknowingly grow up detested by his fellow villagers. Despite his lack of talent in many areas of ninjutsu, Naruto strives for only one goal: to gain the title of Hokage, the strongest ninja in his village. Desiring the respect he never received, Naruto works towards his dream with fellow friends Sasuke and Sakura and mentor Kakashi as they go through many trials and battles that come with being a ninja.

540

Seasoned anime viewers are pretty familiar with the concept of filler—throwaway episodes used to pad out a storyline when the source material wears thin. But filler can happen in manga too, as the lackluster fifth volume of Rin-ne proves. Rinne and Sakura's adventures, usually so full of wild twists and supernatural derring-do, have suddenly taken a nosedive on the degree-of-difficulty scale: they've gone from battling creatures of the underworld to running errands and solving the problems of high schoolers. After seeing (and conquering) the wonders of the spirit realm, why would anyone want to go back to this? Surely Rinne Rokudo has better things to do than alleviate teenage lovesickness and mend strained friendships.

The first few chapters are a brief reminder of this series at its best, with dramatic shinigami fight scenes, inventive (and often humorous) special attacks, and the complex interwoven relationships that are Rumiko Takahashi's trademark. The lines connecting Ageha, her sister, Rinne, and Rinne's dad are all filled in at last, although this satisfying revelation does require familiarity with the events of Volume 4. Action-packed scenes and character-driven plot points eventually give way to far less ambitious situations, however, beginning with Ageha's plot to win Rinne's heart by giving him an enchanted bento lunchbox at school. The plan, of course, goes predictably awry, but the bigger issue is seeing a school-romance cliché join forces with a supernatural cliché ... in the hands of a manga-making legend. Surely Takahashi ought to hold herself to a higher standard?

Naruto Chapter 538 火影忍者; 狐忍; read online

2011-03-12T05:00:00.005-08:00

Before Naruto's birth, a great demon fox had attacked the Hidden Leaf Village. A man known as the 4th Hokage sealed the demon inside the newly born Naruto, causing him to unknowingly grow up detested by his fellow villagers. Despite his lack of talent in many areas of ninjutsu, Naruto strives for only one goal: to gain the title of Hokage, the strongest ninja in his village. Desiring the respect he never received, Naruto works towards his dream with fellow friends Sasuke and Sakura and mentor Kakashi as they go through many trials and battles that come with being a ninja.

http://www.mangareader.net/93/naruto.html

The other thing that flows with ease throughout the series is the repartee between the characters, with Sakura always having a witty comeback for Rinne's screw-ups, Rinne never missing a chance to snipe at his father, and everyone gleefully picking on Tsubasa. Even in the heat of battle or exorcism, this series is always poised to make a surprise wisecrack—even if some of the gags are a bit corny—as a reminder that spiritual matters need not be taken too seriously. The translation captures this wit so well that some scenes are even worth reading out loud, just to get the feel of the characters really mouthing off at each other. However, the conversion of sound effects into English is not nearly as deft; many of the font choices look amateurish and clash loudly with the artwork. There's nothing quite like a big, intrusive "WHOOSH" to detract from the action.

Although some aspects of Rin-ne are still satisfying—the creatively designed monsters, the goofball humor, the twisting character relationships—the overall content of Volume 5 is a resounding disappointment. This is exactly the definition of manga filler, where storylines that matter are pushed aside in favor of quick, easy romps that leave the protagonists unaffected. It's a form of plotwise procrastination, like puttering around the house doing chores because you're too intimidated to start on the big assignment that's due for school or work. Similarly, Rumiko Takahashi seems content to putter around with these inconsequential adventures because she isn't sure where to head next with Rinne's daddy issues or Sakura and Rinne's relationship. Hopefully she decides soon—not just for the good of the story, but for the good of all the readers who had to sit through this.

Naruto Chapter 539 火影忍者; 狐忍; read online

2011-03-12T05:00:00.004-08:00

Before Naruto's birth, a great demon fox had attacked the Hidden Leaf Village. A man known as the 4th Hokage sealed the demon inside the newly born Naruto, causing him to unknowingly grow up detested by his fellow villagers. Despite his lack of talent in many areas of ninjutsu, Naruto strives for only one goal: to gain the title of Hokage, the strongest ninja in his village. Desiring the respect he never received, Naruto works towards his dream with fellow friends Sasuke and Sakura and mentor Kakashi as they go through many trials and battles that come with being a ninja.

539

That higher standard never emerges, though, as this volume continues to drift on autopilot all the way to the last page. Meaningless one-and-done situations are all that await Rinne and Sakura as they continue to investigate spiritual matters: the curse of the library is nothing more than an immature unrequited love waiting to be resolved, and the track athlete's dilemma relies on the classic writer's crutch of making characters inexplicably stupid and uncommunicative. Surely all their problems would be fixed if they would just speak to each other honestly. At least the last scenario is interesting in the way it sheds some light on Sakura's childhood, as well as shifitng the chemistry by temporarily pairing her up with Rinne's rival Tsubasa. In the end, though, the character that Sakura encounters is just another throwaway figure, while the plotlines that really matter—like Rinne and Sakura's developing relationship, or the feud with Rinne's father—have essentially gone nowhere.

At least Rumiko Takahashi gives us some pleasant art to look at while all this mindless churning is going on. There is no creative shortage in the types of monsters that Rinne and Sakura must fend off—great hulking demons, guard dogs from spiritual folklore, and sometimes the most insidious of all, spirits of other humans. There's even a sense of humor to certain creature designs, as proven in the bento box story. However, not every aspect of the artwork is so imaginative—when it comes to human characters, the boys and girls all kind of have the same delicate features, and it becomes a bit of a challenge keeping up with secondary characters like Ageha as well as all the students in need of spiritual help. The backgrounds, too, suffer from being built out of typical high school corridors and courtyards; the only time interesting landscapes show up is when this volume shifts briefly to the underworld (and even then they are marred by too many computer-generated gradient tones). But in spite of these faults, Takahashi maintains clean, fluid layouts throughout—action, dialogue, and scene transitions all flow with ease from a visual standpoint.

Naruto Chapter 537 火影忍者; 狐忍; read online

2011-03-12T05:00:00.003-08:00

Naruto Chapter 536 火影忍者; 狐忍; read online

2011-03-12T05:00:00.002-08:00

Before Naruto's birth, a great demon fox had attacked the Hidden Leaf Village. A man known as the 4th Hokage sealed the demon inside the newly born Naruto, causing him to unknowingly grow up detested by his fellow villagers. Despite his lack of talent in many areas of ninjutsu, Naruto strives for only one goal: to gain the title of Hokage, the strongest ninja in his village. Desiring the respect he never received, Naruto works towards his dream with fellow friends Sasuke and Sakura and mentor Kakashi as they go through many trials and battles that come with being a ninja.

http://www.mangareader.net/93/naruto.html

There are many different kinds of aliens living on our planet, claims Level E's opening narration. Warlike ones, peaceful ones; good ones, bad ones. One could make a convincing argument that the worst of them is Prince. Brilliant and completely self-involved, his main pastime is manipulating the lives and feelings of others for his own amusement. Throughout Level E his games put everyone through all kinds of hell. Yukitaka learns the hard way that Prince doesn't have friends, only playthings. The grade-schoolers come within an inch of being offed by an intergalactic assassin for his entertainment. Even his own subordinates want very badly to kill him. And unfortunately, after six episodes of watching him run rampant, we're right on board.

At first it isn't so bad; in fact, so long as he has amnesia, Prince is fairly sympathetic. Oh, he's an ass, make no mistake—the effrontery of his intrusion into Yukitaka's life proves that. But he's a tragic (and funny) one, and not without a certain bumbling charm. Yukitaka helps too; his violent retorts to Prince's needling and harassment ensure that the royal stripling never gets away with his shenanigans completely unscathed. The importance of this mitigation becomes clear at the end of episode three, when an arc-ending twist puts a definitive end to it. That the twist cheapens everything that came before is what first rankles—without going into too much detail, the twist reveals that the series has been manipulating us much the way Prince manipulates his victims—but eventually that is overpowered by a longer-term and more lethal problem: No longer are Prince's actions the product of an enormous ego that simply doesn't know better; they're the intentionally abrasive acts of an unrepentant bastard. And there's no hope of comeuppance.

Naruto Chapter 535 火影忍者; 狐忍; read online

2011-03-12T05:00:00.001-08:00

Before Naruto's birth, a great demon fox had attacked the Hidden Leaf Village. A man known as the 4th Hokage sealed the demon inside the newly born Naruto, causing him to unknowingly grow up detested by his fellow villagers. Despite his lack of talent in many areas of ninjutsu, Naruto strives for only one goal: to gain the title of Hokage, the strongest ninja in his village. Desiring the respect he never received, Naruto works towards his dream with fellow friends Sasuke and Sakura and mentor Kakashi as they go through many trials and battles that come with being a ninja.

http://www.mangareader.net/93/naruto.html

After that his hijinks stop being fun. That doesn't factor too much into the fourth episode, which is an unrelated but initially interesting side-story that ultimately cheapens itself much the way the opening arc did. The impact is really felt in the Color Rangers arc however. Any amusement it elicits is thanks solely to the Rangers. The kids' unflappability when faced with alien technology and reptilian femme fatales is consistently funny, and their ruthlessly mercenary turn when the full facts are revealed is considerably more than that. At least one of them (their leader) could be thrown into the same black hole that Prince deserves to be tossed in and not be missed, but on a whole they're a fun bunch. Prince, on the other hand, spends the arc tormenting the kids while singing bad folk songs dressed in a futuristic unitard. That might be funny were it not for the near certainty that he won't be taken to task for it. And for the bad aftertaste left by his personality. Never has Yukitaka, the first arc's human core and iron fist of justice (actually a razor tongue of justice, but who's quibbling), been so necessary. And so completely, infuriatingly absent.

For such an ultimately empty exercise in po-faced humor, an awful lot of talent and care was brought to bear. Kunihiko Ryo, whose music has evoked everything from medieval China to Victorian England, was conscripted into composing the score, which evokes very little—in part because it's infrequently used, in part because it understandably isn't his finest work, and in part because much of what it does evoke later proves to be lies. Similarly, Studio Pierrot and David Animation fill the series with realistically attractive characters, moody background art, impressive CG work, and scenes of great beauty—an early scene in which Prince's regenerative powers create an out-of-season blaze of cherry blossoms is particularly memorable—all of which are conspicuously wasted on stories that are never as important as their beautiful execution makes them out to be. Admittedly, the tension between the series' essentially goofy nature and the dead-serious superiority of its animation can be funny, sometimes very much so, but that doesn't stop it from also being frustrating.

Naruto Chapter 534 火影忍者; 狐忍; read online

2011-03-12T05:00:00.000-08:00

Naruto Chapter 533 火影忍者; 狐忍; read online

2011-03-12T04:50:00.000-08:00

Dog Days Episode 8 video online

2011-03-10T03:33:00.006-08:00

Dog Days Episode 7 video online

2011-03-10T03:33:00.005-08:00

Opening Theme:
"SCARLET KNIGHT" by Nana Mizuki

In the land of Fronaldo, the Republic of Biscotti has been aggressively attacked by the Lion Kingdom of Garette.

Cast

Ami Koshimizu as Leonmitchelli Galette Des Rois
Ayana Taketatsu as Eclair Martinozzi
Kana Asumi as Yukikaze Panettone
Mamoru Miyano as Shinku Izumi
Mikako Takahashi as Rebecca Anderson
Nana Mizuki as Ricotta Elmar
Takehito Koyasu as Loran Martinozzi
Tetsuya Kakihara as Gaul Galette Des Rois

watch Dog Days Episode 7

watch Dog Days Episode 7 part 2

If there were one reasonable criticism to level at Ergo Proxy, it would be its single-minded gloominess, a notable shortness of human warmth. It has a singularly bleak take on human nature, its world being one of either feral desperation or dead-eyed acquiescence, and its emotionally reticent characters are all, on one level or another, only slowly learning to be human. This stretch of episodes provides a rare chance to take advantage of a lull in the plot to spend a little quality time with the series' three protagonists, and to appreciate their changing roles.

This in no way indicates that the series' intellectual aspirations, bleak tone, or intentional obtusiveness have lessened. The Iggy episode raises questions about sentience and personal identity, while the "Ophelia" episode is yet another Proxy fight staged as an obscure reality-bending head-trip wrapped in existential musings. But the full-on journey structure that the series has fallen into has sharpened the focus on its protagonists, literally whittling the cast down to Vincent, Re-l and Pino, and the increased scrutiny is actually flattering. Where Vince began the series as an empty shell of a person, the very embodiment of a drone, here he is quite human; ironically so given that he actually isn't one. He's quiet and guileless, yet brimming with questions, idiosyncrasies, and even ambitions. His relationship with Re-l and—in particular—Pino allow him a depth of expression and action that wasn't possible before, displaying insecurities, affections, and pure eccentricities, taking shape as a person of unexpected complexity and humanity. Re-l for her part reveals a rather shocking childishness when separated from Iggy; it speaks volumes for exactly how coddled she has apparently been and softens her badass lady inspector facade in a most appealing manner. It is from her—her musings and her eventual realization of something approaching the mental freedom enjoyed by Pino and Vincent—that episode 16 gets its unusual warmth.

Dog Days Episode 6 video online

2011-03-10T03:33:00.004-08:00

Opening Theme:
"SCARLET KNIGHT" by Nana Mizuki

In the land of Fronaldo, the Republic of Biscotti has been aggressively attacked by the Lion Kingdom of Garette.

Cast

Ami Koshimizu as Leonmitchelli Galette Des Rois
Ayana Taketatsu as Eclair Martinozzi
Kana Asumi as Yukikaze Panettone
Mamoru Miyano as Shinku Izumi
Mikako Takahashi as Rebecca Anderson
Nana Mizuki as Ricotta Elmar
Takehito Koyasu as Loran Martinozzi
Tetsuya Kakihara as Gaul Galette Des Rois

watch Dog Days Episode 6 part 1

watch Dog Days Episode 6 part 2

Of course Pino is still Pino, lightening even the grimmest proceedings with some incongruous cuteness or a little humorous capering. Humor in general plays a larger part in these episodes than in the past. In the case of episode 16, a day-in-the-life look at the traveling trio and Re-l's inability to assimilate into their (admittedly odd) lifestyle, this is a very good thing. In the case of the outrageously out of place quiz-show episode, it's a very bad thing. The quiz show serves its purpose—introducing historical and social background that would otherwise be difficult to integrate—and is periodically funny (the look of pathetic triumph on Vincent's face when he gets a question right is perfect) but it's a one-joke affair, and it's a joke that wears out its welcome very, very quickly. The game—gaudy, loud, and obnoxious—is obviously intended as a startling contrast to the series' usual deliberate rhythm and misty grey palette, but it is soon little more than a hideous annoyance, the series' first serious stylistic misstep.

A mistake the episode might be, but it is one born of a desire to increase the stylistic breadth of the show and a willingness to take serious risks in the process. That the only sizeable blemish thus far in a series of this complexity occurs this far into the story is proof that Shukou Murase has pretty good directorial instincts for a first-timer. If his and script writer Dai Sato's carefully obfuscated story isn't coming together as brilliantly and cleanly as, say RahXephon, that's hardly a criticism (given the surpassing quality of RahXephon), and there's still plenty of time to satisfactorily draw everything together. Murase's visuals are sharply focused, evoking the emptiness of the world with dead landscapes and sterile, unpeopled cities; supporting it with a lifeless palette of greys and muted, washed-out colors. The sparse score is almost all subliminal musical noise, seeping in from the edges here and there, but most significant in its absence, when allowing the howling silence of the void that the world has become to work its cold, alienating magic on viewer and character alike.

Dog Days Episode 5 video online

2011-03-10T03:33:00.003-08:00

Dog Days Episode 4 video online game

2011-03-10T03:33:00.002-08:00

ED Dog Days Episode 3 video online

2011-03-10T03:33:00.001-08:00

Dog Days Episode 2 video online

2011-03-10T03:33:00.000-08:00

Opening Theme:
"SCARLET KNIGHT" by Nana Mizuki

In the land of Fronaldo, the Republic of Biscotti has been aggressively attacked by the Lion Kingdom of Garette.

Cast

Ami Koshimizu as Leonmitchelli Galette Des Rois
Ayana Taketatsu as Eclair Martinozzi
Kana Asumi as Yukikaze Panettone
Mamoru Miyano as Shinku Izumi
Mikako Takahashi as Rebecca Anderson
Nana Mizuki as Ricotta Elmar
Takehito Koyasu as Loran Martinozzi
Tetsuya Kakihara as Gaul Galette Des Rois

Dog Days 02 http://www.mediafire.com/?16idzagrpb19mbv

------------------

watch Dog Days Episode 2 part 1

watch Dog Days Episode 2 part 2

Dog Days 01 http://www.mediafire.com/?zmmh868taemf6n4

Containing four episodes on the disc, the third volume of Mobile Suit Gundam is an action-filled continuation of the series. Especially nice is the character development contained within these episodes. Previously, Amuro was seen as a stoic figure with hardly any emotions aside from self-assurance and protective love for his comrades. On this DVD, however, Amuro's character is taken for a spin, as he combats the effects of battle fatigue, and the dawning notion that others would want to kill him for the sake of vengeance against the Zeon soldiers he killed. Even as he is progressing into a more dynamic figure, he is also confronted with the emotions he feels in regards to his family and his past. Throughout the disc, in fact, many facets are revealed about the crewmembers, which makes this a particularly intriguing group of episodes to watch. Many of the White Base members are expanded on, which make them more endearing to the viewers, with the exception of the little children on board, whose frequent appearances and screeching voices make them evermore annoying brats.

Included with the episodes is a Mobile Suit Encyclopedia standard on most Gundam DVDs. It gives insight into a few of the fighters seen on the disc, which is enjoyable for mecha enthusiasts. Also included is a large sticker of the Federation Mobile Suit, which is a nice touch, as I had countless moments of fun admiring the shiny gloss coating. The only quibble to be had about the DVD itself was the dub-only format, which was due to a licensing dispute. For dub-haters like me, it meant that I had to choose between watching this classic Gundam series in English or shying away from the dub. I opted for the former choice, and it was worth it. Unfortunately, that meant that I had to deal with the problems associated with the majority of dubs: bad acting. Some of the actors did a good job, but many instances were nothing but long, drawn-out scenes of sheer monotony and yawn-inducing acting. Another negative downside is the fact that subtitles or close captioning cannot be turned on, which means that for the hearing impaired, maybe they should leave this title off their list.