This is probably one of the most anticipated fight scenes that Bleach fans have been waiting for: Ichigo VS Grimmjaw, Round Three. Hell, the last sixty or so episodes have been leading up to this moment. That is like three seasons of waiting for this fight. Three fucking seasons. What do we get? What is the culmination of all this waiting? Ichigo learns how to put on a mask and Grimmjaw finally decides to stop pulling punches.

Read more

Like most male nerds that enjoy activities such as gaming, anime, reading, and the general mélange of sedentary entertainment, I dig the “chicks with swords” concept. No I am not referring to the sword that is naturally endowed upon half the human population. So Soul Eater doesn’t precisely fit that ideal. That’s fine. Chicks with scythes are nearly as badass, and this anime makes it more so.

Read more

So Code Geass R2 episode 2 has finally aired and many of the WTF factors that plagued episode 1 were answered. Who is Rollo? Still no idea. Where is Nunally? Still no idea, but people are working on it. What and where is V.V.? Still no idea, in fact V.V. is completely off the radar. What the hell happened after season 1? Oh! Well we can help you there.

Read more

So here I am sitting, typing after a wonderful meal, the first wonderful meal I’ve had in the better part of a month. I am not a vegan or even a vegetarian. I do not believe humans were meant to live without proteins from meat, nonetheless I have had to subsist off of nothing but raw vegetables, fruit, and yogurt for over three weeks, and it has been miserable. Now I am not arrogant enough to think that anyone cares about my woes or my wonderful meal. I bring this up because this meal, having put me in an exceptionally good mood for the first time in about a month, very likely has favorably affected my impressions of Kanokon. It is not rational, nor should it be. At this point my post is merely an expression of my joy and peace of mind.
Read more

It has come to my attention, as any anime fan that frequents ANN probably is aware, that Slayers Revolution has been announced. The Slayers anime franchise holds a special place in my heart, although younger or more recent anime fan may not even know what Slayers is. It was over ten years ago after all. Damn this makes me feel old.

Read more

I will say this about H2O: Footprints in the Sand: both the beginning and the ending piqued my interest. Well… the beginning piqued my interest; the ending caught me completely off guard. I have a habit where I try to predict endings of any fiction that I come across before I actually see it. I like to flatter myself by saying that I’ve gotten reasonably good at it—it is true that I am good at everything in my ego universe. However the ending to this series threw me for a loop, I seriously didn’t see it coming until thirty seconds before it happened.

Read more

It is rare that I am touched at an emotional level through a metaphorical and sensational medium. There is beauty, and there is beauty: the film 5 Centimeters Per Second, definitely falls under the latter. The profound depth of this anime film is emphasized by the simplicity of its message. Really, are we, as people, aware of what is passing us by? What we lose or have lost already in our lives? As a student of literature, I do not regard the vast majority of anime out there to qualify. 5 Centimeters Per Second, however, is a definite exception. If this is not literature of some form or sort, then I don’t know what is.

Read more

For all the Code Geass fans that were left hanging off a cliff at the end of the first season, the start of the second season takes you… well, nowhere near the cliff. In fact, the cliff is no longer in sight, and you’re stuck in Las Vegas with no idea how you got there. Really now, how many of us could not stand the end of the first season? It left you hanging by the very tips of your fingernails wondering what the heck was about to happen. I think I seriously invented three new obscenities when Suzaku and Lelouch faced each other off at the end of the final episode of Code Geass. My new pet inventions aside, I spent nearly a solid minute cursing anime, the creators of Code Geass, Bush, God, and every asshole I could think of.

Read more

Animes that exaggeratedly play off clichés are not at all uncommon. Granted they’re not always funny, but The Tower of Druag: The Aegis of Uruk does have a few moments of pure comedy. Before the actual review, though, I would like to give Gonzo props for attempting to release the anime through streaming and downloads simultaneously with the Japanese air date. The cost I attained a high quality version of episode 1 for was $2 from crunchyroll since the actual Gonzo site doesn’t seem to have downloads up yet.
Read more

I should start by saying that Eflen Lied, as an anime, is not for the faint of heart. If you cannot handle a great deal of blood, and some very graphically violent scenes then I would not advise this to you at all. That aside, it was great. Psychological alienation, violence, torture, pain, grief, a sadist will get it all from this anime series. Oh, and never forget the nudity—all those bare bodies that keep appearing…for no discernible reason.

Read more