Himitsu’s Anime Blog

Woo. Another shameless advertisement for Anime-Source. But this is to announce that Anime-Source is taking on another survey. This time around, it`s asking for you to vote for your favourite movie! Some of the admins have creates beautiful promo banners, so be sure to take advantage of this opportunity.

Find out what to do here (link)

Those banners looks so good :D~

I’m actually having trouble with my picks for this survey. Usually I’m a keener and have my five choices right away. Of course, there are so many Studio Ghibli films that I’d like to vote for (Laputa, Totoro, Whisper of the Heart, The Cat Returns!). However, I’m gonna try to vote for different studio production films. So far, I have four picks already in line. The problem is the last pick:

1. Interstella 5555
2. Spirited Away
3. Millennium Actress
4. Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo

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Finally! Another installment of the “I love anime” section. All I do is blurb about anime within the specific letter of the alphabet. Today it’s Letter D. So get ready for some Digimon, Devil May Cry and what’s first? D.N.Angel :O

D.N. Angel
On Daisuke’s 14th birthday, he gives a love letter to he crush, Risa, but she turns him down. Fortunately his “great” birthday is just getting started. Coming home to the usual boobie traps and puzzles that his erratic grandfather sets for him; Daisuke walks into his room with little injury. He once again thinks about Risa, his crush, and he undergoes a powerful transformation. What Daisuke will soon find out is that his family bloodline consists of genes that morph an individual to Phantom Thief Dark. An arrogant and skilled thief after the most priceless artifacts. Daisuke now lives two lives and he has little control over both of them!

Daa! Daa! Daa!
Miyu’s parents are astronaut’s and are to leave to America to join NASA. They direct Miyu to their best friends’ home, Saiounji, so he can take care of her. Unfortunately, Saiounji suddenly encountered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and took off! Now it’s just Miyu and Saiounji’s son, Tanaka. Upon the inevitable petty fights between girl and boy, they hear a crash at night! When they search for the source, they find themselves staring at an alien baby (Ruu), and its caretaker (a large cat) named Wanya. Miyu and Tanaka have a lot of trouble on their hands, especially when baby Ruu starts calling them papa and mama!

Dai Mahou Touge
Punie is a cute and innocent new transfer student whom everyone loves. Or so people think. In reality, she’s actually a fiery, heartless female of royal blood. Punie is actually a princess from the Magical World and has come down to the Human World as a last test in order to obtain the throne. While her magic needs a lot of improvement, her physical strength is enormous and she uses it to her full advantage when angry.

One of the few pseudo-magical girl shows. That is, an anime that makes fun of the ridiculousness of mahou shoujo genres. Just like Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan. There’s gruesome facial expressions, plenty of fanservice, and cringe-worthy action here.

Death Note
Imagine you had the power to control the time of someone’s death. This is the basis of this anime Death Note. Ryuk is a Shinigami (Death God) whom possesses a “Death Note”. A notebook in which controls the mortality of a human. Simply write a person’s name in the book and they will perish. However, Ryuk has been bored of his role and decides to release the notebook in the human world to see just what happens.

The person who finds the Death Note is Light, a very intelligent student. In fact, Light could very well be the smartest student of Japan. He’s charming, polite, good looking yet has strong morals. Light decides to use the Death Note to eliminate all unforgivable criminals. Getting to a better world could be easy with this notebook. Light’s actions don’t go unnoticed though. A mysterious detective named “L” pinpoints the events and connects the dots, leaving Light in a threatening situation. With two intellectual masterminds head to head, it’s an intricate scheme of a cat and mouse chase.

Probably one of the most engaging premises that I can think of. It’s a simple plotline which is quite solid. Unfortunately, the direction and execution of the story became way too boring and wordy. The beginning was spectacular, but as it went on, I felt that they tried too hard to be complex and it became really dry to me.

Demonbane TV
Kuro is in and out of jobs as a detective. Most of them are odd tasks that are not brag-worthy. He finally gets a high paying assignment that he dives right into. His mission is to search for a grimoire, a book that holds astounding power. Kuro searches all the bookstores and libraries and comes up with nothing. Almost giving up his search, A girl falls from great heights and lands on top of him. Kuro and the young girl (Al Azif) end up being chased by a mysterious gang that call themselves Black Lodge. Using a magical shield to deflect the bullets, Al Azif loses energy and uses the final resort. She forces a contract between herself and Kuro, which awakens Deus Machina Demonbane.

Dennou Coil
Takes place where the real world and virtual the virtual world coexist. Yuko moves to Daikoku City with her family where technology and equipment is a little more advanced. People can get a hold of virtual eyeglasses that allow them to see and live in cyber creation. Before settling down in her new home, she loses track of her virtual pet Densuke. Densuke is found within absolute space of the virtual world and she has her newly formed friend, Fumie, to thank. Turns out that all sorts of virtual pets have been going missing as of late. Yuko joins the cyber investigation team with Fumie to search for the truth of these mysterious events.

An awesome series that I recommend watching. It blends my adventure and imaginative science fiction very well. There is some added mystery and the cutest set of characters. Definitely within my list of favourites.

Detroit Metal City
Negishi is a humble boy who happens to be the main singer of a heavy metal rock band. He goes by the stage name of Krauser II. Creating and performing offensive songs is part of his current band, but in reality his real dream is to be part of Swedish pop music. Negishi tries his best to recreate his identity away from heavy metal, however, the Krauser II side of him unleashes crazed guitar playing and aggression on stage to please his fans. Will he ever be able to follow his dream?

Devil May Cry
There is a Devil May Cry anime? Why, yes there is. I think it would have been better if you didn’t know this, but this Devil May Cry anime isn’t very good… anyway:

Dante is a badass demon hunter who gets the job done quick but not-so-clean. Dante has been low on cash for a while, so he takes every task which is assigned to him by the Devil May Cry Office. His latest mission is to protect a young girl named Patty Lowe since she will be receiving a large sum of money through inheritance. The assignment was completed successfully, however, he soon finds out Patty will be staying with him indefinitely.

Be sure to Read More to find the rest of the anime: Diamond Daydreams, Digimon Adventures, Doujin Work, and Dragonaut -the resonance-
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What a busy weekend! Of course I had a splendid weekend, especially since I was with my friends all day, and we went out to eat often (I love going out to eat). As usual, there were some massive effortful cosplay, and some fun events. I’m just going to write some noteworthy impressions, nothing significant. The main report will be posted on anime-source soon!

Anime North is split between three main buildings. The Convention Centre, and two hotels. The convention area hosts the main things such as the artist alley and dealers’ room. Woot! I was in the dealer’s room most of the time. As per usual, there were so many knick-knacks. I bought a lot more things this year compared to previous years.

The weather was awesome. It wasn’t hot (not a fan) and there was a nice cool breeze. Temperature was averaged at 21 or 22 degrees Celsius. I stayed at the Holiday Inn and I wasn’t too impressed. The washroom was tiny and the light switch was outside. Most importantly — no TVs had A/V ports! I’ll remember to ask if the hotel has A/V jacks before booking it.

Events I attended:
Didn’t attend many events this year, most of the time was relaxing in the hotel room or going out to eat :P Not to mention the long loitering of the Dealer’s Room.

Iron Chef
Quite underwhelming. They just need an enthusiastic host/hosts!
Anime Jeopardy
I think I would have made an awesome contestant. Didn’t know about the pre-exam though. The questions were challenging. The one guy that new the gundam dealies was… keen.
Manga Library
One person had a massive collection of manga volumes. Insane! I was able to read some Skip Beat :3 I wish crunchyroll hadn’t licensed it. Streaming videos are so inconvenient for me ;_;
Nominoichi
Which means the Japanese Flea Market. Regular con-goers like you and me set up stands and sell all their anime-related merchandise for a good price! I was actually able to buy stuff this year. I lined up and boy was it crowded! I bought the baby form of Chancy (Pokemon) and the a coin purse (dog/pug from Naruto). I also saw a good friend of mine there c:
Video Gaming on Piano
Relaxing. People kept spewing out requests or newer games even when the guy specifically informed the audience that he doesn’t play games higher than SNES (woot, SNES RPGs!). I really enjoyed the pieces. Also, he offered some scores to those that were able to first identify the music. Visit their website at: vgpiano.com
Name that Hentai
Hah. I was VIP.
The 404s
An comedy/improv group that dive into the topic of anime. Too bad I couldn’t make it to their 18+ show. But this last performance was still pretty amusing. Their warm-up improv was very good.

What you’ve been waiting for, (teaser) PICTURES!

Everyone’s hot for Bridget >.>

Cardcaptor Sakura gang

No Face!

Wow! Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan

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Unlike most people, I’m not so keen about heading to the movie theatres and dishing out 10 big ones to see some moving sequences on screen. Why… most people nowadays have their own surround sound theatre room at home! Why not just wait a few months ’till it goes on DVD and watch it on my flat screen then?

I’ll have to argue with myself here, going to the movies is a social experience. One to suffocate your partner with either screams or questions. The sense of travel and independence, also, the buttery buttery popcorn (smooth!). The main point… Monsters vs. Aliens is a FANTABULOUS movie. I don’t say that a lot, nor have I been like this for a long time. In fact, I rarely write a movie review. Monsters vs. Aliens truly deserves it - reasons:

1) It was in 3D!
2) Superbly likeable characters
3) Hilarious
4) Totally kickass!

I didn’t think Monsters vs. Aliens took full advantage of the 3D experience, but the experience was still darn amazing. I was awe-struck by the incredible graphics and movements. All the voices were recognizable, but the voice work did so well that I could only imagine their voice paired with that character. I couldn’t really imagine the actor/actress in the studio talking astray (although I had tons of fun imagining how Hugh Laurie would dive into his role of the Cockroach PhD). There were a lot of “cool” moments where there would be hover crafts or “skates”. These cool experiences were heightened through the 3D glasses (which don’t look cheesy at all, by the way). Such an awesome experience!

The story is very easy to follow. The execution and direction made it quite solid. It starts with Susan Murphy being hit from a meteorite and growing abnormally large. She is then captured by the U.S.Army of the *censor censor censor censor censor censor* where she is imprisoned. Her inmates are a set of unique characters whom are referenced from classic 50’s “horror” movies. Bob (The Blob), Cockroach PhD (The Fly), Insectosaurus, and the Missing Link. Soon after, alien invaders make way to Earth and the U.S. Army have no way in handling the situation. That’s when they call… the Monsters.

Let’s get to know the characters

Ginormica: (Reese Witherspoon) Think of “Ginormous”. Her real name is Susan, she is the main character whom introduces the movie with preparation for her wedding with her dreamy crumb bum “Derek”. She’s a rather normal girl who has a strong nature for helping others before thinking of herself. On her wedding day, she gets struck by a meteor and develops supernatural changes - Ginormica!

“But I don’t want a poster. I want a real kitten hanging from a real tree.“

Bob: (Seth Rogen) A big blue blob that has no brain but can form ideas. He was created in a factory where they tried to inject ranch dressing to genetically modify a tomato. By far the more amusing character of the movie. There are plenty of good quotes said by him. Bob is often confused in someone else’s role and deeply sheltered. His comrades try not to shatter his sense of “true” reality by creating “fairy tales”. He stretches everywhere, obtains no scratches, can morph to any form- he’s sticky and gooey c: Easily a favourite character.

“Hi, my name is Bob. Sorry, did I come on too strong? I just came out of prison… - no! why did I mention that!
… I think that jello gave me the wrong phone number.“

Cockroach PhD: (Hugh Laurie) I strongly dislike roaches, but a cute moustache-bearing scientist? Hugh Laurie was the PERFECT role. He was once a genius scientist that performed an experiment to offer humans the ability to survive like a roach. The result: you know. His character is that of a typical mad scientists. The frequent evil laughs and the soft spoken explanation of things. There was an unforgettable DDR-esque sequence. I love Hugh Laurie~

“You can say that was the cat’s Me-WOW!
… sorry“

The Missing Link: (Will Arnett) One who boasts about his strength and ability but in reality, doesn’t amount to much. He was found scaring off numerous co-eds and guards at a beach. He seems to play the parental role for Insectosaurus.

“It feels warmer than I remember. Did the Earth get warmer? It would be great to know that… that would be a very convenient truth. “

Insectosaurus: Gives way very “godzilla” like screeches. Does not offer verbal communication with the crew. Insectosaurus was a dinky insect until nuclear waste got a hold of him. He is very innocent in a new born baby sort of way. Very attracted to bright lights.

And there you have it. The main cast to this awesome movie. You gain a plethora of things from watching this movie. You are saturated with references. Not only in the characters, but in the music and items used. It’s also really funny. Don’t know how you made it to the end here, but I bet you can predict what I’m going to say next. Go watch it!

3D!

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Would you be able to name several anime where female characters (let’s hope so they’re females!) have abnormally huge busts? It shouldn’t be a difficult task given the odd Japanese anime culture. Sneaking away from the obvious hentai titles - I bet it’s all of them - let’s meander to the anime series. Sure, there are plenty of spotlight characters in certain series, but I’m limiting myself to the series as a whole (there are just too many busty women). Here are some of the anime series which I feel have a distracting amount of busty scenes.

Eiken
The winner.

Ikkitousen
Busty girls. Martial arts. Random fight scenes that have no story behind it. Flashes upon flashes of panties. Sounds like a perfect recipe for an anime doesn’t it? Well, apparently so. The original Ikkitousen wasn’t enough. They also went ahead and made Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny.

Koihime Musou
A majority of the cast have large hunka hunka’s. But this is well justified because Koihime Musou is a pretty saucy shoujo-ai anime. It gets tasty at episode 5. Mmmmmm.

Penguin Girl Musume
Also called “Penguin Girl Heart”. The main characters of the series all have bouncy nice ones. It’s not THAT distracting for this anime because… well… this anime is pretty quacky already. What in the world is happening in those screenshots?

Rosario to Vampire
Chuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu~
Well, this image doesn’t really show how big breasted the characters are. But you’re just gonna have to trust me on this one.

Sekirei
Yes, the girls are “accidently” kissing. Not to be confused with a yuri anime, though there are some moments… Okay, so big boobs are not the only distraction (but it is the main distraction!).

To Love-Ru
Watch the OP (stream or click this link). It’s full of fanservice. Delicious fanservice. Lala is pretty much the only character which flashes her curves, but watch the video anyway. If you watch the OVA that was released in 2009, you’ll see nipples *gasp!*

Have you ever heard of a website called animevice? It’s the anime version of giantbomb. They have a “concepts” page, in which the topic of Big Boobs (link) was added. Not a surprise that it’s the most frequently visited concept, is it.

Read More for some honourable mentions.

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Blogging about Anime-Source again. Hey, A-S takes the majority of my free time :D. Since the end of January for a month, we asked users to vote for their favourite anime of 2008. Finally, the results have been compiled and nicely coded into pretty articles. Also, I get to show off my banner creations again (how shallow!). Enough typing, here are ze results :3

Just HOW did KissxSis get in the ranks? (Click Here for 100-51)

I don’t know how Sekirei got this high… (Click Here for 50-26)

Yay for Kure-nai! \o/ (Click Here for 25-11)

First place spot was obvious xD (Click Here for 10-1)

Awww… darn automatic borders! Well, “Read More” to find a link to the staff picks.
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Over the weekend of February 21-22nd was an anime convention in Guelph Ontario. It was part of the University of Guelph but was held at the Ramada Inn (very nice place). I was quite excited about this anime convention because they had planneda few anime quiz events. I imagined myself kicking ass in their Anime Trivia and Anime Name that Tune. Unfortunately, there were plenty of hardcore anime fans there to surpass me. Which made me think, I run an anime WEBSITE, what do THESE people do?.

For their first year, it was very well organized

No pictures, since I didn’t bring a camera. There were some neat cosplayers though. The ratio of cosplayers vs. non-cosplayers was significantly in favour of cosplayers. Hey, it was a humble anime convention housing the die-hard fans of anime. On to the happenings!

Artist Alley + Dealers’ Room
I’m not a big material consumer, even when it comes to anime! I do buy some manga and anime DVDs. If I see something simply adorable at a good price, I will buy it. The prices for things were reasonable. Admittedly, a few things DID catch my eye (sushi pillows!) but I rarely get myself to buy things. I’d have to feel a volcanic explosion of regret from not purchasing it first…

Anthony bought a few manga (Air Gear!) and had his eye on that frog coin pouch that Naruto carries around, lol. That guy is so easy to buy presents for xD

The people were really nice - especially those selling the large amount of manga - it was comforting, but sort of awkward because it would be somewhat empty the times I went in. The things in artist alley were certainly saturated in “cute”. My goodness! I, myself, was eyeing some of the phone/keychains. There were no price tags on any of them, and I didn’t want to ask.

Showings
Ghost Hunt
I already watched this series, and it seems like they were showing the first few episodes, which doesn’t really perk up until in the middle with other cases. It wasn’t very scary, looked kind of corny when watching it again, but I’m sure it remains scary in the second to last case - gah! I love Ghost Hunt~ It was a great anime

Lost Universe
Very funny! I think I’m gonna search for this one after I finish watching this string of anime on my “current watching” list. It’s an older one, but just the better! It takes place out in space and is about “jack of all trades” duo that happen to encounter a once-detective on their missions. The zaniness and quack conversations are very fun and entertaining. Anthony enjoyed this one a lot too.

Anime Trivia
Hosted by the Ontario Anime Society. No wonder it was ridiculous! There would be questions of sequels and remakes, makers, classics. It was tough. Some questions were multiple choice, but the some titles that showed up were unrecognizable, even to me! I’ll probably word it wrong, but it asked things like:

- What was the first anime release of a mahou shoujo title? (it wasn’t Sailormoon)
- What year did the original Bubblegum Crisis take place in?
- Name the very first Gundam series
- Identify certain anime based on pictures/description (Sailormoon, Eiken,
- Something about idols/seiyuu and asking which 2008 OP did they sing together (Birdy the Mighty Decode)
- What’s Akamatsu Ken’s penname? He signed with this penname for three titles.
- What’s Hideaki Anno’s nickname? (something about killing)

Anime Name that Tune
I did better in this one. It was simply the playing of anime OPs or EDs, and you have to identify the anime series it came from. The host (who was really cool, btw!) would play for 10seconds, which would get you 3 points if you guessed it there, if not, he would play it for an additonal 20secs for 1 point, if you guessed correctly. Some of the songs he played:

Paranoia Agent, Fushigi Yuugi, Ranma 1/2, Cowboy Bebop, Excel Saga, Trigun, Fate/Stay Night, Kodomo no Omocha, Onegai Teacher, Shikabane Hime Aka, Samurai Pizza Cats (lol), Clannad TV, Azumanga Daioh, Black Lagoon, Bleach, Naruto, Code Geass, Gravitation, Cutie Honey, Negima, Magic Knight Rayearth, Slayers, Darker than Black, xxxHoLiC

That’s all I can remember. He seemed to play only licensed titles, which was bad luck for me. I am no good with popular titles. You see, I have a slow reaction and other individuals are bound to catch it before I can. The more rare/odd the anime series, the more likely I were to get it xD

Visit www.con-g.com for more information.

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And I’m back! We’re now onto the letter C. “C” is good letter. It gives us words like: cute, cuddly, composition, cluster, cats, crisis, comedy… (okay, we get it).

This alphabetizing is part of my “I Love Anime” spew. I select multiple animes worth mentioning- talk about them a little and give you some screencaps. But it goes under the letter title. Note that the anime I select are pretty much based on what I’ve already seen.

Candy Boy
This is the OVA series. I think it was a one-shot before the TV series came about. It’s about two girls that have a very “close” relationship. Their names are Yukino and Kanade. Both of them aren’t very confident in their feelings though. Kanade becomes distressed when she hears that a girl has confessed to Yukino. However, she roots for their relationship. This confuses Kanade, and misunderstandings commence.

I’ve probably worded the story very poorly. Suffice to say, it’s about girlxgirl love (*drool*) with BEAUTIFUL aesthetics. I love the glares, colours, and line details. Suffice to say, these aren’t normal episodes, they are ONA (Original Net Animation) or Webisodes.

Hey… this anime has nothing to do with candy!… or boys!

Candy Candy
Candice White (”Candy”) is an orphaned girl that enjoys her life with her best friend Annie. Candy is a girl that puts others before her. She’s a kind-hearted young girl, that is sweet and honest. Unfortunately, a young couple sets their eyes on her friend Annie and Candy is devastated to know that they will be separated. Candy is eventually taken in by a wealthy family. She thinks she will now lead an easy life, but she is dead wrong. Her so-called “siblings” are spoiled brats that give her no respect. They tease her, abuse her, and embarass her any way they can. The only hope she has is to be reunited with Annie, and to find her “Prince on the Hill”

This is a classic series that originated from a shoujo manga. The TV series is a long-running 115 episode extravaganza (discluding movies and OVAs). The manga ran from 1974 to 1982.

Captain Harlock SSX
Another creation from Matsumoto Leiji/Akira; works of Galaxy Express 999, Queen Emeraldes, Gun Frontier and even was the artist for Interstella 5555 (which you should watch!).

In a world where machines have taken over all tasks any human can do. People no longer work for their lives, but have technology to do everything for them. Captain Harlock is a pirate that wanders vast space on his ship “Arcadia”. He is one of few that takes on “old fashioned” tasks, and isn’t so dependent on machinery. Though he is the target of many, he is their only hope to save humanity. Mysterious aliens have taken over the Earth which has forced civilization to seek habitat elsewhere… on other planets. These aliens are deemed “Mazones”, and they are powerful beings consisting of beautiful females.

Casshern Sins
A 2008 series that has an classic style. Casshern is in the eyes of everyone. Life as we know it, is a post-apocalyptic world and this result is all because of Casshern. The day he threatened to kill Luna, was the day that everything collapsed. Machines and robots suffer endlessly. However, many thing that if they kill Casshern, they will gain immortality. Casshern still lives to protect the human race from the malevolent robots. However, Casshern knows nothing about himself. Why isn’t he disintergrating?

(The) Cat Returns
A whimsical movie. The story starts when Haru, a high school girl, saves a kitten on the streets. The cat she saves unexpectedly gives her a thanks, and informs her that her actions will not go uncredited. That’s when her life ran into disorder. It turns out that the cat she saved was of royal descent, and from then on, she is showered with honourary gifts. The gifts she receives would be hapily accepted by any cat, unfortunately, these rewards are just a nuisance to Haru. She is overwhelmed with cat nip, live mice, and stray cats! (following her).

She seeks help by following a pleasantly plump cat, and he directs her to Baron. A charming and charismatic cat. Just as Baron maps out a plan, Haru is whisked away to the feline world. What’s in store for her now?

This movie is a special treat to those easily tickled by cats :3 (like me!). I absolutely loved the feline fun. It’s an adventuresome film that I really enjoyed.

Chaos;HEAd
Takumi is no normal protagonist. He intentionally isolates himself, is dealthy afraid of socialization, and prefers 2D girls over anyone. That’s right, Takumi is an otaku. He rarely goes to school, and has delusions of his idolized “Seira-chan” (his anime obsession). Lately, there have been “New Gen” events, which are mysterious and gruesome homicides occuring around the neighbourhood. While hanging around an internet cafe, Takumi receives a link of an explicit image of a murder using stakes. Takumi later comes to witness the same killing first hand, and the murderer is his classmate!

This anime had a great premise and plenty of potential. My first impression of this was very good. There were interesting theories, the murder-mystery, and psychological horror. This pace doesn’t keep up though, and I regretably watched till the end feeling significantly underwhelmed.

Chi’s Sweet Home
The story in the perspective of a baby kitten. A young feline embarks on her first adventure . She becomes distracted by a bird and wanders away from her mother and siblings. Hungry and alone, she is found by passerbys: mother and son. The woman and little boy decide to name the kitten “Chi”. They take her home, but must keep her a secret from their landlady, since pets are forbidden in their complex. This is a story of Chi warming up to the people that took her in.

Chobits
“Persocons” are personal computers that take the form of humans. They are mobile, can speak, and are often created as attractive girls. Hideki is a guy that moved from the boonies to the City for study. He strongly desires a persocon for himself, but can’t afford one. Luckily, he encounters a persocon that was left abandoned on a pile of rubbish. He carries her home, and “turns her on”. The only thing that she’s able to say, though, is “Chii” and that’s what Hideki names her. With the stresses of a job and studies, he also takes time to teach Chii the basics of living and life. What Hideki doesn’t know though, is that within the depths of Chii’s programming is an advanced Persocon rumoured as “Chobit”.

Chocolate Underground
What would life be like if consuming and producing chocolate was deemed illegal? This is the reality for the characters in this anime, Chocolate Underground. It is against the law to eat all sweets because the government deems it a high risk factor for your health. We then follow the story of two young boys retaliating against this law to illegally allocate chocolate.

Read on to see the blurbs for Chokotto Sister, Clannad TV, Code-E, Code Geass, Crystal Blaze, and Cyborg 009
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Hy look, it’s anotehr Anime-Source survey (: I have a lot of fun with these. I especially like to see the results of what anime fans think. Especially since it’s selective to just recent anime. Well, you can head over to anime-source.com and look at the newspage to see how to vote. Or you can just read more of this post and I’ll probably tell you the way to do it.

Awww. I made a nice banner for it, but it’s too big for this blog table - but don’t worry! You can click here to see it.

Unfortunately, you can only vote for series listed as “2008″. Even if a 2007 series didn’t finish yet, you can’t vote for it >: Not that I have any series that cover that basis. It’s easier, in terms of coding the humungo survey, to do it this way anyway. So yes. Series that started airing within the 2008 year only. Take a look at this List of 2008 Anime Series.

To vote. Simply find the anime within the database and there should be a link right beside the title that says “Vote for top anime 2008″. Easy smeasy! You get five selections, and anyone can vote (: Be sure to vote soon. It ends February 8th.

I know what I’m voting for!
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Continuing off the “I Love Anime” section. Where I list of selected anime of each letter of the alphabet. The anime selected are dependent on if their story is worthy of telling, and whichever screenshots I have. Here we go to Letter B. Guess what letter is next D:

/audible gasp!

Bamboo Blade
Kendo-centric. That is, the world revolves around Kendo. A sport where individuals are armored baseball-looking gear and try to gain points by hitting the opponent with a wooden blade. Kojiro-sensei is a teacher and the kendo club coach. He is quite low on the money which instigates a bet with another teacher that he will form the most powerful female kendo team. Normally unmotivated, Kojiro-sensei now has the passion to train kendo club members. However, forming a team isn’t all easy. For one, Tamaki whose family runs a dojo, would be an asset to the kendo team. However, she sees no fun in Kendo. Tamaki only sees it as a chore and rejects the Kendo club.

Bartender
Nothing complex about the story in this anime. It’s basically about bartending and making drinks! At the end of each episode, they go into step-by-step “recipe” like detail of how to make certain drinks. No intensity what-so-ever. It’s a very silent/slow-paced show which dives into Ryuu’s (the bartender) influence on the customers. No action, adventure, little drama. Just alcohol :D

Battle Angel Alita
An interesting story where there is a mysterious floating city that is apparently advanced in technology. The setting takes place below the floating city where poverty and waste are collected from the hovering city. While wondering through a junk yard, a cyberphysician (named Daisuke Ido) finds a body. It’s no normal life form. All in scraps, Daisuke manages to restore her and names her Gally. Gally is as mysterious as the floating city. She knows nothing of her past, but she will soon come to realize that she is a cyborg warrior whose encoded nature is to kill.

Battle Programmer Shirase
Akira is a lazy, unmotivated University graduate that has a knack for computers. In fact, he could possibly be the best hacker around. He works alone, and isn’t interested in money. Many large companies ask for his assistance for their security defenses, but all he wants are the rarities in life- he’s an otaku nerd. Akira wants rare computer parts, anime material, priceless appliances - you name it.

This anime has some pretty hilarious pervy jokes. Things go off hand with explosions and crazy hacking jargon. I rather enjoyed this anime. The characters are likeable. Too bad there was no second season.

BECK
About the making of a band. This series references rock music such as the British Invasion, and other things I’m not too educated about. It’s highly westernized, but really fun. Koyuki is a guy that is frequently bullied. He soon meets a guy named Ryuusuke who introduces him to guitar playing. Koyuki’s guitar playing advances when he has a crazed-swimming-coach teach him a few things.

It’s truely a coming of age story with awesome music. It has drama and great character drive. It’s realistic and doesn’t try to sugar coat anything. It’s not a cookie-cutter anime. It’s one of its kind. Watch this if you’re in a band, thinking of forming a band, love rock music (hey, that’s everybody).

Binbou Shimai Monogatari
The story of two poor sisters (it’s also called Poor Sisters Story- weeee). These orphaned sisters fend for themselves and only depend on one another. The older sister is sure to wake up early to attend work. The younger sister cooks and keeps the apartment tidy. It’s about life, and living it. Trust, values, family, and friendships. Prioritize the true things that are important to you, in the end, all you have is each other.

Binchou-tan
“Cute” would be the main article if this were a magazine. Some may even say that this is too cute. The atmosphere is very calm and soothing. The pace is slow and it’s a really relaxing type of show. I have to mention the beautiful artistry. There are a lot of lush colours for the greenery. The backgrounds are probably what made this anime give such a calming mood.

Binchou-tan is a girl living alone in the wilderness. The “-tan” suffix after a name is the ‘cute’ way of saying a persons name. Compare this to -kun, -san, -chan, and -sama. Binchou-tan doesn’t possess many things, but she lives life to the fullest. She takes odd jobs in the city to bring food to her table. She’s a quiet and shy girl, but she manages to make some friends upon her adventures. Some other characters include a super energetic pink-haired girl that always makes crazy inventions. A girl that is obsessed with swimming pools. Another girl that can communicate with ghosts, and finally a wealthy girl. Though the setting takes place in the olden times: Horse carriages, parasols, etc. There are some neat interactions. For example, when Binchou-tan wants to work in the city, she hitches a ride from a bird, and they are ‘paid’ by acorns. Of course, she waits at the “bird stop” first (not an intentional joke, it’s the truth!).

Blue Dragon
Where your shadow comes an overpowering monster. Main character, Shu, is a 10-year-old boy that hopes to become a Night Master. Night Masters are powerful warriors who have incredible fighting skills. They are the only force keeping Dark Lord Nene (what a girly name for a Dark Lord!) from overcoming his ambition of saturating the world with dark power. How typical!

Shu gets excited when he hears that a Night Warrior is coming to his hometown. They are seeking the prevailing “Blue Dragon”. Within the episode, we find Shu in a pinch and he manages to materialize his shadow. And what comes up? The legendary Blue Dragon!

Continue reading to see what these anime are about: Blue Drop, Bokura ga Ita, Bokurano, Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan, and Bus Gamer
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