Azure Flame Reloaded

Haruka, Kana and Chiaki are the three sisters of the Minami family, living alone together and each attending high school, junior high and elementary school respectively. Join them as they carry out their everyday lives, dealing with everything from cross-dressing school friends to persistent admirers.

Whilst they can undoubtedly achieve the heights of brilliance, series about everyday life must be approached with caution- for every Ichigo Mashimaro, there’s a dull Lucky Star to counter it. Fortunately, despite my misgivings towards what Minami-ke might have to offer, upon taking the plunge I was to discover that this series was just what the doctor ordered.

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Dear Azure Flame readers, it seems that a curse has come upon this blog- even before the whole domain name trouble that blighted the weekend. So many people searched for questionable search terms that I had to share them with you via Tuesday Rumble, only for me to be banished to Google Hell because of the repeated occurrence of said terms. For that reason, I shall duly censor my search terms from now on, whilst keeping them as hilarious as ever- and you perverts who searched for them in the first place can go to heck and face the fury of Santa.

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For everyone who has been in turmoil since Saturday due to their lack of Azure Flame fix, I bring you the salvaged form of my blog, kindly moved by Randall Fitzgerald after the tragic loss of ikimashou.net. This move will, of course, have broken all links coming into this blog, so if all you kind people could update your blogrolls (including those of you who still link to wordpress, slackers), it would help ease the pain of this difficult time. In the meantime, I will continue to post here as normal and we”ll see what the future brings with regards to domains.

Hello and welcome to another edition of Sunday News Bites! This week we are joined in the newsroom by Doujin Work’s Osana Najimi, here to give her unique insights into this week’s news.

The end of a manga era
After seven volumes of the main story and two further collected volumes of side stories, the Emma manga is finally coming to an end. Also concluding in the near future is the Karin manga, better known as Chibi Vampire to Tokyopop readers.
Najimi says: How much money did those mangaka make? I wonder if I should read them to get some tips for my next doujin.

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A hundred years ago, the demon Orochi was vanquished through the efforts of the legendary hero Nagi and the white wolf Shiranui, but after a century of peace, Orochi has been released again. With the land of Nippon now cursed by evil, the only hope for salvation lies with the goddess of Amaterasu, who must once again reincarnate herself into the form of a white wolf. But Amaterasu’s powers are much lessened from what they once were, and only with the help of the diminutive artist Issun will she be able to travel the world and regain the abilities of her Celestial Brush.

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Reviewed this week: Aria the Origination 2, Clannad 13, Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino 1, Kaiji 14, Mokke 7, Moyashimon 5-6, SaiMono II 32, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 10-12+Zoku 1, Shion no Ou 5-11, Spice and Wolf 2

…and in manga: Akagi 9, Chokotto Sister 49, Tsubasa 178-9 Continue Reading »

What to do whilst waiting for the next episode of Clannad

Over at Random Curiosity, many seem to be finding it hard to occupy themselves between episodes of Clannad, especially when the series takes a week off. Now, we at Azure Flame are an understanding lot (I say we, but I really mean me), and so we’ve decided to put together some suggestions as to what you can do to ease the pain of those long waits.

• Watch other anime: I’ve been reliably informed that anime series other than Clannad do, in fact, exist, and some of them are even superior to it. Watching them will surely help the time pass.
• Rewatch old episodes: If you really can’t accept the existence of those other series, then at least watch the first half of the series again…and again…and again. Continue Reading »

In the year 2002, a series of earthquakes split Japan down the middle, forcing the government to look to America and China to help with the rebuilding. Fifteen years later, and the country has effectively become two separate nations, but for many of the exiled refugees, all they care about is the day when they are allowed home. And in the Japanese refugee camps of Taiwan, tensions are brewing between the Japanese and the natives, with disaster sure to follow. Will the resolve of a young man named Genichiro Ryu prove to be enough to defuse this potentially explosive situation?

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Hello and welcome to the first Sunday News Bites of 2008! After its long hiatus, this was a feature I was reluctant to revive- unlike the Tuesday Rumble and Weekly Round-Up, it just didn’t seem as much of a part of the whole Azure Flame experience, and trying to get one of these ready every Sunday may have contributed to my lack of enthusiasm of blogging. Nonetheless, I want to give it one more chance to prove itself, and also hear from you, the readers- does Sunday News Bites press your buttons?

Anyway, joining us in the newsroom this week is the tiny artist Issun, as seen in Okami.

Take your PiQ
ADV’s Newtype was reported to have ceased publication this week, but just as read cried into their peach juice about the loss of its shininess, it was announced that the magazine would be replaced with a new one entitled PiQ Continue Reading »

In the shadows of society lives the one named Miyu- a vampire girl fated to be the Guardian, the one who must hunt down stray demons known as Shinma and seal them away- no matter how benign they might be in their co-existence with humans. It is a difficult burden to bear, and one that Miyu struggles with, but when the alternative is to be hunted down even as aggressive Shinma prey on the weak and innocent, what other choice does she have?

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