Azure Flame Reloaded

Where have all the previews gone? Have I just not noticed them, or does no one care anymore? Well, it’s not like the summer usually has much to offer, but let’s see what we can add to our viewing schedules in the coming months.

Ikkitousen: Great Guardians

It’s already started airing, I know, but I won’t be watching even the first episode- the senselessness and gratuity of Ikki Tousen put me off long, long ago. One for the fanservice fans only.

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Pointless or not, I’m too opinionated not to post a spring preview, so her you go- Karura’s latest overture to conventionality. Once again, I’ve been too lazy to consider OVAs.

Gag Manga Biyori 3
I’m still waiting for Gag Manga Biyori 2 to be subbed in its entirety, but this offbeat and random comedy series has always been a fun diversion, and hopefully it will continue to be so. Continue Reading »

Apologies for not posting for a few days; some idiot (not me) forgot to pay for the internet this month.

They said it didn’t need to be done, but it was- a prequel to the greatest trainwreck of all time, Mai-Otome 0. And thus, in true Azure Flame tradition, we could not merely let the situation pass- for where Otome exists, so does parody. So, join us as we delve into the past, to the days of Rena Sayers and the King of Windbloom- to a terrible era devoid of fat grey cats…

The future John Smith (currently known as ‘Kiddo’) plots to kidnap the main character and take her place. Continue Reading »

Yes, the time has come to complete my first year of previews, although unfortunately I left it so late that I’ll just ignore most of the movies, OVAs and specials to come out in December and get cracking on the series that are intended to sustain us through the cold and depressing weeks of January.

• Ayakashi: Hmm, another series named Ayakashi- when will they ever learn that this name brings nothing about bad fortune? Apparently this time around, the Ayakashi in question give special powers to their hosts in exchange for draining their life force- sounds a lot like Mushi-Uta. The series has already started, so it shouldn’t be too much effort to try episode one…eventually. Continue Reading »

It won’t take a genius to realise that this autumn has seen my enthusiasm for anime and thus the blogging of it fall to dangerous new lows. Were the combined forces of illness, dancing, family commitments and the need to get off my backside and apply for graduate courses all going to inspire to ensure the death of the one once (and in fact still) known as Karura? Of course not, for with the suggestion that the Dark Assembly collectively tackle the autumn season so that joint blogging once more became more than a mere theory, inspiration returned at long last. And so it is that this post came to exist, a perhaps pointless stroll through the unique achievements of the Autumn 2007 anime season. Continue Reading »

Welcome back to the lengthiest and most pointless project undertaken by this blog, now in its second and final part. First, a couple of disclaimers- I understand that Twelve Kingdoms is very good, but until my DVD boxsets arrive, I can’t comment. Also, Oh! Edo Rocket must be left out until it finishes airing.

Mahou Shoujotai

What’s it about?: Alice has always believed in magic, so when she is transported to a world of witches and wizards, it should be like a dream come true. Unfortunately, contrary to her idealistic vision, the people of this world do not use magic only to bring happiness, and so Alice feels compelled to make everyone listen to her optimistic views- and, naïve as they may seem, they may be the only hope of finding a way to save a dying world and ward off a plan to use powerful black Continue Reading »

Once you’ve watched a certain amount of anime (aka, more than is probably good for you), there comes a point when top ten lists don’t really do the job of encapsulating your favourites anymore. When such a time comes, the only thing you can do to showcase your favourites is make a highly ambitious and incredibly lengthy post about not just ten, but fifty-plus anime that you feel you absolutely must recommend to everyone. Such was the origin of this post, and so it was that after much thought, a hefty list of no fewer than sixty series were collected together. Some of them could never make it onto an overall top ten list, but they are nonetheless so good at what they do that they still require a mention in some capacity.

On a side note, don’t expect the likes of Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop and Evangelion to appear on here. Whilst the first two at least are certainly solid enough, they appear on recommendation lists throughout the land, and it’s time they stood aside to let worthier series get some of the spotlight. Continue Reading »

It’s that time again, when I write about all the anime to come in the next month or so, ignoring the fact that everyone else does this already. I’ve given up on the whole predicting what I will or won’t watch, since it’s laughably inaccurate- let’s just get down to what will be replacing the spring and summer series on our viewing schedules.

Moonlight Mile season 2

I did try to get on with the first season of Moonlight Mile, but after a barely comprehensible opening episode and warnings of extreme MANLINESS ahead, I never did continue with it. I’m not sure if anyone (other than Kryptfo?) actually watched to the end of season one, but if they did, they’ll probably be ready for more STRAIGHT adventures with the manly men of space. Continue Reading »

It’s been a long road, getting from there to here…and sadly, it is by no means over yet. As Mai- threatens to become a mega-franchise to rival the greats, we learn that Zwei is not the end, but merely the beginning of a spate of spin-offs and cash-ins that could last until we are all old and grey. More on that later, however, for now we must go forth and rejoice at the conclusion of this OVA. Continue Reading »

Wherever anime studios are spoken of, fans can be found singing the praises of Madhouse, claiming how this one studio can turn everything they touch into gold. Naturally, when I hear such things, I have to question them, and so it was that they had to be the subject of one of my pointless studio reviews. The mission- to test the hypothesis that Madhouse are skilled enough to make anything worthy. Continue Reading »