Azure Flame Reloaded

Together with her intelligent sword Grandeek, itinerant warrior Tia travels the world in search of the greatest weapon in the world. It’s no surprise, therefore, that she ends up on the Isle of Weapons, a place where numerous blacksmiths practise their craft in search of that same perfection; but on arriving, it becomes clear that all is not well. A stolen sword has possessed its owner and forced them to go on a killing spree to sate its anger, but with the murderer having gone beyond what it means to be human, can anyone stop them?

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Shed by the legendary tree Yggdrasil, the mysterious Fruits of Time are both a blessing and a curse, granting immortality to women, but condemning men to a fatal, bloodthirsty hunger. Rin Asogi is one such immortal, and as the ages pass, she and her faithful companion Mimi can only watch as the world turns and each generation succeeds the last. Their endless lives are far from uneventful, however, for in the background a shadowy force is slowly but surely hatching a deadly plan that could change the world forever. Continue Reading »

When a strange impulse compels Prince Arren to kill his father, he finds himself fleeing for his life, unable to trust even himself. Through a chance meeting with the wizard Ged, however, Arren finds himself drawn into a whole new series of events- one that must inevitably end in a confrontation with the ambitious mage known as Cob.

With the directorial reins of this Ghibli film having been handed from the legendary Hayao Miyazaki to his son Goro, Tales of Earthsea was always going to be a film that attracted much comment and scrutiny, but for me it was something I could never really be bothered to watch- until the day family members unexpectedly came home with the DVD. By this late stage in the game, I was already aware of the mixed reviews the film had accrued elsewhere, but how would it fare on the Azure Flame “400 anime” scale? Continue Reading »

Despite its name, Treasure Town is infamous not for being a place you would actually want to visit, but for being a hotbed of gang wars and yakuza activity. In amongst all this chaos, two young boys- canny streetwise Black and childish idiot savant White- fight both to survive and to protect their home turf from outsiders and the changes they bring.

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When a strange incident leaves 17-year-old Makoto Konno with ability to ‘leap’ backwards through time, she does exactly what most people would do- uses her ability for her own personal gain. Nonetheless, as fun as it is to avoid mishaps, pick up extra pocket money and improve her grades, it gradually becomes clear that messing around with time has its consequences, and that trying to change one thing for the better can make something else far worse.

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According to legend, many years ago, a powerful god named Gestalt was banished to Earth and sealed in an island known only as ‘G’. Determined to find the truth behind these rumours, priest Father Olivier decides to leave his order and travel to G, but when he gains a travelling companion in the form of sorceress Ohri, it is only the first step in becoming embroiled in a more complicated adventure.

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“…just which screencap you can be bothered to upload.”

After two seasons and twenty-six episodes of flower petals, HARD YURI and angst, the infamous Maria-sama ga Miteru decided to take a rest from TV series format and adapt the next part of the novels as five fifty-minute OVA episodes. Having enjoyed the TV series, I was initially interested to see where the story would go next, but as I was soon to discover, this OVA seemed designed to weed out the true MariMite enthusiast from the milder fan.

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After being abandoned by her owners one rainy night, “Chibi-Neko” the kitten is saved from an untimely end when a student named Tokio picks her up and takes her home. Despite the fact that his mother is allergic to cats, Tokio’s parents decide to let him keep Chibi, in the hope that caring for her will help alleviate his depression over failing to get into college. For her part, Chibi comes to adore her new owner, and in her naïveté, she hopes that she will one day turn into a human so that they can always be together. Even so, the world has many lessons for a young kitten to learn, and it seems for sure that she will one day realise that no cat can become human.

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At the Personality Plant, Professor Shimizu is in charge of implanting the robot named Suzu with the memories and personality of a deceased boy named Ogura Ryou, all so that his parents can have a replacement for their lost son. Ironically enough, however, Shimizu’s own daughter suffers from a disease that causes her to slowly but steadily lose her own memories. When Suzu wanders into Hotori’s home, a friendship starts building between these two lonely children- one of who faces turning into someone he is not, and another who faces losing everything that makes her who she is.

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OVA: Three more episodes of Nobue and co.
Post TV-series OVAs tend to come in two forms- either they pick up where their predecessor left off and fit quite naturally into the franchise, or they cover a new and generally quite uninspired storyline that makes you wish they’d just left well alone. Fortunately, the Ichigo Mashimaro falls into the former category, and indeed, if you didn’t know it was an OVA, you might just think what you were watching were episodes 13-15 of the TV series.

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