Jun 30 2008
When you’re the grandson of the famous onmyouji Abe no Seimei, it can be hard to fulfil your family’s expectations, and for Abe no Masahiro, being reminded of that heritage is just as bad as having to live up to it. Still, when he meets the ayakashi Mokkun, it sparks off a series of events that sees Masahiro start to grow up and take on new responsibilities as he attempts to defend the country from all manner of invading demons. Continue Reading »
Jun 26 2008
Tachibana Sakon is a travelling puppeteer- a shy young man who tends to express his emotional side via his favourite puppet, Ukon. On their journeys, Sakon and Ukon find themselves stumbling upon murder mysteries; but whether it’s jealousy, money or past secrets that inspire these bloody crimes, the quiet boy and his outspoken puppet will surely get to the bottom of it. Continue Reading »
Jun 12 2008
No one knows why or how she appeared, but one day the small life form who came to be called ‘Potemayo’ just showed up from the depths of Sunao Moriyama’s fridge. And just as Sunao and his friends got used to incorporating this cute yet mysterious creature into their lives, along came another one- the tiny tsundere Guchuko. Still, life must go on, and so in short order Potemayo and Guchuko just become another part of the everyday experiences of those around them.
Jun 11 2008
What do you do when the girl you like moves in with your family but becomes even more cold and distant than ever? Or when you meet a strange girl at school who seems to take a perverse interest in treating you like one of her chickens? How about when your best friend’s girlfriend seems less interested in him than she does in you? As it turns out, for Nakagami Shinichiro, all of the above apply, and when that’s only the beginning of the tangle of feelings that surrounds you, it’s all going to take a bit of working out. Can Shinichiro and those around him find true happiness, or will it all end in tears?
May 26 2008
Azuma Kazuma is a young man with a dream- he wants to create “Japan”, a bread that can stand alongside the likes of French bread, German bread and English loaves as a national icon. To that end, he enrols as an employee of the famous bakery chain Pantasia, but will his creativity, imagination and sheer love of bread be enough to make up for his lack of formal training when it comes to squaring off against the foremost artisans of the bread making industry?
May 19 2008
Some time ago, I reviewed Crest of the Stars, a thirteen episode space opera that impressed me with its ability to blend character drama with a galaxy-spanning main plot. Having thus got a taste for the series, I needed more, and so it was that in due course I came to see the three Banner of the Stars series, sequels covering the events of the later novels. But ultimately, could they live up to the high standard set by their predecessor?
May 14 2008
After twelve episodes of seeing Itoshiki Nozomu fall into despair, there can have been few fans of the series who weren’t ready for him and his eclectic class to come back for more. Fortunately, the success of the first season meant that another thirteen episodes weren’t far behind, but would ‘second season syndrome’ kick in and make this batch less enjoyable than what had come before? Continue Reading »
Apr 28 2008
In its first season, Minami-ke could pretty much do no wrong for me; it may have seemed like just another anime about schoolgirls and their everyday lives, but it hit all the right notes in terms of delivery. With that in mind, I was looking forward to thirteen more episodes of the same- except that what I was going to get was going to be to the first season what the Popstation is to the PSP.
Apr 21 2008
Anyone who’s ever been anywhere near this blog must surely know that I love Aria- or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I adore it. The manga and the first two seasons of the anime were greater than I ever dared imagine, transporting me to the calm, gentle world of Neo Venezia, a place where fat cats could become presidents and a slower pace of life ruled. With that in mind, I would have hated to see Aria go on forever and gradually lose quality, but at the same time, knowing that there was only one thirteen episode season left meant that I would have to savour every moment before the end.
Apr 17 2008
This cat was my favourite part of the series.
Shizuru and Mizuki Hibara are a pair of sisters with a rather unique family condition- Shizuru can see monsters and spirits from the other side, whilst Mizuki is highly susceptible to being possessed by them. With their parents disinterested in the supernatural, Mizuki and Shizuru end up living under the protection of their grandfather, but the greatest lesson he has to teach them is that they must learn to deal with mystical matters on their own.
