Azure Flame Reloaded

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 »

Remember the old days? Times were bloodier, women were meeker, and MANLY men strode across the lands, showing off their toned muscles to one and all. Yes, this was the era of Fist of the North Star, a tale of a post-apocalyptic era where ugly villains seized power over innocent villagers, and where one man fights for justice. That man’s name was Kenshiro, lone inheritor of Hokuto Shinken, the Fist of the North Star, a powerful and deadly martial art that lets one paralyse or kill just by touching certain pressure points on the body.

Continue Reading »

It is the middle of the twentieth century, and among the yakuza, high stakes Mahjong is a popular pastime. Skilled players abound, but even they are no match for what is to come- a young man named Akagi Shigeru. With an unsurpassed talent for reading his opponents, Akagi masters the game on his first night of play, and soon earns the title of “the genius who descended into the darkness”. And over the years, Akagi’s appearances in a series of high profile games against some of the most infamous names in the underworld will ensure that his name goes down in legend…

Continue Reading »