Changes and....Maids???

With this post I am reporting that some changes are going to happen to this blog. A few weeks I left J1studios.com in order to strike out on my own with the hope of having more chances to post updates to the blog as well as expand material to talk about here. So eventually what I want to do is update the blog with a new layout, new logo and just try to make it more awesome!

So what does that mean to you? Nothing, really! :) It just means that you'll still be coming to the same site reading more stuff about anime and Japan...and I hope that you like it...^^; But moving on to....

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Title: Kaichou wa Maid-sama!/Class President is a maid!

Animation Production: J.C.Staff

Premiered in Japan: April 2010

Original Creator: Hiro Fujiwara

Extra info?: Manga is available in the U.S. from Tokyopop called "Maid-sama"

The story is about a hard working, busy body, tough girl named Misaki Ayuzawa. She is the first female class president of Seika High School which ,until recently, used to be an all boys school. But she has a secret. She works part time at a maid cafe due to family circumstances but one day her secret is found out by the school heartthrob Takumi Usui. He promises to keep her secret if she promises to spend some time with him.

When I first heard about this I thought it sounded interesting and cute. Two things that were missing during the Fall season. Another thing that caught my eye and made me happy was the appearance of a bishounen (pretty boy for those who don't know)cuz I haven't seen one in what felt like forever!! But back to the anime...It's cute i've watched 4 episodes so far and it's really cute because Usui obviously is intrigued by Misaki because she doesn't give him the time of day. But him on the other hand he always pops up the right moment to give Misaki advice or save her from something. Their relationships is very tug of war like.

The music is okay. The opening "My secret" by Saaya Mizuno is that cliche Jpop anime sound and the ending by "Yokan" by Heidi is an alright tortured ballad type of song, it's not bad...but it's not awesome either.

The animation is...average as well. It could animate a bit better because there are times when a fight is happening or someone is falling and they have the still frame instead of animating the person throwing a punch or something.

In the end this anime doesn't do anything better or worse when it comes to animation but the story and characters are endearing and it makes you want to see how long can misaki deny Usui piercing longing stares. lol My score is an average 3 out of 5!

Changes and.....Maids??

Spring is here and so is new anime!!

Fresh New Anime Just in Time for Spring!!

First off let me say, "Gomen ne! Minna-san!"! I know it's been forever since I updated but that's because last season's anime was so uninspired, in my opinion at least, and rather than rant and rave about why it's so bad...I chose not to write anything at all. But now with all this new and great anime out on the nets, I'm inspired to review and write again!! So let's begin with.....

Title: B gata H kei
Genre: comedy, romance, ecchi
Premiered on tv in Japan: April 2010
Rating: A strong Pg-13 for sexuality

So I just started watching this over the weekend and it's hilarious. The story revolves around a young self proclaimed "bishoujo" ie. "pretty girl" named Yamada, we have not found out her first name as of yet. Anywayz! She's a virgin in high school and her goal is to have over 100 sex partner. Yes! 100 casual sex partners!! Only problem is she doesn't have experience and doesn't want her potential partner to tease her because of her inexperience. So what does she do? She sets out to find a "cherry boy" to be her first of many! Wow!

So yeah! Reading the synopsis for this and looking at pics for it I thought, "oh dear! another ecchi anime...-_-" But so far it's hilarious!! Yamada is absolutely clueless about guys and this along with her insane goal is bound for more hilarity to ensue. The only bad thing, I guess, you could say about it is that they are throwing out alot of fanservice at one time and the premise for it doesn't exactly allow for a long running season. But as long as it entertains and keeps my laughing then let the short ride commence!

My rating is a 3 out of 5!

Soul Eater- The best thing since...sliced bread!?

Some facts:
Original Creator:Atsushi Ohkubo
Animated by: Studio Bones
Music Production: Aniplex
Genre: action, supernatural, adventure, comedy
Dvd Release: Feb. 2010 (Part 1) March 30, 2010 (Part 2)

Soul Eater center around three groups of meisters and their human weapons (humans who turn into weapons) and their goal of eating 99 souls plus the soul of one witch to become a Death Scythe. A weapon so powerful that even Lord Death himself uses such a weapon. The main characters are Maka, Soul, Death the Kid, Patty and Liz and Black* Star and Tsubaki. These three groups of meister and weapons protect Death City from all type of evil crazy foes all the while still going to school and becoming stronger.

Soul Eater is a ball of fun! The animation is extreemly fluid and when people get into fights, they get into fights. There's actual choreography and you find yourself thinking/saying "damn! Did she just parry two hits at the same and while managing to kick/hit it!?!" It's sick!

Plus the character designs are fun to look at also. It kinda has a punk-ish edgy feel to it while also being kinda minimalistic. Apparently, the less detail to animate makes for awesome animation.

The music is awesome as well. T.M. Revolution does the opening song "Resonance" and it's the greatest song ever!! And the ending song "I wanna Be" by STANCE PUNKS is great as well. Makes you want to head out in the street fist pump in the air.

This anime is not to be missed!! It's fun, edgy, hilarious, and has so much action in it. It can be found online on youtube via Funimation's channel or you can buy it on dvd from your local video store. I give this anime a definite 5 out 5!! It's guaranteed to have you addicted.

Ps. For some reason i am having trouble right clicking to saving images so that's why i like no pics. gomen ne...^^

Seikon No Qwaser-All about the breast milk....

January is the start of new seasons for anime for the spring. And I have to say I am not all that impressed...Three premiers that I watched last weekend looked...not good. It was more loli-con and more moe with fanservice out the wood works. Me being an anime fan missing anime with actual story lines and meaningful relationships, it was a tad bit disappointing... :( But I'll get into that more on J1 forums...
Title: Seikon no Qwaser
Genre: action, comedy, supernatural and Ecchi
Rating: Mature (definitely not for kids!!)
Animation Production: Hoods Entertainment


Alright! So far I have watched two episodes of Qwaser and I'm just waiting for the show me that it's more than boobs. Now whether or not it does that...well I'm thinking of the chance of a piece of ice surviving in hell.

The summary is ," In St. Mikhailov Academy, Oribe Mafuyu meets a silver haired boy called Alexander. He is a Qwaser, a being who can manipulate iron and draws his power from breast milk. A mystery surrounding an Icon transforms the academy into the setting for conflict between the various different Qwaser."-ANN
As we can see it revolves around this power that comes from breast milk aannndd believe this fetishied to the fullest extent. Oh! And before I go further I have watched censored versions of this and it is incomprehensible! I've heard about how bad the raw version is and eventually I'll try to watch it...but I am so scared. Only cause in the censored version you still hear everything the moans and screams and such they cut away to some random bush or the sky when things get crazy. There is an enemy that pops up in the second episode and she is wearing next to nothing!! Unless you consider strategically placed ribbon to be clothes...

The only thing that keeps me interested so far is to see a maybe developing relationship between Oribe Mafuyu and Aleksander/Sasha and also the fact that it animates so well. If the show decides not to get crazy and/or make me disgusted/mad I'll keep watching. But the moment tentacles come out...I'm running to the hills.

Since only the first two episodes have been posted as of writing this article a rating will come later after I've watched at least five episodes.
Trailer Below and it's not suitable for kids so anyone under 18..don't watch it!

Spice and Wolf-looks pretty but moves so slow...

Title: Spice and Wolf/ "Okami to koushinryo"
Genre: romance, adventure, drama, fantasy, supernatural
Animated by:IMAGIN
Available on dvd? Yes at your nearest video store!
Licensed by: Funimation

I have been hearing about "Spice and Wolf" for a while now and occasionally I would forget about it then see a picture or something about it and think, "Oh! Yeah! I gotta watch that!" but then I would forget again. Well a solid year has passed and after hearing that Funimation had posted videos on youtube since they were releasing in the US in December 2009, I finally watched it. I like it..it's just the pacing is so slow...

The summary of "Spice and Wolf" is the story of a wolf goddess called Holo and a merchant named Lawrence. Lawrence makes a living by traveling town to town selling goods. One night he stops in the pagan town of Pasroe and discovers a strange naked girl lying in his wagon. He finds out that this seemingly young girl ,with wolf ears and a tail, is in fact the town's 250 year old goddess of harvest named Holo. She tells him that she wishes to leave the village and return to her home, the forest of Yoitsu since she believes that villagers have forsaken her. Lawrence is swayed into taking her with him with the hope that she will increase his profits and she is pleased because she can leave the village where only lonliness was her company. Unfortunately for this couple the religious teachings of the church is spreading throughout the land and the thought of a real pagan deity moving about is not a happy thought.

Spice and Wolf is really pretty and it animated great as well. Unfortunately for me the first four episodes move so slow. The story seems interesting but I'm not riveted to my chair eagerly looking forward to the next episode. I just have a mild interest in it right now but maybe it'll get better as the series goes on. This anime was highly acclaimed when it came out last year and has been getting alot of buzz online, mostly talking about the naked teenage looking girl, but it's been good reviews.

As usual trailer below...


So right now I'm giving it an average 3 out of 5.

Aoi Bungaku Series

Title: "Aoi Bungaku"
Animation Producer: MADHOUSE Studios
On Japanese TV: October 2009- December 2009
Available online?: Yes! Via Youtube and other anime sites.
Genre: Horror, mystery, psychological (episode 1-4)

I came across this gem while looking at another anime blog site and I love anime of Japanese folklore; so when I seen that this was a small collection of Japanese modern era stories i had to check it out! And I really enjoyed it.

As of writing this blog I have watched the first story called " No Longer Human," and it was crazy/depressing/ awesome piece of storytelling! The picture above is not Light Yagami from Deathnote but the tortured soul of Youzou. This character is conflicted about what it is to be human and even views himself to be a monster,not because he's ugly or deformed in any way. But because of an incident from his school years which he never forgot. Another thing that was interesting about this story is that he continually sees this humanoid but disturbing a form at his most vulnerable moments.

The series is 12 episodes long and the character designs were done by three different artists. These artists were Tite Kubo (Bleach), Takeshi Obata (Deathnote fame), and Takeshi Konomi (Prince of Tennis fame).

This series seems really interesting and I can't wait to see Akutagawa's "Hell Screen" (had to read this story in school and it's really awesome so I can't wait to see the anime rendition!! ^^)
So if I were rating this arc on storytelling, animation, and just worth spending time to watch then I would rate it a 4 out 5!