Manga Monday: Hajime no Ippo

One of my favorite mangas, and probably one of the longest running, Hajime no Ippo takes into the world of pro boxing. Makunochi Ippo is a high school student getting ready to graduate. Instead of dreaming of the future  Ippo spends most of his time helping his mother with the family fishing business, causing him to miss out on friends and after school activities and making him a target for bullies. After one particularly bad beatings Ippo is rescued by man named Takamura. Takamura turns out to be a boxer and he lends Ippo a tape of Mike Tyson knockouts, telling him how Tyson used to get bullied when he was younger. When Ippo goes to the gym to return the tape Takamura lent him, Takamura tells him to take out his frustrations on the heavy bag. Turns out Ippo has tremendous power in his fists, a trait not over looked by gym's owner and head trainer. Thus begins Ippo journey into the world of boxing. Now there are currently 981 chapters so if you wanna get started you better start now. There is also an anime which I recommend. So come join Ippo as he struggles to find the answer to the question What does it mean to be strong?

 Here's a little taste of the OVA, Champions Road. 

WARNING may contain spoilers.

Champions Road OVA Intro

  

Throwback Thursday: Sorcerous Stabber Orphen

 Now I caught some flak for my last Throwback, apparently to some 10 years isn't old enough to be called a "throwback", but let me know what you think. If you wanna see older animes in this section leave a comment. Anyway today's Throwback is Sorcerous Stabber Orphen. The title really tells you all you need to know about the plot. The main character's name is Orphen and he stabbed a sorcerous and because of this his life has become a lot more difficult.  Exiled from the Tower of Fang Orphen is forced to make new allies, such as Cleao Everlasting and his new apprentice Majic Lin. Yes his apprentice, who is studying to become a sorcerer, is named Majic. Really? Orphen still has an ally in the Tower of Fang, his old friend Hartia. In order to keep up appearances Hartia dons a disguise of his favorite manga character when ever he helps Orphen. Unfortunately for Hartia when reveals his name as "Black Tiger" he is mistakes as "Shrimp Man". Black Tiger Shrimp I guess? Hartia is actually one of the funniest characters in the anime, even funnier then the comic relief characters Volkan and Dortin. Overall this is a great series with memorable characters and surprisingly deep and interesting story.  So if you are into fantasy anime take a look and if you enjoy the series there is a second season called Orphen: The Revenge. Of course it has a killer opening theme too.

Opening Theme

           

Review: Summer Wars

Story: 5/5

Animation: 5/5

Design: 5/5

Voice Acting: 5/5

  A truly touching tale that's really more about summer love then "Summer Wars".  Computer nerd and math genius Kenji Koiso's simple summer plans, watermelon and fireworks, are turned upside down when he agrees to help his secret crush Natsuki. Turns out Natsuki need Kenji to pose as her boyfriend at her family reunion. Why doesn't this kind of stuff ever happen to me? Kenji's problems are just starting however, as it turns out there is A.I virus running lose in OZ and it turns out he might be to blame for it.  Director Mamoru Hosoda, of  The Girl Who Leapt Through Time fame, delivers once again with a heart warming tale that seems to capture the spirit of summer. Beautifully animated, beautifully designed, I defy anyone who is a fan of anime to say they don't like the way this movie looks. It's easy to see why this movie has won the amount of awards it has. Even the English voice acting is superb, which is good because to ruin this masterpiece with a hack dub would be beyond criminal. I  honestly recommend this movie to everyone, not just anime fans, it's that good. Watch the trailer and you'll be saying Koi Koi.

Trailer

New Releases September 18 2012

Hope you saved your pennies because here are the new releases for this week.

Venus Wars                                                                                        $19.95

Fafner: Complete Collection (Blu-ray / DVD Combo)                     $59.98 

King of Thorn (Blu-ray / DVD Combo)                                                $24.98

The Tower of Druaga: Complete Collection (S.A.V.E. Edition)             $29.95

Allison & Lillia: The Ultimate Collection                                                $69.98

Persona 4 - The Animation: Complete Collection 1 (DVD) sub            $59.98 

Persona 4 - The Animation: Complete Collection 1 (Blu-ray) dub        $59.99

Looking Forward To: Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru

I will let you guys know right now I am sucker for romantic comedies, and I am an even bigger sucker for redheads. So when I see a new romantic comedy with a kawaii redhead protagonist it's a sure fire knock out. Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru, based on the manga of the same name, centers around a three character love triangle. Eita the male lead is solely focused on his goal of getting into Medical school, however this all changes when recently returned school queen bee Masuzu enters his life. Chiwa, Eita's childhood friend, isn't about to hand him over without a fight. If you can't wait the manga is currently on chapter 16. The anime hits this coming January, 2013, so pick your team

  

VS

Japanese TV AD

Throw Back Thursday: Love Hina

Today's Throw back anime is one of the first in harem genre, and indeed my first harem anime, Love Hina.If you are into romantic comedies then this like honey to the bee. Lovable loser Keitaro Urashima is bound and determined to fulfill a childhood promise and get into Tokyo U, the toughest University in Japan. Only one problem, his grades are terrible. After two failed attempts Keitaro's parents lose patience and kick him out. Luckily he is taken by his grandmother who allows him to stay at the all girl dormitory , the Hinata Inn, that she runs and work as the manger there. We should all be so lucky. The girls of Hinata are your typical anime archetypes, 

Naru Narusegawa - Tsundere (main love interest)

Shinobu Maehara - Shy Girl

Motoko Aoyama - Tomboy/Tsundere

Kaolla Su - Genki Girl

Mitsune "Kitsune" Konno - Delinquent

Mutsumi Otohime - Innocent/Dizt

They all might be stereotypes but they are so well realized that it works and each character is unique and enjoyable. Now as you can imagine being the only male in a house full of girls leads all kinds of "trouble" for Keitaro, not really the ideal place to study for a big test. Luckily one of the other residence is trying for Tokyo U too, Naru. Now I don't wanna give too much away, just go watch it. The real icing on cake is that this anime has some of the best songs I've heard in an anime. Have a listen.

"Sakura Saku" Opening Theme

  

"Egao no Mirari e"

"Yakusoku"

    

"Kimi Sae Ireba"

Review: Redline

Story: 3.5/5

Animation: 5/5

Design: 5/5

Voice Acting: 4/5

  An endearing, if not all to original, story about an underdog long shot racer named JP who is trying to win the big race, Redline. This movie comes to us from the creative mind of director Takeshi Koike via MADHOUSE Studios,  thank you for Summer Wars by the way. Wonderfully original designs and amazing fluid animation make this a top tier production.  Beware these designs are not for everyone, if you like your anime kawaii and cuddly then these gritty designs might not agree with you, I for one loved them. I mentioned it earlier but it really cannot be over stated the animation this movie looks amazing. The amount of action and the speed of the action are incredible. You can really tell that alot of time and effort went into this production, which is more than I can say for some movies now a day. The voice acting does the trick here, without  any real dramatic scenes it's hard for the actors to really flex their muscles, but no ones is annoying so it works. Overall I loved this movie, while the story isn't to original it's really just a "vehicle", pun intended, for what this movie is all about speed and action. Just watch the trailer and if you like what you see you will like the movie. Just one peek and you'll racing for the Redline.

Trailer

        

New Releases September 11 2012

Hey guys it's time to spend your hard earned cash again. Here are the DVD/Blu-Ray releases for Sept 11 2012. Hope there is something you like.

Bleach - Season 14 Uncut Box Set (DVD)	326	VIZ	2012-09-11	$49.95
Cluster Edge - Collection 1 (Sub.DVD 1-3)	300	Sentai	2012-09-11	$49.98
Dragon Ball Z Kai - Season 3 (DVD)	600	FUN	2012-09-11	$49.98
Dragon Ball Z Kai - Season 3 (Blu-Ray)	600	FUN	2012-09-11	$54.98
Ghastly Prince Enma Burning Up [Premium Edition] (Sub.Blu-Ray + DVD)	292	NIS	2012-09-11	$69.99
Hot for Teacher (DVD)	60	Critical	2012-09-11	$14.99
Kite (Blu-Ray)	45	MB	2012-09-11	$24.99
Private Sessions - Complete Collection (DVD)	120	Critical	2012-09-11	$19.99
Spice and Wolf - Season 1 and 2 Complete Series (Blu-Ray + DVD)	624	FUN	2012-09-11	$64.98
UFO Ultramaiden - Seasons 1-2 (DVD 1-5)	670	Sentai	2012-09-11	$49.98
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings - The Complete 1st and 2nd Season (DVD/R2)

Source: Anime News Network

Fall 2012 Line Up

With summer almost over and October just around the corner now would be a good time to look at the new anime line up for Fall 2012.

Right off the bat you will probably notice returning favorites Bakuman which is back for it's third season and Seitokai no Ichizon which gets a second stent. Secondly I want to mention the 2 animes based on card games, Battle Spirits: Sword Eyes and Chou Soku Henkei Gyrozetter. Battle Spirits: Sword Eyes is the squeal to Battle Spirits: Heroes and  Chou Soku Henkei Gyrozetter is brand new, either way it speaks to popularity of the genre as CardFight! Vanguard debuted not to long ago to great success as well. Mostly everything else is your typical manga or light novel to anime translation as studios seem unwilling to bet untested ideas.  The season seems bright with a plethora of OVAs/Specials, a personal highlight being the PS3/OVA Special for Eureka Seven. Romantic comedies still rain supreme but there should be something for everyone this Fall.

Favorite Studio

Anime News Network:

 http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=54

Now if you are into anime then you probably have a favorite studio. There are some big ones like Studio Ghibli and MAD House or my personal favorite Gainax. Gainax has produced hands down my favorite animes.

Neon Genesis Evangelion
Gunbuster
Gunbuster 2
Mangical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
FLCL

All of these series I highly recommend by the way. The only reason I found out about most of theses animes was because I watched Neon Genesis Evangelion. I liked it so much that I had to find out who did it. That opened a whole new world of anime to me and now I am always on the look out for new series from my favorite studio. So if you are just getting into anime and you come across an anime that you really like, check which studio is behind it. You just might find more of what you like when you dig into their back catalog.