First Impressions -- Durarara!!

Durarara!! comes from the same light novelist, director, and studio that brought you Baccano!, and as such, I've been meaning to watch it for a long time now. The first episode focuses on a couple of kids, but like Carol and the Vice President, I don't think they're the real "main" characters. Episode 2 switched over to a minor character from the first episode, and the motorcycle rider that seems the most likely candidate for main character.
Animation is good, especially the few fight scenes that I've seen so far. At the same time, they have simple sequences of internet chat rooms that must save them so much money. Opening theme is amazing animation, but I'm not as sold on the music as I was for Baccano! Story is beyond interesting. It's addicting. I really want to see more.
But is it good? For anime can certainly keep you watching without being good. It's hard to say at this point. Characters are pretty cool so far, and the animation is good... but it's confusing as heck, and I feel like I'm biased because I love Baccano! so much.
Biased or not, my impression is that it will be a very good series. Better than my impression of Shakugan no Shanna, at least, and I've heard good things about both series.
First Impression Rating: A

Review -- Chrono Crusade

I'm going to try to review more often, to catch up with the amount of anime and manga I've actually seen and read.

To go with Baccano!, here's another Prohibition-era piece, and one of my old favorites. Chrono Crusade is the story of Rosette Christopher, an exorcist in the Magdalene Order, and her demon partner, Chrono. In 1920s New York, they fight demons and search for Rosette's long-lost brother Joshua. Chrono's former demon comrade Aion becomes part of the picture, and Chrono has to settle his old score while Rosette tries to save Joshua.

The longer one watches Chrono Crusade, the worse it gets, mostly because it deviates from the manga and gets very confusing. Early Chrono Crusade is some pretty darn good anime, though, and is the perfect example of "don't just a book by its cover". Rosette is part of a religious order... sort of, because Japan doesn't fully understand western religion, and so while the order uses Protestant terms, the exorcists' outfits are more like Catholic sisters and nuns... and she fights with guns. Nuns-with-guns, right? But the point isn't to exploit girls in nun costumes, it's all about Rosette and her quest to find her brother, and her relationship with Chrono.

Rosette, to quote the review on ANN, is a "female Ed Elric". Brash, stubborn, hot-headed, and loud, Rosette charges into fights, gets into tight spots, miraculously gets out of them, then has to face the wrath of Sister Kate for destroying yet another car. Chrono is sensitive, composed, and thinks things through. When Rosette runs in, Chrono calls for backup, sets a barrier to trap whatever they're hunting, and gets the weapons from the car. They compliment each other perfectly. The only catch is that Chrono is a demon. He and Rosette have a contract. She gives him power, and he serves her. The two aren't master-and-servant, though, but best friends, and more if you feel like shipping it. Demons normally take their power through their horns, but Chrono's horns are gone, so he can only live by contracting with a human and feeding off its life energy. The pocket watch Rosette wears around her neck allows Chrono to do just that. Rosette is more than willing to let Chrono shorten her lifespan, though, both to find her brother and keep Chrono alive.

I've both seen the anime and read the manga, and for the most part, I prefer the manga. The anime actually runs around in circles a little bit at the end because it breaks off and doesn't know where to go. The manga plotline makes more sense overall, so I recommend that one over the anime.

Because of the awkward ending to the series, the strongest parts of the anime--as a whole--are the characters and the setting. About the fist half of the series, the story is still really good. Rosette is stubborn and loud-mouthed, but she's compassionate and loving. Even if you can't stand the way she jumps in without thinking, you can't help liking her for trying to find Joshua and being a big sister figure for Azmaria. Chrono has a huge guilty burden which isn't fully revealed until late in the series, but instead of radiating angst, he's a pretty cheerful guy. He cracks jokes and tries to keep everyone in good spirits. Rosette doesn't let him get away with trying to act cheerful when he's not. Azmaria is adorable and awesome all at the same time, because she beats demons and heals people by singing at them. Satella is awesome because she's the Cool Big Sis and I generally love that character type. (...I also just spent half an hour poking around TV Tropes after finding that link.)

Fight scenes are another plus. There's plenty of them, and the main character's a girl, so we're spared from the usual shonen tropes. Animation is very good, and the combination of setting and characters designs make for a very distinctive look. There's no problems confusing Rosette or Chrono for any character in any other anime. The rest of the cast isn't always so lucky, but are decent. Music is not bad, but not distinctive. The opening theme is a nice song, and well-done, but it doesn't really stand out. The ending theme is the more distinctive of the two.

Voice acting is good. Rosette's dub voice actress is hit-or-miss, but I like her. Some people complain that she grates at times, but that's the character. Chrono sounds young, but as Greg Ayres himself commented on my livejournal when I first saw the show, that's because he has a full-demon form with a deeper voice. And besides the timbre, there's no fault to be found with Ayres' Chrono. Tiffany Grant does an excellent job with Satella, and I am very glad I went to get her autograph even though at the time I had no idea who she was. Azmaria, Sister Kate, and Father/Minister Remington are all solid as well, in both languages.

Overall, a nice series. It offers a variety of genres, and so can appeal to a wide audience. The manga makes much more sense, but the anime isn't bad either.

Rating: B

+ Likable characters, unique setting, wide variety of genres, solid animation

- Anime ending just doesn't do it for me. Manga ending is better, but the series is better suited to animation. The two balance each other out and have the same score.

First Impressions -- Shakugan no Shanna

I'm starting a new set of reviews called "first impressions". There's a bunch of series I've been meaning to start, so I'm going to go through and watch 1 or 2 episodes of each of them, and pick what I want to watch from there. Those 1 or 2 episodes, I'll post a short review on.

Shakugan no Shanna started off like any ordinary high-school-plus-magical-powers-shonen series. It cut in with a really interesting monster attack, then cut back to boring high school. If it had started straight in with the fighting and skipped the pointless "I was just entering high school. I'm going to say general things about myself that really don't define my character at all. It was a nice day outside. Don't you wish this was more interesting?" It's not necessary. The monster design was cool enough that the contrast between the two worked, but I still would prefer less pointless high school.

The fight was also pretty ordinary. Time stops, mysterious girl fights giant monster, boy asks questions and nearly gets killed. The flames made me think of Soul Eater, the monsters and girl with a sword made me think of Bleach, and the monster reporting to its master made me think of Sailor Moon.

The most interesting premise was saved until the very end, and for that I will watch another episode, but my first impression is a solid standard-shonen C.

Check it out at FUNi's youtube channel!

Review -- Baccano!

I spent the entire day thinking "I wanted to do some writing on my day off. What was it I wanted to write?" Oh, yeah.

Baccano! is one of the best anime series I have ever seen. It's one of my new favorites, jostling with Fullmetal Alchemist for the coveted title of my favorite anime, and with Eureka/Renton and Ed/Winry for second-favorite anime pairing.

Baccano! is very hard to describe, not only because it is so wild, convoluted, confusing, entertaining, and well-done, but because most descriptions spoil things that are better left unspoiled. The back of the DVD case tells you exactly how things came to be. I was much happier not knowing and waiting until episode 7. I recommend you do just that.

What I can tell you is that it takes place in Prohibition-era New York and Chicago. There's a whopping main cast of almost 20 characters, not counting all the minor players. The main two are Isaac and Miria, eccentric yet kind-hearted thieves. Their antics tie everyone together, "everyone" including at least 4 New York gangs, 2 Chicago gangs, a newspaper reporter, an assassin, a scarily mature child, and a crazy old man and his assistant. In 1930, in New York, under Maiza's tutelage, Firo is trying to join the Martillo gang. Luck, Keith, and Berga Gandor have a conflict with Dallas Geonard, whom Eve Geonard and the Runorata family, want to find. Aboard the Flying Pussyfoot, Jacuzzi, Nice, and their gang just want to go to New York, while Ladd Russo wants to have some fun. Chane LaForet has some unknown purpose with the men in the black suits, and Rachel, who saves half the train, doesn't even get to be in the theme song. Issac and Miria pop up in every timeline and with every character. That only glosses over the many timelines, plots, and characters that Baccano! covers in just 13 short episodes. (plus 3 OVA episodes)

While it jumps between multiple timelines in 3 different years, nothing is ever so confusing that you can't enjoy yourself. The show gives enough answers to keep everything straight, but doesn't explain it all until they very end. The non-linear timeline is masterfully done, unmatched by any other non-linear anime I've ever seen. Something's always going on to keep the audience interested, jumping from comic relief to graphic violence in a matter of seconds.

Boy, is it violent. Rated MA, youtube verifies a user is over 18 before allowing that user to watch. Violence isn't the norm, but you better be able to handle it before you start this show. Someone loses fingers, someone's forearm is no more than a bloody bone. Bullets, beatings, torture, blood, and more are seen in most episodes. The show is about gangsters, after all. If you can stand the violence, it's a heck of a show to see.

Character designs were a little confusing for me at first, but are spot-on for the time period. After time, I was able to distinguish characters without any trouble at all. The designs are all different in noticeable ways, but the shifting timeline and similarly colored suits threw me off. The rest of the artwork is great, too. The Flying Pussyfoot, the train coming into New York, is both the most impressive and weakest part of the animation. The sets are gorgeous, but there's a few instances of obvious, bad CG. These are excusable due to the quality of the rest of the show. The whole feel of the show is not of anime, probably due to the controlled colors, instead of the typical over-the-top anime coloring. Even slice-of-life shows feel brighter than Baccano!, and that's not a bad thing. It's stylish in its own... mostly... realistic way.

The music is yet another high point of Baccano!. "Guns and Roses", which I mentioned in my theme song post, is destined to become a classic anime theme song. The catchiest jazz theme song since Tank!, it also is a handy character guide. The music for the rest of the show keeps the jazz going.

The dub is excellent, and I prefer it to the Japanese if only because my favorite character is Jacuzzi, and the Japanese don't have a sound for "zi". His name comes out "Ja-cu-ji". After watching the whole series in English, I couldn't bear to hear poor Jacuzzi's name mispronounced like that. A few characters have questionable accents, but for the most part, everyone's great, and they add authenticity that Japanese voice actors cannot match. I recommend the dub, even if it means reading the back of the DVD box and spoiling episode 7.

Overall: A+

+ Fun, story, characters and character designs, juggling timelines, animation

- Confusing, lots of violence

Check out 2 dub and all 16 sub episodes on FUNimation's youtube channel!

Reviews--+Anima

This review has been sitting in my list of blogs for a couple years now. I realized that my Soul Eater. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, and Romeo x Juliet entries were massive, so here's a nice short review for you.

+Anima was a fun little series I picked up because my local library owned it. The series revolves around a group of children who all are "anima", people with animal powers. Their situation is much like that of Marvel Comics' X-Men. Cooro, the main character, is a crow anima, and pretty straight-forward happy-go-lucky-doesn't-care-what-happens-to-him-values-friendship-above-all-else character. See also, Vash the Stampede, Yoh Asakura... and more I can't think of at the moment. He helps everyone he can, and winds up traveling with three other Anima. These children--and one quiet teenager--travel, learning the truth about what anima are, how they came to be, and what the various governments of the world plan to do with them.

+Anima doesn't win any points for plot originality, but that's okay. It's your typical there's-a-main-character-who-gathers-others-to-him that is typical of the character type. Husky, Nana, and Senri all have interesting stories, though no one's is incredibly surprising. The world is well-developed, and is the best part of the series. The social structure with the anima, the different regions, and the different anima themselves are all well done. The characterizations are tried-and-true tactics, so even though they're all characters we've seen before, they are developed well enough. It gets the point across, even if it would be more interesting to have more original back stories to read about.

That being said, the setting isn't even that great. The military and governments are confusing, as are their goals, and the scientists. The ending isn't really hinted at past "nasty scientists doing experiments on children!" The individual story arcs were pretty cool, but the overall plot wasn't that clear, nor did it conclude the series. The last chapter of the series was about Cooro. His story was very interesting, and explained the character very well, but it was revealed too late. The story could have benefited from more goverment-military-world plot line, and moving Cooro's backstory to the 8th or 9th volume instead of the last.

Overall, fun, well-illustrated series. I enjoyed reading it, but I don't plan on buying it or even rereading it any time soon.

Rating: C+

+ Anima powers, illustrations and character designs, the setting, some good characterizations

- Stereotypical characters make for boring back stories, confusing and not satisfying "main" plot, too long to get Cooro's back story when he's the main character

Review -- Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds

The way I've been picking series to review is to put my anime playlist on shuffle and review whatever show's theme song plays. The winner tonight is "Freedom" by Ozone, the 3rd opening theme for Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds.

5Ds is an odd series for me to review. Well, not so odd if you know me. But an odd series to get any serious attention. "Card games on motorcycles", right? Yes and no. The concept of the show is ridiculous. Somehow, they pull it off. I think it has to do a lot with just how much of the world relates to Duel Monsters. It's silly when the world is exactly as we know it, only children's card games are as popular as the World Cup. It's much less silly when the card games have more to do with everyday life--the security guards use the cards, for example, to catch criminals on D-Wheels, (Duel Runners in the dub) which are the motorcycles capable of playing Duel Monsters. (There's an auto-pilot for all of you out there who can't suspend disbelief quite that much)

5Ds is the most serious of all the Yu-Gi-Oh! series. Our protagonist, Yusei Fudo, lives in a ghetto called Satellite. The upper class lives on the mainland in Neo Domino City, but the lower class is stuck on the island that processes Domino's trash. Eventually it turns out that Yusei is a city-born, while the King of Duelists, Jack Atlas, is native to Satellite. Yusei and Jack once were good friends, but then Jack betrayed Yusei, stole his D-Wheel and Stardust Dragon, and escaped to the city, where he became the King of Duelists. Now, Yusei has built himself a new D-Wheel and goes to the city to confront Jack. He out-duels familiar-looking Security guards, and faces off against Jack. Their duel causes a gigantic crimson dragon to appear. Security finds them and arrests Yusei.

In jail, Yusei learns that he is one of 5 legendary "Signers"--guardians and servants of the Crimson Dragon, reincarnated from ancient Peruvians. Jack, too, is a Signer. Yusei gets out of jail, and finds two more Signers: Ruka, (Luna in the dub) an adorable 11-year old girl with a hyperactive and equally adorable twin brother Rua (Leo in the dub); and Aki Izayoi, (Akiza Izinski in the dub) known as the "Black Rose Witch". Aki is a psychic duelist, which means the cards she plays become real, and people hate her for the destruction she wreaks. Divine (Sayer in the dub) protects Aki, but feeds her lies about the world hating her so that she will fight for him and the Arcadia Movement, a group of Psychic Duelists. Yusei has a mysterious charming way about him that bonds everyone together. Which is a pun, of course, because his name has something to do with "bonds", and the first opening theme is "Kizuna", literally, "bonds". He will eventually wins Aki over with these bonds, as he wins over everyone in the series.

Rex Goodwin, Director of the Public Security Maintenance Bureau (Sector Security in the dub) organizes the Fortune Cup to gather all the Signers together and gauge their power. The Fortune Cup ties together the 1st season, and takes place in episodes 15-26. No duel in the first season takes more than 2 episodes, not even the long-anticipated showdown between Yusei and Jack. The 2nd season breaks this rule, but only a couple times, so it's forgivable. Because of the length of duels, the Fortune Cup is enjoyable. Not all duels are on motorcycle, as 11-year olds (and girls, until season 3) obviously can't ride D-Wheels. Don't feel too bad for Aki or the twins, though--they're awesome enough without motorcycles.

Season 2 is my favorite, the Dark Signer arc. If you've seen the original Yu-Gi-Oh!, (from hereon referred to as "DM") it's basically a better version of the Doma/Doom/Orichalcos/Waking the Dragons story arc. The Dark Signers are set up to fight all the Signers. Alliances change, awesome new characters--Carly and Crow!!!--emerge, romances bloom, people actually literally die, in both languages! Or at least they almost die in the dub. Everyone gets wonderful lovely character development, the twins get a 4-part duel, someone says "I love you". Though it's "daisuki", which can also be translated as a really strong like (see, original series, episode 78: "Attack Me! The Fatal Last Turn") and not "aishiteru" or another word for love.

Animation on this series is better than DM so far. From what I've seen of GX, it appears to be the best animated. Poor Yu-Gi-Oh always suffers from noticeably different animation directors. Kenichi Hara is the best, and is recognized for the close-up of a pointing finger that originated in Yu-Gi-Oh! His episodes are always shiny and fluid and actually proportional. I could pull up examples of the poorly animated episodes, but I will refrain. You will discover them as the series wears on. DM had disgusting episodes in the late 3rd, 4th, and 5th seasons. They are the worst animated professional things I have ever seen. 5Ds even gets some obvious!CG, which becomes less obvious as time goes on. It is also used only when needed to create really cool angles of Riding Duels, so it's forgivable that it's obvious. Romeo x Juliet used CG just for some waving flags. I thought that was kind of lazy.

Voice acting isn't too bad in the dub. Frank Frankson, who voices Tristan in DM takes the lead role of Yusei, and handles it very well. Everyone is over-the-top, but that's the way they're forced to act. Jack is... very odd, but stuck-up as he should be. I like his deep Japanese voice better, but his British-Australian-foreign mix is less annoying than I thought it could be, because Ted Lewis is one of the better VAs on the 4kids payroll. Bella Hudson, replacement for Megan Hollingshead's wonderful Mai in DM, voices Akiza. I am prejudiced against her for being the second voice of Mai, but Akiza's not too bad. The voice does fit Aki, which is more than I can say for Hudson's Mai. The twins are my biggest complaint. Their voices are grating, especially Leo's. Their scripts are annoying and a little offensive. The twins are basically the target audience of the show. Let's not put the kids down by throwing in "like" every other word. Dan Green, both Yugis in DM, reprises his role as Trudge (Ushio), and has one of the best performances. His is about the only voice anywhere close to its original timbre. Whoops, it's Trudge's love interest Mina that is my biggest complaint. She has a completely different personality than Mikage. The acting isn't bad, but the new character is unlikable. I wish Sayer really would kill her. Sayer! He's a gravelly Marc Thompson, also DM veteran of FOUR roles--Duke, Rafael, Valon, and Jean-Claude Magnum. It's a stretch, but Thompson pulls it off. He also voices Lazar, and nails everything except the laugh. Goodwin, Crow, and the rest of the main cast are pretty well cast. Crow's is actually spot-on with the way his Japanese voice sounded.

The biggest name in the voice acting is Veronica Taylor. I did a double-take the first time I read the credit. She is famously known for the original Ash Ketchum, as well as a host of other, much more respectable roles. (no offense, Ash, but... 4kids) She comes back to 4kids to play Carly, a reporter who winds up housing Jack Atlas after helping him duel and then escape from a hospital. She gets a little too involved with the Dark Signers, despite Jack's best efforts, and things play out from there. Carly is a very emotional character, and Taylor handles the range very well. That's saying something, because Carly's one of my favorite characters on this show, with Aki, the twins, and Crow.

A special mention to the theme songs, all of which I like. Even the ending themes are good, and I hate ending themes. Kizuna is better than LAST TRAIN because it gives more information about the series. The first 30 seconds with the bike, the main characters, Yusei on the junk, and Yusei walking through Satellite, the city, and Tops give you the entire premise of the series. Despite this superior storytelling, LAST TRAIN is my favorite. I don't think too much about Freedom or Believe in Nexus, but they're both good. As I said in my Theme Song post, "Close to You" is just about my favorite ending theme ever. Even better than the Japanese theme songs being good, the English theme song is good. 4kids had a contest to pick a theme song, and being a dork, I participated. To my surprise, my favorite theme, Hyper Drive, won! It's catchy, and doesn't lend itself to jokes as much as stuttering D-d-d-d-d-duel! Linked above is the second version, because the first version doesn't have Aki(za).

So, overall? This is very hard to be to objectively review. As I type this, I wait for subbed episode 115 to show up on youtube. Original Yu-Gi-Oh wins the honor of getting me into anime, and will always hold a special place in my heart. (Fullmetal Alchemist is still my favorite, based on quality, though) 5Ds was a bunch of things I liked about the original series thrown together with motorcycles and more interesting card games. I skipped reviewing season 3 both because it's not out in America, and because it's been mostly pretty awful. (as awful as you probably expect any Yu-Gi-Oh! spinoff to be)

But, to make this easy, let's go by only up to episode 64, the end of the Dark Signer arc. First, watch it in Japanese. The dub is better than it was for late DM, but you still get "don't worry, that boy isn't being tortured, he's actually producing the painful electric field", purple-fog-of-falling-off-a-building-doom, and more awful one-liners than you thought could exist. Voice acting is good, characters are likable, villains are freaking sweet. Divine is the coolest duelist to ever rock a white tie. The writing staff went to much effort to tie Divine and Aki into some sort of alchemical mythos about the Green Dragon and the Lady of Roses. Everyone gets great character development. However, they're playing children's card games. It can get old. Characters get dropped when they're cumbersome to the plot, even if they're cool characters. Animation suffers when the budget doesn't permit a good director or it's not a plot-important episode. Plot is great, however, and effort was put into researching Peruvian mythology for the Dark Signer arc.

Overall: Ah, a C- for the whole thing because season 3 plot really is that bad, but a B up to season 2 because it's pretty unique.

(Dub, however, is a solid D-. It's only good for lolz)

+Great characters, lots of effort put into some of the things characters are based on, sociological commentary, interesting plot, good opening and ending themes, card games on motorcycles are actually kind of cool. You've definitely never watched an anime like this before.

-Too long, focuses on card games, so very hit-or-miss. Drops the characters that aren't great so you don't notice how boring they are. Stretches suspension of disbelief. Animation is inconsistent. Season 3 plots are really awful. Characterizations are worse.

Review -- Soul Eater

People had been telling me to watch this series ever since it came out in Japan. I finally got around to it in February, and I watched the entire 51-episode series in about 3 weeks. That's how much I liked it. Granted, Soul Eater starts off much stronger than it finishes. If you stop after the Kishin arc, you'd be just fine. The end of the series isn't bad, exactly, but it's not the same as the beginning, and it's a rushed ending because the manga is still going.

The first thing you notice when watching Soul Eater is it's absolutely stunning art. Tim Burton is the usual comparison, which shows you that we need to get more filmmakers out there with something remotely Burton-esque, or else he'll dominate the genre forever. I'm not quite sure what that genre is, but there's other people out there with similar visions. Atushi Okubo (author) and Takuya Igarashi (director) appear to be some of them. The first opening theme, which I just included in my list of favorite opening themes, will give you a perfect idea of what the rest of the series looks like. The art is incredibly unique. You'll never confuse Soul Eater for anything else. The cities are all deliciously old-fashioned, with cobblestone streets, candle lanterns, bricks, clock towers, Gothic churches, and more. The first scene of episode one makes for a perfect example. The character designs are my favorite part of this show. Everyone is distinct, without being over-the-top, or having to resort to stupid accessories. Their costumes all are uniquely their personality, and are also clothes that people would actually wear. Series like Bleach and Fullmetal Alchemist are praised for character design, and rightly so. They struggle with half of their characters having the exact same costume, however. Everyone from Maka down to Ox Ford, Free, Sid, all get main-character worthy character designs.

The story, for the first 26 episodes, is pretty solid. The manga was originally 3 one-shots that turned into a full story, so the first 3 episodes are stand-alone stories about the 3 main groups of protagonists: Maka and Soul Eater; Black☆Star and Tsubaki; and Death the Kid, Patty, and Liz. Maka, Black Star, and Death the Kid are Meisters, while Soul, Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty are weapons. The latter transform into, well, weapons, and the meisters use them to fight people with souls that have become "kishin eggs". These eggs have the chance to turn into a full-fledged kishin, a big giant demon thingy. The meisters are also trying to feed their weapons 99 kishin egg souls and 1 witch soul, which will turn the weapon into a Death Scythe. (the name applies no matter what kind of weapon it is) These particular meisters and weapons, by episode 5, are all students at the Death Weapon Meister Academy, or DWMA for short.

Maka and Soul are the main characters. Maka is a bookworm, a serious student, and level-headed, though known to angry outbusts. Soul, instead of being the hotheaded partner he might sterotypically be, is instead very "cool". He transforms into a red-and-black scythe. Hothead goes instead to Black Star... though hothead is less apt than "complete idiot". Black Star is a ninja, but doesn't understand the ninja art of shutting up. He constantly proclaims his own greatness, even while sneaking up on enemies. Tsubaki, who can change into a number of ninja weapons, is quiet, humble, caring--the complete opposite of Black Star. Death the Kid is the most unique of the whole cast, suffering from OCD. Literally. He is obsessed with symmetry, which is why he has two weapons, twin guns. While they are identical in weapon form, he constantly laments that they are different heights, hair colors, and bra sizes. Kid commenting on the last one usually earns him a punch from Liz, the elder sister. Neither Liz or Patty is very bright, both having grown up on the streets... of New York, I think, though that makes me wonder about the cowboy hats.

After introducing the characters, the main plot appears: the witch Medusa has some sort of dastardly plot involving a young person named Crona, and experiments with black blood. She is joined by a really awesome, handsome werewolf named Free, and a few other witches. A kishin is thrown in the mix, and our heroes are charged with protecting the entirety of their school.

Besides our students, there's also:

Lord Death, headmaster of the school and protector of Death City. He's an even more-groovy Dumbledore. Death Scythe, whose name is Spirit, is Lord Death's weapon of choice, and Maka's father. She despises him, and he is very depressed by this. Vic Mignoga voices him, which surprises no one who knows he played Tamaki in Ouran High School Host Club. Dr. Franken Stein, Spirit's crazy ex-partner, and the greatest meister to graduate the DWMA. He is quite crazy, and constantly wants to experiment on people.

Medusa is one of my favorite anime villains of all-time. She's got an amazing, unique character design, which also carries over to her attacks. She is also crazy-powerful, wreaking unbelievable havoc with just herself, the werewolf Free, and a couple other witches. After Medusa and her small band of cronies, Arachne and her entire evil organization is a let-down, which is why I dislike the second half of the series.

Medusa also controls one of the most interesting characters I've ever seen: Crona. Crona is so unique because no one knows what gender Crona is, and it doesn't affect the plot one bit. Crona's so messed up from Medusa, the audience doesn't need to know Crona's gender. It's just useless information. It amuses me to see people giving Crona a specific gender in fics so they can pair Crona with Maka or Death the Kid. If Crona likes Maka or Kid, does it really matter what gender Crona is? Crona's character development is what kept me watching at the reckless pace I did. I got through 7 episodes in a night (a school night) so that I could end on a good Crona episode. (boy, howdy, did I ever. Episode 45. I can only imagine what my roommate would have thought if she could have seen my expressions)

Since Crona's the most interesting character, though, it's not always fun watching Maka, Soul, Black Star, and the rest. Maka can grate on the nerves with her mood swings and stubborn ways. Soul doesn't get enough backstory. In fact, no one gets enough backstory except Crona. That, and the letdown when Arachne becomes the main villain, are the main faults of the series.

The voice acting is good in both languages. I watched the series on FUNimation's youtube channel, so I watched the first four episodes in English, and the rest in Japanese. Black Star is a little too feminine in the dub, but appropriately over-the-top. The rest are pretty spot-on, though I haven't had the chance to hear Medusa or Crona. I have my doubts about Medusa. Laura Bailey makes an excellent Maka, but I'm not in a position to judge both languages. From what I've heard, I'll take her either way, but the emotional stuff comes much later in the series. Soul is equally good, that I know for sure. Also, his voice actor is Micah Solusod, not Johnny Bosch. I believed it was Bosch for a very long time.

In summary: ARTWORK! Animation, fight scenes, character designs, background designs, everything that is visual is gorgeous and unique. Medusa is a really cool villain. Stein is a really cool anti-hero. Crona is a really cool... whatever archetype Crona is. Other than that, the characters are pretty good, but need more development. The story takes a turn for the worse in the second half. I never really understood the black blood stuff. And the ending is hit-or-miss.

Overall: B+

+ Anything visual: characters, backgrounds, fight scenes, opening and ending themes. Female main character in a shonen series.

-The story is just another shonen fighting series, and lags in the second half. Main characters aren't likable enough.

Once again, watch it free and legally on FUNimation's youtube channel!

Anime #37--Theme Songs

Since I've started writing this blog, I've seen quite a few anime series. I think I've seen enough now to make a list of my favorite themes and have it be somewhat credible.

Let's kick things off with one of my earliest favorite anime series: Digimon Adventure. In the Digimon vs. Pokemon debate, I always sided with Digimon. The story is better. The characters are more interesting. The animation was better. It came

first--or so I thought. (In truth, Pokemon really did come before Digimon, which I discovered about 10 seconds ago) It always held a very special place in my heart. As such, it is fitting that I be so attached to Butterfly, the Japanese opening. The animation isn't spectacular, but it's a cut above other shows that came out at the time. It's the music that really gets me on this one. It's also considered to be a good theme song by the general anime fandom. Not only is it a fun, catchy song, it fits the show perfectly.

Butterfly - Digimon Adventure

Any theme song from Fullmetal Alchemist, really. "Ready Steady Go" is my favorite, but they're all quite good. Brotherhood themes actually don't appeal to me that much. They're fine, but I don't especially remember any of them. "Ready Steady Go" is my favorite song, but Rewrite's probably my favorite animation, for the cool camera moves at the beginning.

Ready Steady Go - Fullmetal Alchemist

Fullmetal Alchemist openings

Now to what is considered one of the best anime theme songs of all time: Cowboy Bebop's "Tank". It's one of the most unique openings ever, both musically and visually. Jazz and anime theme song don't often go together, but I can't imagine Bebop opening with anything else. Yoko Kanno is a famous anime composer, and it shows. Her soundtrack for the entire show, let alone the opening theme, is fabulous. Bebop is a must-see for any good anime fan, though it's a bit adult. I first saw it when I was 15, and waited a year before finishing it. Once you get to it, though, you'll never forget "Tank". 3, 2, 1, let's go.

Tank - Cowboy Bebop

To follow up Bebop, the closest thing you'll ever hear to "Tank" is "Gun's and Roses" from Baccano!. Baccano! is one of my new all-time favorite anime series, and I will review it soon. The jazzy opening theme actually fits the time period, unlike Bebop; Baccano! is set in America in the 1920s. The reason the two are compared is not only the fact that they're both jazz, but because they share the same exact bass line for the first 4 measures. I realized this when I would break into "Tank" every time I tried to hum "Gun's and Roses". Excellent music, great animation, and a handy character guide, all in one theme song!

Gun's and Roses - Baccano!

Eureka Seven is a great series, but the first two openings didn't do much for me. "Taiyou no Mannaka E" and "Sakura", however, make up for them. "Taiyou..." isn't as strong as other themes musically, but it's very unique. Instead of the usual shiny mishmash of characters cut to music, it's a single scene. I'm not sure I'm describing it very well, but when you see it, you'll get it. The animation also fits the music very well. "Sakura" is stunning and a joy to listen to, but there are parts that don't fit the pacing of the music. "Taiyou..." is catchy at first, but tires after a while. "Sakura" was a slow starter for me, but once I heard it a few times, I loved it. I still love it. Both do a beautiful job of depicting Eureka and Renton's relationship, especially when Renton tries to shield Eureka from The End in "Taiyou...". "Sakura" gets the pairing right at the beginning, when they're holding hands and look at Nirvash. But my favorite part of "Sakura" is actually Anemone and Dominic, and the split-second image of Renton reluctantly holding a gun, which captures his feelings so perfectly.

Taiyou no Mannaka E - Eureka Seven

Sakura - Eureka Seven

Speaking of animation matching with music, my favorite example of this is Gurren Lagann's "Sora Iro Days". The link below is to the second version, because I couldn't find a good 1st version. Either of the first 2 is good, because those are the ones with Simon breaking through the surface. That shot alone puts the theme into my favorites.

Also from Gurren Lagann is a rarity, a favorite ending theme. I don't like ending themes. They're usually really boring. "Minna no Peace" is one of my favorite themes of anything, opening or ending. The song is catchy and fun, and the animation is cool to watch. I can't find it on youtube anywhere on its own, though, so you'll have to check out a full episode to see it. Sorry about that.

Sora Iro Days (version 2) - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Minna no Peace - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Last Episode and Some random other fandom version that at least gives you and idea of it

Soul Eater is known for its unique animation, and no part of the show is more unique than it's opening theme. "Resonance" is, without a doubt, my favorite opening theme animation. The camera moves over the city at night, and then around the street during the day are beautiful. It takes full advantage of what animation can do cinematically. No other opening theme does this so well. Not to mention the music is awesome.
"I Wanna Be" is an interesting ending theme. It's not the standard slow-boring-music ending theme fodder, and the animation isn't the standard spend-as-little-money-and-effort-as-possible. Both are far above the average ending theme, and even better than some opening themes I've seen. In fact, all the Soul Eater ending themes are very good, compared to the average, and are worth a look.
Resonance - Soul Eater (in HD!)

I Wanna Be - Soul Eater (sorry, spanish subs)

Now, I'm going to indulge myself a little. Here's a couple bonus themes that you may or may not want to check out because they come from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds. The current season is pretty awful, but it's got a lovely ending theme that I'm very fond of. "Close to You" is an interesting mix of quiet ending theme and driving rock... well, pop-rock, but still rock-ish. The animation is solid, and gives us some cool stills as well as a really adorable group shot when they walk by the TV store.
"LAST TRAIN - Atarashii Asa" not only is a good theme, but the episodes it's paired with are good, too! Musically, it's currently my favorite opening theme. Animation's not bad, and it pairs up very well with the music. I love the shot of Carly in her car and Red Daemon's flies by. Mostly I just love singing it really loud. The heavy beat really pumps you up before the episode starts, and certainly fits a show about riding motorcycles.

Close to You - Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds (in 1080p AND with English subs!)
LAST TRAIN ~ Atarashii Asa - Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds


Other songs worth mentioning include: Sakura Kiss - Ouran High School Host Club, Bouken Desho Desho? - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and Obsession - .hack//sign. All of them very good themes, I just thought of them too late, and this post was long enough.

Review -- Romeo x Juliet

Hello, everyone! I'm back! To kick things off, I'm going to review a series I just finished this past April, Romeo x Juliet.

Not the usual subject matter for an anime series. The first thing I thought was Gonzo's Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. I'll get around to reviewing that soon, so I can properly compare the two without boring you now. It makes sense that Romeo x Juliet--yes, the "x" is part of the title, much like Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet--also comes from Gonzo.

From the very beginning, the series does a wonderful job of blending old and new, with my new favorite rendition of "You Raise Me Up" by Lena Park. The opening is in Japanese, but the series also uses the English version of the song as background music, most notably during one of the best anime kisses I've ever seen in episode 7. "Inori -You Raise Me Up" has solid animation, though a little less than one might expect from an opening theme. It seems to work well enough for this series, though, and I looked forward to watching it every episode.

The story itself varies greatly from the source material, as it does in The Count of Monte Cristo. Verona becomes "Neo Verona", animated beautifully as a 16th century Italian city, albeit one with flying horses. That, some floating islands in the sky, and a magical tree, are about as far as the sci-fi goes. The focus is squarely on the lovers' star-crossed romance and the fight against Montague. Juliet is the last living member of the Capulet family, and the tyrant Montague rules over Neo Verona with an iron fist. The people are oppressed, poor, and starving, while the nobles live in comfort, erecting a ridiculous golden statue for no reason whatsoever. As those loyal to Capulet are in hiding,Juliet's caretakers force her to dress as a man, which is how she is still alive at the age of 16. She uses this male identity to also become a vigilante, the Red Whirlwind, and win small justices for the citizens of Neo Verona.

While flying around the city on his dragonhorse, or pegasus, depending on your language, Romeo finds and rescues the Red Whirlwind. Juliet is not pleased with the noble boy at first, but then they meet again, when Juliet implausibly-but-we-believe-it-because-it's-anime winds up at the nobles' ball, dressed as a woman. They fall in love, and meet in various other places before the plot really gets going. Episode 7 cements the relationship. (as do episodes 10 and 11)

Meanwhile, Juliet turns 16 and Conrad, the former Capulet captain of the guard and her caretaker, reveals that she is in fact the Capulet heiress. All the living Capulet supporters swear loyalty to her. She becomes their banner, and with little choice, must fight. She does so, but it takes most of the series for her to figure out just how she wants to do it.

The series keeps a nice balance between romance and the fight for Neo Verona, but the two are almost completely separate. Juliet does inspire Romeo to stop being so useless, and Romeo leads Juliet to find a new way to fight, but most of the series' events would take place without the romance. The characters must stop their plot-significant actions to make time for romance. Even the ending would be the same if they were not lovers. Perhaps that is its point, that there is fate, and only a little room to work within that fate. After all, the lovers were starcross'd; fated to never be together. The events of the series would have little meaning to a viewer, or to the title characters, without the romance. But it could be tied together a little more tightly.

More interesting than the romance, is Juliet's struggle with her identity as a Capulet. Conrad and the Capulet supporters do wait for her to take up the mantle herself--Conrad rejoices when Juliet asks him for her father's sword--but when an entire house of wanted soldiers swears their loyalty to her, what choice does she have? All these people she has never met thrust their revenge onto her, and she's supposed to just go ahead and take down Montague. Her final decision is a beautiful one, though the awkward writing at the end of the series nulls it to some degree.

As in Shakespeare's original, Juliet is the most interesting part of this story. Romeo's story is of a rich brat trying to become someone who knows how to do something useful. While he does develop, it takes a while, and rich-brats-trying-to-not-be-brats is a difficult plot to work with because we generally don't like the rich brat. While it's noble of Romeo to save the Red Whirlwind on so many occasions, it's also a little insulting, because he has no idea what his father is doing. The Red Whirlwind could be a real villain for all he knows. It's like he's doing it for fun.

The animation is pretty even quality throughout. Character designs are excellent, especially our title characters. Montagues are in blue, Capulets in red, but the colors never feel like uniforms or shortcuts for the character designers. Each character is distinguishable without relying on their side's colors. As mentioned before, the city is gorgeous, as is the countryside, the church, and just about all the locations. The CG-flags are obviously CG, but anime is still working to integrate that in better. I've seen worse CG. (which I will get to in the next couple of reviews)

Japanese dub is what we watched in anime club and it's my favorite, but only because I happened to stumble across a scene in the dub where Romeo doesn't sound very good. I wasn't inclined to listen to more, though the script is very interesting, and is worth a listen just to hear it. They work in much more Shakespearean dialogue into the English than the Japanese. Here's a couple clips with excellent voice acting and script, courtesy of FUNimation.

I must conclude by mentioning William Shakespeare--not the author, but the character. Willy is a character himself, and a playwright. He hides the Capulets, is generally hilarious, and records the lovers' story. It was a wonderful way to work comedy into an otherwise very serious series.

Overall: B+

+Animation, opening theme, character designs, interesting story

-Balances romance and action, but doesn't tie them together as well as it could. Some characters ineffectual and not likable.

But, hey, don't just take my word for it! Watch the trailer, also courtesy of FUNimation!

THE LIST

I was curious as to how many anime series I've seen, so I decided to make a list. Hobey ho, here we go. Ongoing series that I've seen all current episodes of are included in "entire series". 
"Partial Series" includes even only 1 episode. (example, Hikaru No Go, Gin Tama)

This list is still in progress and not complete.

Entire Series

.hack//sign
Ah! My Goddess

Baccano!
Card Captor Sakura

Chrono Crusade

Code Geass

Code Geass: R2

Cowboy Bebop
Deadman Wonderland

Digimon (Series 1-4)

Durarara!!
Eden of the East

Ergo Proxy

Eureka Seven
Fate/Stay Night
Fracale

Fullmetal Alchemist

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

Gurren Lagann
Last Exile

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Megaman NT Warrior

Ouran High School Host Club

Princess Tutu

Romeo x Juliet

Shaman King

Soul Eater

Trigun

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds

Partial Series

Azumanga Daioh

Astro Boy
Beck

Black Cat

Bleach

Casshern Sins

Chobits

Darker Than Black

Detective Conan

D.Gray-Man

Death Note

Dinosaur King
Dragonball

Dragonball Z
Excel Saga
Fairy Tail

FLCL

Fruits Basket

Ghost in the Shell

Ghost Tales

Gundam Wing

Gundam 00

Hellsing

Hellsing Ultimate

Hetalia: Axis Powers

Hikaru no Go

Inuyasha
Kekaishi
Kino's Journey

Kyo Kara Mao

Martian Successor Nadeisco

Naruto

Neon Genesis Evangelion

One Piece
Outlaw Star

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt
Pani Poni Dash

Pokemon

Rurouni Kenshin

Sailor Moon
Samurai 7

School Rumble
Slayers

Shakugan no Shanna

Sonic X
Toradora

Tokyo Mew Mew

Tsubasa

Twelve Kingdoms

Ultimate Muscle

Utuwarerumono

The Wallflower

xxxHolic

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Yu Yu Hakusho

Movies/OVAs

Akira

Castle in the Sky

The Castle of Cagliostro

The Cat Returns

Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers
Eden of the East: The King of Eden
Eden of the East: Paradise Lost

Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa

Fullmetal Alchemist OVA collection

Ghost in the Shell

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Grave of the Fireflies

Howl's Moving Castle
Some Inuyasha movie
Millennium Actress

My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbors the Yamadas

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Paprika
Perfect Blue
Pom Poko

Ponyo

Princess Mononoke

Samurai X

Spirited Away
Summer Wars
Vampire Hunter D
Tokyo Godfathers

Whisper of the Heart

Entire Manga Series

Angelic Layer

+Anima

Alice 19th
Bakuman

Black Cat

Chobits

Chrono Crusade

Clover

Dramacon

Eyeshield 21

Eureka Seven

Fruits Basket
Fullmetal Alchemist

Hellsing

Imadoki!

Legal Drug

Magic Knight Rayearth

Monster

Rurouni Kenshin

Sugar Sugar Rune

Tokyo Mew Mew
Tsubasa: Resevoir Chronicle

Ultimo

Yu Yu Hakusho

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium World in America)

Partial Manga Series

Absolute Boyfriend

Air Gear
Beet the Vandal Buster

Bleach

Bobobo...
Buso Renkin

Case Closed

Claymore

Cowa!

D.Gray-Man

Dr. Slump

Dragonball (Dragonball and Dragonball Z in America)

Fushigi Yugi

Gin Tama

Gurren Lagann

Hikaru no Go

Hoshin Engi

Hunter x Hunter

I"s

Inuyasha

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

Legedenz

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Mushishi

Nana
Naruto

Negima!
Nodame Cantible

One Piece

Ouran High School Host Club

The Prince of Tennis
Psyren

Ranma 1/2

Slam Dunk

Shaman King

Soul Eater

Tegami Bachi
Toriko

Ultimo

Ultimate Venus

Vampire Knight

xxxHolic

The Wallflower

Whistle!

Wish

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds

Yu-Gi-Oh! R
Zombie Powder

Anime#36--Comic-Con

Comic-Con is not strictly anime, but it's so huge and so many anime industry announcements and events take place there, I thought it'd be worth mentioning. Every year since 1970, Comic Con International has been held in San Diego, California. (hence the nickname, San Diego Comic Con. SDCC is not affiliated with New York Comic Con which has only been running for a few years)

http://www.comic-con.org/cci/

Because so many people come to Comic Con, many anime studios save their announcements for it, instead of Anime Expo or some other large anime convention where people would actually care. I don't see how they benefit from announcing at Comic Con, because when half the attendees are there for the newest superhero flick or whatever Pixar's doing and don't care in the least what titles Viz acquired, it kind of defeats the purpose of it, don't you think? But then again, maybe this is a chance to expose themselves to the other geek-doms that are most likely to be converted to otaku.

ANN always has great coverage of the anime and manga side of Comic Con, like they do for Anime Expo, Otakon, and the various other conventions they cover. Check it out here.

Comic-Con is the biggest convention of its kind, with an expected 126,000 attendees this year--which is capacity! They've sold out all their passes! Their guests, according to wikipedia, which is probably according to the Comic-Con website, include:

Mike Allred, Kevin J. Anderson, Sergio Aragonés, John Barrowman, Ramón Valdiosera Berman, Gerald Brom, Tim Burton, Gerard Butler, James Cameron, Park Chan-Wook, Gene Colan, Nicola Cuti, Russell T Davies, Felicia Day, Johnny Depp, Omar Dogan, Kevin Eastman, Steve Epting, Mark Evanier, June Foray, Ramona Fradon, Hunter Freberg, Stan Freberg, Julie Gardner, Gary Gianni, Jimmy Gownley, Seth Green, Kevin Greutert, Michael C. Hall, Russ Heath, Brian Herbert, James Jean, Geoff Johns, Eric Jones, Kazu Kibuishi, Dennis Kitchen, Hope Larson, Nick Langley, John Lasseter, Taylor Lautner, Jim Lee, Steven Lisberger, Francis Manapul, Dwayne McDuffie, Hayao Miyazaki, Doug Moench, Sheldon Moldoff, Fabio Moon, Olivia Munn, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Patrick Oliphant, Amanda Palmer, Jim Parsons, Stephen Pastis, Robert Pattinson, Kevin Pereira, David Petersen, Danny Rosenblatt, Jerry Robinson, Mike Royer, Stan Sakai, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Seth, Bill Sienkiewicz, Gail Simone, Leonard Starr, Kristen Stewart, Jessica Mae Stover, J. Michael Straczynski, David Tennant, Richard Thompson, Natalie Tran, Lewis Trondheim, Michael Uslan, Jerry Vanderstelt, Charles Vess, Landry Walker, Adam West, Wil Wheaton, Bill Willingham, Gene Yang, Leinil Yu, Robert Zemeckis and more to be announced.

Everyone from RPattz to Hayao Miyazaki! It looks intimidating, but Comic-Con's just like any other convention. Only it's really, really (REALLY) big.

Reviews #11--Eyeshield 21

Eyeshield 21, written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata and formerly serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump.


Eyeshield is one of my favorite series, and is also one of the best sports mangas I've ever read--although that doesn't mean a whole lot, as I don't read that many sports mangas. The protagonist, like any good sports manga--or shonen in general, is an underdog with an uncanny natural ability for football. Sena Kobayakawa was picked on his whole life and because of that became a very fast runner--though we find out in much later volumes that he was taught proper running technique early on in life, to make things somewhat plausible. He gets roped into the football team at Deimon High by the demon-like quarterback Hiruma and the gentle giant lineman Kurita. But his friend, Mamori, is very protective of Sena, having shielded him from bullies in elementary and middle school. She would never approve of Sena playing such a dangerous sport, so he poses as manager and hides his identity on the field under a tinted eyeshield. His jersey is #21, and there you have the name, Eyshield 21. This name creates interesting problems later in the series.

I love football. And now I love football that much more because of this manga. There's nothing like a themed team to make you understand a certain play--such as the Posidens and their tidal wave defense--a 3-4 defense set to block passes because of all the defensive backs. Never were tacky fighting names more appropriate in a shonen than in this series, with teams such as the Knights, Wild Gunmen, Scorpions, aforementioned Posidens, Titans, Sphinxes, Chameleons, Wolves, Dinosaurs, Spiders, and of course, our very own Deimon Devil Bats, all with their own unique and recognizable character designs.

There's 37 volumes overall, with 26 or 27 published in the US so far. Over time, the Devil Bats assemble a full team--albeit one that is forced to play both offense and defense. They claw their way to the top, traditional underdog-shonen style. But even though you know they're teammates to the title character, and therefore are going to win, you can't help but read anyway. Whether you know how to play football or not, you'll understand the series. It starts with the basics, touchdowns and running, and gradually eases readers into more complicated rules, passing, field goals, various formations and positions, until you find you know all the rules of football! (except penalties--these seem to not exist in Japanese football, because no one ever gets them. XD) The depictions of Sena's running are some of my favorite illustrations in a sports manga ever. Though, again, I have little sports manga experience. ^^; And it's not that the illustrations are all that impressive, I just like the way it's done. It's a fine example of how graphic novels differ from other mediums.

They even manage to work in girls who don't exist just for fanservice! Mamori and, after the America training arc, Suzuna are pretty much the only girls, but in a series about football, that's not surprising. They provide a little bit of romance, but mostly are just integral parts of the plot. In fact, there is NO fanservice in this series! In general, it's pretty young teen-friendly, with the worst anything being Hiruma saying "damn" in front of everything.

Positives: it's a real fun series with memorable characters, good character design, good execution of the standard underdog-fights-his-way-to-the-top, don't need to know football to read it.
Negatives: Underdog-fights-his-way-to-the-top, so it's predictable. If you don't like football, you're out of luck, because that's everything. Yeah, there's cool character development within every football game, but that's just it, they only develop during games.

Overall, I love the series to death. I re-read it all the time. I like football, too, so I suppose I'm biased. I give it a B+. It's tons of fun, and the best football series you'll ever read, but not all that groundbreaking otherwise. It's definitely worth checking out, though.

Opinion: Anime #35--Addressing the FUNimation Leaks

There's been a big to-do in the anime community recently about FUNimation's One Piece and Phantom streams downloaded and leaked before their Japanese airdates. Also, their FMA: Brotherhood stream which was leaked before its intended airdate but at least after its Japanese airdate. Because I am now done with classes, I now have the time to not only read these articles on ANN, but explore the forums. I need to learn to not do that. Exploring ANN forums only makes me hate the anime community. There are two basic views on this issue, those who think that FUNi's been wronged, and those who think that FUNi got what they deserved.

The majority of people blame FUNi completely and insult people in very condescending terms when they say otherwise. Someone stole these episodes and illegally redistributed them. Shouldn't we blame them? Yeah, FUNi's security was nonexistent, but they actually care about their fans. They get us boxsets and put extras on their DVDs and offer the option of translated and non-translated theme songs and ARE TRYING TO GET US THE SIMLUCASTS WE'VE BEEN WHINING FOR. So this person/persons thank FUNi by bitorrenting the episodes before they come out in Japan?! HECK YES IT'S THEIR FAULT. FUNi needs to improve security, yes, but that's no excuse for stealing their stuff. Just because it's easier to steal doesn't make it less wrong.

The last time I was on the ANN forums was when the Sakuracon commercial aired. The silly commerical that didn't do any real harm, but then I got on the ANN forums. So all you otaku out there, I caution you if you visit the ANN forums. People there tend to think too much of themselves and be very insulting if you don't agree with them. I can't stand it.

You can have your own opinion, and I don't care what it is. But I blame whoever redistributed the episodes. All the people who defy the industry just because they like their fansubs--guess what? Without the industry, THERE IS NO ANIME IN NORTH AMERICA. You have no conventions, no merchandise, no English-dubbed anime. Maybe you don't care, but the majority of us do. Stop being jerks and follow the legal process.