animekenkyuushitsu

[animekenkyuushitsu]

Spring 2015 Anime Impressions and Recommendations

It’s been over a month since this year’s spring anime season has started.  With that, I’ve gotten far enough into the shows that I’m watching for me to make a more sound judgment on its quality, hence I can suggest things more assuredly without too much fear that it’ll flop later.  As usual, I’ll limit all of the following recommendations to only things that anyone can pick up without prior knowledge of another series (which is a shame since there are also some spinoffs and sequels this season that I enjoy), since this blog is more targeted towards people not too well acquainted with anime.

Arslan Senki  (アルスラーン戦記)

The story takes place in a medieval-like world, focusing on a young prince named “Arslan”.  His father is the king to a mighty kingdom, Pars, with a military unmatched by any.  Because of this, his father has no sense of defeat, and opts to win with pure strength instead of strategy.  Arslan was, one day, taken into battle for the first time, one where the enemy challenged Pars to a battlefield completely in Pars’ favor.  Many of the generals thought it was fishy, and advised the kind to turn back to plan a strategy, but the king refused, having his pride on the line.  The opposing country, having the assistance of a high-ranked general of Pars, was able to set a series of traps and led to the first defeat of Pars (a crashing defeat, at that), proving that strategy beats brute strength.  The king goes missing and Prince Arslan was nearly killed but manages to escape the battle, but is also unable to return home.  Fortunately, his is accompanied by one of the most loyal and skilled warriors of Pars.  Together, they go to seek the assistance of the most skilled strategist Pars has had in recently history, who was exiled by the king, in order to turn the tides of this war that Pars is losing.  “Senki” means “military history”, so “Arslan Senki” is a pretty fitting title for such a story.

I picked this up last minute with pretty much no expectations whatsoever, but boy did this show surprise me.  It always kept me on the edge of my seat, wanting to know what happens next.  The story is very well written so far, and I would definitely suggest this to someone looking for a serious action show to watch.

Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka (ダンジョンに出会いを求めるのは間違っているだろうか)

Following the recent trend of light novels with full, long sentences as their titles, this is another light novel adaptation.  “DanMachi” for short, the title literally translates to something along the lines of “Is seeking encounters in Dungeons wrong?”, but the official English name is “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?”  The plot takes place in a world that has actual aspects of an RPG in real life.  We’ve have many recent series where the characters pretty much live in a game, such as Sword Art Online, but this takes a whole different spin on it, where real life is an RPG.  The main character is Bell Cranel, an aspired “Adventurer”, although not a very skilled one.  One day, he gets attacked in a dungeon, but is saved by a beautiful, yet strong girl around his age, named Ais Wallenstein.  He falls in love with her at first sight (perhaps another case of the Suspension Bridge effect taking action?), and hence it triggers a desire to get stronger in order to be able to stand alongside her.  Little does he know that this trigger is what sparked a dormant ability within him…

I went into this show not expecting much, but this proved to be really entertaining.  I like how they are able to mix in a lot of its light-hearted comedy with the occasional serious aspects; it blends in and flows really well, I would say.  The general tone of this show is pretty easygoing, I would think, so if you’re in the mood for a Romantic Comedy with action, I would suggest this.

Hibike! Euphonium (響け！ユーフォニアム)

The English name is “Sound! Euphonium” (“Sound!” being the imperative verb form, not the noun).  This story takes place in modern Japan, centered on a euphonium player named Oumae Kumiko.  In her last year of Middle School, her school band was able to get honorable mention status at a regional band competition, which made Kumiko happy and she expressed her joy to Kousaka Reina, a fellow band member and trumpet player, she noticed that Reina didn’t share her joy. Reina was very upset that they couldn’t make it to the national competition.  With this, Kumiko thought she had offended Reina with her words.  Come High School, Kumiko wanted a fresh start and went to school further away from home where most wouldn’t know her.  She made two new friends, Katou Hazuki and Kawashima “Midori” Sapphire, who both play instruments.  Kumiko didn’t plan to enter the school band, wanted to do something different (and also claiming that the band was horrible), but her two new friends somehow dragged her into it.  She also got stuck playing the euphonium, again, when she wanted to change to something new.  When Kumiko arrived at the band room for the first time, she realizes that Reina also is attending this school, instead of other school that have much better bands, which causes her to act awkwardly around Reina due to their last conversation in Middle School.  And thus, the main characters are united in this story about a band aiming to go to nationals.

This isn’t the first time that Kyoto Animation has done a show about four moe girls playing instruments in High School.  K-ON!, being their first anime to fit that description, was a huge success (and that’s just an understatement), so I wasn’t surprised when I found out they were doing a show such as this.  This time around, instead of a small light music band, we have a full blown orchestra band.  Having been in such a band in High School, myself, I can relate much more to this.  It sure does bring back memories.  Anyway, this time around, it is said that this will have a much more serious atmosphere than K-ON! ever did.  Full of drama to replace the happy-go-lucky afterschool tea sessions of K-ON!  But that’s not to say that this won’t have its silly moments, since it’s full of that, too.  If you’re a fan of music, then I would definitely suggest this.  KyoAni never fails to release great shows for me, so naturally I would suggest this to people.  Even if you saw K-ON! but wasn’t too keen on it due to how silly it was, I would still suggest this if you like the genre, since it’ll definitely be more serious.

Ore Monogatari!! (俺物語!!)

With a title meaning “My Story”, the story is told through the perspective of a not-your-everyday protagonist.  Gouda Takeo is your gentle giant character, which is usually depicted as a side character in most stories, and the main character of the series.  He has a heart of gold, but due to his appearance, always gives off a bad impression to those that don’t know him.  He’s also a hopeless romantic, falling in love with many girls in the past.  Unfortunately, all of them are unrequited, as they always fall for his best friend, Sunakawa Makoto, who is super handsome.  He friend has turned them all down, though, since those girls always talks badly about Takeo behind his back, and Makoto wants no part of someone like that.  One day, Takeo saves a cute girl, Yamato Rinko, on a train from a molester, and naturally, he falls for her at first sight.  Will his love be requited this time, or will she just fall for Makoto like all of the others?

This show gives a new light to the RomCom genre that I like so much, so it’s pretty refreshing.  The director and character designer also worked on Chihayafuru, an anime I absolutely loved, so it only adds to it.  There was no way I wasn’t going to watch this when I first heard about it, and I wasn’t disappointed.  This is easily one of my top-3 of the season, I would say.  If you like romance, comedy, or both, I would definitely suggest this.

Plastic Memories (プラスティック･メモリーズ)

This story takes place in a futuristic world where a company, SA Corp, is able to make androids, called “Giftia”, that are virtually indifferentiable to a real human, and have personalities and souls of their own.  The only problem is that a Giftia can only function for 81920 hours (about 9 years and 4 months) before their memories begin to degenerate and have a high tendency of going berserk.  Due to this, SA Corp offers a service, called the “terminal service”, where they go out to retrieve Giftias approaching the end of their lifecycle, while also helping comfort the owner(s) of the Giftia who sees them as another family member.  The main protagonist, Mizugaki Tsukasa, gets a job doing this due to his dad’s connection with the president of SA Corp.  He is partnered with a Giftia named Isla (terminal service employees work in human+Giftia pairs), a quiet and shy Giftia.  During her free time, she often sits alone, staring into space and ponders about her existence.  The opening line in the anime is “If my lifespan was predetermined, I wonder how I’d handle that?” thought by the main protagonist, Tsukasa.  This is something that Isla has to actually worry about, and she does.  Tsukasa grows much attached to Isla, but is not made aware that Isla has only a few more months of her lifespan remaining.

This is a story that with a theme that can really get one thinking about the meaning of life.  It tugs at one emotions quite a bit and always keeps you thinking philosophically.  It’s overall a pretty serious show, but there are light-hearted, funny moments scattered about.  I have a soft spot for these types of shows, so it’s something that I prioritize above all else.  I would recommend this to anyone that has a heart, basically, as this could bring out a thought that one never had.  I’m expecting this to be a tear-jerker as it progresses deeper into the story.

Shokugeki no Souma (食戟のソーマ)

This is an adaptation of a pretty popular manga series that’s current published in Shōnen Jump.  The official English name is “Food Wars: Shokugeki no Souma”, which just adds in “Food Wars” since the title is pretty hard to translate directly without knowing the plot, something a potential target to the series wouldn’t know.  Basically, the story takes place at a prestigious cooking school for the elite of elites.  The main character is Yukihira Souma, who ran a small family diner with his father.  His father is actually a pretty famous cook in various other countries, and one day, got invited Europe by an old friend for some business ventures.  Due to that, his dad closes down the diner for the time being, and manages to get Souma an opportunity to transfer into the aforementioned school, should he pass the strict entrance exam.  Managing to be the only person in the group to pass, he gets in.  He aspires to be the best at this school, and finds out that in order to do this, he pretty much has to keep winning in official sanctioned cooking competitions, where both parties wager things of equal value, called “Shokugeki”; hence the title.  So literally, the title translates to “Souma of the Shokugeki”.

A couple of my close friends have been reading this manga long before this was even announced to be an anime, so naturally, I picked it up.  I was expecting it to be good, but considering it was about cooking, I still had my doubts.  But I like it more and more the more episodes I watch of it.  It’s definitely something I prioritize when new episodes come out.  Also, I would like to point out that the food in this series is not just made-up mumbo-jumbo, but have actual cooking science behind it.  The manga series actually has an official, professional chef that comes up with the food, and the recipes for some of them are even shared to the readers.  This series is also famous for its “food-gasm” scenes, which are very detailed, metaphorical scenes depicting what goes on in the characters mind as they take a bite of some heavenly food.  I would suggest this to most people to give it a shot, as they could very well love it.

Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo (山田くんと7人の魔女)

“Yamada and the Seven Witches” as the show translate to, is about Yamada Ryuu, a kind hearted delinquent.  One day, he gets in an argument with Shirashi Urara, one of the most study-diligent students at the school, and they somehow fall down a flight of stairs.  He wakes up, finding himself in Urara’s body, with his body nowhere in sight.  He freaks out, and goes about the school to find his body, only to find Urara in his body, studying in class as if nothing unnatural happened.  Later, they try to switch back, and discover that this is caused when they kissed after falling down the flight of stairs.  The nosey student body vice president, Miyamura Toranosuke, who is secretly a nut for the supernatural, notices something strange after they switch bodies a few more times (for mutual benefit of the two) and gets them to form a supernatural research club (in name only).  There, they soon discover that Yamada Ryuu can switch bodies with anyone that he kisses, thus crazy antics begin.

It’s kind of hard to describe the appeal of this show from the synopsis alone.  This show is full of laugh out loud moments with the crazy things that they do.  This is definitely a full blown comedy that shouldn’t be taken seriously if you are to enjoy it.  Although there is an aspect of mystery about it as well, since they find an old book early on that talks about how there are seven witches at the school that holds magical powers, but most of the pages are ripped out so the details are a total mystery.  If you want some laughs, this is definitely the show for you.

And there you go!  These are the 7 shows of this season that I would most recommend to anyone with no prior knowledge of past materials.  There are a few that I would definitely rate higher than some of these, but those are ones I can’t just recommend to anyone.  I hope some of these will catch your attention to get you to give it a shot!

-Thinh

[animekenkyuushitsu]

Dragon Ball 超（ちょう）

Dragon Ball 超（ちょう）or Dragon Ball Super is the new Dragon Ball series that is set to launch this July in Japan. This marks the end of Dragon Ball’s 18 year hiatus after the end of Dragon Ball GT that ended in 1997. This news has been hearitly welcomed by fans worldwide. 

Details of the new animated series are scarce at the moment. However we do know that the series is going to take place after the events of the Majin Buu saga. Fans will be pleased to know that series creator Akira Toriyama will be involved in the series. What this means for Dragon Ball GT, as Akira Toriyama was not involved in that series, is unknown. Will Toriyama honor the fiction that the GT writers created or will it be written off as fan fiction. These detail will hopefully come to light soon as we get closer to the series premier in July. 

-Jake Ball

[animekenkyuushitsu]

Meet Fairy Tail’s Strongest Team

Lately, I have been watching A TON of Fairy Tail. I started watching it thinking that it would be pretty good, but I did not anticipate getting hooked as much as I have. With that being said I though a fitting post would be to introduce some of the main characters from the show. 

Here is the setting - Fairy Tail is a wizard’s guild in the magical world of Earth-Land. Fairy Tail, along with all the other wizard’s guilds, take on odd-jobs. These wizards will take on almost any job in exchange for cash. These guilds sometimes have hundreds of members, so it is not uncommon for multiple wizards to divide into teams in order to take on the more-difficult requests. Fairy Tail largely follows the antics of “Fairy Tails strongest team” so without further ado - let’s introduce the team members!

Natsu Dragneel:

Natsu is a Dragon-Slayer that was trained in fire magic by the great fire dragon Igneel. He is a boisterous loud-mouth that is always looking for a fight. He is largely care-free, but will defend his friends and his guild with his life. He is constantly searching for his long-lost mentor, Igneel, that disappeared 7 years before the start of the series. Oh, and did I mention his greatest weakness is transportation? Natsu is highly sensitive to motionsickness and the moment he is on transportation he loses his strength and vomits incessantly. 

Lucy  Heartfilia:

Lucy is Fairy Tail’s newest member. She specializes in celestial spirit magic. Basically she uses magic keys to summon celestial spirits to fight for her. She is pretty much the narrator of the story, and is the butt of most of the jokes (especially if Happy is making the joke). Aside from being used as comic relief and the occasional fan service, Lucy is actually a pretty compelling character with an interesting history that unravels and the series progresses, but I’ll refrain from spoiling that here. 

Erza Scarlet:

Erza Scarlet is Fairy Tail’s strongest female. She has access to a plethora of different sets of magical armor that she can change into at will. This type of magic is called “requiping”. Erza starts out as being portrayed as the tough, serious type that always follows the rules and is always busting up fights between Natsu and Gray. However, as the series progresses Erza’s back-story is also unveiled and a silly side of her starts to surface. 

Gray Fullbuster:

Gray is a wizard that is trained in Ice-maker magic. He can create various objects out of ice, and he also has a creepy habit of randomly stripping. Gray is a rival of Natsu and the pair are always brawling with each other and constantly trying to out-do each other. Gray is usually the silent, serious type, but can always lighten the mood with his random stripping. 

Happy:

Happy is a talking blue cat with wings. He is Natsu’s best friend and is the show’s greatest source of comedy. Fish is constantly at the forefront of Happy’s mind and he can never resist a chance to make fun of Lucy. Happy’s cuteness and adorable voice mixed with his unique brand of comedy makes him one of the best anime side-kicks ever. 

- Jake Ball

[animekenkyuushitsu]

AMV

f there is one thing I love most about the anime community it is what it can create. From the memes, to the comics, to the fanart, to what this post will be about: Animated Music Videos. AMVs are just as the name implies they are. Music videos of songs set to clips of anime(s) of the creator’s choosing and a lot of times, they turn out amazing.  AMVs have become widely popular, even to the extent that there are channels on Youtube (such as AnimeUnity and BestAMVsOfAllTime) that are dedicated to bring you the AMVs from around the net. The creators typically have their own channels on various websites where they host their videos.

Another sign of their popularity is the conventions. Most (if not all) anime conventions host their own competitions for AMVs, where judges will judge the song+show combination, the editing, the syncing, and many other things.

Besides that there isn’t really much to say about AMVs. It really is something that you have to sit back and enjoy for yourself! So below are two of my personal favorite AMVs, both done by a creator named BakaOppai (Yes, that is their actual name. I think it’s hilarious).

The first is titled “A Drop of Hope.” It is a collaboration of many different anime tv shows and movies, and was meant to show that anime is more than just “fan service and violence.” It was won a eight awards out of the 23 it was nominated for and it’s really no wonder why. The emotional clips from the shows, put to Taylor Swift’s Safe & Sound makes this AMV pretty emotional. I think it gets its meaning across incredibly well.

The next is BakaOppai’s first AMV, and while it didn’t win 1st place in any competitions, it was finalist in one, and placed 2nd in the other. This one takes clips from Chuunibyou and puts it the Adam Lambert’s If I Had You. Personally I think the syncing is incredibly well done on this and that is why it is one of my favorites

There you are! Check out more on Youtube just by searching up AMV and maybe your favorite song or anime, or take a look at AnimeUnity, BestAMVsOfAllTime, or BakaOppai! You won’t be disappointed.

-- Derick

[animekenkyuushitsu]

Tokyo Ghoul Thoughts

The Tokyo Ghoul anime recently ended and I wanted to share my thoughts on it . First off there are 2 seasons with a total of 24 episodes so it is relatively short. The anime is based off of the manga, written by Ishida Sui,  which has a total of 14 volumes. The story follows Kaneki Ken, a university student who ends up becoming half human half ghoul. The story takes place in Tokyo and is fairly realistic except for the prescense of ghouls, who are humanlike creatures that must eat human flesh to survive.

The first season follows the manga fairly well but the second season, Root A, has a different ending and several different elements about it. Root A was also written by Ishida Sui as an alternate ending of Tokyo Ghoul. If you are going to watch the anime I would suggest reading the manga first. Although you can still enjoy the anime by itself, reading the manga will help you get a better sense of who the characters are and develop a closer relationship to them. Tokyo Ghoul is a very complex story and 24 episodes just isn’t enough time to do it justice. However, I think the animators did a good job with what they had.

As mentioned above the story contains scenes of human like characters eating and killing humans so it can get quite gory at times. However, gore and violence is certainly not the main point of this story. The author presents several characters, both humans and ghouls, and shows their hardships and struggles. The audience is able to connect with both the humans and the ghouls making it difficult to distinguish which side is the “good side” and which side is the “bad side”. This was my favorite part of Tokyo Ghoul. The author clearly shows that in every battle both sides have good and bad to them. There is not necessarily a clear distinction between good and evil, but rather they coexist together.

There are also several characters that go against “traditional” anime characters. First off, the protagonist Kaneki is quite weak and goes through a difficult mental and emotional struggle, almost reaching insanity, trying to figure out his identity as either human or ghoul. He is not given extraordinary willpower but seems very humanlike as he struggles with the fact he was a human but now must eat humans in order to survive. The author shows his good side but also clearly shows his bad, almost evil side. He seems very real and not idealized. The author shows the good and evil side of every character so there are no “good guys” and “bad guys”, there are simply humans and ghouls who are equally right and equally wrong.

My favorite character in the series was Suzuya Juuzou (pictured above). He is a human who was kidnapped at a young age and made into the pet of a ghoul. He was heavily tortured and as a result was very violent and unable to understand emotion or pain of others. Eventually he was able to overcome this to a certain extent and was employed by the police force to hunt ghouls. His way of speaking is really unique and he has a very childlike attitude about him. I really like his character design and his backstory is quite sad so I was able to connect with him while reading the story.

I would definately recommend this anime and manga to anyone who is interested. Although I must warn you, it is violent and it is very very very sad.

Thanks for reading,

-Sarah

[animekenkyuushitsu]

Karas

This is an OVA that came out between 2005 and 2007 that I enjoyed immensely, and seems to be lesser-known (at least with people I know).

I originally found Karas because I was looking for shows that my favorite voice actor had a part in. It piqued my interest, so I watched it and really enjoyed it!

In today’s world, yōkai and humans exist together, but humans are unaware of their presence. In order to protect both, a guardian called a Karas is located from the world of humans and employed (and given a cool suit with transformative powers). 

The antagonist is a rogue Karas named Eko from years past who has created mechanical demons and plans to take over the human world. Enter Otoha, the protagonist. He is recently chosen to become a Karas, and he has to learn the ropes of his new profession while combating Eko and his creations. In addition, there are a team of two detectives, one superstitious and the other rational, who are attempting to uncover a case of murders left by Eko’s cronies.

This series has a lot of cool fights with the Karas being rendered in CGI, which are absolutely breath-taking. However, I’m a sucker for supernatural characters, and I absolutely loved the designs for all the yōkai.

The plot may be a little confusing at times, but the animation quality and fights are really enjoyable! (Not to mention my favorite voice actor did an amazing job with his badass character)

Anywho, at 6 episodes, this OVA is packed with action and really cool character designs! The video above is the opening fight scene, which is a testament to its art quality!

Thanks again!

— Meg

[animekenkyuushitsu]

Sword Art Online 2 Thoughts

Sword Art Online 2 starts off with a bang after the disappointing second half of SAO1. The premise is simple. in a VRMMO game Gun Gale Online (GGO) a mysterious player named Death Gun has shown up and it seems that he has the ability to kill a player in the real world when he shoots their avatar with his gun in the virtual world. It falls to Kirito to unravel this mystery and save GGO from this new threat. This murder mystery had me hooked by the end of the first episode and it doesn't lose its momentum until the end of the story arc, which, unfortunately, ends about half-way through SAO2. 

Sadly, SAO2 follows the same pattern as SAO1. The first half of the season is spectacular and truly gripping and with the ability to binge-watch the entire thing on Crunchyroll chances are that you’ll be watching each episode back to back up until the second half, that is. The second half is not bad by any means it is just simply mediocre, which is just so heartbreaking when the first half was so excellent. To avoid spoilers I’ll refrain from going into the story bits of the second half of SAO2 but I’ll try to detail my qualms with the story as best as I can in a vague manner. What most bothers me about part 2 of SAO2 is the lack of suspense. With the lack of the first couple episodes of part 2 there is no danger. Part 2 of SAO 2 is no more than watching these kids play their game, which can be frankly kinda dull. Sure, you do get to know the real Azuna a little better, but other than a few character-building scenes nothing of note really happens. It was such a shame to see SAO2 that started off brilliantly end on such a dull note. 

-Jake Ball

[animekenkyuushitsu]

My Favorite Anime Songs

With the recent subject in our class (the class that this blog was made for, for those alien readers that have stumbled upon this blog) being music and anime, I think that it would be appropriate to share some of my favorite songs from anime.  I’ll include both a list for my favorites of the previous year, and of all time, separated by category.  It’ll just list them in alphabetical order, since it’s hard to me to rank them.  (The only thing I can say is that most of the OP songs I like more than the ED songs.)

Be prepared to spend a lot of time on this post if you plan to watch all of the linked videos. Also, due to the narrow width of the blog, imbedded videos get cropped on the right side, so I suggest either full-screening it (by double-clicking the video) or loading it up on YouTube.

OPENING THEMES

2014

Both of my picks here happen to both be from 2-cour shows that started in Fall of 2014 and is currently airing (although sadly about to end).

Hikaru Nara [光るなら, If It Shines] Anime: “Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso” [四��は君の嘘, Your Lie in April] 1st OP Performance, Lyrics, Composition, Arrangement: Goose house

(I couldn’t find the first opening sequence of the anime anywhere with the original song, so here’s the short version of the promotional video [PV] of the song.)

If you want to see the visuals, then CLICK HERE (this video has a fan cover of the song). And HERE is the full version of the song (albeit a little speed-up).  It seems like there’s a lot of restrictions of uploads of this song, which made it a pain to find a decent version to show here...

Let Me Hear Anime: “Kiseujuu – Sei no Kakuritsu” [寄生獣 セイの格率, Parasyte -the maxim-) OP Performance, Lyrics, Composition, Arrangement: Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas

And HERE is the full PV for it. To be honest, the part in the middle of the full version of the song ruined the song for me.  I hate that part enough, but like the song enough, that I edited out the middle part just for my personal usage.

[animekenkyuushitsu]

All-Time

3 of the songs here are OP themes of anime that are in my top-5 of all time as well.  Maybe it was these songs that made me like the series even more than I already did?

Hacking to the Gate Anime: “Steins;Gate” [シュタインズ ゲート] OP Performance: Itou Kanako (いとうかなこ) Lyrics, Composition, Arrangement: Shikura Chiyomaru (志倉 千代丸)

Occasionally, you get an anime where the OP changes into another part of the same song (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann comes to mind), and Steins;Gate is one of them.  HERE is the ”second” OP. And HERE is the full version.

I SAY YES Anime: “Zero no Tsukaima ~Futatsuki no Kishi~” [ゼロの使い魔 ～双月の騎士～, The Familiar of Zero ~Knight of the Twin Moons~] OP Performance: ICHIKO Lyrics: Mori Yuriko (森 由里子) Composition: Sakabe Takeshi (坂部 剛) Arrangement: Arai Riki (新井 理生)

HERE is the full version.

only my railgun Anime: “To Aru Kagaku no Railgun” [とある科学の超電磁砲(レールガン), A Certain Scientific Railgun] OP 1 Performance: fripSide Lyrics: Yaginuma Satoshi (八木沼 悟志) & yuki-ka Composition, Arrangement: Yaginuma Satoshi (八木沼 悟志)

This song was the debut song of fripSide after changing their vocalist for the first time, and it became a huge hit.  This song made me aware of the group, and made me become a big fan of the composer of fripSide (he later went to form another group called ALTIMA, which is my favorite music band of all time). HERE is the full version’s PV.

silky heart Anime: “Toradora!” [とらドラ！] OP 2 Performance: Horie Yui (堀江由衣) Lyrics: Satomi Composition: Fujiseu Miki (藤 末樹) Arrangement: Kawaguchi Keita (川口 圭太)

Horie Yui is one of my favorite singer and voice actresses, so it’s no surprise that this song, my favorite of hers, made it on here.  There were other songs of hers (Coloring and Sugar Sweet Nightmare) that were very close to making these top-5 lists, too. Anyway, HERE is the full PV.

Toki wo Kizamu Uta [時を刻む唄, A Song that ticks away Time] Anime: “CLANNAD ~AFTER STORY~” [クラナド　アフターストーリー] OP Performance: Lia Lyrics, Composition: Maeda Jun (麻枝 准) Arrangement: AVANT-GARDE EYES

I’m a big fan of Mr. Maeda, who also wrote the story for this anime and many other visual novels by Key, so there’s a lot of songs of his I really like, but this song takes the cake for my favorite.  “My Soul, Your Beats!” from “Angel Beats!”, another song of his, is barely off the top-5 (and I really mean barely for this one). HERE is the full version.

[animekenkyuushitsu]

ENDING THEMES

2014

My Sweet Shelter Anime: “Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou” [僕らはみんな河合荘, We are all (part of) the Kawai-Manor] ED Performance: Hanazawa Kana (花澤 香菜), Satou Rina (佐藤 利奈), & Kanemoto Hisako (金元寿子) Lyrics: Kodama Saori (こだまさおり) Composition, Arrangement: Yamaguchi Akihiko (山口 朗彦)

HERE is the full version of the song

Rainy Veil Anime: “Grisaia no Kajitsu” [グリザイアの果実, The Fruit of Grisaia] ED 4 (Angelic Howl Arc) Performance: Yanaginagi (やなぎなぎ) Lyrics: Kuwashima Yoshikazu (桑島 由一) Composition, Arrangement: Fujima Hitoshi (藤間仁)

HERE is the full version.

[animekenkyuushitsu]

All-Time

Boku Janai [僕じゃない, Not Me] Anime: “Kakumeiki Valvrave” [革命機ヴァルヴレイヴ, Revolutionary Machine Valvrave] (a.k.a. “Valvrave the Liberator”) ED Performance: angela Lyrics: atsuko Composition: atsuko & KATSU Arrangement: KATSU

When I went over what songs to decide what to put on here, I was a bit surprised I decided on this being one of them.  Didn’t think I liked it as much as I did. Nevertheless, HERE is the full version.

Futari no Yakusoku [二人の約束, A Pair’s Promise] Anime: “Basquash!” [バスカッシュ！] ED 2 Performance: Eclipse [Fictional group from the anime comprised of voice actresses Tomatsu Haruka (戸松 遥), Nakajima Megumi (中島 愛), & Hayami Saori (早見 沙織).] Lyrics: 瀬名恵 Composition: Fujisue Miki (藤 末樹) & YUMIKO Arrangement: Kusano Yoshihiro (草野よしひろ)

Frankly speaking, this song is the best thing to come out of this anime, in my opinion, as the story was odd and didn’t end very well.  Also, I apologize, since I couldn’t find the pronunciation for the lyricist’s name.  Also, to note, one of this song’s two composers is the one that also wrote “silky heart”. But without further ado, HERE is the full version.

I’ll Believe Anime: “Shakugan no Shana FINAL” [灼眼のシャナIII –Final–, Shana of the Burning Eyes III -FINAL-] ED 1 Performance: ALTIMA Lyrics: Kurosaki Maon (黒崎 真音) Rap Lyrics: motsu Composition, Arrangement: Yaginuma Satoshi (八木沼 悟志)

I mentioned ALTIMA earlier as being my favorite band, so naturally, my favorite song of theirs made it on this list.  To note about the ED sequence video linked above, the song was pretty much always played during the end of every episode, during the episode, as a lead in to the ED sequence, so that’s why the audio started so abruptly.  Oftentimes, the ED sequence’s visuals were skipped completely, with the song playing in the background as the episode concluded, hence why little effort was put into its “animation.” Anyway, HERE is the full PV for it.

INSIDE IDENTITY Anime: “Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!” [中二病でも恋がしたい!, Regardless of My Adolescent Delusions of Grandeur, I Want to Love!] (a.k.a. “Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!”) ED Performance: Black Raison d'etre [Fictional group from the anime comprised of voice actresses Uchida Maaya (内田 真礼), Uesaka Sumire (上坂すみれ), Akasaki Chinatsu (赤﨑 千夏), & Asakura Azumi (浅倉 杏美).] / ZAQ Lyrics, Composition, Arrangement: ZAQ

HERE is the full PV for it (it starts, and ends, a bit weird).  Incidentally, ZAQ, the person that wrote the song, also sung it in a separate version.  You can hear that HERE. When I initially heard this song, I was reminded of the next song...

NO, Thank You! Anime: “K-ON!!” [けいおん!!, Light Music!!] ED 2 Performance: Houkago Tea Time (After School Tea Time) [Fictional group from the anime, among them is the actual singer, Hikasa Youko (日笠 陽子).] Lyrics: Oomori Shouko (大森 祥子) Composition: Maezawa Hiroyuki (前澤 寛之) Arrangement: Komori Shigeo (小森 茂生)

And HERE is the full version.

In making this, I realized that 3 of them came from anime made my Kyoto Animation (KyoAni), my favorite anime animation company.  Oddly enough, my all-time favorite anime, which they also did, isn’t even on this list.

Anyway, this took me a while to write, so if you made it through the whole thing and actually watched the videos that I linked (ones that you haven’t seen, anyway), then I thank you for making my time not wasted.

-Thinh

[animekenkyuushitsu]

Sword Art Online Impressions

This past week I finally got around to watching some anime. I decided to start watching Sword art Online and have successfully completed watching the entire first season. I know a lot of people on the blog have already been into the series and have posted frequently about the plot, so I’ll avoid discussing the plot as much as possible. I really just wanted to share some of my impressions of the show.

Let me start out by saying that Sword Art Online is, of course, an anime all about being in a virtual reality MMORPG. SAO takes place in the future around 10 years from now and is kind of a “what if” take on gaming. It is a world where you put on a VR helmet and transport your mind into a virtual world. However, aside from the virtual reality element the  MMORPG genre is just as we know it today. As a previous MMO player myself, I enjoyed seeing SAO’s representation of leveling, legendary item drops, guilds, soloing, and everything that MMO nerds love about the genre.

While I enjoyed the familiarity I had with the show due to my knowledge of the MMO genre, it also was able to keep me guessing with a plethora of plot twists. However, the thing that really took me by surprise was the fact that SAO is not an action anime with a romantic twist, it is actually more of a Romance with action elements in it. While I didn’t expect SAO to be a love story about Kirito and Azuna, I quickly found myself enamored with these two characters and readily rooted for their love story to end happily. With that being said though it is worth noting that the Anime is broken into two main story arcs (those who are familiar with SAO will know what I’m referring to). The first story arc is fantastic and I would whole-heartily recommend it to anyone. However, I can’t say the same about the second arc. While the second story arc is not bad by any means - it just lacks the magic of the former arc. Although, if you’re like me if you end up watching the first story arc to completion you’ll probably be too enamored by the characters to hang up your hat and stop watching the mediocre second arc.

-Jake Ball

[animekenkyuushitsu]

Manga / Novels Online

This week I would like to introduce a site called　ガンガンオンライン which has a selection of manga and novels online available to read for free. This site is run by Square Enix, who also publishes a monthly magazine called GanGan. The manga on this site are webcomics but several of them are very popular and have even been made into anime. One of these being 月刊少女野崎くん (Monthly Girl’s Nozaki-Kun) which you may recognize if you are an anime fan. Some other popular ones that have been made into anime include:

月刊少女野崎くん (Monthly Girl’s Nozaki-Kun) アイドルマスター シンデレラガールズ (Idol Master Cinderella Girls) 私がモテないのはどう考えてもお前らが悪い! (No matter how I look at it it’s your guys’ fault I’m not popular) ばらかもん (Barakamon)

Unfortunately all of the available manga and novels are in Japanese only, so those unable to read Japanese may find this unhelpful (however I suspect many members of our class are able to read Japanese that’s why I decided to share this). The Kanji readings are also provided making it easier to read.

There is also an app available for the iPhone or Android, however, you will need a Japanese account to download it and that may involve providing credit card information. There is probably a way to get it without a Japanese credit card, I’m sure you could find a way if you google it. Anyways, I hope this helps someone! -Sarah

[animekenkyuushitsu]

Ongoing anime: Death Parade

A lot can happen in the span of 2 weeks! At the end of my last post, I said that there weren't any other ongoing anime that I keep up with, but between then and now, I ended up encountering Death Parade and I'm absolutely hooked!

In our fellow blogger Sarah's opening post, she briefly mentioned Death Parade, but I'll go a little more in-depth!

As a bit of background information, Death Parade was originally born from a short movie called Death Billiards, created in 2013 for yearly showcase Anime Mirai, as part of the "Young Animator Training Project". The project is funded by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs and collaborates with animation studios to help train animators on-the-job. Fast-forward to 2015, and the film has spawned into a 12 episode series!

One of my favorite things about this anime is that the opening is a bit of a misnomer! From the opening, one may think that the series is very lighthearted and comedic, but it's quite the opposite!

Death Parade starts out with an episodic format: In order to judge the souls of the dead, Quindecim is a bar where two people are pitted against each other in the form of a game (such as darts, pool, bowling, etc) to judge their true worth. Decim is not only the bartender but he is also the one who determines which of the souls he encounters are most valuable. The episodic premise may seem intriguing, but soon the series delves into the surrounding characters and circumstances of such a job.

It's currently at its 8th episode; with only 4 episodes left, I'm extremely excited to see how the series ends!

So far, Death Parade is one of my favorite anime series, and I highly recommend to either start watching the anime or at least the source film Death Billiards!

Thanks again; we appreciate your readership!

—Meg

[animekenkyuushitsu]

Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu to air on April 3!

The

official site

of the

Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu

[長門有希ちゃんの消失, The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan] anime has recently announced that broadcast will commence airing on April 3 at 25:40 (technically being April 4 for Japan, but it'll still be the third for people in America and most of the world).

AnimeJapan2015, held at Tokyo Big Site on March 21, will have a Special Live Stage event with the voice of Nagato Yuki, Chihara Minori, and the voice of Kyon, Sugita Tomokazu, the two main characters of the series.  Then, on the next day, on the 22nd, an advance screening will be held at Kadokawa Cinema Shinjuku, where the two voice actors listed above, as well as five others from the series, are scheduled to be there.

Being a diehard fan of the mother series, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu [涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya], I wish I was in Japan next month for these events!  I've already read the Yuki-chan manga series, as well, but I just want to see the premier as early as possible, despite already knowing what happens. >_<  Either way, this is, without a doubt, the show I'm looking forward to the most, come the spring season of anime.

For those that don't know, Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu is a spin-off manga series of the Suzumiya Haruhi series.  In the events of the mother series's fourth novel, Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu [涼宮ハルヒの消失, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya], (to try to avoid spoiling too much) reality gets altered and they go into an alternate dimension of sorts.  The spin-off takes place in this alternate world, as if the distortion of reality was never fixed in the end.  The fourth volume is the clear fan-favorite by the mass majority, including myself, so it's natural that it got a spin-off series.

With Kyoto Animation, the animation studio that did the adaptation of the original mother series and its other spin-offs, not doing the adaptation for this, I have my worries.  Hopefully, it goes well, though.

-Thinh

Omake:

[animekenkyuushitsu]

彼方此方 NEWS~

As for today, I would like to start with introducing a 熱血満々のゲーム--鉄拳7. Tekken 7 (鉄拳7) is a fighting game developed and published by Bandai Namco Games. It is the ninth installment in the Tekken fighting game series. The game is the first in the series to make use of the Unreal Engine 4 game engine. Tekken 7 had a limited arcade release in Japan on February 18, 2015, followed by a wide release a month afterward.

Here is the Opening Cinematic below:

Then I would like to post a news for テラフォーマーズ(Terra Formars) 's 映画.  テラフォーマーズ is a Japanese manga series written by Yū Sasuga and illustrated by Kenichi Tachibana. It is serialized in Shueisha's magazine Weekly Young Jump since 2011. Viz Media began publishing an English translation in 2014.A live action film adaptation will be directed by Takashi Miike

Here is the weblink for the movie: http://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/terraformars/

After these news staff, I will introduce a combinationコラボグッズ betweenちびまる子ちゃん×ふなっしー. As another famous anime/manga icon of 可愛い Chibi Maruko-chan is written and illustrated by Momoko Sakura. The series depicts the simple, everyday life of Momoko Sakura in the times of when she was a little girl where everyone call her Maruko and her family in suburban Japan in the year 1974. As for Funassyi, ふなっしー is a Japanese mascot character, unofficially representing the city of Funabashi, Chiba. It was created by a citizen of Funabashi to promote his/her own website. It later appeared at events, festivals, TV programs and commercials, gaining popularity all over Japan.

And now, Chibi Maruko-chan is celebrating its 25th anniversary and has collaborated with Funassyi, the unofficial mascot character representing the city of Funabashi-Chiba and released special collaborating goods and items.

Some of the collaborating items will be pre-released at the Japanese Animation Official Shop “Ani CUTE” located in Ikebukuro Tokyo. More informations will be released via Chibi-Maruko official site and Ani CUTE official site.

After we shared with 可愛さ, lets talk about more 格好いいさ. There is a pre-order Gジャン（ドラえもんだらけ）.  I have to say this is the prefect combination with 可愛い(inside) and 格好いい(outside). Here is the detailed introduction in Japanese：

Weblink if you interested in:

http://www.doraemonsbell-ec.com/shopdetail/000000001091/

1億円！Fly me to the Moon!ロンギヌスの槍を月に届けよう

At last but not the least, I would like to introduce a 募集 for send 'Spear of Destiny' to the moon.     

Sci-fi fans in Japan are trying to raise nearly $1 million to recreate in real life a fictional scene in which the "Spear of Destiny" is plunged into the moon.

The spear -- also known as the Holy Lance or Heilige Lanze -- is the weapon Christians believe was used to stab Jesus in the side during his crucifixion.Also called the "Lance of Longinus", it is well-known in Japan for its appearance in the "Neon Genesis Evangelion" sci-fi animation series, particularly for a scene in which the main character flies into space and thrusts it into the moon.

If the craft successfully reaches the moon, the lance will be ejected and hopefully stuck in the dusty surface, the organiser has said.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the cartoon, fans are trying to crowd-fund a 100 million yen ($850,000) mission to send a 24-centimetre (9.5-inch) replica to the lunar surface aboard a specially-designed lander.

        Here is the web site of it:

https://readyfor.jp/projects/evangelion#m

---Li

[animekenkyuushitsu]

少年

This week I would like to introduce Shounen (少年) anime. The intended target audience of Shounen is boys ages 10-18, however, it is wildly popular among females and older audiences as well. During the 1960’s Shounen expanded its targeted audience and released new titles targeted towards older audiences. Shounen manga usually hold the highest ranking spots in popularity rankings and even people who are not interested in Japanese anime or manga have probably heard of a few Shounen titles. Some notable titles being “Naruto”, “One Piece”, “Death Note”, “HunterxHunter”, and so on. 

Shounen almost always features a male protagonist, however, it is possible to have a female protagonist. Plots are usually humorous with high action, power battles, and fight sequences. Shounen often portrays challenges to the protagonist’s abilities, skills, and maturity, stressing self-perfection, austere self-discipline, sacrifice in the cause of duty, and honorable service to society, community, family, and friends. Protagonists often overcome trials with much difficulty showing their ability to never give up. Friendship is often highly stressed and becomes a main theme throughout many Shounen works. 

Shounen often features “fan-service” of female characters including revealing outfits, panty shots, almost naked bodies, and the like. These scenes are, of course, not the main focus of the story and are usually short lasting only a few seconds. Fan-service of male characters can also occur. However, what really decides what makes an anime considered to be “Shounen” is what magazine the original manga was published in. 

Shounen works often contain a mix of comedic elements with serious elements. Perhaps this is one reason why Shounen works are so popular. Viewers watch the protagonist grow and become stronger, they see the protagonist’s errors and successes and I think this is what really builds the emotional connection between viewer and character.

Thanks for reading,

-Sarah