Fortune Arterial (Halloween 4)

Genre: Romance
Age Appropriate: Preteen/Teen
Emotional Response: Awww
Notable Features: vampires, high school, young love
Language: Japanese
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Pretty Good

"I expect great things from him." - Iori

Ah, young love. Hasekura Kohei has been school hoping since he was younger. His father's job required a lot of moving around. Now that he's growing up a little, he's moved into Shuchika Academy in Shiomi City. He had previously lived there for 7 years ago, and has chose this as the place to come back to himself.
When he arrives he's greated by the VP of the student council, who seems to freak out as soon as they shake hands, and she runs off leaving Tsukasa (who happened to be walking by) in charge of Kohei.
Upon entering the dorm he's accidentally fallen on by Kanade, followed by her sister, Hina. They were childhood friends with Kohei when he was there last, so there are instant friends for him - happily forcing him into tea parties in his room.Erika is the VP, and avoids Kohei, somewhat. Her brother, Iori, is the President of the council and pulls pranks to get Kohei together with Erika - including switching the signs of the bath rooms, thus allowing Kohei to enter the bath while Erika is in there. (Oh No!) The first two episodes are really Kohei running around trying to apologized to Erika and managing to make things worse.

There rest of the supporting cast includes: Sei, the Treasurer, his little sister, Shiro, and Kuza Kiriha, a mysterious girl whom Kohei frequently attempts to include in activities. Also, Sister Amaike, who is in charge of the dorm and is notorious for meting out punishments with a frying pan. There is some sort of unspoken relationship with Iori there, but it's only ever hinted at. All together, under Iori's discerning eye, school events are the main stage for the story.

The shocking complication in the story is the presence of vampires! It turns out that Erika and Iori are vampires, and Sei and Shiro's family are servants to them. It's because of this that Kohei is on the student council, and part of the devious Iori's plan to throw Erika and Kohei together. The drama for the second half of the series is all about Erika's rebellion against her vampirism and her desire to be a normal girl - contrary to her mother's ideas.

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First, let me say, Shiro is ADORABLE. Her love for her rabbit, the swim tag game, and her little tea serving ways and just adorable. Sei, the incredibly over protective brother, is such a softie about her, despite his typical stuck up behavior. Iori frequently shows him self to be a prankster but as the show goes on you realize that it's all and act, and he's quite the manipulator. Kanade frequently says headsmacking things, and Hina is sweet and indulgent toward her. Tsukasa, though, seems to be pretty irrelevant past the first episode.

I liked it, but it wasn't that compelling. The love story was sweet, and very high school. It's one of the few times that I've seen an anime where the characters in high school seem to really be characters in high school, rather than mature characters in a high school setting. The whole vampire thing fits is weirdly, though it could probably be any reason to rebel and that's just the method the writers have chosen.

The minor positives: the school cook is an Iron Chef! Yukimaru is an escape artist rabbit pet that opens the way for Kohei and Erika a few times, Kanada obsessively smacks people with discipline stickers, and the end of each episode has a pretty poem. I would definitely watch it for free, but I might be interested in renting it if I were in the mood for watching cute vampire anime (like I just was). It was Pretty Good.

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Up Next: Dance in the Vampire Bund (Halloween 5)

Trinity Blood (Halloween 3)

Genre: Action
Age Appropriate: Older Teen
Emotional Response: Sad
Notable Features: vampires, priests, nanomachines, supervampire
Language: English
Length: 24 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Wonderful

"Avert not thine eyes." -Narrator

Abel Nightroad: Traveling priest, Lt. Col., AX member, Crusnik (supervamp) and our protagonist.
The first interaction with Abel shows him to be food hungry (he really does love his food) and goofy. A bit of a moron, actually. It takes a little bit to understand that he's actually an intelligent, compassionate priest. Also, the series is pretty quick to show his superhuman/supervampire superpowers as a Crusnik. A Crusnik is a supernatural being one step up on the food chain from the vampires - as a Crusnik actually feeds on vampire blood rather than human blood. Vampires, or Methuselah, are a result  of the post-apocolyptic reality in the series. All current technology is considered "lost." Abel is, surprisingly, amazing with lost technology. There is a scene here or there where he saves the day by excellent hacking skills.

Abel is the savior/martyr type. He is frequently put in situations where he has to save someone in distress - the most important character being Sister Esther. Sister Esther is a young nun from a Istvan (read: Istanbul) who is taken by Abel and a huge debacle orchestrated by the Marquis of the region, who was in turn manipulated by the Contra Mundi, or Order of Rosenkreuz (the villains). The Order wants a New World Order, run by them of course.

Then, there is the Vatican, lead by Alessandro - a childlike Pope, his sister Cardinal Caterina (AX leader) and his brother, Brother Francesco (Inquisitorial division leader). The Vatican is the opposing force for humans against vampires, although the general goal is to find a peaceful exitance. The Empire, for vampires, is run by the Empress, who is the end-all-be-all authority. There is a lot of politics in there.

THEN there is....I'm going to stop now. This just gets more complicated.

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Sad. That's really what this series is, a lot of episodes of sad. Still, it's sad in a more poignant way. Abel's dorky personality is often the only lightness in any episodes, often tempered by his own serious moments. It's not the kind of sad that makes you cry or anything, but maybe hurt a little. At least, depending on how easily you get sucked into character emotions.

The political intrigues aren't as interesting as the personal interactions. I think they were an attempt to shadow historical figures, but only in the sense where you have to care enough about those particular historical figures in order to care. I only know about them from watching that terrible The Borgias show. The individual satellite characters are pretty interesting, actually. My personal favorite is Fr. Hugue (shocking, I know). There is one scene in an episode where the priests have to band together for a few moments in order to stop a big bad from happening and their special abilities (because priests need special abilities :P) are displayed in an excellent group effort. These priests kinda kick ass.

Abel's special 80% Crusnik form is pretty epic. You don't really see it until later in the series, and then it shows up frequently. If I thought the 40% was cool, man, 80% is wicked - both in awesomeness and darkness. He's complicated and in a good way. It wouldn't be right if he was a one-dimensional character.

There is a twist here and there, and they aren't always completely obvious - which I appreciate. Abel is actually pretty when he's not a superfreak vampire or wearing his glasses (such a heartbreaker,too). He's a tragic hero and I was rooting for him the whole way. The blood isn't too bad, there is no sexuality really, but the storyline is a little advanced for someone under a certain age.  So, yeah, go watch it. It's better than great, but it doesn't seem right to call it "YAY," so it gets a "Wonderful."

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Moving On: Fortune Arterial

Rosario + Vampire (Halloween 2)

Genre: Comedy
Age Appropriate: Teen
Emotional Response: Amusement + Excitement
Notable Features: Vampires + Succubi + Witches + Humans + Boobs
Language: English
Length: 2 seasons, 26 episodes
Overall Recommendation: YAY

"Know. Your. Place!" - Moka

Rosario+Vampire doesn't actually have anyone named Rosario in it. It references a main character's rosary, which keeps her superpower self contained. The true main character is Tsukune Aono, an unassuming incoming (human) freshman who somehow -and by somehow, I mean his father stole the acceptance letter- gets enrolled into a high school for monsters. Within the first few minutes of the first episode he's hit by a girl on a bike, who then sucks his blood! Enter Moka, another freshman, who happens to be a vampire girl. The budding romance between the two is the vehicle which drives the series.

Within the first season, the other friends in this ragtag monster group are added. There is a succubus, a witch, a snow woman, another witch, a werewolf and the ever important Adult Moka. Adult Moka is the S-class supermonster vampire hidden within Moka. Adult Moka is bustier, bootier, and has an attitude. She comes out almost every episode when Tsukune removes Moka's rosary to save the day. All four of the females in their friendly bunch are obsessed with loving Tsukune - the snow woman takes the cake, though. She's a nice, shy, misfit stalker. No matter how much the girls fight over Tsukune, they all band together to fight the evil villain (sometimes faculty!) of each episode - frequently typical bullies with atypical powers.

Other important things to note: A narrating bat, that tells you the time that it takes to the end battle of each episode, explains all of the mythical creatures that come up and ends up as a minion for Moka's younger sister, Kokoa. Also, a bus driver with creepy eyes who transports Tsukune back and forth from the human world. Last, but not least, multiple references to b-movie culture and random uses of figures of speech.

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I loved it. Can you tell? Aside from the whole vampire thing, this series is hilarious. I think the bat is my favorite. There are also so many quotables in this show that it took me awhile to pick one for the top. There are a lot of boob and panty shots though. The stalking and peeping is pretty amusing, too. There is an overabundance of head-smacking humor involved, both the kind where you laughing at how dumb people are and laughing because of how inappropriate they can be. It's really the lighthearted sexuality that got it a Teen rating.

The only real negative that I see whole "Friendship fixes everything!" theme, but that's the moral of the story in almost every episode. Don't be a bully, friendship fixes everything, be yourself...etc. It's very shmoopy that way. I did find myself cheering the other girls on, versus Moka, though. It doesn't make sense since it's obvious that they are the couple of the story, but I thought she was a little one-dimensional. It's possibly because I see myself a little bit in the other girls, where I don 't feel much in common with Moka, at all. Adult Moka is pretty awesome, though. That said, I really recommend it for girls. The only part I can see a guy enjoying is the boobs. Lots of boobs. I wanted to stay away from writing things about that since they're so prevalent in so much anime, but I can't get away from it in this one. Watch it, if you dare. YAY!

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Coming Up: Trinity Blood (Halloween 3)

Black Blood Brothers (Halloween 1)

Genre: Drama
Age Appropriate: Pre-teen/Teen
Emotional Response: Interesting
Notable Features: vampires, "seperate but equal" society, loyalty issues, swords
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
verall Recommendation: Good

"Cassa..." - Jiro

Black Blood Brothers refers to Jiro and Kotaro Mochizuki. The brothers are both vampires, although Kotaro is too young to be susceptible to the typical vampire weaknesses: sunlight, water, garlic..etc. Jiro, the older brother, is very protective of Kotaro. The series follows them into the "Special Zone," an island off of the main city that is home to the complicated vampire society. After an incident on a boat, and attempted killing, and a terrible fight with seemlingly crazy vampires, Jiro and Kotaro make it to the Special Zone with their helpful guide, Mimiko. Mimiko works for the OCC, an organization meant to help humans - now called Red Bloods - and vampires - Black Bloods - live together peacefully. Mimiko herself is called a Compromiser, one of the lighter side of the organization meant to work with humans and vampires in a helpful way. After the first episode with the boat incident the Suppression Team in introduces as a trigger happy bunch meant to take down hostile vampires; most especially killing off Kowloon children.

The Kowloon children are the main villains of the series. They are a contagious bunch that seem to be like zombies with vampire strength and uncontrolled violence. An old friend of Jiro, the mastermind behind it all, Cassa (Cassandra) is working to take over the world! Well, at least the Special Zone, as she hopes to find out some undisclosed secret about the mysterious, non-existent 11th Yard. Somehow, Cassa, Jiro and a pretty girl Alice are the center of the conflict. The series often has flashbacks of Jiro and Alice, and/or Cassa. It's not until the very last episode that all becomes clear.

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 I actually like Black Blood Brothers, although I admit part of it is probably my personal partiality to vampires. However, with all of the anime I've been watching, it's been dropped down further on my list of good ones to watch. It has some interesting points, but it's not edge-of-your-seat fantastic, or messed up, or hilarious. This is why I've rated is as "Good." It is good, but I wouldn't have wanted to wait each week to see a new episode.

The drama between Jiro and Casa, and company, is very soap opera. There are a few twists and turns, but not exactly mind-boggling. The best part of the show is Kotaro and his precociousness. He's adorable, and funny. Mimiko is pretty naive, but in a good way. She sees the good in everyone, but isn't willing to just ignore the bad - except when it comes to Jiro, of course. ;) Personally, I'd watch it just for Kotaro. He certainly has an interesting appeal, and in the end the series wouldn't make any sense without him.

I gave it a Pre-teen/Teen rating because while there is a little bit of adult here or there, there are no boobs, boob jokes, grotesque scenes or profanities. There is one or two scenes that are sexy, but they may or may not go over someone's head. I'd check it out first, if I were considering showing it to someone under a certain age, I suppose. The sexiness is very on par to contemporary sexy vampire stuff.

So, I would recommend it for us vampire freaks as a little bit of fun. It's not bad to watch if you're bored.  Side note: The end theme is actually really pretty. I frequently listened all the way through.


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Keep Watching: Rosario + Vampire  (Halloween 2)

Vampires! Vampires! Vampires!

In honor of Halloween, and my own personal obsession, I've decided to focus the next few reviews on VAMPIRES! I've got at least five, and that should get me past Halloween. I'm super excited about it. Are you!?!?!?!

Ha. Awesome. 

The Sacred Blacksmith

Genre: Comedy/Action
Age Appropriate: Teen
Emotional Response: ....hahahahahahahahaha
Notable Features: sword, demons, magic, teen knights
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Pretty Good

"Thank you, Luke. You saved my life, again." - Cecily (x11tybillion)

The Sacred Blacksmith is Luke Ainsworth, but it isn't Luke that is the main protagonist. That would be Cecily Campbell - a Knight Guard of the Independent Trade Cities of Housman. She's a brand new knight, following in her father's footsteps. She trips over herself often, and has a hard time killing people. It takes a bit for her to be willing to hurt others - not to fight, but to actually take that final step. The captain of the guard gives her a very special job, of which he says she's the perfect fit for: guarding the demon sword Aria, who takes human form and controls wind in sword form. Cecily's main requirement is actually just that she's female.

Of course, Cecily makes friends along the way. Luke becomes a reluctant friend with Cecily's constant poking about getting a special katana for herself. Lisa, Luke's elf assistant who is mysteriously named after someone else, adores Cecily (and her breasts). Aria, of course, becomes Cecily's good friend and helper as her sword. Throughout the series, Cecily also finds great friends with minor appearances.

There are also bad guys, mostly of the mysterious sort. Valbanill is the end all be all of bad. The best equivalent is that he's the devil coming to rain destruction on the world. There is mention of Valbanill Wars frequently in the episode as wars that happened 40-50 years prior to the current storyline. The most devestating part of the war is the use of demon contracts. Demon contracts are pretty much what they sound like. People make a contract with someone who controls demons and they get power but have to offer up their soul in the end. The process is pretty gruesome. Along with Valbanill, there is "The Man in Black" who controls and signs demon contracts in the current time period and seems to be sneakily running schemes in the background.

So, that's the basis. Good guys (or girls!) versus the bad guys.

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The Sacred Blacksmith is both fun and serious. It seems to be a running theme, right? There isn't actually much focus on the serious aspects until the last few episodes. Mostly it's about annoying people and annoying situations that pop up as vehicles to boob jokes, and the complicated relationship of Luke and Cecily. Aria becomes a more major character the further the episodes go - almost like the writers realized near the end, "Oh yeah. We should finish this, huh. But it was so fun!" They might have been able to stretch the story out, but I can see why they wouldn't.

The end theme is really poppy, but it's really nice with the occasional cliffhanger endings. Wipes away anything that might have created baby nightmares. Cecily is a good character for young ladies, as she's very relateable in her awkwardness. Luke is all grumpy growly, but nice inside. He made me both want to give him and hug and stick my tongue out at him in defiance. Stupid boys are stupid. Ha.

I gave it a Teen rating because of all the boob shots. The boob jokes themselves are relatively tame. There isn't much blood all over and the storyline isn't too complicated. Without the breasts, I would probably have left it a PreTeen. It got a "Pretty Good," because that's what it was: pretty good. It was a nice diversion, and I'm happy to have seen it for free.

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Coming to a blog near you...: Black Blood Brothers

Change of Plans

So - I said in the last post that I was going to do Samurai 7 next.
I lied.
It's not that I can't watch it, or never will, but I have plans this weekend and I need something a little shorter to watch. 
So, I'm doing The Sacred Blacksmith. At minimum, it might make me smile after the sniffles from Neo Angelique Abyss.
So there. Take that, suckers. :P

Neo Angelique Abyss

Genre: Drama/Action
Age Appropriate: Pre-teen/Teen
Emotional Response: hope, heartbreak, devestation
Notable Features: holy magic, evil spirits, lessons, eye candy
Language: Japanese, English Sub
Length: 2 seasons, 24 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Great!

"Noblesse Oblige..." - Nyx

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Angelique is a young lady at an all girls school, studying to become a doctor like her parents. Nyx is a gentlman who happens to be the Director of the academy. When Nyx shows up at the school, there is a big commotion. Why? Well, he's pretty good looking actually, and they are young ladies.
The shock is when Angelique - who seems fairly immune to a pretty face (at least compared to her classmates) - is called to the Headmistress's office. It appears that Nyx wants something with her. And so, Angelique finds out that she is a Purifier. A Purifier is someone who possesses the specific ability to banish the Thanatos, an invading race of demon/monsters that show up from time to time and attach people, stealing their lives away, and causing damage to anything around them. The problem has been increasing and now Nyx has come looking for help with Angelique. Apparently, she performed a sort of miracle by healing someone who had been injured by a Thanatos. This signified that she must be the Queen's Egg, most obvliously because she's the only female purifier to ever be found.

Throughout the first season, the cast comes together episode by episode. A journalist, Bernal, dubs them the Orb Hunters after meeting Angelique and her friends: Nyx, Lein, Hyuuga and Jade. Each  man has a different weapon, and a different personality and each man has a different type of relationship with Angelique; althought it appears that some of them also harbor romantic feelings for her. Throughout her travels she uses the Sunlight Mansion has a home base (Nyx's home) and goes out into the world of Arcadia, to help with the battle against the Thanatos, until such time that she "hatches" and becomes the Prophisied Queen, about to save and rule the world.  Of course, minor characters show up to help her on her way, and they each leave her with specific lessons about who she is, and what she wants to accomplish - from dragon people to the Head of the Celestial Order (a type of Pope figure). There is also the Artifact Foundation, a research foundation that researches and experiements with Artifacts ("old" technology) to fight Thanatos. In the end, each experience leads her to her place in the world, and gives her the strength to carry on with her duties as the Queen.

I don't know how to express my feelings about Neo Angelique very well, I think. At first, there is a little bit of fun and lightness, but it doesn't really last long. She seems so happy in the beginning, to be useful in helping people. Although it's different from her chosen path as a doctor, she's found some purpose as the Queen's Egg, and helping on a much larger scale, if a less personal one. The relationships she builds with her companions are key to her growth and acceptance of her role.
She gives the people of Arcadia hope, and in turn made me feel that hope for the people. It was more of that low burning hope - augmented by the idea that it's anime and you know the protragonist will win in the end.

The series is tragic, heartbreaking and devestating. Every other step ends up painful for Angelique after that first few episodes of introduction. The further I got in the series, the more my heartbroke for her. She is betrayed personally, by the people at large, and learns that her chosen path of helping people of the world has a price that is nearly too hard to bear. That she does it anyway gives pride in the character, but it's so sad. It's really well done, and if it's a night where you can handle melancholy, watch this. ::sniffsniff::

On a happy note: the music can be very pretty. I might find the sheet music for the piano piece. Also, yeah, her companions are definitely some nice eye candy. It depends on your type, but the few times they end up topless, it's a little distracting. They don't really have any bit comedy to help, and it would ruin the series if they did, but the eye candy softens the blow a little sometimes. All in all, this is pretty Great!

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Working On: Samurai 7

Negima!?: Master Negi Magi

Genre: Comedy/Romance
Age Appropriate: Pre-teens/Teens
Emotional Response: Awww. How cute! Go get 'em, team!
Notable Features: cute girls, mages, vampire, 10 year old teacher
Language: English
Length: 2 seasons, 26 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Pretty Good :)

"...in a good way." - Matsu

Negi Springfield is an apprentice wizard sent to Mahora Academy to teach a class full of pre-teen girls (31, actually). He is working on his magic apprenticeship with the goal of finding his father, The Thousand Master! The twist? Negi Springfield is 10 years old. However, he IS a wizard. There is a prohibition on him showing his magic at school, but the series basically follows how much he doesn't succeed at this. In order to avoid the wrath of the Academy of Magic, Negi goes into "probationary contracts" with the students who discover that he's a wizard. Each contract comes with "Pactio cards," which determine the form that each girl will take when called upon. The drama twists more because the only way for the girls to enter into a probationary contract is by kissing Negi! It helps that most of his class think he's adorable.

The Academy of Magic keeps their eye on him with the help of two funny looking characters: Shichimi and Motsu. While they look like a cartoon cat and a badly drawn frog, they're surprisingly adept at popping up at just the wrong moment for Negi. As Negi doesn't willy-nilly show off his magic, his magic failures only really happen in emergency situations while fighting/saving girls from whatever villian is around. This leads to the unending line of girls that end up on Team Negi - who masquerade as the Chupa(cabra) Club.

The villains range from a vampire stuck on the island to and evil fairy who takes over minds. There is a desperate search for the pieces of a magical crystal, a mysterious baron and a shady professor friend who is obsessed with ramen. There is even a ferret-looking "fairy" companion with a dirty mind.
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First, two words: HARRY POTTER

Moving on:
I actually re-watched this one to write the review. That wasn't the best idea. There are some things you can watch over and over again and enjoy and some that just feel redundant. That aside, I really do like Negima!? It's sweet and innocent - certainly more innocent that Ouran High School Host Club! A lot of this series involved head-smacking situations and comments by the girls - who show a great range of stupidity to keen intelligence and compassion. If you can think of a "typical" stereotype tween - geek to popular girl - they are likely represented...in a good way. Seriously. There are so many little things for each girl that are entirely amusing that I can't actually write them all down and have this end up being a pointless review.

It starts a little slow. Usually, I'm wishing for more episodes, but this one is a little too drawn out. Or, maybe, this is just one not meant for immediate consumption. There is a certain amount of light dirty humor, but a lot of it would probably fly over a younger person's head - frequently either the overly dramatic narrator or the dirty little ermine. Key Note: The are hilarious references to pop culture that should be watched for (e.g. Rocky Horror Picture Show), if you can find them. The music is fun, though. The opening theme starts out sounding like an old school video game. I would say this is a great follow up to a serious drama anime. The best though? The writing on the wall. Literally. There is writing on walls, chalk boards, signs, floating in the air...etc, and it's always hilarious and bizarre. I enjoy watching Negima!? just for that! It's all just a bunch of cute. Not my favorite anime ever, but a nice diversion nonetheless.

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And now....: Neo Angelique Abyss

*SPECIAL NOTE: In an effort to be less crazy, I'm going to be more consistent. Reality being that I really can't watch that much anime at once with limited overlap. SO, I'll only be posting reviews Monday and Thursdays. 

Ouran High School Host Club

Genre: Comedy/Romance
Age Appropriate: Teens
Emotional Response: *giggles*
Notable Features: cute boys, cross-dressing, young love
Language: English
Length: 2 seasons, 26 episodes
Overall Recommendation: YAY!

"The Ouran High School Host Club is a place where the school's handomest boys, with too much time on their hands, entertain young ladies, who also have too much time on their hands." - Tamaki-senpai

Ouran High School Host Club features Haruhi Fujioka, a freshman entering Ouran Academy on scholarship (therefore a "commoner"). Haruhi, confused by this new world of rich kids, runs away to Music Room #3, in an effort to find somewhere quiet to study, and discovers the Ouran High School Host Club. The club members are completely confused by Haruhi's presence and somehow in their inquiry Haruhi accidentally break a Y8,000,000 vase! As such, Kyoya Otori - the clubs VP and money man - calculates Haruhi's debt and offers a job as the Host Club's "dog" (read: gopher), until the debt is paid. The "dog" however cannot be seen in the shorts and baggy sweatshirt that Haruhi is wearing and upon removing Haruhi's glasses, Tamaki - the President - falls madly in love with Haruhi's eyes. The Twins - Kaoru and Hikaru are immediately set to the task fo make-over and Haruhi comes out SO adorable tha the club insists that he be made into a host instead...BUT WAIT! During a costume change something strange happens! While changing into a new uniform, Haruhi gets walked in on and OH MY! He's a She!

And so begin the shenanigans of the Ouran High School Host Club....

The series features different sterotypical character types which the boys play off of when they are meeting with their lovely female clients. They are, as follows: Tamaki Soua (The Princely Type), Kyoya Otori (The Cool Type), Mitskune Honenozuka (Boy Lolita), Takashi Morinozuka (The Strong, Silent Type), The Twins - Kauro and Hikaru Hitachiin (Mischevious Type), and Haruhi Fujioka (The Natural). They all have their parts to play in the club and each character gets specific attention, primarily as related to Haruhi. The supporting cast (Renge- the manager and resident Otaku girl, Ranka - Haruhi's Dad, The Lobelia Girls - from a nearby academy) add a little extra fun to each episode. It is Tamaki's goal of making every girl happy that leads them into many early adventures, and expands as the boys progress through high school.

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*Swoon* Oh, the boys of the Ouran High School Host Club. I think I have a girl-crush on half of them - none more so than Mori-senpai. Go figure. They all have their own appeal to any girl. Honey-senpai IS adorable, in a snuggly little brother kind of way. Otori-senpai is super cool and manipulative - great for girls who enjoy guys with a cool aptitude for being in powerful, behind the scenes roles. Mori-senpai, a brooding silent type who is the constant companion to Honey-senpai, and actually has the most inconveniently distracting poses. The Hitachiin Twins are cute and mischevios, like 5 year olds who've realized that they can have more fun as young adults, but they play up their taboo homosexual tendencies to a T, and therefore feel less accessible as girl-crush material for me. Tamaki, while pretty, actually is kind of a moron. Haruhi is a cute, young lady who somehow gains the respect/heart of each club member. This group of hilarity really opens up some warm-hearted joy and giggles.

Like most anime comedy series, OHHC begins as something funny, with no pressure to have a deep meaning. It was a mix of making me laugh and making me giggle like a 13 year old. I adore this anime. It was a great break from the previous entries which were really serious, and somewhat horrifying. Bit by bit, the story edges toward coming-of-age and teen drama, but it never loses it's innocence. Even in the end, there is no major, stressful emotions invokes, and it works. The purpose of the Teen rating is actually for some of the homosexuality references that may be more appropriate for teens. I hesitate to write more, because I'll start giving things away. SO! I recommend this whole-heartedly to any girl (or guy!) looking for something fun, stress-free and giggly. Super Highly Recommended. I've even considered it for Top 5, but we'll see.

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Next!: Negima!?: Master Negi Magi

Elfen Lied

Genre: Action/Drama
Age Appropriate: Older teens+/Adults
Emotional Response: Wow, look at all that blood.
Notable Features: Blood, psychic killer, clueless teens
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 12 epoisodes
Overall Recommendation: WTF

"Nyu?" - Nyu/Lucy

Elfen Lied opens with a mysterious woman in a serial killer/Silence of the Lambs situation. She's naked with a creepy helmet, somehow supposedly protection for others. When guards enter, as she telepathically begins bending the bars on her prison, she begins telepathically ripping them apart. Blood everywhere, bones visibile, head popping off and hearst exploding out of chests is pretty common as she makes her escape out whatever facility she's been held in. Guards attempt to stop her, and fail miserable (hence the telepathic dismemberment) and she gets out of the prison with a little mysterious help with last door. At some point she removes her helmet and we see a young woman with pink hair, and pink, discerning eyes. As she leaves she's shot in the head by a sniper, but apparently misses the vital shot, and she jumps into the sea.

Next, we see Kohta and Yuka - young college Freshman - meeting up at a station and walking together to what will be Kohta's house, a former traditional Japanese restaurant owned by Yuka's family. This ends up being the home-base of sorts for the easier storylines. When Yuka and Kohta visit the beach they happen upon a mysterious girl, who says nothing but "Nyu," and bright eyes, and pink hair. The take pity on her situation and bring her home. At this point, we realize she's the deadly girl from the beginning and drama ensues, and it seems that she's lost her memory.

There is a mad scientist or two, a mercenary/military bad guy, a young homeless girl, another young girl like "Nyu" (a "diclonius") and an adorable dog!  Between certain characters' bizarre memory loss, a strange romantic obsession between the mains and breaking through brainwashing with the girls, this series has a lot of complicated situations, if not a complicated storyline.
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First off, let me say that while there are some nude girl scenes, they are in general not in any sexual nature - usually during a bad situation or a comedic situation. My primary focus on the Older Teen/Adult rating was the high level of outrageously bloody, disturbing violence and dismemberment in scenes where Nyu becomes her other self. I, personally, prefer implied beheadings than looking at a head psychically popped off and floating around with bright red blood pouring out of the bottom. Maybe that's just me?

At some points I felt that the story was going kind of slow, and with the two storylines taking so long to converge, it seems somewhat disjointed. While I certainly see the appeal to some audiences, this series was not for me. Unlike HOTD, this didn't pull me in at the end, making me see the anime series light, as it were. The ridiculous grotesque bodies really give it the WTF rating, but it is a whole different type of messed up from Rin. I personally wouldn't recommend it to mini-geek girls like me, and definitely don't recommend it for anytime after the sun goes down. In the end, the best part of the series (and it is a seriously awesome part) is the opening theme "Lilium."
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Next time on....: Ouran High School Host Club