Kaze No Stigma

Genre: Action
Age Appropriate: Teen
Emotional Response: exciting and hilarious - maybe a little confused
Notable Features: magic, demons, elemental spirits, family issues, cops
Language: English
Length: 2 seasons, 24 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Heck Yeah


"Ka! Zu! Ma!" - Angry Ayano

Kazuma Yagami, formerly Kazuma Kannagi, is a wind magic user. He's a 20-something upstart with a cocky attitude but hidden depths. He was kicked out of his family for his inability to use fire magic. The series opens with his return to his home, and the events that follow his arrival. At first the family believes that he is killing members as revenge, but in the end it's discovered that there is someone else behind things. He has a terrible relationship with his father, but a reasonable relationship with his uncle, the head of the Kannagi family. On top of that, his younger brother, Ren, is excited about Kazuma's return! Most of the family looks upon him with disdain, but Ren is just happy he's around. Kazuma's driving force to help the family is money, as a mercenary he works for anyone who makes enough, but his uncle makes the observation that by charging money, Kazuma can help without losing face.

 His cousin, Ayano, follows his around with a mix of irritation at his being a traitor and a potential crush that she's in denial about. Ayano adds an element of coming of age story. Kazuma and Ayano often end up in battles together where her impetuousness gets her in trouble, but Kazuma uses some of those battles to teach her lessons about her magic. As the heir of the Kannagi family, she has the family fire sword and a wealth of power for her age. She just needs a little growing up until she's really ready for responsibility. Whenever there isn't a serious situation/episode, there is a decent about of shenanigans from Ayano and her friends. Somehow, Kazuma also picks up a pixie friend. On top of it all is a hilarious plot to get Ayano and Kazuma together by Juga - the head of the family.

Most of the evil villains are different versions of yoma demons or elemental beasts. Kazuma uses his magic, given to him by a contract with the Spirits of the Wind, to defeat the enemies. There is some hidden reason behind Kazuma's return and many of his actions throughout the series. There are flashbacks and foreshadowing around his reasons and the progression of events. In the end, it's this part of the story that provides the climax and reasons behind everything that happens.

-----

Kaze No Stigma is so ridiculously emotional, but in a good way. There is a decent amount of comedy mixed in between the serious episodes and storyline. Kazuma is kind of arrogant, but since he's got so much power he seems to deserve some of it. Ayano is a sassy brat girl constantly getting into trouble. They're pretty much a match made in heaven. That seems to be a driving force of the series, too. With Juga's persistent plotting to get them together, in order to Kazuma back in the family, there are a good number of episodes pretty much dedicated to how things can get messed up pretty easily when the both of them involved. The weirdest part is how the beginning of the series starts seriously, with magic and set ups and family tragedy, but then there is a huge chunk that is just stupid-funny, and embarrassing.

The ending is kind of disjointed, and maybe a little extreme. Almost like the writers thought to themselves "Oh, yeah. We're supposed to have a point."It's probably the reason it didn't get some better rating. It was sudden. The end story isn't bad, though. In general, I liked this one. The occasional, complicated technology integrated with magic is kind of cool. Kazuma, in theory, is crush worthy, although not my type personally. There are certainly some good action magical fight scenes for your viewing pleasure. At the very least, it was a nice follow up to Dance in the Vampire Bund. Demon King Daimao and this are making it all better. So, yeah, go ahead and watch it.

-----

What's up?: Miracle  Train

Demon King Daimao

Genre: Comedy
Age Appropriate: Older Teen
Emotional Response: Hilarious
Notable Features: magic, demon king, a dragon, youthful misunderstandings
Language: English/Japanese
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: YAY!

"It's just a big misunderstanding!" - Akuto Sai

Oh, Akuto Sai. The poor kid starts as a transfer student at Constant Magic Academy. He meets his first friend, Hattori, on the train there, and she goes through a solemn ceremony to pledge their friendship. Constant Academy is very Hogwarts-like. There is a mix of magic and technology, magic classes, and the most important - a career sorting crow. This crow predicts the career the student will have in the future, and because this is an anime: Akuto Sai is determined to be the future Demon King (much different from the priest he wanted to be). After hearing this Hatori takes back her pledge and begins attaching him (after said youthful misunderstandings), and Hiroshi (friend #2) declares that Akuto is now his big brother.

Then there is a young redhead (Kena) who may, or may not, be an old friend from the past, a evil witchgirl (Eto) who wants to be by Akuto's side as he theoretically takes over the world and has a spirit ghost brother inhabiting a severed head, and a student council with strange connections. To top it all off, Horone is an android secret surveillance agent who follows her orders very seriously (including an episode of attempted seduction) and moves into Akuto's life, stalker style. When Akuto's powers begin to surface and the gang goes on an interesting treasure hunt, Peter Hausen arrives - a dragon who is the servant of the Demon King.

All of these characters, and more, lead to the supposed destruction of the world and domination of the Demon King. While Akuto's ideas are occasionally misconstrued as Demon King-like, it is often either a misunderstanding or something societally rebellious which is also misunderstood. He seems to have no desire to be the Demon King or act in a way that people feel he should as a Demon King. While demon beasts start cropping up after his powers start to awaken, he's often not the catalyst to an attack - AND Brave, a mysterious hero, makes the news with his demon beast battles. All of this leads to the endgame of Demon King destruction.

-----

If you haven't figured it out, I love this anime. It's short and sweet and hilarious. There are a lot of inappropriate goings on - mostly accidental but wow - and a lot of awkward moments. I feel bad for Akuto pretty much the whole time, and the female shenanigans are quite amusing. I don't really have a lot to share about the anime because it is relatively short, and it seems like the whole plot is really just a vehicle for the hilarity (rather than the other way around). I cared a lot less about what would happen with world destruction than what Korone was going to do next - and how Akuto would survive it.
Korone's creepy obsession with Akuto, and her living in his closet paired with her robotic speech and lack of understanding regarding bluntness, are some of the best parts.

There was a whole lot of head smacking going on, and some actual lol'ing. Don't expect anything important or deep out of this anime, but watch it. The end does get exciting! It's all a little weird and somewhat hard to follow, but I did find myself cheering the Demon King on! There is even a surprise twist (that's actually a surprise)! Seriously. It's awesome - not enough for a Top 5 but highly recommended.

-----

Now back to our regular programming: Kaze No Stigma

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.

----

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.

----

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

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.
--------

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.

--------

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.

---------

*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.

---------

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.
----------

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."
-------

Next time on....: Ouran High School Host Club

High School of the Dead

Genre: Action/Drama
Age Appropriate: Older teens+
Emotional Response: gross, sadness, anticipation, GO TEAM
Notable Features: ZOMBIES
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Not bad

"I like turtles" - Hirano

High School of the Dead is essentially what it sounds like. It's an anime series about a group of high school students battling the living dead, aka ZOMBIES. You can't have a review of anime series without zombies, right? The zombies are traditional, stumbling, bumbling, mindless creatures who only respond to sounds. The infection/disease is spread through bites. The transition doesn't take very long, actually. The only difference between this anime series and a typical zombie movies is live action vs. animation.

There is a set of main characters that meet up in the first few episodes; primarily focused on Rei and Takashi - a set of friends with an unbalanced romance. Each group member has a specific role to play: geek weapons guy, kendo captain, school doctor...etc. They attempt to make their way to safety outside the high school while picking up stray survivors along the way. The main focus of their travels is to reach each other's families in the hopes that their parents are still alive, and throughout their journey they ride on motorbikes, drive an SUV, jump fences, and have multiple group battles agains the evil dead forces.

I'm shocked, really, at how much I ended up liking this series. I admit my primary decision to watch it was because I realized that I've pretty much liked everything I've reviewed and wanted to give myself a chance to delve into something I wasn't sure about. Oops. I'm still not a huge fan of zombie movies, but if I had to, this would work for me. Perhaps it's just live action zombies I don't enjoy.

The characters are actually pretty intense, and when they're not brooding and yelling, they're doing ridiculously inappropriate things. Sometimes the timing felt a little off for shenanigans but they were definitely necessary to make it through. There are quite a few T&A shots, in true anime fashion. Good anime for typical guys actually.

While I felt that it started a little slow and depressing, by the end I was shouting encouraging things at the characters - because, you know, that helps. Some of those fight scenes were pretty cool. Given the zombie battlegrounds, there was plenty of grossness, but not as much as you might expect. I've definitely seen worse. I think my "Older Teens" rating is much more for lewdness than violence. Recommended for zombie fanboys and girls with zombie fanboy boyfriends - or zombie fangirls.

-------

Next for Mini-Geek Girl: Elfen Lied

La storia della Arcana Famiglia

Genre: Action/Drama
Age Appropriate: Pre-teens+
Emotional Response: a little fun, a little sad, a little GIRL POWER
Notable Features: Family, Mafia, magic powers
Language: Japanese - Eng Sub
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Not bad

La storia della Arcana Famiglia follows a young woman names Felicita, the daughter of Papa Mondo (the family head/"father") in a coming of age story loosely based on stereotypical mafia depictions. The "arcana" comes in with each major character having a specific magic power that comes with a contract agreed upon with an arcana card (from tarot). For example, Felicita's power is discovered to be The Lovers, which grants her the ability to see into other people's hearts.

The story begins with Papa speaking to the famiglia on his birthday, annoucing a family-wide battle for the right to be the next Papa, any wish granted, and Felicita's hand in marriage. This causes a great disturbance as the other men in the family now have to battle it out in a Duella Arcana, but also have various reactions to the idea of marrying Fel. The twist in this basic plot? Felicita, as an arcana holder herself, also gets to battle it out with everyone - securing her own future. With the agreement of her young friends, Nova and Liberta, they will fight to win and either of the boys will agree to make their wish freeing Felicita from marriage.

As Fel and her mother, Sumire, are the only females in the cast, the extensive cast features males of all types - each with their own abilities. The storyline focuses some part on the early lives of each character to some degree - all of which lead to their reasons for wanting to win.
---------

La storia della Arcana Famiglia is actually a pretty good coming of age story for a teen girl  - thus making it actually a relatively appropriate story for a pre-teen. The guys hit on each typical type a girl might be interested in, too! There really isn't any "eye candy" per se, as there are no inappropriate shots, but the attitudes say it all. For the most part though, I found that I was rooting for Fel to kick butt with girl power, and what was left was rooting for Liberta and Nova, knowing that they were planning to help a girl out. Still, even my own emotions were conflicted between the two boys. At no point did I find myself wanting her to end up with any of the other characters, but as it was supposed to be that way, I guess it's ok.

It's a pretty fun anime in general, but I really had no strong feelings about the story or the characters. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't compelling enough for me to shout out to the internet "WATCH THIS NAO!" For that it got a "Not bad" review. Because it really is "not bad," but I don't think I'll feel the need to watch it a second time. If I went with my typical movie reviews, I would say it was worth a matinee. For anime, I'm happy to watch it for free, but I won't be buying it.

-----------
Next Time: High School of the Dead

Tears to Tiara

Genre: Action/Comedy
Age Appropriate: Pre-teens+

Emotional Response: laughter, fun, excitement

Notable Features: Magic, epic battles, King Arthur, dragons!

Language: English
Length: 2 parts, 26 episodes total
Overall Recommendation: Top 5

"Whack, whack! They defeat the enemy!"

Tears to Tiara is an epic-type anime including Arthur, elves, magic and one Demon King to boot. It's actually quite an extensive cast. It's a story of the Gael clan (Irish) versus the "Diving Empire"(Roman), and the Gael clan's opposition to the Empire's occupancy.

The story begins when Arthur's sister, Riannon, is kidnapped by an Empire toady as a sacrifice to awaken the Demon King - with the expectation that the Demon King will help the little peon take over the world (of course). To force her cooperation, he uses small children to force Riannon to give up her "true name," thus granting power over her. True names are important later too. So, Arthur returns to their village, meets up with his clansmen and harries off to save Riannon from her terrible fate. As fate would have it, the Demon King awakens! A true turn of events appears when we discover that he's a pretty cool guy, with no interest in taking over the world with the jerk who stole Riannon. So, Arawn - The Demon King! - saves Riannon by waking her up in her magical dream state, kills the evil doer and then must face her brother Arthur. To save Arawn from having to fight Arthur - or save Arthur from hurting Lord Arawn - Riannon gives Arawn her red scarf. It is a symbol of clan leadership, essentially marrying Riannon to Lord Arawn and making him clan cheiftain. There is much bickering between the two until Arawn points out the problem of evil dead creatures coming after them. In their fleeing they hook up with Saint Ogham (mage) and fight their way out....it just gets more complicated from there.

The cast builds then to the elves, the emperials, another clan, some spare dragons, a necromancer, white spirits and a terrible foe. Also included: epic LOTR battles. Well, mini LOTR battles on the island of Albion (England), at the castle of Avalon.

-------------

This is totally in my Top 5! It was a great follow up to the messed up-edness of Rin. It's funny, and exciting, and a little sad. I even loved the soundtrack - which is rare as I don't usually notice one. It's that kind of music that's heartening during a fancy speech or the end of the battle and haunting during sad parts and the beginning of battle.

I love the relationships between the characters. The whole brotherhood, warrior comraderie (not strictly for boys!) and family strength is awesome. If you look deep enough, and feel like seeing it, there's a little romance between Morgan and Octavia, maybe. Otherwise, not much blantant romance going on. It really does hit on a number of traditional characters needed for a good epic story. Serious when it needed to be, but fun when it didn't. It was one of those anime series that was really easy to get sucked into. I'm not sure if was the was terrible accents (haha) or the fact that it was in English, but my husband couldn't keep away from watching/listening. So, yeah. Highly recommended for the whole family. I only added a Pre-Teen rating because it can get a little bloody, but I think that the violence is softened with it being animated. So, if you need something light hearted (especially if you've been following along and just watched Rin ::shudder::), watch this. Srsly.

---------

Next Up: La storia della Arcana Famiglia

Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne

Genre: Drama/Action
Age Appropriate: ADULT
Emotional Response: Confusion, intrigue, car-wreck fascination
Notable Features: Immortals, evil angel creatures, disturbing
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 6 episodes (45min)
Overall Recommendation: WTF?

"Vodka is water in Russian, you know." - Mimi

Rin: The Daughters of Mnemosyne follows a woman named Rin, who is immortal due to altering by a "time fruit." This makes her immortal (females only), and leaves her vulnerable to the evil angels (male only; only called angels because of their winged appearance). Rin Asougi works as a private detective with her handy assistant, Mimi - also an immortal, and their new friend Koki. Each episode is shown at a different time - mostly exemplified in Koki's aging. Rin and Mimi seem to have a different kind of relationship as well.

The immortality/angelhood is the result of having a time fruit from the tree Yygdrasil. Apos, the seemingly evil primary antagonist is a sadistic other being who eats the tree fruits by stealing them from women and angels. There is a significant amount of adult-age material involved with Apos and his minions. For most of the series the Apos' endgame is a mystery, but in the end all is revealed. As it's a short series with only 6 episodes, I'll refrain from giving any more details.

-------

Rin: The Daughters of Mnemosyne is probably the most messed up anime I've seen. EVER.
I've seen a lot of bloody anime, and a lot of psychologically horrific anime. The mix of good and evil, grotesque blood and torture, and screwed up sexuality really bring together a confusion unparalleled by any other anime I can recall to date. The content is probably something I would only see in anime form. While the series isn't about sexuality issues, they are certainly present. I could see this running late night Showtime style, but maybe under a Horror setting.

It's actually really well done. I'd seen it before, but not in awhile. Somehow, it's more disturbing having seen it once already. I'm not sure how that works. The ending was a little meh, but if this type of show might be within your genre preferences, and you don't have a particularly weak stomach, I might recommend it. It's definitely psychologically taxing, but so was SAW and Titus. Just don't mistake it for something else in the beginning. I gave it a WTF? rating simply because I thought it a good warning for people only interested in easier to normal life anime series. *THIS IS NOT FOR CHILDREN*

---------

Next Time:  Tears to Tiara

Nabari No Ou

Genre: Action/Comedy
Age Appropriate: Jr. High (violence)
Emotional Response: Wry amusement, heartbreak
Notable Features: NINJAS, and magic
Language: English
Length: 2 seasons, 12/13 ep. each
Overall Recommendation: Top 5


Nabari No Ou follows Miharu, a young teen with an apathetic outlook on life, who becomes the focus of attention of one teacher and a high school classmate. Fairly early, Miharu is told that he is the holder of the Shinra Bonshou - a powerful ninja scroll that contains the power to rule all of the Nabari world (NINJAS!). This power is coveted by all, including two factions of ninjas presented as good guys and bad guys. His teacher, Tobari, has secrets about Miharu's past but will stop at nothing to keep him from using the awful power of the Shinra Bonshou.

Despite Miharu's lack of affect, he has quite the mischievous personality. He pulls minor pranks, and uses his boyish charm to get his way - from getting someone's agreement, to distracting them from seeing him as a threat. Most of his actual pranks end up aimed at Tobari-sensei. Together, with his new band of ninja friends, Miharu struggles against the antagonistic ninjas. The only exception: Yoite, a young man seemingly slightly older than Miharu, who holds a different, powerful ninja technique: Kira.  This technique uses the bearers life force to control the body functions of others, mostly as pain. Yoite is being used as a threat/enforcer/torturer type minion because of his technique. However, part of the series highlights the price he has to pay - which leads to his request of Miharu. Somehow, the two become inseparable. Their similar painful experiences bring them together and both Miharu and Yoite fight against their respective leaders for each other.

--------

I don't really now how to explain my feelings toward this series. I think it's probably my favorite, if not then in the Top 5. It is, yet again, one of the few things I've watched that has made me want to, or outright, cry. I watched a second time to write this review, and I can say without doubt that watching it the second time was more heartrending than the first. Much like reading a book again, there is foreshadowing and anticipation one might not otherwise notice. Most of the humor, I found to be smirky, rather then LOL. There are a few times in the end where the seriousness is overwhelming enough that a little joke here or there saves the day. Sometimes I just wanted to punch characters though.

As long as you're not offended by blood and violence, this is probably ok as a PG-13 type series. The themes are deeper than most younger series, but there is no innuendo anywhere to be found. Romance plays no role, outside of some implied yaoi, but you really have to notice it to notice it. It's almost like watching America's Funniest Home Videos as a kid and realizing that some of those jokes were pretty bad when you're an adult.

My best recommendation to have the full experience is to watch as much of it in one sitting as possible. There is definitely something lost in watching only one or two episodes at a time, particularly if there is a significant period between sittings. Go forth and watch. If nothing else, it has NINJAS.

-----------

Next series: Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne

Familiar of Zero/Familiar of Zero F

Genre: Comedy/Fantasy
Age Appropriate: High School (innuendo)
Emotional Response: Lots of laughter, a few tears
Notable Features: Mages, girls, and dragons (oh my!)
Language: Japanese - English Sub
Length: 4 seasons, 12-13 episodes each
Overall Recommendation: FTW


Familiar of Zero follows a young man. around 15-16, who is summoned by Louise the Zero - a mage girl around the same age, in a different world - Halkeginia. Louise is called Zero because of her abysmal magical abilities, which frequently end up just blowing things up. Each mage will summon their familiar once they hit a certain age/level, usually a creature from their world, with whom they will form a bond and can help them with their individual magical talents. Of course, what fun would it be for an anime if things went normally, right? Louise somehow manages not only to get a familiar from a different world, but a human!

Louise's world is fantasy-based with dragons, elves, mages, sprites, spirits...etc. They don't have modern day technology and has a noble/peasant system - Queens & Popes included.

The young man in question is Hiraga Saito. As a modern day young man from our world, he understands technology, doesn't originally speak the language in Halkeginia and has no practical concept of monarchical systems. He understands them, intellectually, but doesn't understand why anyone would live that way. This makes for many amusing fights between Louise and Saito, and with the other characters as they all get to know each other. As a bunch of high school students a significant part of the beginnings of each season includes shenanigans.

The story develops more seriously as it is discovered that Louise is a Void Mage (some myterious mage powers that are way cooler than normal mages, but are more difficult and require assistance - like her fancy new familiar, titled Gandalfr/Gundulf depending on translation. There is an evil here and an evil there, a fight between neighboring countries and cultural misunderstandings everywhere. Magical Fireworks Abound!

--------------

The relationships between girls and guys are hilarious and primarily based off stereotypical dramatic situations between high school kids. Really, my decision to put a "high school" age recommendation is because of innuendo and some accidental/purposeful groping. I would even lower the age recommendation to jr. high age, if it is a mature 12-13 year old. There is no actual adult content.

It really is mostly a comedy of errors, but as you get to the climax of each season the tone can change dramatically. The final season is much the same, but not. While the first three seasons have a good share of anxious moments, and developing feelings against the evil villian, it's the last season that is a huge emotional hit. It's a good example of why I describe anime as cartoons but for adults. It made me cry twice, which is unusual. A huge success for any anime series experience is that you actually feel what the creators intended you to feel.

I would definitely recommend watching this!  Episodes are 20+ minutes, so be prepared to get sucked in an accidentally watch a season on a friday night or sunday afternoon!

------------

Feedback Request: PLEASE! Let me know what you think. I'm mostly wondering about the lists at the top. The basics as it were: Are they ok? Should I add something? Remove something? Find a way to make it more clever.

~Thanks~
Mini-Geek Girl


-----------

Next Viewing: Nabari no Ou

Mini-Geek Girl

As a bit of a outcast/wierdo/freak in my early years - ok, all of my life - I've been interested in video games, sci-fi/fantasy novels, one LARP attempt and on occasion an interest in anime.
Here is where a my definition of mini-geek comes in. Of all of the above interests, I've never been creepily obsessed.

The best way I've thought of to desribe what I mean this: I know details about WOW, but likely will never play the game. I've love RPG video games, but would sometimes prefer to watch them be played than play them myself (seriously, for hours. It's like real-time TV). I appreciate Star Wars, but I don't have the number of toys, shirts, books that other people in my family have. I have an iPad that is mostly full of books. I play Diablo, but have no interest whatsoever in the auction houses. I just want to play a video game!

So, I'm a mini-geek. Almost a geek companion, I suppose. From this perspective, my previous (and current) significant others have found me to be AWESOME. ;)

I started this blog because I've recently obtained a new obsession with anime. I watch it on the internet, via apps on my iPad, and a few on DVD. Subbed or Dubbed makes no different to me, although like in most things, I have genres that I prefer.

I wanted to start a review blog. Something that reviews anime I've seen or will see, but for girls (or anyone, I guess) as new to the wide world of anime as I am. I want to look at rating things in different levels, instead of just stars. I want to present them in a way that I think some of my friends might find new series they like, and I know they'd appreciate. I might even get some uninterested people interested. So, why not start a blog and open it up to everyone?