It didn't work

Okay, I thought I had lots of visitors, but the application I was using was broken. Big time.

Anyhow, I'll be going off on winter vacation for a week, so I'll be holding back on posting for a while.

But before that, here's a short review on "Blue Dragon."

From what I saw, I was slightly impressed with Akira Toriyama's characters. However, the English dub is horrible.

Honestly, I thought that VIZ Media would at least keep the original Japanese audio track, but they didn't. They thought only kids would watch it.

But this isn't a good kids dub. This is completely censored and completely awful. If anything, watch this series online. This series is a waste to release on DVD without good audio.

I know this was a pretty sad review, but hey, I wrote what I saw. And what I saw wasn't impressive.

With that said, happy holidays!

I got visitors!

Visitors may have noticed that I put in a cool little stat box on the bottom which shows how many people have visited my blog.

It's the coolest addition, because it proves that I actually have visitors! Yay! Now I should figure out how to keep people here.

So for next year's redesign, expect to definitely see a slide show on my blog, with plenty of sweet pictures.

DVD Review - Twin sister goes on a killing spree

Mion adds spectacular excitement to the anime "When They Cry" with her maniacal killing spree in the second volume.

As we recall from previous episodes, "When They Cry" focuses on Keiichi, a new transfer student in Hinamizawa who likes to hang out with four girls, Rena, Satoko, Rika and Shion. Shion was the tall girl with the green hair.

But who is Mion? Well, Mion is actually Shion's twin sister. And to add confusion in the second story arc, she looks almost exactly like Shion.

Without giving too much away, Mion takes the male lead character, Keiichi, to an ancient shrine during the Watanagashi (Cotton-drifting) festival. They meet up with a photographer named Jiro Tomitake and a nurse named Miyo Takano, who break into the shrine to see the statue of Oyashiro. Oyashiro is the ogre god who could be spiritually killing off people each year after the Watanagashi festival.

In the second story arc, we are introduced to the photographer Tomitake, who also appeared int the previous story arc, before he stabbed his throat with his fingernails. In this story arc, Tomitake once again dies after the festival, and Miyo is missing. Soon Keiichi's elementary school friends wind up missing. After investigating the scene, Keiichi and his friend, Rena, suspect that Shion murdered them all.

Keiichi also discovers that Shion imprisoned her sister, Mion, in a dungeon and was ready to kill her with state-of-the-art torture tools. Shion almost kills Keiichi through a nasty execution procedure, but after some negotiation, Shion turns herself over to the police and Mion is saved. All is well, until the police officer says that Mion is the real killer.

This is a brilliant chapter with some of the most perplexing character twists. Now we know that Shion has an identical twin sister, and we may never know whether Shion is actually Mion, or Mion is actually Shion! This is one of the most shocking plot twists in the series.

And just when things couldn't get worse in Hinamizawa, the third story arc of "When They Cry" features child abuse. Satoko, the elementary school girl, comes with her friend, Rika, to cook for Keiichi. We learn that Satoko used to cook for her brother, Satoshi, who mysteriously disappeared.

But we also learn that Satoko suffers from child abuse. After her parents died, she and her brother lived with her evil uncle, Teppei Hojo. Teppei bosses Satoko around and beats her all the time. Keiichi hears from her doctor, Irie, that Satoko believes that her brother will come back if she goes through this suffering.

Poor Satoko. I wouldn't have even thought that she was as messed up in the head as Rena or Mion. At this point of the series, the blue-haired elementary school girl, Rika, might actually be the only sane character in this series.

Admittedly, this is a brutal anime to watch. However, it plays out like a strange soap opera. In every scenario, lots of people die. However, each story arc is even more fascinating, revealing the tortured past of the girls of Hinamizawa. And I never thought I would say this, but it's entertaining to see how insane all of the children get. This anime features the most unforgettable characters in anime history. Hopefully these kids get a hug after they're finished with this, because they could use some emotional relief.

Image courtesy of radda.wordpress.com

DVD Review - Bodyguard superstar

Sometimes I miss out on some of the best anime around, and Anime Insider magazine gave a good recommendation for this sleeper hit.

"Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit" may be set in ancient Japan, but the action and drama make this one of the coolest samurai anime of this decade.

Morobito begins with Balsa, a tough female warrior with a big spear, returning to Yogo to meet one of her friends. Along the way, Prince Chagum travel on a nearby bridge in a norimono (palanquin carried by four men). However, when the palanquin tips over and Chagum falls into the river, Balsa saves him.

As Balsa continues into the city of Yogo, four samurai encounter her. After fighting with them for a while, the samurai ask for her forgiveness. The samurai actually work for Prince Chagum. Chagum's mother wanted to thank Balsa properly.

Chagum doesn't just give Balsa a good meal and a place to sleep for the night, though. She asks if she could act as the bodyguard for Prince Chagum. The prince was sick, and nothing could cure him, so his mother called on a stargazer to help him. However, Chagum's mother suspects that the stargazer is also hiring other samurai to assassinate Chagum. Long story short, Balsa agrees to protect him.

However, there is more to this drama than it appears. The stargazer has found a water spirit within Chagum. The stargazer predicts that the water spirit could destroy Chagum's father's kingdom. Ironically, according to the legend, only Chagum's father, Emperor Mikado, can kill him. But is the spirit as dangerous as the legend proclaims?

This samurai drama is one of the coolest anime that I have seen this year. At the same time, too many people may pass this up as just another samurai drama. However, the epic scale of the animation, produced by Gonzo, is filled with easily the fastest and most intense samurai battle I have ever seen. The intensity literally rivals that of another samurai series, "Rurouni Kenshin."

Balsa almost dies after her first encounter with assassins, but she manages to rest up at the house of one of her doctor friends. The doctor also lives with a cool-headed priest, who shows off his own warrior skills in the beginning of episode four. The priest is shocked at finding the prince at his home.

The big question is where the story will go next. With an anime as exciting as this, I'm looking forward to watching how this series unfolds.

Image courtesy of haibra.wordpress.com

Slight delay

My anime blog was on vacation temporarily, but don't worry, I'm still watching anime.

Soon I'll review "Morobito: Guardian of the Spirit" and "Higurashi" volume two. So don't worry, I'm still blogging.

...I'm just really stressed out right now.

Christmas shopping guide

Lots of anime DVDs have been released this year, but how do you separate the anime gems from the anime crap? Never fear, for Jonathan Oyama is here to help. Here's some of my personal recommendations for the anime fans for 2008.


Best all-around:
Code Geass

Any giant robot fan will love "Code Geass," the anime which combines the intense action of robot anime with the sinister anti-hero, Lelouch Lamperouge. The series features a compelling plot, in which Lelouch wants to demolish the nation of Brittanica. He wants to put Japan back into power, with himself as the new monarch. And he's bound to cause trouble with his eye, which he can use to control people at will. The series is intriguing, heart-wrenching and bound to stir plenty of controversy for its anti-imperialist message, but it's probably the best anime to be released this year.

For anime movie fans:
5 Centimeters Per Second

While this was one of the only anime films released this year, it is one of the best anime films ever made by Makoto Shinkai. The warm colorful backgrounds are some of the most beautiful ones that I've ever seen in a movie, and they accentuate the soft, gentle tone of this anime about lost love. And although the ending is bound to make some anime fans upset, they cannot deny that the love stories expressed in this anime are some of the most wonderful ones in anime history.
Don't even bother with the live-action Death Note film--"5 Centimeters Per Second" is one of those films that will be remembered for years to come.






















For action anime fans:
Gurren Lagann

Gurren Lagann may have the wackiest art style and the most straightforward plot, but it has some of the coolest robot battles that I've ever seen. The two main characters, Simon and Kamina, are two guys stuck in an underground town, who rise to the surface after discovering a buried robot. Now, with the help of a sniper, Yoko, Simon and Kamina are taking down the evil Gunmen robots to free the world from control of the Spirals. There may be some crude humor, but no one can deny how cool these robot battles are.

For shojo anime fans:
Ouran High School Host Club

Unfortunately, not much shojo anime was released this year. However, Ouran High School Host Club is an absolute gem of a romance. The main character, Haruhi, is probably the coolest anime girl, who can dress up as a guy too. Her guy friends in the Ouran Host Club are just as memorable, with members such as the passionate, overprotective leader Tamaki, the money-grubbing vice president Kyoya, the gay(?) Hitatchiin twins, the cute Honey-senpai and the quiet Takashi Mori.
Sure, it's not the most serious shojo anime I've ever seen, but it is the funniest.






















For horror lovers:
When They Cry

Nothing's scarier than the town of Hinamizawa, where "When They Cry" takes place. One girl is a mental headcase who turns insane, another girl tries to kill her sister, and another girl is suffering from physical abuse. With such a crazy, disturbed cast, no wonder someone always dies in the Watanagushi festival in Hinamizawa every year. Don't worry--one of the girls is trying to stop the killings, but it might be a little difficult to change the fate of a town which may go through a fatal genocide very soon.

For box set lovers:
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

This series literally blew me away in 2007 with its hilarious cast. Haruhi is the bossy teenage girl, completely oblivious to the fact that her mood swings affect the fate of the entire world. Her club, the S.O.S. brigade does everything it can to find extraterrestrial life and have fun with them. Although it has only 12 episodes, the entire series is a blast from start to finish. And now you can get all four DVDs in one box set for only $45.

The bang for your buck award:
Gurren Lagann Part One

This series is a sweet deal. This pack contains the first two Gurren Lagann volumes, which contain 15 episodes of one of the coolest action anime in one box for only $36. There's plenty of other packs with great deals, but I have to give kudos to Bandai for packing the first half of the series in this value set. And anyone who wants the end of the series can just save up another $36 for the second half.

Image courtesy of teenbibliotecaria.blogspot.com, animewriter.wordpress.com, kairu 90.wordpress.com, animeafterglow.wordpress.com, arina1992-lierlied.blogspot.com and freewebs.com

DVD Review: Ouran romance picks up with Tamaki

It's not typical for a girl to be the center of attention with a bunch of guys in a romantic comedy without sparks flying. Thankfully, "Ouran High School Host Club" manages to make the girl the most likable ordinary girl I've ever seen in an anime.

As the female protagonist in "Ouran," Haruhi is the coolest ordinary girl, who helps all her guys out in unexpected ways in volume two.

The second DVD of "Ouran High School Host Club" picks up where the series left off, in the beach trip which followed their trip to the tropical resort. As usual, the men are entertaining the women. However, something changes the entire tone of the series in episode nine.

Two men try to sexually assault the Host Club's girls. Haruhi tries to stand up to them, but she gets thrown into the ocean. Thankfully, Tamaki saves her from drowning.

Still Tamaki is clearly worried about Haruhi's safety and argues that she shouldn't have stood up. He wants her to act more like a woman, but Haruhi is refuses, leading to an awkward dinner scene. Eventually, Haruhi starts to acknowledge that she really is a shy girl who could use her guy friends. And sure enough, Haruhi admits that she does have feelings for Tamaki.

I don't always like romantic comedies, because they're a little more conservative in tone. The female characters are a little excessively subservient to their boyfriends, to the point where I wish they would look for more fishies in the sea. But "Ouran High School Host Club" succeeds with a different message--that it's okay to be an ordinary girl. And even though the upper-class guys of Ouran Host Club are rich ladykillers, it helps to have an ordinary girl to distract them from their lavish lifestyle.

And there are lots of hilarious jokes about the rich folk. As in episode one, the Ouran Host Club is still extremely fascinated with the taste of powdered coffee. The Loubella Girls Academy also comes in a great episode, in which they try to attract Haruhi into their club with their hilarious dancing sequences and flashing neon signs. They also pull off some hilarious yuri (female homosexual love) sequences, in which one of them sports a fake moustache.

"Ouran High School Host Club" may be a ridiculous romantic comedy, but it surprised me with an ordinary female character supported by her rich boyfriends. Even though I still have a few misgivings about Haruhi's flat chest, she's definitely one of the best anime characters of recent years, making this one of the best anime romantic comedies of all time.

By the way, there's a great extra on this DVD. Funimation managed to squeeze in the English voice actors' outtakes in recording for Ouran High School Host Club. These are hilarious outtakes for every episode on this DVD.

Image courtesy of randomc.animeblogger.net