Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal!

メリークリスマス!

¡Feliz Navidad!

Joyeux Noël!

Fröhliche Weihnachten! Read the rest of this entry »

The Gurren-dan motto of pushing and smashing every obstacle in the way has never seemed more sinister.

But then, sinister and provoking is the kind of storytelling that Kaiji does best.

Kaiji is essentially out of the frying pan and into the furnace. Though he’s escaped with his life from the Espoir, the conditions are pretty dismal. Read the rest of this entry »

Click to see it full-size

So I finally got around to checking out ADV’s new online streaming video service, and I have to say, I’m pretty impressed.

There are some issues with the player itself, as well as the translations, but hey, you can’t complain too much when it’s free. Overall it seems like an excellent first foray into the wild world of digital distribution; one that has huge potential for growing the number of fans who follow newer anime, and thus the industry as a whole.

Detailed breakdown and analysis after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

That’s right, I said “winners”. Since we ended up having so many responses to our contest, I felt bad only giving away one prize.

To make up for it, in addition to the $30 Amazon online gift certificate grand prize, we decided to also throw in a $15 second place prize! Read the rest of this entry »

RAMPAGING HIT-N-RUN TRUCK

Description: This deranged killer has been sighted in a number of different anime attempting to run down innocent pedestrians in the road. The majority of the victims are female, usually young, and usually distracted from the oncoming peril by some form of emotional trauma as they run blindly into the road.

Methodology: The killer is known to frequently honk his horn just prior to viciously running down his victim. If the kill attempt is unsuccessful, usually the result of a last second flying tackle executed by the nearest relative or osananajimi, the driver has also been known to yell at the intended victim before speeding away, in an attempt to intimidate or otherwise convince them that the incident is somehow their own fault for running into the street.

Witnesses have reported that there are no attempts to brake or take any evasive action, nor does the driver slow down or stop afterward. This a clearly the work of a deranged serial hit-and-run murderer. Be warned: this killer strikes without warning, and can appear at any time, in any anime.

If you have sighted the truck in question, please notify the authorities immediately. This renegade psychopath must be stopped at all costs.

Our Christmas Contest is still ongoing. I will be drawing names from those who commented to select a winner tomorrow, exactly one week after the contest began, so for those who haven’t left a comment yet, this is a friendly reminder to answer the four questions so that you have a shot at the $30 Amazon gift certificate we’re giving away.

And of course, if you’d rather not enter in the contest for whatever reason, please still do go ahead and leave us any suggestions you may have. Just make a note in your comment that you’d rather not be included in the drawing.

In addition, I’m pleased to announce the winner of the other $30 gift certificate, which goes to the person who made the 500th comment on the site. Read the rest of this entry »

Hooray, finally an episode in which Satori-chan gets to shine. And shine she does…mmmMmm tasty! =3

OK, so maybe it’s not quite Haruhi caliber costume raping, but Kirino and Saya’s genki/aggressive tactics (it’s like passive/aggressive but a lot happier) in trying to recruit Satori to the kendo club are definitely nothing less than epic.

I couldn’t help but laugh every time the two of them would randomly ambush poor Satori and kidnap her off to the dojo. Read the rest of this entry »

I haven’t blogged about Bamboo Blade much since I first reviewed it in our fall rankings post, but that doesn’t mean it’s fallen off my radar.

Without a doubt, Bamboo Blade is still one of the best shows of the season. Along with Minami-ke, it’s one of those rare comedies that manages to stay consistently funny while also keeping the jokes and the story fresh. And unlike many pure comedies, Bamboo Blade has it’s share of awesome action moments to mix things up a bit.

Without a doubt, however, the main selling point of the series is in the characters themselves. Without Kirino’s nekoguchi :3, Tama-chan’s O_O, and Miya-Miya’s yandere the show wouldn’t be half as funny as it is. And half the time when I start laughing, it’s not because of some tsukkomi punchline or obscure otaku joke, it’s just because Tamaki made another funny face.

Visual comedy has always been a very mixed bag, but this year seems to have given us a great selection of series that excel in it. In addition to Bamboo Blade, Potemayo and Lucky Star come readily to mind. Read the rest of this entry »

The last major cast member of Moyashimon is introduced in episode 6, and a hot one at that! Voiced by Noto Mamiko to boot! This show just keeps getting better and better.

(Yes yes, I’m well aware of what happens in episode 8. I have to keep the spoilers to a minimum, however, since Guff has to wait for the subs, as do many of our readers.)

At any rate, I’m highly pleased with the grand debut of the lovely miss Mutou Aoi. She’s the perfect mix of genki and crazy to round out the already hilarious Moyashimon cast and create more of the unique wacky humor that has made this show fantastic. Read the rest of this entry »

In celebration of the true Christmas spirit (i.e. mindless consumerism), I was pondering what manner of gifts I could ask Santa for. Unfortunately, I don’t really collect figures or other miscellaneous anime merchandise. I do, however, have something of a soft spot for cute plushies.

Yeah plushies, you heard me. Shut up; stop snickering. I love my Mokonas. And I’m still more manly than the combined cast of Gundam 00.

Sadly, most of the things I want as plushies either don’t exist, or aren’t available yet. D:

Thus, in the hopes that Santa Claus will take pity and have his elves craft a couple just for me, I present to you my Christmas Top 10 Plushie Wish List: Read the rest of this entry »