Ah, I’ll admit I’ve been very neglectful of this blog. However, much of that squandered time was used on watching some excellent shows, so I’ll share a few of these with you before the season’s newest offerings start!

Based on the five-volume manga series of the same name, REC is a slice-of-life romantic comedy that ran for nine twelve-minute episodes in February and March of 2006. Salaryman Matsumaru is looking for a little romance in his life just as he meets Aka, an up-and-coming voice actress whose apartment complex just happens to have burnt to the ground. The sympathetic Matsumaru invites her to stay with him for as long as she needs, but he hasn’t bargained on the personality conflicts, sexual tension and cramped living Aka’s intrusion brings into his life. When her career really starts to take off, both need to decide where they want to take their relationship.

This is a relatively unknown series (any fans of Audrey Hepburn will appreciate Aka’s character, for sure) and quite short, but it’s a real gem, directed by Nakamura Ryutaro of Serial Experiments Lain, Sakura Wars and Kino no Tabi. It also features the catchiest opening theme song I’ve heard in a long while. No official English adaptation is planned at the moment (fansubs are around, however), but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone decided to pick it up for a DVD release.

An anime based on popular video game Xenosaga, titled Xenosaga: The Animation, premiered on TV Asahi in Japan on January 5, 2005. The anime itself follows the story of Xenosaga closely, albeit removing several scenes and adding others, and some scenes were entirely re-written for the show’s purposes. It is the year T.C. 4767, and mankind exists on distant planets and artificial colonies. Earth is seemingly gone; it has been erased from all known starmaps and renamed “Lost Jerusalem”. The capital of all known space is Fifth Jerusalem, where the Galaxy Federation supposedly keeps watch over mankind.

For the last ten years, a mysterious enemy known as the Gnosis has begun to attack man’s colonies seemingly indiscriminately. It is largely believed that the Gnosis were brought into the universe by a scientist named Joachim Mizrahi during the Miltian Conflict of T.C. 4753, but there is more to that story than the public really knows.

The pacing has the viewer running through the first ten to fifteen hours of gameplay of Episode I in the first five episodes. Jin Uzuki, Shion’s brother and a major character in Episode II, can be seen early on in episode eight of The Animation. Given the nature of the anime, it works best as a suppliment to Episode I; some points that the game explained poorly or didn’t explain at all are brought to light in the anime. Despite the changes, many fans prefer The Animation over the movie DVD of Episode I given with pre-orders of Episode II, saying that the DVD was a poorly assembled group of cutscenes; the quality of the DVD is significantly lower than that of the orginal PlayStation 2 cutscenes.

Source: Wikipedia

Official Website

Revolutionary Girl Utena (少女革命ウテナ; Shoujo Kakumei Utena) is a manga by Saito Chiho and anime directed by Ikuhara Kunihiko. The manga serial began in the June 1996 issue of Ciao and the anime was first broadcast in 1997. A movie, “Adolescence of Utena” (Japanese: Adolescence Mokushiroku, literally “Adolescence Apocalypse”) was released in theatres in 1999.

The main character of Utena is an androgynous teenaged female, Utena Tenjou, who was so impressed by a kind prince in her childhood that she decided to become a prince herself, and cross-dresses as a male. She attends Ohtori Academy, where she rooms with a student named Anthy, who in turn is in an abusive relationship with another member of the Academy. Utena fights to protect Anthy, and is pulled into a series of sword duels with the student council, all of whom fight for Anthy as the key to a coming revolution, and whom they refer to as “the Rose Bride,” as the winner of each duel receives her as their prize.

The series itself is highly unusual, to the point of being outright metaphysical. Though the plot is relatively straightforward, everyone’s motives are obscure (initially, at least). It may be best not to take the story on the literal level, as the latter half of the series (and movie) can be somewhat confusing due to what the director admits is a mix of metaphor, borrowed visuals from Takarazuka theater, classic shoujo, mythology, and a large amount of “stuff that just looks really cool.”

The anime and manga were created simultaneously, but, despite some similarities, they progress in different directions.

Links:
Central Park Media’s Utena tv series site
Ikuhara Kunihiko’s official site
The Utena Network
Empty Movement

Related Articles:
A number of parallels have been drawn between Utena and Ikeda Riyoko’s Rose of Versailles.

Source:
Wikipedia

The name of this show is just so amusing.

Anyway. This shoujo story, based on a manga that serialized in Nakayoshi, consists of 52 episodes plus a 39-episode sequel/second season known as Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure. The mermaid heroine, Lucia, is a princess who searches for a boy she rescued seven years previous. Once they are reunited, though, she must find a way to bring him to the realization that she is the same girl he met so long ago, without telling him outright - elsewise she will be turned into seafoam.

…in the meantime, she and other mermaid princesses turn into idol singers to fight evil sea monsters with the power of their voices.

It’s an odd show, but definitely tried-and-true shoujo (including magical girls!) if you like that kind of series. Unfortunately the license, which was picked up by ADV Films in 2004, has since been dropped, so it’s only available via raws and fansubs.

Links:

Official Site
Mermaid Melody
Seven Oceans
Pearl Song (manga)

Tsubasa Chronicle is the kind of show fans usually can only dream about.

Most anime watchers are familiar with CLAMP, the five-woman manga team responsible for such gems as Magic Knight Rayearth, Card Captor Sakura, Chobits, X and more. If you’ve seen pretty much any show based on a CLAMP manga, Tsubasa will absolutely stun you.

Playfully referred to by some fans as “CLAMP’s doujinshi”, the majority of the characters in the manga (and the anime that follows it, which began its run in April 2005) are recurring characters from earlier series - for example, it stars Sakura and Syaoran of Card Captor Sakura, but don’t be fooled by their similarity in looks - the characters’ personalities, though they have some similarities, are completely redesigned for Tsubasa. Expect cameos from most of CLAMPS other work as the series progresses, as well as some interesting convolutions to the “alternate universe” theme. It is directed by Mashita Koichi, and is additionally a crossover with another active manga, xxxHolic.

Tsubasa’s story follows Syaoran, an archaeologist living in the kingdom ruled over by Princess Sakura’s family. When an attack causes Sakura to lose her memories, Syaoran must travel from world to world to gather their lost fragments. He is joined by a mage in hiding and a swordsman banished by his princess, all three of whom must pay a price in order to enlist the help of a witch who can transcend the dimenional barrier.

Official Site (Japanese):
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/anime/tsubasa/

Fansites:
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Fanlisting
Hitsuzen
Rebirth

This incredibly compelling anime is the fairy tale-esque story of a 15-year-old princess, Pacifica, who is prophesized to destroy the world when she turns 16. As a result, she was cast away immediately after birth, and thought dead. The 24-episode TV series picks up just as it is discovered that the “scrapped princess” is alive, having been rescued and raised by villagers. Pacifica and her adopted brother and sister, Shannon and Raquel, attempt to escape from the assassins sent to kill the Princess by moving from town to town with only a wagon and a few possessions to their names. Raquel is a mage and Shannon a skilled swordsman, but Pacifica is defenseless…until, of course, the prophesized power begins to manifest in her.

This show, great for fantasy buffs and shounen or shoujo fans alike, was directed by Soichi Masui and stars many popular seiyuu, such as Shinichiro Miki (Weiß Kreuz, Matantei Loki Ragnarok, Last Exile) as Shannon Casull. It began airing in 2003 and finished up its run 24 episodes later.

Official Website: Sutepri.com
Fansites: Fantasy [the scrapped princess fanlisting]

Scrapped Princess is licensed and scheduled for an April 2005 North American release.