Anime Download Of 2009

Lupin III VS Detective Conan

2009-04-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

Synopsis:
Following the death of Queen Sakura and Prince Gill, the throne of the Kingdom of Vesparia passed to the Queen's eldest daughter Princess Mila. Conan and Ran become involved in a case involving the demise of the Crown, and as Ran happens to be almost identical to Princess Mila, she is abducted to Vesparia as her body double.
Meanwhile, Lupin is after the "Queen Crown", a royal heritage of Vespania.

Airing:
NTV Network: March 27(Fri) 21:00-

Staff:
Original Story: Monkey Punch, Gosho Aoyama
Director: Hajime Kamegaki /Screenplay: Jun Maekawa /Character Design: Satoshi Hirayama, Masaaki Sudo / Shooting Director: Tatsuo Noguchi / Editor: Terumitsu Okada /Sound Director: Yasuo Urakami / Music Director: Seiji Suzuki, Yasuo Urakami / Sound Effect: Shizuo Kurahashi /Audio Recording Production: AUDIO PLANNING U / Production Administrator: Kei Watabiki, Emi Koga / Producer: Toshio Nakatani(NTV)、Michihiko Suwa(YTV)、Akira Kojima

Cast of Voice:
Arsene Lupin III: Kanichi Kurita / Conan Edogawa: Minami Takayama / Daisuke Jigen: Kiyoshi Kobayashi / Fujiko Mine: Eiko Masuyama / Ran Mouri: Wakana Yamazaki / Kogoro Mouri: Akira Kamiya

Naruto Shippuden 104 - Breaking the Crystal Style - Shōton kuzushi

2009-04-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

The Fighting team continues its battle. Tobi decides to go seek the Three-Tails on his own as he had angered Deidara earlier. He discovers the sealing team trying to seal the Three-Tails at the lake.

Shino's bugs defeat Guren, but Kakashi is stopped from killing her by Gozu, who dies protecting Guren. The guarding team stops Rinji from interfering with the sealing team just as Guren remembers she is the one who killed Yūkimaru's mother.

Kabuto uses this fact to manipulate Guren.

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Naruto Shippuden 103 - The Four-Corner Sealing Barrier - Kekkai Shihō Fūjin

2009-04-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

The teams set off. Naruto introduces Sai and Shino to each other. The sealing team prepares a search and barrier jutsu to seal the Three-Tailed Beast.

Kakashi's fighting team is suddenly attacked by Gozu and Guren while the guarding team begins fighting as well. Lee, Tenten and Kiba finish off Rinji's subordinates with ease.

Meanwhile, Naruto angers Guren saying it's his fault Yūkimaru went over to 'her side' and that he won't allow her using him as a tool.

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Hetalia: Axis Powers

2009-04-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

Hetalia: Axis Powers (Axis Powers) is a manga and anime series by Hidekaz Himaruya placed in a World War-era setting in which the countries are represented by anthropomorphic characters. Hetalia is a made-up word combining hetare — Japanese for useless — and Italia. This is to make light of Italy's apparent cowardice during World War II.

Himaruya originally created Hetalia as an online webcomic, and so far two tankōbon have been published by Gentosha Comics, the first on March 28, 2008 and the second on December 10, 2008. The series was later adapted into drama CDs, and an anime series created by Studio Deen has also began streaming online.

The main historical events portrayed in this work occur between World War I and World War II. The series often uses satire and comedy to address well-known and lesser-known historical facts.

So far, over 40 countries have been personified as human characters.[1] In Hetalia, these characters are known as the Nations, and are normally referred to by their country's name.

Manga

The original Hetalia: Axis Powers web comic was adapted into two tankōbon and published by Gentosha Comics. The first volume was released on March 28, 2008 and the second on December 10, 2008. The second tankōbon was released as a standard edition and a special edition that included an extra small booklet.[2]

In January 2009 Anime News Network announced that the series would also begin serialization in Gentosha's seinen manga magazine Comic Birz starting in the April issue,[3] but this was later announced to be a publishing error. The Gentosha press release on which ANN had based their article actually referred a new series by Himaruya.[4]

Drama CDs

Hetalia: Axis Powers has been adapted into a series of drama CDs, and so far three have been released. The first was released on August 15, 2008, the second on October 24, 2008, and the third on December 29, 2008.[5]

Anime

A 26-episode anime adaptation of Hetalia: Axis Powers was announced on July 24, 2008. It is directed by Bob Shirohata (Gravitation, Diamond Daydreams) and will be animated by Studio Deen. It was originally scheduled for broadcast on Kids Station on January 24, 2009 but was later canceled. The cancellation only affected the Kids Stations broadcasts; plans to make the series available through mobile phone and Internet streaming were not affected. The controversies arose when numerous Korean protesters called for the cancellation of the series, claiming that the anthropomorphized character of Korea was an insulting representation of Koreans. Kids Station claimed that the Korea character does not appear in the anime and that it was "unaware of the criticism in Korea," and cited "various circumstances" as being behind the decision to cancel its airing of the anime, but they did not provide further information as to the nature of these circumstances.

Download Naruto Manga 443

2009-04-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

Naruto 443 Chapter English scans has been released! Click the first page below to download the whole naruto 443 chapter. Credit goes to sleepyfans scanlation group. Next Chapter : Download Naruto 444

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Negima!? neo

2009-04-10T01:47:00.000-07:00

Negi Springfield is a ten-year-old boy who happens to be a genius in the field of magic. However, his wand-waving skills and training at a wizard academy in Wales could never have prepared him for his post-graduation assignment: teaching a class at an all-girls school in Japan! Surrounded by 31 teenage beauties, Negi's youthful charm quickly earns him some new friends—but some of his students, like feisty Asuna Kagurazaka, might take longer to warm up to him.

Things get really serious when Negi discovers that one of his more rebellious students, Evangeline, is actually a vampire who has been preying on other classmates. Whether by magical firepower or more subtle methods, Negi's going to have to reform Evangeline if he wants to maintain his credibility as a teacher.

Plot Summary: After graduated from a magic academy, 10-year-old genius boy Negi Springfield was assigned to a huge Japanese school as an English teacher for practical training. To his surprise, the 8th grade class assigned for him is all-girl. In addition to teaching (and being teased by) those 31 pretty girls while trying to keep his magic capability in secret, he's also looking for clues about his father, who was once known as "Thousands Master" but mysteriously disappeared years ago.

Review:

With the Negima franchise having blossomed so profusely in the past several years, it's time to clear up some misconceptions. No, it's not anything like Harry Potter, despite a British boy wizard in the lead role and everyone casting their spells in an ancient foreign language. It bears even less resemblance to Love Hina, despite a massive female cast and having been authored by Ken Akamatsu. What is true about the series is that the original manga is an ambitious, complex fantasy-adventure—but only after about Volume 12 or so. What's also true is that the resulting anime adaptation fell so far short of the original that they decided to give it another go with the exclamatory Negima!? anime, taking on a totally different storyline that could be told in the space of 26 episodes. And that's where the Negima!? neo manga adaptation comes in, making it essentially a copy of a copy of a copy.

As one can imagine, this does not bode well for the series.

The one bright spot in this story is found right at the beginning, with the entirely original "Chapter Zero," a prequel piece that fills in the blanks about how Negi graduated from magic school. As an action-packed magical combat showcase, it does a fine job of drawing the reader into the series ... only to pull a nasty bait-and-switch when things quickly revert to mediocre with the actual first chapter. Negi rushes to school, annoys Asuna right off the bat, and tries to establish his authority (which is hard to do when all the girls are fawning over how cute he is)—yes, if you've read the original, you've already read the start of this series as well. All it does is serve as a reminder of how unimpressive Negima was at the beginning and how it took many, many chapters for things to develop.

Of course, this being a re-telling, the series tries to accelerate the pace of development by jumping straight into the Evangeline arc, and ending it a lot quicker as well. The results are, in short, disastrous. The whole point of the original Evangeline arc was to take that first step toward action-adventure greatness, to pit Negi against a challenging opponent and force him to stretch his abilities. By comparison, this interpretation tosses it off as a generic "hero defeats his first villain" battle, with a namby-pamby finale where everyone holds hands and becomes friends because Negi showed Evangeline the power of love. Come on, what happened to the complex relationship of a teacher and student as rivals? And for those who aren't comparing against the original, the fight will seem even more useless, as it does little else besides introduce the Pactio Card system—which in this series looks more like a merchandising tool than actual wizardry.

Aside from the prequel chapter, this work's only other advantage over its predecessor is that the artwork is more readable—as a monthly series it doesn't suffer from the same 18-page-a-week cramfests that the Negima manga has become notoroius for. If anything, the layouts are almost too conventional: squares and rectangles typically arranged in two or three rows, with action scenes that fail to break out of the mold. The character designs also adhere slavishly to the originals, and aside from a more youthful look and slightly different battle costumes, it's hard to spot anything distinctive about the characters. Also falling into the "don't really care what it looks like" category are the backgrounds, which typically range from generic high school scenery to generic battle scenery to generic interiors. Adding to that dullness is the overuse of tones to gray out almost everything in sight. And as for the claim that Negima!? in general is supposed to contain less fanservice than the original—well, what do you make of Negi still sneezing girls' clothes off, as well as a nude prepubescent girl in one of the climactic scenes?

An added bonus of the more spacious layouts is that the dialogue also avoids any overcrowding. In fact, the text reads pretty smoothly throughout—which is a nice way of saying that the script is identical every other boys' adventure series ever. Battle taunts, comedy quips, brief explanations of how magic works, and incantations in Latin: there's nothing new to be found here. Sound effects are also a regular part of the action, and each comes with a small English translation placed next to the characters, although the effects themselves are often too nondescript to even stand out against the artwork. A translation glossary and a guide to Negi's students rounds out this volume, although true Negima enthusiasts may find themselves wondering where the obsessive footnotes on the culture and history of magic have gone.

Normally, the best way to sell a spinoff product is to say that it'll appeal to the hardest of hardcore fans—but in the case of Negima!? neo, it's probably hardcore fans who will be most offended by it, seeing as it defangs and cripples everything that was good about the source material. With a mindless re-enactment of the premise (although it does squeeze in an original chapter), the dumbing-down of the first major story arc, and dilution of the art into a generic action-adventure style, this is probably the one thing that Negima completists can skip. If it gets better once it digs into a new storyline, that'd be nice, but this first volume inspires little confidence. It may have the cute girls and the magical combat, but right now it's just going through the motions—and not creating any real magic at all.

Kin'iro no Corda: Secondo Passo

2009-04-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

Kin'iro no Corda (Kin'iro no Koruda) is a role-playing game series targeted at female audience under the Neoromance series from Koei. The title is also sometimes written as La Corda D'Oro, Italian for The Golden String.

The story has been adapted into a manga by the game’s character designer, Yuki Kure. It's currently serializing in LaLa magazine. Currently, twelve volumes have been released in Japan.

The anime adaptation from the manga, titled Kin'iro no Corda: Primo Passo, was first broadcast by TV Tokyo from October 2006 to March 2007. The anime also premiered on Animax under the title, La Corda D'Oro: Primo Passo. It was aired across its respective networks worldwide, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, also translating and dubbing the series into English for its English language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia, and other regions.

A 2-episode special titled Kin'iro no Corda Secondo Passo was announced,[1] with broadcaster Kids Station airing its first episode on March 26, 2009.

Synopsis

Kahoko Hino is a student at a Seiso Academy, one with an ordinary life. One day, Lili - the mischievous musical fairy who had blessed the original founder of the school - finds Kahoko running late to class.

Delighted that she is able to see her, Lili grants Kahoko a magical violin, and a place in the school's annual musical competition, which many students in the music department vie to partake in.

Kahoko refuses, only to be pressed on by the fairy, who constantly nags her until she finally gives way to his pleads. She reluctantly accepts the instrument. As she practices her pieces, Kahoko is amazed that she can play any piece on the violin as long as she knows the tune and plays it with her heart. 'La Corda D'Oro' literally translates to 'the rope of gold', but it's taken into consideration as 'the golden string'. Primo Passo means 'first step', while Secondo Passo means 'second step'.

Setting

The story is set in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Seiso Academy is the school where Kahoko and most of the characters attend.

The academy itself is separated into two departments: General Education and Music. Those in the General Education department study as regular students. Meanwhile, those in the Music department choose an instrument as their course of study. Students of the General Education and Music departments do not share classes. They are separated into two blocks, one for each department.

It seems to be a very prestigious and elite school as there are music rooms for those who wish to practice after school hours. The rooms are complete with either grand or upright pianos. There is also an auditorium, which is where the concours were held throughout the series.

Clothing

Students of the General Education department wear grey shirts and depending on their gender, they wear white pants or skirts. While, students of the Music Department wear cream blazers with grey pant or skirts.

For those of the Music department, boys wear kerchiefs while the girls wear ribbons. The students of the General Education department wear neckties and short scarves for males and females respectively.

To identify which year a student originates from, each year has been given a certain "color" on the kerchiefs, ribbons, neckties or short scarves. Those of the first year wear light indigo, those of the second year wear red and the third years wear dark green.

Berserk

2009-04-09T01:42:00.000-07:00

Guts and his band of adventurers find themselves facing untold danger when they venture into a trolls' den to rescue their compatriots, Casca and Farnese. However, this cave is not just any cave, but the Qliphoth, a realm where dark creatures gather. Even if Guts is able to rescue the victims, a far greater evil awaits him—one that could injure his very soul. And that's not the only battle he must fight: out in the nearby forest, the Apostles have launched an attack on the home of the kindly witch Flora, with a familiar old enemy leading them. Guts is being called out for a one-on-one duel, but does he have any strength left after his ordeal in the cave? Fortunately, Flora has left a very useful—and very magical—piece of equipment for him...

Plot Summary: Guts, the Black Swordsman, wanders around in a mediaeval world slaying demons as they are attracted to a demonic mark on his neck. To his help he has inhuman strength gained from a harsh childhood lived with mercenaries, a gigantic sword, an iron prosthetic left hand and the elf Puck. In his search for vengeance on the one who gave him the mark, he meets many interesting persons and creatures, whom all is affected by him in one way or another.

Princess Resurrection

2009-04-08T23:46:00.000-07:00

Alternative title: Kaibutsu Oujo (Japanese) / Monster Princess

Plot Summary: Since Hiro Hiyorimi's parents died, he and his sister Sawawa have lived apart. Now, Sawawa has gotten a new job as the caretaker of a creepy old mansion, and has sent Hiro a letter asking him to come and stay there with her. Finding the mansion boarded up and apparently empty, Hiro wanders around town looking for Sawawa. Instead, he runs into the new resident of the mansion, and ends up pushing her out of the way of some falling steel beams. Unfortunately, he loses his own life in the process. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, the person he thought he saved turns out to be a princess of the monster kingdom, and she grants him a second life...but only for as long as he will be her servant.

While traveling to join his maid older sister at her new job, 8th grader Hiro Hyorimi valiantly tries to save a Hime, a young blond woman dressed like a Goth princess, from falling steel beams but gets killed in the process. Hime, as it happens, is an actual princess of the Monster Realm, so she brings Hiro back to life as her “half-immortal” servant; although he can't be killed by other means, he needs regular spiritual maintenance from Hime, so he can't stray too far from her.

He soon finds himself working for, and living with, Hime, along with his parfait-obsessed sister, Hime's kid-sized android maid Flandre, and later on the half-werewolf warrior Liza Wildman, too. Though quite capable in a fight, Hime can use all of the help she can get since her siblings are out to kill her and various other monsters seek the blood of a Royal Family member for the power it carries. Hiro, to his chagrin, must help fight off monsters ranging from mummies to spider-bats to werewolves while contending with the playfully seductive vampire Reiri and Hime's younger sister Sherwood, who quickly takes a liking to Hiro and seeks to claim him for one of her own servants (to go with the panda bears and her own android maid).

Review:
Princess Resurrection is not a particularly good series. It is, however, a fun series, and in this case, that's (just) enough.

The first half of this 26-episode adaptation of Yasunori Mitsunaga's shonen manga captures some of the spirit of the earlier seasons of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show: a campy blend of absurdity, silliness, monster-bashing, and drama which allows the series to be serious without ever getting too serious. These thirteen episodes deliver a laundry list of classic movie monsters, including werewolves, vampires, mummies, spider/bat hybrids, androids, monstrous amphibians, an invisible man, and an unnamed creature that can inhabit and seize control of a victim's body. They also feature panda bears, a cat girl, a plethora of maid costumes, and a vaguely haremesque arrangement for Hiro, who is every bit the typical pathetic harem lead. Oh, and let's not forget the Goth princess with the long blond hair and monstrous red eyes who, in one episode, slices up her mansion with a chain saw and in another goes into dual chain saw-wielding mode.

It is that same title character who makes the series watchable, however. Smug, haughty and proper, the aptly-named Hime maintains her elegance even when tearing her enemies apart with chain saws (which she only actually uses in two episodes despite the prominent motif in the opener and closer) or melee weapons and never loses her composure even in dire circumstances. She never gets exaggeratedly angry or even raises her voice, instead regarding everything with bemusement and/or disdain. She is the epitome of a true Goth princess.

Unfortunately she gets little help from her supporting cast. Hiro is eye-rollingly bland in his mostly incompetent goodness, Liza is just another slight variation on the standard tough-girl fighter-type, the oddly-named Sherwood is a typical uppity younger sister, and Hiro's older sister has nothing going for her beyond her oblivious niceness and obsession with parfaits. Reiri is mildly more interesting as the playful vampire seductress, though she gets too locked into the “information-delivering device” role and her combative relationship with Liza gets old fast. Sherwood's maid Francesca fails to make much of an impression beyond her lethal bead-flicking technique, but Flandre, as the nearly indomitable pint-size android maid, amuses much more with the dichotomy between her size and what she is actually physically capable of doing. The running joke where she and Francesca only ever say “huga” and yet Hime and Sherwood always understand exactly what they mean never entirely gets old.

The cheaply-staged fight scenes do quickly get old, however. The animation so heavily uses common shortcuts in the fights that only a few such scenes have much real sense of motion; the rest are just series of stills of various characters whacking monsters with great flair. The animation actually looks better outside of the fight scenes, though it is never good. The artistry looks cheap enough, especially in the monster designs, Liza's never-looks-right werewolf forearms, and occasional odd body proportioning, that discovering that a studio with as high a reputation as Madhouse was responsible for it is shocking. All of the names associated with this endeavor on the artistic front have done much better work elsewhere. Oh, it is hardly a visual disaster, and some might claim that Madhouse is just playing to the style of the original manga's artwork, but beyond Hime's design and the opener and closer animation this is not a title that can sell itself on its visuals. Don't expect much of anything for graphic content or more than a tiny bit of fan service, either, as the TV-PG rating is only a little on the light side. Certainly the first half of the series is nowhere near as graphic as the DVD case cover art suggests.

The mediocre artistry does not hinder the soundtrack or Japanese voice acting at all. The actors mostly have fun with their roles, with the key performance being Ayako Kawasumi's nicely reserved interpretation of Hime. Mikiya Katakura, the composer of the Ali Project duo, fashions a musical score which finds a pleasing balance between creepiness, intensity, and playfulness. Aki Misato performs the appropriately-titled “Blood Queen” for the up-tempo opener, while Ali Project's “Hizamazuite Ashi o Oname” pairs with arguably the series' best visuals in a catchy and stylish closer.

Though ADV is distributing this title, and its personnel did the subtitling and production work, the series was actually licensed by Sentai Filmworks, whose name exclusively appears on the case, in the credits, and in the North American copyright notices; in fact, a viewer not familiar with the names of key ADV personnel might not even be aware that ADV was involved with this project. That may partly explain why this is a subbed-only release, something ADV itself does not normally do. (Given the number of typos that pop up in the subtitles, though, ADV might not have wanted its name associated with this one.) All thirteen episodes come on a pair of disks in a normal-thickness case, with the only actual Extras being a clean opener and closer. In another departure for ADV, the original Japanese credits are retained, with the English credits following after.

Although some episodes do pretend like they strive for depth, a series like this does not really need a plot to be entertaining – which is good, because beyond Hime and Sherwood making an alliance against the older siblings trying to kill them and some shenanigans involving a second vampire of uncertain motives, not much actually happens in the underlying plot. All the series really needs is Hime being Hime, monsters to fight, a few laughs sprinkled throughout, Hiro valiantly dying on a regular basis, and the occasional interesting setting or situation. For the most part, the writing does that, except in the tediously-overblown hospital episode. (Raise your hand if you screamed at the doctor to just SHUT UP AND GET ON WITH BUSINESS!!!) If you want a far darker, more involved, and more serious series based on a similar premise, check out 3x3 Eyes instead. For lighter fare, this one will do.

Director: Masayuki Sakoi
Music: Mikiya Katakura
Original creator: Yasunori Mitsunaga
Character Design: Kazuya Kuroda
Art director: Yuka Okamoto
Chief Animation Director: Kazuya Kuroda
Director of Photography: Shinya Matsui

The Twelve Kingdoms - Novel 3 - The Vast Spread of the Seas

2009-04-08T01:25:00.000-07:00

Plot Summary: Yoko Nakajima, an unhappy high school student, is one day suddenly faced with a strange man who swears allegiance to her. After a battle with demon-like beasts, he then takes her to another world along with two of her classmates. There, her appearance has changed and she can understand the language even though her classmates cannot. But their status as "Kaikyaku" (people who come from Earth) makes them hunted fugitives, so they wander the land of the 12 countries, simply trying to survive and to figure out the reason why they were brought to this world.

Synopsis: Twelve Kingdoms Novel 3 - Two young boys – one in Hourai (i.e. Japan) and one in the Kingdom of En – are each abandoned by parents unable to support them in troubled times, and yet they both survive to lead ultimately convergent lives. One is Rokuta, eventually revealed to be the kirin of En, who must fulfill his divine responsibility to choose a king for his suffering nation despite misgivings that he is choosing the man who will destroy the kingdom. The other is Koya, who is raised by a demon beast and struggles to find a place in the world until he is found by the man who will become his master.

They meet once in their early years and then again later on, when Rokuta, who laments the apparently idiotic and irresponsible king he chose, finds himself spirited away by Koya to the palace of Koya's master Atsuyu, a regent for the governor of Gen province. Concerned by the king's long inattention to a crucial flooding problem, Atsuyu has decided to take matters into his own hands, an approach Rokuta does not resist at first. As the kirin of En soon discovers, though, there is more to both Atsuyu and King Shoryu than initially meets the eye.

Director: Tsuneo Kobayashi
Script: Shou Aikawa
Music: Kunihiko Ryo
Original Character Design: Akihiro Yamada
Character Design:
Yuko Kusumoto
Hiroto Tanaka
Animation director: Hiroto Tanaka
Original Novel: Fuyumi Ono
Director of Photography: Atsuo Matsumoto
Executive producer:
Atsuko Kashiwagi
Toshio Watanabe
Isao Yoshikuni
Producer: Ken Suekawa

Alternative title:
Doce Reinos (Spanish)
Dwanaście królestw (Polish)
Els Dotze Regnes
Juuni Kokki (Japanese)
Les 12 Royaumes (French)
十二国記 (Japanese)
십이국기 (Korean)
12 Kingdoms
12 Kokuki (Japanese)
12 Reinos (Portuguese)

Opening Theme:
"Juuni Genmukyoku (十二幻夢曲)" by Kunihiko Ryo
Ending Theme:
"Getsumei Fuuei (月迷風影)" by Mika Arisaka

Kon'nichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables

2009-04-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

The series is an adaptation of Canadian children's literature author Budge Wilson's prequel novel Before Green Gables, which was translated into Japanese as Kon'nichiwa Anne by Akiko Usagawa. It chronicles the early years of main character Anne Shirley as she loses both her parents and is adopted by Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert.

Introduced in Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables, the series marks the 100th anniversary of the original novel's release and the 30th anniversary of its highly popular anime adaptation, Akage no Anne, also produced by Nippon Animation and one of the first pioneering World Masterpiece Theater series. It will replace The Long Journey of Porphy, and will be narrated by Eiko Yamada, who portrayed Anne in the original Akage no Anne.

While developing the series, Nippon Animation's staff undertook research by visiting a historical village in northeastern Canada which formed the inspiration for Avonlea in the novel, going to historical houses preserved from the era in which the novel is set and taking photographs, with core staff members and character designer and chief animation director Takayo Nishimura (previously chief animation director and character designer for 5 Centimeters Per Second), basing the characters, props and settings on them and also from historical books that he bought there.[1] Nippon Animation's staff have visited historical locations in which World Masterpiece Theater series were set regularly since the staple's inception.

Plot summary

Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, unmarried middle-aged siblings who live together at Green Gables, a farm in the town of Avonlea, on Prince Edward Island, decide to adopt a boy from an orphan asylum in Nova Scotia as a helper on their farm. Through a series of mishaps, the person who ends up under their roof is a precocious girl of eleven named Anne Shirley. Anne is bright and quick, eager to please but dissatisfied with her name, her pale countenance dotted with freckles, and with her long braids of red hair. Being a child of imagination, however, Anne takes much joy in life, and adapts quickly, thriving in the environment of Prince Edward Island. She is something of a chatterbox, and drives the prim, duty-driven Marilla to distraction, although shy Matthew falls for her immediately.

The rest of the book recounts her continued education at school, where she excels in studies very quickly, her budding literary ambitions and her friendships with people such as Diana Barry (her best friend, "bosom friend" as Anne fondly calls her), Jane Andrews, Ruby Gillis, and her rivalry with Gilbert Blythe, who teases her about her red hair and for that acquires her hatred, although he apologizes many times. Anne and Gilbert compete in class and Anne one day realizes she no longer hates Gilbert, but will not admit it.

The book also follows her misadventures in quiet, old-fashioned Avonlea. These adventures include her games with her friendship group (Diana, Jane and Ruby), her rivalries with the Pye sisters (Gertie and Josie) and her domestic mistakes such as dyeing her hair green. Anne, along with Gilbert, Ruby, Josie, Jane and several other students, eventually goes to the Queen's Academy and obtains a teaching license in one year, in addition to winning the Avery Prize in English, which allows her to pursue a B.A. at Redmond College.

The book ends with Matthew's death, caused by a heart attack after learning of the loss of all his and Marilla's money. Anne shows her devotion to Marilla and Green Gables by giving up the Avery Prize, deciding to stay at home and help Marilla, whose eyesight is diminishing, and teaching at the Carmody school, the nearest school available. To show his friendship, Gilbert Blythe gives up his teaching position in the Avonlea School to work at White Sands School instead, thus enabling Anne to teach at the Avonlea School and stay at Green Gables all through the week. After this kind act, Anne and Gilbert become best friends.

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

2009-04-07T01:07:00.000-07:00

Sakura is the princess of Clow Country (The Country of the Eternal Tower), which is ruled by her older brother, King Tōya. Her childhood friend Syaoran is a young archaeologist. Sakura is revealed to have strange powers when she has a vision of a mysterious symbol. Meanwhile, Syaoran discovers the same symbol at the ruins he is excavating. He sees Sakura standing on the symbol on the ground.

Ghostly wings appear on her back and a mysterious force begins to pull her into the walls of the ruins. Syaoran rescues her in time, but her wings disintegrate into feathers, which are scattered across dimensions. The High Priest of Clow Kingdom, Yukito, immediately realizes that Sakura's "feathers" were the manifestation of her soul and memories; without them, she will die. In order to save Sakura, Syaoran must journey to retrieve her wings' feathers, the fragments of her memories.

Yukito sends Syaoran and the unconscious Sakura to the Dimensional Witch, Yūko, who is one of the main characters in xxxHolic. There he meets Kurogane, a rough-mannered ninja banished from his world by Princess Tomoyo, and Fay D. Flourite, a magician who fled his world to avoid King Ashura. Each of them must pay with what he values most in order to gain the power to cross dimensions. For Kurogane, it is his sword Ginryū, and for Fay, it is the tattoo on his back which regulates his control of his magic.

Syaoran, on the other hand, must pay with his relationship with Sakura: even if he is able to retrieve all of her memories, she will never remember anything about him or their relationship. (This sacrifice also pays Sakura's "toll" to Yūko, because what Sakura values most are her memories of and with Syaoran.) Only when the three agree to her terms does Yūko present them with the power to cross dimensions; a white creature named Mokona Modoki.

While traversing through worlds to find Sakura's feathers, the four travellers and Mokona are forced to overcome many dangers and opponents, some of whom are figures from Syaoran's past who wish to collect Sakura's feathers for their own reasons as they are seen to be objects that hold great power.

The manga adopts darker and more complex tones in the latter half of the story.

Because of the crossover characters with xxxHolic, the two manga occasionally intertwine with each other.

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE- ,Tsubasa -Rezaboa Kuronikuru-?), is an ongoing manga series by Clamp. It is currently being serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine.

It was adapted into an anime series, Tsubasa Chronicle (Tsubasa Kuronikuru?), animated by Bee Train, which aired 52 episodes over two seasons during 2005 and 2006.[1] Three OVAs (animated by Production I.G) were also released in two month successions from November 2007 through March 2008.

As of September 1, 2008, the English dub of the first season is being broadcast on the FUNimation Channel in the United States.[2] The English dub is also being broadcast by Animax across Asia under the title Chronicle of The Wings.

Hayate no Gotoku!! (Hayate the Combat Butler)

2009-04-06T23:34:00.000-07:00

High school boy Hayate Ayazaki is out of luck. When he kidnaps a girl in order to settle his parents' debt, the girl misconstrues his scheme and strange behaviour as evidence of him having a crush on her. One thing leads to another and Hayate ends up employed by the girl, Nagi Sanzen'in, spoiled daughter of a millionaire, as her personal butler.

Plot

Hayate Ayasaki is an unlucky teenager who worked since childhood to make ends meet due to his parents' irresponsible behavior. One day he finds out that his parents ran away from home, leaving behind a massive gambling debt on his shoulders. While running away from the debt collectors, he ends up meeting Nagi Sanzen'in, a young girl who is the sole heir of the wealthy Sanzen'in estate, and due to a misunderstanding, Nagi ends up falling in love with Hayate. After he rescues Nagi from some kidnappers, she hires Hayate as her new butler.

Aside from performing his ordinary duties as a butler, Hayate must fight to protect Nagi from harm, a difficult task as her life is always in danger because she is the target of other individuals coveting her family's fortune, and sometimes deal with some extravagant requests from her, oblivious to Nagi's true feelings for him.

Airing:
TV Tokyo: April 3(Fri) 25:23-
TV Osaka: April 4(Sat) 25:30-
TVQ: April 6(Mon) 26:23-
TV Setouchi: April 7(Tue) 25:28-
TV Hokkaido: April 8(Wed) 26:20-
TVA: April 9(Thu) 26:58-

Note:
Anime adaption of the
manga by Kenjiro Hata serialized in "Shonen Sunday". The protagonists name "Hayate" means "wind" in Japanese, so the title literally means "Like the wind". This will be the second anime season, continuing on from the first season that aired from April 2007 to March 2008.

Staff:
Original Story: Kenjiro Hata / Director: Yoshiaki Iwasaki / Product Composition: Yosuke Kuroda / Screenplay: Taku Sato / Character Design: Masahiro Fujii / Colour Composition: Yukiko Ito / Sound Director: Jun Watanabe / Composer: Kotaro Nakagawa / Animation Production: J.C.Staff

Cast:
Hayate Ayazaki: Ryoko Shiraishi / Nagi Sanzen'in: Rie Kugimiya / Maria: Rie Tanaka / Hinagiku Katsura: Shizuka Ito / Yukiji Katsura: Hitomi Nabatame / Izumi Saginomiya: Miyu Matsuki / Sakuya Aizawa: Kana Ueda / Ayumi Nishizawa: Mikako Takahashi / Izumi Segawa: Sayuri Yahagi / Miki Hanabishi: Eri Nakao / Lisa Asakaze: Masumi Asano

Title Song: ELISA "Wonder Wind"

LaMB Anime

2009-04-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

The story of LaMB revolves around the lives of Eve and Jack, citizens of the planet Cerra where a unique system of corporal punishment called “Lamination” is utilized. Instead of incarceration or the death penalty, convicted criminals are “laminated” in self-contained, virtual prisons — allowing them to participate in and be useful to society, but limiting their freedom and movement. Eve is a former weapons expert who has been laminated after an accidental manslaughter charge. Jack, on the other hand, is a scientist who finds himself embroiled in Eve’s life and Cerra’s political struggles with the ethics of lamination.

LaMB is an upcoming animated film produced by Animax directed by Ryosuke Tei with the original script written by Carmelo S. J. Juinio, one of the finalists of the 2007 Animax awards Pan-Asia Animation competition (from Philippines), that will be broadcasted across several countries in 2009 in high definition. It is also the first and biggest Animax original production, featuring the French-Canadian band Simple Plan and the American band The Click Five who will be producing two different songs for the opening and ending themes of the movie.

Tags: Animax, Animax Awards, Carmelo Juinio, Furi Furi, Imaginary Friends, Josie Ho, LaMB, Lamination, Peach Blossom Media, Ryosuke Tei, Studio Gonzo, Tanaka Chie, Thomas Chou, Vanness Wu, Yasufumi Soejima

Fullmetal Alchemist

2009-04-06T03:23:00.000-07:00

Likely to be a faithful manga adaptation, this will be a remake of the first series.

Edward and Alphonse Elric try to revive their mother using Alchemy, and fail horrifyingly. Years later, Edward becomes a “State Alchemist” and with Alphonse, the two brothers set out to find a way to restore the damage done by their crime.

Synopsis:
Edward and Alphonse Elric are two alchemist brothers who search for the legendary Philosopher's Stone, a powerful object which would allow them to recover their bodies (which were lost in an attempt to bring their mother back to life through forbidden alchemy).

Airing:
MBS/TBS Network: April 5(Sun) 17:00-

Note:
Anime adaption of the popular manga by Hiromu Arakawa which sold 33 million copies and was awarded Shogakukan Manga Award in 2004. This is the second anime adaption produced by primarily the same staff and cast of the first anime series which aired from October 2003 to Octoober 2004.

Staff:
Original Story: Hiromu Arakawa /Director: Yasuhiro Irie / Series Composition: Hiroshi Onogi / Character Design: Hiroki Kanno / Composer: Akira Senju / Animation Studio: Bones/ Production: Fullmetal Alchemist Production Committee

Cast (according to the 2003 anime):
Edward Elric: Romi Park/ Alphonse Elric: Rie Kugimiya / Winry Rockbell: Megumi Toyoguchi / Roy Mustang: Tohru Ohkawa / Liza Hawk-eye: Michiko Neya / Mark Hughes: Keiji Fujiwara / Alex Louis Armstrong: Kenji Utsumi

Spice and Wolf

2009-04-06T01:02:00.000-07:00

Spice and Wolf (Ōkami to Kōshinryō?, lit. Wolf and Spice) is a Japanese light novel series written by Isuna Hasekura, with illustrations by Jū Ayakura. The first novel was released on February 10, 2006, and as of September 10, 2008, nine volumes have been published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko label. ASCII Media Works reported that as of October 2008, over 2.2 million copies of the first nine novels have been sold in Japan.

The series has been called a "unique fantasy" by Mainichi Shimbun due to the plot focusing on economics, trade, and peddling rather than the typical staples of fantasy such as swords and magic.[2] Yen Press licensed the light novels and will be releasing them in English in North America.

A manga adaptation illustrated by Keito Koume began serialization in the Japanese seinen magazine Dengeki Maoh on September 27, 2007, published by ASCII Media Works. The manga was licensed by Yen Press and will be releasing the volumes in English. The obi strip on the fifth novel announced the anime adaptation which aired between January 9 and March 26, 2008, containing twelve aired episodes, plus a single original video animation episode.

The anime will be released in English by Kadokawa Pictures USA. A second season of the anime series titled Spice and Wolf II will premier in July 2009. A visual novel based on the series for the Nintendo DS was released on June 26, 2008 by ASCII Media Works.

Plot

Spice and Wolf's story revolves around Kraft Lawrence, a twenty-five-year-old peddler traveling from town to town buying and selling various things to make a living in a stylized historical setting with European influences.[6] His main goal in life is to gather enough money to start his own shop, and he already has been traveling for seven years while gaining experience in the trade. One night when stopped at the town of Pasroe, he finds in his wagon a pagan wolf-deity girl named Horo who is over six hundred years old. She appears to be a fifteen-year-old girl, except for a wolf's tail and ears.

She introduces herself as the town's goddess of harvest, who has kept it blessed with good harvests of wheat for many years. Despite having the responsibility to watch over the town, she wants to go back to her homeland in the north called Yoitsu; she believes the people have already forsaken her and that she has kept her promise to maintain the good harvests. Horo wants also to travel to see how the world has changed while she has remained in one place for years. She manages to bargain her way out of the village by making a deal with Lawrence to take her with him. As they travel, her wisdom helps increase his profits, but at the same time, her true nature draws unwanted attention from the church. Throughout the novels, the two slowly fall in love.

Characters
Craft Lawrence (left) and Horo (right).

Craft Lawrence (Kurafuto Rorensu?)
Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama
Craft Lawrence, who chiefly goes by his surname, is a twenty-five-year-old traveling peddler who goes from town to town buying and selling various things in order to make a living. When he was twelve, he became an apprentice to a merchant relative, and set out on his own at eighteen. His goal in life is to gather enough money to start his own shop, and he has already been traveling for seven years while gaining experience in the trade. He meets Horo one night and eventually agrees to her traveling with him. She helps him by providing her wisdom which helps to increase his profits and get him out of jams. As the series progresses, both Lawrence and Horo demonstrate a growing affection toward each other. Lawrence mentions he has been attacked by wolves eight times.

Horo (also romanized as Holo[7])
Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu
Horo[8] is a wolf harvest deity originally from a land in the north known as Yoitsu. She made a promise with men from a town called Pasroe where she would ensure the town would have good wheat harvests year after year. However, as time went on, the townspeople slowly started to forsake Horo and did not rely on her as they once did. As such, Horo escapes from town in Lawrence's wagon and started traveling with him to see how much the world has changed since she has been in Pasroe. Horo has chosen the form of a girl younger than Lawrence, though she still retains her large white-tipped wolf tail, and ears. Her true form is that of a very large wolf which many people revered and feared.

She refers to herself as the "Wise Wolf of Yoitsu" (Yoitsu no Kenrō?). She is typically very haughty and self-sufficient, though due to her isolation for hundreds of years in Pasroe, she came to feel very lonely, and sometimes shows a more fragile side of her. She has a peculiar way of speaking, modeled after that of the oiran high-class courtesans.[9] She is fond of delicious food and alcohol, but especially loves apples. She takes pride in her tail and takes special care of it, constantly combing and maintaining it.

Chloe (Kuroe?)
Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka
Chloe is an anime-original character. She is a villager of Pasroe and has known Lawrence for a long time. In fact, Lawrence taught her how to be a merchant. Despite still not knowing how she should feel about him, she respects him as her teacher and a good friend. They later break off their friendship when Chloe allies with the church to capture and kill Horo.

Nola Arendt (Nōra Arento?)
Voiced by: Mai Nakahara
Nola makes her first appearance in volume two of the novels. She is a skilled shepherdess from a church-town named Rubinhaigen. Her companion in this profession is a well-trained sheep dog named Enekk. She entrusts Lawrence with a task after they meet.

Fermi Amati (Ferumi Amāti?)
Fermi makes his first appearance in volume three of the novels. He is a young man who works as a fish broker.

Dian Rubens (Dian Rūbensu?)
Dian, who first appears in volume three of the novels, is an alchemist. She is in the process of chronicling pagan tales and beliefs so as to print them in books. She carries information about Horo's birthplace Yoitsu.

Dragon Ball Kai

2009-04-06T00:47:00.001-07:00

Synopsis:
Five years on from his fierce battles at the World Martial Arts Tournament,
Son Goku is living peacefully with his wife Chi Chi and newborn son Gohan. But then, Goku meets his older brother, Raditz, who tells him that they are the descendants of a race of extraterrestrials called Saiyans. Raditz asks Goku to join him in his mission to destroy the earth, and when Goku refuses, Raditz kidnaps Gohan.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the original run, the series will be rebroadcasted and remastered using the latest HD digital technology, with new versions of the opening and ending themes, re-recorded sound, re-edited animation and less episodes. Son Goku’s Masako Nozawa will lead the cast of a new voice recording.

Airing:
Fuji TV Network: April 5(Sun) 9:00-

Note:
The HD remasterd version of "Dragon Ball Z" aired from April 1989 to January 1996. More info here.

Staff (of Dragon Ball Z):
Original Story: Akira Toriyama
Planning: Kenji Shimizu, Kozo Morishita / Production Manager: Shoji Kishimoto, Takeshi Kishimoto, Akihiko Yamaguchi, YUichi Suenaga / Series CompositionTakao Koyama / Screenplay: Hiroshi Toda, Katsuyuki Sumizawa, Aya Matsui / Series Director: Daisuke Nishio / Direction: Shigeyasu Yamauchi, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Yoshihiro Ueda / Character Design: Minoru Maeda / Artwork: Yuji Ikeda, Ken Tokushige / Composer: Shunsuke Kikuchi / Animation Productio: Toei Animation

Cast (of Dragon Ball Z):
Son Goku and Son Gohan: Masako Nozawa, / Krillin: Mayumi Tanaka / Piccolo: Toshio Furukawa / Yamcha: Toru Furuya / Tien Shinhan: Hirotaka Suzuoki / Chiaotzu: Hiroko Emori / Bulma: Hiromi Tsuru / Master Roshi: Kohei Miyauchi / Oolong: Naoki Tatsuta / Puar: Naoko Watanabe / Launch: Mami Koyama / Chi Chi: Mayumi Sho / Vegeta: Ryo Horikawa / Nappa: Shozo Iizuka / Frieza: Ryusei Nakao / Zarbon: Sho Hayami / Dodoria: Yukinori Hori / Cell: Norio Wakamoto / Android #18: Miki Ito / Majin Buu: Kozo Shioya / Mister Satan: Daisuke Gori / Trunks: Takeshi Kusao

Metal Fight Beyblade

2009-04-06T00:41:00.000-07:00

Synopsis:
Hot-blooded blader Ginga is journeying to find stronger opposition but winds up having to bey-battle alone against a hundred members of the "Face Hunters", a gang led by Kyoya. Kenta meets Ginga during these battles and they team up, encountering various bey-battles. In the course of the adventure Ginga enriches both his skills in battle and his personality.

Airing:
TV Tokyo Network: April 5(Sun) 8:30-

Note:
Anime franchise of Takara's toy Beyblade. Not a continuation of the Beyblade anime series that aired until 2003, a new story with different characters.

Staff:
Director:Kunihisa Sugiyama / Series Composition and Screenplay: Katsumi Hasegawa / Character Design: Yoshihiro Nagamori / Art Director: Takashi Honda / Composer: Neil Perfitt / Sound Director: Yuki Matsuoka / Animation Production: Tatsunoko Production / Animation Production Aid: SynergySP

Cast:
Ginga Hagane: Aki Kanada / Kyoya Tategami: Satoshi Hino / Kenta Yunomiya: Emiri Kato / Benkei: Kenta Miyake / Madoka Amano: Kei Shindo / Daidohji: Takehito Koyasu

Phantom Requiem for the Phantom

2009-04-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

Synopsis:
The recurring assassinations of mobsters on the mean streets of the U.S.have led to rumours of the existence of a secret organization with the best assassin in their ranks a mysterious figure known only as the "Phantom". A boy travelling the U.S. becomes mixed up in a crime and by chance encounters the "Phantom". The boy becomes apprenticed to the "Phantom", who is a girl about his age, and she trains him to become a master in the art of assassination.

In the American underworld, Mafia leaders are being killed one after another, with rumours of “Inferno” and the organisation’s top assassin “Phantom” circulating around them. A boy, traveling alone in America becomes involved in one of these incidents and unexpectedly encounters Phantom.

Plot Summary: A spate of mafia assasinations occurs in America, the work of the mysterious organization named Inferno. "Phantom" is their most strongest and capable assassin, however a lone tourist witnesses Phantom's latest act of murder. He unwittingly exposes the top assassin's true identity, a young girl named Ein. Witnesses are usually killed, but the man is captured and taken to be brainwashed into "Zwei", Inferno's newest assassin, with no memory of who he is. From this point on, Zwei is drawn into a world of conspiracy, deceit and violence.

Airing:
TV Tokyo Network: April 2(Thu) 26:15-

Note:
Visual novel developer Nitroplus's 10th anniversary project.

Episode titles: We have 13
Vintage: 2009-04-02
Opening Theme:
"Karma" by KOKIA
Ending Theme:
"Gates of Hell" by ALI PROJECT

Staff:
Original Story: Nitroplus
Director: Koichi Mashita / Screenplay: Ippo Hyodo, Shogo Yasukawa, Yukito Nonaka, Hideki Shirane, Gen Kobuchi, Tatsuya Takahashi, Yo Kimura, Yosuke Satoda / Character Design: Yoshimitsu Yamashita, Mutsumi Sasaki, Yoko Kikuchi, Tomoaki Kado, Yoshiaki Tsubata, Namiko Shiba / Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka / Composer: Hikaru Nanase / Music Production: Lantis / Producer: GENCO /Animation Production: Bee Train/ Production: Project Phantom

Cast of Voice:
Ein: Ayahi Takagaki / Zwei: Miyu Irino / Cal: Miyuki Sawashiro / Claudia McCunnen: Aya Hisakawa/ Scyth Master: Isshin Chiba / Lizzie Garland: Akeno Watanabe/ Raymond McGwire: Susumu Chiba / Daisuke Goto: Tomoyuki Shimura /Toru Shiga: Soichiro Hoshi

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

2009-04-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

Synopsis:
Count Dooku, the ex-Jedi Master, is plotting the destruction of the Republic, aided and abetted by cold-blooded asassin Asajj Ventress and cyborg General Grievous. The Republic's Clone Troops led by the Jedi must engage in fierce battles all over the galaxy.

Airing:
NHK BShi: March 31(Tue) 19:00-

Note:
A bilingual broadcast of Season 1 (22 episodes) of the American 3D CGI animated television series

Crew:
Characters and Story, Co-Writer, Executive Producer: George Lucas / Supervising Director: Dave Filoni / Co-writer: Henry Gilroy / Composer: Kevin Kiner / Original "Star Wars" theme composed by: John Williams / Production: Lucas Film Animation

Cast(English):
Anakin Skywalker: Daisuke Namikawa (Matt Lanter) / Ahsoka Tano: Shizuka Ito (Ashley Eckstein) / Obi-Wan Kenobi: Tomoyuki Morikawa (James Arnold Taylor) / Yoda: Ichiro Nagai (Tom Kane) / Padme Amidala: Maaya Sakamoto (Catherine Taber)

Candy boy episode: 06

2009-04-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Synopsis:
High school rom-com focusing on the relationship between sisters Yukino and
Kanade Sakurai, who are as close as lovers moreso than sisters, and a girl
named Sakuya Kamiyama who has a crush on Kanade.

Airing:
Candy boy Channel: March 6(Thu) 19:00-

Note:
Yuri anime delivered by Nico Nico Douga on an irregular basis since May 2nd, 2008. Seven episodes have been planned in all so there's two more to go.

Staff:
Director and Screenplay: Takafumi Hoshikawa / Character Design: Tatari Habe / Art Director: Saneo Miyamoto / Colour Planning: Chieko Hibi / Shooting Director: Tomonori Kato / Editor: Shota Uyama / Composer: Masaaki Sugiyama, TAKA / Sound Production: HALF H・P STUDIO / Animation Production: AIC

Cast of Voice:
Kanade Sakurai: Hitomi Nabatame / Yukino Sakurai: Ryoka Yuzuki / Sakuya Kamiyama: Emiri Kato / Shizuku Sakurai: Yu Kobayashi

Mainichi Kasan

2009-04-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

A new anime version of Mainichi Kasan (Everyday Mom) will be animated for television next spring.

Mainichi Kasan is the work of Rieko Saibara and follows the story of her and her two kids. The manga has been running in the Mainichi Shimbum newspaper weekly since 2002.

Mainichi Kasan describes the humorous everyday experiences of Saibara’s own life with her family and two children.

Synopsis:
Manga artist Rieko Kamohara raises her six-year-old son and four-year-old daughter as a single Mother whilst fighting to meet her publishers deadlines.

Airing:
TV Tokyo Network: April 1(Thu) 19:00-

Details:
Anime adaption of Rieko Saibara's highly acclaimed manga which was awarded an Excellence Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival 2004, and Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize 2005. Starring household-name opera singer Kumiko Mori (who has gained popularity for her TV appearances) as the voice of "Kasan".

Staff:
Original Story: Rieko Saibara
Director: Mitsuru Hongo / Associate Director: Shin Katagai / Series Composition: Natsuko Takahashi / Character Design: Kenta Mizutani / Art: Nobuaki Mihara / Colour Composition: Masato Yokoi: / Sound Director: Yuhki Matsuoka / Composer: Masami Kurihara / Production: NAS / Animation Production: Gallop

Cast:
Kasan (Rieko Kamohara): Kumiko Mori / Tosan: Hiromasa Taguchi / Granma(Toshiko): Rei Okamoto / Fumi: Yuka Fujii

Title Song: Kumiko Mori
End Title Song: Hiromichi Sato

Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity

2009-04-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity (Kiss on my Deity- ?) is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Lump of Sugar. It was first released for the PC on July 11, 2008 in both limited and regular editions. Tayutama is Lump of Sugar's third title along with their previous titles Nursery Rhyme and Itsuka, Todoku, Ano Sora ni.. The gameplay in Tayutama follows a linear plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the four female main characters.

Tayutama has since then received a spin-off title, Tayutama: It's Happy Days, and has received several transitions to other media: a manga adaptation, illustrated by Japanese illustrator Yukiwo and serialized in the manga magazine Comp Ace; an anime series which is produced by the animation studio Silver Link, and will begin its broadcast in Japan on April 5, 2009; a Drama CD adptation; and an Internet radio show to promote the anime adaptation.

Setting and themes

The main part of Tayutama takes place in a town called Ashihara-chō, which houses various landmarks such as the Sousei Academy (Sōsei Gakuin?) which the main characters attend, and the Yachimata Shrine (Yachimata Jinja?). Sousei Academy consists of two departments: an notorious all-girls department named Flawless (Furōresu?), which stems its roots from the Sousei Girls' Academy established during the Meiji period; and a recently added coeducation department named Slightly (Suraitorii?). The campus grounds are separated into two parts which houses the two separate departments. Students attending the Flawless department lives in a dormitory across from the school building, which is separated from Slightly's school building and schoolyard by a small forest.

Supernatural is a recurring theme in Tayutama. The mythological race Tayutai is worshiped by the Yachimata Shrine,[1] and is able to take shape in various forms such as humans. Various characters also possess supernatural abilities, such as Yuuri who excels in shinto studies, and Mashiro who is a Tayutai. Yumina gains wings which enables her to fly, and Ameri can also command a Tayutai. Mifuyu is favored by Nue, a Tayutai, and is physically powerful enough to engage a Tayutai in battle.

Story

The story of Tayutama revolves around the male protagonist Yuuri Mito, a third year high school student who is descendant to the Mito family of the Yachimata Shrine. One day during spring break, Yuuri and his friends Ameri and Sankurou discover a wooden relic which bares mysterious symbols in the school's woods. The relic turns to host the Tayutai race which the shrine worships, but is deemed by the school to be insignificant for preservation, and is set to be demolished for the school's expansion. Yuuri later sneaks into the school to transfer the relic's spirits, after coming to the conclusion that destroying the relic may be harmful. As he performs the ritual, he accidentally summons Kikuramikami no Hime, a Tayutai goddess whom explains the belligerent relationship between humans and Tayutai, and materializes into a young girl, hoping to maintain a mutual relationship with humans. The relic is then destroyed after an accident caused by Ameri, which accidentally releases the entire Tayutai race, among which are Nue and Oryu, two other influential Tayutai who holds severe distaste in humans.
Director Keitaro Motonaga

Hayate the Combat Butler - Animation

2009-04-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

Hayate the Combat Butler (Hayate no Gotoku!?) is a Japanese manga series, written and illustrated by manga author Kenjiro Hata, about a boy who starts a new job as a butler and the events he experiences with his employer. The manga is currently on its eighteenth volume in Japan. The English edition of the series has been licensed by Viz Media for distribution in North America.

The style of the manga has a comedic gag with a slight harem feel and constantly breaks the fourth wall. The series includes numerous references to other anime, manga, video games, and popular culture. An anime adaptation of the manga started airing on April 1, 2007, and ended on March 30, 2008 on TV Tokyo. A second anime season of Hayate the Combat Butler was officially confirmed for production by TV Tokyo on the official site on March 31, 2008, and in Shōnen Sunday volume eighteen, released on April 2, 2008. Another such announcement immediately followed the ending credits of the final episode of season one. On July 4, 2008, Bandai Entertainment announced that they have licensed the anime series.

Plot

Hayate Ayasaki is an unlucky teenager who worked since childhood to make ends meet due to his parents' irresponsible behavior. One day he finds out that his parents ran away from home, leaving behind a massive gambling debt on his shoulders. While running away from the debt collectors, he ends up meeting Nagi Sanzen'in, a young girl who is the sole heir of the wealthy Sanzen'in estate, and due to a misunderstanding, Nagi ends up falling in love with Hayate. After he rescues Nagi from some kidnappers, she hires Hayate as her new butler.

Aside from performing his ordinary duties as a butler, Hayate must fight to protect Nagi from harm, a difficult task as her life is always in danger because she is the target of other individuals coveting her family's fortune, and sometimes deal with some extravagant requests from her, oblivious to Nagi's true feelings for him.

The Hayate the Combat Butler anime first aired on TV Tokyo in Japan on April 1, 2007, produced by animation studio SynergySP and with music by Kōtarō Nakagawa. The series is also slated to air on the CS television network Animax starting on October 25, 2007, where it will receive its satellite television premiere, and will be shown uncensored.

As a result of originally being backed by TV Tokyo, the anime has had several elements censored or toned down. Examples include Hayate's mother's gambling addiction being referred to as "Investing (money, in the given case, Hayate's paycheck) in her dream" and Hayate merely being given to "nice men" for work rather than to the Yakuza for his organs (although at one point, mention was made towards harvesting Hayate's organs for money). Characters in the show make reference to the fact that they apparently cannot show the offending material and that the show is "fighting the broadcast code". There is some censorship that is intended as a joke as in any given instance of Hayate bleeding being censored by a sign reading "can't show this". The anime, like the manga, has references to other anime as well as some original references such as bleeping out words. This method of censoring references has followed onto the English translation of the manga. The DVD contains two audio tracks; one track contains the original audio aired on TV Tokyo and the other track removes the bleeping. Bandai Entertainment has announced plans to retain this for the dub, using the Japanese audio tracks in such instances.

Throughout the anime, the audience can see some of the characters breaking the fourth wall. Those that do not break the fourth wall are thinking that the characters are talking to blank space. The narrator is seen talking with Hayate at times, and this makes Hayate realize that there is an audience. Also, some characters may introduce themselves to no one but the audience. Most of the cast have references to their voice actor's previous roles (Nagi for example has an eyecatch where she wears the outfit of Louise's uniform in Zero no Tsukaima).

Before and after the commercial break, there is a unique eyecatch each time. The characters who appear state a phrase which is an on-going game of shiritori. Starting with episode six, a small segment began playing after the ending credits called the "Butler Network" featuring Hayate, Nagi, and sometimes a guest. It is meant to cover the animation production, broadcast dates, advertise character song albums and DVDs, and follow Hayate's endeavors in fighting against evil as he becomes a great butler.

An original video animation episode will be released on March 6, 2009 in DVD and Blu-ray formats. A second anime season of Hayate the Combat Butler has been confirmed for production by TV Tokyo on March 31, 2008. It will start on April 4, 2009, produced by animation studio J.C.Staff.

To Aru Majutsu no Index - To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

2009-04-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

To Aru Majutsu no Index (To Aru Majutsu no Indekkusu?, lit. A Certain Magical Index) is a Japanese light novel series written by Kazuma Kamachi and illustrated by Kiyotaka Haimura; the series is published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. Set in a city of scientifically advanced superhuman students, but in a world where magic is also real.

Tōma Kamijo's right hand, the Imagine Breaker, will negate all magic, psychic, or divine powers, as well as his own luck. One day he finds a young girl hanging on his balcony railing. She turns out to be a nun from the Church of England, and her mind has been implanted with the Index Librorum Prohibitorum—all the magical texts the Church has removed from circulation.

To Aru Majutsu No Index Ep 17 Part 1

His encounter with her would lead him to meet others from the secret world of science and magic and an adventure with his friends where Science and Magic collide. The series was made into an anime and aired between October 2008 and March 2009, containing twenty-four episodes. An anime adaptation of the side story manga series To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (lit. A Certain Scientific Railgun) will be produced.