• January 2010 New Anime Guide / Recommended Anime of January 2010
• April 2010 New Anime Guide / Recommended Anime of April 2010 / April 2010 Anime Female Character Poll
• July 2010 New Anime Guide / Recommended Anime of July 2010
• October 2010 New Anime Guide / Recommended Anime of October 2010

Haiyoru! Nyaruani: Remember My Love / 這いよる！ニャルアニ リメンバー・マイ・ラブ (11 episodes)

http://ga.sbcr.jp/bunko_blog/nyaruani/

The story centers around Nyaruko, a formless Cthulhu deity who can take on the shape of a seemingly ordinary silver-haired girl. Mahiro Yasaka is a normal high school who is chased by aliens one night, until Nyaruko saves him.

The series has been aired for a while since early this month. It’s quite confusing if you know nothing about the original novel while you look at the beautiful pic above. I was really interested in the series in the first place but when I watched the first episode, my heart stopped beating and a question kept bouncing in my mind: did you call this an Anime? Just have a little faith.

Rio – Rainbow Gate! (12 episodes)

http://riorainbowgate.com/

In the story, Rio is a popular casino dealer at the Howard Resort, an entertainment resort hotel where people from all over the world gather. She competes for the greatest honor among dealers — “Most Valuable Casino Dealer” (MVCD) — by collecting 13 legendary cards known as “Gates.”

Quite interesting the plot and could worth watching somehow.

Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season / 君に届け 2ND SEASON (13 episodes)

http://www.ntv.co.jp/kiminitodoke/

Kuronuma Sawako is completely misunderstood by her classmates. Her timid and sweet demeanor is often mistaken for malicious behavior. This is due to her resemblance to the ghost girl from “The Ring”, which has led her peers to give her the nickname Sadako. Longing to make friends and live a normal life, she is naturally drawn to Kazehaya Shouta, the most popular guy in class, whose “100% refreshing” personality earns great admiration from Sawako.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica / 魔法少女まどか★マギカ (12 episodes)

http://www.madoka-magica.com/

Having a loving family, close friends, experiencing times of joy and times of sadness. These are the things that make up an ordinary life. Kaname Madoka is a normal 2nd year middle-schoolgirl who lives such an ordinary life. Until, that is, a strange encounter occurs. She does not know if this encounter is coincidence, or the vagaries of fate, but two things are certain… (via AnimeNfo)

IS <Infinite Stratos> / IS <インフィニット・ストラトス> (12 episodes)

http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/is/

Infinite Stratos (IS), a weaponized exoskeleton system, has become the dominant tool of warfare and conflict. Unfortunately for the men in society, only women are able to operate Infinite Stratos… with very few exceptions. One of those exceptions is ORIMURA Ichika, an orphan raised by his older sister who is herself a famous IS pilot. When his compatibility with IS is discovered after he accidentally touches an IS at the age of 15, he’s given a scholarship and enrolled in a school that specializes in training IS pilots. Which of course means an… intersting life surrounded by girls for this shy, unassuming boy.

Guess could be one of the best of the season. The official website leaked some information about the character design and plot.

Yumekui Merry / 夢喰いメリー (12 episodes)

http://yumekuimerry.com/

Ten years ago Fujiwara noticed he had a power to see multicolored auras surrounding the person’s body. Ever since then he’s been having a weird dream about a war with cats. Then one day a mysterious girl falls on top of him…

The pattern of the story is as old as my SONY discman which was kept in my drawer since high school and it sounds like Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai.

GOSICK / ゴシック (12 episodes)

http://www.gosick.tv/

GOSICK takes place in 1924 in a small, made-up European country of Sauville. The story centers on Kazuya Kujo, the third son of a Japanese Imperial soldier, who is a transfer student to St. Marguerite Academy, where urban legends and horror stories are all the rage. There he meets Victorique, a mysterious yet beautiful and brilliant girl who never comes to class and spends her days reading the entire content of the library or solving mysteries that even detectives can’t solve.

Cardfight!! Vanguard / CARDFIGHT!! ヴァンガード (13 episodes)

http://cf-vanguard.com/

Another card game series. Not very much information was leaked and we could wait for while.

Freezing / フリージング (12 episodes)

http://freezing.tv/

Set in a slightly futuristic world where Earth has been invaded and is at war with aliens from another dimension called the Nova, the story follows the adventures of a Japanese boy named Kazuya Aoi who enrolls for training at a special school for genetically modified girls called Pandoras who battle the aliens, and their male partners, called Limiters, who use a special power called “freezing” to limit their opponent’s mobility. The protagonist makes the acquaintance of an unusual older girl named Bridgette L. Satellizer who appears to be the most powerful Pandora in her class, but has not yet chosen a male partner to be her Limiter, and in spite of the warnings of all his friends, he decides to be her Limiter.

The series reminds me of Queen’s Blade. Hope this one could be better.

Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!! / お兄ちゃんのことなんかぜんぜん好きじゃないんだからねっ!! (12 episodes)

http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/oniichan/

Junior High student Nao’s brother complex is so strong, it’s almost at the point of incest. She’s determined to make her brother, High School student Shuusuke, see her as a woman. So determined, that she goes as far as going into his room to throw away all his non-incest related porn. But as she’s looking for his porno stash, she finds a photo album… and she’s not in any of his childhood pictures.

Guess it could be the most evil series of the season. There seems to be many Imouto series recently.

Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu! / みつどもえ 増量中！(8 episodes)

http://www.mitsudomoe-anime.com/

Well, second season of the series. Not very interested in the character design and the story is quite striking to me. Will probably quit the job if I were the teacher of the class in the series.

Beelzebub / べるぜバブ (12 episodes)

http://www.ytv.co.jp/beelze/

The story follows the “strongest juvenile delinquent”, Oga Tatsumi, a first year in “Ishiyama High” the school for delinquents. One day while sleeping next to a river he sees a man floating down it, he pulls him to shore and the man splits in half revealing a baby boy. This boy is the son of the demon king and he has been chosen as the one to raise it with the baby’s demon maid Hilda. The story follows his life with the child and at the delinquent school.

It could be one of the best of the season. Have followed the Manga since the very beginning and it definitely worth your time.

Dragon Crisis! / ドラゴンクライシス！ (12 episodes)

http://dragoncrisis.jp/

A normal high school boy Kisaragi Ryuji’s peaceful life is turned into an adventure by the return of his second cousin Eriko. Ryuji and Eriko seize a relic box from a black broker. In the box, they find a red dragon girl Rose. In order to protect Rose from the black organization, Ryuji decides to fight using his power as a relic handler.

Another very best series of the season. The character design is great on the official website.

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? / これはゾンビですか？ (12 episodes)

http://newtype.kadocomic.jp/zombie/

Aikawa Ayumu is a normal high school boy. One day he is killed by a serial killer and revived as a zombie by a necromancer named Eucliwood Hellscythe. He starts to serve Eu as her guard but he happens to deprive the mahou shoujo Haruna of her magic power. Haruna orders Ayumu to fight against the anti-mahou shoujo system “Megalo” in her place.

After High School of the Dead, now we have a male protagonist of Zombie It could be one of the best if the producer keep on doing well on the Animation.

Fractale / フラクタル (11 episodes)

http://fractale.noitamina.tv/

The story takes place in an island, where a “Fractale System” is beginning to collapse. One day, Crane finds an injured girl called Phryne under a cliff. She disappears leaving a pendant. Crane sets out for a journey with the girl-shaped avatar Nessa to look for Phryne and discovers the secret of the Fractale System.

Hourou Musuko / 放浪息子 (? episodes)

http://www.houroumusuko.jp/

Shuicihi Nitori appears to be a shy and quiet preteen boy, when he transfers to a new school he quickly makes friends with the tomboyish Yoshino Takatsuki who sits next to him. It soon becomes apparent that both Shucihi and Yoshino are more than simply a sensitive boy and masculine girl, they both are transgendered. Together they decide to take the first steps toward becoming the people they want to be.

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This post January 2011 New Anime Guide was written originally at TheAkiba.

This single has been released quite a while ago, actually around when Kimi ni Todoke started. The real fans of the show will probably already have this in their music library. In my review of this series I said that the OP was fun to listen to, well here it is, the OP of Kimi ni Todoke. It’s a shame that the instrumental version of the song Kimi ni Todoke isn’t included. Happy listening!

Artist: Tomofumi Tanizawa (タニザワトモフミ)

Release Date: November 25, 2009

Bitrate: 320kbps

Tracklist:

1. きみにとどけ
2. 宇宙旅行
3. ベテルギウスガール (instrumental)

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This post Tomofumi Tanizawa: Kimi ni Todoke was written originally at TheAkiba.

Kimi ni Todoke (24 episodes)

Synopsis: Kuronuma Sawako is nicknamed Sadako due to her resemblance to the girl from the Japanese horror movies “The Ring”. Shunned by her classmates, her life starts to change as she befriends Shōta Kazehaya, a very popular boy in her class.

Kuronuma Sawako’s one wish in life is to make friends. That’s a difficult proposition when everyone who meets her cowers in terror. She admires her classmate, Kazehaya-kun, a popular, easygoing and 100% refreshing guy who is nice with everyone, even with her.(via ANN)

Review: Kimi ni Todoke is an easygoing anime, it doesn’t add much originality to the love story.

It has your basic ingredients for a high-school romance: a popular guy falls in love with a girl who’s not popular at all. The girl, Sawako, is your silent but kind girl, she loves to help others and doesn’t expect anything in return. The guy, Kazehaya, is your popular guy, wherever he goes he gets followed by friends. Whenever he joins an conversation the conversation gets a lot more fun. At first it might seem that Sawako is a really exaggerated character, at least that’s what I thought, but later on it definitely improves. The story might not seem too original, if you are into romance series either anime or soaps you might have seen something like this before. I had the very same feeling but I don’t know what it exactly is that drew me deeper into the story, it just happened and each episode makes me want the next.

The studio that works on this anime is Production I.G., in my opinion a great studio. The art style is about the same as Bokura ga ita, it has a painted feeling rather than drawn which I personally find really well done. It doesn’t ruin the experience or anything but it gives some kind of twist to it, makes it look fresh and colourful. The studio also hired good voice actors and actresses, the voices really suit the characters. Aya Hirano even voices a character in this anime, though I’m not really a fan of her, just thought I’d mention it. The music that is used isn’t fast-paced but really flows with the love story, the opening is really addictive, listened to it for quite a few times. All with all, I consider this the best on-going anime at the moment. Give it a chance and watch the first few episodes, you’ll be wanting more.

During the time of writing there are around 18 of 24 episodes released.

Durarara!! (24 episodes)

Synopsis: Ryuugamine Mikado is a boy who longs for the exciting life of the big city. At the invitation of his childhood friend Masaomi, he transfers to a school in Ikebukuro. Masaomi has warned him about people he doesn’t want to cross in the city: a champion fighter, an informant, and a mysterious gang called “Dollars.” Nervous from Masaomi’s stories, Mikado witnesses an urban legend on his first day in the city, the Headless Rider astride a black motorcycle. From then on, the existence of supernatural cases and a gang called the Yellow Turbans will rise to the surface, and Ikebukuro will pushed to the breaking point. (via ANN)

Review: Durarara!! is an anime based on the myth of the Irish Dullahan. The name Dullahan might not ring a bell but The Headless Horseman might. Instead of a headless person riding a horse, it’s a headless person riding a bike. The headless rider is getting paid to do certain jobs which involves all sorts of things. The story is quite original, I’ve never seen anything like this before. I like it when they use European folklore and give it an anime twist. This worked quite well for Tales of Symphonia (even though that’s a game) and Saber. The first few episodes might be confusing as it is telling the story from different perspectives, I had to watch the first four or so to finally get into the story. The art isn’t anything fancy but quite simple, the studio behind it is Brain’s Base. When there are a lot of people walking on the street only the main characters gets drawn the rest are just gray blobs in the form of humans. The background and the grey blobs doesn’t ruin the action but I prefer seeing everything drawn and having much detail. Music and voice-acting-wise, everything seems to be okay, I don’t have any complains about it. The voice acting fits the character.The music isn’t anything of orchestral value but it does add suspense.

There haven’t been many serious series out there this season, take for example the series where a character has to suck on some breasts to get his power. Therefore I definitely recommend you seeing this one, it has a compelling story even though the artwork might not be the best that’s out there. Best original 2009-2010 winter anime so far.

Nodame Cantabile Finale (11 episodes)

Synopsis: The love & music story continues between Noda Megumi, the talented yet distracted (almost childish) piano player, and Chiaki Shinichi, the prodigious, always focused on advancing forward, orchesta director. How love will finally find its way for this two persons. Will it be able to surpass the challenges ahead or will it die prematurely. Paris, the city of light, is the more accurate place to find out how this “love musical” will reach its FINALE. (via ANN)

Review: This is the third season of Nodame Cantabile, I don’t have much to say about this season yet as I’ve only seen one episode, but I’ve seen the past two seasons. The first two seasons were great romance series combined with great classical music. The music aspect of this series is absolutely fantastic, take a concert for example, instead of just skimming through the play they actually dedicate time to it and animate the people playing their instruments. The art during a concert is just brilliant, however the scenery is kept simple. The drawing is good, not the best out there but it doesn’t distract you from what’s going on. The studio behind it is J.C.Staff. The characters are funny and interesting, Chiaki who is a perfectionist gets saddled with Noda who is quite clumsy, this makes a great duo. I hope the storyline will also be good, I’ve mostly based this review on previous seasons and is, therefore, a must watch sequel if you liked the first two seasons.

Ookami Kakushi (12 episodes)

Synopsis: A 15 year old boy, Hiroshi Kuzumi, has recently moved into a new town in the mountains. The town is separated into new and old streets by the river, and many mysterious local cultures still remain. Although confused and enjoying his new life, one person kept her distance from him: class committee member Kushinada Nemuru. In their few encounters she gave him a word of advice: “Stay away from the old streets.” (via Wikipedia)

Review: From the writer and producer behind Umineko and Higurashi comes Ookami Kakushi. It’s once again a horror/mystery anime. The art is done by Peach-Pit who also did the art for Rozen Maiden, the drawing is really good. I’m probably a bit biased but I liked Rozen maiden and Higurashi and that’s why I started watching this, I had great hopes for this anime. So far I’ve only watched the first four episodes and I must say the story is kind of bland, it’s based on werewolves. I had to plough through the first episodes and only the first episode wanted me to watch more. The latter episodes were quite boring, the story didn’t advance much and you were left with more questions than answers. The music and voice-acting are well done, no complaints whatsoever. The characters don’t feel like anything new, I didn’t had the feeling of being drawn into them. I have a mixed feeling about this anime since I really like Higurashi and Rozen maiden and am stubborn to give up on this one. So far the story didn’t seem interesting enough but a good friend said it was getting more interesting after the fifth episode. To my knowledge there are only going to be twelve episodes, and almost half of it isn’t interesting. If you like the studio and the writer Ryukishi07 go give this a watch, if you like neither just skip this series.

Hello fine readers of TheAkiba, I’m planning to become a new author for TheAkiba and instead of just barging in I’ll introduce myself first.

Some things about myself:

I am seventeen years old and reside in the Netherlands, I really like Anime and the Japanese culture. Though, I’m not really an avid manga reader, only own a few but it’s not a notable amount. Not aiming to be an Otaku though, though maybe I might already be one, without me knowing it .

I’m from Chinese decent but I’m not great in Chinese, I can speak it a little but I can’t write nor read ( attending Chinese school for that ).

Fluent at Dutch whatsoever and the main reason for doing blog posts is because I want to sharpen my English and also write to a broad public with the same interests, which is Anime of course =D. In contrary with YoU ( the starter of this site ) I don’t travel a lot, but when I do I’ll be sure to give everyone a heads up.

This is my first time doing a post on a blog, ever, so bear with me. Figuring out what each and every button does, so it’ll take some time.

All with all, glad to be here and I hope to meet new friends =)

PS: I hope everything worked out fine, tried to follow the rules as carefully as I could.

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This post Winter 2009–2010 and On-going Anime Review was written originally at TheAkiba.

New New Animes have arrived and the post seems a little bit late to arrive whatsoever, guess I was just lazy Back to the topic, the overall releases seem quite nice and there’re some of them really worth out expectation. Several Animes have already on air and you might have already watched them. But never mind, here we go.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun / とある科学の超電磁砲 (13 episodes)

Kämpfer / けんぷファー (12 episodes)

Nyan Koi! / にゃんこい! (12 episodes)

Asura Cryin’ 2nd Season / アスラクライン (13 episodes)

Tegami Bachi / Letter Bee / テガミバチ (13 episodes)

Seiken no Blacksmith / 聖剣の刀鍛冶 (12 episodes)

InuYasha / 犬夜叉 (26 episodes)

Seitokai no Ichizon / 生徒会の一存 (13 episodes)

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu 2nd Season / 乃木坂春香の秘密 (12 episodes)

11eyes: Tsumi to Batsu to Aganai no Shoujo / 11eyes -罪と罰と贖いの少女- (12 episodes)

Kobato. / こばと。 (24 episodes)

Kimi ni Todoke / From Me to You / 君に届け (12 episodes)

Sasameki Koto / ささめきこと (12 episodes)

Fairy Tail / フェアリーテイル (18 episodes)

DARKER THAN BLACK 流星の双子 / ジェミニ (12 episodes)

http://www.d-black.net/

Two years have passed since Hei and Yin escaped the Syndicate after the events of the first season. Making their way to Russia, Hei encounters a young girl named Suou Pavlichenko, whose family is gradually pulled into the war between contractors and various intelligence factions. Meanwhile, Misaki Kirihara has quit her position in Foreign Affairs to begin her own investigations into Hei, the Contractors and the Syndicate. (via ANN)

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This post October 2009 New Anime Guide was written originally at TheAkiba.