A different kind of magical series.

Spring is usually by far the biggest season of the year for sheer number of releases, usually of the highest quality as well. Unfortunately, I can’t really remember it as anything more than average at best. Maybe it was the general feeling that something had utterly lost its way and would never come back feeling of this season. I’m probably just imagining that though. It was probably a good season on reflection.

Today’s look back begins with Bus Gamer. Seemingly a three-part OVA which was supposed to a larger TV series that never happened. The premise behind this is major corporations recruit groups of three people off the street to participate in a series of street brawls. This was pretty flawed as who would include a group of 3 random people when it would better just to pay and train 3 great fighters at a much lower cost with respect to the prize. There was never more than 2.5 episodes of content in this anyway.

Next is another OVA in School Days ~Magical Heart Kokoro-chan~. The trailer for this was already special, using a Beretta as a weapon in a magical girl sense would be unique, but the actual OVA consisted entirely of self-parody. At least in one episode it can pull this off and still be entertaining to watch, though in typical fashion it has more to do with shock value than actual content.

There was also the To Heart 2 AD OVA. Like the first OVA series, it is largely single character dumps structured around some sort of slice-of-life background. Only two episodes here, and I’m having a problem remembering anything of note from either episode. Perhaps, that’s the biggest problem here.

My single-night marathon session of Chi’s Sweet Home took place before the birth of Lower Mid-Table, though that might be a good thing. As a children’s show it is at a high level, though I couldn’t resist drinking a lot as I watched. There’s not much of a story until the latter sections, where Chi befriends a larger cat, but it is mostly just Chi doing inane things around her owner’s apartment. Unfortunately, I can remember the pet shop employee having the most annoying voice I had heard in ages.

Kure-nai is a completely different animal to those four. It’s the story of a teenage body guard, who has to put up with the annoyances of his daily life, while worrying about taking care of the daughter of a rich family. This was probably one of the few shows this decade where I could tell that there was a fun on the production side, after all the musical episode was one of my favorites from last year. The story was a little cliche for my taste, but it was an entertaining watch.

To-LOVE-Ru is probably more interesting for the arguments that come from pronouncing it than the actual content. Week after week, I kept coming back to this hoping for anything encouraging at all. It never came, though it did pull off the feat of making everything else seem like a masterpiece in comparison. However, my opinion seems to contrast with the intended audience, so what can I say?

Kanokon would seem like a similar show at first, at least the fanservice in every shot makeup of the thing. However, Kanokon seems to be comfortable knowing exactly what it is and doesn’t do anything more that it should. It’s basically the story of a boy and the fox deity girl in the same school who likes him and would ravage him at the first opportunity. There’s nothing much more than that as the time and place change along with the introduction of a rival. Part of me hates to say this, but this might actually be the model to follow when it comes to modern ecchi-fest series.

Finally I wrap up with one of my favorites of the decade in Kaiba. I went into this with pitifully low expectations about 3 months after this finished mainly because the character designs would not look out of place in the early 1960s. That was easy to forget in the vivid worlds that seem to exist in the dystopian universe of the series. It’s pretty much a classic science fiction tale which questions the meaning of physical existence in a world where bodies and memories are freely changed and exchanged. It takes a bit of effort to get into this, but it’s something I would recommend to a lot of people.

Highlights from Unseen or Unfinished Items

The second season of xxxHOLiC seems to have a comically high average rating. It can’t be that good can it? I haven’t seen the first season either. Macross Frontier and Code Geass R2 brought established reputations to the table going in. Why haven’t I finished either and why do they seem to mark some sort of end to heavy real robot action? Itazura na Kiss looks like a pretty typical shoujo story, but highly rated nonetheless. I could probably say the same thing about Special A. Vampire Knight and Soul Eater are also highly rated. Junjou Romantica seems to be the one shounen ai series that is popular and good. Golgo 13 resurrected the classic series and the episodic action format worked in what little I saw of it.

Esse aqui é um “Omake” de Kure-nai, não é um capítulo e nem
tem história, são só algumas páginas coloridas dos personagens
de Kure-nai e de um outro mangá do mesmo autor de Kure-nai.
Esse mangá se chama Denpa Teki na Kanojo. Ainda não tem
scanlators brasileiros ou gringos trabalhando nele, mas espero
que tenha logo. =)

Esses são os capítulos separados do volume 01 de Kämpfer.
Capítulo 01
ou 
Capítulo 02
ou 
Capítulo 03
ou 
Capítulo 04
ou 
Capítulo 05
ou 
O volume completo pode ser encontrado na página de
downloads.

Depois eu adiciono eles na página de downloads, os links dos
downloads estão nas imagens acima, bons downloads.

E ai está o capítulo 24 de Kure-nai ui xD
Ahem! deixando isso de lado, amanhã eu trago mais um capítulo
de um mangá que ficou um tempinho parado, não vou contar
qual é porque é segredo. xD

Adicionado o mirror do Ifile do capítulo 05 de Kämpfer.
Adicionado o mirror do Ifile do capítulo 23 de Karin.
Adicionado o mirror do Ifile do capítulo 03 de Onii-chan Control.

Lotado de tags ai vai mais um post, mas dessa vez com vários
lançamentos!

Adicionado o capítulo 23 de Kure-nai. O mangá fica cada vez
bem melhor XD

Adicionado o capítulo Extra de Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru.
sendo assim fechando o primeiro volume do mangá.

Adicionado o capítulo 17 de Karin.
Ps pro Dex: Eu coloquei aquele calendário de lançamentos
seu dentro do capítulo 17.

E por último adicionado o capítulo 02 de Onii-chan
Control.

Outra coisa, a partir de agora, estou pensando em
remover os links dos capítulos que já possuem um
volume completo pois pelo o que eu vi, eles ficam
sem utilidade alguma, pois ninguém mais baixa por
eles resultando no vencimento dos mirrors do ifile
e em ocupar espaço no site x.x
Fazendo isso não só deixa o site mais leve como
também deixa mais fácil para mim de administrá-lo.

E ai está o capítulo 22 de Kure-nai! mês que vem tem mais! *HOT*

Também adicionado o capítulo 13.1 que é o Especial Anju e o capítulo 14 dessa forma finalizando o volume 3 que inclusive já foi adicionado o link do download.
Dex pediu para avisar que ele vai dar um tempinho no Karin para trabalhar no seu novo projeto chamado “Oniichan Control”, o mangá já tem 2 capítulos em inglês, por isso não vai ser uma pausa tão grande assim. Depois o dex passa aqui para dar mais detalhes.

E para finalizar, o capítulo 03 de REC.

Irei adicionar os mirrors amanhã.
EDIT: Os mirrors já foram adicionados.

So another five reviews today – I am slowing getting them rewritten! Today I have; Noein, Kurozuka, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, Kure-nai and Jing The Bandit King.

Noein: Exciting, if sometimes mind-bending, Sci-fi series with a ton of action - 4/5

PLOT: Noein is a series that while it contains many clichéd elements, still manages to be highly original and memorable. It tackles complex ideas like the multiple-world theory and the fluidity of the future and wraps them up in a very accessible and human story. There is always the danger when dealing with sci-fi that its all going to get very talky and incomprehensible and the characters will get caught up techno-babble and end up feeling aloof and unapproachable – such is thankfully not the case in Noein. Even the scientist characters remain human and mostly likeable. The character development is superbly done – Noein has a large cast, but all are given adequate time and are fairly well rounded at the end. Haruka is a great heroine – very grounded and believable, and her friends in all their incarnations are also well developed. The only character I have issue with is Yuu – he’s such a whiney brat for most the time that by the time he actually stops his emo-ness and does something I just no longer cared about the character. His alternate future self, Karasu, on the other hand; is a wonderful and complex character and the central figure of most the action scenes in the series.
There is so much I’d like to ramble about as Noein provides great food for thought, but if I go on much longer this will turn into an essay rather than a review! So I’ll just say that Noein’s plot was great with lots of interesting ideas and a well developed world and likeable characters – it looses some marks for slightly odd pacing and an end that’s a touch too neat with a couple of plot-holes, but those are minor quibbles and don’t really much affect my overall enjoyment.

ANIMATION: Unorthodox and experimental, Noein makes for a unique visual experience. The character designs are definitely not the norm and the animation is almost messy in its execution. However this style works very well for the subject matter – the action scenes are jaw-dropping as the messy, sketchy style allows for a lot of freedom of movement. Its not pretty, but it is eye-catching. I have issues with the CGI though – a lot of it is poorly done and doesn’t mesh with the other animation at all, the only place this actually works well is with the Shangri-La things as it enhances the feeling that these objects really are from a different time-space. Plenty of recycled animation too, notably shots of Haruka’s house and her activation of the Dragon Torque. The animation quality is also very inconsistent; at times it’s striking, detailed and has lots of movement and at others its completely bland, static and the characters look deformed! Still I appreciate that Noein offers something different and quite visually striking.

MUSIC & VOICE ACTING: The score is excellent – all the BGM is wonderful and has lots of variety. It’s a really rich soundscape. The OP was pretty and I didn’t skip it all that much, the ED was quite forgettable though. Voice acting was excellent – Karasu, Haruka and Atori stand out in my mind as particularly well acted as these are the characters that have the biggest range of expression over the run of the series. However as a whole the cast is wonderful.

So all in all Noein is one of the better and more original sci-fi anime I’ve seen, I’d definitely recommend it.

Kurozuka: Exciting, stylish, with an excellent soundtrack but lacks depth – 4/5
PLOT: Kurozuka is a show where the from the 1st episode I was completely drawn into the intrigue of the plot. The whole look and sound of the show gave me Death Note vibes. I think the same team from Madhouse who produced Death Note worked on Kurozuka as the animation employs a similar style. Kurozuka was the standout action series of its season, but it has much more to offer than that, it also offers an engaging, mysterious (although sometimes confusing) plotline. Of course I would have liked some proper answers regarding Kuro & Kuromitsu, but since the show is told from Kuro’s POV we never get more answers than he does and I’ve drawn my own conclusions about what exactly was going on. The time skipping and repeating cycles that occur throughout (and without warning) I found very interesting, as each repetition shed new light on the mystery of Kuro & Kuromitsu. The series is short at 12 episodes, but thanks to this there is rarely a dull moment as every last minute is put to good use.

ANIMATION: Dialogue is at a minimum in this series so the rich visuals, heavy with deep reds and a brilliant soundtrack are what set the atmosphere for the viewer. Over all the animation is stunning as one would expect from MADHOUSE – lots of strong colouring (especially during the fight sequences where Kuro really flips out!), heaps of blood, really slick choreography, interesting (if overly thin) character designs and fantastic attention to detail in the backgrounds – very visually striking anime.

VOICE ACTING & MUSIC: The soundtrack is fantastic – best OP I’ve heard in a while and a nice ED too – BGM is also very impressive and atmospheric. The seiyuu are pretty impressive too (woo Mamoru Miyano!), although there really isn’t a whole lot of dialogue in this show.

In spite of its flaws Kurozuka remains an extremely attractive show, I mean its got blood, gore, action, romance, immortality, swords and Mamoru Miyano! Whats not to like!? Recommended if you like your action series mature, blood-soaked and stylish.

Gankutsuou – The Count of Monte Cristo: Excellent and visually striking novel adaptation – 5/5

PLOT: Basically its The Count of Monte Cristo in space/the future ^_^ Its been many years since I read the original Count of Monte Cristo novel so my memory of the finer details of the plot is a bit fuzzy, but Gonzo have managed quite a good adaptation of the plot IMO. The characters are rich, there is plenty of character development and the story has a multitude of layers – all is good here. The Count is a fascinating character, you can’t help but be drawn into his world and story. Gankutsuou demonstrated brilliant pacing and wonderful scripting – never a dull moment! Definitely one of GONZO’s best series.

ANIMATION: Such a striking style is used in this anime, an abundance of static patterns is used to detail character clothing, hair and important background details. It’s a visually memorable style that makes this anime stand out extremely well. The only other anime I can think of with a remotely similar visual motif is Mononoke. The character designs may be drawn from Gonzo’s generic stock, but the detailing makes them fit their setting well and makes them quite eyecatching.

MUSIC & VOICE ACTING: The score is wonderful – beautiful piano pieces and a nice ballad OP. I particularly liked the ED, the way its presented with the visuals makes it feel like a particularly well edited AMV! The voice acting is of a high standard too – it has Jun Fukuyama (which pleased my Inner Fangirl quite a lot). The Count’s voice was melty too!

Overall a very well put together anime adaptation of a classic novel and highly recommended to anyone looking for a series with a well constructed and engaging plot.

Kure-nai: Quirky, quite slow but very character driven, with some excellent action scenes – 4/5

PLOT: This show really surprised me when I watched it – judging from promo material and summaries, I thought it would either be more comedic & harem-y or dark and action orientated. What I got was quirky slice of life with the odd dark undertone! The pacing is slowish and it takes its time with getting to the meat of the plot – rather we are given a very character driven anime, and the characters are what make it worth watching for me, Shinkuro and Murasaki are a joy to watch and are given a lot of depth over the run of the show. In addition Kure-nai has a stunning action packed finale (you’ve got to see the car chase through the traditional mansion!), which really topped the series off for me. Oh and there is a hilarious musical episode – you have to see (and hear) that!

ANIMATION: 1st off – what a demented opening! It’s really cute and colourful, which is quite jarring as the tone of series isn’t really all that light! Brains Base were behind the animation, and they employ a similar style to that used in Red Garden. The backgrounds are very detailed and the animation is fluid – the character designs needed a bit getting used to but were well thought out. However overall the animation quality is high throughout and especially shines during the handful of well-choreographed and exciting action scenes.

MUSIC & VOICE ACTING: The music is great and really fitting throughout (well except for that slightly out of place OP and that hilarious musical episode). The one thing that bugged me about this series is the main character, Shinkuro Kurenai’s VA – he sounds much too girly & young (Miyuki Sawashiro also voiced Claire in Red Garden, Shinku in Rozen Maiden & Jun in Persona: Trinity Soul). It was something I struggled with throughout, but it isn’t all that annoying as everyone else in the cast is excellent and well cast.

Overall I really liked Kure-nai and felt it was one of the best new offerings in its season and the show really didn’t get enough love when it was airing.

Jing The Bandit King: Quite average series, but does have a nice sense of style – 3/5

PLOT: Well basically you have Jing and his bird friend/ super powered gun thing, Kir and the two of them travel all over their world looking for stuff that interests Jing to steal, oh and Jing always picks up a girl in each arc (Wiki calls them the ‘Jing Girls‘!). Not the most original plotline in the world, and the series is pretty standard shounen fare – but its still pretty well executed. The structure of the series is unrelated stand-alone episodes or short mini arcs and in that sense it reminds me of Kino no Tabi or Mushishi (although not in the same league as either of those series!). Jing himself is quite laid back and likeable, Kir on the other hand is a lech and fairly annoying.

ANIMATION: The series is pretty well animated, although the 1st thought that went through my head when I saw Jing was “wow the spikes in his hair could put someone’s eye out!) There is plenty of striking colour, the backgrounds are interesting and the action is well done – no real complaints about production quality here.

MUSIC & VOICE ACTING: For some reason the downloads I got lack the opening and endings, but I did watch the opening on YouTube and thought that it was OK – not overly memorable. The music during the episodes reminded me of Tokyo Underground, but it seemed to fit well enough. The voice acting is excellent – it bugged me at first that Jing has the same seiyuu as Kohsaka (Genshiken), Wolfram (Kyo Kara Maoh) & Kei (Moyashimon) as I watched all three of those series not long before watching Jing, but got over that quickly. The always great Shinichiro Miki plays the motorbike courier Postino & Kir ’s VA is also very good.

Over all I’m pleasantly surprised with this series as I didnt have high expectations for it, but its still quite average and I have no desire to watch the OVA series.

Yes I still have more in my backlog – god knows when I’ll be through!

Yes! Yes! Yeeeeeees! Trazendo o capítulo 21 de Kure-nai. Achei o capítulo muito bom, não vou dar spoilers dele, então aproveitem e leiam.

Trazendo o capítulo 02 de Ginban Kaleidoscope…Ufa! foi realmente difícil editar esse capítulo, pois tive que refazer um monte de partes. Não há uma data definida para o lançamento do próximo capítulo desse projeto, pois ainda não lançaram o capítulo 03 no Scanlator gringo.

Trazendo também o capítulo 09 de Karin que é um projeto do Dex. “Nossa, você não se cansa de falar isso sempre?” Tem razão, melhor eu parar com isso. XD

Bom, demorei mas trouxe, embora não tenha sido no dia prometido. Boa leitura.

EDIT: O capítulo 09 de Karin foi removido rapidamente para corrigir um erro, logo logo eu adiciono a versão corrigida.

EDIT2: A versão 2 do capítulo 09 já foi adicionada.

Finalmente uma ova! XD  To lançando rapido pra caramba, mas é uma pena que apartir de agora vocês tenham que esperar por um tempo indetermiado até que lance o capítulo 21 no japão. Bom, vou dar uma descansada e depois começar a trabalhar em um novo projeto com mais calma. =p

Ah, não se esqueçam de votar nessa nova enquete!

Abraços e boa leitura.

E acabou a gasolina!! acabei apagando quando me deitei na cama e só consegui terminar de editar o capítulo 19… -.- Bom, pelo menos trouxe esse. Vou ver se lanço o capítulo 20 amanhã. Abraços e boa leitura.

Trazendo o capítulo 18 de Kure-nai e assim iniciando o volume 04. Após o suposto final que teve no anime, a história continua e fica cada vez mais emocionante. ^_^

Boa leitura.

Trazendo o capítulo 17 de Kure-nai e fechando o Volume 03.(inclusive eu adicionei o link do volume 03 na pagina de download) Não se preocupem porque não acabou!! ainda tem mais capítulos pela frente!!! Até agora foram lançados 20 capítulos pela J.A.C. Group, que é um scanlator norte americano. Continuarei trazendo os capítulos até que esteja totalmente atualizado com eles. É uma pena que eu tenha que esperar eles lançarem para mim traduzir e trazer para cá, pois ainda não sei japonês, mas farei o possível para não atrasar os lançamentos. Abraços.

Olá pessoal, hoje trazemos aqui 3 lançamentos de uma só vez (Sim, sim. Eu sei que vocês já sabem disso.) Logo abaixo seram citados os lançamentos e alguns detalhes.

Como sempre, Kure-naaaaaaaaaaaaaai! foi adicionado o capítulo 16. Já descobri a divisão entre os volumes depois de remexer alguns sites japoneses, então já foi adicionado também os links do volume 01 e volume 02.

Em seguida vem Karin! foi adicionado o capítulo 05 fechando o volume 01 e também o link do próprio(volume 01).

Nota: o Dex(responsável por esse projeto) está de mudanças, por isso é provável que ele demore um pouco para lançar o próximo capítulo.

E por ultimo DearS! foi adicionado o capítulo 07.

Qualquer problema mande um email para mim com o título designando o problema e no conteudo os detalhes.

Sim! capítulo 15 de Kure-nai! Espero que o pessoal flooder não esteja mais ativo agora, pois eu não quero que o meu precioso lançamento seja engolido pelo spam desse pessoal mal educado. =p

Nota: Para quem não sabe, estou falando de alguns fansubs que ficam dando flood de lançamentos na animeblade, não estou falando de vocês. ;P

Trazendo o capítulo 14 de Kure-nai, a qualidade não está muito boa pois o RAW não era muito bom e o editor do J.A.C. Group que editou esse capítulo provavelmente não era o mesmo de sempre, por isso ficou com a qualidade meio baixa, porém pode se dizer que o meu capítulo ficou bem melhor que o deles. Qualquer problema, pode mandar email para mim! Só não pode floodar =0

Isso mesmo, depois de tomar um banho, eu vim aqui pessoalmente virtualmente adicionar o capítulo 13 de Kure-nai. Quem tiver algo contra diga agora ou cale-se para sempre. XD

Nota: O motivo de não ter um volume definido na pagina do download de Kure-nai é porque o site em que eu baixo os Scans não definiu os volumes e eu não achei informação alguma sobre os volumes dele. Caso você ache, por favor me diga que eu irei corrigir o que for necessário e adicionar o link de download do(s) volume(s).

Adicionado o capítulo 12 de Kure-nai e sem muito o que dizer. Boa leitura.

Trazendo o capítulo 11 de Kure-nai(finalmente) e eu ainda nem dormi hoje(eita vicio heim) e ainda estou a procura de um Shoutbox que funcione no wordpress sem precisar baixar plugin e que não seja o meebo! Boa leitura.

Trazendo o capítulo 10 de Kure-nai.

Não trouxe Karin hoje porque deixei o Dex como responsável pelo projeto.

Ai vem mais um capítulo de Kure-nai!!! Finalmente *ufa* trouxe ele aqui. Eita semana ocupada, essa que eu tive. Bom, por hoje é só(eu acho) espero que aproveitem o capítulo(09).

Edit: Dêem uma olhada nos projetos dos parceiros do Zetsubou Scans, vale apena conferir! ou então acesse AnimeBlade para saber quais mangás são lançados diariamente.

Isso mesmo, finalmente atualizações!Trazendo hoje os capítulos 05 e 06 de Hyakko e os capítulos 07 e 08 de Kure-nai.
Hyakko vai ficar um tempo sem atualizações porque o fansub gringo que traduz ele para inglês ainda não
lançou o capítulo 07, mas assim que lançar eu venho correndo pra cá com ele enquanto o Kure-nai ainda vai
ter bastante atualização, então não se preocupem por enquanto. =p

Olá. Hoje não é o melhor dia para falar de futebol… por isso vou direto ao post de hoje. Quando fiz o post falando sobre as coisas que eu IA assistir da nova temporada, incluí os OVA’s de Denpa Teki na Kanojo. Dos animes da lista só faltava esse, e nessa quinta-feira eu finalmente assisti ao primeiro OVA.

A primeira coisa que eu preciso dizer é que vocês tem que esquecer parte da sinopse que eu coloquei naquele post sobre os animes da temporada de primavera, a personagem Ame Ochibana de fato surge do nada e se coloca como totalmente leal ao deliquente Jū Jūzawa, porém não tem nada a ver com uma onda eletromagnética como colocado. Na verdade Ame afirma que ambos se conheciam em uma vida passada onde Jūzawa era um grande rei. Obviamente que Jūzawa não acredita na garota que ainda sim continua insistindo e seguindo “seu mestre” por todo o lado (incluindo uma invasão à casa dele).

Este primeiro OVA além de apresentar os personagens principais e situar a história, mostra o acontecimento de estranhos assasinatos em série, chegando a uma colega de classe de Jūzawa. O estilo desse episódio me lembrou muito o anime Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, com seu ar de mistério e paranóia, indo de um ritmo lento para assassinatos brutais, sem contar com as garotas yanderes, aparentemente normais e kawaii que mostram um lado diferente e violento.

Baseado nas light novels de Kentarou Katayama, o mesmo de Kure-nai, e adaptado pela Brains Base, de Kure-nai e do espetacular Baccano!, Depa Teki na Kanojo tem uma animação e traços que uma hora são bem medianos (mas nunca ruins), mas que em determinados momentos são muito bons, bem acima da média. As cenas de luta especialmente foram bem animadas, deixando o anime mais interessante.

Fico agora no aguardo dos outros OVA’s.

Heute gibt’s einen kleinen Nachschlag von Kurenai:

Kurenai – Special “TV-Commercials”

Ich habe mir von Kurenai mal das Special mit den TV-Commercials rausgepickt, weil die wirklich ganz witzig gemacht sind. Leider gibt es noch keinerlei Sub davon, also habe ich versucht, mich selbst an die Übersetzung zu machen. Da mein Japanisch aber noch in den Kinderschuhen steckt, hat Yoru sich freundlicherweise angeboten  mir dabei zu helfen, denn sein Japanisch ist wohl doch ein gutes Stück besser als meines. Vielen Dank dafür, Yoru. Und jetzt viel Spaß mit den TV-Commercials !

- Duschen auf japanisch -

Download per Torrent:

- Kurenai Special TV-Commercials - Torrent -

Download per XDCC:

- Noushisubs IRC Channel -

Komplette Info:

- Alles über Kurenai -

PS: Zunächst mal gibt’s das Ganze nur über Torrent,
etwas später dann auch über Bot und vielleicht DDL.