Gaby's Top 5 Anime Opening Songs

by Gaby

One thing I always loved about anime ever since I was introduced and saw my first anime before I even started Kindergarten. I remember watching the TV and as soon as the show started you heard the into, whether it was in Japanese or dubbed you couldn't help but sing or hum along with it, or even make up your own lyrics!
Anime opening songs are awesome so I am going to list my top 5 favorites here.
 First on my list is going to be one of the ones I remember from my childhood.

 1. DragonBall Opening: "Makafushigi Adventure!" performed by Hiroki Takahashi

 Why I like this song?  It brings back memories to one of my favorite anime from my childhood. Yes there are many I liked from when I was younger but this one I clearly remember there were many laughs when young Goku was just out for adventure finding Dragon Balls.  This song really encompasses the sense of adventure that the original Dragon Ball Series brought to the table.

2.Inuyasha Opening 3: "Owarinai Yume" Performed by Nanase Aikawa

Why I like this song?  I really liked the beat of this one, and it was at a time when Inuyasha was on the rise and it just gave a good feel to the show. Not only this but this was one of the songs I completely learned the lyrics to and couldn't help but sing to! And in addition this song got me to discover other awesome songs by Nanase Aikawa.

3.  B Gata H Kei Yamada's First Time Opening: "Oshiete A to Z" performed by Tamura Yukari

Why I like this song?It goes really good with the anime and how Yamada feels. Not to mention it just sounds really good. Its fun and it makes you want to dance along with it! I want to learn the lyrics to this one lol the beat it soo catchy!

4. Hayate no Gotoku  Opening 2:  "Shichitenhakki Shijou Shugi" Performed by KOTOKO

Why I like this song?  It has an awesome beat! It really has a dance feel and if you see the actual PV that KOTOKO made you can even catch some people dancing in a ParaPara type style and its awesome!  Ever since I  heard this song I always feel like I want to dance...either that or drive fast. Its that kind of adrenaline pumping song.

5. DN Angel Opening: "Byakuya: True Light" Performed by Shunichi Miyamoto 

Why I like this song?  Because Miyamoto San sounds awesome! Can you believe this was his singing debut single? His voice sounds really nice and I like the tone of this song for this anime, it sounds kind of mysterious yet soothing at the same time. 



Of course there are tons of other openings that I really really like but these are some that stood out to me right now, I'll do a list of some of my favorite ending songs in the future so make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.

TBT: Lady Georgie

by Gaby

Today's Throwback Thursday, we will take a look at a vintage anime from 1983, this is Lady Georgie, story by Man Izawa and illustrated by Yumiko Igarashi, 45 episodes long.

Arthur and Abel

The story of Georgie takes us back to the mid 1800's in both Australia and England, where a farmer and his two sons find a baby wearing a gold bracelet. She is taken in to live with them as a daughter and sister.  The dad and brothers love her very much but the mom has a bit of a hard time accepting her. Especially after the dad dies while trying to rescue Georgie in a runaway boat in a river.



As Georgie grows older, she gets very pretty and the brothers, Abel and Arthur, start to see her in a different light, as a lady not a sister. So they begin to have feelings towards her, but Georgie does not, afterall she sees them as brothers, and she develops feelings for the governor's grandson Lowell Gray, who is actually betrothed by his family to someone else.

Lowell Gray and Georgie

This story is beautiful with romance and drama, a young innocent girl becomes an independent woman in this coming of age story.  She goes through many hard times and always tries to find the positives.

The first 10 or so episodes are mostly about her childhood in Australia, the most tragic thing that happens is her adoptive father dies after rescuing her.  After about episode 10 or so, Georgie and the boys start to grow up, the mother forces Georgie to move out of the kids room and have her own room because the mother does not like that her sons have taken a fancy to Georgie.



The oldest son Abel confesses to his mother that he wants to marry Georgie and it makes the mother so upset that she reveals to Georgie that she is adopted and that her real father is an exile. This leads Georgie to run away from Australia and head to London to find her real parents, and all that she has is the gold bracelet that she was found wearing as her only clue. 

There are few anime that have me in a rollercoaster of emotions and this is certainly one of them, one moment you are happy that she is finally seeking the truth, the next you are at the edge of her seat because Georgie was framed for someone's death, then again you are excited because she gets reunited with the boy she fell in love with, but are saddened again because it seems like they keep getting torn apart.

This anime may be a bit hard to find today, it was originally released in several other languages including French, Spanish, Italian, German, and a few others.  I have not seen this in English sadly, I ended up watching it in Spanish and French.  The Manga under the name Georgie! May be more easily available to find translated into English.   That's the problem with vintage anime is that the older it is or less popular that it was, the harder it is to find today.

Do make an effort to find if you are interested in a romantic, drama anime, set in the 1800s.

Opening Theme:

"Wasurerareta Message" (忘れられたメッセージ) by Yuriko Yamamoto

Ending Theme:

"Yasashisa o Arigatō" (やさしさをありがとう) by Yuriko Yamamoto

Young Black Jack. First Impressions

by Gaby

So I had seen a few episodes in the past of Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack, the unlicensed miracle worker doctor who can basically do just about any surgery.  This anime, Young Black Jack, is a prequel to this.

Kuroo Hazama is a young medical student at Tokyo University in the late 1960s, in the first episode

Rushing to get to surgery

we see tragedy starting right away when a train collides with a bus and dozens of people are left injured, including a little boy who has had two limbs severed.
With the doctor saying it was impossible to re-attach his limbs, Hazama steps in and tells the parents of the boy that he promises to be able to re-attach the child's limbs, but he only has four hours to do it before the limbs that have been kept on ice are deemed useless, dun dun dun!

Lots of sexy scars on the doctor.

Anyway this anime really had me at the edge of my seat for this episode, so much that I immediately wanted to watch the second episode which also had a good amount of drama and suspense in it.
I recommend this one to anime who likes medical drama, anything with a little suspense, and if you want to see an anime cutie with a bunch of scars, there's lots of fan service for that in the first two episodes.

Opening Theme:

"I am Just Feeling Alive" by UMI☆KUUN

 

Ending Theme:

"All Categorize" (オールカテゴライズ) by Takuto

Mr. Osomatsu (Osomatsu San) Review

by Gaby

First you may need a little background info before you start watching this or else it might leave you with some questions.  The original Osomatsu anime is called Osomatsu -Kun and it aired during the Showa period in Japan, in this anime the Matsuno sextuplets are grade school kids.

Osomatsu-Kun characters

Osomatsu San begins when the Showa era Matsuno sextuplets have learned that their anime has been picked
up again and they are worried that their Showa era jokes will not be up to par to today's modern anime. So then the anime suddenly becomes re-imagined with the sextuplets being a teen idol group of 6 brothers at a high school, each one with bishounen qualities, that the ladies totally swoon over.

This re-imagining suddenly goes out of control with a ton of modern anime parodies including Attack on Titan, Sailor Moon, Naruto, etc.   Finally the brothers

The Bishounen re-imagined Matsuno sextuplets

have decided that its too much and return to their Showa era selves and wait around for 10 years until the anime finally starts as how it will look for the series one minute until it finishes.

From what I can tell. This anime will be leaning more on the random comedy side.  The second episode deals with the boys looking for a job.

Definetly check out at least the first episode it was absolutely hilarious!

Please!Anime's Top 10 Anime Shows for Halloween

By Jenny

October is finally here! Time to play some Nightmare Before Christmas music and collect the good candy for ourselves. This is also a good time to gather your friends and watch some anime that will help get the Halloween mood going. Here is Please!Anime's top 10 anime shows for Halloween. The list applies to both old and new versions of any of the series, such as Hellsing and Higurashi. We also made sure to add in some lighter anime as well for you otakus who get queasy at the sight of guts.

1. Hellsing

The organization known as Hellsing specializes in destroying the undead or other evil supernatural forces that threaten the queen and the country. It is owned and run by Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, who inherited the business from her late father. She is protected by her butler Walter C. Dornez, a vampire named Alucard, and former police officer Seras Victoria.

2. Another

In 1972 a girl named Misaki attended Yomiyama North Middle School in class 3-3. She was a bright girl who was a great role model and was adored by everyone. Shortly after starting the 9th grade she suddenly passed away, but the students and teachers behaved as if she was still alive. Fast forward 26 years later when a boy named Koichi transfers into the school. He notices that there is a girl in the back row named Mei Misaki who the class seems to ignore. After realizing the connection between class 3-3 and the mysterious deaths of classmates and their relatives, it is up to Koichi and Mei to figure out how to prevent a curse from killing them.

3. Soul Eater

Death Weapon Meister Academy is a place where people can go to learn how to become a weapon or a weapon wielder (aka meister) to get rid of evil human souls. The school is run by none other than Shinigami, also known as Death. Each team of meisters and weapons are unique and they use their skills to reach their goal of absorbing 99 evil humans and one witch. If they succeed, this will dramatically raise the power of weapons and make them capable of being used by Shinigami as a Death Scythe.

4. Ghost Hunt

Mai Taniyama is a high school student who loves to tell ghost stories with her friends. When she explored a presumably haunted building, she is saved from a falling bookcase by a man named Lin, who worked for the Psychic Research center (SPR). In the process Mai accidentally breaks some of their equipment, and now she has to work for the business to pay off her debts. She and Kazuya Shibuya work together for the SPR to figure out cases involving ghosts.

5. King of Thorn

This is a survivor story involving a terrifying virus called Medusa. It petrifies a person's body and kills them within 12 hours of the first sign of infection. Because of the dangers of the virus, 160 people were chosen by Venus Gate to be cryogenically frozen for a hundred years in the hopes of using that time to find a cure against the virus. Unfortunately something goes wrong and the characters wake up in what looks like a post-apocalyptic future. The survivors must now fight to stay alive and figure out what happened when they were asleep.

6. Higurashi When they Cry

The anime is based off a sound novel of the same name. In June 1983, Keiichi Maebara moves into a rural village called Hinamizawa. He becomes friends with classmates Rena, Mion, Rika, and Satoko. The town and it's people seem very normal and everything remains peaceful until after the annual Watanagashi (or Cotton Drifting) Festival. The celebration is meant to commemorate and thank the local god named Oyashiro. Keiichi later discovers that every year for the past four years a person is murdered and another goes missing after the festival. As the characters' secrets are revealed in different story arcs, it is up to the viewer to figure out what is happening in the tiny village.

7. Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories

Kamishibai (paper drama) is a traditional method of storytelling in Japan. In this anime, a masked man visits a playground every week at 5:00 p.m. with a kamishibai. He tells the children ghost stories that are based on Japanese myths and urban legends.

8. Gegege no Kitaro

This show is based on a manga series that was created in 1960 and has a new adaption every few years (so far there are 6). The story follows Kitaro, a yokai boy who is one of the last living members of the Ghost Tribe. He and his friends fight to keep the peace between humans and yokai.

9. Hell Girl

It is said that there is a supernatural online website called Hell Correspondence. If he or she submits a request, Hell Girl (Ai Enma) will provide a doll with a red string. When the client pulls the string, they accept the company's services and the members get rid of the person from whom they seek revenge. Ai Enma and her assistants torment the targeted person and send the victim to Hell. The clients who seek this service have to pay the price of going to Hell as well once they pass away.

10. Tokyo Ghoul

Ken Kaneki is a college student who is attacked by his own date Rize Kamishiro. She reveals herself to be a ghoul and nearly kills him, leaving Ken hospitalized in critical condition. When he wakes up he discovers that some of Rize's organs were given to him in order to survive. This leads to a rare situation in which he is now part human and part ghoul. As Ken is brought into a whole new way of life, he has to deal with an internal struggle while interacting with ghoul society.

Honorable Mentions

*High School of the Dead

High School of the dead follows a group of people at a high school (duh) who deal with the zombie apocalypse; also known as the "Outbreak." After someone is bitten at the school gates, panic ensues as students become bitten left and right. A group of survivors find each other and decide to form a team to survive. As they progress through the apocalypse, they must face not only zombies but other survivors as well.

*Karin

Traditional vampires are known to suck blood from their victims. Karin Maaka is a special case. Rather than being a blood sucker she is a blood maker/giver. She and her family have been living in Japan for the past two centuries. While the rest of her family avoids daylight, she is free to go to school seeing as how she has no normal vampire traits. Her peaceful life is turned upside down when a new student named Kenta Usui transfers to her class.

*Berserk

The story is set in a fictional medieval-like world. Guts becomes adopted by a mercenary group at a young age and eventually encounters Griffith, the leader of Band of the Hawk. Griffith takes a liking to Guts and makes him join his group after defeating him in a duel. With their joined forces they strive to end a long war that was taking place in Midland.

Attack on Titan: Junior High Review!

by Gaby

So you love Attack on Titan characters? Perfect! Because all your favorite characters return in Attack on Titan: Junior High, based on the satirical comedy spoof manga by Saki Nakagawa. 

This chibi-tastic anime is filled with jokes, fun, parody, and lots of chibiness. With all your favorite protagonists being overly exaggerated and the Titan's craving precious home cooked bento, this new series will hopefully tickle your funny bone in a good way. It is a much more lighthearted series unlike its original predecessor, there is no killing of humans, so this one is even safe for the kids!

With the recent release of the live action Attack on Titan films, this parody anime couldn't have picked a better time to air. Plenty of Attack on Titan excitement going on at the moment.

 This story, however, takes place in a different reality,  where our protagonists go to school like in a normal society, very similar to modern day Japan actually, however there are two schools, one normal school, and one Titan school.  Titans seem to have a thirst for anything that is precious to normal humans, such as homemade bento lunches.

The students teacher is none other than Keith Shadis, who revives the original comical potato girl line when he catches Sasha eating an onigiri in the classroom.  Yes this is funny, but probably was funnier in the original since it was a more serious tone and in this farce you expect the hilarity. But it was nice to see an old joke about slightly gluttonous Sasha, we love her.

All in all this series basically reminds me of an official abridged series with the characters being re-worked to be in Chibi form, using the original voice actors, and even the opening theme was a remixed version of the original Attack on Titan theme "Guren no Yumiya." 

Is it worth a looksie?  Sure! If you enjoy the comedy genre of anime and spoof spinoffs then yes, by all means watch this! Many anime have started doing this, take Naruto's "Rock Lee and His Ninja Pals," or Haurhi Suzumiya's "The Melancholy of Haruhi-Chan." Comedy spoofs have proven successful and they will keep doing it.

Attack on Titan Part 1 - Live action film review

by Gaby

Last night I saw the Attack on Titan Part 1 film at the Alamo Drafthouse in Dallas, TX.  My 7:00 showing started at 7:30 due to projector issues they said, but all in all we were able to get the movie started.

If you are familiar with the anime Attack on Titan, I highly suggest that you put that anime aside when you watch this movie.  There are a good number of differences between the anime and the live action  movie that some people may find uncomfortable.

Titan and Mikasa trying to save baby

However, to me as a movie itself it was all right, it was very Godzilla horror movie almost. The Titans seemed a lot like real people with makeup and erased private parts walking around a little town.  I think the CGI magic could have been a little better, but not where it was distracting.

In this film the main protagonits Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, already look like they are teenagers when the movie starts, and it seemed very fast paced from the time that we see the collosal titan peer over the fence to the time that the protagonists are already fighting titans. Of course it has to be since they are crunching an anime into a movie but it really removes a lot of good character development.

Eren enlists in the army

In this movie Eren is a bit of a hot head fighter, always getting kicked out of his jobs for fighting, Mikasa seems to be the lady always by his side making sure he is okay. and Armin is just the best friend third wheel.  One day Eren decides to be all bad-ass and go close to the wall where people are forbidden to be, next thing you know a colossal titan peers over the wall and a small hole in the wall leads to titans fleeing inside the town. Eren and Mikasa become separated in the initial titan attack. Eren and Armin, believing Mikasa was eaten by a titan, enlist in the army and two years later they set out on a mission and then poof she appears out of nowhere as a total bad-ass herself who had been training with Shikishima on how to kill Titans.

All in all this movie is a good movie on its own, but when you try to compare it to the anime it doesn't do it justice.

I will do a couple of comparisons below, they are some pretty big spoilers, so you have been warned. So continue reading if you are okay with spoilers and comparisons.

1.  Eren's Parents - In the anime Eren has parents when he is a kid. His dad sets out on a trip and his mom is left behind. When the Titans attack she is crushed by the debris of the house and then eaten as Eren is being carried away by Hannes.    In the live action movie, Eren states that his parents died when he was young and he has no recollection of them.

2. Mikasa - In the anime, Mikasa is portrayed as a tough girl who no one wants to mess with as a child. In the live action, she starts out as Eren's love interest or  best friend basically.
Also in the anime Mikasa and Eren never become separated during the Titan initial attack, but in the live action Eren thinks that Mikasa was eaten by a titan and believes she is dead for two years.

3. The Walls. - The entire layout of the walls is different. In the anime they are circular with walls within walls, but in the live action, they are sporadic its very strange.

4. Character changes - One of the biggest changes that is the most obvious is of course that all the characters are portrayed by Japanese actors so bye bye to the blond hair and blue eyes we got accustomed to seeing on Armin.   Some names also got changed, for example Hannes is now portrayed by this character named Souda, Hanji is now Hans but her character is the same basically,
Captain Levi seems to have been replaced by a Shikishima who seems to have some sort of love interest in Mikasa.  There were also a couple of character additions, like Hiana, who enlisted in the army so that they could pay child support, or the lovestruck couple who wanted to be together so they enlisted together.

The Best parts of the movie

1. Potato Girl Sasha. She was great comedic relief.

2. Eren fights with Jean and it was pretty cool.

3. Costuming and set display was pretty good, kudos on cinematography.  Pretty good for a live action anime.

AKI MATSURI

by Gaby

Myself and friends in our yukata

It is that time of year again, summer has officially ended and the fall festival season is here, time for Aki Matsuri! 

Shiba Inu

Aki matsuri
 秋祭 (あきまつり) 
autumn festival is a traditional Japanese fall festival where people thank the gods for a good harvest and pray for the well being of their family and community. They are celebrated throughout Japan after the rice harvest.  Now in modern times, and especially outside of Japan, we have these celebrations mostly as a tribute to Japanese culture, with some traditional Aki Matsuri festivities and others are just in general Japanese demonstrations for all who come enjoy the culture.  
 

lots of vendors

This year was pretty great, we went to the Dallas Japanese Association's celebration on Sunday 9/27 and had a pretty awesome time. 
I especially enjoyed the delicious Teppo's eel bowls, so good, I ended up having two helpings of the $9 bowls.  I ate a bit too much at the festival, enjoyed some Mr. Sushi's yakisoba, some ramune, and a melon soda from Shop Minoya.  


The festival started in the morning at 10am, I got there a bit past then but I hadn't had breakfast so went straight to the food.  Some of the performances on stage where so, so, while others more entertaining, but it was the usual, martial arts displays, dances, and

more vendors and games

songs.   I tried the chopstick challenge where I picked up an average of 25-28 crackers in about 30 seconds.  The most popular game was fishing for goldfish of course, where you had to fish a goldfish with a thin paper scoop. Our fellow anime blogger Jenny even won two prizes at the Teru Teru ball toss, which is a game that basically reminded us of beer pong, she won a little ghost creature that was totally adorable. Oh and we even saw a cosplayer!

Cosplayer

There is another Aki Matsure Fall Festival celebration coming up in October in Fort Worth at the Botanical Gardens, its a lot prettier with it being in the gardens, but this one has the best food.
Yay for autumn! 

#TBT: Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma/ Emma: A Victorian Romance

by Gaby

Today's throwback will be back to 2005 when a beautiful anime by the name of Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma, or Emma: A Victorian Romance was airing in Japan.
The story of Emma takes place in early 19th century London, a time when social status was

The Governess

everything and it meant how you were going to live your life. Emma is a young maid who was taken in by a retired governess, Kelly Stownar.  Although strict, the Governess actually cares deeply for all those in her life, especially Emma.

The tale in this anime starts when one day, William Jones comes over to pay a visit to his former Governess Kelly Stownar. William spots Emma and immediately takes a linking to her and begins to make more frequent visits to see his former teacher, when really he is hoping to see Emma.
Emma knows that he is from a higher class than she is, with him being the eldest son of a wealthy merchant rising into the gentry, there was no possible way.  But William keeps trying and goes as far as buying Emma presents until they finally begin a discreet courtship.

William keeps bumping into Emma

This anime is purely a beautiful romance about a love that society says cannot be. I recommend this one to anyone who loves Jane Austen type stories, Victorian romances, old fashioned courtships, and just a darn good love story.
You will see fun sights in this one like the Crystal Palace or old school inventions.  Definitively worth a shot. With 2 seasons both 12 episodes long its a good short watch.

Here is the Season 1 Opening so that you can get a feel for the show.

Jenny's Top 3 Anime

by Jenny

Everyone has their own preferences in anime. We all love our cheesy comedies, scary mysteries, and pervy ecchis. Gaby-chan was able to show all of her top three anime and now it is my turn. I am always intrigued to watch magical girls anime. But I've noticed that anime that leave a deep meaning tend to stay in my heart the longest. At least if I interpret something within the anime that is deep.

Presenting my top 3:

1. Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood follows the manga story line more accurately than its older counterpart. The alchemist brothers Edward and Alphonse are raised by only their mother after their father leaves them. During this time they developed a skill and interest in learning alchemy. When an illness causes their mother's death, the Elric brothers were cared for by Pinako and her granddaughter Winry. The brothers eventually travel with a woman Izumi Curtis to further develop their skills in alchemy. When they arrived back home they performed the taboo attempt of bringing someone to life, in this case their mother who had passed away. As a result, Edward loses his left leg; and in the successful attempt to bring back his brother's soul, he loses his right arm as well. Now Edward has automail prosthetics and Alphone's soul is trapped in a suit of armor. Ed and Al are now in search of the sorcerer's stone. To get more information, Ed became a dog of the military by becoming a State Alchemist. However, as they dive further into their quest, they find a government conspiracy involving the true nature of the stone and the homunculi that ensure that the truth is kept secret.

As I grew up I was able to watch the first season of the first Full Metal Alchemist from 2003. The manga series was available at my library and I assumed the anime would take that same path in the story line. When it did not, there was a bit of a shock. After considering the pros and cons of anime being a direct follow up of their previous material, I figured it was for the best. When this new series came out, I was eager to compare it to the manga. And the story line was just as amazing as the first anime if not better. There was definitely more focus on the corruption and war that took place in the manga. I feel that the stronger themes were hidden in this part of the series. As a result, Brotherhood became my favorite of the two versions. 

2. Blood Blockade Battlefront

The series is a supernatural action anime that centers around Hellsalem's Lot, previously known as New York City. As humans and monsters interact with each other in this mysterious place, it us up to Libra to make sure that everything is in check.

This series is still a bit new so I will avoid mentioning spoilers. I love how they use Leo as the main character in the series. He is the most normal out of all the Libra members which makes him the strangest being of them all. There is also a lack of a main protagonist so you can root for all of your favorite heroes. As fans watch the series they can see some backstory behind each character. My personal favorites are Klaus and Zapp. There is a lot to look forward to if you are a fan of Trigun, since the creator of this series also wrote about the famous outlaw. I personally am one of those fans and it was so much fun finding the Easter eggs throughout the series.

3. Black Butler

This anime is my personal guilty pleasure. The story revolves around Ciel Phantomhive, the owner of the Funtom company and head of the Phantomhive family name. Due to unknown circumstances, Ciel's parents were killed and he was kidnapped and tortured by a mysterious group. The demon known as Sebastian Michaelis offers to form a contract with Ciel and now serves him as his butler. Sebastian assists in Ciel's duties as a guard dog for queen Elizabeth and deals with unwanted criminals. Along with this, Sebastian will help Ciel find vengeance for the murder of his family. In exchange, Sebastian will be allowed to eat Ciel's soul and complete their contract.

Alright let's talk about the ending of season one. Ciel and Sebastian finally get all the answers they needed and have eventually found all of those involved with the organization. Angela/Ash tries to "cleanse" the world by bringing about Doomsday. Ciel orders Sebastian to kill the angel; he succeeds when he changes into his demon form and gains the upper hand with some outside help. After everything is resolved, Sebastian takes the weakened Ciel to secluded ruins down a river. Now that Sebastian completed his side of the contract Ciel would complete his by allowing his soul to be consumed by the demon. In my opinion the series should have followed the more Shakespearean ending. The possibility was even explored in an OVA episode. After Ciel's wish for revenge has been granted, he would ironically be at peace with his inner demons and be devoured by one as well. But then season two came along and ruined that possible ending. Oh well, Sebastian still is and will always be one hell of a butler.