Demonbane

Demonbane is an anime that has reference towards the Cthulhu Mythos made popular by H. P. Lovecraft.  Each episode gives a listing of the terms used and a background of what is meant by each term.

The anime itself centers around the leading character named Kurou Daijuuji, a former student of Miskatonic University where he studied to become a sorcerer, but dropped out due to financial problems.  Now he is a poor private investigator hired by the Hadou Financial Group which is run by Ruri Hadou to find a book of power.  By fate or destiny, or just plain dumb luck, he encounters a book store owner whose store appears out of a fine mist and she knows more than she should, however, her name is given as Nya who becomes a minor reoccurring character until the last episode where her true identity is given.  Low and behold, Kurou leaves the book store after Nya tells him that what he's looking for isn't at the store, on the way to his car, a girl literally falls in his lap, and tells him that her name is Al and she wants to know if he's a sorcerer.  So she is the book of power he's looking for and in order to save his life and hers, she makes a contract with him and he's just like a lost little puppy and doesn't know what's going on.  Anyway, Al is short for Al-Azif, which is the name of the Necronomicon, the book of power.  Al detects a Deus Machina, basically a God Machine, which allows them to fight evil, but the Deus Machina is name Demonbane, hence the name of the anime, and is sorta maintained by the Hadou Financial Group.  It's a giant Mech.  Anyway, the background info is useful since it gives spelling and details that fill you in on what's going on so you're not completely going insane, but that's what Cthulhu is all about, anyway, if you can get past the giant mechanized robots in the 1920's, then its a fairly decent anime with a good story.

The first episode, 'I Am Providence' was a great episode that made you want to find out what the hell was going on.  You can Wikipedia the name of the anime to get a listing of episodes, there is only twelve, and a plot description more in depth than what I've said here, but all in all, I would recommend this anime, especially if you're just starting out reading or playing with H. P. Lovecraft or Call of Cthulhu or really into the Cthulhu Mythos.  Its entertaining, not really a horror anime, but the way they portray normal people when shit hits the fan is great, everyone screaming and running, its realistic on certain things, but extremely PG rated, again, this is anime targeted children, so its kind of campy.  So if you don't mind all the negative, give it look, you may find something that they put a different spin on, especially the artifacts in the Mythos, I enjoyed the anime immensely.

I would rate the anime overall as a solid 4.5 out of 5, with high repeat viewing capability.  I would buy this if I could find the complete season on DVD or Blu-ray.  Leave a comment and let me know how enjoyed it.  Until next time, watch anime, not TV.

Demonbane review imminent

I will be writing a Demonbane review in the near future.  I finally finished watching it this week, but don't have the time for a full review.  Just letting know it is on its way.

--Don't watch TV, read manga and watch anime, its healthier.--

Reviews in the near future

In the near future, I am planning on writing some reviews for two anime.  Demonbane and Haiyore! Nyaruko-san.   They are supposedly both involved with the Cthulhu Mythos.  I look forward to seeing them.

Nodame Cantabile with Paris and Finale

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED FOR THE CLASSICAL MUSIC FAN!

I started watching this anime because I read it in an online quiz on "how much do you know anime" and because of that quiz I wrote down all the anime that I had never heard about.  That's why I started watching, but the reason I kept watching is something different.  I kept watching this anime because of the character development in the story and my interest in classical music.  Within the show, which starts in Japan, you have two main characters -- Nodame and Chiaki -- who are complete opposites and somehow fall in love.  Chiaki is great with piano and the violin, but becomes a great composer.  Nodame is a great pianist and an Otaku (nerd) to boot.  They are not head over heels from the beginning and it doesn't really get there until the end of the Nodame Cantabile:Finale season, but for all those hopeless romantics, this anime is for you.  Also, if you are a music major and/or love classical music this is an anime for you.   Since I like anime, classical music, and really good storyline, this anime was pretty freaking good.  I would give it a solid four out of five stars.  Some of the music is fun and original in the anime.

FYI:  Some of the music played in this anime are: Liszt, Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, and Schumann, plus others.

High School DxD evaluated

WARNING!!!!! NUDITY IN THIS ANIME.

High School DxD is a great anime if your a guy.  Lots of boobs and hot chicks in lingerie, but there are two catches.  One, the girls are akuma (devils) and two, the girls seem to be in high school which would probably mean that the girls are minors; however, the storyline is intriguing and the list of episodes number twelve with one special that I viewed.  I would have liked to see more of the story enfold before the show ended, but due to what I just described I can see why.  There are also different viewings I found.  One viewing had everything censored out and the other had only below the waistline censored out, so basically one showed nipples and the other didn't.  Because of the story and the drawing involved with this anime I am giving it a rating of four out of five stars.

Shugo Chara & Shugo Chara Doki

This anime has interesting characters and you get tied into it quite early on, but this anime is for kids in fourth or fifth grade; roughly ten to twelve years old or older.  Since the main character is in grade school and most of the show is featuring the school and what happens to the kids there.  Well, that's Shugo Chara in a nutshell.  The main character is a girl, but she's in a group of others including boys and the group is centered around being guardians (kind of like class presidents) of the school.  They also have Shugo Charas ( their would-be selves that hatch from their heart-eggs; since every child has an egg inside them (basically their dreams of what they want to be or could be)).  Yeah, its kind of complicated, so the easiest way to understand what I'm saying is to watch the anime.  Sure, its kinda cheesy, but young kids will like it and they might learn something useful too.

Doki is the second part, mainly the continuation, of the story.  The guardians face new difficulties and a new nemesis or two.  It definitely gets interesting.  Still for kids.  There is a third anime called Shugo Chara Party (I think that's what it is, but I could be wrong).  It is next on my watch list.  After I watch it, I'll post a review here.   Overall, Shugo Chara and Shugo Chara Doki are excellent anime for young kids in the age range I noted above and should be watched accordingly.  I rate these two as a solid four out of five stars.

ADULT WARNING:  One character plays a girl in the first part and is a boy in the second part.  The character is a boy in the first part pretending to be a girl because of family tradition and nothing else.  Take this into consideration if letting kids watch this.

Shion no Ou:Shion's King

This is my 82nd anime watched.  Few are the same show, but different season.  I also have a few continuing anime that I watch, namely Naruto: Shippuden and Bleach.  This anime is also known as just Shion's King.

Shion no Ou:Shion's King was excellent.  A large part of the anime was based on shogi or Japanese chess; it was played during every episode.  The anime actually made me want to learn to play shogi.  I learned mahjong because of anime (the four person game, not solitaire version).  I figure I like chess, so I should like shogi.

Back to the anime, which is 22 episodes long.  I enjoyed every second.  The main character is a little girl whose birth parents were murdered in front of her 8 years ago.  She was adopted and raised by the neighbors who for some reason do not have children of their own.  You meet a boy, who pretends to be a girl, to play shogi, to win money.  You also get to meet some interesting characters.  I'll tell you if you begin watching this anime, you'll be surprised close to the end of the season on who the real killer is of Shion's parents.  I would rate this anime a solid four out of five stars.