Anime Bank: 2007

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Speed Grapher

Ten years after the Bubble War, the dichotomy between the rich and the poor in the world becomes more prominent and Japan is no exception. The rich seeks to satisfy their desires and derive pleasure for themselves, and Tokyo has materialise into such a city as a result. Saiga, once a war photographer, works for Hibara Ginza in the capitalist state of Tokyo. He infiltrates into Roppongi Club, a secretive base located in the red district area of the city, to collect information about them. However, he was caught in the process and brought forward to a girl called Kagura who was in the midst of a ritual. His contact with Kagura awakens his special ability: the power to make things explode once photographed. In order to unravel the mystery behind the Roppongi Club and Kagura, Saiga begins his solitary battle.

Avatar The Last AirBender

In a lost age, the world is divided into four nations: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Within each nation, there is a remarkable order of men and women called the "benders" who can learn to harness their inborn talent and manipulate their native element. Bending is a powerful form combining martial art and elemental magic.
In each generation, only one bender is solely capable of controlling all four elements. That bender is the Avatar. The Avatar is the spirit of the world manifests in human form. When the Avatar dies, it reincarnates into the next nation in the cycle. Starting with the mastery of his or her native element, the Avatar learns to bend all four elements. Throughout the ages, the countless incarnations of the Avatar have served to keep the four nations in harmony.
Then, the firebenders attacked. Just as the world needed the Avatar the most, he mysteriously vanished. A hundred years later, the Fire Nation is near final victory in its ruthless war of world domination. The Air Nomads were destroyed, the Air Temples ravished, and all airbender monks eradicated. The Water Tribes were raided and driven to the brink of extinction. The Earth Kingdom remains and fights a hopeless war against the Fire Nation. Many believe the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads and the cycle is broken.
In the desolated South Pole, a lone Water tribe struggles to survive. It is here that the village's last remaining waterbender Katara and her warrior brother Sokka rescue a strange 12-year-old boy named Aang who has been suspended in hibernation in an iceberg. The tribe soon discovers that Aang is not only an Airbender--the extinct race no one has seen in a century--but also the long lost Avatar. Now Katara and Sokka must safeguard the child Avatar in his journey to master all four elements and save the world from the Fire Nation.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn

Tsuna is a hapless youth with low test scores and lower self esteem. His mother hires a tutor to help Tsuna out, but it comes as a surprise to the both of them when the tutor is a baby named Reborn, claiming to be from the Mafia. Reborn informs Tsuna that he's the next heir to the Vongola family mafia family and tries to help Tsuna reach the goal. Reborn possesses the Dying Will bullet, which kills a person and brings them back to life to fulfill the last regret they had, and even works to get Tsuna some henchmen to make him a true mafia boss-in-training.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Rurouni Kenshin / Samurai X

The story starts with Kenshin meeting Kaoru in Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Kaoru is in pursuit of a man who claims to be the Battousai, and at first believes Kenshin is the man, but after seeing Kenshin's clumsiness and "sakabato" ("reverse blade sword"), she decides he can't possibly be the legendary manslayer. The actual culprit turns out to be a former student of the Kamiya dojo who seeks revenge after being expelled. Kaoru is captured and held captive by the fake Battousai, but Kenshin appears on the scene, reveals that he is the real Battousai, and proceeds to defeat both the fake and his gang without killing any of them. He uses a powerful, ancient style of swordsmanship known as "Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu." When offered a place at the dojo, Kenshin decides to temporarily stop being a Rurouni and stay at the dojo, starting the first of three manga arcs.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Claymore

In a world rife with deadly creatures called "youma", a young silver eyed woman, Clare, works on behalf of an organisation that trains female youma halfbreeds into warriors with the ability to destroy these creatures. Considered a rogue for picking up a stray child & almost losing herself to her youma side by "Awakening", she is constantly assigned rather dangerous missions...

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Ai Yori Aoshi

One day, Hanabishi Kaoru, second year university student, came across a young woman in a kimono who seemed distressed. She was searching for a certain person whom she had not met in years. While she had an address, this was only her first time in the city. Kaoru decided to offer his assistance. However, the address she had led them to an empty plot of land.

Kaoru brought the distraught woman to his home where she presented him with a childhood photograph of herself and the person whom she was searching for, the only remaining clue she possessed. Remarkably enough, he recognised himself in the photograph. It turns out that she was Sakuraba Aoi, sole heir to the wealthy Sakuraba family. She had been matchmade with Kaoru and had spent 18 years preparing for this. However, when Kaoru left the Hanabishi, he was disowned by the family and the engagement annulled. She came to entreat him to return to the Hanabishi. How will Kaoru reconcile his feelings for Aoi with the reasons that drove him away from the Hanabishi?

Shakugan no Shana I & II

Yuji Sakai, a high school student, expected his very normal life to last forever. However, this expectation is quickly shattered one day while on his way home.

The world suddenly freezes in time, leaving Yuji to watch in horror as blue flames engulf the people around him. Soon a monster resembling a large doll appears and begins sucking the flames into its mouth, until it notices Yuji. Surprised with Yuji's insusceptibility to the time-stop (fuzetsu), it jumps with glee.

Just as the monster prepares to consume Yuji, a sword-wielding girl in black attire with flaming red eyes and hair that burns like embers appears, swiftly and confidently destroys the monster, before noticing Yuji moving freely. The girl calls herself a "Flame Haze" who hunts the "Denizens of the Crimson Realm" and the "Rinne" they send to do their bidding. When Yuji notices a blue flame in his chest, the Flame Haze tells him that the "real" Yuji died some time ago, and that he is a "Torch", a temporary replacement for erased humans. Torches take on the forms of those erased persons, but after a period of time, they will vanish from existence and the memories of the living. Unfazed by his apparent death, Yuji befriends the strange girl and names her "Shana" after her sword. The reason Yuji was able to move in the fuzetsu is that he is not a normal Torch, but instead a special kind called a "Mystes": he has a treasure inside him, known as a "Hougu", a device possessing special abilities of sorts, and an extremely powerful and valuable one at that. The hougo inside Yuji allows him to remain in existence rather than fading away like other torches. Shana resolves to protect Yuji from the Denizens, who would use the treasure to disrupt the balance of the world, and Yuji decides to join Shana in her fight.

Shana's fight is actually a long-standing struggle between the Lords and Denizens of the Crimson Realm. The Denizens steal Power of Existence, the energy that forms the basis of the world, from living people and utilize it for their own selfish ambitions. Lords are the mortal enemies of Denizens, and utilize Flame Hazes to attempt to retain balance. Thus, the Flame Hazes create Torches in the image of the dead in order to relieve the strain on reality resulting from the actions of the Denizens.

During their time together both Shana and Yuji begin to realize that their affection for each other is more than just friends. During Shana's numerous battles with the Flame Haze she has come to realize that whenever Yuji is close and cares about her, her powers increase, thus awakening the Flame inside her.

Genshiken

Genshiken follows the lives of a group of college students drawn together by their shared hobbies, and the trials and adventures associated with being otaku. The story begins with the introduction of Kanji Sasahara, a shy, confidence-lacking freshman who on club day at university, decides to join a club he would actually enjoy, Genshiken. Over his four years at Shiiou University, Sasahara comes to accept himself for who he is and loses the inhibitions and guilt he once felt and associated with otaku culture, becoming an enthusiastic clubmember, and for a time, a capable club president. As the story of Genshiken progresses, focus is also placed on Saki Kasukabe, an emphatic non-otaku who initially struggles to drag her boyfriend out of the club, and Chika Ogiue, a self-professed otaku-hater who feels a deep-seated shame and self-loathing toward her own interests and hobbies.

During the course of the series, the reader bears witness as the group grows in its cohesiveness over time, and bonds form between the characters as they begin to see themselves as more than fellow club members, but friends as well. In this context, club activities such as group outings, the biannual pilgrimage to Comifes, and even simply hanging out in the clubroom, allow the characters' complex relationships to grow into friendship, infatuation, and at times, even love. While a few of them never quite see eye-to-eye about their interests or the lives they lead, they are held together by the bonds of friendship that they share.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Eureka Seven

Eureka Seven, known in Japan as Psalms of Planets Eureka seveN (交響詩篇エウレカセブン, Kōkyōshihen Eureka Sebun?), is a mecha anime TV series by Bones. Eureka Seven tells the story of Renton Thurston and the outlaw group Gekkostate, his relationship with the enigmatic mecha pilot Eureka, and the mystery of the Coralians.

Bandai produced three video games based on Eureka Seven; two of them are based on events prior to the show, while the third is based on the first half of the show. Both the original concept of the anime and the video game Eureka Seven vol.1: New Wave have been adapted into manga series, as well. The TV series has also been adapted into a series of four novels in Japan.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Capeta

Taira Kappeita, or Capeta, was a 4th grader boy. He had lost his mother when he had been very little. Although he pretended to be tough in front of his father, actually he felt lonely. One day, his father brought junk parts home from his workplace and made a racing cart. Soon, they went to a circuit to drive the cart. However, Capeta found that its frame was bent and it could hardly run straight. But, with his technique he managed the cart. Furthermore, he followed soon after the fast cart and he could nearly leave it behind. The driver in the cart was Minamoto Naomoi, the champion of the East Japan Junior Cart. Looking at their chase, Naomi’s mother, Minamoto Nanako, advised Capeta to take part in the official race.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Medabots

Medabots, frequently misspelled as Metabots, and known in Japan as Medarot (メダロット Medarotto, Medarot?), is an anime series, produced by Bee Train, about battling robots. The manga, later serialized in Comic Bom Bom, is written by Rin Horuma (Horumarin). The manga was published in English in North America by Viz Communications. The artwork was flipped to the left-to-right reading style. In Singapore it is published in English by Chuang Yi.The video games were producted by Natsume.

The anime series, distributed in the Americas by Canadian company Nelvana Limited, once aired on Fox Kids, where, during its U.S. debut in autumn 2001, it was the highest-rated among its new shows. [1] It was later seen on its spin-off block, Jetix.

Released in America around the same time as Pokémon, it was frequently assumed to be a simple parody of that form of anime, since merchandise for the series was much less extensive and the anime's dub was assumed to be done with a tone of tongue-in-cheek and with a more accureately translated script than how shows of that type were translated for tv durign that time. This can be shown by fact that some of the more darker notes in the story, such as the "Ten days of darkness" were kept, and Ikki frequently received injuries during the series' more serious parts. In addition to this, several important characters noticeably retained their original Japanese names or pronunciations (such as Ikki).

Ichigo 100%

Manaka Junpei encounters a beautiful girl on the roof of his school. Pictured against the backdrop of the setting sun, with her wind blowing through her hair, Junpei manages to catch a glimpse of her strawberry panties. Embarassed, the girl runs away before he even gets the chance to talk to her. His only clue is the math notebook she dropped, with the name 'Toujou Aya' written on the cover.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Akagi

One stormy night, Nangou is playing a game of Mahjong with the local yakuza. Soon, he finds himself on a losing streak. If Nangou loses, he will have to pay with his life. Suddenly, a young teenaged boy, Akagi Shigeru, barges in, drenched from the rain. After watching a couple of games, he offers to replace the struggling Nangou. At that moment, a new legend was born.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Amaenaideyo!!

Satonaka Ikko is an apprentice Buddhist priest. He is sent to Saien Temple whose chief priest is his grand mother, Jotoku. What waiting for him there are severe training, purification jobs, and 6 nuns. The situation living with nuns of the same ages sounds enviable, but actually he is treated as an errand boy, and his purification skill cannot compare with theirs. However, when he has worldly desire, his power becomes stronger than anybody.

Hajime Ippo - Ippo Makunouchi

Ippo Makunouchi (幕之内一歩, Makunouchi Ippo?) is a very shy high school student who never had the time to make friends because he was always busy helping his mother with the family charter boat fishing business. Because he kept to himself, a group of bullies lead by Umezawa got into the habit of picking on him. On one particular day these bullies decided to give him a rather serious beating, but a middle-weight professional boxer who was passing by stopped the bullies and took the injured Ippo to the Kamogawa Gym (鴨川ボクシングジム, Kamogawa Bokushingu Jimu?), owned by retired boxer Genji Kamogawa (鴨川源二, Kamogawa Genji?), to treat his wounds. After Ippo awoke to the sounds of boxers training, the boxer who saved him, Mamoru Takamura, tried to cheer Ippo up by letting him vent his frustrations on a sandbag. It was then that they had their first glimpse into Ippo's talent for boxing. After that incident, Ippo started his regular training and began his path in Japan's professional boxing.

The story focuses heavily on character development, even during the matches something is learned about the fighters. Ippo and his friendly rivalry with Miyata is the main draw in the early part of the series. That later changes to Ippo's path towards the Japanese Featherweight Championship and eventually the world championship. Along the way we are given glimpses into the other side character's pasts, motivations, relationships to others and current boxing trials.

The anime series has two spin-off movies that were actually part of the manga. Champion Road, which takes place after Ippo becomes the Japanese Featherweight Champion and showcases his first defense of the title, and Kimura Vs. Mashiba, which pits one of Ippo's senpai (upper classmen) Kimura against the Japanese lightweight champion Mashiba (the brother of Ippo's love interest).

Death Note

Plot: Light Yagami is an extremely intelligent young man who resents the crime and corruption in the world. His life undergoes a drastic change when he discovers a mysterious notebook, known as the "Death Note", lying on the ground in the year 2003. The Death Note's instructions claim that if a human's name is written within it that person shall die. Light is initially skeptical of the Death Note's authenticity, believing it is just a prank. However, after experimenting with it and killing two criminals, Light is forced to admit that the Death Note is real. After meeting with the previous owner of the Death Note, a Shinigami named Ryuk, Light seeks to become "the God of the new world" by passing his judgment on criminals.

Soon, the number of inexplicable deaths of reported criminals catches the attention of the International Police Organization and a mysterious detective known only as "L". L quickly learns that the serial killer, dubbed by the public as "Kira" (derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "Killer"), is located in Japan. L also concludes that Kira can kill people without laying a finger on them. Light realizes that L will be his greatest nemesis, and a game of psychological cat and mouse between the two begins.

Slam Dunk

The main character of this manga is Hanamichi Sakuragi, who started out as an outcast who fights as a method to gain power and publicity, becoming the leader of a gang. Hanamichi, being very unpopular with girls, has been rejected by them fifty times. Yet, he finds out that Haruko Akagi is the girl of his dreams, and is happy when she's not scared of him like all the other girls he has asked out.

Haruko, who recognizes Hanamichi's athleticism, introduces him to the Shohoku basketball team. Hanamichi was reluctant to join the team at first because he had no previous background in any sports and thought that basketball was a game for losers (also because the fiftieth girl - see the Trivia section below - rejected him for a basketball player). Sakuragi, despite his immaturity and hot temper, proves to be a natural athlete with potential and joins the team in order to impress Haruko and prove that he is worthy of her. Kaede Rukawa - Sakuragi's bitter rival (both on the basketball court and love, even when Kaede doesn't acknowledge Haruko's crush on him), the star rookie and a "girl magnet" - joins the team at the same time. Hisashi Mitsui, an ex-junior high school MVP, and Ryota Miyagi, a short but fast player, both also rejoin the team and together these four struggle to complete team captain Takenori Akagi's dream of making Shohoku the national champion. Together, these misfits gain publicity and the once little known Shohoku basketball team becomes an all-star contender in Japan.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Love Hina

Keitaro and his childhood sweetheart make a promise to be accepted at and to meet each other at the prestigous Toudai University before she moved out of his life. About a decade later, Keitaro has become an artist and a daydreamer, having ranked 27th from the last in the national practice exam. When his grandmother leaves the all-girls dormitory, he becomes the residential manager and soon meets up with two Todai applicants who may have been that sweetheart, since he has forgotten her name.

Hunter X Hunter

Gon is a young boy who wants to be a Hunter. There are various types of Hunters in his world, and being a Hunter gives one certain priviliges. Before you can become a Hunter you have to pass a test. Gon seems well on his way to passing this test as heâ€™s a very bright lad who is able to communicate with animals. Apparently his father, long believed to be dead, is still alive and was once one of the greatest Hunters in existance. Gon believes he will be able to meet his father once he becomes a Hunter himself.