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What OtakuAnthony bought this week December 30th
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya DVD/BD
Plot Synopsis: “Ten days before Christmas, it seemed like just another ordinary day for the SOS Brigade; Haruhi came up with another one of her crazy ideas to hold a Christmas party in the club room. But things got weirder from there…
The next day Kyon woke up to a world in which Haruhi didn’t exist and no one besides him had any memory of her. How can someone like Haruhi Suzumiya, who’s supposed to be center of the universe, just vanish?”
I enjoy the Haruhi TV series. Hell I do not even have a problem with Endless Eight but that is a story for another time. I wanted to see the movie for some time now, but with Right Stuf having the movie on sale I found it a great time to go ahead and purchase it.
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumia is available from RightStuf
The DVD only version is also available
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Wolf’s Rain: Anime Legends – Perfect Collection
Plot Synopsis: “In some distant future, it’s common knowledge that all wolves have been extinct for 200 years. However, it seems this is false as wolves have not disappeared but rather have taken human form. Kiba, a lone wolf, wanders into a city, trying to sniff out the Lunar Flowers that are supposed to lead whoever follows the scent to paradise. The source of the smell is Cheza, a girl who sleeps in what appears to be suspended animation in a lab. She and the wolves are drawn to each other, and Kiba hopes to find paradise once he finds the source of the scent of Lunar Flowers. However, once Kiba finds Cheza, she is kidnapped by a mysterious person called Darcia, and his search begins anew. Before he leaves the city, he meets 3 other wolves, Tsume, Hige and Toboe. All four wolves have very different personalities and ideas, and their friendliness towards each other is a little rough around the edges. However, they soon band together to continue to search for paradise”
I have never watched Wolf’s Rain before in my life. I have though heard a lot of good things about the series over the past year and after listening to the most recent ANNCast which this series was talked about I decided to go ahead and grab the series since it is going OOP.
Wolf’s Rain is available from Amazon.com
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My Girlfriend is the President
Plot Synopsis: “My Girlfriend is the President is a multi-scenario love simulation game full of cute girls, hilarious parody, and touching romance. Players step into the shoes of Junichiro Honda, who wakes up one day to find that the world has been transformed by aliens into a bishoujo paradise where cuteness is the ultimate authority. His childhood friend Yukino Ohama has become President of the United States of Nippon, and whatever she says goes! Junichiro has to find a way to set the world right before the madness goes too far.
Joining US President Ohama are Russian President Irina Putina, Chief of Staff Ran Miyoshi, and a mysterious girl called Ell who just happens to be an alien starship in human form. Through their choices, players will be able to decide which of these cute and quirky heroines Junichiro ends up with.”
I have a bit of a secret; I enjoy eroge games. I also enjoy eroge and VN anime adaptions even if they are average or mediocre show . I never played this game before but I decided to pre-order it some time ago and give it play when I get it.
The Head Trip of Haruhi Suzumiya, Pt. 1
The "gang of five" with Kyon having a Maalox moment.
The Head Trip of Haruhi Suzumiya, Pt. 1
by
Jay Agan
When The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya first came out, I paid no mind. On the surface it looked like another of those countless moe/schoolgirl shows giving anime a bad name. I’m not into this type of sub-genre & the only Moe I’m a fan of is a one Mr. Howard of an ancient comedy trio you young-uns hardly know about. Not caring for any of that rule 34/jailbait fodder, I gave it a pass (I like my women real & of legal age. Some of you folks make me wonder.)
I figured it was also a Scooby Doo rip-off: Out of control little control freak forms an after school club investigating psychic phenomena & weird happenings. Ho-hum. Later, in passing, I read that three of the four she “forcibly” inducts into the club, are the very people she’s looking for. An esper, a time traveler, & an alien. A Scooby Doo rip-off with a twist. More ho-hum.
Leafing through a copy of Anime Rough Guide, I read a more concise brief about this show on p.227. Seems the title character is (unknowingly)……GOD! Oh? And it’s up to her four “friends” to see she doesn’t get bored &/or disturbed overmuch. Otherwise existance gets wiped & replaced with something else (Some theorize that “something else” was Lucky Star.). Attention Deficit Disorder was also mentioned. O….K….
As an ex-divinity student (I’m not a people person.), I got interested. If a story has a subject I find intrigueing I’m willing to let some things slide. I filed the show in the back of my mind & went my rollicking way. A few weeks later found me at the VGMX on Smokey Row in Columbus stoogeing around for flix (They actually had some Mexican horror films!). In the anime section I found the ep 00-03 disc of the first season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. 9.95 used, I snapped it up.
On viewing, I was pleasantly surprised to find not only is it a satire on theology & metaphysics, but also a multilevel elbow jab at:
1. Anime in general.
2. Various types of anime sub-genres/fans/”fetishes”.
3. Itself. (It is an anime, after all.)
A review of the principal “cast” pretty much sums up the plot as much as anything else.
Irritating, laid back esper, Itsuke Koizumi: Some in his organisation believes the title character to be God. Or at least someone with god-like powers. Main task is to undo/prevent some of the “damage” when Haruhi goes off the deep end.
Dead pan alien, Yuki Nagato: Humanoid interface/physical extension of the Integrated Data Entity observing this galaxy. Powers similar to Haruhis’ but can only manipulate data/reality already existant (Haruhi can create it out of nothing.). Believes Haruhi to be possible key to her/its own “evolution”. Also does “damage control”. Lots of it!
Nervous time traveler, Traci Lords……er, uh,….. Mikuru Asahina: Sent by her group to find out why they can’t go beyond a point three years in the past. Believe Haruhi to be the cause.
Put-upon Kyon: The poor slob who pays & pays for the mistake of putting a bug in Haruhis’ ear about her getting more pro-active in her life. And unfortunately, his & everyone elses’ as well.
Oblivious diety, Haruhi Suzumiya, (aka Goddess Dingbat): Literal center of the universe. Doesn’t know she’s God, but thats never stopped her.
I would like to conclude this first part, with a caveat. Some scenes in eps 01-03 are inappropriate for children. Wether Haruhi swings both ways or is just testing Kyon (He intervenes.), sexual harrassment, no matter who does it, is not a laughing matter. At first, I thought I was going to have to toss this. As not much is shown & Kyon mans up & intervenes, I let this slide. (In later eps. the title character just seems to regard Mikuru as a very unwilling dress-up doll. Then again what’s up with that ear bite in ep. 07? Some wranglers do that to control horses.)
Next installment will be a listing of the little “head trips” I found in this series. “See” you then……
Article copyright © 10-1-2010 Jay Agan
This article first appeared on jaysteevee.blogspot.com
Bandai Updates ASOS Brigade Website – Possible Season 2 License?
Bandai Entertainment updated the ASOS Brigade website. What’s interesting about this is what’s in the source code: a very long string of 八 – the Japanese kanji for “8.” Anyone who knows anything about the second season of Haruhi knows about Endless Eight, and this seems to be a big hint.
Seems like a safe bet that Bandai has licensed Haruhi season 2. The only thing I can hope now is that it won’t be sub-only. With a big title like Haruhi, you’d expect them to give it a dub. But with the way Bandai has been doing lately, who knows?
