Way back during the Nineties when the VHS was king and not Blu-Ray/DVD, there were tons of classic and beloved anime that were released into the United States. One particular series, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, holds a special place in my heart as one of the first anime series I really got into and one of my personal favorites. It is also perhaps one of the first anime brought over here to the West to incite the cyberpunk genre fandom for English speaking audiences.
If you had the power to delude anyone into seeing the world the exact way that you want them to, what would you make them see? Studio Madhouse's (the Girl Who Leapt through Time, Chobits) adaptation of Nitroplus' (Demonbane, Saya no Uta) 2008 visual novel Chaos; Head, the first entry into their dark-and-gritty science fiction visual novel line, attempts to answer this as well as other philosophical issues on existentialism and the nature of being. All the while mixing it up with a romantic subplot revolving around an otaku protagonist. Sounds a lot like your typical anime fan's dream philosophy class, doesn't it?
Katanagatari is an anime adaption of the light novel written by Niso Ishin and illustrated by Take. White Fox did the anime adaption which aired on January of 2010 and consisted of 12 episodes. One episode was released each month until December 2010, making twelve episodes in total. NIS America has licensed the English release of the series in two premium bundles that contains both the DVD and Bluray copy.
Katanagatari starts in feudal Japan. It focuses on Yasuri Shichika, voiced by Yoshimasa Hosoya, a swordsman that fights without swords. He meets Togame, voiced by Yukari Tamura, who is an ambitious strategist seeking his assistance. Togame seeks to obtain twelve legendary swords for the shogunate, where Shichika’s strength is required. To answer her request, Shichika and Togame explore the rest of Japan to seek the twelve blades.
Arakawa Under the Bridge is an anime adaption of Hikaru Nakamura’s ongoing work in Young Gan Gan. It was produced by studio Shaft and broadcasted in Japan on April 2010. Nakamura Sensei is known for her previous work, Saint Young Men, which was the tenth best manga series in 2009 and received the 2009 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for short work manga. Arakawa Under the Bridge will have a live action film in the spring of 2012 in Japan. Hit the jump for the full review!
The-O Network Online has been undergoing some staff changes as of late, and we're all very lucky and very glad to have snapped up a new anime reviewer, Ken Ohata! Ken will be laying the smack down on the good, the bad, and the ugly of Japanese animation, so keep a lookout for more from him. After the jump we have his first official review, Working!! Read and enjoy! --Stephen Bajza, Editor
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