AdventOrder

Minato Nagase

2011-03-04T00:50:00.001-08:00

Minato Nagase (長瀬湊)

Minato is Jun'ichi's younger sister. She is a year younger than him and attends the same school as him as a first year high school student. She is capable in all areas of house hold related work and is proud of it. She also has unique abilities, like listening to the ground to detect the presence of animals, as well as be able to communicate with them. She has feelings for Jun'ichi. She mentions that she was an adopted sister once, but later says it was a joke. Minato is blood-related to Jun'ichi in the PC game, in the PS2 version she is not related to him, and it is unclear as to whether she is blood-related to Jun'ichi in the anime. (Her and Jun'ishi end up believing that they are indeed blood related, although the parents make a comment at the end of the series.)

Yuuhi Katagiri

2011-03-04T00:48:00.003-08:00

Yuuhi Katagiri (片桐優姫)

Yuuhi is the main heroine in the series. She is very beautiful, which often causes trouble for her, such as being harassed constantly by men. One day, when she was being harassed by two men, she was saved by Jun'ichi. She transferred to his school hoping meet her fiance because she heard that he was in this area. Later, after a misunderstanding from Jun'ichi, he kisses her in public, causing her to have ill feelings towards him, but her feelings grow more for him throughout the series.

Junichi "Jun, Genokiller" Nagase

2011-03-04T00:48:00.001-08:00

Junichi "Jun, Genokiller" Nagase

Jun'ichi is the main protagonist of the series. He is a second year high school student and had a quarrel with a transfer student, Yuuhi Katagiri on the first day of school. It turns out that Yuuhi is his fiancé as arranged by his family. His life takes a drastic turn with Yuuhi entering his life.When he first met her he had the impression she was a helpless girl and kissed her because of a misunderstanding. After that, Yuuhi becomes much more violent towards Jun'ichi. Since Yuuhi is often harassed, he finds himself protecting her; as time progresses, their love for each other grows, even though neither of them will admit it. Throughout the anime series it is hinted that Jun'ichi has romantic feelings for his sister Minato, but he is reluctant to admit this even though he sometimes has fantasies about her.

Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka

2011-03-04T00:46:00.003-08:00

Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka

Alternative Titles

English: The Hill Dyed Rose Madder

Synonyms: Akasaka, Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka

Japanese: あかね色に染まる坂

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 12

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Oct 2, 2008 to Dec 19, 2008

Producers: TNK, Marvelous Entertainment

Genres: Comedy, Romance, School, Harem

Duration: 25 min. per episode

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

^L represents licensing company

Synopsis

On his way to school Junichi Nagase saves a girl from danger. Later due to a misunderstanding he kissed her. Shocked and disgusted, and without understanding what just happened or why, she screams at him and tells him to "just die!" As it turns out, the girl, Yuuhi Katagiri, is a new transfer student and, much to the surprise of Junichi and his younger sister Minato, their father arranged for Yuuhi to be Junichi's future wife! Of course, getting married to "that perverted idiot" is the absolute last thing Yuuhi wants! Junichi's crazy school life with his tsundere bride-apparent has begun!

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri

2011-03-04T00:46:00.001-08:00

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: Unknown

Status: Currently Airing

Aired: Apr 4, 2010 to ?

Producers: Shogakukan Productions, TMS Entertainment

Genres: Magic, Shoujo

Duration: 24 min. per episode

Rating: None

^L represents licensing company

Synopsis

The Fairytale World is in trouble. Its princesses and their respective worlds are disappearing, causing a ripple effect in the human world where their stories are popular. In order to save the Fairytale World, the Queen sends three magic animals, Sei, Dai, and Ryoku, to the human world with magic gems to find three girls who can become the "Super Miracle Idols," the princesses Snow White, Cinderella, and Kaguya-hime. Those "princesses" end up being three little girls: Yukimori Ringo, Takashiro Layla, and Sasahara Natsuki. But the gems transform them into older singing superstars, and after their accidental debut at the singer Wish's concert, they become known as "Little Princesses," or "LilPri." Now they must collect Happiness Tones from humans in order to restore the Fairytale World.

Akira "Air King" Takizawa

2011-03-04T00:45:00.001-08:00

Akira "Air King" Takizawa

He lost his memory during a brain washing program. At first he thinks he is a terrorist. He met Saki in Washington D.C., being naked and only carrying a gun and a cellphone. When he helps her out, because she threw a coin in the grounds of the White House and is questioned by policemen, she gives him her coat, scarf and her hat. He has a very modern cell phone with the phrase "noblesse oblige" printed on it and 8.2 billion yen in digital money credit. When he makes his first call, a female voice claiming to be Juiz answers. After she sent him a map with the place where he was supposed to go he finds, in his apartment, guns and many different passports which seemed to all belong to him (after his arrival in Japan, Juiz told him that he has to use up all his digital money). Then he met the girl named Saki and they return to Japan together. According to his passport, he lives in Japan, Toyosu, his name is Akira Takizawa and he was born on January 7, 1989 and is, therefore, 21 years old. According to the phone, he is identified as Seleção No. 9.

Higashi no Eden

2011-03-04T00:44:00.001-08:00

Higashi no Eden

Alternative Titles

English: Eden of The East

Japanese: 東のエデン

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 11

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Apr 9, 2009 to Jun 18, 2009

Producers: Production I.G, FUNimation Entertainment^L

Genres: Action, Comedy, Mystery, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi, Josei

Duration: 23 min. per episode

Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

^L represents licensing company
On November 22, 2010 ten missiles strike Japan. However, this unprecedented terrorist act, later to be known as "Careless Monday," does not result in any apparent victims, and is soon forgotten by almost everyone. Then, 3 months later... Saki Morimi is a young woman currently in the United States of America on her graduation trip. But just when she is in front of the White House, Washington DC, she gets into trouble, and only the unexpected intervention of one of her fellow countrymen saves her. However, this man, who introduces himself as Akira Takizawa, is a complete mystery. He appears to have lost his memory, is stark naked, except for the gun he holds in one hand, and the mobile phone he's holding in the other. A phone that is charged with 8,200,000,000 yen in digital cash.

Angel Links

2011-03-04T00:43:00.003-08:00

Angel Links

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 13

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Apr 7, 1999 to Jun 30, 1999

Producers: Bandai Entertainment

Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi

Duration: 24 min. per episode

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

^L represents licensing company

Synopsis

Li Meifon is the head of a free, no expenses paid protection/security agency for escorting ships across outer space. Though only 16, she posesses great skill and leadership qualities while commanding her crew aboard their ship, the "Angel Links." However, some unpleasant memories begin to trouble her and she starts questioning her own past and reason for existence. Join Li Meifon and the rest of the Angel Links crew on their adventures through the Oracion star system as they battle pirates, government organizations, and a Tao master, all while finally uncovering Meifon's dark and mysterious past.

Android Ana Maico 2010

2011-03-04T00:43:00.001-08:00

Android Ana Maico 2010

Alternative Titles

English: Android Announcer Maico 2010

Japanese: アンドロイド・アナ　MAICO ２０１０

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 24

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Apr 6, 1998 to Sep 28, 1998

Producers: Group TAC, Pony Canyon, ANIMATE, MOVIC

Genres: Comedy, Sci-Fi

Duration: 14 min. per episode

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

^L represents licensing company

Synopsis

In the year 2010, the Japanese radio industry is in decline. To reverse their flagging ratings, a station staffed with perennial losers makes a daring gamble: to hire the industry's first android on-air host. Maico is cute, but it will take more than novelty to win over the fickle audience -- especially with a crew as inept as this one.

Amon: The Apocalypse of Devilman

2011-03-04T00:42:00.001-08:00

Amon: The Apocalypse of Devilman

Information

Type: OVA

Episodes: 1

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: May 24, 2000

Producers: None found, add some.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural

Duration: 45 min. per episode

^L represents licensing company
Synopsis

Fear runs rampant throughout Tokyo with the revelation that demons in fact exist amongst us. Paranoia and the darker side of humanity boils onto the streets as people turn on one another, suspecting that anyone could in fact be a demon hiding in human clothing. Amidst the growing tensions, tragedy strikes Akira causing his mind to snap, retreating into his subconscious, allowing his Devilish alter-ego Amon to break free from Akira's cage of flesh and wreak havoc on both human and demons alike.

Amatsuki

2011-03-04T00:41:00.001-08:00

Amatsuki

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 13

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Apr 4, 2008 to Jun 27, 2008

Producers: Studio DEEN, Frontier Works

Genres: Action, Fantasy, Historical, Supernatural

Duration: 23 min. per episode

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

^L represents licensing company

Synopsis

Tokidoki is a Japanese high school student who, when he fails his history class, is sent to a high-tech history museum that virtually recreates the Edo period to do make-up work. However, what was supposed to be a simple school project becomes much more complicated when he's attacked by two supernatural beings known as "the nue" and "the yakou" and loses the vision in his left eye. After he's saved from the nue by a girl named Kuchiha, he realizes that he's no longer wearing the simulation goggles, and is trapped in the virtual Edo.

Amagami SS

2011-03-04T00:39:00.001-08:00

Amagami SS

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: Unknown

Status: Not yet aired

Aired: Jul 15, 2010 to ?

Producers: AIC

Genres: Romance

Duration: 20 min. per episode

Rating: None

^L represents licensing company

Synopsis

A second-year high school boy finds himself uneasy during Christmas time due to an experience in the past. However, this year at Christmas, he gets his last chance to ask out a graduating female senior named Haruka Morishima — or one of several other classmates. The story of the anime will be arranged in an omnibus format, with each heroine getting her own version of the story animated. Each heroine will sing her own version of the ending theme song.

Alien Nine

2011-03-04T00:38:00.003-08:00

Alien Nine

Information

Type: Special

Episodes: 4

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Jun 25, 2001 to Feb 25, 2002

Producers: J.C. Staff, GENCO, MediaNet, Central Park Media, Nippon Columbia

Genres: Horror, Sci-Fi, Supernatural

Duration: 28 min. per episode

Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

^L represents licensing company

Synopsis

Yuri Ootani, a girl who has been afraid of aliens, has been chosen to be on the alien party with the class president Kumi Kawamura, whose only intention to join the alien party is to get out of presidential duties, as well as Kasumi Tomine who is perfect at everything she does, including fighting all the aliens that come in their way. But can they defeat a massive alien who has already abducted Kasumi?

Nurarihyon no Mago

2011-03-04T00:38:00.001-08:00

Nurarihyon no Mago

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: Unknown

Status: Not yet aired

Aired: Jul 2010 to ?

Producers: Studio DEEN

Genres: Action, Fantasy, Shounen, Supernatural

Duration: Unknown

Rating: None

^L represents licensing company

Synopsis

Rikuo Nura - a kid that is 3/4 human and 1/4 youkai. He lives in a house full of spirits alongside his grandfather who is the leader of the youkai. Rikuo is destined to take over his grandfather leadership but his human side has no interest. Rikuo is just a normal kid who has no interest to become the leader of youkai.

YOO AH DOK-JON

2011-03-04T00:36:00.001-08:00

YOO AH DOK-JON

Alternative Name	唯我獨尊 -my first idol-; 유아독존 -my first idol-; Yoo Ah Dok Jon -my first idol-; My First Idol
Years of Released	2007
Status	Ongoing Dropped
Author(s)	Im Ae-joo
Artist(s)	Im Ae-joo
Related Scanlators	Nolja!
Genre(s)	Comedy, Drama, Ecchi, Harem, Romance, School Life, Shounen
Reading Direction	Unknown
Rank	3029th, it has 7,029 monthly views.
Rating	Average 4.88 / 5 out of 123 total votes.
Like it	RSS Bookmark Share
Latest Chapters	Vol.02 Ch.015 Vol.02 Ch.014 Vol.02 Ch.013 more...

Summary

To be the third (to continue the family name) and only son (also only child) of the rich Han family, ever since he was little Sang-Ah was ingrained with the motto 「A Successful Future comes from a Perfect Mate」 by his mother and raised with "Spartan-like" education. And due to his mother's harsh teachings about females Sang-Ah developed a serious aversion or trauma towards females. But one night during his age of 16, he's introduced to his fiance whom he has never met and Sang-Ah finally decides to leave his home. He leaves after making a deal with his mother that he'll find his own wife 'til he's 19 years old.
From volume one's backcover:

「 Don't Interfere with My Life!! 」

Handsome face and allround sportsman,
also being young master of an enormous rich family...Chung-sol High school's No. 1 Han Sang-Ah!! This young master who doesn't lack anything ventures running away from home?! Officially permitted runaway time is 3 years! During this time there is something he says he must get in his hands...!! From then on starting to confront him are woman!! woman!! women!!!

Harem Flood Mixed with Comedy and Action! Explosion of Heart Fluttering Pink that would tail all Korea's Bookstores!!

Beach Stars

2011-03-04T00:35:00.001-08:00

Title: Beach Stars

OM Rank: 555
Categories: ecchi, seinen, sports Author: Morio Masahiro
Artist: Morio Masahiro
Chapters: 31 - ongoing - irregular

Summary

This is the story of Nanase Iruka. She's short, tomboyish, and her one joy in life is volleyball. On Iruka's 17th birthday her Volleyball club is disbanded. Feeling somewhat depressed she and her friends from the club take a trip to the beach and discover Beach volleyball. Iruka cant wait to play and rushes to the court only to be told to give up being a player because of her short stature by the local Volleyball Diva. In a rage Iruka challenges her to a match to prove her abilities. It doest look like she has a chance but Iruka has a secret weapon and nobody will ever make fun of her on the beach again....well....Not about her ability to play Volleyball anyway...

Samurai Champloo

2011-03-04T00:34:00.001-08:00

Anime Review:

Samurai ChamplooGenre Chanbara, Comedy-drama, Action

Plot

A young woman named Fuu is working as a waitress in a tea house when she is harassed by a band of ruffians. Another customer, Mugen, offers to take care of them in exchange for food, but ends up instigating a brawl. Jin, a stoic young ronin in samurai garb, enters the tea house in the midst of the fight. Mugen attacks Jin after he proves to be a worthy opponent and they begin fighting one another, ignoring a fire that started during the brawl. They both faint from smoke inhalation. When they awaken, they find they have been arrested for the murder of Shibui Tomonoshina, the magistrate's son, and are to be executed. With help from Fuu, they escape and Fuu asks them to travel with her to find "the samurai who smells of sunflowers," a mysterious man Fuu can give little description of, but whom she insists she must find. They agree to join her, with Fuu making only one condition: they are not to duel one another until the journey is done.

Samurai Champloo employs a unique blend of historical Edo period backdrops with modern styles and references. The show relies on factual events of Edo-era Japan, such as the Shimabara Rebellion ("Unholy Union;" "Evanescent Encounter, Part I"), Dutch exclusivity in an era where edict restricted Japanese foreign relations ("Stranger Searching"), Ukiyo-e paintings ("Artistic Anarchy"), and fictionalized versions of real-life Edo personalities Mariya Enshirou and Miyamoto Musashi ("Elegy of Entrapment, Verse 2"). As well as more prominent anachronisms like Mukuro having a revolver or the presence of Americans ("Baseball Blues".)

Incorporated within this are signature elements of modernity, especially hip hop culture, such as rapping ("Lullabies of the Lost, Verse 1"), graffiti ("War of the Words"), bandits behaving like "gangstas" (both parts of "Misguided Miscreants"), The censorship bleeps replaced with Record Scratching and much of Mugen's character design, including a fighting style influenced by breakdancing. Samurai Champloo's musical score predominantly features hip hop beats. Certain anachronistic references are not based upon hip hop, however, such as baseball ("Baseball Blues") and references to the atomic bombing of Nagasaki ("Cosmic Collisions").

Main Characters

Mugen

Mugen (無限)is a 19 year old man and was born in a penal colony on the Ryukyu Islands (most likely Miyako Island since it was a penal colony in the past), which in the Edo period was a separate kingdom with close ties to the Satsuma domain of Japan. His name means without limitation, as the components of it are the characters for "without" and "limitation." Incidentally, he writes his name using the infinity symbol (∞), a pun on his name, 'Mugen,' which is a homophone of the Japanese word for 'eternity'. His Japanese is quite rough and "Yanki"; and he is illiterate until later in the show. It also appears that he may be of Ainu origin, commenting that he grew up on the same music an Ainu fugitive was playing, though the Ainu man came from the far North, and Mugen came from the far south. As for his parents, Mugen states that he never knew who they were in episode 20, "Elegy of Entrapment, Verse 1." The blue tattoos on his wrists and ankles indicate that he was once in prison. The circumstances of his imprisonment are unclear at first, but it is later verified that he was to be executed for engaging in piracy.

Rude, lewd, vulgar, and nihilistic, Mugen is somewhat of an antihero. He is fond of fighting and has a tendency to pick fights for petty reasons. In several episodes it is made clear that Mugen is a womanizer. Character designer Kazuto Nakazawa stated in an interview: "When I was doing character design, the most difficult one was Mugen, as I expected. I'm pretty sure that as far as the director's image went, he probably was thinking of someone like a 'rapper who acts like a bad guy.' But the way Mugen acts is relatively based on his core conviction."

Highly unorthodox swordplay and a fighting style based on breakdancing - dubbed "champuru kendo" and ostensibly developed by himself - taking bits and pieces from all forms of martial arts and making up the rest as he fights his opponents, make him a force to be reckoned with although it looks like capoeira. He carries two blades, his principal weapon a unique sword with a curved blade and a hilt with two prongs sheathed across his back and the other a small tanto concealed at the end of his scabbard (only resorted to as a trump card). His main weapon appears to be an amalgamation of the okinawan sai and Japanese katana. Mugen also has a tendency to parry attacks with the steel base of his geta.

His seiyū is Kazuya Nakai. His dub actor in the U.S. version is Steven Jay Blum, credited as Daniel Andrews to circumvent union regulations. However in the English version of the game for PS2, he is played by Liam O'Brien.

Jin

Jin (仁) is a man in his mid 20s who wields a Katana, Wakizashi and spent the majority of his life training in kenjutsu dojos. Unlike Mugen, it is legal for him to carry a daisho, as he is of the samurai class. His swords have a lightning and twin-eyed design on the tsuba. He wears traditional hakama and gi in indigo blue patterned with a white diamond kamon made up of four small white diamonds. His kamon closely resembles that of the great Takeda Clan, leading to speculation that his family origins may be of nobility. He wears glasses but Fuu states that they are "fake", indicating Jin wears them as an accesory rather than actually needing them.

When he was 18, he was to be assassinated in his sleep by his sensei, Mariya Enshirou, at Kariya Kagetoki's insistence. However, Jin killed Mariya in self-defense and fled the dojo, becoming a ronin. His death is sought by former classmates and other fame-seekers. Mujushin was a real sword-fighting dojo, and Mariya Enshirou is known to have been the third master — although the circumstances of his death are unclear.

Jin is highly devoted to upholding Bushido and is in fact named after jin (benevolence), one of the seven samurai virtues. Jin is usually taciturn and unusually collected. He is an extremely skilled swordsman, using swift, refined, orthodox moves of the Mujushin Kenjutsu discipline, making him the perfect foil for Mugen.

In the last episode, he confesses to both Fuu and Kariya that he has spent his entire life with no devotion to anyone. He lived only for his sword and no master; saying that the lords of that time have no sense of honor, only caring about self-preservation. But he seems to change during his travels with Fuu and Mugen, saying that they are his "first friends."
His seiyū is Ginpei Sato. His dub actor in the U.S. version is Kirk Thornton.

Fuu Kasumi

Fuu (風) is a 15 year old girl and the leading lady of the show. In her childhood before the beginning of the series, her father left her and her mother for unstated reasons. Without her father around to support them, Fuu and her mother led a difficult life until her mother died of illness. After a not-so-successful stint as a teahouse waitress, she saves Mugen and Jin from execution and recruits them as her bodyguards to help her on a quest. She is searching for the Samurai who smells of Sunflowers, but never explains what a sunflower smells like or what the man looks like. Mugen and Jin are often reminded of their life-debt to her when they wish to fight each other, much to their chagrin.

Her relationship with Mugen and Jin is apparently sororal, though it is hinted several times in the series that she may have subtle romantic interest for either of them and at one point it's stated by herself that she's specially concerned about parting ways with them because of Mugen. She is a surprisingly big eater (in one episode she entered an eating contest and was one of the last two remaining, shocking all the spectators), has a bright and trusting personality, and is strongly prone to accidents and trouble although she is quite practical. She often puts on a front of being more worldly and experienced than she actually is so as not to appear completely ingenuous in front of her bodyguards. Fuu wears a deep pink kimono with a pattern of flowers and carries a matching tantō. Attached to the tanto are three netsuke: a skull (a Christian pendant from her father), a pair of dice and a dog.

Her voice actress in the Japanese version is Ayako Kawasumi. She is voiced by Kari Wahlgren in the U.S dub.

Pics

Saki

2011-03-04T00:33:00.003-08:00

Anime Review

SakiGenre mahjong, school life

Plot

Saki Miyanaga, a high school first-year student, hates mahjong because her family would always force her to play it and punish her regardless of the outcome of the game. Due to this, she learned how to keep her score at zero, neither winning nor losing. However, her friend Kyōtarō from middle school convinces her to join the school's mahjong club upon entering into high school. After the club discovers her ability, they recruit her and convince her to win instead of breaking even. She easily does so with her skill, leading the team to enter a mahjong tournament so that its members may reach the national competitions.

Characters

Kiyosumi High School

Saki Miyanaga (宮永咲, Miyanaga Saki^?): Voiced by: Kana Ueda; Saki Miyanaga is a high school first-year student and is the titular character of the story. She initially joins the mahjong club so she can reach the Nationals to see her sister, a top-ranked professional mahjong player.^[1] She is notorious for her ability to score zero points every round.^[2] Her skill primarily comes from her ability to read her opponents and their tiles to see the flow of the game.^[3] A mahjong move she favors most is rinshan kaihō. At the mahjong tournament, she is made the captain of the team.^[4]

Nodoka Haramura (原村和, Haramura Nodoka^?): Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu; Nodoka Haramura is a high school first-year student who attends the same school as Saki and is a member of the mahjong club. She was the previous year's National Middle School Individual Champion.^[5] Nodoka always carries her penguin doll, affectionately named Etopen, to give her a sense of calmness when playing mahjong. Her skill, in comparison to Saki's, comes from practicing via online mahjong. ^[3]. She has an ability where she views mahjong tables digitally; this ability ignores other player's presences in the game, giving her an edge against players with an ability to manipulate presence. At the mahjong tournament, she is the vice-captain of the team.^[4] Her nickname is "Nodocchi" after her play style, quickly and efficiently racking up points as fast as possible.^[6]

Yūki Kataoka (片岡優希, Kataoka Yūki^?): Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya; Yūki is a high school first-year student who attends the same school as Saki and is a member of the mahjong club. She is highly skilled, though cannot stay focused and makes more mistakes as the game progresses,^[7] so she is made the first to play at the mahjong tournament. She is often seen eating tacos, which increases her skill when playing mahjong.^[8] Additionally, food with names similar to tacos, like takoyaki can increase her skill partially as well.^[9]

Hisa Takei (竹井久, Takei Hisa^?): Voiced by: Shizuka Itō; Hisa is the leader of the mahjong club, and the President of the school's Student Congress. Although she does not possess any special ability, her mahjong skills makes up for it. Her main tactic is to hold out until she is waiting for tiles with bad odds, where she feels she has the best chance of winning; Nodoka disapproves of this. She is formerly known as Hisa Ueno.

Mako Someya (染谷まこ, Someya Mako^?): Voiced by: Ryōko Shiraishi; Mako is Hisa's friend, and is also a member of the mahjong club. She grew up near a family owned mahjong parlor, and when she takes her glasses off when playing, she can remember past games she's witnessed to help her win.

Kyōtarō Suga (須賀京太郎, Suga Kyōtarō^?): Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama; Kyōtarō is Saki's male friend who joined the mahjong club before her. He has a crush on Nodoka.

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Rozen Maiden

2011-03-04T00:33:00.001-08:00

Anime Review

Rozen Maiden
Genre Comedy, Drama, Supernatural

Season 1: Rozen Maiden

Plot Summary:
Due to a deep trauma at school Sakurada Jun has refused to return. He spends his time in his room, surfing the web and ordering anything that takes his fancy, only to return the items just before payment is due. One day, he finds a web site that tells him to put his order in a drawer of his desk. He does so thinking it to be a joke, only to find that the letter disappears and a strange package arrives soon afterwards. It contains an exquisite doll, that, when wound, comes to life. She treats him as a servant of little worth, but over time helps him come to grips with his fears and in the life-or-death fights that soon follow her arrival.

Season 2: Rozen Maiden Traumend

Plot Summary:
As summer break arrives for the students, Jun Sakurada is busily studying on his own in the library, making up for time lost while he had confined himself to his home. Meanwhile, his Rozen Maiden doll, Shinku, has been having troubling dreams of late. The pain and sadness of defeating Suigintou was overwhelming, despite the inevitable battle they waged. After waking suddenly from a nightmare, she finds Suigintou's companion spirit wandering; upon giving chase, she discovers that the seventh Doll-- Barasuishou-- has awakened. She now realizes that Suigintou's fate may very well befall the other Dolls, for the appearance of the last Doll signals the beginning of the end of the Alice Games.

OVA: Rozen Maiden Overture

Set during the second season, the story between Shinku and Suigintou is told by Souseiseki when Jun buys Shinku a brooch. The first OVA starts with the creation of Sugintou, Rozen's first doll, which he abandons and moves on to create the rest of the Rozen dolls, ignoring Sugintou's cries for help.

Characters:

Humans

Jun Sakurada

Voiced by: Asami Sanada (Japanese), Mona Marshall (English), Sanae Kobayashi (early drama CD) Jun Sakurada (桜田ジュン Sakurada Jun^?) is a traumatized boy who lives a hermit's existence in his room and does not go to school after cracking under the pressure of entrance exams. He suffers from what is known as tōkō kyohi, or a refusal to go to school, as well as hikikomori, the phenomenon of isolating oneself from society.

He spends a lot of time in front of his computer, and has a hobby of ordering things from the Internet — mostly fake magical or occultic implements— and then returning them before he has to pay, for the thrill of receiving something ridiculously stupid. He is also interested in cars and collects miniature versions of them. When he comes into possession of Shinku and winds her up, he is unwittingly and unwillingly caught in the crossfire of the Alice Game — Shinku declares him to be her "servant" and demands that he obey her at all times. Jun is extremely skilled at crafts and at sewing. Although he is arrogant, and occasionally cold and rude, he cares for others but typically refuses to let his feelings show. He is especially friendly with Hinaichigo, and at times, blushes around Shinku, which portrays that he cares deeply for her.

In Rozen Maiden träumend, Jun's personality has changed, thanks to the Rozen Maidens who have taken up residence in the Sakurada home. No longer afraid of his classmates or of going out in public, he goes to the library frequently to catch up with his school studies and is more sociable and kind. He even becomes friends with Tomoe, Hinaichigo's former medium, as she helps him catch up with his studies. Jun also helps Suiseiseki try to convince the other Rozen Maidens that the Alice Game was a futile endeavor. He strongly believes that because Shinku and the other Rozen Maidens are sisters, they should not fight or keep secrets from one other.

Shinku states that when Jun sews, it is like watching magic. Jun is the only or one of the few people in the world who can bring a doll's 'soul' back, doing so in the first volume with an old doll. It is implied that Jun is extremely similar to Rozen in his abilities, possibly able to become the next Rozen. Jun is able to be the master of three dolls at once and have them take his energy in battle with little problem. This is unusual because most people have a hard time with just one doll taking their energy. The reason why he is able to do this is unknown and might have something to do with the fact he is similar to Rozen.

Nori Sakurada

Voiced by: Noriko Rikimaru (Japanese), Minx Lee (English), Aya Hisakawa (early drama CD)
Nori Sakurada (桜田のり Sakurada Nori^?) is Jun's older sister. An avid lacrosse player, who had to give up many of her other hobbies when she assumed parental care of Jun while their parents are out of the country on business. While initially resistant to the responsibility, Nori became kind and gentle towards Jun. Nori is quick to find, get and resort to books for cures, treatments and copings with Jun's hikikomori-ism. Early in manga volume 1, when she hears Jun and Shinku arguing in his bedroom she leaps to the conclusion that he has developed schizophrenia (multiple personality disorder) and gets a book on that. She unfortunately takes the brunt of Jun's abuse and criticism. Shinku constantly provides Nori with advice on everything from the proper way to brew tea to taking care of Jun. Nori is very fond of the dolls who live and play in her house.

Tomoe Kashiwaba

Voiced by: Masayo Kurata (Japanese), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English), Ayako Kawasumi (early drama CD)
Tomoe Kashiwaba (柏葉巴 Kashiwaba Tomoe^?) is an honor student at Jun's school. She is quiet, and kind-hearted, although her speech and style tend to be very dry, and she often hides her true feelings. Tomoe was originally Hinaichigo's medium, but the bond between them was broken when Hinaichigo relied too much on Tomoe's energy and was defeated by Shinku. Currently, Tomoe helps Jun in his dealings with the Rozen Maidens and also assists him with his make-up work for school. Before it was severed, Tomoe's bond with Hinaichigo was about as close as siblings. In Rozen Maiden träumend, before Hinaichigo loses her Rosa Mystica, Tomoe reflects on all of the good times and memories she they shared and thanks Hinaichigo for being there. She is mistaken by Shirosaki as Jun's girlfriend.
Tomoe learned kendo from her father from an early age and is a member of the kendo club at school. She is often seen carrying her shinai when class is over. She is also a member of the school committee, seemingly reluctantly.

Mitsu "Micchan" Kusabue

Voiced by: Akiko Kawase
Mitsu "Micchan" Kusabue (草笛みつ (みっちゃん) Kusabue Mitsu (Micchan)^?) (Mit-chan in the Tokyopop translated manga) is Kanaria's medium. She loves dolls to the point of obsession, which shows in both her room's decor and her frequent doting on Kanaria; she has shelves upon shelves crammed full of dolls, and makes frequent trips to the doll shop to purchase gifts for Kanaria. Although her work attire is that of an office lady, she is introduced as a professional photographer by Kanaria to the other dolls. In the manga, Micchan reveals that she has quit her old, comfortable job and becomes a pattern make for doll's dresses, selling her products on her personal website called "Angels Cage", despite the increased workload and the minor success. Micchan is generally regarded as being just as harmless and eccentric as Kanaria. She only appears in Rozen Maiden Träumend and the manga. In the manga, she has freckles, whereas her anime counterpart lacks this trait.
She never actually meets Jun in the anime, but in the manga, Kanaria brings her to the Sakurada residence, where Micchan shortly after nicknames Jun as "Junjun." She recognizes Jun's natural talent in designing and making dresses and offered a form of partnership, though Jun refuses.

Megu Kakizaki

Voiced by: Shiho Kawaragi (Japanese), Erika Weinstein (English)
Megu Kakizaki (柿崎めぐ Kakizaki Megu^?) is a sickly girl (she has congenital heart disease in the anime, but the disease is not specified in the manga) who is Suigintou's medium. She lives in a hospital room, under constant care from nurses. Megu has a very bleak outlook on life and often prays for an "Angel of Death" to take her away. She sees herself as a burden upon her parents, who she claims are "guilty" of having her. She initially believes that Suigintou is the "Angel of Death" she has hoped for and requests that Suigintou kill her by draining away her energy. Despite her apathy (and, at times, contempt) towards life in general, she is quite needy, and increasingly desires Suigintou's company, even throwing tantrums when Suigintou is away. Megu's blatant disrespect towards her father is shocking to Suigintou, who would never consider such an attitude toward her own "Father." In addition to her manga appearances, Megu appears in Rozen Maiden träumend and briefly in Rozen Maiden öuverture. She has a more stronger bond with Suigintou in the manga, and is the only human Suigintou has strong feelings for, other than Father. In the anime, Megu was the last person Suigintou thought about before collapsing in Shinku's arms. In the manga, it was after Suigintou's witness of Megu driving her father away in a fit of rage that evoked sympathy from the doll, thereby agreeing to take Megu as her medium. However, she was unable to do so as Kirakishou took Megu away into the N-field.

Dolls

Suigintou

Suigintou, the first Rozen Maiden doll.

Suigintou (水銀燈 Suigintō^?, Mercury Lampe, Quecksilber, Mercury Lamp)
Voiced by: Rie Tanaka (Japanese), Mia Bradly (English), Mamiko Noto (early drama CD)
Suigintou is the first of the Rozen Maiden collection. Her desire to win the Alice Game is the strongest of all the dolls, and is primarily driven by her wish to gain the attention of their "Father", the fantastic dollmaker Rozen. Sadistic, spiteful, and arrogant (all due to her spectacular superiority complex), Suigintou has no inhibitions when it comes to the Alice Game. She will use any method available to her, regardless of how brutal it may be, to reach victory. Although she avoids socializing with all of her sister dolls, she has a particularly bitter hatred for Shinku. However, upon meeting Megu, her medium, Suigintou's attitude and motivations begin to shift; she begins to feel a strong affection for someone other than "Father", and a will to fight for something other than the honor of becoming "Alice", the perfect girl. Suigintou's desire to protect Megu begins to even overpower her wish to meet "Father," and she hopes to use the collected Rosae Mysticae, not to become Alice, but to heal Megu's heart ailment instead. However, Suigintou fails in this endeavor, discovering to her horror that she has used up Megu's energy. She also hates being called "junk".
Initially, Suigintou's will to exist was so strong that she was able to move without actually possessing a Rosa Mystica. Suigintou did not consciously make a contract with Megu, rather, Megu came upon Suigintou as she was reawakening. Suigintou's strong sense of independence, as well as disdain towards humanity, had her avoiding the perceived weakness of having a medium. She is also the only Rozen Maiden to have been defeated and revived three times.
Suigintou has a number of unique traits and flaws amongst the seven Rozen Maiden. In the anime, she is missing her torso; Shinku explains at one point that before Suigintou was completed, her design was erased, but gives no further explanation as to why or how. In ouvertüre, it is shown that Rozen abandoned her half-completed form in two parts on his worktable. She was never assembled—although her clothing was completed—and as such, not initially given the life force that is a Rosa Mystica. It was her love for Rozen that brought her to life, and she crawled off of the table to seek him out. Rozen does later provide her with a Rosa Mystica, only after she is sliced in half by Souseiseki and presumably fated to fade out of existence. Curiously, after Suigintou is destroyed in battle by Shinku at the end of the anime's first season, she is restored midway through Rozen Maiden träumend. The identity of the person responsible for her restoration is never revealed, however it is strongly implied to be Rozen. In the träumend finale, she tells Shinku that "Father" had told her that even with her flawed body, she is also entitled to a part in the Alice Game. Later, Rozen is seen lovingly fixing Suigintou's neck ribbon as she sleeps, and even grips her gently around the waist afterwards, implying that he has mended her incomplete body.
In the manga, her body is flawed by wings—notably, she is the only Rozen Maiden with them—that have ravaged her back with cracks. Despite these flaws, her love for "Father" and willpower is so strong that she can use her powers independently of a medium.
Along with her artificial spirit, Meimei, Suigintou's weapons are her ragged black wings. With their arrow-like feathers, she can conjure up a shield, a large sword, or even twin black dragons. Suigintou can also create destructive blue flames as a last resort in battle. Suigintou's varied abilities, particularly when combined with her savagely cunning nature, make her a strong player in the Alice Game.
In Rozen Maiden ouvertüre, Suigintou and Shinku are shown to actually be friends, but the friendship sours significantly after Suigintou discovers that Shinku only pretended to be her friend out of pity. It is also revealed that Rozen abandoned her without a Rosa Mystica (which she later acquires) and started moving towards her affection for him. When Megu shows Suigintou a bouquet of bright red roses, Suigintou destroys the bouquet, indicating that she either hates roses as a whole, or that she particularly dislikes bright red roses, since Shinku uses bright red rose petals.
In the manga Megu and Suigintou seem to have a stronger "bond" than in the anime. Megu was also the reason Suigintou traveled to the alternate dimension and subsequently declaring a truce with Shinku so that the two may work together to bring down Kirakishou.
Her artificial spirit, "Meimei," is named for the Japanese word "Mei", meaning darkness.

Medium: Megu
Artificial Spirit: Meimei (メイメイ, Meimei^?)

Kanaria

Kanaria, the second Rozen Maiden doll.

Kanaria (金糸雀 Kanaria^?, Kanarienvogel, Canary Bird) (spelled Canaria in the Tokyopop translated manga)
Voiced by: Yumi Shimura (Japanese), Cristina Valenzuela (English)
The second Rozen Maiden doll, who is as adorable as she is eccentric. Not only does she constantly refer to herself in third person, but she also talks about taking her sisters' Rosen Mysticas, though she repeatedly fails in her attempts to do so. She fancies herself as quite the stealthy prowler, and makes a hobby of watching the exploits of her sisters, usually through binoculars. Kanaria's bright, somewhat arrogant disposition makes her the ideal subject for many of the comedic episodes. Despite this, she is a competent opponent and attacks with a violin that can emit particularly destructive sound waves. Her personality mostly complements that of Hinaichigo, who eventually becomes her good friend and rival; they often debate on whose medium is "better," i.e. prettier. In the manga, she visits the Sakurada home more often than in the anime, and even invites Mitsu, her medium, after Hinaichigo is taken by Kirakishou, in order to fulfill the void left by Hinaichigo.
In Rozen Maiden: ouvertüre, the other dolls apparently forgot Kanaria's name most of the time, though in the manga, Hinaichigo admits to Kanaria that she was only kidding.
Kanaria has the unusual habit of ending her sentences with "kashira" ("I wonder?" or "maybe?"), which is likened to Hinaichigo's penchant for ending sentences with "na no" (meaning "Because"). Kanaria's favorite food is tamagoyaki, or Japanese thick omelet, which, more often than not, is snatched away from her by hungry birds before she can enjoy it. She is introduced in the second season and makes a brief appearance in Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre, making yet another humorously over-the-top attempt to infiltrate Jun's home to steal her sisters' Rosae Mysticae.
Her artificial spirit, Pizzicato, is named after the technique of playing orchestral instruments by plucking the strings, which she uses as a counterattack.

Medium: Mitsu
Artificial Spirit: Pizzicato (ピチカート, Pichikāto^?)

Suiseiseki

Suiseiseki (翠星石 Suiseiseki^?, Jade Stern, Jade Star)

Suiseiseki, the third Rozen Maiden doll.

Voiced by: Natsuko Kuwatani (Japanese), Rebecca Forstadt (English), Nana Mizuki (early drama CD)
The third Rozen Maiden doll, and Souseiseki's older twin. She and Souseiseki are both referred to as "gardeners" for their ability to communicate and tend not only to regular plants, but also to the "soul trees" of humans.
Despite her attitude towards Jun, Suiseiseki does care a great deal for him, and her attempts to cover that up usually manifest in the form of more insults. In fact, she cares deeply for everyone in her life, even if she does not show it outwardly. In Rozen Maiden träumend, Suiseiseki stands out among the dolls in that she values her sisters' love more than the goal of becoming Alice. She is one of the few dolls who opposes the Alice Game, and has no intentions of becoming Alice if it means taking her fellow sisters' Rosa Mystica. Suiseiseki and Jun attempt, without much success, to convince the other Rozen Maidens that the Alice Game is a meaningless endeavor. In her brief appearance in the OVA, she makes the same appeal to her twin several times.
In the anime, Suiseiseki's first impression is different than that of the manga. She appears very shy and nervous, and is very distrustful of humans because one had kidnapped Souseiseki. Shinku once described Suiseiseki as being the most shy and timid of the Rozen Maidens.
Suiseiseki tries to avoid participating in the Alice Game as much as possible, but she can use her watering can to make plants emerge from the ground and manipulate them. Her artificial spirit is named after the popular Anna Sui perfume. Suiseiseki was also the winner of the Anime Saimoe Tournament in 2006.
In the Rozen Maiden träumend, after Jun become her medium. She is jealous of Shinku that Jun always stay with her alone. That means she also loves Jun.
In the next-to-last episode of Rozen Maiden träumend, Suiseiseki attempts to protect Kanaria from Barasuishou's crystal stakes, and is crystallized for her trouble and her Rosa Mystica seized. Suiseiseki was revived by Rozen in the träumend finale and is last seen watching "Detective Kun Kun" along with Nori and the lifeless forms of Souseiseki and Hinaichigo.
In the latest chapter of the manga, Suiseiseki makes a return to the story as she travels to the alternate dimension where Shinku and Suigintou currently reside. Knowing that Kirakishou now has Souseiseki's body, Suiseiseki intends to protect Kirakishou from being destroyed, much to Shinku's and Suigintou's dismays. She has also actively (and somewhat forcibly) make Jun form a contract with her. However, she was actually making him form a contract using Souseiseki's ring, so that Souseiseki may be revived.
Suiseiseki is a very prominent and popular character in the series.

Medium: Jun
Artificial Spirit: Sui Dream (スィドリーム, Sui Dorīmu^?) (Also called "Jade Dream" before she takes a medium and "Sui Dream" after in the anime, and "Sweet Dream" in the Tokyopop translated manga)

Souseiseki

Souseiseki (蒼星石 Sōseiseki^?, Lapis Lazuli Stern, Lapis Lazuli Star)

Souseiseki, the fourth Rozen Maiden doll.

Voiced by: Rika Morinaga (Japanese), Julie Ann Taylor (English)
The fourth doll of the Rozen Maiden collection and Suiseiseki's twin, Souseiseki possesses a sharpness in her speech that is similar to Shinku's, attacks ruthlessly in combat, and does not tolerate sub-par actions. She is also quite stubborn and very devoted to her masters. Her appearance is not only the most masculine of the dolls, but her speech is also noted to be of the masculine form, using the first person pronoun "boku" instead of gender neutral pronouns like "jibun" or "watashi." Souseiseki's presence is much more significant in the anime than in the manga.
In the manga, Souseiseki's master wanted to use her power to enter other people's dreams and exact revenge on his brother's lover, who he felt had stolen his brother from him. Since Souseiseki alone could not achieve this goal, she fights Suiseiseki to gather the two gardeners' tools, the shears (which is her primary weapon) and the watering can, which together can affect an individual's soul tree. She eventually realizes that it is her master's heart that needs to be freed and sacrifices herself to do so. The dolls present are shocked by Souseiseki's actions and Suigintou uses the confusion to snatch Souseiseki's Rosa Mystica, enraging both Shinku and Suiseseki. In the latest chapter, it is revealed that Souseiseki's body is currently manifested by Kirakishou.
In the anime, Souseiseki is devoted to a lonesome old man, who uses her as a substitute for his deceased son, Kadzuki. Souseiseki apparently does not have a medium, because Motoharu Shibasaki was never shown to have a rose ring. She is shown to be slightly more eager, probably from a sense of duty, to participate in the Alice Game than her sisters. In the OVA, she is introduced in the flashback in mid-fight with Shinku and later does not hold back in attacking a then-harmless Suigintou. Throughout Rozen Maiden Träumend, she questions her idyllic lifestyle, and, much to Suiseiseki's disappointment, takes part in the Alice Game out of devotion to Rozen after being accosted by Barasuishou, who was believed to be the seventh Rozen Maiden doll, in order to fulfill his wish of finding Alice and relieve his perceived grief. She battles Suigintou, but is defeated and loses her Rosa Mystica.
Even though the two versions progress differently, Souseiseki is still the first doll to lose her Rosa Mystica, and her Rosa Mystica transfers to Suigintou on both occasions. However, at the end of Rozen Maiden träumend, Laplace is seen dancing with two Rosae Mysticae, one of which is believed to be Souseiseki's. To add to the confusion, after Shinku is resurrected by "Father," she tells Jun that Souseiseki's and Hinaichigo's losing their Rosa Mysticae is her burden to bear. The most likely reason for this is that essentially they were under the care of her medium, which makes sense for Hinaichigo, but not so much for Souseiseki.
In the manga, Souseiseki has gone missing from her case, after Suiseiseki tells Souseiseki's master that she found her sister's hat in the N-field. Later, in the last volume of the manga, she is reunited with Suiseiseki. Souseiseki tells Suiseiseki that she didn't want to play the Alice Game anymore, because she didn't "want to go against the Suiseiseki that I love". Soon afterwards she dies once again, growing rose vines and a white rose out of her right eye. Though she is the first doll to lose her Rosa Mystica, Souseiseki is actually the second doll to lose in the Alice Game. In the latest chapter of Rozen Maiden Tale, it is revealed that while Suigintou has her Rosa Mystica, Kirakishou has her body. And, because Jun from the alternate dimension has inadvertently kissed the ring, it may grant Souseiseki the revival Suiseiseki wished for. Her artificial spirit is named for a fragrance by Lolita Lempicka. Souseiseki was also the first runner-up for Saimoe 2005.

Medium: Motoharu Shibasaki (Anime) / Kazuha Yuibishi (Manga)
Artificial Spirit: Lempicka (レンピカ, Renpika^?)

Shinku

Shinku (真紅 Shinku^?, Reiner Rubin, Pure Ruby)

Shinku, the fifth Rozen Maiden doll.

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese), Mela Lee (English), Yui Horie (early drama CD)
Shinku is the fifth Rozen Maiden doll and the first to appear in the series. Her name, in addition to its Japanese meaning, could be also a play on the Japanese pronunciation of the word "cinq" (French for "five"). She embodies the traditional Victorian aristocrat. She is extremely demanding and can seem unappreciative of others. Her favorite words are "tea", "servant" and "What?" She seems to enjoy lecturing, slapping, and generally abusing Jun, her medium, at every opportunity. She is perceived as rather angry, but it is a facade that she puts up to show that she feels that she is most deserving of becoming Alice. Shinku is also perceived as being cold, but she is actually very protective of, and cares deeply for, her sisters and for Jun. Shinku's presence at the Sakurada home has led to other Rozen Maidens appearing there. She hates cats because one almost swallowed her wind-up key in the past.
Initially, Shinku is determined to become "Alice", even if it means fighting her sisters. However, after causing Suigintou's first death and some careful questioning by Jun, she begins to shift views on her purpose and begins to engage in simpler and quieter activities, such as reading cookbooks in order to bake better cookies.
Shinku does not use honorific suffixes such as "-chan," "-san," or "-kun," except when she refers to "Father" and Mitsu. In the anime, Shinku does have a cute side, which is evident in her intense, almost obsessive, admiration for the puppet detective Kun Kun, believing them to be connected by an invisible thread. In the anime, Shinku wins a human contest and receives a Kun Kun cosplay costume as her prize. Jun was once able to win her over during an argument by playing her with a Kun Kun doll.
In Rozen Maiden ouvertüre, Shinku initially befriended the then broken and weak Suigintou out of pity and taught her many basic life skills, such as walking and brewing tea. However, Suigintou later destroys Shinku's brooch, her prized possession from "Father", which opens wide the intense enmity between the two.
In combat, Shinku fights with rose petal-based attacks. The rose petals are extremely versatile; Shinku can direct them to spread out for wide-ranging attacks, or group them together to use as a shield. Her other weapon is a cane, which she skillfully wields like a sword. Shinku has other special powers, such as restoring broken objects, typically Jun's bedroom windows after Suiseiseki and Souseiseki show up, with a form of time-reversing magic. Shinku was the second runner-up for both Saimoe 2006 and 2007.

Medium: Jun (anime/manga) / Sara (Ouvertüre OVA)
Artificial Spirit: Hollie (ホーリエ, Hōrie^?) (Also called Hollier (Tokyopop translation))

Hinaichigo

Hinaichigo (雛苺 Hinaichigo^?, Kleine Beere, Strawberry Doll)

Hinaichigo, the sixth Rozen Maiden doll.

Voiced by: Sakura Nogawa (Japanese), Sherry Lynn (English), Tomoko Kaneda (early drama CD)
The sixth doll, and the very embodiment of childishness. Although she can be ridiculously naïve and selfish, she has nothing but the best intentions for those that she cares about. Her disposition is also a mismatch for her power, which is a series of attacks based on strawberry vines, which she mostly uses to restrain opponents. She loses to Shinku in the Alice Game, becoming the first doll to lose the right to become Alice. Shinku does not beat Hinaichigo outright; the younger doll simply exhausted the energy of her medium, Tomoe. Shinku then warned Hinaichigo that continuing the fight would kill Tomoe, whereupon Hinaichigo renounced the tie that made Tomoe her medium. Despite being the victor, Shinku does not take Hinaichigo's Rosa Mystica. Instead, Shinku lets herself be an inter-medium so that Hinaichigo can tap into Jun's energy. In the latter half of Rozen Maiden träumend, with the Alice Game apparently having begun in earnest, "Father" cuts off this link, so when Hinaichigo uses up what little energy she has, she loses her Rosa Mystica to Shinku. She is the second doll to lose her Rosa Mystica.
In the manga, Hinaichigo is taken from Jun after Odille Fosset, granddaughter of a previous owner of Hinaichigo, arrives at the Sakurada home and displays a ring, thought to be from Hinaichigo, on her finger. Though Jun tells Hinaichigo that she may choose who she wishes to stay with, Hinaichigo apparently does not consciously decide to go with Odille; after awakening from sleep, Hinaichigo is confused to find herself in Odille's room, which she recognizes as that of Odille's grandmother, Corinne. Shortly afterwards, Hinaichigo is ruthlessly destroyed by Kirakishou; after being shown a montage of her loved ones saying goodbye to her and made to feel unloved and alone, Hinaichigo is consumed from the inside out by Kirakishou's rose vines as the seventh doll watches in gleeful anticipation of taking control of her sister's body. Hinaichigo sends her Rosa Mystica to Shinku through Berrybell, her artificial spirit, asking Shinku to use the Rosa Mystica to end the Alice Game. Shinku commends Hinaichigo for her courage to face Kirakishou despite her disadvantage, considering Hinaichigo as a true Rozen Maiden.
Hinaichigo's favorite foods are strawberry daifuku, and Nori's "Hanamaru Hamburger," which is a hamburger patty topped with a fried egg in the shape of a flower. She adores the puppet detective Kun Kun, though her fandom is not as avid as Shinku's. She also loves to draw, as shown often in both seasons of the anime and the OVA. She usually ends her sentences in "na no" (meaning "that's why" or "because" in Japanese), complimentary to Kanaria's "kashira" (meaning "I wonder" or "maybe?"). She also says "uunyuu" out of curiosity.
In the anime, Hinaichigo's singing, as well as most of her quarreling with Suiseiseki, are actually ad-libbed by her seiyū, Sakura Nogawa (with Natsuko Kuwatani in the quarreling scenes).^{[citation needed]}

Medium: Corrine / Tomoe / Jun (Indirectly)
Artificial Spirit: Berrybell (ベリーベル, Berīberu^?)

Barasuishou

Barasuishou, the fraud of the seventh Rozen Maiden doll.

Barasuishou (薔薇水晶 Barasuishō^?, Rozenkristall, Rose Crystal)
Voiced by: Saori Goto (Japanese), Tara Platt (English)
Barasuishou is a doll created by Enju, Rozen's apprentice. She introduces herself as the seventh Rozen Maiden doll, though this is a lie; she simply intends to dupe the other six Rozen Maidens into entering the Alice Game so that she may obtain their Rosae Mysticae and become the strongest doll. She is clad entirely in lavender and wears an eyepatch over her left eye, though she is revealed to not be missing an eye at all. In the first and last episodes of Rozen Maiden träumend, she taunts Shinku by repeating whatever Shinku says to her. Barasuishou is unnaturally calm most of the time, showing little, if any, emotion. She is also hinted to be mad; when Shinku has her pinned to the floor towards the end of their battle, Barasuishou simply giggles and smiles disarmingly. She has the ability to manipulate all sorts of crystalline elements and uses it in many of her attacks which include blasting her opponents with a barrage of sharp crystal rocks and creating a purple crystalline sword.
Although Barasuishou is not the true seventh Rozen Maiden, Shinku is unaware of this fact and, believing that all seven dolls are now awake, concludes that Barasuishou's appearance marks the "true" start of the Alice Game. Barasuishou false-starts the Alice Game when she and Souseiseki come across an image of "Father" in a state of misery. Barasuishou tells Souseiseki that "Father" is grieving because he "cannot find Alice", so they must conclude the fight once and for all in order to fulfill his wish of seeing Alice. Barasuishou's "Father" is Enju, who was initially believed to be Rozen himself, but is revealed to merely be Rozen's jealous apprentice. Barasuishou's true origin is revealed in the final episode of Rozen Maiden träumend. Enju was obsessed with surpassing Rozen as the greatest dollmaker; to achieve that end, he created Barasuishou to oppose the Rozen Maidens, take their Rosae Mysticae, and finish as the last doll standing. The elements of Barasuishou's attire and overall appearance suggest that Enju had seen Rozen's design for Kirakishou and created Barasuishou from his recollection of it. Barasuishou is presumed dead after being overwhelmed by the six Rosae Mysticae she absorbed; despite Enju's plea for her to release the Rosae Mysticae once he discovers that Barasuishou cannot contain their energy, she continued to cry out to "Father" and crumbled to pieces in Enju's hands.
Barasuishou appears only in Rozen Maiden träumend and in one scene of the OVA; she does not appear in the manga.

Medium: None
Artificial Spirit: None (Barasuishou is made by Enju not Rozen, So she has no artificial spirit)

Kirakishou

Kirakishou, the seventh Rozen Maiden

Kirakishou (雪華綺晶 Kirakishō^?, Schöner Schneeblüten Kristall, Sparkling Snowdrop Crystal) (spelled Kirakisho in the Tokyopop translated manga)

The true seventh Rozen Maiden doll. Both her hair and her ornately ruffled dress are white, as indicated by Shinku's description of her in volume 6 of the manga, and by the remodeled version of the original manga. However, she has been shown with a pale pink dress (anime), pale pink hair (Rozen Maiden AliBat, a fan-created fighting game), or both (the cover of volume 6 of the manga). Kirakishou's right eye is missing. In the anime, a layer of tissue covers the right eye socket and a single white rose grows from it, but in the manga, she simply has a rose growing out of the empty eye socket, as described by Shinku: "Her left eye can see everything, but reflects nothing, while her right eye is an empty hole, with a white rose growing out of it." In the anime, Kirakishou's shoulders are not ball jointed as the other dolls' are, presumably because she is an entity that only exists in the N-Field.
Kirakishou's first appearance in the manga is in volume 6, but is not properly introduced until volume 7. In the anime, however, she has not been formally introduced. Her only anime appearance was towards the end of the finale of Rozen Maiden Träumend; she is shown for only a few seconds.
In the manga, Kirakishou claims that the seventh doll lacked a physical body and could only exist in the N-Field. Because of this, she destroys and consumes Hinaichigo so that she can use the sixth doll's body to materialize outside of the N-Field. Even though Kirakishou could not initially exist in the real world, she could still affect real world events; she gives a rose ring to Odille Fosset, the granddaughter of Corinne Fosset, Hinaichigo's former mistress.
Kirakishou offers her Rosa Mystica to Suigintou in volume 7, in order to trick her "big sister" and take Megu. Suigintou, however, refuses to accept the Rosa Mystica, saying that she would take it later on her own terms. During her first encounter with Shinku, in volume 6, Kirakishou parrots whatever Shinku says, much like Barasuishou does in the anime.
Because Kirakishou's appearance in the anime was merely a headshot, her abilities remain unknown. In the manga, she controls white rose vines, which she can manipulate into a spiderweb-like construct on which she crawls like an actual spider would. She used her vines to destroy Hinaichigo and to restrain Shinku and Suigintou during each's first encounter with her. Kirakishou also has the ability to trap people's consciousness in crystals within the N-Field and Sea of Unconsciousness, as evidenced by Odille's status as shown in both the N-Field and the real world.
Later in the manga, Kirakishou has tricked the Jun in another world into helping her materialize herself by sending him parts of Souseiseki's body. And, using Jun's power, she shields herself from Shinku and Suigintou's attacks to allow herself time to make Souseiseki's body fully hers. She has made it clear that she is jealous of the other sisters enjoying material bodies while she herself is no more than a fleeting thought. She wishes to have Shinku's nobility, Hinaichigo's innocence, Kanaria's charm, Suiseiseki's passion, and Souseiseki's earnestness. Before sending out another set of rose vines, she uttered the words, "Hold me more."
In the latest chapter, when Jun is forced to choose the doll whom he'll form a contract, Kirakishou restrained him from choosing Shinku. She also promised him the power to change the past should he form a contract with her instead. However, as Jun has kissed Souseiseki's ring, it may seem that Kirakishou is once again losing her material body.

Medium: Odille Fosset (manga)
Artificial Spirit: Unknown. Kirakishou's artificial spirit has never been named or shown in any medium.

Pics

Romeo×Juliet

2011-03-04T00:32:00.001-08:00

Anime Review

Romeo×JulietGenre Fantasy, Dystopian, Romance

Plot

In the fantastical aeropolis of Neo Verona, the noble house of Capulet had ruled peacefully for generations - until fourteen years ago, when the ancient grudge held by the rival house of Montague led to a mutiny, and the Capulets were deposed and all wiped out in a bloody coup. Now, as Neo Verona suffers under the thrall of its new masters, the fates of two star crossed lovers are about to become tragically entwined... As the citizens of the city suffer, the Capulet clan struggles to strike a blow against their enemies, and the Montagues tighten their grasp on power, an unlikely love blossoms between Romeo and Juliet - but in the face of such adversity, this ill-fated love may be doomed from the outset. Triumph or tragedy; only fate knows what awaits Romeo and Juliet...

A young girl, Juliet, is the only member of her family to escape the massacre of the Capulet family at the hands of Leontes Montague. Fourteen years later, Lord Montague rules the land of Neo-Verona with an iron-fist as Juliet helps the common folk in a Robin Hood-like fashion, and Romeo Montague protests his father's cruelty. Juliet and Romeo meet by coincidence at the Rose Ball and fall in love at first sight. However, when Juliet turns sixteen and learns the truth of her past that has been hidden from her for fourteen years, her love becomes conflicted between revolution and devotion. (Please take note that in the Shakespearean version of Romeo and Juliet that Juliet and Romeo know about the other ones family and still choose to love eachother, the only conflict in the whole play is the conflict of souls in a race for power and love as Juliet and Romeo say their last goodbyes along with their vows. There is little to no revolution in the play, even though the story of Romeo and juliet is shown and read around the world.)

Notes

Neo Verona (ネオ·ヴェローナ, Neo·Verōna^?) - An aerial city in which the story is set. It is likely named after the city of Verona, Italy, in which Shakespeare's story of Romeo and Juliet takes place.
Ryūba (竜馬^?, Dragon Horse) - A winged horse with the tail of a dragon, similar to the Pegasus. Ryūba are capable of transporting people on their backs and are handled using reins in the same way as normal horses. More than a means of transportation, winged ryūba can be considered a symbol of status as they are not something that common folk can own, and are only seen ridden by members of the aristocracy or nobility. Ryūba with degenerated wings, thus unable to fly, are often owned by commoners.
Great Tree Escalus (大樹エスカラス, Taiki Esukarasu^?) - A huge and enchanted tree inside the Montague's castle, which is the remaining of a pair of trees that gives support to Neo Verona. According to its caretaker, a woman named Ophelia, it gives blessings to people, but it also weakens if the persons don't have love in their hearts. When it is thriving, it drops shining fruit from its branches. Since it has been in Montague's care, the tree has noticeably begun to wither. It is likely named after Prince Escalus from Shakespeare's play.
Carabinieri - The Military Police of Neo Verona. The name is the same as the true Carabinieri of Italy.

Character

Main

Juliet (ジュリエット, Jurietto^?) Voiced by: Fumie Mizusawa (Japanese), Brina Palencia (English): Juliet Fiamatta Asto Capulet is the last member of the Capulet family. She disguises herself as a boy, Odin, in order to avoid being caught by the usurping House of Montague, who still actively look for the Capulets. An excellent swordsman, she also masquerades as a vigilante, the Red Whirlwind (赤い旋風, Akai Kaze^?), in order to aid the people oppressed by the rival Montagues. She unwittingly falls in love with Romeo, which leads to several complications for her in the series.

In the series, Juliet is presented as a strong and intelligent young woman, with a strong sense of justice and determination to lead the Capulet faction against the oppression of the corrupt Lord Montague. She falls deeply in love with Romeo and is stricken with the decision of being with Romeo or destroying Lord Montague. In the original play Juliet is shown as a shy, meek, and emotional young woman who immediately falls in love with Romeo when she meets him and does not care that he is a Montague. Her series counterpart backs away from Romeo after learning who he is, despite being deeply in love with him.

Romeo (ロミオ, Romio^?) Voiced by: Takahiro Mizushima (Japanese), Chris Burnett (English): Romeo Candolebonte Montague is the son of Lord Leontes Montague and Lady Portia and heir to the throne of Neo Verona. For political reasons, he has been forced into an unwanted engagement with Hermione, a young noblewoman. As a nobleman, he rides and owns a ryūba named Cielo whom he later freed. In contrast to his father, he is obedient and kindhearted, often disapproving of his family's tyranny. He is ostracized by the nobility save for his friend, Benvolio. He falls in love with Juliet at first sight.

In the series, Romeo is the crown prince of Neo Verona, and a confident, polite young man. He has little respect for his Montague heritage because of his father's tyranny. Unlike his counterpart in the source material, Romeo first encounters Juliet at a party hosted by his family, whereas in the play, he had secretly gone to a Capulet party in hopes of seeing Juliet's cousin, Rosaline. He holds nothing against the Capulet family and falls in love with Juliet, wishing only for them to be happy and safe.

Capulets

Cordelia (コーディリア, Kōdiria^?) Voiced by: Miyu Matsuki (Japanese), Colleen Clinkenbeard (English): Juliet's best friend since childhood and another survivor of the Capulet massacre. She tends to Juliet as a maid, acting as her private confidante. She marries Romeo's friend, Benvolio late in the series. Her name may be a possible reference to the fiercely loyal daughter of King Lear.

The character of Cordelia appears as a stand-in for Juliet's unnamed nurse. She is much younger than her counterpart in the source material and has been Juliet's best friend since childhood, acting as an older sister figure rather than the mother figure she appeared in the original play.

Conrad (コンラッド, Konraddo^?) Voiced by: Katsuhisa Houki (Japanese), R. Bruce Elliott (English): Captain of the Capulet Guards who saved Juliet and Cordelia from their family massacre. Now a priest, he looks after Juliet and is exasperated by her antics. He is often the one to urge Juliet to take arms against Lord Montague. He later plans an assassination attempt on Lord Montague and barely survives betrayal by his friend, Camio. In Shakespeare's plays, a Conrade appears as a villain, a servant of Don John, in Much Ado About Nothing.

Francisco (フランシスコ, Furanshisuko^?) Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima (Japanese), Eric Vale (English)

Childhood friend of Curio and the more refined of the duo. A ladies' man and expert archer, he also takes part in underground sabotage and intelligence. Out of all of Juliet's comrades, he is the one who openly vouches for Romeo's love for Juliet. At the end of the series, he becomes a member of Neo Verona's new parliament. His name may be a reference to two minor characters from Shakespeare's plays, Hamlet and The Tempest.

Curio (キュリオ, Kyurio^?) Voiced by: Kōsuke Toriumi (Japanese), Robert McCollum (English): A close friend of Francisco and Juliet's fencing teacher. His scarred visage originated from protecting a younger rebellious Juliet from receiving punishment from members of the Carabinieri; her frustration at the time gave birth to her alter ego, The Red Whirlwind. His preferred weapons are axes or polearms. His name may refer to the attendant of Orsino in Twelfth Night.

Tybalt (ティボルト, Tiboruto^?) Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese), Mike McFarland (English): A mysterious warrior later revealed to be the son of Leontes Montague. He wants vengeance for his mother, a Capulet woman used by Lord Montague. He eventually acts as the medium between Juliet and Romeo. He is based on the same character in the original play, though he is Juliet's maternal cousin rather than Romeo's half-brother.

In the original play, Tybalt is an arrogant, selfish but loyal ally to the Capulet family, as he is Juliet's maternal cousin and Romeo's sworn rival. He is eventually killed by Romeo, enraged and seeking revenge for Mercutio, who was killed by Tybalt. The series depicts Tybalt as a vigilante with a bubbling hatred for Lord Montague and sympathies aligning with the Capulet faction; he is the son of a Capulet woman and Lord Montague, making him Romeo's older half-brother.

Antonio (アントニオ, Antonio^?) Voiced by: Ryō Hirohashi (Japanese), Maxey Whitehead (English): Conrad's grandson and a sidekick to Juliet. His arsenal of choice revolves around trickery including various bombs and firecrackers. After the formation of the new Capulet faction, Antonio works as a spy and helps Curio and Francisco rescue Juliet when she is captured by Montague. He has a crush on Regan. His name may be a reference to several characters in Shakespeare's plays, the most prominent being the hero of The Merchant of Venice.

Emilia (エミリア, Emiria^?) Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese), Larissa Wolcott (English): An actress infatuated with Juliet's disguise, Odin. Pretty and youthful, she invites Odin as Juliet to the Rose Ball where Juliet meets Romeo for the first time. She remains unaware of Odin's true identity until much later in the series. Her name may be a reference to several characters in Shakespeare's plays, including Othello, The Winter's Tale, and The Two Noble Kinsmen.

William (ウィリアム, Wiriamu^?) Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue (Japanese), J. Michael Tatum (English): A flamboyant playwright whose works have not been well-received by audiences. He's nicknamed "Willy" by his actors and stagehands. He allows Juliet and her entourage to use his theater for shelter. He knows that Juliet is deeply and painfully in love, calling her "the maiden who gave up on love", and wants to make a tragedy where both lovers die. The character itself is a caricature of William Shakespeare, and there are several allusions to the work of his namesake in his own plays.

Ariel (エアリエル, Earieru^?) Voiced by: Yoshino Ohtori (Japanese), Margaret Walker (English): Present head of the noble Farnese family. She is also an old friend of Conrad's and one of the few outside her party to know Juliet's secret. She offers her home in Mantua as a sanctuary for Juliet, Curio, Francisco, and Antonio after Juliet is rescued from Montague, where they are attended by Ariel's butler, Balthazar, and his granddaughter, Regan. Her name may be a reference to the sprite from the Tempest, who acts as the eyes and ears for one of the sorcerer Prospero.

Balthasar (バルサザー, Barusazā^?)Voiced by: Ikuo Nishikawa (Japanese), Mark Stoddard (English): One of Ariel's butlers, he passes on information from his master to Juliet and company. Like any loyal butler, he is apt to serve his guests and never questions their orders. His name is a possible reference to several minor characters in Shakespeare's plays, including a manservant to Romeo in the original play.

Regan (リーガン, Rīgan^?)Voiced by: Chiwa Saito (Japanese), Leah Clark (English): Balthazar's granddaughter and frequent helper around the mansion. Unlike other girls her age, she cares little for aesthetics and is blunt to those who offend her. She likes to bully Antonio when she drags him along on chores. Her name may be a reference to King Lear's second daughter from the Shakespeare play.

Lancelot (ランスロット, Ransurotto^?) Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese), Kent Williams (English): A doctor who is an ally of the Red Whirlwind, whom he attends and counsels after each skirmish with the city guards. Posing as the Red Whirlwind, he dies via self-immolation to avoid capture and to free wrongly accused victims. He leaves behind a wife (who knows Juliet's secret and doesn't blame her for Lancelot's death) and two daughters who have yet to be told of his fate. His name may be a reference to a the servant of Shylock in Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice.

Lord Capulet (キャピュレット, Kyapyuretto^?) Voiced by: Satoshi Taki (Japanese), Scott Freeman (English): Juliet's father. He was killed in Lord Montague's coup d'état fourteen years before the story starts, as a part of Montague's scheme to take over Neo Verona and achieve revenge on the whole Capulet clan for the suffering and pain he and his mother went through for them.

Although Lord Capulet was only seen at the beginning of the series before he was murdered by Lord Montague, he was mentioned several times by other characters. He was depicted as being a kind, wise and fair ruler over Neo Verona, before the murder of his family. In the original play Lord Capulet and his wife live through the entire play; while present, he appears as a loving father to Juliet, though he also acts stubborn and controlling. At the end of the play, he makes peace with Montague after the death of his daughter and son-in-law.

Montagues

Lord Montague (モンタギュー, Montagyū^?) Voiced by: Kōji Ishii (Japanese), Sean Hennigan (English): Laertes Montague is the ruthless, Machiavellian Duke of Neo Verona. He, an illegitimate Capulet offspring, and his mother (a prostitute) was born and raised into poverty. The death of his mother sparks his unrelenting and ferocious grudge against the Capulet name and his ambitions for being Duke. He acts coldly to all around him, only seeming to care about the Great Tree Escalus. His main goal in the series is to find Lord Capulet's surviving child and kill her before the people still loyal to the Capulets can rebel. He is killed late in the series by a mad Mercutio, moments before surrendering to Juliet. His given name, Laertes, is also shared by Ophelia's brother in Shakespeare's Hamlet.

In the play, Lord Montague is a only a minor character appearing in only a few scenes of the play. While present, he is shown as an being a caring and overprotective father to his son, showing no interest in destroying the Capulets but desiring for them to leave the Montagues alone instead. In the series, he is shown as the main antagonist and acts as Duke of Neo Verona instead of just being the head of his own household. He acts as an uncaring, ruthless, and power-hungry father and leader, as well as an illegitimate relation of the Capulet family.

Lady Portia (ポーシア, Pōshia^?) Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa (Japanese), Dana Schultes (English): Portia Clemenza di Ebe is Romeo's mother, who reluctantly left him and the Montague name to live at a convent to avoid associating herself with the bloody and cruel ambitions of her husband. She's a kind, intelligent and understanding woman who prays for Romeo's happiness. Her name is possibly derived from the clever and wealthy heiress of The Merchant of Venice and the wife of Brutus from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

Romeo's mother is known only as Lady Montague in the original play and appears only a few scenes; she is depicted as an overprotective and loving mother who dies of heartbreak when she learns of her son's suicide at the end of the play. In the series, Lady Montague is named Portia and remains a loving mother who wishes for her son's happiness; however, she holds no loyalty to the Montagues, having left her husband to join a convent when she saw how power-mad he was, and harbors no hostility to the Capulet faction, and shows sympathy and kindness to Juliet.

Benvolio (ペンヴォーリオ, Benvōrio^?) Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tachibana (Japanese), Sean Michael Teague (English): One of Romeo's close friends, he is the son of the mayor of Neo Verona, Vittorio di Frescobaldi and one of the few people concerned with Romeo's well-being. He often acts as Romeo's voice of reason and moderation. He and his family are later stripped of their nobility and go into hiding with the help of Juliet and her friends. He weds Cordelia late in the series.

Benvolio's character has changed little in the adaptation and remains a level-headed and well-mannered friend to Romeo. However, he is not Romeo's cousin and a member of the Montague family, like in the play.

Vittorio (ヴィシトーリオ, Vishitorio^?) Voiced by: Eiji Miyashita (Japanese), Joel McDonald (English): Benvolio's father, leader of the House of Frescobaldi and an old friend of Conrad's, who held reservations concerning Montague's rule. He was a member of the moderate faction of the Montague dictatorship, with a large amount of administrative authority as the mayor of Neo Verona. He is later stripped of his title and nobility and even slated for assassination by Duke Montague, for allowing the Red Whirlwind to create civil discontent throughout Neo Verona. He is reestablished as the mayor at the end of the story.

Mercutio (マキューシオ, Makyūshio^?) Voiced by: Tetsuya Kakihara (Japanese), Christopher Bevins (English): An ambitious and sly noble who wishes to become Montague's heir due to his apparent resentment of his father. He is contemptuous of the common people and is charged by Montague to spy on Romeo. Late in the series, he is adopted as Montague's new heir but is unprepared for the bloody initiation, whose climax was Titus' death at the hands of Montague. His inability to act in his father's defense traumatizes him and later leads to insanity.

In the series, Mercutio is a sly, disrespectful, and spoiled version of a younger Lord Montague. He acts as a spy for Lord Montague to unearth why Romeo is acting oddly, and is trying to ensure that Montegue will disown his son for loving Juliet so he can become Montegue's heir (being Romeo's only male relative apart from Tybalt, whom Montague abandoned). In the play, Mercutio is not Romeo's cousin but his and Benvolio's mutual best friend, and acts as reckless free spirited jokester, who truly cares for Romeo but lets his own hot-bloodedness override his weariness of the feud ('A plague on both your houses!')

Titus (タイタス, Taitasu^?) Voiced by: Jin Urayama (Japanese), Sonny Strait (English): Mercutio's father who is an alcoholic degenerate of the court. He earned his position by secretly ordering the assassinations of nearly everyone with knowledge of Montague's origins. He is killed in a sparring "accident" with Montague. Three characters in Shakespeare's plays have the name "Titus", the most well-known being the title character of the violent Titus Andronicus.

Hermione (ハーマイオニ, Hāmaioni^?) Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (Japanese), Carrie Savage (English): A young noblewoman of the House of Borromeo, who is betrothed to Romeo in a political marriage at the Rose Ball. Sweet, sheltered and gentle, she appears to be genuinely in love with him though he doesn't reciprocate her feelings for him. However, she's also very passive-aggressive, having the tendency to keep her negative feelings or thoughts for herself, only to unleash them later. Thus, she expresses mild yangire traits during Romeo's banishment. She seems to be a stand-in for Count Paris from the play, though she is female and is a Montague ally and Romeo's fiancée instead of a relative to Duke Escalus and Juliet's suitor. Hermione could also be lifted from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale; the Hermione of that play is entangled in a conflict over adultery, which almost parallels her situation in RxJ.

Other characters

Ophelia (オフィーリア, Ofīria^?) Voiced by: Junko Iwao (Japanese), Jamie Marchi (English): A mysterious woman who tends to the Great Tree Escalus. She has a sad, doll-like face with some marks on her forehead and cheeks, and speaks in a rather polite and mysterious manner. She appears to be ageless as she looks the same as she did fourteen years ago. She reveals that since Montague's reign over Neo Verona began, the Great Tree Escalus has been slowly decaying, particularly since its companion tree died when Montague took the throne. When Juliet is captured by Montague, she encounters Ophelia during her escape; Ophelia plants within Juliet the means to save Neo Verona, though at the cost of Juliet's life. She mortally wounds Romeo shortly before being vanquished by him. Her name is likely a nod to the heroine of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Hamlet.

Camilo Voiced by: Saito Jiro (Japanese), Christopher Ayres (English): Conrad's good friend who betrayed him by giving information regarding the Capulets' hideout to the Montagues. He is later found by Juliet, Francisco, and Curio to be in luxurious housing alongside a disgruntled Tybalt, whom he helped to raise. After being threatened by the latter, he flees from his mansion. Camilo's name is likely a nod to the character from The Winter's Tale, a character who defected from his liege King Leontes after Camilo was ordered to kill King Polixenes.

Petruchio Voiced by: Akio Suyama (Japanese), Dan Forsythe (English): A thin boy who works in one of the Montagues' mines and is saved from a beating by Romeo. He and Romeo eventually become friends. Originally sent to the mines for stealing bread for his starving family, he is desperate to return to Neo Verona because his younger brother and sister are still there. Petruchio dies from sickness and leaves Romeo visibly distraught. After Montague's death and his self banishment from Neo Verona, Romeo asks Tybalt to find and care for Petruchio's siblings. Petruchio's name is likely a nod to the character from The Taming of the Shrew, one of Shakespeare's early comedies.

Giovanni Voiced by: Toru Ohkawa (Japanese), Greg Dulcie (English): A miner who looks out for Romeo during his stay at the mines. While he admires Romeo's idealistic dream of creating a world where people can live together without sacrifices, Giovanni also believes that Romeo has chosen a long and difficult path to pursue. He often acts as leader for the village in Romeo's absence.

Old Man Voiced by: Kazuo Oka (Japanese), T.A. Taylor (English): A mysterious yet sage man who frequently smokes from a long pipe, he is suggested to bear some connection to the Great Tree. He acts as Romeo's spiritual adviser, mentioning that the noble will have to someday shoulder Juliet's fate.

Pics

RIN ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~

2011-03-04T00:31:00.001-08:00

RIN ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~

January 4, 2010

FUNimation is providing 5 prize packs for RIN ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~ to be shipped to some lucky fans before the DVD hits stores on January 19! Each winner will receive a copy of the complete series on DVD as well as a RIN shot glass and special art card. Here's your chance to get your hands on this highly anticipated series early!

Rin Asogi is an immortal private detective with a thirst for vodka and a talent for attracting things that go bump in the night. In a series of nightmarish vignettes spanning sixty-five years, Rin's lush body is sadistically pierced, blown up, and mulched to a bloody pulp. The fiend behind her tortured existence is Apos, an eternal being obsessed with sacrificing Rin to Yggdrasil, the tree of all life. While Rin struggles to unravel the secrets of her endless agony, Apos lurks in the shadows, eager to tear into her ripe body and devour the memories of her countless lives. Rin's no stranger to the realm of the dead, but her next visit could last forever.
Be sure to check out http://www.funimation.com/rin to see the uncensored trailer, watch exclusive clips and more!

Rental Magica

2011-03-04T00:29:00.001-08:00

Anime & Manga Review

Rental Magica

Genre Fantasy, Romance, Mystery, Comedy, Horror, Action

Rental Magica (レンタルマギカ Rentaru Magika^?) is a Japanese light novel series by Makoto Sanda, with illustrations by pako. It is currently in the midst of serialization in The Sneaker magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten. An anime television series adaptation animated by Zexcs was broadcast in Japan between October 7, 2007 and March 23, 2008, airing a total of twenty-four episodes.

Plot

The plot centers around the magician dispatch service and Mage's Society: Astral. The main protagonist of the story is Astral's second President: Itsuki Iba, who, while being young and inexperienced ironically isn't even a Mage. Central to the story are Astral's many adventures with magical spirits and creatures, competing with rival company Goetia, rogue members, taboos and the Dark Magician's Society: Ophion, all while trying to complete enough jobs to pay the bills and fill The Association's quota and evade abolition. Each story arc is written as an incident in which the Astral members and their associates are involved.

Characters

Astral

Itsuki Iba (伊庭いつき, Iba Itsuki^?): Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama, Fuyuka Ōura (young Itsuki); Itsuki is Astral's kind and well-meaning second president, who inherited the title after his father, first president Tsukasa Iba mysteriously disappeared. Itsuki possesses Glam Sight (妖精眼, fairy eye) in his right eye, which, when used, allows him to see magic and its weaknesses, control the flow of spell-waves and even peer into the memories of magic users that do battle against it. Itsuki's Glam Sight is extremely painful for him to use, and, given his lack of formal training in its use, extremely dangerous to his well-being. Frequently, Itsuki's use of Glam Sight results in him receiving spell-wave contamination, the magical equivalence of radiation poisoning. When Itsuki uses his Glam Sight his personality becomes more dominant and his confidence is boosted; however when the Glam Sight is sealed by the eye-patch he reverts back to his original tender personality.

Itsuki's Glam Sight differs from normal Glam Sight, as its power is substantially amplified and a mysterious voice can be heard during magical incidents warning Itsuki of danger and providing analysis that Itsuki himself is unable of providing. Itsuki's Glam Sight was changed when, as children, he and Honami ventured into Haunted house whereupon they encountered an infant Dragon and Itsuki's exposure to the Dragon's true form resulted in the tainting of his Glam Sight. His memories of the event were subsequently sealed away as a result of the pass, or magical connection, between himself and the infant Dragon and the barrier that first generation Astral members Judaix, Hazel, Sekiren, Kashiwara and Nekoyashiki erected to seal the Dragon away. Since The Dragon Incident arc, his memories of the event have returned a little. Itsuki is also learning Gogyouken from Sekiren, but otherwise has no talent for magic.

Honami Takase Ambler (穂波・高瀬・アンブラー, Honami Takase Anburā^?): Voiced by: Kana Ueda; Astral employee and Celtic magic and Witchcraft expert, unofficially the Itsuki's secretary and tutor in all things magic related. Honami is the granddaughter of one of Astral's founders, Hazel Ambler, and is a childhood friend of Itsuki. Was present when Itsuki's Glam Sight was tainted and feels a deep sense of guilt over the incident. With her prodigious talent, the assistance of Fin Cruder and a strong desire to master her art she managed to revive the lost art of the Druids in two short years. She competed for top seat of the "School" in England with another child prodigy and Goetia's current Master, Adelicia Lenn Mathers. Honami speaks in Kansai dialect.

Honami has a crush on Itsuki but is the first one to hit him when any other girl pays even the slightest romantic attention to him. Honami is somewhat of a technophobe and is known to leave her room in quite a messy state. She does fortune telling and writes a magazine column as side jobs.

Details are unknown but she calls the sentient wand (Living Wand) that she put in a suitcase "ojichan".

As noted in episode 11, Honami's powers weaken slightly during a crescent moon.

Mikan Katsuragi (葛城みかん, Katsuragi Mikan^?): Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya; Contract employee for Astral and Shinto specialist. She was part of the Katsuragi, an old and world renowned family of Shinto practitioners, however was brought to Astral after she ran away from home. She is the youngest of Astral's members and refers to the others as family despite their lack of blood relation. Mikan's side jobs include writing charms and conducting ceremonies.; Mikan left the Katsuragi household in order to prove that she wasn't merely her older sister, Kaori Katsuragi's substitute, this feeling and her relationship with the Katsuragi family was resolved in the Oni Incident. Mikan is in her third year of Primary School.

Ren Nekoyashiki (猫屋敷蓮, Nekoyashiki Ren^?): Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe; Executive director and Onmyoudou expert of Astral. As his name suggests Nekoyashiki is an Onmyouji that like cats, he is the only member of Astral referred to in a formal tone. He uses four cat Shikigami, or Shikineko, Seiryu (Azure Dragon of the East, 青龍), Byakko (White Tiger of the West, 白虎), Suzaku (Vermillion Bird of the South, 朱雀) and Genbu (Black Tortoise of the North, 玄武) (named after the Four Symbols) to perform his magic however they are not required for him to do battle. Nekoyashiki, the youngest member of the first generation of Astral is the only member to remain full-time. Nekoyashiki writes for a magazine as his side job. When he was young he was a part of a number of organisations, including a large family of Onmyoudou practitioners that he was to inherit. He at one stage founded his own organisation, naming it after himself, (Nekoyashiki meaning "cat mansion"). Nekoyashiki was in the business of laying curses before he was scouted by Sekiren. Nekoyashiki is approximately thirty years old.

Manami Kuroha (黒羽まなみ, Kuroha Manami^?): Voiced by: Shizuka Itou; Kuroha is Astral's latest apprentice and it's only ghost member. Kuroha remembers nothing of her existence before her death except her name. Kuroha is able to change her outward appearance at will but comically spends most of her time in a maid outfit. Kuroha's abilities include poltergeist and apport (顕現現象, kengen genshō^?), turning a part of her own aetherial body into other physical matter, abilities, she cleans the office and serves tea but she also studies hard, yearning to be a part of the team. Itsuki met and recruited Kuroha while Astral was dispelling a spell-wave contamination arising from a taboo, saving her from being consumed by a Soul-Eater. Later on in the novel, she falls in love with Itsuki.

Ortwin Grautz (オルトヴィーン・グラウツ, Orutovīn Gurautsu^?): New member and rune magic expert. Approximately 14-15 years old. Formally a member of the Northern Europe company Mimir but joined Astral by force when his older brother contracted his services to Astral. Ortwin resents Astral and voices specific discontent towards Astral's second president, often doing so by using detestable words scolding in German. A junior from the "School" Honami and Adelicia attended. After joining Astral Ortwin set to improving management of the company. After the Vampire Incident he accepted Itsuki and in doing so his position with Astral.

Sekiren (隻蓮^?): Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi; Contract employee for Astral and expert in Buddhism. Usually seen in komuso attire, has been practising Vajrayana since he was quite young. Additionally he is a genius martial artist and a master of hidden weapons. Skillfully uses Mudra and Shingon(Mantra), his abilities exceed that of Honami or Nekoyashiki and since the Larva incident has been training Itsuki in Martial Arts. Has an old-fashioned way of thinking even trying to perform seppuku as a form of apology. Contrasting his abilities in battle magic, Sekiren possesses a peace loving personality and is romantically interested in Goetia's Daphne. Sekiren is The chief priest of Ryuuren Temple but is known to be something of a wanderer. Sekiren is the member of Astral most familiar with the Dark Magician's Society: Ophion, Sekiren finds those who would choose taboos to be repulsive, a belief he shares with Nekoyashiki.

One of the three people responsible for making Itsuki's eye patch. On the request of The Association he is on investigation in Italy.

Hazel Ambler (ヘイゼル・アンブラー, Heizeru Anburā^?): One of the founding members of Astral. An expert in magical objects and Astral board member, currently touring Europe. Highly skilled in rune magic and witchcraft, a dubbed the "Witch of witches". Hazel is Honami's grandmother and the one who explained Itsuki's Glam Sight to Honami. One of the three people responsible for making Itsuki's eye patch.

Ex Astral employees

Tsukasa Iba (伊庭司, Iba Tsukasa^?): Astral's legendary founder and its First President. The last of the Fairy Doctors, he is referred to as "the magician that does not use magic". Itsuki's father who went missing seven years ago before Itsuki became a president. Tsukasa likes to make fun of others. Astral's first president also fought with the Dark Magician's Society; Ophion, over the dragon that resides in Furube City. Tsukasa doesn't have any magical talent but has Gogyouken skill as a normal martial arts.

Judaix Tholoide (ユーダイクス・トロイデ, Yūdaikusu Toroide^?): Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto; Another of Astral's founders and former board member: Judaix, an alchemist of prodigious talent. One of the three people responsible for making Itsuki's eye patch and the first of Astral's original members to respond to the initial Dragon incident that left Itsuki's Glam Sight changed.

Judaix is a mechanical doll (Automaton) that was repaired by Tsukasa Iba. After Tsukasa disappeared, he left Astral in order to pursue his investigation of Tsukasa's disappearance and also to advance his research. During the Alchemist Incident Tholoide engages in a Fehde, a magical duel, with Itsuki and the current Astral in order to obtain Tsukasa Iba's grimoire. After that, he left for Egypt with his familiar, Lapis. His leaving Astral is under examination by The Association. He later reappears again in London during the Ophion incident.

Magic Society Goetia

Adelicia Lenn Mathers (アディリシア・レン・メイザース, Adirishia Ren Meizāsu^?): Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi; Hereditary leader of the prestigious Magician's Society Goetia and descendant of King Solomon. Adelicia practices the Magic of Solomon and is able to summon and command demons of the Ars Goetia. Adelicia's personality is reflected in the demons that she summons, most of them being strong attack types. Adelicia is a contempary and arch-rival of Honami, the two competed for the top seat at the "Academy" in England but left to accede Goetia's leadership on the demise of her father, Oswald Lenn Mathers. Adelicia is the youngest leader in the history of Goetia, as such this has caused friction with The Association.

Adelicia is also in love with Astral's Second President, and like Honami is the first one to criticise Itsuki for his inability. Notably, Adelicia has no culinary skill.

With the help of Astral, Adelicia was able to suppress evidence of the Taboo committed by Goetia's previous leadership. During the Alchemist incident she became a major shareholder, acquiring Judaix's 20% of the Astral's operations. After the Alchemist incident she frequently fights alongside the employees of Astral.

The Mathers family most likely takes its name from Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers who translated several 'magical' texts (including The Key of Solomon) into English.

Daphne (ダフネ, Dafune^?): Voiced by: Yuuko Kaida; A loyal apprentice of Goetia, responsible for the maintenance of Goetia's residence in Furube City. Adelicia refers to her as the chief maid but Daphne prefers the title of steward. Later becomes Goetia's second in command. Daphne is proficient in both the Magic of Solomon and Rune Magic.

Daphne is actually Adelicia's older sister (from a different mother). Daphne had been in the Mathers residence since she was young. Daphne had the same blonde hair and green eyes as Adelicia but finding it too similar used the colouring as a sacrifice to the Demons of Solomon. Daphne chose ivory hair and slate coloured eyes that she could continue to serve Goetia as Adelicia's protector while maintaining her identity as Adelicia's sister a secret. Daphne became romantically involved with Sekiren while the two were investigating a magician that committed a taboo.

Oswald Lenn Mathers (オズワルド・レン・メイザース, Ozuwarudo Ren Meizāsu^?): Voiced by: Hidetoshi Nakamura; Former leader of Goetia, also Adelicia and Daphne's father. Oswald is hailed as the second coming of King Solomon having accomplished the feet of summoning and commanding all seventy-two demons of the Ars Goetia. Feeling the limit of his magical study and with the provocation of the Dark Magician's socety; Ophion, Oswald surmised a magical theory that would allow a mage to consume a demon that they had summoned, breaking the taboo that forbids mages from becoming magic. Oswald himself attempted to become one with the Magic of Solomon but due to Gara's interference failed to consume all seventy-two Demons and as a result became corrupted by the taboo. Oswald was defeated by Itsuki's Glam Sight, which identified Oswald as true magic.

Gara (ガラ^?): Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara; A Latin youth with shoulder length bright red hair. Former Apprentice and Secretary of Goetia. An excellent Mage who can perform spells that normally need several people. Gara is a member of the Dark Mage's Society, Ophion and was the impetus behind Oswald's committing a Taboo. Gara himself committed the same taboo by using the formula derived by Oswald and consuming the Demon Flauros. Gara's betrayal of Goetia was exposed by Daphne and Sekiren who subsequently defeated him and expelled him from Goetia.

Association

Kagezaki (影崎^?): Voiced by: Daisuke Ono; The Association's representative in charge of Astral and a prodigious Taoist magician. Kagezaki's appearance is rather ordinary. Kagezaki's responsibilities within the Association include the investigation of Taboos and the punishment of mages that commit them, earning him the nickname of the "Magician that punish Magicians". Kagezaki's powers cannot be seen by Itsuki's Glam Sight, additionally Honami and Adelicia sensed terror when opposing him, Kuroha, however, is able to approach Kagezaki without fear. Kagezaki is portrayed as being cruel and uncaring, for example, Kagezaki was in possession with enough information to prevent Summer Festival Incident however chose to make his presence known only after the beginning of the ceremony, as he did during the original incident that left Moroha Minogi incapacitated for ten years, in order to fill a quota with the Association.

Kagezaki is undoubtedly a powerful mage, as seen during the Ophion incident where his power was seen as overwhelming, exceeding the common knowledge of Magic. Nekoyashiki is the only opponent to defeat Kagezaki in a one-on-one magic battle. In Astral's founding days he was invited to join by Tsukasa, at that time he is known as Daisuke Kashiwara (柏原代介, his assumed name). He uses doujutsu(道術).

Fin Cruda (フィン・クルーダ, Fin Kurūda^?): Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano; Another Magician of the Association, Fin was sent to investigate a possible Taboo connected to Itsuki being hidden by Astral. A Changeling who sports a shock of a blonde hair and blue eyes, also a Celtic Magician. Fin met Honami during her Celtic magic field training and they restored the dying Celtic magic. Fin was much like a teacher to Honami.

He is also a member of the Dark Mage's Ophion and, like Itsuki possesses the Glam Sight in his eyes, a gift bestowed upon him after returning from the land of Fairies. As a changeling his Glam Sight is geared towards knowing the desires of others that he may aid in their fulfillment. In the Dragon Incident, in order to fulfill Honami's wish he unsealed the Dragon to which Itsuki is connected to in order to use it as a sacrifice in a ceremony that would remove the taint from Itsuki's Glam Sight eye. Fin's actions during the Dragon Incident were eventually thwarted by Astral and Fin fled Furube before The Association could arrive. Fin is next seen searching for Honami's grandmother, Hazel Ambler, in Venezia where he encountered Sekiren and a magic duel ensues.

Darius Levi (ダリウス・レヴィ, Dariusu Revi^?): Vice Representative of the Association. Darius is a high level mage, able to summon Angels. In fact, Darius is actually Honami's father, having renounced the Ambler name he has broken all ties with Honami and her grandmother and because of that. Little else is known about him.

Katsuragi family

Suzuka Katsuragi (葛城鈴香, Katsuragi Suzuka^?): Voiced by: Isobe Masako; The current head of the Katsuragi family, a magic society of shinto practitioners. Also the grandmother of Mikan and Kaori. She refused to let Mikan return to Astral when Nekoyashiki brought Mikan back home. Though not being able to acknowledge this matter Astral still picked up Katsuragis' request of the Katsuragi festival regarding the "oni extermination".

Kikyou Katsuragi (葛城桔梗, Katsuragi Kikyou^?): Voiced by: Rie Tanaka; Suzuka's daughter and mother of Kaori and Mikan. She died 3 years ago during the Katsuragi festival.

Kaori Katsuragi (葛城香, Katsuragi Kaori^?): Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya; Mikan's sister. Although a young girl of approximately ten years old, she speaks in a very old fashioned phrasing.

Tatsumi Shitou (紫藤辰巳, Shitō Tatsumi^?): Voiced by: Kenta Miyake; A muscular youth with height of about two meters. Born in Kobe and practices a Kagura fighting style. One of the the guardians of the direct descent of the head of the Katsuragi family. In the beginning he was Kaori's guardian but an incident that happened 3 years ago ended his guardian duty and he left. He is called back when Mikan returns home.

Yuzuru Tachibana (橘弓鶴, Tachibana Yuzuru^?): A slender youth who dresses in a white costume similar to that of a Kannushi. Besides Meigen, he also guards Kaori. He was Mikan's guardian but due to the incident 3 years ago he became Kaori's guardian.

Others (magic related)

Macgregor (マクレガー, Maguregaa^?): A mustached english gentleman who wears a bowler hat. He is the teacher of Honami and Adelicia when they are students of the "School". He specialize in Egyptian magic and likes to conduct experiments in the "School's" laboratory.

Lapis (ラピス, Rapisu^?): Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka; A young girl with crimson hair, fair skin, blue eyes and Eastern European looks. From the exterior she looks approximately 12 years old. Her emotions seem to be limited. She attaches "ani-sama" to the mention of Judaix. Her true identity is a homonculus familiar made by Judaix Tholoide. Has the Evil Eye ability to capture the sight of the things to see.

Diana (ディアナ^?): Voiced by: Risa Mizuno; The leader and president of the magic items provision corporation Trismegistus. A beauty who often dress in black. Has been supplying Astral with magical items for several generations. Filed a request to Astral during the flower thief incident.

Kei Isurugi (石動圭, Isurugi Kei^?): Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai; Introduced to Astral by the Association, a magic user who requests the star festival. A youth with shoulder length black hair wearing a rocket pendent. Also an Onmyouji like Nekoyashiki. Has a sister called Sakuya Isurugi.

Three years ago, he lost his sister due to an accident in the star festival. Flowing with complicated thoughts, he posted the request to Astral as an excuse to duel with Nekoyashiki who is the remote cause of the failure that happened three years ago. Besides Onmyoudou he uses Itsunahou also. After the ogre festival incident, he handed information of the conduct of Itsuki and the others to a person from the Association.

Sakuya Isurugi (石動朔夜, Isurugi Sakuya^?): Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi; Kei Isurugi's sister. Always smiling and has shoulder length black hair. An Onmyouji too. Nekoyashiki, who was to become successor to the sect which the Isurugi family is in, left. Sakuya then executed the star festival in the place of Nekoyashiki but it failed for certain reasons.

Shinogi Minagi (御凪鎬, Minagi Shinogi^?): Voiced by: Akemi Okamura; Kannushi of a shrine. During the shrine's summer festival she requested a rental from Astral. Her brother is Moroha Minagi.; After the summer festival incident she continued to train under her brother, Moroha. After that the vessel spirit offering is filed to Astral as a request.

Moroha Minagi (御凪諸刃, Minagi Moroha^?): Voiced by: Yumiko Kobayashi; Elder brother of shrine successor Shinogi. Due to the failed ritual during the last summer festival he fell into a sleeping state for ten years. After the summer festival incident he overlooks his sister's training.

Cecilie (ツェツィーリエ, Tsetsirie^?): A vampire and rune magic user.; A member of "Ophion", holding the position of "Kingdom (Malkuth)".

"Foundation (Yesod)": The masked alchemist that holds the position of "Foundation (Yesod)" in "Ophion".

Melchiorre (メルキオーレ^?): The necromancer holding the position of "Persistence (Netzach)" in "Ophion"

Others

Yuuka Kusakabe (日下部勇花, Kusakabe Yūka^?): A daughter of Itsuki's caretaker. Itsuki was under the care of Yuuka's parents when he is young. Yuuka treats Itsuki as her "big brother" and thinks of herself as his "little sister". Itsuki refers to her as a "sworn sibling". Yuuka and her parents know about Itsuki's Glam Sight. Currently because of her father's work Yuuka and her family are at America. Even so she plans to make overseas calls to Itsuki frequently.

Kazushi Yamada (山田和志, Yamada Kazushi^?): Itsuki's close childhood friend since primary school (self-proclaimed). Now a high school 2nd year. Though having a different family name he is really the brother of Chidori Tomakomai. Some time 8 years ago, by chance Itsuki and Chidori got involved in a magic contamination incident.

Shouko Kunugi (功刀翔子, Kunugi Shōko^?): Voiced by: Megumi Nasu; Schoolmate of Itsuki and Honami. The well-liked class president. When her grandfather went missing she found an Astral name card in his belongings and went to Astral for help. Because of that she more or less understand the circumstances of her classmates, Itsuki, Honami and Adilisa.

Chidori Tomakomai (苫小牧千鳥, Tomakomai Chidori^?): The teacher in charge of the sick bay in the school Itsuki attends. A woman who speaks in a shattered manner, always seen with cigarette and chocolate. Though having a different family name she is really the older sister of Kazushi Yamada. For some reason, after the magic contamination incident that happened eight years, ago she is watching over Itsuki.

Pics

Record of Fallen Vampire

2011-03-04T00:28:00.002-08:00

MANGA HIGHLIGHTS

Record of Fallen Vampire

Plot

Having cast aside his Kingdom of the Night a thousand years ago, the vampire king Strauss wanders the lands in search of the place where his queen was sealed. Dogged by the dhampirs who are out to kill him, Strauss is fighting against time as he must continuously face humanity's curse, the Black Swan.

Initially, the story focuses on introducing Strauss and his quest for the seal, the Black Swan, and the dhampirs. The main plot, which gradually emerges after volume two, revolves around repelling an alien invasion. The humans plan to use Strauss' powers and Adelheid's powers to repel the invaders before having the Black Swan finally dispose of them.

Bridget, Strauss and Adelheid use flashbacks to convey their perspective on the events a thousand years ago. The writer, Kyo Shirodaira, indicates that this method of deriving different truths from the same set of facts was inspired by Christianna Brand's storytelling techniques.

Main Character

Akabara "Red Rose" Strauss (ローズレッドストラウス Rōzureddo Suterausu^?)

Age: ~around 3000 (he became king around the very young age of 200 and adopted Bridget around 60 years old)

Strauss is the fearsome Vampire king Akabara (lit. Red Rose) who cast aside his kingdom a thousand years ago and went to search for Adelheid's seal and free her. While the dhampires believe his motive is deep love for his queen and Bridget thinks he wants revenge Stella’s death, Strauss actually needs Adelheid's help with the last stage of his secret plan. Strauss is somber but compassionate, and he does not kill without reason. He is also cool and logical beyond reason which allows him to master both the politics and the art of war with frightening precision. Strauss was seen by many as a god and thus great things were expected of him. Few ever stopped to think about his personal life as he devoted himself to his duties as general and later king. The many mysteries in the series revolve around him and the mysterious fall of his kingdom 1000 years ago. All attempts to pry information from him failed, and he resents the attempts to bring up the unhappy past.

Before becoming king, Strauss was a general of the Kingdom of the Night. During that time he adopted and raised Bridget, a dhampire girl. He was also in love with a human girl, Stella, whom he presented with a pendant made from lunar rock which he collected himself. Later it is revealed that Strauss never loved Adelheid, and that his true love interest was only Stella. As the general, Strauss had never been defeated on the field of battle; because his exceptional leadership of the armies, the Kingdom of Night went without a loss for over 100 years. While he was a general, Strauss had the cunning and power to be able to control the entire continent. He chose not to, however, because he was content with the size of the Kingdom. He also knew that if he conquered more, the people will hate the Kingdom and rebel, causing the loss of many lives, which would be unacceptable. These same skills were taught to Bridget.

Strauss has impressive magical powers far outmatching those of the dhampires. Nevertheless, he chooses to limit his power and fight in close combat in order to avoid damage to the surroundings. He is usually seen fighting with a vibrating edge of magic, although he can also summon a sword and is an expert swordsman. At range, Strauss can cast vibrating magic arrows or destroy missiles with a single gesture of his hand. Although pure-blooded vampires perish when exposed to sunlight, Strauss has overcome this limitation long ago.

Adelheid (アーデルハイト Āderuhaito^?)

Age: 2390

Strauss' queen and purportedly Bridget's sister, Adelheid was sealed a thousand years ago when she went berserk and unleashed her power, the Moonlight of Corrosion (腐食の月 Fushoku no Gekkou^?). Legend says that she thought that the king had been killed, though Bridget believes that Adelheid was frightened and thought Strauss was going to kill her when he believed Adelheid had killed Stella and her unborn child. Nobody knew that she had witnessed Stella’s death until Adelheid officially became Strauss’ queen.

Adelheid had a shy and self-conscious personality and she always worried about how others thought of her. Unlike Bridget or Strauss, Adelheid does not possess an exceptional amount of brains or cunning. By comparison, Adelheid was the least skilled of the three but since she was the only pure-blooded daughter of the king, Adelheid was the only one who could become queen. When Adelheid first learned that Bridget was her sister, the future queen felt very guilty over the circumstances of her birth. Adelheid always tried to make it up to Bridget by calling the dhampire ‘dear sister’ and she and Bridget became close.

Supporting Characters
Stella Heizerberg (ステラ·ヘイゼルバーグ^?)

Age: 18

A country girl who could neither read nor write. While Strauss was still a general, she was his human lover. She was adopted by the Heizerberg family. Stella and her unborn child (Strauss was the child’s father) were later brutally murdered; their deaths forever plunged Strauss into a depth of despair.

Psychic Academy

2011-03-04T00:28:00.000-08:00

Anime Review

Psychic Academy

Genre Romantic comedy, School, Supernatural

Watch the anime: http://www.anilinkz.com/category/psychic-academy/
Read the manga:

Plot summary

Psychic Academy follows the life of Ai Shiomi, a boy with psychic powers, also known as "aura power" in fictional modern day Japan. This ability has emerged in the world, but not all people have it. Aura power itself allows certain elements such as fire, water, ice, wind, lightning, earth, and light to be used by those who have the ability. Which type of power they can use depends on their aura and what they are taught.
Ai agrees to attend the Psychic Academy School after being pressured by his parents. The school is where the elite students go to learn how to use their elemental aura power. Ai knows that somewhere within the Academy is his childhood friend Orina. At school however, she is known as Saara, after her aura code. On his way to his first day at school, Ai encounters a girl named Myuu (Mew). She is another student at the Academy and is a very quiet, seemingly moody girl. Ai also learns that his older brother Zero, a legend amongst those with aura powers, will be one of his teachers.
As Ai struggles with his new school, a life he is not sure he wants; a crazy rabbit takes him as his student. His feelings for Orina and Myuu begin to develop and contrast as the school year progress. Ai also makes discoveries about his rare light aura. To further complicate things, a group of researches try to artificially awaken the dormant aura genes within all humans, heedless of the danger and damage to society it might cause.

Characters

Ai Shiomi (汐見愛 Shiomi Ai^?) Voiced by: Daisuke Sakaguchi
Aura: Light
Ai believes he does not belong at Psychic Academy and is unsure of how to fit in, or what his special power is (which is later revealed to be the rare Light Aura). Though along with being reunited with his childhood friend, Orina, he also makes some new friends, such as Myuu (Mew) and "Master Boo (Buu)". It is later revealed that his parents really adopted him and his brother and that his brother took him and ran away from their original home to hide the fact that Ai possesses a Light Aura. That Aura appears to have potential to grow far beyond other Auras, although Ai still has not been able to figure out more than two words of his Aura Code. This has had little to no bearing on his overall aura strength. At the peak of his power, he is able to use the light aura to show an opponent's deepest secrets as he did with Tokimitsu in their final battle.
Myuu (ミュウ Myū^?) Voiced by: Tsugumi Higasayama
Aura: Fire
Myuu (or Mew) wields the aura power of fire. She is afraid of the rain to the point she will miss days of school when it is raining and possibly suffer panic attacks if forced to be out in the rain. She is distant, even to the point of slight rudeness, because of a traumatic experience in her past: during her childhood, her mother was killed during an Aura experiment. The explosion caused the lab sprinklers to go off, showering her shocked self with water; this caused her dislike for rain.
With her friendship with Orina and Ai she slowly begins to warm up. Myu shares a bond from childhood with Ai, though neither of them realize this bond at first. It has also been revealed later on that at least one reason for her enormous aura strength is that her father, an ambitious Aura scientist, has artificially altered - possibly even artificially awakened - her Aura code. These make her stronger but also make it dangerous for her to use her powers, because when she uses them, she risks possibly dying. She both fears and dislikes her father intensely for it. In the final volume of the series, she passes away after admitting to Ai her feelings for him. Though she is dead, she is still able to visit Ai in the Para Dream.
Orina (織奈^?) Voiced by: Rie Tanaka
Aura: Water
Orina, also known as Sara (which is her Aura code name), is a childhood friend of Ai who still holds strong feelings for him. The two have shared a romantic relationship which sometimes shows as a love triangle between Orina, Ai and Myuu. Orina's Aura is Water, which she usually employs for healing. Orina has a generally sweet demeanor, though she can be somewhat overbearing and pushy when she wants to be. She seems quite immature sometimes, but she handles Ai's moods much easier than everyone else, and can even calm him down when other people cannot. Despite Mew's feelings for Ai, Orina is close friends with her and rarely displays jealousy toward Mew. She was initially rather mistrustful of Fafa however.
Zero Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya
Aura: Steel
Zerodaimu Kyupura Pa Azaraku Vairu Rua Darogu is a famous psychic known as the "Vanquisher of the Dark Overlord". He is the older brother of Ai Shiomi. Zero is also an instructor for Psychic Academy, though he seems to spend more time acting as protector for his little brother than he does teaching classes. he seems to have a habit of being hit by the girls. His biggest downfall would be when he starts telling and showing people Ai's deepest darkest secrets on top of all that he has an appalling taste in neck ties. His Aura specialty is Steel. At the end of the story, together with Shiomi, he travels around the world to awaken the children of the Aura.

Faafa/Ren Voiced by: Reiko Takagi
Aura: Ice/Magma
A brother and sister sharing the same body. Faafa was incarcerated at the Aura Development Center in the United States. Ren, in an attempt to free Faafa, attacked the center. In the ensuing destruction, Ren died and Faafa was critically injured. A heart transplant from Ren's body allowed Faafa to survive, while implanting a piece of Ren's aura in her body. As a result, the two share one body, similar to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. However, in the para-dream, both Ren and Faafa have their own unique bodies. Fafa's Aura is ice, while Ren's is lava.
Boo Velka Receptor Arba (ブウ Bū^?) Voiced by: Shigeru Chiba
Aura: Crystal
Also known as Buu in the manga. Boo is a demented rabbit with very strong Aura powers who attaches himself to Ai as Ai's "Master", believing Ai to be one of the next great "Aura Masters", and it is through "Master Boo's" training and help that Ai first starts to discover how to use some of his own Aura power, and learn it rather quickly and expertly. Boo's Aura specialty are Crystals.
Tokimitsu Shinano (unknown^?)
Aura: Gravity(Dark)
Tokimitsu shares much in common with Ai in that both of their aura codes start off undefined. Later, it is revealed that Tokimitsu carries the gravity, or "dark" aura. Tokimitsu later takes on the name Gyurazu after his aura code. He is capable of drawing aura energy out of aura carriers, sometimes killing them outright and leaving their bodies as dried mummies.
Tokimitsu is a pet project of the Aura Development Center. He is obsessed with gaining power and becoming "complete" by having Ai's light aura coded into him. He currently is without aura power after facing the full power of Ai's aura. He is the only one to have done so, and it is he that first names Ai as an aura master.

Pics

Princess Tutu

2011-03-04T00:26:00.001-08:00

Anime Review

Princess TutuGenre Ballet, Comedy, Drama, Romance

Plot

13-year-old ballet student Ahiru is clumsy, good-hearted and sweet... and has a big secret. The mysterious Drosselmayer morphed a young duck into a girl to give her a mission: help a Prince to get the parts of his heart back. With that in mind, she morphs into Princess Tutu, whose magical dances ease the pain and purifies the bad feelings.

A writer named Drosselmeyer, whose stories became reality, had his hands cut off and was killed by those fearing his power. As a result, the prince and raven from one of his stories were trapped in an eternal battle. The raven broke free from the story into the real world, and the prince pursued to seal him away again. To do so, the prince shattered his own heart with his sword.
Drosselmeyer had written about himself before he died, and managed to continue to control events despite his death. When he sees a duck watching the sad, heartless prince Mytho dancing on the water, he decides to let the story take its own course and transforms the duck into a girl named Duck so she can help the prince. If she quacks, she becomes a duck again, but if she comes into contact with water, she returns to her girl form.
Duck becomes a student at the school that Mytho attends, attending ballet classes with him. She learns of his shattered heart, and transforms into Princess Tutu with the aid of an egg-shaped necklace that glows red when a heart shard is near. The heart shards have found homes in people who feel a strong emotion, which then becomes enhanced and exaggerated with the presence of the heart shard.
Unlike most magical girl heroines, Princess Tutu does not physically fight the people affected by heart shards. Instead, she chooses to dance with them, communicating without words in an attempt to help them better understand their feelings and show them how to overcome it. Since these heightened emotions are a result of the heart shard that resides within them, they are freed of this artificial intensity when Princess Tutu removes the heart shard and returns them to Mytho.
When Mytho's girlfriend Rue realizes that Tutu is returning Mytho's heart shards to him, Rue transforms into Princess Kraehe and attempts to block Tutu's efforts so she can give the heart shards to her father, the raven. Mytho's childhood friend Fakir also attempts to stop Tutu with the hope of protecting Mytho from the tragedy he suffered when his heart was shattered, and to protect the world from the raven.
It becomes clear that Mytho wants his heart to be restored, and Duck persists despite Kraehe and Fakir's interference. When Fakir learns that he is a descendant of Drosselmeyer and also has the power to control reality by writing stories, he tries to use his power to aid Duck in her efforts to restore Mytho's heart. When Kraehe learns that the raven is not her real father and that she was kidnapped by ravens as a child, she attempts to help, only to be captured by the raven.
With Tutu's help, Mytho's heart is restored, but he is unable to fight the raven because it would shatter his heart again, and Rue is unable to escape the raven because of her despair. In the end it is Duck's perseverance that gives Mytho and Rue the strength to defeat the raven together.
After the raven is destroyed, Mytho, Rue, Fakir, and Duck dismantle the machine in the clock tower of Gold Crown Town that enabled Drosselmeyer to continue to control events by mechanically writing stories. Duck returns to her duck form, living near Fakir who continues his writing. Mytho and Rue marry and return to Mytho's original kingdom. In the end, Drosselmeyer, ironically, wondered if he was part of someone else's story.

Differences in manga adaptation

The manga shares similarities with the anime, although some elements are different. Drosselmeyer is absent in the manga, with Edel taking his place, and the English adaptation uses the name Ahiru instead of Duck. Edel herself is also drastically changed and is the one who initially gives Ahiru her pendant. The manga gives a different ending to the story, with a human Ahiru remaining in the human world and Rue continuing to battle for Mytho's affections, as he does not clearly choose either of them.
CHARACTER

Duck (あひる, Ahiru^?) is a friendly, kind-hearted duck who was turned into a pre-teen girl by Drosselmeyer with a magical pendant. Due to her true nature, she tends to act very duck-like, talking loudly and excessively, and is easily excitable and clumsy. She is also friendly with other birds around campus, feeding them each morning. If Duck removes the pendant or quacks while talking, she transforms back into a duck and must touch water while wearing the pendant to return to her human form. The pendant also allows Duck to transform into Princess Tutu (プリンセスチュチュ, Purinsesu Chuchu^?). As Princess Tutu, Duck is wise, graceful, elegant, and a distinctly better dancer. Duck/Tutu is initially in love with the prince, but if she confesses her love she will turn into a speck of light and vanish. Because she loves him unselfishly, she fulfills her duty in collecting the prince's scattered heart shards in the hope that, when Mytho's heart is returned, he would find happiness and she would see his true smile again. Towards the end of the series, Duck is happy for Mytho and Rue's relationship, and appears to have developed a strong relationship with Fakir. In the manga, Duck's name is Ahiru Arima and this name is retained in the English adaptation of the manga. Voiced by: Nanae Katou (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)

Mytho (みゅうと, Myūto^?) is the prince of the story. He was once noble and kind, sacrificing himself to protect the weak and the needy. However, when he was battling the monster raven, he shattered his own heart in order to seal the raven away. Now as a talented and popular senior at Gold Crown Academy (or "Kinkan" Academy, the Japanese pronunciation of the town's name), he possesses no emotions and is largely dependent on Fakir for his well-being and survival. Over the course of the series and particularly the first season, Mytho associates his new emotions with Princess Tutu, making him both drawn to her and afraid of her. In the second half of the series, Mytho changes because Kraehe soaks in the Raven's blood the piece of his heart that contained his feelings of love. As the Raven's blood starts to consume him, he tries to steal girls' hearts to sacrifice to the raven and begins verbally abusing Rue. Fortunately, Rue's true love for him and willingness to sacrifice herself for his sake helps him overcome the raven's blood when the last heart shard is returned. He then rescues Rue and makes her his princess. At the end of the anime, Mytho's real name is revealed to be Siegfried, the name of the prince in the ballet Swan Lake from which Princess Tutu borrows plot elements. Voiced by: Naoki Yanagi (Japanese), Jay Hickman (English)

Fakir (ふぁきあ, Fakia^?) is Mytho's roommate and a talented ballet dancer. At the start of the series, Fakir appears to be very cruel - he's rude and forceful, especially to Mytho, as well as possessive. Fakir tries to prevent Princess Tutu from restoring the prince's heart shards and discourages Mytho's initial experiences with emotions. Eventually, the series reveals that Fakir only wanted to protect Mytho from repeating the tragic events of the past. As the series progresses, Fakir loses his possessiveness and becomes less closed off, primarily through Duck's antics and his realization that Mytho himself wants his heart back. In the anime, Drosselmeyer's story The Prince and The Raven includes a knight who is to protect the prince and ends up dying by the claws of the raven. Fakir took on the role of the knight when he found Mytho long ago, and is also thought to be the reincarnation of said knight from the story, due to the scar-like birthmark that cuts across his chest, like the wound that ended the knight in the fairy tale. By joining Princess Tutu on her quest and allowing the story of The Prince and the Raven to start again, he both accepted and attempted to defy the fate of the knight. In the second season of the anime, Fakir's role changes when he accepts his real power, passed down to him from Drosselmeyer, in that what he writes can become true. However, his power does not always work. When he was a child, he attempted to use it once to save the town from ravens; instead, both his parents were killed trying to defend him in the resulting attack. This left him traumatized and afraid to use his power. Duck helps him accept his power and he begins to write again. As the second season progresses, Fakir grows increasingly fond of Duck while they work together to aid Mytho. He comes to realize that while he is unable to write for Mytho or himself, he can write for Duck, and becomes increasingly protective of her. When Drosselmeyer drives Duck into the Lake of Despair, Fakir goes after her and they dance a pas de deux, often used in ballet to indicate a love relationship, while agreeing that it is okay for them to be their true selves instead of being led by the story, he also states that when this story has ended he will stay with Duck forever. Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Chris Patton (English)

Rue (るう, Rū^?) is an advanced ballet student and greatly admired. She remains aloof from her peers, however, and appears to have no friends until Duck brazenly approaches her without fear and they become friendly. She is proud, but has a good heart and struggles with what she must do as Princess Kraehe. She has loved Mytho since she was a child after he defended her from ravens. She uses his lack of emotions to pretend they are a couple. Like Duck, she also has a magical princess alter ego, Princess Kraehe (プリンセスクレール, Purinsesu Kurēru^?), the daughter of the Raven. Her father is verbally and emotionally abusive towards her, tearing her down to keep control of her. At first, she tries to prevent the prince from retaining his heart shards out of fear she will lose him to someone else. Towards the end of the series, she learns that she is not a raven, but a human girl who was stolen from her parents as a baby during the Raven's attack on the town. She realizes her father has been using her, and begs Princess Tutu not to return the last shard, now fearing Mytho will be consumed by the Raven. Princess Tutu obeys the prince's request, however, and when it appears Mytho will give himself to the Raven, Rue sacrifices herself instead, stating that she had always loved Mytho. Touched by her act, Mytho regains his heart and rescues her, asking her to be his princess. In the manga, Rue's name is Rue Kuroha, and she is a much colder and crueler character. Voiced by: Nana Mizuki (Japanese), Jessica Boone (English)

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