Well hello there my latest friend!

Just don’t write my name down in your little book a’ight?

The Anime Wall

So today I went into the city with some images and posters of animes I have seen so far. All images are printed on super-high-quality photo paper and look as if the studios have sent them to me

From top-left to right, going top to bottom:

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Macross Frontier,
.hack//SIGN, Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Noir,
.hack//ROOTS, El Cazador de la Bruja (Ellis “WANTED” poster), Cowbow Bebop,
Appleseed, Black Lagoon (GTA style), Death Note

Welcome to Roanapur City: Black Lagoon

We are somewhere in the early 90s. Okajima Rokuro is a normal, everyday business man, but one day he is asked to deliver a confidential disk to eastern China. However the boat is hijacked by a band of mercenaries, and the CD is stolen. Okajima is then taken hostage for a ransom. While Okajima tries to negotiate for his life, he is being told about the dark secrets his employer was really involved in, and that they have taken all the necessary steps for everyone to believe he is dead. He is now stuck with people who call themselves the Black Lagoon Trading Company, which are based in the fictional city of Roanapur in Thailand. The ship he is stuck on, is the Black Lagoon.

The core characters of the show, starting from top, clockwise: Benny, Dutch, Revy, Rock

With all people in Japan believing him to be dead, Okajima decides to join the crew. It is then when he is given his new name Rock. He is no big gunman or fighter, but has excellent translation and negotiation skills, which the rest of the crew believe could come in handy at some stage. Also, the crew seems to have a particularly friendly relationship with the Russian crime syndicate Hotel Moscow. The ship and the company is lead by a man only known as Dutch. His background or past remains a mystery, although it is safe to assume that he has served the military in some point in the past.

Revy is a somewhat troubled woman, events of her past made her who she is today. Quite skilled with guns, she is the main female lead. Never short of a sarcastic comment and extremely dangerous, she seems to be a very broken girl inside. Rock learns of this, but Revy seems to be reluctant.

Whatcha gonna do?

Benny is the tech guy in the show who has hacking and computing skills, therefore able to acquire information otherwise not obtainable. Like Rock, he is not so great with guns – but his technological and mechanical skills are quite valuable to Dutch.

The show has 24 episodes altogether and is divided in two seasons, where the second season is titled “Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage”. While the first 12 episodes concentrate on the crew and what they do for a living, The second 12 concentrate more on character development. Many references to authors, philosophers, and interestingly Quentin Tarantino films can be found. In one episode for example there is a poster titled “The Wild Punch”, which is a reference to Tarantino’s “The Wild Bunch”.

The show encompasses many of the known girls-with-guns elements – for example maids and nuns with guns. However the way they come together make it an interesting mix.

All in all, it is a pretty outstanding show – if you don’t mind graphic violence that is. Some conversations between Rock and Revy bear a deeper meaning, with the topics of existence, reason for being, and human perception of things. If you are looking for good but not brainless entertainment, action, not afraid of the violence, surprises, nuns with guns, torpedo boats, blowing up bars, super sexy Revy, and a non-shooting negotiator, then this is the next anime for you.

Black Lagoon
Episodes: 24
Director: Sunao Katabuchi
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime fiction, Black comedy

Voted second worst place in America after Liberty City, Roanapur is a haven for the damned, lost, dead and pirates. Survive if you can, join up with Black Lagoon if you think you got what it takes.
Rockstar Games presents: a Rockstar North production.

I so have to see Yuki Kajiura live some day

Earlier on today I stumbled upon these INCREDIBLE live performances of Yuki Kajiura’s Fiction Junction/YUUKA. Here they are.

Below are others from Megumi and May’n. They too, I have to see live some day.

cazador del amor
Anime: El Cazador de la Bruja

Nowhere
Anime: Madlax

Silly-Go-Round
Anime: .hack//ROOTS

Aimo (Vajra Remix)
Anime: Macross Frontier
(1,000 bonus points for Ranka on screen, singing with them!!)

Diamond Crevasse
Anime: Macross Frontier

Diamond Crevasse: Macross Frontier

The year is 2059. Around 2000 mankind was thrown into a war with a race who call themselves Zentradi. The Zentradi however surrendered, but this has forced us to break free from Earth. Now, we are looking for a second Earth in space. And for this reason, we have built gigantic ships, generation ships one might even say, on which we can house a few million people. These super-ships are obviously accompanied my escorts and awesome military might and firepower. The “Frontier” fleet has laid in a course to the center of the galaxy in order to find a new world for all of us.

In the beginning of the show, we witness the attack on the Frontier fleet by an enemy we later come to know as the Vajra. A somewhat insect-like race which seems have a hive sort of mind. Little does the fleet know that this is just the first of many hurdles they have to face on their search for a new place we can call home. The show primarily follows three characters and how they experience events, in personal life as well as what is happening to the fleet. While Sheryl Nome is known as the Fairy Of The Galaxy and is super-famous, Alto Saotome seems to harbor a deep affection for flying and eventually joins the military. Ranka Lee is a seemingly young schoolgirl with a troubled past. Eventually she is advised to try singing as a professional career, which ultimately makes her the Songstress Of Hope. Well as you might have guessed, the rabbit hole goes a bit deeper with her.

Ranka’s memories somehow seem to be connected to an incident of 11 years ago, when the 117th Large Exploration fleet mysteriously disappeared.

Apart from all the fast-paced and awesome action happening, there is a rather interesting love-triangle going on. I guarantee you want to know how it turns out… Honestly it would not be an easy decision for anyone in a similar situation, if you see what is happening in the show as a metaphor.

The Zentradi, who have allied with us a long while ago, are also aboard the Frontier. However in their real form they are much larger than us. If you’d stand beside a Zentradi, you’d have the size of a action figure. For this reason, a certain quantum-physics based procedure can be applied to them, so that they can either shrink to our size or grow back. This is extremely desirable for those Zentradi who wish to join the military forces and fly the defending jets. One of those Zentradis is Captain Klan, who at a later stage gets more involved in the lives of our characters and the events happening to the fleet.

After having seen the end just now and having witnessed how the pieces fall into place, I am just stunned and overwhelmed. It has been an incredible ride for everyone involved. The voice acting is top-notch, the music is delivered by Yoko Kanno. I don’t think that needs any further comment. I have particularly enjoyed how the bits and pieces of an episode have linked into each other… into endings, openings, or middle parts. It is difficult to describe it, really.

All I can say that it is a superbly done show which I am most certainly going to watch again someday. So if you’re into Sci-Fi, Mechas, Action, Love-Triangles, outstanding storytelling, touching conversations, and above all, magical and inspiring music, then this sure is the next anime for you.

Macross Frontier
Genre: Mecha, Romance, Space opera, Military science fiction
Directors: Yasuhito Kikuchi, Shōji Kawamori
Original Run: April 3, 2008 – September 25, 2008
Episodes: 25

Song of beauty, ring out across the galaxy!

What if “El Cazador de la Bruja” was made into a real movie?

Following a post I made a while ago, asking the same thing about “Madlax”, I thought it’s time to do the same comparison for what is now one of my favorite Animes, “El Cazador de la Bruja” (The Witch Hunter).

So… who should star in this anime adaption, if it were ever made? Well, like before, casting a girls-with-guns movie adaption is not easy. I tried my very best, so cut me some slack. Let’s get to it then!

Nadie is a bounty hunter and good at what she does. She is eventually approached by Jody Hayward and hired to protect Ellis. Having had a bit of trouble herself in the past, Lindsay Lohan is a near-perfect match for the role of Nadie. Natural red hair, and it’s long. Besides, she looks closest to Nadie, and I have a feeling she would portray our kind-hearted bounty hunter pretty well on the big screen. I wonder if she likes Tacos like Nadie does. Imagine her in Nadie’s cape and with a gun. Fits eh?

It is believed that she killed Dr. Heinz Schneider, which is why she is wanted – dead or alive – with quite a high bounty on her head. However the rabbit hole goes far deeper than that – Ellis seems to have supernatural powers, in terms of manipulation of molecules or elements of nature. Anna-Sophia Rob (one of her recent appearances was the movie “Race To Witch Mountain”) would portray this somewhat troubled girl perfectly I believe. Driven by a strange urge to travel south and reach a place named Winay Marka, Nadie accompanies her on the journey to unlock the answers to her past.

Having successfully infiltrated the accounting department of the CIA, Jody Hayward’s true goal seems to be to uncover the truth about project “Leviathan”. Once she finds out, she breaks her cover and calls herself only “Blue-Eyes”. If Jennifer Aniston dyes her hair a bit darker, she would portray this mysterious person pretty well. She is the one who approached Nadie and hired her to protect Ellis – but to what end? Fact is that she has an agenda. And seems to be involved in something else, which she values a lot, or so it seems. Jennifer looks very close to her, plus she already has beautiful blue eyes.

Leading the project “Leviathan” from a lab room labeled R-338 is Dr. Douglas Rosenberg. He seems to have a calm personality and follows his own plans and agenda. What those are… no one really knows for sure. It is clear however that he tries to capture Ellis at all costs for some reason. Robin Williams would make the perfect match for our bad guy in this instance. They look pretty similar, and I believe his performance here would be pretty awesome. Rosenberg has a lot of connections and for some reason is always one step ahead. He also hired Ricardo to observe Nadie and Ellis, and to slow down L.A. when he drifts out of control.

Little is known about Ricardo. He is a retired mercenary and now a taciturn bounty hunter, speaking barely. However in time he grows attached to Ellis and Nadie and decides to ally with them in order to thwart Rosenberg’s plans. I don’t think I have to say much else than to look at the picture above. So Harrison Ford, you only have to get out your world-famous Indiana Jones costume, and you’d be ready to be Ricardo! It would match. Aside from the fact that he is a retired mercenary, it is assumed that he lived and/or worked in Australia somewhere earlier in his life, as he teaches Lirio, the girl that follows him around everywhere he goes, how to use and catch a boomerang.

Now the thing with L.A. is kinda complicated. He seems to be madly in love with Ellis and gets super-jealous whenever he sees Nadie and Ellis together, or when someone else approaches “his” Ellis. Also, he harbors a deep hatred for humans. Whether or not he is insane, or just really deeply in love, or if there’s more to him than that, I can’t say if you haven’t seen the show. Nevertheless I believe that Haley Joel Osment would be the best actor to portray him on the screen. He is best known for his role as Cole in “The Sixth Sense” (I see dead people!). The only deal is that he’d have to learn how to use metal threads as a weapon, and that in one scene Ellis will set his crotch on fire.

And that’s it… I believe to have done okay on this assemble of actors. Although a movie of El Cazador will most likely never be made, it’s still okay to think about it. I’d go and see that movie anyways if it came out.

Anime and Manga, online, for free!

Wait what? I asked the same thing myself, but it is true. I just stumbled upon two pages which happen to have a lot of Manga to read for free, and a lot (I mean: A LOT) of Anime to download and watch for free.

animeEDEN. Got Anime?
Take me there

MangaFox. Read Free Manga Online!
Take me there

A Woman Sought After: El Cazador de la Bruja

It seems that the most accurate translation for this show’s title would be “The Witch Hunter”, as a specific witch is mentioned – so I have been told. It is Bee Train’s third and last Anime in the girls-with-guns genre, and this time we find ourselves somewhere in Mexico. Nadie is skilled with her firearm and bounty-hunts for a living. She does that alone and so far it’s good money. One day, she encounters a young woman named Ellis, who seems a little weird. Not only with the way she talks but also with the way she… well, is and behaves.

Nadie did not meet Ellis by accident – she was asked to find her, and feed back information to a certain organization. For some reason, Ellis wants to travel south, but has no exact location or destination, she only wants to go south. What begins as a rather unusual job for Nadie, and as just following the intuition Ellis has for herself, becomes a life-altering journey for everyone involved.

As they travel south, you soon come to learn that there seems be something going on with Ellis, and that a few people have different interest in her, for various reasons. Ellis carries a reddish stone around with her. Nadie soon finds out why these people are after her… Supernatural powers. However when Ellis finds out herself she is very confused by it. This does not stop the people after her. Learning about this intensifies Ellis’ urge to travel south.

The one who stands out is probably the guy named L.A. (that’s right!). Whether if he is truly insane or not… you find that out for yourself – ’nuff said when I tell you that he’s ready to go to extreme lenghts for ‘his’ Ellis. Or so he firmly maintains.

A lab room labeled R-338 is assigned to Dr. Doug Rosenberg. An expert in his field. Seemingly the leader of a project named Leviathan. He has a very elevated interest in Ellis, probably because of something that has happened to him or her, or both, in the past. What is really up to and what is his connection? I think you should find out for yourself.

Another bounty hunter, Ricardo, and a child that goes everywhere he goes, Lirio, seem to consistently cross paths with Ellis and Nadie on their journey south. While not entirely clear what his agenda really is, you’re lead to believe that he is helping the two girls. But to what end?

Miss Hayward works for Dr. Rosenberg on the Leviathan project. We’ll come to know this lady later as Blue-Eyes, who takes matters into her own hands. It seems as if she introduced herself to Nadie earlier as “Blue-Eyes” already. She is also the one who instructed Nadie to watch over Ellis, provide information, and in return Nadie would be paid well. But as you can imagine, things go a lot different than planned.

It is commonly believed by some, that witches did exist in earlier times and truly did have awesome abilities. What exactly these abilities were, no one can be certain anymore today. Fact is however that people with very unique or extraordinary abilities exist today, and have so throughout the 19th and 20th century. A more or less known example of those people with special abilities being ‘hunted’ was the “Stargate” project in the 70′s conducted by the CIA. In this project, so-called “See-ers” were hired. Those people claimed to be able to see what’s going on in other places in the world without actually being there – a phenomenon still today known as Remote Viewing. This would imply to be consciously able to leave your physical body. Legend has it, that these people and the “Stargate” project lead to the discovery of a top-secret base and operation somwhere in Russia, where the first nuclear submarine was built.

With “El Cazador de la Bruja”, Bee Train suggests a theory how people with certain abilities came into existence – at least in modern times. The name of project “Leviathan” of which Dr. Rosenberg is the leader of, was carefully chosen by the makers. In the Bible, a Leviathan is a huge sea monster or creature that brought sadness and destruction.

How exactly does this relate to Ellis? I think you should really find this out for yourself. Seriously.

With FictionJunction / YUUKA and Yuki Kajiura on board for the soundtrack, you can be sure that this is, yet again, a treat for your ears as well as eyes. The music is superbly done as always by Yuki. The finale will touch you, it will make you cry – I promise you that. It’s another show not to be missed, and concludes the book on a journey of very different girls with guns. It’s a show you should get right now.

El Cazador de la Bruja
Director: Kōichi Mashimo
Genre: Adventure, Comedy-drama, Western
Episodes: 26
Original run: April 2, 2007 – September 24, 2007
Studio: Bee Train, A-1 Pictures

“The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” made into live-action movie

A while ago I wrote about a very beautiful anime movie I had seen, named “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time“. In the movie, Makoto Kanno, a young ordinary student mysteriously gains the power to go back in time and change things over and over if she wants. This ability becomes apparent as she avoids an otherwise fatal accident with a speeding train at a crossing.

This movie is now made into a live-action version, however details of the story-line are changed. The heroine suffers from an accident and falls into a coma, which transports her back into 1972, where she finds her first true love to find her mother’s first love.

The film stars Riisa Naka (the voice of Makoto in the 2006 animated film) as Akari, the 18-year-old daughter of the protagonist of the original novel, Kazuko Yoshiyama (played by Narumi Yasuda). When Kazuko is injured in a car accident and falls into a coma, Akari leaps back in time to the 70s to seek out her mother’s first love, Kazuo Fukamachi. Instead, she meets a college student named Ryota (Akiyoshi Nakao) who helps her with her search.

The full story, sources, and a 2-minute trailer can be found here.

Gambare gambare, a-ta-shi!