:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Halloween Havoc!!

Well, well, it's been a year to the day since I started recommending monthly free/low-cost anime available on the web, starting off with manglobe's obscure macabre comedy TRIP TREK.  Being that it's October and close to Halloween--as it was then--I figure it would only be proper to recommend a few "scary" anime this time, too.

**Most of these shows, besides being free, are aimed at older teen to mature audiences, unsurprisingly, so viewer discretion is advised.  And due to that, some sites may require you to register, which is often free, as well.  I'm so not responsible for any nightmares, either, regardless the cause.**

Claymore
[FUNimation Videos, Hulu]

Quite the good action tale with monstrous figures with a hankering for innards getting sliced every-which-way by silver-haired ladies with big swords.  One of the best fantasy anime in recent memory, with fine production values by Madhouse (some inconsistencies with faces, but the designs from the original manga aren't that simple to draw for animation) and a rollicking, but still appropriate, score by Masanori Takumi (Witchblade, Genshiken, Koi Kaze).  Though only eps. 1-13 are currently available at the time of this writing, subbed-only, it has, personally, perhaps the finest collection of female vocal performances in a single anime.  Some genuinely intense moments, likable characters, and an involving story make Claymore a great and enjoyable watch.

:anime: Blacks and Head Shots in Anime -Phase Two- Begins

As mentioned earlier this month, "Phase Two" of "Blacks and Head Shots in Anime" has just begun, with topics on the subject launched at Mania/AnimeOnDVD and Anime News Network's respective forums last night, with a poll present in the former.  It is my hope to get a good gauge of the anime community's thoughts on this through two forums with differing personalities, and while it's nothing scientific, I believe this may still yield some interesting results.  I have my predictions, but we'll see where things go from here, though I aim to post about the findings when the topics get enough responses.  I'm pretty anxious to see what people's opinions will be, and hopefully, everything will go smoothly.

--HD

:anime: First Impression:: Oreimo Ep. 1

To Oreimo, Ep. 2-->

Oreimo, Ep. 1 - "My Little Sister Can't Be My Love"

As noted yesterday, Oreimo was a title that has been on my fall radar ever since happening across an illustration of it a few months ago, despite not knowing a whole lot about the series.  By appearance-alone, I sort of got a general feel of what to expect from the boy and the girl in it--"comedy, some sort of ongoing conflict".  Vague as it was (hey, it was just a picture…), it was still close to what we actually got…

Oreimo's premiere episode turned out to be a pretty good affair.  Kyousuke Kousaka doesn't get along with his popular younger sister, Kirino.  This isn't helped by the fact that they have fairly frosty personalities and perpetual scowls when around each other (and when they aren't).  One morning, they bump into each other, spilling the contents of Kirino's bag onto the floor and eliciting a snappy response from the girl.  Later on, something catches Kyousuke's eye under a piece of furniture and discovers what looks to be a sister-centric eroge-based anime DVD.

:anime: ANN Gets Its Stream On...

Over the course of the last year or so, Anime News Network has been hard at work over its streaming video service, doing carryovers from other sites such as Hulu, to hosting titles themselves (i.e. Nobody's Boy Remi).  The last month, however, has represented a major step forward in their campaign of streaming anime.  In September, ANN announced their license rescue of the quirky, yet informative, comedy Animation Runner Kuromi and its sequel, homeless after former licensor Central Park Media went under a few years ago.  Though the terms of ANN's deal only pertained to streaming rights, it was still a major score by the site to accomplish such a feat, though that would hardly be the end of their plans...

:boxing: Six Degrees of Super Six Mess

Jermain Taylor - Knocked out of the tournament.

Mikkel Kessler - Gone due to eye injury.

Andre Dirrell - Removes himself due to currently-untold injury.


When founding something as ambitious as the Super Six World Boxing Classic, Showtime and others had to have prepared themselves for the worst.  Injuries are no stranger to the sport of boxing, so conducting a round-robin tournament is a big gamble, no doubt.  But I bet at this point, even the cable network didn't think things would have turned out this bad...

HardDoor 2.0!

When I said last Friday that HardDoor was going dark for maintenance, I really did mean it, so to speak. ;)

"Black Monday Comes to HardDoor" and Other Fantastic Stories...

"Black Monday Comes to HardDoor..."

 After months of stagnation (mainly due to B&HSiA), HD's Free & Low-Cost Anime Directory finally received its long-awaited/needed revamp.  I knew a lot needed to be done when I started Monday, but I found myself altering more of than I had anticipated (which was good thing, actually).  Many of the descriptions have been rewritten--some wholesale, a few twinked here and there--either because the info was outdated or just needed to be reworded (or both...).  Not too many links needed updating, but I supplemented a few entries with additional ones.  In the case with pay content and subscriptions, I made sure to mention rates as often as possible.  I began doing this with the "Anime on the Go!!" section and thought it was the right time to start including that information whenever possible, given how prevalent subscriptions are becoming.

:anime: Blacks and Head Shots in Anime (Part 7 - Final)

<--To Part 6

Over the past six parts, we have explored the pattern of dark-skinned characters dying from head wounds in anime. We have also seen a number of peculiar traits shared among them and tried to place them in proper perspective with the issue, as well as history and culture. Yet, the question prevails as to why they die in such a particular way, beyond just story conventions.

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Princess Tutu

Princess Tutu

Official Sites: Japanese, English
Additional Links: ANN Entry
Video [Free]: Hulu, YouTube
Video [Pay]: The Anime Network (after first free ep.)

An aspiring ballerina who is a bit of klutz (and really a duck) valiantly attempts to retrieve the shards of heart belonging to the one she loves: the prince. But while she possesses the ability to turn into the graceful Princess Tutu and ward off the darkness, she must not confess her love to her beloved, or she will perish...

The Anime Network recently started posting video onto Hulu and one of the titles they started off with was Princess Tutu, a 2002-2003 magical girl series that, even after the critical and viewer praise it has garnered, still has not gotten the love it deserves. By genre master Junichi Sato (Sailor Moon, Pretear, Sea Story (Umi Monogatari), the series showcases his skill at trumping its conventions and offering something new and fresh. Not only that, it also displays his oft-overlooked implementation of music into his shows, here filled with classic ballet compositions, from Romeo & Juliet to Swan Lake, along with an appropriate original score by Kaoru Wada (InuYasha, Samuari 7). All of it blends with and enhances a great and unique story (well-balanced with comedy and harrowing drama), memorable characters, and fine production values.

Personally, I do have broad tastes, so as much as I can appreciate a depressing show like TEXHNOLYZE or Now and Then, Here and There, or action-filled ones like Afro Samurai and Gungrave, I can also appreciate a (really) good shoujo series in Princess Tutu. However, even those not exactly warm to the genre have had glowing praise for it. Though dubbed only (but wonderfully done), it is freely available for view on Hulu (missing Eps. 22-25, but will probably be resolved soon), YouTube (in full), and Anime Network's own site (free first episode, the rest to paid subscribers only), now's good opportunity to give the show a chance (and maybe some of that lovin' too).

:anime: Of Updates and Lengthy Write-Ups...

It's been quite awhile, but the seventh and final installment of "Blacks and Head Shots in Anime" has finally been completed. Its creation was certainly more arduous than expected, even after having plotted it early on. There was a two week-long "writer's block" of sorts at the beginning, but things afterwards started to flow again and I made up a lot of ground. Even so, the proofreading and revision stage was extensive, with sizable portions removed (and subsequently saved for a later time...), streamlined, moved about, and altered multiple times, with the final fine-tuning stage taking good deal of time itself, featuring a number of twinkings and testings. Mix in a few diversions (including computer matters needing to be addressed), some lethargy on my part from working on this, and the series as a whole, for so long, a few wasted days trying to update an iPod touch (the neverending backups...), as well as some genuinely difficult times writing things out, and you have a final installment nearly three months in the making.

As much care as I like to take in the quality and substance of what I write, even this was ridiculous. But despite everything that happened, Part 7 managed to turn out as well as I hoped it would. At the same time, while I dislike taking this long to write something up, I would much rather take my time in doing so than rush out a subpar piece just to get it done and over with quickly (though that doesn't mean I haven't been trying to write faster over the course of time...). Still, my apologies for the lengthy gap between Six and Seven. And as something a "joke", the latter will go live in a few days on the 18th (Sat.) at 2:02 AM--exactly three months to the day that former was posted. :) It also gives me some time to fit in this month's free anime pick...

Thank you for your patience.

--HD