Anime Expo has announced that the Japanese pop musical duo Jyukai will perform at the July 3-6 event at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California. Vocalist Manami and composer Yoshiaki Dewa formed the duo in the summer of 2004 and performed the ending theme "Anata ga Ita Mori" for the Fate/stay night television anime just a year later. They continued to sing television anime theme songs for Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy, Buso Renkin, and the Aa Megami-sama: Tatakau Tsubasa special. They also sang the opening theme for Mamoru Oshii's live-action Shin - Onna Tachigui Retsuden film.
Hey, Answerman! THIS TIME: Why don't anime openings have sound effects? Where's the cultural uproar about teenage anime fans that are into yaoi and hentai? And what's up with the otaku "stigma"? And a new Hey, Answerfans too! WHOOSH!
2010-02-05
Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic Anyone with a taste for gruesome hellish fun who is willing to check their more sophisticated sensibilities at the door will probably have a good time with this.
Hanamaru Kindergarten Episodes 1-4 streaming Hanamaru Kindergarten returns to the essence of slice-of-life humor, places it in an adorable classroom environment, and proves to the world that Cute Is Not Dead.
Gundam UC Volume 01 This first episode really feels like a short but impressive feature film, complete with a big budget and a movie-sized plot. A beautiful entry into the Gundam franchise thus far and a promising start for Universal Century fans.
Blade of the Immortal DVD 3 Less a self-contained series than a mega-sized version of one of those one-off OAVs from the 80s and 90s that were made as primers for their infinitely more comprehensive print versions.
The Skull Man DVD A newspaper reporter and his young photographer sidekick investigate reports of a mysterious masked killer in this 2007 mystery/horror tale from Bones. Its surprising complexity, numerous plot twists, and sometimes brutal violence can certainly keep a viewer involved.
Honey and Clover DVD Box Set 2 Flows, with all the eddies, detours and tributaries of life, straight to an offbeat but hugely satisfying conclusion. Bring on season two.
Fullmetal Alchemist GN 22 The endgame is in full swing, and the final goal is in clear sight, but how our heroes are going to get there ... is anyone's guess.
So-Ra-No-Wo-To episodes 1-4 An all-female military platoon plays music to the sky in a fortress at the edge of a war-ravaged civilization in this very different moe title. Despite some generic elements, its premise, setting, and tone distinguish it from other titles of its ilk and get it off to a good start.
Death Note Relight DVD 2 There is merit to this release in its greater wealth of new footage and improvements on Mello and Near's overwrought episodes. Still, it's only "better" for the fans, and the uninitiated should always just turn to the original series.
Black Jack GN 5 ... even the greatest comic artist of all time just didn't feel like it on certain weeks and decided to mail in 20 pages of slush for his next chapter.