21 May, 2012

Based on a visual novel, Clannad follows the life of Tomoya Okazaki, a high school student slacker, as he helps his friends with their varying problems and situations. After an accident sometime prior to the series start, Tomoya is unable to play in the basketball club anymore and having a poor relationship with his father ends up rather distant from school...

18 May, 2012

It has been nearly two years since the release of the last Bleach movie, The Diamond Dust Rebellion. This month we have the all the Bleach movies being re-released on Blu-ray as well as the third movie. Is the third movie a welcome addition to the Bleach saga let’s take a look. The first thing you’ll notice as soon as the film begins is just how...

14 May, 2012

The Solid State Society film picks up about 2 years after the end of the 2nd GIG of the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series. We find Togusa leading up a field team, Batou becoming somewhat picky about the ops he goes on and the Major long resigned from and out of contact with Public Security Section 9. Whilst this might not be quite the future...

10 May, 2012

Last time we left Natsu, Lucy, Gray and company we’d just got started on a really promising plot arc, and the series was showing signs that it was picking up strongly.  Fortunately, volume 2 doesn’t disappoint. With the Galuna Island arc really getting into its stride it splits off into multiple plotlines and does a  great job of delving into...

5 May, 2012

After a pretty poor run of episodes it’s safe to say that we have a return to form for the series this time. Of course that does not mean it is fault free but there is a faster pace on offer as well as plenty of exciting action with a few surprises. This volume begins by finishing some of the painfully drawn out battles from the previous volume enabling...

29 Apr, 2012

Taking place in the far future when there are many planetary colonies of man throughout the galaxy, Kiddy Grade follows Eclair and Lumiere, two low ranked members of the ES special branch of the Galactic Organization of Trade and Tariffs (GOTT) as they are dispatched on various dangerous missions. Perhaps not the most interesting sounding set up, but what is...

20 Mar, 2012

Set in a Blade Runner looking future, Mardock Scramble – The First Compression takes a straightforward witness/victim taking the bad guy to court whilst the bad guy continues to try to murder them theme, and splashes it liberally with sci-fi. Rune Ballot is a young prostitute, taken in by the smooth talking Shell, a man who has his memories regularly removed,...

12 Mar, 2012

The previous Bleach release left a lot to be desired so you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking things could only get better, and if you like Bleach battles then you will certainly find them in this first volume of series 8, however you are fairly unlikely to find anything else of value. If you are familiar with Bleach then you will be well aware that it...

16 Feb, 2012

After the fantastic narrative of the previous box set it comes as little surprise that this release falls short of reaching the same heights, although that is often the case when one story arc ends and a new one begins. The first episode quickly concludes the battle that the previous box set ended with. With the Akatsuki defeated and Naruto injured by his own...

14 Feb, 2012

While critics may gush over the latest Ghibli masterpiece and fanboys and girls squeal over the newest magical girl show, it’s long been apparent that the engine that drives the anime industry can be found in the humble shounen action show. From the grandaddy of them all, Fist of the North Star, through the worldwide phenomenon that was Dragonball Z and...