Jun OTAKI

The Summer 2011 Anime Preview Guide
The Summer 2011 Preview Guide has begun! Check back every day for new previews by our team!
Available Now:
Kamisama Dolls ep 2 - Cat God - Manyuu Hiken-chou - Yuruyuri ep 2 - R-15 - A Dark Rabbit Has Seven Lives - Mawaru Penguindrum - The Idolm@ster - Sacred Seven - No. 6 - Mayo Chiki - Blood-C - Usagi Drop - Morita-san wa Mukuchi - Nyanpire the Animation - Natsume Yujincho San and more! 2011-07-04

Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Lone Wolf and Cub
Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's legendary samurai epic goes under Jason's microscope. 2011-07-14

The X Button - An Endless World
Todd takes in Child of Eden's sights and sounds this week! He also makes time for Lost Angelic Chronicles, Metal Max, The King of Fighters XIII, and a game called Theatrhythm. 2011-07-13

Anime News Nina! - 2011-07-13
Kevin learns the importance of being punctual. 2011-07-13

Interview: Danny Choo
Choo sits down with ANN to update us on censorship in Tokyo, moe, Chinka, and more. 2011-07-13

Brain Diving - Ninja Wrap
Brian flips through the 1958 novel that inspired the ninja anime series Basilisk. 2011-07-12

Shelf Life - ACROSS the Universe
Erin delves into some romances this week, some requited, some not.
- Coffee Samurai / Hoshizora Kiseki
- Excel Saga complete
- Ga-Rei Zero complete
2011-07-11

Angel Beats! Complete Collection
Dead teens seek to defy God in a Purgatory-like school setting in this newest offering from one of the creative minds behind Kanon and Clannad. Its excellent balance of music, humor, action, drama, and emotion make it one of the best and most complete series so far this year.

Trigun: Badlands Rumble
Well over half the movie's runtime is unnecessary or blatantly stretched out, which makes for absolutely atrocious writing, but thanks to the stellar production it doesn't dampen the movie's entertainment value. It's a middling TV episode wrapped in loads of hijinks, but that's probably what most fans were expecting.

Buddha: The Great Departure
As an adaptation of its source material, this film is poor: Tezuka fans can safely avoid it. As a stand-alone entertainment, it's merely forgettable, a little overstuffed and confusing.

Dance in the Vampire Bund DVD/Blu-Ray
This story about the Queen of Monsters and the boy (er, werewolf) who devoted himself to her features a fascinating female lead, good visuals, and lots of action and fan service, but it also decidedly hedges into lolicon territory. It is a flawed but still enjoyable series.

Monster Episodes 31-45 Streaming
Frankfurt is Johan's arc, the one where we get closest to the monster and delve furthest into its ambitions and inner workings. And what we see there is terrifying.

Astarotte's Toy episodes 7-12
Lotte and crew go on a mundane romp through anime clichés, and up the lolicon content, as this too-short series wraps up. It can be entertaining and endearing, and also has regular fan service, but it is ultimately not as special as it could have been.

Gosick
A pint-sized tsundere solves mysteries and befriends a foreign student in 1924 Europe in this attractive mystery/romance series. While it may start weak, the series really rolls once the plot and relationship developments pick up steam.

Hanasaku Iroha Episodes 8-13 Streaming
Finishes its first half by punching us right in the heart. With a sweet smile, of course.

Library Wars: Love & War GN 5
Well-meaning but clichéd elements ultimately turn this installment of Library Wars into something more like Library Fairytales.

Fairy Tail GN 13
If you were bored of the series already, this will not win you back, but if you like Mashima's magical adventure, rest assured, the end of the volume makes it look like things are going to get better.

Hayate the Combat Butler GN 11
An easily accessible sense of humor, which rotates between slapstick and parody and the characters behaving in exaggerated ways, is what helps to keep the series entertaining.