February 2009 Archives

As part of a promo, VIZ Media announced that the first episode of "Blue Dragon" can be downloaded for free on the iTunes Store until March 10. Go to www.itunes.com/tv/bluedragon.

The animated series is based on the Xbox 360 role playing game. As the company describes it: "Seven Soldiers of Light must awaken the Shadow within themselves in time to overcome a despotic power and bring peace to their land. Their ensuing journey through a rich fantasy world is also an internal journey to awaken the great power within each of them."

The Xbox 360 game "Blue Dragon" was developed by Hironobu Sakaguchi who is the creator of Final Fantasy. The anime aired on TV Tokyo in Japan on April 7, 2007 and was produced by Studio Pierrot.

For more information on the show, head to Bluedragon.viz.com, which features trailers, character descriptions, artwork from the animation and news related to the show.

A powerful spirit masquerading as a gluttonous cat that loves to drink and an orphan with the ability to see spirits are back this winter in "Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou."

Yes, Nyanko-sensei and Takashi Natsume are back for a second season. Viewers first met them in "Natsume Yuujinchou" which chronicled how Takashi ended up living with a kindly couple in a small town, met the cat who wasn't a cat and learned that his late grandmother possessed the same ability as he did.

Reiko Natsume could see spirits but unlike her placid grandson, challenged these otherworldy beings. When they lost to her, she would take their real names and jot it down in what would later be called "The Book of Friends." Takashi inherited the book and much of season one dealt with him returning the names of the spirits.

I loved the first season because I'm a sucker for supernatural anime that doesn't fit the norm. Some folks might find the show too slow. Consider it a break from shows where middle schoolers carry weapons that blow up half the town or giant robots stomp all over the bad guys.

In the second season, Takashi is more comfortable with his power and continues with his fair treatment of spirits and non-humans. He found a dragon egg, helped it hatch and protected it from a spirit who wanted to eat the young. It didn't look like a dragon though when it grew up, more like a bird. And when it hatched, it adopted a humanoid shape.

Takashi doesn't tell his foster parents about his ability. He fears he will lose the only stable home he ever had.

His supposed bodyguard, Madarao or Nyanko-sensei, is still with him. Everyone sees Nyanko-sensei as the fat cat that tags along after Takashi. He claims he's only around because the teen promised him "The Book of Friends" after he's gone. But you know he is fond of the human boy. And Takashi likes having the fat furball around too.

Watching the series for me is a weekly treat. And just when I think that animators are churning out more and more crappy anime just to please fanboys and fangirls, along comes a show like "Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou" to change my mind.

That's not the case with "Toradora" which is a show I actually look forward to seeing every week. It's set in a high school and deals with the lives and loves of several students. The lead characters are Ryuji Takasu who is unfortunate enough to be born with his father's mean eyes so people think he's a juvenile delinquent and Taiga Aisaka, the short petite girl with a horrible temper who lives alone and is called the "Palm top Tiger." Taiga sounds like tiger, get it? Anyway, she's vicious enough for the nickname to stick.

The show is a play on their names. Ryu is dragon and tora is tiger in Japanese. And if you try to say "dragon" in Japanese, one would say doragon. Or so Wikipedia says.

Taiga has a huge crush on Ryuji's friend, Yusaku Kitamura, who once upon a time confessed his affection to her. And Ryuji harbors this big crush on Taiga's bubbly friend, Minori Kushieda.

Their paths cross when Ryuji accidentally gets the lover letter Taiga wrote for Yusaku. She comes to Ryuji's house at night intending to beat the crap out of him. They end up agreeing to help each other win their respective crushes.

Despite his beady eyes, Ryuji is really a sweetheart who can cook well and is obsessed with cleaning, He ends up being Taiga's caretaker of sorts when he finds out she lives alone in this big messy apartment next to his small house and subsists on takeout, She can't stand her father and stepmother.

But "Toradora" is not just your run of the mill high school anime revolving around romance. Most of the characters have depth to them and some of the episodes make you reach for a tissue.

Ryuji learned to be cook and housekeeper since his widowed mother works nights as a hostess at a bar. He is perceptive and kind but finds it hard to tell Minori how he feels. Lately though, he's become a little braver asking her to the Christmas party, And when she said she wouldn't come, he yelled that he would wait for her. Aaaaw.

At the same time, Ryuji's feelings for the little terror who eats and hangs around his house is changing. It bothers him that their fellow classmates are rooting for Taiga and Yusaku to be a couple.

Taiga, who is used to being on her own, doesn't think twice about Ryuji cooking her meals, packing her lunch or cleaning her apartment for free. She calls him her "dog" but feels comfortable enough around him to tell him the reason why she really likes Christmas. At his insistence, she gave her father another chance to be a parent. Now instead of just Minori, she also has him on her side.

You don't have to be a psychic to know the two will end up liking each other as more than friends, But the show sure makes the trip to this likely path enjoyable.