Portal:Anime and manga/Selected series/2007
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2006 2007
Week 1
Full Metal Panic! (フルメタル・パニック! furumetaru panikku?, often abbreviated to FMP!) is a science fiction light novel series written by Shouji Gatou known outside of Japan primarily by its anime and manga adaptations with their mixture of its school segments focusing upon comedy and visual gags, and its longer and more serious plot arcs. The series is set in a parallel world, based upon actual world events around the late 20th century to the early 21st century.
The main story feature the mercenary group Mithril, their mobile base amphibious submarineTDD-1 Tuatha de Danaan, giant humanoid powered suits called Arm Slaves, and the various missions to which Sosuke Sagara is assigned. The comedic segments are the contrasting "normal life" portrayal of a high school student in Tokyo. The light fantasy touch of the "real and daily life" is similar to the style used in Elfen Lied.
A side-story, Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, also known as FMP? Fumoffu was broadcast in 2003. It focuses almost entirely on the high school life of Sagara and Chidori, highlighted in the short story collections. The series was a departure from the serious tone set in the first anime adaptation, with its slapstick humor and comedy focus. A spinoff manga was released by ADV Manga in June 2005 titled Full Metal Panic!: Overload! The plot involves Sousuke losing his memory, and is not considered canon.
Week 2
Fate/stay night (フェイト／ステイナイト Feito／sutei naito?) is a Japanese visual novel game created by Type-Moon in 2004. It has been adapted into an anime television series by Studio DEEN, Type-Moon and Geneon running from January 6, 2006 through June 16, 2006. The official announcement and teaser trailer were first shown at the Rondo Robe 2005 "-Gate to Date-" event in Japan on June 26, 2005, and a curtain-raiser DVD was released in Japan during November 2005. Originally an eroge, an all-ages version of Fate/stay night, renamed Fate/stay night Realta Nua, is scheduled to be released on the PlayStation 2 in 2007. There is a manga series that is serialized in the monthly Shōnen Ace magazine.
Week 3
The Twelve Kingdoms (十二国記, Jūni Kokuki), also known as Juuni Kokki, 12 Kokki, and Record of 12 Countries, is a Japanese fantasy series by Fuyumi Ono consisting of eleven novels and a short story collection, and a 45-episode anime series produced by Studio Pierrot in 2002. The story is loosely based on ancient Chinese mythology.
Week 4
Kanon (カノン?) is a Japanese visual novel which was developed by Key and released on June 4, 1999. The original version, first available on the PC, contains adult-only content of a sexual nature, though an all-ages version was released on January 7, 2000. On September 14, 2000 a clean version was released and ported to the Dreamcast, while a PlayStation 2 version followed on February 28, 2002. The PC versions were re-released with added support for Windows 2000/XP on November 26, 2004 (adult) and January 28, 2005 (all-ages), under the name Kanon Standard Edition. The last release will be for the PlayStation Portable on February 1, 2007.
The gameplay in Kanon follows a linear plotline where the player interacts at pre-determined times to choose several options that appear on the monitor. The game was developed so that the focus for the player would be an intricate plot and the appeal of the five female main characters. The title is generally believed to be derived from the musical term canon; the second TV adaptation plays on this association by using of Pachelbel's Kanon D-dur, or Canon in D, as a background piece at certain instances throughout the series.
Kanon has made several transitions to other media. There are two anime adaptations, the first being a thirteen episode TV series that first aired on January 30, 2002, which includes one episode of an OVA, Kazahana, released on May 3, 2003, both by the animation studio Toei Animation. The second anime adaptation, created by Kyoto Animation, first began airing in Japan on October 5, 2006 and will contain 24 episodes in total. The original game inspired the creation of novels, drama CDs, and a manga adaptation.
Week 5
Ronin Warriors (鎧伝サムライトルーパー Yoroiden Samurai Torūpā?) is the English version of the Japanese anime television series Yoroiden-Samurai Troopers (Legendary Armor Samurai Troopers). Yoroiden-Samurai Troopers (often abbreviated to YST) was produced by Sunrise, and aired across Japan on Nagoya Television from April 30, 1988 to March 4, 1989 and has a total of 39 episodes.
Ronin Warriors was produced by Graz Entertainment and it was recorded by the Ocean Group. Ronin Warriors first aired on American television during the summer of 1995 and subsequently appeared on the Sci-Fi Channel, Fox, and later, Cartoon Network. The series was released on DVD in 2003, including the original Japanese version with English subtitles on the reverse side of the disc.
At the time it was produced, Ronin Warriors was one of the more faithful English-version adaptations of an anime series intended for television broadcast. While the opening and ending sequences, as well as the eyecatches, were replaced with new ones, and the Japanese title cards were removed, there were no cuts to the bodies of the episodes. Also noteworthy is that the episodes retained all of the original music.
Week 6
Street Fighter II V (ストリートファイターⅡ Ｖ sutorito faita tsu bui?, pronounced "two vee") is an anime series based on the fighting game Street Fighter II. Directed by Gisaburo Sugii, the series first aired in Japan in 1995, from April 10 to November 27, on YTV.
The series is a loose adaptation of the games, taking several liberties with the established canon of the games. The show follows the adventures of a young Ryu and Ken, as they go through a journey to improve their martial arts skills after they both experienced a brutal defeat at the hands of Guile. Other characters such as Chun-Li, Cammy and Sagat appear through the course of the series with radically different character designs and backstories from their original counterparts.
Week 7
Death Note (デスノート Desu Nōto?) is a Japanese manga and anime series originally written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The series primarily centers around a high school student who decides to rid the world of evil with the help of a supernatural notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it.
Death Note first began as a manga series. It was first serialized by Shueisha in Weekly Shonen Jump from the first issue in December 2003 to May 2006, with 108 chapters in total. The series has been published in its entirety in 12 graphic novels in Japan, and is currently in publication in North America. The series has been adapted into a pair of live-action films (released in Japan on June 17, 2006 and November 3, 2006 respectively), and an anime series which commenced airing in Japan on October 3, 2006. Also, a novelization of the series, written by light novelist Nisio Isin, was released in Japan on August 1, 2006.
Week 8
The Big O (THE ビッグオー Za Biggu Ō?) is a TV anime series produced by Sunrise, Inc. It was directed by Kazuyoshi Katayama (animation director, Giant Robo), with character and mecha designs by Keiichi Sato (original concept, Karas), and script by Chiaki J. Konaka (Serial Experiments Lain, Armitage III).
Forty years prior to the events of the series, a mysterious occurrence caused the residents of Paradigm City to lose their memories. The series follows Roger Smith, Paradigm City's top Negotiator. He provides this much needed service with the help of an android named R. Dorothy Wayneright and his butler Norman Burg. When the need arises, Roger calls upon The Big O, a giant relic from the city's history that may hold the key to its future.
The series premiered on October 13, 1999 on WOWOW satellite television. It finished its run on January 19, 2000. The English-language version premiered on the American Cartoon Network on April 2, 2001. Originally a thirteen-episode series, positive fan response internationally resulted in a second season co-produced by Cartoon Network, Sunrise, and Bandai Visual. Season two premiered on Japan's SUN-TV on January 2003, with the American premiere taking place seven months later.
Week 9
Trinity Blood (トリニティ・ブラッド?) is a series of Japanese novels written by Yoshida Sunao, which were originally published in The Sneaker, a periodical that features Japanese fiction. The character design and original illustrations are done by THORES Shibamoto.
There are also manga and anime spin-offs - the manga is drawn by Kiyo Kuujou and is serialized in Asuka magazine, with 7 manga volumes currently available, whilst the anime is produced by GONZO and there are 24 episodes in total. It aired on Thursday on the WOWOW channel. There are considerable differences between the continuities of the novels, the manga, and the anime.
Yoshida Sunao was unable to finish the story. He died on July 15, 2004, shortly after the announcement of the anime, due to a lung blockage. He was 34 at the time. After he died, Kentaro Yasui (a friend of Yoshida and author of the Ragnarok novels) was asked to continue the novelization of Trinity Blood.
There are two sets of novels in Trinity Blood, Reborn on the Mars (R.O.M.) and Rage Against The Moons (R.A.M.). The events in Rage Against the Moons take place before those in Reborn on The Mars.
Week 10
Trigun (トライガン Toraigan?) is a sci-fi manga series with a space western theme created by Yasuhiro Nightow in 1995, and adapted into a 26 episode anime series in 1998 by Madhouse. It is the story of Vash the Stampede, a.k.a. The Humanoid Typhoon, and the two Bernardelli Insurance Society employees, Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson, who were ordered to follow him and minimize the damage that seems to follow Vash everywhere he goes. Like Himura Kenshin from the manga/anime series Rurouni Kenshin, Vash flips personalities between harmless idiot and unstoppable warrior, but is always staunchly pacifist, believing that it is wrong to take the life of another, regardless of the circumstances.
Week 11
Sailor Moon (美少女戦士セーラームーン Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn?, officially translated as Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon) is the title of a famous media franchise created by Japanese manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. It is generally credited with popularizing the concept of a sentai (team) of magical girls, as well as the general (re-)emergence of the magical girl genre itself.
The story of the various metaseries revolves around the reincarnated defenders of a kingdom that once spanned the solar system, and the evil forces that they battle. The major characters—called Sailor Senshi (literally "Sailor Soldiers"; frequently called "Sailor Scouts" in the North American version )—are teenage girls who can transform into heroines named for the moon and planets (Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, etc).
The original manga resulted in spinoffs into many other types of media, including a highly popular anime, musical theatre productions, video games and a live-action tokusatsu series. Although most concepts in the many versions overlap, there are often notable differences, and thus there is limited continuity between the different formats.
Week 12
Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール Doragon Bōru?) is a Japanese manga by Akira Toriyama serialized in the weekly anthology magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995, and originally collected into 42 individual books called tankōbon. In 2004, the manga was re-released in a 34 volume collection called Kanzenban, which included a slightly rewritten ending, new covers, and color artwork from its Weekly Shōnen Jump run.
In the U.S., the manga was first released as two American-style comic books Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z starting in 2000. The split corresponds to the two different anime series, though the original Japanese manga does not distinguish between the two. This style of release was unsuccessful due to its large size and expensive cost ($2.95 for an issue of 2, and later 3, chapters), and both series were cancelled in 2003. The Dragon Ball Z manga was transitioned into a launch title for the new U.S. edition of the Shonen Jump anthology, starting in January 2003. In parallel to these releases, VIZ Media has released all 42 volumes (nearly matching the first Japanese set) in English. VIZ titles the second part of the manga Dragon Ball Z to reduce confusion for North American audiences. The series is published in the United Kingdom by Gollancz Manga.
The story of Dragon Ball follows the life of Son Goku, a monkey-tailed boy loosely based on the traditional Chinese novel Journey to the West (西遊記), from his life and adventures as a child all the way up to being a grandfather. During his life, he fights many battles and eventually becomes the strongest martial artist in the entire universe. He is not without help, however, as the manga boasts a large ensemble cast of martial artist heroes and villains which provide the conflicts which drive the story.
The eponymous Dragon Balls are one component of the universe, but are not the focus for most of the plot lines. The Dragon Balls themselves are seven magical orbs which are scattered across the world. When assembled, they can be used to summon Shenlong, the dragon who will grant one wish within its limit. After the wish is granted, the Dragon Balls are scattered again across the world and become inert for one year. In times past, it would take generations to search the world and gather the Dragon Balls. In the beginning of the story, however, a 16 year old genius girl named Bulma has created a "Dragon Radar" to detect the Dragon Balls and made the process far easier than it was intended to be.
Week 13
Fruits Basket (フルーツバスケット Furūtsu Basuketto?) is a shōjo manga series created by Natsuki Takaya (pseudonym, real name unknown) serialized in the semi-monthly Japanese Hana to Yume (Flowers and Dreams) magazine, which is published by Hakusensha. It won the 2001 Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo. Fruits Basket has also been adapted into a 26-episode anime series by Akitaro Daichi (director) on TV Tokyo. The word "Fruits" in the title is always plural.
The title is often shortened to Furuba or Fruba, a portmanteau of the two parts in the Japanese pronunciation of the title, Furūtsu Basuketto.
Week 14
Love Hina (ラブひな Rabu Hina?) is a manga (and anime) series by author Ken Akamatsu. The manga won the "Best Manga, USA Release" in 2002 Anime Expo. The manga consists of 14 volumes. The anime is 25 episodes long and is supplemented with Christmas and Spring movies and the Love Hina Again OVA.
The manga is published in Japan by Kodansha in Shonen Magazine, in English in North America and the United Kingdom by TOKYOPOP, in French in France and Québec by Pika Edition, in Spanish in Spain by Glénat, in Singapore in English and Chinese by Chuang Yi, in Brazil by Editora JBC, in Mexico by Grupo Editorial Vid, in Poland by Waneko, and in several other countries. The anime is produced in North America by Bandai, in Spain by Jonu Media, and in Singapore by Odex.
There are also two novels from "Love Hina" which have been released in Japan and have been released in the U.S. by TOKYOPOP, the US publisher of the manga.
The story is a comedy of the shōnen genre about a clumsy young man with an unparalleled amount of personal drive despite having horrible luck. After failing to get into Tokyo U (the college of his dreams) He visits his grandmother's "Hotel" only to discover it has been turned into a girls dorm. After his grandmother gives him the deed to the building he has the tough job of being landlord, studying to get into Tokyo U, and dealing with the sneaky girls living there, who never pass up an opportunity to humiliate him.
The series falls under the harem anime genre as well due to the familiar set up of one boy living with a group of sexy but unusual women. One distinguishing feature that sets this series apart from the average harem anime is that, for a very large portion of the manga series, Keitaro is disliked by the girls. Whereas many harem animes initially or very quickly place the main male character at the center of the girls' lusts, Keitaro is not only initially disliked by the girls, he suffers for a rather prolonged and extended period of time. Keitaro often experiences falls or is simply beaten to a point that would probably kill a normal person, so it is a running joke throughout the series that Keitaro is immortal (thus, everyone is surprised when Keitaro manages to sprain his ankle in the Christmas special, and then to break his leg in the first episode of Love Hina Again).
The series is most well known for putting humorously absurd elements into an ostensibly mundane universe, such as flying turtles, ghosts, and Su's destructive mecha.
Week 15
Rurouni Kenshin: Romance of a Meiji Swordsman (るろうに剣心 明治剣客浪漫譚 Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan?)[1], a manga and anime series created by mangaka Nobuhiro Watsuki, is set during the early Meiji period in Japan. The English versions of the OVAs as well as the movie are sold under the Samurai X name. The series tells the story of an assassin named Himura Kenshin, who was known as the Hitokiri Battōsai ("Man killer - Master of Battōjutsu"). Kenshin later grieves for all the lives he has taken, and vows that he will never kill again.
The manga originally appeared in the Japanese Shonen Jump Weekly Anthology, and the completed work consists of 28 tankōbon volumes. The United States release of the manga has been completed by VIZ Media. Rurouni Kenshin is subtitled "Wandering Samurai" in some English releases, as a rough translation of "Rurouni."
Writer Kaoru Shizuka has written an official Rurouni Kenshin novel titled Voyage to the Moon World. The novel has been translated by VIZ Media and distributed in the United States and Canada.
Week 16
This Ugly Yet Beautiful World (この醜くも美しい世界 Kono minikuku mo Utsukushii Sekai?) is an anime and manga series by Gainax, by the same staff team that worked on Mahoromatic. It deals with the mass extinctions that have occurred on earth in the past. It takes this subject and shows a very interesting possibility for how it might happen today, if the basics of the story are to be believed. In doing this it touches at the love we show for others in different forms, from boyfriend-girlfriend to the love within our families. Due to this more or less constant push on relationships, this anime fits best in the moé (cute girls, romance) genre.
Week 17
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (ボボボーボ・ボーボボ Bobobō-bo Bō-bobo?) (sometimes known as Bo x 7, Bo^7, or Bo-bobo) is a manga by Yoshio Sawai, published by Shueisha in Japan and serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo has also been adapted into an anime.
In Japan, Shueisha published the manga and serialized it in Weekly Shonen Jump. The original manga story ended in 2005, and in January 2006 a sequel manga replaced it in Weekly Shonen Jump, now entitled Shinsetsu Bobobō-bo Bō-bobo (True Theory : Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo) which is currently running in the magazine weekly. The anime was made by Toei Animation and ran for 76 episodes from 2003 to 2005 on TV Asahi.
In North America, the manga has been licensed by Viz Media and was published in a one shot graphic novel form in October 2005. The anime, which is licensed by Toei Animation, first aired as a sneak peek on Cartoon Network's Fridays block on September 30, and then aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block Saturdays at 10:00PM and 10:30PM (EST). The show returned to the United States on February 17, 2007 at 8:30 PM. [1]. The anime is dubbed by Phuuz Entertainment Inc. (pronounced "fuse"), the studio that also dubbed the second Lupin the 3rd series, the original 2001 Shin Chan dub, and the Viewtiful Joe anime. The dub was heavily edited from scenes and the over use of on-screen inappropriate scenes. The anime also has a DVD which is called "The Bo-nafide Protector"
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo is a comedy that uses puns, non sequiturs, double-talk, breaking of the fourth wall, non-sexualized cross-dressing, visual gags, and satirical and pop-culture references, which make its humor very specific to Japanese audiences (much in the same way The Simpsons is often not as accessible to non-native English-speaking audiences).
Despite its limitations, the American dubs of the anime and manga manage to preserve the spirit of the show; the translators and adaptation writers were forced to rewrite several of the jokes due to the differences between the Japanese and English languages. At several points in the dub, the American version makes fun of the fact that it is a translation of a Japanese product (for example, when Bo-bobo is filling out an application card in one episode, he botches it because the application is in Japanese and he cannot read it, instead drawing "little doodles" for answers; in the original Japanese version he messes up the application for a completely different reason, and the "little doodles" are his honest answers written in hiragana). This style of self-referential humor can also be seen in the American version of Kyatto Ninden Teyande (Samurai Pizza Cats). Additionally, with the exception of the opening credits, all other on-screen Japanese text is intentionally kept in the English dub (most likely as a part of the retaining the show's surreal humor).
Week 18
Eiken (エイケン Eiken?) is a heavily fanservice-themed manga and anime series created by Seiji Matsuyama. The story depicts the life of schoolboy Densuke Mifune after he is forced into the mysterious Eiken Club, which is populated only by females, several of which have enormous breasts.
The manga series ran for eighteen volumes, and additionally included a series guidebook. A number of radio drama episodes and two OVAs (the latter roughly based on a volume 3 storyline) have been produced.
The first six manga volumes have been released in North America, and any additional volumes do not yet have a release date.
The OVA is currently airing on Encore Action.
Week 19
Infinite RYVIUS (無限のリヴァイアス Mugen no Rivaiasu?) is a 26-episode drama/sci-fi series produced by Sunrise Animation, the studio also responsible for other landmark shows in the space genre, in 1999. [citation needed] The series also refers to a manga.
The characters, drama, story and theme of the series draw comparisons with Lord of the Flies [citation needed], while the action scenes have been compared to those of The Hunt for Red October [citation needed]. The character and mecha designs in RYVIUS were created by Hisashi Hirai, who later went on to act as character designer for Gundam SEED.
The series is also noted for its music, a blend of western R&B/hip-hop music with J-pop vocals. This is evident in the opening song, "dis–", performed by bilingual Japanese-American singer Mika Arisaka, as well as the many thematic background instrumentals.
Week 20
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