Onani Master Kurosawa has a very self explanatory title, seeing how it deals with Kakeru Kurosawa, the master of masturbation! A very simple high school student who seems to be consumed by his small hobby, that being to sneak into a stall in a less frequented girls’ bathroom at his school and well, you know (look at his name). This makes the story seem like a simple and rather over sexualized fantasy, but it goes beyond that and becomes a very well written look into the day to day issues of a teenager.

Ehm, is it porn?

Not by a long shot. The story does have a few themes that may be more suited for young adults, but it’s all with the title’s intention of following the day to day life of the main character and the way that his little “hobby” pays off. See, he’s an awkward loner who enjoys shutting himself off from the real world and live a small control fantasy, during which the girls of his class are at his beck and call. At least until he’s caught by Aya Kitahara, an unseemly bespectacled girl who harbors a dark personality under her weak attitude. The two characters soon join forces in an uneasy alliance to bring peace to Kitahara’s problems with a pair of bullies, which ironically enough is only brought to be because of her threats towards Kurosawa.

In the end the manga moves from being a tongue-in-cheek parody of Death Note, in order to become a real slice of life psychological drama, showing readers the consequences of the characters’ individual actions and how they come to terms with them. It’s more about getting to know the true form of the cast than about the story itself, seeing how the characters ARE the story’s focus and lifeblood.

Life in high school is hell, especially for those who are left out (whether it was by their own admission or not) and this manga shows a very real interaction amongst classmates, one that despite being based around a silly sounding premise becomes a quality story that few would be able to pry themselves away from.

It’s a good read

This title earns its praise despite the fact that it begins as a parody of sorts, it follows a well paced story that centers itself around a seemingly implausible scenario and moves on to deal with real issues such as first love, bullying, fitting in and even the lack of control over one’s life.

This is one of those titles that seems rather crude on the surface but proves itself to go deeper than what any initial expectations may make you believe.

So give this one a go if you like some good story-telling and a more realistic setting for your slice of life titles, it’ll be a fun afternoon’s read.

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It’s been a while since we reviewed a manga (or anything for that matter), so we have a special review for you! This manga is rather famous around the internet, has an interesting premise, and it happens to be a mixed bag of both good and bad. So, let us spice things up and skip right into this review!

Dear Diary…

Mirai Nikki follows Yukiteru Amano, a shut in loner who lives his day to day life writing away at his cell phone while trying to be nothing but a by-stander. The only breaks in his routine come from his visits to a world he created in his mind, a world where a God and his assistant live as Yuki’s only friends. This all changes once the God in his mind, Deus, reveals that he is in fact real and has decided to give Yuki a special gift. This gift comes through Yuki’s phone, once a mere tool to store his diary and now a device that predicts the future.

It all comes at a cost, however. He is only the first of twelve others who have gotten this ability. It’s all part of game of survival that will decide who becomes the new God, giving them the ability to make any wish come true and to create a world to their own liking.

Yuki’s pitted against murderers, terrorists and people with a high influence over the world. But all is not hopeless as he is joined by Yuno Gasai, a lovely girl with a dark side to her bubbly personality. Their unlikely alliance could very well be each other’s undoing but they have no choice but to cooperate, especially since Yuno seems to be more than just a little infatuated by Yuki…

Quite a mixed experience

This manga title has a lot going on for it, quite literally too. At points it’s a well written plot with lots of potential and at other times it just fumbles around aimlessly, falling into so many clichés that it feel as if its author tried to do too much with too little.

The manga handles its main plot device rather well, that being that the cell phones have unique ways of predicting their bearer’s future. The one thing is does not accomplish well is, sadly, the cast. Some characters are rather memorable and well put together, but for the most part they all wander aimlessly over the plot.

Some characters will outright try to kill one another (sometimes killing many a by-stander in the process) and then a couple chapters later it seems to have been forgotten, no one really holds a grudge for too long it seems. It runs into usual anime/manga problem, where a group of teens suddenly become bad ass action heroes with little explanation or where some characters will act weirdly because…who knows really?

The plot had some promise but it suffers because of the awful main character, who goes from being a wimpy bastard to being heroic, then psychotic and back to wimpy. The support cast is okay for the most part; they do get in the way from time to time and stall plot. They’ll also seem to act randomly, talking friendly and nicely even when they were trying to murder each other a few pages ago.

Is it good?

Yes, for the most part. Many will hate this just because of that line, but it really isn’t THAT good. It had an interesting premise and lots of potential but it fell flat due to the characters, and the fact that plot twists around so much that it’s jumbled mess near the end. The fact that the “God” is named “Deus Ex Machina” and messes around with probability feels less of a clever hint by the author and more like a sign of how the plot goes. Characters will pop in an out to do something and be forgotten for a bit or performing actions that can really stretch your suspension of disbelief, which is really something considering the fantastic qualities of the setting.

The overall plot is ridden with holes that are patched out in a hurry near the end after a bunch of chapters that feel like glorified filler and awkward pacing, giving us the crappiest compromise ever. Some fans love the ending, but it’s not to be loved. It’s a simple compromise in which the story tries to have its cake and eat it.

My recommendation is to go read it, sure it’s got a lot of suck wrapped around what should be an otherwise perfect story. Sure, the major plot twists can be seen from space…But yet, it has enough clever moments and wit to blow your mind and keep you hooked, even if it’s just to see what happens at the end of the rocky road the story begins to take in its mid point.

Love it or hate

We could use some feedback on it, these title has a lot to be talked about and it would nice to know what some readers think.

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The year is coming to a close and so we have decided to present to you a, “Decade List,” allowing us to break away from the tedium of reporting news that garner three or so comments in hopes of striking an interesting conversation. Be warned this list is highly biased as it comes straight out of my personal opinion, both as a writer and an otaku.

And so it begins…

The following article contains a short list of what I consider to be, “The most highly over-rated pieces of crap of the decade.” This, of course, refers entirely to anime as it should be clear from the site’s name. I’ll go ahead and repeat myself; this is based entirely on my own opinion and yes, I know I’m not an “anime expert,” so feel free to go ahead and register in the forums to tell me how wrong I am. You could also use the comment section below the main article but the forums are honestly a better choice.

The titles here all came into existence within the past decade, meaning that you are bound to have seen or heard of them before.

So, let’s cut to the chase and start this in no particular order, save for the very last one:

Naruto and Bleach

Well, that sounds kind of unfair since it’s actually, “Naruto, Bleach, and many, manyyy more.” I once hinted in the article about consistency that I hated these kinds of shows. I guess no one really picked it up, which was kind of a lucky break as it didn’t move away from the original topic. Truth be told, I do, but I don’t hate the entirety of the rather bland and repetitive shonen genre. There‘s a place in my heart for the few sparkling gems of originality and genius that shine through the murky waters of a cesspool consisting of tired clichés.

The big shonens are basically THE SAME STORY. Do not lie to yourself here. Some nobody turns out to have a random skill that seems irrelevant at the beginning of the story. Then said nobody comes across a mystical plot-moving mcguffin that urges him on, alongside a band of friends, to battle evil with the power of friendship, self-esteem, and in some cases, love.

All the shows go through two main plots: They introduce a bad guy who’s the ultimate something or other that must be dealt with, or a stupid goal for the main character that comes down to, “catch ‘em all,” winning a tournament, getting a title, finding a treasure, saving the world, etc. It comes down to the same tired formula with different dressings for the main characters, too. The lead will more than likely be a wimp/social outcast that displays amazing talent, has an attractive female friend that he/she is clearly into (but never leads to anything), and a somewhat cocky male friend that either used to be a rival or will end up being one. It is also a general rule of thumb that one of the main lead’s friends (more often than not the cocky one) will be some sort of genius.

In short, I guess you could tag anything in the same vein as One Piece (I’m fully aware this one came out in the late 90’s, but it still only got big in the past decade), Naruto, and Bleach as being cyclical, never-ending, and unoriginal crap that will linger on repeating the same stories, introducing boring and generic villains, or just plain never getting to the main ones EVER.

Seriously, they often hit the 500 episode mark and their mangas have more dialogue than what a new unpublished writer could ever hope to see on paper!

Lucky Star:

This one will be shorter. Why? Because I could only sit through six episodes of this before forgetting everything I had just seen and throwing it into the, “meh, I’ll get to it when I have exhausted all forms of pleasure and entertainment known to man,” pile. I was led into it by a friend and half of the internet, and what really got me was that someone said, “It’s like Seinfeld but in an Anime with girls!” That was a vile, filthy lie.

That anime was dull and awful. It was so bland I can safely say a plate of cold oat meal got me more excited. Nothing happened, ever. Most people I told my opinion on the show said, “You just don’t get it because it’s geared towards true otakus!” or something amongst those lines. I thought that was ridiculous and quite frankly I just never bothered to give the show another chance.

I have seen plenty of “slice of life” or school themed animes and my opinion of Lucky Star was it could barely hope to be a poor man’s Azumanga Daioh.

Also, somebody told me it got better later and I just couldn’t care enough to watch after the sixth episode. My memories are scattered and barely there, but the most “interesting” thing that happened was when they discussed how to eat a pastry only because it made me sigh away the flies that had begun to gather over my interest-deprived and nearly comatose body.

Code Geass

This may be opening a HUGE can of worms, but I thought the show and the general feel that came off the characters and the plot was amazingly pretentious and generic. Everything I saw reminded me of something else; character designs as well as plot elements and, well, I just couldn’t buy into it after a few episodes (I even tried reading the manga).

It takes itself far too seriously for its own good and comes off as a douchey set of characters in a douchey universe. This came to bite it in the ass when I got to a mayor plot point later on and said to myself, “I’ve been watching insane anime for years with a straight face and this is just too stupid for even me,” and turned it off. It’s okay when you present me with a massively insane anime that tries to weave a plot out of crazy, but one that simply pulls crazy out of nowhere in the middle of a believable setting and then tries to play it to the point of making a regular deux ex machina part of the plot is not my cup of tea.

Everything was a bit derivative and generic with a twist of crazy. The main characters all got on my bad side and the entire show just came up with goofy stuff I couldn’t buy into. Not because it was too far out or because I lacked an imagination, I just didn’t think it fit with anything else on the setting.

Death Note

Oh boy, this might be the last nail on the coffin for some readers but I gotta lay it straight here, I HATE Death Note, I really do. Now, just do me a favor before you go into the forums and start flaming the crap out of the site (and me), take a seat and read up on why.

I watched every single episode at least twice. I tried to like it since everyone else seemed to be in love with the freaking thing and I ended up hating all of it. The characters were annoying and I got to understand the main appeal of the show was geared towards three kinds of people: people that think themselves to be clever and smart but really aren’t, social outcasts that wished they could take revenge on people without consequences, and finally, people that can’t find anything else to watch.

The plot was boring. You have a magical people-killing book that you can use to bring a horrible death to anyone and rather than, say, write, “Pounded to death by a massive gorilla that escaped from the zoo,” people get killed off by a series of heart attacks. Besides, most of the plot is delivered through exposition, characters blabbing on and off to explain things that had been barely hinted at and had no real way to be picked out or understood by the audience.

There are two ways most animes handle their plots: the subtle over-arching one that leads to a big surprise or twist where all the pieces fall together, or the slow paced narrative that takes place from a single character’s point of view and allows the viewer to essentially “become” the character. Death Note does neither. In fact, it actually tries to pull off a mix of the two that ends with many episodes consisting of long monologues, awkward “action” scenes, and massive unexplored plot holes.

Death Note thinks itself too smart for its audience, so it tries to explain everything to us. But in doing so it really ends up taking away from what the viewer could have gathered out of the rather flimsy bits of the story we had seen so far. On top of that lays the fact that most of the main characters were unlikable. Hell, most of the police officers were great until the detective work gets brushed off as “Magic!”

There you have it folks. Keep in mind that you were warned of the content within the article and now go ahead and express yourselves (not in the form of pitch forks and torches, though).

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Fans of Spice and Wolf will be delighted (or saddened) to know that the 15th volume of the light novel series, to be released this week in Japan, will open the final story arc. The volume in question will not be the final part of the story, though. It will merely the beginning of the end. Read on for more info on this series.

Of Wheat And Coin

Spice and Wolf is a unique tale of fantasy. It takes us to a land where war is waged by merchants against one another and where the value of a coin is enough of a reason to take to the roads and head into an adventure.

The story deals with a medieval setting that proves itself to be fantastically efficient in mixing elements of classic history and fantasy, the towns and villages seem to have jumped out of early renaissance books and set a lively tone to the background as we are taken through markets and inns learning of a merchant’s trade. But it wouldn’t be half as interesting if it wasn’t for Horo, a harvest deity that takes on the form of young girl with wolf ears and a tail, and her human companion Lawrence, a merchant that travels the land in hopes of making enough of a fortune to settle down and open a shop.

The story revolves around the relationship that grows between the two once Lawrence takes Horo away from the village she used to watch over, her only wish is to return to her home in the north now that the farmers have all but forgotten her importance to the harvest. Their journey takes us deep into this world’s views of religion, morality and commerce, the plot itself may seen bland to fans of action but there’s enough suspense and emotion to go around and it’s definitely a must read for the romantics.

The Book Itself

The light novels for “Spice and Wolf” where originally published in Japan February 10, 2006 to be later licensed by Yen press and published in English in September of 2008. The 15th volume of the saga will make its debut in Japan this week. Western fans of the novels will have quite a wait ahead of them unless they can import it seeing how the English release is currently on its third volume.

Those who consider their interest picked should go check out the two seasons of the anime adaptation, or take a look at the manga since they are both great in their own right.

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There seems to be a recent surge in manga coming back from the grave. Ken Akamatsu’s Love Hina will not be one to miss out on the newest trend and so it will be back, although briefly, it will be a one-shot special in full color to celebrate the 300th of Akamatsu’s other work (Negima!) The special volume will be released within the pages of the 40th Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine.

September Seems Promising

The one shot special will be published on the first week of September (the very first of the month to be more specific) The chapter will come out in full color and feature the main characters of the story, Keitaro and Naru. The chapter is not going to be a very long one for it will only stretch out as far as six fully colored pages. The magazine will also feature Negima!’s latest chapter and offer a limited edition T-shirt in honor of its 300th chapter.

Love Hina is probably the most well known harem-manga. It has been adapted from OVA’s to an anime and ran for three years (1998-2001) In Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine it deals with the story of a guy by the name of Keitaro Urashima who moves in to take care of an all-girls boarding house. Over the story all the girls fall in love with him for no apparent reason and this leads to massive shenanigans and a tormented love story between him and Naru Narusegawa.

The manga is a comedy with romantic undertones, but it manages to go crazy and put together a set of stories going as far as discovering ancient ruins and lost civilizations, so it should include many an interesting chapter for those willing to muscle through all 14 volumes released by Tokyopop.

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Blockbuster Director James Cameron spoke to the movie website “Coming Soon” in an interview, where he revealed his interest in pursuing a live action adaptation of the popular classic “Battle Angel Alita”, whether or not this is good news is subjective to most, but stay after the jump for more.

He’s A Good Director

James Cameron is a well known director with a long trajectory of good to excellent movies, but for most, the news of yet another Anime/Manga adaptation made in the west may not sit too well. Mr. Cameron spoke to Coming Soon about how he loved the story of Battle Angel Alita, to the point of having written the script before production began on Avatar. The main concern he has with the project is not one of interest (budget shouldn’t be an issue either, he’s James Cameron) but of time. He needs to evaluate where the project would fit and perhaps someday we would get some confirmation on it.

James Cameron first mentioned the project’s existence back in 2003, up to this day the status on it has switched from a mere schedule change to reports on production time. It seems the film depends completely on Cameron’s own scheduling whims, since the film has been moved back and forth in-between others, perhaps it could be on its way to theaters within the next five years or stay in development hell, you can never tell with these things.

What’s An Alita?

Those of you too young or out of touch to know about Battle Angel Alita should take a second to read this. Also…Shame on you! Anyways, Battle Angel Alita (known as Gunnm in Japan) began as a Manga by Yukito Kishiro. The story takes us to the town of Scrapyard, where Daisuke Ido comes across a badly damaged female cyborg who he then decided to repair, he later names her Alita once fully repaired due to the fact that she lost all her memories, save for an instinctual knowledge of combat.

The manga depicts a dystopian society based around scavengers that have built a home for themselves from scrap. The themes go from oppression and freedom to humanity’s darkest aspects, showing a brutal and gritty world where dog eats dog and where cyborgs have become the norm.

The manga itself has been serialized in the west over the years and the most recent edition, Battle Alita: Last Order, has been sitting on a hiatus born from differences between the mangaka and the publisher (Shueisha’s Ultra Jump) based on a ridiculous change in some words the mangazine seeks to impose as censorship.

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The virtual Idol and Vocaloid superstar Hatsune Miku will now be gracing the pages of Weekly Young Jump. Her most recent incursion into manga-land will take up four panels a week to bring her fans a bit of joy with each edition of the magazine. Starting on September 2, Kentarō Hayashi will begin his work on this particular release.

A Brief Bit Of History

Hatsune Miku is well known to all otaku whether it’s because of her musical talent or because of the many fan renditions of her. But who is she anyways? She’s a Vocaloid, a character created to serve as a mascot to represent Crypton Future Media’s music synthesizing software, which has the remarkable ability of bringing words to life in the form of songs interpreted by the ”voice” of the Vocaloid that accompanies each release, thus giving all of them a different personality and beat.

Hatsune Miku went so far as to become an idol, one that’s more immediately recognizable than many of her flesh and blood counterparts. She has voiced hundreds if not thousands of songs, has been the star of many a videogame and manga and it’s even poised to have one of her alter-egos come to life in a OAV, Blackrock Shooter, that’s right Miku’s so big that she even has more than one persona. Perhaps more remarkable of all is how she and her fellow Vocaloids starred on their massively successful concert (they were shown as holograms).

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It’s been a year since word first got out on the street of this anime adaptation, but it has been nothing but awkward silence ever since, at least until now. An announcement has been made as of yesterday, reporting next year as the title’s tentative release date, so read on for the details.

2011: New Anime But Still No Flying Cars

Deadman Wonderland is a manga that has been sitting on its hands waiting for an adaptation to come its way and this may come to be next year. The original story comes from Jinsei Kataoka and while the art is Kazuma Kondou’s handy work, some of you may recognize Kondou’s name as he’s the one responsible for writing and illustrating the Eureka Seven manga. The anime will apparently involve these two into its planning, so fans of the original may rest at ease over its fidelity. The animation itself will come by way of Manglobe.

Those who are not familiar with the manga and are expecting some sort of zombie retelling of Alice in Wonderland should read on because you may be disappointed in a good way. The story takes us 10 years after a great earthquake shatters Tokyo, leaving Japan in disarray and leading the authorities to allow the construction of “Deadman Wonderland”, a prison ran like a twisted amusement park meant to attract tourists and revitalize the local economy. But, there’s a catch, as it often happens with these things.

Enter Ganta Igarashi, a 14 year old high school student who finds himself wrongly accused of the gruesome murder of his entire class and is sentenced to death inside of Deadman Wonderland. His death sentence is to wear a heavy collar that slowly injects poison into his veins and the only way for him to survive is to eat a candy-like antidote. But in order to get it, he must fight for the entertainment of a shady crowd in an underground section of the prison, where he and the other death row inmates must make use of an odd ability acquired during their stay in the prison. The winner receives the antidote and lives another day, while the loser, if he survives, will go through a cruel game of chance where they’ll have a part of their body removed.

The announcement for this anime comes by way of the manga, so those fans of the dark side of anime now have something new to add to their lists.

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Those of you following the manga to its conclusion have a new reason to be cautiously excited; a new side story coming to us from Shonen Gangan is set to bring some new life into the title. The side story will be helmed by Hiromu Arakawa, the man behind the original. Read on for the known details.

Back For More

Full Metal Alchemist is one of those franchises that doesn’t seem to get enough, going from a popular manga to two successful anime adaptations, the second of which follows the manga more closely, and it also gave way to an excellent movie adaptation. Fans have seen every single side of the characters so far but there is still more to look forward to.

Why is that? Simply put, the manga and the animes may have come to an end this year, but we could very well be looking not at the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning.

The September edition of Square Enix’s Shonen Gangan will introduce readers to a new side-story of the FMA license. Whether said side story will be a one shot or a completely new spin-off is yet to be seen but what’s known for sure is that Japanese manga fans that missed out on the last chapter (since it sold out all across Japan pretty darn fast) will get to read the exciting conclusion as it will be sharing the pages of the magazine with its newest incarnation.

Western fans can either hope for Viz Media to keep on releasing the manga, or go ahead and dwell into the shady corners of the internet for a sneak peek.

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For those not familiar with Bleach, although its popularity would bet that majority of the anime community has watched or read the story, or at least knows the general plot, follows fifteen year old Ichigo Kurosaki who becomes a Soul Reaper (Shinigami or God of Death) who protects humans from enemies known as “Hollows,” spirits that prey on mankind. Bleach’s fame is noted by its run in Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan, the anime adaptation by Studio Pierrot, as well as the North American showings of the dubbed episodes by Adult Swim in the United States and Canada’s YTV.

As reported last summer, Warner Bros. already has acquired the rights to adapt Tsugumi Ohba’s and Takeshi Obata’s Death Note, Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s Ninja Scroll and Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira.

I don’t know what other any fans think of this, but I’m starting to get pretty annoyed with American film companies gobbling up the rights to Japanese anime and then not doing anything with them. I watch anime, partially because it’s a cartoon, not a two hour movie. It’s a series, multiple episodes that allow a long, compelling story to take place, whereas trying to tell any story arc from Bleach in one movie just won’t work. Better yet, anime is beautiful; art colored and brought to life, keeping the essence of the original product, which a movie does not do when casting living people.

Live-action versions of anime, more often than not, frustrate me. I enjoyed the Japanese Death Note movies, I did, but they weren’t astounding. Hollywood is just going to pump a bloated budget into a mediocre adaptation of an entire series and attach some questionable guys in the industry to the project and let loose. While, yes, Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company is involved with Ninja Scrolls and he is certainly a man to trust when it comes to movies, but Peter Segal, really? The guy who worked on Anger Management is going to successfully produce an American live-action version of Bleach? Somehow I just don’t see that happening.

What’s even more frustrating is that none of these movies are even in pre-production! How annoying! What do all of you think of this situation?

Those of you who have been following the manga since it was originally launched back in 2006 will be glad to hear a premiere date of April 23rd 2010 has been set. All of us at animemb.com are extremely excited about this announcement and will keep you updated.

Synopsis

Here is a quick synopsis of the series. A former deliquent named Adachi Hana, who has dreams of being a class representative, makes her friend Shinagawa Diachi go to school social events and interact with the other students. Diachi soon finds out that Hana, like him, used to be a deliquent and that she is trying to change Daichi for the better. Daichi does not want to socialize with his peers, and wants to be left to himself. Adachi only wants Diachi to do all of this so he won’t end up messing up his life and making the mistakes she did. This series will be about the adventures of Adachi and Diachi, and their peers.

Now these two books, alongside Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Hell Screen (also illustrated by Obata) and Osamu Dazai’s other famous work, Run, Melos! will be turned into a twelve episode anime, expected to premiere in Japan on October 10th.

No Longer Human was launched as a manga in February and Kokoro was adapted back in 2005.  Run, Melos! has already been turned into an animated special, back in 1981 and again in 1992 as an animated film.

Obata, who is drawing concept art for a number of other unnamed literary masterpieces, will be aided by Bleach’s Tite Kubo and The Prince of Tennis’ Takeshi Konomi in this anime endeavor.  Kubo is working alongside the anime development of Hell Screen while Konomi is doing Run, Melos!  No Longer Human is the story of a person’s alienation from the world, Kokoro is the narrator’s tale of his sensei’s life.  Hell Screen tells the tale of an artist enacting violence in order to paint a picture of hell and Run, Melos! is about a Greek shepherd traveling to visit his sister before his execution.

The anime community appears to be conflicted with this news, as some are upset that now great pieces of literature in other countries are being turned into comics and cartoons, while others can understand the reasoning behind the project, the attempt to raise an interest in reading books once more, a problem for our younger generation not limited to any one country.  Some fans have been in disagreement, not over the notion of books turned into cartoons, but the actual artists that are participating in the anime, the most notable to stir up arguments is Kubo.  Concern in regards to character development and background art from his famous manga, Bleach, have left some in the anime world concerned over the effects this will have on the literary adaptations.  This however, is only one example and is someone’s opinion, not fact.

Please share your thoughts on this news.

Kaze no Stigma is the story of a boy named Kazuma, who is banished from his family after failing to learn Enjutsu, the ability to control fire.  However, four years later Kazuma returns to his relatives as a master of Fuujutsu, the harnessing of wind power.  He is reunited with his younger brother, Ren and Ayano, the family member who succeeded Kazuma as the heir to the family sword.  Only after his return, family members begin dying by Fuujutsu and Kazuma finds himself defending his innocence.

News regarding the story’s continuation has not been announced.  Although, for the sake of all its current fans and supporters, I do hope they can find a way to bring the story to a logical conclusion, should its wrapping up bring rest to the anime community.  The industry has had to say goodbye to too many artists and storytellers of late, both in America and in Japan, and I find it especially unfair when these are gifted professionals who have to leave their work behind and incomplete.

Shinya Shokudo, or Midnight Cafeteria, is the acclaimed manga of Abe Yaro.  The story has been nominated once for the Manga Taisho Award in the past and has recently announced that it will have a live-action spinoff that will be airing in Japan this fall on their TBS station.  Midnight Cafeteria is about a mysterious restaurant in Shinjuku that only opens at midnight and has no set menu.  The chef is willing to make whatever the customer wants.

The show will star Kaoru Kobayashi, famous for his role in Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke, as the restaurant’s master chef.  Kobayashi recently won the Japanese Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work on the film, Tokyo Tower.  The news of this live-action adaptation was announced on the cover of the magazine, Shogakukan’s Big Comic Spirits where the story is printed, but no other details have been released since.  The manga’s fourth volume will be available in Japan on August 28, 2009.

Originally airing on October 3, 1988, Soreike! Anpanman has stayed strong for over twenty years. Each episode is twenty four minutes long and cut into two parts, each twelve minutes in length. The show is aired by Nippon Television, who have also shown such anime as, Death Note, Ouran High School Host Club, and Miyazaki films. The series has had twenty feature films that have been released since 1989, several animated shorts, and sold over fifty million books since 2006.

Bandai opened a Anpanman Children’s Museum in 2007 in Yokohama, Japan, even going so far as the open an Anpanman hair solon inside the museum later that year. The show is heavily promoted through merchandise, anything from video games to clothing, snack foods and even the “Anpanman Train” in Matsuyama, a train painted bright pinks and blues with characters from the show along the sides.

The producers originally applied to enter the show into the Guinness Book of World Records with 2,000 characters in May, but some of them, such as, Pan Kojo and Baikin Shiro were not accepted, so the number was dropped to the current record of, 1,768. This coming August 28th, Anpanman will be airing its 1,000th episode, a historical event within itself.

The creator of Anpanman, Takashi Yanase, is currently 90 years old and apparently said the person who was most surprised by the record the show had produced was actually Yanase himself. Even at his age, Yanase is still working in the manga realm as a judge for the Japanese Cartoonist Awards.

Takashi Yanase began writing the Anpanman manga in 1968, having been inspired when he was a solider struggling through World War II. Anpanman is a superhero who fights his enemy, Bacteria Man, in each episode of the show while helping those who live in the town. He patrols the area around Uncle Jam’s house and is a symbol of justice.

Many of the characters are designed or named after foods, such as, Melonpanna (melon bread), Currypanman (curry filled bread), Shokupanman (sliced white bread), and of course, Anpanman, who is named after a bread filled with a bean jam.

In July of 2008, manga artist, author of the yaoi series, Haru o Daiteita, or Embracing Love in English, was accused of tracing an ad from a highly popular Italian fashion brand called, Diesel. Nitta confirmed the accusations last summer, saying that she did indeed trace the ad for the opening of Embracing Love, chapter 49, Stand on Vessel. She added that she was not really aware of the copyright laws and offered apologies to her readers, Be-Boy Gold magazine, that publishes Embracing Love, as well as the people of Diesel.

A few days after this entire situation came to light, Nitta had removed her blog and website from the internet and left a message saying that she was sorry for the problems the tracing had caused and that she would no longer write in the future. Libre publisher pulled all Embracing Love products and news from their catalogs, including CDs.

Despite her apologies, the ad campaign described her work as a tribute, being quoted with saying, “”Nitta, don’t worry, we’re not that kind of brand, we consider this a tribute, only the greatest are copied, right? But honestly, our chick is hotter than yours!” The last statement is a friendly jab about Nitta using two men in her picture, whereas the original source was a man and woman. Nonetheless, even with Diesel’s comment, Be-Boy Gold had removed the next installment of Embracing Love and since last July, have not published Nitta. The controversy had also caused Nitta to decline the invitation to return to California’s 2008 yaoi-con and Nitta has remained out of the spotlight since.

Just recently, editors at Be-Boy Gold magazine have announced that Nitta has finished the fourteenth and final installment of Embracing Love and that it will be for sale this autumn. Embracing Love concerns the lives of two male, adult film stars who are trying to break into mainstream acting. Drama soon arises when after shooting an erotic film together, actors Katou and Iwaki find themselves falling for their co-star. The couple have been praised by readers as fresh and honest with their emotions, the manga finding humor in everyday situations.

On top of fourteen volumes, Embracing Love has also been turned into a two episode OVA, released in 2005, as well as dramatic CDs. The series is intended for adults, focus directed towards a female audience in particular.