EXAMURAI SENGOKU==Could hardly be more different from its counterpart above. Also set during the Sengoku Jidai, it stars the members of the 14-member band EXILE reimagined as various types of wandering fighter/thieves. Doesn't seem overly gory so far, but much more realistic and grimy in the Afro Samurai mold. Not bad, but I doubt I'll watch past ep. 2.

07-GHOST==OK, we're at yet another of those anime military academies where all the kids wear snazzy uniforms and are overflowing with patriotic enthusiasm. Teito Klein, amnesiac and former slave, is the top student in his graduating class--in fact, he and his BFF Mikage are among the only 19 students who manage to pass the mortal-combat final exam. But Teito has a flashback when he hears the voice of a formidable officer, realizes that the man killed his father, and pretty much forfeits his diploma by trying to kill the guy. At the end of the episode he's on the lam and searching for his new destiny. ==Overloaded with handsome guys in all age brackets (they're all babes, even the evil officer), this is a serious bish buffet; but that may not be enough to make it worth your time. It may look up from here, but the first episode is awfully formulaic, shadowing everything from Trinity Blood and Weiss Kreuz to Code Geass and even Regios. I'll give it another chance, but I feel as if I've seen it already.

GUIN SAGA==Big year for heroic fantasy/sword-and-sorcery series. Along with Tears to Tiara (which I'll be mentioning again) and Queen's Blade (which I won't), we have this handsome piece of work from Satelight. When the Mongaul army invades the ancient kingdom of Parros, the royal twins Remus and Rinda are hurried into the Crystal Tower--apparently a sort of magic-powered teleportation chamber--to be beamed to a safe haven elsewhere. But the coordinates are wonky and the kids end up in a much-whispered-of scary forest called the Roodwood (Roodo no Mori) deep in Mongaul territory. Sister Rinda is the capable type, but little brother Remus goes completely to pieces, and when a Mongaul patrol catches up with them it looks bad for the Twin Pearls--until a huge warrior with the head of a leopard charges out of the forest to dust the entire patrol single-handed (he actually drives one soldier straight into the ground like a tentpeg--with his bare fist, yet). --The twins cautiously approach their rescuer, and establish that he has no memory, and doesn't know why he's here or why he's wearing --and can't remove--the lifelike leopard mask. All he can remember are two words: "Guin", his own name; and "Aurra", whose meaning is a mystery. Though grateful, Rinda's hesitant to trust him; her prophetic powers give her weird flashes when she thinks about his name. But the prince and princess need a protector, and it looks as if fate may keep them traveling together longer than they imagine. --How can Guin find clues to his past? What's to become of the royal orphans? Who's behind the mask? ==This is a gorgeous-looking series, and Guin's mysterious origin certainly piques one's curiosity; plus, I've always loved a good fantasy adventure.

TEARS to TIARA==ow, I hate that title: sounds like a shoujo about beauty pageants. But (yay!) no: it's actually further proof (like Hakushaku no Yosei/Earl and Fairy last year) that the British Isles' history and mythology sound just as exotic to the Japanese as theirs does to us. This one's set in the mythical kingdom of Gael, and follows what transpires when the evil, ambitious warlord Drwc rides into a quiet village to breach the sealed chamber of the Demon Lord Arawn. He wants to raise the demon and use its powers for conquest, and there's no one to stand against him but the children of the Elf King [Yosei no Ou =)], star-prophetess Riannon and her brother, the village's First Warrior, Arthur. There's a Cauldron of Rebirth too, and runes and dragons, and future characters with names like Epona and Llyr. I'm betting the warlord will go down but the Demon Lord will be released, and it'll take at least eleven episodes to get him locked down again.==It all sounds very Lloyd Alexander, and could be a good deal of fun.

GENJI MONOGATARI SENNENKI==Now, here we have something special: a breathtakingly beautiful adaptation of the Genji Monogatari ("Tale of Genji"), the 11th century classic sometimes called the world's first novel. It airs in the Notaimina block, and once again proves that little corner of the anime world is without peer when it comes to simple, gorgeous romance. The story traces the loves and losses of the Emperor's son Genji Hikaru--known as the Shining Prince for his many accomplishments and peerless beauty--and the course of the one true love that he can never have. Created by the legendary Tezuka Productions studio, it is a visual treat, with meticulous historical detail (the Meiji-era fabrics are perfect), soft, glowing colors, and character designs that...wow. The formal restraint of the writing style, mirroring the courtly original, mutes its tragic events to a delicate sorrow that is pure Japanese art. Only eleven episodes, but enough --as they say--is as good as a feast.

HIGASHI no EDEN ("Eden in the East" --or "Eden of the East"; could they mean "East of Eden"?)==I love being able to say this: this is unlike anything else this year, or most any year I can remember. Production I.G.'s flagship series of the season is a-- well, here goes: 20-ish Saki Morimi, on a school trip to the USA, leaves her group in New York because of her passion to see Washington DC, which she thinks of as the center of the world. Her dream is to throw a coin into the White House fountain and make a wish, but alas, the photos she's seen of it didn't point out that there's a high fence and about a mile of lawn between the fountain and the street... She tosses her coin through the fence anyway, rousing the suspicion of the security guards, and might have been in international hot water if the guards weren't suddenly distracted by a naked guy waving a gun. The guards give chase; the guy eludes them and returns, and Morimi realizes he's also Japanese. She gives him her coat, and he lopes off, only to have her realize she left her passport and wallet in the pocket...she abandons her suitcase on the street and runs after him. Meanwhile, the stranger has realized that he has no memories whatever, and all he has besides the gun is a cell phone with a cryptic voicemail message explaining what to do "since it's his first time having his memory wiped". (Oh gods, I hope he doesn't work for the Dollhouse.) He reaches the address he was sent to, and finds to his shock that it's stocked like a terrorist's lair, including a cache of artillery and a batch of false passports. Fortunately, it also has clothes. --Meanwhile, cops are looking for the suspicious Japanese couple, but *whew* Morimi finds him first. --to make a long story short, he thinks fast: dresses, chooses a name (Akira Takizawa) from one of the false IDs (and jams the rest in the toaster to torch the place), gives back hers, files a theft report with the consulate and gets them both plane fare back to Japan. (There's a very funny scene in which he "proves" he's not the nude dude in the White House security pic by cheerfully dropping trou for a policewoman, who blushingly agrees there's a considerable difference in size; "that's just because I was cold," he confides to Morimi. =)--But, well, now what? Can he find out who he is and who's behind this? What about Morimi? (And her tour group, who must be in a panic?) And who--in the stunning final shot--has just bombed Japan?

Spy thriller, offbeat romance [maybe that; it's also airing in the Notaimina block =)] , and/or psychological adventure; I can't tell what this series is yet, but it ought to be worth finding out. It looks handsome and just radiates class and style, and you can't beat that pedigree: director Kenji Kamiyama and art director Yusuke Takeda previously worked together on Seirei no Moribito AND Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Looks like a good one.

More to come...

...go on (eventually) to Fall/Winter 2009 reviews.
...go back to Seasonal Reviews Mainpage for all anime series reviews 2005-8.

...return to Amalgam links page.