Way back in the 1980s no one in the UK knew what anime was, except for maybe a handful of hardcore fans (and Helen McCarthy). Yet long before the days of simulcasts and specialist anime labels, there…
My first experience with Gunslinger Girl was when someone at work imported the Japanese PS2 game developed by Marvelous Entertainment and played it over a few lunch times. It was an on-rails shooter,…
History was always a favourite subject of mine at school, and still is, as my part-time profession clearly shows. So I was really interested to review the second boxset of one of the series …
When Mai Tokiha and her sick brother Takumi are transferred to the boarding school Fuka Academy, she never expected her life to be turned upside down so suddenly. From the giant monsters known …
If you know anything about the history of manga and anime, then you should know who Osamu Tezuka was. He may not have been the first Japanese person to draw comics, but no other individual has had …
“Ethnic jokes might be uncouth, but you laugh because they’re based on truth.” – ‘Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist’; Avenue Q
The time is World War I, and we join Germany discovering…
Tonoharu is a graphical novel covering the story of Daniel Wells, the one and only American in the small town of Tonoharu. He is an Assistant Language Teacher working at the local rural Japanese…
When I was at university, my stress was reduced thanks to my Nintendo DS; it was then that the Phoenix Wright series was introduced to me and I had plenty of fun exploring such a unique and comical…
The teaser website for the release of Master of Martial Hearts should give you a good idea of what to expect before even placing the DVD in your player. Just let the site load and then let your mouse…
After an episode re-cap on important past events, mixed in with the monologue of the Elric brothers’ father Van Hohenheim, we are back where we left off. Alphonse has followed Gluttony …
Cross Academy is attended by two groups of students. The Day Class is filled with blissfully ignorant humans, unaware of the evil lurking in their school with their biggest concern being the up-coming…
In the final volume of this series, Rin and Manji are getting ever closer to their goal of obtaining vengeance for the murder of Rin’s parents. Having already defeated ten members of the …
Updating a classic story for modern times is always a risky gambit. In an age where the terms ‘remake’ and ‘reboot’ seem to be bandied about as the new buzzwords, it’s sometimes a groan-inducing…
The release of Summer Wars at the end of March can’t come soon enough for some anime fans. It is, after all, the latest work from director Mamoru Hosoda who directed The Girl Who Leapt Through…
When the meeting between Yamato and Kabuto Yakashi, one of Sasori’s spies (and his attempt in capture him) ends in failure, Orochimaru makes his appearance to Team Kakashi. Because of …
Before the well known anime hit Japanese TV’s in 2001, there was another adaptation of the boy’s love manga, Gravitation, in the form of an OVA in 1999. Animated by a completely different company…
In the second feature-length release in the Bleach franchise, the Soul Reaper Toshiro Hitsugaya takes centre stage. Hitsugaya and the tenth section are guarding an artefact known as the King’s…
It’s crunch-time for the Soul Society. Jin Kariya, the Bount, has come to wreak vengeance on those responsible for creating him. After centuries of persecution in the world of the living, Kariya…
I have to admit I knew very little about 5 Centimeters Per Second when it landed on my doorstep. I knew it was a series of short stories a little over an hour in length, but that was about it. I decided…
“Well Fullmetal, looks like we’ve landed ourselves in a pit of hell.” Roy Mustang
I knew nothing about Fullmetal Alchemist before watching this boxset except that it is widely revered…
