Anime for September 2011

September has been a busy month for me in terms of anime viewing. I have watched all of the following this month so far:

Nana

Nana is about two strangers, both of whom are named Nana, who meet each other for the first time on a train to Tokyo. One of them is a naive country bumpkin coming to Tokyo to live with her boyfriend; the other is a streetwise rock musician looking to hit it big in Tokyo. Through some strange play of events, the two of them end up as roommates in the seventh floor of an old building with no elevator. The story that unfolds thereafter is one of friendship, love, betrayal, sex and music.

I liked this story very much. I'm planning to continue reading the manga where the anime left off. The two live action movies were amazing as well.

Durarara!!

Durarara!! is about two childhood friends from the country who were separated and then reunited in high school in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. A headless rider, a scheming information dealer, a bartender with superhuman strength, a Russian sushi chef, and a company doing experiments on human subjects are also thrown into the mix.

The story unfolds in bits and pieces which may be difficult to understand at first, but the pieces come together to form a cohesive picture as the episodes progress. I found this story very interesting. The characters are over the top but lovable, and the story itself is quite unique. I love the opening and ending themes as well.

Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru 

I started watching Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru, or UraBoku for short, primarily because of the bishounen (read: hot anime guys) in it. Surprisingly, the story was interesting and it drew me in.

Uraboku is about a an orphan boy with powers that he is unable to control. One day he is saved from demons by a mysterious man, who later on is revealed to be a demon himself. And it seems that this mysterious man was the orphan boy's lover in an alternate life where the boy had been a girl. Sounds confusing? Hehe... not really. In fact, it was entertaining. And I loved watching the hot anime guys fight.

Bakuman

Bakuman is the story of two middle schoolers aspiring to become successful mangakas (manga artists) and the struggles they encountered along the way as they overcame personal challenges and persevered. The show is inspiring, humorous, and educational at the same time, especially for those who also dream of becoming mangakas. I learned a lot of things about the work of a mangaka and I realized that it is no easy task.

I'm really looking forward to season 2 of this series which will start airing on October 2011.

Anime Recommendations: Good Anime Love Stories

Recommending animes to watch can be a tricky thing. I've been to many forums where they say that an anime that I didn't particularly like was the "best anime" they've ever seen. Of course I understand that different people have different preferences, but my point is that recommendations should be taken with a grain of salt... whatever that means. Haha!

I'm going to divide my recommendations into categories. This one is a list of anime titles that I would recommend to those looking for "kilig" or otherwise want to feel like high school kids falling in love for the first time. I have to warn you though that some of these anime contain violence and gore as well as love and romance. The list is in alphabetical order and only contains anime that I have seen from start to finish. Take a peek into the first episodes of each by watching the videos.