Durarara! Opening & Ending Themes

I have one new addition to my anime OP/ED video collection with lyrics. Vote for your favorite!

• Durarara! OP/ED Themes

Anime 101: The Basics

I love anime. It has even gotten so far as to me preferring it over live-action movies and TV shows. The thing is that among my family and friends, I am the only one who truly appreciates it. After a while, I realized that almost all of them have misconceived notions about anime being solely for kids, and so I decided to write this post. :)

Definition of Anime
Anime is commonly defined as "animation originating from Japan". In English-speaking countries, it is also referred to as "Japanese animation". Just like its live-action counterpart, anime is also divided into many different genres such as romance, comedy, action, suspense, horror, drama, etc. This categorization is called "genre by topic".

Anime By Demographic
Another way to categorize anime is by demographic, meaning its intended audience. This is also a helpful tool for finding which anime would suit your taste. The basic anime genres by demographic are:

Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan Characters

Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan is full of hot anime guys. The members of the Shinsengumi alone make eight smoking hot specimens of the male species, - the anime kind. Hehe. Here are the main characters of the reverse harem anime Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan:

Chizuru Yukimura
Chizuru is the main protagonist. She came to Kyoto in search of her missing father, a Dutch-educated doctor who, on orders from the Shogunate, developed the "ochimizu", a potion which increases the drinker's healing abilities, speed, and strength but which also has an unfortunate side-effect of turning the drinker into a mindless, vampire-like monster called a rasetsu.

Toshizo Hijikata
Hijikata is the vice-captain of the Shinsengumi and makes most of the Shinsengumi's decisions. He is the one who brought Chizuru back to Shinsengumi headquarters. He has taken on the responsibility for Chizuru's welfare and acts as if he's dismayed at having to do so, but in reality he does care for Chizuru's safety and is often shown protecting her during battles.

Souji Okita
Okita is the First Unit Captain of the Shinsengumi. He is a brilliant swordsman, but he suffers from tuberculosis. He is based on the historical Okita Sōji.

Isami Kondou
Kondou is the commander of the Shinsengumi. He has the trust, respect, and loyalty of his men inspite of being very emotional. He is based on the historical Isami Kondō.

Keisuke Yamanami
Yamanami is the bespectacled scholar captain of the Shinsengumi. In spite of being a ruthless tactician, he is kind and caring albeit a little reserved. He is based on the historical Yamanami Keisuke.

Shinpachi Nagakura
Shinpachi is the Second Division captain of the Shinsengumi. He is usually very cheerful, especially when he is with his comrades. He is very skilled with the sword, but he is also a true alcoholic and womanizer. He is based on the historical Nagakura Shinpachi.

Sanosuke Harada 
Harada is the Tenth Unit Captain of the Shinsengumi. He prefers the spear to the sword, but he is seen carrying both. He is based on the historical Harada Sanosuke.

Heisuke Todo
Heisuke is the youngest member of the Shinsengumi being around the same age as Chizuru. He is based on the historical Tōdō Heisuke.

Hajime Saito
Saito is the leader of the third squad of the Shinsengumi and a master of the left hand sword technique. He is silent and a taciturn but also very loyal, polite, and wise. He often analyzes the situation before attacking to figure out which actions are necessary to complete the mission. He is based on the historical Saitō Hajime.

Chikage Kazama
Kazama is a member of the Bakumatsu, enemies of the Shinsengumi. He is the strongest Oni in the North and is after Chizuru so they can mate and create stronger oni.

Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan

I was doing some research on hot anime guys and I discovered a fairly new anime called Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan that seems to be a very promising reverse harem anime. I haven't seen it yet, but as far as I can tell, there are eight main male characters in the anime, all of them beautiful bishonens. Hehe. The story reportedly also has some romance in it - and not between the boys, mind you! The anime has one main female character as well. I wonder which of the characters falls in love with her or she falls in love with. Hmm...

The story is about a girl named Chizuru Yukimura who has come to Kyoto looking for her father, a doctor who has gone missing. During her search for her father, she witnesses a fight between a mindless, vampire-like monster called a rasetsu and the special task force in Kyoto called the Shinsengumi. The Shinsengumi take Chizuru into custody and decide to keep her close at hand after discovering that she is the daughter of the doctor they are also looking for. And so Chizuru follows the Shinsengumi in their battles to help the shogunate and search for the missing doctor.

I can't wait to watch it. I bet I'm going to fall in love with the characters of Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan. Hehe. Hope it gets dubbed in English soon. Sigh... I know, I know, it will probably be two or more years before an English dubbed version of Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan gets released, but there's no harm in wishful thinking, is there? :)

Black Butler (a.k.a Kuroshitsuji) Manga: Where To Buy?

I'm thinking of reading the manga Black Butler (a.k.a. Kuroshitsuji). I spent the weekend looking for volume one of the manga in the major bookstores around my city but sadly I wasn't able to find it. I did find it in Amazon but international shipping fees might cost more than the book itself. (I live in the Philippines.) My most probable course of action now is to avail of the special order service of our local bookstores. I've already emailed my request to National Bookstore. I'll also ask Fully Booked and Power Books and see which store has the lowest price. I hope they don't charge exorbitant fees for special orders.

I wish manga were easier to find. If any of you know of a place to buy affordable manga here in Cebu City, Philippines, please let me know. Thanks. :)

Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO) Anime Summary and Review

(Warning: This post may contain spoilers.)

Great Teacher Onizuka is a totally ridiculous yet lovable anime about a 22-year old, crazy, over-the-top, good-for-nothing, ex-gang leader named Eikichi Onizuka whose dream in life is to become a high school teacher just so he can get close to all those high school girls. After several failed attempts at passing the exam to qualify as a teacher and even more disastrous attempts at getting hired, he gets a lucky break when a school principal notices his passion for never belittling students (since he was always belittled by his teachers when he was in school). Unfortunately, he gets assigned as the class adviser to the most notoriously problematic middle school class ever, and to his dismay doesn't even get to see any high school girls at all.

But between Eikichi Onizuka's idiotic antics and highly unconventional teaching methods, his students are gradually learning not only from textbooks but also from life itself. As I was watching the 43-episode series, I found myself wishing I had had a teacher like Onizuka when I was in high school. Because... while Eikichi Onizuka may not fit the description of a "good role model" or even a "good teacher" for that matter, what with his bad habits and all (e.g. smoking, being a ladies man, breaking the law, etc.), the life lessons he teaches his students impacts their lives in a big, positive way. And when all is said and done at the end of the day, his students are better off having known him.

This is an anime that I would definitely recommend watching. Who knows, you might even learn a few things from the Great Teacher Onizuka. :)

Added bonus:
The opening and ending themes are very catchy tunes that you can listen to all day and sing in the shower.

Weiss Kreuz (Knight Hunters) Anime Summary and Review

(Warning: This post may contain spoilers.)

I had started to watch Weiss Kreuz today but didn't get past the third of twenty-five episodes. I couldn't get over the really bad voice acting. Yes, the English dub sounded terrible but I hate having to read subs so it's bye-bye Weiss Kreuz a.k.a. Knight Hunters. Then again I probably would've at least given subs a chance if the story was really good. But it wasn't. It felt forced and the events seemed too contrived. I don't know... it just didn't "flow".

From what I gathered from the first two episodes, Weiss Kreuz is about a group of assassins for hire. These assassins, all men of different "genres", cover up their activities by being florists during the day. (I say "genres" because it feels like they intentionally engineered each guy to appeal to a different group of viewers - there's the innocent young boy, the older somewhat apathetic man, the seemingly emotionless guy who also happens to wield a sword ala samurai, and the generic one you don't notice too much.) All the girls in the neighborhood swoon and fawn over them because they're so handsome and cute, and they have no idea that these guys are really assassins. How's that for contrived? Then there are the events that unfold...

The samurai guy visits a mystery lady friend in the hospital where a little girl mistakes him for her brother who she hasn't seen for some time, and later on the samurai guy discovers that this girl's brother has been killed by the man they were ordered to assassinate. This lady friend he had visited in the hospital was a victim of a hit and run and the samurai guy happened to see the face of the man in the car that hit her. Later on he happened to stumble into that man on an unrelated assignment. Too many "coincidences" for my taste.

The only good thing I could find about the anime is that the main characters are hot guys, which is such a waste really. I would not recommend watching Weiss Kreuz unless you find yourself totally bored with absolutely nothing better to watch.