~ Sitting, waiting, wishing.

I saw an anime for the first time on the big screen today! It was English-subbed too, and the subs were, well, huge and easy to read! xD

My fellow Filipino anime blogger, usagijen, kindly invited me to watch the 2006 anime film Toki o Kakeru Shōujo (it is also referred as TokiKake for short, or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time for its English release) at the cinema at the Shangri-La Plaza Mall as part of the J-Pop Anime Matsuri hosted by the Embassy of Japan, which in turn is part of the Eiga Sai 2008 brought to us by the Japan Foundation, Manila, in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the UP Film Institute. The best thing about it? It was an AWESOME anime and it was FREE!

It was my second time to meet another blogger friend, usagijen, she was really nice (The first blogger/online friend I met in person was the the lovely strawberrychips). Despite a little mishap initially with the free admission tickets (which we settled nicely, thanks to usagijen’s friend and Batman! ;P), I had a wonderful time!

I think you have to see it to really appreciate it. And seriously, TokiKake was a very enjoyable anime film to see. It’s really funny, touching and meaningful at the same time. I absolutely loved it! I’d say it was very well written and well done, and I’d definitely recommend you to watch it too! ^_^

Oooh... a couple of live-action dorama news... Honey and Clover + a 2nd Detective Conan installment.

Honey and Clover:  It  will be adapted into a Japanese Drama Series, Hachimitsu to Kuroba, and will be aired on FujiTV, Tuesday 21:00 starting January 8, 2008, with Narumi Riko as Hanamoto Hagumi and Ikuta Toma as Takemoto Yuta. (from: drama wiki )

Detective Conan:  The new live-action episode is tentatively titled "Kudo Shinichi no Fukkatsu! Kuro no Soshiki to no Taiketsu" (Return of Kudo Shinichi! Showdown with the Black Organization). Conan attends a party for the "Miss Japanesque" awards, where he happens to eat a cake that temporarily transforms him back into Shinichi Kudo (Oguri). While there, a murder takes place and he has to solve the case. The special will also feature the first live-action appearance of the Black Organization. Shun Oguri, Tomoka Kurokawa and Takanori Jinnai are reprising their roles as Shinichi, Ran and Kogoro Mori.  NTV will air the special during Winter 2007. (from Tokyograph)

I'm curious with the Honey and Clover drama adaptation... I loved the anime! I haven't really seen the movie since I didn't hear much positive reviews about it and I didn't want to be disappointed. I think this drama would at least have more time to explore the characters and the story and may be able to make a more faithful adaptation of the manga/anime. (I hope the Nomiya/Yamada arc will be included! *fingers crossed*)

The Detective Conan live-action wasn't epic and looked a bit kiddie but I found it enjoyable to watch so I'm kind of looking forward to the 2nd live-action special. Oh, and Haibara will be there as well along with Gin from the Black Org... .this would be interesting. Here's a photo of the cast including the actress playing Haibara and the actor playing Gin, Prof Agasa and Conan. Haha. I appreciate that they're trying to make the live-action characters look like their anime/manga counterparts. :P  (see photo/cast guide)

edit:  I forgot to add the Nodame Cantabile Paris Special airing in Jan 2008! I absolutely loved the live-action series of that one, so I'm really looking forward to see that!

This is also known as "LoveCom."



Synopsis:  Lovely Complex is a story of a boy and a girl. The girl, Koizumi Risa, is 170 cm tall - much taller than the average Japanese girl. The boy, Otani Atsushi, is 156 cm - way below the average height of the average Japanese boy. They are known as their school's comedy duo because there is a popular comedy duo that has a similar height difference. One day, a very tall transfer student shows up and Risa immediately falls for him, as she has had bad luck with boys in the past because she is tall. There is a girl that Atsushi likes as well, so Risa and Atsushi decide to put aside their differences and help each other get their love interests. But as they get to know each other better, Risa's feelings for Atsushi begin to blossom.
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovely_Complex)

Genre: Romance, comedy, shoujo
Status: Anime - Ongoing, (11 episodes as of 06/16/2007)
             Manga - 16 volumes, completed.
Began airing: April 2007



Thoughts / Review: 
TO START OFF... The opening theme, "Kimi + Boku = Love?" by Tegomass, is pretty catchy and I think it is quite fitting based on the story. The opening animation is colorful as well. The ending theme is "Kiss ~ Kaerimichi no Love Song" by Tegomass.  I'll just do a quick rundown on the characters, a bit more comments on the 2 main characters (Koizumi and Otani) , mention the others in passing, and share my two cents about it .  Shall we?

Have you seen it too? What do you think? :)

This is also known as "Guardian of the Sacred Spirit."



Synopsis: Balsa the spearwoman is a wandering warrior, who takes on the task of saving lives in atonement for a past sin. On her journey, she happens to save a prince and is tasked with becoming his bodyguard. And he is going to need one, for his own father, the emperor, wants him dead.
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian_of_the_Sacred_Spirit)

Genre: Fantasy, drama, adventure
Status: Anime - Ongoing (11 episodes as of 06/16/2007)
             Manga - 10 volumes, completed

Thoughts / Review:
TO START OFF... The opening song, "Shine" by L'arc en Ciel, is pretty catchy. It may sound a bit too pop-ish for some, but it sounds okay. I especially like the beginning of the song. I think it captures the relationship between Balsa and Chagum well. The ending theme is "Itoshii Hito e" by Sachi Tainaka.

The story centers around Balsa the spearwielder and her quest to protect and save others, her "road to redemption."  She is a female warrior who has recently undertaken the job of a bodyguard. It is later revealed that she herself as a young child was entrusted to a bodyguard (a man named Jiguro) to protect her life and in that process, Jiguro's friends became enemies as a bounty was offered in exchange for Balsa's life when she was young. She grew up to be a warrior and has decided to be a bodyguard to make up for all the lives that was taken for her sake. Balsa is around 30 years old. She is a very skilled warrior and clever as well. Since she began her road to redemption, she has not killed a single opponent.

Have you seen it too? What can you say about it?

"Darker than Black"  is also known as "Kuro no Keiyakusha"

Synopsis:  An inscrutable and abnormal territory, known as Hell's Gate, appeared in Tokyo and altered the sky. At the same time, people who possess various special abilities emerged, and the night sky was altered. The stars disappeared, replaced by fake stars which correspond to those people with special powers. However, the cost of gaining those abilities is the loss of human emotion. Kept secret from the knowledge of the masses, these individuals able to murder in cold blood are known as Contractors. Various nations around the world use Contractors as spies and agents, often resulting in violent battles for information. Hei is sent to Tokyo under the guise of an ordinary Chinese student, Li Shun Sheng, but is really a Contractor working for an unnamed organization. His Messier code or star number is BK201. Hei fights against other Contractors with unpredictable abilities while carrying out missions and gathering information for his Agency.
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darker_than_Black)

Genre:  Drama, mystery, noir, sci-fi
Status:  Anime - Ongoing (10 episodes as of 06/14/2007)
Began airing: April 2007

Thoughts / Review:  The opening theme is "Howling" by abingdon boys school. I kinda like it. It's rock without too much screaming and yelling. I especially like the intro part when the title is shown. The ending theme is a ballad "Tsukiakari [Moonlight]" by Rie fu.

JUST A QUICK 411... There's a bit of vocabulary introduced in the series regarding the abilities and such. I'll try and give the gist of the major terminologies used.  HELL'S GATE - an off-limits area in Tokyo that appeared 10 years prior to the timeline of the beginning of series. Contractors and Dolls came to exist due to this. CONTRACTOR - individuals with superhuman abilities due to Hell's Gate. They are notrious for being ruthless and able to kill in cold-blood. They are capable of showing emotions but generally seems to lack conscience. DOLL - passive mediums in the form of a human; an observative spirit. Lacks emotion. Can be programmed with personalities and memories and mimic normal human behavior. REMUNERATION - when one becomes a Contractor, part of the contract is remuneration which is a sort of a "payment" in return for using their abilities. After they use their powers, they must perform this act each time (it can be varied from eating flowers to gross ones like breaking your own fingers). It is often done against one's will but there isn't a choice but to do it anyway.

There are a few more terms used, but these 4 are basically the main ones used  in the first 2 episodes. Let's have a look at the characters, shall we?

Have you seen it? What did you think of it? :)