SEKIREI

RATING: 4/5

CHAPTERS: 1 – 12 (END)

AUDIO: JAPANESE

SUBTITLE: CHINESE/ENGLISH

INTRODUCTIONS:

Minato Sahashi who is awkward around women and unemployed, has failed the college entrance exam twice, Growing up, he could never stand up to his mother or little sister, a trend that continues to this day. In reality, Minato is extremely intelligent, yet his inability to cope under pressure results in his constant failure. As a result he has been branded an idiot and loser by many. One day, Minato meets a girl named Musubi, who literally falls from the sky.

Minato soon learns that he is an 'Ashikabi', humans with special genes that allows them to partner with 'Sekirei'. The Sekirei are super-powered beings created by the mysterious MBI corporation. Made up of cute girls, buxom women, and bishōnen, the Sekirei fight in a dangerous and sometimes deadly competition called the 'Sekirei Plan'.

With the entire city of Tokyo as the battlefield, the Sekirei seek out those humans who are destined to become their Ashikabi partner. Minato soon learns that being the partner of a beautiful girl is not all fun and games, especially when he discovers that an Ashikabi can have more than one Sekirei partner, and that's where the real trouble starts.

KOIHIME MUSOU

RATING: 4/5

CHAPTERS: 1 – 12 (END)

AUDIO: JAPANESE

SUBTITLE: CHINESE/ENGLISH

INTRODUCTIONS:

The storyline of this anime was based on a Japanese adult visual novel and the Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. You would expect to get some “unexpected” scenes since all the characters (except one) are females. After losing a family to bandits during a night raid, Kanu swore that she will not let others share the pain she had experienced that night. She quickly became a well-known and feared by villain bandit hunter. During her journey she came across others, who wished to join her in her cause. One of them is a girl named Rin Rin, who had similar experience with bandits in the past.

YAMA NO MATSUEI (DESCENDANTS OF DARKNESS)

RATING: 3/5

CHAPTERS: 1 – 13 (END)

AUDIO: JAPANESE/ENGLISH

SUBTITLE: CHINESE/ENGLISH

INTRODUCTIONS:

Shinigami are the gods of death, the beings who would guide the souls who have been recorded into the Register of Souls to Hades, the world of the dead. They are the employees of the Summons Division, which is an office directly under the control of Enma, the Emperor of the Underworld. The series focuses on one of these Shinigami named Asato Tsuzuki the most powerful, but loveable, laid-back and troubled of them all.

Even after death, life is full of paperwork and criminals. Tsuzuki Asato is a 26 year old, happy-go-lucky, and dorky Shinigami (god of death) whose job is to makes sure that those who are dead remain dead and stay in their proper realms. Even though he had the job for over 70 years, he is in the worst division with horrible pay. He also has a knack for not keeping partners although Shinigami always worked in pairs. He somehow managed to get acquainted with one stubborn, smart-mouthed, serious and defensive 16 years old by the name of Kurosaki Hisoka. Tsuzuki and Hisoka’s relationship grew stronger and closer as time passed by. With each case they investigate, they come closer to the conspiracies of the serial killer Dr. Muraki Kazutaka.

Many stories chronicle the mysterious cases they are called upon to deal with, when souls who have appeared on the Register have for some reason not yet died and are often serious and sad. Other stories deal with their off-time play, and these are sweet and funny. A strong focus of the story is the characters themselves and their feelings about work, and about each other.

MY-HIME

RATING: 3/5

CHAPTERS: 1- 26 (END)

AUDIO: JAPANESE

SUBTITLE: CHINESE/ENGLISH

INTRODUCTIONS:

My-HiME (舞-HiME) is an anime series, created by Sunrise, directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino. The series originally premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo from September 2004 to March 2005. The show is a comedy-drama focusing on the lives of HiMEs - girls with the capacity to materialize photons - gathered at Fuka Academy for a secret purpose.

Tokiha Mai and her sickly brother, Takumi were awarded scholarships to attend the prestigious Fuka Gakuen high school. After an accident on a boat en route to the school, she finds herself against strange girls with strange powers. After an explosion that tears that boat in half, she finds herself awake at school grounds.

There, she learns about monsters roaming the ground, and the secrets about the powers of the Hime, as appointed by a special birthmark and the ability to see an evil star in the sky. She later found out that she herself possessed the power of a HiME.

NANATSUIRO DROPS

RATING: 3/5

CHAPTERS: 1-12 (END)

AUDIO: JAPANESE

SUBTITLE: CHINESE/ENGLISH

INTRODUCTIONS:

This is a manga series named Nanatsuiro Drops, illustrated by Yūki Takami, began serialization in the Japanese bishōjo magazine Dengeki G's Magazine on September 30, 2006, published by MediaWorks.

Masaharu Tsuwabuki is a normal student, though not very social. One day he meets a new student named Sumomo Akihime, and another girl named Yaeno Nadeshiko, Sumomo's close friend. That same afternoon, he suddenly bumps into Arthur, a servant of Nona Yuki from Figurare who at the time was disguised with a mask. The collision causes Arthur to drop a bag full of magical potions; amid gathering up the scattered cans, one of them is accidentally switched with Masaharu's soda can. Upon drinking it, he transforms into a stuffed animal lamb at night. He must collect seven stardrops, in order to return to normal.

There are two primary worlds within the story of Nanatsuiro Drops: the human world called Retroscena, and a magical world called Figurare from which the Stellar Spinners originate. There are currently two schools that teach magic within Figurare: Pramu Cloris and Saint Asparas. According to Natsume, each year the two schools pick their top Stellar Spinners (the one from Pramu Cloris is called Prima Pramu, and from Saint Asparas is called Prima Asparas) to send to the human world to capture seven stardrops in a goodwill competition to improve relations.

YUME TSUKAI (DREAM USERS)

RATING: 3/5

CHAPTERS: 1-12 (END)

AUDIO: JAPANESE

SUBTITLE: CHINESE/ENGLISH

INTRODUCTIONS:

Yume Tsukai is a Japanese manga series by Riichi Ueshiba. The series revolves around dream masters who turn nightmares into peaceful dreams. On behalf of their clients they go around searching for nightmares which have escaped the mind of the owner and have manifested themselves into the real world, causing havoc. The nightmares are paranormal phenomenons which have the appearance of poltergeist activities.

In what seems ordinary belies occurrences of unexplainable circumstances, and underlying these special occurrences is the presence of one's dreams or "yume". In this world, the said "yume" is composed of strong emotions... Simultaneously, these emotions will break free from one's mind and transcend the borders to reality. Once the fine line between dream and reality is crossed, these "yume" may turn into nightmares and invite disasters. Misako Mishima and Touko Mishima are amateur dream-users or "yume tsukai(s)". They possess special powers to exterminate and control these nightmares. They will then search for the source of the "yume" and return it to the rightful owner.

HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE

RATING: 4/5

CHAPTERS: 1 (END)

AUDIO: JAPANESE

SUBTITLE: CHINESE/ENGLISH

INTRODUCTIONS:

This film is about a young beautiful 18 years old girl by the name of Sophie, who had a chance to meet the handsome but mysterious wizard Howl, who rescues her from some menacing soldiers. Howl charms her with his looks and dashing feats of magic, briefly sparking happiness in Sophie. But later that night, the vain and jealous Witch of the Waste appears in Sophie's hat shop in the form of an obese, wealthy woman, along with two of her minions. The Witch hints at a prior connection to Howl (the Witch of the Waste once came to Howl as a beautiful young woman, which there Howl pursued her as a lover, but rejected her after seeing her true form. The Witch now assails Howl with the fury of a jilted lover) and curses Sophie by transforming her into a 90-year-old woman before disappearing.

Because of her mysterious transformation and afraid that people will ask questions (not to mention the fact that the transformation spell also prevents her from telling others of her predicament), Sophie runs away from home and journeys into the Waste. There, she befriends a magically animated scarecrow whom she names Turnip Head. Turnip Head secures her shelter from the Waste within Howl’s moving castle, a chaotic ensemble that walks upon mechanical chicken legs.

The story continues with Sophie meeting up with different characters along the way and how she fell in love with Howl. This is truly an amazing work from Studio Ghibli under the directorship of Hayao Miyazaki, who along has directed other award winning Japanese anime such as Spirited Away.

CARD CAPTOR SAKURA – THE MOVIE

RATING: 3/5

CHAPTERS: 1 (END)

AUDIO: JAPANESE

SUBTITLE: CHINESE/ENGLISH

INTRODUCTIONS:

This movie is entitled “Enchanted Cards”. Sakura and her classmates in grade 6-2 are all busy preparing a play for the Nadesico Festival. Although it is a summer holiday, the girls are kept busy in daily rehearsals. During this time, Sakura ran into Syaoran and Meilin, who came for a visit from Hong Kong. Syaoran has always expressed his feelings for Sakura but she has not had the chance to tell him her feelings. Sakura’s best friend, Tomoyo, suggested that they go to the new amusement park. Just as Sakura thought that she has the chance to tell Syaoran her true feeling, both of them suddenly sensed the aura of the original Clow cards. All the Clow cards were turned into Sakura cards earlier and had since been sealed.

Suddenly, Sakura’s cards started to disappear one by one. The most powerful Clow card appeared and Sakura’s final battle begins…