30 Second Anime Review

[Mae]

I've been meaning to check Tokyo Godfaters out. For my contribution:

Perfect Blue: This is a suspense/horror movie about an idol singer who decides to leave her innocent image behind and get a more "adult" look in order to further her career. Some members of her fan base are not too happy about this and creepiness ensues. I'd recommend it.

Gunparade March: This is a nice older mecha anime about (surprise) a bunch of kids fighting against an alien invasion with giant robots. The premise is not at all original but I actually liked this series. The characters aren't terribly unique but they're likable enough, the fight scenes are decent, and although they never really resolve a lot of the larger story elements the ending at least makes sense. I found this series short and enjoyable, and if it's not particularly outstanding it's at least worth picking up.

Generator Gawl: This is an action anime about a group of time travelers who go to the past to prevent some terrible future from coming about. They go undercover at a local high school (real unique here) and fight monsters that are sent from the future to prevent thier mission from succeeding. There is a twist ending that I didn't really care for, but the rest of the series was ok. Decent action. I found some of the characters annoying, but I liked Gawl, so it evened out. I rented this a couple of years ago from a local video store and I thought it was worth the money.

Edit: Oh yeah, I have some more reviews in my blog too, but I won't waste space copying them.

[Death BOO Z]

well, here are my 2 cents on some not so known (yet no completly anonnmious) animes.

Kazemakaze Tsukikage Ran- a samurai lady runs into a chinese matrial artist, and for the next 13 eps they pretend to be funny with thier shitty drinking and eating habbits and after that they go a beat some evil\mafia\not nice guys to pulp without killing them ... it's a basic 'watch one ep, you watched them all' anime, the only half decent part is the fights, and they get old after the seconed episode, i would have even spoilered you about the anime, but i can't even do that, since the only plot movement occured in the last episode and nothing happend with it. No reason to put yourself through this torture,,, just move on to the next one on the list.

Dokkioda - A parody on 'idiot turns super hero' animes, or at least it tries to be: a robot girl came to earth and granted the idiot a suit which makes him a super hero, and he has to fight the super villians to prove his suit is supreme over the other super hero, problem is, that the company who employes them stuck them all at the same appartment building... dokkioda introduced a fairly decent cast of charecters (main idiot, little robot girl, cool hot neighbor super female hero, a mad scientist and an BDSM maniac) but fell too much into sad dramatic moments, i guess that some people might like this more than I did, but i don't really think anyone could really call this anime anything else than a 'pass the time activity'.

Rumic Theather - a rumiko takahashi (ranma 1/2, Inu yasah and the rest) collection of shorties, each episode has a diffrent story with diffrent charecters, it's mainly a look on the japanese society, once you get used to the style you'll really like it.
Mermaid's Forest (Rumic theather S2) - another rumiko takahashi work, this time she leaves the usual comedy\romance genre and goes to thirller\horror type of anime. the anime focues on yute, your usual immortal guy who dies 3 times each episode, and the newly immortal girl mana. in the 13 eps of the anime the story revolves in two forms, the first is yute's flashbacks from old days (the guy has been living for the past 500 years, so he's got some flashbacks to tell) and the second is the real time adventures of him and mana. both the parts are basically stories about other people who ate\tried eating\had a friend who ate the mermaid's flesh to gain immortality. the anime is quite good, and unlike most takahashi works, it has a good insight into the darker actions of the human race.

2 x 2 Shinobuden - it's a ninja anime! just not like naruto. the main charecters are Shinobu, a female ninja in trainning, Keade, her 'normal' female friend who is "more than a friend and less than a lover", and onsokumaru, the yellow ball of pervertedness... the three, along with the other ninjas in the clan (who all look the same and are called Sasuke) go through fan-serviced episodes which include almost every aspect of anime (hot springs, X-mas party, mushroom hunts, culture festival, annoying little girls) and makes sure to bash it to death with PG17 rated fan-service... the plot is kinda missing, and even though the anime actually makes fun of that, it still seems abit uncomplete to me... anyway, if you're up for fan-service, this is the anime for you.

Final approach - The typical 'girl falls in love with a girl and suddenly the rest of the world's female population followes' anime, this time the girl is a super rich girl who can do anything and has everything, and the boy is a orphen living alone with his sister and happens to have many female close friends and a wonderfully happy life. the show tries to switch between comedy, romance and angst, and since the anime ends pretty fast (13 eps of 10 mintues) they manage to pull it off without turnning the 'Haven't I seen this a million times before?' alarm on too many times... it's nice if you're in for a shortened version of a comedy romance anime, if not, try something else.

Cinderalla Boy: Ranma (a lupin the 3rd type of guy) and Reilla (rich blond snubby large breasted chick) are private detectives (does this sound like 'moonlight' american crap to anyone else?) and during one of their works, they fall into a tragic car accident and are suddenly sharing a body, which transforms every 24 hours (sunday it's Ranma's body and mind, and monday's it's Reilla's turn), so they have to found out what happened while taking on other jobs using the insuffisent menpower... if the story and name reminds you of Ranma 1/2, I have to warn that the two main charecters in this anime also don't interact with each other, which leaves us with a fairly intertainning (at least until the end) dull anime, get it the story intrigues you, but even if you decide to skip it, you won't miss anything.


and now, for the one positive anime review...

Narutaru (shadow Star): many people have called this anime a 'pokemon wannabe', i think each one and one of them should be punched in the guts twice, once for spreading shit about an anime without watching it, and once for not watching this anime. the story revolves around Shina, a 12 years old girl who lives with her father, during the summer vaction at her grandparents house, she find a cute starlike thing, which she immidiatly names 'Hoshimaru' (starson, in shitty english adaption), and apparently, Houshimaru has some realtionship to cretures called 'dragons' and other than looking extremly cute, it can fly and act as a medium as well. problem starts when we meet other 'dragon-holders', which most of them don't refer to their dragons as pets, and instead, they use them as machines to get thier not-so-holy objectives...usually, people at this point ot the review will think "so the girl has to stop them using her dragon, so it's basically pokemon", but that can't be further than the truth, Each one of the dragon users has a life story worth an anime of his own, and together they compose one of the best human 'villians' imaginable. the most amazing part of the anime, in my opinion, is how subtile the change is, at the first episode, you think it's a light hearted anime about cute creeters, but in the last episode, you suddenly scream in terror at the screen and pray that what you know is coming isn't coming...

[Munsu]

Project ARMS

This is what is shown currently on my sig and avatar. My favorite series up to the episode I've seen. Dark anime about a guy that as a kid got his arm destroyed and got it replaced with some revolutionary weapon which years later the organization that implanted the arm came to hunt him down, putting the lives of his girlfriend and family in jeopardy

http://www.boxtorrents.com/details.php?id=126847 = First Season... it will be a while before someone decides to release the second season




Jungle wa Itsumo Hale nochi Guu


This is simply an insane comedy series. If you want random comedy, this is what you are really looking for. Come into the world of Hale and Guu (who we don't what planet she's from since she is simply incredibly insane) and laugh your ass off.

http://www.boxtorrents.com/details.php?id=10227 = Series
http://www.boxtorrents.com/details.php?id=30 = Deluxe
http://www.boxtorrents.com/details.php?id=127758 = Final





Texhnolyze

This is a niche futuristic anime full of wierd scenes in a wierd world. Pretty violent and dramatic. You can also say it's somewhat slow paced, but it's interesting. This is certainly not for everyone, but people looking for something different, you should give this a try.

http://www.boxtorrents.com/details.php?id=11885 = Fansub by Wizzu







Major

Recently watched the first series of this, and was impressed to see such a well made baseball anime. It was fun and it had alot of dramatic scenes, some that you wouldn't even think would show in a sports anime. Second series should come out this fall.

http://mjn.edwardk.info/
http://a.scarywater.net/f-b/







Blue Gender

One of the first mecha shows I watched, so I figured I mentioned it. It's about a guy that was put to sleep by freezing when he found out he had a terminal disease. Years later he wakes up to find himself being attacked by some strange aliens, and saved by a squadron of wierd mechas. This is a very violent and bloody show, full of deaths, so be prepared for it.


http://www.boxtorrents.com/details.php?id=103 = Series
http://www.boxtorrents.com/details.php?id=128196 = Movie







I think I mentioned a good couple of shows here, give them a try for now till I decide to recommend a couple more...

[Foomanchew24]

Two anime that are very similar in ways.

Hikaru no go: THis anime is about a boy who throug the help of a ghost learns to play the game of go. This may not sound all that interesting but it is truly an amazing anime as you get involved with the main character and the relationships he has with others. Its all about wanting to be the best developing friendships and dealing with the ups and downs of compitition. If you like a good story you will like this one.

Cooking Master Boy: This is a chinese anime that was very enjoyable to watch. It is all about this boy who sets out to be the best chef in china. There is alot of comedy in this anime and if you like cooking you wil enjoy it when they talk about how they made this dish or that dish. Also this anime will make you hungry for chineses food so beware.

Sorry if i butchered the review for these anime, but they are both very enjoyable and Hikaru no Go es an amazing story, go watch them now.

[Y]

Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho:

aka "The Place Promised In Our Early Days", which is the official English title, or a more literal translation, "Beyond The Clouds, The Promised Place"

In the time since this thread began, Makoto Shinkai released his first feature film. It's an absolutely stunning work of art - working with an animation team obviously improves his work dramatically, and his style and directoral flair are as strong as ever. This movie is worth watching for his ridiculously beautiful background work alone. Plotwise, note that if you're expecting a movie with action like Hoshi no Koe you're going to be let down. This movie is a romantic coming of age drama with a sci-fi touch. His pacing is slower in a full film as opposed to a short. Overall, the movie is a wonderful sophomore effort that deserves a viewing from anyone who enjoys film as art.

[Munsu]

Two series I forgot to mention that I really want to recommend

City Hunter

Besides being a great anime, I'm really recommending this to you guys because there is a new anime coming out this fall, Angel Heart, that is the sequel to this series. It's about Saeba Ryo, better known as City Hunter; the best sweeper in the world. Plus he carries the biggest gun around, a .357 Magnum. Great comedy and action. And you'll learn what "mokkori" means because Saeba Ryo is the biggest and horniest womanizer out there...

http://static.thepiratebay.org...E_.3344838.TPB.torrent = Everything City Hunter... all series and movies

Tracker 2 = same







Monster

This is really the best series out there, best one I've seen in recent memory. Great characters and you get to know them all very well... their tendencies, pet peeves, psycological problems, etc... Great drama and plot. Kenzo Tenma is a Japanese neuro surgeon in the best hospital in Germany, he is also know as the best. One day he had to choose between saving the life of a kid or a goverment official. Against orders, he chose the kid... a decision he'll regret for the rest of his life because in reality.... You'll have to watch to find out because I don't want to spoil... If you haven't watched this I don't know what you've been doing with your free time.

http://tracker.danomac.org/a-kraze/ = All released subs

[Munsu]

Seeing as none of you have anything to recommend to keep this thread alive, I'm forced to write another review:


Fantastic Children

This is one of the best plot oriented series I've seen. Character design is old school (reminds me of Detective Conan), but if you bear with it for a couple of episodes, you'll see that this series is nothing less than fantastic. Story is full of mystery and plot twists. Some action here and there, and some sci-fi for you sci-fi nuts.

This is licensed by ADV, so I suggest you guys get it before it becomes impossible...

http://tracker.mahou.org/
#mae @ irc.rizon.net for bots




Edit: It would be nice if you guys pm me when you get one of these series, and tell me if you liked it or not so I don't feel I'm wasting my time doing this shit...

[Ryllharu]

I ended up with a little more of a summary in a few of the reviews, but there aren't any real spoilers, and they are somewhat necessary to get my point across. Most of them are either obvious from pictures I could have posted, or are only in the first eps. Apologies in advance if anyone feels they are a bit too spoilerish.

<u>Kanon</u>: A romance done in the animation style of AIR, based off a dating game. Yuuichi Aizawa is returning to the town where he spent a fair amount of time as a child, but he barely remembers any of it. Living with his aunt and cousin because his parents have gone overseas, he is eventually forced to deal with a lot of events that happened when he was younger. More of a supernatural romance anime, a good series to watch if you enjoyed KGNE or AIR. It's roots as a dating sim are pretty clear, but the main plotline doesn't dissappoint.

<u>Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha</u>: One may think, going into this series that it is just another cookie cutter magical girl anime, transform, find thing, do no harm, repeat. Thankfully, Nanoha doesn't follow this pattern. The series starts off a little slow, with Nanoha gaining her powers from a jewel called Raging Heart given to her by a talking ferret. The standard hunt for scattered items that briefly follows isn't really important to the series overall, so I'll just skip over it. Nanoha finds herself in competition with Fate, another magical girl from another dimension. Nanoha's goal changes to befriending and understanding Fate, and the series changes more to Nanoha dealing with hiding her problems and powers from her friends and trying to learn more about Fate. A good change from the cookie cutter mahou shoujo formula and it revived my faith in the subgenre. The sequel to the series will be released sometime this fall.

<u>Kono Minikuku mo Utsukushii Sekai</u>: A series from GAINAX about a year ago. Two girls fall from a comet in the sky, Hikari and Akari. Takeru Takemoto finds Hikari and the two are immediately attacked by a monster. Through Hikari's powers, Takeru transforms and more or less destroys the monster. If you've seen Mahoromatic, you've seen this. I'm not kidding, the cast is exactly the same with the exception of one or two additions. Less action than one would suspect from the first eps, and not nearly as funny as Mahoro. The series is thankfully short, and has a similarly disatisfying ending. If you really liked Mahoromatic, then I'd recommend this one, otherwise, wait until you're really bored. If you haven't seen Mahoro, watch that instead.

<u>Aishiteruze Baby</u>: A very satisfying slice of life series where a 5 year old girl is thrust onto a high school boy who had little to worry about other than attracting girls. He is forced to take care of her, and their two lives, and many of the people around them as well, change for the better as a result. There really isn't that much else to say about it. The series tends to give people a warm a fuzzy feeling inside. It definitely appears to be a shoujo/drama series (and it is), but unless you only like shonen, you'll probably enjoy this series.

These are all complete unlicensed series. I may add some ongoing series later on.

[Deblas]

My turn.

Witch hunter Robin- Story about a secret organization that hunts loose witches and Its new addition to the witch hunter crew, a 15 year old girl named Robin but what's different from her and her fellow hunters is that she herself has learned witchcraft. The series is kinda slow and it's very dark with practically no humor or emotions. If you're in to the supernatural then you'll like this series.

Wolf's Rain- A pretty weird anime about..you guessed it..wolves. The story takes place in the future where wolves are believed to be extinct but what humans don't know is that wolves are living amongst them in disguise. This is because in order to surive, the wolves have bewitched the humans so instead of seeing a wolf, the humans see just another normal human amongst them. The main character is a white wolf called Kiba who is on a journey to find a place called The Paradise.

One Piece- My new obssession and definetly a MUST SEE. A pirate series that is anything but the typical shiver me timbers, walk the plank, stereotype that we have of pirates. Created by Eiichiro Oda this anime takes place 20 years after the execution of the Pirate King Gold Roger. This pirate had everything in the palm of his hand and before they executed him his final words where that he left everything he owned in that place. After his execution the signal of the Pirate Age began as hoardes of pirates searched for his legendary treasure called One Piece (hence the name of the series) in the most dangerous sea in the world called the Grand Line and take the title of Pirate King. The main character of this series is a young newbie pirate named Monkey D. Luffy who is determined to go to the Grand Line and find One Piece and become the next Pirate King. This anime has everything from extreme humor, graphic violence and outstanding fight sequences. This anime also contains from little to no romance at all. Just very deep friendship. Also, some people feel that the first 10 episodes are kinda slow but after that it's awesome. So don't get discouraged if you feel the same way.

One Piece has been licensed by 4kids and has been butchered beyond belief. So don't judge the series from them. Download and watch the subs.

[Mut]

Originally posted by: Deblas
My turn.

Witch hunter Robin- Story about a secret organization that hunts loose witches and Its new addition to the witch hunter crew, a 15 year old girl named Robin but what's different from her and her fellow hunters is that she herself has learned witchcraft. The series is kinda slow and it's very dark with practically no humor or emotions. If you're in to the supernatural then you'll like this series.

Wolf's Rain- A pretty weird anime about..you guessed it..wolves. The story takes place in the future where wolves are believed to be extinct but what humans don't know is that wolves are living amongst them in disguise. This is because in order to surive, the wolves have bewitched the humans so instead of seeing a wolf, the humans see just another normal human amongst them. The main character is a white wolf called Kiba who is on a journey to find a place called The Paradise.

One Piece- My new obssession and definetly a MUST SEE. A pirate series that is anything but the typical shiver me timbers, walk the plank, stereotype that we have of pirates. Created by Eiichiro Oda this anime takes place 20 years after the execution of the Pirate King Gold Roger. This pirate had everything in the palm of his hand and before they executed him his final words where that he left everything he owned in that place. After his execution the signal of the Pirate Age began as hoardes of pirates searched for his legendary treasure called One Piece (hence the name of the series) in the most dangerous sea in the world called the Grand Line and take the title of Pirate King. The main character of this series is a young newbie pirate named Monkey D. Luffy who is determined to go to the Grand Line and find One Piece and become the next Pirate King. This anime has everything from extreme humor, graphic violence and outstanding fight sequences. This anime also contains from little to no romance at all. Just very deep friendship. Also, some people feel that the first 10 episodes are kinda slow but after that it's awesome. So don't get discouraged if you feel the same way.

One Piece has been licensed by 4kids and has been butchered beyond belief. So don't judge the series from them. Download and watch the subs.

[19:59] &lt;Y&gt; the main rules of that thread are not to review popular series unless you have something new
[19:59] &lt;Y&gt; so deblas reviews 3 shows that aired on TV a lot, including the incredibly famous One Piece, and says nothing useful

[Deblas]

Sadly OP has very low ratings in the U.S. Its definetly not getting much love.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] Thanks for sharing that Mut. I didn't know I was so popular over at Irc.

Allright. Anime series that many people don't know about or are not getting much love. No problem.

Gakuen Alice- Not a hardcore violent anime. More like a cute, fluffy, chibi kind of anime. Not much to the plot either. Its about a very persistent 8 year old girl who finds out that her best friend is leaving her town to go to a new school. Naturally she didn't take the news so lightly and being as persistent as she is, she went and followed her friend to her new school and ended up being admitted in it. What she finds out is that her new school is not any ordinary private school but a school for gifted children with strange powers they call Alices. Think of it as a fluffy and cute X-Men. If you like little kids getting beat in a comedic way. You'll like this series.

Vandread-Crows_Kill did a sentence of this anime but its not as nearly enough. The plot takes place in the future where Men and Woman live in different planets calling one another aliens and having no recollection of once living together and somehow managing to make their own babies between two males and two females. But its all about to change when a worker who makes vanguards(military's mobile suit) decided he wanted to escape his life and to do that he made a bet and planned to get a vanguard for himself. As fate would have it, as he was completing his bet, a ship attacked and he wound up as a prisoner in a ship full of women. Comedy ensures as both genders try to make the best of the situation. I doesn't compare to the Gundam series but overall It's a good series if your a sci-fi fan. A plus is that the fighting sequences that take place in space are all in CGI.

[Ryllharu]

Originally posted by: Deblas
Gakuen Alice- Not a hardcore violent anime. More like a cute, fluffy, chibi kind of anime. Not much to the plot either. Its about a very persistent 8 year old girl who finds out that her best friend is leaving her town to go to a new school. Naturally she didn't take the news so lightly and being as persistent as she is, she went and followed her friend to her new school and ended up being admitted in it. What she finds out is that her new school is not any ordinary private school but a school for gifted children with strange powers they call Alices. Think of it as a fluffy and cute X-Men. If you like little kids getting beat in a comedic way. You'll like this series.

You've already taken quite a beating in this thread and in IRC about this thread, but there's a reason a lot of the series reviewed are complete or close to. Gakuen Alice has been getting progressively darker, and you missed all of that in your review. Gakuen Alice is more similar to Narutaru than a fluffly light-hearted anime (Not anywhere close to that extreme, but watchers of GA know what I mean). There are a lot of underlying things going on in the series now that are certainly not light and fluffy. But watching the main character get physically abused in every eps is funny.

[FelixZeroAlastor]

Chrono Crusade: In the early 1920s New York City has developed massive demon problem. With demon worshiping on the rise and evil spreading there seems to be no hope in sight. Enter the Magdalene Order. Chrono and Rossette, two members of the Order's professional exorcist squad, are here to cleanse and and rid New York City of its demon problems. Chrono and Rossette are on a seach for their brother Joshua. Joshua is an apostle who was taken by a demon named Aion. At first glance this seems like your typical we kill demons and save the world animes, but fortunately it isn't. It goes much deeper than that. The show keeps with the action a drama very well making sure that there isn't too much of either. It's a show that I reccomend to all ages 13+.

[Shippou-sama]

Sorry if any of these are wrong or over-done, or popular, or whatever, but I think these are lesser-known, but quality.

Azumanga Daioh: This is a quirky little anime about a group of schoolgirls, in what can best be described as an anime version of a sketch comedy show. From curing the hiccups to removable pig-tails, the show is filled with adorable antics. Be warned, though, people unused to watching this style might just explode from the cuteness. xP

Ruin Explorers: Fantasy RPG consisting of only the most akward and useless heroes available. A cat-girl druid, a bishie prince, tomboy fighter-mage, "legendary" swordsman, love-starved sorceress, and a scamming "merchant" join forces to find the ultimate power to defeat an evil wizard.

Samurai Deeper Kyo: Interesting historical fiction based four years after the battle of Sekigahara. Trouble arises for a simple medicine man, Kyoshiro Mibu, when it becomes apparent that his greatest rival, "Demon Eyes" Kyo, has taken over his body. Now the two must survive the Kenyo (essentially demons/monsters) that hunt Kyo while sharing a body. Can they get by in this new era, and unravel the secrets to their past?

[Board of Command]

Originally posted by: Y
Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho:

aka "The Place Promised In Our Early Days", which is the official English title, or a more literal translation, "Beyond The Clouds, The Promised Place"

In the time since this thread began, Makoto Shinkai released his first feature film. It's an absolutely stunning work of art - working with an animation team obviously improves his work dramatically, and his style and directoral flair are as strong as ever. This movie is worth watching for his ridiculously beautiful background work alone. Plotwise, note that if you're expecting a movie with action like Hoshi no Koe you're going to be let down. This movie is a romantic coming of age drama with a sci-fi touch. His pacing is slower in a full film as opposed to a short. Overall, the movie is a wonderful sophomore effort that deserves a viewing from anyone who enjoys film as art.

I'll briefly say what this is about. It's about the promise of 3 best friends (2 guys 1 girl) from a small village when they were little. The girl has some "problem" that's somehow related to this mysterious "tower" in the city. As the 3 friends grow up and go their separate ways, they still remember that promise.

The story might be hard to understand at first, but you'll get the general idea after the first viewing. It's one of those kinds of movies.

[MrTicTac]

One Piece: fawking funny as hell shit... review over...

[Cyan]

Rahxephon - Neon Genesis Evangelion, but done so that it's interesting. =P

Gilgamesh - love the ending, fantastic story - animation a little 'different' but it grows on you.

12 Kingdoms - Deep engaging story - good character development. Fantasy environment with complex undertones.

Generator Gawl - Probably one of the best "cool" anime I've seen. Up there with trigun kinda... The only anime where I REALLY cared about characters.

Orochuban Ebichu (houskeeping hamster) - full of dirty humour, and just plain damn funny. About a guy and his relationship - centers on sex, comedy, and cheating - and a hamster. "green didlo"

Blue Submarine - Best non-repetative story (no one who's constatly whining to make people stop fighting) I have every seen. You care about characters, you get drawn in - just plain fantastic.

[Ryllharu]

Originally posted by: Y
2) Don't write too much or too little. A paragraph is fine. Don't write two sentences, don't write a page, and you'll be fine.

Please, pay attention to this rule. It kinda defeats the purpose of this thread making partial sentence reviews. There are like 800 recommendation threads formatted like that.

[Xinxang]

[First pleas forgive my so baaaaad english ^^]

Hi,
Very nice topic
I'd like to review my favorite anime (maybe the best of all the time for me) :

Hikaru No Go (75 ep +1 Movie) : Based on the Go game. This is the story of Hikaru, a boy who meet Sai a ghost who is the best go player of all the time. Sai will play Go through Hikaru's body. I don't want to say more on the plot but it's a must see. Deep characters, excellent story, amazing music. But the most amazing thing is that all the Go references are true. When you see a kung-fu movie you see people flying or do amazing tricks but it's not real. Here all the tricks are done only with black and white stones and you say "i can do it too". If you don't know this fabulous game and you like the asian culture (i think you do...) watch it (don't worry the games rules are very well explained and you follow Hikaru's initiation) and you'll only think of playing Go all the day ^^.

[Mae]

Sick of all those Naruto fillers? Bleach not enough to fill the void? Want to watch a good shounen anime? Well, if you enjoyed Naruto then I have some recs for you!

Shaman King : This series follows the adventures of a laid back Japanese student named Asakura Yoh in his quest to become the Shaman King. As a shaman Yoh has the ability to summon spirits of the dead to fight for him. He forms a partnership with one particular spirit and then enters the world-wide competition to become King, which is mainly a series of fights to determine which shaman is the strongest. There's plenty of action and adventure in this one as Yoh meets new friends, new enemies, and of course enemies that become friends. I found it a fairly typical action series, but entertaining enough. There are 64 episodes, and yes, it is complete. An edited version of the series was partially aired on American television.

Hunter X Hunter: Another shounen series about a young boy named Gon who is on a quest to become a hunter and find his missing father, one of the most famous hunters of all. This series has a fantasy world setting with plenty of exotic and dangerous locations. Hunters are powerful and honored professionals that dedicate their lives to hunting down rare or exotic people or items (anything from criminals to gems to rare foods). To become a hunter Gon has to pass a insanely difficult test of strength, endurance, and intelligence. Along the way he makes friends and enemies, and of course has plenty of adventures. Now, Hunter X Hunter is NOT complete, but it has a 62 episode TV series and 3 OVA's (First Hunter X Hunter OVA, 8 episodes; then HunterX Hunter: Greed Island: 8 episodes; and lastly Hunter X Hunter: Greed Island Final, 14 episodes). But I'd still reccomend it to someone looking for a good action series. It's definately entertaining, and what has been released covers some complete story arcs. The manga is ongoing in Japan.