Here is a tentative list of what we will be showing this year. This is not confirmed yet.
Aim for the Ace - A classic sports shonen by the great director Osamu Dezaki. Like Ashita no Joe, this is the show proves that those that make the mold break the mold. You've probably seen this plot before. Young girl joins a team and the coach takes a special interest in her. The other girls are jealous and shun her, eventually including her personal role model. This show was influential enough that the Gainax Sci-fi classic "Gunbuster" was originally a parody of it (thus the full title "Aim for the Top! Gunbuster"). This series may be familiar to some as it was recently revisited in the form of a popular J-Drama. We will be looking at the original series, that despite being made in the seventies still holds up extremely well. -Michael
Air -
Wanderer Yukito Kunisaki is travelling Japan looking to find a mysterious winged woman who is trapped in the sky.Stopping in a small
town he discovers the key to freeing her in his relationships with special girls he meets and helps out.
Why it should be watched: Based on one of Japan's most popular visual Novels, Air is a beautiful, poignant story of getting past pain and heartache to find what is truly important. It may be really weird at times, but it is also thought provoking, sweet and filled with wonder. -Cameron
Aoi Hana - Aoi Hana is an adorable yuri anime that follows two childhood friends as they are reunited and together figure our what love really is. Full of drama and lovable characters, this show is sure to touch your heart while also making you smile.Yuri/Drama/Romance - Drakie
Area 88 (TV) - A man is tricked into joining a mercenary army by his best friend. Now he has to fight his way out back to the woman he loves. Every day is a gamble between life and death. War is hell and no series better shows the raw emotions and psychology of it better than Area 88. -Norm
Ashita no Joe - One of THE most classic anime. Like Aim for the Ace (of the same director) it forged nearly every trope representative of the Sports Shonen genre... and masters them in ways that have rarely been challenged. Many people compare this show to the more modern and popular Hajime no Ippo, as they are both boxing anime. However, the stories have little in common. Ippo works his way to be a champ because he was bullied, wants to be strong, and has a tallent for it. Joe is a homeless drifter who gets into a brawl with the local Yakuza, and is seen by the drunk, one eyed, disgraced former boxer Danpei. Danpei sees this kid as his chance to make it big again and to quit being an unemployed drunk. He puts everything into Joe, staking his entire future on him. Joe, however, flippantly ignores these efforts, exploits the old man, and ends up in jail. It's here that things get epic. Joe is one of the most hard core serieses out there, and for those of you who can find all of it, it is one of the most rewarding, emotional, distressing, frustrating, tear-jerking shows you'll ever have the pleasure of watching. -Michael
Beck - A classic tale of a boy and his band. Yukio, aka Koyuki is your average 14 year old highschooler trying to
find his place among his peers. One day he rescues a strange looking dog, who's owner, Ryûsuke Minami is a upcoming
guitarist for a Japanese rock band. Yukio and Ryûsuke begin to form a close relationship and decide to start a
rock band named after Ryûsuke's dog, Beck. The story entails of Yukio's relationship with not only his fellow band
mates, but with Ryûsuke's sister Maho.
Blue Sub #6 - Zorndyke, a demented scientist, has caused the flooding of most of the land masses on earth.
In an attempt to kill off the remaining humans, Zorndyke sends his half animal soldiers, known as "hybrids" to kill
any survivors left on the already destroied cities. In a struggle for survival, the humans begin to war against Zorndyke
and his hybrids; their best bet being within their submarine forces, one of which is the blue submarine #6.
Darker than Black - Taking place 10 years in the future inside Tokyo, Japan; Darker Than Black is a world where
those with super natural abilities are living among the masses. Ever since the emergence of Hell's Gate and
the false stars, people known as "Contractors" have become imbued with super natural abilities, ranging from
manipulating gravity to creating ice from thin air. Just as the name implies, these contractors involuntarily
take part in habitual actions every time they put their powers to use. Being as powerful as they are, contractors are
put to use by various organizations in order to complete various shadey tasks, ranging from spying to assassination.
Dragon Ball Z (TV) - This really needs no description. The overboard muscular adventures of wacky alien Son Goku as he fights a series of more and more powerful space baddies over too long a period of time! -Cameron.
Dragon Ball Z (First three movies) - See above, but in movie form. - Cameron
Dragon Half - 20 lbs of weird in a 10 lbs bag. Dragon Half concerns it's self with the adventures of the Titular ( and boobular) Half- Dragon Mink in her quest to find love by consuming a potion that will make her completely human. Somehow though she runs afowl of a powerful demon king...
Why it should be watched: Why shouldn't it be watched? An outright classic of silly, slapstick anime this two episode OVA is jam packed with laughs, weirdness and super deformed medieval action. Even Ludwig Von Beethoven gets into the act, providing the music for one of anime's
best closing songs of all time, "My Omelet" -Cameron
Evangelion - Shinji Ikari is one of the chosen pilots of one of the EVA units, humanity's last hope against a horde of vicious Angels. - Cameron
Eyeshield 21 - Over the top American football awesomeness. Big hits and big plays are a staple of this shonen series, but what really seperates it from being just another sports series is the brilliant characters. Even non football fans can get pulled in and enjoy this great series. -Norm
First Squad - Squad of teenagers with uncanny abilities have been drafted to fight the invading German army in
the Eastern Front during World War II. Through unforseen circumstances, Nadia, the protaganist of the story,
is tasked with the objective of studying supernatural phenomenon.
FLCL -This is one of my favorite shows. On a basic level, it’s a fun story about many interesting characters. There is our main character Naota, who gets hit in the head by Haruko, and alian woman who rides a Vespa, causing robots to pop out of Naota’s head. Naota is always followed around by his brother’s slightly insane ex girlfriend Mamimi. The show makes a lot of references to other works and cultures (non-anime included) and has a good music selection. It’s a whole lot of fun to watch, but can also be interpreted in different ways beyond the basic story level. A lot of people have seen this show, but for those of you who haven’t, I don’t want to corrupt your views on it. Go on in and see what you make of this work! -Jennifer
Full Metal Alchemist -Most fans know this show, but for those of you who didn’t have cable for the past several years (like me) it’s a show about two alchemist brothers Ed and Alfons, who lose their mother and their bodies in an alchemy accident, and now search for the philosopher’s stone to set things right again. Most fans should watch this show not just because it’s popular but because of its merits as an anime. The character development is one of the best parts of the anime. The story is also excellent. It incorporates parts of the FMA world such as the history and delicate politics of a post war world. FMA is well-round:. entertaining, light hearted and depressing. -Jennifer
Gao Gai Gar - Extraterrestial Intelligence have crash landed on Earth, absorbing machinery into itself before vanishing with
no signs of its location. Two years later a secret underground organization created by Japan was made to combat
the alien terrorists. This organization is known as the Gutsy Geoid Guard aka "GGG", who is secretly based under G-Island
City in Tokyo Bay. The GGG are now fighting the "Zonderians", which use Zonder Metal to create different kinds of matter to
form "Zonders"; these Zonders use humanoid beings as a host.
Genius Party 1&2 - A collection of artistic shorts by extremely prominant animators.
Gunslinger Girl - il Teatrino - Gunslinger Girl is about a agency who specializes in counter-terroisim and counter-intelligence, while fronting to be a agency that specializes in the rehibilitation of the physically injured. This agency employs young girls and implant them with cybernetic implants, giving them enhanced stregnth, speed and high tolerance for pain. Each girl is assigned a handler who is in charge of training a girl by any means neccessary for their objective at hand.
Gunsmith Cats - Welcome to Chicago! Gun store owners and bounty hunters Rally Vincent and Mini May Hopkins face the challenge of their lives as they take on a mysterious Russian Assassin. - Cameron
Gurren Lagann (Parallel Works) - These short videos take the awesome characters of Gurren Lagann, place them in different settings and stories, and put it all to the epic music of the sound track. In a way, these are glorified music videos. But they are EPIC. After enjoying the series, I really loved this added bonus. It brings out a new side to the characters, and the music. - Drakie
Haibane Renmei - A large cocoon arrives in the living area of a group of Haibane. The cocoon begins to grow in size as the Haibane take care of it until it eventually cracks open, revealing a young girl living inside. The girl can remember nothing, other than the dream she had while living inside the cocoon, which was of her falling. In Haibane, tradition, they name her after her dream, giving her the name Rakka (means falling). Rakka is cared for by the motherly Haibane, Reki, as she goes through the ordeal of growing her wings.
Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni - Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni: Once you visit the town of Hinamazawa you'll never be able to leave. Meet interesting neighbors, nosy police officers, and sexy identical twins. Only, watch your step...Mysterious things seem to happen in this sleepy backwater town and once a year at least person dies and another disappears, claimed to be victims of the curse of the vengeful god Oyashiro-Sama.
Why it should be watched: Wicked Atmosphere, Great Characterization, and an ever building tension permeate this series. Things unravel further and further as each moment passage and our valiant cast tries to overcome their own demons as well as the horrific fate that binds them
all together. A truly great study in suspensful mind fuckery. -Cameron
K-On! - Four Japanese highschool girls join a music club in an attempt to stop it from being removed. The lead character, Yui Hirasawa has no musical talent to speak of, and with the help of her friends learns to play the guitar and read sheet music.
Kenshin - Escaping a shadowed past, Himura Kenshin settles down at a small dojo only to find that the past is harder to escape than he'd imagined. - Cameron
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien - Shy boy meets shy girl and they both pursue a relationship. They go out for a while and main girl gets
a construction beam dropped on her head. A few years later she awakes from a coma and she is hot. In between time the main
character has advanced a lot emotionally and physically with her best friend who is a girl. Guy tries to stay loyal
while she is in a comma but girls best friend is a skank ho who advances and tricks him while he is in depression.
Koi Kaze – Saeki is a wedding planner but his girlfriend just broke up with him, he has a random encounter with a high school girl who sees how down he’s feeling and tries to cheer him up. She succeeds maybe a little too well…. Who is this mystery high schooler?
Last Exile - Perhaps one of the best Anime's I've ever seen. This is the anime that caused me to switch over form passing intrest in anmie to a full blown fan. You want character development? check. You want some outstanding animation? Check. You want some kickass scenes with sweet-ass flying machines? check. With a cast of fascinating characters, outstanding action, and one of the best stories I've seen in an anime, I highly reccomend Last Exile for any anime fan, whether your just starting your treck into anime or you've been watching for years I highly reccomend this series for anyone. - Joe
Mai Hime – Tokiha and her brother Takumi get to go to Fuuka Academy! On the way there they whitness a battle between two chicks with the supernatural powers of a HiME. Because of this Tokiha discovers that she also has the powers of a HiME.
Mai Otome – Gualderobe Academy is the prestigious school that young girls go to so that they can be trained to become Otomes. Otomes are the protectors of royal leaders. Arika Yumemiya has accepted a long journey to become an Otome. An alternate universe of the Mar Hime universe.
Mazinger Z – Doctor Hell and his army of giant mechanical beasts are the newest threat to humanity! Never fear Mazinger Z is here! Go figure his pilot is a hotheaded teenager! Kouji Kabuto strives to get revenge for his grandfather, save his families honor, and protect Japan!
Mobile Suit Gundam – GIANT ROBOTS, CALLED GUNDAMS, FIGHTING, POLTICS, LOTS OF AWESOME!!!
Monster – Doctor saves a psychopathic kid, now his job is gone, his fiancé is pissed, and it could be his fault that the mayor is dead, and more people are dying. Is this guy a surgeon or a detective?
Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water Nadia was the first TV series that the legendary Studio Gainax tacked after the movie Royal Space Force and the OVA Gunbuster. Within it is the archetype of nearly every other Gainax anime, especially Evangelion. The show itself started as a simple childrens adventure show, and ends in intergalactic space battles. The show itself had little direction, and the creaters seemed to just be having fun with it. In it's own little way, it's perfect because of it, as it's a bunch of Sci-Fi fans with no leash and a 39 episode contract writing EXACTLY what they want to. -Michael
Neo Sapien Casshern - Robots that disengage into sand and dudes that kill giant robots. It has good eye art. Plus there is a robot dog.
Overman King Gainer – Thousands of years ago in the future humanity has finished destroying the environment. Gainer leads a group of people out of the Siberian Dome-polis with the help of Gain Bijou.
Phoenix - A three part saga that tells of the cruelty of love through astronauts that are drifting through space after losing their ship.
Pokemon - Pokemon was the show I watched everyday before school. It was also the best gameboy game of my childhood. The story follows Ash Ketchum, a young boy, on his adventure to catch and befriend creatures called Pokemon. Throughout the series he battles many strong foes, while also gaining many allies and friends, in his quest to defeat the gym leaders and catch all the Pokemon in Kanto. - Drakie
Princess Tutu - Duck/Ahiru is just an ordinary duck who becomes a girl who becomes a ballerina magical girl! She fights to return the heart shards to her Prince and to save the town from Drosselmeyer’s story. Princess Tutu is an amazing show for anyone who likes Magical Girls, Ballet, well done characters or a fucking metal storyline. I just recently finished watching Princess Tutu and I loved it. A high point of the story is the use of ballet. Even as a person who knows nothing about music or ballet, I could see that it was well chosen and at points felt I was being sucked into a ballet performance. The story itself starts out looking like a typical magical girl show, until it takes a huge turn for the epic. It becomes much more in depth and deals a lot more with the characters reactions to the story rather than the plot. I could write entire essays on this show, but I feel like anyone who wants to see a good anime, regardless of what type of anime you like, because it’s just an all around good show! -Jennifer
Regios – A polluted, future Earth has monsters running loose and humanity has been forced to live in tenement homes called Regios. A high school squad is determined to push back the monsters and reclaim more land for the humans.
Rose of Versailles – Takes place during the French Revolution, Lady Oscar was raised as a man from birth, she is torn between class, gender, and family, and time is running out.
Saikano - A haunting love story wrapped around a parable about the futility of modern warfare. Even the most cynical soul will be brought to tears by this series.
Sailor Moon - Another classic of anime, the series that put the magical girl genre on the map! Tsukino Usagi learns that despite her clumsiness she is a warrior of justice who, with the help of her friends must defend the world against an evil dark kingdom.
Scrapped Princess -Scrapped Princess: Pacifica Casull is a normal bright, cheerful 15 year old girl. Too bad nearly everyone in the world wants her dead.Destined to somehow destroy the world on her 16th birthday she is a now a fugitive travelling with her adopted brother and sister, looking for a way to escape both from those who would take her life and from the bonds of her terrible fate.
Why it should be watched: Another anime where the tension slowly ratchets up as the mystery surrounding just who and what Pacifica actually is deepens.More questions are raised with each revelation as Pacifica stands against a world that is not what it seems and eventually
prepares to take on the vengeful and terrible god that condemned her. -Cameron
Shingetsutan Tsukihime - There is no Tsukihime anime.
Slayers - Medieval Mayhem is guaranteed when Lina Inverse, half-pint genius sorceress is involved. Hillarity ensues when a recent robbery brings a cursed statue into her possession and brings her to the attention of the mysterious Rezo the Red Priest. - Cameron
Strait Jacket – Magic and science?! Impossible! Well not in this anime, Rayotte Steinberg fights against monsters using the best of both! These monsters used to be human but overused magic and willingly became monsters. How long can Rayotte hold out against his own urges to become a monster?
Summer Wars – Kenji Koiso got a summer job! Now he just had to pretend to be Natsuki’s fiancé, deal with her crazy family, their unusual rituals, and the fact that he might be an internet hijacker!
Thus Ugly yet Beautiful World – Takeru watches a shooting star fall from the sky and goes to investigate only to find a beautiful girl crawling out of a cocoon butt nekid. She some-how gives him magical powers and his life is never the same again.
Toradora! - Toradora is a cute love story between a group of socially awkward and mismatched friends. It revolves around Aisaka Taiga, a tiny girl nicknamed “palm top Taiga” because of her temper. She becomes friends with Ryuji Takasu, a gentle germophope who looks like a scary gangster, in order to get him to hook her up with his friend Kitamura, and Ryuji agrees so long as Taiga helps him date her friend Minorin. The story follows them through the latter part of their high school years as they all develop and become close to each other. For the most part this slice of life is about the troubles of being a misfit high schooler. However, the characters are all very well done and very well developed. Even the most unrealistic ones (like the beautiful fashion model who comes back to high school) are easy to relate to. Each character is flawed and deals with their own troubles, and have to deal the consequences of their actions when they refuse to face their own issues. The ending of the anime isn’t happy for everyone, but it is definitely the right ending. I recommend everyone watch our showing of it, then go home and finish the series! -Jennifer
Trapeze – If House and Paprika had a baby and that baby ate something it shouldn’t have, that would be this anime.
Umineko no Naku Koro Ni - On the secluded island of Rokkenjima, members of the wealthy Ushiromiya family wait for the head of household to die so that they may claim his wealth. However, the island is said to be haunted by the Golden Witch Beatrice, and as the night unfolds, and family members begin to die in gruesome ways. After those left alive belive that Beatrice is the murderer, Battler Ushiromiya decides to challenge Beatrice to a duel of wits in order to save the people on the island. Umineko is similar to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni in that everything repeats, but this time the events of that night repeat so that Battler and Beatrice may continue to fight until one of them wins. The series starts out fairly strong, but as more and more charcters are introduced the plot becomes muddled and loses it’s merit. If you like pretty witches, murder mysteries, and lots of violent deaths, then you’ll really enjoy Umineko. -Jennifer
Unicorn Gundam - It’s about damn time!!! Wait, SHIT 6 more months?!
Valkyria Chronicals - The anime of the game by the same name. A tiny town is attacked by a large military and the few people able must band together with some other rebels and repel the invading horde.
Welcome to the NHK – Satou Tatsuhiro is a closet case and a conspiracy theorist and can’t even go to work because he thinks that they are against him. The only light in his life is Misaki who claims that she can help him.
White Snake Enchantress – A boy is forced to release his pet snake but she’s not just a snake. The white snake is a snake goddess and she is in love with him!
You're Under Arrest: No Mercy – An anime about police tying to catch a very good car thief.
Zeta Gundam: A New Translation - A New Translation – After the One-year war.
Zoids – Animal gundams, fighting matches, and pre-teens.
ZZ Gundam – Sequel to Zeta Gundam.
