en http://www.animeftw.tv RSS Feed for the latest animeftw.tv news Completed Series:
I Don't Have Many Friends
Synopsis: * Based on a light novel series by Hirasaka Yomi with illustrations by Buriki.

Hasegawa Kodaka, a half-Japanese / half-British boy, has recently transferred to a Catholic high school, the St. Chronica's Academy, and as always, finds it impossible to make friends there due to his naturally blond hair, inherited from his dead English mother, which makes him look like a dangerous delinquent to his prejudiced peers. One day after school, he enters the classroom witnessing the equally solitary and very abrasive girl Mikazuki Yozora while she speaks to her imaginary friend Tomo. They decide that the best way to improve their social standing is to form a club ? the Rinjinbu (Neighbour's Club) ? just to make friends and learn social skills.

Five other members soon join, starting with the school's well-connected and arrogant idol Kashiwazaki Sena, who has many male admirers but no female friends due to jealousy. Kusunoki Yukimura, a student often dressed as a maid, who idealises and follows Kodaka in the hope of learning to become manlier. Kobato, Kodaka's younger sister who is attending St. Chronica's middle school division and has a penchant for darkness, vampires and the macabre ever since she started watching an anime called Full Metal Necromancer. Shiguma Rika, a perverted underclassman and well-known scientific genius, who speaks in the third person and was saved by Kodaka during a failed experiment, thereafter trying to repay him with sex. And finally Takayama Maria, a precocious 10-year-old teacher and nun at the academy, who becomes the club adviser.

The Mystic Archives of Dantalian
Synopsis: * Based on Mikumo Gakuto's Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian (Dantalian no Shoka) light novel series.

The story centers around a young man named Huey who inherited a musty old estate, as well the entire book collection contained therein, from his grandfather. Huey meets Dalian, a girl in a black dress who is quietly reading in the basement piled high with books. Dalian controls the gateway to the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian, the forbidden books of demonic wisdom

OVA:
Sky of Iriya, Summer of UFO
Synopsis: On the last day of the summer break, Asaba Naoyuki sneaks into school for a secret swim at night. At the pool he encounters a mysterious girl named Iriya Kana, with embedded silver semi-spheres in her wrists.

The following day, as the new school term begins, Iriya transfers to Asaba's class, much to his surprise. Iriya clearly has trouble associating with other students, but develops a liking to Asaba, and even joins the Electromagnetic Newspaper Club he is part of. Frequent calls to the teachers room, and numerous special privileges, along with a personal bodyguard, Enomoto, make it clear that Iriya is connected to and a very important part of the Sonohara military base nearby.

And so Iriya and Asaba's heart-rending UFO summer begins...

Re-Encodes:
Black Rock Shooter(OVA)
Synopsis: These young girls' hearts are pure, and then violent!

Mato Kuroi just got into junior high school, and on the first day, someone catches her eye; her classmate Yomi Takanashi. The two meet.

The innocent and naive Mato. The mature Yomi. Seemingly opposites, but the time they spend together only strengthens a growing friendship.

But as they go into their second year at the school, they get placed in separate classes, and they begin to grow apart.

But somewhere simultaneously...

In another world, a young girl, blue fire residing in her eyes, Black Rock Shooter faces another young girl; this one holding a jet-black scythe, Dead Master, and a battle to the death begins to unfold.

Omamori Himari
Synopsis: Yuuto is your average, high school boy just turned 16. His childhood friend, Rin has taken care of him ever since his parents died when he was younger. All of a sudden, a girl named Himari walks into his life. Himari is a cat-girl samurai who is sworn to protect Yuuto. There's only one small problem: Yuuto is allergic to cats!

KenIchi: The Mightiest Disciple
Synopsis: Shirahama Kenichi is an average student who has earned the nickname "Weak Legs" from always getting bullied. One day he meets a cute girl named Furinji Miu who helps him build the courage to begin training at a mysterious dojo where she lives. Here Kenichi faces intense training from masters of many different martial arts styles as he attempts to become stronger.

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Valentine's Day (or Single's Awareness Day) is coming up and the Weekly Anime Spotlight rhythm calls for something short! Perfect. I have just the thing in mind...

Voices of a Distant Star, by Makoto Shinkai. This award-winning film director, producer, writer, animator, voice actor, manga artist, and general lover of anime also created The Promised Place of Our Early Days, 5 Centimeters Per Second, and Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below. Makoto Shinkai's immense skill with human emotions and heartache is undeniable. Using story, poetic dialogue, and breath-taking imagery, he crafts true masterpieces of animation. Both Voices of a Distant Star and The Promised Place of Our Early Days blend elements of theoretical science and romance to a heart-breaking degree. Although he says it's an overestimation, he's been called the "new Miyazaki".

Voices of a Distant Star


Voices of a Distant Star is his first professional work and marks Makoto Shinkai's rise to greatness from being a hobbyist director. It is a bittersweet story of two friends - Noboru and Mikako - who have just finished middle-school. The anime flashes through intimate moments of them spending time together, talking, allowing little tidbits of information about the world they live in to leak through. An unknown alien force called the Tarsians had attacked, and fled. The world has rebuilt, but is changed. We learn Mikako was recruited to join the UN Space Army, to become a pilot. Mikako leaves for space as Noboru stays behind. They maintain their relations through texts sent via their cell phones, but as the armada chases the Tarsians further and further out, it takes longer and longer for each text to send. It takes weeks, then months, then years, for Noboru to hear from Mikako. As Mikako and the armada travel at lightspeed, Einstein's Theory of Relativity is invoked. The faster you go, the slower time is for you. While she's only been in service for under a year, it's been almost a decade for Noboru back on Earth. The anime continues to flash between the two, giving us insight through poetic monologues into their thoughts and feelings as they are separated by space and time itself.

At 30 minutes in runtime, Voices of a Distant Star contains an amazing amount of story and emotion for it's length. Although there's a lot of poetic dialogue and romantic themes, there's also a good amount of explodey action sequences to satisfy those who aren't interested in the lovey-dovey-ness.


Enjoy this heartrending work of art with a loved one, or yourself, this Valentine's.

This is dedicated to those of you trying to maintain a long distance relationship.

For those of you who aren't, hug your loved one a little bit tighter.

For those spending Valentine's alone, -hey, cheap chocolate.
]]> Hello-Hello AnimeFTW.tv fans!
It's time for another Weekly Anime Spotlight!

Every week, I point you towards various odd, artistic, interesting, unpopular, and/or obscure anime you may have not seen yet. This is all part of an endless quest to answer the timeless question of "What anime should I watch now?". I hope you enjoy this week's selection, and if you don't, maybe next week's will be your cup of tea. I also will occasionally bring in another writer from the community to mix things up. The reviews follow a series-series-OVA/movie pattern, to give you time to catchup if you're following along.

This week is KenIchi: The Mightiest Disciple.

KenIchi: The Mightiest Disciple


This is one of my all-time favorite anime, although I knew it as "History's Mightiest Disciple Kenichi", but that was before an official English title was decided on.

This martial arts anime follows high school student Kenichi Shirahama, a boy who has been bullied and picked on his whole life. That all changes, however, when he befriends Fūrinji Miu, the hot and mysterious exchange student. She helps him build up his courage, and driven by the desire to become stronger, he begins training with her at the dojo where she lives. Within this dojo are incredibly powerful masters of various forms of combat, and poor Kenichi becomes a disciple to ALL of them. His daily routine becomes hellishly hilarious as his time is divided between 6 different masters of martial arts with 6 different disciplines. He's going to need all the training he can get, however, because as his skills grow stronger, so do his enemies. He ends up facing much larger foes than just school yard bullies. Conspiratorial, villainous, martial-arts-wielding gangs and rivaling dojos all want a piece of him. Kenichi will have to become the mightiest disciple history has ever known if he's going to protect his ideals and those around him.

This anime blends action, comedy, heavy character development, and typical anime 'cheese' (fan service, emotes, over-dramatization) into something quite entertaining. It's geared more towards fun then anything else, so don't go into this expecting any sort of intellectual stimulation. It's stereotypical anime at its funnest and finest. Enjoy.]]> Airing Series

Black Rock Shooter
Synopsis: This is not the world you know. There roams a girl with jet-black hair, ebony clothes, and a strikingly blue, glowing eye. Her name is Black Rock Shooter. With a huge cannon in hand, she throws herself into a fierce battle...

Meanwhile, in another world, middle-school student Kuroi Mato is drawn to Takanashi Yomi, her classmate with an unusual family name. Mato does her best to talk to Yomi, who just will not open up. Koutari Yuu belittles her best friend Mato's efforts but at the same time, supports her. Mato also finds herself surrounded by other colourful characters at school, like the eccentric school counsellor, Irino Saya, and the hot-blooded captain of her club club, Obata Arata.

Suddenly, one day, the window of opportunity opens. After Mato sees that Yomi has her beloved picture book, "Li'l Birds at Play", they strike up a conversation and Mato is invited to come over to Yomi's house. There, they gradually get acquainted, until a girl in a wheelchair appears. This is Yomi's best friend, Izuriha Kagari...

Two worlds. Mato and Black Rock Shooter. This is the story of their "agony".

Completed Series

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Synopsis: The premise of the story is the 70% or higher possibility that a magnitude 7.0 earthquake will occur in Tokyo in the next 30 years. The story depicts what would happen if an 8.0 earthquake took place.

The story will center on Mirai, a middle school freshman girl who goes to Tokyo's artificial Odaiba Island for a robot exhibition with her brother Yuuki at the start of summer vacation. A powerful tremor emanates from an ocean trench, the famed Tokyo Tower and Rainbow Bridge crumble and fall, and the landscape of Tokyo changes in an instant. With the help of a motorcycle delivery woman named Mari who they meet on Odaiba, Mirai and Yuuki strive to head back to their Setagaya home in western Tokyo.

Mars Daybreak
Synopsis: On a Mars covered in ice and oceans, people have learned to survive by building large floating city-ships in which they can live. And by using submarines to travel beneath the ice and harsh winds that rage overhead, humanity has been able to develop a global community. But during a distant galactic war, Earth looked to Mars as important water resource to support their war efforts. Now that the war is over, Earth still values the wealth of resources that Mars provides, and is reluctant to release their firm control over their smaller step-sister.

Continuous oppression breeds complaints and contempt, and rebellions occurred. And with each failure, the independence movement learned and grew more organized. During this confusion, pirates appeared to prey on the wealth and abundant resources of Earth's occupying forces. The Earth government decides to organize a special military unit equipped to fight on Mars - to settle and suppress both the independence movement and pirates once and for all.

OVA

Genesis of Aquarion
Synopsis: Long ago, at time when Heaven and Earth were one, the world was filled with beauty and the Angels sang to the stars. However the only source of fear were those Angels that hunted humans. The humans raised the flag of rebellion and fought back, beginning the long war. In the midst of the war, Apollonius, a slaughtering Angel, met a girl named Celine and fell in love at first sight. Casting aside his wings, Apollonius joined Celine and the humans, and helped them create the mecha warriors that gave humanity a chance of winning the war. Angry at the loss of his 'love', the Angel Touma seduced and corrupted a human as revenge. And now some 12,000 years later, the battle is still raging. Legends tell of the dark betrayal that killed Apollonius, but they also speak of how he would return to finish the battle started so long ago.

Re-encodes

Rozen Maiden: Traumend
Synopsis: As summer break arrives for the students, Jun Sakurada is busily studying on his own in the library, making up for time lost while he had confined himself to his home. Meanwhile, his Rozen Maiden doll, Shinku, has been having troubling dreams of late. The pain and sadness of defeating Suigintou was overwhelming, despite the inevitable battle they waged. After waking suddenly from a nightmare, she finds Suigintou's companion spirit wandering; upon giving chase, she discovers that the seventh Doll-- Barasuishou-- has awakened. She now realizes that Suigintou's fate may very well befall the other Dolls, for the appearance of the last Doll signals the beginning of the end of the Alice Games.

Familiar of Zero
Synopsis: Meet Louise, a budding magician. The students at the Tristein Academy call her "Zero Louise", due to her current record of zero successes with magic. In fact, her magic tends to go spectacularly wrong. Now, as an important test of her aptitude for magic, she must summon a familiar to be her servant. At this critical moment, she summons up all her magic and wishes for a familiar that is "devoted, beautiful and powerful", and gets... Hiraga Saito, an ordinary Japanese boy. It's difficult to say who is more surprised and dismayed, but the rules don't allow for second attempts. Louise is stuck with her strange familiar, and he with her.

Enjoy!!]]>
WE made some changes to the way the site handles errors, it had brought up a ton of things that I needed to fix, Since I don't think I got it all, if you happen upon an error we ask that everyone post the errors on this topic so that they can get fixed.

Thanks!]]> Hello-hello AnimeFTW.tv fans!

It's that time of week again where I spotlight one of the awesome anime in our massive collection of massiveness.

This time it isn't written by me, but by an actual AnimeFTW.tv user like yourself!
Here's community member Nemo's take on Durarara!!

Durarara!!


At first glance, the anime named Durarara!! seems as strange as the name. Don’t bother trying to figure out what the name means, although I will hint that you must remember how the Japanese pronounce their letters. It starts to become quite clear as you progress through the series.

The anime follows a few different story lines, sometimes even multiple within an episode but everyone is more or less happening at the same time. There are flashback stories or parts that foreshadow the end; however, everything is beautifully woven together. There is the perfect mix of fantasy and reality, with a subtle hint of social commentary. There are twists and turns that will keep you wondering “What happens now?” at the end of every episode and strong character developments that make you love or hate almost all main characters.

This series mainly follows two high school freshmen who grew up together in a rural town in Japan until one of them moved to Ikebukuro for Junior High. Masaomi Kida convinces his friend Mikado Ryūgamine to move into the city for High School. The first episode acts as an introduction of all the characters as Masaomi takes Mikado around Ikebukuro; pointing out everyone to avoid and who to get to know. Among these are some pretty colourful characters including: an extremely sketchy and creepy information broker named Izaya Orihara, a man with unparalleled strength and temper and only ever seen in a bartender’s uniform Shizuo Heiwajima, and the over-friendly, equally-strong Russian sushi restaurant owner Simon. There is also a strange urban legend that circulates around Ikebukuro about a mysterious headless black rider.

So if you’re interested in something a bit more serious and plot-focused or if you just really want to know what kind of name Durarara!! is, you should check it out!]]>
Airing:

Familiar of Zero F
Synopsis:
After successfully rescuing Tabitha, Saito and gang return to the Magic Academy and their normal, everyday life. However, a secret order from Henrietta sends Saito and Louise to Romalia, with Tiffania also tagging along.

Completed:

Cat Planet Cuties
Synopsis:
The story revolves around Kakazu Kio, an ordinary high school freshman living in Okinawa. A girl with cat ears appears before him during a memorial service for one of his family ancestors. The girl calls herself Eris and claims she is an alien. Before long, fanatical alien worshippers and a mysterious government agency are in hot pursuit of Eris, but Kio's childhood friend Manami — who wants to follow in her father's footsteps in the CIA — captures Eris. Kio finds himself having to protect Eris from everyone.

Re-Encode:

Bakemonogatari
Synopsis:
The story centers on Koyomi Araragi, a third year high school student who has recently survived a vampire attack, and finds himself mixed up with all kinds of apparitions: gods, ghosts, myths, and spirits.

There were countless updates to airing series' make sure you check your series to see if there were updates!]]>
-Brad

EDIT:
Our Central node is backup, CDN access is back!]]> Airing Series

Another
Synopsis: 26 years ago, in a third-year classroom of a middle school, there was a student named Misaki. As an honours student who was also good at sports, the charming girl was popular with her classmates. When she suddenly died, her classmates decided to carry on as if she was still alive until graduation. Then, in the spring of 1998, a boy named Sakakibara Kouichi transfers to that classroom, and he grows suspicious of the fearful atmosphere in that classroom. In particular, there is a beautiful, aloof girl named Misaki Mei who wears an eyepatch and is always alone drawing pictures.

Working`!!
Synopsis: Life goes on at the Wagnaria family restaurant as its peculiar employees try to provide a good service despite their individual eccentricities.

Completed Series

Nodame Cantabile: Paris Hen
Synopsis: Nodame and Chiaki arrive in Paris and their story continues with new friends, challenges, more beautiful music and, of course, lots of Nodame gaffes and gyabos! Chiaki wants to make his presence known to Vieira Sensei by winning a competition for conductors, while homesick Nodame has her hands full coming to terms with her new surroundings.

Nodame Cantabile: Finale
Synopsis: The musical love-story continues between Noda Megumi, the talented yet distracted (almost childish) piano player, and Chiaki Shinichi, the prodigious, always focused on advancing forward, orchesta conductor. How love will finally find its way for these two. Will it be able to surpass the challenges ahead or will it die prematurely. Paris, the city of light, is the more accurate place to find out how this "love musical" will reach its finale.

Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin
Synopsis: Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin (Silver Fang) is a tale about a little puppy dog who was born in the wilderness. He has silver striped and is destined to become the defender of people from perilous cave bears; which ironically, his father, Riki was killed by Akakaboto, the most dangerous cave bears. Silver then decides to seek revenge at any cost, even though he has to leave his best friend, Daisuki, to follow and search for more wild dogs in their fight to kill Akakaboto.

Maken-ki!
Synopsis: The series centres around Ooyama Takeru, a young normal yet perverted minded guy, who enrolls into Tenbi Gakuen, which was once an all-girls school now turned into a co-ed school. Unbeknownst to him, the only students admitted are those who are able to control a source of energy found in all living things called Element, and furthermore can use magical artifacts called Maken, which give the users specific and varied abilities.

On the first day, he meets again after three years, Amaya Haruko, his childhood friend, Kushiya Inaho, a weird big busted girl who declares she's his fiance, and Himegami Kodama, a blonde oujo who wants to kill him. After a whim by the school principle Rokujou Minori, he and the three girls end up living in the same room. Furthermore, after being persuaded by Haruko, Takeru decides to join the Maken-ki, a special force unit under the school student council, whose responsibility is to mediate duels between students in the school. However, he later finds out that no Maken is acceptable for him. How will his life continue in this school, where the students get into duels that showcase their magic and combat power, which he seemingly does not have.

Persona: Trinity Soul
Synopsis: The stage is Ayanagi City, a city near the Japan Sea. It is a futuristic city that was built to carry out the recovery from the calamity caused by the "Apathy Syndrome" ten years previous. High school student Shin Kanzato with his little brother Jun, meet with their elder brother Ryou, who is the chief of the Ayanagi City Police again after ten years. At that time, a series of strange incidents happen in Ayanagi City such as the crew of a submarine that suddenly disappears, or a spiritless symptom which disturbs the world after ten years, or the case of the inside out corpse where a student took on a cruel appearance. Ryou tracks down the organization behind the string of incidents, and having become involved in the incidents, Shin awakens the "Persona".

Sarai-ya Goyou
Synopsis: Akitsu Masanosuke is a timid ronin on his way to Edo from the countryside when he accidentally encounters a playboy named Yaichi, who asks him to be his bodyguard. But it turns out that Yaichi is actually the leader of a group of bandits called the "Five Leaves," and he's hoping that Masanosuke will join them. Masanosuke is reluctant to help them, but as grows closer to his eccentric new companions, he learns to relate to them and grow as a person in the process.

Working!!
Synopsis: The story is set in a family restaurant named Wagnaria in the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido. Takanashi Souta works part-time among the restaurant's high-spirited, mysterious, yet cool staffers.

Movies

Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below
Synopsis: Asuna lost her father and lives a lonely life listening to mysterious music coming from her father's crystal radio. One day she sets out for a journey to see a boy again. Through the adventure, she experiences a parting and finds the cruelty and the beauty of the world.


Enjoy!!]]>
For those of you who celebrate the Lunar New Year, [insert myriad of ways and languages to say 'Happy Lunar New Year' here.] For those of you who don't, happy weekend! Relax, take a load off! I know many of you have already started -and are well into- your new semesters/classes in school/university, and for some that's sometime next week. I just want to take this moment to remind you students of your priorities, and to not let your classes distract you from us.

Anywho, you may have noticed the name change. The Weekly Anime Reviews is now the Weekly Anime Spotlight. It sounds better and better reflects the purpose of these. This week we'll be spotlighting something short, to give those of you who haven't finished last week's spotlight series. The Series-Series-Movie/OVA rhythm will continue on indefinitely.

Origin: Spirits of the Past


Origin: Spirits of the Past is a very unique movie. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where plant-monsters from space have attacked and subdued the earth. Mankind lives in a tenuous "harmony" with the vicious forest. In this world, man is bullied by nature. The forest controls the precious water. If mankind slips up, the forest may choose to drain the water away.

Enter a boy named Agita. After horsing around with his buddy at the bottom of the forest's well (where he shouldn't be), he discovers a strange machine full of pods. Many of the pods are open, containing the remains of a long-dead human of the past. He finds one pod still functioning, however. Queue the cliché! Within is a girl in a state of suspended animation - her emotions from a time long gone still frozen in place. He breaks the stasis, they get acquainted, and the adventure begins!

The will of the forest suspects that she is the key to the destruction of the world as they know it.
Ragna, a military state who believes they can still use force to subdue the forest, wants her for reasons unknown in an attempt to "normalize" the world.

This unusual and action-packed movie is full of super-powered enhanced humans, explosions, giant robots, and walking volcanoes. Plus, there's a scene where the main character karate chops a walking tank in half. As for production quality, it is beautifully drawn and animated, and the opening and closing songs aren't half bad either! The pacing and character development leaves something to be desired, but it is a fun and unique movie, making it still well worth watching.

It's the Year of the Dragon and it's 2012. Watch some plant-dragons devour the earth.





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