Alright. I decided to step up to do this when Cheriko suggested an "Anime/manga of the month" thingamabob. Well, I could do that, but I'm steppin' up to once a week (Mondays maybe?). I'll try to dip into both the obscure and the well known titles.

DETROIT METAL CITY


Detroit Metal City

Alternate title: DMC

Main Character: Soichi Negishi (A.K.A Johannes Krauser II)

Type: Manga, Anime OVA, and feature film.

Episodes: 12

Length: 13 minutes each.

Genre: Comedy

Creator: Kiminori Wakasugi

Current Opening Theme: SATSUGAI by Detroit Metal City

Current Ending Theme: Amai Koibito by Soichi Negishi

Descrïption (From Wikipedia): Negishi Soichi is a shy and gentle teenager who dreams of joining a trendy pop band. However Negishi finds himself as the lead singer of a death metal band named “Detroit Metal City” and takes the name of Johannes Krauser II. As Negishi himself, he hates the music of DMC and tries to aspire to be a trendy musician. However when Negishi becomes Krauser, he becomes a different person and he’s great at it. He puts on such excellent shows; fans believe he is a devil. Negishi finds himself trying to satisfy both worlds but will he be able to?

What Lawl thinks: Detroit Metal City (or DMC as I call it), Is a very enjoyable Anime and manga series. I can see some people being turned away from it because of it's death metal themes, but under that cold metal exterior lies a soft, almost mockingly funny center. Both metal and non-metal fans will laugh at the sheer ridiculousness at Krauser II, such as his ability to say "Rape" ten times in one second (It's hard, I tried it before). But the real humor comes in at times where Soichi and Krauser clash personality wise in random situations, especially in time where Soichi is with his college crush, Yuri Aikawa, also a very trendy person and also a metal disliker (She has had many bad incidents with the Character Krauser II).

Who to recommend it to: Metal Fans, gag-manga fans, both casual and hardcore anime fans.

Final Verdict: 4 Head bangs out of 5.  

--Last edited by Lawliet on 2008-12-17 21:47:49 --

Sounds like fun! ^_^ Thanks Lawl for putting this up!

For this week, I decided to do an anime that managed to surprise me. It's that good.

SOUL EATER


Soul Eater

Alternate title: N/A

Main Character(s): Maka Alban and Soul Eater.

Media Type: Manga, Television Anime

Episodes: 39 (To my extent of knowledge...)

Length: 24 Minutes each

Genre: Action Adventure, Comedy

Creator: Atsushi Ohkubo

Opening Themes: "Resonance " by T.M.Revolution and "PAPERMOON " by Tommy heavenly6

Ending Themes: "I Wanna Be " by STANCE PUNKS, "Style " by Kana Nishino, and "Bakusou Yumeuta " by Diggy-MO'

Descrïption (From Anime News Network): Set in the Shinigami technical school for weapon meisters, the series revolves around 3 groups of each a weapon meister and a human weapon. Trying to make the latter a "Death Scythe" and thus fit for use by the Shinigami, they must collect the souls of 99 evil humans and 1 witch.
Soul Eater is an anime that centers around meisters and their weapons and their mission to collect 99 evil souls and 1 witch soul. Upon doing that the meister's weapons will become a Deathscythe, which is the highest title for a weapon. Maka, Soul Eater, Black Star, Tsubaki, Death the Kid, and Patty and Liz Thompson are the characters Soul Eater revolves around. Besides taking the time to gather souls these students of Shibusen defend Death City from some of the most powerful of creatures while still attending school and trying to become stronger.

What Lawl thinks: I know what it sounds like. It's that standard "Harry Pottering" of something, making a school out of it and see what happens, but It's much more then that.
Soul Eater is pure genius. It manages to fuse a great story, characters that you will love even if they get on your nerves, very funny humor (Which is a must have in my book if you're trying to make a action adventure), and very slick action sequences. I'm serious. The fight scenes in Soul Eater are just as intricate as FullMetal Alchemist's are (Because BONES did the animation for both of them). The art style is very interesting, each character has a style that reflects their personality. They also have very engaging personalities. My personal favorite character is Death the Kid (Also, this anime has some of the coolest names ever), who is the only Obsessive Compulsive Anime Character I know of. He obsesses over symmetricalness and cleanliness. so much, that he will not attack an enemy if it's perfectly symmetrical, and will pass out or become depressed if he sees something completely not symmetrical or becomes insemetrical himself (but he's already insemetrical, he loathes the three lone stripes in his hair on his left side).
I could go on, but you need to see it for yourself.
WATCH IT NAO!!!!!!

Final Verdict: 5 Resonances out of 5.  

--Last edited by Lawliet on 2008-12-14 22:26:50 --

EXCEL SAGA


Excel Saga

Alternate title: Experimental Anime Excel Saga

Main Character(s): Excel, Hyatt

Media Type: Manga, Television Anime

Episodes: 26

Genre: Comedy (Episode 26 Pseudo-Ecchi)

Creator: Koushi Rikudou

Opening Themes: "Ai Chuuseishin " by Excel Girls

Ending Themes: "Menchi Aishou no Bolero " by Excel Girls

Descrïption (From Anime News Network): Hyperactive Excel does anything and everything to try to please her lord, Ilpalazzo, who wants to take over the planet. Excel's misadventures takes her and her partner, the ever-dying Hyatt, all over the world, meeting several strange people as they go. Everything is bizarre and goofy, as any kind of anime or entertainment genre gets mocked and spoofed.

What Lawl thinks: Excel Saga is a fun anime. It's not really a breakthrough in anything, it's just a fun anime to watch when you need a break. It's more of a parody anime then anything. It also breaks the fourth wall often, and the main character, Excel, actually kills the original creator of Excel Saga, Koushi Rikudou. And that's funny.
But there's one more thing. Episode 26. I can't really explane it, so I'll let Wikipedia do so.

Quote :

The twenty-sixth episode, "Going Too Far," never aired in Excel Saga's original run on TV Tokyo because it was purposefully too violent and obscene for broadcast in Japan. The opening sequence is altered to contain pixelated nudity and more blood, and the closing presents the translator on fours, wearing a collar, and singing the "Bolero," as Menchi translates into her own language. The episode itself, in addition to much more violence, blood, and gore, includes situations containing nudity, lesbianism, apparent paedophilia, soaplands, and a love hotel—in several instances involving minors. The episode obliquely refers to the 1995 sarin gas attack on a Tokyo subway by including sarin attacks as a method of exterminating enemies. The director himself remarks that it "felt good to go past the limits of a TV series," although he thinks it "is not something that you should do too often."

So there you have it. Overall, a fun anime.

Final Verdict: 3 1/2 edible dogs out of 5.  

FLCL (Manga Version)


FLCL

Alternate title: Fooly Cooly, Furi Kuri

Main Character(s): Naota, Haruhara Haruko

Media Type: OVA Anime, Manga

Volumes: 2

Genre: Comedy

Creator: GAINAX (Story), Hajime Ueda (Art)

Descrïption (From Anime News Network): Naota is a normal Japanese 6th grade boy (although a little cynical), but when his older brother leaves for America to play baseball, his brother leaves his homeless 17 year old girlfriend Mamimi behind. Mamimi is sending mixed signals and advances to Naota, and he doesn't know what to do about her. But to make matters worse, Naota's world is totally turned upside down when he is run over by a woman on a Vespa. During their first encounter, she hits him over the head with her guitar, which then causes a horn to grow out of his forehead. She calls herself "Haruko" and her presence changes Naota's life to even further insanity.

What Lawl thinks: I honestly don't know what to say. Some people act like the anime version of FLCL is the most weird and random anime out there. I disagree with a passion. I love FLCL, but there are must stranger and more random anime out there. But then there's the manga version. It's much more dark, confusing, and violent at some moments. It seems that GAINAX wanted to tell a different version of the story, and boy did they. This version has a strange and almost Kubrick-esque feel to it. It also has some crude sexual jokes and references to lesbianism and pedophilism, a concepts that were practically missing from the anime version.
But I digress. I don't understand this manga, I will never understand it, you won't understand it, Heck, i'll be surprised if GAINAX even understands it. I'm not sure if it was meant to be like that, or not. Either way, it's still a pretty good manga.

Final Verdict: 4 Guitar-Wielding Alien Bunny-Girls of 5.  

--Last edited by Lawliet on 2009-01-04 20:46:16 --

I've heard a whole lot about Excel Saga, I should probably look into it...
Soul Eater on the other hand sounds EXACTLY like my kind of manga! I'll definately be reading that one! ^_^