Ranma 1/2

Series: Ramna 1/2
Media Type: Manga
Mangaka: TAKAHASHI Rumiko
Length: 38 Volumes
Genre(s): Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Gender Bender, Harem, Martial Arts, Romance, School Life, Shounen

Introduction:
Brought to you by the same author of Inuyasha...which for me wasn't important at all, but instead more of a bad thing. I didn't really care for Inuyasha, but enough about that. What got me interested in a Gender Blender, and b. dad = panda, I mean that is just awesome! lol So I picked this manga up on a whim again, and because the Walden Books by me was closing so it was 40% off everything. But it was definitely worth the buy. Oh there is an anime, haven't seen it, but I'm assuming it's probably the same as the manga.

Quick Summary:
Ranma 1/2 weird title I know, but it all makes sense, main character is Ranma, and he is 1/2 male and 1/2 female, and no not a transvestite. See Ranma and his father and hardcore martial artists, and while training by some magic hot springs, Ranma fell into the female human spring, and his father into the Panda spring. Thus from now on every time they get wet with cold water they turn into a female for Ranma and a panda for his father, hot water reverses the process. Ok so lets move to the actual story so Ramna's father meant Tendo Akane's father, and set up an arranged marriage between Ranma and Tendo Akane. And so we begin to live together. At heart Ranma is a comedy, with a martial artist theme, with a bit of romance thrown in. Most of it focuses on Ranma having to fight strange characters for one reason or another, sometimes to save/protect Akane. Very few people however knows Ranma's secret, which causes a few misunderstandings including one of the love rivals falling in love with him. Otherwise just a fun comedy with strange characters, and a mix of romance polygons thrown in. There is a semi-conclusion to it, but no real complete conclusion.

Closing Comments:
So Ranma 1/2 is a fun romance/martial artist comedy, that likes to use the same gags many times over. Although this stays amusing for awhile, eventually it does start to get old towards the later volumes. Things also get a bit odd at parts, but overall it's just meant to be a fun comedy with an amusing cast. Overall I would recommended reading it or at least trying it, but buying it would be in the air unless you could find it cheap. It's not one of those that I would want to read the whole thing over again, but some parts I would like to read again type thing. Well enough about Ranma try it and see what you think.

~dinoman411

Hana Kimi

Series: Hana Kimi
Media Type: Manga
Mangaka: NAKAJO Hisaya
Length: 23 Volumes
Genre(s): Comedy, Drama, Gender Bender, Romance, School Life, Shoujo

Introduction:
Hana Kimi what to say. A cast of various different character types all with there own quarks. For the most part Hana Kimi is a romance, though there is a bit of a reverse harem eventually. Simply put guys questioning there sexual orientation, is just fun :p lol Oh and I read this a good while ago, so I don't recall everything, but I know it was fun, and I enjoyed reading it.

Quick Summary:
How far would you go to meet and be with the guy you admire? Would you transfer to an all boys school, and pretend to be a guy? Well that is just what Mizuki Ashiya did. She did just that, applied and entered into the all boy's school (dressed as a boy) that her idol goes too. Meet Izumi Sano her idol, he was once a great high jumper, but quit for unknown reasons. From here begins the fun, and much to her surprise she ends up as his roommate, and unknown to her he finds out her secret. Through most of the story we see both characters in love with one another, but she wouldn't confess since she's currently a guy, and he doesn't confess since he doesn't want to trouble her since he knows her secret. Throughout the story a bit of a reverse harem forms, but with guys liking the main girl who is a guy, thus they begin questioning their sexual orientation. Everything else is pretty much your typical school romance, but all of the characters are fun, and most of them develop well throughout the story. A few chapters before the ending I found to be a bit of an unexpected event, but it all turned out just fine in the end. Oh yea forgot to mention the school doctor, pure awesomeness.

Closing Comments:
Well Hana Kimi is a fun manga, with a very amusing cast. The slight differences compared to most other high school romances really help it make an identity of it's own. Again this is only a manga, there is no anime, I actually bought this one just by chance, it was cheap on ebay so I bought it, and I'm glade I did. By no means is it my favorite high school romance, but it is worth a read.

~dinoman411

Ai Yori Aoshi

Series: Ai Yori Aoshi
Media Type: Anime & Manga
Mangaka: FUMIZUKI Kou
Length: 24 Episodes(Season 1) & 12 Episodes(Season 2); 17 Volumes
Genre(s): Comedy, Drama, Ecchi, Harem, Romance, Seinen, Slice of Life

Introduction:
Again Ai Yori Aoshi is one of those shows I watched a good while ago, and again I started with the anime, and then went onto the manga. Now although the 1st season of the anime follows the manga closely, the second season does not follow the manga much at all. Also as usually the manga goes beyond the anime. The first season of the anime I thought was really well done, but the 2nd season was a let down.

Quick Summary:
Ok so we start out with our main character Hanabishi Kaoru who is currently a Jr. in college. One day he meets a girl who is looking for an address and being the nice guy he is he helps her, however they end up going to his house since they were unable to find it. After talking for a bit Karou realizes that she is Sakuraba Aoi, his childhood friend, and also who he was engaged to marry since he was young. She realizes she wrote the address wrong eventually, and when she realizes that he is Karou, she is ecstatic, since it was him she was looking for. See Karou was once part of a rich family and he was engaged to Aoi since he was young however due to certain incidents, Karou ran away from home, and cut all ties with his family. However Aoi really loved him, so she was devastated by this, and eventually went out to find him, which is where our story begins. They then start living together, and rediscover there pasts, and fall in love all over again. Unfortunately for Aoi Karou is quite popular, and eventually a whole cast of other females begin to flock to also live with Karou, just like your typical harem. From here until about 3/4 through we mainly follow a typical harem type plot, but towards the end the story shifts to a climax, that will allow Karou to finally settle things with his family, but will he get to stay with Aoi after this? Only by reading the manga will you find out.

Closing Comments:
Again most of it, especially in the anime, is a typical harem plot, with many girls and one guy. However the guy already knows which he wants, and does not truly love any of the others in a "love" type way. Throughout the story the past has a habit of showing up, which only thickens the plot, and makes it even more interesting. Again I would suggest watching the anime first then the manga, since the manga has more detail then the anime, and if you read it then watch it you will probably get board with the anime. Again a mostly heart filled tail of a girl and a guy, with many other distractions keeping them apart.

~dinoman411

His and Her Circumstances (Kare Kano)

Series: His and Her Circumstances (Kare Kano)
Media Type: Anime & Manga
Mangaka: TSUDA Masami
Length: 26 Episodes; 21 Volumes
Genre(s): Comedy, Drama, Psychological, Romance, School Life, Shoujo, Slice of Life

Introduction:
Not much to say about this, was also one of the first anime series and mangas I bought. First I watched the anime, then I read the manga. If you want to do both I would suggest this order also, since the anime will be better if you watch it before you read the manga since the manga is definitely more detailed and better, and the anime ends before the actual ending. Again I watched/read this series a good few years ago, so my summary may not be 100% accurate, but it should be close.

Quick Summary:
Like many of my talks, this series is mainly a school life romance, though technically it goes beyond school life. However it is more of a serious type of romance then a goofy/funny romance for the most part. Ok so Kare Kano starts out with our main character Miyazawa Yukino who is a perfect student, always rated number 1 and an overall nice, beautiful, just perfect student. However this is at school only, at home her personality shifts 360 degrees and she is basically a rotten, spoiled kid, who doesn't care about her looks or anything which is a secret from everyone except her family. One day Arima Soujiro who is just as perfect as she is in school, and end sup becoming her arch rival. However one day Arima visits her house (don't recall why I think to return something she left at school), and she was expecting one of her family members, thus when the doorbell rang and she answered. Realizing that she made a mistake, and now that her secret is out she begins panicking. However when she goes to school the next day everything is normal, however will it stay that way, or will there be an unexpected development? Read or watch the show to find out, I can almost guarantee you wouldn't be disappointed.

Closing Comments:
Great characters, relatively deep story, always interesting, what's not to love. Kare Kano is a very fun anime and manga, basically all the characters are lovable and the story is mostly just a warm romantic story from early on to finish. Of course all your standard trials exist old girl friends, etc... but they are all handled well and everything feels relatively realistic. Overall I enjoyed both the anime and manga a lot, and I would suggest you should at least try it out if it interests you at all.

~dinoman411

Gundam X

Series: Gundam X (After War Gundam X)
Media Type: Anime
Creators: Tomino Yoshiyuki, Yatate Hajime, e.g.
Length: 39 Episodes
Genre(s): Adventure, Drama, Mecha, Romance, Sci-Fi

Introduction:
Ok again this is actually probably the first anime I ever watched knowing it was an anime. Borrowed it from a friend watched it, loved it and later imported it. Gundam X is not licensed in teh US, and probably never will be it didn't do so well, and was even cut short at 39 episodes though it still concludes nicely. Personally this is one of my favorite Gundam series, but that could be because of it's significance in my current anime/manga hobby. Although this is Gundam it is different from most of the other series, here there is a heavy concentration on the love story in it, and it takes place after the huge war not before/during it.

Quick Summary:
So we start out on Earth, but a mostly destroyed barren Earth due to the outcome of the 7th Space War. Basically Earth vs. Space, Earth used mobile suits and Gundams to fight, while the colonies used a trump card, and dropped some of the colonies, thus causing a 7 year nuclear winter. It is now 15 years later after these events and we pick up with out main character Garrod Ran. The world is currently full of these groups called Vultures, basically scavengers. One of these vulture groups (Freeden) is lead by Jamil Neat, who is and old war veteran, who fears that the powers will repeat the same mistake from the previous war. Except this time the powers are planning to used enhanced humans, a.k.a Newtypes to dominate the world. In steps Garrod Ran who is I recall initially breaks into the Freeden to steal things from them, this is where he meets Tiffa Adil, who he immediately falls in love with, and also kidnaps her, while making there escape they are spotted by a member of the Freeden, so they hide out in some old ruins, where we stumble upon a Gundam X from the old war. Stuff happens, and eventually we sort of join the Freeden in order to protect Tiffa from harm. Eventually he is not fighting to protect Tiffa as much as him and Tiffa are fighting to save the world from destroying itself again. (Some details in this summary might be semi-wrong, haven't watched this show in 5 years or so, but I think I'm right with most of it)

Closing Comments:
Ok so basically your classic save the world from destruction Gundam, with a slightly stronger focus on love then in many of the other Gundam series. It has its comical moments, but overall Gundam X is a rather serious show. Later in the series there are many twists, and at the end a wtf!? moment, but every show needs one of those somewhere :p Anyway this is not one of the more popular Gundam series so it might be hard to find, but I'm sure you can find it online somewhere if you really want to see it though you should buy to support the creators.

~dinoman411

Ultimate Girls

Series: Ultimate Girls
Media Type: Anime
Mangaka: HAMAMOTO Ryusuke
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre(s): Action, Comedy, Ecchi, School Life, Sci-fi, Seinen

Introduction:
First of this show is based off a manga series with the same title, but again I have never read it, and also I do not plan on ever reading it. Secondly I never actually finished watching it all, only watched about half, and I don't know how much I actually remember specifically so this might be a very broad summary. Picture your standard moe super hero girl, except giant, and without a strong personality, and there is ultimate girls sort of.

Quick Summary:
So if i recall right Ultimate Girls begins with a monster attacking the city (normal occurrence in this city), the 3 main females decide to get closer view to watch teh fight between the monster and UFO man (the initial super hero), however due to a bad choice in locations they end up getting crushed by UFO man. As any truly great super hero would do he revives them by giving them his powers, however they must now be the protectors of the city in place of him. From this point on the Ultimate Girls team was born, when a monster would show up they would use there powers (thus becoming giants) to fight off the monsters. However like most animes there is a catch, they can only be in this form for a limited amount of time, and as there time decreases so do there clothing. That's right when they're in giant form their clothing slowly disintegrates, and of course like most anime girls this leads to embarrassment. Up until I stopped watching it was basically the same thing grow big fight monster, while clothes were disintegrating, maybe later a plot show sup, but I I don't think anything worth wild.

Closing Comments:
Odd show, as one can see it was made for the fan service and not much else. At first it may seem different, but with nothing really changing ever it gets boarding fast. Overall I wouldn't suggest this show, but if you want to give it a try go for it, but don't expect too much. As I said one of the few shows I actually never finished watching, and I feel it was a waste of my time to even watch what I did, but oh well what's done is done.
There is the first of a view small number of (-) reviews. Hope you enjoyed it.

~dinoman411

Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO)

Series: Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO)
Media Type: Anime & Manga
Mangaka: FUJISAWA Tohru
Length: 25 Volumes; 43 Episodes
Genre(s): Comedy, Drama, School Life, Shounen

Introduction:
I don't really remember why I started reading GTO honestly, I think I got it on a whim, and I am glad I did. GTO is probably one of my favorite manga series I have ever read. Now although I am discussing the anime here I will mention I have not actually watched it all yet, currently I am about 1/4 through. There is also a prequel to GTO called GTO: The Younger Days, it was licensed in the US, but has been dropped with 5 big volumes left to come out, haven't read it considering getting it, but I hate getting things that may never be completed. There is also a sequel, again haven't read it want to, and will eventually, though as of now this one is not licensed. Moving onto the summary...

Quick Summary:
GTO also known as Great Teacher Onizuka is obviously about a teacher, and quite a great teacher too. This is a story about Eikichi Onizuka (22yrs old),achieving his odd goal of becoming a teacher. Why is it odd you ask, well Onizuka is an ex-biker/gang member, who was actually the leader of the most feared gang in the city. Oh, and why does he want to be a teacher, you guessed it, to pick up his students, preferably high school girls. So we start out with this goal and enter into the prelude to everything where we enter as a teacher assistant for a week, sort of like a trial period. Onizuka of course gets stuck with the bad class full of gang members and what not, but he resists fighting back and acts professional, until the two leader type kids in the room pull the wrong strings, and then one night they meet Onizuka, who teaches them a bit about respecting their elders. After this incident the class turns angelic, and the rest of the time goes smoothly. So we passed the teacher entrance practice type thing, now we go out to find a real job, but release we do not have a degree so we can only work in private schools. So we apply and eventually get into one, and we get stuck with the class from hell, but unlike his first class this is a psychological hell. Most of his students are quite smart, and hate teachers, making many of the previous teachers leave, and this is where our story begins. Will Onizuka be able to tame the class or will he snap before it's all done, and more importantly will he ever get high High School Girl? Read to find out...

Closing Comments:
Simply put GTO is awesome. It has very few boring parts, and at many points it's hard to predict what will happen next. Like usual the manga has more detail, and is overall better then the anime, but the anime is quiet fun too. Towards the end the vice principle started to get on my nerves, but it wasn't all that bad, he just annoyed me. I would suggest this to anyone would likes the comedy, school life genre even if this is different then the usual. It really is refreshing, and different, which makes it more interesting, also it is very well written and witty at parts. Ok I'll shut up now, you probably already know if you like it or not, so just go buy it you know you want to.

~dinoman411

Toradora!

Ok well I took out the description section since I cover that in the quick summary and introduction section anyway so no point in keeping it.

Series: Toradora!
Media Type: Anime
Mangaka: TAKEMIYA Yuyuko(Author), Yasu(Artist) <-Novel Length: 25 Episodes
Genre(s): Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Shounen

Introduction:
Ok, the Toradora anime is based on a Light Novel series. Again haven't read it, though would love to. Why can't US companies license more light novels, anyway with that quick rant aside, Toradora also has a manga based off the Light Novel, also haven't read that.

Quick Summary:
Toradora is basically a high school romance show. Though unlike the typical setup the main male and main female lead are going after each others best friends. Throughout the series you see the relationships progress of all the main character, and as usual more characters enter later on. Later on you get a slightly deeper look at the characters, then you typically get, including a look into their psyche. Oh yes forgot to mention the main male lead, Ryuuji, lives with his air head, super hot mother, and his pet parrot. The pet parrot named Inko is so unique, picture a ugly bird on drugs and you'll get the idea. The main female, Taiga, lives alone, though she does have a mother, but you do not meet her till much later in the series. And shockingly Taiga and Ryuuji live right next to each other, and as the story progressed we see Ryuuji start to take care of Taiga, since he has a house wife type personality. Ok this is getting long and, I can't say too much more besides that without spoiling some things, so you'll have to watch it to learn more.

Closing Comments:
Ok another romance story, again I enjoyed this story very much. This romance unlike some others does reward the viewers with quite a few cute scenes, and actual romance progression. This show however does end once the main couple starts dating, but chances are the Novel and manga go further. Overall this is a cute story, with many likable characters, though none of them are really that unique when compared to other characters in the same genre, but what character is unique anymore.

~dinoman411

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu

Series: Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu
Media Type: Anime (Based on a Light Novel, but that is not covered here)
Mangaka: IGARASHI Yusaku(Author), Shaa(Artist)
Length: 12 Episodes(Season 1) & 12 Episodes(Season 2)
Genre(s): Comedy, Daily Life, Romance

Introduction:
First off this talk will mostly be about the first season, a. it was better, and b. second is a direct sequel to first season, and also takes a more harem direction. Ok secondly I did enjoy both seasons, though the 1st season was definitely better. Last quick thing yes only the anime will be covered in this talk, there is however also a novel and a manga. The original work is the light novel. I will only be covering the anime since I have not read the manga or light novels (would love to read the novels), supposedly the light novels are much better then the anime, but again I have no idea if that's true.

Description:
Ok this is mostly your typical boy and girl (of course the hottest girl in the school) fall in love story, but are both new to romance. There is however 2 twists, though I will only mention the one, other one is a bit of a spoiler. The first twist is that the girl Haruka Nogizaka loves anime/manga, but this is a secret from everyone. The show progresses a romantic path, though later it does enter borderline harem territory (esp. in the 2nd season). There is a good bit of fan service in this (including panty shots), but there is no nudity in it. Ok onto the summary now...

Quick Summary:
Ok we start out with Yuuto, who is pretty much your typical guy, he however found out that Haruka loves anime/manga, which was secret from everyone. However instead of making fun of her like the people in the past he does not make fun over her, and even promises to keep her secret. Obviously this is what initially gets them together, they then slowly become friends, and eventually fall in love with each other. From here you basically follow them and watch there relationship progress...slowly.... Like a few other series the relationship starts to progress very very slow after a certain point, though with the pace of the show it works. Of course like most shows there are also a few other girls who have there eye on Yuuto, and also Haruka has a little sister who is kind of like the match maker, and is always trying to get there relationship to progress throughout the show.

Closing Comments:
Overall I enjoyed this show, especially the 1st season. But this type of show is not for everyone it can be quite ecchi at times, and overall the relationship progression is slow. Also not a very rewarding show, in some ways the pace reminds me of Pastel, though we get more almost scenes then Pastel. Anyway I would recommend it, but I would also warn not to expect too much. If you could I would try the novels, supposedly there better, but there not licensed in the US, and I don't remember if there are any translations online.

~dinoman411

Love Hina

First quick I'm going to try to make these posts shorter again, but I make no promises...

Series: Love Hina
Media Type: Anime & Manga
Mangaka: AKAMATSU Ken
Length: 14 Volumes; 24 Episodes, 3 OVA, 2 Movies/Specials
Genre(s): Comedy, Harem, Shounen

Spoiler Amount: Minimal

Quick Intro:
Ok first off this was the first manga series I ever read, and also the first series I ever bought, so I am probably a little bias. Well simply put Love Hina and Gundam X (Will talk about eventually), are the first animes I really watched and also the animes that got me into anime, so of course I had to check out the Love Hina manga. Like the anime Love Hina follows the same story, though has a few additional characters and alterations, but the manga goes beyond where all of the Love Hina animes end. Otherwise there close enough to the same to discuss in one post.

Description:
Ok Love Hina is basically about a guy who is trying to get into Tokyo U named Keitarou. Currently he has failed the entrance exam a few times, and ends up going to see his grandmother (reason varies from anime to manga). Love Hina is a harem with Keitarou obviously in the middle, along with quite a few girls all with distinct personalities who slowly fall for him. Keitarou is your typical harem main character he's a great guy, but clumsy and misunderstood, which causes a lot of misunderstandings.

Quick Summary:
Keitarou is a ronin at the start of the show, he has failed the Tokyo U entrence exams a few times, but continues to try to get in. Why you might ask, well to fullfil a promise with his childhood romance obviously. Though he doesn't remember much of anything about this promise besides the actual promise and it was with a girl. After failing again Keitarou (the male lead), goes to visit his grandmother who runs a girls dormitory. Due to certain circumstances he ends up becoming the temporary manager of the dormitory, much to most of the girls disapproval. Oh yes not to mention this is a hot springs girl dormitory. Here we meet most of the main cast within the first 5 episodes, though later a few more enter the scene. Of the girls that live in the dorm the most important is Naru, she is also trying to get into Tokyo U, though she is trying to get in for a somewhat difference reason. From here we have a lot of misunderstandings, and every major character gets a back story eventually. From here romance blooms, but though most of the show most of the girl do not admit they like him, though he only really likes the one girl. Without giving too much away there is a summary.

Closing Comments:
As I mentioned Love Hina is one of my favorite mangas and animes. Just so you know this isn't one of those we accomplish our goal and it ends, this story actually mostly concludes with a wedding at the end. If you enjoyed Love Hina I would also suggest A.I. Love You, which is also written by Ken, same sort of plot, but with a technological twist in it. Well I have talked enough here I'll shut up. Oh yea on a final note the manga still has about 2-3 more volumes after the anime ends. I would also suggest the manga over the anime, but they are both unique in there own ways.
Oh yes, if you have any suggestions any anything in these posts, such as format, or what not let me know in the comments, I am still trying to figure out how I want the posts set up.

~dinoman411