Sesho's Anime and Manga Reviews

Area 88 Volume 3: Tightrope at the Speed of Sound. Episodes 7-9. Published by ADV Films. Running Time: 75 minutes. Directed by Isamu Imakake. Screenplay by Hiroshi Ohnogi, $29.98. The supplies are getting pretty low at Area 88 as the enemy has shot down multiple transports that were bringing fuel and ammo for the pilot's aircraft. Of course, the enemy know Area 88's dire straits and send out a rai...

Just wanted to tell you about another sale. This time Amazon.com is having a markdown sale on anime dvds. Select titles are being discounted up to 50%. It seems to be almost their entire stock except for maybe the very newest releases like Genshiken 2. Just click on the link below: Amazon Anime DVD Sale Also wanted to include an interesting video. It's a Japanese TV commercial for Hot Pepper, a fr...

Viz is having a clearance sale of anime/manga related items, mainly from these franchises: Death Note, Naruto, Bleach, Mar, Inuyasha, Pokemon, and Blue Dragon. They say they are going to add new products so some of the tabs come up empty. There are some great bargains to be had, some even below $1. You can get a Naruto backpack for $6.25, even Naruto and Kakashi cosplay costumes for around $6! Dea...

Manga Podcast review of Ouran High School Host Club Volume 1 by Bisco Hatori. Translated by Kenichiro Yagi. Adapted by Gary Leach. Originally published in Japan by Hakusensha. Published in US by Viz Shojo Beat, $8.99, Rated T for Teen. From the back cover: In this screwball romantic comedy, a poor girl at a rich kids' school ends up working for the school's swankiest club-- and gets mistaken for a...

Podcast manga review of Future Diary Volume 1 by Sakae Esuno. Translated by Yuya Otake. Adapted by Clint Bickham. Originally published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten. Published in US by Tokyopop, $10.99, Rated 16+. From the back cover: Yukiteru, Yuno and Kurusu band together to prevent the battle of Future Diaries from getting out of hand. But when Yukiteru discovers a dark secret about Yuno that cha...

Podcast anime dvd review of Trigun Volume 2: Lost Past. Directed by Satoshi Nishimura. Published by Geneon/Pioneer. List Price: 19.99 (Amazon has used copies for around $7). Episodes 5-7, Rated 13+. Vash just can't seem to catch a break. Here he is again, just minding his own business in an Inperil City bar when another group of thugs with the $60 billion reward on their minds comes barging in to...

Podcast anime review of The Prince of Tennis Box Set Volume 1. Episodes 1-13. Directed by Takayuki Hamana. Published by Viz. List Price: $39.98. From the back cover: He may be the son of a celebrated tennis player, but when tennis prodigy Ryoma Echizen joins the elite Seishun Academy's tennis team, he'll have to back up his famous genes with raw skills on the court. Based on the popular manga, PRI...

Manga Podcast review of Maid Sama! Volume 1 by Hiro Fujiwara. Translated by Su Mon Hanr. Adapted by Karen Ahlstrom. Originally published in US by Hakusensha. Published in US by Tokyopop, $10.99, Rated T 13+. LISTEN TO THE PODCAST FOR A CHANCE ON HOW TO WIN A COPY OF MAID SAMA! VOLUME 1! EMAIL ME AT: seshos@hotmail.com Last day to send an entry= July 5, 2009. From the back cover: The class presiden...

Manga review of The Law of Ueki Volume 14 by Tsubasa Fukuchi. Translated and adapted by Kenichiro Yagi. Originally published in Japan by Shogakukan. Published in US by Viz, $9.99, Rated T for Teen. Ai Mori has finally figured out what her power is and its only taken her till the third match of the third round of the King tournament. A LITTLE late if you ask me! I'm not going to spoil it for you, b...

Podcast manga review of Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 1 by Hiromu Arakawa. Translated by Akira Watanabe. Adapted by Egan Loo. Originally published in Japan by Square Enix. Published in US by Viz, $9.99, Rated T for Teen. From the back cover: Alchemy: the mystical power to alter the natural world; something between magic, art, and science. When two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, dabbled in this...

Podcast manga review of Welcome to Wakaba-soh Volume 1 by Chaco Abeno. Translated by Hiroya Yamazaki. Originally published in Japan by Houbunsha. Published in US by Yen Press, $10.99, Rated Older Teen. From the back cover: In the throes of his first love, Kentarou Sawai can't even count on beginner's luck to get him closer to Karen Toguin, the girl of his dreams. When he spontaneously enrolls in K...

Podcast anime dvd review of Trigun Volume 1: The $60,000,000,000 Man. Directed by Satoshi Nishimura. Published by Geneon/Pioneer. List Price: 19.99 (Amazon has used copies for around $2). Episodes 1-4, Rated 13+. From the back cover: In the distant future...on a desert planet...there is a legendary gunman. His name is Vash the Stampede. A gunslinger so dangerous, a $60 billion reward has been plac...

Podcast anime DVD review for Hoop Days: The Complete Collection. Directed by Susumu Kudo. Published by Bandai, Episodes 1-26, Running time: 650 minutes, Rated 13+. Spoken Languages: English, Japanese, English subtitles. List Price: $49.95 From the back cover: Do you have what it takes to win the high school national championships? Kazuhiko Aikawa does, and at 5' 8" he can slam dunk that ball like...

Podcast manga review of Animal Academy: Hakobune Hakusho by Moyamu Fujino. Transated by Alexis Kirsch. Adapted by Ysabet MacFarlane. Originally published in Japan by MAG Garden. Published in US by Tokyopop, $10.99, Rated 10+. From the back cover: Can you pledge secrecy when you are... a human being? When Neko Fukuta finds herself enrolled in the mysterious Morimori Academy-- a secret school for an...

Podcast Anime DVD Review of Kurogane Communication: Memories of Earth Box Set. Episodes 1-24, 360 minutes, Rated 13+. Published by Anime Works. List Price: $39.95 From the back cover: In the ruins of Japan, Haruka lives with no recollection of what happened to her or her parents. Found by five robots, she finds a new life with them as the last human on Earth. This unique family faces the hardships...

Ok, it appears that maybe this has been an issue for months, and other people have already made some comments about it, but the new paper that Tokyopop is using for their manga books sucks!  I just noticed it for the first time when I read Future Diary Volume 1. Are they getting it from a toilet paper company? And the nerve they have to raise the price of their books by a dollar??!! Decrease quali...

Podcast manga review of Future Diary Volume 1 by Sakae Esuno. Translated by Yuya Otake. Adapted by Clint Bickham. Originally published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten. Published in US by Tokyopop, $10.99, Rated 16+. From the back cover: Yukiteru is a lonely student whose only hobby is the daily diary he keeps on his cell phone. But Yukiteru has a secret that nobody knows about...his cellphone can tell...

Del Rey is releasing Volume 1 of X-Men: Misfits on July 28. A cross between X-men and Fruits Basket is what they're calling it. Wolverine is not going to be in it. I guess Del Rey doesn't want to crowd its other Wolverine title. The scary thing is the writers they have tapped for the project. First, there's Dave Roman, editor of Nickelodeon Magazine. Helping him is Raina Telgemeier, the artist beh...

Manga Podcast review of Otomen Volume 1 by Aya Kanno (Soul Rescue, Blank Slate). Translated and adapted by Lindsey Akashi. Originally published in Japan by Hakusensha. Published in US by Viz Shojo Beat, $8.99, Rated T for Teen. From the back cover: Asuka Masamune is a guy who loves girly things - sewing, knitting, making cute stuffed animals and reading shojo comics. But in a world where boys are...

Anime Podcast review of the Blu Ray version of The Sky Crawlers. Directed by Mamoru Oshii. Animation by Production I.G. Published by Sony Pictures. List Price: $34.95 (Amazon has it for $22.99). Based on the novels of Hiroshi Mori. From the back cover: From Mamoru Oshii, the world-acclaimed director of Ghost in the Shell, comes an award-winning story of an exciting but endless war with heroes too...

Podcast anime dvd review of Geneshaft Complete Collection. Published by Bandai. Directed by Kazuki Akane (Heat Guy J, Escaflowne). 13 episodes on 4 dvds. It is currently out of print but you can find it at Amazon and Ebay for about $20. From the back cover: Witness A New Era of Science Fiction Animation... From Kazuki Akane - Director of Escaflowne! In a final attempt to save the human race, a gen...

Podcast Anime DVD review of the first 5 episodes of the Chance Pop Session collection. Directed by Susumu Kudo. Series Composition by Kazuhiko Soma. Rated 13+. Right Stuf. com has it for $18. You can also watch the show for free on Joost. From the back cover: Three young girls, strangers to each other, share an instinctual passion and talent for music. Brought together from distinctly different wo...

Gaming company THQ, after hearing that Queen Elizabeth of England was a big fan of the Nintendo Wii, has made her a gift of gold plated Wii. Some sources are reporting that it's a promotional stunt for THQ's new game, Big Family Games. I would be curious as to how she responds to the present. Maybe the Queen should become a videogame reviewer? Here's the link to the article: http://videogames.yaho...

School is out and summer is in session. I'm looking forward to taking it easy and not dreading Mondays for about 2 months. I also hope to catch up on a lot of reading and dvds. And I'm not just talking about manga and anime. Of course, I will be podcasting and reviewing much more now that I have a lot of free time. In the Houston area, the weather is perfect to hit the beaches down in Galveston!  ...

I came across this article in The Houston Chronicle today and thought it was hilarious: TOKYO — In a country where ghosts are traditionally believed to hide in the loo, a Japanese company is advertising a new literary experience — a horror story printed on toilet paper. Each roll carries several copies of a new nine-chapter novella written by Koji Suzuki, the Japanese author of the horror story "R...