Japan Reference

Samurai Champloo

A ke bono kane kotto — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:06:04 +0900

by: A ke bono kane kotto

Description: A young woman named Fuu is working as a waitress in a tea house when she is harassed by a band of ruffians. Another customer, Mugen, offers to take care of them in exchange for food, but ends up instigating a brawl. Jin, a stoic young ronin in samurai garb, enters the tea house in the midst of the fight. Mugen attacks Jin after he proves to be a worthy opponent and they begin fighting one another, ignoring a fire that started during the brawl. They both faint from smoke inhalation. When they awaken, they find they have been arrested for the murder of Shibui Tomonoshina, the magistrate's son, and are to be executed. With help from Fuu, they escape and Fuu asks them to travel with her to find "the samurai who smells of sunflowers," a mysterious man Fuu can give little description of, but whom she insists she must find. They agree to join her, with Fuu making only one condition: they are not to duel one another until the journey is done.

Golden Boy

A ke bono kane kotto — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:05:12 +0900

by: A ke bono kane kotto

Description: Each episode of Golden Boy places Kintaro opposite a young, beautiful woman, whose interest or disdain for him acts as the conflict of the plot. Some of these women initially dismiss Kintaro as an idiotic and clumsy pervert, and either give him or accept from him some challenge to prove their superiority. Kintaro invariably lusts after these women, but he is principally driven by his desire to be of actual service to them and to thereby learn more about the world. Despite his outward appearances, Kintaro is an incredibly clever and resourceful individual, and consistently exceeds what the women in his encounters thought impossible, winning their hearts despite his outward awkwardness. But due to chance, necessity or a sense of honor, Kintaro never takes advantage of these newfound feelings. Kintaro is a freeter, and has done various jobs as he quests around Japan in pursuit of knowledge. His ventures include computer programming, housekeeping, teaching, the culinary arts, and most of all, studying. The series began with minimal story, and each chapter featured a different girl and a different challenge for Kintaro to overcome. Later on, the story follows arcs, such as Kintaro being forced to impersonate a schoolgirl after catching her shoplifting. Another shows Kintaro involved in a bizarre plot involving one of his old schoolmates, and bizarre women who seem to worship him. Kintaro is also often seen demonstrating the skills he's learned in previous chapters to overcome challenges faced in the current one. Much of the humor derives from situational elements, such as encounters between Kintaro and the women gone awry, and interactions between Kintaro's libido and imagination. Recurring gags include Kintaro's fetish for toilets (especially those recently used by beautiful women), his exaggerated facial expressions, and comical entries in his notebook. The notebook entries include explicit drawings of the women he encounters and bits of wisdom such as "'C' is not sex", and "The human head cannot turn 360 degrees." Regarding the series, Tatsuya Egawa writes: "Before leaving kindergarten, I wrote these words in my notebook: 'I really like to study.' Often I wonder when it was that our schools forgot the true meaning of 'study.' Something which is now so often misunderstood by teachers and parents. Learning ought to be both stimulating and entertaining.

Welcome to the N.H.K.

A ke bono kane kotto — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:14:38 +0900

by: A ke bono kane kotto

Description: Welcome to the N.H.K. revolves around the lives of several young-adults all living in or around the city of Tokyo. Many different lifestyles are shown though most of the time the story focuses on the concepts of being a hikikomori, anime otaku, and having most of the characters experience intense feelings of depression and loneliness. The main protagonist is Tatsuhiro Satō, a university dropout entering his fourth year of unemployment. He leads a reclusive life as a hikikomori, ultimately coming to the bizarre conclusion that this happened due to some sort of conspiracy. One day just when his life seems entirely unchanging, he meets Misaki Nakahara, a mysterious girl who claims to be able to cure Tatsuhiro of his hikikomori ways. She presents him with a contract basically outlining that once a day they would meet in the evening in a local park where Misaki would lecture to Tatsuhiro in an effort to rid him of his lifestyle. During these outings, many subjects are discussed, though they almost always pertain in some way to psychology or psychoanalysis. One of their first meetings in fact deals with interpreting Tatsuhiro's recent dreams. Both Tatsuhiro and Misaki, however, have a tendency of over-doing things, such as hiding the truth, especially from each other and themselves. Despite Misaki's offer and pressing attempts at salvation, it is Tatsuhiro's neighbor and high school friend, Kaoru Yamazaki, whom Tatsuhiro often turns to in moments of need and support. Also, despite his own idiosyncrasies, Yamazaki is one of the more stable characters in the story. The novel also regularly mentions drug use by the main character, and later, his friend, Yamazaki. This element of the story is downplayed in the manga, and left out of the story altogether in the anime (with the exception of Hitomi). This is likely due to several reasons, including a more public-friendly rating, as well as ultimately being unneeded for the progression of the plot.

Nodame Cantabile

A ke bono kane kotto — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:56:47 +0900

by: A ke bono kane kotto

Description: Megumi Noda, or "Nodame" is a piano student at Momogaoka College of Music. An extremely talented pianist who wants to be a kindergarten teacher, she prefers playing by ear rather than reading the music score. She is messy and disorganized, takes baths several days apart and loves to eat, sometimes stealing her friend's lunchbox when it is filled with delicacies. Shinichi Chiaki is Momogaoka's top student. Born into a musical family, he is talented in piano and violin and has secret ambitions to become a conductor. An arrogant multi-lingual perfectionist who once lived abroad in the music capitals of the world as a young boy (namely Prague), he is trapped in Japan because of his childhood phobia. They meet by accident. Nodame quickly falls in love, but it takes much longer for Chiaki to even begin to appreciate Nodame's unusual qualities. Their relationship causes them both to develop and grow. Along the way, they meet some crazy people (like Masumi, Mine, and Stresemann) and make lasting friendships. Because of Nodame, Chiaki gets the opportunity to lead a student orchestra and begins to have a broader appreciation of people's musical abilities. Because of Chiaki, Nodame faces her fears and enters a piano competition. Opportunities open up as both begin taking risks, stretching themselves far more than they ever thought possible. After graduation, Nodame succeeds in curing Chiaki from his phobia and they both move to Paris where Nodame continues her piano studies at a conservatory while Chiaki starts a professional career as a conductor. In Europe, they encounter new friends and rivals, as well as keep in touch with their friends from Japan.

Ouran High School Host Club

A ke bono kane kotto — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:55:59 +0900

by: A ke bono kane kotto

Description: Haruhi Fujioka is a scholarship student at the prestigious Ouran Academy, a fictional high school located in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Looking for a quiet place to study, Haruhi stumbles upon the Third Music Room, a place where the Ouran Academy Host Club, a group of six extremely attractive male students, gathers to entertain both males and females "clients" (one male client entertained so far). During their first meeting, Haruhi accidentally knocks over and breaks an antique vase valued at \8,000,000 (US$80,000 in English manga) and is told to repay the cost in service to the club. Haruhi's short hair, slouching attire and gender-ambiguous look causes her to be mistaken by the hosts for a male student (at first). The hosts all agree that Haruhi would be a good host, thus making her join the host club. Ultimately she agrees to join the Club as a host herself (dressed as a male) in order to pay off her debt. She agrees to join since she does not mind hosting as long as she can pay the debt off faster. The Ouran Private Academy encompasses kindergarten to twelfth grade. Most students come from wealthy families but, in special cases, merit scholarships are granted to exceptional students from a lower income bracket. The school's unofficial motto is "Lineage counts first, wealth a close second," meaning students with stellar family backgrounds are given top priority over those from rich families but low social status.

Black Lagoon

A ke bono kane kotto — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:50:41 +0900

by: A ke bono kane kotto

Description: The story follows a team of pirates/mercenaries known as Lagoon Company, who smuggle goods in and around the seas of Southeast Asia in the early 1990s. Their base of operations is located in the fictional city of Roanapur in Thailand, and they transport goods in the 80-foot Elco-type PT boat Black Lagoon. When on land, they move around and conduct business using Benny's 1968 Plymouth Road Runner, although in episode 24 he's seen driving a 1966-67 Pontiac GTO after his Roadrunner is blown up for the second time in an earlier episode. Lagoon Company does business with various clients, but has a particularly friendly relationship with the Russian crime syndicate Hotel Moscow. The team takes on a variety of missions�\which may involve violent firefights, hand-to-hand combat, and nautical battles�\in various Southeast Asian locations and when not doing much, the members of the Lagoon Company spend much of their down time at The Yellow Flag, a bar in Roanapur.

Death Note

semi~sweet — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:07:33 +0900

by: semi~sweet

Description: Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects-and he's bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal... or his life?

hmm2 — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 13:56:32 +0900

by: hmm2

Maburaho

Maciamo — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 14:22:37 +0900

by: Maciamo

Lupin

Maciamo — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:53:27 +0900

by: Maciamo

Chobits

Maciamo — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:52:52 +0900

by: Maciamo

"Omoide Poroporo"

Maciamo — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:52:27 +0900

by: Maciamo

"Neko no Ongaeshi"

Maciamo — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:51:59 +0900

by: Maciamo

Whisper of the Heart ("Mimi wo sumaseba")

Maciamo — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:51:25 +0900

by: Maciamo

Laputa : the castle in the sky

Maciamo — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:50:46 +0900

by: Maciamo

Kiki's Delivery Service ("Majou no Takyubin")

Maciamo — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:50:06 +0900

by: Maciamo

My neighbour Totoro ("Tonari no Totoro")

Maciamo — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:49:21 +0900

by: Maciamo

Porco Rosso ("Kurenai Buta")

Maciamo — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:48:40 +0900

by: Maciamo

Nausicaa

Maciamo — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:48:09 +0900

by: Maciamo

Princess Mononoke

Maciamo — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:47:15 +0900

by: Maciamo

Spirited Away (sen to chihiro no kamigakushi)

Maciamo — Mon, 26 Apr 2004 18:04:45 +0900

by: Maciamo

Love Hina (REVIEW)

Maciamo — Mon, 26 Apr 2004 18:02:55 +0900

by: Maciamo

Rurouni Kenshin (REVIEW)

Maciamo — Mon, 26 Apr 2004 18:02:35 +0900

by: Maciamo

Naruto (REVIEW)

Maciamo — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 20:36:16 +0900

by: Maciamo