I just realized I lacked this article for August. With Catherine now out of the way, we are now entering months where companies are releasing some big name game and anime titles, and with it, more titles that I desire to analyse and review. Of course, there may be delays or additions to this listing, however take it as a tentative listing as what to expect on this website this month. Of course, this will not include news which you can expect even more of in the coming months!
Anime
Wagnaria!!
Set in a family restaurant in Hokkaido, the northern prefecture of Japan, 16 year old high school student Sota Takanashi works part-time along with his strange co-workers: Popura Taneshima, a high school girl who’s a year older than Sota, yet easily mistaken for an elementary/middle schooler, and Kyoko Shirafuji, the 28-year old store manager who doesn’t bother to do any work at all. WAGNARIA!!’s crazy cast will have you head over heels with laughter from the first episode!
Katanagatari
Legend has it the unrivaled blacksmith Shikizaki Kiki’s masterpieces, the 12 Klesha Bringers, led the Sengoku Period of Japan. The “Land of the Rising Sun” was unified as one nation under one man. However, this man, the Old Shogun, feared a rebellion and enacted the notorious policy known as Katana Hunting, where 988 of the 1,000 katanas Shikizaki forged were collected. Despite the policy, 12 of his true mastercrafts were left uncollected. The other 988 were merely experiments created for the sake of perfecting these 12. These 12 final katanas are known as Klesha Bringers. The 7th generation master of the sword art Kyoto Ryu, Yasuri Shichika, and his older sister Nanami live on the isolated Fusho Island. One day, a female Shogunate official dispatched to collect the Klesha Bringers, Togame, pays a visit to this island…
Toradora
Prepare for insane romantic comedy! She’s ferocious, self-centered, and… clumsy? Taiga Aisaka is a Palm-top Tiger? Due to his frightening appearance, Ryuji lives a rather unfortunate life. On the first day of his junior year of high school, he meets a strange girl named Taiga. She is better known as the Palm-top Tiger. Despite looking small and cute, she is extremely short-tempered and nobody can stop her once she starts throwing punches. However, Ryuji learns a secret about Taiga nobody else knows… The dragon and the tiger join forces to bring you a monolithic romantic comedy!
Blassreiter – Complete Series
Somewhere in Germany in the not-too-distant future all hell is breaking loose… Giant, biomechanical creatures of origins unknown are terrorizing the city. Labelled as Demoniacs, the creatures appear rabid and unpredictable, killing and maiming anything in their path. The town’s citizens are terrified, the media demands answers. In response the government employs a special–forces team to investigate. Known as the Xenogenesis Assault Team (XAT), its members quickly realize the creature is capable of infecting anyone it comes in contact with; no one is safe.
Ghost Hound – Complete Series
In the small town of Suiten, three boys discover they can transfer their souls to a parallel world. Each had traumatic childhood experiences… Taro Komori – haunted by the death of his sister. Makoto Ogami – traumatised by his father’s suicide and Masayuki Nakajima – tormented by the suicide of a classmate he once bullied.Together they attempt to unravel the mysteries of their outer-body experiences and gain new perspectives on their unusual lives as they grow towards adulthood and attempt to reconcile with the darkness of their collective past. When ‘ghosts’ from their unseen world manifest in their apparent ‘reality’, their lives reveal further mystery…
Dance in the Vampire Bund – Series Collection (DVD / Blu-ray)
After millennia in hiding, Mina Tepes, Queen of the Vampires, suddenly appears in Japan to announce the existence of vampires and establish a colony for her blood-sucking brethren. After this landmark announcement, Akira Kaburagi’s world will never be the same. As a boy, Akira vowed to serve the ruler of the night, and now he must fulfill his destiny by protecting Mina from those who would dethrone her!
Digimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1
Seven kids at summer camp are mysteriously transported to another reality, where they are befriended by a group of strange creatures who call themselves “Digimon,” Digital Monsters. The seven children are now dubbed as the DigiDestined, tasked with protecting the Digital World from evil Digimon like Devilmon. Can they save the Digital World and find a way back home?
High School of the Dead Collection (DVD / Blu-ray)
A deadly new disease is ravaging the world, turning the populace into mindless zombies, and the number of infected is skyrocketing by the second. As their fellow classmates and teachers succumb to the infection around them, a small group of students at Fujimi High School are fighting for their lives after surviving the initial outbreak. It is up to Takashi Komuro to unite the group of weary survivors and try to escape the horrors that surround them. In this new world of the living dead…will they escape?
Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance
In the earliest battles against the monstrous Angels, young Eva pilots Shinji and Rei were forced to carry humanity’s hopes on their shoulders. Now, with the deadly onslaught of the Angels escalating and the apocalyptic Third Impact looming, Shinji and Rei find their burden shared by two new Eva pilots, the fiery Asuka and the mysterious Mari. Maneuvering their enormous Eva machines into combat, the four young souls fight desperately to save mankind from the heavens – but will they be able to save themselves?
Ga-Rei-Zero Collection
Kagura and Yomi may look like ordinary school girls as they walk the streets of Tokyo clad in short skirts and knee-high socks, but they’re the heroes you scream for when monsters creep out of the darkness. These sword-toting sisters are part of an elite counterattack unit that specializes in suppressing outbreaks of supernatural activity. They train together, live together, eat together, and spend their nights disemboweling demons with sacred blades together.
K-On! Volume 1
When Yui Hirasawa enters high school, she wants to join a club but can’t decide which one is right for her. Fortunately, the Light Music Club is desperate to find another member or they’ll be disbanded! So, with the enticement of delicious snacks and assurance that no musical experience is necessary, Yui joins the Light Music Club. She becomes the guitarist in this all-girl high school rock band with Mio Akiyama on bass, Tsumugi Kotobuki on keyboard and Ritsu Tainaka on drums. Together, they’re going to rock the school and someday make it to the Budokan!
Karin: Chibi Vampire Series Collection
Karin Maaka leads an ordinary life in spite of the fact that she is from a family of vampires. Unlike the rest of her family, she has no problem with bright lights, sleeps in a bed instead of a coffin, and loves to eat garlic. She is such an abnormal vampire that she doesn’t even suck blood – she makes it! Everything begins to unravel when she gets uncontrollable urges every time she gets near her classmate, Kenta Usui. Will she hold back the urge to purge or give in to her need to bleed?!
The Melancholy of Haruhi-Chan Suzumiya & Nyoron! Churuya-san Collection 2
In these animated short episodes, based on the comical spin-off manga, the characters are presented in cute little versions of themselves. The wacky adventures of Haruhi-chan and her gang continues as they go have a cherry blossom viewing party and chase after the evil monster known as Santa Claus. / There comical shorts were originally a fan drawn 4-panel parody manga and due to its underground success, chosen to be animated. Follow the whimsical adventures of Churuya-san (based on the character, Tsuruya-san) on her quest for her favorite food, smoked cheese.
Games/Visual Novel
Unlike anime, Games are pretty hard to determine what I will be reviewing as it all depends on when they arrive and how long they take me to playthrough – so this list only consists of a couple of titles I am near certain that I shall be reviewing, but is no where near the completed list.
Devil Survivor Overclocked
Considered one of the best RPGs of 2009, the original Devil Survivor presented gamers with a novel premise: Tokyo is in full lockdown, the government’s swift, coldblooded response to a surprise demon invasion. While you and your friends must solve the nature of the interdimensional rift through which the horrific creatures are entering your world, saving the world is not your highest priority; staying alive, on the other hand, is. Expanded and enhanced,Devil Survivor Overclocked for Nintendo 3DS builds upon the game’s original release with the addition of voice acting for the entirety of the game’s memorable narrative, a special eighth chapter that serves as a rousing epilogue for fans, beautifully remastered hand drawn artwork and character portraits, and much more! (Yes, as soon as the price goes down, I am going to be ordering myself a US 3DS console).
Cladun x2
Dive back into the world of Arcanus Cella with a new cast and a new adventure! Take on the role of a wandering warrior trapped in a dangerous pocket-sized world filled with more monsters, more weapons, more dungeons and more danger than ever before—and there’s only one way out. ClaDun x2 has twice the thrills, twice the spills, twice the lovable classic-ness of the first!
.
Deus Machina Demonbane
Former Miskatonic University Magic Academy student Daijuuji Kurou knows little of grimoires, but what he does know terrifies him – enough that he left his university life behind, and now practices a failing detective business in the shelter of an orphanage in a quiet corner of Arkham. But just when he thought his Academy past was buried, it catches up with him and pulls him back into the dark shadows of the occult: Hadou Ruri herself appears at his door with an offer he can’t refuse. The only way to combat the Black Lodge’s growing magical power is to find, and retrieve, a grimoire with the power to activate the mightiest Machina of all: Demonbane. The quest to find this forbidden tome will change Kurou’s destiny… forever.
This is only a tentative list and will most likely change with additions – mostly in the game department. Titles from last month such as the Madman Entertainment titles have also been carried over to this month.
Related posts:
- What is up for July (and perhaps August) on The Otaku’s Study – Anime
- New Anime/Manga Titles for August 2011 in Australia
- What is up for July (and perhaps August) on The Otaku’s Study – Gaming
- The Otaku’s Study / Sam’s Anime Study – 5 Year Anniversary
- The Otaku’s Study – Catering to all Review Readers.
