World of Hellreject

So, it seems it’s anime season again over in Japan, and a lot of new shows have begun airing. Some of them are originals, others are remakes, re-imaginings, or new seasons.
I decided that I wanted to plow through some of them, to see if there was anything worth watching, and to be honest, there were a lot of good shows.

Eden of the East

“On November 22, 2010 ten missiles strike Japan. However, this unprecedented terrorist act, later to be called as “Careless Monday,” does not result in any apparent victims, and is soon forgotten by almost everyone. Then, 3 months later… Saki Morimi is a young woman currently in the United States of America on her graduation trip. But just when she is in front of the White House, Washington DC, she gets into trouble, and only the unexpected intervention of one of her fellow countrymen saves her. However, this man, who introduces himself as Akira Takizawa, is a complete mystery. He appears to have lost his memory. and he is stark naked, except for the gun he holds in one hand, and the mobile phone he’s holding with the other hand. A phone that is charged with 8,200,000,000 yen in digital cash.”

This one is going to be the best new anime series to run in 2009. After watching just the first episode, I instantly understood that this will be superb. You better watch this. Fans of Honey & Clover will recognize the animation instantly.

Valkyria Chronicles

“When Imperial forces attack the small border town of Bruhl, Welkin Gunther, son of late General Belgen Gunther, is forced to fight for his life alongside Town Watch captain Alicia Melchiott. Along with Welkin’s adopted sister Isara, the three escape to Gallia’s capitol and subsequently join the country’s militia forces. As members of the newly-formed Squad 7, they must work to repel the invading Imperial forces and discover the true purpose of the invasion itself.”

I never got to play Valkyria Chronicles, since I don’t have a PS3, so I was happy to see that the anime series had begun airing.
After watching the first episode, I can say I really enjoyed it. It had a solid dose of action, good humor, and clear crisp animation. It’s gonna be fun to see how the story unfolds. Reccomended.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

“In this world, there exist people with special abilities to manipulate objects and transform those objects into other objects. These people are known as alchemist. However, this manipulation process does not come without cost, as the basic alchemy rules stated that something with equivalent cost is needed to perform the manipulation.

The main character is a famous alchemist named Edward Elric, who loses his little brother Alphonse in an accident. Edward manages to contain his brother’s soul in a large piece of armor suit. But by doing so Edward loses his arm and leg, so now they are on a journey to regain their original bodies”

This is not an original series, but rather a new version of the anime. It’s going to follow the manga a lot closer than the last series did. So no new season for you earlier FMA fans. It is however just as good, if not better, than the original FMA anime. Both in animation, sound, story, character development and more. I’ve watched the two first episodes, and I can already say this is going to rock. Worth checking out if you’ve never watched FMA before, and even if you have, you should see this one anyway to refresh your memory.

Dragon Ball Kai

I won’t even begin to write the description here. If you don’t know Dragon Ball, or have even heard of it, you better ask yourself where you’ve been the last 10-20 years. Instead, I’ll give you a handy Wikipedia link to go read about it.

The new series Dragon Ball Kai is, again, not an original anime series. It’s actually more or less a special edition of Dragon Ball Z, celebrating it’s 20th anniversary. In this edition, Akira Toriyama did the editing, so it’s following the manga a lot more close. It’s shorter, progresses faster, has no fillers, is redone in 16:9, has new sound effects, opening and closing themes, has crisper animation and yet keeps the same style it did several years ago. Also, the original voice actors are coming back to reprise their roles as Son Goku, Bulma and all the rest of the cast. So if you’re a fan of Dragon Ball, you have to check out this. It’s fantastic.