Sunday, July 28, 2013

Random Thought (July 19, 2013 at 09:31PM)

Random Thought 410



I know this may sound biased because I'm regular reader of the manga since its release in April 2011, but I really think that from all of my summer watchlist, Silver Spoon is still the best this season for me. I just like the fact that it's very unique, educational, and very refreshing. It has no serious and complicated plot and no fanservice whatsoever. It's just there to relax you from the very stressful week. I don't like people comparing this to Hiromu Arakawa's previous well known manga/anime, Fullmetal Alchemist. Their genre is very different to provide a very fair comparison. I agree that FMA is one of the most clever anime ever told (in fact it's my most favorite anime of all time) but that doesn't mean that Silver Spoon isn't that great. In being slice-of-life genre, Silver Spoon can be considered one of the best in this area by showing something a slice-of-life show has never shown before. It's great to see that this show features things that you rarely see anymore, in this case living in an agricultural life. You just realize that although it's very hard to live in that way, they can still be very enjoyable to do by the end of the day. Truth be told, when I was a child, I dreamed that someday I'll be able to ride a horse even just once in my life and this anime/manga made me remember that dream.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

A Brotherhood Fan Watches FMA 2003, Episode 1: To Challenge the Sun

If I had remembered what watching this show is like, I would have returned to it a lot sooner.



The first episode of Fullmetal Alchemist had me feeling like I was a middleschooler again, fresh meat in the anime fandom and looking for more mature, complex shows that Saturday morning TV could provide. Now I remember why this episode blew my mind.

"Fullmetal Alchemest" Review

*This is a review for the 2003 anime, not for FMA: Brotherhood*



This show, THIS SHOW, totally trumps both "Fruits Basket" and "Host Club".Action, adventure, alternate history and a slightly steampunk world... "Fullmetal Alchemist" is much more my type of show. Both the plot and the characters have great development, and every time you think the biggest plot twist happened, there's an even bigger one around the corner! FMA definitely makes it into my top 10 favorite shows.

Friday, July 26, 2013

An Introduction to an Artist-Writer

Hi everyone! I'm Nicole Hubbard, an author and artist.



I have been doing both since I was very young, my first memories of drawing being when I was four. Since I was reading by that age as well, my story-writing adventures started soon after. I have always loved adventure and fantasy stories, such as The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien and the Redwall by Brian Jacques. More recently, I've also gotten into manga and anime. So far, I think my favorites in that world have to be Fullmetal Alchemist and Code Geass.

The Readers' Roleplay

Recently, I've been playing a game called Words of Wonder, an interesting take on the whole word search idea, but interactive and with a different, crazier set of rules. Besides killing time, it's been exercising the left side of my brain. I am primarily right-brained, meaning that I have an easier time with creative things rather than more technical ones. Anyway, the setup is rather fun and I've found that it can get a bit addicting, especially if you try to beat your own high scores.



You get different amounts of points, depending on which letters you use in a word, but you have only a certain amount of moves to clear your objective.

Long overdue anime reviews (part 4)

I only vaguely remember the order of animes that I watch by splitting them into pre-trip and post-trip animes simply because I downloaded all the OPs, EDs and OSTs of the animes that I watched and put them into a trip playlist. I could have developed a habit of recording down the dates that I start and finish my anime (MAL has this function) but I guess I myself am too lazy to do so.



On a sidenote I just got criticized yet again by my father for watching anime, for he deems it soulless. This comes from a person who is a big fan ofand. (Both Taiwan soap operas and the worst form of entertainment available which anybody would agree. Anybody.) I have nothing to say to this except that firstly I am used to it and secondly I just pity those who will never be able to appreciate this genre of entertainment. It's fine if you don't watch; but do not repeatedly criticize me unless you are bent on distancing yourself away from me. More importantly, since I love watching anime so much I think its fair to say that its already a part of my life such that if you ignore it, you would never be able to get to know the real me. If you don't bother understand and accepting this that means you deem that I am not worthy of that basic level of respect as a person...

Blitz: Radiant

RADIANT BY CHRISTINA DALEY

Publication date: February 12th 2013

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

I've been a bit spoilt for choice with my anime lately. After finishing Code Geass and Cowboy Bebop (expect reviews on them in the near future) I drifted away from anime for a bit to catch up on other TV shows. Then I began searching for another anime that I could really sink my teeth into. The draw was too much. Watching good anime can be really addictive. After doing a bit of research, I decided that the next anime I watched would be Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.



I didn't really know much about Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood before watching it, other than two facts. The first fact was that the series was adapted from the same manga upon which the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime series was loosely based on. The second fact was that Brotherhood is critically praised. That was all I really needed to know before watching it. I always prefer to know next to nothing about an anime series before watching it, so that I can get completely engrossed in its characters and world.

Saboten Con Announces Guests

Saboten Con has announced the following guests for their upcoming convention:



* Yuko Miyamura - Japanese anime voice actress whose credits include Neon Genesis Evangelion, Outlaw Star, Case Closed, and Berserk.

Cable News: Aqua TV Show Show and SAO to Premiere on [adult swim] and Toonami

Primary Source for Image: Turner Broadcasting System



Two new premieres that are to air soon on Cartoon Network's late night programming blocks include Sword Art Online and Aqua TV Show Show. While there will be other premieres also appearing on the network, such as Children's Hospital, NTSF:SD:SUV::, or Squidbillies, this post will only discuss the two preferred shows that have been mentioned.

Summer 2013: What I'm Watching (Part 2)

MONOGATARI SECOND SEASON



They're back, and faced with new apparitions.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

TV Tuesday: Anime (1)

I mentioned before that I have recently REALLY gotten into anime. It's kind of taken up about 70% of my TV watching. Yes, there's a lot of crap out there, but there are some really good shows that are surprisingly deep. In fact, I have so much to say about them, that I think I'm going to do a few TV Tuesdays about anime, doing two shows each time. Today I'll feature two of the more popular series.



FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST & FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD | (THE ORIGINAL SERIES IS ALSO ON NETFLIX!)

Stunt double figures in the original: ROMI PAKU as Edward Elric, RIE Kugimiya as Alphonse Elric, TO

Probably not believe, but even with those reviews we want to pull off: D I know we'd all like: D But nevertheless possible. In short we can say with Rangiku, that's all poh d eme here, so I write reviews at all the anime I've ever seen: D Just how long will it take me ... mind, to be believed: D So, since I was so "started", starting with the FMA, because after all, it now often added (ie - I'm trying: D) to happen to those who do not know, at least know about what's going on . But again FMA is quite well known anime, think about it you have definitely heard :) Then I'm gonna go crisscross: D

Processing: 25 volumes beatrix potter of manga (Fullmetal Alchemist), 51 parts of the first series (Fullmetal Alchemist), 2 movies (Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos), beatrix potter 64 parts of the second series (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ), 5 the first OVA series (Chibi Party, Kids, Liveaction, Alchemists vs. Homunculi, Reflections), 4 for the second beatrix potter OVA series (The Blind Alchemist, Simple People, Tales of the Master, Yet Another Man's Battlefield)

Stunt double figures in the original: ROMI PAKU as Edward Elric, RIE Kugimiya as Alphonse Elric, TORU Okawa in the first series and Shinichiro MIKI in the second series as Roy Mustang, Megumi Toyoguchi in the first series and Megumi Takamoto in the second series as Winry Rockbell, Kazuko Sugiyama as Dante, Yuuki Sato as Lust, Yasuhiro beatrix potter Takato in the first series and the test Shiratori in the second series as Gluttony, Envy as Mayumi Yamauchi, JUNICHI SUWABE in the first series and Yuichi NAKAMURA in the second series as Greed, KENJI Utsumi as Alex Louis Armstrong, as Tsuda SHOKO Izumi Curtis, Masashi EBARA in the first series beatrix potter and unshiu Ishizuka in the second series as Van Hohenheim, Kouji Totani in the first series and Masayuki Omori in the second beatrix potter series as Tim Marcoh, MAKOTO Naga as Shou Tucker, SHO Hayat as Frank Archer, NAOMI Wakabayashi as Sheska, MICHIKO Neya in the first series and Fumiko Orikasa in the second series as Riza Hawkeye, KEIJI FUJIWARA as Maes Hughes YOSHINNO Takamori as Trisha Elric, Houk Kuwashima in the first series and SATSUKI Yukina as Rose and others

Nerima Daikon Brothers: Complete Box Set S.A.V.E. Watch

MOVIE PAGE:



YEAR:

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Snapshots by Patricia Lynne

Hi everyone! Today there is something very special going on. My #WriteMotivation buddy, , published a book. A year ago. She wasn't able to do all the promo at the beginning that she needed to, so she's been working hard the past couple of months to put this bash together. It's going to be a blast!



ON OUR PLATE TODAY, WE HAVE:

Hot Off the Press!

Highlights from the past two weeks, with commentary from the NFNT gang:



Gate 7 Volume 4 (Dark Horse, 9781595829610)

Cosplayer Interview: Eric Smart/Trifinity Cosplay

Yay! Interview time! Finally. It's been a while hasn't it? And guess what?? I finally interviewed a boy!Woo! And his name is Eric! He is a very amazing prop builder. I've seen his work at the cons and am always impressed! Someday I'll commission him to help me with the list of props I need for my cosplays. But on with the interview!



Cosplayer Interview

Monday, July 22, 2013

First Impressions: Summer 2013

BLOOD LAD



To be honest, I really wasn't expecting much out of Blood Lad. For a while I've had an aversion to vampire shows, so at first I was wary. I only really watched the first episode because I heard there would be monster girls. I made the right choice, because what I found in the pilot was something I had never seen before. Blood Lad is a wholly unique show in which almost every aspect I can think of is done differently. The character designs are refreshing and interesting, as is the whole show's look. The animation is done in a fun and surprising way that literally didn't allow me to get bored. The comedy is unorthodox as well and managed to get more than a few surprise laughs out of me. I was really invested in the main character Staz from the get-go, and I'm interested to see all the other characters that are shown in the opening sequence.That being said, I really hope that Blood Lad doesn't turn out to be a straight forward battle anime like the aforementioned opening seemed to imply. As long as it stays as fresh and involving as it's first foray, I think I'm going to continue enjoying this series.

Full, Metal, Alchemist

It's been long since I want to review the anime but there's always something get in the way. This is suitable time anyway since I have nothing to post on. Apparently, I don't watch the original FullMetal Alchemist and read any of its mangaand watched the movie. I have the PS2 game though which I think I'm only played the first one (Still haven't finish them yet) and I missed the second installments. The gameplay is not bad which Elric can alchemise a spear from nowhere. Anyway, original FMA the animation wasn't following its manga counterpart from I heard and hence its sudden end? Years later, FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood came and it retains most of the original seiyu. FMA: Brotherhood, unlike its predecessor, followed its manga counterpart. Maybe there is fillers somewhere but it isn't noticeable that much.



Call him Shorty shorty shortsee what going on later

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Something a Little Different

A few weeks ago, I started pondering to myself.



Pondering how to keep new ideas for blog posts coming. Pondering what I should do when, due to a busy schedule or something else, I don't have a solid art piece or in-depth article ready for a weekly post.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

The Beginner's Guide to Anime, No. 13

This week we are covering a series mixing fantasy with action. Fullmetal Alchemist (FMA) is also a series which has had several incarnations. It originally began as a manga which ran for 27 volumes between 2001-2010. Early on it was adapted as an anime series 51 episodes long between 2003 and 2004, followed by a film, Conqueror of Shamballa, in 2005 but it was only a loose adaptation as the story was incomplete at the time. A second, more faithful adaptation called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood was broadcast between 2009-2010 with a film in 2011, The Sacred Star of Milos. Whichever version you go for, there is one thing that can be said for definite: for the main characters, things really do cost an arm and a leg, and sometimes more.



FMA is set in the land of Amestris, a country run by a military government. In this world, alchemy is science, which several alchemists working for the government as "State Alchemists", although the public looks down on those who take the job calling them "Dogs of the Military".

Summer 2013 Anime Top Starters

Summer is here.It's hot and time for some refreshing anime.While this season doesn't necessarily quench my thirst with each show individually, the overall spread of excellence is enough to keep me hydrated until the, usually better, fall season.Unless otherwise noted, I will be using the names used on Crunchyroll for the series.In addition to today's feature, I'll be announcing a new column at the end of the blog - so read on!



Rather than posting my usual first impressions, I'm going to be going with a top 5 format to cut to the chase and provide you with what you're looking for:"What anime should I watch this season?"

License Request Day

I was reminded after Kodansha's recent licenses at San Diego Comic Con (I'll have a post on them later) that they had both been on my last major pile. So, since I've used those requests up for the most part, let's take a look back at the bestseller charts. June 2013, to be precise.



I'm looking at the Top 50, which has 32 distinct titles on it (some titles have multiple volumes). 20 of these 32 are licensed, which shows you how "Company X never licenses the really popular stuff!" isn't true. So, already off the list are: One Piece, Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, Kimi ni Todoke, Attack on Titan, Blue Exorcist, Yotsuba&!, Bleach, Detective Conan, Black Butler, Real, Magi, Natsume's Book of Friends, Fairy Tail, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Toriko, Vagabond. Inu x Boku SS, Say "I Love You", and Drifters. Even if one of those is only as of yesterday. :)

Nate's report: Anime Expo 2013 (Day 2-4 + Post AX)

Anime Expo has already been awesome with all the things I've done on Day 1. Let's hope the rest of Anime Expo is as exciting!



DAY 2

Friday, July 19, 2013

Matthew's Anime Expo 2013 Report: Part 5

Unlike the day before where I had a ton of free time, today was full of things for me to do and attend from the morning of until all the way through the night.



My second round of my iced coffee brought me back to the 7-Eleven when they were open, much to my delight. Like the other days, I went ahead of my roommates and associates especially when today Ryan and I were running the Durarara!! Gathering. It actually took me some time to find the exact spot where we would be holding the gathering, not to mention it was right near the line that was going into the Exhibit Hall so unless you were on the street level looking for the gathering you didn't have much luck finding it from above.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Beginner's Guide to the World of Japanse Anime

Sorry about the huge gap between postings! I got distracted with other things and I didn't have anything that I thought was post worthy yet. But apparently I'm still on an anime kick. I thought of this post after talking to people and realizing that many people don't know much about anime. Since Japanese anime is an extensive category, many people get a little lost when they're first venturing into this genre. So this post is a guide for those who are interested in Japanese anime, but don't know much about it, or aren't sure where to start in watching anime. I'll be giving you a series of tips that will help you understand better the genre of Japanese anime and know what kind of shows you would be interested in watching. Here are the following tips when immersing yourself in the world of anime.



1. UNDERSTAND THE CULTURE OF ANIME

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Blood C to be Release Two Months Earlier Than Expected, Oh My Gosh Universal Studios; Get on Some Flipping Clover Already and Some Epic Fullmetal Brotherhood!

Yes, the release date of Blood C The Last Dark was just announced yesterday and to my surprise it will be released quite a bit earlier than expected! Originally it was set to be released around the holidays FUNimation had said, but the official release date is Oct. 22nd!



It seems that a few other series release dates have been bumped up quite a bit as well! Now hopefully we will be getting a trailer for the dub soon soon! When it's out I'll be sure to post it on here and on Namae's Thoughts Facebookpage; so be sure to like her page! You can find the link to it at the bottom of this post. This announcement of the release date also means you can now put in your pre-orders! A great place to do just that is rightstuf.com! So get on it, because Blood C The Last Dark is a beautifully animated piece of genius! Other than this announcement, the ladies of CLAMP have once again been pretty quiet since the last post, but I would like to talk about something CLAMP related that happened in the past and has yet to be fulfilled. Back in 2009 Dark Horse Manga had picked Clover back up to release it in there CLAMP omnibus spree they had (I believe it was the first they picked up), later that year they announced that they were in negotiations with Universal Studios to make a movie of Clover. It's been 4 years and still no deal has been made! Dark Horse brought the idea of creating a live action American film to Universal Studios because of the cinematic style CLAMP uses. If you have ever read Clover I'm sure you can agree; a perfect match to be adapted into a movie because of the style! However I can see how there would be complications to this project. First of all of course would be that Clover is not even finished, the next would be Dark Horses' weird behavior with their CLAMP titles at the moment and possibly not a big enough fan base out there.

TOYS Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric Pocket Watch

NCS Product Synopsis

In the Fullmetal Alchemist manga and animation, protagonist Edward Elric carries a distinctive pocket watch which he flips open to tell time. Said pocket watch can soon be yours thanks to the efforts of Cospa in reproducing the watch for fans of the animation series. Along with the Amestrian dragon design on the case, the inside of the watch cover is engraved with 'Don't forget 3.Oct.11' in reference to the date that Edward and Alphonse burned down their family home and embarked on their adventure (Episode 17 of the animation).


Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Otakon Announces Jad Saxton and Micah Solusod as Guests

Otakon has announced that anime voice actors Jad Saxton and Micah Solusod will be guests at their next convention for the premiere of the English dub of the Wolf Children anime film.



In the film, Saxton provides the voice of Yuki in her older form. Saxton's other credits include Sasami: Magical Girls Club, Hell Girl, Ghost Hunt, Baccano!, Strike Witches, and Soul Eater.

Anime Expo 2013

Usually, the words "Anime Expo" and "relaxing" don't mix well given the sheer number of events to attend and personalities/guests to meet, but this year's offerings, for better or for worse, will give me the chance to take a breather. More so than normal anyway, owing to the dearth of musical guests relevant to my interests and my panel application getting denied (and boy, that removed a huge amount of work off my shoulders and freed up more personal bandwidth). While I can't speak to how satisfied I will be with the convention experience this year, I can at least say that it'll be a relaxing affair.



Mind you, there are a few things worthy of scouring. Based on the latest incarnation of the , my plan is going to look something like so:

Summer 2013: The rest of the field

This post is brought you by Senjougahara from the Monogatari Series. Unfortunately, I'm not gonna blog the series episode-by-episode. I'm just gonna do a summary of all the stories from the Second Season.



Anyways, here's the rest of the anime airing in summer. And BTW, I'll be in hiatus for the time being starting in July 16, which means no blog entries for the time being.

Anime First Look: "Silver Spoon"

At first glance, this looked to be one of those anime that I normally skip over. I mean, an anime about farming and agriculture? I watch a lot of different types of anime, but I might have to abstain in this case. However, I soon found out that it was based off the manga written by Hiromu Arakawa, the brilliant mind behind my favorite manga/anime of all time, Fullmetal Alchemist. Because of how much I loved Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and because of how much I respect and enjoy the work of the artist, I decided I should give it a go.



GENIUS: THAT FAMILIAR QUALITY OF ANIMATION IS BACK

NEW BOOKS ARRIVING WED JULY 10th!!!

ART BOOKS & MAGAZINES*THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS!*

- A new Artist Edition arrives, this time collecting some of the best stories from EC Comics featuring the work of Al Williamson, Frank Frazetta, Harvey Kurtzman, Bernie Krigstein and more! Grab 'The Best of EC Artist Edition' this week!


Monday, July 15, 2013

Summer 2013 Plans

To say that this year's spring season has been a disappointment would be putting it mildly. There has been so much mindless, idiotic, tedious or just plain bad anime; only two series that started in spring could, I feel, be called "good" without reservation, and even then one of them is beginning to slide downhill. Normally, the equinox seasons are the best in any given year, but that has really not been the case this time. So I'm glad for it to end, to be able to leave it behind.



By contrast, the summer season is looking hot (hurr hurr). There is a lot I'm really quite excited for, and many series that are looking quite imaginative and interesting. What the heck is going on? Did the schedulers accidentally switch the two seasons around? No summer should be looking this good!

Summer Season 2013 Early Impressions

It's been a couple of weeks since the season started and I've watched at least the first episode of everything I wanted to*, so I figure having a bit of a discussion about it all now would be timely.



First things first: this season is really good. Really good. I've picked up way more than I did in either the winter or spring this year, and have been enjoying a greater proportion as well! I haven't had this much consistent fun in a season for a long while. Feels pretty good.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

My Thoughts on: Current State of Anime

Big colored eyes, Crazily designed hair, Accentuated features,



This is the type of stuff I live for! It pretty much comes to no surprise; but if you are still wondering, I'm a big fan of anime. I grew up on the Toonami block watching heavyweights like Dragonball Z, Gundam Wing & Yu Yu Hakusho. (My personal favorite)

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Random Thought (July 05, 2013 at 10:12PM)

Random Thought 398



I feel so delighted whenever I see the anime art of Silver Spoon. It's the very first manga I read since its first release to be adapted into an anime. Tears of joy are coming. For those who still don't know, Silver Spoon is also created into manga by Hiromu Arakawa the same creator of Fullmetal Alchemist. It's one of the most educational slice-of-life manga I've read so I am so much looking forward to the anime. I have high hopes on A-1 Pictures for doing a good and faithful anime adaptation in this one. I'm still waiting for the release of episode 1 next week.

Miss Cole's Top Five Soundtrack Tracks

Welcome to Week Two of my Top Five Soundtrack Tracks series.Today I'm going to be sharing some classic cartoon themes and some of my favourite tracks from various anime series.



I honestly thought this week would be easier.Nope!

An Okay Way to Spend an Evening

So recently I've been spending a lot of time watching anime series. For the longest time I was against it. Why? I really have no idea. Until college I had seen a little Gundam through my siblings and some Pokemon when my parents weren't home. I got to college and that quickly changed.



My room mate at my first college was appalled that I had never seen any anime. So I decided to humor him and watch one. I selected Gundam SEED because I was familiar with Gundam and SEED itself was touted as one of the best by many. I watched SEED and SEED Destiny in two weeks. I was hooked. I watched mostly Gundam at first, but expanded my horizons over time.

Review: Evangelion 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (:Q)

The main male protagonist, now 28 years old, asking questions I also wanted to be answered. As mentioned in the previous entry of this blog, today's review is for the third Evangelion reboot movie titled Evangelion 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, which in hindsight, really fits the plot of the movie. While this movie is [...] Related posts:



*This early scene in the movie is just the beginning of more deviation from the TV series by this movie. As mentioned in my previous review, today's post will contain my review of the second installment of the Evangelion movie titled Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. This movie is the second of four movies [...]...

Friday, July 12, 2013

FML I mean FMA

FMA. Fullmetal Alchemist. I'm late on the FMA boat but still taking the cruise.My best friend and I have decided to do a little 'anime club' where we pick a series we don't know about and watch five episodes of the series at a time per week.



Episodes 1-5 were our first endeavor in this 'project' of sorts and here is my recap, review and several thousand thoughts!

What is this... Favorite Anime? REVISITED

Back in October 2011, . At the time, I had a somewhat limited watch history and, to be honest, I hadn't quite thought some of them through. I figure it's about time I fix that. This time around I'm going to do it by genre instead of just naming a bunch of the same genre and copping out on the others. Variety is the spice of life, you know?



THE REQUIREMENTS: According to my friends, I have some very high standards when it comes to animated shows, and I can't really dispute that. I do have high standards for shows because I've seen so many incredible shows and can't tolerate anything less. Most of these will meet every requirement, but some might not. Some are non-negotiable, like a decent story and likable characters, while others, like animation and music, are important but won't completely ruin an anime if they aren't superb. "Graphics aren't everything" we gamers like to say...

L'Arc-en-Ciel

L'ARC-EN-CIEL ("The Rainbow" in , stylized as L'ARC~EN~CIEL) is a Japanese band that was founded in 1991 in . The group has sold over 15 million albums, 16 million singles, and millions of merchandise, including videos. In 2003, they were ranked 58 on a list of the top 100 Japanese pop musicians by . While they first got their start as a band, they have not had any association with the movement since their major label debut in 1994. Eight wereHISTORY1991-1996: EARLY CAREERIn February 1991, bassist (then known as TETSU) recruited vocalist (then known as HIDE),guitarist HIRO and drummer PERO. Together, they formed a band and named themselves L'Arc-en-Ciel. A year later, after gaining popularity in their hometown of , HIRO left the band on June 12, 1992. tetsuya then convinced his friend to quit his university studies and join the band as guitarist. However, PERO then left the group on December 30, 1992. The following year, joined as L'Arc-en-Ciel's new drummer.On April 1, 1993, the band released their debut album on the independent, but well-known, record label . The album was a success and ranked number one on the indies charts. This caught the attention of some major labels. In 1994, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed a contract with 's division. They released their major debut album that same year. Their third album followed in 1995. In 1996, their fourth album, , became their first to sell over a million copies.However, the success would be short-lived.1997: SAKURA'S DEPARTUREIn February 1997, drummer sakura was arrested for heroin possession.He officially quit the band on October 4, 1997. This proved to be the lowest point in the band's history, when news of sakura's arrest became public, the group's CDs were removed from the shelves in record shops.Their song "", was replaced as the fourth ending theme of the anime after only four episodes. In addition, the release of the "The Fourth Avenue Cafe" single was postponed.It was eventually released in 2006.Over the next few months, the group continued to be featured in magazines as a trio. The members formed "The Zombies", which was advertised as a "copy band", and sang their songs.They also covered 's "Irresponsible Hate Anthem".The return from the break was marked by a concert entitled Reincarnation 97 Live in Tokyo Dome. During the concert, they also revealed their new drummer , former drummer of the groups and . This concert was also the group's first performance at the and had an attendance of 56,000 people, with the tickets sold out in a record-breaking four minutes.In 1997, "", the group's first single after sakura's departure, was released with yukihiro being listed as a support member. Not long after its release, yukihiro was signed on as the official drummer for L'Arc-en-Ciel.1998-2000: BLOCKBUSTER SUCCESSL'Arc-en-Ciel's single "", which was released in 1998, became the group's first number one single on the Oricon charts.They subsequently released their album on February 25, 1998. On July 1, 1999, the group released two albums, and , simultaneously. These two albums became the first Japanese albums to be released simultaneously in other Asian countries outside of Japan. Both albums topped the Oricon music charts, with Arkoccupying number one and Ray at number two, with each selling over two million copies. This release marked the commercial high point of the group's career.Their next album , released on August 30, 2000, was their last studio album for some time. The song "", was featured in the arcade game .2001-2003: HIATUS AND SOLO PROJECTSThe compilation album was released on March 14, 2001. It includes twelve songs chosen online by the group's fans.It also includes an additional thirteenth song, "Anemone".Their album Real was re-released as a on July 4, 2001. "", L'Arc-en-Ciel's last new single before their hiatus, was released on September 5, 2001. The English-language version of the title track was adopted as the 's ending theme song.After "Spirit Dreams Inside (Another Dream)" was released, the band went on a hiatus. During this period of time, the members began working on solo projects. hyde released two solo albums ( and ) and co-starred in the movie . He also played the part of Adam in the film ("Last Quarter of the Moon"). ken founded with L'Arc-en-Ciel's former drummer sakura. tetsuya started his solo career as Tetsu69 and yukihiro formed .Three compilation albums; , and , were released on March 19, 2003. The album series included all of their previous singles, with the exception of "Spirit Dreams Inside (Another Dream)".2004: COMEBACK AND U.S. CONCERT DEBUTIn June 2003, L'Arc-en-Ciel performed a series of seven concerts in entitled Shibuya Seven Days. During this event, the group announced that a new album will be released the following year. "", the group's first single in more than three years, was released in February 2004. This song was used as an opening theme song for the popular adaption of .The single topped the Oricon weekly singles charts.Additionally, a sample of this song was also used in a game called . The group subsequently released another single, "", in early March 2004. This was followed by the group's album, , on March 31. Shortly after, on June 2, the single "" was the first to feature a song by .On July 31, 2004, L'Arc-en-Ciel made their North American debut at the anime convention . Approximately 12,000 people attended the concert, which was held at the .They were the first Japanese band to perform at the arena. On May 31, 2005, , Sony Music Japan's U.S. label, released a DVD of their 2004 Otakon concert. On June 25, 2007, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed a record deal with .[]2005-2006: ASIAN TOUR AND SOLO PROJECTSIn 2005, the band released various singles, including "", "" and "". These were later complied onto the album , which was released on June 22, 2005. It features twelve tracks, including the "Lost Heaven", the ending theme song of . Another of the band's single, "", was released on July 20, 2005. This song was also featured in the movie as the opening theme song, and was included on their next album, entitled .In August 2005, the band went on a nationwide tour for their album Awake. It was followed by another tour titled Asia Live 2005, which had the band performing in and and ended at the .Following these two tours, L'Arc-en-Ciel's members turned their attention back to their own solo projects. tetsuya began recording with, veteran metal vocalist of , Morrie for his solo project Creature Creature. yukihiro regrouped his band Acid Android and released the single "Let's Dance" on April 5, 2006. Acid Android joined to perform two concerts in Shanghai in April 2006.hyde composed "", the theme song of the film adaption of the . The song was sung by pop singer , the first time hyde composed music for another vocalist. In addition, his own solo album, , was released on April 26, 2006. hyde also went on a five month tour throughout Japan to publicize his album. After signing with , he held four small concerts in the United States in July 2006, making his US debut. This was the first of L'Arc-en-Ciel's solo projects to be held outside of Japan.On August 23, 2006, ken released a solo single entitled "Speed".2006-2008: 15TH ANNIVERSARY AND EUROPE CONCERT DEBUTOn November 25 and 26, 2006, L'Arc-en-Ciel played two shows at the Tokyo Dome to celebrate their 15th anniversary. The tickets for these concerts were sold out in two minutes, breaking the previous record, which was also set by them.A poll was created on their official website, during the weeks before the concert, which allowed fans to pick the songs they would like to hear at the show.The concert was later broadcast on the channel on December 23, 2006, and was subsequently broadcast on Korean on February 8, 2007.L'Arc-en-Ciel recorded the song "Shine", which was to be used as the opening song for the NHK anime . In the spring of 2007, the group kicked-off their Mata Heart ni hi wo Tsukero 2007 tour in Japan. They also released the single "" on May 30, 2007, which topped the charts.Their song "", which was used in a commercial, was also released as a single on August 29, 2007. This single also topped the Oricon charts.L'Arc-en-Ciel subsequently recorded the song "", which was used as the first opening theme for the anime .This song was released as a single on October 10, 2007, later topping the Oricon weekly charts.From November 14 to December 25, 2007, they released a limited edition single titled "", along with two new DVDs, titled and . Their studio album was released on November 21, 2007, and debuted at number one on the Oricon charts.L'Arc-en-Ciel then performed the Theater of Kiss tour, which was held from December 22, 2007 to February 17, 2008. The song "" was used as the Japanese opening song for the PS3/Xbox360 game . It was released as a single on April 2, 2008, and topped the Oricon weekly charts.The band went on a tour, entitled Tour 2008 L'7: Trans Asia via Paris, which covered several major Asian cities, as well as , .On this tour, a live show hiatus until 2011 was announced, although new material would still continue to be released. Their double A-side single "" and the DVD were released together on August 27, 2008.2009-2010: LIVE SHOW HIATUSOn May 20, 2009, L'Arc-en-Ciel released the DVD of their live concert in Paris, titled Live in Paris. hyde and formed the hard rock group and released their self-titled first album, , on June 10, 2009.On December 1, 2009, L'Arc-en-Ciel announced the release of a new single named "" on January 27, 2010. This was used as the theme song for 's broadcast of the . Also, tetsu announced that he had changed his to "tetsuya" and released his first artist book. The book, which ranked number six amongst the Talent Book Charts, featured early live pictures and a 30,000 character interview with the bassist.On March 10, 2010, L'Arc-en-Ciel released their fifth "best of" album, entitled . It contains 4 CDs with 7 tracks per band member, chosen and remastered by each of them. The first press edition of this compilation also came with a DVD that includes a variety quiz show with the band titled The L'Arquiz.2011-PRESENT: 20TH ANNIVERSARY AND WORLD TOUROn January 1, 2011, L'Arc-en-Ciel celebrated both their 20th anniversary and the New Year with the midnight concert L'A Happy New Year! at . On February 16, 2011, they released the compilation album Twenity.This album consists of three parts: , , and . A box set entitled Twenity Box was later released on March 9, 2011. The albums are an all-around "best of" collection of the band, and it covers everything from the formation of the group, including their hit singles till to their newest works. covers their work from their album until their album . covers the releases from their single "" to the single "". covers their releases from the double A-side "" up to their commercial-only song from 2010, a cover of "". The Twenity Boxreleased on March 9 contains all three of the albums in one release. It also comes with a special digest DVD that covers the 20 year history of the band, a deluxe booklet, and a special that contains either "", "Anata", "" or "" at random.Later, it was announced that L'Arc-en-Ciel would provide the theme song for , entitled "". This is their fourth contribution to the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise.The song was released as their first 20th L'Anniversary single on June 29, 2011. To further celebrate their 20 years together, L'Arc-en-Ciel put on a "20th L'Anniversary Concert" at in Tokyo on May 28-29, 2011, with each day dedicated to one half of their career. All of the proceeds from the concerts were donated to the relief efforts. Additionally, at the end of the concert, it was announced that there will be a L'Anniversary Japan Tour in 2011, as well as a world tour in 2012.On October 12, the second 20th L'Anniversary single was released, entitled "" (Kiss Kiss Kiss). L'Arc-en-Ciel was subsequently approached by the producers of the live-action film to perform the movie's theme song.Entitled "", the song was released as the group's third L'Anniversary single on December 21, 2011.L'Arc-en-Ciel then announced that they will be releasing their twelfth studio album, and gave fans who bought "Chase" a sneak peek with a live internet broadcast of the band mastering the album on December 26 on .They also announced that their alter ego band P'unk-en-Ciel will be releasing their first album, titled P'unk is Not Dead, the same day.The band's twelfth album, , was released on February 8, 2012.It includes all their singles from the single "Drink it Down" onwards and four new songs.The band's 2012 world tour took them to Hong Kong on March 3, Bangkok on March 7, Shanghai on March 10, Taipei on March 17, New York on March 25, London on April 11, Paris on April 14, Singapore on April 28, Jakarta on May 2, Seoul on May 5, Yokohama on May 12-13, Osaka on May 19-20, Tokyo on May 26-27, and Honolulu on May 31.Their show in New York was originally scheduled to be at on March 23, but was later moved to . Making L'Arc-en-Ciel the first Japanese artist to be the lead act at the legendary venue.They ended the tour by returning to the US for two nights in Honolulu, Hawaii on May 31 and June 1, the latter being for the group's fan club members only.At the first day, the mayor of Honolulu made a surprise appearance and declared May 31 "L'Arc~en~Ciel Day", saying he felt the band "made a great contribution to cultural activities, and built a bridge of friendship between Hawaii and Japan".P'UNK-EN-CIELP'UNK-EN-CIEL (stylized as P'UNK~EN~CIEL) is an of L'Arc-en-Ciel. Introduced in 2004, hyde takes over guitar, ken the drums, yukihiro plays the bass, while tetsuya performs the vocals. P'unk-en-Ciel's songs have a more punk sound and their music is usually heavier and faster with a different tone due to tetsuya's vocals. hyde wears a pirate patch over his left eye in P'unk-en-Ciel performances. yukihiro is known to wear a gas mask; however, this has only been seen once at a live concert during their tour in 2004.Each member is called in capital letters; T.E.Z P'UNK (formerly TETSU P'UNK), KEN P'UNK, HYDE P'UNK and YUKI P'UNK. Each member produces one song of their choice, and they alternate their productions.P'unk-en-Ciel is the re-visitation of D'ARK-EN-CIEL(stylized as D'ARK~EN~CIEL), a special event that took place during concerts in the years when sakura was their drummer. The only material released from D'ark-en-Ciel is the 18-minute self-titled B-side found on the (then) unreleased "" single. Each member was called; DARK TETSU, HYDE DARK, Suck D'ark La and K n D'Ark.P'unk-en-Ciel songs have been recorded and used as B-sides on singles since 2004 and their performances can be found on live DVDs. They also featured television personality (called P'UNK ) in the song "Round and Round 2005".On February 8, 2012 P'unk-en-Ciel released their first album ,which contains all twelve songs they released up to that point.P'UNK-EN-CIEL SONGSRecorded versions released on singles:



* "Milky Way", found on the "" single (Produced by HYDE P'UNK).

L'Arc-en-Ciel

L'ARC-EN-CIEL ("The Rainbow" in , stylized as L'ARC~EN~CIEL) is a Japanese band that was founded in 1991 in . The group has sold over 15 million albums, 16 million singles, and millions of merchandise, including videos. In 2003, they were ranked 58 on a list of the top 100 Japanese pop musicians by . While they first got their start as a band, they have not had any association with the movement since their major label debut in 1994. Eight wereHISTORY1991-1996: EARLY CAREERIn February 1991, bassist (then known as TETSU) recruited vocalist (then known as HIDE),guitarist HIRO and drummer PERO. Together, they formed a band and named themselves L'Arc-en-Ciel. A year later, after gaining popularity in their hometown of , HIRO left the band on June 12, 1992. tetsuya then convinced his friend to quit his university studies and join the band as guitarist. However, PERO then left the group on December 30, 1992. The following year, joined as L'Arc-en-Ciel's new drummer.On April 1, 1993, the band released their debut album on the independent, but well-known, record label . The album was a success and ranked number one on the indies charts. This caught the attention of some major labels. In 1994, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed a contract with 's division. They released their major debut album that same year. Their third album followed in 1995. In 1996, their fourth album, , became their first to sell over a million copies.However, the success would be short-lived.1997: SAKURA'S DEPARTUREIn February 1997, drummer sakura was arrested for heroin possession.He officially quit the band on October 4, 1997. This proved to be the lowest point in the band's history, when news of sakura's arrest became public, the group's CDs were removed from the shelves in record shops.Their song "", was replaced as the fourth ending theme of the anime after only four episodes. In addition, the release of the "The Fourth Avenue Cafe" single was postponed.It was eventually released in 2006.Over the next few months, the group continued to be featured in magazines as a trio. The members formed "The Zombies", which was advertised as a "copy band", and sang their songs.They also covered 's "Irresponsible Hate Anthem".The return from the break was marked by a concert entitled Reincarnation 97 Live in Tokyo Dome. During the concert, they also revealed their new drummer , former drummer of the groups and . This concert was also the group's first performance at the and had an attendance of 56,000 people, with the tickets sold out in a record-breaking four minutes.In 1997, "", the group's first single after sakura's departure, was released with yukihiro being listed as a support member. Not long after its release, yukihiro was signed on as the official drummer for L'Arc-en-Ciel.1998-2000: BLOCKBUSTER SUCCESSL'Arc-en-Ciel's single "", which was released in 1998, became the group's first number one single on the Oricon charts.They subsequently released their album on February 25, 1998. On July 1, 1999, the group released two albums, and , simultaneously. These two albums became the first Japanese albums to be released simultaneously in other Asian countries outside of Japan. Both albums topped the Oricon music charts, with Arkoccupying number one and Ray at number two, with each selling over two million copies. This release marked the commercial high point of the group's career.Their next album , released on August 30, 2000, was their last studio album for some time. The song "", was featured in the arcade game .2001-2003: HIATUS AND SOLO PROJECTSThe compilation album was released on March 14, 2001. It includes twelve songs chosen online by the group's fans.It also includes an additional thirteenth song, "Anemone".Their album Real was re-released as a on July 4, 2001. "", L'Arc-en-Ciel's last new single before their hiatus, was released on September 5, 2001. The English-language version of the title track was adopted as the 's ending theme song.After "Spirit Dreams Inside (Another Dream)" was released, the band went on a hiatus. During this period of time, the members began working on solo projects. hyde released two solo albums ( and ) and co-starred in the movie . He also played the part of Adam in the film ("Last Quarter of the Moon"). ken founded with L'Arc-en-Ciel's former drummer sakura. tetsuya started his solo career as Tetsu69 and yukihiro formed .Three compilation albums; , and , were released on March 19, 2003. The album series included all of their previous singles, with the exception of "Spirit Dreams Inside (Another Dream)".2004: COMEBACK AND U.S. CONCERT DEBUTIn June 2003, L'Arc-en-Ciel performed a series of seven concerts in entitled Shibuya Seven Days. During this event, the group announced that a new album will be released the following year. "", the group's first single in more than three years, was released in February 2004. This song was used as an opening theme song for the popular adaption of .The single topped the Oricon weekly singles charts.Additionally, a sample of this song was also used in a game called . The group subsequently released another single, "", in early March 2004. This was followed by the group's album, , on March 31. Shortly after, on June 2, the single "" was the first to feature a song by .On July 31, 2004, L'Arc-en-Ciel made their North American debut at the anime convention . Approximately 12,000 people attended the concert, which was held at the .They were the first Japanese band to perform at the arena. On May 31, 2005, , Sony Music Japan's U.S. label, released a DVD of their 2004 Otakon concert. On June 25, 2007, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed a record deal with .[]2005-2006: ASIAN TOUR AND SOLO PROJECTSIn 2005, the band released various singles, including "", "" and "". These were later complied onto the album , which was released on June 22, 2005. It features twelve tracks, including the "Lost Heaven", the ending theme song of . Another of the band's single, "", was released on July 20, 2005. This song was also featured in the movie as the opening theme song, and was included on their next album, entitled .In August 2005, the band went on a nationwide tour for their album Awake. It was followed by another tour titled Asia Live 2005, which had the band performing in and and ended at the .Following these two tours, L'Arc-en-Ciel's members turned their attention back to their own solo projects. tetsuya began recording with, veteran metal vocalist of , Morrie for his solo project Creature Creature. yukihiro regrouped his band Acid Android and released the single "Let's Dance" on April 5, 2006. Acid Android joined to perform two concerts in Shanghai in April 2006.hyde composed "", the theme song of the film adaption of the . The song was sung by pop singer , the first time hyde composed music for another vocalist. In addition, his own solo album, , was released on April 26, 2006. hyde also went on a five month tour throughout Japan to publicize his album. After signing with , he held four small concerts in the United States in July 2006, making his US debut. This was the first of L'Arc-en-Ciel's solo projects to be held outside of Japan.On August 23, 2006, ken released a solo single entitled "Speed".2006-2008: 15TH ANNIVERSARY AND EUROPE CONCERT DEBUTOn November 25 and 26, 2006, L'Arc-en-Ciel played two shows at the Tokyo Dome to celebrate their 15th anniversary. The tickets for these concerts were sold out in two minutes, breaking the previous record, which was also set by them.A poll was created on their official website, during the weeks before the concert, which allowed fans to pick the songs they would like to hear at the show.The concert was later broadcast on the channel on December 23, 2006, and was subsequently broadcast on Korean on February 8, 2007.L'Arc-en-Ciel recorded the song "Shine", which was to be used as the opening song for the NHK anime . In the spring of 2007, the group kicked-off their Mata Heart ni hi wo Tsukero 2007 tour in Japan. They also released the single "" on May 30, 2007, which topped the charts.Their song "", which was used in a commercial, was also released as a single on August 29, 2007. This single also topped the Oricon charts.L'Arc-en-Ciel subsequently recorded the song "", which was used as the first opening theme for the anime .This song was released as a single on October 10, 2007, later topping the Oricon weekly charts.From November 14 to December 25, 2007, they released a limited edition single titled "", along with two new DVDs, titled and . Their studio album was released on November 21, 2007, and debuted at number one on the Oricon charts.L'Arc-en-Ciel then performed the Theater of Kiss tour, which was held from December 22, 2007 to February 17, 2008. The song "" was used as the Japanese opening song for the PS3/Xbox360 game . It was released as a single on April 2, 2008, and topped the Oricon weekly charts.The band went on a tour, entitled Tour 2008 L'7: Trans Asia via Paris, which covered several major Asian cities, as well as , .On this tour, a live show hiatus until 2011 was announced, although new material would still continue to be released. Their double A-side single "" and the DVD were released together on August 27, 2008.2009-2010: LIVE SHOW HIATUSOn May 20, 2009, L'Arc-en-Ciel released the DVD of their live concert in Paris, titled Live in Paris. hyde and formed the hard rock group and released their self-titled first album, , on June 10, 2009.On December 1, 2009, L'Arc-en-Ciel announced the release of a new single named "" on January 27, 2010. This was used as the theme song for 's broadcast of the . Also, tetsu announced that he had changed his to "tetsuya" and released his first artist book. The book, which ranked number six amongst the Talent Book Charts, featured early live pictures and a 30,000 character interview with the bassist.On March 10, 2010, L'Arc-en-Ciel released their fifth "best of" album, entitled . It contains 4 CDs with 7 tracks per band member, chosen and remastered by each of them. The first press edition of this compilation also came with a DVD that includes a variety quiz show with the band titled The L'Arquiz.2011-PRESENT: 20TH ANNIVERSARY AND WORLD TOUROn January 1, 2011, L'Arc-en-Ciel celebrated both their 20th anniversary and the New Year with the midnight concert L'A Happy New Year! at . On February 16, 2011, they released the compilation album Twenity.This album consists of three parts: , , and . A box set entitled Twenity Box was later released on March 9, 2011. The albums are an all-around "best of" collection of the band, and it covers everything from the formation of the group, including their hit singles till to their newest works. covers their work from their album until their album . covers the releases from their single "" to the single "". covers their releases from the double A-side "" up to their commercial-only song from 2010, a cover of "". The Twenity Boxreleased on March 9 contains all three of the albums in one release. It also comes with a special digest DVD that covers the 20 year history of the band, a deluxe booklet, and a special that contains either "", "Anata", "" or "" at random.Later, it was announced that L'Arc-en-Ciel would provide the theme song for , entitled "". This is their fourth contribution to the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise.The song was released as their first 20th L'Anniversary single on June 29, 2011. To further celebrate their 20 years together, L'Arc-en-Ciel put on a "20th L'Anniversary Concert" at in Tokyo on May 28-29, 2011, with each day dedicated to one half of their career. All of the proceeds from the concerts were donated to the relief efforts. Additionally, at the end of the concert, it was announced that there will be a L'Anniversary Japan Tour in 2011, as well as a world tour in 2012.On October 12, the second 20th L'Anniversary single was released, entitled "" (Kiss Kiss Kiss). L'Arc-en-Ciel was subsequently approached by the producers of the live-action film to perform the movie's theme song.Entitled "", the song was released as the group's third L'Anniversary single on December 21, 2011.L'Arc-en-Ciel then announced that they will be releasing their twelfth studio album, and gave fans who bought "Chase" a sneak peek with a live internet broadcast of the band mastering the album on December 26 on .They also announced that their alter ego band P'unk-en-Ciel will be releasing their first album, titled P'unk is Not Dead, the same day.The band's twelfth album, , was released on February 8, 2012.It includes all their singles from the single "Drink it Down" onwards and four new songs.The band's 2012 world tour took them to Hong Kong on March 3, Bangkok on March 7, Shanghai on March 10, Taipei on March 17, New York on March 25, London on April 11, Paris on April 14, Singapore on April 28, Jakarta on May 2, Seoul on May 5, Yokohama on May 12-13, Osaka on May 19-20, Tokyo on May 26-27, and Honolulu on May 31.Their show in New York was originally scheduled to be at on March 23, but was later moved to . Making L'Arc-en-Ciel the first Japanese artist to be the lead act at the legendary venue.They ended the tour by returning to the US for two nights in Honolulu, Hawaii on May 31 and June 1, the latter being for the group's fan club members only.At the first day, the mayor of Honolulu made a surprise appearance and declared May 31 "L'Arc~en~Ciel Day", saying he felt the band "made a great contribution to cultural activities, and built a bridge of friendship between Hawaii and Japan".P'UNK-EN-CIELP'UNK-EN-CIEL (stylized as P'UNK~EN~CIEL) is an of L'Arc-en-Ciel. Introduced in 2004, hyde takes over guitar, ken the drums, yukihiro plays the bass, while tetsuya performs the vocals. P'unk-en-Ciel's songs have a more punk sound and their music is usually heavier and faster with a different tone due to tetsuya's vocals. hyde wears a pirate patch over his left eye in P'unk-en-Ciel performances. yukihiro is known to wear a gas mask; however, this has only been seen once at a live concert during their tour in 2004.Each member is called in capital letters; T.E.Z P'UNK (formerly TETSU P'UNK), KEN P'UNK, HYDE P'UNK and YUKI P'UNK. Each member produces one song of their choice, and they alternate their productions.P'unk-en-Ciel is the re-visitation of D'ARK-EN-CIEL(stylized as D'ARK~EN~CIEL), a special event that took place during concerts in the years when sakura was their drummer. The only material released from D'ark-en-Ciel is the 18-minute self-titled B-side found on the (then) unreleased "" single. Each member was called; DARK TETSU, HYDE DARK, Suck D'ark La and K n D'Ark.P'unk-en-Ciel songs have been recorded and used as B-sides on singles since 2004 and their performances can be found on live DVDs. They also featured television personality (called P'UNK ) in the song "Round and Round 2005".On February 8, 2012 P'unk-en-Ciel released their first album ,which contains all twelve songs they released up to that point.P'UNK-EN-CIEL SONGSRecorded versions released on singles:



* "Milky Way", found on the "" single (Produced by HYDE P'UNK).

L'Arc-en-Ciel

L'ARC-EN-CIEL ("The Rainbow" in , stylized as L'ARC~EN~CIEL) is a Japanese band that was founded in 1991 in . The group has sold over 15 million albums, 16 million singles, and millions of merchandise, including videos. In 2003, they were ranked 58 on a list of the top 100 Japanese pop musicians by . While they first got their start as a band, they have not had any association with the movement since their major label debut in 1994. Eight wereHISTORY1991-1996: EARLY CAREERIn February 1991, bassist (then known as TETSU) recruited vocalist (then known as HIDE),guitarist HIRO and drummer PERO. Together, they formed a band and named themselves L'Arc-en-Ciel. A year later, after gaining popularity in their hometown of , HIRO left the band on June 12, 1992. tetsuya then convinced his friend to quit his university studies and join the band as guitarist. However, PERO then left the group on December 30, 1992. The following year, joined as L'Arc-en-Ciel's new drummer.On April 1, 1993, the band released their debut album on the independent, but well-known, record label . The album was a success and ranked number one on the indies charts. This caught the attention of some major labels. In 1994, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed a contract with 's division. They released their major debut album that same year. Their third album followed in 1995. In 1996, their fourth album, , became their first to sell over a million copies.However, the success would be short-lived.1997: SAKURA'S DEPARTUREIn February 1997, drummer sakura was arrested for heroin possession.He officially quit the band on October 4, 1997. This proved to be the lowest point in the band's history, when news of sakura's arrest became public, the group's CDs were removed from the shelves in record shops.Their song "", was replaced as the fourth ending theme of the anime after only four episodes. In addition, the release of the "The Fourth Avenue Cafe" single was postponed.It was eventually released in 2006.Over the next few months, the group continued to be featured in magazines as a trio. The members formed "The Zombies", which was advertised as a "copy band", and sang their songs.They also covered 's "Irresponsible Hate Anthem".The return from the break was marked by a concert entitled Reincarnation 97 Live in Tokyo Dome. During the concert, they also revealed their new drummer , former drummer of the groups and . This concert was also the group's first performance at the and had an attendance of 56,000 people, with the tickets sold out in a record-breaking four minutes.In 1997, "", the group's first single after sakura's departure, was released with yukihiro being listed as a support member. Not long after its release, yukihiro was signed on as the official drummer for L'Arc-en-Ciel.1998-2000: BLOCKBUSTER SUCCESSL'Arc-en-Ciel's single "", which was released in 1998, became the group's first number one single on the Oricon charts.They subsequently released their album on February 25, 1998. On July 1, 1999, the group released two albums, and , simultaneously. These two albums became the first Japanese albums to be released simultaneously in other Asian countries outside of Japan. Both albums topped the Oricon music charts, with Arkoccupying number one and Ray at number two, with each selling over two million copies. This release marked the commercial high point of the group's career.Their next album , released on August 30, 2000, was their last studio album for some time. The song "", was featured in the arcade game .2001-2003: HIATUS AND SOLO PROJECTSThe compilation album was released on March 14, 2001. It includes twelve songs chosen online by the group's fans.It also includes an additional thirteenth song, "Anemone".Their album Real was re-released as a on July 4, 2001. "", L'Arc-en-Ciel's last new single before their hiatus, was released on September 5, 2001. The English-language version of the title track was adopted as the 's ending theme song.After "Spirit Dreams Inside (Another Dream)" was released, the band went on a hiatus. During this period of time, the members began working on solo projects. hyde released two solo albums ( and ) and co-starred in the movie . He also played the part of Adam in the film ("Last Quarter of the Moon"). ken founded with L'Arc-en-Ciel's former drummer sakura. tetsuya started his solo career as Tetsu69 and yukihiro formed .Three compilation albums; , and , were released on March 19, 2003. The album series included all of their previous singles, with the exception of "Spirit Dreams Inside (Another Dream)".2004: COMEBACK AND U.S. CONCERT DEBUTIn June 2003, L'Arc-en-Ciel performed a series of seven concerts in entitled Shibuya Seven Days. During this event, the group announced that a new album will be released the following year. "", the group's first single in more than three years, was released in February 2004. This song was used as an opening theme song for the popular adaption of .The single topped the Oricon weekly singles charts.Additionally, a sample of this song was also used in a game called . The group subsequently released another single, "", in early March 2004. This was followed by the group's album, , on March 31. Shortly after, on June 2, the single "" was the first to feature a song by .On July 31, 2004, L'Arc-en-Ciel made their North American debut at the anime convention . Approximately 12,000 people attended the concert, which was held at the .They were the first Japanese band to perform at the arena. On May 31, 2005, , Sony Music Japan's U.S. label, released a DVD of their 2004 Otakon concert. On June 25, 2007, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed a record deal with .[]2005-2006: ASIAN TOUR AND SOLO PROJECTSIn 2005, the band released various singles, including "", "" and "". These were later complied onto the album , which was released on June 22, 2005. It features twelve tracks, including the "Lost Heaven", the ending theme song of . Another of the band's single, "", was released on July 20, 2005. This song was also featured in the movie as the opening theme song, and was included on their next album, entitled .In August 2005, the band went on a nationwide tour for their album Awake. It was followed by another tour titled Asia Live 2005, which had the band performing in and and ended at the .Following these two tours, L'Arc-en-Ciel's members turned their attention back to their own solo projects. tetsuya began recording with, veteran metal vocalist of , Morrie for his solo project Creature Creature. yukihiro regrouped his band Acid Android and released the single "Let's Dance" on April 5, 2006. Acid Android joined to perform two concerts in Shanghai in April 2006.hyde composed "", the theme song of the film adaption of the . The song was sung by pop singer , the first time hyde composed music for another vocalist. In addition, his own solo album, , was released on April 26, 2006. hyde also went on a five month tour throughout Japan to publicize his album. After signing with , he held four small concerts in the United States in July 2006, making his US debut. This was the first of L'Arc-en-Ciel's solo projects to be held outside of Japan.On August 23, 2006, ken released a solo single entitled "Speed".2006-2008: 15TH ANNIVERSARY AND EUROPE CONCERT DEBUTOn November 25 and 26, 2006, L'Arc-en-Ciel played two shows at the Tokyo Dome to celebrate their 15th anniversary. The tickets for these concerts were sold out in two minutes, breaking the previous record, which was also set by them.A poll was created on their official website, during the weeks before the concert, which allowed fans to pick the songs they would like to hear at the show.The concert was later broadcast on the channel on December 23, 2006, and was subsequently broadcast on Korean on February 8, 2007.L'Arc-en-Ciel recorded the song "Shine", which was to be used as the opening song for the NHK anime . In the spring of 2007, the group kicked-off their Mata Heart ni hi wo Tsukero 2007 tour in Japan. They also released the single "" on May 30, 2007, which topped the charts.Their song "", which was used in a commercial, was also released as a single on August 29, 2007. This single also topped the Oricon charts.L'Arc-en-Ciel subsequently recorded the song "", which was used as the first opening theme for the anime .This song was released as a single on October 10, 2007, later topping the Oricon weekly charts.From November 14 to December 25, 2007, they released a limited edition single titled "", along with two new DVDs, titled and . Their studio album was released on November 21, 2007, and debuted at number one on the Oricon charts.L'Arc-en-Ciel then performed the Theater of Kiss tour, which was held from December 22, 2007 to February 17, 2008. The song "" was used as the Japanese opening song for the PS3/Xbox360 game . It was released as a single on April 2, 2008, and topped the Oricon weekly charts.The band went on a tour, entitled Tour 2008 L'7: Trans Asia via Paris, which covered several major Asian cities, as well as , .On this tour, a live show hiatus until 2011 was announced, although new material would still continue to be released. Their double A-side single "" and the DVD were released together on August 27, 2008.2009-2010: LIVE SHOW HIATUSOn May 20, 2009, L'Arc-en-Ciel released the DVD of their live concert in Paris, titled Live in Paris. hyde and formed the hard rock group and released their self-titled first album, , on June 10, 2009.On December 1, 2009, L'Arc-en-Ciel announced the release of a new single named "" on January 27, 2010. This was used as the theme song for 's broadcast of the . Also, tetsu announced that he had changed his to "tetsuya" and released his first artist book. The book, which ranked number six amongst the Talent Book Charts, featured early live pictures and a 30,000 character interview with the bassist.On March 10, 2010, L'Arc-en-Ciel released their fifth "best of" album, entitled . It contains 4 CDs with 7 tracks per band member, chosen and remastered by each of them. The first press edition of this compilation also came with a DVD that includes a variety quiz show with the band titled The L'Arquiz.2011-PRESENT: 20TH ANNIVERSARY AND WORLD TOUROn January 1, 2011, L'Arc-en-Ciel celebrated both their 20th anniversary and the New Year with the midnight concert L'A Happy New Year! at . On February 16, 2011, they released the compilation album Twenity.This album consists of three parts: , , and . A box set entitled Twenity Box was later released on March 9, 2011. The albums are an all-around "best of" collection of the band, and it covers everything from the formation of the group, including their hit singles till to their newest works. covers their work from their album until their album . covers the releases from their single "" to the single "". covers their releases from the double A-side "" up to their commercial-only song from 2010, a cover of "". The Twenity Boxreleased on March 9 contains all three of the albums in one release. It also comes with a special digest DVD that covers the 20 year history of the band, a deluxe booklet, and a special that contains either "", "Anata", "" or "" at random.Later, it was announced that L'Arc-en-Ciel would provide the theme song for , entitled "". This is their fourth contribution to the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise.The song was released as their first 20th L'Anniversary single on June 29, 2011. To further celebrate their 20 years together, L'Arc-en-Ciel put on a "20th L'Anniversary Concert" at in Tokyo on May 28-29, 2011, with each day dedicated to one half of their career. All of the proceeds from the concerts were donated to the relief efforts. Additionally, at the end of the concert, it was announced that there will be a L'Anniversary Japan Tour in 2011, as well as a world tour in 2012.On October 12, the second 20th L'Anniversary single was released, entitled "" (Kiss Kiss Kiss). L'Arc-en-Ciel was subsequently approached by the producers of the live-action film to perform the movie's theme song.Entitled "", the song was released as the group's third L'Anniversary single on December 21, 2011.L'Arc-en-Ciel then announced that they will be releasing their twelfth studio album, and gave fans who bought "Chase" a sneak peek with a live internet broadcast of the band mastering the album on December 26 on .They also announced that their alter ego band P'unk-en-Ciel will be releasing their first album, titled P'unk is Not Dead, the same day.The band's twelfth album, , was released on February 8, 2012.It includes all their singles from the single "Drink it Down" onwards and four new songs.The band's 2012 world tour took them to Hong Kong on March 3, Bangkok on March 7, Shanghai on March 10, Taipei on March 17, New York on March 25, London on April 11, Paris on April 14, Singapore on April 28, Jakarta on May 2, Seoul on May 5, Yokohama on May 12-13, Osaka on May 19-20, Tokyo on May 26-27, and Honolulu on May 31.Their show in New York was originally scheduled to be at on March 23, but was later moved to . Making L'Arc-en-Ciel the first Japanese artist to be the lead act at the legendary venue.They ended the tour by returning to the US for two nights in Honolulu, Hawaii on May 31 and June 1, the latter being for the group's fan club members only.At the first day, the mayor of Honolulu made a surprise appearance and declared May 31 "L'Arc~en~Ciel Day", saying he felt the band "made a great contribution to cultural activities, and built a bridge of friendship between Hawaii and Japan".P'UNK-EN-CIELP'UNK-EN-CIEL (stylized as P'UNK~EN~CIEL) is an of L'Arc-en-Ciel. Introduced in 2004, hyde takes over guitar, ken the drums, yukihiro plays the bass, while tetsuya performs the vocals. P'unk-en-Ciel's songs have a more punk sound and their music is usually heavier and faster with a different tone due to tetsuya's vocals. hyde wears a pirate patch over his left eye in P'unk-en-Ciel performances. yukihiro is known to wear a gas mask; however, this has only been seen once at a live concert during their tour in 2004.Each member is called in capital letters; T.E.Z P'UNK (formerly TETSU P'UNK), KEN P'UNK, HYDE P'UNK and YUKI P'UNK. Each member produces one song of their choice, and they alternate their productions.P'unk-en-Ciel is the re-visitation of D'ARK-EN-CIEL(stylized as D'ARK~EN~CIEL), a special event that took place during concerts in the years when sakura was their drummer. The only material released from D'ark-en-Ciel is the 18-minute self-titled B-side found on the (then) unreleased "" single. Each member was called; DARK TETSU, HYDE DARK, Suck D'ark La and K n D'Ark.P'unk-en-Ciel songs have been recorded and used as B-sides on singles since 2004 and their performances can be found on live DVDs. They also featured television personality (called P'UNK ) in the song "Round and Round 2005".On February 8, 2012 P'unk-en-Ciel released their first album ,which contains all twelve songs they released up to that point.P'UNK-EN-CIEL SONGSRecorded versions released on singles:



* "Milky Way", found on the "" single (Produced by HYDE P'UNK).

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Interview with Voice Actor Vic Mignogna

When I at the beginning of June, I went in with a mission.One thing I hoped to do was to sit down with , voice actor extraordinaire, and talk to him about his profession and his faith.Thankfully, the helpful staff at A-Kon set up our interview, and we had a chance to speak at length and very plainly about his thoughts regarding a great many things, including the church, the entertainment industry, and the well-known rumors that have spread about him.



Vic grew up in a Christian environment - his grandfather was a pastor and his parents were heavily involved at church.As he puts it, "I literally was born in a pew. "At the age of 13, after hearing his youth pastor relay a message about how many who claimed to be Christian would find themselves left out of Heaven, Vic accepted Christ.He continued to be heavily involved in church, and at one time, led worship at Houston's First Baptist Church.When I asked Vic about bad experiences with Christians regarding anime, he referred to his service there:

Voice I-doll Superior Lunamaria Hawke Part 1

MORE THAN JUST A FIXED FIGURINE

Just for the fun of it, here's another Lunamaria Hawke-related review for this month after . ^^


Best Anime Series of 2009

Now that I have just over a month of free time before I start working again, I finally have some time to write a few more articles for my blog. Since we are still have a year away from a 2013 anime review, I am going back in time and catching up with earlier years, which brings us to 2009.Here are the top ten anime series based on composite scores from different anime websites:10. EDEN OF THE EAST ()



No. of episodes: 11

Moon Over Soho (book) by Ben Aaronovitch

Moon Over Soho is the second book in Aaronovitch's Peter Grant series. I'd call it URBAN FANTASY plus MYSTERY.



This review doesn't exactly contain SPOILERS, but some of the things I write about will probably make it easy to guess what happens, so read on with caution.

Top 10 Anime You Should Watch

I come from a time when anime was actually foreign and mysterious. The only way we could ever see it, without buying it, was to enter Blockbuster's special interest section and convince your parents it wasn't some weird type of pornography. Although, sometimes it was! Anyways, this is my top 10 list of some of the best anime ever, in no particular order.



ATTACK ON TITAN:

2003, Part 1: The Cresting Wave of Cool Japan

When Bradley Meek is not coding, sleeping, reading or playing Dota 2, he's watching every kind of anime he can get his hands on. At times, this means he subconsciously channels Madarame from Genshiken, which is known to frighten away women and small puppies. Sometimes he writes on his blog, , but to be honest, he would usually rather watch anime than write about it. You can find him opining about cartoons over on Twitter (@).Do you remember superflat?



That bizarro pop art movement of the early 2000's where Andy Warhol, street graffiti, ukiyo-e and thirty-plus years of anime and manga were dropped into a blender, dished out onto canvases and sculptures, and then served to the world of high art in Tokyo, New York, Paris and London? It featured art that was a cheery mix of kawaii mascots and apocalyptic imagery, with dollops of a potent mixture of sexiness and child-like innocence familiar to anime fans. It was a grab-bag of forty years of Japanese culture informed by much older, more traditional Japanese art styles, and it was, by all accounts, a big success. One of the short-lived movement's primary authors, Takashi Murakami, , and it's an instructive read.

Pick of the Week: Omnibuses & More

MICHELLE: This is full of tempting omnibus editions! I think I'll cast my vote for the series that we haven't talked about a great deal on Manga Bookshelf lately, since it finished its initial run in late 2011, and that would be . Reading the series in multi-volume chunks really is best--I actually marathoned the whole thing for an celebrating the series--and I'm delighted that new audiences might be able to discover the series and keep us talking about it!



SEAN: I agree that my favorite out of this week's group would be FMA, but since that's been chosen, I am left with a few "huh, that's not too shabby" picks. I suppose I will go with Vol. 2 of , which interested me far more than I expected when I read it last. It's Japan's take on Marvel-style superheroes, but it's also very fond of biting the corporate hand that feeds it. I expect things may get a little more serious with this second volume

Trailer for Arakawa's Silver Spoon Released

The name Hiromu Arakawa should be familiar to you if you're a fan of the manga and anime series Fullmetal Alchemist. Why? She's the mangaka who created the series of course! Her newest manga project, Silver Spoon, has been ongoing since 2011. It's getting an anime adaptation this year, the first episode of which is coming out July 11th. If you're curious about it, check out the new trailer for the series below.



Silver Spoon takes place at an agricultural school in Hokkaido. Yugo Hachiken enters the school despite having no interest in agriculture- then quickly discovers that this new way of life is much more challenging than he had originally thought. The trailer showcases the series' cast and just some of the troubles that Yugo runs into at Oezo Agricultural High School. The series will be .

Top Ten Good Breaks And Good Timing

I wrote a blog on myon Sun Feb 10, 2013. Nobody can't live an entire life full of bad luck, at the wrong place at the wrong time every hour, and continuous unfortunate moments. I'm currently living with bad breaks such that I interviewed for a job once this year compared to seven interviews last year.



Tides change. Times change. Every day is a new day. The wind blows at my back soon. I find a path to good fortunes eventually. One good timing moment happened in April 2011. I attended my first live San Jose Sharks hockey game. Also, the game was the first time I entered the HP Pavilion and my first major sports playoff game I watched live.

First Impression: Silver Spoon

From the creator of "The dog goes daddy" comes "The cow goes moo".



For some reason, I'm very tired and writing a post about a show on farming isn't really helping either. That circumstance might or might not be related to the fact that prior to this, I - finally - finished Nisemonogatari and then started off with the second season or whatever you want to call it. The people in charge probably aren't any wiser about that either. Anyway, as you probably know, the several somethingmonogataris can be very tiring, bothersome affairs and once again, this is a comedy farming anime so it's not like I was all too keen on writing anything long or good, for that matter. On another note, it's beyond me why people still regard the -monogatari franchise as anything other than a string of series about the several exchanges of undressing mouthpieces, often gimmickry, obnoxious, plain unintelligent direction included. But who cares anyway.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

First Impression: Silver Spoon

[1]

From the creator of "The dog goes daddy" comes "The cow goes moo".


#277 What are you watching this Summer 2013?

I bet you're wondering where Naruto and Bleach chapter reviews lately. Well, they're not coming. Naruto is getting very suspenseful, but also slowing down to one event per chapter. Bleach is too busy flipping through their multitude of new and old characters that I'm losing focus from the main story.



But let's talk about anime.

An Okay Way to Spend an Evening

So recently I've been spending a lot of time watching anime series. For the longest time I was against it. Why? I really have no idea. Until college I had seen a little Gundam through my siblings and some Pokemon when my parents weren't home. I got to college and that quickly changed.



My room mate at my first college was appalled that I had never seen any anime. So I decided to humor him and watch one. I selected Gundam SEED because I was familiar with Gundam and SEED itself was touted as one of the best by many. I watched SEED and SEED Destiny in two weeks. I was hooked. I watched mostly Gundam at first, but expanded my horizons over time.

Best Anime Series of 2009 - Meta Ranking & Analysis

Now that I have just over a month of free time before I start working again, I finally have some time to write a few more articles for my blog. Since we are still have a year away from a 2013 anime review, I am going back in time and catching up with earlier years, which brings us to 2009.Here are the top ten anime series based on composite scores from different anime websites:10. EDEN OF THE EAST ()



No. of episodes: 11

Review: Evangelion 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (????????????:Q)

The main male protagonist, now 28 years old, asking questions I also wanted to be answered. As mentioned in the previous entry of this blog, today's review is for the third Evangelion reboot movie titled Evangelion 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, which in hindsight, really fits the plot of the movie. While this movie is [...] Related posts:



*This early scene in the movie is just the beginning of more deviation from the TV series by this movie. As mentioned in my previous review, today's post will contain my review of the second installment of the Evangelion movie titled Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. This movie is the second of four movies [...]...

FML…I mean…FMA

FMA. Fullmetal Alchemist. I'm late on the FMA boat but still taking the cruise.My best friend and I have decided to do a little 'anime club' where we pick a series we don't know about and watch five episodes of the series at a time per week.



Episodes 1-5 were our first endeavor in this 'project' of sorts and here is my recap, review and several thousand thoughts!

New 'Wolverine' International Trailer

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Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Interview with Voice Actor Vic Mignogna

When I at the beginning of June, I went in with a mission.One thing I hoped to do was to sit down with , voice actor extraordinaire, and talk to him about his profession and his faith.Thankfully, the helpful staff at A-Kon set up our interview, and we had a chance to speak at length and very plainly about his thoughts regarding a great many things, including the church, the entertainment industry, and the well-known rumors that have spread about him.



Vic grew up in a Christian environment - his grandfather was a pastor and his parents were heavily involved at church.As he puts it, "I literally was born in a pew. "At the age of 13, after hearing his youth pastor relay a message about how many who claimed to be Christian would find themselves left out of Heaven, Vic accepted Christ.He continued to be heavily involved in church, and at one time, led worship at Houston's First Baptist Church.When I asked Vic about bad experiences with Christians regarding anime, he referred to his service there:

Voice I-doll Superior Lunamaria Hawke Part 1

MORE THAN JUST A FIXED FIGURINE

Just for the fun of it, here's another Lunamaria Hawke-related review for this month after . ^^


Silver Spoon Anime Trailer

How is it like to be studying in an agricultural school and be surrounded by all the kawaii farm animals?



The anime adaptation of Silver Spoon explores this interesting daily life of Yugo Hachiken, a student from Sapporo who, unlike his new classmates, has no intention of following an agricultural career after graduating. Instead, he decided to study there under the misguided notion that he could easily be the top student in the class.

Top Ten Good Breaks And Good Timing

I wrote a blog on myon Sun Feb 10, 2013. Nobody can't live an entire life full of bad luck, at the wrong place at the wrong time every hour, and continuous unfortunate moments. I'm currently living with bad breaks such that I interviewed for a job once this year compared to seven interviews last year.



Tides change. Times change. Every day is a new day. The wind blows at my back soon. I find a path to good fortunes eventually. One good timing moment happened in April 2011. I attended my first live San Jose Sharks hockey game. Also, the game was the first time I entered the HP Pavilion and my first major sports playoff game I watched live.

Anime: Fullmetal Alchemist - Brotherhood Collection 5

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST - BROTHERHOOD COLLECTION 5 BLU-RAY (EPISODES 53-64) (15)2 Discs (Distributor: Manga Entertainment) Running time: 280 minutes

It's a veritable battle bonanza in this Blu-ray release of the final instalment of this exceptional reboot of the modern classic with nary an occupied space in Amestris not playing host to some form of bloodshed. Deep below Central the party consisting of Edward Elric, Scar and the chimera Darius and Zanpano are outnumbered by the seemingly unstoppable mannequin soldiers receive a helping hand from Colonel Mustang and Riza Hawkeye. Nearby May Chung is fleeing from homunculus Envy while Hohenheim collides with his evil doppelganger Father. Meanwhile the Armstrong siblings not only have their hands full with suspicious central soldiers and the giant homunculus Sloth but they also have their own swarm of mannequin soldiers to contend with. Elsewhere on the rooftops of central, the Briggs soldiers collide with the Central soldiers. And just as things are slowly beginning to slow down, someone returns from the dead to settle a few scores and reclaim their castle.

Even with the end now in sight this is still the tip of the proverbial iceberg as far as the plot line which concludes in the twelve episodes featured here. There are still plenty more shock revelations to come, alliances to be formed and broken and there is even room to squeeze in a new protagonist! There is no more to said since once again this reviewer would be guilty of providing spoilers but suffice to say, the old clich s of "ending with a bang" and "explosive finale" have never been more applicable than they are here. Sure, we get a pastoral but much needed post conclusion episode that wraps up the loose ends and sets the characters off onto pastures new but this is not before we are treated to a chaotic, occasionally surreal but action packed does of mayhem to bring the main plot to a close.

Comic Book Day: Pull List for July 10th, 2013

Course of the Force may be in full effect and you may be furiously working on your Comic-Con dealer's room checklist, but that doesn't mean that we can't enjoy this week's bounty of brand new comics. From more of Brian Wood's Star Wars to the start of "Trinity War" to Jonathan Hickman's savage sci-fi western East of West and more, it's COMIC BOOK DAY, so peep our top picks and revel in the splendor of this week's pull list.



TOP PICKS

‘Astro City’ #2: The Comic You Should Be Reading This Week

Astro City is back, and firing on just about every cylinder you can name; it's a comic book not just for comics readers, but people who want to start reading comics. Our full review, and reviews of books from DC, Image, Dark Horse, Dynamite, Titan, IDW, and Valiant, as well as the full release list, on the next pages.



This issue actually makes a superb jumping on point, as it doesn't really follow from issue #1 of the relaunched series. Instead, it picks up with a member of the Honor Guard's support team. Superheroes get a lot of phone calls, and somebody has to screen them, after all

Friday, July 5, 2013

Interview: Soul Saga's Mike Gale on Realising a Real Fantasy on PS4 and Vita ...

Mike Gale: Soul Saga is a three-dimensional, anime-themed JRPG inspired by the classics that I grew up with in the SNES, PlayStation, and Dreamcast days. PS: When did ...

Manga Review: 'Fullmetal Alchemist' Volume Seven by Hiromu Arakawa

Fullmetal Alchemist Volume Seven is a manga by Hiromu Arakawa, and it was published in North America by Viz Media in 2006. Fullmetal Alchemist is rated "T" for teens; from what I've read of the manga and from seeing both of the anime series, I would ...

Docomo to target winter marketing at select smartphone models

10 billion US dollars) in fiscal 2015 from fiscal 2012.” He also revealed what y have planned to release this month. France and Taiwan are among target countries where y will include anime series like Fullmetal Alchemist in smartphones and ...

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga

Even if you haven't seen the (BTW, it's on Netflix ), you've seen the cosplayers . ...

Aniplex of America Acquires the Animated Series Silver Spoon

The series is an adaptation of the popular manga series originally written by author Hiromu Arakawa ( Fullmetal Alchemist ). ...

BayouCon 2013 set this weekend in Lake Charles

This year's featured guest is Vic Mignogna, the voice actor who plays the role of Edward Elric in the Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood anime series. Mignogna has also voiced Broly in Dragon Ball Z, Ikkaku Madarame in Bleach, ...

Rie Kugimiya Voices Cure Ace, 5th PreCure Girl in "Dokidoki! PreCure"

It is officially revealed today that 34-year-old voice actress Rie Kugimiya will voice Cure Ace, the 5th PreCure girl in the latest PreCure TV series Dokidoki! PreCure. Cure Ace, whose true ...

First Japanese 'Silver Spoon' Anime Release Details Surface

With series set to debut shortly, Japanese release for Silver Spoon has had some of its first details slide out. new series is based off of manga by Hiromu Arakawa of Fullmetal Alchemist fame and first volume solicitation plans have ...

Attack On Titan's Amazing Opening Gets Hilarious Edits

The anime adaptation of Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin in Japanese) debuted early this April, and it has a powerful opening. Users of the Japanese website Nico Nico Douga jumped on it immediately and made crazy awesome remixes. Some of these ...

Aniplex of America Licenses Silver Spoon

Have you ever wondered what an anime series would look like if you fused Fullmetal Alchemist and Sword Art Online? Well, you're going to get just that – sort of. On Thursday, Aniplex of America announced that they've licensed the anime adaption of ...

Soul Saga could get PS4 and PS Vita versions through Kickstarter, indie JRPG ...

Soul Saga's anime artwork is similarly compelling. Mike plays just about every role in Soul ...