Detective Conan: Okiya and Bourbon

I briefly mentioned Okiya and “Bourbon” in my previous post about the Clash of Red and Black arc. This time around, let’s have a closer look on these mysterious characters. Episodes 509-511 covered manga files 622-624 from Vol. 60, and files 638-640 from Vol. 61, which are somewhat part of the Black Organization arc. I say “somewhat” because I’m not sure about who this new BO member is exactly (codename: Bourbon). Naturally, theories about the identities of Okiya and Bourbon are all over the DC fanbase. For the purpose of simplicity in this post, I shall refer to it as “the Okiya arc” and subcategorize it as part of the BO arc. ** WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD**

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Anime Preview: Fall 2008

Here’s a rough list of anime that will be airing this Fall 2008 season, wherein there are several titles that are eagerly anticipated by viewers. I might have missed a few others, but either way, here’s the information that I’ve been able to gather (listed in alphabetical order, by month). A few series will be airing in September but majority will be starting in October.

On to the Fall 2008 anime preview list!

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ef – a tale of memories

The visual novel is known as ef ~a fairy tale of the two

Synopsis: The anime revolves around two main protagonists, Hirono Hiro and Asou Renji. On Christmas Eve, Hirono Hiro meets a girl named Miyamura Miyako who was chasing a purse snatcher. Hiro later finds out that Miyako also goes to the same school as he does and they start hanging out together. This made Hiro’s childhood friend, Shindou Kei, feel left out. Kei then tries to compete with Miyako for Hiro’s affection and a love triangle ensues. The anime also tells the story of Asou Renji. Renji meets a girl named Shindou Chihiro at an abandoned train station. He soon learns that Chihiro suffers from a type of amnesia where her memory span only lasts for 13 hours. He also discovers Chihiro’s dream of writing a novel, but she has never been able to fulfill that dream due to her condition. Renji then decides to help her fulfill that dream. (from: ANN)

Genre: Drama, romance
Status: Anime – Completed, 12 episodes (Oct to Dec 2007)

Thoughts / Review: The OP is the English version of “Euphoric Field” by Tenmon featuring Elisa (from episode 3 onwards. It was also used as an ED for episode 2). The final episode had the Japanese version of this OP. With Shaft as the production company, expect a number of song changes for the OP/ED themes. It had 4 ED themes: The 1st ED is “I’m here” by Hiroko Taguchi (episodes 1, 3, 7, and 10), the 2nd ED is “Kizamu Kisetsu” by Junko Okada (episodes 4, 5, and 9), the 3rd ED is “Sora no Yume” by Natsumi Yanase (episodes 6, 8, and 11), the 4th ED is a remix of the visual novel’s theme song called “Yūkyū no Tsubasa” 07mix by Yumiko Nakajima (episode 12).

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First Impressions – Xam’d: Lost Memories

I initially heard about this series because of its awesome OP song. I wondered why this title sounded unfamiliar to me, it turns out that it was supposed to air this fall 2008 but somehow got bumped up to summer instead. Heh. So anyway, it’s a mecha, futuristic sci-fi sort of anime, which has never really been my cup of tea. I saw bits and pieces of Gundam Wing years ago, but only because my younger brother watched it. I tried watching Code Geass which I dragged myself to follow until I could no longer do it, finally dropping it around episode 10 or so. Anyway, I think Xam’d is the first anime series that I decided to check out primarily because of the OP song and the fitting OP sequence. 😀

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Shugo Chara ep 42: Chara nari, anyone?

Just finished watching Shugo Chara episode 42. This ep had the most number of character transformations (chara nari) so far. It’s part of the Black Diamond arc, which I think spanned from episodes 39 to 43.

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“19-sai” by Suga Shikao – live and acoustic

Just a totally random music-related entry that I wanted to share. I recently came across this live acoustic version of “19sai” (or Jukyu-sai) by Suga Shikao (OP #1 – xxxHolic). I found it so awesome that I just had to babble about it here! xD

Yeah, yeah, I might be way late in stumbling across this but I’ll write about it anyway. ;P The original album version is already one of my favorites, but I must say I seem to like this acoustic one even better. His voice is great (as usual), coupled with brilliant guitar riffs. Aside from this, what stands out for me are the violin and cello parts, which I think gave this version a whole new level of goodness and impact. I simply loved it.

P.S. I also think I’ve been listening too much to THYME and Base Ball Bear lately… Heh, but I don’t care because they so rock! 😉

/end of babble

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Notable OP/ED themes: Summer 2008

My second seasonal OP/ED themes post, this time for Summer 2008. Again, please note that this list is pretty much subjective. It’s listed as “Top 5″ ranked according to my preference, followed by randomly listed titles as “special mention” (which there isn’t much of in this particular summer list).

~ Format :: “Song title” by band/artist (OP#/ED# – anime series title)

Edit: (09/05/2008.) Added link: Full music video of “Issei no Koe” and “Zero.”  (08/06/2008.) Updated link: Full music video of “Fly Away” is now available. (08/04/2008.) After much song addiction deliberation, I re-shuffled my top 5… One got bumped down to special mention and one got promoted to my top 5. I just couldn’t help it. xD

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