Attack on Titan

What if humanity was on the verge of extinction and confined to one large city? What if that city began to fall to the very beings that are causing humanities extinction? Well, that is pretty much the setting for a Spring 2013 anime called Shingeki no Kyojin.

The story revolves around a group of young men and women who join the military to battle a horde of monstrous humanoid beings, the titans. The titans are enormous beings that prey upon humans, and up to the start of the anime, have caused the near extinction of the human race. The last surviving humans have taken shelter in a large city with three rings of high walls to protect them from the titans.

In the very beginning of the anime, a freakish event causes the outermost wall to fall, allowing the titans to invade. This event sets the main characters on their path - the path to exact humanities vengeance upon the titans.

With the series now on episode 8, I am quite interested in this anime. Although it was not one of the anime that I initially put on my list, it has become one of the animes that I look forward to watching each week (the other being Date A Live).

On a side note, the opening theme for this anime (Guren no Yumiya) is very catchy and has spawned a great number of AMV remakes on places like YouTube and NicoNico. If you get the chance, do check some out.

Date A Live

What would you do if you met a pretty girl and were forced to date her? What if she's a little strange...and has the power to potentially destroy the world. Well, that's kind of the situation in one of the new Spring 2013 titles, Date A Live.

In the story's setting, phenomena called spacequakes often occur and cause widespread destruction. These spacequakes are caused by spirits. One such spacequake killed about 150 million people. Since the initial one 30 years ago, smaller spacequakes have been irregularly happening around the world.

The series revolves around Shidou Itsuka, a high school boy. During one of the aforementioned spacequakes, he comes across one of the spirits. After that meeting, he is told by his sister that it is his mission to make spirits like her fall in love with him. With that, he makes contact with that girl (who he later calls Tohka) to begin his hectic life of dating these "spirit girls."

Anyway, this series looks to be a fun and interesting one. I have already watched episode 2 and can say that I do find Tohka quite likable. She reminds me of Houki Shinonono (a character I like from the anime/light novel series Infinite Stratos). Subbed episodes of Date A Live can be watched on Hulu.

Spring 2013 Anime

As the winter season begins to close, I look forward to what anime will be released for the coming season. So far in the Winter Season, I enjoyed Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next, Maoyuu Yuusha, Love Live!, and the continuation of Zetsuen no Tempest.

Since Naruto has been a big disappointment this past season (and Sword Art Online finished for now), I have found myself wondering what I can rely on to fuel my anime addiction in the coming months. Four animes have caught my eye: To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S, Date A Live, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku Outbreak, and Hyakka Ryouran: Samurai Bride.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (A Certain Scientific Railgun) is the continuation of the spinoff series of To Aru Majutsu no Index. This series follows one of the heroines of the Index series, Misaka Mikoto, a Level 5 esper. Misaka Mikoto has the power to use electricity and is one of only seven Level 5 espers in the city. This season, the anime will follow her ordeals after she discovers her "sisters" in the Radio Noise project. Because I loved the original series and the first season of this series, more than likely I will find myself watching this one.

What would you do if you met the spirit that devastated most of the world? Would you think of dating her? Well, that's what will happen in the series Date A Live. I have only heard a little about it from a few people and reading the synopsis, but as a fan of some interesting love comedies, I think I will definitely take a look at this one. Also, it just so happens to be a light novel...which I might end up reading too depending on how much I like the series.

There have been a few Higurashi series. Honestly, I only watched them on occasion. However, since I have a few friends who love the series, I think this time I'll make a serious effort to watch. Anyway, this series will cover a particular event involving a mysterious virus and a certain village. The village was sealed off, leaving the Higurashi characters Keiichi and Rena to deal with the incident.

Lastly, Hyakka Ryouran: Samurai Bride is the second season for the earlier Hyakka Ryouran series. While I didn't care too much for the first season (I hated the ending), I am hoping that the second season will fix all my misgivings about the series. Hyakka Ryouran takes place in a somewhat alternate time period where the Tokugawa Shogunate still rules Japan. Master samurai are warriors with incredible abilities that live to serve the "shogun." Most of the master samurai are all women...which usually develop a romantic relationship with their shogun master. Anyhow, the series will follow Muneakira Yagyuu and his companions.