Detective Conan

One of my longtime favorite anime is still continuing its run in Japan, even after 17 years (though the manga has been running for 19 years). As you might have already guessed the series is Detective Conan (Meitantei Conan) also released in America under the title Case Closed.

The story follows a famous high school detective named Shinichi Kudou, who after witnessing a shady transaction by men in black, was poisoned and shrunk into the body of a seven year-old boy. Though his body regressed in age, his mind is still that of his former self. In order to get back to his old body, he is forced to find and somehow destroy the mysterious "Black Organization" which is no easy task. Upon the advice of a trusted friend, Shinichi takes on the persona of Conan Edogawa and goes to live at his childhood friend and sweetheart, Ran Mouri's place since her father is a detective. While there, he must help Ran's father without drawing attention to himself in order to get clues to the whereabouts of the organization.

Conan Edogawa (right) with my favorite character of the series, Ai Haibara

This series is quite an amazing series. Many of the episodes can stand alone since the anime is more like a bunch of smaller mysteries strung along on the main plot, though in some aspects, the main story takes quite a while to develop. Despite that, it is quite possible to learn something new in each episode. The creator is really imaginative and does research to make sure that any interesting facts are actually true or plausible.
 

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.