Lifetime Achievements Part 1: A Wind Named Amnesia

As I increased my collection, I eventually noticed that several covers featured the phrase, "From the creator of Vampire Hunter D."  I searched for everything this man, Hideyuki Kikuchi had done.  This month you'll get a look at his filmography with the exception of the two Vampire Hunter movies.  We'll start with an intriguing post-apocalypse title called:

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Holding Out For A Hero Part 4: Prefectural Earth Defense Force

Sometimes a good idea from a popular movie or TV series turns out to have originated from an older, lesser known title.  If you've seen the popular and hilarious comedy Excel Saga, you may be surprised to learn that ACROSS's conquest plans were originally used by a more rural secret society in:

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Holding Out For A Hero Part 3: Shinesman

The idea of corporate superheroes has been around for a while. There was Captain Amazing in Mystery Men and the more contemporary Tiger & Bunny. In both of those the heroes are full-time defenders of justice sponsored by large companies.  In this title the company heroes have to hold down regular 9-5 jobs with their heroics earning them tax-exempt overtime pay.  Watch a team of corporate heroes punch the clock in:

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Holding Out For A Hero Part 2: Wild Cardz

Now that we've covered single heroes, let's move onto superhero teams.  Oftentimes it seems that the cooperative forces are more an excuse to sell more toys for a TV series than any real need for the heroes to join forces.  Our first team will be a bunch of card-themed heroines in:

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Holding Out For A Hero Part 1: Moldiver

If there is one thing I love, besides animation of course, it is superheroes.  I love the serious heroes like Batman, the parody heroes such as The Tick or the Mystery Men, and the occasional "realistic" heroes including Defendor.  All of them.  So doing a month of superhero anime is the best of both worlds for me.  While the defenders of Japanese justice are often quite a bit different from our own, the title character in this week's offering shares a lot with America's caped crusaders.  Prepare to be wowed by the manly power of:

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September Delay

I was on vacation for the last week of August, so the first september post will be next week.  I'll still get in 4 for the month though!

A Man's Job Part 4: Grrl Power

One of the most used professions in anime apart from "guy who beats things up" is the job of a general contractor.  The type of person who will take on any job for a fee.  There are an ever increasing number including Sket Dance, Getbackers, Fairy Tail, Cowboy Bebop, and Desert Punk to name just a few.  Some specialize in certain professional areas, others cross some of the popular genres such as school, super hero, fantasy, space opera and post-apocalyptic.  We'll look at an adorable example of the jack-of-all-trades anime trope with:

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