Anime of the Week - Mononoke - モノノ怪

Mononoke and not to be confused with Princess Mononoke as they are totally different anime!!!!  Mononoke is an absolutely brilliant anime and suits my tastes very well BUT is your taste the same as mine----you can decide.  So, in 12 episodes the anime tells the stories of the bakeneko arc of the Ayakashi (classic Japanese horror).  It kind of follows that if you like horror type anime then you might enjoy this anime---fact is---i haven't seen the Ayakashi anime yet BUT after watching Mononoke I definitely will add it to my ever growing TO WATCH list!!!!!

The main character is a medicine seller (in romanji ----kutsuri uri) and from what i remember we never learn his name and he travels feudal japan to exorcise the mononoke (various spirits).  This is not an episodic type anime so some of the stories last 2 or 3 episodes and in each of them he is confronted by some sort of spirit and before he can exorcise them he must figure out their physical form---the truth of its appearance and the reason behind it's behaviour.  Once these truths have been revealed he can exorcise the spirits.

Well no you have the basic gist of this anime BUT what I haven't told you is the style of the anime.  You can probably tell from the elaborate picture that the anime is not your usual type of animation in that it's extremely theatrical.  The anime is told in a theatrical type of way and i must say it is full of colours and imagery that I haven't seen in any other anime---making this one pretty unique.  The way it uses colours and the way the characters in the stories appear emphasise the intensity of the stories and in some scenes you really can SEE THE TERROR in their faces and even their bodies the way they become distorted and contorted.  In a NUTSHELL the creativity of this anime is to be proclaimed allow me to blow a trumpet---Watch the TRAILER and decide for yourself!!!!!!

Kurozuka 黒塚

This anime was only recommended to me yesterday and I think I watched 3 episodes so far---leaving another 9 episodes.  This anime only finished airing in December 2008 so it is quite recent BUT it managed to slip off my radar---I'm like watching 20 animes at a time so you'll have to excuse me if I miss a few!!!!

So, after watching 3 episodes I'm saying that if you like vampire type anime, dark, violent, full of action ---mixed with some twisted love---well then simply put YOU'LL LOVE THIS ONE!!!!  What has happened a man meets an irresistibly beautiful temptress in the woods ----falls victim to her beauty (Kuromitsu) only to find out that she is not all she appears to be.  When he discovers the truth behind this seductive goddess he discovers a dark path which he volunteers to walk down ---bold and fearless is Kuro!!!!  Before they have a chance to indulge in the flesh ---Kuromitsu's past causes them to be separated and now Kuro has awakened from what appears to be a long slumber to search for his gorgeous babe.

If this sounds appealing to you ----watch it---here is the TRAILER.

Ps. I will do an update once I complete this one :)

Paprika - Anime of the Week

This week one of my favourite anime movies has been given the spotlight and rightly so---PAPRIKA is a MASTERPIECE.  The colours in this picture reflects the colourfulness of the anime and the great thing about movies is that if you're busy busy busy ----if you have 90 minutes to spare then WATCH IT NOW!!!!!  

I already did a post ranting on about the brilliance that is Satoshi Kon and the awesomeness of Paprika.  So this time I'm keeping it brief the anime is a must see and if you like DREAMS than you will like Paprika.  If I haven't given you enough information ---READ the older post!!!!

http://addictedtoanimemv.blogspot.com/2009/02/paprika-awesome-anime-movie.html

Here is a clip from the anime and if the creativeness of this scene doesn't capture your attention---chances are this anime isn't for you. If you see this clip and think WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW---then that's IT----you must watch it today!!!!  Enjoy :)

Anime Song of the Week - The Brilliant Green - Ash Like Snow

This week’s anime song of the week is taken from the second opening song from Gundam 00 and is by the Brilliant Green. If this is the first time visiting our blog…let me explain we LOVE anime and we also love JPop. So every week we pick an anime song and it’s always on the Top Right of the Blog. In case you would like to know more about this band---here is some information about them.

The Brilliant Green
The brilliant green, or buriguri for short, is a Japanese rock (or J-Rock) band. Tomoko Kawase (川瀬智子 Kawase Tomoko) is the vocalist; Ryo Matsui (松井亮 Matsui Ryo) plays electric/lead guitar; and Shunsaku Okuda (奥田俊作 Okuda Shunsaku) is on bass as well as acoustic/rhythm guitar. To his fellow band members and fans alike, Okuda is affectionately known as "Leader" as he composes the majority of the band's music. The band were formed in 1995 after Ryo and Shunsaku spotted Tommy singing "Sometimes Always" by The Jesus and Mary Chain, and The Rolling Stones written Marianne Faithfull hit "As Tears Go By" in a Kyoto karaoke bar.


The Brilliant Green take much of their influence from Western music, most predominantly The Beatles with over half their songs including English lyrics. They released their first single "Bye Bye Mr.Mug" in 1997 with little success, but their break came in 1998 when their third single "There Will Be Love There" was chosen as the theme song for popular Japanese Drama Love Again, and as a result went straight to the top of the charts. After another number one hit with "Tsumetai Hana" they released their self-titled debut album which sold over one million copies in just two days. On the back of this success their first national tour, There Will Be Live There, sold out across Japan in only three minutes. The Brilliant Green were suddenly one of the biggest bands in Japan.

Enough of the chat-----if you like the song and you want to sing along. Here are the Romanji Lyrics for all you karaoke fans (me included)!!!! Click Play and Sing A Long and if you are curious about what is being said---the English Translation is below *.*

The Brilliant Green – Ash Like Snow - Romanji Lyrics

Sora akaku someru kokutan no yami
Nomikomareta hoshikuzu-tachi
Hakanaku furitsumoru hai no yuki

Mitsumeta nageki no mado
I never dreamed
Kooritsuku
there… I come for you

Omoi wa sekibaku no yozora ni
Maiagari kudaketa
Kono sekai ga katachi o kaeru tabi ni
Mamoritai mono o
Kowashite shimatte ita n da

Kokoro ni hishimeku haitoku no yami
Kimi no koe ga masui no you ni
Tsumetaku kankaku o ubatteku

Mujun o oikakete mo
Owaranai
Naze boku wa tatakau no?

Tatoeba hikari ga kieusete
Kono hoshi ga ochite mo
Wasurenai yo
Sono chiisa na negai ga
Aru beki basho e to michibiku

there I come for you yeah
Ash Like Snow is falling down
from your sky
Ash Like Snow
Ash Like Snow
Ash Like Snow
Let me hear…
why I have to fight

Kono omoi wa sekibaku no yozora ni
Maiagari kudaketa
Yami o hiraku eikou to hikikae ni
Mamoru beki mono o ushinatte kita
(It’s falling from your sky)
Munashisugiru
(Baby I come for you)

Kudakechitta kakera ni kizutsuku tabi
Tozasareta boku no kokoro wa
Tsuyoku naru koto o erande
Koko made kita n da

Now if you would like to know what all that Romanji means here is an English translation!!!!!

An ebony darkness that dyes the sky red
Swallowed the stardust
Ash like snow falls and accumulates briefly

I gazed at the window of grief
I never dreamed
Freezing onto it
there... I come for you

My thoughts soared up
Into the desolate night sky and shattered
Every time when this world changed its shape
It destroyed
The things that I wanted to protect

An immoral darkness crowds my heart
Like anesthesia, your voice
Coldly steals away my sensations

Even if I pursue contradictions
They won't end
Why do I fight?

Even if light vanishes
And this Earth is corrupted
I won't forget
Your little wish
Guides you to the place where it must be at

there I come for you yeah
Ash Like Snow
is falling down from your sky
Ash Like Snow
Let me hear...
why I have to fight?

These thoughts of mine soared up
Into the desolate night sky and shattered
In exchange for the glory of opening up the darkness
I lost the things that I must protect
(It's falling from your sky)
It's too futile
(Baby I come for you)

Every time when I got hurt by the smashed up pieces
My closed heart
Chose to be strong
And came here

No wonder I love this song isn’t it great….isn’t it like totally awesome. I didn’t even know until now that Tommy Heavenly6 is the female vocalist from the Brilliant Green who sang one of my other favourite anime songs from Soul Eater---PAPERMOON. Brilliant Green we salute you & hope that you get back together soon and release more brilliant hits!!!!!!

Blade of the Immortal - 無限の住人 Update

I did a post on this anime a while back but finally after what seemed like forever---I managed to locate the final episode no. 13!!!!  I was just about to give up on this episode and I thought maybe the thirteenth episode never existed BUT just when I was about to give up---I found IT.  So after a long wait was I impressed with the final episode and the answer is NO and maybe is this is because of the wait.  

So, what I will say about this anime is that I really liked the characters Rin & Manji.  The man who has lived forever with the help of some weird worms that live in his blood.  Rin hires him to help get her REVENGE but along the way she seems to have second thoughts.  I felt the anime didn't conclude the story well BUT the episodes were great to watch they really created an intense kind of atmosphere and you start WISHING that she'll get the BASTARDS that wronged her family!!!!!!  The way that this anime is left up in the air---might mean a second series---MAYBE---or just that I'll have to read the MANGA to find the conclusion I was looking for---all in all this anime is definitely worth watching.  If you like samurai type anime and enjoy action, stories of betrayal, corruption, love and lust ---well than you won't be disappointed by this anime---which i must admit has  a GREAT OPENING SONG!!!!  

Opening Song ---"Akai Usagi (赤井ウサギ)" by Makura no Sōshi (RED RABBIT = Akai Usagi)

Anime of the Week: Wolf's Rain (LATE EDITION)

I’m behind the times!!!! I went on a mini vacation on Friday and came home yesterday and then it dawns on me…you didn’t do the ANIME OF THE WEEK post for what is now last week’s choice. GOMEN.

Last week’s choice was Wolf’s Rain and I haven’t finished this one yet BUT so far I think it’s pretty awesome. This is mainly because I love wolves as an animal and I love anime and Wolf’s Rain is a combination of the two which equal *YAY*. So, after watching 10 episodes I’m totally besotted with one of the main characters, Kiba!!!! I’m not one for totally ruining the story of an anime –so hear is a brief summary.


The story is set in a futuristic time and a prophecy exists relating to wolves and how when the end of the world arrives---paradise will appear but only WOLVES will be able to access paradise. The wolves are thought to be extinct but this appears untrue. The appearance of Kiba and his determination to find paradise has enticed a few more wolves out of hiding and caused the awakening of the mysterious flower maiden, Cheza (the one in the picture)!!!

Well, like I said I’m still watching and I’m hoping they find paradise and that Cheza shows them the way. After watching the 10 episodes I find the story intriguing and quite eerie. The strong leader of the pack, Kiba is my favourite but the story seems to focus on living for a purpose and Kiba’s is to return to paradise. I like the fact that the story is about wolves and not werewolves!!!!! It has shown what can happen when one forgets to follow one’s dreams, loss, loneliness, betrayal and I can tell from this far in the anime that after the other 20 episodes (including OVAs) I’m going to be in tears.

Watch out for the update!!!!!