Clamp's School Detectives

Clamp School Detectives

If you are a damsel in distress then the Clamp School Detectives will help you out. Made up of three elementary students: Nokoru Imonoyama (6th grade), Suoh Takamura (5th grade), and Akira Ijyuin (4th grade). The three Clamp Detectives also make up the Clamp School Elementary Division chairman, secretary, and treasurer.

The Plot of Clamp School Detectives

Detectives in Action

The Clamp Campus is not just a school, but is built to be a community as well. Over 10,000 people live within this Campus. It was created by the Imonoyama Family to create a better educational future. Any one is allowed into the Clamp Campus as long as you show potential or have an incredible talent.

The three boys are over the Elementary Division. Nokoru is the chairman while Suoh is the secretary and Akira the treasurer. The three are always planning school events and are constantly chased by admirers (of all age).

After helping a few females out, Nokoru decides it is his duty (and his friends) to help every girl in distress that they can. He creates the Clamp School Detectives Agency to solve problems of females in sad times. Through out each section, small mysteries are solved by the three. Either by finding a peacock or finding a box of chocolates. All along, Suoh always attempts to get the chairman to do his paperwork.

The Clamp School Detectives

Nokoru seems as though he would be a real ladies man... Which he happens to be! Every girl is always after him because he is cute, smart, and a real gentleman. He can be really lazy when it comes to School Division work, but will every ounce of energy to the Clamp School Detective Agency.
Suoh is a very quiet and cold child. The girls are still all over him though. He is always roped into helping Nokoru even though he knows the paperwork should be done. He is very talented when it comes to any sport, including martial arts.

Akira is a the cooking genius of the group. He is always bringing in food to the other two boys. He is a very energetic boy and is also really good at sports. Though he is the youngest of the three, he is still chased by the girls.

The character in Clamp School Detectives are well rounded and very believable characters. Each person leaves a great mark in the story and in your heart. They all act a lot older for their age, but that is why you get with a bunch of genius!

The Art of Clamp School Detectives

Clamp never lets you down in the artistic section. Characters may look alike, but each one is drawn so delicately. The backgrounds are always so beautiful and detailed. When the you meet each character you get to see another beautiful creation. The outfits are mostly the same, since they do go to a school. While the students may wear uniforms, they do have free time in which Clamp Creators are allowed to express their freedom.

Clamp School Detectives is a great read. The story may seem childish since the main characters are in elementary school. The situations can be real though at times. Just stick with it and you will find out what these Clamp Detectives are made of!

Read Clamp School Detectives Here.
Support CLAMP Here.

Overall grade 7/10

Miyuki-chan in Wonderland and....

                       

Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland

Miyuki is your usual teenage girl, only she gets sucked into other worlds. Another short (really short) manga by Clamp. Miyuki is taken to six different worlds in this manga. Created to less loose Mokona's female character designs. This is an all female manga. No males are anywhere in here. Throughout each world, Miyuki always seems to get caught in sexual situations. Yes, this is a Yuri manga.

The Worlds

In the first world, Miyuki is taken to Wonderland. In the first scene she is running late somewhere. She comes across woman dressed as a bunny. Everywhere she turns is another character a twins, a cat, and a 'mistress'.

The second world is in the Looking Glass. Miyuki is brushing her hair in the mirror when she pulls herself into that world. She meets the Red Queen and the chess pieces.
TV Land is the third world. Here Miyuki is taken into the TV by a pair of legs. She is taken captive and eventually is rescued by an angel.

In Part-Time Job Land, Miyuki is forced to fight several different women at once. She gets far by avoiding them as they take each other out. Eventually Miyuki and another girl are left in the ring. Miyuki does not get much further.

After learning Mah-Jongg, Miyuki's skills are tested. She plays a game of strip mah-jongg with four other girls.

In Video Game Land, Miyuki must play a hero to get out of the game. She dawns armour and tries to defeat the enemies only to fail.

X Land is the work of X/1999. Miyuki is in the theater watching Clamp's X. She is mistaken to be Kamui and forced to choose the destiny if the earth. Only the females of X are present.

In each section she is basically stripped of her clothes by other women and dressed in something more erotic. Miyuki is just a poor girl trying to live her teenage life. Each section also ends in a loop.

The Characters

Miyuki is really the only character in the manga. The rest of the women involved are just random characters with the majority having no names. The story does not allow time for character development, not even with Miyuki. In each section you meet certain characters that never cross over to the next.

Miyuki-chan in Wonderland is just a manga to read if you are a fan of Clamp. I know I picked it up mostly for the X Land section. It is a decent read if you have nothing else to do. If not, then just look at the art, that alone is worth reading about Miyuki's life.

Read Miyuki-chan in Wonderland Here.
Support CLAMP Here.

Overall Grade 4/10

Clamp's Clover

Clover Review

Clover is one of Clamp's shorter mangas. Like most of Clamps mangas, it was too short. Everything about Clover was really good though. Clamp never skips out on the story or artwork when it comes to anime or manga.

The Plot of Clover

Clover is about a man named Kazuhiko taking a girl, Sue, to a safe place. Little does he know she is a four leaf clover. She was part of a government project dealing with children which have incredible powers. Sue is the only four leaf while two three leafs exist as well. Ran, another clover, helps the two out by transporting them close to their destination. Along the way they run into people trying to capture her and use her powers.

There are five wizards whom have watched over the four leaf clover. The one, General Ko , allows her to make her journey to Fairy Park (an amusement park) to be set free. When Kazuhiko finally arrives with her, he learns she never intended to return to the cage. She goes there to die.

The Characters of Clover

Kazuhiko looks alot like Fuma from Clamp's X/1999. Ran resembles Kamui from the same manga. Other than that, though, the characters actually look alot different in Clover. You really never get too know the characters either. This is due to the short plot line. Kazuhiko is the main character of Clover. He is quiet and calm and has the ability to create weapons with his genetically engineered hand from the army.

Sue slightly resembles Chi from Chobits. She was sold by her mom to the Clover project. She is constantly singing a song created by her and Ora, Kazuhiko's dead lover. She has the ability to fly and an incredible power.

There are supporting characters and also some enemies. The main enemy though is Bols , the man that took Kazuhiko's hand. He calls Kazuhiko 'prince'. He works for the Azaiean army and has intentions of getting holds of the Clover powers.

The Song of Clover

Throughout Clover, Sue is singing a song. Making a manga in which the characters constantly sing is somewhat annoying. You can never get the tune right and therefore I feel it takes away from the song. Besides repeating it over and over got annoying as well in Clover. Though the song is important to the plot, songs just do not belong in comics.

Clover was a great manga and as always, Clamp delivered well. Creating a new world is never hard for Clamp. Clover is definitely a good short manga to pick up and read.

Read Clover Here.
Suppoer CLAMP Here.

Overall Grade 7/10.

SAO: The Art of Online Gaming

Sword Art Online Review

When I first heard about SAO, I figured it would be too similar to .hack//. I never really wanted to give this anime a chance. Finally I broke down and watched it out of curiosity. Watching the first episode I really was not that interested, but I tend to give anime a few episodes to get into them. In a few days I watched the entire series. I literally could not stop watching SAO at all. The anime really knows how to pull you in and keep your attention.

Halfway through SAO when the game becomes Alfhiem, you may start to lose interest. It feels as though there is no plot to the second half of the series, but just a continuation to make more money on the series. That is not the case at all though. You really need to give Sword Art Online a chance and watch the entire series.

The Plot of Sword Art Online

A new virtual reality world has been created as an online gaming experience. The game is called Sword Art Online. Unknown to the players logging into to SAO, there is no log out button. The creator, Kayaba Akihiko, did this on purpose. He has an alternate plan for the game. He created SAO as his own playing field where if you die on the game, you die in reality. The only way to survive the game is to reach the 100^th level and kill the final boss. When this is finally accomplished, around 300 people are stuck in virtual reality ‘limbo’.

That is until Alfhiem Online is created. Alfhiem is a much safer game and has an emergency logout system. Nobuyuki Sugo is the mastermind behind a project going on in Alfhiem with the 300 people from SAO. He is attempting to control pain and thoughts of humans. This is the only place in which he can conduct this illegal experiment. The ending is definitely worth the entire anime so I will not spoil it for you.

The Characters of Sword Art Online

Kirito (or Kazuto Kirigaya) is the main character of the Sword Art Online. He has a great advantage in SAO due to the fact he was a Beta Tester (or beater). He takes a lot of heat for this from other characters that have lost someone. He is a mainly quite and keeps to himself, that is until he became really good friends with Asuna (or Asuna Yuki). You first impression of Asuna is a someone who would not make it very long. Eventually you see how strong she really is and proves herself as a major character. The two fall in love in the game which eventually leads to the destruction of both games (SAO & ALO).

Each character you meet in episodes has their own stories, both sad and happy. You are sucked in to each episode through these characters. You need to know if they survive or die. It is rare to find anime’s such as this now a days.

The Artwork and Soundtrack of Sword Art Online

The artwork in Sword Art Online is the standard tradition anime. The fact the hair color in SAO are believable makes it even better. It brings you even closer to the anime when this happens. The characters are more realistic and you are able to relate to them in a deeper way.

The soundtrack seems to be the only place lacking in SAO. Although the music is very beautiful and performed by Yuki Kajiura, there is little variety to the show. There seems to be five songs and that is all. They are extremely great, don’t get me wrong, but a little more would’ve been nice.

Sword Art Online should definitely be on every otaku’s shelf. This is an anime you do not want to pass up. It is definitely in my top ten!

Overall Grade 9/10

Fate/Stay Night Review

Fate/Stay Night Anime Review

Fate/Stay Night is a very hard anime to get into once you have seen Fate/Zero. This is a continuous story of the War of the Holy Grail. Most characters are the same from the original but obviously older. The story revolves around Emiya Shirou, the adopted son of Emiya Kiritsugu. He battles with Saber as Kiritsugu did in Fate/Zero. At first Saber makes no mention of working with Kiritsugu in the last Holy Grail War until the story is nearly completed.

The Story

Shiro and Saber

There are many reasons why I did not really care for Fate/Stay Night as a sequel to Fate/Zero. I feel as though this was the child’s version. The Masters consist of a bunch of high school kids that go to the same high school, unlike Fate/Zero which consisted of a much more adult based Master and they gathered from different parts of the world. It was a disappointment due to the fact that the story really was not consistent to the prequel. I was not truly interested in Fate/Stay Night until Gilgamesh made an appearance. From then the anime had the same feeling as prequel. It was more destructive in nature and as heart wrenching as the prequel. The fact that Shirou allowed Saber to finish her duties and did order her to stay was a very noble thing of him. He let her go even though they loved each other so much.

The Art

The art in Fate/Stay Night is the exact same as Fate/Zero. The only issue I had was episode 15. The CG dragon was not impressive at all. I felt as though the CG graphic was too similar to Reboot, which is a 90s American made cartoon. That is just sad really to have to compare a 2006 anime to a 90s cartoon.

The Characters

Like I said the majority of characters in Fate/Stay Night are ones once previously met in Fate/Zero Really the only character that remains the same is Tohsaka. She is still the strong headed child (now teen) from the prequel. At first there was no mention of the fact that Sakura was her sister in Fate/Stay Night, but eventually that story came along. Sakura’s character should not have been the way it was though. I feel as though her character would have been more messed up in the head from what occurred in Fate/Zero. Plus she was being trained to be the replacement of the Mato’s Master, but it was Shinji instead. There was no mention of Shinji’s character in the prequel so I am unsure of where he came from. Shirou’s character is only mentioned in the last episode of Fate/Zero so his character was allowed to be played around with at the time.

Kotomine’s character is pretty much the same as well. Ilya, though, was also another problem. There is never any mention what-so-ever about the fact that Kiritsugu was her biological father and that Shirou is her adopted brother in Fate/Stay Night. I am sure there is a reason for that, but still at least a mention of it at the end would’ve been nice. Gilgamesh’s character remains the same as well. He is still the over cocky king from Fate/Zero.

Overall Grade 5/10

MTAC 2013

 

MTAC

Middle Tennessee Anime Convention

March 29-31, 2013

Nashville Convention Center / Renaissance Nashville Hotel

Nashville, TN

 

This year at MTAC is the Devil's Dozen. Supernatural anime will be celebrated this year as the Devil's Dozen's theme. The theme name is a play on words of the 'baker's dozen' (number 13). This will be the 13th Anime Convention for Middle Tennessee. MTAC revolves around anime and Japanese culture. Many people go to dress up as their favorite anime/video game characters. Having fun and conversing with other anime enthusiast is another reason people go to MTAC. MTAC is volunteer based, having over two hundred volunteers every year. There is also a year-round staff of over a hundred people. MTAC will give out donations to local charities that are at the convention.

Events:
Cosplay Contest, Ramen Eating Contest, Rave, Bebop Bar Crawl, Lolita Tea Party, Risque Cosplay Contest, J-Fashion Show, MTAC's Got Talent.

Rates (Door):
$50 weekend or $25 per day (Fri, Sat, Sun)

Known Guests:
• Chris Cason (Voice Actor / Director / Writer, FUNimation Entertainment)
• Jennifer Cihi (Actress)
• Todd Haberkorn (Voice Actor, Out of the Office Productions)
• Brittney Karbowski (Voice Actress)
• Jamie Marchi (Voice Actress)
• Pinn Panelle (Band)
• Monica Rial (Voice Actress)
• The Slants (Band)
• Symphonic Anime Orchestra (Musical Performers)
• Nao Yazawa (Artist)

For more information on MTAC please visit:
http://www.mtac.net

Cowboy Bebop Review

Cowboy Bebop Set

Doing an unbiased review on Cowboy Bebop would be difficult to me. Cowboy Bebop is everything an anime should be; after all it is my favorite anime. Along with Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Rurouni Kenshin, and some others, Cowboy Bebop is a very iconic anime name. Not only was it the first anime to run on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim back in 2001, but it ran for four years straight continuously. Cowboy Bebop took a break from Adult Swim for a while and reran in 2007-2012. Needless to say, this is an amazing anime!

The Plot of Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop is definitely a Sci-fi-Western anime. The story follows Spike Spiegel and his crew Jet, Faye, Ed, and Ein. Every episode has a sort of stand-alone story. Some of the main plot will come out in certain episodes, but may not show up in others. The Bebop crew hunts down bounties for a living. Each member has his or her own special “ability” when it comes to catching them. The main story arc though is really based around Spike and why he joined Jet to hunt bounties. Being a former member of the Red Dragon Syndicate, he basically uses the cowboy routine to stay in hiding. The main arc is about Spike’s past life catching up with him and him having to finally face the outcome.

The Characters of Cowboy Bebop

Spike is the main character of Cowboy Bebop. He is a very calm and collective guy training in Jeet Kun Do. Jet owns the Bebop and was a former detective. He lost his arm in a shootout at one time, thus he has a fake arm. Spike and Jet eventually come across Faye, another bounty hunter and bounty herself. Faye seems to bring them a lot of trouble as well as some good money at times. Ed is the genius of the crew. She helps by hacking and using her computer abilities to catch bounties. Ein is a very intelligent dog and really stays around Ed a lot and helps her with computer things.

The Bebop crew was put together so well and really makes the show. Each character that you come across in Cowboy Bebop has a lingering affect no longer how short their role was in the series. For instance the episode “Waltz for Venus” the character Rocco becomes a very interesting character to get to know and really lingers on even though he dies at the end of the episode.

The Setting of Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop is based in the year 2071. By this time the Solar System has been open up to the public for living. Most of the series takes place in the Bebop ship but occasionally they visit planets (or moons). Even though it is the year 2071 and humankind has embarked into space, there is still some very ‘old’ technology still around and in use. Ground vehicles from the 1990s are still being used in the anime. The space technology has come a long way but it left the ground technology behind.

Grade 10/10
Watch an Anime Music Video of Cowboy Bebop: