Claymore (クレイモア)
Premieres April 3rd, 2007

Genres: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Shounen, Supernatural
OP: "Raison D’être" by Nightmare
ED: "Danzai no Hana~Guilty Sky" by Riyu Kosaka

[Thoughts]

The setting of Claymore's story is a fictional world with medieval technology, where humans coexist with monsters called Yoma. The Yoma, who are shape-changers, can take human form and live in disguise among human society. They feed on human, and sometimes take possession of memories from the brains of people they eat. These acquired memories help them to disguise themselves within human society. In come a nameless and highly secretive organization that was created to protect humans from the Yoma. This organization creates an all-female hybrids to fight as warriors, by implanting Yoma flesh and blood into humans, thus making them stronger than those original Yomas. The warriors from the organization are named "Claymores" by the village people, a name that refers to the immense claymore swords that the warriors carried. When villages are being attacked by Yomas, Claymores are hired to kill the Yomas for a large fee. This story will follow the adventures of a beautiful Claymore warrior - Clare. The plot unfolds to tell the life of her as she fights Yoma and struggles to hold on to her humanity...

This anime attracted my attention with its dark story and art... Nothing sounds more cool than having a lady who could fight monsters... A must-see anime for me as I want to see how Clare struggles to win the battles with Yomas, as well as her own battle to stay human... And shed a few tears over the sad fate of Claymores...

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Darker than BLACK - Kuro no Keiyakusha (Darker than BLACK ‐黒の契約者‐)
Premieres April 5th, 2007

Genres: Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction
OP: "HOWLING" by abingdon boys school
ED: "Tsukiakari" by Rie fu

[Thoughts]

Hell's Gate appeared and caused Tokyo to lose its original sky. In response to it, people who possessed special abilities but lack almost all human emotions appeared. They are able to coldly murder other people and thus gained the name of "Contractors". And in order to become a Contractor, they must each fufill a set of specific and unique conditions. Intelligence agencies in countries around the world utilize their Contractors to uncover the secrets of Hell's Gate and engage in violent battles of intelligence information. The story revolves around Hei, a top-level Agent and Contractor from the Organization with the code BK201, "The Black God of Death", who is sent to Tokyo under the guise of a plain abroad Chinese student, Li Shunsheng. Hei fights against other Contractors with unpredictable abilities and encounters. He also becomes entangled with the Japanese National Police Agency on the phenomenon of Hell's Gate...

To be honest, I am interested in anime of this genre... Superpowers with lots of mystery thrown in is a good mix for any anime... Furthermore, this anime is produced by BONES... One of the better company in the animation field... Which means the quality of this anime would be higher than average... Just hope the plot would not stray too off track to turn me off...

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El Cazador de la Bruja (エル・カザド)
Premieres April 2nd, 2007

Genres: Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Shounen
OP: "Hikari no Yukue" by savage genius
ED: "romanesque" by FictionJunction YUUKA

[Thoughts]

Ellis, a young girl suspected of murdering a prominent physicist Heinrich Schneider, is on the run from an underground society called "Hunters", when she is tracked down by the bounty hunter Nadi in a small Mexican town. However, instead of turning her in, Nadi impulsively decides to help her and the two girls embark on a journey to Ellis' hometown, where they plan on finding clues about her past. From there, they travel south to search for the mysterious Gemstone of the Inca Rose, the "Eternal City" of Wiñay Marka, and Ellis' own obscure destiny...

The music is handled by Yuki Kajiura... What more can I say... Normally, any anime with Yuki Kajiura factor = good anime... The formula so far never fails... In addition, the art works are done by Bee Train, the same company that had animated Tsubasa Chronicle... Just keeping my fingers crossed that the quality would not take a dip... As what had happened for some animes undertaken by them...

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Heroic Age (ヒロイック・エイジ)
Premieres April 1st, 2007

Genres: Adventure, Mecha, Romance, Science Fiction
OP: "gravitation" by angela
ED: "Azurite" by Tae Urakabe

[Thoughts]

Answering the call of the “Gold Race”, all the sentient races launch into space. The human race is the last to launch, and are thus known as the “Iron Race”. Much time has passed since then, and humanity is threatened with extinction at the hands of the more dominant “Silver Race”. In order to save her people, Queen Deianeira sets out on a journey to a galaxy far away, following the prophecies of the "Gold Race" handed down by the royal family. Then, she meets a boy named Eiji. Their encounter will change the fate of the universe...

This is a show with Hirai Hisashi’s character designs... Yeah, the same person to be credited for the works in the Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny... And that is why I am hooked with this anime... The storyline is pretty standard and similar to the Gundam series... But I actually laughed along and enjoyed the first episode... The character of Eiji is too cute to resist... Not to mention that he looked all to familiar... Thumbs up for giving me my Gundam dose after so long...

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Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS (魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS)
Premieres April 1st, 2007

Genres: Drama, Magical Girl, Military
OP: "SECRET AMBITION" by Nana Mizuki
ED: "Hoshizora no Spica" by Yukari Tamura

[Thoughts]

Set 10 years after Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A`s, Nanoha, Fate, Hayate and the rest of the crew are now working full time in the Time-Space Administration Bureau. Nanoha is a combat instructor, Fate is a special Investigator, and Hayate is a commanding officer. They must unite once again to save the dimensions...

Having gone through two successful seasons, I see no reason why I should drop this wonderful show... The music and story still kept its standard... And the development of the plot is refreshing with those new characters added... Only complain is that I have yet to lay my hands on any high quality sub for this anime... Haiz~

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Seirei no Moribito (精霊の守り人)
Premieres April 7th, 2007

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
OP: "Shine" by L'Arc-en-Ciel
ED: "Itoshii Hito e" by Sachi Tainaka

[Thoughts]

Once every 100 years, a Water Fairy implants an egg into a person who then becomes the Guardian of Fairies. This time, the responsibility falls on Chagumu, the second prince of the New Yogo Kingdom. Chagumu’s life isn’t easy. The king finds Chagumu an inconvenience and attempts to have him killed. As a result, the queen asks a female guard, Valsa, to protect Chagumu. In addition to this, beings from another world, known as Nayugu, constantly attack him in order to eat the egg carried in Chagumu's body. ...

Most reviews I had read spoke in favour of this anime... Apparently, the company producting this show is high respected for beautiful and detailed artworks... Indeed, the quality of this anime could be comparable to a movie... And the plot sounds promising... I would be trying out a few more episodes to see how the story fares before deciding whether to continue or drop it... Haha...

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Sola
Premieres April 6th, 2007

Genres: Romance
OP: "colorless wind" by Aira Yuki
ED: "mellow melody" by Ceui

[Thoughts]

This show has a boy who loves the sky and goes out early one morning to take a picture in the park. That is where he ends up meeting an unfamiliar girl...

Having watched Kanon, I am happy to see this anime subbed... I think this show would be quite similar to Kanon... And the animation is beautiful... A good replacement for the sad yet touching Kanon... **goes off preparing some tissues**

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Touka Gettan (桃華月憚)
Premieres April 2nd, 2007

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Supernatural
OP: "Yume Oboro" by Eri Kitamura with Mariya Ise & Saori Hayami
ED: "Kono Sekai ga Itsuka wa" by Saori Hayami

[Thoughts]

Touka Gettan is set in the land of Kamitsumihara, where traces of magic and legend can still be seen. The land has been under the protection of the Kamiazuma clan since it was founded. The story revolves around Touka Kamiazuma, the main protagonist, and his encounter with a young girl named Momoka Kawakabe who comes to stay with the clan. Their meeting sets off a chain of events that will bring an ancient legend to life...

This is the most debated anime adapted from a game to be shown on air... The plot made no sense... Viewers are trying so hard to try to understand what the anime is about... And yet, I fell head over heels for this... I am owned by the exotic animation and the wonderful music... The opening and ending theme had me repeating them on my mp3... This is definitely one anime where I would be looking out for its soundtrack... And the early gift that had me jumping in joy was the release of the theme song for this game...

PCゲーム 桃華月憚 主題歌「月華の螺旋」／飛蘭 (フェイラン)

1.月華の螺旋
2.琴によるメインテーマ独奏
3.月華の螺旋　カラオケ Ver.
4.Bonus Track

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天使之所以能够飞翔,是因为他们把自己看得很轻 !