My friends on Gaia know that I'm a major video game fan and follower of the latest titles and news. However, I don't express much about my anime prowness so I figure it's time for me to get some of my thoughts on some of the best anime series that I really enjoy out in Japan for the time being.
1. AIR TV - Traveling puppeteer, Yukito, is searching for a winged beauty of the sky. During his search, he befriends 3 unique schoolgirls who has a really eyeopening story arc for each and a lot of plot follow-ups to keep the wheel of great storytelling going. The opening intro is one of the best I've heard in a long time as it gives off a refreshing beat and harmonious vocals that feel as good as a cool and crisp breeze of air. The animation quality is top-notch, rivaling those of Love Hina in the crispy, clear and brightly animation the series presents itself. There are times where I laughed and cried and so far is rating high on my all time favorite anime series.
2. School Rumble - After watching Azumanga Daioh, I've always wondered how the whole thing would look like with more guys and an actual story line. My answer came in the form of School Rumble as the spacey Tenma-chan goes through her wacky high school career with her bunch of well-balanced friends and a nice mix of love-triangles. After watching how the first episode has an Initial D parody, I was rollin' and caught my attention. From that time on, I grew to enjoy the nicely shared screentime between the characters and their humorous roles they play. Like Azumanga Daioh, it takes a lot of cultural knowledge to completely enjoy the series.
3. Mahou Sensei Negima! - I am a Ken Akumatsu fan. I got every manga he brought out in the states. With Negima released early Jan., my love for his crisp animation style and loveable characters bloomed once again. Depicting the adventures of 10-year old teacher, Negi, he must find time to teach his students while keeping a low profile on his extrordinary magical powers. One thing Akumatsu-sama is known for is his great soundtracks. Every month, a new background beat and batch of VA's sing for the OP song of "Happy Material". So far February gets my best scores as the newer March version has me scratching my head. Either way, nothing can mess with the incredible blend of voices of the ending song.
To be honest, I'm not as much of an anime fan as I am with my love for mangas. My ever incressing stock is being filled with more and more volumes that I'm running out of space around my room to contain the collection. Here's a top 5 on my current favorites (3 is too small):
5. Case Closed - I'm a really intutive person as I like to solve logic problems and puzzle games. Cased Closed is my perfect answer as I am too lazy to go through any book by Sir Authur Conan Doyle. Following once high school detective prodigy turned 1st grade brat, Conan Edigawa, he is in search of the men in black who turned him into the kid he is after witnessing a crime by them. The elaborate storytelling of every mistory brings myself to think beyond the box and really enjoy the meat of the story. The only thing I don't get is why they changed the original title of Detective Conan?
4. Gunslinger Girl - I just love using the phrase "Cute cybernetic pre-teen Italian female assassins". Basically, that's what the story revolve around as this team of assassins help bring down terrorism in Italy. If the action portions doesn't bring justice to the pasta then the meatball of growing relationships between the partners of the team must be the secret ingredient of this wonderful dish.
3. Boys be... - To be honest, I do enjoy my fair share of shoujo (girly) mangas. One of my favorites is "Boys be..." as it is basically an antology of various love stories that either men and women can benefit from example. This series is really enjoyable as the feelings of both parties are accurately played out making the love feel real. I have really learned a few tricks of the trade from the 3 volumes currently out.
2. Neck and Neck - Yet another shoujo manga I enjoy. Although the story centers around the children of rival gang leaders attending the same school; the story is predictibly heading towards a "Romeo and Juliet" type of love story as the two main characters are giving each other tough love but their petty squabbles soon end in romance (i think that'll happen). With cute occassional chibi art and exaggerated jokes included, this is not some sort of Battle Royale kind of story.
1. XXX-holic - After 2 decades, I'm actually starting to enjoy CLAMP's best craft, mangas. In this story, Watanuki is working off his bad karma in Yuki's shop of spiritual stuff. I haven't noticed any dramatic character progression yet, I am acknowledging the great stories of the tenets of Yuki's shop of granting any wish they are willing to make. With some boardering the line of horror story telling and light hearted allegories, the storytelling is one of the best I've seen in a graphic novel.
DJ cream Community Member 
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