xxxHolic

xxxHolic which can be pronounced as “holic”, but often pronounced phonetically “ex-ex-ex-holic” or “triple x holic”, is a seinen manga series planned and presented by Clamp. Clamp’s genres vary widely, from childish and comedic to much more dramatic and teen-rated series. The storyline of xxxHolic crosses over with that of a number of other Clamp series.

The story revolves around the life of Kimihiro Watanuki a young boy with a cursed gift. He is a typical high-school student living on his own. He has the ability to see evil spirits who are magically attracted to him. The spirits are invisible to others, the only one can see them is him. Encounters with these spirits are extremely troublesome.

One day, Watanuki stumbles into a shop that grants wishes, and encounters Yuko Ichihara, a beautiful mysterious woman. Yuko is a very powerful witch, mostly known for her ability to send people to other dimensions and times. She also has an ability to grant any wish in exchange for an equal cost. For a price, she offers to grant Watanuki’s wish to be rid of the spirits. The price, according to Yuko, must be of equal value and so, as payment, he temporarily becomes Yuko’s part-time employee. Yuko discovers that Watanuki is very skilled with his hands and a hard worker. As a result, Watanuki soon finds himself forced to perform housework and odd jobs for Yuko until he has done enough work for his wish to be granted. When he begun working in Yuko’s shop, he discovers that in that place, nothing is what it seems.

Shortly afterwards, other characters become involved with Watanuki’s position, including his love interest, Himawari Kunogi, and his rival, Shizuka Domeki. Despite Watanuki’s annoyances with Domeki, the three become increasingly close to each other. Domeki, occasionally join Watanuki in his work as per Yuko’s request. In the reason that he has the ability to rid evil spirits and is immune to most curses, mostly due to his ancestry and his upbringing in his grandfather's temple. Apart from Domeki and Himawari, Watanuki does not seem to have any friends at school. In fact, Yuko teases him about being unpopular.

Watanuki’s growth and change will happened because of his experiences of meeting one person. Yuko, according to a fortune teller in Volume 2, is the one that will change Watanuki. However, it’s implied that he will be linked to both Yuko and Domeki and that all their connections were foreseen.

Yamato Nadeshiko (The Wallflower)

Yamato Nadeshiko (The Wallflower) is a manga series written by Tomoko Hayakawa. Nippon Animation adapted part of the manga series into a twenty-five episode anime series. Yamato Nadeshiko is a common term used in Japan to describe the ideal beautiful woman. The story revolve around Sunako Nakahara, a girl called “ugly” by a boy, who happened to be the first and only person to whom she confessed her love because of this incident, she losses her sparks in life and change for the worst. She became reclusive and generally developed a fear of pretty boys of which she refers to as “dazzling creatures”. She became a lover of solitude, gore movies, anatomical dolls and objects that reflect the ugly side of life as she puts it. Sunako’s aunt who has a big concern to her and was the owner of a beautiful mansion ion where four very handsome students live, offers the guys free rent if they can transform niece, Sunako, into a “perfect lady” but if they fail, the rent goes triple. Due to these handsome boys confidence in knowing how to deal with women, they agree.

Before anything else I would like to introduce these four handsome guys. Kyouhei Takano, the most popular of the foursome. He is very loud and bossy when it comes to his needs. He was forced to leave home because all of the mobbing and harassment by his fans were taking a toll on his family. As the story goes he will have unsorted feelings for Sunako which he demonstrates by constantly provoking her rage. Next is Takenaga Oda comes from a very wealthy family and is quite serious in nature. He is the brain and logic of the group often trying out logical strategies to make Sunako become a lady. He has a love interest in “Noi” Kasahara, but his shyness gets in the way when he wants to express his feelings. Another is Yukinojo “Yuki” Toyama, he is shy but sweet and has a very loving nature. He is the most innocent of all the characters, often crying and becoming scared when he enters Sunako’s room. Last but not the least is Ranmaru Morii, the playboy of the group. Ranmaru comes from a wealthy family and is an only son. He is very extroverted and a lover of older women. He has a very sexy nature and extremely high self esteem.

Now that you know these four lovely men let’s back to the story. When the guys first meet Sunako, they begin to realize that their lovely living arrangements may soon be in jeopardy. Although the four are able to make Sunako physically attractive the difficult part is with her personality. Sunako has no intention in changing her tastes, her love for all things macabre (gruesome and horrifying content) is a difficult challenge that the boys must face. Eventually, Sunako will develop an especially mixed feelings about Kyouhei, and as the storyline progresses, their relationship becomes more solid and intimate. There’s a lot of adventure and funny moment in the story that the boys faced just to encourage Sunako to change but still they failed. The boys managed to convince Sunako’s aunt that her niece is indeed a lady befitting the mansion in which they live (and prevent the rent from skyrocketing to triple the required amount). However, in reality, Sunako has not changed considerably. In the last part of it you will see Sunako change her physical appearance in to a lovely lady and that is so exciting.

The story is a combination of comedy, drama and romance which can catch viewer’s different taste. It is composed of handsome boys, which I can say that this was made intended for male audiences. The series deals with the extravagant life of a group of bishounen characters who cause nose bleeds to girls where ever they go. It’s a shojo series with lots of sparkles and flowers that can be enjoyed by guys just as much as girls. The most interesting part is mixture of horror and comedy in the plot, it’s like Sadako meets the F4. The series is full of comical moments that will keep you laughing throughout the series, there are some jokes that require some knowledge of Japanese anime but I’m sure most of you will understand it. Hence it gives moral value and touching stories each episode despite its weird concept.

GetBackers

GetBackers is a manga series written by Yuya Aoki and illustrated by Rando Ayamine. The manga was adapted into an animated television series in 2002. The series tells the story of Ginji Amano and Ban Mido, a pair of super powered individuals known as the GetBackers. The duo operates a freelance repossession service, their job is to recover any lost or stolen item for a client with an “almost 100% success rate” for certain amount fee. The plot mostly revolves around their adventures, often complicated by the pair's convoluted, individual pasts and a mysterious place known as the Infinity Fortress.

Ban possesses two special powers, the “Snake Bite” (his hands have a gripping power of 200kg) and the “Evil Eye” (anyone who looks into his eyes will be locked into a powerful and nightmarish hallucination). Ginji, on the other hand, has the ability to generate thousands of volts of electricity from his body. He was once the fearsome “Lightning Emperor” and the leader of a gang called The VOLTS in the Infinity Fortress. He received the title “Raitei” (literally, Lightning Emperor or Thunder Emperor) because of his ability.

They have some colleague like Hevn, she is the negotiator for the Getbackers, providing them with new, often dangerous, jobs. Even more ironic is that with the GetBacker’s money luck, they often end up getting no pay for any of Hevn’s dangerous jobs. And Natsumi, she was the GetBacker’s first client in the series and because of that Paul was introduced. He is the owner of the Honky Tonk, which is where the GetBackers often loiter and build up their tab. These people share good bonding to Ban and Ginji in their adventures and fights. Also adds happiness and excitement in the story.

Ban and Ginji claim a 100 percent success rate in returning lost or stolen property to its original owner. Their claims are put to the test in the series' first five episodes, as a high-school girl hires them to reclaim her precious handmade stuffed cat; a homeless man requests they rescue his daughter, who’s fallen into yakuza hands; and a wealthy businessman sends them to retrieve a stolen strongbox. The story became more intense when they encounter and fight against some equally talented freelance “transporters” who have been hired to defend the lockbox from the likes of Ginji and Ban. Among their enemies are “Dr. Jackal”, a quick-moving sadist who can manifest razor-sharp weapons out of his bare hands, and “Lady Poison”, a girl with phenomenal chemical weapons and a secret connection with Ban.

Then the next episode would then mainly revolve around the Mugenjou (Infinite Castle) and the battles that Ginji and Ban went through inside it, trying to solve its puzzle and mystery while at the same time saving the friends Ginji had there. A lot of philosophy about existence would surface later.

GetBackers is a lively, colorful series, with a lot of intense, graphic action and nicely animated motion, but the clear sense is that Ginji and Ban are both deeply tragic figures with a great deal of history. Ginji was once a feared gang leader, which leads to oblique flashbacks in which shadowy figures describe him as an “invincible being” and “the emperor of this limitless fortress”. Ban’s connection to Lady Poison, aka Himiko, spawned a complicated grudge that seems to stem from an even more complicated promise. Even the first meeting between Ginji and Ban is briefly hinted at in an explosive-looking scene that sets the stage for intense drama to come.

This anime is a composition of action, drama, romance and comedy. Also it shows good moral value and the importance of friendship. The story has lots of twist and turn that add to its spice.