"My sister has superpowers?"

Welcome to the club.

by Llora-chan

Rin-oniichan is...

is...

KAKKOI!!!  (Cool)

Ran-san has the coolest oniichan. Who'd expect that Rin-oniichan would be so excited about the fact that his sister has superpowers. I didn't even think that Ran-san would tell anyone except Ayase-kun about her powers.

Now if only Touya-kun was like Rin-oniichan. (This is like my 2nd anime post in a row that I mentioned Cardcaptor Sakura.Though, it's kinda funny because Touya-kun and Rin-oniichan have the same seiyuu.)

Oh my goodness. ...That picture of Touya-kun looks like my Uncle Joe. And he also looks like Joe from the Jonas Brothers. I just realized that.

WoW~ He's so excited that he can't stop smiling.

Gyaa! She's back to kill us!!

Sankyuu Rin-oniichan!

 Oh! She resurrected!

 Oh! Her butt hurts!

And her head hurts...

That's right. She got a perfect score on her pop quiz that she took the past episode. (Remember the Big Dipper?)

Gya~ Inoue-san! I thought you were chasing after Ichigo in your dreams-Oh... It's just Naha-san. Gyaa~ It's still a lose-lose situation.

But Ran-san is safe! So, I guess it could be... um... a lose-lose-win situation. (Do those exist? ...Well, they do now.)

But doesn't Naha-san's block shield thingy look like Inoue-san's block shield thingy? It think it's called Santen Kisshin. I can't remember but I don't really care for Inoue-san.

KYAAAAAAAAAAAA~!!! >.< Mite! mite!! Look! look!! Ran-san said, "Rui, daisuki!" (<-Exact Quote) Oh, and also look at Naha-san's face.

I really didn't expect Naha-san and Ran-san to become friends THAT quickly. Though it felt like forever that Naha-san was dangling from the roof.

And I'm starting to like Naha-san more. *GASP* But it's not because they became friends! It's because... Naha-san's seiyuu is Ueda Kana. Her voice reminded me of Honami-chan from Rental Magica A LOT this episode! I think as long as Naha-san doesn't act all "nose-up" and act like she's better than you but you have to feel sorry for her because she's a monster... then she's okay. 

Lastly, that's a funny monkey.

These two shows are unlike the majority of anime, having both English and Japanese versions for the opening credits.

So, which do you prefer?

Ef ~A Tale of Memories~

English Version

Japanese Version

Rental Magica

English Version

Japanese Version

My Opinion

I liked the English versions more than the Japanese ones for both anime. Rental Magica was a close call though. I often switch sides on that one. As for Ef, I suppose it's because the English version was played out more often, being in all but the last episode. I might have grown too familiar with it.

How about you?

Episode 3 - The Fraud's Face

So today I start my 1st post on Kurenai. Just to let you know, I'm not going to give a summary of the episode and I'm not going to post tons of pictures. ...Only if I'm really bored. So basically, it's going to be of what thoughts came to my mind while watching the episode.

First of, this is the first anime where I can't remember people's names. I know a few names, but it'ld be nice if someone would give me a brief rundown of the characters. I'll try my best on the names.

 While watching Kurenai and Yuuno(?) eat, it reminded me of Hiromi and Shin'inchiro from True Tears.

Then after thinking about the anime similarities, this girl (the one who's on the top of the page) reminded me of Honami and then Kurenai as Itsuki from Rental Magica.

I think that it's for today. I might do another post about their seiyuus, or I might just include it in next week's episode. And hopefully, I'll learn people's names. Ja ne!!

Q:"why is the rental magica anime out of chronological order?" A: Because they wanted to start on a higher note and get different exposition for the characters for the sake of scheduling tie-ins. I just totally made that up but at least one of those three was probably a factor.

Q:"Is the animation in the bleach tv series lousy?" A: Again insipidly so, avoid at all costs, the art in the manga is pretty fair and the weaknesses of the series are less exposed. I understand that the movie(s?) have fairer animation but they're also totally pointless and likely non-canon so who cares? animation fans? bleach otaku?

Q: "How many shakugan no shana movies are there?" A: one presently out and one in production the last I heard. There is also parody special which if I recall was on the dvd version of the movie called "shakugan no shana-tan the movie" this is not a movie and I don't even recall it being longer than the typical shakugan no shana-tan segments from the original tv series.

Q:"how many volumes of Busou Renkin are there?" A: 10.

Q:"can anal stimulation bring a person to orgasm?" A: Yes, orgasms are psychological to a large extent so if anything brings you enough pleasure regardless of what it is and there's a certain amount of physical stimulation then orgasm is possible. It is a lot more common for men to orgasm from rectal stimulation, particularly penetration, because of pressure to the prostate gland. Very likely though if you are not a masochist and anal stimulation is not a pleasurable sensation for you, such as anal sex being very painful for you with the pain never getting better after repeated sessions, then you are not likely to orgasm that way. Pleasure can be a very individual thing, some men and women can only orgasm with the aid of anal stimulation which I suppose would officially be an anal fetish but might actually be physical. I don't think there's been a vast amount of research in this area and frankly that's understandable.

Q:"why should you bleach your asshole?" A: you shouldn't, you really shouldn't. You shouldn't douche either but people are ready to apply aesthetics to areas that they can't be applied readily too. If you want to know how to bleach your asshole then also take my advice and just don't do it. I'm pretty sure that it doesn't actually whiten the area appreciably, which is naturally very dark looking compared to surrounding skin because the tissue is slightly different, there's more of it and it's more elastic so it can expand and contract to accommodate bowel movements of various sizes and is not related to discoloration by feces (probably). Bleach, or chlorine basically, really isn't a substance that you should ingest in any way since it is poisonous to most life forms (which is why it's used, by people like me, to kill stubborn mold).

Q:"Do credit card companies really hold payments?" A: Yes, although to be fair this is not always done maliciously and intentionally though it's usually closer to the latter than should be legal. Anyway as a matter of fact the majority of financial transactions are held for some certain amount of time for varying reasons, most part of due process like a business only depositing on tuesdays or something like that. The most commonly held payments are of course cheques, this is the reason why they haven't been eliminated even though the majority of people with an income are given "cheque cards". You don't have to think much about this one to realize that something is going on, all the major banks issue cards and are the money behind the card companies, but most card companies won't accept payment by card regardless of its holder, type, or issuer (I think the issuer might actually be referred to as the guarantor for the "actual money"). I actually thought that by this time we'd all have "money cards" and that both paper money and personal cheques would be obsoleted but that's another story.

Q: "how do you pronounce mushi?" A: Mushi is the pronunciation for notably the generic japanese word for insect but is possibly best known outside of japan because of the manga and anime series "Mushishi" which is a different type of mushi. Anyway in english it would be like the "mo" in "move" (or "moo" like the sound cows are said to make by english people who have never actually heard a real cow in their life) and "she". Mushi is two syllables in case you can't tell, actually all japanese words and written chraracters, and I assume korean and chinese as well, can be broken up into sets of syllables, that's actually all that katakana and hiragana are。　虫 (mushi)　むし  (mushi) see?

Q:"Is the soldier unit better than the archer unit in Dragonforce?" A: officially yes. Unofficially the archer is the worst unit in the game. However because their attacks are ranged an appreciable amount of archers commanded by a general with a high enough command (CMD?) stat will still be able to beat a small enough amount of enemy soldiers. If I remember correctly if the two basic square formations go against each other and the archers are held instead of advanced (stationary units attack faster than moving units, I think this is a flaw in the game personally but it's the way it works) something like 10-30 (22 is a number that sticks in my mind) soldiers will be defeated by the time they reach the archer formation (unless it's like 100 archers against 100 soldiers in which case there's less distance to cover). Because archers and mages continue to attack during a general's spells/attacks this number will tend to be even greater since usually you want to cast a spell as fast as possible. Broadly speaking it's only really shitty generals that have archers and you also are only likely to have nothing better to field than a small quantity of soldiers which can be mowed down by archers. Of note is that you actually aren't necessarilly much better off to have a number of archers or mages greater than 30 since it's only the front line that attacks the enemy and once the enemy gets close in only harpies will be defeated in great enough numbers by archers (mages who also fire faster will also defeat zombies) to be noteworthy. The problem with units that have archers is that they typically have troop annihilating spells (all priests (who have mages anyway) have the devastating holy shield) which will take out your troops even if you try to get fancy with formations and commands. But even if they have holy shield it is still worth it to  use the "special" (the english name, it's the first one anyway) formation and then disperse your troops and before advancing them ( they tend to try and head back towards the middle as they advance so you might want to disperse again) to minimize the units defeated. Of course this opens your general to attack so it's a bit of a gambit but dispersed troops are typically also out of the range of anti-troop spells (lighting fall, holy blast, and the earthquake move being the exception, I think they're even out of the range of the brunt of cyclone type spells although usually a few troops will advance into range during the course of the spell) and once you converge them back on the enemy they will reap them. If you "cover" your troops advance with a spell then while it's being used your general is invincible anyway. Other than dispersing you can concentrate your troops in the middle or use the "breach" formation and then use a spell that rakes through the enemy formation in that area, this is a bit safer for your general but most all type (troop and general) attacks go through at least part of the middle of the field, some like cross rush and sonic boom only go through that area in a straight line from general to general. Use whatever strategy is suitable. If you're the unit with archers going against soldiers then try to buy yourself time with as many spells as possible, and choose a broad initial formation and then have your troops advance or fall back to cover the margins of the field and block the enemy from your general and attack more of them at once. This is also a good strategy for the holy bomb attack that doesn't attack all (yours and the enemy's) troops (maybe only Goldark has that one) since if all the enemy troops advance it will wipe them all out at once. You have to advance a bit for that one, although if you hold or retreat a bit then when the enemy enters the holy bomb range your troops will not be in it even though you won't be able to get them all (better to only get 2/3 of the enemy than half of yours and theirs).

And there we have the most questions answered at once by me I think. It's extremely unlikely that this "feature" of mine does anybody any good but I keep plugging away anyway.

Rental Magica レンタルマギカ 24 episode fantasy TV anime series which is based on an ongoing "light novel" series. For those who don't know the "light novels" in japan are moderately short novels with a smattering of manga style illustrations which are typically serialized (I don't know whether the novels are written in whole, then serialized, then published, or written in installments for serialization and then collected like manga is) in periodical anthologies similar to the well known manga anthologies. Some of the most popular anime series in recent memory, and a few manga series, have been based on light novels rather than manga or games which are more common sources (there's not a lot of totally original anime). But that's another story. RM just happened to have been a popular enough series at the right time (a time when a lot of light novel series are on the rise internationally and getting anime versions) to get an anime version produced.

Back to RM, as you might guess from the title it is about a company of magicians who get hired out for jobs, they are officially "magicians for rent" both for private individuals and jobs assigned by the "magician's society". This is not an original premise. Nor is the otherwise worthless male protagonist Iba Itsuki (family name first) who has a special power but doesn't actually use magic, who somehow finds himself in the midst of a love triangle with two particularly competent female magic users. blah blah blah Itsuki takes over the magic association Astral even though he doesn't know much about magic because his father is missing etc. etc. This series reminds me a lot of Negima with fewer female characters. The only things that are possibly original are the fairly wide variety of magic and magical phenomenon with the two mentioned female characters Honami and Adilisia using Celtic magic and the demons of Solomon/Goetia respectively. However the problem with some of this stuff is that there ends out being a lot off about it. At least it's not just typical and vague white or black magic though.

So the show is mostly composed of short story arcs, some of which are single episodes, that give background on the main characters rather than a true overarching plot. For some reason the order of the episodes is not chronological though it is numerical. This at first put me in mind of the anime series Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 which is also based on a light novel series, however while that series basically just aired the episodes out of order RM actually
just seems to have a chronology that jumps around. I have no idea if this is the case with the original novel series or not but it's kind of annoying and though it worked for Haruhi by adding an element of mystery (and subsequently really detracts from Haruhi if you watch it in chronological order) it didn't really do anything for RM except always make you ask yourself "OK so just when is this happening?" and take away some of the suspense. Maybe it was pandering to fans of the original work by showing what they wanted to see earlier or something, who knows?  In the end as is typical of anime now, the work does not stand alone as an original story based on another work and since that other work is still running RM doesn't really end. In fact there isn't a clear goal for the series at all though there are various potential goals like "fixing" Itsuki's eye, finding his father and possibly defeating the shadowy group Ophion that seems to want something from Itsuki and so must be lead by his missing father or something contrived like that.

To be fair to anime, or perhaps japanese fiction in the first place, the weakness of serialized fiction of all sorts is that the producers are happy to let it go as long as possible even past the realm of completion if they're making money. And for a creator if you create a big open-ended series that you like you don't necessarily want to end it. But the problem is that you just end out with a lot of vague series that can drag on for years and maybe never end out finishing properly. More directly for anime series, you end out with a lot of works where not a lot ends out happening. I will probably readdress this when Shakugan no Shana II finishes since that's an even better example.

Anyway in the end Rental Magica was a vague series that didn't explain the right things at the right time or have an actual plot. It also didn't have an actual ending but that's what you expect from a series that's based on an on-going work. I was reminded early on of Matantei Loki Ragnarok and Tactics (two manga series that have the same author and were animated and had questionable endings, with Loki in particular poised for a second work that has never come) and nothing happened in the course of this series to shake me of the similarities. It was possibly better than Tactics which was also pretty annoying though I liked Loki better personally even though it was really questionable. It does have some redeeming qualities though, it's a pretty lighthearted and attractive series (the animation is fair, the characters are flat and attractive though not especially unique in that anime way) and even if the characters are a bit contrived they all have some depth and get developed properly through the course of the series. So if you can just take it as it is (which I can't) it's alright. But it's boring, and it doesn't take much advantage of being animated because the action level is pretty low (to be fair when you're writing there's not a lot of advantage to writing a lot of action since it takes a lot of space and effort to travel a short distance). To me the most interesting thing about the work is that I haven't come across a single person who has writing much about it that actually liked it that much or thought it was anything but mediocre. But for some reason we all watched the whole damn thing anyway. So there must have been some kind of charm that the series had to get people to watch it even though they didn't like it. Dare I say that the series possessed some kind of strange magic?

I've taken a look through some of the upcoming anime that's going to start airing in Japan and there are a couple of things that caught my eye. Right now there's nothing I'm really watching avidly except Zoku Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei or Mnemosyne and I'm still drudging my way through Rental Magica and Dragonaut so I'm looking forward to these new shows.

Golgo 13

One show that will probably be worth watching is an anime adaptation of Golgo 13. For those of you not in "the know", Golgo 13 is Japan's answer to James Bond, except he isn't a fruity British guy. The Golgo 13 manga is filled with sex and violence, and I can only hope these aren't toned down for the show. I've been loving the amount of sex and violence Mnemosyme has been getting away with and wish there were more anime like it and Golgo 13 may be one.

Toshokan Sensou

From what I've heard about it, Toshokan Sensou sounds a lot like an Orwell novel. It's apparently about a totalitarian organization that destroys books. But hey, it's directed by Takayuki Hamana who also directed Sisters of Wellber, which I love, and I also like books/movies that are set in a dystopian setting so hey, this should be a match made in heaven hell.

Chi's Sweet Home

Now I have no idea at all what this next show is about except that the main character is a cat. Now, just based on that I can assume that at some point in the show the cat will take a nap in the sun, chase its tail, and perhaps eat food from a bowl. I have huge expectations for this.

There are a few other's I'm also interested in seeing but don't know much about them. If there's anything you're looking forward to, either because it's going to be good or bad, by all means leave a comment about it/them.

• Episode Rating: C+
• Series Rating: B
• Animation Quality: Meh
• Voice Acting: Good
• Parting Thought: Best part about this episode was the end song which was sung by the entire cast. Very cool indeed. The rest of the episode was basic filler with a cheesy, cheesy ending ... though it wasn't as bad as the Christmas episode. >.<

3 Related Links

1. Rental Magica TV - (AnimeNewsNetwork.com)
2. Rental Magica #22 — Boys Covered in Cream - (Tenka Seiha's Blog: Contains Spoilers)
3. Picture Post - Rental Magica’s Living Girls - (Moe Check!)

This group, according to their F.A.Q. has a few members who have worked with fansubbing for years but formed Eclipse in October 2005. What makes this group stand out of the crowd is how fast, relative to when an anime airs in Japan they can sub, and at great quality. Their subs are often true to the spoken Japanese and only a few or no puns, etc. are changed to a more understandable form. When something can be confusing for a non-Japanese viewer, Eclipse usually insert an on-screen explanation which is really useful for people like me who wants to get to know Japanese culture and language. This is unlike for example Dattebayo who often tries to come up with their own English version of puns and the like (see this: http://www.dattebayo.com/pr/66).

On Eclipse Productions' list of merit are the following top anime series:

• Clannad
• Claymore
• Fate/stay night 
• Hayate no Gotoku!
• Kanon
• Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!
• Pumpkin Scissors
• Rental Magica
• Shagukan no Shana
• Stratos 4

Anime fansubbing started sometime in the 1980's but the real boom came with the Internet and increasingly faster computers. When a fansub is made, a raw is needed for which a translated script is written. This is then timed so that the subtitle in question appears on screen at appropriate times and remain on screen long enough for a comfortable read speed. Fansubbing are by fans for fans and most groups have therefore no commercial interests in their productions. Both Eclipse and Dattebayo exercise this policy. Dattebayo have once asked for donations when they faced an imminent hardware failure. Though, they had to make a swift close-down of the donations because too much money flowed in. This meant that they could buy precisely what they wanted for continued fansubbing, and the rest of the money went to Doctors Without Borders (read a pressrelease here: http://www.dattebayo.com/pr/18).

Now fansubbing is not by any means legal; since, the unauthorized redistribution of copyrighted material is prohibited by international law. This is sometimes troublesome for the fansubbers; yet, it becomes even harder when a series has been licensed in their native country (Japanese companies won't trackdown a fansubber in like Moldova, but an American corporation might trackdown a fansubber in America).

Risk of legal action taken by large companies who own the rights to the anime series can force fansubbers to halt production, as in the case of Kuro-Hana, who were only two episodes short of finishing Death Note when they received a C&D.

Fansubs are the best way to enjoy an anime (until official subbed/dubbed versions are released) and as such you must give the fansubbers some credit for their work. One of the crappiest things you can do is to upload and/or watch anime at low-quality on streaming video sites like YouTube. The fansubbers work really hard and for free to bring fans good quality videos of fantastic anime series and they do not want to see their work decimated in a low-resolution streaming video. It does not take long to download an entire episode for you to enjoy via Bittorrent and it enables the fansubbing groups to keep statistics on how many viewers they have. Because one thing is for certain, it is a thrill for every fansubber to know that many people watch their subs and enjoy them.

Read more about fansubbing here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fansub
Find anime from fabulous fansubbers: http://baka-updates.com

So the way things are going, both Shakugan no Shana II and Rental Magica will end on high notes. If that is the case I'll have to decide whether strong finishes make up for sloppy starts and mediocre middles. In a race finishing first is all that matters, in a game of sports scoring more points by the end of regulation time is the point. But how do you define a winner when it comes to a tv series, let alone an animated one? Is the overall impression or the final impression the most important thing? Well I'll have an answer for you after those series end.

• Episode Rating: B+
• Series Rating: C+
• Animation Quality: Humdrum
• Voice Acting: Good
• Parting Thought: Good episode in a rather mediocre series. Low budget TV quality animation aside, the characters are likable and the concept vibrates my love for stories about magic users. Spotty episodic scripting and overly sappy backfill weigh this series down as it never takes itself seriously. Good cast, interesting concept and character potential not fully realized.

Related Reading:

• Rental Magica TV - (AnimeNewsNetwork.com)
• Rental Magica Images - (Google.com)
• Tenka Seiha - (Episode blog posts with images and spoilers)
• Official Website - (Japanese)
• Rental Magica Wiki - (Wikipedia.org)
• Lisa Komine Official Website - (Opening Theme Music)

Music Video of the Rental Magica Opening Theme performed by Lisa Komine.

well did any of u guys receive some chocolate from anyone?if no dun worry there is still a next time and for those who have....better start thinking of what to give for the girl for white day. anyway i hope u guys had a nice valentines day memory just like this lucky guy

haha today i will bring forth the anime that's called Rental Magica

This anime is about a company that rents their magician on payment for now..it's a light hearted anime that have a few jokes and all but latter i cant assure. there is also harem where the main character gets attention from alot of the girls in his company and even outside it .

here's a few of the screen shots of the show

first the main character. although he is actually weak in terms of magical energy, but he possesses "glam sight " which is a special eye that is suppose to not exist anymore. this evil eye enables him to see the flow of magical energy around making him almost invincible to any magical attack

Although this is the first post for this anime here's some fanservice shot for some of u

ohh....the little girl is so cute and the other one is hot too

iba itsuki thinking naughty thoughts

Nekoyashiki getting burned up

wooo the girls just got out of the bath :)

getting those thoughts again :P

addy and honami getting burned up over Itsuki

nothing beats than having some harem that causes the girls to fight over the main character

Oh yah their also delusional

Ohh...well rental magica really is a nice anime that i totally recommend well although my conclusion is always i recommend but it cant be help i cuz lately all the anime aired is very nice and all soo......

Yeah, so I've started to watch Rental Magica for whatever reason. It's actually been sitting in my To Watch folder since last season.

Seems like a pretty average show but it does have a bunch of female characters doing magical stuff so that's a plus. Like, you got a Osakan glasses girl who, I am assuming is a love interest, knows Celtic magic, a loli Rie Kugimiya who actually isn't a tsundere, and another girl who is a mage in training. Also, there is some girl with delicious drill hair from a rival magic whatever it is they do. So, I think I might enjoy this show just for the girls. Though, I kinda hoping I might enjoy this show in a way that I enjoyed Gatekeepers.

The first episode wasn't all that impressive and left more questions than really explaining what was going on. The rocket broom was interesting though. Anyway, then going into episode two, it turns out they start from the beginning or a time before episode one. Well, way to go there without any real introduction to that. I was about seven minutes into the episode before I realized that, "Oh, episode one was a flashback or something." Second episode wasn't that much of an improvement after the first. The main character is such a wuss, and maybe the show would be a little better if he wasn't, but he kinda reminds me of Jacuzzi from Baccano with an eye patch.

Today I write while my beaten up PS2 runs some of the endurance races in GT4 with vastly overpowered cars. When a car doesn't even look like a car anymore but instead appears to be some sort of food packaging then you know you have a problem. Playing GT4 makes me wonder just how much oil has been wasted on racing since motor vehicles were first invented. I don't think anyone can calculate the full scope of usage (like punks racing in back streets or practice runs on weekends) but the figure must be staggering. I'd say that racing is a good example of worthless innovation if ever there was one. Even the gran turismo series. I don't even have anything turned on right now but the PS2, I'm not even bothering to turn the tv on to check the status so I can speed the game up, I'm just walking over to it every once in a while and pressing some buttons on the controller to do so. I am officially no longer even playing the game and so it is officially pointless. This is actually hitting me hard over here. I've been playing video games for so long you know, I really don't know what I'll do if I stopped playing them... Actually I'd probably write novels, and arguably the reason I never have is that I waste my days playing games.

But what I wanted to complain about today was magic. This is inspired by the ever worsening Rental Magica (episode 14). This series is just so unbelievably bad it's a chore to watch it. But just like running GT4 even though I'm not playing it, I watch Rental Magica even though I don't like it.  Anyway, what I'm saying has been said before, even by myself in this place, but the problem with the idea of magic is that the cause and effect don't match up. There are theoretically all different kinds of magic but traditionally you're either invoking/evoking an entity or basically doing chemistry by ritualistically (perhaps pointlessly) combining (most likely inefficiently) things from within nature. Anyway, magic in those senses is at least logical even if it's not necessarily transparent how things really work (like why the entity you're calling on exists and can do what it can) or apparent that they do indeed work.

No the problem with magic is the fictional Harry Potter (my favorite whipping boy) sort of magic where you wave or waggle something (a wand, a hand, your penis, both) and maybe say some words and then magic happens. It doesn't even take 5 minutes to think about why this doesn't work but low class writers continue to justify it in ways like "you just have to have the magic inside you" and shit like that. If that was really the case we would not be talking about humans anymore, we'd be talking about some kind of mutant that has a different physiology. And we're not talking about that, that isn't out there. It is the theory behind ESP and so stated in various sci-fi works related to such, so again at least THAT is logical. But really the problem here is the idea of either making something out of nothing, or dispensing something into nothing (the latter being done all the time in rental magica) which does not happen! I honestly know next to shit about "hard science" but just from living my life I know that much about how the world works.

So that brings up the question of what it would take to make magic work.Basically the answer is science. However it would have to be of a surpassing greed, ambition, and solitude. In a way radio waves are surpassingly magical if you think about it. So perhaps there is some other sort of unseen energy source out there that could in some way be converted by people for the purpose of "magic". This of course is another theory of magic but I think that the idea that by drawing on the ground in chalk that you can utilize this power is the height of fallacy. Actually it's more common to try and utilize "the elements" rather than some unknown element. But as I said this is basically chemistry and the problem with the traditional magical elements is that they don't really exist as singular entities. Other people have broken that kind of thing down but essentially "the earth" is a bunch of minerals, fire and water are chemical reactions, and wind is just cause and effect (temperature differences, exertion of force, etc.). The alternate chinese elements of wood and metal are what they are as well. Now perhaps it really is possible to call upon... I don't know sodium or oxygen or something, or a whole pile of things, but to vaguely cry "oh earth and wind"... Of course nothing is going to happen.

And to finish that off, like I said you can try and figure out if there are some other entities that can do what you want and whether or not you can get them to do what you want. But that doesn't really seem like magic, that's basically personnel recruitment and negotiation. Yeah really magic is just a word to describe a sense of wonder. Oh well eh? oh well.

First things first this show's full of magic and stuff. Which is so obvious that it's not what I'm pointing out. This show has reference after reference to  obsucre things out of myths and religions and religions and all kinds of junk. Some of it's been fiddled with a bit, apparently the author didn't want to get blamed some crazy otaku tried to summon half the Goetia into his moms basement. Apart from that there's the shows main drawing point, for me anyway. Kugimiya Rie, famous for her roles as Shana, Nagi, and Louise... the three generals of the a-cup brigade. She's been in a lot of other shows in mostly tsundere roles. I mean she was in FMA, Bleach (she's more than one person), Rizelmine and a whole bunch of others. She also sings... very well... See I almost slipped into full on fanboy mode for a minute. I'm a big fan and only picked this up because I read she was in it. She plays Mikan and she's tsuntsun for once. Needless to say yes, she's still cute, particularly at the end of episode three when Itsuki wants to get rid of the fish she "rescued" (reference to Hidamari Sketch) during a festival. Oh... Itsuki's the president of Astral, the rent a mage place Mikan works at... yes she's a mage... well more pointedly she's a miko, a shrine maiden... The shows hard to sum into a review with what I've seen because it's doing something not many shows do. Releasing episodes in non-chronological order. You may see an episode where you get introduced to everyone because some other character showed up, then see an episode where they just meet one of those members that were already there and then all of a sudden you're watching something from before that happened. Mind you that only carries on for the first... six or so episodes. Prior to that it's done in storylines contained within that episode so technically it works. You also learn a bit about certain characters you wouldn't know prior to that. An actual storyline does pick up eventually though and well if Mikan being moe doesn't keep you interested there's always one of the other three girls to choose from. ;p There's Honami an expert in celtic magic. Adilicia who uses the 'goetia'... the goetia's a sort of... lexicon of a set of demons with information on them, how to summon them blah blah blah. For instance, Astaroth who you  may know from Soulcalibur, (or the *other* Astaroth yes the blue winged, female one with the dirty t-shirts) Well the Soulcalibur version only uses the name, Astaroth is in effect female but I forget anything else as I looked into it for a friend a long time ago. there's a third girl, Manami, a apprentice with the company... due to storyline issues I can't get into her too much... that sounded kind of dirty... But I'm not done there's still Nekoyashiki... he's decidedly un-moe but he and his cats still amuse me on occasion. Usually it's the cats, they trip people, jump on people, jump out of Nekoyashikis's clothes, while he's wearing them. Climb on people... sit aorund looking cute or turn into shiny blue or streaks of light and create a tornado.

FInally we make it to Itsuki Iba... the President. He's not actually even a mage. The only reason he's in charge is he inherited the company from his father Tsukasa. Yes I snicker every time I hear his name since when I hear Tsukasa I think of an ultra moe purple haired high school girl... who also happens to have a twin sister... moving on. His left eye is well it's red and demony, and it does demon things, as you'll come to find out. It's not nearly as cool as a certain vampire hunters hand... I suppose there was also that priest with the black hole in his hand and a penchant for groping women. But (pun seriously not intended, If I'd done it on purpose I'd have added an extra t... but since I didn't reword myself I guess it is technically intended now...) anyway his eye is referred to as Glam Sight, which allows him to see how the flow of magic is working in a manner a bit cooler than a certain 'silver eyed witch' (No I will not stop referring to other shows.) His eye will bleed, or trail a very cool looking red mist behind him as he moves, dodgin anything that gets tossed his way before unceremoniously shoving his hand into things... like thirty foot snakes (Basilisks actually), sentient blobs of I have no idea what but it had swallowed a ghost, supposedly smelled like burning flesh and oh yeah, spit fire out of itself. He is actually a likable character in my opinion, usually the only male characters I like are GAR characters like Alucard, Kamina... I don't know if Justice counts but I liked him... This guy isn't like that, he's probably going to run from something unless someone he knows is involved in which case he's more likely to shove them in  a closet and make whatever is chasing them follow him. He does get a little more... GAR when he uses his eye but not much. Running around on a broken leg only gets you so many manly points. ;p Even with the akward episode arrangement it's a good show and I found myself going 'oh so that's how they met this person', and 'ah this is how he broke his leg'. It's a bit chaotic but it works out.

Play your dream and overcome the night

The shadow of the waxing and waning red moon gently
Shakes the heartbeats of sadness
The wandering gravity
Reflects in my eyes
And the truth that overcomes the dark nights of loneliness is in my chest

Kindness will turn into strength
Don't be afraid of believing
The twinkling that blooms in the universe eternally
Embraces the voice of time

Play your dream and let me hear it
Wind, convey my courage

Oh, the song of the rain of flowers fluttering down
Make the true spirit of words bloom
I'll surround the guiding
With my hands
I'll grab the miracle that can fulfill my distant and fleeting wishes

Don't forget about feeling
The unpretentious, certain things
With my seemingly scratched fingertips
That's right, I wipe away my tears

Kindness will turn into strength
Don't be afraid of believing
The twinkling that blooms in the universe eternally
Embraces the voice of time

Wind, convey my strength
Now I'll pledge my courage

Sora ni Saku
Vocals: Komine Lisa

Kanadete yume   yoru o koete

Michikakeru tsuki no kage   sotto
Kanashimi no kodou furuwasu
Samayou inryoku
Hitomi ni utsushite
Kodoku no yami o koete yuku   shinjitsu wa kono mune ni

Yasashisa wa tsuyosa ni naru
Osorenaide   shinjiru koto
Sora ni saku kirameki wa towa ni
Toki no koe   dakishime

Kanadete yume   kikasete
Kaze   tsutaete   yuuki o

Maiochiru   hanabira no ota yo
Hontou no kotoba   sakasete
Michibiku hikari o
Ryoute de tsutsumu yo
Tooku hakanai negai mo   kanaeru kiseki tsukamou

Itsuwarinai tashika na mono
Wasurenaide   kanjiru koto
Chigiresou na kono yubisaki de
Sou   namida haratte

Yasashisa wa tsuyosa ni naru
Osorenaide   shinjiru koto
Sora ni saku kirameki wa towa ni
Toki no koe   dakishime

Kaze   tsutaete   tsuyosa o
Ima   chikau yo   yuuki o