Oh wow. I love you, FUNimation!! XD

Just found out some awesome news regarding FUNimation's upcoming release of Shigurui! They're going to be releasing it on glorious Blu-ray! The sad part is, I have to wait until March.

Oh well, March will be here before I know it, I guess.

In other news, the first set of D.Gray-man is coming out in March as well. W00t!

I've also updated the "Song of the Week." It's "PAPERMOON" by Tommy heavenly6. It's the new opening theme for Soul Eater. I never thought I'd say this: but I think I actually like it better than T.M.Revolution's "resonance!" I definitely do like the animation sequence for "PAPERMOON" a whole lot better than the sequence for "resonance." Not to mention the series currently also is running what is easily my favorite ending theme from Soul Eater so far: "Bakusou Yumeuta" by Diggy-MO', although it's status as my favorite could easily change once STRENGTH" by abingdon boys school finally appears. We'll have to see.

One Outs 7

Don't mess with Toua Tokuchi. He'll pwn you ... psychologically.

Oh man! This series just continues to be loads of badass baseball fun. Our good friend, Toua Tokuchi always has something up his sleeve, even when things appear to be heading south faster than a Randy Johnson fastball like in this episode.

Toua is essentially being forced to pitch three consecutive games thanks to his contract (which has been modified by the greedy owner in more ways than one), and managed to get through the first two games against the reigning champions--the Mariners--unscathed. In the third game (can you imagine who fatigued he is at this point?) he gives up 14--count 'em--14 runs early in game 3 after not giving up a single run in the 47 innings he's pitched up to this point and appears to be heading towards being billions of yen in debt to the team's owner. But, Tokuchi, as usual, has a plan. This one is a bit more contrived than in previous episodes, but that doesn't take away from how awesome it is! Of course, I won't tell you any more. See what I did there? *evil laugh*

Basically, I consider this to be the "Golgo 13" of the Fall season, just way, way better (and cleaner). It's quite possibly the best sports anime I have ever seen, which is saying a lot. While it doesn't have the depth of a series like Fighting Spirit, One Outs is a heckuva lot more fun and exciting.

These episodes just can't come out fast enough. Do yourself a service and WATCH THIS SHOW.

Current ANN Rating: Excellent (A)

Australia: Epic Cattle Driving!

Saw the new film "Australia" with my folks on Wednesday, and I very much enjoyed it. Not entirely original, and the characters are underdeveloped, but it manages to pull at your heartstrings quite well, not to mention it had some great moments of humor and did I mention that there's some epic cattle driving? That scene with the stampeding herd was intense!

Anyway, I give it 4 out of 5 stars. Probably won't ever watch film again, but it is certainly worth seeing, and it's not really as much of a "chick flick" as the trailers make it out to be.

What the hell? Why did this have to happen? WHY?

I honestly am in utter disbelief after reading this news story.

Wal-Mart Employee Dies After Shopper Stampede

Seriously ... What is WRONG with people today?

*hangs head in shame*

The Fall Anime Files: One Outs 1-3

I said earlier that I didn't think this series was going to be subbed. Turns out I was wrong, as three episodes have been released since then. Is it good? Oh yes, it's awesome, but a top-tier series.

Basically, Kojima, a star professional Japanese baseball player on a bad team who finds out about this pitcher, Toua, who excels at the gambling game One Outs. Here's how the game works:

1) Of the batter strikes out, the pitcher wins. The strike zone is a rectangle painted on the wall behind the batter, as there is no catcher.

2) If the batter gets a hit, gets a base-on-balls (or is hit by a pitch), he wins.

It's as simple as that. The Kojima figures it's easy, since Toua (the pitcher only throws fastballs which aren't even all that fast by pro standards (Toua throws in the mid 80s). But, Toua outsmarts Kojima and wins.

Kojima, crushed by the loss looks for a rematch, although he severely injures his right wrist while chopping wood. Kojima bets his baseball career, while Toua bets his right hand. Epicness ensures and Kojima emerges the victor. How does he use Toua's right hand? Well, he gets him to sign with the Lycaons (Kojima's team). Toua then gets the owner to agree to an insane contract:

If Toua gets an out: The team pays him 5 million yen. If he gives up a run, Toua would pay the team 50 million yen. The owner agrees to this, as in order to break even, Toua would have to have a 2.70 ERA, which is next to impossible for a pitcher. You're always going to give up runs right? Well, in his debut, Toua comes in in the third inning and retires all 21 batters his faces. Then when he makes his first start (this is the preseason, mind you), he pitces a perfect game. Ridiculous, I know, Toua is such a likeable badass kind of character that I can't help but enjoy the owner's reactions to having to pay so much money.

This series is just too much fun to ignore, although I expect that Toua will run into some hardship before long. He's not going to be perfect the entire time.

Current ANN Grade: Very Good (B)

The Fall Anime Files: To Aru Majutsu no Index 4-5

I haven't been posting about fall anime lately, so I figure I'll start getting back on track with Index. I'm not going to go back and catch up on everything. I'll just continue posting from now on as I watch episodes. So far today I've watched Index 4-5 and One Outs 1-3.

After the first 3 lackluster episodes, my opinion of this Index wasn't particularly high. My ANN Grade was Good (C+). But then episodes 4-5 appeared. To be honest, I was really only looking forward to episode 4 because of the hottie Kaori Kanzaki (below).


Yes, I know that's shallow of me, but the series hadn't been all that interesting up to this point so what else am I going to look forward to when there's a sexy, sword-wielding chick in the mix? And you wonder why I love Claymore so much ...

Anyway, episode 4 was a bit of a disappointment from an action perspective because much of the episode was just Touma and Kanzaki standing around talking to each other. However, it's worth it because of the revelations that I won't spoil here. In short: Kanzaki and Style (the guy with the cigarette) aren't exactly who they seem to be.

Then comes the cliffhanger at the end of episode 5. Good stuff, and as such I eagerly await the next episode.

Current ANN Grade: Very Good (B)

Song of the Week

I just realized that I had not updated the Song of the Week for two weeks now, so here goes. This week's song is "Soukoku," which can be heard in episode 9 of Moribito. Beautiful song, if I say so myself.

Also, since apparently there is not going to be a new episode of Moribito for two-and-a-half months (damn you [adult swim]!), I'll also be taking a break from featuring songs from Moribito.