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Anime Week continues, and we're proud to bring you more anime and manga reviews by deviants!

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Anime Review

Elfen Lied - Series
Elfen Lied Collectors Edition available at Amazon.com


Plot summary
Diclonius, which is a mutated homo sapien said to be chosen by God to be the destruction of mankind as it's known. The Diclonius has two horns at their heads and got the ability to control invisible, and VERY quick, arms which is coming from their back. This is called a "sixth sense". A secret organization on an island is capturing and brutally killing the Diclonius because they are this dangerous, they are also being done different experiment on to see how many joule their hands can defend them from. Lucy, a 16(?) year old Diclonius manages to escape from the facility, after getting out of the facility she is shot in the head by a .50 Caliber Anti-Tank Barrett. This makes her fall down from a cliff into the water, she though survives and lands ashore. That's where she meets a boy and girl named Kouta and Yuka. Though, after the hard impact of the .50 Cal bullet towards her head she have lost her real self, she have turned into a cute innocent girl which can only say "Nyuu". They give her the name Nyuu and let her live with them in their house, but the real Lucy is still not dead, and whenever Nyuu is in danger, she is awakened.

Pros of the anime
If you like blood-spilling, hardcore and telekinese action this is an anime for you. The first half of episode one is covered with blood, cut-into-pieces bodies. You don't get to know much about the story behind Lucy or the Diclonius before later in the anime, which is, in my opinion, a good thing, it makes you sit there wanting to watch all of it, the story is catching and there are some drama. This anime actually made me cry nearing the end.

Cons of the anime
As I said this is a good anime with the blood and a catching storyline, but it is also a bit confusing. At the start of the series you see Kouta get a weird type of trauma, which will make you sit there and scrath your head wondering why he got like that when meeting Nyuu/Lucy. This will though be shown about episode 8-10 where we see the story behind Lucy's evilness. There aren't really many cons of this anime, except the fact that they only kiss once. Also, the thing with Yuka being in love with her cousin Kouta is a bit off, she is too jealous and it kinda jumps off the plot in the anime. The anime was also a bit short, they could have added a lot more from the manga into it!

InuThoughts
I was almost instantly hooked to the story of this anime, seeing an anime where there is both ecchi, blood and also a bit of gore, because of inside body parts and limbs getting cut apart. The telekinetic powers of the Diclonius is something you actually long to see! At the later episode (out of 12) I was sitting with my eyes almost glued to the screen wanting to know everything about the history, for example why Kouta got traumas thinking about a human with horn, the reason why Lucy turned into a mean girl and how her Diclonius side managed to take control over her! The end made me cry and I was sad there wasn't more of this anime.

Reviewed by: =inuyasha174

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Manga Review



Angel/Dust Neo

Angel/Dust Neo is a sequel to the manga created by Aoi Nanase titled Angel/Dust. In this new book Aoi Nanase revisits the past topic of Emulates and spins it into the fantasy genre with an added harem twist. This book was originally serialized in Newtype Magazine Japan and was then collected and release in Volume one in November of 2003, the English version in 2007. Since then there has only been one Volume.

Plot Summary
We open to Akito Haga a Junior high school student who is a bit confused about the direction of his life. He climbs the stairs of his neighborhood shrine and prays every day for guidance but admittedly is only there to climb the stairs. Finally this day he gives up asking for guidance and simply asks for “anything” at that moment an angelic girl falls from the sky directly above. Sounds too good to be true? She collides with him and when she awakens can not remember anything, not even her name. She falls into the care of the shrine’s priest who names her Marino. Akito confused leaves the shrine only to be collided with yet another girl, Musia, form the sky who knocks him unconscious after making a claim to “contract” and planting a large kiss on the mouth.
These two girls spark a frantic change in Akito’s life and spins his normalcy into a tail spin. To make matters worse he comes into contact with yet another female Emulate, Leia, who also wishes to contract with him and plants another kiss on him—living him bonded to two Emulates who compete for his attention until finally he has had enough and exclaims HE will choose whom he’s contracted with. They agree and decide to take up residence in his home until he makes a decision.

Poor Akito is torn between three Emulates who all want his attention and contract.

Pros of the Manga
The art is fantastic! It carries the same artistic feel as the previous manga and has that fantasy appeal yet is placed in the everyday setting. The characters are also pretty fun to read. Akito is a joy because he simply is a nice guy. Unlike most Harem genre mangas Akito is actually pretty aware of the girl’s attention but doesn’t want it—it’s one of those be careful what you wish for type of harem genres and Akito being so nice is thrown into very uncomfortable situations that leave him unsure of what to say. Musia is another fun gal—she is annoying in the beginning but eventually grows on you as you read on & you embrace her mood swings & her passion for contributing to others.

Cons of the Manga
It’s a harem story which can get redundant but thank fully this is only the first book so you’re reading more character development and introductions right now. Marino and Leia really don’t do much for me character-wise. I think they are pivotal characters yes and Marino has a softness that could be compelling. In contrast there is Leia who is so strong she’s almost butch but both need more development to really strike my interest. And there is only one volume.

Viva la Manga
Overall, I like this manga. I think it’s a cute and fun read almost reminiscent of Chobits with the girls-that-are-really-robots theme but in this case they have wings, form contracts that bond with a human’s DNA from a kiss, and have a bit more personality. I wish it were continued, it ends on a funny note but it leaves you wanting—a good trait in a first manga but I wonder if it will be revived to continue. I have not researched the issue because I like this manga but don’t NEED to know more—if more are made, yes I will go out & get them but I won’t rush for the bookshelves when they release. It’s just a nice and fun read and it can stand on its own if it must and for now it looks like it will.

reviewed by: =KatSushimi247