man, is this the show that had me so apprehensive at first? It's gotten good. Remember when I said 'I hope it goes in Manabi Straight directions'? Well, it may be just that! I think we could have real school revolution going on here, and what's more, I support the out of the petition.
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

By TheBigN So, following Stripey’s lead, I’ll list my top 5 favorite anime at this moment: Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight Haibane Renmei Kino’s Journey Aria The Origination Hidamari Sketch I find it’s more fun to find out what others think compared to my own opinion  in cases like these (un”my”ased opinion and all that), so if you care, what do you think [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

In regards to Stripey’s Top5 meme, I documented changes to the composition of titans before, but to summarize for the meme: 1. Azumanga Daioh2. Haibane Renmei3. Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight4. Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann5. Nodame Cantabile (original) Shingu, not unexpectedly present on SDB’s Top5, is pushing from below and is on half-titan mark together with Nodame. So, I [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Takagaki Ayahi 高垣彩陽 is 4' 11" of talent and hard work. And over the past two years, she has become one of the better seiyuu actresses around.She brings alive the laconic young killer Ein in Requiem for the Phantom. She made Nina Antalk the emotional centre of Chrome-Shelled Regios. Before that, she helped create an amazing romantic innocent with Noe in true tears.And the role that first got my attention was the mature Otome in Da Capo 2 SS. Especially her powerful emotional expressiveness near the end of the series. Ayahi can be a bit melodramatic, but the emotion works. (click photos to enlarge; mouseover for captions)Her ability is being rewarded with more and more roles. She has nine roles this year, and this fall will star in Sasameki Koto and will have an important role in Sora no Otoshimono.And don't be surprised if she gets a real recording career. She graduated from a music college in Tokyo, with a major in operatic singing (hear her opera voice in the Da Capo 2 interview, below). Sony made her part of their group Sphere, composed of Tomatsu Haruka, Toyosaki Aki, Kotobuki Minako, and Ayahi. I found some of her earlier work rather stiff, but her character song album as Ein from Phantom is excellent.Personal databorn 25 October 1985; 23 years old.150.8cm (4'11")from Tokyoagency: Music Ray'n (Sony)blood type Anickname: Ayahi, Ayahii, Ayahimeshe uses her real surname, not a stage name, because she likes it so much. She says it gives a feeling of fighting (tatakau) and energy (genki-ness, like a kid, a gaki).backgroundcomes from a large familyattended a girls' school from kindergarten through high schoolin kindergarten, wanted to be Sailor MoonLina Inverse's incantations in Slayers made her think that seiyuu could be magicianswhen she was younger she once wrote that her career goal was to be a seiyuu, but she gradually drifted over to a greater interest in musicgraduated from music college in March of 2008becoming a seiyuuher interest in seiyuu work revived after she saw Gundam Seedshe qualified at a series of Music Ray'n auditions in 2005-2006she only took the audition due to a friend's encouragement, and barely made the deadlineshe got her first role a month later, in 2006her first named role was Tsubaki in Ouran HS Host Club (2006)her first starring role was Ruchia in Venus Versus Virus (2007)Video clips of Ayahi's roles:<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IJJzhMlS6hY&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IJJzhMlS6hY&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>rolesshe has a fairly wide acting range, from little kids to romantic teens to gentle weak girls to elder sister types to proper young ladies to boyish girls to serious young womenshe uses her voice well, but it is not particularly distinctivemajor roles: Ruchia (Venus Versus Virus), Jasmine (Deltora Quest), Otome (DC Da Capo 2), Feldt Grace (Gundam00), Noe (true tears), Tsubasa (Kyou no Go no Ni), Nina Antalk (Chrome-Shelled Regios), Ein (Requiem for the Phantom), Aresta Blanket (Charger Girl Juuden-chan), Sumika (Sasameki Koto) skill and talentvery studious, memorizes a script perfectlycarries a notebook and writes down things older cast and staff saymakes and organizes notes about each production and each characterseiyuu usually check a script by whispering through it; she surprises people by speaking it out at full voiceother seiyuu say she really gets into her role, becoming one with itTomatsu Haruka has praised her vocal range, nimble tongue, and pronunciation and breathingHisakawa Aya has said, rather cryptically, that Ayahi is just what a seiyuu should beInterview re Da Capo 2. Watch for her singing a bit of opera around the 6:00 minute mark. The interviewer nearest Ayahi is Sakai Kanako, who starred in REC:<object width="420" height="339"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/xag78d"/><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/xag78d" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="339" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object>personalitystaff and seiyuu say she is majime (modest, serious, and polite)she gives coworkers presents and cards, particularly for birthdays and Valentine's Daynatural and direct, approaches problems head-ona bit of an airhead at times; Taniyama Kishou says she should be the Tokyo representative in the World Airhead Championshipsshe herself admits it's a bit true, but apologizes to the real airheadsfriends with Chihara Minorieasily moved to tears, often crying at events and on radio, and especially at anime wrap-up partiesa terrible cook: there are stories about her not being able to peel a boiled egg, and failing at making pancakes; she says she just needs more practicethe pancake story got included as part of Nina's back-story in Regioscarries a large bag and surprises people by pulling all sorts of things out of its jumbled interior familyvery close to her family, always talking about her motherlives with her mother and younger sisterher mother checks everything she writes on her blogher grandmother does her hairet ceterashe is very concerned with the roles she plays; at a live event, she went on and on mentioning the minor roles that were not included in her Wikipedia entry, and described her feelings about shows she had unnamed roles in.she considers it very important to sing a character song in character: for Regios songs, she had pictures of her character and a script set up in the recording booth.she says she is an otaku for her own shows, getting books, figures, etc.fell in love with the Toyama area, where true tears was set and where the show's PA Works studio is located; other seiyuu call her the "ambassador for sightseeing in Nantou" (a city in the Toyama area)on 2channel, there are almost 12,000 posts in her main threads; but there are also several hundred in anti- threads, criticizing her voice and acting ability, as well as her dark skin and supposed common manner. It's true that her dark skin sometimes makes her look like a tanned Japanese "gang girl." So does the fact that she sometimes seems to use a lot of make-up.she likes to wear her hair piled up high on her head, to make herself seem tallerSphere (l-r) Tomatsu Haruka, Kotobuki Minako, Takagaki Ayahi, Toyosaki Aki:music2009.2.15, at Music Ray'n Girls Spring Choco Matsuri, formation of Sphere was announcedat 23, Ayahi is the group's oldest member: Tomatsu Haruka is 19, Kotobuki Minako 18, and Toyosaki Aki 22.singers Ayahi likes: Honda Minako 本田美奈子, KOKIA. She did Honda's signature tune Amazing Grace at the Music Ray'n Girls Autumn Harvest Festival event, and KOKIA does OP1 and ED2 for PhantomKOKIA wrote the music and lyrics for two Gundam00 character songs Ayahi will release October 21Sphere's debut event:<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xmS8QhEnpL0&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xmS8QhEnpL0&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Good TV interview with Sphere:<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/g0l7tu-lOx0&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/g0l7tu-lOx0&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>non-anime workdubbing: three roles, including the female lead in the movie 10,000 BCa role in a stage musicalten radio shows, four of which are continuing (Takahashi Daisuke and Takagaki Ayahi's Nightly Hustle, Web Radio Planet Sphere, Phantom Radio, Canaan radio)roles in eight games (none adult), including leading roles in Da Capo 2 Plus Situation, and Dungeons & Damroles in four radio dramas, including the online voice comic ("vomic") Sugars links:official siteblog Anime News NetworkJapanese Wikipedia video clipsTV show with Shiraishi Ryouko and Nabatame HitomiTV show with Nazuka Kaori and Iguchi Yuka for true tearswith Tomatsu Haruka in a promo for an “audio novel”with Iguchi Yuka in a TV interview re true tearsseiyuu visit Toyama, location of true tearsinterview re her debut in Venus Versus Virusinterview with Sphereinterview re recording Regios EDCast in:2006 Ouran High School Host Club (TV) as Female university student (ep 17); Kamigamo TsubakiPocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl (TV) as Chinatsu (ep 76)Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori (TV) as Kitazaki (ep 18)2007Deltora Quest (TV) as JasmineGakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! (TV) as Student (ep 10); Sweets Student (ep 3)Venus Versus Virus (TV) as Nahashi RuchiaToward the Terra (TV) as AlteraKenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho (TV) as Oyamada Asami; Nanjou Karena (ep 8-13)Baccano! (TV) as Lumiere Sylvie D.C. II: Da Capo II (TV) as Asakura OtomeMokke (TV) as Aida (ep 22)Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun (TV) as Ninomiya Shungo (young)Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (TV) as Feldt GraceRental Magica (TV) as Female Student; Male StudentAyakashi (TV) as Natsuhara (ep 6)2008true tears (TV) as Isurugi NoeAllison & Lillia (TV) as Meg (ep 23)D.C.II S.S. ~Da Capo II Second Season~ (TV) as Asakura OtomeNet Ghost PiPoPa (TV) as Yukiya KarinWagaya no Oinarisama (TV) as Hashimoto Shunta (ep 22)S.A. (TV) as Yamamoto Megumi; Takashima household Maid C (ep 12); Yuki-pon (ep 11)Slayers Revolution (TV) as Girl (ep 13)Battle Spirits: Shounen Toppa Bashin (TV) as SuirenYozakura Quartet (TV) as Tatebayashi MizunaJigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae (TV) as Moriyama Jun (ep 3)Macademi Wasshoi! (TV) as PaltiaKyo no 5 no 2 (TV) as Kawai TsubasaMobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season (TV) as Feldt GraceSkip Beat! (TV) as Miya2009Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th Season (TV) as MiyukiZoku Natsume Yūjin-Chou (TV) as Sui (ep. 2)Chrome Shelled Regios (TV) as Nina AntalkPhantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ (TV) as EinCharger Girl Ju-den Chan (TV) as Aresta BlanketCANAAN (TV) as NeneZan Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei (TV) as Oora KanakoSora no Manima ni (TV) as Minami SayuriSora no Otoshimono (TV) as Satsukitane MikakoSasameki Koto (TV) as Murasame SumikaKyou no 5 no 2 Takarabako (OVA) as Kawai Tsubasa2010 Hanamaru Kindergarten (TV) as HiiragiStaff in:2008S.A (TV) : Theme Song Performance (OP/ED2)Battle Spirits: Shōnen Toppa Bashin (TV) : Theme Song Performance (ED2)2009Chrome Shelled Regios (TV) : Theme Song Performance (ED)Hatsukoi Limited (TV) : Theme Song Performance (OP - Sphere)Charger Girl Juuden Chan (TV) : Theme Song Performance (OP)Sora no Manima ni (TV) : Theme Song Performance (OP – Sphere)(lists from Anime News Network)Music CDsVenus Versus Virus Character Vocal AlbumDC Da Capo 2 Character Songs v.6true tears Image Album "Tears...For Truth"true tears Character Image Song CD "Another World" (DVD6 extra)S.A. Character mini-AlbumS.A. ED2Kyou no Go no Ni BGM Collection Sound Festival Chrome Shelled Regios: character songs 1 and 2 "Yasashii Uso" (from Chrome-Shelled Regios)Dungeons & Dam Audio Collection"dear-dear Dream" (Battle Spirits Shounen Toppa Bashin)Requiem for the Phantom character maxi single "Inspired by Ein"Canaan Insert Song "China Kibun de High Tension"Gundam00 Voice Actor Single "Inori" and "Justice"Fight Ippatsu Juuden-chan ED "TeCh=NoloGy"Ragnarok Online 7th anniversary song (Sphere) -- "Kaze wo Atsumete" and "Brave My Heart"(list from Neowing and 2channel)upcoming eventsLantis Matsuri (27 Sept) - SphereTokyo Asia Music Market (23 Oct)Ragnarok Online World Championshiup 2009 (1 Nov) - SphereSphere Colorful Concert (10 Jan 2010)(list from 2channel)Ayahi sings (streaming audio) the Regios ED Yasashii Uso, as back-up singer to Chrome Shelled (studio musicians).
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

I finally rewatched Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight, years down the road. A small concern appeared recently that Manabi’s magic was not there anymore, but it turned out to be unfounded. “POWERFUL x HAPPY”, “JUST AN SCHOOL GIRLS WITH HAPPY DAYS COME UP SMILING IN EVERYDAY LIFE”: damn straight. MASSUGU, GO! Verily, Ufotable staff knew what they were [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Due to some circumstances, I have set on rewatching Manabi Straight at last, this time from the comfort of a couch. And coincidentially, Zyl remarked today: Manabi Straight: It sounds like so much fun but I’m just defeated by the whole fat loli thing. I’m happy to report that the fat heads get tuned out so well [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Soundtracks nominated so far for the next poll: Aria the Animation/Natural/Origination Azumanga Daioh Bartender Bleach Bubblegum Crisis OVA Bubblegum Crisis 2040 Code Geass/R2 Cowboy Bebop Death Note ef: a tale of memories Elfen Lied Eureka 7 FLCL Full Metal Alchemist Haibane Renmei Kaiji Kamichu! Macross Frontier Madlax Manabi Straight Neon Genesis Evangelion Noir Oh! Edo Rocket Princess Tutu Record of Lodoss War Revolutionary Girl Utena Shigofumi Shigurui Simoun Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann True Tears Vision of Escaflowne Welcome the the NHK A few others were mentioned, but I’m not sure [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

I'd like to proudly announce that Aniverse has acquired a new writer. Please welcome Digitalboy to Aniverse! Let the introductions commence! Here is what Digitalboy  has to say for his introduction:     Hello, my name is 21st Century Digital Boy, or Deus ex Digital Boy, or any combination of those abbreviated however you like. I am what you call an otaku. A real, hardcore otaku. It is not as though I have a life and am an anime fan, and that these two things are separate. Being an anime fan is the definition of my life. I've seen a lot of anime in a very short period of time, and I love anime of all kinds and genres. It's pretty rare for me to complete an anime if I don't like it, and it's pretty rare for me to dislike an anime I complete. The way I write is considered to be very aggresive because I swear a lot and have strong opinions. However, I assure you that I am a very laid-back, fun-loving person who doesn't ever get upset really. When I swear, it's simply because that's the way I talk. I was brought up in that kind of environment. I run a blog over at fuzakenna.com, and I am findablle all over the internet. I am often mistaken for being older than I am, at 17 going-on 18. I am known for being obsessed with lists, especially my favorites list which I am infinitely seeking to properly define. Besides anime, I am hugely into music of indiscriminate genre. I am going to graduate high school in about a month, so that's cool too. I am not a good student, though, lol. I am also known for being pretty sex-obsessed. I have an absurdly long list of fetishes, and I have been writing porn since I was 13 or so. My tastes in porn get pretty obscure, so I don't usually talk much about the porn I watch. My favroite anime include, but are not limited to: Eureka Seven, End of Evangelion, Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight, Serial Experiments Lain, ef ~a tale of memories~, FLCL, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Baccano!, Cowboy Bebop, and Lucky Star. If we like any of the same anime, chances are we can get along, unless you are a troll, in which case I will not feed you.  Pretty interesting for the intro speech. ^^;  
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Steven publishes blurbs. Let’s see… Bamboo Blade: Funny, nice cast. Nothing special, but has a category at Ani-nouto. Umisho: No information. Jason Miao was big on it. Nagasarete Airantou: No information. Although… I remember Steven being hard on Sister Princess in J.P.’s comments for girls being props. Well, duh. Manabi Straight: Cannot do better than requote myself: Manabi, which turned [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Anime tends to branch off into many sub-hobbies, for instance model building, figure collecting, gaming and more. One activity which is less common amongst most of us is papercraft. There are two popular forms of papercraft that Anime fans tend to get involved in; regular papercraft involving cutting, gluing and folding to create replicas and something known as Paper Child. Paper Child consists of characters, most often original characters drawn in certain ways that once cut out and photographed at an effective angle, can depict interaction between the drawn character and real world environments. This can take a lot of planning and practise to get right but when done correctly can produce some fantastic artwork. On the other hand, papercraft in the form of creating 3D replicas can take quite a lot of time and effort. Luckily, you can find origami templates for almost anything; from Gundam to Vocaloid, Manabi Straight to Glove On Fight. Creating templates can be quite a task. They’re usually created using special software which creates templates from 3D models. A commonly used program for creating papercraft designs is Pepakura. You can obtain the viewer version to open .pdo files which have been made using Pepakura. Gunime is a blog dedicated mostly to Anime and mech papercraft and is kept up to date with some very good quality designs. If you would like to start out in papercraft with some easy to moderate level stuff, you might like to browse 4chan’s Papercraft & Origami board. This part of 4chan is intended to be worksafe, but of course always take care in browsing any part of 4chan. There is also an archive website of the Paper & Origami 4chan board where you can view many templates minus the chatter.
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)