Anime Season 2008

The year 2008 has been filled with many landmark anime from Japan throughout the seasons and I shall try my best to cover some of the anime that have made it to my list. Please come back often to check for updates as I will be adding more stuff regularly!

My summer anime season 2008 list:

Koihime Musou (Dynasty Maidens)
Neo Angelique Abyss (and Second Age)
Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu (The Secret of Haruka Nogizaka)
Slayers Revolution
Zero no Tsukaima - Princesses no Rondo (The Familiar of Zero - Princesses of Rondo)

My autumn anime season 2008 list:

Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka (The Hill dyed with Rose Madder Colour)
Casshern Sins
Chaos;Head
Clannad ~After Story~
Ef - A Tale of Melodies
Hakushaku to Yousei (Earl and Fairy)
Hyakko (Hundred Pieces)
Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae (The Girl from Hell 3 - Pot)
Kannagi
Kemeko Deluxe
Kurogane no Linebarrels (Linebarrels of Iron)
Kuroshitsuji (The Black Butler)
Kurozuka
Macademi Wasshoi (Magical Academy Wasshoi)
Mouryou no Hako (Box of Goblins)
Shikabane Hime - Aka (Corpse Princess - Red)
Skip Beat
Tales of the Abyss
To Aru Majutsu no Index (A Certain Magical Index)
Toradora (Tiger Dragon)
Tytania
Yozakura Quartet (Night Cherry Blossom Quartet)

Kan'u (Guan Yu) is a female warrior that travels around defeating bandits that try to harass villages and towns. On her way, she comes across Chouhi (Zhang Fei), a self-proclaimed bandit-leader, and a duel occurs between the two of them, lasting for the whole day without a victor emerging. After that significant duel, Chouhi joins Kan'u in their quest to protect the commoners from other ruffians.

Join the two of them as they meet more new people who will eventually join their party, and see how an all-female party dominates the scene pretty much incomparably!

Anime Koihime Muso Intro Theme: Flower of Bravery [Regular Edition]
fripSide

1260 yen from CDJapan

A woman in a hood is walking along the forest when she is confronted by a group of bandits. They try to take advantage of her but when she takes off her hood, some of the bandits become nervous as she resembles a person who has been hunting bandits around the area recently as long as they try to touch her. The woman introduces herself as Kanu and she despises bandits who take advantage of innocent people during these hard times.

On her way to the nearby village, she constantly grumbles about how unstable the country has become and that villagers are suffering under rising food prices and bandit attacks. Suddenly, a group that calls themselves the Rinrin Bandits rush through the town, casuing Kanu to fall to the side of the road.

Inside a restaurant, Kanu discovers that the leader of the bandits, Rinrin, was attacked by bandits and her parents killed by them. She was adopted by her grandfather but he died soon after, leaving her all alone. Now she is leading a group of children who assumes the role of bandits just to create mischief in the village.

Back at their stronghold, the Rinrin bandits talk about their success for the day. Rinrin notices that her group is very supportive of her and she is happy. After that, the rest of the 'bandits' tell her that they have to go home and Rinrin asks them to come back again to play with her.

Back at the restaurant, Kanu finally rests after some hard work in exchange for lodging for the night. She thinks about Rinrin's parents being killed, then flashbacks of her childhood when her brother was killed by bandits came out. The next day, she continues her errands but comes across a public announcement made by the village chief, who has decided to do something about the Rinrin bandits. Kanu introduces herself and volunteers to handle the task, but the chief seems a bit sceptical over her even after hearing rumours that she is the black-hair beauty bandit hunter.

On her way towards the bandit stronghold, she is assaulted by the Rinrin bandits, who seem to be nothing more than children that cause minimal harm. The first one is the throwing of stones, followed by a pit hole on the ground, but Kanu survives both and then performs her skin-stretching pinch on all the children. She promises not to harm their boss and lets them go off.

Soon she reaches the stronghold and finds Rinrin standing on a cliff. Rinrin tells her that the name is only for her close friends to call her, and that her name is Chouhi, the leader of the Rinrin Bandits. Kanu tells her that she has driven her followers back to the village, so Chouhi becomes angry and engages her in combat. The battle lasts until nightfall, with no clear victor. Then Kanu tells Chouhi that she has heard about her parents being killed by bandits. She herself went through the same hardship and does not want the same thing to happen to anyone else again. Then she offers Chouhi to join her in fighting bandits and changing the situation of the country. Chouhi becomes emotional and gives some strong attacks onto Kanu, but soon stops and wails loudly.

Kanu takes a bath at the stronghold, then thinks back about Chouhi's offer to do anything she says since she lost the battle by crying. Kanu tells her to apologise to the village chief and not harass them anymore. Chouhi then asks her to stay at her house for the night but she rejects. Then after walking a few steps, she changes her mind and decides to stay. Back at the bath, Chouhi jumps into the bath with Kanu, then notices that Kanu's chests are big and asks for the secret. Kanu then lies about having a strong will which can lead to bigger chests, which seems good for Chouhi as she is flat-chested.

As they are preparing to sleep, Chouhi describes the experience of sleeping together with Kanu as one she had with her mother last time. Kanu becomes shocked that she is likened to an old woman, but then Chouhi asks instead if Kanu can become her older sister instead. Kanu agrees, only on the condition that she joins her in a quest to change the world.

The next day, Chouhi apologises to the village and settles everything before leaving with Kanu. On the way, Chouhi feels a bit depressed and Kanu offers that they stop by at the hut to rest but Chouhi declines. Then Chouhi tells Kanu that her 'bandits' did not come to see her off, and blames herself for being a lousy boss. Kanu notices the 'bandits' at a distance and tells her not to worry. The children have come to bid farewell to Chouhi, causing her to cry. Kanu tells Chouhi to brace herself up, and Chouhi goes to bid her friends farewell.

Kanu and Chouhi are walking to their next destination, but then Kanu notices that Chouhi has been sulking along the way. She asks why, and then Chouhi points out that they had made a vow of sisterhood, but Kanu doesn't call her by her real name, Rin Rin, since close people call each other with their true names. Kanu then introduces herself once more, with her real name being Aisha.

Soon they reach a town, and the guard asks Kanu if she was the rumoured black-hair bandit hunter. Kanu finds out that she is hard to recognise and takes it that she may not be as pretty as she thought.

Kousonsan (Kou), the Imperial Adviser of the region, meets up with Kanu and Chouhi at a pavilion. The person accompanying her introduces herself as Chouun, and is also a traveler like Kanu. Kanu introduces herself, but Chouhi uses her real name in childlike expression, so Chouun comments that Kanu's child (Chouhi) is quite big for her age. Kanu denies it and says that they made a vow of sisterhood, prompting Chouun to guess whether they love each other, provoking more embarrassment.

Kou explains that three warriors - Enshou of Kishuu, Sonsaku of Koutou, and Sousou of the capital, have emerged, and with the waning of the Kan (Han) Dynasty, many factions are seeking powerful warriors to rule the country, so she wants Kanu and Chouhi to join forces with her and help tide over this era of chaos. Chouun then interrupts and says that she is not convinced of Kanu as the rumoured bandit hunter, so she suggests testing out Kanu's fighting abilities first. Kanu is hesitant, so Chouun accuses her of being scared, which leads to Chouhi offering to challenge Chouun instead.

At the open courtyard, Chouhi duels with Chouun. Chouhi starts out with lots of attacking moves, but Chouun just defends them swiftly without any hassle. Soon Chouhi becomes exhausted, and Chouun taunts her. Kanu knows that Chouhi is only wasting her energy, and decides to fight with Chouun, saying that she feels like doing so right now. Before the next duel starts, Kanu focuses her battle energy in preparation, but Chouun notices it and then offers to stop the duel, saying that she can recognise Kanu as a strong opponent without having to fight.

Back at the pavilion, Chouhi continues to sulk, accusing Chouun of giving the impression that she is not strong. Chouun replies that Chouhi is strong, but she doesn't know how to use the power properly. Then Chouun starts the topic about the Shakudouzan, which is about the nearby mountain bandits. Kou has problems dealing with them, so Chouun suggests a plan which involves them hiding inside merchant boxes, which will be raided by the bandits, so that they will be able to infiltrate the bandit hideout without barging in. Chouhi also wants to join in, but Chouun declines, saying that Chouhi is unable to keep still and quiet for 10 minutes. Chouhi tries to prove otherwise, but fails.

Soon, the plan starts with Chouun and Kanu hiding inside the same box. As predicted, the goods are raided by the bandits, but the merchants are safe. This is reported back to Kou for checking. At the hideout, the bandits are carrying their loot to the storeroom, but one of the boxes is heavy, and they think that they heard a woman's voice earlier on. They decide to just go and celebrate and leave the room. Then Chouun and Kanu get out of the box.

They notice that the bandits use shafts as their base, which makes it very difficult to be detected. Furthermore, the hideout may be bigger than expected. Kanu complains that the short sword she carries with may not be able to help them, but Chouun just says that due to her size, there is no space to fit her weapon, hence she can only bring the sword.

They chance upon the dining area where the bandit leader is feasting with his followers, while harassing a woman that they captured earlier on. When the leader decides to take advantage of the woman, Kanu cannot stand it anymore and jumps out of her hiding place, delivering a heavy kick on the leader's head. As Kanu and the woman are surrounded by the bandits, Chouun strikes at the torches around the area, darkening the place, before telling Kanu and the woman to follow her and escape.

They find out that the woman lives in a village at the foot of the mountain, and while she was collecting plants with the children, she found the hideout entrance by chance and was caught. The children were also captured and locked in the prison. Kanu then tells Chouun that she will go and save them, much to Chouun's expectation.

Back at the town, Kou receives notice that Chouhi has gone missing and is presumed to be looking for Kanu and Chouun at Shakudouzan. Meanwhile, Chouhi is lost in the forest and tries to find her way out.

Kanu and Chouun proceeds to save the children in the prison, but as they are escaping, the bandits find them and a chase ensues. Soon they find the exit but realise that they reach a cliff with no way out. Chouhi continues walking and then suddenly finds Kanu and company at the cliff opposite her location. Kanu tells Chouhi to cut a nearby tree down and use it as a bridge to link the cliff and Chouhi's location. The children and woman start to escape via the tree trunk while Chouun stops the bandits from proceeding. However, the cliff becomes unstable and collapses, causing the tree trunk to fall into the ravine. With them being trapped, Kanu and Chouun then decide that they can only bash through the bandits to escape. Chouun then tells Kanu her real name, Sei, since they are going to die together.

At night, Kou receives news that the bandit hideout has been completely destroyed by just Kanu and Chouun, and becomes dejected because she has no chance to appear and lead her army to defeating the bandits. The next day, Chouun joins Kanu and Chouhi, saying that she prefers accompanying them instead of staying back and being a general of the army.

Angelique is the Queen's Egg, the saviour of the world of Arcadia. Her powers of purification are noticed by Nyx, and he invites her to join his band of Orb Hunters to annihilate Thanatos, the spawn of monsters that infest the world.

However, there is more to it than just fighting Thanatos, as Angelique would discover during her journey with Rayne, Nyx, J.D and Hyuuga. In fact, there is a much sinister plot taking place...stay tuned to find out!

TV Anime Neo Angelique Abyss-Second Age Intro Theme: SILENT DESTINY
Orb Hunter 4

1200 yen from CDJapan

Four weapon-clad men appear at the doorway of a huge complex. They are confronted by many turret tanks, all controlled by a man standing at the stairway. The four men battle through the army of tanks, with the conviction of saving a precious companion of theirs. Inside a room, a young girl, fitted with many electronic devices, cries out not to hurt her companions, and a huge beam of light surrounds her, before shooting out of the complex into the sky.

The series starts at an all-girls school, Melrose Girls' Academy. The students hear rumours that a very handsome man has come to see the principal and meet a student called Angelique, and they all cry in awe. Meanwhile, a sky-blue-haired girl walks to the principal office and upon entering, sees a handsome man standing at the window. He turns and sees her, then says that she is the Girl of Miracles.

The principal introduces the man as Nyx, who wants to talk to the girl, Angelique, specially. Nyx introduces himself as a person who has created an organisation to defeat creatures called Thanatos, which constantly terrorise the world. Only Purifiers are able to exterminate Thanatos, but their numbers are very few. The principal says that Nyx is one of these Purifiers and Nyx says that he is currently working with another Purifier on this.

At a forest, a man is surrounded by Thanatos and he takes out his guns to defeat them. Back at the school, Nyx asks Angelique to join his organisation but she does not understand him. Nyx then takes out a copy of her school's newsletter and explains that there is an article about Angelique reviving a person that fell into a coma after being attacked by Thanatos. He says that Angelique has a hidden power inside her which can purify Thanatos and thus requests that she joins him at Hidamari Mansion, the headquarters of his organisation. Angelique rejects Nyx, saying that she needs to stay in school so that she can become a doctor to help others

Nyx then says that he already knows about her ambition to be a doctor, but refutes that she is better off helping the people of Arcadia by purifying Thanatos because she already possesses the purifying power. He apologises for being too frank towards her.

After that, Angelique walks along her school corridors. Then she finds a cat in front of her. The cat leads her to a nearby area in the forest, and then she finds the man with the guns resting against a tree trunk, as if he is badly wounded. As she bandages him, the man wakes up and sees her. She suggests bringing him to her room, which embarrasses him.

Back at her room, Angelique finishes up the bandaging on the man. The man introduces himself as Rayne and explains that he was injured while fighting Thanatos at the forest nearby, Then Hannah and Sally, Angelique's friends, knock on the door. Angelique realises that this is a girl's dormitory, so she tries to hide Rayne inside the cupboard. Hannah and Sally then enter the room and say that they are surprised that a handsome man has come to see her, thinking that she and the man are on a date. They hear noises in the cupboard but Angelique distracts them. Then she explains that Nyx has come to ask her to assist him in his work, which startles Rayne. Hannah and Sally then proceed to talk highly about Nyx and his credentials, but Angelique says that there is no way she can help Nyx out.

Outside, a rift opens and a Thanatos appears, attacking some of the students nearby. Some students rush to Angelique's room's window to tell her to escape. Rayne hears it and jumps out of the cupboard. As he runs towards the Thanatos, he thinks about Angelique being a female purifier.

The Thanatos continues to capture the students, sucking their lifeforce out of them. As it tries to target the next girl. Rayne appears and destroys its tentacles with his gun. Angelique and her friends rush to see what happens, but Nyx appears and assures Angelique's friends that he and Rayne will defeat the Thanatos, before dragging Angelique away with him.

Angelique argues that she does not possess such power to defeat Thanatos, but Nyx then explains about Noblesse Oblige, the concept of having the responsibility of using power that one possesses, and that it is a sin to withdraw from using it. As Rayne continues to fight the Thanatos, Nyx joins in to assist him. Angelique looks at the Thanatos, then flashbacks of her childhood experience, whereby her parents were killed through a Thanatos attack appear.

Nyx suggests that Rayne and him attack the Thanatos separately, but soon they face problems. Rayne tells Angelique to seek refuge, but she does not want to abandon Ellen, a girl whose lifeforce had been drained away earlier on. The flashbacks appear again, and then Angelique decides to give it a try by praying. She cries out that she wants to save and protect people, and then a pair of wings appear behind her back. Light rays descend from the sky, illuminating her, purifying the Thanatos, and reviving Ellen and the others.

After the ordeal is over, Angelique faints, and Rayne grabs her. Nyx explains that Angelique's powers are different from theirs because Rayne is sceptical over it. Angelique wakes up and asks what happens, then Rayne explains that the Thanatos has been purified by her prayer, and that she is the only female purifier in Arcadia. Then the same cat appears in front of her, then bursts into streams of rainbow lights which shoot up into the sky. It is explained that the lights refer to the Legendary Aurora and that the Queen's Egg has finally arrived. Nyx proceeds to explain that this radiance is proof of her existence, that she is the Queen's Egg, the only person who can save Arcadia.

Haruka Nogizaka is a high school girl from the elite society. She seems to be the perfect girl, capable in many things and being the idol of Hakujou Academy. However, she harbours a deep secret that no one knows, and it is revealed to a guy in the same class as her, Yuuto Ayase.

Join them in their crazy days as they try to fight against the common social perception harboured by their school, while indulging in a 'healthy' dose of manga and anime!

Haruka Nogizaka no Himitsu Intro Theme: Tomadoi Bitter Tune
Miran Himemiya & Chocolate Rockers

1200 yen from CDJapan

The series start out with Yuuto watching an episode of Clumsy Aki-chan, an anime series that is on air at the moment. He introduces himself as a normal high school student who is cursed with two crazy women in his house, mainly his older sister Ruko and his home-teacher Yukari. As a result, he has lost interest in women, which he told his group of buddies on their way to school. That is when the talk about Haruka emerges. As a perfect person who is the dream friend in everybody's eyes, it is hard to dislike her.

At classroom, Yuuto and his close friend Nobunaga start talking. Nobunaga raves about Clumsy Aki-chan and displays his set of Aki-chan gashapons to Yuuto. Then he takes out an issue of Innocent Smile, the serialised magazine for Clumsy Aki-chan, and mentions that it can be found in the school library. Upon hearing all this from a distance, Haruka suddenly hits the table and stands up, surprising everyone, before apologising for her brash behaviour.

After school, Nobunaga requests Yuuto to help him return his copy of Innocent Smile to the library as he had some matters to attend to. While at the library, Yuuto comes across Haruka, who sneaks into the library to borrow a copy of Innocent Smile. The unexpected encounter causes a series of bumps, ending with Yuuto discovering Haruka's possession of the magazine. Haruka becomes distraught, mumbles that "it's all over%u2026" and runs out of the library.

The next day, Yuuto faces complete avoidance from Haruka. This leads him into trouble with the students of the school, who want to protect Haruka from him. When he decides to confront Haruka, she runs away from him again. Later on Yuuto finds Haruka at the rooftop and finds out that Haruka does not want people to find out that she is 'Akiba-kei' (literally Akihabara-type) but Yuuto has already discovered it. Yuuto then tells her that he does not care about whether she is an otaku or not, but if she is afraid that others will find out about it, he will do his best to keep it a secret. Haruka becomes relieved and praises Yuuto for being the first person to treat her nicely.

Later that night, Yuuto receives a call from Haruka, who tells him that she has forgotten to return the copy of Innocent Smile to the library, which is due. If she does not return it, her name will be announced first thing in the morning and her secret will be exposed. Hence the two of them sneak into the library and return the magazine. Yuuto discovers that Haruka is scared of ghosts and horror stuff along the way, while Haruka thinks that Yuuto is weird, but special. After returning the magazine, the screeching of a cat caused Haruka to tremble and fall to the ground. Yuuto checks around and discovers that it came from Teacher Yukari's cellphone, which she lost earlier on.

After the whole incident, Yuuto and Haruka part ways, but Haruka bids him farewell with an elegant pose.

Yuuto meets Haruka while on his way to school. As they walk and talk about Aki-chan (since Yuuto had checked up on that anime to know more about Haruka's hobby), the Haruka-protectors stalk them from behind, but once Haruka becomes excited during the discussion, Yuuto feels agitated and tells her to run away with him before the stalkers catch them.

After leaving the stalkers behind, Haruka proposes that both Yuuto and her could try going out together this coming Sunday. Yuuto thinks that it is a date and becomes shocked, but Haruka becomes confused and denies that it is a date. She was supposed to go shopping by herself, which Yuuto then predicts that she is going to Akihabara. Bad memories of him and Nobunaga in Akihabara during their childhood days sprung out of his brain. However, he agrees to go out with Haruka in the end.

On the appointed Sunday, Yuuto meets up with Haruka, who has planned out the itinerary for the event. Yuuto sees a bear-like picture and asks Haruka if that is a bear, but Haruka says that it is a cat, and confesses that this is the first time she is showing anyone her masterpiece. Yuuto then tries to figure out why an all-rounder person like Haruka can be so bad at drawing.

First, they visited Tora no Ana, a shop full of doujinshi, or fan-made comics. Haruka rants about it happily as she subconsciously picks up an adult comic. When she takes a peep, she goes red and has to be brought out of the shop by Yuuto. Then they went to Animate, a shop full of plushies. Haruka becomes absorbed with the plushies, but tells Yuuto that she will not be buying any of them, keeping him guessing about the reason behind it.

Soon they reached the shop where Aki-chan merchandise is being sold. From there, Yuuto discovers that Haruka's father does not allow her to have the Akiba-kei hobby, hence the stuff that she has bought so far are from her personal savings only. She continues to explain that her hobby started five years ago when she was scolded by her father, causing her to stay alone at a park and crying. Then an unknown boy passed her the first copy of Innocent Smile, and back at her bedroom, she started reading it and became happy.

Not long after, Yuuto sees Nobunaga at a distance and tells Haruka to hide behind the Miran standee. Nobunaga is surprised to see Yuuto in Akihabara and tells him that he is here because of a DVD sale that is occurring soon. Yuuto tries to shake Nobunaga off and after some attempts, succeed in doing so, but he discovers that Haruka goes missing after that.

While searching for Haruka, Yuuto bumps into a girl. He apologises and asks if she has seen a girl around her height. She says that she may have seen one just now and points in a direction. She also remarks that he thinks of having Haruka as his girlfriend, which throws Yuuto off in a shock. After that, Yuuto thanks her and runs off again.

Yuuto finds Haruka surrounded by four muscular men. Thinking that she is in trouble, he rushes to protect her, but then Haruka explains that the four men are lost and they have problem communicating. After a bit of explanation to them, the four men departed and bid them farewell.

Next, the two of them reach a gachapon shop (capsule toy shop) and Haruka tells Yuuto that this is the first time she is buying and touching a capsule toy, describing it as a 'first experience', which gives Yuuto some wrong impression. After trying out the Aki-chan capsule machine many times, Haruka fails to get her desired toy and leaves the shop in depression.

They visit a café to have some food and drink. Yuuto then hears the waitress addressing them as Master and Mistress, which sparks suspicion in his thoughts. He rushes out and confirms that the café is actually a maid café. Then he returns to find Haruka missing. A while later, Haruka reappears in a maid waitress costume, which the waitresses make her wear. Yuuto is a bit shocked over it and Haruka becomes embarrassed but the waitresses tell them not to feel like that and encourage them to take a photograph.

Finally, Haruka decides to buy the Portable Dreamstation, the main objective of their trip today. Upon arriving at the shop, they find out that it has been sold out. This causes Haruka to freeze and become unable to walk. Yuuto then carries her and strolls along the streets to a park, much to the amusement of the passers-by.

At the park, Haruka apologises for being unable to buy the Portable Dreamstation and blames herself for being incapable of doing simple things. She starts to cry but Yuuto tells her not to feel sad because he had a wonderful time. In addition, he takes out the photograph that they took earlier on and shows it to Haruka to cheer her up. She thanks Yuuto in tears, which triggers some memory in Yuuto's mind regarding the first comic that a girl received at a park. Soon enough, he receives a phone call from his sister Ruko demanding him to return at once to prepare dinner, so they decide to leave Akihabara for the day. Haruka stands up to walk but bumps into the tree trunk, causing Yuuto to laugh.

On the way back, they notice a capsule toy machine and Yuuto offers to let her try one more time in return for laughing at her earlier on. Haruka tries it and finally gets the toy she wants - Aki-chan in her final pose. Yuuto then remembers the pose Haruka did after the library incident. Haruka tells Yuuto that she will treasure it since he bought it for her, while Yuuto assures Haruka that they will come back here again to get the Portable Dreamstation the next time.

Yuuto is looking for the Nogizaka residence. It seems that Haruka invited him to join her in studying for the final exam since studying alone will not be effective. However, based on the map Haruka had drawn for him, he is still unable to find the place. As he sits on the ground, a girl appears and asks him what problem he has. When he shows her the map, she is shocked and tears it up, before drawing a new map for him to use. Then she tells him that they will see each other again later and runs off.

When Yuuto finally reaches the residence, he finds out that it is some huge plot of land and is shocked. A maid appears and tells him that Haruka has been expecting him, thereafter leading him to the house. After a full 30-min walk, which makes him exhausted by then, they finally reach Haruka's room, where Haruka herself is waiting. Haruka introduces the maid as Hazuki, the chief maid, and then Hazuki leaves them alone to prepare tea for them.

Inside the room, Yuuto notices no trace of anime stuff. Haruka explains that her father is very strict concerning it and that anime and manga are bad for the health, which gives Yuuto the impression that if her father finds out, he will go on a rampage. Haruka then says that she finally has a chance to study with Yuuto since her parents are away. Yuuto then realises the situation and becomes agitated, giving quick glances at Haruka. Then he drops an eraser and is about to pick it when he touches her hand. Just when they stare at each other, the door opens and they find the same girl who helped Yuuto earlier on lying on the ground with another maid.

Haruka cries out the girl and maid's name, then the girl points out quickly that the two of them are calling each other using affectionate names, making them embarrassed. The girl then introduces herself as Mika, Haruka's younger sister, while the other maid is Nanami. After some teasing by Mika, she asks Yuuto to come out of the room for a while. Outside, she asks Yuuto to tell her the truth whether he knows anything about Haruka's secret. When Yuuto acts ignorant, she starts tickling him until he giggles madly. Then Mika becomes serious and begs him for the truth. Yuuto then tells her that he knows about it, but he is willing to keep it a secret and protect Haruka's reputation in school. Furthermore, he describes Haruka as being clumsy and soft-hearted, but cute and gentle. Mika becomes happy and hugs him tightly. Just then, Haruka walks out and sees Mika on Yuuto. She starts to become mischievous and accusses Yuuto of hugging her, but he denies it completely. Haruka tells Mika not to misbehave, then Mika stands up and tells Yuuto to take care of her older sister from now on.

Back in school the next day, Haruka asks Yuuto if he is free and able to join her in a summer convention at Odaiba, because going alone seems weird. She even brought a catalogue to school and wants to show him later. Yuuto agrees to join her. Then a student bumps into Haruka and she drops her bag, spilling the contents out. One of them is the catalogue that she talked about earlier on, which is for Comic Market 74. This throws Haruka into deep distress.

Yukari notices that Haruka has been absent for the past few days, and complains that class is boring without her. Yuuto, on the other hand, experiences discrimination from the other students for 'being an otaku' after he claimed that the catalogue that dropped out of Haruka's bag belonged to him. While preparing to leave school, he receives death threats from his locker. Then a male student, who introduces himself as Takashi, warns Yuuto to stay away from Haruka because his 'otaku manners' are despicable and unsightly. Yuuto just puffs away and walks out of the school, ignoring Takashi's taunts. Then Yuuto looks back at the school building and wonders why people have such negative impressions of Akiba-kei people.

Upon reaching the Nogizaka residence, Mika leaps out of the gate and demands to know what Yuuto had done to cause her sister to go without food for three days. Nanami and Hazuki reaffirms their duties to protect the Nogizaka family and will not permit him to step in further. Yuuto then tells them that he has not done anything, and Mika guesses that Haruka's secret has been exposed. Yuuto tells her that he manages to divert everyone's attention from Haruka's secret, which gives Mika some bad recollections of the past whereby a similar incident happened to Haruka. She then offers to tell him what has happened since he deserves to know.

Outside Haruka's room, the four of them try to persuade Haruka to come out of the room but to no avail. Even with Mika's temptation of some cakes, there is still no response. Then Mika decides to play around and claims Yuuto as her own, thinking of going to Akihabara with him, and also making some naughty grins. Haruka then bursts out of the room and tells them that they cannot claim Yuuto because he is the only person who will go with her to Akihabara. She becomes embarrassed after that and closes the door. Hazuki decides to take tough action and prepares a chainsaw to cut open the door, but Yuuto cries out in denial.

Yuuto tells Haruka through the door that he has managed to convince the students that the catalogue belongs to him, so her secret is not exposed. Then Haruka bursts out and tells him that it is not right because he will get into trouble over this. Haruka tells him that she does not want to see him in the same situation as her before, which makes Yuuto recall the incident Mika told him earlier on. In junior high, Haruka's Innocent Smile magazine was revealed to the whole school through an accident. Thereafter, she was condemned as Akiba-kei and all her friends left her. She becomes so depressed that in the end she transferred out of the school. Mika also mentioned that her sister probably does not want Yuuto to go through the same thing as she did, hence her depression these past few days.

In the room, Haruka reiterates that even though the secret is kept, it has harmed Yuuto because it seems weird for him to be carrying around an otaku catalogue that does not belong to him, making others discriminate him. She also tells him that it is very horrible to feel lonely and she does not want him to feel the same too. Yuuto then tells her that he does not care if he is lonely because of a hobby or whatsoever, because friends who discriminate others over such things are not true friends. He is not particularly bothered that he will be alone because as long as Haruka wants to be his friend, he is not alone anymore. Furthermore, he tells her that even if the whole world is against him, he will still be by her side all the time. This drives Haruka to tears as she has always wanted to hear these words, so she requests him to stay by her side from now on. They embrace each other, much to the delight of Mika and the two maids outside of the room.

The next day, Haruka and Yuuto walk to school together, talking about the 26th August Comic Market. Takashi then appears again and tells Haruka not to stay near to Yuuto because of his otaku manners. He self-praises himself as a better person than Yuuto, then places his hand on Haruka's shoulder. Yuuto tells Takashi not to push it too far, but all of a sudden Haruka does a sweeping over-shoulder throw on Takashi, causing him to crash onto the ground. She warns him not to bad-mouth Yuuto and confesses that the catalogue belongs to her. Yuuto hears it and is a bit worried, but Haruka puts on a brave smile and asks him to continue their way to school.

Yuuto, Haruka, Mika and Nanami are on a mission to trail Hazuki, who is going out alone to shop. Haruka cosplays for the first time in her life, as Shana and imitates Shana's 'urusai' speech.

Earlier on, at Haruka's house, Haruka wanted to discuss with Yuuto something concerning Hazuki as she felt that she has been behaving strangely these past few days. Then Hazuki appeared and told them that she would be going out for a while, putting on a straight face. After she left, Mika and Nanami popped out of nowhere and told them that they felt the same thing too. Then Mika suggested that they trail Hazuki to find out more.

While trailing Hazuki, Yuuto finds out from Haruka that both Mika and her spent more time with Hazuki than their parents, so they naturally knew more about Hazuki in terms of her habits and behaviour.

Soon they find Hazuki entering a stuffed toy shop, and then Haruka mentioned that Hazuki always liked stuffed toys, giving Yuuto the impression of Hazuki's room filled with such toys. Soon enough, Hazuki emerges from the shop with a stuffed rabbit in a bag and walks off. Yuuto imagines Hazuki hugging the rabbit toy before sleeping and becomes hysterical. Suddenly, Yuuto hears Nobunaga's voice at a distance and turns around to find him walking towards them. He quickly shields Haruka from him. Then Nobunaga notices Haruka cosplaying as Shana and wants to check out more, but Nanami quickly intervenes by saying that that voice actress Kana Ueda is nearby and imitates her voice to distract Nobunaga. Nobunaga goes frantic and runs off to find Kana.

Hazuki enters a shopping mall, and so the four stalkers decide to enter too. Upon entering, Yuuto finds himself in the ladies' department and is unable to bear looking at anything there, so he bails out of the shopping centre, leaving Haruka staring at him from a distance. Outside the mall, he bumps into a girl and after some embarrassing moments, they realise that they bumped into each other before at Akihabara. The girl grins and tells Yuuto that their encounter may be destined and if it happens three times, it becomes a miracle. The girl then bids Yuuto farewell and runs off. Haruka joins Yuuto soon enough, telling him that Mika and Nanami are now doing the stalking, because she does not want Yuuto to be left alone.

Yuuto notices Hazuki coming out of the mall, so he drags Haruka away and they both hide. As they continue to trail Hazuki, back at the mall, both Mika and Nanami have become entranced by the sales offered, and they start to try out new bikinis.

At an overhead bridge, both Yuuto and Haruka continue to trail Hazuki, and then Haruka mentions that she used to go shopping with Hazuki together, so this is the first time Hazuki is going shopping by herself. Soon, someone calls out Yuuto, and Yuuto turns around to see Yukari in a drunken stupor. As Yukari grabs Yuuto, she notices Haruka and asks if he is dating her, then offers to join them together in a threesome. Yuuto becomes hysterical and shouts out a command to freeze her, before running away with Haruka, but they lose sight of Hazuki.

Soon they wander around a street and find Hazuki in a restaurant drinking tea. They decide to wait outside and then Haruka tells Yuuto that she went to the same place with Hazuki before. Hazuki prepares good black tea, but she always thinks that she can do better and always takes down notes to improve, so that is what Haruka admires her for. Then Ruko appears in front of the both of them in a waiter suit. She comments on Yuuto's outfit and then tells him that she is working for a new wine shop that is about to have an opening ceremony. Ruko then notices Haruka and asks about her. Yuuto tries to distract Ruko by denying any relationship with Haruka but Ruko gets the idea soon enough. She introduces herself to Haruka and asks her to take care of her younger brother from now on.

Later, while stalking Hazuki, Haruka praises Ruko and says that she wants to be like her, but Yuuto imagines Ruko in her ruffian ways and brushes off the idea. He then asks Haruka where Mika and Nanami are, and the truth is they are still trying on new apparel back at the mall.

Soon they find Hazuki standing outside a bridal shop. A man appears from the doorway and leads her up the stairs. Haruka thinks that Hazuki may be getting married with the man. Then a woman from the bridal shop appears and tells the both of them to enter the shop for their phototaking session, by mistake.

Inside the shop, the two of them dress up as a newly-wedded couple and start to take some photos when one of the workers finally realised the mix-up and apologises. The shop then offers some special service and decides to take a photo of Yuuto and Haruka.

After completely losing Hazuki, the two of them decide to walk back to Haruka's house. Haruka then mentions that both Mika and her have been relying too much of Hazuki at her expense, so it is time they consider her happiness by letting her do what she wants. Back at the house, the two of them ask Hazuki to tell them about her worries and what she wants. Yuuto goes straight to the point and says that they found her outside a bridal shop and being led into the shop by a guy, but Hazuki clarifies that she actually entered the toolware shop above the bridal shop and that the guy is the boss of the shop. Since she is a regular customer, the boss decided to personally bring her into the shop. She wanted to change her chainsaw as it is getting rusty.

Hazuki thanks the two of them for being concerned over her and she is very happy just for that. Haruka starts to cry but Hazuki consoles her. Then Mika and Nanami return, with loads of stuff they bought from the mall. Yuuto criticises them for being more absorbed in their shopping, so Mika grins in embarrassment, but she takes out a skimpy bra in a box for Haruka, sending Haruka into embarrassment. She takes away the box but in the process lets go of the photograph she and Yuuto had taken at the bridal shop. Mika sees it and snatches it away, giving a mischievous face while Nanami chuckles that she is going to serve Yuuto in future. Hazuki congratulates the two of them, and then a chase fight with Haruka trying to snatch back the photograph from Mika starts.

Yuuto joins Nobunaga in walking to school. Nobunaga is reading the catalogue of Comiket 74 while walking, and tells Yuuto that it is important to prepare in advance the trip to Comiket, even though Yuuto does not get the point. While Nobunaga manages to avoid bumping into people while reading the catalogue, Yuuto bumps into the same girl he did during the previous two occassions, and finds out that she is now a student from his school. Furthermore, at class, she introduces herself as Shiina Amamiya, and she will be in the same class as Yuuto and Haruka.

Haruka asks Yuuto if he knew Shiina from before, but he has difficulty describing it as merely bumping into her accidentally. Meanwhile, Shiina is bombarded with questions by the Three Idiots (Yuuto's three friends). She then tells everyone that her hobbies are karaoke, piano and wielding a naginata, but opts to keep her chest size (three sizes) a secret. In answer to Takenami's question about fateful encounters, she turns and looks at Yuuto, who then blushes and looks away.

It becomes obvious that Shiina is multi-talented, for example studies, sports, cooking, and making friends. While Shiina is having a picnic lunch with her new friends, Yuuto and Haruka walk towards them, commenting that Shiina will not be lonely at all. Suddenly, Shiina jumps up and rushes towards the two of them. She then asks Haruka if Haruka is really the famous Haruka Nogizaka, which then Haruka nods. Yuuto asks if Shiina knew Haruka before, and Shiina explains that Haruka is the best pianist in the world who has won the international contest two times in a row, and that she admires Haruka for the beautiful style she plays.

Back in class, Yukari announces that the school's swimming competition is taking place next week and she wants to choose swimmers to represent her class, while taking the chance to tell them that she has bought a new swimsuit and how it would arouse guys (but is ignored completely). Shiina stares at the competition paper in terror, but then her friends come to persuade her to join the relay.

Later, Yuuto finds out that Shiina cannot swim, yet agreed to join the relay. Yuuto and Haruka decide to help Shiina out with her swimming practice, so they get changed into their swimming gear. Yuuto then stares at Haruka in her swimsuit, which makes Haruka blush. After warm ups, Shiina starts with leg-kicking exercises. Then Yuuto hears Yukari's voice nearby and collapses into the water. She is wearing her new revealing swimsuit and tries to seduce Yuuto. From another direction, they hear Nanami's voice and notice that Hazuki is also present. They have brought food for them to eat after hearing about Shiina's training session. Then Mika pops out and tells Yuuto and gang that she and the maids will not bother them, but Yuuto deduces that they just come to have fun only. Then Yuuto smells barbecued meat and sees Ruko sitting near the barbecue pit eating and drinking.

Yuuto and Haruka both apologise to Shiina that their sisters have come to disturb the session but Shiina says that she finds their families interesting. Later, Shiina continues the training with the freestyle swimming. As Yuuto demonstrates the freestyle hand movements, his hands accidentally catches Mika's swimtop, making her hide in the water and accusing him of being cruel, but then tries to seduce him, only to be stopped by Haruka. Mika then points out Haruka's cuteness and moves off with a grin. The training sessions gets interrupted continuously, with Hazuki chasing Yuuto with a stick blindfolded, and Ruko and Yukari constantly yelling at him to come and join them in the barbecue, but Shiina says that she is enjoying herself despite all these problems.

A day before the competition, Yukari reminds the class about it, while doing her seductive pose (which fails again). After class, Shiina take a shot and swimming two laps without any help, with Yuuto, Haruka, Mika, Hazuki and Nanami supporting her. Yuuto walks towards the pool and congratulates Shiina for being able to swim, then offers a hand to pull her out of the pool. However, he accidentally slips and brings himself and Haruka crashing into the pool. It ends with everyone having a hearty laugh.

After school, Yuuto and Shiina bid farewell to Haruka, Mika, Hazuki and Nanami since the two of them will be going home together. Haruka bids them farewell but Mika sulks, saying that Yuuto should be the one going home with Haruka. Haruka does not understand it well, making the other three in deep shock.

On the day of the competition, as every participant is competiting in their own categories (Yuuto and Haruka included), Shiina sits at the spectator seat, feeling worried. She decides to go to the washroom, with Yuuto noticing it. After showering herself, she sees Yuuto standing at the entrance. Yuuto encourages her by saying that she just have to remember what she practised before, and that once she learns it, her body will not forget it. This liftens Shiina's spirits, and then the announcement for the relay participants comes.

Once the relay starts, everyone starts cheering for their own teams. When Shiina's turn comes, Yuuto cheers loudly for her while Haruka wishes quietly that Shiina will win the race. After completing 1.5 laps, Shiina gets a cramp in her leg and sinks into the pool. Yuuto immediately jumps into the pool to rescue her, then asks Yukari to bring them to the infirmary.

At the infirmary, Yukari massages Shiina's cramped leg while consoling her. Then she tells Shiina that she is going back to watch the competition and advises her to put on some clothes. Yukari then tells Yuuto to take care of Shiina for the time being before leaving the place. As Yuuto enters the room, he sees Shiina taking off her swimsuit and becomes embarrassed. Shiina gives a yell and covers her chest with her arms. As Yuuto starts to leave, Shiina says that it is all right for him to stay and then shuts the curtains.

Shiina then starts to blame herself for disappointing everyone for losing the race, even though they have helped her out a lot. As she apologises, Yuuto tells her not to do so because he knows very well that she has tried her best, so she should not be worried. After that, her classmates rush into the room to find out how she is doing. They then reassure her that they will fight back to make up for the loss, causing her to feel touched and happy.

After school, Haruka instructs Nanami to fetch Shiina home by car. Shiina feels a bit out of place but Yuuto tells her to accept the offer. Nanami then drives off like an F1 racer, causing Yuuto to wonder if Shiina will be all right. Inside the car, Shiina thinks about Yuuto and convinces herself that the three encounters really made this situation to happen. Meanwhile, Yuuto and Haruka are walking home together. Yuuto asks Haruka about her preparations for the upcoming Comiket because of what Nobunaga had said before. Haruka that explains that there are a lot of people there and many fun places to go so she will be preparing a guidebook for the occasion. Then Haruka tells Yuuto that she finds him very cool when he was saving Shiina, but then she shows an embarrassed face, which makes Yuuto blush. He quickly assures Haruka that if she were to drown, he will definitely come to save her.

This fresh new season of the Slayers saga promises to tie in more loose ends on the adventures of Lina Inverse and her happy-go-lucky companions of Gourry, Zelgadis and Amelia. And of course, the sneaky Xelloss sporting a mask of cunning proportions!

Darkstar has been banished back to his universe and now the Sword of Light is no more. Gourry needs to find a way to replace it, but Lina still wants to go on her whacky adventures of bounty hunting and looting. What lies ahead for Lina and company? Will the demon horde harass them again?

Anime Slayers Revolution Intro Theme: Plenty of grit / Outro Theme: Revolution
Megumi Hayashibara

1200 yen from CDJapan

After two seasons of familiar maltreatment (and compassion), Louise and Saito return in the third season of Zero no Tsukaima. The series continues off from the second season (Futatsuki no Kishi), whereby Saito was mysteriously revived by an elf in the forest after narrowly escaping from the battlefield.

This season introduces the mysterious elf, Tifania and more shadowy characters, that seem to have a connection with void users.

You'Re The One
ICHIKO

1260 yen from CDJapan

Zero no Tsukaima Louise
Figures & Dolls

This year's anime season of 2008 is packed with a lot of landmark anime, an amount never seen before for the past few years. We have Gundam 00, and then Macross Frontier, and right now Code Geass R2 is on air too. Sunrise studios is now going full steam in playing their trump cards, so keep a lookout for them, but remember to give notice to the other anime being shown at the same time too!

The sudden return of the Slayers series has also caused a typhoon within the anime scene and we are all set to be prepared for more anime revivals over the next few months.

Keep a lookout for the rest of the upcoming series for this anime season of 2008!

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Character Song & Drama CD Vol.1
Animation

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Vol.3 [Limited Edition]
Animation

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Vol.4 [Limited Edition]
Animation

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Drama CD Vol.2
Animation (Mamiko Goto, Mai Goto, Kaori Shimizu, et al.)

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Vol.5 [Limited Edition]
Animation

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Vol.6 [Limited Edition]
Animation

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