Come Get Some Queen's Blade

Melona From Queen's Blade Fanart
by Jackson Thom

It's not ecchi if they don't show the bods, and Queen's Blade brings it in spades.  Queen's Blade is the royal standard as far as ecchi anime's go.

The story revolves around a Queen's Blade tournament that occurs, oh, I have no idea how often.  I suppose about often enough for this tournament to make sense, which is fine.  Anyway, any busty beauty with a weapon can enter, and it involves them getting a call from some ominous force, and reporting to the one-on-one battle, to have it out with an equally busty beauty.

No one dies, and there's no real consequences of losing, other than that they're out of the tournament.  But there's no reason for them to not give it their all, including every shred of clothing.  The final prize is a battle with the queen of the land, and the chance to become the next queen.

The story revolves around the main character, Reina, a busty blonde, who's lived a sheltered life cooped up in a castle, while her eldest sister has become one of the world's greatest warriors, and her closest sister has become a lusty lesbian, who desires her body.

During a robbery of the castle, Reina is taken by the burglar, and she decides it's time for her to start learning to defend herself, so she enters the Queen's Blade tournament.  She bonds with her captor, as well as another woman who wears a snake instead of panties, and they go on to train her for the tournament.

Echidna On Reina From Queen's Blade Fanart
by Jackson Thom

There are all manor of hot chicks in this one.  Like I said above, there's an assassin girl, who doesn't where much clothing, but she has a pet snake that she wears as her bottoms, instead of anything.  There are perfectly angled shots of her releasing her snake upon her prey, so that you only get a glimpse of her back-side, while not actually seeing anything too revealing.

There's also some kind of demon girl, who wears a see through pink night-gown, and her hair looks like two hands that dangle down, and keep her breasts in place.  They frequently come loose, however, revealing her nipples.

There's a holy woman, who attacks her enemies with her holy poses, which are just erotic poses revolving around spreading her legs or sticking out her breasts.

There's one woman who carries a sentient staff for her power, that has tentacles that will now and again force there way into her mouth and ejaculate some fluid into her, for strength.  Ya know, that old chestnut!

Then there's Reina's sister, who never quite comes clean about her lesbianism, but always lusts after her, and finds ways to be in the bath with Reina.

I won't ruin it all for you, but there are several other great women, and each of them better than the last.  There's probable one or two total males in the entire series.  It's female centric, and it does benefit from this.

The actual story is kind of mindless, and it doesn't really matter anyway.  The Queen's Blade tournament is just an excuse to put the women into precarious positions on top of one another rolling around, while shredding their clothing, and breaking their armor, to expose more skin.

There have been two seasons of Queen's Blade that I've seen.  They've both been dubbed, and are uncensored.  There is a second series, called Queen's Blade: Rebellion, which has been released as only a subtitled version, and it is severely censored.  I haven't seen this one.

To learn a little more about Queen's Blade, or its adaptation from the manga, check out Queen's Blade on Wikipedia.

Plan For the Sekirei

Musubi On Minato
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons License by S4ku

If you like bubbly busty ladies, in cloth shredding battles, than look no further than Sekirei.  It has it all, and it will blow your mind.

Let's say you're an 18-year-old college guy, who just flunked his entrance exams for the second time,  what would cheer you up?  That's right, a bootilicious young girl, barely dressed, landing right on your face.

The main character, and eventual harem king, is Minato, a young would-be college student, down on his luck, until Musubi literally lands on him.  Then, she bonds with him, and finds herself burning form the inside for him to help her emerge, which he does by leaning into one-another for a very deep kiss.

It's a must see.

Minato doesn't stop there.  He goes on episode after episode, acquiring more of these Sekirei's in the same manor, and it is epic.

The actual point of the show, is something called the Sekirei plan, which is dominated over by a diabolical overlord, who's name I can't remember, professor something or other.  It doesn't really matter.  He's easily identifiable, and definitely evil.

This professor is pitting the Sekirei's against each other in battle, and the one that remains will get to live happily ever after with her Ashikabi.  That's what they call the person who allows them to emerge--hint, hint!!!

Anyway, each of these Sekirei's has a different skill, some with water, fire, knives, fists, etc, each trying to gain advantages in different ways.

There are two seasons of the show that I know of.  The first is pretty good, and sets the tone nicely for the show, but things REALLY start to heat up in the second season, with a couple of HOT additions.

I'm telling you, this show is full of animalistic ecchi action, at its finest.  The main character Minato, plays the role of the chivalrous hero, who would never take advantage of his position, but he could.  And there are plenty of opportunities for him to do so.

To learn a little bit more about Sekirei, or it's adaptation from the manga, check out Sekirei on Wikipedia.

Freezing, and the Best Touch of All

Satellizer el Bridget Chained Up
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons License by Johnathan Smith

 Tell me, do you like the boobies?  If your answer is anything other than, yes, than feel free to move on.

The first I heard of the anime, Freezing, was when I saw an image of one of its main protagonists, Satellizer el Bridget, down on her hands and knees, with her dress flipped up over her back, and her panties pulled down.  I had to know more.

Later, I discovered, this was one of many scenes peppered throughout this battle vixen style harem anime, that depicted curvy girls, in various stages of undress.

The anime Freezing, is about a world that's been under attack by some kind of otherworldly aliens, called Nova, that have an ability to freeze their enemies, as a part of their attack, so the government, created schools, such as the fictitious West Genetics, to engineer young girls, called Pandoras, and then teach them to fight using some strange elemental abilities.

Each young girl, is powerless without a young male companion, called a Limiter, to limit the freezing area of the enemy.  This companionship can be quite intimate in certain cases.

Satellizer el Bridget Coupling
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons License by Johnathan Smith

The school's best student, Satellizer el Bridget, won't bond with any Limiter, giving her the nickname, the Untouchable Queen, because of some fear of contact.  That is until she meets a boy, named Kazuya, who happens to be the younger brother of a girl who had last repelled a Nova attack, and lost her life.

The actual plot of the story is unnecessary, to watch the story.  It's basically, a school that pits the girls in clothes shredding, humiliation style battles, where they and their male companions, come under fire, and reveal their true feelings for one another, typically revolving around a great deal of physical contact.

The two main types of male characters in harem style anime, are either 1.) the perv or 2.) the honorable, but bumbling young boy.  Kazuya is the boy in this one, and his personality takes on number two.  He frequently ties his hardest to help Bridget, or demand that others show her respect, but his bumbling cavalier efforts, usually lead to Bridget becoming undressed, or him being stuffed between her huge breasts.

This is not a bad thing, in fact it's a part of what makes the show so awesome.  The scene that initially got me interested in this show, was one of those.  Bridget is in a fight with an upper classman, who should easily defeat here, so Kasuya steps in in her defense.  Bridge attempts to get away in the distraction, only to see Kazuya get trapped in her opponents freezing zone, so she goes back for him, giving her opponent the upper hand, and gets herself frozen.

This leads to a series of humiliating gestures, where down in her hands and knees, her dress is flipped up, and her panties are pulled down.  It's a hell of a scene.  And a hell of a show.

Each episode sees Bridget and Kazuya take on more and more difficult foes, all the while their relationship is becoming ever more deepened.  It's the way this kind of show should work, in my opinion.  I enjoy the vulnerable, uncomfortable ecchi/harem style animes.

If you were to ask me about the down side of this show, it would have to be, that the plot does actually come into effect.  As the show develops, the Nova wind up invading, and the real plot of the show interferes, with all of the excellent ecchi action, adding a bit too serious a tone.

But even with that, the show is amazing, and if you are into ecchi/harem style anime, you will not be disappointed.

I've only seen the first season of this, but there is a second season that I still haven't taken the time to watch, called Freezing: Vibrations.  The only thing is, I still can't find it dubbed in English, yet, only with subtitles, and that is not the way I like to watch this type of show.

If you want to know more about it, or its adaptation from the manga, check out Freezing on Wikipedia.

Next week, I'll review Sekirei.

Makin' Whoopie With Maken-Ki!

Haruko from Maken-ki Fanart
by Jackson Thom

If you were looking for some high brow anime that would touch your soul, let me stop you right there.  Maken-Ki is not the one.

Last week, I said, I'd be reviewing my favorite ecchi (or fan service) animes, starting with Maken-Ki, which is definitely one of my faves.  It comes in at number five.

So, the story revolves around a the main character Takeru, a girl-crazed boy, who's just transferred to the formerly all girls school, Tenbi Academy.  He's beyond excited at this fact, because due to the fact that it was previously an all girls school, the ratio of boys to girls is fantastically in Takeru's favor.

On his first day of school, at Tenbi Academy, he walks with his childhood friend Haruko, who he hasn't seen in years, but has since developed into an exceedingly buxom and beautiful girl.  There's immediate chemistry, but neither will openly admit to it.

Kodama From Maken-ki Fanart
by Jackson Thom

Once Takeru arrives at the school, he suddenly realizes that it's  not just a school it's a training ground for young people to hone a magically elemental fighting power, to some day battle an evil unknown enemy.  This offers many changes for some exciting clothes shredding duels, which are fully sanctioned by the school, and overseen by a committee, called Maken-ki, which makes sure all of the duels remain fair.

Of course, Takeru, along with Haruko become members of Maken-ki, along with a couple others, and thus, Takeru's harem begins.  He also begins living in a dorm room of his own, that quickly becomes the home of three other girls, including Haruko, Kodama, who initially doesn't like Takeru, and another girl, Inaho, who claims that Takeru is her fiance.

The truth behind the plot of this story, is it's not really much to keep you mind occupied.  The real reason to watch this show, or any ecchi harem anime, is for the boob and panty shots, and there are plenty of those.

I only watched the first season, which is the only one that is dubbed, the second season is only in sub-titles, and I can tell you the animation is great.  They ecchi is delivered, along with the sexual chemistry between several of the characters, each revolving around the main perverted character Takeru.

There are steaming bath scenes, there are pool scenes, there are the aforementioned cloth shredding battle scenes, as well as one single episode dedicated to a french maid restaurant, where many of the main characters get part time jobs.  If you're looking for ecchi, this one delivers.

There are a couple minor blemishes on the show, however.  The main one being that there is really is no story.  The students are all preparing to battle some strange nemesis, which you do get to see later in the first season, but for the most part, there's no real payoff, so there's nothing to watch the show for, other than the boob and panty shots.

I'm not saying that's at all a bad thing, it just might be nice to give a crap about what's going on a little.

The other minor downside here, is many ecchi animes show the boob and butt shots coming into contact, somehow accidentally with another person.  This show, however, rarely does that.  There's the occasional smothering of boobs in face, but often the show revolves around Takeru, and another perv boy he befriends ogling the girls from a distance.

I'm not saying this is a let down.  I'm just saying some contact would be better.  But for the most part, Maken-ki delivers as one of my favorite ecchi animes.

If you want to know more about it, or its adaptation from the manga, check out Maken-ki on Wikipedia.

Next week, I'll review Freezing.

Ring In the New Year With Style, Bro!!!

Happy New Year
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons License by Franch Genot

Heeeeeeey!!!!!!!!

I hope everyone had a good holiday season, and rang in the New Year with a bit of holiday ANGST.  I can't image what that may be, but I'll never tell.  Anyway, all I can say is, I hope you all had a blast.

So, the new year is upon us, and it's time for the new years resolutions.  Well, I've made mine, but since I'm also not much for keeping them, I'll also be keeping them to myself.  Anyway, sufficed to say, they're pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.

Mission From the Past
by Jackson Thom

I'm very much looking forward to 2015, and I've gotten off to a brilliant start.  I published a new piece of art to my gallery on DeviantArt.  You can see the a clip of the pic to the right.  I've also, got a few more things queued up, and on the way.  So, stay tuned.

Check out my new piece, Mission From the Past, here.  You can go on over there, and leave some feedback, or even buy a print if you like.

I also submitted the art to my Zazzle store to be sold as printed apparel.  Why not, go ahead, and check out Mission From the Past on a t-shirt?

Something else I've got on my radar is, I'd like to review some of the favorite, and not so favorite anime series.  I've got a number of them in mind, but I couldn't think of a better place to start than my TOP 5 ECCHI ANIMES!

Example of Ecchi
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons License by Hobby Next

They are, in order:
5. Maken-Ki
4. Freezing
3. Sekirei
2. Queen's Blade
1. High School DxD

I'll start from number 5, later this week, and continue on until I've reached my all-time (so far, that is) ecchi anime, "High School DxD."

Being that I'll be starting with ecchi, my review won't be the same as other anime reviews.  I'd like to take it from a different angle.  The criteria will include amount of ecchi, usage of ecchi, chemistry of characters and dialogue, art of course, sexual tension and the story itself.

I think you're going to love it!

I'd also like to leave you with this video with this youtube video from "Baby Metal."  Let me know what you think if it.  I am still trying to process what I saw, but I think I like it.

Making Sense Of An Anime List Of Vocabulary

Evangelion
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Paul Evans

So, hey, I'm a huge anime freak, or otaku as many would say.  I've done a number of anime reviews on Squidoo, such as for the movies Redline, Fullmetal Alchemist, Trigun: Badlands Rumble and Summer Wars.

My latest article on Squidoo addresses something I've struggled with for some time concerning anime, and that's the terminology required to understand the genres.  My article on the subject on Squidoo, is called Understanding the Genres of Anime, and it tries to de-mystify some of the terms used to describe types of anime.  It was not a comprehensive list, and I'd like to rectify that here.

Below is a list of all anime terminology that I've come across, and at least a brief description of each.  Have a look, and let me know what you think in the comments.

Anime Car
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons Photo by tsukubajin

1. Kodomo or kodomomuke - Means child or childlike.  This is anime directed at children.  Typically young children under 10.  Examples are Hello Kitty, Pokeman or Sonic X.
2. Chibi - A Japanese term for a diminutive person, but in anime it means super deformed or SD.  It typically depicts children with small bodies and huge heads for a comical effect.  They are meant to be cute and more easily demonstrate extreme emotions.  This is not a commonly used genre on its own, but frequently used to emphasize an emotion in a short instance in another genre of anime, such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, Ninja Turtles or several others.  Some that use this exclusively are, SD Gundam Force, Hanamaru Kindergarten and Lucky Star.
3. Kawaii - The word means lovable, cute or adorable.  This is specifically a character that has been created solely for cuteness, such as Hello Kitty, Pikachu or Teletubbies.  These shows are usually geared towards the youngest of crowds, such as kodomo, although there are a few exceptions.
4. Shoujo or Shojo - This means girl, as in a female minor from 10-18.  It is a show surrounding young girls, and there doings.  It is very popular in Japan, and in fact the most popular of all anime genres.  Some of the more popular include Sailor Moon, School Life and Maid Sama.  Some common themes include relationships with boys, interactions with girls on a popularity level and school.
5. Shoujo-ai - The literal Japanese, shoujo means girl, and ai means love.  This is an anime that centers around lesbian relationships of usually younger girls.  This specific genre doesn't show any nudity or anything explicit, but instead focuses on the relationship aspect of female attraction.  It isn't por.nographic, but instead it's lesbian romance.  Some examples are Blue Drop, Kampfer and Simoun
6. Shounen - The literal translation is few years, but the word has become synonymous with male minors, such as Shoujo is for female minors, this is its male counterpart.  As these are for younger men, typically teens, common themes include action, adventure and sports.  Sometimes they include things like school and romance, but only included among a more major action oriented story.  Just like Shouju, this is more a demographic than a genre, so it can actually have many different themes.  It just needs to be aimed at young men.  Some examples are Naruto, Bleach and Attack On Titan.
7. Shounen-ai - This is a boy on boy romance story, that typically includes younger men.  These types of stories do not include any explicit scenes, but are more focused on romance, and a great deal of kissing.  Some examples of this are Sukisho, Princess Princess and Gakuen Heaven.
8. Seinen - This is typically seen as meaning mature.  Manga and anime that specifically targets young adult males around the ages of 18 to 25 are seinen titles. The stories in seinen works appeal to university students and those in the working world. Typically the story lines deal with the issues of adulthood.  These are considered adult movies, but not por.nography.  There may be some immorality, extreme violence and language, among some possible other things.  Some examples include Monster, Berserk and Cowboy Bebop.
9. Josei - Literally means woman. It targets women 18-30.  This is the female equivalent to seinen. Unlike shoujo the romance is more realistic and less idealized. The storytelling is more mature.  Some examples include Honey and Clover, Nana and Paradise Kiss.
10. Bishojo or Bishoujo - In Japanese, this means beautiful young girl.  It's not a genre or a demographic, but actually a character type.  It is an indication that there is a pretty girl, or more than likely, many pretty girls in this anime.  It's used in nearly all young adult anime, and it doesn't imply anything other than just that there will be pretty girls, along with others that maybe aren't so much.  It's a character type used in many different genres and for many different demographics, such as Shoujo and Shounen.
11. Bishonen or Bishounen - This is a Japanese term that means beautiful young boy, or in a better term, a pretty boy.  It's more or less an attractive young male.  This is a character type in many anime series and movies, and the characters are used in many different ways.  There can be homosexual implications to it, but not always.  These types of character usually appeal to young women, and are easily used for subjects of attraction.  Think of the boy bands in America and England, and this is kind of the same philosophy.
12. Mecha - The word mecha comes from a shortened version of the English word mechanical, and it's used to describe a genre of science fiction that focuses on human controlled machinery and robots.  Some examples are the Gundam series, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Eureka Seven.
13. hikikomori - This isn't a genre at all, and in fact just means literally "pulling inward, being confined."  It's a term in Japan that would mean a recluse, and is typically the assignment of a key character in an anime to help add some suspense.  It can be used in any types of movie or series, and really can't be assigned much specifically.  Some examples of anime that have these types of characters are, Welcome to the N.H.K, Rozen Maiden and Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei.
14. shinigami - This means death god or death spirit, and in fiction it has come to mean the Grim Reaper.  It's actually from ancient Japanese religious references, which call on a god like being to bring on death.  It's developed over time, much like the grim reaper or devil or many other ideas like this.  This being has become fairly common in certain types of anime.  Not necessarily any specific genre, but as a key character or force.  Some examples are Death Note, Black Butler and Soul Eater.
15. Ecchi - This is anime that is typically considered a bit on the "dirty" or erotic side.  There's no actual sexually explicit scenes, but there are innuendos, some mild nudity and scantily glad men and women.  Another term for this is fan service, which indicates, these will be certain characters dressed provocatively for fans to get a better view.  Some examples of this are Queens Blade, Samurai Bride and High School of the Dead.
16. Hentai - This is anime por.n.  These are sparse story lines with full nudity and sexually explicit scenes.  An example is Tsugou no Yoi Sexfriend? or some manga displayed on Prime Hentai.
17. Yaoi - This is homoerotic stories about men in love for female audiences.  These movies have explicit sex between two males, but this is a genre written by women and geared towards women to watch.  
18. Bara - These are homoerotic stories about men in love for homosexual male audiences.  As opposed to Yaoi, these are much more realistic tales, and will include things such as a slice of life to help the realism come through.
19. Yuri - This can also be called wasei-eigo, and it means something along the lines of girls' love.  It deals with lesbian love affairs, and depicts explicit girl on girl scenes of an erotic nature.  The types of stories can span many different genres as well as demographics.  Some are geared towards women and others are geared towards men.
20. Lolicon - These are stories surrounding a sexual attraction to under-aged girls.
21. Shotacon - These are stories surrounding a sexual attraction to under-aged boys.
22. Doujinshi - This is fan made manga.
23. otaku - This is a Japanese word that indicates a person with a certain obsession.  But it has lost its negative connotations, and now is more of a proclamation made by many anime fans to insist they are crazy for anime due to its insane popularity.  
24. seiyu or seiyuu - This is the word used to indicate a Japanese voice actor, which is fairly prominent, since Japan produces more than 60% of the animations in the world.  These are highly trained voice actors, who's talents are extensibly used in all manor of media.  Many of the most popular have developed adoring fan followings.

Anime Girl Eyes
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Danny Choo

For some more details on this, check out these resources:

• Anime Genre List With Descriptions
• Anime Networks Encyclopedia of Genres
• Anime Networks Encyclopedia of Anime
• My Anime List Forums

So, there ya go. A vocabulary list of terms used to identify anime.  I'll try to keep it updated periodically, but this should be enough to get started.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments below.

Fan Service Swimsuit Girls
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Manuel Siordia