Friday, April 30, 2010

[Y^^]: Wanted(2008)

[Y^^]: Wanted(2008)

Wanted has a distinct characteristic. It twists a lot of stereotypes. TThe law of gravity can not apply to the characters. The bullets curve through the air.

Sometimes it reverse time. Above all, it says justice does not always triumph. Moreover, it gives cinema audiences a question, "Is there justice?"

Because there is not justice nor virtue in the film, the graininess and cruelty is natural. However, if you do not enjoy the cruelty, it may be unfit for you.


Thursday, April 29, 2010

Our Home's Fox Deity (我が家のお稲荷さま)

Our Home's Fox Deity

Light novel
Author: Jin Shibamura
Illustrator: Eizō Hōden
Original run: February 10, 2004 – ongoing

Manga
Author: Jin Shibamura
Illustrator: Suiren Shōfū
Original run: February 27, 2007 – ongoing

TV anime
Director: Yoshiaki Iwasaki
Studio: Zexcs
Original run: April 6, 2008 – September 14, 2008


Our Home's Fox Deity. (我が家のお稲荷さま。 Wagaya no Oinari-sama.) is a Japanese light novel series by Jin Shibamura, with illustrations by Eizō Hōden. The first novel was released on February 10, 2004, and as of October 10, 2007, seven volumes have been published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. A manga adaptation by Suiren Shōfū started serialization in the shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Comic Gao! on February 27, 2007, published by MediaWorks; the manga transferred to Dengeki Daioh, published by ASCII Media Works on April 21, 2008 after the former was discontinued on February 27, 2008. An anime adaptation, produced by Zexcs, aired in Japan between April 6 and September 14, 2008, containing 24 episodes. NIS America licensed the anime series and will be releasing it in North America, under the title Our Home's Fox Deity.


Characters

Kūgen Tenko (天狐 空幻 Tenko Kūgen)

Voiced by: Yukana (female), Yuichi Nakamura (male)

Kūgen is a fox deity that used to be the Guardian of the Mizuchi family. Kūgen was sealed away by a Water Priest because of her mischievous behavior. She was released by Noboru after Tōru was targeted by a demon and now serves as their guardian. She can become male or female at any time, but uses the pronoun ore (俺) to refer to herself which is usually only used by males in Japan, though in the past females did use the pronoun as well. She attracts a fair bit of attention because of her blonde hair, blue eyes and fox ears, which have to be covered by a hat when out in public, though she can also hide them completely without a hat (they involuntarily pop out if she gets distracted or excited, though).

Noboru Takagami (高上 昇 Takagami Noboru)

Voiced by: Takahiro Mizushima

Noboru is the eldest son of the Takagami family. He is sixteen-years-old and was made aware that he is the head of the Mizuchi family in the beginning of the series. He is in the badminton club with Misaki Sakura.

Tōru Takagami (高上 透 Takagami Tōru)

Voiced by: Yu Shimamura

Tōru is the youngest son of the Takagami family. He is eleven-years-old and has strong Yin in his blood, as stated by his grandmother. This indicates that Tōru may be sought after by spirits like in the beginning of the series.

Kō (コウ)

Voiced by: Saori Hayami

Kō is the sentinel of the Mizuchi family. She is sent to keep an eye on the Takagami brothers and Kūgen, and therefore must live in Noboru's house for the time being. She appears to be helpful, (having asked if she can do anything to help around the house), dedicated to her job, and does not want to be a bother. She initially is very poor with common household tasks, and is mainly proficient in combat.

Misaki Sakura (佐倉 美咲 Sakura Misaki)

Voiced by: Yui Kano

Misaki is a friend of Noboru's from school who tries many times to be more than friends with him. Kūgen and Kō, as well as Misaki's own imagination, get in the way of these attempts however.

Miyako Takagami (高上 美夜子 Takagami Miyako)

Voiced by: Yui Horie

Miyako is Tōru's and Noboru's late mother. She died before the beginning of the series. She had a friendship with Kūgen, and seemed to adore animal mascots. Ebisu states to Kūgen that her spirit has not yet passed on early in the series.

Ebisu (恵比寿)

Voiced by: Daisuke Ono

Ebisu is the local deity of the area where the Takagami brothers live. He runs a convenience store close to his shrine where he has two stone imperial guardian lions, named Kōga and Eiga, which he can bring to life. He is a real god unlike a yōkai like Kūgen Tenko, so he is able to overpower Kūgen without trying too much especially by the use of kotodama since he is the most powerful in his territory. He usually seems very jovial and friendly but is extremely sharp and sly and sometimes might be harsh. He keeps note of any new yōkai that enter his domain.


Media

Light novels

Our Home's Fox Deity. began as a series of light novels written by Jin Shibamura, and drawn by Eizō Hōden. The novels are published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko publishing label. The first novel was released on February 10, 2004, and as of October 10, 2007, seven volumes have been published. In 2003, the first novel in the series won the Gold Prize in the tenth Dengeki Novel Prize contest.

Manga

A manga adaptation started serialization in the Japanese shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Comic Gao! on February 27, 2007, published by MediaWorks. On February 27, 2008, the manga ended serialization in Dengeki Comic Gao!, but continued serialization in ASCII Media Works' manga magazine Dengeki Daioh on April 21, 2008. The manga takes its story from the light novels that preceded it, and is illustrated by Suiren Shōfū. As of March 27, 2008, two bound volumes have been released under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comics label.

Anime

A 24-episode anime adaptation produced by the animation studio Zexcs and directed by Yoshiaki Iwasaki aired in Japan on the Chiba TV television network between April 6 and September 14, 2008. NIS America licensed the anime series and will be releasing it in North America, under the title Our Home's Fox Deity. Three pieces of theme songs are used; one opening theme, and two ending themes. The opening theme, "KI-ZU-NA ~Haruka Naru Mono e (KI-ZU-NA 〜遥かなる者へ), is performed by Hitomisora (Yoshida Hitomi & Sora Izumikawa). The first ending theme, "Kaze ga Nanika o Iō to Shiteiru (風がなにかを言おうとしている?), is performed by Saori Hayami, and was used for the first eighteen episodes. The second ending theme, "Shiawase no Kotodama" (シアワセの言霊), is performed by Yukana, Saori Hayami, and Mikako Takahashi, who are the voice actresses for three female characters in the anime.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Home's_Fox_Deity.

Light novels | Manga series | Anime series | Anime of 2008 | Dengeki Bunko | Dengeki Comic Gao! | Dengeki Comics | Dengeki Daioh | Fantasy anime and manga | Manga of 2007 | Shōnen manga


This page was last modified on 29 April 2010 at 03:37.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

[Y^^]: Spartacus: Blood and Sand

[Y^^]: Spartacus: Blood and Sand

It's a hardcore historical television series. It's historical background is the Roman Empire similar to TV series Rome that was aired in 2005-2006. Spartacus includes a lot of cruelty and sexuality. I am not shocked that kinds of scene because I had already watched Rome. Anyway, I'm not really into hardcore.

Watching the series, you become accustomed to the brutality. When you see the blood, it looks like just red color. Of course it's really red color itself. Also it contains nudity and sexuality. Someone likes and says that those scenes make the series real. However, I think the maker use those scenes just as kind of service (like panties in Japanese animation, but its level is different).

Film Makers may say that TV series or movies do not cause crimes and the copycat crimes are not their fault. They may assert the freedom of expression. I agree that the freedom of expression should be guaranteed. However, no one can deny that the violent programs impact on the crime.

I stop watching Spartacus, but I accustomed myself to the blood and atrocity. If someone who enjoy this kind of program, he will accustomed himself to the blood and cruelty. He will think the bloody viloence is natural in real life."

Saturday, April 24, 2010

[Y^^]: RoboCop (1987)

[Y^^]: RoboCop (1987)

The future of the movie is very gloomy. The capital control the city and police force.

Because financial difficulty of some cities such as LA, it may not be entirely fictional situation. The city is about to default on a debt. The fire fighters and police officers can not receive their salary. It's real.

Capitalism aims at making profits. People are forced to believe that the privatization is better because it's more efficent.

In the movie, the city, Detroit is governed by a company, OCP. The reason is familiar. Financial difficulty of regional government, privatization, M&A.

The company makes a plan to develop robots that substitute for police forces.

Murphy, a police officer was murdered in line of duty. Fortunately or unfortunately, he was reborn as cyborg. It's a great movie to express a bleak future dominated by the capitalism and efficiency. Also It says about beings between human and robots.


It's a very special movie to me, because I started to write something after watching this movie. The first fiction that I wrote was 'Neo Black(黑新敎).' It was affected by 'RoboCop' and 'The Legend of Condor Heroes(射鵰英雄傳).' Neo Black is a oriental fantasy novel. Robot police officiers, Taoist and vampires showed up. I wrote down on paper but I threw it away. I regret my action, but there is no Neo Black anymore.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Planet Comics

Planet Comics



DescriptionCover scan of Planet Comics, No. 53, Fiction House, March 1948. Cover art by Joe Doolin. Doolin, Matt Baker, George Evans, and Maurice Whitman art. Cited in Seduction of the Innocent.
Date1948
SourceOriginal copy of above, digitized by Self, from material in my possession.
AuthorChordboard
LicensingThis work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1963 and although there may or may not have been a copyright notice, the copyright was not renewed.


From Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org

Friday, April 16, 2010

Characters of Oh My Goddess!

Characters of Oh My Goddess!


Main characters

Keiichi Morisato

Voiced by: Masami Kikuchi

Keiichi Morisato (森里 螢一 Morisato Keiichi) is a student of the Nekomi Institute of Technology and a member of the NIT Motor Club. One day Keiichi accidentally dials the Goddess Relief Office. After summoning Belldandy by accident, he ends up wishing for her to be by his side forever. Ever since, the two have been together. Keiichi's pure and innocent personality also puts him in the middle of an unusual love relationship. While he understands his love for Belldandy, he sometimes has a difficult time expressing his feelings.

He is a very skilled mechanic and an exceptional race driver. He is bestowed the directorship of the Motor Club, which he subsequently passes on to Sora Hasegawa. At his supposed graduation from college, he started working at the repair shop Whirlwind owned by the founder of the NIT Motor Club: Chihiro Fujimi. He picked up the one class and actually graduated many chapters later.
Since he met Belldandy, Keiichi has had many extraordinary experiences in his young life, including having met several other Goddesses and supernatural beings. He became the only person ever to have flown the Shinden, an experimental World War II Japanese airplane, and met Schrödinger's Whales—and saved them from extinction by teaching them songs.

Keiichi's personality is illustrated when he summons one of Lind's own Angels, Cool Mint. Lind gave him one of her angels because he is able to host the angel with the love of the three goddesses, which he received due to his innocent personality. Later on, Keiichi also temporarily and involuntarily hosts the demon-angel Blue Lance. The reason why the angel chooses him to be the host at random was explained as that he is the only person referring to her as an "angel" and not a "former demon".

Belldandy

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue, Akemi Okamura (The Adventures of Mini-Goddess episodes 1–13)

Belldandy (ベルダンディー - Berudandī) is a goddess who ends up contractually bound to Keiichi Morisato after he accidentally dials the Goddess Relief Office. Ever since, Belldandy dwells with Keiichi at the Tariki Hongan Temple in the city of Nekomi, Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo. She can cancel the contract at anytime, but she states Keiichi is a special person in her heart, and that her purpose is to make him happy.

Belldandy is kind, patient, and warm, not only to Keiichi, but to everyone, without exception. She can easily sense other people's emotions, and tries her best to be empathetic to all those around her. However, even though Belldandy tries her best to be as kind as possible, it is revealed that at times, as a result of latent jealousy, she can become very insecure and sad, especially when she is confronted with an implication that involves Keiichi in one way or another. This can sometimes result in power leaks that affect everything within the vicinity, referred to as "jealousy storm" in the anime.

Belldandy is licensed as a goddess first-class, unlimited, and as such is highly skilled. Her power is so great, in fact, that she is required to wear a special earring on her left ear which constantly seals the full brunt of her magical strength. Belldandy's angel is Holy Bell; her elemental attribute is wind. Like all angels, Holy Bell augments Belldandy's magical powers when called upon, and like all angels, she also reflects her master's current state.

Urd

Voiced by: Yumi Touma

Urd (ウルド Urudo) is Belldandy's older half sister and is the second Goddess to appear to Keiichi. Urd ranks as Goddess second class, management category limited license, similar to her youngest sister Skuld. She is the Yggdrasil System Administrator and Manager. Though she is much more powerful than her sisters, she has not become a first class goddess, most recently because she chose not to become a first class goddess (See main article.) Urd shares a common father with her younger sisters, but has a different mother, the Demon Lord Hild. Because of this, Urd is a hybrid of Goddess and Demon, reflected in the half-white, half-black appearance of her Angel, World of Elegance.

Urd fancies herself a Goddess of Love, so she comes to Earth to spur Keiichi onward with love potions and well-meaning, but deceitful advice, but as punishment for deserting her post and for using her powers on Earth without authorization, The Almighty banishes her from Heaven until further notice. After being allowed to go back, she decides to stay on Earth instead.

Skuld

Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa

Skuld (スクルド Sukurudo) is the younger sister of Belldandy, and is the third Goddess to appear to Keiichi Morisato. Skuld has a Goddess second class, type one, limited license, a category similar to her eldest sister, Urd. Skuld is one of Yggdrasil's system debuggers. She compensates for her lack of magic power with her innate talent for invention, which is known throughout Heaven. Skuld is an engineering genius, capable of building just about anything out of the most mundane parts under most limited resources. She can compute equations and redesign even the most complex engineering blueprints in no time.

She travels to Earth after Belldandy's proximity to Keiichi started creating an increasing number of bugs in Heaven's supercomputer Yggdrasil. At least that was her official excuse, as she believed Belldandy was living with Keiichi against her will. She tried to convince Belldandy to return to Heaven to resolve the bug problem and at the same time with the ulterior motive of alleviating her loneliness. After realizing that Belldandy's relationship with Keiichi was not going to end any time soon, Skuld decides to stay on Earth and act as Belldandy's unofficial chaperon.

In the second season she begins to develop her goddess powers. Her angel's name is Noble Scarlet.


Heaven

Heaven is one of the two divine factions in the series. It is where the three main goddesses and several other characters reside. It contains, Yggdrasil (ユグドラシル Yugudorashiru), the heavenly computer system that maintains reality, with the Gods and Goddesses acting as its programmers, system administrators, and debuggers. Yggdrasil works with the Goddess Relief Office by notifing the goddesses such as Belldandy working at the office of people whose fortune and misfortune is out of balance given their actions such as fortitude in facing misfortune, kindness in sympathizing with others. Each person Yggdrasil chooses is granted one wish which can be anything ranging from "wealth that would last a life time" to the destruction of the world, or even for simply a "Girl like you".

Almighty

Voiced by: Shinji Ogawa (OVA), Hidetoshi Nakamura(TV)

The Almighty One (神様 Kami-sama) is the lord of Heaven. As Lord of Heaven, all Goddesses ultimately answer to Him and He is responsible for maintaining reality, time, and probability as we know it. His attitude and personality is very commanding, but He is very polite and forgiving; he has forgiven the Norns for disobeying his orders multiple times (as is suggested by Keiichi in the manga). The Almighty One is very blunt and straight-forward. He does not understand how humans act and communicate; possibly because He has not been to Earth in a long time. Throughout the manga and anime He is an unseen character as viewers never see His face, which is usually shrouded in shadow, turned away, or simply too close-up; all that can be discerned is that the Almighty One is tall and well-built, with long black hair. He also has many seals on His hands, neck and on His ears (this could probably be a clue as concerns the fact he may be the divinity in doublet with Hild, as also we can imagine listening to her discussing on the Double System). The Almighty is the father of the three Norns. During the Trouble with Doublets saga, Belldandy answers the phone and tells her sisters "It's the Almighty." After Urd loses odds and evens against Skuld, She answers with "Oh goodness, Daddy?! It's been ages!"

Peorth

Voiced by: Rei Sakuma

Peorth (ペイオース Peiōsu) is the fourth goddess of the series, and she enters the story when Keiichi accidentally calls her up one day, much like he did Belldandy. She is part of the Earth Help Center, and a Goddess First-class, Second Category, Unlimited. For a time, Peorth harbored a deep resentment towards Belldandy because Belldandy had reported the removal of a bug in Yggdrasil as a team effort. Believing Belldandy was pitying her, she held a grudge. During her stay she continually tried to seduce Keiichi in order to seem more of use to him than Belldandy, though she ultimately falls in love with him. However, after the misunderstanding is cleared up, Peorth remarks that she does not hate Belldandy anymore, and in recent appearances the two seem to be on friendly terms once again. Still, Peorth's incessant flirting with Keiichi puts some strains upon this new relationship.
Her magic is based on the element of Earth, mainly associated with roses, as with her own angel, Gorgeous Rose.

Lind

Voiced by: Miki Ito

Lind (リンド Rindo) is the fifth Goddess to appear in the series. Lind is a Valkyrie, a member of the battle division of Heaven. Like the Goddesses Belldandy and Peorth, Lind carries a First Class License. However, unlike the other two, Lind's license is classified as "Special Duty, Unlimited", which denotes her position as a Valkyrie. Her elemental domain is ice, even though she is able to control perfectly fire and lightning beams.

In an unlikely turn of events, Lind obtained twin angels, Spear Mint and Cool Mint, though at first she could only call upon one of them at a time, causing her to be teased all throughout Heaven and Hell. Frustrated by her 'weakness' and resulting inability to call forth her second Angel, Lind threw herself into Valkyrie training with incredible ferocity. This intense training gained Lind the reputation as a Goddess of extreme violence. Eventually, she is able to call out both her angels by realizing that she lacked a belief in herself and a trust towards others during her fight with the Angel Eater planted inside of her by Hild in an attempt to replace her angels with devils. She has since become more open and smiles often. She has also established close friendships with Keiichi Morisato and Belldandy.

Chrono, Ere and Ex

Chrono (クロノ Kurono), Ere (エレ) and Ex (エクス Ekusu) are three goddesses who maintain Yggdrasil. They generally help Peorth, Lind and such by giving relevant exposition, or lines to increase dramatic tension. They also serve as people for Peorth or Lind to give orders to, allowing the commanding character to verbally direct the conflict, and to explain the dangerous nature of certain actions.

Chrono is the sixth goddess to be present in the human world. Like Peorth and Lind, however, she stayed only for a few chapters. Chrono is terrified of cats due to a childhood trauma up in the heavens with her pet cat, and needless to say, she avoids Velsper like the plague. She also practise martial arts, aiming for a post in the Valkyrie ranks. At the end of her arc Lind confesses Peorth she is interested in Chrono, so she'll propose her for the "Silver Wings" unit. In the manga we can see this new goddess with a different hair colour than in the movie: instead of being brown, she seems to be blonde or with a very light hair at least.

As concerns Ere and Ex, in the manga we can only catch a glimpse of them in a cartoon when Chrono gets back in heaven, showing the two goddesses interrupted in their discussion because of the scene in which Peorth teases Chrono and later when Hagall's demons make too many contracts with humans unbalancing Heaven's equilibrium.


Hell (Niflheim)

Hild

Voiced by: Gara Takashima

Hild (ヒルド Hirudo) is the ultimate Demon who is the opposite to The Almighty, known as the Ruler of Demonkind. She is incredibly powerful, with her power dwarfing even the combined strength of the three goddesses. Despite her immense power, she respects the doublet system, and thus limits her power to prevent killing any of the Goddesses. She is Urd's mother, whom she loves deeply, though Urd does not return the feeling (it is revealed that doing so would mean that Urd would acknowledge and thus be taken over by her demonic side). Hild dislikes Belldandy, because Belldandy's attitude and love for humanity reminds her of the Almighty One and the relationship they once had. Because of this, she has often tried to corrupt or hurt Belldandy several times throughout the series. She also seems to have some feelings for Keiichi Morisato.

She appears a few times before leaving an avatar child version of herself, who would go on to become a regular antagonist for the goddesses, as well as a direct supervisor for Marller. While this avatar possesses only one thousandth of the true Hild's power, it is still enough to make the avatar a powerful enemy for anyone. In the manga, a small team of demons sealed her main body and attacked her avatar in the human world.

Lord of Terror

The Lord of Terror is a virus that runs on Yggdrasil. It is divided into two parts—the will of the Lord of Terror, and the "Ultimate Destruction Program", Fenrir. It wants to destroy the world and create a world for demons in its place (this happens only in the anime, while in the manga we can see that his intent is to destroy the entire universe in order to create a new, violent one; this is the reason why Keiichi, possessed by the program, wants Skuld to build a 10 dimensional scythe for cutting the 10 dimensional string of the universe, which permit its existence). The heir to the Lord of Terror was Urd, because of her mixed ancestry. Basically, the Great Lord's will influenced Urd and eventually sealed her will away. It then utilized the urn Mao Za Haxon, which contained the Ultimate Destruction Program's bootup. After it had possessed Keiichi, Belldandy told it to transfer to her but it could not possess her, as the base wavelength was diferent, and was quickly forced to transfer itself to a floppy disk and was then erased by Skuld with a magnet.

Marller

Voiced by: Urara Takano

Marller or Mara in the English anime (マーラー Mārā) was once the childhood friend of the goddesses who are the main characters, even though she is a demon. Urd and Mara used to be very good friends, but got separated when Urd chose to be a goddess. Her actual duty is to increase the market share of the demons on earth, though she decides that removing the goddesses will make it one hundred percent.

Like Urd, because of her demonic heritage Marller has a music-based weakness: when hearing hard rock, she is compelled to dance until exhausted. Likewise, the close proximity or touch of good luck charms has adverse effects on her; the accidental touch of a hamaya (demon-slaying arrow) once caused complete, if temporary, amnesia.

Senbee

Voiced by: Norio Wakamoto

Senbee (魔神千兵衛 Majin Senbei) is the miniature genie and the self-proclaimed god of disaster and poverty. He lives by the philosophy of happiness being finite in the universe. Because of this belief, he places all sorts of misfortunes on others to raise his own happiness, often doing so by magically causing bad luck or accidents. He usually serves as a minion of Marller.

Velsper

Velsper (ヴェルスパー Verusupā), also known as Welsper, is a demon, who is in a doublet, a link of fate established to preserve the balance between Heaven and Hell, with Belldandy. The doublets normally forget each other, but Velsper cursed himself to remain in child form in exchange for remembering his encounter with Belldandy. The curse could only be broken if Belldandy speaks his name. It turned out that his body could not handle his growing power, so he worked to break the curse by stopping time. After installing a virus in Yggdrasil, he ends up having the curse broken, and returns to the demon realm. However, because Velsper hacked into Yggdrasil, he was punished afterwards by being reincarnated into a kitten. He is the only demon who shows a Tsukaima (demon servant), having it obtained by Keiichi after neither him nor Belldandy could handle the burden of bringing the creature which almost transformed her into a demon because of Hild. His black fur becomes white spotted, but he returns normal after naming his Tsukaima as "Die Wespe der Blauen Lanze" ("The Wasp of the Blue Lance" in German).

Hagall

Hagall (ハガル Hagaru), also known as Hagal, is the second most powerful demon in Hell, who takes the control of Niflheim—The Hell—in a rebellion against Hild, because she thinks Hild has lost the power and glory of the demon world. Through an elaborated plan to get more share of wishes on Earth and to destroy everything related to the Goddesses, she imprisons Hild and sends her servants to attack Chibi-Hild on Earth, however she manages to escape and goes with Belldandy to ask for help (the story is currently being developed in the manga—chapters 240 till 259). Hagall usually talks about herself in third person and her powers include mental control and hypnotism. Besides, she is a very selfish and ambitious demon who does not consider the energetic balance between Heaven and Hell (brought by human contracts).

Halval

Halval (アールヴァル ArubaruÞ), also known as Halvalth, is a powerful demon, who serves Hagall in a rebellion against Hild. Her name has the rune "Þ" (Thurizas, Thorn or Tursas) who is the rune of the sound. Her main power is "to see the sound" with her eyes and fight battles in complete darkness. She battles against Keiichi and Belldandy in the episodes 251 till 255 of the manga. In the episode 255 Halval lost the battle with an plan of Keiichi Morisato (influenced by the kiss of Chibi-Hild, who transfers some of her knowledge to Keiichi before she to goes to Niffleheim).


Nekomi

Nekomi is a Japanese town that acts as the main setting of the series. It houses the Nekomi Institute of Technology, where Keiichi attends, and the Tariki Hongan Temple, where he and the goddesses reside.

Toshiyuki Aoshima

Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita

Toshiyuki Aoshima (青嶋 紀元 Aoshima Toshiyuki) is a playboy around the Nekomi Institute of Technology campus and Sayoko's cousin. He is enamoured by Belldandy and tries often to steal her away from Keiichi, going as far as to set up a rival motor club. However, in just about all of his attempts, he fails miserably. In the TV series, he and his cousin Sayoko can be identified by the supercars that they drive, in Aoshima's case, an Enzo Ferrari (Ferrari 288 GTO in the manga).

Banpei

Banpei-kun RX (ばんぺいくんRX Banpei-kun āru ekkusu?) (changed to Banpei RX in the English edition of the anime) is a humanoid robot that was designed and built by Skuld. Banpei-kun's primary function is to guard the temple, originally from Marller, however, this has expanded to include any threat the demons send, and even to 'protecting' Belldandy from Keiichi Morisato. Banpei has gradually gained many new abilities as Skuld continues to create new add-ons or new functionality for him. Originally, he required a direct power connection via an external cable but was later given a battery. This allows him to travel anywhere for extended periods of time; however, when the battery runs low Banpei has to shut down and enter memory preservation mode.

Banpei's program continues to evolve on its own: Banpei gained sentience, an appreciation for life and, after meeting Sigel, the ability to love. Even though Sigel is not interested in Banpei, he is not disheartened, and spends a great deal of time and energy trying to get her to appreciate him; he will also not hesitate to risk serious damage to himself if only to help her. His emotional circuit will work at varying degrees, from being completely shut off, to being almost alive; in recent times it has gained stability, ensuring that he remains "alive" at all times. Unable to express emotion, Banpei will at times use a permanent marker to draw what he is feeling on his face: a tear for sadness, a furrowed brow, and clenched teeth for anger.

Chihiro Fujimi

Voiced by: Yuka Imai

Chihiro Fujimi (藤見 千尋 Fujimi Chihiro) is the original founder and director of the Nekomi Institute of Technology Motor Club. She is a resolute person and an incredibly skilled mechanic and motorcycle driver, even more so than Keiichi. She starts up her own motorcycle shop called Whirlwind and hires Keiichi and Belldandy to work for her. Normally a no-nonsense personality, she has a soft spot for cute objects, cats and children and seems to enjoy relaxing activities (such as bathing in an onsen) and having fun. She drives a Krauser Domani SSi. When she was director of the N.I.T. motor club, both Tamiya and Otaki confessed they loved her but she turned them both down rather than cause conflict in the club. Both Tamiya and Otaki respect and fear her very much, obediently following her orders.

Gan-chan

Voiced by: Mitsuo Iwata

Gan-chan (岩) (also known as Mitsuo Iwata) is the much-abused temple rat from the Adventures of Mini-Goddess series. Generally nice and friendly, Gan is somewhat emotional and very excitable, but highly prone to gluttony. Due to his nice and trusting nature, he is often led off on some wild adventure by Skuld and Urd, with the end result of Gan getting physically abused in some way. Gan has a crush on and prefers the company of Belldandy, since she is much quieter (and far from being violent towards him) than her sisters.

Sora Hasegawa

Voiced by: Ikue Ōtani (OVA & TV first season), Satomi Kōrogi (TV second season)

Sora Hasegawa (長谷川 空 Hasegawa Sora?) is a member of the Nekomi Tech Motor Club. A rather timid, mousy girl, she looks up to Keiichi and Belldandy. Throughout the series, the two help her to overcome her lack of confidence and believe in herself. When Keiichi leaves to work for Chihiro's company Whirlwind, he bestows the directorship of the Motor Club to her. She accepts the position, despite the fact that previous clubs that were led by her all collapsed (though not necessarily by her fault). Every time she gets drunk, she whines to Keiichi about how people think she is a middle school student, flashing her chest to show she is growing breasts to him. She has a crush on Toshiyuki Aoshima.

Hijiri

Voiced by: Noriko Shitaya

Hijiri (聖) is a little girl whom Keiichi befriends before meeting Belldandy for the first time. Appearing only in the TV series, Hijiri has become a running joke in the series, appearing from time to time in minor roles in the stories, such as being shown witnessing the Goddesses' dramatic battles, accidentally kidnapping a spirit that was transformed by Marller, or simply being there at the right time to help Keiichi get a meal.

Sentaro Kawanishi

Voiced by: Romi Paku

Sentaro Kawanishi (川西 仙太郎 Kawanishi Sentarō) is a boy who loves riding his bike around the neighborhood in Nekomi. He meets Skuld during the time where she was learning to ride a bike. He was the one who taught her that it did not matter if she fell off the first few times she tried, what mattered was that she got back up, and eventually she learned. This coincided with Skuld's magical powers slowly developing—it was revealed that a Goddess' power comes from loving others. Skuld started to fall in love with Sentaro, and hence her powers started to develop. Sentaro eventually moves away with his family, though Skuld does not become sad by it, as she claims that despite the distance they will always meet when they want. It turns out that Sentaro only moved across town, much to Skuld's embarrassment due to her previously stated claims. It is unclear whether or not Sentaro is aware that Skuld is a goddess, but he has seen Skuld use her powers, and has stated (albeit through inner-dialogue) that she looks like a goddess.

Koshian

Voiced by: Mugihito

Koshian (越庵 Koshian) is the Buddhist priest and caretaker of the Tariki Hongan temple where Keiichi and the Goddesses reside. After witnessing Belldandy's "spiritual enlightenment", Koshian left on a pilgrimage to seek his own enlightenment, leaving his temple and house in the care of Keiichi and Belldandy. He returns in the anime at one point after traveling for eleven months, but soon gets caught up in a fight and leaves again. After returning a second time, he appears briefly, kicking Belldandy (who at that time has an evil mark on her head) and Keiichi out; but when Belldandy gets her goddess licences back, she and Keiichi return to the temple. He is last seen watching Belldandy's lighting burst, calling it the "Great Dragon"; then he disappears for the rest of the series.

Sayoko Mishima

Voiced by: Junko Asami (OVA), Mamiko Noto (TV)

Sayoko Mishima (三嶋 沙夜子 Mishima Sayoko) is a popular girl at Nekomi Tech, to the point where she considers herself the "queen" of the school. She is also quite rich, coming from a wealthy family. She has her own apartment and an expensive car, and gets to throw lavish parties with very important people. When Belldandy appears, all the guys' attention turns to her rather than Sayoko. Mishima begins to get jealous of Belldandy and wants to make her upset by seducing Keiichi, even though she does not have any interest in him. She even goes to the lengths of teaming up with Toshiyuki Aoshima and Marller to bring her down. Gradually, as the series progresses, she becomes less and less antagonistic, even offering Keiichi relationship advice and foiling Marller's schemes. It seems as though she develops feelings for Keiichi at the beginning of season 2 when she did not feel as lonely when he was with her. Sayoko has seen both Urd and Belldandy use their powers, although she now believes that Belldandy is a witch. She is shown to have much pride, and seems to almost enjoy competing with Belldandy at times.

Keima Morisato

Keima Morisato (森里 桂馬 Morisato Keima) is Keiichi and Megumi's father. Keima, like his children, is incredibly skilled as a mechanic and as a motorcycle driver (though he is actually a glass blower). He dislikes being called "father" and much prefers to be addressed by his given name. He also has a severe form of heterophobia (fear of members of the opposite sex), except for people that he loves. Belldandy was the only "stranger" who did not trigger this fear upon first contact.

Megumi Morisato

Voiced by: Yuriko Fuchizaki

Megumi Morisato (森里 恵 Morisato Megumi) is Keiichi Morisato's younger sister. She attends the Nekomi Institute of Technology (NIT), like Keiichi, as an engineering student. Megumi is also a very skilled mechanic and motorcycle driver. She goes on to become the "queen" of bike racers around Nekomi. Belldandy has remarked that she sees a similarity between Megumi and Skuld, and that she would like to see Skuld learn some things from Megumi. As we know from the recent developments in the manga, she has a lot of success with boys, but she is not lucky in love because all of her boyfriends feel eclipsed by her motor-queen status.

Takano Morisato

Takano Morisato (森里 鷹乃 Morisato Takano) is Keiichi and Megumi's mother. Takano is a master player of mahjong and easily beats Skuld, Urd and Peorth at the game. She is also a much more confident and outgoing person than her husband, Keima.

Shiho Sakakibara

Voiced by: Asami Sanada

Shiho Sakakibara (榊原志保 Sakakibara Shiho) is a freshman in electronics at Nekomi Institute of Technology. She is also a second year correspondence course student in exorcism. Shiho first makes herself known to Keiichi through a secret letter that Keiichi, Urd, and Belldandy take to be a love letter. When Keiichi approaches the rendezvous mentioned in the letter with Belldandy and Urd, he finds that she is indeed very cute. However, she does not seem interested in a relationship with Keiichi, rather only to find out whether or not he is possessed by a demon. She is invited back to Keiichi's residence. At times, she becomes too friendly with Keiichi, making Belldandy jealous.

Sigel

Sigel (シーグル Shīguru) was originally an antique welcome mannequin with the form of a ten-year-old girl, with a "welcome" message recorded in an internal tape player. The property of an antique shop, Skuld's utility robot Banpei fell in love with the mannequin on first sight, even going so far as to take her immobile form out on a date. The mannequin's voice player finally broke down and she was sent to the scrapyard, to be claimed by Whirlwind Garage owner Chihiro. Chihiro gave the mannequin, with a new digital voice player, to Skuld. After Skuld re-makes the mannequin into a sentient, walking robot, it demonstrates a reluctance to establish a relationship with Banpei, though she secretly does have a soft spot for him due to his devotion for her. This welcome robot was not named until much later by Belldandy, who named her after the Anglo-Saxon futhorc s-rune, Sigel.

Sigel shows a great deal of admiration and affection for Skuld, whom she addresses as "mistress", and she has also been seen showing respect for Belldandy. Sigel tries her best to keep demons away from the temple, although she lacks the impressive array of weapons that Banpei has. Her only weapons are skating wheels in the heels of her feet and detachable rocket punch hands (when asked about these, Skuld states that they are standard issue for robots).

The Three Ninjas

A trio of diminutive female ninja operatives created by Marller (apparently from transformed rats) to serve as her agents of chaos against the goddesses. They are expert fighters with all sorts of weapons. They are named after the three Shinkansen (bullet) trains in Japan.

The three ninjas were sent in one by one to eliminate the goddesses, but they failed in their task, mostly due to Belldandy's friendliness towards them. Eventually, they decided to quit their service with Marller and moved into the temple proper. They rarely appear in the mainstream series from that point on, but they do have several appearances in the Mini-Goddess comic strips and TV anime series.

Kodama Genwaku: the infiltration specialist and Mistress of Illusion.

Hikari Senkuo: the weapons and assault specialist. She wears a distinctive spiked ball helmet.

Nozomi Senrigan: the recon specialist. She uses a clarinet to effect her magic and summon their ninja auxiliaries.

Tamiya and Otaki

Voiced by: Kiyoyuki Yanada and Issei Futamata

Toraichi Tamiya (田宮 寅一 Tamiya Toraichi) and Hikozaemon Otaki (大滝 彦左衛門 Otaki Hikozaemon) are the ex-directors of the Nekomi Motor Club. Tamiya (a dark-skinned, hulking man) and Otaki (who dresses in punk-style) are rather crude and brash personalities who make life very hard for Keiichi by passing on a lot of work to him. However, they have a great deal of respect for Keiichi's abilities both as a mechanic and a driver. In the manga, they pass the directorship of the Motor Club to Keiichi as they graduate. They were also both in love with the original director of the motor club, Chihiro Fujimi; however, she rejected both of them for the sake of the club. Tamiya addresses Otaki as "Dai-chan" (the Kanji "大" in Otaki's name is "O" but can be pronounced as "Dai") and Otaki addresses Tamiya as "Den-chan."

Satoko Yamano

Voiced by: Chie Nakamura

Satoko Yamano (矢間野 里子 Yamano Satoko) is a freshman in electronics at Nekomi Institute of Technology. She is quite attractive—even Keiichi comments that she is one of the top five most attractive girls at Nekomi Tech. She meets Otaki when her scooter breaks down on campus and Otaki decides to help her despite the insistence of one of her suitors, that she ride his car instead. They start going out and she eventually gets her father's approval of Otaki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Oh_My_Goddess!_characters

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

RoboCop (1987)

RoboCop

Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen
Distributed by: Orion Pictures
Country: United States
Rating: MPAA: R (US), 15+ (KR)


RoboCop is a 1987 science fiction film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop". In addition to being an action film, RoboCop includes larger themes regarding the media, gentrification, corruption, and human nature. It has spawned merchandise, two sequels, three television series, a television mini-series, video games and two comic book adaptations.

The film features Peter Weller, Dan O'Herlihy, Kurtwood Smith, Nancy Allen, Miguel Ferrer and Ronny Cox.


Synopsis

In a dystopian future, the city of Detroit, Michigan is on the verge of collapse due to financial ruin and unchecked crime. The city brings in the mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products, or OCP, to solve the problems. OCP promptly privatizes the police force. OCP makes plans to destroy "Old Detroit" to replace it with the utopia of "Delta City."

The OCP Chairman (Dan O'Herlihy) recognizes that the human law enforcement is insufficient to stop the crime spree and seeks other opportunities. Senior President Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) offers a "law enforcement 'droid," the ED-209, but when the demonstration kills one of the other executives, the President of OCP turns instead to the "RoboCop" program to create an augmented cyborg, led by junior executive Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer). Jones becomes bitterly jealous of Morton, as Bob Morton's accomplishment with Robocop allows him to move up on the ladder of success in the OCP ranks.

Veteran police officer Alexander James Murphy (Peter Weller) is transferred to a new precinct and partnered with Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen). On their first patrol, they chase down a team of criminals led by crime boss Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) to an abandoned steel mill outside town. Murphy and Lewis separate, and Boddicker's men capture Murphy, sadistically murdering him by shooting him many times with shotguns before running off. Murphy is pronounced dead at the hospital, but OCP takes his body and uses it to create the first RoboCop. RoboCop is guided by three law enforcement tenets written into his programming, called Directives: serve the public trust, protect the innocent and uphold the law.

He is able to single-handedly deal with much of the violent crime in the city, causing the rest of the police force to become worried they may be replaced. However, RoboCop still retains memories of his life as Murphy, including brief glimpses of his wife and son, and the action of spinning his gun before holstering it, a trick Murphy had done for his son. Lewis recognizes these elements from Murphy's mannerisms, and tries to learn more from RoboCop, but he remains silent on the issues. Because of Robocop's success, Morton is promoted to become one of OCP's Vice Presidents.

Morton's success and arrogance leads Jones to have Boddicker, secretly in his employ, kill the junior executive. An armed gas station holdup by one of Boddicker's men allows RoboCop to track down Boddicker to a cocaine bunker. RoboCop bursts into the facility and a shootout between him and the bandits ensues. RoboCop then apprehends Boddicker and forcefully makes him reveal his alliance with Dick Jones. RoboCop then visits Jones at his offices at OCP, showing him Boddicker's statement and prepares to arrest Jones. However, as RoboCop does so, a previously unknown and secret fourth Directive activates that prevents RoboCop from acting against any senior executive of OCP. Jones boasts to RoboCop about the Fourth Directive, which he added, and his role in Morton's murder, and then sends an ED-209 against RoboCop. RoboCop, handicapped by his neural network, engages the machine. The ED-209, though possessing impressive advanced technology proves incapable of descending a stairway. When Robocop gets outside, the police SWAT team is waiting for him with orders to destroy him, but Lewis, having followed RoboCop, saves him.

Lewis tends to RoboCop's injuries at the same steel mill where Murphy was killed, and discovers that there is still some of Murphy present despite the cyborg augmentation. Meanwhile, the police launch their long-threatened strike, sending the city into chaos. Jones arranges for Boddicker and his men to be released from prison and funds them with new cars and Cobra Assault Cannons capable of puncturing RoboCop's heavy armor. Boddicker's team converges on the steel mill using a tracking device provided by OCP. RoboCop and Lewis defend themselves and kill the whole gang, though Lewis is severely wounded.

RoboCop returns to OCP headquarters and uses one of the Assault Cannons to destroy the ED-209 guarding the building. Arriving in the middle of an executive board meeting with the president, Jones, and other executives, RoboCop plays back Jones's confession to Morton's murder and explains his inability to arrest OCP employees. Jones quickly grabs a gun and takes the president hostage and begins making demands. The president, in response to being taken hostage and enlightened by RoboCop's explanation of the Fourth Directive, fires Jones, invalidating his protection under it. After thanking the president, RoboCop promptly shoots Jones, who then falls out of the window to his death. As the board room recovers from the crisis, the president commends RoboCop for his skill and asks for his name, to which he replies, "Murphy".


Oh My Goddess! (ああっ女神さまっ, Ah! My Goddess!)

Oh My Goddess!

Oh My Goddess! (ああっ女神さまっ Ā Megami-sama), also known as Ah! My Goddess!, is a Japanese seinen manga series written and illustrated by Kōsuke Fujishima. It premiered in the September 1988 issue of Afternoon where it is still being serialized. As of December 2009, the individual chapters have been collected and published in 40 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. The series centers on the relationship between college sophomore Keiichi Morisato and the goddess Belldandy.

As the manga's popularity increased, a five-episode original video animation (OVA) was made based on it. With the OVA's success, the stage was set for two TV series and a film to follow.

Plot

Keiichi Morisato is a good-natured, yet hapless and girlfriend-less college freshman who is often imposed upon by his elder dorm-mates and brow-beaten into taking phone messages and doing miscellaneous chores for them. One day, while alone in his dorm, he accidentally calls the Goddess Technical Help Line and a beautiful goddess named Belldandy materializes in his room. She tells him that her agency has received a system request from him, so she has been sent to grant him a single wish. Skeptical and thinking someone is playing a practical joke on him, he wishes that she stay with him forever. To his surprise, his wish is granted. Belldandy must stay with him, but as his dormitory is strictly male-only, they are both forced onto the street.

They set off on his motorcycle to find alternative shelter, eventually seeking cover in an old Buddhist temple. In the morning, they are greeted by the temple's sole inhabitant, a young monk, who welcomes them and gives them permission to stay until they can find permanent lodging. He immediately puts them to work maintaining the temple grounds, but when he sees Belldandy use her powers to save Keiichi from injury, he begins to fear that she may be a demon or sorceress. He is eventually convinced of Belldandy's intrinsic goodness when he witnesses her solicitous care of the temple premises and her perfect meditation ritual. When he decides to go on a pilgrimage to India, the priest gives the couple permission to remain in the temple so long as they continue to maintain it.

Oh My Goddess! Universe

The Oh My Goddess! universe is fashioned quite loosely around the Norse mythology. At least three worlds are apparent, including heaven, hell, and earth. However, it has been stated that many other worlds exist as well. Heaven is the realm of the Lord and goddesses; while Hell, the Daimakaicho and demons. Earth is the realm of the humans, and until recently, is largely unexposed to the presence of either goddesses or demons, as they can unbalance the happiness in the world. Reality is controlled by an enormous and complex computer system, named Yggdrasil, similar to the tree of the Norse mythology.

Each goddess has a certain designation and may or may not have an accompanying angel, depending on their skill and power. Belldandy is a Goddess First Class, Second Category, Unlimited License. Class refers to precision and power level. Second category, for example, is a commercial license; and the limit indicates what you are permitted to do. Urd is a Goddess Second Class, Administration, Limited License. Skuld is a Second Class, First Category, Limited License. Other categories include the Combat division, to which the Valkyries belong. Goddesses may be penalized for dereliction of duty, which includes suspension of their licenses. A typical suspension can last anywhere from a week for the first infraction to 50 years or more, though attending a study hall in heaven can reduce this term. A Goddess using her powers during suspension will have her license permanently revoked. The licensing division is under the Goddess Assistance Agency.

Young goddesses often do not have angels, but are given an angel's egg. When their power matures, the angel's egg hatches and the angel becomes the lifetime companion of the goddess. The angels obey the goddesses no matter what, as they are reflections of the goddesses' inner self. The angels are generally born fully mature and cognizant of the world around them. Furthermore, the goddesses typically have three blue markings on their face, two on the cheek and one on the forehead; while demons are marked similarly with red markings. More powerful beings may have more complex designs to these markings.

Despite having phenomenal powers, the Goddesses wear power limiters. It is said that a first class Goddess at full power can easily destroy the Earth. Belldandy's power limiter is the second clasp on her left ear. Goddesses also possess particular proficiency in certain magical domains; Skuld uses water magic, Belldandy uses wind, and Urd uses fire magic, though both Belldandy and Urd are capable of using lightning magic. Furthermore, Urd is ascribed to the past; Belldandy, the present; and Skuld, the future. Goddesses may also need to recharge their power via various means, especially in the case of a system malfunction: Belldandy by sleep, Urd by drinking Sake, and Skuld by eating ice cream. Their repertoire of magical skills may vary as well. The goddesses can have various means of transportation: Belldandy by mirrors, Urd by television screens, Skuld by water, Peorth by camera lenses and Lind by windows. Moreover, it's probable that these are only the preferred ways to move (apart from Skuld, as she has less experience with magic) especially for long distances. We can see a few cases in which they show alternative methods of transportation: Urd, Peorth and Marller (or Mara, in some English translations) simply appear and disappear (they probably transported themselves to nearby places) and Urd again by water. Finally, the inability to lie appears to be part and parcel of being a first class goddess.

One interesting power demonstrated by the goddesses is a form of psychometry. By focusing their powers, a goddess can identify the aura of a goddess in contact with an object previously and replay the events surrounding that time.

The lifespan appears to differ quite a bit from humans. Their childhood seems to match that of a human, but their adulthood may last hundreds of years. However, the exact measurement of time is unclear, as time in heaven can pass much slower than that on Earth. As such, it is possible that in fact they do age at the same rate as humans, just appearing slower, because they live in a different realm. So, what seems like fifty years to us, maybe be only five days to them. Furthermore, old age has not been demonstrated in the series, so their elder years are unknown. In a chapter in the manga, it is stated that they do not grow old in the human world, and they witnessed various deaths already. The goddesses' metabolism also can vary from humans and from goddess-to-goddess as well. Belldandy, for example, becomes drunk on cola, something not experienced by humans or Skuld and Urd. They do seem to be able to eat all the same foods as humans, however.

The goddesses' purpose is to bring happiness to everyone around them. Toward that end, heaven has created the Goddess Relief Agency (The Goddess Technical Help Line in the manga), designed to bring happiness to the people of Earth, especially those with great virtue but terrible misfortune. A competing institution, named the Earth Assistance Center, also is staffed by goddesses. In most scenarios, a goddess appears before one that the system has deemed worthy and grants him or her one wish. The wish must be approved by the system, after which a contract is created between the human and the goddess and stored on the Yggdrasil system as a file. The wish contract file is protected by a passcode known to the Goddess. As demons work toward the opposite end, the total happiness on Earth must remain in balance. Heaven and hell strictly abide by an agreement to work through contracts and never kill each other.

Demons have similar class and license restrictions, and are accompanied by familiars instead of angels. A seal exists between the demon world and Earth, named the Gate to the Netherworld. It was "created by the gods and can only be broken by an instrument of the gods." As such, demons require a catalyst to manifest on earth. The demons possess a system similar to Yggdrasil, named Nidhogg. Both demons and goddesses possess the power to seal beings away. The demons also operate in a fashion similar to goddesses by creating contracts with humans and offering them wishes, but often at a price.

Other elements in the Goddess universe are programs that can be constructed by either the goddesses or the demons for any number of purposes. One example is the Ultimate Destruction Program, a program written by demons to create a world for demons by destroying humanity. Countermeasures include directly destroying the program or using a vaccine, a program specifically designed to nullify its target program. Programs designed to destroy systems and with self-replicative abilities are known as viruses, much like the computer viruses in the modern world.

Other creatures that exist in the Earth plane are a multitude of spirits that are responsible for almost every aspect of life. These include the spirits of Money, Wind, Engine and such. More specific entities include Earth spirits, which are guardians over a specific area of land. Morgan le Fay, a villain from the movie, is probably a high ranking Earth spirit (or a being from another dimension, but that is less likely because her tragic love story with a human must have happened on Earth) who demonstrates great strength fighting Belldandy and Urd, even though her powers are less potent than the ones of goddesses of their level.

References to Norse mythology

In creating Oh My Goddess!, Fujishima has borrowed extensively from Norse mythology.
The main example of this can be found in the names of the three heroines of the story — Urd, Belldandy, and Skuld. These are the names of the three Norns, the beings in charge of twining the thread of fate for all living beings. Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld represent the past, present and future in traditional Norse and the domains of the three goddesses match accordingly.

In English translations, Belldandy's name is not written as "Verthandi" or "Verdandi" as would be expected if it were a transliteration from the original Old Norse (Verðandi). This is because the spelling and pronunciation of the name were derived from the Japanese language transliteration used in the manga, not from the original Old Norse. The Japanese transliteration came about as a result of the phonology of the Japanese language. First, there is no [v] in Japanese, and so it is rendered /b/. Next, there is no [ð] in Japanese, so it is rendered as /d/. Finally, due to the fact that the phonotactics of Japanese only allows syllables to end in vowels or /n/, an epenthetic /u/ was added after the /r/. All these changes meant that the original name "Verðandi" was transliterated as, ベルダンディー -, Berudandī. This was then in turn transliterated into English as "Belldandy". In the Swedish translation of the manga, her name is Verdandi.

The other major example of Norse reference stems from Yggdrasil, the tree that holds up the world; the Norns are said to work at the foot of this holy tree. In Oh My Goddess, the power of the goddesses is regulated by the Yggdrasil system, a physically giant, hopelessly complex computer system. The Yggdrasil system is used to access and process wish requests transferred by the Goddess Technical Helpline and the Earth Assistance Hotline, as well as to enforce the implementation of the accepted wishes. This system is so important to the dimension inhabited by the goddesses that, when it breaks down after an attack by the Lord of Terror, the goddesses are not able to successfully fulfill their basic life functions. It is during this story arc that readers learn that the Yggdrasil system is also used to convert energy gathered from the earth into that which the goddesses can then use to function. This particular use of Yggdrasil is meant to add dramatic color to certain storylines, and is not strictly held to throughout the rest of the series, as the system seems to be working fine most of the time.

Other examples include the periodic cameos made by Sleipnir, the heavenly steed, and Belldandy's use of Norse runes throughout the storyline. Also, it is revealed later in the series that the demons have a counterpart system to Yggdrasil — the Nidhogg system. In Norse mythology, Nidhogg is the name of the dragon that is wrapped around the base of the Yggdrasil tree, continually gnawing at its roots.

Additionally, Peorth is named after one of the runes. Peorth is the mysterious fourth goddess who is employed by a rival agency to Belldandy's. Not much is revealed about her past, except for that she and Belldandy worked together at the Yggdrasil debugging station. However, readers get the direct impression that Peorth is a fun-loving risk-taker who will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. Her name makes sense, then, as the Peorth rune is classically interpreted as risk-taking and mystery. Tied to Peorth is her use of the Vanir bird to refresh Belldandy's memory. The Vanir are another set of Norse gods tied to fertility and peace — the Vanir bird's function is to reveal the past, and thus bring peace between friends.

Hild, the CEO of the infernal realm, is named after one of the Valkyries, the battle spirits who take the ghostly spirits of fallen soldiers to Valhalla. According to several sources, Hild means "The Battle."

In the most recent installments of the manga, a fifth goddess is introduced into the character set. Her name is Rind, and she is a member of the Ah! My Goddess version of the Valkyries — special agents who are trained in the ways of battle. In traditional mythology, Rind is an ice giantess who becomes pregnant with Odin's child. In the English translation, her name is Lind.

Skuld's second android invention is given the name Sigel by Belldandy after a story arc revolving around the question of whether machines are alive. Sigel wants very much to be alive, and so her name is also appropriate — the Sigel rune is the rune of life.

In the Lord of Terror arc Mara utilized the urn Mao Za Haxon, which contained the Ultimate Destruction Program's bootup protocol, which eventually led Urd to summon a huge dog-spirit named Fenrir. In Norse mythology, Fenrir or Fenrisulfr is a monstrous wolf, the son of Loki and the giantess Angrboða, who is destined to kill Odin at Ragnarok.

In another installment an exorcist in training accidentally summons Garm. In Norse mythology, Garm is a huge dog which guards Hel, the land of the dead, alongside of Hræsvelgr. Garm was the greatest of all dogs and lived in a cave called Gnipahellir.

In the movie adaptation of Ah! My Goddess, Peorth is given the order to nullify the threat to the world-tree by using the eradiction spell Gungnir. Gungnir is the name of the enchanted spear used by Odin, the king of the Norse gods.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh_My_Goddess!



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Friday, April 2, 2010

Clash of the Titans (2010)

Clash of the Titans (2010)

Directed by: Louis Leterrier
Produced by: Basil Iwanyk, Kevin De La Noy, Lynn Harris
Studio: Legendary Pictures
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s): April 2, 2010
Running time: 118 minutes
Country: United Kingdom, United States


Clash of the Titans is a 2010 fantasy film and remake of the 1981 film of the same name. As with the 1981 film, the story is very loosely based upon the Greek myth of Perseus. Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Sam Worthington, the film was originally set for standard release on March 26, 2010. However, it was later announced that the film would be converted to 3D and was finally released on April 2, 2010.


Plot

The film begins with a narration that explains the three Olympians who battled the Titans long ago: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Hades provided their means of defeating the Titans with his creation, the Kraken. After the Titans' defeat, Zeus created humans and ruled them while Poseidon ruled the sea, but Hades, having been deceived by his brother Zeus, was forced to rule the Underworld, learns an alternative way of gaining power from humans different from his brothers receiving theirs from human prayer: through fear.

Millennia later, a fisherman named Spyros finds a coffin adrift in the sea, discovering a baby, Perseus, and his dead mother, Danaë, inside. Spyros decides to raise Perseus as his own. Years later, Perseus and his family are fishing when they witness a group of soldiers from Argos destroying a statue of Zeus as a declaration of war against the Gods. Hades appears and commands harpies to massacre the soldiers before he himself destroys Perseus' family's fishing boat. Perseus tries to save his family, but to no avail, the surviving soldiers take Perseus back to Argos. During a feast for the returning soldiers, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of Argos compare themselves and their daughter, Andromeda, to the Gods much to their daughter's dismay. After convincing his brother to let him loose on humanity to punish Argos for its defiance, Hades appears in the courtroom before killing the remaining soldiers while Perseus is unaffected. Revealing Perseus to be the Demigod son of Zeus, and aging Cassiopeia to death, Hades threatens that if Princess Andromeda is not sacrificed to the Kraken, Argos will be destroyed in 10 days. Hermes, the messenger God, approaches Zeus on Olympus, revealing the location of his son Perseus. While Hermes suggests offering Perseus sanctuary, Zeus declares that he shall be left to his fate, along with the other infidel mortals.

The king seeks the help of Perseus after he is beaten and threatened to be thrown in a fire pit. Perseus initially refuses and gets locked in the dungeon, until he meets Io, a woman who does not age as punishment for refusing to be seduced by the God Ares. Io then reveals her conception was a punishment conducted by Zeus on Acrisius, the former king of Argos who was married to Danaë, for his actions against the Gods.Zeus sneaks in disguised as an eagle. Zeus copulated with Danaë and, as Acrisius came in, escaped. When Acrisius sets Danaë and the baby Perseus adrift in their coffin, an enraged Zeus struck Acrisius with lightning, leaving him hideously disfigured. After learning that killing the Kraken would allow him to have his revenge against Hades, Perseus accepts as he and Argos' finest soldiers embark on a quest to find the Stygian Witches with a pair of Persian monster-hunters named Ixas and Kucuk, and Io following. To counter this turn of events, Hades enlists Acrisius, now called Calibos, to kill off Perseus by imbuing him with superhuman powers.

While in the woods, Perseus and his men discover a sword forged in Olympus that will only display power if it is wielded by Perseus. While separated from the group, Perseus encounters Zeus' sacred herd of flying horses, the Pegasus. However, Perseus refuses both the sword and the pure-black Pegasus that the Gods were offering as assistance, as he does not wish to be a God. Calibos attacks the group and tries to murder Perseus, killing several soldiers in the process, but Calibos is unsuccessful, losing his hand before escaping. However, Calibos's blood forms giant scorpions from the sand that attack Perseus and his group. Though they slay several scorpions, most of the group are slain, and the survivors are surrounded by more of the monsters. They are saved by the Djinn, a band of shamans once human, who have turned themselves into the Demons of Arabian mythology by replacing their earthly flesh with ash and stone; thus making them immortal. The mysterious beings are able to hypnotize the scorpions into submission. Though not trusted prior to healing Perseus's wound, the Djinn leader, Sheikh Suleiman, joins Perseus's group as his kind wish to see the Gods wish for destruction to fail.

The heroes arrive at Garden of Stygia, learning from the Stygian Witches that the head of the Gorgon Medusa could kill the Kraken, but that Perseus and his group will die in the process. After leaving the witches, with the hunters taking their leave, Perseus is visited by Zeus who offers him asylum on Mount Olympus, but he refuses. Zeus gives him instead a golden drachma, which Perseus later learns is a means to bribe Charon for passage into the Underworld. While Io remains outside Medusa's lair, due to a spell that forbids any woman from entering the area, Perseus's remaining soldiers fight hard to stay alive, turning to stone one by one by her gaze. But with Suleiman self-destructing himself and Draco's sacrifice, Perseus manages to behead Medusa. Perseus emerges in time to see Calibos stab Io from behind. Perseus engages Calibos in combat and kills him using the sword from Olympus, turning him back into Acrisius in human form. With his final breath as Hades's power leaving him, Acrisius tells Perseus to never become a God. Perseus stays with the dying Io until she passes on and flies away in gold dust to Olympus. He then rides Pegasus back to Argos with Medusa's head to find some of Argos's citizens have formed a Cult of Hades and are planning to sacrifice Andromeda to the Kraken against the king's wishes. By then, Hades reveals to Zeus the destruction of Argos will give him enough power to overthrow the other Olympians; when Zeus reveals Perseus is still alive in Argos, Hades leaves his powerless brother to ensure his victory.

Perseus returns to Argos, but Hades sends his harpies to stop him. Perseus defeats the creatures sent by Hades and uses the head of Medusa to turn the Kraken into stone as Cepheus is killed by the cult leader, who is then crushed under the shattering Kraken. Hades appears and sneers that Perseus cannot kill him, since he is a God. Perseus retorts that while Hades can live forever, it will not be in the world of men and uses the sword with Zeus' lightning bolt to banish Hades back to the Underworld. After saving Argos from destruction and Andromeda from drowning, Andromeda herself suggests that Perseus will become king and rule Argos at her side, but he declines. On the broken statue of Zeus, the God of Olympus appears before Perseus again and offers to make him a God, but for a second time he refuses. Zeus warns Perseus that Hades will return to rule the world in darkness when he amasses enough fear from mankind. Since Perseus is intent to stay on Earth, Zeus resurrects Io, and the two embrace while Pegasus flies above them.


Cast

Sam Worthington as Perseus main protagonist, and son of Zeus
Liam Neeson as Zeus, the leader of the Gods of Mount Olympus
Ralph Fiennes as Hades, God of the Underworld and the primary villain
Gemma Arterton as Io, a woman cursed with agelessness who guides Perseus in his quest and narrates the Titanomachy at the start of the film
Alexa Davalos as Andromeda, the princess that will be sacrificed to the kraken
Izabella Miko as Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge
Mads Mikkelsen as Draco, leader of the Praetorian Guard
Jason Flemyng as Acrisius/Calibos
Danny Huston as Poseidon, God of the rivers, oceans and seas
David Kennedy as Cepheus's General
Tamer Hassan as Ares, God of war and battle
Pete Postlethwaite as Spyros, foster father of Perseus
Polly Walker as Cassiopeia, Queen of Argos
Vincent Regan as Cepheus, King of Argos
Luke Treadaway as Prokopion
Luke Evans as Apollo, God of the Sun, Poetry, Truth, Art and Healing.
Nathalie Cox as Artemis, Goddess of hunting and animals
Nina Young as Hera, Goddess of women and marriage and a wife of Zeus
Kaya Scodelario as Peshet
Nicholas Hoult as Eusebios
Ian Whyte as Sheikh Sulieman, The Djinn who assisted Perseus and the praetorian guards of Argos
Agyness Deyn as Aphrodite, Goddess of love, sex and beauty
Paul Kynman as Hephaestus, God of fire
Alexander Siddig as Hermes, Messenger of the Gods
Charlotte Comer as Demeter, Goddess of the Earth and agriculture
Jane March as Hestia, Goddess of the hearth
Natalia Vodianova as Medusa, The mortal Gorgon
Hans Matheson as Ixas
Mouloud Achour as Kucuk
Liam Cunningham as Solon
Ross Mullan as Pemphredo
Ashraf Barhom as Ozal


Creatures

Stygian Witches - Three women with gray skin and only one eye they share amongst them. They have a taste for human flesh, as their "knowledge demands payment".
Giant scorpions - Scorpions born from the blood of Acrisius; hypnotized by the Djinn.
Gorgon - Medusa the gorgon appears in the film as a giant, half snake, half human creature. She is beheaded by Perseus, leaving the rest of her body to fall into a lava pit.
Djinn - spirit beings living in the desert with magical powers.
Kraken - an enormous sea monster who defeated the titans and was turned to stone by Medusa's head.
Harpies - Winged demons who come from the body of Hades.
Pegasus - The winged horse that Perseus uses to ride to the confrontation with the Kraken.
Bubo - The mechanical owl from the 1981 film makes a cameo appearance early in the film.


Sequel

It has been stated that a sequel will be developed. Director Louis Leterrier will not come back to direct but will be an executive producer on the project. Clash of the Titans II has a tentative 2012 release date.


Greek mythology in popular culture | English-language films | American epic films | Films based on Greco-Roman mythology | Film remakes | Warner Bros. films | Legendary Pictures films | American fantasy adventure films | 3-D films | D-BOX motion-enhanced films | 2010 films

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Girls Bravo

Girls Bravo

Japanese TV Ani (Season 1: 12 episodes + Season 2: 12 episodes)
Ratings: 17+ (15+, Japan)


Girls Bravo (GIRLSブラボー Gārusu Burabō) is a bishōjo manga series, created by Mario Kaneda, which ran in Shōnen Ace beginning in December 2000. In 2004, AIC produced an anime adaptation, which originally ran on Fuji Television before switching to WOWOW for the latter half of the series. The anime series is licensed and distributed in North America by Geneon Universal Entertainment, while Tokyopop publishes the manga. In Singapore, the manga is published by Chuang Yi.

Story

Girls Bravo features a young male student named Yukinari Sasaki who was teased and bullied by girls to the point that he developed an allergic reaction, breaking out in hives whenever he comes into contact with a female. One day, when he comes back from school, he gets kicked into his bathtub by Kirie and is transported to "Seiren", a mysterious world with a mostly female population. While Seiren is featured in several episodes, the majority of the series takes place in Japan.

Characters

Major characters

Yukinari Sasaki (佐々木 雪成 Sasaki Yukinari), the series main character. Because of his small stature and generally meek disposition, Yukinari has been bullied by girls his entire life and therefore suffers an allergic reaction that causes him to break out in hives whenever he comes into contact with a woman. (in 2 instances he loses concioussness after being hugged/and or touching a girls breasts.) One day, he is knocked into his bathtub and is transported to the alien world of Seiren, a planet where men comprise less than 10% of the population. Upon arriving in Seiren, Yukinari meets a young girl named Miharu who for some reason does not cause him to break out on contact. Yukinari has a bad habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This, along with other 'close encounters', gets him kicked, punched, and otherwise beaten up by Kirie. He lives alone in the anime.

Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (Japanese), Yuri Lowenthal (English)

Miharu Sena Kanaka (ミハル·セナ·カナカ), a pink-haired resident of Seiren who pulled Yukinari into her world and later followed him back to Earth to live with him. She has a mark on her forehead shaped like three dots in a triangle, which provides her with several powers, such as the ability to transfer between Seiren and Earth, and the power to create explosions whenever she's in emotional distress. She is also the only woman who can touch Yukinari without triggering his allergy. Miharu has an outrageous appetite and an impossibly rapid metabolism. She spends most of the series questioning her friends whether something is edible or not (like butterflies), and her continuous misunderstandings about Earth (such as believing that April Fools' Day means that everyone on Earth lies for one day) is the title's primary source of humor. Despite this, she has a heart of gold, an explorer's fascination with Earth and a genuinely open affection for Yukinari. She is an extremely innocent girl who does not show any discomfort with being partially or fully naked in front of Yukinari, and she does not lose her temper even when made the target of Fukuyama's lecherous actions, unless in the process he eats or otherwise ruins whatever she happens to be eating at the time.

Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English)

Kirie Kojima (小島 桐絵 Kojima Kirie), Yukinari's neighbor and classmate who takes care of him from time to time. She's especially well-endowed, which makes her a natural target for Kazuharu Fukuyama's perverted actions. However, due to her physical aptitude and martial-arts abilities, she always manages to turn the tables on him. She also sometimes punishes Yukinari for his 'perverted' actions, although they are accidental on Yukinari's part. Kirie accidentally sends Yukinari to his first arrival into Seiren when she slugs him for unintentionally peeping on her when her shower wasn't working correctly and she used Yukinari's instead, which led him to fall into the bathtub. Despite their somewhat turbulent relationship, it's hinted many times that she has much deeper feelings for Yukinari, and possibly towards Fukuyama, describing him as 'my type of idiot' in the last episode. Because of her strong character, Kirie seems to attract a large number of admirers among the boys in her high school. In the anime she also attracts female admirers, specifically Kosame and Ms. Hijiri, much to her chagrin, although in the manga Kirie was accosted by an alternate version of Lisa when she entered a parallel world through an enchanted mirror in Fukuyama's house. A running joke throughout the series is Kirie's complete lack of cooking skills which result in the creation of food that's not only inedible but hazardous as well. In fact, Fukuyama once ate a bento lunch prepared by her and fell ill. Kirie suffers an overwhelming fear of ghosts and the paranormal, and despite her tomboyish character enjoys collecting dolls.

Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō (Japanese), Stephanie Sheh (English, credited as Lulu Chiang)

Kazuharu Fukuyama (福山 和春 Fukuyama Kazuharu), a classmate of Yukinari and Kirie and the series primary antagonist. Fukuyama is rich, powerful, and perverted and while he often chases girls and picks on Yukinari (who he nicknames "chibi-nari", or "puny-nari" in the English dub) he does show a serious, caring side in critical situations. He is a severe androphobe to the point that he's developed an allergy that causes him to break out with a rash whenever he comes into contact with another male. Extremely stealthful, he has the ability to suddenly appear without the others noticing until he announces his presence, whereupon he either gropes or strips the girls of their clothing, which always earns him a severe beating from Kirie. Despite his own lecherous behaviour, Fukuyama is highly protective of his younger sister, Lisa, and strongly objects to her affections for Yukinari.

Voiced by: Ryotaro Okiayu (Japanese), Liam O'Brien (English)

Lisa Fukuyama (福山 リサ Fukuyama Risa), Fukuyama's slightly insane younger sister. Lisa is a master of black magic, which has caused more than a few problems throughout the series (infesting her family's mansion with ghosts, summoning a giant octopus in the school swimming pool, causing an explosion within a shopping center). Lisa is constantly accompanied by Hayate and Kosame, who cater to her every whim such as gathering intelligence or even kidnapping. She develops an infatuation for Yukinari after his appearance matches a description in her horoscope for her soul mate and often employs her magic to get closer to him—with predictably disastrous results. Although she considers Miharu a rival, she is very fond of Ebi, who reminds her of the pet cat she owned when she was a little girl. In the anime, Ebi's girl form reminds her of the beloved doll she used to spend her days with, which she was reunited with later on in the series.

Voiced by: Yuki Matsuoka (Japanese), Hunter MacKenzie Austin (English)

Koyomi Hare Nanaka (コヨミ·ハレ·ナナカ), a resident of Seiren who suffers a paralyzing fear of men. Her phobia is only made worse by being one of Fukuyama's favorite targets; in the manga, this results in her keeping a diary of the many times he's accosted her. Originally sent to Earth on a mission from the Space Travel Agency to 'retrieve' Miharu, she later moves into Yukinari's house on a prolonged mission to find a husband for Maharu, Miharu's sister. Of course, her male phobia makes the act of even talking to a man nearly impossible. In the anime, Koyomi is also searching for her long-lost father, a native of Earth, whom she later reunites with at the series' end. Koyomi's favorite pastime is reading, and she has a natural talent for table tennis. In the anime she's even won the Seiren tournament five years in a row. Koyomi's mother possessed a Seikon mark like Miharu, and Koyomi herself possesses a dormant form of Seikon, which allowed her to create a portal to Seiren after Miharu was kidnapped in the anime. Koyomi in the anime also adopts a large python as a pet after being tricked into wearing it over herself during Fukuyama's Cosplay Mahjong game, which is ironic considering her fear of men and snakes being a phallic symbol.

Voiced by: Masayo Kurata (Japanese), Carrie Savage (English)

Tomoka Lana Jude (トモカ·ラナ·ジュード Tomoka Rana Jūdo), a resident of Seiren who was sent to aid Koyomi in finding Maharu a groom after Koyomi's less than productive efforts. Although a child, Tomoka deeply resents being treated as one and insists that she's as mature as anyone else, despite frequent actions by her which prove otherwise. Unlike the other female characters, she gets along fairly well with Fukuyama (presumably because she's too young for him to have any sexual interest in), whom she refers to as "big-brother," and the two occasionally team up to obtain some mutual objective. In the anime, Tomoka frequently uses Ebi as a makeshift club for hitting almost anything and anyone. Tomoka can also use transformation magic, and in the anime becomes friends with Lisa after conceding defeat in a magical duel. She is also obsessed with Poyon, her favorite TV show character. Because she's a child, Tomoka is able to have contact with Yukinari without triggering his female allergy. She also looks up to Kirie as a "big-sister" ("onee-chan" in the original dub). For example, she follows Kirie's example of drop-kicking Fukuyama right in the face. In the manga, Tomoka is later revealed to be a genius capable of instantly answering a complex math equation from a college entrance exam.

Voiced by: Ayaka Saito (Japanese), J-Ray (English)

Ebi (えび), a rare and magical creature from Seiren. Ebi in the manga was accidentally summoned by Miharu during a bath, whereas in the anime she was accidentally brought to earth in Tomoka's luggage. In both versions, Miharu adopts her as a pet, although in the anime she originally wondered if Ebi would taste good. She resembles a plump miniature seal with the face of a cat and a pair of large bobbing antenna, which causes Miharu to claim she resembles a shrimp and is where her name came from (ebi being the Japanese word for shrimp). Ebi in the anime suffers a great deal of torment at the hands of Tomoka, who uses her as a flail, fishing bait, a handball, etc. On one occasion, Tomoka transformed Ebi into a small green-haired girl to show off her magical knowledge, although in the manga Tomoka only did it briefly, as Yukinari and Kirie paid more attention to the transformed Ebi than to her. Ebi is surprisingly intelligent, and during a Mahjong match in the anime, she thought through the entire play in her mind. Unfortunately, Tomoka was a novice and Ebi couldn't speak human language, rendering her plan fruitless. Ebi in the anime is also able to shoot a powerful beam attack (called the E-beam by Tomoka) from her mouth.

Voiced by: Tomoko Kaneda/Fumihiko Tachiki (Japanese)

Minor characters

Maharu Sena Kanaka (マハル·セナ·カナカ), Miharu's well-endowed older sister. She is very determined and won't hesitate to use violence to get her way. Although initially jealous of Miharu's relationship with Yukinari, she later gave her blessing for them to be together. Much to Yukinari's dismay, that does not stop her from flirting and fondling him whenever she gets a chance. Due to Seiren's low male population and the fact that she's inching dangerously close to 30, Maharu assigns both Koyomi and Tomoka to find a man of her own on earth. Though flirtatious, she is, in fact, quite picky by Seiren standards, rejecting Fukuyama immediately upon discovering his perverted nature. In the end of the anime she asks Hayate if he would like to get married, but an answer was not given.

Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (Japanese), Megan Hollingshead (English, credited as Karen Thompson)

Hayate (疾風), one of Lisa's attendants. While he only makes a handful of appearances in the manga, Hayate in the anime forms a strong rivalry/friendship with Tomoka, and the two occasionally battle one another in friendly duels. Hayate is a very calm, loyal, and serious individual who will go to great lengths for his mistress, Lisa; this usually involves doing some sort of research or private investigating. Tomoka nicknames him "ninja" because of his stealthy ways, only revealing himself when attending to Lisa, or to attack.

Voiced by: Takanori Hoshino (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English)

Kosame (小雨), Lisa's second attendant. She has only a small role in the manga but in the anime, after a battle with Kirie, becomes completely infatuated with her. Her obsession is so strong that just being in Kirie's presence is enough to make Kosame either grope or make some other pass at her, which usually requires Hayate to rein her in. When not fawning over Kirie, Kosame is as stoic a figure as Hayate and frequently uses her gun to either pry information out of others or to force them into doing her bidding. In the anime she is also a considerably stronger fighter than Kirie.

Voiced by: Nozomi Masu (Japanese), Robin Rhodpa (English)

Mamoru Machida (町田 守 Machida Mamoru), a classmate of Yukinari's who is obsessed with cleanliness and dons an alter-ego, Lightning Squadron Mamo Ranger, (a parody of Super Sentai or Power Rangers in the US) in the pursuit of his passion, although at first glance his 'squadron' consists of only him. Extremely accident prone, he tends to cause more problems than he solves, whereupon his deluded sense of reality causes him to blame his "villainous opponents." In the manga, he later drafts the others into the Mamo Rangers, although they want absolutely nothing to do with it. In the anime, Mamoru becomes an apprentice to Lilica which turns him from a mild annoyance into a serious threat to public safety.

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino (Japanese), Sam Riegal (English, credited as Sam Regal)

Lilica Stacy (梨々花·ステイジー Ririka Suteijī), Kazuharu's chief maid. She is even stronger than Kirie, having fought in military operations in Bosnia, Somalia, Chechnya and Afghanistan. Lilica is highly intelligent and is often seen with a laptop, which serves various purposes, such as operating the mechanical devices within the Fukuyama mansion and deploying surveillance software from a spy satellite orbiting earth. (This is how Fukuyama constantly finds Koyomi and the others.) In the anime, Lilica took on Mamoru Machida as an apprentice after being impressed by his desire to protect the world from grime and dirt. She is also occasionally hinted to be in love with Fukuyama.

Voiced by: Natsuko Kuwatani (Japanese), Wendy Tomson (English)

Nanae Kuh Haruka (ナナエ·クウ·ハルカ Nanae Kū Haruka), Koyomi and Tomoka's superior in the Space Travel Agency. Nanae is in charge of the missing persons department and assigns agents to find and retrieve residents of Seiren who have accidentally been transported to Earth. At the end of the anime, she helps Maharu contact Yukinari so that the others can rescue Miharu.

Voiced by: Yukiko Iwai (Japanese)

Hijiri Kanata (彼方 ヒジリ Kanata Hijiri), a very strict teacher at Yukinari's high school. In the anime, she was actually a spy for Yukina, whose mission was to observe and eventually kidnap Miharu. Hijiri had been obsessed with Miharu since they were both children, and Yukina promised to give Miharu to her in exchange for helping her achieve her goals. After being defeated by Kirie however, Hijiri forgot about Miharu and began to lust after Kirie instead, something that neither Kazuharu nor Kosame took very lightly.

Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa (Japanese), Erica Shaffer (English)

Yukina (ユキナ), the ruthless head of Seiren's Space Management Bureau's Special Forces Division, who also has the power of Seikon like Miharu and Koyomi. Because of her slight build and her Seikon markings that completely cover her body, Yukina felt that no man would ever love her and thus developed a condition that causes her to break out in hives upon contact with men, similar to Yukinari and his allergy to women (hence her name being similar to his). Her illness and anti-masculine prejudices are what cause Yukina to determine that if she couldn't be loved by men then no one in Seiren would. At the end of the series, Yukina has her lieutenant Hijiri kidnap Miharu and bring her back to Seiren so Yukina could steal Miharu's power and use it to permanently seal the gateway to Earth and make Seiren a "women-only paradise". But after being shown kindness by Yukinari, Yukina returned Miharu and even fell in love with Yukinari the end of episode 13 season 2 Miharu is scene waking up Yukinari telling him what they're having for breakfast and when she lifts the covers she sees Yukina snuggling with Yukinari who's allergic reaction has returned and then Yukina declares that "Yukinari is my one true love and I will never leave him". Yukina is first revealed in the second season episode 13

Voiced by: Sakura Nogawa (Japanese), Elise Baughman (English)

The Boss, an anime exclusive character. The Boss is a tall and heavy set man of few words dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and is usually accompanied by a loud-mouthed sidekick in a blue leisure suit. He and his companion cross Yukinari and the others' paths throughout the series, but the Boss does not speak until after Miharu is kidnapped. He then helps Yukinari realize that the only way to get Miharu back is to fight for her with everything he's got. When his sidekick later asks why he never spoke before, the Boss shrugs and replies that he simply never had anything to say.

Mrs. Sasaki, Yukinari's mother who appears only in the manga. As Yukinari kept Miharu a secret from her, Mrs. Sasake began to fear that the strange occurrences in her house were due to a ghost, but eventually decided not to worry about it since all the "ghost" did was eat all the food. She is not seen past the manga's first volume.

Hakana, a ghost who appeared at Fukuyama's private hot spring when Yukinari and company paid a visit. Her actual name is only mentioned in the credits. She was attacked by a peeping tom one night, and died when she slipped and hit her head while chasing him. Now she wants to cross on to the afterlife, but to do so, she must fulfill her revenge against a pervert. Yukinari, the dubbed pervert in question, was nominated to fondle her while she inhabited one of the girls. Lisa attempted to be the host, but it failed, and Kirie was possessed instead. Kirie's subconscious tried to resist the groping, and Hakana realized it was because of her feelings for him. Then, the two hugged, and Hakana passed on.

Voiced by: Ai Shimizu (Japanese), Tara Platt (English)

Television anime

The anime version of Girls Bravo ran for two seasons: the first season with 11 episodes and the second season with 13 episodes. The TV broadcast of season 1 became infamous due to its relatively conservative broadcasting; most of the objectionable content was censored with shadowing, steam, and digital editing. The TV broadcast of season 2 and DVD versions of both seasons did not have the censoring. The series ran mostly at very late nights due to the sexual content.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girls_Bravo


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