Daily Archives: Thursday, December 25, 2008

12 Moments of Anime Day 12 – The Tragic Life of Yuuko Amamiya

By | December 25, 2008 at 11:55 am | 3 comments

In a way, I hate to wrap up this project with this episode, especially with this post going out on Christmas Day (which itself is rather ironic if you know Yuuko’s story), but I found  episode 6 of ef – a tale of melodies to probably have the single most impactful moment in any anime series in 2008 that I’ve seen, and thus wanted to save it for last.

Yuuko's Broken Past

Watching the series, I knew for a while that Yuuko wasn’t telling Yuu something, and that something was probably up between Yuuko and her adoptive brother.  However, to have it plopped down like it was in such a bare and upfront manner just made a shocking story all that much more disturbing.  This episode probably single-handedly made ef – a tale of melodies the best series of the year, with many of the other excellent episodes being icing on top.

The shocking and disturbing nature of the scene and the overall writing and way it was presented, put into the show in the way that it was, makes the tale of the Tragic Life of Yuuko Amamiya my final, and top, of the 12 Moments of Anime in 2008.

The 12 Moments of Anime project is the brainchild of CCY.

Funimation’s New Show A-Go-Go Day 4: Nabari no Ou

By | December 25, 2008 at 6:17 am | No Comments

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through animeland, not a creature was stirring, except the Funimation people announcing Nabari no Ou as their Christmas special new license.

That’s right, Funimation gives us our first completely new show in the wee hours of Christmas morning by giving us Nabari no Ou.  Now, I didn’t see this series – which ran in Japan just this April through October – but I seem to remember hearing a lot of good things about it.  Funimation’s webpage for the series has this write-up:

Miharu Rokujo is content to live an introverted, apathetic life, but destiny has other plans for him. Trapped inside this young boy lurks the powerful secrets of the Shinra Banshou – a ninja art powerful enough to control the world. Forced to join the school’s Nindo Club for his own safety, Miharu is introduced to covert members of the hidden ninja world Nabari. If the boy is to survive, he must rely on Kumohira, the club’s advisor, who vows to discover a method for removing the clandestine powers that could one day make Miharu the Ruler of Nabari.

Funimation also said that they would release the series in two 13-episode sets, but did not say when the first set would be released other than just saying “2009.”

This is the first true “surprise” announcement that I can tell, as I never saw anyone suggest this title from any of the clues that Funimation provided.

In any case, the count is now:

Actual New Shows: 1
Geneon Rescues: 3