Today is just like every other Monday,and that means a new episode of the ESH Podcast will be available to all who desire it. Ninjasistah and Pandalcious decide to make this episode anime-esque
and packed it with as much anime as the girls could muster.

Ninja starts the show with Majikoi Oh! Samurai Girls

Pandalicious finishes up with some ramblings about Umineko No Naku Koro Ni. She talks about the anime as well as the visual novel she has been playing.
Whether the sistah's are debating the appropriate demographics of anime harems, or arguing how incest could be seen as a logical explanation for a story arc--it will always bring laughter.

So here is ESH Podcast 277: Never Tell the Lord of Purgatory That You're Bored.

Oh! and just in case you were curious here are the runner up titles for this week show:

A Very Special, Uh, Unique, Uh, Abnormal Episode

Subbed or Dubbed -- Now It's Your Pick

The Guy Spanks a General. Hijinks Ensue.

Peering Inside a Man's Being? There's an App for That

This Is Not the Yuno You Know

No, This Anime Is Not Part of Some Prince Trilogy

You Had Me All the Way Up To the Incest

As anime likes to do from time to time, this is a period in the Rouroni Kenshin TV timeline, just retold from a different perspective. The Rurouni Kenshin: Shin Kyoto-Hen OAV will be screened in Japan in December.

Persona 4 is a GREAT game. The Persona series has grown into one of the best RPG series of all time, and it deserves praise. So what happens when you take that plot and turn it into an animated series? For one thing, you don't get something for everyone.

Every day is great here.

I've seen the first episode of Persona 4: The Animation, and now I can see why the previous Persona anime was made. Making such a faithful translation of a Persona game, instead of just using the core concepts, does good things for one group and one group only: Persona fans.

Here's my copy of Persona 4. Where's yours?

I don't think it's impossible to be interested in this anime with no prior knowledge of Persona or Persona 4, but I think Persona 4: The Animation moves along at such a pace that it almost feels like a couple invited you out  to dinner, and all that they talked about were inside jokes and references. It's not like there's a lot of winking and nodding going on, but for those of us who have played the game, we get more out of this show than the uninitiated.

Check out Persona 4 on The Anime Network or Hulu (I recommend downloading Hulu Desktop as well) and tell me If I'm wrong on my assumptions about this show.

Pandalicious is up first with her hands-on intro review of zombie survival 101, I mean, Dead Island. She breaks down the basics of controls, game mechanics and even shares a few tactics for your first few hours of playthrough of the game. NinJa even joins in on the conversation as she's been side-seat-gaming the title with Panda from the jump.

Rounding out the show, NinJa drops the 4-1-1 on FUNimation's controversy creating manga turned anime series Dance in the Vampire Bund. Sure it has a funny name. Yes, it has vampires. Sure there's sexual situations with obviously underage looking (or just blatantly underage) kids. What more could you want? Werewolves? Why not? You've been good.

Get a frosty beverage because it's time to enjoy ESH Podcast Episode 261: Some of the Undead Aren't Playing by the Established Rules

Kite is a brutally violent (and in the uncensored version, pornographic) anime about a young female assassin. Kite spun off into a TV series called Mezzo Forte Danger Service Agency, and then had a "sequel" called Kite: Liberator, which was not too well received. No sir, not well received at all.

If you had no idea about these anime, here's something to catch you up

I would say that Kite is not a difficult anime to translate in live action, but the director of the first Kite couldn't even serve up a decent sequel. So, uh, good luck David R. Ellis! Godspeed.

Japan's funniest cartoon about butlers is making his television return!

According to the "99th volume" of Hayate The Combat Butler (which is only available to those who see the butler's debut movie Heaven is a Place on Earth) a third season has been officially green-lit into production. The head editor of Hayate and Nagi's adventures Takashi Kumagai had revealed in January that the next step after the film had already been put into motion, and the manga creator Kenjiro Hata had posted (in English, surprisingly) that a third season was to start production back in April.

Hayate The Combat Butler follows a boy named Hayate who must pay off a 156 million yen debt by serving as a butler for a girl named Nagi. Viz Media has licensed the manga, and Bandai Entertainment has been distributing the first season in America. Both seasons are available to view on Crunchyroll.

NinJa starts it off with a question about retro versus current gaming, and the answers the ladies come up with just might surprise you...

Air Gear: You'll believe a big dude can skate

Speaking of more awesome, it's time to grab a frosty beverage, kick back and enjoy ESH Podcast Episode 257: It Took 210 Episodes, But Panda Finally Watches Air Gear

It's been quite some time since LSB has crossed my mind. I was obsessed with their first album, singing and screaming the lyrics to "LeetStreet Fighter" and "Masquerade". I also would internally sing the lyrics to "Yuri the Only One"- daydreaming about finding my only one. These are common traits in any anime fan girl. (Got a problem with that?)

Apparently, I've been living under a rock for the last six or so months. Awareness has set in that LSB has released their second album "Otaku Hearts". The latest music video got it's debut at Otakon this year, while the rest of the LSB fanbase eagerly awaited it's internet release.

If you are a fan of this band and haven't had your taste for them satisfied- take a view of the spiritual successor to "Yuri the Only One" entitled "She's So Kawaii" here.

They have some of their other songs from this new album on YouTube all ready for your earholes--so go take a listen

Need to know what is going on with LSB? You can get all your LSB related news on their website http://www.leetstreetboys.com/ Check out when their next appearance will be, watch some of their other music videos, read their hilarious webcomics. I wasn't disappointed, and hopefully neither will you.

Fuck yeah!

When your Dad's the Devil himself, you've got a lot to live up to. Although it's turned his world upside down, teenager Rin Okumura hasn't let it get to him. He's a half demon who's determined to become a powerful exorcist and, well, check out the screencap above.

Rin is a twin (rhymed!) who got all the cool demon-y power, while his brother is just your basic human. They were brought up by a priest who led them away from evil, but eventually Satan came to collect his son. The concept of someone being the son of the devil is good enough for me to take a ride with an anime, but  an anime also has to have likeable characters and a plot that doesn't make you grind your teeth. Blue Exorcist has funny and interesting characters, ducks a few shounen action cliches, and the animation is above average. Blue Exorcist is not a great anime, but while it still airs, it's a fun supernatural action title to watch from week to week and deserves to be on the air for many seasons to come.

Seriously, it does.

We survived Pandalicious' birthday celebration. We survived the 4th of July celebration. Then we rested. Now, we have a new episode of our weekly podcast for you, and this one is all anime!

Not only that, it's all anime reviews and opinions from the ladies of ESH (and special guest hosts) that were too long for previous episodes – that's right kids, it's a CLIP SHOW!!! In this gathering of audio awesomeness we have some bits on Bleach, Heroman, xxxHolic, zombies in anime and the ultimate streaming battle: Crunchyroll vs. battle: NetFlix.

Enjoy ESH Podcast Episode 253: We Found Anime on the Cutting Room Floor

Image used by courtesy of Jason Sperger

DO YOU LIKE FLAMING AURAS? Of course you do, case closed!! Alright, so maybe not everyone appreciates everything that goes with shounen fighting anime, but for many people across the world, tournaments and supernatural battles were their bread and butter. Shounen Jump knows this very well, and that's why Toriko became a manga, and now an anime.

Toriko has bits and pieces of shounen we know sown on its chest. A muscular hero wearing orange has a big appetite and a great amount of raw fighting power. That describes a hero from at least three anime. Still, Toriko's hook is that it it is more ridiculous and preposterous than any fighting anime running right now.

Toriko takes place not in a post apocalyptic world, but in a world where crazy food oddities are happening. Fruit isn't just being grown on trees, but also pancakes. Rivers are flowing with butter. It's out of some dream that a person starving in the desert would have! On top of great foods just growing everywhere, there are mighty beasts stalking the earth, beasts as big as dinosaurs, stalking the earth. Toriko is one of the mighty Gourmet Hunters who is tough and talented enough to beat these beasts and make a good meal out of him.

What makes Toriko different, besides the culinary theme, is that Toriko is already a powerful guy. He's already legendary, and now he's just on a journey to put together his Full Course Menu. Torkio caters to people who like dumb things. I think shounen anime fans are a base audience for this, but it's awfully silly. If you have to ask "how would that be possible" you wont even make it through one episode of this show.

This screencap hurts. Trust me.

If you went into this anime with no knowledge about this anime, and what the main thrust of the plot was, you would think it was about a plucky teenage girl with a nice personality living her life in the city. That's only a part of the deal. This is a "city gal comes to the country" story, but this story is not just a silly comedy.

Matsumae is a girl with an eccentric Mom. One day her Mom just decides to skip out on her house and leave with her boyfriend. Oh, and she also doesn't want to take Matsumae with her; great parenting. Even though they have a severely estranged relationship with one another, Matsumae's Mom sends her to live with her Mom, the grandmother Matsumae has never met. It gets worse from there.

Matsumae's arrival at her Grandmother's inn doesn't go well. At one point, she's told to "die." What a welcome! Then, at the climax of the first episode, we get the screencap you've already seen. This is a slice of life anime, but what I like about it is that this is not a happy, dull tale. Hanasaku Iroha looks to be more engaging than other anime of its ilk. I don't mind seeing the struggle of a fish out of water. One can only hope that it does not become predictable.

The Avengers? No. Justice League? Uh-uh.

Ahh. Like having an ice-cold soda, watching Tiger and Bunny is very refreshing. Tiger & Bunny not only warms my anime-loving heart, but it gives my Superhero comic-loving self a tickle on top of that. I say this, but I don't think this is a show that has you saying "WOW, where have you been all my life?" by the end of the first episode. It is not a bad first episode in any way, but this is not a stunning classic.

What Tiger & Bunny can be called is a show that you will continually be entertained by, week after week. To do that is not a feat most TV shows can promise. Tiger & Bunny is, at first, the story of Kotetsu Kaburagi, codename Wild Tiger. Wild Tiger is one of the heroes who save Stern Bild City (don't ask me why they named it so strangely), but Wild Tiger is not the type of hero fit for this futuristic world. You see, in this world, superheroes not only save the day, but they also get points for saving people and capturing the bad guys. Imagine if the cards, books, and various character-related paraphernalia we own had a real-life hero attached to it; this is that world.

With the sagging popularity of Wild Tiger, and the fact that Kotetsu is not as young as he used to be,  the corporation he works for is bought up, and Kotetsu gets a partner. Barnaby Brooks (AKA Bunny, as Kotetsu calls him) is not Tiger's sidekick, but with Tiger being older and more experienced, you wonder why he isn't.  Both Tiger and Bunny are given mech suits which give them 5 minutes of super power. This is, ah, a strange point of the show. Why do these guys need super suits when they both have their own super powers? I guess it's to be more durable and strong in battle. Never mind that. Just a nitpick.

What should be focused on are the relationships between all these superheroes. Tiger & Bunny is funny oftentimes, and has moments of seriousness, usually involving Barnaby's quest for justice. There is only so much I can say about Tiger & Bunny in words. Tiger and Bunny is visually impressive, from its CGI superhero models to the regular character designs and the cityscape. Tiger & Bunny is for people who love tokusatsu like Power Rangers, magical girls, American superheroes or just an action-comedy shows. The show is one of my favorite of Spring '11.

This is a robot with a wind up key in her back, chasing a cat. For reals.

Hmm. Hmm. Where to start with this show?

IT'S TOTALLY CRAZY!!

Nichijou (My Ordinary Life) is what happens when a slice-of-life comedies goes insane. I don't watch  many comedies, and with good reason; it's hard to get me to laugh. My Ordinary Life succeeds, for its weirdness alone. My Ordinary Life is both about school life and about nothing at all. The characters are used as props for absolutely lunatic situations. I love laughing out loud, and this show is the funniest anime I've watched in a while.

What makes this show so funny is how it exaggerates situations. Usually we go throughout our lives and odd or unfortunate things may happen. You might drop some of your lunch on the floor, for example. Now imagine if most of your life was done with anime speed lines, loud screaming, silly, expressions and total non-sequiturs. Each character has their own style of funny, which keeps the laughs going for the length of a show. Also, goats.

I've read My Ordinary Life being compared to Lucky Star (which I have not seen yet), so if you like that show, here's more for you!

Yeah, so, ah, this is Gundam AGE. It's a show, about Gundam. At least it looks that way, at times. The look of this new Gundam is the biggest departure from Gundam's look since G Gundam, maybe? That doesn't even begin to properly describe what is so non-Gundam about this trailer.

The first "issue" is the character design. Even Gundam Unicorn, which had character designs that harken back to the original series, is a better fit for the Gundam universe than this. The characters, namely the boy hero, looks like he was plucked out of some second-rate Pokemon.

If you keep your focus on this boy, you realize that he could probably be the youngest Gundam pilot of any title in the series. How old is this kid, 8? How young is the limit for someone to hop into a bi-pedal fiery war machine?

A smaller "issue" are the enemy units, which look more like creatures than mobile suits. Not too big of a problem, because mecha tend to be treated basically as living beings anyway.

While I can see why this promotional video has twice as many dislikes as it does likes, appears to be trying to reuse elements of the classic Gundam shows while they are also designing it for a youthful audience.

Less panty shots, more of this!

In less than 30 seconds, We Without Wings- under the Innocent Sky went from being interesting to being the same panty-waving drivel I usually ignore.

I don't recall ever come across an anime that is in such a rush to introduce the harem so quickly as this show does. We open on Haneda, a personality-less, lucky-as-hell, unworthy-of-all-this-attention dude, attacked and fawned over on his way to school, even by a girl who is related to him. Although this looks like some kind of trite nonsense, I will give We Without Wings some credit. The bits where we hear the narrator commenting on the story is fun, and there are a few nice visual flourishes, but it still is not enough to keep my attention. Yes, I denounce this anime even though provides me with quick profiles of all its characters.

CHARACTERS

Otori - a cigarette-smoking man unmoved by anything. He seems like

Karube - a man who's slightly older than his mat; bearded

Shusuke- someone who is way too excited about everything

Alice- A foreigner who is learning to speak English. She is QUITE YOUNG.

Hino- she's like Otori's other half. She's a jerk, too, and Otori looks down upon her, just like he looks down upon everyone else.

Narita- An unemployed guy who acts like he has morals, instead of admitting he's broke.

Mochizuki- A girl who works at the Alexander Bar while taking classes at cram school.

Martinez- The token black guy. So if he's in japan, is he a Super Token? At least he speaks better Japanese than Alice does. He sells trinkets on the sidewalk.

There are more character, but these many introductions may be tiring. How many characters are in this thing? There are more characters here than in Durarara!!

Oh yeah, back to Haneda. Haneda talks in flowery language, about his destined lover and nonsense of that sort. He is BO-RING! I would rather watch any of the other characters than this crashing dullard, and I am afraid there will be more of him on the show than their should be. Then there are the gratuitous panty shots. I LOVE sexual content, in anime or in live action, but something as lame as a panty shot is self-censored in this anime, so it's useless pandering. Ah, We Without Wings. I wish you luck, but I think you might deserve to go down the drain.

If you're a fan of the Blade movies, then keep your eyes on G4TV this summer. G4 has the rights to show all the Marvel/Madhouse collaborations, which are: Iron Man, X-men, Wolverine and Blade.

The most information you can get is at the official site. It's Japanese, but some of the site is in plain English.

Nyapire could either turn out to be the cutest thing to ever be created in Japan, or the deadliest threat to all mankind. Hopefully it gets streamed somewhere so we can all find out!

It's always cool to hear people outside of anime fandom covering the Japanese artform we all love.

Check out this clip to hear anime fans and supporters interviewed at a recent Philly anime convention

Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition

This week, Pandalicious starts off the show talking about some new anime she's been watching on Netflix which includes the short (but oh so brutal) series Rin Daughters of Mnemosyne where the lead character Rin is an immortal woman who is made to suffer some serious bodily harm, and ludicrous sexual situations. Then Ninjasistah chimes in adding the yaoi-esque Mirage of Blaze series currently streaming on Hulu which follows a weird "through-time-and-space" relationship between the main protagonist Takaya Ohgi and love sick vassel, Nobutsuna Naoe.

Then it's on to video games as the ladies discuss their reactions to playing the upcoming Warner Bros. reboot of the video game classic - Mortal Kombat.

Yes, it's S&M, man-rape and fatalities this week on the ESH Podcast...would you have it any other way? Grab a cold beverage, maybe even grab a pair of headphones because this episode is definitely not kiddie (or work) safe and enjoy ESH Podcast Episode 240: Never Judge an Anime By Its Cover (Unless It's Hentai)

I apologize for leaving this show off of my anime preview. I only covered shows which were being offered for free, and through legal outlets. To my surprise, Freezing is available through Funimation screening, thereby making it also available on Hulu.

Freezing is a story set in a time where aliens have invaded the planet and it's up to girls given special abilities to stop them. Our main character is Satellizer El Bridget, the "Untouchable Queen" who has been undefeated in combat. She is one of the many girls who attend a school where these female soldiers are trained.

Satellizer got her nickname because she has an aversion to being touched; that's where a boy named Kazuya Aoi comes in. Aoi is the only one who can touch Aoi without her being disgusted by it. In fact, she feels OK with Aoi touching her.

The relationship between males and females in Freezing has a purpose besides sexual tension. Only females are outfitted with the nanotechnology that allows them to become Pandoras, fighters who can materialize weapons from thin air, fight with superhuman prowess, and regenerate clothing and even body parts.

The boys work as limiters. They limit the Pandoras. Basically it's just a reason made up to get boys and girls paired up for some romantic situations, or some naughty fanservice.

The antagonist so far is Ganessa Roland. She is Satellizer's rival, and someone who does not have a limiter.

So if you want the Cliff's Notes on Freezing, here you go!

(Censored) Boobs!

Drama!

Action!

More (Censored) Boobs!

(Censored) Butt cheeks!

Other (Censored) Lady Parts!

So there you have it! Freezing is a bit more graphic and just as naughty as a series like Ikki Tousen. If you like violence with your panty shots and partially naked women, you can stop looking This anime was made for you.

The Funimation stream is censored, and I don't know why. Just put some age restrictions in place and let the grown folk have what they want! The censorship is hideous. It doesn't even fit in well enough with the animation and therefore gets in the way. If you decide to search for  an unauthorized stream, I couldn't blame you, really. This seems like a ploy to get people to buy the DVD/Blu-ray, even though the only stated reason is to keep the wrong eyes from watching mature content.

Watch again? No. I don't think I want to fit this show into my daily anime schedule.

Who is this for? Anyone desperately seeking boobs or light guro.

Ninja kicks off the show sharing her thoughts on some recent anime series she has watched - first Kore wa Zombie desu ka which she briefly mentioned a couple of episodes ago and then adds the newly watched (but not newly released) Xenosaga series. From light hearted harem series to quasi-dramatic sci-fi romp in under an hour with only one tangent or two before Pandalicious picks up the mic to talk about the series Monster.

This episode is special as we deliver it as our small way if contributing to the relief efforts taking place in Japan. If you can, please support these efforts by donating to the Red Cross Foundation or the 1Love.org group to help those in need.

With that, tuck yourself in and enjoy Episode 239: Forever and Ever and Ever I Get It I Get It I Get It