On the Verge of Lunacy

The technologically advanced world of 2046 is the setting for this 24-episode series. Most people at this time use Neuro-Linkers to access the Internet, interact online and explore virtual and augmented worlds. This neuro-linker is worn like a collar and can interact with the brain. Hardcore gamer Arita Haruyuki uses this technology constantly to get away from his miserable life at Umesato Junior High School despite having good friends like Mayuzumi Takumu and Kurashima Chiyuri. Fat, short and timid, Haru is a target for bullies. In one of his bad days, he plays squash where he has always dominated the scoreboards. Unfortunately, even in that game someone finally bested him. The intruder Kuroyukihime was impressed by Haru's abilities and wants to be friends with him. His complete opposite, Kuroyukihime is good-looking and famous which only made Haru more suspicious of her intentions. Kuroyukihime and Haru Kuroyukihime and Haru in their avatars The next d...

This 25-episode series about virtual gaming and it effects to the players. It is divided into two arcs. The first arc (episodes 1 to 14) is set in Sword Art Online, tagged the first virtual game world. Players have to go through one hundred floors of the Aincrad Castle to beat the game. However, the game has a catch. If a player fails to survive a fight, both his virtual and real bodies die. Moreover, once the game starts, no one is allowed to log out until someone reaches the last boss. Meanwhile, the second arc (episodes 15 to 25) is set in Alfheim Online. It's similar to SAO but players can log out and no one will die if the characters is defeated. In this game, players are divided into different elf races. The ultimate goal is to reach the top of the World Tree. Kirito At the start of the series, a gaming system called Nerve Gear is introduced. Players need to put on a head gear to access the game and control their character's actions; quite differe...

Hinata Ema becomes a stepsister of thirteen boys of the Asahina family when her father decided to remarry. She moves in to the family's apartment complex and found it was easy to get along with her new brothers. Being the only child of Hinata Rintaro who always traveled, she found this an opportunity to finally have a real family. However her pet squirrel Juli thinks she has to be careful around the boys because they might try to do something to her. Her 13 stepbrothers are the ff.: doctor and eldest Asahina Masaomi; lawyer Ukyo who is also the family cook; monk Kaname who took a liking to her the first time she came to the apartment; novelist Hikaru who loves to cross-dress and tease his brothers about their feelings for Ema; triplets Tsubaki, Azusa, and Natsume who are the most expressive of their feelings for Ema; gentle hairdresser Louis who joined Juli in looking after Ema; talented athlete Subaru; mysterious Iori who gives Ema flowers to make her feel better; Yusuk...

Isana Yashiro finds himself a target for various people when he was mistakenly identified the murderer of Totsuka Tatara, a member of the group Homra. Apparently a video evidence shows Yashiro talking to Totsuka moments before the latter's death. Soon enough Ashinaka High School becomes a battle stage for the people after Yashiro and a power struggle among clans.  Yashiro insists that he is not the man in the video but he had difficulty proving that even to the Black Hound Yatagami Kuroh who is hunting down the next Colorless King. However, Yashiro and Kuroh later form a team with Neko to escape the pursuers. From left: Yatagami Kuroh, Isana Yashiro and Neko Set in the futuristic Shizume City, this 13-episode series follows moments of Yashiro's life after the accusation and the different stories of the clans led by kings who are designated seven colors. These clans have members with psychic powers, the strongest are called kings. The rich animation ...

Nikaido Akira is a carefree high school student who enjoys cutting classes, sports and yet manages to still be one of the top students in school. When he met an entity from the shadow world, his normal high school life changed when he was forced to become a shin and pair up with Shirogane to restore balance in the world. Whatever nonsense Shirogane has been telling him about the shadow world is no joke at all, as he soon learns when he had his first fight. Akira's role in the struggle takes on a different meaning however when he finds out that he has more at stake than his easy life and his friends. This 24-episode series follows the adventures of Shirogane, Akira and his friends as they explore the secrets of and fight the creatures from the shadow world.  (Left) Shirogane and (right) Akira From left: Master, Suzuno Aya, Kujo Haruka, Nikaido Akira, Shirogane, and Asamura Kengo The magic or weapons used by the characters mostly come from Shirogane. Akira...

The Pendleton has a dark history of murders, suicides, and mysterious disappearances but for its current residents it was a beautiful home and a refuge from their past. A series of bizarre events however turned this sanctuary into a trap.  2011 marks the 38th year since the last gruesome event at Pendleton. The original owner Andrew North Pendleton was not its first victim. The mysterious events go back in time even before the construction of the mansion in 1880s, according to Witness, a lingering presence whose motives are still yet unknown.  The current residents of the apartments at Pendleton experience strange events like elevators going down 30 floors below, TV screens announcing extermination of the residents, and people wearing clothes from another era walking the hallways and then disappearing. The story is told from individual points of view of the characters including Witness and an omnipotent entity who calls itself the One. Things worsen as some reside...

Although ST☆RISH had a successful debut as a group and Haruka Nanami as a composer, they still have daunting tasks ahead of them. One of the challenges for ST☆RISH is to be able to stand on the same level and compete with other singing groups like them. While Haruka has to make more songs as quickly as possible. One sure way of getting to the top according to Shining Saotome was winning the UtaPri Award. The members have to get as much exposure and positive feedback both as individual performers and as a group before the awards night. To help them with the new tasks, they need to take the Master Course and learn from their seniors, the QUARTET NIGHT. The rest they have to do themselves. It could be stage appearances, advertisements or movies. QUARTET NIGHT ST☆RISH  with Cecil (middle) and Haruka The biggest challenge for them however is a mysterious guy named Aijima Cecil. The rest of  ST☆RISH was annoyed when they found out that Cecil and Haruka h...

The half human-half wolf detective Inaba Hiroshi is famous for solving cases by tasting people's hair. He has a private detective agency with two assistants and sometimes works with his former partner, Inspector Ogino Kuniharu.  He quit his detective work with the police when his younger brother disappeared two years ago.  Besides Hiroshi's ability with hair, he can transform into a wolf-like form and use attacks depending on the color of hair he's using.  Hiroshi and Ogino Hiroshi and Ogino will have to work together once more as they try to apprehend the mafia leader Don Valentino. Notorious for literally eating money and making counterfeit bills to replace those he ate, the goat Don Valentino is surrounded by an extremely loyal assistant, a crazed hitwoman, and a equally mad scientist. Lorenzo and the mafia boss Don Valentino Chaos starts when Hiroshi's younger brother, Haruka, shows up with the rest of NORA. Now Hiroshi not only has to de...

Souma Akira was so proud of his glasses that he formed a Glasses Club (Meganebu) at Himaraya Third Technical School where he and four others are students. Kamatani Mitsuki, Hachimine Takuma, Minabe Yukiya, and Kimata Hayato (a provisional member) share that same passion and were a constant source of trouble for teachers and schoolmates. Meganebu's ultimate goal is to create glasses that can see right through people's clothes and gain recognition from others at school.  From top left: Akira, Hayato, Yukiya From bottom left: Takuma, Mistuki, Akira with brother  Hikaru This 12-episode slice of life, comedy series does have some things to share about glasses wearers. It was meant to be light and funny, but it has long conversations and does not have a clear story the viewer can follow. Some episodes are divided into two short stories, most of which are about what to do when their megane. Near the end of the series the Meganebu members found another purpose bes...

Police officer John Calvino noticed eerily familiar details when he questioned Billy Lucas, a young man who murdered his family. Twenty years ago, John's family was murdered by Alton Turner Blackwood and John suspects that Alton played a part in the recent murder because both families were murdered almost the same way. He thinks that Alton is possessing people; how does it he hasn't found out yet. His investigations also revealed that there are other victims as well of Alton's spirit and that the murders are just a prelude of what Alton is planning to do to John's family. Meanwhile, unaware of the impending danger, John's wife Nicole and their three children have supernatural encounters at home. Like most recent Koontz books, the story is family-centered and the lead character has a traumatic past that still haunts him. The introduction seemed promising, even creepy, but when you have read so many books from the same author, you begin to see familia...

When Allen Walker joined the Black Order, he was suspected of being an akuma (demon) because of his cursed left eye, but after a brief confrontation he was confirmed as the pupil of the then-missing exorcist Cross Marian. The Black Order's supervisor Komui Lee was more than happy to welcome Allen into the family especially when he learned from Hevlaska that Allen will someday create a "destroyer of time" against the Millennium Earl. This Earl is the head of the Noah Family intent on destroying humanity. The Earl uses the bereaved's grief to convince them to call on the deceased's soul to come back to life. Consequently, they pay the price by becoming akuma that the Earl can control. These akuma are demon machines that evolve whenever they kill humans and akuma alike successfully. Allen Walker (showing the cursed eye and part of his Innocence) with Timcanpy on the left The exorcists have the ability to oppose the Earl, his akuma, and the Noah. The...

Architect Lucius Modestus may be brilliant and promising but his work is not without challenges. Bathhouses are common in Rome and Lucius felt he could improve them. However he has no idea what needed to be improved. In the year 128 AD while in a bathhouse, Lucius discovers a drain that transports him to a modern-day Japanese bathhouse. The strange things he saw in the bathhouse gave him the ideas he needed to improve those in Rome. In the next 3 episodes (3 episodes, 2 OVAs and some special episodes), whenever Lucius needs new architecture ideas he is transported to Japan every time. His "new" ideas delighted the Romans and gained him some favor from the emperor. Lucius in modern-day Japan Don't let the cover and Lucius's face turn you off. Lucius's adventures are hilarious and his reaction when he's in Japan even more fun to watch. He's got that serious look on his face every time he sees something new that might help improve his desi...