The second of my winter 2013 season anime reviews is a series that comes from A-1 Pictures and director Kazuhiro Takamura, who previously showed anime fans that the world didn't need trousers in Strike Witches. Their newest work is a 12-episode series that goes by the name of Vividred Operation , which once again pits girls wearing less than recommended against an anonymous alien threat.  Akane shows off just how little need she has for trousers Following the creation of the Manifestation Ending by self-proclaimed mad scientist Kenjirō Isshiki, mankind enjoys clean energy from the sky and a bountiful life. When the world is threatened by alien life forms identified as the Alone, Kenjirō completes his greatest experiment at the expense of trapping his mind inside the body of a small stuffed otter. He presents his granddaughter Akane with a special key, allowing her to unlock the Vivid System to grant her special powers and battle the Alone. She won't be facing...

It's that time again where the winter anime season draws to a close, allowing reviewers such as myself to share their thoughts on the weekly series they've been following for the last 12+ weeks before launching themselves into the spring season's offerings. Robotics;Notes  is a 22 episode series that began airing back in October 2012, based on the visual novel of the same name by 5pb. The story is set in the same universe as fellow visual novels Chaos;Head   and Steins;Gate , however references to either shows are fleeting, if anything at all. Akiho and Kaito, not your average robot builders The story is set in the year 2019 on the Japanese island of Tanegashima. Here the exciteable Akiho Senomiya and her laid back friend Kaito Yashio are the only members of their high school's robotics club. Their aim is to build the GunPro-1, a giant robot based on the titular robot from the anime series Gunvarrel started (but not finished) by Akiho's older sister when s...

This is a ranger key set that's been out for a quite a while now and I've never got around to getting. But thanks to Hobby Link Japan 's amazing sale recently, I managed to pick up the second Go-Busters Legend Ranger Key set for as little as £3 (plus shipping)! This second set features the Beet Buster and Stag Buster keys, who were introduced into Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters midway into the show. Rounding the set off to three keys is a Beet J Stag buddyroid key. The packaging is very similar to that seen with the first Go-Busters key set , only this time swapping the yellow backing card for a cooler blue colour and replacing the "It's Time for Buster" slogan with the more appropriate "Boost Up for Buster". One thing that's a little disappointing with this set is that the Beet and Stag Buster keys aren't metallic, with the gold and silver colouring more orange and grey. While I don't consider this a necessity (afte...

Even if you weren't a fan of the series, it can't be denied that Akibaranger's lifeline with Tamashii Nations has opened the doors for far more Super Sentai S.H. Figuarts then we may have gotten otherwise. While the releases haven't been particularly fast, fans are safe in the knowledge that they have the complete Dekaranger and Boukenger teams to look forward to (and maybe one day the remaining Jetman too). Following on from the mass release Deka Red is second in command of the Special Police Dekaranger   -   Deka Blue . Blue, much like his other three team mates (none other than the initial five have been confirmed thus far) are Tamashii Web exclusives. In-keeping with the style begun with Deka Red, Deka Blue is packaged in a predominantly blue and black box featuring the SPD logo on the window and a bold black "2" to match the character's designation. The box is of standard Figuart width, as Blue does not feature any Akibaranger rela...

Ever since 1995's  Chōriki Sentai Ohranger , the Vs. movie series has been a staple of Super Sentai shows. While for last year's anniversary series things took a different turn with Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Gavan (the Goseigers having appeared in the early 199 Heroes film) things are back on course with this year's Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters vs. Gokaiger . This hour long film fits in somewhere toward the end of the Go-Busters series (after the original Escape's death) and acts as an epilogue to Gokaiger . Across the galaxy are five Phantom ranger keys, which are able to grant unlimited power to those who possess them. Unfortunately, four of the five keys have come into the possession of Enter, who has allied himself with Bacchus Gil, nephew to Ackdos Gil and new leader of the Zangyack Empire. They return to Earth in search of the final key with an additional surprise, the Gokaigers are now working under the Zangyack! As the Go-Busters do battle with the pre...

When Power Rangers  was at its peak, children's television saw a massive influx of Japanese-adapted tokusatsu series. Other studios such as DIC tried their own shows, but Saban truly led the way with no less than four shows of this type. Power Rangers had Super Sentai  covered, and the Metal Heroes franchise was channelled into VR Troopers  and Big Bad Beetleborgs. Meanwhile the Kamen Rider   franchise saw a single Western release in the form of Masked Rider . The character himself appeared in Power Rangers season 3 for a 3-part story before appearing in his own 40-episode show between 1996 and 1997. Prince Dex, who sometimes moonlights as Kotaro Minami On the distant planet of Edenoi (where Power Rangers' Alpha-5 was created), Prince Dex has been given the powers of the Masked Rider by his grandfather King Lexion to battle his evil uncle, Count Dregon, who is intent on ruling the planet and taking the Masked Rider powers for himself. When Dregon sets h...