After a brief comedy interlude courtesy of  Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu ,  the FMP franchise returned to its more serious roots in 2005 with the release of Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid . Set three months after the conclusion of the first season, this season was significantly shorter than the first (13 episodes plus an OVA as opposed to 24 episodes) and once again animated by Kyoto Animation rather than Gonzo. Following the hijacking of Tuatha de Danaan submarine in the last season, life has seemingly returned to normal for Sousuke Sagara - both in his role as a Mythril soldier and student at Jindai High School. That is until Mythril learn of a secret organisation known as "Amalgam", that has been orchestrating conflict behind the scenes and access to Whispered technology. As Mythril attempts to uncover Amalgam, Sousuke must face his own demons as he is split apart from Kaname Chidori and his ability to pilot the Arbalest Arm Slave is called into question. Sousuke...

Superhero figures are great, but where's the fun if there's no villains for them to fight? While this next review isn't the first Super Sentai villain to appear in the S.H. Figuarts line (that honour would go to Shinkenger's Juzo), its by far the most exciting. Released as a Tamashii web exclusive last year was Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger's star villain Basco ta Jolokia (in his monster form), in an extra special 2-pack that also included a Figuarts Zero (an alternate line of non-poseable statues) of his simian partner-in-crime Sally. The box is a rarity among the Figuarts line, as its one of the few releases that doesn't have a standard window box. The figures are fully covered, with the front of the box depicting the two figures alongside their names and Basco's personal logo. One thing to note is that the packaging refers to the character as "Vasco" rather than "Basco". From what I gather this is because in Japanese B's and ...

While all six members of the Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger  crew have been available in Bandai's S.H. Figuarts line for almost a year now, that doesn't mean there aren't still a few more figure possibilities for the 35th anniversary Super Sentai  team. While the most obvious release would have probably Gokai Silver's gold mode, online store ToeiHero.net had some different (and more festive) plans for their exclusive figure. With a release date in December last year, its only fitting that the figure in question is Gokai Christmas - a special one-off suit that appeared in episode 44 of the series when Gokai Silver combined the powers of the Gokai Red and Green ranger keys. In true Christmas fashion, Gokai Christmas comes in possibly the gaudiest box imaginable. A festive blend of red and green stripes, with the words "Gokai X'mas" emblazoned in white text with gold trimming. The front of the box also features the ToeiHero.net logo as a sign of its exc...

After  Strike Witches came and gave a new spin on the world of magical girls, A-1 Pictures have gone and created their own series where trousers on the main characters may or may not be entirely optional. This is of course Vividred Operation, a new 12-episode series that will be airing over the next few months. In the near future, humanity's energy crisis has been solved by a giant generator known as the Manifestation Engine. It's creator's granddaughter, Akane Isshiki, lives a peaceful life until one day the generator is attacked by an alien lifeform her grandfather identifies as the Alone. After having his consciousness accidentally transported into a stuffed animal, he presents Akane with a strange key and the two race off toward the Engine, leaving her younger sister in charge of the house. When Akane's friend Aoi gets caught up in the battle, Akane uses the key to unlock a special battle suit known as the Vivid System. As far as first episodes go, Vividred ...

A new section for this year, here I'm going to look at the first episode of new series that come out over the course of 2013, giving my first impressions on them and what my expectations are, if any, for future episodes. The first of these will deal with the latest offering from anime studio Kyoto Animation (whose previous works include K-On! , Haruhi Suzumiya  and Lucky Star ), titled Tamako Market . Bearing very similar character design to that of K-On! , this series is currently slated to run for 12 episodes. Tamako Kitashirakawa is the eldest daughter of a mochi shop-owning family in her town's bustling shopping district. One day while running her errands she encounters a strange talking bird named Dera Mochimazzi, an attendant of a foreign prince who has come in search of a bride for his master. The series will follow the life of Tamako, her friends and their interactions with this strange bird. Straight away its clear that this show lives up to Kyoto's standard...

While video gaming reviews aren't a regular feature on this blog, every so often there comes a game which I feel I should make an exception for. The original Epic Mickey game for the Nintendo Wii came out of nowhere and quickly became one of my favourite Wii games, so you can imagine my excitement when not one, but two  sequels were announced. While the first was a straight console sequel entitled The Power of Two (which I'm currently playing through and will be reviewing in the near future), the second was a lot more interesting. Not only was it a 2D side-scrolling handheld title for the 3DS, but a spiritual sequel to the excellent Mickey Mouse: Castle of Illusion  game for the Sega Mega Drive (or Genesis if you'd prefer). With the weight of two great games behind it, is Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion  a game worthy of both legacies? Apparently set after the events of The Power of Two (although outside the game manual there's no indication of this), the game se...

As anyone who watched the first season of Medaka Box  will know, things were turned up a notch in the final few episodes and things seemed to move in a drastically different direction. Turns out this was just a teaser of what was to come, as the all-powerful Student Council President and her band of merry men return for a second season, this time titled Medaka Box Abnormal. Once again it ran for 12 episodes (between October and December 2012), animated by Gainax and based on the ongoing manga series of the same name. Following her battle with Myouri Unzen, Medaka Kurokami is warned of and then subsequently invited to join the Flask Plan - a project to forcefully experiment on Normal students to turn them into Abnormals, humans with superhuman abilities. After seeking training from her perverted brother Maguro - a man whose abnormality allows him to develop the most suitable methods to bring out the greatest potential in an individual, the Student Council head underground to t...