We post recommendations based on things you might like, video essays, comparisons and bite sized anime content to brighten your day! Follow us on your favourite social media with the links below!
For our final episode of season 4 we are joined again by Ross Chisari to talk through Magical Girl Anime. This is one of the most famous and iconic genres in all of animanga. Sam gives a brief history of the genre while Ross talks through Sailor Moon. Charlie and Ross both recount their love for another classic in Cardcaptor Sakura, then Sam brings it home with the genre subverting Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
FEATURING
Ross Chisari
Charlie
Sam
ANIME REFERENCES
Sailor Moon
Usagi Tsukino is an average student and crybaby klutz who constantly scores low on her tests. Unexpectedly, her humdrum life is turned upside down when she saves a cat with a crescent moon on its head from danger. The cat, named Luna, later reveals that their meeting was not an accident: Usagi is destined to become Sailor Moon, a planetary guardian with the power to protect the Earth. Given a special brooch that allows her to transform, she must use her new powers to save the city from evil energy-stealing monsters sent by the malevolent Queen Beryl of the Dark Kingdom.
But getting accustomed to her powers and fighting villains are not the only things she has to worry about. She must find the lost princess of the Moon Kingdom, the other Sailor Guardians, and the Legendary Silver Crystal in order to save the planet from destruction.
(Source: MAL Rewrite)
Cardcaptor Sakura
One day, Kinomoto Sakura, a 4th grader stumbles upon the mysterious book of Clow. Upon opening it and reading the name of The Windy aloud, Sakura scatters the cards to the winds. Sakura is elected and appointed by Keroberos, Guardian of the Cards to capture the remaining cards. With her friend Tomoyo and rival Syaoran, Sakura begins an adventure that will forever change her.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
One night, 14-year-old Madoka Kaname has a terrible nightmare - against the backdrop of a devastated city, she witnesses a girl fight a losing battle against a dreadful being lingering above, while a cat-like magical creature tells Madoka the only way to change such tragic outcome is for her to make a contract with him and become a magical girl.
The next day, the teen's dream seemingly becomes reality as the girl she saw in her dream - Homura - arrives at Mitakihara Middle School as a transfer student, mysteriously warning Madoka to stay just the way she is; but when later on she and her best friend Sayaka encounter the same cat-like magical creature from her dream - who introduces himself as Kyubey - the pair discovers that magical girls are real, and what's more, they can choose to become one. All they must do is sign a contract with Kyubey and agree to take on the duty to fight abstract beings called 'witches' that spread despair to the human world, and in return, each one of them will be granted any single wish they desire. However, as Homura's omen suggests, there might be far more to becoming a magical girl than Madoka and Sayaka realize...
(Source: IMDb)
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
It is the Taisho Period in Japan. Tanjiro, a kindhearted boy who sells charcoal for a living, finds his family slaughtered by a demon. To make matters worse, his younger sister Nezuko, the sole survivor, has been transformed into a demon herself. Though devastated by this grim reality, Tanjiro resolves to become a “demon slayer” so that he can turn his sister back into a human, and kill the demon that massacred his family.
DragonBall Z
Goku is back with his new son, Gohan, but just when things are getting settled down, the adventures continue. Whether he is facing enemies such as Freeza, Cell, or Boo, Goku is proven to be an elite of his own and discovers his race, Saiyan. He meets many new people, gaining allies and well as enemies, as he still finds time to raise a family and be the happy-go-lucky Saiyan he is.rn(Source: Anime News Network)
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie
When Dr. Eggman (Robotnik in the US version) holds the president and his daughter hostage, Sonic must comply to the evil scientist's demand of going to Eggmanland to stop Black Eggman and deactivate the city's generator before it reaches critical mass. Little does Sonic know that it's a trap to activate Hyper Metal Sonic, a robot counterpart built by Eggman to destroy our hero.
(Source: Anime News Network)
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
On August 10th of the year 2010 the Holy Empire of Britannia began a campaign of conquest, its sights set on Japan. Operations were completed in one month thanks to Britannia's deployment of new mobile humanoid armor vehicles dubbed Knightmare Frames. Japan's rights and identity were stripped away, the once proud nation now referred to as Area 11. Its citizens, Elevens, are forced to scratch out a living while the Britannian aristocracy lives comfortably within their settlements. Pockets of resistance appear throughout Area 11, working towards independence for Japan.
Lelouch, an exiled Imperial Prince of Britannia posing as a student, finds himself in the heart of the ongoing conflict for the island nation. Through a chance meeting with a mysterious girl named C.C., Lelouch gains his Geass, the power of the king. Now endowed with absolute dominance over any person, Lelouch may finally realize his goal of bringing down Britannia from within!
(Source: Bandai Entertainment)
EPISODE NOTES
Charlie speaks about an all female group of manga artists collectively known as CLAMP who are the creators of Cardcaptor Sakura and designers of the characters in Code Geass. For more information about this interesting group, check out their wikipedia page here
