STACK NZ Oct #67

EXTRAS

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ANIME ROUND-UP

Must Watch

Slice of Life

One of my favourite styles of anime is the ‘slice of life’ genre, particularly when it gets crazy enough that the term ‘slice of life’ loses all meaning. Here are a couple of stand out titles which are nothing short of fantastic. Nichijou – My Ordinary Life is honestly one of the craziest series out there. While nichijou ( ) translates to ‘everyday’ there is nothing normal about this series which sees action movie stylings used to highlight the true value of one's favourite lunch box inclusion, while the school Principal wrestles a deer. An actual. Deer. K-On! isn’t quite as wacky as Nichijou , but those lovable members of Houkago Tea Time are pretty quirky in their own right and their on-screen, and on-stage, chemistry is undeniable. The animation (by Kyoto Animation, the same studio as Nichijou ) and music in this series are an obvious standout but what really ties it all together is the relationship between the girls. Azumanga Daioh , another series filled with lovable weirdos, breaks the mould when it comes to onscreen antics with an injection of absurdity into what should be a rather strait-laced scene. The characters themselves may all be oddballs, but the setting itself is a regular old Japanese school.

When Marnie Was There

A month with a Studio Ghibli release is a good month in my book and this month sees the release of the delightful When Marnie Was There on both DVD and beautiful Blu Ray. While it might be lacking in literal magic, this wonderfully earnest film tackles self-doubt and emotional healing head-on, carrying with it the weight of potentially being Ghibli’s final feature film. I’m not crying, I just have something in my eye... Instead of hanging around with the weapon wielders themselves, Soul Eater Not! takes us to Death Weapon Meister Academy where the weapons themselves are trained. A must watch for fans of the Soul Eater franchise, but definitely worth watching even if you've never seen the original! Who'd have thought that soul-eating living weapons could be so moe?! The delightfully magical subtitled release of Inari Kon Kon Series Collection ticks all of the boxes for a heart warming watch. Ever bashful schoolgirl Inari finds herself in the company of a goddess after saving her familiar from a tragic fate. The magnanimous deity offers magical abilities to the young lady in an effort to help Inari overcome her shyness and in turn find love. A treat for fighting game fans punches its way onto shelves this month in the form of the BlazBlue: Alter Memory Series Collection . Based on the video games BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger and BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Alter Memory tells the story behind the game's

characters (and signature moves) as they hunt down the incredibly dangerous Ragna the Bloodedge. Sporting an epic bounty on his head, there’s no way that Ragna will go down without a fight. Turns out that even gods can have a hard time managing life's daily struggles. In Noragami we meet Yato, a lesser God with great aspirations. Problem being, he doesn't have a single shrine dedicated to him, his partner in deity-ness just resigned and he can't seem to get his hands on a replacement divine weapon. Enter Hiyori, who I guess you could describe as a godsend... ugh. Sorry. Such a dad joke. Poor Takeshi Nanase has had a pretty rough trot and just when it seems like things are looking up, he stumbles upon Mui Aiba, a mysterious girl who reluctantly informs Takeshi that she has given him magical powers. Whoopsy daisy! From that blistering start things grow increasingly insane in the MagicalWarfare Series Collection . The wonderfully unrelenting, unapologetic

and completely irreverent Keima Katsuragi is back in TheWorld God Only Knows OVA Collection . While this OVA series may not

have much bearing on the events of the series proper, it's still awesome to see the gang back together with a nod to Japan's prolific idol industry.

Nichijou - My Ordinary Life

OCTOBER 2015

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