The Top Ten Anime Girls, Chi

Number 5. Chi (Chobits)

Chi (or Chii) is a character from the manga and anime series Chobits, that also appears in the series Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and Kobato.
She is a Chobit (a persocom or personal computer) created by Ichiro Mihara.
The name Chobit comes from her creator who called anything "small and hopelessly adorable" Chobi.
So two Chobi, Chi and her sister Freya, became "Chobits".

Chobits - Persocom (Vol. 1)

The Top Ten Anime Girls, Yuki Nagato

http://blogs.ign.com/foxrevolution/2008/03/29/85340/


6. Yuki Nagato (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

The catgirl Yuki Nagato from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya comes in at number six on the list.
This introverted, but supernaturally powered young lady seems to be pretty popular.
She's popular enough that several PVC Statues of her have been released, one of which you can see below.

Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Yuki Nagato White Bunny 1/6 Scale Figure

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Vol. 1

Fruits Basket / Furuba

Fruits Basket, sometimes abbreviated Furuba, is a Japanese manga series by Natsuki Takaya. It was serialized in the semi-monthly Japanese magazine Hana to Yume, published by Hakusensha, from 1999 to 2006. The series was also adapted into a 26-episode anime series, directed by Akitaro Daichi. The series tells the story of Tohru Honda, an orphan girl who, after meeting Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure Sohma, learns that thirteen members of the Sohma family are possessed by the animals of the Chinese zodiac and are cursed to turn into their animal forms if they embrace anyone of the opposite gender.

The word "Fruits" in the title is always plural; the spelling originates from the transcription of the English word "fruit" into Japanese, where because there is no "tu" sound, "tsu" is used instead. The title comes from the name of a popular game played in Japanese elementary schools, which is alluded to in the series.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time ( Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo )

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is an animated Japanese film produced by the animation studio Madhouse and distributed through Kadokawa Herald Pictures, first released in theatres in Japan on July 15, 2006. The film was later released on DVD on April 20, 2007 in Japan in regular and limited editions. A German RC2 DVD (with German and Japanese dub and German and Polish subtitles) was released on September 24, 2007 by Anime Virtual/AV Visionen. A manga story, set as a prelude to the film, was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Shōnen Ace manga magazine between April 26, 2006 and June 26, 2006; the chapters were later collected into a single bound volume which went on sale on July 26, 2006.

On December 9, 2007 Bandai Entertainment announced that the anime film will be released as a region 1 DVD. Bandai Entertainment, who had very recently obtained the North American distributing rights to the film said in a New York press conference that they are also considering releasing the film in limited release in selected theaters in Los Angeles, New York, and possibly other locations. Bandai Entertainment did not specify whether or not they will release the film dubbed or subbed for American viewers, though they are considering both options.

Tsutsui Yasutaka's novel, Toki o Kakeru Shōjo (unofficial translation: The Little Girl Who Conquered Time) is the basis of the film, but the film is not a movie version of the book. Instead, the film is set as a continuation of the book in the same setting some twenty years later. Tsutsui Yasutaka praised the film as being "a true second-generation" of his book at the Tokyo International Anime Fair on March 24, 2006.

Death Note

Death Note

Death Note is a Japanese manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata. The series primarily centers around a high school student who decides to rid the world of evil with the help of a supernatural notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it.

Death Note was first serialized by Shueisha in the Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump from the first issue in December 2003 to May 2006, with 108 chapters in total. The series has been published in its entirety in 12 tankōbon volumes in Japan and in North America. The series has been adapted into a pair of live-action films released in Japan on June 17, 2006 and November 3, 2006, and an anime series which aired in Japan from October 3, 2006 to June 26, 2007. Also, a novelization of the series, written by light novelist Nisio Isin, was released in Japan on August 1, 2006.

Some schools in Shenyang, People's Republic of China have banned the manga after some of their students started to tease friends and teachers by altering a notebook to resemble a Death Note and writing their names in them.

The newspaper Shenyang Night Report called Death Note "poison, creating wicked hearts". One major Chinese newspaper felt that the ban is an overreaction and is inappropriate.

Beijing also has a ban on "horror stories" around schools to protect the "physical and mental health" of students, which includes local adaptations of Death Note. China itself is likewise trying to weed out pirated copies of the books and television series, as well other Japanese horror magazines, where no legal publication house prints it. Wang Song of the National Anti-piracy and Anti-pornography Working Committee has said that the series "misleads innocent children and distorts their mind and spirit".

On September 28, 2007, two notes stating "Watashi wa Kira dess" (I am Kira, with "desu" being the more phonetic transliteration of the verb) were found near the unidentified remains of a Caucasian male. Nothing was found on or near the victim besides these two notes. Belgian police are investigating the matter further.

A senior at the Franklin Military Academy in Richmond, Virginia was suspended after being caught possessing a replica Death Note notebook with the names of fellow students

Rurouni Kenshin

Rurouni Kenshin

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki with an anime adaptation. The story is set during the early Meiji period in Japan. The English-language versions of the OVAs as well the film is released as Samurai X, although the original title was included in the DVD releases. The series tells the story of an assassin named Himura Kenshin, who was known as the Hitokiri Battōsai. Kenshin later grieves for all the lives he has taken, and vows that he will never kill again.

The manga originally appeared in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump from September 2, 1994, to November 4, 1999, and the completed work consists of 28 tankōbon volumes. The United States release of the manga has been completed by Viz Media. Rurouni Kenshin is subtitled "Wandering Samurai" in some English releases, as a rough translation of "Rurouni."

Writer Kaoru Shizuka has written an official Rurouni Kenshin novel titled Voyage to the Moon World. The novel has been translated by Viz and distributed in the United States and Canada.

Armitage III

http://www.animecubed.com/animegirls/anime/Armitage/Armitage3.jpg.shtml

Armitage III is a 1994 cyberpunk anime series based around Naomi Armitage, a highly advanced "Type-III" android.

The series began with the 4-part Original Video Animation "Armitage III" and spawned two anime movies. The first film is a shortened version of the OVA entitled Armitage III: Poly-Matrix, redubbed in English. The second anime movie, Armitage: Dual-Matrix is a sequel set some years after the original story.

The year is 2179. The overpopulation of Earth has lead to the colonization of Mars - with the aid of the "first type" androids, men were able to begin terraforming the unfriendly environment of Mars and build the city of Saint Lowell. Seventy years after the start of colonisation, the city is completed and inhabited by great numbers of people and "second type" robots, much improved versions of the "first types".

The story begins with a space shuttle nearing the destination of Saint Lowell's space port. On board is Ross Sylibus, a middle-aged cop from Chicago, USA, Earth. Syllibus asked to be transferred to Martian Police Department to escape from his past and haunting memories of his beloved one being murdered by a robot. At the Saint Lowell's space port he is to meet his new partner - a young Naomi Armitage from MPD.


The cover of the DVD release.On the same shuttle as Syllibus, travels Kelly McCannon - "the last country singer in the Universe". As the shuttle nears the terminal, a mysterious man is seen entering the cargo section; soon after this, the intruder is noticed and the alarms go off.

Later, as Ross finally gets off the shuttle, he witnesses a disturbing scene at the airport. First he gets bumped into by the mysterious man with a big suitcase and two guards. Soon after that, a young woman with a gun orders the men to stop and get their hands up. Puzzled, Ross notices a few drops of blood spilling from the mysterious man's suitcase. A shootout between the young woman (who turns out to be Ross's new partner, Armitage) begins. The two robot guards are killed by Armitage and the mysterious man is wounded, but manages to escape. However, he leaves his suitcase behind - inside of which is a dead body of Kelly McCannon. To everybody's surprise and horror, McCannon turns out to be a robot - a new, never-seen-before "third type" android, that cannot be told apart from a real human.

Later, the mysterious man hacks into the public TV system and broadcasts the material taped by shuttle's security cameras. The tape shows the man murdering Kelly McCannon and reveals the fact of her being a robot to the entire city. The mysterious man, who introduces himself as Rene D'anclaude, reveals unbelivable news - the "third types" have been among the regular people for a long time and nobody can tell them apart from humans. He also reveals a list of "thirds" - it turns out, that a lot of well-known people are actually robots. Riots begin in the city as people start to capture and burn all the "thirds" they can find. Meanwhile, Rene D'anclaude proceeds with his extermination of the "thirds". The two main characters start their investigation and eventually find out, that the victims are women... only women.

One of them, in a brief moment just before dying, sends out a message with the list of "thirds" to save them from being slaughtered. Armitage receives it and goes her way to stop D'anclaude - and reveal a few secrets in the process.

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Japanese Anime: Earth Girl Arjuna

http://www.animecubed.com/animegirls/anime/Arjuna/Arjuna2.jpg.shtml

Earth Girl Arjuna is a thirteen episode anime series created by Shoji Kawamori that was originally aired by TV Tokyo between 9 January 2001 and 27 March 2001. The series was also later completely broadcast by the anime satellite television network Animax.

Arjuna is set in Kobe, Japan, where the protagonist, Juna, is attending high school. The story opens on her telling her boyfriend, Tokio, she feels too cramped in the city, and deciding to take a trip to the Sea of Japan. On the drive, they get in an accident, and Juna dies.

As her spirit leaves her body, Juna sees the Earth suffering, visualized by worm-like creatures, the Raaja, entwining the planet. A young boy, Chris, appears to her, and offers to save her life if she will help the planet. She agrees, and is resurrected.

As is clear from the title, Arjuna, the series is highly influenced by Hinduism, as well as Indian culture in general. The story was inspired by the Bhagavad Gita, most notably in the character of Chris, who is modeled after Krishna.

The setting for the show, Kobe, was chosen by creator Shoji Kawamori for his personal fondness of it,[6] and the city itself plays a prominent role, with famous buildings such as the Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel and nearby Ferris wheel showing up as common backdrops. The idea of living in a city is a main theme, with both Juna and the Raaja rebelling against how removed from nature modern life is.

An idea which Kawamori emphasized was natural farming. Not to be confused with the mere absence of chemicals that is often meant by "organic farming", natural farming involves letting nature grow as it will, not removing weeds or bugs, or using any fertilizer. The old man Juna encounters in episode four explains the need for this return to nature in order to sustain life in the long term, a sentiment directly from Kawamori himself.

Another theme of the show is that of the disconnect between emotions, thoughts, words, and actions. In episode seven, "Invisible Words", Juna is able to read the words in the minds of everyone around her, yet still cannot understand their intentions. She sees in Tokio's mind that he has been asking Saiyuri about a ring, and assumes that he has been cheating on her, when in fact the ring had been for her. Juna and Tokio's, feelings never reach each other successfully. In episode eight, while talking on the phone, Juna finds her spirit in the room with Tokio. But despite her even embracing him, he has no understanding when she tries to say that she with him. At the same time, Tokio actually says he loves Juna for the first time, even though he is at the same moment not feeling her love at all. This idea is later visualized in episode 10, when Tokio is having an argument with his father. Juna is able to "see" their angered thoughts flying at each other, and entirely missing, neither of them hearing or understanding the other.

The ninth episode of Arjuna, "Before Birth", was not aired during the series' original run in Japan across TV Tokyo. This episode contains numerous controversial subjects, as well as images that were deemed inappropriate for airing on TV

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AD Police

AD Police is a manga series written by Tony Takezaki and illustrated by Senno Knife, which was adapted on screen in an anime science fiction series, composed of the 12-episode long AD Police: To Serve and Protect TV series and the 3-episode long AD Police Files OVA series. AD Police is a spin-off of another anime series: Bubblegum Crisis. The AD in AD Police is short for Advanced, although there are some mistaken translations as Armored Division.

The AD Police are an elite group of highly trained and specially equipped police officers who have been formed to deal with terrorist activities and Boomer robot crimes in the city of Megatokyo. They are more heavily armed and equipped (including power armors like the K-11 and K-12) for a normal police force, but too lightly for a military organization.

The AD Police are offered a great deal of leeway in their activities, often blockading large sections of the city and causing great amounts of property damage in the course of fulfilling their duty. Despite their dedication to their jobs, however, the citizens of Megatokyo tend to dislike and distrust members of the AD Police, seeing them as corrupt and ineffectual.





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Devilman, part 3

Also in 2000, Amon: Apocalypse of Devilman was released as a pay-per-view event in Japan and later released on video and DVD. Perhaps the most violent of all the anime incarnations of the franchise, it covers the period between the humans becoming aware of demons and the final battle between Devilman and Satan. It has also spawned a video game for the PlayStation. (One other Devilman video game was previously released for the Nintendo Famicom in 1989, and characters from the series have also been featured in other video games such as Banpresto's Battle Dodgeball and the Dynamic Robot Wars series. None of these games have been released in North America.)

Many other manga titles were created later on including Shin Devilman (which replaced the entire third volume of the original manga in later editions), Neo Devilman and Amon: The Darkside of the Devilman. Several other books have been published dedicated to Devilman over the last 35 years.

In 2004, a tokusatsu Devilman movie using CGI effects was released. Unfortunately, it was universally rejected in Japan, even by Devilman fans. As a consequence, it won Grand Prize in Japan's Bunshun Kiichigo Awards (the Japanese version of the Razzie Awards, which are given to the worst movie of the year).

Go Nagai also released a manga series called Violence Jack. The series takes place during the aftermath of Armageddon and the battle between Satan and Devilman. This series became an OVA anime in 1986, and was released in the U. S. sometime during the 1990s in an edited version by Manga Video and an uncensored release by Critical Mass.

In 1997, Go Nagai revamped the series and created Devilman Lady (Devil Lady in the U. S.). Devil Lady is based on Go Nagai's idea of "What if the main character was a woman?" The story takes a different approach to the story presented in its Devilman counterpart. In Devil Lady, a woman named Jun Fudo learns that she has the power to transform into a being known as a "devilman" or "Devil Beast". A woman named Ran Asuka shows up and explains to her that her "powers" or "gifts" are actually believed to be somewhat of a disease known as the "Devil Beast Syndrome". It is even stated that these "devilmen" are actually the next step in human evolution as a means of survival. The story became very popular and was made into an anime series in 1998. The series consists of 26 episodes and was released in the U. S. during late 2002 and early 2003. The Devil Lady series is very popular and contains its own original story that stands out from the Devilman series.

Devilman, part 2

The storyline of the TV series is markedly different from that of the manga and of the OVAs. Akira and his father are killed while mountain climbing in the Himalayas, and Devilman chooses Akira's body as a cover to disguise himself. Although Devilman takes the form of Akira Fudo, Akira as he was before is completely gone, and the being occupying his body is purely Devilman. Devilman's mission is to cause death and destruction on Earth to pave the way for a demonic invasion of the human world. However, when he moves in with the Makimuras, he finds himself attracted to Miki's tough, no-nonsense ways, and is thus distracted from his mission. The lord of the demons sends forth a succession of demons to eliminate the distraction by killing Miki, and Devilman/Akira resolves to fight to protect Miki. In the TV series, Devilman's motives for fighting are much less altruistic than in the manga or the later OVAs - he fights only to protect the woman he loves and for nothing more. The TV series also had more comedy than the manga or later anime incarnations of the franchise, especially after Lala's debut.

Devilman evolved from a previous manga titled Mao Dante (Demon Lord Dante) after Toei Animation approached Go about turning Dante into a television series. The producers wanted certain elements toned down, and a more human-like anti-hero created. Devilman was born as a result of this; Go Nagai worked on the anime's scenario along with Masaki Tsuji, a well-known anime scenario writer and a highly successful and regarded novelist of several mystery fictions. Along with the television series, Devilman was also produced as a serialized manga in Shukan Shonen Magazine over 53 issues beginning in 1972. Go Nagai designed the manga to be more horror-like and mature than the anime version. It was later reprinted in a five-volume series, and has enjoyed over a dozen reprints and in five different languages. The manga's extreme violence and excellent story line made it an instant hit.

The anime series was 39 episodes long and ran from July 1972 to March 1973 on NET (now TV Asahi). The series sported some differences from the manga (the character of Ryo Asuka wasn't created until Go started working on the manga after he finished working on the anime), but was still very popular. Both the anime and the manga also vary on the ending; while the anime series had a bittersweet open-ended finale, the manga had a tragic ending. Rather surprisingly given its level of violence, the Devilman TV series was also broadcast on TV in Italy in the 1980s.

Two OVAs (Original Video Animation) were released in 1987 and 1990. These videos were what Go Nagai originally intended the first anime series to be like, since the censors made him tone the series down back in 1972 because of its extreme violence. The late Kazuo Komatsubara, an animation director on the original TV series, returned for the OVAs as character designer. The videos revolve around Akira's transformation into Devilman up until his battle with Silene (also called Sirene, Siron, Shiranu or Shienru). The OVAs are well animated and, other than a few minor alterations, are faithful to the original manga, and were released in the U. S. during the mid 1990s on video by L.A. Hero, and then on DVD in 2000 by Manga Entertainment. The U. S. DVD release, much to the consternation of many American Devilman fans, is English redub only and does not include the original Japanese audio track, whereas the series was released in both subtitled and dubbed form on VHS. The OVAs remain the only Devilman anime to have been commercially released in the United States.

Demetan Croaker, The Boy Frog

Kerokko Demetan (Japanese: けろっこデメタン, English Demetan Croaker, The Boy Frog also know as Demetan the Frog, The Brave Frog) is 39 episode anime series by Tatsunoko Productions first aired in 1973. The story is about Demetan poor young frog becomes friends with a girl frog named Ranatan and together they go through many life learning adventures. Like many other 1970s anime series such as Candy Candy series, Heidi, Girl of the Alps series, and Cat's Eye series, Kerokko Demetan was not officially translated in English and because of this it was unable to reach an English audience. Like Candy Candy and Heidi, Girl of the Alps series the only incarnation of the series to reach the English language was a dub of a 1973 feature-length movie adaptation of the TV series(the movie was made of scenes from the TV series), released on VHS in the United States in 1985 (the first two episodes of the Candy Candy series were also translated, but for unkown reasons the rest of the series was not translated)titled The Brave Frog. Recently the movie was released on DVD in 1999.

Despite the fact that the series was not officially translated in English, the series like the Candy and Heidi series became very popular in other continents such as: Asia, Europe (particularly in France where the entire series was recently was released on DVD), and Latin America were the series was dubbed in multiple languages such as Japanese, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Arabic, and Spanish.

Demetan Croaker, The Boy Frog is an anime series made of 39 episodes of thirty-minutes each. The story is about Demetan a young boy frog that comes from a poor family that he cannot even go to school in his woodland pond community. However, he becomes a friend of a girl frog named Ranatan, a lovely, gentle frog girl who is the daughter of the pond's rich ruler. Naturally her father is quite displeased by this relationship and he seeks to break it up. Nevertheless the young frogs continue with courage and confidence, not only to live their own lives but to guide the heartless leopard frog to a sense of justice and generosity. Gradually the pond community responds to their sincerity and joins them in a march toward a bright future.

Kerokko Demetan is one of the few anime series that does not have a specific English title. Some of the titles used to name this series are:Child Frog Demetan, Demetan Croaker, The Boy Frog, Demetan the Frog, and The Brave Frog.
There was a movie of Demetan released in the USA on DVD and VHS titled "The Brave Frog." The movie was a compilation movie made of scenes from the animated series.

Cutey Honey , Part 4

In the original Cutey Honey TV series, whenever Honey changes into one of her many forms, she is seen nude briefly while the transformation takes place. The series also contains a number of panty shots when Honey is in her normal human form.

The degree of nudity in the different Cutey Honey series has varied over the years. While the all-ages Cutey Honey Flash featured the least nudity (and what little there was featured no detail), New Cutey Honey contained the most openly graphic sexual content, and was probably the closest to border on hentai of any of the series (it is even listed on The Right Stuf International's website as being an "adult" title). Because New Cutey Honey is the only Cutey Honey series to have been released in the United States (or indeed, in the English language), Cutey Honey often has an undeserved reputation in the English-speaking world as a hentai title (even though it technically isn't).

Despite the presence of nudity in Cutey Honey, most of it is done in a tongue-in-cheek manner, and there are no explicit scenes of sexual intercourse. Honey deals with lecherous old men, hormone-driven teenagers, and even beautiful, lesbian women in a humorous context. However, the franchise was parodied in hentai fashion in Angel Blade, part of the Vanilla Series.

The Cutie Honey theme song, titled simply "Cutie Honey," is considered by many fans to be one of the classic anime theme songs of all time. In the original 1973 television series, it was sung by Yoko Maekawa, who also performed the ending theme, Yogiri no Honey (Foggy Night of Honey). Other vocalists to have sung the Cutie Honey theme include les-5-4-3-2-1 (Shin Cutey Honey 1st opening), mayukiss (Shin Cutey Honey 2nd opening), SALIA (Cutey Honey F 1st opening), Kumi Koda (Cutie Honey live-action movie main theme and Re: Cutie Honey opening), GO!GO!7188 (included in their [[Tora no Ana]] anime cover song album), Okui Masami (included in her Masami Kobushi anime cover song album) and Ahyoomee (from Sugar, who did a Korean cover). The Mayukiss version (the second opening theme to the Shin Cutey Honey OAV) was sung in English, although its lyrics were not a direct translation of the Japanese lyrics. In the Spanish dub, all versions of the opening theme were dubbed by Patricia Acevedo, who was the original Spanish voice of Honey Kisaragi.

The original Japanese lyrics (in Romaji) and a closer (though still loose) English translation can be viewed at this site.

One thing that many of the versions of the theme song share is Honey's playful declaration, "Kawaru wa yo!" ("I'm going to Change!") at the end of the song. In the English dubbed version of Shin Cutie Honey, the line was spoken by voice actress Jessica Calvello as, "All right, it's time to change!" And in the Spanish versions, the line spoken is "¡Yo voy a cambiar!"

The theme song showed up again in the 1974 Toei mahou shoujo TV series Majokko Megu-chan, in a scene in which the heroine, Megu, watches Misty Honey (the pop idol form of Cutie Honey in the original series, not Honey's arch-rival from Cutey Honey F) on TV performing the song. Interestingly, Yoko Maekawa also sang the opening and ending theme songs to Majokko Megu-chan, a series which itself made heavy use of "panchira" and "fan service" humor.

The theme song also showed up in the 2006 anime Princess Princess. In the seventh episode, "A Chorus Concert with Sweat and Tears", the Princesses perform a shortened and faster version of the original theme song. Mikoto also exclaims the phrase "I'm going to change now." at the end of the performance.

Cutey Honey , Part 3

After her return, Honey moves into the home of Danbei Hayami, a cyborg guardian and "dirty old man," as well as Danbei's grandson Chokkei, and his parents Daiko and Akakabu.

The series, originally intended to be a 12-part series ended at episode 8. While the first 4 episodes which contain a complete story was considered a success, the second set of 4 episodes, intended to set up the final 4 episodes failed to generate new interest in 1995. Toei did not fund the production of the last 4 episodes and the series concluded without a true ending. In 2004, when this OAV series was released in DVD in Japan, the scripted but not filmed episode 9, a Christmas story, was turned into a CD drama. The remaining three episodes were never scripted.

The series is full of nods to Go Nagai's other work.

Many of Danbei's weapons are miniature versions of those used by Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger and Grendizer. The first two robots were created by the scientist Dr. Kabuto. In fact, his appearance in Shin Cutey Honey matches how he looks in the Mazinkaiser OAV, and Mazinger Z manga.
The villains stand behind a Devilman gargoyle at the end of the first episode.
In a prison episode, Honey turns herself into an inmate who looks exactly like Kouji Kabuto. She also teams up with Akira from Devilman in the same episode.
The second opening sequence to the OAV also features a cameo from Dr. Kabuto as well as a scene of Akira Fudo fighting his arch-nemesis Silene.
The designs for Chokkei's parents, Daiko and Akakabu are based off the parents from Go Nagai's Deliquent in Drag.
In episode 2, there is a bust of Mazinger Z on her nightstand, and one of the villain's captives looks looks like Sayaka Yumi.

In 2004, Gainax produced a live-action Cutey Honey film, starring popular Japanese model Eriko Sato as Honey Kisaragi/Cutey Honey. Directed by Hideaki Anno, the film loosely retells the classic story of Cutey Honey's battle to defend humanity and avenge her father against Panther Claw. Villains Honey faces include Sister Jill, Gold Claw, Cobalt Claw, Scarlet Claw and Black Claw. The film also features a cameo by creator Go Nagai.

Simultaneous to the release of the Cutey Honey live action film, Gainax also produced a new three-part OAV (Original Animated Video) series entitled Re: Cutey Honey. The OAV tells the same story as the film, although with significantly more detail and plot elements added. A radical departure from the style of previous Cutey Honey incarnations, Re: Cutie Honey uses simplistic animation and bold lines that are heavily influenced by the original Cutie Honey TV series. The simplicity of many of the backgrounds and characters creates a distinct visual style that has its supporters and detractors, like the original.

At Anime Expo 2006, Bandai Entertainment announced they will release the movie in 2007 (DVD to be released on April 17), but it is unknown whether they licensed the OAV or not.

Cutey Honey , Part 2

The OVA continued the story several years later, with Honey not having aged, but having forgotten her true identity. Once she recovers her memory, she continues to battle evil. In this stage, her shapeshifting powers have increased to the point of being able to imitate any person's form (but not to change gender, curiously, even when mimicking a man). The notion of a shape-shifting android can, of course, be traced back as far as Hirai and Kuwata's science fiction manga series, 8 Man. In some respects, Cutie Honey was an overtly sexualized version of the earlier character; significantly, Honey's deceased father is a dead ringer for 8-Man's creator, Doctor Tani.

The manga contains even more violence, gross out humor, and nudity than in the original TV series. In the manga the whole Saint Chapel School was lesbian, including Honey's best friend Aki Natsuko. While the Panther Claw were androids in the anime (excluding Sister Jill and Panther Zora), they are referred to as cyborgs in the manga. Honey does not join Paradise School, nor does Danbei have a nephew named Naojiro in the manga. The idea of Paradise School, and the characters Naojiro and Goeman (a teacher at Paradise School) were borrowed from another Go Nagai manga, Abashiri Family. However there is a female character in the manga that looks like Naojiro, named Naoko. She was the "boss" of Saint Chapel, while Naojiro was the "boss" of Paradise School. The manga ends in a similar (although a bit more comical) way. However, the story completely ended in Cutie Honey 90's.

The Ken Ishikawa manga follows a more episodic formula like the TV series. The art work is quite crude, and inconsistent. Unlike the TV series or original manga, Honey always knew Panther Zora was the leader of Panther Claw. Sister Jill does not even show up until the last chapter of Ishikawa's version. Like the original manga, and TV series the manga ends with Honey defeating Sister Jill, and continuning her battle with Zora.

Also notable is that creator Go Nagai based Cutey Honey off of two classic tokusatsu superhero shows, 7-Color Mask (1959) and Rainbowman (1972), which both featured superheroes with 7 different forms (7-Color Mask had 7 disguises and Rainbowman had 7 different superhero forms). Both shows were created by Yasunori Kawauchi (who also created Japan's first superhero TV show, Moonlight Mask ["Gekko Kamen", which itself became an anime in 1972], which Nagai spoofed as Kekko Kamen).

Honey is notable for being mischievous for a Japanese female hero, often teasing her male friends and mocking her enemies in combat. When transforming into Cutie Honey, she gives a brief rundown of the forms she has previously taken in that particular episode, and then declares, "But my true identity is..." before yelling "HONEY FLASH!" and transforming. Such pre- and post-transformation declarations (as well as the nudity during the transformation sequences themselves) have since become common for other transforming magical girls, such as Sailor Moon and Wedding Peach.

Many years after the events of the first series, the citizens of Cosplay City are struggling with the criminals attacking it. Into this chaos, a new mayor, Light, has vowed to reign in the criminal element and bring back peace. However, the dark lord Dolmeck, along with his sidekicks Black Maiden (actually Panther Zora) and Peeping Spider seek to derail his efforts. However, when it is learned that his secretary Honey Kisaragi is the legendary Cutey Honey, she resumes her campaign to save the city with the power of love.

Cutey Honey , Part 1

Cutey Honey or Cutie Honey (キューティーハニー, Kyūtī Hanī?) is a widely known anime and manga series created by Go Nagai in 1973.

Cutie Honey first appeared to the public on volume 41 of the 1973 edition of the manga "Shōnen Champion". Volume 41 was the October edition of the manga and was released 13 days prior to the start of the TV series.

The Cutie Honey TV series began on the 13th October 1973 and ran until 30th March 1974. The series was aired in France in the late 1980s under the title Cherry Miel (Cherry Honey).

Although an android, the main character Honey is considered a prototype for the transforming magical girl character (previous "magical" girls were characters who had "magical" powers, and/or used magic, such as Sally the Witch, another Toei series), with a few key differences.

Being an android, Cutey Honey's powers are mechanical rather than magical (a device known as the Fixed System of Air Elements).
However, in the 1997-98 shōjo anime adaptation, Cutey Honey Flash, Honey Kisaragi does transform by magical means, though she is an android.
In the live-action Cutie Honey movie and its animated adaptation, Honey's transformation powers come from the Imaginary Induction System, called the I-system for short. The English letter "I" also sounds like the Japanese for "love" (愛; ai).
Despite its elements of nudity and sexuality, the original 1973-74 Cutey Honey was intended for all audiences in Japan.
Cutey Honey is considered to be the original template for the group of magical girls who are active fighters, particularly in the "darker" magical girl series aimed at male audiences rather than female. Honey herself is referred to and parodied overtly in many manga and anime series over the years, perhaps most famously in Sailor Moon. Like Cutey Honey, Sailor Moon has a tendency to "speechify" before a fight in an amusing way. This would occur as a three stage speech, recapping whatever alternate forms she had taken earlier in the episode, and culminate into her transformation into Cutey Honey and announcing herself as Ai no Senshi! Cutey Honey! or "The Warrior of Love." She was also known for fighting attractive, yet bizarre, exclusively female monsters as well.
In 1994, the first OVA sequel (Shin Cutey Honey, known as New Cutey Honey in English) was released. To date, this is the only version of Cutey Honey to have been licensed and released in the US. Jessica Calvello, the voice actress who plays Honey in the English-language dub was hand-picked by Go Nagai [citation needed].
In 1997, a new shōjo version of Cutey Honey assumed the timeslot that the long-running magical girl anime Sailor Moon had recently vacated. Cutey Honey Flash was a cuter, gentler version aimed at the young female audience that Sailor Moon had kept entertained for five years. This is the most popular version of "Cutey Honey."
In 2004, Studio Gainax released a live-action tokusatsu film version starring Eriko Sato in the title role along with a new OVA series (Re: Cutie Honey) animated by Gainax.
At Anime Expo 2006, Bandai Entertainment announced they will be releasing the live-action Cutey Honey in the US in 2007.

Honey is an android girl created by an elderly scientist to be his "daughter". She had no idea she was an artificial being, and she also attended a Catholic school. She found the truth about herself on the day her "father" was killed by members of a villainous organization called the "Panther Claw". She discovered that by saying "Honey Flash!" she could transform into a red-haired female superhero, with great strength and agility, as well as a sword. In fact, she had several other forms, all beautiful women with different abilities. (Her "real" form has long blonde hair.) She was able to transform with the device in her body, Fixed System of Air Elements. Honey continued to get revenge against the Panther Claw (and its woman-android agents) while attending school, until defeating them. Aiding Honey in her quest for revenge is the Hayami family. Hayami Danbei, his two sons Seiji, Junpei, and later on his nephew Naojiro. The organization "Panther Claw" is ruled by Panther Zora, and her younger sibling Sister Jill. Their main goal is unlimited wealth, and obtaining the Fixed System of Air Elements Device. The original series ending leaves the story open-ended, with Honey defeating Sister Jill and discovering Panther Zora is the true leader of Panther Claw.

Cyborg 009 ,Part1

Cyborg 009 is a manga created by Shotaro Ishinomori and serialized in the manga magazine Shonen Magazine and Shōjo Comic in Japan. The manga was published in English by TOKYOPOP, as of 2006 it is out of print.

It is the tale of nine regular humans kidnapped by the evil Black Ghost organization to undergo human experiments. The result of this tampering are nine cyborgs, each one having super human powers. The nine cyborgs band together to fight for their freedom and to stop Black Ghost. The evil organization's goal is to start the next world war, by supplying any rich buyer their choice of countless weapons of war and mass destruction.

Elements of this series would later find its way into Kamen Rider (1971), another famous creation by Ishinomori. The plots are the same, except that the weekly threats are mutants, and there is just one hero (later two), as opposed to nine.

History of Anime ,Part 2

The Japanese term for animation is アニメーション (animēshon, pronounced /ɑnime:ɕoɴ/), written in katakana. It is a direct transliteration and re-borrowed loanword (see gairaigo) of the English term "animation." The Japanese term is abbreviated as アニメ (anime, pronounced /ɑnime/). Both the original and abbreviated forms are valid and interchangeable in Japanese, but as could be expected the abbreviated form is more commonly used.

The pronunciation of anime in English differs significantly from Japanese. The first vowel is further forward in English than Japanese: /æ/ is more likely than /ɑ/. As English stresses words differently than Japanese, the second vowel is likely to emerge as an unstressed schwa /ə/ or /I/ in English, whereas in Japanese each mora carries equal stress. As with a few other Japanese words such as Pokémon and Kobo Abé, anime is sometimes spelled as animé in English with an acute accent over the final e to cue the reader that the letter is pronounced as a Japanese /e/. However, this accent does not appear in any commonly used system of romanized Japanese, and English native speakers may produce /eI/.

Linguistically, the anime definition is subject to interpretation. In Japan, the term does not specify an animation's nation of origin or style; instead, it is used as a blanket term to refer to all forms of animation from around the world. In English, main dictionary sources define anime as "a Japanese style of motion-picture animation" or "a style of animation developed in Japan".Thus, non-Japanese works are sometimes called anime-influenced animation if they borrow stylistically from Japanese animation.

In western countries the word is used usually only to refer to animated programming of Japanese origin, with the term "cartoon" or "animated series" used for most other visual styles. The online anime database AniDB generally defines anime (in the singular form) as "an animated, professionally produced, feature film created by a Japanese company for the Japanese market". However, some anime are co-productions with non-Japanese companies like the Cartoon Network. Thus, anime is no longer specific to the Japanese market.

Anime can be used as a common noun, "Do you watch anime?" or as a suppletive adjective, "The anime Guyver is different from the movie Guyver." It may also be used as a mass noun, as in "How much anime have you collected?" and therefore is never pluralized "animes" (nouns are never pluralized in Japanese). However, in other languages where anime has been adopted as a loan word, it is sometimes used as a count noun in singular and in plural as in Danish "Jeg tror, jeg vil se en anime" ("I think I'll watch an anime") and "Hvor mange anime'er har du nu?" ("How many animes do you have now?").

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