Tenjo Tenge Manga

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Tenjo Tenge is a Japanese Anime and Manga series written by Ogure Ito, also referred to as "Oh Great!", "The Creator" or "Air Gear".
Tenjo Tenge in the story of Souichiro Nagi and Bob Makihara as they enroll in the Todo Academy, a martial arts school where Mitsoumi Takayanagi is the president, with the aim of taking it over. When they realize that the school houses some powerful fighters and cannot be taken over, they join the Juukenbu club, captained by Maya Natsume.
The Tenjou Tenge series focuses on the battle between the Juukenbo club and Mitsoumi Takayanagi, who had murdered Maya Natsume's older brother, Shin Natsume, three years previously.
The Story of Shin Natsume
The story of Shin Natsume, Maya's brother, is told as a flashback over 6 episodes as Maya attempts to explain the history to the newcomers. This is to ensure that viewers and readers have a back story to reference to, as both the Anime and Manga frequently refer to the past.
The anime series continues until just before the "Imperial Arts Tournament", which is hosted by the Todo Academy and where also decide who will be the "President" of the school. The manga series however, continues on well after this.
The manga series show how Mitsoumi recognizes the threat of Souichiro Nagi's power, the ability to take over someone's power during battle, and he then sends fighters against Souichiri. It is only during one of these fights that Souichiro discovers he actually has this special power but that he cannot control it. Souichiro ends up in hospital after the fight with temporary loss of control of his left leg.
The Natsume Sisters
Aya, Maya's sister, falls in love with Souichiro during the first episode, and uses her power, the ability to see into the past or future or see things hundreds of miles away, by spying on him. In the 5th episode, her power is shown for the first time, and it is reavealed that she is probably the strongest fighter of them all, though the only reason she fights is because she wants to become stronger for Souichiro.
The Story in Short
In Tenjo Tenge the main characters such as Maya and Souichiro, have "special" powers, which generally differ from fighter to fighter. It is discovered later in the series, however, that Souichiro has the ability to "take" someone's power after fighting them, and he actually is supposed to become a "demon" in order to defeat them.
After the Imperial Arts tournament, the Manga also follows Souhaku, Souichiro's father, who had discovered a way to live forever, and has been alive since the feudal ages. Souichiro is kidnapped by Souhaka, and forced to fight ever stronger warriors in order to become a monster.
Tenjo Tenge, also known as Tenjou Tenge or Tenjou Tenghe, is a truly fascinating and entertaining series that plays off in modern day Japan.
Japanese Anime and Manga is also one of the fastest growing entertainment forms in the World and is available both in print and online.

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Animation Mania

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I have been a great fan of animation movies and cartoons for as long as I can remember. I am told that, as a kid, I never used to have lunch without the daily dose of Tom & Jerry Cartoons which used to air on Delhi Doordarshan!
I have my share of favourites of which Pixar movies top the list. Be it the toys that talk in 'Toy Story' or the monsters that power their own city by scaring people; or the quest of a clown fish to find his son in 'Finding Nemo'; or the story of anthropomorphic cars in 'Cars'; or the tale of a gifted rat that aspired to be a chef in 'Ratatouille'; or more recently, the academy award winning movie about a Waste allocation Robot, 'Wall-E'; or the grumpy old man who sets out to live his dream in 'Up', Pixar always comes up with something new and innovative. As Steve Jobs puts it "Pixar is the most technically advanced creative company; Apple is the most creatively advanced technical company."
There's also Dreamworks studios, a brainchild of one of my favourite directors of all time, Steven Speilberg, that has made many good animation movies like 'The Prince of Egypt', 'Spirit: The stallion of Cimarron', 'Madagascar', 'Bee Movie ' and the comical 'Kung Fu Panda'. But Pixar is a tad above Dreamworks when it comes to quality and innovation. As a result, they have more Oscars to their credit.
Away from these two giants and the Japanese Anime monopoly, comes Persepolis, a touching story about a young Iranian girl set in the times of the Islamic Revolution. The movie opens with the protagonist, a young woman Marjane, waiting at the Paris airport to board a flight to Teheran. This is followed by a black and white account of her past: her childhood and teenage years. The movie shows Marjane growing up from an innocent, inquisitive girl to a matured woman; with the Iranian political oppression as the background. One of the things that makes this movie unique is that a lot of it is told from the point of view of a child that does not really understand the politics of what is going on around her.
The tone of almost the entire movie is dark and this helps in emphasizing the injustice that the women were subjected to during the conflict in the 70s-80s. The simple animation that we haven't seen for a long time, thrusts the viewer into her shoes. I don't want to let out any spoilers. There are many moments in the film which can make us feel lucky that we are living in a democracy. There are also many hilarious moments in the film which were accentuated with the simple animation.
Post her break up with her boyfriend, Marjane relives the moments with him where he is shown to be a freak! And at the beginning a flashback shows the British government's role in manipulating Iranian politics for its selfish motives. This scene is depicted as a puppet show, providing a new, fresh, and very apt angle. Detailed animation may have killed those moments. A character which is definitely worth a mention is Marjane's grandmother. She provides complete moral support to Marjane and shows her the few rights from the many wrongs.
As for the name Persepolis, it was coined by the Greeks to denote the ancient Persian capital, which in contemporary world is in ruins. The movie Persepolis works because it handles an uncomfortable subject with grace, using a simple and effective storytelling technique. Animation is no longer just for kids. This is a mature film which just happens to be animated in form!

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The Popularity Of The Inuyasha Anime And Manga Series

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InuYasha? Or is it Inuyasha? Either way, this feudal fairy tale is the one of the most popular Japanese anime out currently. And it all started with a comic book series (known better as a "manga series") written by Rumiko Takahashi. But what makes this anime series so popular and why do over 130,000 people a month search for Inuyasha on the Internet search engines?
InuYasha is Japanese for "dog spirit" and you will discover this is fitting for a title. The story is about a time-traveling student, Kagome Higurashi and Inuyasha who, with other exciting anime characters, fight to protect the Jewel of Four Souls. This jewel gives hugely increased powers to anyone who has it and will mean catastrophe if it falls into the wrong hands.
Of course, there are certainly wrong hands for it to fall into! Evil Naraku is one they must defeat. And all the characters -- a demon slayer, a fox demon, a monk and more -- must do everything possible to find the jewel, which was stolen and later shattered into many shards.
So the story is exciting, yes. And it pulls you along with all the adventures you can imagine. The anime came from the popular Japanese manga series, which was adapted into 167 anime episodes directed by two different directors. It first aired on Yomiuri TV in Japan in 2000 and ran through to close to the end of 2004. There was no conclusion, and in order to continue with the series, you must read the manga that is still being released.
The manga itself began in Shonen Sunday, a weekly publication in Japan, as early as November of 1996 and carried on through to 485 chapters published as of 2006 and is still going. If you are collecting these issues, you can collect every 10 or so chapters in a bound volume. There are no signs that Inuyasha will stop and you can continue reading the manga to your heart's content as long as Takahashi continues to create the story.
If there weren't tons of people enjoying the series, it wouldn't have continued and it would have been a dismal failure. And the author wouldn't now be one of the richest women in Japan. The demand for the story to continue comes from the readers and viewers of the manga and anime, and this demand has spread across the world.
The English version, published by Viz Media, had to be changed in format because, of course, in Japanese a person reads from right to left where in the U.S. and many other countries, the reading goes from left to right. The English comics were published starting in 1998 and continue being issued, but they are still a few years away from catching up to Japan publications of the story.
Inuyasha was first broadcast as anime on satellite television by Animax, and in the U. S. on the Cartoon Network. It is also running on the Latin American Cartoon Network and is dubbed in Spanish. You can even see it on some cruise ships, if you care to spend a cruise watching anime. Well, many do! And this just verifies the huge popularity of the series and the incredible and fascinating tale of Inuyasha and the Jewel of Four Souls.

The author is the Admin of the Anime Friends Network site AnimeMine where you can meet new friends and discuss your favorite anime and manga subjects. This article can also be found at our free article directory Smarticlesmart. For more anime information please go to AnimeMine.com today.

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Japanese Animation

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Usually, we look for various things to get us out of our bored state. One of the best things to do is to watch cartoons, but ordinary cartoons have lost their taste and we are now turning to new forms of animated cartoons which are drawing more people all the time. Japanese Animations are these kinds of cartoons that are getting great interest.
Though most of these Japanese Animation are hand drawn you will find that nowadays they are more of computer generated or animated as well. Most of these animations are a mixture of fantasy, fiction and some facts. You will find that they can involve characters like those of old stories, such as fairies and elves but they are more in the modern times with cars being involved as well as cellular phones.
You will find that Japanese Animation include several historical backgrounds of the Japanese with samurai's being headline features in many of the cartoons that are featured on the internet or on television. The storyline will probably not be dated such as the cartoon Naruto, which is not dated but the setting is clearly of olden times in Japan, however they use modern instruments sometimes and most of the characters do not look like Japanese at all.
Many of these Japanese animations are really cool to watch because even though they are not all in English but in Japanese, they captivate us with ever series and episode that you do not want to stop watching. Though when the anime is in English, it kinda spoils the plot of the show because it loses its originality and plot.

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Japanese Animation Art

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Japanese animation has become the big thing in the cartoon industry. Many people are turning to animes as favorite cartoon series more and more each day. There are very little boundaries put on these kinds of cartoons. This is because the creators have broad minds and fantasy, fiction, facts, sci fi and much more is in their grasp.
Dated as far back as 1917, Japanese animation has grown to become a world wide sensation. It has gotten thousands of fans world wide and it is still growing. Known as anime now, form of animation brings to life creativity that had never been seen before. The anime selling point is that the cartoon series characters usually look like westerners but they speak in Japanese and the subtitles are in English, however you will find that there are some anime cartoons that are purely in spoken English.
The storyline of these Japanese animations are also another feature that has drawn thousands. Many of them are usually based in early Japan, when the country had villages and wars were fought. You will however find that the time might be during the olden times but you will find that modern things come in to play such as sunglasses, mobile phones and watches.
These animations are filled with vibrant colors and most of them you will find are a lot like fantasy. You will find that fantasy plays a big role in many of these cartoon animations because most of the characters will either have some sort of power or look like some sort of animal. They might have a human body but their heads will either look like for elves and maybe they will have teeth like for animals and a tail as well. Get these animations and enjoy the fantasy!

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Great Gift Ideas For The Anime Fan

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Whether you need a gift for Christmas, a birthday or other occasion, anime fans can be hard to buy for, especially if you know little about the world known as "anime". First, let me explain a little about it. Anime is a type of animation that started in Japan. Basically, you can call it a Japanese version of cartoons. However, it has some big differences. Where American animation tends to be geared primarily towards children, there are actually many types of anime, geared for many ages and interests. For instance, there are series targeted squarely at young boys, young girls, young women and so on. There are also adult series, with more adult themes and content. There are also many different thematic styles of anime, including those centered around robots (called mecha), romantic series, fighting series, school life series and so on.
In order for you to choose a fantastic gift for the Japanese animation fan in your life, you first need an idea of what anime series or at least what kind of theme they enjoy. Find out by perusing their DVD collection or checking what they watch on TV. Once you know the series they like, here are some suggestions for surefire gifts for any anime fan:
Manga
Manga is simply the Japanese version of comic books or graphic novels. Many anime series are based on a manga series. Any anime fan would love the original manga their favorite series is based on. For original Japanese manga, you can usually find some on eBay and at Japanese importers like JustManga and Manga.com. For the most popular series, like Inuyasha, you can find English translated manga books at many major bookstores.
Live Action and Japanese Drama DVD's
Some anime and manga series have a live action version, like Sailor Moon, that a Sailor Moon fan would likely be interested in. If they seem interested in Japanese culture, then consider getting them some Japanese TV drama series. There are many Japanese drama series aimed at tweens and teens that usually take place in school or high school. Check out Nodame Cantabile, Hana Yori Dango and Gokusen, each was based on anime or manga series or both. Look for these series at places like YesAsia and on eBay. Make sure to get the English subtitled versions.
Toys
Some anime series, like Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion and others, have many toys available. If you really want to get a special gift, try to get some of the toys that are imported from Japan. Toys available include action figures, vehicles, stuffed toys, models and dolls. You can find toys for the most popular series at major toy stores, but for not so popular series, try eBay, YesAsia and other import websites.
Video Games
Many of the most popular anime series like Naruto, Inuyasha and Bleach also have video games based on them. This is a great gift idea since what fan wouldn't want to play a game as their favorite character? Make sure to find out what game system they have so you can get a game for their particular console or handheld.
Music
Many anime fans become interested in Japanese culture through anime, especially since popular Japanese artists and bands are used on the soundtracks to the majority of series. You can get them the soundtrack to the series or even a few JPOP or JROCK CD's. JPOP and JROCK is the abbreviation of Japanese pop and Japanese rock music. Find many artists at both YesAsia and eBay. Popular Japanese music artists include Ayumi Hamasaki (pop), Utada Hikaru (pop/R&B), Arashi (pop boy band), L'Arc-en-Ciel (rock band), Morning Musume (pop girl band) and many more.
Collectibles & Decorative Items
There are also many collectibles and decorative items available for some series. Consider animation cells, limited edition toys, photo albums, calendars, posters and more. Find these at YesAsia and eBay.
Clothing & Apparel
Some anime fans enjoy dressing up as their favorite character, this is called "cosplay". Try to find out who their favorite character is and get them a costume or accessories. For instance, an Inuyasha fan would love a necklace like the one Inuyasha wears or a play sword like he uses. Or go all out and get them a full costume just like their favorite character. One place to check out is CosplayMagic.com.
Language Books or Software
If your anime fan has a serious interest in Japanese culture, then consider getting them a book or audio learning set to help them learn, read and write Japanese. This is an excellent gift option if you're having a hard time finding gifts from their favorite anime series. This is also a gift you can feel good about, since learning a new language is a very valuable skill for their future.
Food
From sushi to Pocky, if they have an interest in Japanese culture, they might like to try some of the food they have seen consumed in animes and dramas. Some suggestions include a sushi making kit, Japanese candy and gum, Pocky (a pretzel covered with chocolate), strange flavored Japanese versions of candy bars like KitKat and more. You can find many types of Japanese candy at AsianFoodGrocer and other Japanese food import sites.

Charley Lawrence writes for AnimeOwl, where you can watch anime online for free. Find the best anime series at AnimeOwl. Visit us at: http://www.animeowl.com

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