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Pojo's Anime Articles

New and Popular Manga & Anime YOU Should be Watching and Reading Now!

Written by: Charninja


Lo and hail, plebians! This is the first article I, Charninja, have ever written for Pojo.com, so let's hope it's at the very least acceptable. I think this shall be about (as the title states) popular mangas and animes YOU should be watching and reading now!

First up, one of the most popular animes to be released on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim lineup in a good while, FullMetal Alchemist is most definitely a doozy. It's all about two brothers in some fictional realm, and, as is so often the case, they happen to have nifty powers. In the case of FullMetal Alchemist, as the name implies, the powers in question are an adeptness at the "science" of alchemy, the "magic" by which those talented in it may transform certain objects into other items of equal composition, such as lamp posts into swords, or doorknobs into small shields. The tricky thing is, Ed (the elder brother) lost an arm and a leg, and Alfonse (Al) lost his entire body while trying to use forbidden alchemy to resurrect their mother after she died. Al now resides in an old suit of armor the Ed managed to bond his spirit to. After that, Ed and Al decide to join the State as official military alchemists, on the search for the fabled Philosopher's stone, the one item that can break the First Law of Alchemy: In order for something to be received, something of equal value must be lost. They hope that after they find the Stone, they will be able to get their body (or at least the missing parts) back. Of course, sinister forces are at work, because several strange individuals named after the 7 deadly sins of the bible have been oddly active lately, and they are paying special attention to the two talented boys.

Next is the sci-fi thriller Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. It's all about a hot lady cyborg police officer whose silicon content isn't JUST all in her breasts. She works in the Tokyo of the future, dealing with cyberterrorism, political corruption, and conspiracies enough to drive even the most hardcore techno-junky agog. So far, not much in the way of the plot has been revealed beyond that, but it's safe to say that the more you watch it, the more you'll come to understand. Other than that, the music, animation, and oggling potential is more than enough to warrant watching it religiously until you do manage to figure it out.

Naruto is one of Shonen Jump's most popular mangas, and though there was a rumor of it coming to the U.S., that seems to have been JUST a rumor, if the latest news is to be believed. However, the tale of the world's most popular ramen eating ninja is quite a controversial subject when it comes to being dubbed for a U.S. release. It is generally agreed that most of the major networks would do what Kids WB and 4kids did to Yugioh, and “kiddify” it unrecognizably. Anyone who's read the series (and trust me, you should read the series) knows that it has more than enough blood and cursing to satisfy nearly any teenager, but most networks are particularly skittish about that sort of thing, especially since most of it is either done to or by 12-year olds, which would probably become the target market after the dubbing was completed.

Gungrave, based on the rather subpar PS2 videogame of the same name, far surpasses it's source material, and is only available on G4TechTV Anime Unleashed block, which rotates between it, Gad Guard, and Read or Die (which will all be gone over shortly). It's the story of how Brandon Heat, a young street punk, becomes the most feared and powerful mafia hitman in his city, only to be whacked by his best friend of all his life and who also happens to be his boss. Unluckily for him, Brandon made use of a new technology that allows any living thing to be raised back from the dead, faster, stronger, and good deal meaner. Taking the name of Beyond The Grave, it's now his turn to kick serious booty and save his dead girlfriend's daughter.

Read or Die involves anime babes who can control paper. Really, that's good enough for me, but since some people care about plot too, it does happen to have a pretty nifty one. It's all about a once great Japanese author who starts getting death threats from some guy who's knocked off a few other authors. Her editor and best friend decides that since she wants to do a publicity signing in Hong Kong so badly, she'll need to accept having a group of body guards known as The Paper Sisters, who, amazingly enough, control paper! (gasp) After they save her life, they move in with her, and after some wacky misadventures, Nenene (the author, who happens to have one of the coolest names EVER) allows them stay with her so that they can... *ahem* "protect her." And thus, a thousand doujins that are definitely NOT appropriate for discussion were born. Oh yeah, the sisters also do some mercenary work for a secret organization that's soul duty is to protect and find rare books, and hopefully, write the ULTIMATE BOOK OF ALL HISTORY. Then, they make the mistake of kidnapping Nenene for that purpose, and thereby incur the wrath of The Paper Sisters.

Gad Guard is one of those quirky little shows that defies explanation. At first, it's about big robots, so that would hint that there would be a good deal of existentialist dread and rhetorical questions about life and it's meaning... but then you learn that the main character is a delivery boy, so it's kinda like Futurama. Then, you get all these hot young girls surrounding the guy, and it becomes like Tenchi Muyo or Love Hina. And then you add the stereotypical kickarse anti-hero with chip on his shoulder whom you just KNOW has a following of rabid fangirls, so it's kinda like YuYu Hakusho. Then the robots start fighting, and you forget all your troubles in sweet bliss.
Well, that's it for now, true believers. If you're all good little boys and girls, I MIGHT have another article for you later on. ;-)