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Basilisk is a Seinen, Action, Romance filled with sword fighting, ninja skills and psychological battles enough to satisfy Samurai fans out there.

Basilisk reminds me of the Shakespearian classical tragedy Romeo and Juliet, two people from two rivalled clans falling in love. The two intended to marry to stop the fues between their groups and create peace but in certain circumstances, greed for power, the thirst for blood and drive for vengeance can't be stopped as such thruce can't wipe away hatred. Thus starts the war between these groups.

The manga design including character, background and battle scene was somewhat appreciated by seinen readers, dark, bloody ... and a few nudity.

Diffinition of each character is more on their ninjutsu (ninja ability). But as I said before the story is similar to the Romeo and Juliet and even the characters are in one way or another, alike:

Romeo - Ginunsuke
Juliet - Oboro

Kouga Group - Montague
Iga Group - Capulet

This manga feeds readers with bunch of ninja actions, well defined battle scenes and tactics. Though the romance was somehow a bit of a cliche but can catch few tragedy fans.

Overall, this is a worth read taking a 7.5 for me.

It's been a long time since a Martial Arts/Action manga caught my eyes as I prefer stuffs like this to be animated. After reading a few chapter, I can't believe how much spell it can bring if it was relished with ecchi, featuring an Ass-kicking Bishoujo.

Change 123 is about a girl who developed multiple personalities to cope up with the martial arts training given by her three adoptive fathers. This plot was nothing new, but the character development was very good. Just looking in there pictures will give you an idea how they differ from each other(Yeah, We know they are all sexy and is ... oozing with sex appeal). After reading few chapters, I've destinguished the personalities as: muscle type (Mikiri), brainy (the tactician Fujiko) and Combat Artist (Hibiki). There are also interesting support characters such as the Ganga and Hino. The protagonist, Kosukegawa was a stereotype ecchi/harem character, a weakling loser though he has quite good charactiristics that keeps readers from hating him such as his kindness and his sense of justice that he gained from being a follower of Kamen Raider.

The greatest asset of this manga will be its Art. I myself was a fanatic of a certain mangaka for designing cute bishoujos, and this was the first time I admired something that wasn't made by her hands. The character designs suits there personalities so well and, yes, no one won't stick for some pages as this one provides a whole lot of fan service. Yes we know these are standards in manga but I never seen something as good as this one.

C123 was action packed, full of mind shattering kicks and pulls no punches. Tactical battle scenes was also well done and enough to bring some adrenaline rush. The development of the love story was a fun addition. It also have its share of wackiness for laughs.

Overall, Change 123 was one great deal for those who are craving for "Femme Fatale" characters as this one provides more than enough.

What's fun when I watch a comedy show is the presence of a crazy character. In anime you'll surely find wacky characters such as Hiruma-sama (Eyeshield 21) and Kona-chan, but no one is wierder than Mogami Kyoko from this anime/manga skip beat. She was one of my most loved shoujo characters and as expected, the fun was multiplied when Skip Beat was adopted to an anime series.

The plot is quite ordinary, "a tale of revenge", but what separates it from the classics is the reason why and how it will be done. Kyoko decided to enter showbusiness to ruin the rising superstar Fuwa Shou, her ... childhood friend that betrayed her. The fact that she was once called by him as 'plain faced' never affected Kyoko's determination. She willingly accepted few jobs and awkward situations just to gain her goal of being an idol and smash it all on Shou's face.

The kind of love story featured in the series was some kind of indirect romance which thrills me better than the showy type that was full of confessions and emotions.

So far, I think Skip Beat was one of the best Romantic Comedy Anime this season.

At first glance, many thought that American football is all about muscle and killing intent. As a child, I watched NFL games and saw players hurt, injured, worst; crushed, suffer fractures and other accidents that led them to disability. As a sportsman(once a varsity basketball player), I hate games runned by power and skill alone.

Ya-HA!
Enters Eyeshield 21 that features a with unorthodox players such as shorty, porky and a Demon. The plot is very simple, about an errand boy who became a superstar in a game played by monsters and his team, the Devil Bats journey to National Championships, the Christmas Bowl. It highlights the ... rivalry of the main character, light speed runningback Kobayakawa Sena known as Eyeshield 21 and Linebacker Shin Seijurou who is considered as the perfect player. Like other shounen stories, the protagonist grows strong stronger as he faced stronger opponents until the final decesive battle against his rival.

What everyone loved in this anime is its character development and as a sports themed anime, ES21 expressed the importance of teamwork better.

ES21 can be a manual itself and gradually showed the rules of the American football. This sports unlike any other team sports is a game of specialties and choosing a position is very vital to he outcome of the team. In the Devil bats case, the team is composed usually of inexperienced guys (and some are weaklings) relying only on their lifestyle, natural talents, hard work and rushed training. Here are their ligitimate line-up:

QB- H. Youichi - the devilish trickster and master of psychological warfares.
RB/TB- K. Sena- former errand boy with lightspeed legs
RB/FB- Ishimaru - helper from the track & field club
WR- R. Tarou - dedicated follower of a Baseball catching superstar
WR- Yukimitsu- his life was spent on academics
C- K. Ryoukan- a guy who knows nothing but power
G- Y. Daikichi - a loyal apprentice of Kurita
G- Ha -thugs
T- Ha -same-
T- Brothers -same-

Considering these data, thechances of playing forthe national championship was estimated 0.1% but saccording to their Leader, Hiruma-sama, as long as its not completely zero, winning is still inevitable.

Compared with other sports anime, I'd say Eyeshield 21 is the smartest of them all. This anime proves that winning isn't only a matter of skills, athleticism, work ethic and determination, it takes some deep tactics, calculations and brainstorming to outwit the opposing team and to stand on the battlefield.

After watching this anime, surely you'll never doubt that David really toppled Goliath. Ya-ha!

"Coincidence is nothing but an illusion", such are the words of Yuuko that influenced my life choices since I've watched this CLAMP masterpiece.

Xxxholic is a slice of life anime that showcases several supernatural settings that is in one way or another, very similar to real life situations. It shows how greed brings loss, lies can be fatal and how love andfriendship can save.

The story is about extra-ordinary events in Watanuki's life such as meeting creatures seen from folk and fairy tales and exploring different grounds known only from myth books, while working as a part-timer in a mysterious shop of Ichihara Yuuko, the witch that ... grants wishes for a price.

If you noticed how I emphasized this anime as a masterpiece, it's because I've never seen an anime done a marvelous job in connecting fantasy and reality than this one.

Regarding it's art and character, the design was good especially in creating Ichihara Yuuko (my favorite CLAMP character), the CLAMP expressed well how an Elegant Witch would be.

What I enjoyed the most is how every conflict was ended by a conclusion from Yuuko. In such ways, these words will be treasures not only br Watanuki but also by viewers on how they value the elements of life.

Every Slice of Life fan will surely love Xxxholic.