I <3 Azumanga Daioh, I've got the DVD set and all four volumes of the Manga. You really should check out it's spinoff manga, Yotsuba.

I found the English dub rather awkward though, I honestly don't understand where all the praise for it comes from. And I usually PREFER dubs.

Fun fact: Kimura in Japanese is voiced by Koji Ishii who voices Joe in the Gatchaman '94 OVA. In English he's voiced by Andy McAvin who voices Nambu in ADVs English dub. Strangely funny considering Kimura's personality.

Agent Aika- An anime action show of panties galore!

Hello Gatcha-gang,

Here's another anime series I happen to encounter by accident and really, it's a PANTY PARTY of Action I said... (Jun can really relate to this show I believe)



Agent Aika, known in Japan as simply AIKa, is an adventure anime OVA series.

It is about a Japanese woman named Aika Sumeragi who works as a salvager for companies that hire her, but gets caught up in a plot for world domination.

Tokyo has sunk into the ocean, along with most of the world, during a large-scale land subsidence.

Aika Sumeragi is a salvager who works for a small company run by a father and daughter tandem.

Alas, the company isn't exactly successful, and money is needed desperately.

Thus, Aika accepts the very dangerous job of acquiring an artifact called Lagu for a hefty sum.

The boss' daughter Aida Rion joins Aika on this particular mission, and the two set off.

Later on, Aika and Rion are captured by Rudolf Hargenan effeminate but over-sexed man who wants Lagu and Aika (and just about every pretty girl) for himself.

Hargen commands a huge battleship manned exclusively by Delmos, a vast army of cute girls in mini-skirts (an example of what is often called "fan service").

Alongside Hargen is his obsessive sister Neena, who is jealous of Aika, as well as another salvager named Gusto, who's also after Lagu and has a crush on Aika as well.

When Aika's special bustier (The Ultranate) is activated, she becomes a superhuman who can take on whole armies by herself.

Aika Sumeragi 26

She is considered to be one of the best in the business. She was raised as a test subject by her scientist parents who died in the catastrophic earthquake. She was protected by the bustier made by her parents and thus survived. She was then picked up by Aida Gozo, who raised her, and later on she works in Gozo's office as a Salvager.
Aika possesses a unique battle suit made out of "ultranate" shaped into a golden bustier that transforms her into a dark-skinned and blue-haired woman with supernatural strength and resilience.

But she dislikes the perfection attained by the transformation and tries not to rely on it. Although not used in the anime, in this form she is called Shivie Aika.

She is constantly fighting with Gust, who either tries to steal her bounty or hits on her. Aika will do anything to get the job done, even if it means sacrificing her morals.

Rion Aida 18

She is Aika's salvaging partner and her Boss' daughter. Her mother divorced him after she was born. She wants to run the business better, but her father keeps to his policies. She does not like being left out of transactions nor having Aika do the work herself. Rion looks upon Aika as her real sister and yearns to become like Aika.

Gozo Aida 51

He was an active industrial spy, but rode on the chance of the catastrophic earthquake and entered the salvaging business, setting up K2 Corporation, a Salvaging operation. He is Rion's father. He prefers to hold onto the old ways (cheapest price for the best service) and principles of doing business, which does little good to the business. His past with Aika goes far back.

Michikusa Shuntaro 21

Graduated from the Salvager training school with barely passing grades, he joins K2 Corporation through a relative. His father is the president of a major salvaging company. He is a new character introduced in the second series.
Cute-looking but totally air-headed, Michikusa is prone to dressing cutely as well (including donning Delmo staff uniforms on several occasions), and using a kappa doll and squeaky voice to try cheering up Rion when her mood is down, which earns him frequent beatings by Rion because he only succeeds in annoying her.

Maypia Alexymetalia

She is a "Class A" spy (who carries suitable business cards) employed by the government to retrieve information on Lagu by infiltrating Hagen's army dressed as a black Delmo. She runs into Rion and ends up following her.
After having been abandoned by her employers and her subsequent rescue by Aika and her friends, she went freelance. She reappears in episode 7, where she joins Rion and company in their assault on the Delmo base.

Gus Turbulence 24

He is the son of a company's president. Although he is well-off, he prefers to be independent and became a Salvager to earn his own name.
At first look he may be a brash person, but is skillful. He'd like to have Aika to go out with him, but she refuses. He seems to end up in the right place to get the bounty.

B.A. Bandora

Gust's cyberpunk-styled partner, a veteran Salvager. May not always agree with him but helps him out anyway.


Rudolf Hagen 31

Hagen was born as a genetically altered test tube baby, in the process he received superior genes. Because of that he yearns for superior women to impart the genes to his next generation.
Hagen is the evil mastermind who, even though contracted by the military to find the Lagu, wants it for his own ends. He believes that Lagu is something the Earth produced to destroy the humanity that polluted it. He enjoys commanding his army, especially the bridge, and is passive but calculating. He plans to repopulate the Earth with his own progeny conceived with his Delmo staff.

Neena Hagen 28

She is a test tube baby like Rudolf. It is unknown if she is the blood sister of Rudolf. Nevertheless she respects and loves Rudolf dearly to a level beyond siblings, and dislikes Aika for "seducing" her brother Rudolf. A sadistic character and unstable mood, she walks around in her bare essentials and makes sure the black Delmos are punished for failure.
She later receives from Rudolf an Alternate Metal panty which allows her to transform to a powered-up form. However, the device fusing into her soon runs out of control, and she becomes a hideous monster. In this form she embraces and kills her brother and flees into space cradling his corpse. Her ultimate fate is unknown.



The Delmo Corps, also referred as the Delmogen is an army of pretty ladies assembled by Professor Hagen for the purpose of propagating his genes; they also function as Hagen's private army.

Some of them work ordinary jobs like guides and waitresses, but on top of that they are also involved in espionage activities.

Even after Hagen's defeat, the Delmo Corps still functions. With its aim to capture Aika to avenge Hagen and to study the alternate metal, they become the main antagonist in the second series.

White Delmo: Officer class and Hagen's personal bodyguards. They are responsible for the smooth operations of the ship.

Captain/Commander

The unnamed chief commanding officer of the Delmo is a beautiful green-haired woman highly accomplished in military and reconnaissance work. After Hagen's demise she took command of the Delmogeny and continues to seek revenge on Aika and her entourage.
She distinguishes herself from her subordinate commanders by wearing two patches with a white H on her uniform's collar. She is a responsible officer who is very concerned with the welfare of her troops, and has a love relationship with her (also unnamed) second-in-command.


Adjutant

The second-in-command in the Delmo Corps. She is very loyal and cares very much for the Captain, with whom she has a lover's relationship.
She participated in Operation "Silver Wild Grapevine", where she played the role of the head of the air base.


Golden Delmo: Special operations task force. They carry out special missions.

Bianca
The operative in charge of Operation "Golden Apple". She wanted revenge for one of the Delmo (a personal friend) who died during the events in series one. She plans to humiliate Aika by using a woman disguised as a man to toy with Aika's feelings, then capture Aika alive. She uses a retractable sleeve-blade in melee combat and has a hidden flame thrower on her right arm.

Rie Petoriyacowa

The child-like operative in charge of Operation "Silver Wild Grapevine". She had been studying Aika and had learnt how Aika fights. Aika was tricked into a pilot adaptibility physical examination, whereby Rie gathers physical data on Aika.

Sania

One of the two operatives that destroyed the K2 Corporation building. Her preferred weapon is a grenade pistol.

Tonia

One of the two operatives that destroyed the K2 Corporation building. Uses claws on both hands in melee combat.

Blue Delmo: Elite infantry class. They carry weapons and perform duties such as piloting or defending the ship against intruders.

Valarie/Pierre Valimore

A bishMnen woman who took part in Operation "Golden Apple". She volunteered to be the one to disguise herself as a man.


Black Delmo: Infantry class, in charge of carrying out simple missions, mass-attacking in melee, and the administration of the ship.

Pink Delmo: Mechanics and engineers also seen operating heavy weapons, from tanks to battleship guns.

Personally, The Agent Aika series featured stuff thoroughly devoid of common sense: The Neena Hargen character piloted a supersonic jet only in lingeries...I know expert pilots have to wear special flightsuits to counter the different G-Forces involved in high speed flights. Plus, girls wearing too mini skirts (why bother skirts) really now, I believe Aika was made for the mild "perverts" in all of us...

Najica Blitz Tactics- Another Action packed, Pantyshots galore anime show!

After "Agent Aika" I encountered yet another Action Packed, Panty-Flashing Japanese anime series titled "Najica Bl;itz tactics"

Najica Hiiragi is a noted perfumer for CRI Cosmetics, famous for being able to identify over 500 scents. As the series began, she is struggling to finish "The Day Series" (a series of scents modeled after the days of the week), trying to find the perfect scent for the final perfume, "Sunday".

Secretly however, Najica is actually a field agent for CRI's Intelligence Bureau, an agency unknown to the public (and even to most of its own employees for the sake of their own protection). She is an expert markswoman with her preferred weapon; the Stechkin APS, an old Russian firearm with selective fire (auto and semi-auto) and a wooden holster that doubles as a shoulder stock. The twenty round magazine is loaded with non-lethal plastic bullets.

Najica is also an expert helicopter pilot, and she has a custom-modified Mil Mi-35 Hind assault helicopter with remote control and advanced avionics.

Najica's first mission in the narrative is to recover a Humaritt (android) codenamed "ZZZ" and referred to as "Lila" (who was to be used as the sex toy of a bi-sexual countess), Najica becomes suspicious when CRI Intelligence is contracted by Shinba Industrial to recover more lost and possibly rogue Humaritts; especially since most of them are in the hands of criminals, revolutionaries, guerillas or terrorist groups. Her suspicions increase when Lila is assigned to be her partner, even though Najica insists she be allowed to continue working alone. As time goes on however, Najica begins to trust Lila, even if Lila's lack of social graces make her wince. Soon however the two's bond is tested when they face the creator of the Humaritts and her ultimate plan...

Perhaps the program's greatest appeal is its sexiness. Najica Blitz Tactics is deliciously naughty throughout, and almost every time a female character is depicted she is shown from an angle that allows her bosom, posterior, or crotch to fill most of the screen. There is, however, no nudity in the series, and its light-hearted voyeurism is concentrated on showing off the forms of its female characters as these are revealed beneath their clothing. The director is particularly interested in displaying his characters' panties. In fact, Najica Blitz Tactics contains more panties than most human beings will see elsewhere in a lifetime.

Panty Peaks in VOLTES V?

I remember when I was a kid, I used to watch Western type cartoons (mostly done by Hanna-Barberra).
But when “Voltes V” came marching in on Philippine Television, I was hooked beyond belief; there were elements in the show that’s totally different from U.S. cartoons: Sword fights, intense drama and human sufferings, real death and destruction stuff.

Another thing that I noticed was the fearless showing of female underwear in the cartoons.
I really don’t understand why most Japanese animes from Voltes V’s times (And even so in the present) had this fetish on girls panties (they’re predominantly “white”.)
But one thing is sure, American cartoons in those times never shows what their female characters wear beneath their skirts, the Japanese approach was more radical and I thought, this method was aimed at younger male viewers. (Or the “panty” thing in Japan is just as natural as placing scripts on the characters and was not even a big deal for the viewers…)
Voltes V was not exempted in this “panty showing rule”: There are episodes where the character Megumi has to dodge a whip attack from the Ippei character. Doing so, her skirt flares up, showing her undies.

Another episode (Jamie’s dream) shows Megumi in a hurry, and she starts to put on her boots. The frame camera is in an angle where
The viewers could have a scant look of her panty-covered pubic area.

Note: this panty-flashing spectacle is also dominant for Jun of Gatchaman and up till the new anime series (With the exception of Azumanga Daioh)

Yo Cain,

Gun X Sword is a real cool anime...and I've finished the entire series...First, the bad guys rained the poor lanky Van with trash talk everytime the odds seems to favor the baddies...but as the show progress, Van shoved it all down their throats!

Van's a drifter, like a cowboy desperado searching for justice

Full metal Alchemist - A new action anime's in town...

Ok Gatchaguys, a new hard kicking anime's in our town and the tile is FULL METAL ALCHEMIST...
And it's currently featured in TV 5 every Friday at 7:30 pm


Edward and Alphonse Elric are two alchemist brothers searching for the legendary Philosopher's Stone, a powerful object which would allow them to recover their bodies (which were lost in an attempt to bring their mother back to life through alchemy). Born in the village of Resembool from the country of Amestris ( Amesutorisu?), the two brothers live there with their parents. Their father, Hohenheim, leaves home for unknown reasons and years later, their mother, Trisha Elric, dies of a terminal illness leaving the Elric brothers alone. After their mother's death, Edward becomes determined to bring her back through the use of alchemy, an advanced science in which objects can be created from raw materials. They research Human Transmutation, a forbidden art in which one attempts to create or modify a human being. However, this attempt fails, ultimately resulting in the loss of Edward's left leg and Alphonse's entire body. In a desperate effort to save his brother, Edward sacrifices his right arm to affix Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor. Some days later, an alchemist named Roy Mustang visits the Elric brothers, and he tells Edward to become a member of the State Military of the country to find a way to recover their bodies. After that, Edward's left leg and right arm are replaced with automail, a type of advanced prosthetic limb, created for him by his close family friends Winry Rockbell and her grandmother Pinako.

Edward sets out to become a State Alchemist (Kokka Renkinjutsushi?), an alchemist employed by the State Military of Amestris, which infamously annihilated much of the neighboring country of Ishbal's population in the past decade. Becoming a State Alchemist enables Edward to use the extensive resources available to State Alchemists, but it also turns him into what they call a "dog of the military". His more friendly relationship with Roy Mustang however, whom he reports to and who recruited him, allows the brothers freedom to search for the Philosopher's Stone as part of Edward's research, as each State Alchemist is expected to independently research new things which may be of a use to the State Military of Amestris. The brothers set off in search of the Philosopher's Stone as a means to restore their bodies. Throughout their journey, they meet many antagonists, including those who are willing to do anything to obtain the Philosopher's Stone; Scar, one of the few surviving Ishbalans, who seeks vengeance on the State Alchemists for the destruction of his race; and the homunculi, a group of human-like creatures who carry pieces of the Philosopher's Stone inside themselves, and from it derive the ability to survive almost any harm.

As the story progresses, Edward and Alphonse discover the vast expansion of Amestris was the result of the homunculi, who created and secretly control the State Military. The homunculi and much of the high-ranking military officers are commanded from behind the curtains by the creator of the homunculi, a man simply known as Father, who gained immortality by using a copy of Hohenheim as his new body centuries before the series' timeline. He plans to use Amestris as a gigantic transmutation circle, possibly to transmute the entire country into the Philosopher's Stone. When Edward and Alphonse discover Father's plans, they set out to defeat him along with other members of the State Military.

Personal views:

This anime is so radical that it has atheistic elements in it...My younger brother loves it cause he's an honest to ghod atheist.

In fact I did some time ago! I was more than happy to unexpectedly encounter another enthusiast of Voltes V in this site as even here, at my country, not many people know about it! Thanks for the summary Buddy ... it surely brought me back some good memories!

__________________
To be or not to be a gatchamaniac - that's the dilemma!

Is this only just coming out with you?

I have had the pleasure of watching it a couple of years ago. Hmmmm, maybe it was only two winters ago. Any ways, they have pulled it now for other anime shows, but I do miss it. I was really enjoying it, even when the station started showing it in reruns. The TV station ran the full series of shows, then showed the movie and then went back to the half hour eps.

Not to spoil it for you, but I so wanted to see everything be successful for the boys.

__________________
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

I have just purchased the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed series. I know it is an old series but I just ran across a few eps the other day and decided I needed to see more.

__________________
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

__________________
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.