The finals of the first ever J-Pop Anime Singing Competition Finals were held last Saturday, July 25, at the Market!Market! Activity Center. It was the culmination of a Philippine-Japan friendship event organized by the Japanese Embassy with the help of the Japan Foundation, and the event was further supported by the Nihongo Center Foundation, TOEI Animation Philippines, HERO TV, Ayala Malls, and 103.5 MAX FX. The event is one of many that are meant to celebrate Philippines-Japan Friendship month – evidently, one of the most important cultural events in the country for Japanophiles.

The series revolves around Haruhi Fujioka, a scholarship student at the ultra-exclusive and oh-so-terribly expensive Ouran Academy. The school’s students are comprised of the absolute cream of society, the richest, classiest, most elite and best bred that Japan had to offer… which made for some horrific awkwardness for a perfectly normal, middle-class girl who is suddenly plunged into this strange, new world.

The series is now over five years old, but still does a terrific job of making its viewers feel worried, tense and paranoid. Imagine the anticipation one experiences just before the killer jumps out in a scary movie. Yes, that. Paranoia Agent manages to capture it, bottle it and use it on you almost at will.

We don’t know the language, we don’t know the geography, we know only the most basic of customs, but drop us off in the middle of Japan, and we can now confidently say that there’s ONE thing we’ll know how to do.

Get a haircut and look good. Once we got that down, we’re sure the rest will follow. Oh, yeah.

I’m surprised I hadn’t gotten to a review of this series sooner. All things considered, it’s practically a perfect fit for the LoliDudes.

There’s a lot of fun to be had here. Strangely enough, Kogarashi reminds me of a gigantic, maid-uniform wearing Doreamon. He’s got some trick up his sleeve… or skirt… ready to try and help his master out of whatever situation she’s in. Even if his master may not always appreciate it. Consider the fact that he’s practically got X-ray vision and is able to connect to USB devices through his ear… and that’s just in the first two episodes.

Our very first guest blogger EVAR, magnetic_rose, gives us a quick crash course on Vocaloids and shares her Top 5 personal picks!

It is an anime about dreams, and not giving them up, no matter what your circumstances. This is a message that deserves to be told. It’s an anime about most excellently hard rocking with tons of guitar references sprinkled generously throughout. It’s an anime that you really should be watching.

Nanoha is a spinoff of a fairly successful H-game and OAV series Triangle Hearts. While it derives bits and pieces from the Triangle Hearts continuity it strikes out in an entirely new direction and is quite devoid of H (Come on, you sickos… the main character starts out in the third grade!). Much as Magical Girl Pretty Sammi spun out of the sprawlingly massive Tenchi Muyo franchise, Nanoha is the spawn of Triangle Hearts, but touches on it’s roots only lightly after a point. The first 13 episode series aired back in 2004, the sequel A’s which was also 13 episodes aired in 2005 and the third series, StrikerS, aired in 2007.

The wonderful folks from Gainax are now releasing a second wristwatch, this time based on the series’ hugely-popular resident tsundere, Asuka Sohryu. Yes. It is red, in case you didn’t like the other purple-and-green ensemble.

Since last May, we’ve been hearing word about an upcoming toy convention, and sure enough, when June rolled in, there it was. And so, last June 13 and 14, 2009, The 8th Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention (TOYCON) was held at Megamall Megatrade Hall 2 & 3, just as promised.