Geek of Oz

BTOOOM! is very much an anime version of The Hunger Games, which itself is an American version Battle Royale. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this series is like a cross between Battle Royale and Bomberman because not only are the protagonists stuck on an island of certain death, but they only have a variety of bombs at their disposal. Based upon the manga series of the same name by Junya Inoue (available in English from Yen Press ), it follows the source material pretty well to the letter, albeit out of order. That said, I'm currently only up to volume 5 of the manga. Be careful what you wish for. Ryouta Sakamoto has suddenly been transferred in to a deadly high stakes game. A game he is all too familiar with. Left on a mysterious island with a set of provisions, a bag of bombs and a strange crystal embedded into his left hand – this is the world of Btooom realized. Beautifully replicated, this game of Btooom is an all out dog eat dog world, where to e...

Naoki Urasawa's Monster is widely regarded as being a manga masterpiece so it should come as no surprise that the anime incarnation is just as fantastic. Ten years after it's initial release, the series is finally being released in Australia by the good people at Siren.  "What would you do if a child you saved grew up to be a monster? An ice-cold killer is on the loose, and Dr. Kenzo Tenma is the only one who can stop him! Tenma, a brilliant neurosurgeon with a promising future, risks his career to save the life of a critically wounded young boy named Johan. When the boy reappears nine years later in the midst of a string of unusual serial murders, Tenma must go on the run from the police who suspect him to be the killer. Conspiracies, serial murders, and secret government experiments set against the grim backdrop of the formerly communist Eastern Europe are masterfully woven together in the compelling work of suspense that is Naoki Urasawa's MONSTER...

You won't find any ninja, robots, explosions, gunfights or even fan service Chihayafuru and that's part of the reason that it is such an endearing series.  Based on the manga series of the same name by Yuki Suetsugu, Chihayafuru is a story of dedication, friendship and an oddly riveting card game called karuta. Karuta is a game of both speed, knowledge and language. Players face off against each other while listening to Japanese waka poems and try to grab the card corresponding to the poem being recited. Frankly, even that description is deathly boring and yet at no point during Chihayafuru will you find yourself catching some Z's.

Released a couple of weeks ago now, Iron Man: Rise of Technovore is the latest anime collaboration between Marvel and Madhouse. If any characters would benefit from the incredible mech design sensibilities that Madhouse has to offer, it'd be Iron Man and War Machine. Follow on after the jump for a look at the very cool design of Iron Man's offensive offsider in a special behind the scenes featurette.

Supernatural, the award winning series from US powerhouse The CW, has spawned a number of spin offs including novels, comic books and now an anime series. The anime offshoot covers a handful of stories from the first two seasons, re-imagining episodes suck as "Roadkill" and "The Devil's Trap", while also creating all new stories which not only expand upon the stories of the main characters, the Winchester's, but also those of some well known secondary characters. With stories from the original series and animation from the all but faultless studio Madhouse, Supernatural: The Anime Series should be a great tie in to a great TV series. Check out the full review after the jump!

Princess Resurrection is one of the newest series to be released by Siren Visual. Somewhat of a departure from their usual left of centre fare (Noitamina) Princess Resurrection is far more "normal" than what I'm used to seeing, well, as normal as a series about werewolves, zombies and androids can be. "Orphaned at a young age, Hiro Hiyorimi's young life is cut short when he is killed in a freak accident.  Luckily for him his sister recently accepted a job as caretaker for Hime - a member of the royal family...who has inherited the Monster Kingdom and rules over her dynasty with a chainsaw!  Granted a second chance at life, Hiro is eternally grateful (if somewhat confused). Immortality has a price: regular infusions of Hime's blood and servitude to the Monster Princess.  Directed by Masayuki Sakoi (Needless, Spice and Wolf), Princess Resurrection is a supernatural mystery/comedy with werewolves, beautiful vampires, grotesque flesh-eating Cth...

Madman have released the complete collection of Rideback on Blu Ray and DVD, a story based on a manga series of the same name by Tetsuro Kasahara. Rideback is one of those series that seems to creep up on you with very little in terms of pedigree. The manga hasn't been released in English, the creator of the manga is relatively unknown and its the directorial debut of Atsushi Takahashi. So, can we rely solely on pedigree to determine the quality of the entire series? "Atop her robotic RideBack motorcycle, an ex-dancer ignites the fires of rebellion in a nation held captive by its own oppressive government.  After an injury forces Rin to trade her stage career for college life, she finds new thrills as a member of the RideBack Club. When she discovers an unusual connection with one machine in particular - Fuego - she is forced into the middle of a revolution. The tyrannical new government rules with an iron fist, and Rin is reluctant to take them on. But as her dearest frie...

Before you even bother reading further. Answer me these riddles three:  Do you like anime? Do you like zombies? Do you like big boobs? If you answered yes to at least 2 out of 3, you'll love High School of the Dead. "A deadly new disease is ravaging the world, turning the populace into mindless zombies, and the number of infected is skyrocketing by the second. As their fellow classmates and teachers succumb to the infection around them, a small group of students at Fujimi High School are fighting for their lives after surviving the initial outbreak. It is up to Takashi Komuro to unite the group of weary survivors and try to escape the horrors that surround them. In this new world of the living dead…will they escape? High School of the Dead is by Director Tetsuro Araki (Deathnote, Black Lagoon), animated by studio MADHOUSE and adapted from the highly successful manga of the same name by Daisuke Sato."

Summer Wars is the multiple award winning 2009 film from writer Sato Okudera and director Mamoru Hosoda, the incredible team behind The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. This film tells the story of Kenji, your stereotypical anime nerd. He's great with computers, a genius at school but a complete dullard when it comes to girls. Kenji works part time as a low level administrator in Oz, a world-wide social media phenomenon that has connections to everything from mums and pops to the military. At the start of summer he is approached by Natsuki, an outspoken and beautiful schoolmate who proposes something utterly incredible and terrifying. She wants him spend the summer with for family from Ueda all the while pretending to be her fiancee!

Siren Visual is releasing animation as shown in the noitaminA project. Originally broadcast on Fuji TV noitaminA showcases a number of different series in an attempt to expand on the usual anime demographic. The series are all varied in both visual style and story and produced by some of anime's biggest studios including Madhouse, JC Staff, Production IG, Bones and more. Siren are releasing the first two series, Welcome to Irabu's Office and The Tatami Galaxy, on the 18th of February and the 18th of March 2011 respectively and with even more to follow. If you find yourself getting border with the usual mecha/horror/fantasy anime you should give noitaminA a go.