
Youchien Senshi: Hanamaru Girls
BD specials styled as "previews" in an alternative magical-girl setting.
Canonical catalog
1000 titles

BD specials styled as "previews" in an alternative magical-girl setting.

There are gamblers out there who even bet their lives as ante. But to secure the integrity of these life-threatening gambles, a violent and powerful organization by the name of "Kagerou" referees these games as a neutral party. Follow Bak Madarame a.k.a. Usogui (The Lie Eater) as he gambles against maniacal opponents at games—such as Escape the Abandoned Building, Old Maid, and Hangman—to ultimately "out-gamble" and control the neutral organization of Kagerou itself. (Source: MU)

During the cold war, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force jointly developed a nuclear submarine with the United States Navy. On its maiden voyage, the captain of the submarine declares the submarine to be an independent state, "Yamato."


Based on a seinen manga by Kikuchi Naoe and Yokomi Hirohiko, serialised in IKKI. The "story" is that a manga artist is asked by her boss to accompany him and a travel-writer on various train trips around Japan and draw a manga about it. The kicker though, is that it's completely non-fiction —the creator really did go on all these trips, and the manga simply records what happened, with no embellishment. There's a little disclaimer at the front that says "This is non-fiction, so I apologize for the lack of drama," and indeed, it mostly is just about them riding trains from place to place, waiting on platforms, etc. The "travel writer" turns out to be a super train-otaku who has vast knowledge of the train network, but also micro-manages all their trips, planning every detail down to the second. He cares mostly about following the schedule and successfully achieving his planned goals (e.g. visiting all stations on a line in a completely bizarre order to accomodate infrequent trains). The mangaka doesn't really care about trains; she's cynical, sarcastic, and rather lazy (she mainly just looks forward to the next eki-ben); he's completely gung-ho as long as he's following the schedule, and the inevitable conflicts are pretty entertaining. Throughout, though, it feels real —if you've travelled by train in Japan it will all seem very familiar, not just the scenery, but also the atmosphere and feel— and the artist does a great job of pacing and applying little tweaks to keep it consistently entertaining. In an additional bit of recursiveness, some of the characters who show up in the manga (who of course are real people, who really did show up) do so because they (really) read previous episodes of the manga! In addition of course, you can learn about various out of the way and interesting Japanese train lines and stations; some of them really do look cool. There's always this vague sense of surreality about it however, the trips are all planned by the train-guy (goal: visit all 9,843 stations in Japan) who seems to consider everything as part of a checklist rather than an experience to be enjoyed. You learn a bit about train-otaku culture too; there's really only the one guy in the story, but train-otaku culture is a sort of constant peripheral presence. (Source: AniDB)

Recap of the first 12 episodes of Hoshi no Samidare from Noi's point-of-view.

Yawara helps a group of timid grade school kids overcome their fears and compete in a judo competition. One of the kids is Hanazono's cousin, which is how she meets them. Another is a girl who seems a whole lot like Yawara. (Source: ANN)

Yoshio Hori is a day laborer in the 1980s during Tokyo's economic boom. Initially, Yoshio sought out Asagaya to live a free-wheeling lifestyle but that was quickly dropped as he was confronted with reality. He lives a life of extreme poverty and encounters all types of characters from Japan's sub-cultures, including yakuza, drug addicts, and alcoholics. (Source: ANN)

Compilation film of Koukaku Kidoutai: SAC_2045 Season 2

Promotional video for the Big Comic Spirits manga Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia.

Preview for Hanamaru Kindergarten with a few scenes not included (or different) in the anime.

It's an animated variety show featuring the works of Monkey Punch that aired on WOWOW with the episodes being 52 minutes long. 12 episodes were aired between July 31, 2004 to June 25, 2005 and received a DVD exclusive 15 minute long special called Crime Mate. (Source: Wikipedia, Lupin III Wiki)

When an American scientist carrying a cure for the AIDS virus is kidnapped by an arms merchant, John Kyosuke is forced back from retirement. He accepts the challenge to regain possession of the anti-serum. He finds out that some of the people he is after are closely related, which gives his conquest a whole new meaning. (Source: AnimeNfo)

Second season of Snowball Earth.

More than twenty years ago, an evil summoner committed "Great Summon". One third of human beings were killed, and devils and monsters invaded the Earth. One day, a painter, Tamura Fukutaro, moves into an apartment house called "Ashiaraiyashiki" and gets involved in the troubles of his non-human neighbors. It's the beginning of a severe battle among gods, devils and the ruler "The Central".

It's girls, gangs, and cars in this adaptation of the 1985 manga in Young Magazine, by Lullaby for Wednesday's Cinderella-creator Michiharu Kusunoki. Local punks steal cars, switch the plates, and sell them, but not without racing them for a while against rival gangs. The anime continues the story where the 1987 live-action movie starring Kazuya Kimura left off. (Source: The Anime Encyclopedia)

Yuko Kusaka is a Japanese journalist sent to Brazil to do a report on the gold rush phenomenon that seems to be making many people rich from night to day. Rumors say that among the many "garimpeiros" (gold diggers) currently on the Amazon forest, there is a Japanese known as Rio Baraki. Reaching their destination, her crew member is promptly attacked and she is raped as a warning to stop their work and return immediately to their home country. Determined to do her job, she stays and finds out from the attacker that he is none other than Baraki, a white haired muscular man with a large scar on his back. Later she discovers that his real name is Keisuke Ibaraki. Once a promising quarterback, he ended up falsely incriminated by a powerful organization known as GPX. (Source: ANN)

The story of Mr. Araiwa and his family. He is a model employee in a large enterprise, but becomes a completely different character at home. He is very keen on cooking and lets pass no occasion to cook delicious dishes for his wife, who is frequently occupied by her work as a journalist, or his young son. (Source: AniDB)

Due to the advent of modern technology, kids have abandoned their crayons and paper for electronic tablets, causing the imaginative energy emitted from children's doodles to reach an all-time low. Consequently, the Rakuga Kingdom in the sky, powered by such energy, is now at risk of collapsing onto the cities below. For any hope to avoid such a catastrophe, the kingdom's princess hastily seeks out a hero from Earth capable of wielding the "Miracle Crayon." While the kingdom's reformers arrive on land to seize Earth, the magical crayon finds itself in the hands of Shinnosuke "Shin-chan" Nohara. In a journey that will test the limits of childlike imagination, Shin-chan must harness his creativity to secure the safety of his home and restore peace to both worlds. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

When hopeful screenwriter Ryou Matsumoto is told that he should write about his own experiences, he believes nobody would want to hear about his uneventful life. However, one evening he witnesses a man get gunned down in an alleyway. After barely escaping from the killer and dealing with unhelpful police, Ryou must channel the hero inside himself if he wants to evade the dangerous group he has accidentally run across. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Child of Destruction is the sequel to the RIKI-OH OVA Wall of Hell. Child of Destruction tells us more of Riki's past, as we flash back to his childhood to learn the terrible fate of his mother and how he himself was taken away from his twin brother Nachi during a game of hide-and-seek, with Nachi's plaintive cry of "Are you ready yet?" haunting him through the years. Riki has a six-pointed star emblazoned on his hand, while Nachi has a swastika on his, the significance of which go unexplained. Riki finds himself in the town of Misaki, dotted with illegal nuclear power plants and run by a religious fanatic military organization called "God's Judgment." He is taken prisoner and made to fight in gladiatorial matches in a sprawling arena. He finds his brother, whose special powers have given him the name of "Savior," but his reunion with his resentful sibling turns sour rather quickly. Part 2 is much gorier than Part 1, with Riki smashing his fists into numerous soldier opponents with far less restraint. (Source: IMDb)

The year is 1866, the twilight of the Tokugawa era. As Japan boldly moves into a new age, one man couldn't possibly care less. That man is Kumosuke Haguregumo, a retired samurai who has since become the town fool. Though he still carries his twin-bladed katana, Kumosuke spends his days smoking, drinking, and womanizing, rarely coming home before dawn. At home, however, wait his wife and two children, Shinnosuke and Ohana, who are constantly troubled by Kumosuke's antics. As Shinnosuke grows older, he begins to understand the world around him. Troubled by his father's reputation, Shinnosuke attempts to live a life of honor, though finding what honor means in a turbulent era is difficult. As Shinnosuke navigates his relationship with his father, countless other warriors struggle to find their place in the ever-changing world. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Taba and the Girls of Kagura Total Security Inc. are at it again. This time they have to battle a Gang of Phantom Cats and a mysterious enemy and assassin. And there are the run ins with the Government, the need for a new office, as well as sorting out the past to deal with. Luckily, they've got a stock pile of weapons and super technology to help. (Source: ANN)
