News Flash: Strike Witches O.V.A. Release Date Revealed

The release date for Strike Witches OVA(Operation Victory Arrow) has been revealed! The first episode of the 3 episode series will release on September 20th, 2014! Additional info released states that the original cast of voice actresses for the main girls will also return as will the production staff for the past entries in the franchise! It is always great news to finally get a release date for something yuri and September 20th is not far off! Also hearing that the main cast of girls will be voiced by there respective voice actresses is also comforting. The original voice actresses are so excellent in bringing there characters to life having anyone else do them is pure madness! As it stands September 20th is the date to watch for more Strike Witches and I will post more info as it becomes available!

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-06-06/strike-witches-o.v.a-staff-cast-release-date-unveiled/.75274

BIG News Flash: Strike Witches and New Yuri Anime Info Released

Sorry for the late news flash but here they are! New information has been released on the upcoming Strike Witches OVA. The short mini series is known as Operation Victory Arrow and is set between the second season of the TV anime and the 2012 movie. OVA will be 3 episodes long and the show will depict the lives of the main characters as they return to there homes after the events of the second season. Strike Witches OVA is set to release in Fall 2014! :D

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-03-14/strike-witches-ova-release-and-story-outlined

The first preview for the upcoming adaptation of the 4-panel yuri gag comedy, Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san, has been released! The preview states that the anime will release sometime in April 2014! XD

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-03-17/inugami-san-to-nekoyama-san-yuri-anime-promo-streamed

Both pieces of news are amazing! Strike Witches is one of my favorite series of all time and more time spent with the ladies of the 501st is just plain awesome in my book! :D The preview for Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san was also VERY welcome! From what I have read of the manga and from what I have seen in the preview, I can tell this will be one funny and sweet yuri series! It is also a plus that the art of the anime is much cleaner and nicer than that of the manga! The very short wait for the anime(April is right around the fucking corner! :D) makes the news all the sweeter! On a different bit of Strike Witches news, the first volume of Strike Witches: Maidens in the Sky is out for purchase in North America! If you want more Strike Witches and yuri to come over to our part of the world you know how you gotta show your support! :)

So much yuri...in such a short amount of time....2014 is truly the Year of the Yuri! :D

News Flash: Sakura Trick Anime licensed for North America

North American anime licensing company, Sentai Filmworks has just announced that they have licensed the anime adaptation of Sakura Trick! XD Sentai will first stream the series then will release it on DVD and/or Blu-Ray shortly after that. Just when I thought things couldnt get any better for Yuri this year THIS happens! Hearing a Yuri anime getting licensed is always amazing news and Sakura Trick is a great show to be able to own! I will post more info as it becomes available!

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-01-23/sentai-filmworks-adds-sakura-trick-yuri-anime

News Flash: Yuri Manga, Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san, to get Anime adaptation

Sorry for the late news flash but here it is! Yuri manga, Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san, is set to get an anime adaptation! XD The anime is set to release sometime in April. A website for the anime will open sometime later. This is GREAT news for Yuri fans! First Sakura Trick and now this! 2014 is shaping up to be the Year of Yuri that's for sure! :D While I have only been able to read a few chapters on Dynasty Reader I can tell it will be an interesting series! I will post more info as it becomes available.

A link to the official announcement with an image of the animation style:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-01-17/inugami-san-to-nekoyama-san-yuri-manga-gets-anime

News Flash: Sakura Trick Episode 1 released!!!!

Episode 1 of Sakura Trick has officially aired in Japan! XD Judging from some screens I have seen as well as some comments and reviews all across the internet, Sakura Trick is the Yuri anime we have waited so long for!!! T.T*tears of joy I have not seen Yuri action like this in an anime since the golden era of Yuri(included series like Kannazuki no Miko, Simoun, Strawberry Panic and more)! The first episode of Sakura Trick should be up on Crunchyroll soon with fan subs following shortly after that. Even though I'll be watching and downloading this series as it continues to air I will not review it until the series is over. I may change this review format for future Yuri series but for now I will just wait until Sakura Trick is over and I have all the episodes(hopefully that won't be for a good long while). In the mean time, all fans and lovers of Yuri should be watching this show! :D Let me know what you think of the series so far in the comments! Also, please look forward to some more reviews soon! ;)

News Flash: Crunchyroll to Stream Sakura Trick

Crunchyroll has just announced it will stream upcoming Yuri anime, Sakura Trick! NEw episodes will stream on Fridays at 12 p.m. for premium members in the US and Canada. Free members can watch new episodes one week later. Sakura Trick is set to premier in Japan on Thursday, less than three days now! XD More information will be posted as it becomes available during the week!

News Flash: First Sakura Trick Anime Preview out now!

The first official trailer for the anime adaptation of Tachi's yuri manga, Sakura Trick has been released! XD So far I'm liking what i see in this first preview and can's wait when it releases next year! :D The anime is set to premiere on January 9 2014! Mark your calenders folks! :)

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-12-19/haruka-tomatsu-narrates-sakura-trick-1st-tv-ad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69GUK2C-wY8

News Flash: Sakura Trick Website Now Up!

The official website for the anime adaptation of the yuri 4-koma manga, Sakura Trick, is now officially up and running! The site has new information such as a summary of the plot, info on the characters, as well as info on new cast members! Several images were added showing the animation design of the series! The anime also now has a more steady release window of January 2014! XD This is surely a great way to kick off the New Year! The official site can be viewed here:

http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/sakura/onair/

For more information in English:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-11-16/saki-fujita-momo-asakura-join-sakura-trick-anime-cast

News Flash: New Strike Witches Anime and OVA are not "Season 3"

Some new Information has sprung up regarding the recently announced Strike Witches anime and OVA. It appears that the anime and OVA are not in any way a season 3, meaning we will most likely not be following the beloved 501st in the new series and OVA. While I am sad that we may not be seeing new adventures of Yoshika and the gang anytime soon it also means we may be getting some fresh new faces to get to know! The Strike Witches universe is full of stories following different fighter squadrons across manga, light novels and short stories! Several girls from other squadrons have made cameos in the previous seasons and the movie as well! Not to mention some of these other fighter groups have there own levels of yuri, some more than others! ;) I myself would love to see the anime follow the 507th Joint Fighter Wing "Silent Witches"(one of the most yuri filled groups),
the 504th Joint Fighter Wing "Ardor Witches"(has an established yuri couple), or the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing "Brave Witches". What Joint Fighter Wing would you like to see in the anime and OVA? Post your responses in the comments below! :)

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-10-14/strike-witches-new-tv-anime-ova-are-not-the-3rd-season

News Flash: Strike Witches season 3 plus OVA Announced!!!

A Strike Witches event was held in Tokyo recently, and during that event a third season of the Strike Witches anime was announced!!!! XD On top of the third season a new Strike Witches OVA was also announced titled Operation Victory Arrow(abbreviated as O.V.A. hehe)! The official website for the anime has updated to post the announcements as well. So far this is all the info that is known. As time goes on I will inform you all about release dates, casting info and so forth as information is released. :) For now I am MORE than happy to be getting a third season! There is so much more that can be done with this awesome franchise! So many witches that can be shown, so many battles to see! I would love to see more yuri in this season as well! Namely the resolution of pairings that so far can still only be considered subtext (I am looking at you Mio/Mina, Yoshika/Lynette). I also can't wait to see more Sanya/Eila! *drools

Here are the links to the news article of the announcements as well as the Strike Witches anime website:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-10-13/strike-witches-gets-3rd-tv-anime-series-ova

http://s-witch.cute.or.jp/movie/

Hopefully we will get more info before the year is out! :) Till next time faithful readers!

Yuri Anime Review: Queen's Blade Season 1(Blu-Ray)

***SPOILERS AHEAD!***  ***NSFW IMAGES AHEAD!***

 

A 2009 ecchi anime series, Queen's Blade is actually and adaptation of a series of visual combat books. The story takes place on the great continent of Gainos where every 4 years a tournament known as Queen's Blade is held to determine which woman will rule the continent next as queen! We follow Leina Vance as she sets out from her kingdom to avoid becoming the next countess as well as to follow in the footsteps of her mother and become a powerful warrior. Along the way, she encounters( and fights) several strong and unique female fighters who all vie for a chance to become queen! Like Strike Witches, Queen's Blade has a very large cast of powerful and beautiful women and almost all of them are lovable! From all-powerful warriors like Claudette Vance(Leina's older half-sister), to a scheming and silly angel named Nanael, to the shape-shifting Melona(who shoots acid from her breasts! :D).

Leina Vance

Claudette Vance

Elina Vance

Melona

Risty

Nanael

Shizuka

Tomoe

Echidna

Menace

Airi(one of my favorites!)

Nowa

Alleyne

Irma

Ymir

Cattleya

Melpha

Aldra(current queen)

Like i said, pretty big cast! O.O Despite there being so many characters, all the girls get there chance in the spotlight, where we learn part of there pasts, there personalities, desires, and reasons for fighting in the tournament. Of course some of the girls are still more interesting than others. :P The action itself is pretty decent. The animation quality for the show is pretty good. The girls are beautiful to look at and the environments and world they inhabit look great. Some of the fight scenes are more fun to watch than others. Not too bad but more could have been done with the battles. There is definitely room for improvement on the action front.

 

Perhaps the best part of all(at least for me anyway XD) is the fanservice! There is a TON of female nudity, panty shots, suggestive poses and more throughout the series! Queen's Blade nearly ventures into hentai territory at some parts! :D Of course the copious amounts of fanservice may be off putting for some, so Queen's Blade is not for everyone.

Just a sample! You're welcome! :D

Since this is an ecchi anime with an all female cast there HAS to be some yuri! Thankfully it is not always played as just fanservice. Several of the girls have real feelings for each other that develop pretty well over time, especially in season 2(more on season 2 in the future). Of course some of the yuri is just for silly fun, such as Elina's lust full advances towards her older sister Leina!

*Note: Yuri pairings n Queen's Blade I support!

-Leina x Risty

-Echidna x Leina

-Tomoe x Shizuka

-Elina x Leina

-Airi x just about anybody

-Nowa x Alleyne

And this being a fanservice series there has to be yuri kisses! Three to be in fact! :D

Awesome! XD

To top off the fun cast of characters is a very strong cast of voice actresses! Some of the best in the biz in Japan lend there voices to the leading ladies and really help the characters to stand out and shine!

As for the US Blu0Ray release itself, color me impressed. The picture quality is pretty amazing and looks great on a high definition display. The sound is good provided you have surround sound. They also packed in the bonus OVA episodes as an added bonus! A pretty sweet deal I'd say! Sadly i have no comment on the dub. I'm a sub person all the way!

Overall season 1 of Queen's Blade is pretty good. We are introduced to the world and the characters at a steady pace, the animation quality is pretty awesome, the fanservice and yuri is damn fun! The only knocks against it are the OK action sequences and the fanservice not being for everyone. But for everybody else this will be a fun series to watch!

 

 

Queen's Blade Season 1(Blu-Ray) overall score: 8.5/10

Queen's Blade Season 1(Blu-Ray) Yuri score: 9/10

FanBoy's Favorite Tunes: Strike Witches Season 1

Yuri Anime Review: Strike Witches Season 1(Blu-Ray)

***SPOILERS AHEAD!***   ***NSFW IMAGES AHEAD!***

Originally starting out as a series of magazine articles, Strike Witches has exploded in popularity and has been adapted into various light novels, manga, video games, and of course anime! Throughout the franchises history all the novels and manga and short stories have followed various groups of girls and the anime is no different! The story of season 1 of the anime follows the all-female cast of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, known also as the Strike Witches! Set in an alternate reality version of World War II all of humanity has united, using women with powerful magical abilities, known as Witches, as the strongest line of defense against a powerful alien race known as the Neuroi.

Neuroi

Witches the world over use special, highly advanced technology they wear on there legs that allows them to fly through the skies with ease and also enhances there magical abilities. These devices are known as Striker Units.

Striker Unit(plus panties! XD)

The anime follows Yoshika Miyafuji as she joins the 501st to help stop the Neuroi from invading Britannia(Note: all nations in the Strike Witches franchise are the same as the real world ones. The only difference are the names. For example, Britannia is Britain), as well as to search for clues as to the possible whereabouts of her supposedly dead father. Along the way she meets and befriends all the members of the 501st, who are all fun and interesting in there own unique way!

 

Miyafuji Yoshika(Fuso aka Japan)

Mio Sakamoto(Fuso)

Lynette Bishop(Britannia)

Perrine-H. Clostermann(Gallia aka France)

Gertrud"Trude" Barkhorn( Karlsland aka Germany)

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke(Karlsland)

Charlotte "Shirley" E. Yeager(Liberion aka United States)

Francesca Lucchini(Romagna aka Italy)

Aleksandra "Sanya" Vladimirovna Litvyak(Orussia aka Russia)

Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen(Suomus aka Finland)

Erica Hartmann(Karlsland)

 

That is quite the cast of leading ladies! O.o Despite the huge cast the show does a very good job of giving everyone there chance to shine in the spotlight to give us a chance to really get to know them and we get to know them pretty well! :D Despite the big focus on the girls, there is no shortage of great action in this show! Due to the alternate WWII setting and with the series taking place in 1944 there are tons of references to vehicles, weapons and historic battles from WWI. The Striker Units themselves are based on real world WWII fighter planes from each Witch's home country! The series does a very good job of catering to military aficionados such as myself! ;)

 

Of course, this being an anime with an all female cast, there is TONS of fanservice to be had! :D All women in the Strike Witches universe run around without wearing anything to cover the lower half of there bodies! The most cover they might have are skirts and tights! Needless to say pantie and breast shots abound in almost every scene! XD This is pure heaven for fanservice freaks like myself! ;) Adding a level of cuteness to it all is the fact that all Witches have an animal familiar.When a Witch activates her powers or puts on her Striker Unit she will grow animal ears and a tail pertaining to the type of animal familiar she has! Each animal fits in with the personality of each girl but at the same time it is just too damn cute! :P Of course this being a fanservice laden show filled with pretty girls there is bound to be some yuri! Even better is the fact that the yuri is not just used for service, there are some very strong hints of mutual feelings between many of the girls. Sanya and Eila are probably the most well know and beloved of the yuri couples in the whole franchise and there interactions with each other show off some very strong mutual feelings between them! :D Yoshika herself seems to have a thing for Lynette, as well as a thing for breasts in general! Lynette seems to also have a thing for Yoshika! Minna appears to have hidden feelings for Mio, Lucchini and Shirley are pretty attached for each other and Lucchini also has a big thing for breasts! Perrine also has a hardcore stalker lust for Mio! The yuri is very strong in this series! 

Despite the heavy service, the series has a lot of heart! The setting is unique and interesting, the action is fun, the girls ooze with great personalities, and the yuri is awesome if admittedly light in season 1. The animation quality is pretty good and consistent throughout the series and the voice acting(in Japanese anyway) is top notch with some of the biggest Japanese voice actresses in the business lending there voices to the girls of the 501st! As for the US Blu-Ray release itself the series looks damn good in 1080p and the show sounds great in Dolby TrueHD for both language tracks. Though again, I prefer to watch the series with the Japanese voice track on! :P Sadly the release comes with only one extra. Episode 12 comes with a bonus audio commentary from the US cast of Strike Witches. It is pretty interesting but they could have added so much more to this release. It IS Blu-Ray after all!

All in all this is one fun, solid, action packed, fanservice filled show! There is just about a little of everything here to please everyone! Season 1 does a great job of setting up the premise and introducing us to the large cast of girls! While it may not be a series for everyone, I can't help but recommend that you give this series a try! This show is just plain fun!

Strike Witches Season 1(Blu-Ray) overall score: 9.5/10

Strike Witches Season 1(Blu-Ray) yuri score: 8.5/10(for now >D)

Neuro