Interest Stacks

Apparitions, oddities, and gods continue to manifest around Koyomi Araragi and his close-knit group of friends: Tsubasa Hanekawa, the group's modest genius; Shinobu Oshino, the resident doughnut-loving vampire; athletic deviant Suruga Kanbaru; bite-happy spirit Mayoi Hachikuji; Koyomi's cutesy stalker Nadeko Sengoku; and Hitagi Senjougahara, Koyomi's aloof classmate. Monogatari Series: Second Season revolves around these individuals and their struggle to overcome the darkness that is rapidly approaching. A new semester has begun and with graduation looming over Koyomi, he must quickly decide the paths he will walk, as well as the relationships and friends that he'll save. But as strange events begin to unfold, Koyomi is nowhere to be found, and a vicious tiger apparition has appeared in his absence. Hanekawa has become its target, and she must fend for herself—or bow to the creature's perspective on the feebleness of humanity. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Every five years, an exhilarating race called Redline is held, and the universe's most anticipated competition has only one rule: that there are none. Racers are pushed to their absolute limit—a feeling that daredevil driver JP knows all too well. Having just qualified to participate in Redline, he is eager to battle against the other highly skilled drivers, particularly the beautiful rising star and the only other human that qualified, Sonoshee McLaren. But this year's Redline may be far more dangerous than usual—it has been announced to take place on the planet Roboworld with its trigger-happy military and criminals who look to turn the race to their own advantage. However, the potential danger doesn't stop the racers; in fact, it only adds to the thrill. Relying solely on his vehicle's speed, JP prepares for the event to come, aiming to take first place in the biggest race of his life. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

In the Sengoku period of Japan, a young orphan named Kotarou and his dog Tobimaru steal from unsuspecting villagers in order to make ends meet. However, Kotarou is forced to remain on the run when he finds himself being hunted down by assassins sent by China's Ming Dynasty for mysterious reasons not involving his petty crimes. Fortunately, the duo run into Nanashi, a ronin who has taken refuge in a small temple, when Kotarou is attacked and Tobimaru poisoned. Although the samurai saves the helpless pair from their pursuers, he feels that there is no need to help them further; but when offered a gem in exchange for his services as a bodyguard, he reluctantly accepts Kotarou's offer of employment—just until Tobimaru is healed and the two reach their destination. As the three set out on a perilous journey, it soon becomes evident that their path is riddled with danger, as the Ming Dynasty has now sent a terrifying swordsman after them to capture Kotarou and fulfill a certain prophecy. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

After uncovering the truth behind their father's untimely death, life for the four Shimogamo brothers returns to relative peace with each trying to live up to their father's greatness in their own way. For the eldest, Yaichirou, who aims to become the next Trick Magister and leader of the tanuki society, it starts with reinstating the popular shogi tournament. For Yajirou, it is restoring his former shapeshifting abilities, whilst little Yashirou is content with continuing his work at the family’s factory. But for the third son, Yasaburou, it simply means embracing the "fool's blood" he inherited from his father and living a carefree but interesting life. This, of course, includes hunting for the mysterious and elusive snake-like creature known as a tsuchinoko, and causing ripples of trouble at every turn. However, these ripples threaten to turn into waves with the return of Nidaime, the estranged son of the brothers' tengu teacher, Professor Akadama. Nidaime bears a grudge against not only his father, but his father's apprentice Benten as well. His loyalties suddenly brought into question, Yasaburou must use his tanuki wit to appease all sides without getting caught in the crossfire, before the delicate balance between human, tengu, and tanuki is overthrown and all hell breaks loose. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

The streets of Treasure Town are said to belong to "The Cats." They know everything that goes on in the city, and no one can stir up trouble without going through them first. In reality, The Cats are a pair of orphan boys called Black and White, who aren’t afraid of anything or anyone. But their rule of the streets is challenged when the Yakuza come to town and start making changes. The wild Black and the carefree White have no one to rely on but themselves to get their Treasure Town back to the way it was. But their bond is tested as they quickly realize going back to how things were may no longer be an option. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Thirty years ago, a new race of flame-wielding mutants suddenly appeared, destroying a large portion of humanity. These so-called “Burnish” have continued to appear at random, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake. The autonomous republic of Promepolis is a thriving nation thanks to the incredible efforts of their leader, Kray Foresight, against the Burnish. A team of firefighters known as the Burning Rescue is tasked with stopping these horrifying monsters, using the most performant technology available thanks to their incredible mechanic Lucia Fex. Galo Thymos is an energetic young man, who considers Foresight his hero for saving his life and is the rescue team's most recent recruit. A terrorist group calling themselves Mad Burnish has been causing havoc all over the nation. After an encounter with Mad Burnish leader Lio Fotia, Galo sets out on his fated journey to find the truth about these mutants, ultimately leading him to question everything he previously held to be true. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

The world of psychology is far from strange to the unusual Dr. Ichirou Irabu, a resident psychiatrist of Irabu General Hospital. He and his charming nurse Mayumi run through several patients, each suffering from a mental illness that harms their everyday life. Patients should be wary of the seductive Mayumi, with her spellbinding looks and devilishly short pink nurse uniform. On the other hand, the doctor seems to have three separate personalities: a child with an oversized lab coat; an intelligent, youthful man with feminine traits; and a selfish, outgoing green bear. While curing his patients in questionable ways, Dr. Irabu often tries to gain something from them outside of his profession—and in doing so, occasionally forgets his role as a doctor. As each patient struggles to face the nature of their distress, an obvious yet invisible thread ties their paths together. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

The story revolves around D, the infamous "dhampir" (born of a vampire father and a human mother) outcast and renowned vampire hunter. His prowess at hunting the creatures of the night allowing his acceptance among humans, he is called upon to locate Charlotte Elbourne, the lovely daughter of an affluent family who has been mysteriously kidnapped. When the sun sets, the hunt goes on! Charlotte's father offers a rich bounty, be she dead or alive, a task D willingly accepts, even with notorious Markus brothers and their gang of bounty hunters seeking the prize as well. Amidst the chase and unknown to all lurks, a sinister evil which has been secretly manipulating their every move and has set a chilling trap that none will expect and few will survive. With the tables turned and the secrets revealed, the hunters could quickly become the hunted! (Source: AniDB)

After diving for an ancient sword in the waters where the battle of Dan-no-ura was fought and the Heike clan fell, Tomona loses both his sight and his father. Left with few options other than learning to play the biwa, Tomona gains enough skill to join a prestigious troupe of storytelling performers and takes the name "Tomoichi." Soon after, Tomoichi meets a strange person who finds joy in terrorizing others with his deformed appearance, but is surprised when the sightless storyteller treats him as an equal. The pair become fast friends and begin performing together after the stranger—who chooses the name "Inu-Ou"—discovers that he is able to hear spirits telling forgotten tales of the Heike clan. Tomoichi changes his name again to Tomoari and uses his music to promote Inu-Ou's underground dance performances, achieving incredible popularity among the masses. However, the brazen and unconventional style they develop challenges traditions that the shogunate values deeply. As the pair's fame continues to increase, they must contend with the forces of tradition that control the society around them. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

In an alternate history, following World War II, civil unrest and terrorism run rampant in a devastated Japan under foreign occupation. During a botched interception of underground munitions being transferred by a terrorist organization, Constable Kazuki Fuse, a soldier in an elite counter-terrorism unit, witnesses the true terror of human nature. He fails to prevent a teenage girl from carrying out a desperate suicide bombing that subsequently causes immense destruction to Tokyo. With mental scars and his competence under question, Fuse is sent back to the military academy for re-evaluation. Unbeknownst to him, he will soon be caught up in a web of government conspiracies that have the power to determine the future of all of Japan. As Fuse treads the fine line between human and beast, he ultimately discovers to which side he truly belongs. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Thirty-six students find themselves and their school building suddenly adrift in a void-like dimension. When supernatural powers awaken in some of them, a sense of detachment begins to divide the group. Despite the student council's attempts to impose order, they clash with the students possessing special abilities, who rebel against their strict control. This conflict leads them to discover that this world has its own set of rules—and following them is necessary for survival. After one of the students decides to take a leap of faith, the school switches dimensions once again. While they deal with the unique challenges and circumstances that each world presents, the students must unravel the mysterious phenomenon and find a way back home. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

A.D. 2040—Thirty years have passed since the battle between the Earth and Zentraedi forces changed the lives of both races. On planet Eden, a top-secret project known as "Supernova" is being held to determine U.N. Spacy's next-generation variable fighter. Competing to win the funding are Shinsei Industries' YF-19 and General Galaxy's YF-21. Piloting the YF-21 is Guld Goa Bowman, a half-human, half-Zentraedi. Shinsei receives its new test pilot in the form of the unruly fighter pilot Isamu Dyson, who was once a friend of Guld. Meanwhile, as Isamu and Guld furiously battle to see which of their fighters is superior, a Virturoid Idol named Sharon Apple is to perform her debut concert on Eden. In charge of Sharon is producer Myung Fang Lone, another former friend of Isamu and Guld. When the three meet each other, old disputes spark from a troubled past. Little do they know that their past incidents—along with the Supernova Project and Sharon Apple—will somehow bring them together. (Source: ANN)

Memories is a compilation of three standalone short films encompassing different genres. Magnetic Rose In the far reaches of space, after tracing a distress signal to a large abandoned space station, a pair of engineers—Heintz Beckner and Miguel Costrela—find a derelict mansion and decide to explore on foot. Their investigation reveals a dark secret surrounding the fate of Eva Friedel, a renowned opera singer with a tragic history. Hallucinations soon begin to plague them, and they must fight to retain their sanity in order to escape the station alive. Stink Bomb Hapless lab technician Nobuo Tanaka consumes some pills at his laboratory to cure a cold. Unknown to him, however, the pills are actually experimental drugs that enhance his flatulence to a lethal degree. As the toxic gas escaping him kills everyone in his vicinity, he is ordered by his superiors to retreat to the company headquarters in Tokyo. The journey to the city is made all the more arduous as Nobuo struggles with his deadly odor while the police, military, and foreign adversaries are hot on his trail. Cannon Fodder In a fortress city filled to the brim with cannons, a young boy wishes to surpass his father by becoming a revered artillery officer. Despite no proof of an enemy nation, he cannot resist the urge to partake in the daily bombardment routines organized by the city. Whether at school or just before bedtime, he only dreams of someday firing a cannon for the sake of his homeland. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

OVA bundled with the special edition of the manga's side story.

In the great city of Metropolis, severe community structures and prejudice dominate a world where humans and robots live together. Unrest and violence increase with each new day. Searching for the scientist Dr. Laughton, suspected to violate human rights by trading organs, the Japanese detective Shunsaku Ban and his nephew Kenichi arrive at Metropolis. In the scientist's laboratory, Kenichi discovers a girl without any memory of her past life. He decides to help her, so they run away together. His uncle follows him and penetrates the dark secrets of the city to find Duke Red, the man ruling from the shadows. Meanwhile, Kenichi desperately tries to protect the mysterious girl from the people hunting her. However, Duke Red and his adoptive son have their own deep reasons for chasing the girl. These reasons are connected to her true identity and the struggle for the domination of Metropolis... [Written by MAL Rewrite]

One day after school, first-year high school student Yomogi Asanaka comes across a starving man under a bridge. Introducing himself as Gauma, the strange drifter informs Yomogi that he is a "kaiju user," a person who deals with the "kaiju"—monsters who bring harm to the city and its citizens. The following evening, Yomogi runs into Gauma and his classmate Yume Minami. Simultaneously, a kaiju appears in a populated area of the city. Due to Gauma's lack of experience controlling the kaiju, he brings out a mysterious object from a glowing pouch, summoning a giant robot known as Dynazenon. Requiring the cooperation of four people, the mecha drags Gauma, Yomogi, Minami, and Koyomi Yamanaka—an unemployed man who was wandering on the street—into its cockpit. Their encounter with the kaiju marks the beginning of their entanglement with kaiju eugenicists—kaiju users who manipulate kaiju with ill intent—and their efforts toward bringing out the full potential of Dynazenon. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Giovanni is a young boy who lives on the outskirts of a small rustic village. His mother is bedridden and his father has not returned home since leaving to work on a fishing boat. An outcast at school, Giovanni has only one friend: Campanella, the mayor's son. During the town's Festival of Stars, Giovanni starts to daydream atop a hill and looks up to find a steam engine train floating in the air. He boards the train only to find his friend Campanella already there. And so, the two begin their journey through the stars where they come across unusual people and visit many beautiful and haunting places. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

The main character, a cat named Nyatto, embarks upon a journey to save his sister's soul, which was ripped in two when Nyatto tried to save her from Death. She trails after him, brain-dead. They encounter many brilliant, mind-bending situations, beginning with a disturbing magic show. (Source: ANN)

Average high school student Kyou Sogoru is an avid swimmer living in beautiful Maihama City. He spends his days hanging out with friends, swimming, and playing video games. However, his normal life turns upside down when a beautiful and mysterious girl named Shizuno Misaki approaches him with a strange request—jump into their school's pool together. This fateful leap transports Kyou into a war-torn world where humans pilot impressive humanoid robots known as Zegas to fight against malicious aliens known as Gards-Orm. To spearhead this endeavor, humans have formed Cerebrum, a rebel organization working to prevent the Gards-Orm from eradicating humankind. As Kyou participates in combat operations, meets his fellow Zega pilots, and witnesses countless deaths, he begins to question the true nature of this world as well as his own life. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

A future where the continuity of history has broken off, a world of enormous ruins that continues endlessly. Oceans and continents have vanished, existing only within the archives brought up from the remains. Ura works in the Archive Excavation Department, which restores and analyzes the data left behind. One day, he finds a disturbing visual record... (Source: ANN)

A unique biographical sketch of the life of the great modern Japanese poet Kenji Miyazawa, Spring and Chaos is a highly stylized and intense film that draws on Miyazawa's writing techniques to tell his life story. Miyazawa often used animals as the main characters in his stories and poems, and it is this technique that allows director Shoji Kawamori to recreate Miyazawa's fanciful land of Ihatov and use it as the backdrop for Miyazawa's life. Beautiful and affecting, Spring and Chaos is a fitting tribute to one of Japan's greatest writers. (Source: Rotten Tomatoes)

Nao, an 8th grader, is one of the only two members of a Digital Camera Club, where she also serves as the manager. It's a mystery that she shoots nothing else but the skies and clouds. One day, she finds a cat on a rooftop where she usually shoots her camera. It's a cat that knows how to manipulate the flow of a wind. Shocked to find a strange animal, Nao loses her footing and falls off from the rooftop! Miki is the other member of the club, and also Nao's best friend. Mr. Taiki is the teacher who's taught the cat how to manipulate the flow of a wind. Ryoko is a girl who has a huge crush on Mr. Taiki. And there's Jun, who helps Nao and Miki look for a cat that can fly. Then, there's Yukio, who is the widow of Mr. Taiki's deceased brother. On the outskirts of this big city, a town off the "Wind Handlers," has been formed—and a mysterious Wind Festival is about to begin... (Source: Production I.G)

Ruka Azumi's ordinary summer vacation revolves around spending all her time on the handball court to avoid her only housemate, her alcoholic mother. When an incident at practice leads to Ruka's exclusion from the handball team, she is forced to find other outlets to enjoy herself, eventually winding up at the aquarium where her father works. There, she meets Umi, a mysterious boy raised by dugongs who is being kept at the aquarium in order to research his strange water-dependent body. Ruka and Umi become fast friends, and the pair is soon joined by Sora, Umi's brother who also has an unusual relationship with the ocean. Together, the trio explore a dazzling undersea world while learning about a peculiar "festival" that all sea creatures around the world are preparing for. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

The beautiful Jeanne marries a man named Jean, and the happy newlyweds make their way to the Lord's castle with a cow's worth of money for his blessings. However, the demonic Lord is unmoved by their offering, ignoring their desperate, impoverished pleas. The Lord's wife offers an alternative: Jeanne must become the Lord's conquest for the night in a ritual deflowering. Scarred by the experience, the shaken Jeanne receives no sympathy from her husband. Instead, she is neglected. But as Jeanne drifts off to sleep, she is met by a strange spirit that encourages her to deliver retribution to those who wronged her. And with a mysterious surge of pleasure and an unquenching libido, Jeanne agrees. Kanashimi no Belladonna is a captivating, psychosexual adventure that tells a story of cunning witchcraft and deceitful superstition in a poor, rural village of medieval France. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

The My Road series—Scarlet Road (2002), White Road (2003), Indigo Road (2006), and the most recent installment Lemon Road (2008)—can be read as meditations on loss and mourning. These poetic films tell their story through motif, character expression, music and montage and require repeated viewing for one to absorb the subtly evoked layers of meaning. (Source: Midnight Eye)

Following the first season's gag action theme, the second season titled To Be Heroine features an original story and a new set of characters. You is about to leave home when she suddenly enters an incredible world. Appearing in front of her is an eight-year-old naked boy, and before she could even grasp the situation, she's attacked by assassins from a mafia group who were chasing the young boy. What was even more unrealistic for You was that the leader of this mafia was another assassin's attack. Who are those naked kids, why did her shoe turn into a warrior and above all, what kind of world did eight-year-old boy come from? Just like the first one, he's also almost naked! While trying to escape from the attackers, You loses one of her shoes and by a strange kind of magic, her shoe turned into a warrior who was able to save her by blocking the You enter? (Source: MAL News)

Tokiko Mima, nicknamed "Key," is a 17-year-old girl living in the Japanese countryside who, despite her human-like appearance, is a robot. When Key's grandfather Dr. Murao Mima passes away, he leaves her a dying message, telling her that she can become a real girl if she is able to make thirty thousand friends. Thus, Key moves from the quiet Mamio Valley to the busy streets of Tokyo, where she soon runs into her childhood friend Sakura Kuriyagawa. Key quickly becomes enamored with idol singer Miho Utsuse and wonders if becoming a singer will allow her to make the amount of friends needed for her to become human. But Miho carries a ominous secret: she is connected to Jinsaku Ajou, an old rival of Dr. Mima trying to make new a breakthrough in robotic weaponry. As Key works to become a real girl, Ajou sets a dangerous plan into action, and it turns out there's much more to Key than meets the eye. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Confined in the castle tower by her father, princess Arete spends her days watching the world outside her window. Sometimes she seeks out to watch the common people at work. The knights of the kingdom compete for the right to marry her and rule the land by competing to see who can find powerful magic objects made by a long dead race of sorcerers. Arete wants none of this. She longs to meet the common people and travel to exotic lands she has only seen in the books she keeps hidden under her bed. One day the sorcerer Boax arrives in a fantastic flying machine and offers to take Arete as his wife and transform her into a proper princess. (Source: ANN)

On the first day of junior high school, Mato Kuroi happens to run into Yomi Takanashi, a shy, withdrawn girl whom she immediately takes an interest in. Mato tries her best to make conversation with Yomi, wanting to befriend her. At first, she is avoided, but the ice breaks when Yomi happens to notice a decorative blue bird attached to Mato's phone, which is from the book "Li'l Birds At Play." Discovering they have a common interest, the two form a strong friendship. In an alternate universe, the young girls exist as parallel beings, Mato as Black★Rock Shooter, and Yomi as Dead Master. Somehow, what happens in one world seems to have an effect on the other, and unaware of this fact, the girls unknowingly become entangled by the threads of fate. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Several people are spending their evening in a cafe. Two gossiping girls, two debating men, a bookworm and a boy, who just broke up with his girlfriend. The cafe's waitress starts a chat with him, persuading him to take a look at certain easel, while other customers begin to notice unusual things. (Source: ANN)

In his pursuit of the white bird, Sheng must face his own inner guilt and fear. Following a tortuous journey, the young Sheng is reborn.

Despite endless research, the human mind remains a mystery to this day. Unknown to the public, there exist special individuals who are able to dive deep into the minds of people and even manipulate their memories. Gifted with this ability, Hiroki, Tsukasa, and Satoru are among those who use their power to commit crime under the orders of their leader, Katsuragi. The three step into the dangerous territory of the human mind in order to destroy their assigned targets while striving to keep their own minds and memories safe. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Presented in the form of a feverish love dream, 1001 Nights (based on Amano`s book of artwork) is the first performance of the groundbreaking "Filmharmonic" series, which presents new orchestral works by film composers in tandem with short films made by A-list directors. Nights is the series's only animated work, and plans originally called for the film to be completely computer animated. (Source: AniDB)

A trip on a chartered plane with a number of other thrill-seekers (most of whom are anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables) and hop from island to island, each of which offer their own unique visual delights. (Source: IMDB)

One of the must-see gems making its premiere at our festival, Midori-Ko is adored Japanese animator Kurosaka Keita's whimsically nightmarish vision of 21st-century Tokyo on the brink of apocalypse. Ten years in the making and entirely, single-handedly rendered in colored pencil, Kurosaka's fantastical labor of love is a marvel to behold. Emerging from the staggering detail and craft flooding every frame is the story of a young woman who sets out to engineer a dream-food that can put an end to the world's famine. Synthesizing Frederic Back's subtle, haptic textures with Bill Plympton's frenetic mutations and David Lynch's haunting wormholes, Kurosaka’s work still retains its own singular, luminous potency. (Source: Los Angeles Animation Festival summary)

Two years ago, a mysterious wind swept over the Earth without warning, taking everyone's memories with it. Not knowing their names or even how to speak, cars crashed, planes dropped from the sky, and society crumbled in an instant. One young man happens to wander into a military testing facility, where he meets Johnny, a young boy who underwent experimental memory enhancement treatment and could, therefore, still remember who he was. Johnny names the young man Wataru and teaches him everything that he can before his frail body fails him. Wataru sets out on a journey to see if he can find other people like him, and in San Francisco, he meets a mysterious silver-haired woman named Sophia, who refuses to speak about her past. Sophia says that she is heading to New York, and decides to travel together with Wataru. As the pair make their way across America, they learn about what has happened to the rest of society, and what the essence of humanity really is. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yobi, The Five Tailed Fox revolves around a kumiho, a nine-tailed fox that can assume different forms including human. Kumiho are familiar figures in Korean folk tales, and they are usually depicted as magical creatures that take female form to lure and prey on humans. This time, however, our protagonist is a young, kind-hearted fox with only five tails, instead of nine. After losing her family to fox hunters, five-tailed Yobi lives in the forest with some shipwrecked aliens, far away from the humans. When one of her alien friends gets captured by a villager, Yobi has no choice but to adventure into the human world to rescue him. At the village, Yobi meets many humans, including Geum Yee who studies at a school for maladjusted children. Interested in Geum Yee, Yobi joins the students and revels in the fun of human life, but both a fox hunter and a mysterious shadow man are on her trail. (Source: YesAsia)

An animated film describing the bullying of a Japanese child.

Shortly after waking up in an unknown street with no clothes or memories, Retro and Pandy team up and begin a life of thrill chasing and violence. Retro's wild antics and Pandy's carefree personality make them the perfect partners in crime to cause mayhem wherever they strike. When an accidental mistake lands them behind bars, Retro and Pandy are sent to Dead Leaves—a high-security prison on the Moon. Once there, they soon discover that the other inmates are clones, all products of genetic mutation experiments. With nothing better to do, they escape from their cell and lead a prison break with the other captives. Armed with a crew of mutants and a hunger for havoc, the chaotic duo begins their wacky escape. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

In the year 2010, practically one hundred percent of Cat Earth's GDP comes from the megacorporation Catty & Co., which is rapidly spreading across the rest of the galaxy. Here lives Tamala, a beautiful yet foul-mouthed cat, who decides to travel to the planet of her birth, Orion. After an unfortunate crash landing on the planet Q, Tamala meets Michaelangelo, a fellow cat, whom Tamala refers to as "MoiMoi." As Tamala and Michaelangelo explore the planet's capital, Hate City—which is under martial law to separate the feuding cat and dog populations—they pass by graffiti and museum exhibits about the ancient cult of Minerva that speak of something dark and sinister. After Tamala catches the eye of the extremely violent motorcycle-riding Kentauros, she and Michaelangelo flee, but mysteries about Tamala's identity continue to surface. Why did Tamala originally leave Orion, and what exactly is her connection to Catty & Co.? [Written by MAL Rewrite]