Anime: Reign The Conqueror

Life has been moving twice the speed of the Japanese bullet train, so blogging had to take a backseat. There's new music coming in the next few weeks, first the title track off the album "Tha Audio Bully," then another single.

In between the music, I checked out this series Reign: The Conqueror. It's the story of Alexander the Great. The series replays his conquest over Persia, Greece, and other lands, with a modern twist. The animation is done by  Peter Chung, the guy who created Aeon Flux.

The story is straight forward. Alexander is son of Philip II, king of Macedonia and Olympias, a snake witch. He went to battle at age 16 on a wild man-eating horse that he tamed in the woods with two friends. Alexander has a lust for speed that would shame a Formula 1 driver. He's relentless in his desire to move quickly from country to country toppling kingdoms. 

Needless to say that behavior infuriated a lot of people. First his father tries to kill him during a fest to honor his second born son. Then assassins from every organized religion see Alexander as the anti-Christ and try to take his head. The main protagonist are the order of  Aristotle. 

A group of sorcerers seeking the Plato-Hedron, the device which contains the knowledge of the entire world. According to a prophesy seen in the Plato-Hedron, Alexander was going to destroy the world if he invaded India. (which he does) How he does it and what happens after, make this series worth watching. Check out the short battle clip below.

AniManga: Nurarihyon no Mago

I just finished watching the anime series Nurarihyon no Mago (Nurarihyon's grandson). It's an Animanga that was good... but left me unsatisfied with the conclusion.

The series is broken into two parts. First, there was Nurarihyon no Mago. The grandson of great Yakuza demon lord, Nurarihyon named Rikuo Nura. Rikuo has to take over as Third Head of the Nura Clan at the young age of 12 years old. His father was killed in front of his eyes so he was forced into the position.

The Nura clan are Yokai (demons) which protect humans and keep other gangs out of Edo, Japan. Rikuo is only one quarter Yokai, and can only change into demon form at night. The series follows  Rikuo as he trains to become a skilled ninja fighter while building his own parade of 100 demons. Just like his father and grandfather.

The protagonists in part one were a group of rival demons from the Shikoku area. They knew the Nura clan was weakened by the death of Rikuo's father and planned to take over their territory. The Shikoku group of 88 demons led by its leader Tamazuki, had a sword named the Devil's Hammer. The sword was fabled to be unbeatable. Even with the sword, they get crushed by the Nura clan.

There's also a third group of fighters which are humans named Onmyoji. They are like the Quincy's in Bleach. The Keikain House, are the most famous Onmyoji. They specialize in using Shikigami. Spirit creatures and elements like fire, lightening, water, etc. There job is to protect humans from yokai. 

In part two, Rikuo undergoes more training and learns how to control "Fear" which is demon energy. The Nura clan has to fight a 400 year old demon fox, named Haguromo-Gitsune. Who is trying to give birth to the anti-christ so demons could rule over the earth in darkness.

Part two is way better than part one in my opinion. It gives the complete back story on how Rikuo's father dies. Why he dies. Who orchestrated the hit. The connection with the Onmyoji, and a lot of ninja battles. The fights are fast-paced, with good action sequences. They mix martial arts with magic like Naruto or Bleach. 

The only problem I had with part two is that they don't conclude the story! The series stops on episode 25. They do a recap of the whole series in episode 26. If they did end it on episode 25...I didn't understand it. If you have seen the series or watch it and get the ending. Write it below this post in the comments or send it to me in an email. I am dying to know what happened.

Check out the battle between Rikuo Nura and Seimei the Anti-Christ below.

AniManga: Bleach

Bleach is an anime series that started out as a manga by artist Noriaki "Tite" Kubo. I started watching the anime long before I checked out the manga which is unusual for me. Normally I read a few episodes of the manga and see if its worth looking into the anime since most companies change parts of the story of the manga. With Bleach the anime closely followed the manga story minus a couple of filler story arcs that happened when the anime caught up to the comic which is still in publication.

Bleach follows the adventures of a teenager named Ichigo Kurosaki who obtains the powers of a Soul Reaper also known as a Shinigami which literally means "Death God" from another soul reaper who had been injured. Once he acquired the powers he took on the duties of protecting the innocent from corrupted spirits called  Hollows, and guiding lost souls safely to the afterlife. 

The main protagonist is a powerful and manipulative soul reaper named Aizen Sōsuke who betrays the other Soul Reapers and allies himself with the strongest of the Hollows, the Espadas. His main goal was domination over the Soul Society, the Physical world and everything in between. A war between the Soul Society and Aizen raged and at the end only one was left standing.

There's allot of controversy now that the Aizen saga is over because Tite Kubo planned on ending the manga there. But due to the popularity of the comic as well as the anime he continued with a story-line. This has some people in an uproar and others excited on what direction the comic is going to go. Me personally I find the new story arc a little weak but since its just starting I'm giving it a chance. The anime is still dope and if you're not a fan you should check it out! I posted a few clips of the Soul Reapers battling Espada in the final war below.