Yakitori (ヤキトリ)

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is the first TV adaptation of Shirow Masamune’s cyberpunk SF manga (a second season and a few movies were made; none of them are exact adaptations of his work, and the movies are in a different continuity from the TV series), and looks at the really big questions.

What makes you “you?”

Can machines become individuals?

How does Maj. Motoko Kusanagi kick so much ass without wearing any pants (Is she related to Robb?)?

Where can I buy my own Tachikoma tank?

And how does Yoko Kanno keep churning out good music?

I’ve made no secret of my fondness for Tales of Vesperia

The characters, the plot, the world, the music; it’s all very well done. If you like JRPGs at all, you’d do well to give it a try.

The news that Funimation is bringing the movie prequel over to the states is wonderful.

Set a couple years (IIRC) before the events of the game, the movie focuses on Yuri and Flynn’s first experiences as members of the guard; from the game we know that something caused Yuri to leave the guard and strike out on his own, but we don’t know exactly what it was (Or maybe we do; I haven’t played the game in over a year and I might be misremembering).

The movie is animated by Production IG; their work on the Ghost in the Shell movies and TV series was of the highest quality (and some damn good SF, to boot). They’ve animated the cutscenes and cinematics in many of the Tales of games as well, and are particularly known for their ability to blend computer graphics and more traditional animation.

Lately I’ve been watching anime more and more on Hulu and Netflix, but I think that this might deserve a purchase.

Tales of Xillia!

Behold!

Animation by Ufotable (of Kara no Kyoukai fame) instead of Production IG, theme song by Ayumi Hamasaki, music by Motoi Sakuraba, and character designs by *both* Kousuke Fujishima (Abyss, Vesperia, Symphonia) and Mutsumi Inomata (Eternia, Hearts, Graces)!

Tales of Xillia (pronounced ex-illia) is slated for a 2011 release on the PS3; everything in the trailer looks great, from the backgrounds and environments to the characters and their animations.

The two main characters we see in the trailer are Jude Matis (voiced by Tsubasa Yonaga), a brawler, and Mira Maxwell (voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro), a swordswoman who has some connection to the spirits.

Unlike past Tales, both Jude and Mira are apparently main characters; perhaps there will be points in the game where they will be split up and in control of two sub-parties, like in Final Fantasy XIII.

The trailer opens with Mira musing on the death of the spirits, and ends with a rephrasing of the quote from the opening of Tales of Phantasia, “If there is evil in this world, it lurks in the hearts of man.”

Update:  SiliconEra has some more info on the battle system.