Gender Roles?

Did you know that in anime, women often play the roles of boys and girls!

It’s easier to have a woman play the role of young men, they can usually drop their voices to a low enough range to make very believable teenage boys. It’s even been done for some American dubbed anime like Ranma 1/2.

So here’s a test for your ears, can you identify which male characters, either lead or major, have been played by women, Japanese versions only. I’ll give you the character’s name and the series you can hear them in. Bonus points if you know their names! 

Tsukasa – .hack//SIGN
Roger Smith – The Big O
Train Heartnet – Black Cat
Conan Edogawa – Case Closed
Edward Elric – Fullmetal Alchemist
Quatre Winner – Gundam Wing
Hikaru Shindo – Hikaru no Go
Ferio – Magic Knight Rayearth
Zero Enna – Pilot Candidate
Ryoma Echizen – Prince of Tennis
Hakkai – Saiyuki
Kurama – Yu Yu Hakusho

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Next Meeting Details – Special Viewing

The next meeting for the Anime Club is scheduled for April 24th at 4pm.

The club will be participating in a special viewing of the TV series Black Cat, sponsored by FUNimation. We’ll be viewing episodes 1 and 2 this week. All members are encouraged to attend this meeting to fill out surveys for FUNimation. These surveys are for the company to test which anime kids are most interested in, and which ones to release next. Filling out the surveys also means free anime for the club! We get to keep the titles for you to watch again later!

About Black Cat: 

Sven is your run-of-the-mill sweeper - down on his luck, haunted by the perpetual grumbling of his stomach and looking to make enough cash to get by. Oh, and he can see the future, but only about five minutes into it. When a dirty politician lands a price on his head, the sweeper jumps at the chance to earn a quick buck, but as he’s working to secure the target, his vision reveals an assassination that will cost him the job. A confrontation with the mysterious killer and Sven has no idea that he’s brushed up against the worst possible luck.

“I’ve come to bring you a little bad luck.”

Next Meeting Details

Our next meeting is sceduled for April 12th, at 4pm.

This will be a regular meeting, so we’ll be picking up Getbackers again. We’re just starting the IL arc of the series, one of the most exciting and mystery revealing of the TV series. You’ll get the chance to learn more about how the GetBackers were formed, what the Limitless Fortress is, and just why Ginji is called the Raitei, the Lightning Emperor.

About GetBackers:
Everyone knows the feeling of coming home and finding their home broken into. Your possessions thrown around, dresser drawers are ransacked and everything you own has the unmistakable feel of a stranger’s fingers on them. Then you realize some of your belongings are missing. Don’t despair, call Ban and Ginji, the Get Backers. They’ll dodge bullets, go up against evil foes and risk their lives to get back your stuff. They’re one phone call away, and they’re ready to take your case!

DVD Review – “Record of Lodoss War”

While we’ll mostly do reviews of newer series and DVD releases, sometimes it’s more fun to look back on your old favorites. Classics that never loose that special something that make you want to rewatch them, even if the show is almost as old as you are. Though sometime it’s just as much fun to look back on an older anime and laugh at how bad it is compared to the newer stuff.

From the back of the box:
Lodoss, the accursed island. Born in the battle and baptized in fire, it has seen wars ravage its kingdoms for thousands of years. Now, an evil beyond any it has ever faced before is awakening, and a party of six are drawn together to battle for the future of everything dear to them. Parn, a young fighter who lacks experience and is driven by his desire to redeem his father’s tarnished name; Deedlit, a young elf who is both attracted to the young fighter and infuriated by his lack of interest; Ghim, a grizzled dwarf warrior haunted by a personal failure; Etoh, a priest; Slayn, a skilled magic user; and Woodchuck, a cynical but good-natured thief.
Six who barely know each other. Six who must learn to act with a single purpose.

This Librarian’s Review:
‘Lodoss’ is one of those classic series that everyone should see at least once, even with all of the similarities to ‘Lord of the Rings’. The animation looks a little dated in comparison to the bright and sparkly now, but the originals were obviously well cared for before they were transfered to digital, so there’s little loss of quality. 
So if you’re looking for something of the epic fantasy genre, I highly recommend hunting this one down. But be careful, there are two different Lodoss series, the original ‘Record of Lodoss War’ and the newer ‘Chronicles of Heroic Knight’. ‘Chronicles’ was released nearly 10 years after ‘Lodoss War’, and does not happen to rank as one of my favorites. I didn’t even make it out of the first disc.

Information:
Episodes: 13
Rating: 13+
Year: 1990 (Japan), 1995 (USA)