Anime Viewing Schedule for July 7, 2012

Glen Ellyn Public Library

Meeting Room B, 10:00 am to 4:30 pm

"I'll see you at the anime club meeting!" 

Saturday, July 7, 2012

10:00 - 10:50    Accel World 3-4
10:50 - 11:15    Space Brothers2

11:15 - 11:40    Rinne no Lagrange 4
11:40 - 12:30    Mirai Nikki (Future Diary) 17-18
12:30 - 1:20     Sakamichi no Apollon 5-6
1:20 - 1:45       Fate/Zero 8
1:45 - 2:45       Club Meeting / Announcements
2:45 - 4:15       From Up on Poppy Hill

10:00 - 10:50   Accel World 3-4

"Time to accelerate to the next exciting episode!"

Accel World

[Source: Wikipedia] In the year 2046, Neuro-synchronization, a technology system that allows humans to manipulate their five senses, has become widespread where people can access the internet and enter virtual worlds. Haruyuki "Haru" Arita is a short, fat boy who due to constant bullying has low-self esteem. To escape the torment of real life, he logs-in to the school's virtual world network where he plays squash alone and always gets the highest score. One day Haru attracts the attention of the Student Council Vice-President Kuroyukihime who offers him Brain Burst, a secret program which allows a person to make time appear to stand still in their surroundings by "accelerating" their brainwaves in the real world. Unfortunately, there is a limit to how many times a person can accelerate due to Brain Burst points and the primary way to get more points is to fight and defeat other Brain Burst users in the program's virtual reality massive multiplayer online (VRMMO) fighting game. However, if a user loses all of his/her points the Brain Burst program will uninstall itself and block all re-installation attempts, thus permanently removing the user's ability to accelerate. Kuroyukihime wants Haru's help as she wishes to reach Level 10 and meet the creator of Brain Burst to learn its true purpose. But in order to do that, she must defeat five other Level 9 users who just so happen to be "The Six Kings of Pure Color", the leaders of the six most powerful factions in the Brain Burst world. For helping him, Haru agrees to help Kuroyukihime not only to repay her but to overcome his weaknesses.

Episode 3  "Investigation": Kuroyukihime tells Chiyuri that she is dating Haru and drags him to a cafe. While there, Kuroyukihime explains her dilemma to Haru. Brain Burst was anonymously created seven years ago which allows acceleration only to those who were born with the neuro-linker. Therefore, all Burst Linkers are children age 15 and younger, allowing its existence to be concealed from the public. Kuroyukihime wants to meet the creator to learn the purpose of the program. To do that, she needs to reach level 10, which requires five wins over level 9 Burst Linkers and one defeat results in the permanent uninstallation of Brain Burst. Two years ago, Kuroyukihime was one of the Kings of Pure Color, a group of level 9 Burst Linkers that agreed to not fight each other, but she did not agree to the treaty and beheaded the Red King, causing her to be branded a traitor and leading her to seal away Black Lotus. Since then, she has stayed offline, only logging on to the school's local net with a dummy avatar. Recently, she was challenged to a duel by a Burst Linker named Cyan Pile, which could lead to her identity as Black Lotus being exposed. Thus, she must find Cyan Pile's identity. She suspects Chiyuri, which is why she provoked her, although Haru doubts it knowing that Chiyuri is bad at games. Haru begins the investigation by going to Chiyuri's home under the pretense of apologizing for lunch the other day. The two link up with each other with an extremely short cable and reconcile with each other, with Chiyuri letting Haru know that Takumu was not told about the bullying. During the conversation, Haru discovers that while Chiyuri is not Cyan Pile, there is a back door connection that could lead to finding its identity.
Episode 4 "Declaration": As Haru chooses not to meddle with the backdoor to avoid detection, he finds Kuroyukihime starting to act strangely around him when he mentions how close he had gotten to Chiyuri. When Haru is interviewed by a pair of gossip club students, they hint that Kuroyukihime legitimately likes him, which he refuses to believe. As Kuroyukihime and Haru walk together that day, Haru resigns himself to just being a pawn, prompting a slap from her. Just then, an out of control car heads straight towards Haru and Kuroyukihime, prompting them to go into the Accel World. As Kuroyukihime confesses to Haru that she is in love with him, she uses a powerful move which causes her Brain Burst to drop to lower levels, allowing her to manipulate her body in the Accel World to push Haru out of the way of the car, leading to only her being hit. As Kuroyukihime is taken into intensive care, Haru comes to realise that if she was to be attacked by a Burst Linker now, she would be completely vulnerable, and so chooses to stay the night. As the morning comes, Haru spots Takumu coming into the hospital and comes to realise that he is the true Cyan Pile. With just a split second to act, Haru rushes to challenge Takumu to a Brain Burst match before he can challenge Kuroyukihime.

10:50 - 11:15   Space Brothers 2

"Its never too late to become an astronaut."

 

Space Brothers

[Source: Wikipedia] When they were young, the brothers Mutta and Hibito promised each other they would become astronauts. Now, in 2025, Hibito has followed his dream to become the first Japanese on the moon, but Mutta has just been fired from his job. His brother reminds him of their childhood promise, and Mutta decides once again to aim for space.
Episode 2 "My Shining Star": Mutta, who is unsure about whether he should take the astronaut exam, visits an old astronomy friend named Sharon, who encourages him to go for it. Mutta takes the first exam and manages to successfully pass. As Mutta becomes a bit concerned when he is distracted by a loose screw on his chair during the interviews for the second exam, he makes friends with another applicant, Kenji Makabe, whilst gaining a crush on a female applicant, Serika Itou. Meanwhile, behind doors, the interviewee reveals that he fiddled with the chair in purpose to see who would notice, with Mutta, Kenji and Serika allegedly being the only ones who did.

11:15 - 11:40   Rinne no Lagrange 4

"That is NOT my giant robot parked on top of your house!

Oh wait... it is."

 

Rinne no Lagrange

[Source: Wikipedia] Madoka Kyouno, a schoolgirl from Kamogawa, is the sole member of the Jersey Club and always ready to help others out. One day, she is approached by an alien named Lan who asks her to pilot a robotic aircraft to defend mankind against an evil force.
Episode 4 "Kamogawa Swimmers": Muginami transfers into Madoka's class, which causes worry for the organization. Later, Youko and one of the organization's representatives talk to Madoka's teacher about her piloting Midori. Youko agrees to let Madoka continue piloting Midori on the condition that she is allowed to continue living at home and attending school. Soon afterwards, Madoka and Muginami participate in an open swimming contest while Lan keeps watch on a boat. Spotting her, Muginami decides to play a prank on Lan and tip her into the sea, unaware that she is unable to swim. Realising her mistake, Muginami helps Madoka rescue Lan and performs CPR on her. Afterwards, Madoka invites Muginami to join the Jersey Club, much to Lan's annoyance. Both Muginami and Lan decide to help out at Madoka's family restaurant, with their individual traits attracting many customers. After becoming jealous after Madoka allows Muginami to live with her, Lan also decides to transfer into Madoka's class, join the Jersey Club and start living with Madoka. Meanwhile, a glitch in security allows Array to escape imprisonment and rejoin his allies, who are making a deal with another enemy.

11:40 - 12:30     Mirai Nikki (Future Diary) 17-18

"Who says love KILLS? Tell me who... or I'll kill you!"

 

Mirai Nikki

[Source: Wikipedia] Yukiteru "Yuki" Amano is a loner who never really interacts with people and prefers writing a diary on his cell phone with his only companion being an imaginary friend named Deus Ex Machina, the God of Time and Space. However, Yuki soon learns that Deus is real when he makes Yuki participate in a battle royale with eleven other people. Within this "Diary Game", the contestants are given special diaries that can predict the future, with each diary having unique features that gives them both advantages and disadvantages. Within the next 90 days, the contestants must try to kill each other and survive until there is only one person standing, the winner becoming the new God of Time and Space. In order to survive, Yuki tries to find allies, with one of them being another diary user named Yuno Gasai, a girl who is madly in love with him. As the game continues, Yuki soon learns that not everyone can be trusted, not even Yuno, whose obsession to keep both of them alive no matter the cost terrifies him. Yet despite her faults, Yuki continues to trust Yuno since he manages to survive the game thanks to her. Originally, Yuki had no desire to win the game and stoop as low as the other contestants who either cheat, lie, manipulate or kill in order to win. However, that all changes when late in the game, Yuki's parents are killed. Yuki suffers a breakdown over his parents death until Yuno seduces and convinces him that if he becomes the new God of Time and Space, he can bring his parents back to life. Now having a reason to win, Yuki becomes a ruthless, backstabbing, and manipulative terrorist who causes the deaths of thousands of civilians and destruction throughout the city in order to kill the other contestants. Yuki's actions shock his friends, in particular Aru Akise, who had suspicions about Yuno and her motives. By the time Yuno and Yuki becomes the last contestants, Aru and the rest of Yuki's friends chastis him on how he has become just as bad as the other contestants. Aru tries to warn Yuki that Yuno is manipulating him and that she has an ulterior motive. Refusing to accept the truth and wishing to bring his parents back, Yuki kills them until Aru manages to stop him and gives Yuki a clue over Yuno's true identity before he is killed by Yuno herself. Eventually, Yuki learns that the Yuno he known is actually an "impostor" as this "Yuno" is actually from a parallel universe who won the Diary Game. In that universe, Yuno and Yuki were the last contestants and Yuki committed suicide so that Yuno will be the new God and resurrect him. But Yuno became distraught and more insane when she learns that while she can resurrect the dead, she cannot bring back their souls. With the help of Muru Muru, Deus' assistant and now Yuno's after she won the Diary game, both of them travel back in time to Yuki's universe and manipulated it where she killed the Yuno of Yuki's universe and took her place so she could play the game again and find a way to bring back "her" Yuki. As Yuno is about to kill him, Yuki is saved by Minene Uryu, one of his allies and another Diary user who he believed died in the game but was saved by Deus, who had suspicions that the Muru Muru in his universe is not the one he knows but the one from the parallel universe working with Yuno, and gave Minene some of his powers before his death. Their plans foiled, Yuno and Muru Muru travel to another universe to start over again but are followed by Yuki and Minene who are trying to stop them. Finally, Yuno and Muru Muru are stopped when the former learns in this new universe, all the terrible things that happen to everyone in the previous universes never happen including one where her parents were never abusive and lead to her insanity. With Yuno's Muru Muru stopped by Yuki's universe's Muru Muru and the help of the new universe's Diary users, Yuki convinces Yuno to come to her senses and surrender as he loves her. Realizing her mistakes, Yuno instead kills herself, believing this is the best for him and making Yuki the new God of his universe. In the end, despite becoming the new God of Time and Space, Yuki refuses to rule his universe as he has lost everything that he ever loved and cared; his friends, parents and Yuno. But in an unexpected Deus ex machina, the Yuno of the new universe arrives and invites Yuki to her universe as Yuki's Muru Muru had given Yuno and the others of the new universe their other universes memories which convinced that universe's Deus not to hold the Diary game and instead make Yuki and Yuno his new heirs. The series ends with Yuki reuniting with Yuno, his friends, parents and the Diary users in a new, happier universe.
Episode 17 "Family Discount": In a flashback, Marco and Ai are abandoned children who meet in the commercial tower, grow up in Kamado's orphanage and eventually fall in love. Yuki chooses to take Yuno's hand, while Marco and Ai run to the crumbling tower's roof with Yuki's father, intending to jump off with parachutes. Yuno catches up to them and once again tries to fight them alone, while Yuki hides and attempts to help her with his diary's predictions. Yuno loses and has her phone taken away, but it turns out to be Marco and Ai's decoy, which distracts them with false predictions. As a result, Yuno manages to critically injure Ai. Yuki's father grabs one of the two parachutes and escapes the tower, but he runs into Yuki's mother, who has been informed of the situation by Nishijima. When she threatens to turn him in, he stabs her. Yuki, Yuno and a dying Ai are trapped in the wreckage, but Marco attempts to free Ai despite having been mortally wounded himself. With Yuki and Yuno's help, the debris is cleared out and Marco and Ai die together as the tower collapses. Yuki and Yuno escape using the second parachute, only to find Yuki's mother has died. Meanwhile, Nishijima has been unable to find Kamado's Future Diary server. 
Episode 18 "Crossed Lines": In a flashback, Yuno is revealed to have murdered her parents, a pair of bankers who used to discipline her harshly for failing to meet their standards. After she fell in love with Yuki, he became her sole reason to live. Yuki asks Deus to bring his mother back to life, but he reveals that he is dying and his powers have faded. Furthermore, unless a successor is determined soon, all of existence will collapse. When Yuki's father returns home, Yuki, who knows he killed his mother from his diary, demands that he turn himself in. However, his father points out that he has no evidence. The next day, Yuki goes after his father, expecting him to lead him to evidence. However, it turns out that Yuki's father wanted to visit the site where his family was going to go stargazing before he turned himself in. As Yuki reconciles with his father, they are ambushed by agents of Eleventh and Yuki's father is murdered. Enraged, Yuki fights back and manages, with Yuno's help, to kill the attackers. Afterwards, Yuki declares that he is now determined to win the survival game in order to attain the power to resurrect his parents. When he tells Yuno this means he has to kill her, she calmly replies that she is ready to die for him at any time.

12:30 - 1:20     Sakamichi no Apollon [Kids on the Slope] 5-6

Lifelong friendship through Jazz and other cool things!

Sakamichi no Apollon [Kids on the Slope]

[Source: Wikipedia] The beginning of summer, 1966. Because of his father's job situation, freshman high school student Kaoru Nishimi moves by himself from Yokosuka to Kyushu to live with relatives. Until then, Kaoru was an honor roll student who tended to keep to himself, but meeting notorious bad boy Sentaro Kawabuchi starts to change him. Through his devil-may-care classmate, Kaoru learns the attractions of jazz and finds the first person he can call a “friend.” He also discovers how much fun it is to play music with a pal. Other characters include Sentaro's kind childhood chum, Ritsuko, who is the daughter of a record shop owner; the mysterious upperclassman, Yurika; and Brother Jun, the much-admired leader among their peers.
Episode 5  "Lullaby of Birdland": Kaoru and Ritsuko are unable to look each other in the eye after the events of the previous episode. Yurika shows up to see them practice and seems to be infatuated with Junichi. Ritsuko tells Kaoru that she can't stay angry at him, but that she has someone else that she likes. Sentaro overhears their conversation. Kaoru leaves and stops coming to the record shop. Back at Karou's house, Kaoru's father comes home and gives him a letter containing the whereabouts of his mother. Sentaro convinces Kaoru to go to Tokyo to meet his mom, and tags along. Kaoru and Sentaro also go to Junichi's place in Tokyo, but are told that he's not been there for over a month. Kaoru meets his mother and after talking to her, feels better about being rejected by Ritsuko. Before leaving, he gives her a jazz record ("Lullabys of Birdland" by Chris Connor) and tells her to practice singing it in anticipation of the next time they meet. Kaoru and Sentaro return to Kyuushu and Kaoru starts going to the record shop to play jazz again.

Episode 6 "You Don't Know What Love Is": Kaoru and the others start their second year of high school. Kaoru and Ritsuko are in the same class, but Sentaro is in a different class. Kaoru tries to keep Sentaro from talking to Yurika out of consideration for Ritsuko's feelings. Kaoru and Sentaro run into Matsuoka Seiji at the art room. Sentaro asks Kaoru for advice on his upcoming date with Yurika, and Kaoru suggests that he not go. Sentaro goes out with Yurika anyways, but they just end up talking about Junichi. Seiji gives Sentaro a Beatles record to listen to. Seiji tells Sentaro that he wants to become a famous musician so he can support his family, and asks Sentaro to join his rock band and play at the school festival. Sentaro invites Ritsuko and Kaoru to go to the beach with him to help take care of his siblings. At the beach, Seiji shows up and is instantly popular with the kids, which causes Kaoru to feel like he's being excluded from the group. Sentaro tells Seiji that he's willing to join his band for the school festival. Kaoru calls him a traitor, and runs off, saying he doesn't need him anymore. Mr.Tsutomu goes to his regular bar and finds Junichi there, drunk. 

1:20 - 1:45     Fate/Zero 8

"Here comes the pain!"

Fate/Zero

[Source: Wikipedia] Fate/zero takes place 10 years prior to the events of Fate/stay night, detailing the events of the 4th Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City. The War of the Holy Grail is a contest in which seven magi summon seven Heroic Spirits to compete to obtain the power of the "Holy Grail," which grants a miracle. After three inconclusive wars for the elusive Holy Grail, the Fourth War commences. Founded by the Einzbern, Matō, and Tōsaka families centuries ago, the Einzbern family is determined to achieve success after three successive failures, no matter the cost. As a result, they have elected to bring the hated magus killer, Kiritsugu Emiya, into their ranks, despite his methods and reputation as a skilled mercenary and a hitman who employs whatever he can use to accomplish his goals. Though Kiritsugu had once wanted to become a hero who could save everyone, he has long since abandoned this ideal upon realizing that saving one person comes at the cost of another's life. For the sake of humanity, he will ruthlessly destroy anything and anyone who threatens the peace of others. However, Kiritsugu finds himself deeply torn between the love he has found for his new family - his wife Irisviel and their daughter Illya - and what he must do to obtain the Holy Grail. Meanwhile, Kiritsugu's greatest opponent appears in the form of Kirei Kotomine, a priest who cannot find any sense of fulfillment in his life and sets his sights on Kiritsugu as the possible answer to the emptiness he feels.
Episode 8  "The Magus Killer": Iri and Maiya are about to escape through the woods until Iri detects Kirei coming their way. Instead of evading him, Iri and Maiya decide to confront him in order to protect Kiritsugu. However, both of them are outmatched. Meanwhile, Kiritsugu is able to wound Kayneth with his Contender pistol. Believing the attack was a fluke, Kayneth decides to increase Hydragyrum's defense even further. Saber and Lancer continue fighting Caster's waves of demonic creatures, which prove limitless due to his Noble Phantasm, his grimoire. Saber manages to clear a path for Lancer, who pierces Caster's grimoire with Gae Dearg, cutting off his source of mana and instantly destroying his minions, causing him to flee. After hiding from an enraged and injured Kayneth, Kiritsugu finally appears and shoots him with his Contender again. Because the Contender uses special anti-magic bullets, Kayneth's Hydragyrum not only fails to protect him, but amplifies his injury significantly. Lancer arrives to save his unconscious master, while Saber rushes to save Iri from Kirei. As Kirei interrogates Iri about Kiritsugu, an Assassin informs him of Saber's approach, leading him to stab Iri before fleeing. Iri survives thanks to Saber's magical healing scabbard Avalon implanted inside her and goes on to heal Maiya.

1:45 - 2:40     Club Meeting and Announcements

Anime Expo 2012

-  Anime Expo Convention Coverage
-  Animation News from around the world
-  Cosplayers/Skits/Masquerade
-  Anime Music Videos
-  And other weird, interesting stuff...

See the awesome costumes of Anime Expo

 

2:40 - 3:30     Feature Presentation: From Up on Poppy Hill

Yet another Masterpiece from Studio Ghibli

From Up on Poppy Hill

[Source: Wikipedia] Umi, a 16-year old girl, lives in Kokuriko (from coquelicot, French for Papaver rhoeas) Manor, a house that overlooks Yokohama harbour. Every morning, Umi will raise a set of signal flags with the message "I pray for safe voyages". The identity of the person raising these flags aroused much local interest, and a poem about her had even been published in a school newspaper. The author of this poem, Shun, always sees this flag from the sea as he rides a tugboat to school. Umi and Shun first met when Shun decides to participate in a daredevil stunt for the school newspaper. She thus got a negative first impression of him. They next met again when Umi's younger sister wanted Umi to accompany her to get Shun's autograph. They found him in the Quartier Latin, the building housing many of their high school's clubs and society. Shun belongs to the Culture Club, which is responsible for the publication of the school newspaper. There, she was told that the club needed someone to copy out the articles onto the publishing template, since Shun was unable to do so after he had injured his hand in a scuffle with a cat. One day, Umi suggested that the students should do a massive cleanup in order to restore the Quartier Latin to its previous glory. Everyone worked hard, including many girls who had volunteered their services. During this cleanup, Umi got to know Shun better and starts to develop feelings for him. Amidst the cleanup, Shun suddenly discovers that he and Umi might be half-siblings, after Umi showed him a photograph of her father. Shun himself has exactly the same photo. Having discovered this, Shun starts to distance himself from Umi. This led Umi to become hurt, though Shun eventually reveals the shocking fact to her. One day, it was revealed that a prominent businessman who is a sponsor of the school, will be tearing down Quartier Latin to make way for a new club. However, the students are unhappy about this, because the effort that they had put into the cleanup of this building would be wasted. In order to stop the demolition, the students nominated Shun, Umi and Shirō to go to Tokyo to persuade the businessman to change his mind. Umi later heard from her mother, who has just returned from America, that she is not biologically related to Shun. Her mother said that Umi's father registered Shun as his own child when he put Shun up for adoption after Shun's father had died fighting in the Korean War. Since her mother was pregnant and could not afford to adopt Shun, Shun was given away to a couple who had just lost their child- Shun's current adopted parents. However, they were made to wait for a long time before meeting the businessman, in the hope that they will go away. The trio were persistent, and they were duly rewarded when he agreed to visit Quartier Latin the following afternoon. The businessman was impressed by the work the students had put into restoring the place, and agreed to abandon his plans for redevelopment. Meanwhile, Umi and Shun went to meet a ship captain that was familiar with their fathers. He put to rest once and for all the notion that the two of was related by blood. He also shared the story of both Umi's and Shun's father, and the friendship between the three of them.