Show Descriptions

Anime TV series screening at regular monthly Metro Anime meetings starting 21 September 2008

Off-the-wall hijinks ensue when five spirited girls are cajoled into forming a women’s kendō team at their high school. Starting off with a reckless bet made by their sensei, a half-starved loner eking out a living as a substitute teacher, the girls learn to support each other as friends and teammates. A self-referential parody of sports anime, the show is packed with “fourth-wall” humor and constant jokes about costumed-fighter shows, even as the team faces various obstacles on the way to victory.

26 episodes total
Japanese manga written by Masahiro Totsuka, drawn by Aguri Igarashi
One Manga | Wikipedia | ANN | IMDb

Anime TV series screening at regular monthly Metro Anime meetings starting 15 February 2009

Koyuki, age 14, takes his first steps to manhood and finds his true voice when he becomes a singer and guitarist for the indie rock band Beck. With frequent references to the great names and sounds of rock & roll, and a touching sense of wonder and self-exploration, Beck balances a boy’s slice-of-life story and the quest to become a real Jukebox Hero.

26 episodes total Japanese manga by Harold Sakuishi
Anime: Funimation; Manga: Tokyopop
One Manga | Wikipedia | ANN | IMDb

Anime TV series screening at regular monthly Metro Anime meetings

Living on their own while their parents work abroad, the 3 Minami sisters try to get along with each other, despite having wildly different personalities and a talent for miscommunication. Between clueless would-be boyfriends, over-enthusiastic classmates, hapless relatives, and frequent parodies of movies and video games, hilarity is in plentiful supply in the Minami household.

Japanese manga by Koharu Sakuraba
One Manga | Wikipedia
Minami-ke (1st series)(2007) 13 episodes total
ANN | IMDb
Minami-ke Okawari (2nd series)(2008) 13 episodes total
ANN | IMDb
Minami-ke Okaeri (3rd series)(2009) 13 episodes total
ANN | IMDb

Anime TV series screening at regular monthly Metro Anime meetings

In a bizarrely-conceived dark comedy version of the classic inspirational teacher story So Long Mr. Chips, Itoshiki-sensei is the new young teacher of a rambunctious class of oddball high-schoolers. Unfortunately, instead of inspiring his class, Itoshiki (whose name can be read Zetsubō, “Despair”) tries to drag them into his grey and dismal world of expected failure and mock-suicidal angst. All the students have their quirks and strange personality traits, including a girl who compulsively stalks her crushes, a girl who speaks only through text messaging, and the class cheerleader, Fuura-chan, who defies reality with her super-optimism. Will “Despair-sensei” succeed in dashing his young charges’ hopes, or can this class of misfits get their teacher off the ledge?

Japanese manga by Kōji Kumeta
One Manga | Wikipedia
Sayonara Zetsubō-sense (1st series)(2007) 12 episodes total
ANN | IMDb
Sayonara Zetsubō-sense Zoku (2nd series)(2008) 13 episodes total
ANN | IMDb