OH GOD WAT

I gave my Di Gi Charat OST another try out of boredom. And because of it, i find my new favorite song (more like flavor of the month).
This one is off the Christmas Special. Thanks to this, i've been listening to Masami Okui all week. All of her songs are amazing, but lots of them lack an appeal to grab you in. But theres a few that are just plain AMAZING.



Full song & MP3 download

I just love how the Di Gi Charat series tries to pull off Art styles on covers of manga and DVDs that are COMPLETELY different of the mood of the anime. Kinda misleading. If a little girl buys Di Gi Charat because the cover looks "OMGz SO KAWAII DESU NE! ^-^", Then she'll get a surprise. Her oh so "Kawaii" expectations are destroyed when she gets a comedy that is based off pure crude randomness and otaku culture. And to top it off, all the opening songs are EPICs that are more suited for action adventure epics. But even that might mislead people. But thats the charm of it. Just like the Ramen Fighter Miki opening. Both are Comedies that don't take themselves seriously, yet love to pull off parodies and troll the viewer.
If i had the money, i'd go out and buy Di Gi Charat Nyo. I LOVE the classic animation styles the original series had (Pretty much a Slayers clone). But sadly each episode was 3 minutes and 5 minutes at max.
The Nyo series is just as fun without the charm of the 1999 budget and style.
My Fandom to Alien Cat girls sadly mourns as the American Broccoli branch had filed for bankruptcy. Broccoli was also my favorite distributor. Di Gi Charat, Disgaea, FLCL, Galaxy Angel. This also means that Synch-Point and the GAMERS store in Los Angeles has also closed down.

RIP


Though don't worry. The Nippon branches are fine in working order.
BUT STILL!
(This isn't a review or anything, but goddamn, Di Gi Charat is a lovable series)
Funfact: Masami Okui also sang for the Slayers opening and ending.

IS THIS STILL AN ANIME FOR DUDES? DAMN RIGHT IT IS!

I did see some of this at Comic-Con. But regardless of how shitty or great the series might have been, i decided to add it to my shopping list as a "BUY NO MATTER WHAT" title. The Kujian OVA alone was fun to watch and made me a fan of the fake anime series.
Last time we saw Kujibiki Unbalance, it was a 3 episode OVA that was used in the Genshiken universe as an Anime the crew of Genshiken would watch and masterbait over.
In Genshiken, Kujibiki Unbalance is a 26 episode romance comedy that was supposed to be a stereo typical anime in almost every way possible including almost everything that is cliche in anime. Hence it being an "Otaku's anime" and Genshiken -an Otaku club.
So basically 'Kujian' has lots of fan-service to go with your action packed goodness, moe and fetishes such as pantie shots and "healthy" thighs.

But i can't really say the same for this newer retelling of the series...
KUJIBIKI UNBALANCE (TV) (2006)

Kujibiki means raffle. Unbalance could possibly refer to the fickle emotions that go with this series. In the 3 episode ova, the story was about students who draw a raffle to become a position in the randomly picked team that they are assigned too. The positions are Secretary, treasurer, Vice President and President.. These teams would go up against each other in a tournament style setting and the winning team would advance to the next round. I have no fucking idea what happens if you have the last team standing. But i think that the final Team becomes the official School counsel for the next year.

3 years apart.

BUT in THIS NEWER retelling of the series..
The tournament theme was stripped away. ALOT of things were stripped away.
The story sadly pretty much dropped everything that would have kept it a comedy.
But it was probably for the better.. Or worse depending on what kind of anime you want.
Synopsis:
Rikkyouin High School is a prestigious and powerful facility. This school is soo damn powerful, that it has the authority of a small country. And as such is treated like one. Rikkyouin has a lottery every year to determine the next year's Student Council membership. They do this because the Kujibiki (the lottery) is "sacred" and it's choices are the final absolute truth. It decides the fate of alot of things that goes on. It decides who's worthy and who's not.
The lottery slots are the same as the OVA. President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
But in this story, not every one in the school has these roles anymore like the ova. Just 4 people this time around in the whole school. WHICH ALSO MEANS theres no tournament like battle themes which also means no comedy or whacked out humor. So what happens is that the 4 chosen ones have to complete missions sent out by the current school President to show if they're up for the job. If one fails to show up or complete the mission, the whole team is expelled from the School.

It does seem like a loss by how i put it. But was it? This anime kept it's Otaku roots oh so slightly. If its not a comedy... Then what fuck is it?
Its Romance/Drama/Sci-Fi. A very well done one at that.
First off, let me say that this anime is something that will appeal to the target audience (Males ages 14-35 who like boobs and pantie shots, and females of any age). Second, that you know that what you're watching is meant to be moe moe and COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the Genshiken anime.
I'm pointing all this out because Genshiken fans bought this for Genshiken (a slice of life comedy) and not for Kujibiki Unbalance (A Drama romance show ment for Otaku males).
Having somebody review Kujian (a title farrrr out from their own taste) is like sending a Metal-head thrasher out to a Hip-Hop concert.
I on the other hand fit the target demographic. COMPLETELY!
Its like sending me to a Darkthrone and Puffy concert.

Now.. my thoughts...(on the whole story)
Let me start out by saying THIS IS SUM HIGH BUDGET SERIOUS SHIT SON.
High budget often means it'll be a serious anime. And MY GOD IT IS.
During DVD 1, we're stuck with 4 episodes that introduce the characters.
When i mean stuck, i mean you have to sit at the beginning stages of the show when it
still wanted to incorporate Wacky shit. Wacky isn't bad, but how this revision of the anime goes, i would rather they put it away if this is meant to be a darker approach to Kujian.

So we meet Chihiro Enomoto, a teen who has had bad luck his whole life. As he waits for the bus on the day of the lottery, the first thing we notice is the female protagonist Tokino Akiyama.

Shes at a vendy machine thats part slot machine. And apparently it seems that she "won" at the vendy machine what ever the fuck that means (she probably got her change back?). Anywho,
When our poor hero Chihiro walks to check up on Tokino's win, we see Crow shit fall out of the sky and onto Chihiro's nice leather shoes. As he bends down to clean it off, the fucking bus comes.
Tokino seems like she really doesn't give a shit and "WALKS" to the bus rather than run with Chihiro to catch it. By the time they both arrive, triplets and a mom walk out as the bus shits out the handicap ramp. See where i'm going with this? Tokino is gifted with being blessed with such good luck, that the world stops for her.
So we have 2 best friends that are cursed with good and bad luck. I'm just watching and going "oh, thats neat, i wonder what else is". later in the series we find out the the School President (Ritsuko Kübel Kettenkrad) was a friend of Tokino and Chihiro back when they were 5 years old. You keep seeing flashbacks of them saving a baby chicken named Pi-chan from a dog. Now what really sets the tension is that this is 10 years later. "Ritschan" was a crybaby back in the day. But now she seems like a silent prestigious bitch. So seeing "Ritsko" after ten years really shakes up Chihiro's emotions as this was his Childhood lover. He too was her childhood lover. They even promised to get married in the OVA as long as Ritsko stopped being a cry baby. And holy shit look at them now. One day during a weekend, Chihiro and Tokino go to school to find a text book Chihiro left. During their adventure, they get lost IN THE FRIGGEN BIG ASS SCHOOL. But our heroes happen to hear the violin play.. and by following that sound, the gang was no longer lost as the sound lead to the President's room.. Ritsko's room. So now Chihiro is being a big pussy but Tokino wants to help Ritsko do work because her co-workers are out. So they do. And spending time with Ritsko makes her seem less of a bitch, infact lots of happy memories were referenced as Ritsko pulls food and treats out of her ass that came straight from their early childhood. See how cute this is getting?

A few episodes later and its Ritsko's birthday at her big ass house.
Guess what Chihiro? SHES ENGAGED. The one you friggen love so much and can't stop thinking about. But its ok. You get to dance with her and stare at her huge rack as Tokino watches and feels her heart break. But thats ok too, because Pi-Chan is back! BUT HES A ROOSTER NOW!
And who gives a shit that shes engaged? Ritsko still wants Chihiro's nuts. Hence why she wants him to hold her hand and fuck her all over the kitchen table.
OK, now you get that theres a love triangle. TIME TO MOVE ON!

Now my thoughts in general;

Besides the gorgeous colors and character design, i get to see some old friends of the old Kujian cast later in the series.

Shinobu Enomoto was Chihiro's OLDER but younger looking sister and a teacher in the OVA. That still hasn't changed. But in this anime the first time we see Shinobu, we are instantly greeted with the most incestuous anime character ever.
Every chance she gets, she tries to fuck her brother. In one of the episodes it even starts out with Chihiro and Shinobu having sex. (In her dream of course) Remember when i said this was an Otaku show?

Renko Kamishakujii used to be on a rivaling team in the Kujian OVA. But in this story shes the secretary on Tokino's team and is possibly the bitchiest anime character you have ever seen in your life. But you get to see her panties in every episode. This hoe fucking slaps Tokino for being happy or some shit. You'll never find any anime character as Tsundere as this. The example i just gave was a bad one too. Thats how bitchy she is. Remember when i said this was an Otaku show?

In the OVA you might remember Kaoruko Yamada as the girl who calls Renko "Mistress".
In this anime shes still Renko's bitch. But this time we find out that shes a cyborg who powers Renko's mechas. You'll see alot of her boobs in this show. Some pantie shots too. Remember when i said this was an Otaku show?

Yamada and Renko doing normal lesbian things.

Later in the series we meet Komaki Asagiri who played the pink haired, scarf wearing busty girl on Tokino's team in the OVA. But in his anime shes now a Ninja who works the ramen shop that our protagonists always hang out at. Remember when i said this was an Otaku show?

Komaki's little sister (Koyuki Asagiri) now plays Komaki's former spot as Treasurer. Koyuki has Mewtwo's powers in this show (All Otaku shows have Shonen Lolis). Remember when i said this was an Otaku show?

Remember the awesome green haired Izumi Tachibana in the OVA that was on Tokino's team?
Yeah, she now plays the role of a mysterious fighter for hire/assassin who is out to kill the President but is bounded by Tokino in a lesbian like attraction and contract.
Remember when i said this was an Otaku show?

Mugio Rokuhara, He was Chihiro's only friend in the OVA. and nothing has changed about him in this show besides character design. (Which didn't change much)

Current Student Council
Ritsuko Kübel Kettenkrad, aka The President. I really fucking love her new design in this.
You see her changing into a $1000 party dress as well. Lots of boobage on this one. Remember when i said this was an Otaku show?

Kasumi Kisaragi (the chick with the Katana), OMFG BEST CHARACTER IN THE SERIES. Her voice actor for the dub is AMAZING, her mannerisms are sexy yet so fucking modest. Shes damn classy as hell and hates the shit out of Ritsuko, but protects her with impressive samurai skills because its her job as Vice President.. Remember when i said this was an Otaku show?

Lisa Humvee, the only American in this anime. Shes also the only red head that was in the ova. Shes the treasurer and types out calculations like its no body's fucking business. I really don't like her english voice over. Its annoying. The voice actor is great.. But it doesn't fit the character. This is the only character in the series to have a different voice actor from the OVA. Not sure if this still applies to Kasumi as she never spoke in the OVA. I think..
You know who the fucking Secretary is?
ITS A FUCKING DOG. Remember when i said this was an Otaku show?

Moving on.. The English voice work is AMAZING. Can you say REAL voice actors?
Tokino's VA is the infamous Veronica Taylor (Pokemon, Samurai Deeper Kyo).
The only problems with the Voice work is Chihiro's VA. Love the voice, but the execution comes out too boring.
The art? Fucking brilliant. The backgrounds and architecture fucking pretty as shit and the style of anime used is so cute that it brightens the character's appearances to capture the innocence of them. But this also allows dazzling effects of the night when the moon shines on the serious dark side of this anime. Theres LITERALLY not enough words to explain it without wasting 3 more hours of typing.
Now for what you really want to know... Was it a good anime?
For a Drama/Romance series... Yes. Yes it is.
DVD 1 was just some bullshit slapped together, but still had the somewhat lovable characters.
It was basically just 4 episodes of fillers that introduce the characters.
DVD 2 & 3 is where the shit is at. It goes from OMG KAWAII to grimdark frostbitten winter storms.. I wasn't expecting this anime to take such a strong turn into the dark side (moody and dramatic). And it gets pulled off elegantly in style. There actually isn't much script to work with... But the directors went all out to capture you with just 2 pages of writting and 12 episodes.
The dramatic feeling the show slowly builds up is at a great pace. The forbidden love triangle between Chihiro x Ritschan x Tokino is so typical in love that you just got to know more about it.

DURING AND AFTER OVA

1.Lisa 2.Ritsuko 3.kasumi 4.Komaki 5.Tokino 6.Izumi

What pisses me off is that the old character designs and character traits are COMPLETELY gone and may never return. I enjoyed the cliche colorful style and art that the OVA had. I enjoyed that Tokino was an ADDICTED mushroom whore. I really loved that Izumi was part of a Yakuza clan and was pro at majhong. I loved Komaki's modestness but still had to strip to save the team.
Now for this new retelling, it appears that any fan service shown wasn't done on purpose, but rather it just had to be done to keep it an Otaku anime. In the OVA, it was obvious that it was thrown in there because thats what the show was all about. And remember those tiny Aliens in the OVA that were in a swimming contest? Those fuckers are back. Remember that purple haired assasin out to kill Ritsko with a gun? Poor fellow got scrapped. I wished a prequel were made... I REALLY want to see how the OVA would have turned out.

...I'm really going to miss those big thighs regaurdless of how busty everyone is in the retelling.

Side note;
-The ending lets you hang there as you don't get to see what happens to everybody's relationship.
Nor do you see what happens to the ex student counsel or if Chihiro makes a good President.
-I might have liked this anime even more because of how it reminds me of Rhianna and I (Chihiro x Ritsuko)

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VERDICT
Art A
Animation B-
Story C+ (There wasn't much plot power, but still enough to keep you watching)
Characters B+
Acting B-
Music A
Laughs C (The new serious approach kills anything remotely funny)
Action C
Drama A-
Execution B+ (The effects in the art went very well with the drama and suspense, but the comedy was lackluster in comparison)

Is it worth every penny? In my book, Yes. (if you're into this kind of thing)

7.0

We once again meet one of those animes that are only good durring the first time watching.
This anime had pretty much everything to keep your jaw dropped as we see Samuel L Jackson jive talk his way into fucking childhood friends and cutting people in half in order to execute Justice (Ron Perlman)

This anime started out as an idea by an average guy who loved Hip-hop and oldschool.
As a Japanese, he also liked Bishido and other warrior like things of his heritage.
So this guy (The creator) would scribble shit in his note books, eventually leading to what we would know as Afro Samurai. One day the soon to be director of Afro or producer or some shit i forgot (not the creator) is given offers on what his next project could be. After sighing at the moe kawaii stuff at Gonzo, he finds a photo of Afro Samurai and is suddenly super interested and takes that up as the next project.
Out of freaking nowhere, Samuel L Jackson happens to be looking a Afro Samurai demo that was made from the said Gonzo project. "I WANT TO BE HIM!" And holy shit, they got him.

So in this story we have a seemingly very african looking child watching his dad (best warrior in the world) get slaughtered by his Cowboyish best friend. (Ron Perlman/Hell Boy) (Who was the second best warrior in the world).
Just as we see in Kill Bill, the Cowboy dude tells the young 'Afro', "If this gets to ya, you can see me about it in the future". But unlike Kill Bill, the skin colors are reversed.
So this whole story is about revenge. The creator wanted something very tradidtional, and holy shit, it sure was.
The plot power involved headbands. Each headband had a number. 1,2,3,4,5 etc.
The number you had was your rank. Through out this whole series Afro had #2.
And ONLY the person with the #2 head band is able to fight the ass with the #1 headband.
Pretty simple right?
As the series progresses, we see shit ton of guys attacking Afro for the headband. We even get a cult of monks hire people to kill Afro and even make cyborgs just to get this fucking #2 head band.
And thats pretty much the whole story. #2 wants revenge from #1.
Theres some other interesting twists like how some of Afro's enemies are fucked up versions of his friends from childhood. Afro even also managed to fuck a super hot older version of his best friend's sister (That you get to see on the DVD ;] ).
The first time watching this series i was like HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME.
The second time wasn't as entertaining.



Genres: adventure, fantasy, science fiction
Themes: Samurai
Age rating: Mature (May IT DOES contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence)

Other shit;
Production cost: ¥119,580,000 ( $1,000,000)
This is one of those animes that are aired to America first.


Side notes; Afro loved the shit out of Lemonade.
I'm guessing this was the closest thing he had to Kool-aid

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VERDICT
Art A
Animation B-
Story D (This is what makes it a 1 time watch)
Characters C
Acting B-
Music B
Laughs N/A
Action A-
Drama C
Execution B-/C+ (Smooth telling of the story in the exact amount of episodes needed, no fillers, fitting animation)
6.0

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I saw this at a comic-con screening room and JUST HAD TO GET IT.
On the cover you see a seemingly adorable girl with girly pose etc. When things in anime are feminine.. They're usually for dudes.
That rule still applies here as Magical Witch Punie-chan hits the Magical girl genre hard over the head with a sludge hammer. I mean really.
Like Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan (which came a year later), this is a parody anime on the likes of Salormoon & Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.

So as i sit home busting out the LOCALIZED DVD,
the first thing i see is english subtitles with my japanese.
So i go back to the menu screen to look for the english dub and WHAT THE FUCKING HELL.
NO ENGLISH!??!
The convenience of having an english dub was part of why i bought this.
But before i bought this i was scared that the english dub would fuck up the
voice work of the mightiness that is Payatan.
So i guess i'll just move on!

So we're in the land of magic and the queen sends Punie to earth for one year to become the next queen of "the land of magic" (If she survives). So when Punie arrives she attends highschool as part of her training. But this highschool is full of yakuza like students who seem to fuck with Punie. But thats just the least of her problems. She has an adorable "supa kawaii" mascot who wants to kill her behind her back, numerous assassins (who are hired to kill the next queen of The land of magic aka Punie), and Punie's little sisters want the crown as well.
So in a parody of the magical girl genre such as this... Theres lots and lots and lots of gore and bone-crushing goodness to go with your SUPA KAWAII/cute heroine.
Punie's magic comes from her handy Candy cane staff. She has to say "Lyrical Tokarev, Kill them all" to activate it.

There wasn't much plot power to fuel this series. Probably why it was a 8 episode OVA


Genres: comedy, magic, supernatural
Themes: dark comedy, magic, Magical Girl, Parody, school life, wrestling
Age rating: Mature (May contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence)

SIDE NOTES
Watch with friends. And this is one of those animes that you'll only watch once.
Something i rather you rent.

Heres abit what you should expect;


When she summons the Goffers, shes saying "Lyrical Tokarev, Kill them all"

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VERDICT
Art C
Animation C
Story D
Characters B
Acting B-
Music B
Laughs B-
Action C
Drama N/A
Execution C (Gore and cute girls went hand in hand, the acting was pulled off pretty well, little imagination used)
8.0

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I never thought that Assembly type figures would be such high quality. AND MORE CHEAPER AT THAT!
The Etna and Flonne D2 pvc figures i got awhile back were about $50 each.
But i can see why it would be expensive (With horrible paint jobs.)
With Dawn/Hikari or other Assembly type figures, the parts are much easier to paint, and making the molds are alot easier. With full body PVC, the chances of paint heading to the right spots are less likely and making the molds would be much harder.
I'm really liking this figure. Infact, before the my knowledge of the existence of this figure, i wanted to make my own Dawn figure by scratch. But for a low low price of $22, i didn't need too.
The paint job on this baby is great, the material quality is fine, but it seems that the legs are less budget. I had the choice of buying the Piplup edition or the Bunnery edition. I got the Piplup one obviously. I think this is probably my best Comic-Con purchase. They slightly gave her an ass. But no pantie shots with this one.
More pix are here

I didn't catch Ponyo on Comic-Con friday as originally planned, but i did happen to stumble upon this film.
After walking for miles looking for the Ponyo event, time of course had to pass by me like a train.
So i just gave up.
I grab a Mocha frappuccino from Starbucks and walk down to the convention center like a badass who's about to have a blast.
Sadly, I drank it before i could sit in a theater room. It was a small. And i'm watching my figure at the moment and figured that a venti will not burn off from this whole day of walking. Sigh.. It was enjoyable though. So now i'm sitting in a room about to watch a premier of Fist of the North Star-Legend of the Dark King. As usual, you have a man blessed with the power of a God. And my gawd it was entertaining. The first punch blew a hole in some guy's stomach and the shockwave obliterated a hole into the sky scrapper behind the soon to be dead man. As soon as that happened, the audience is clapping from erection. Yes. It was THAT awesome. So then eventually it ended.. I got up.. And looked at the schedule. The girl who leapt through time eh?

As I sit in the theater room and it seems that i missed about 10-20 minutes of the film. But i see that our time traveling heroine Makoto Konno appears to have slipped and fell on a device that came from the future. It was a time machine/walnut hybrid. haha.
As the books she was holding is falling towards her face, time suddenly stops and shes now having a bizarre acid trip (for lack of better words). After that she just goes on her day wondering what fuck just happened. Shes already having a bad day. The jello was missing, she blew up shit in her Home Economics class and currently shes ridding home on her bike.
SPOILERS
:::The ridding home part is probably where her day will end as SHE RIDES DOWN A HILL AND DISCOVERS THAT HER BIKE'S BRAKES DON'T WORK AS SHES HEADING INTO A INCOMING TRAIN!
I sit and i watch as our cute high school girl is about to get destroyed by a passing train.
I'm holding my face right about now... I know whats going to happen.. But still, this movie knows how to do drama and suspense. So obviously she survives because time reversed some how.::::
She goes apeshit trying to figure out how the hell did she do it (time leap into the past). So in a desperate attempt she manages to learn by throwing her self head first into something to re-appear in the past.
She uses this new power to eat anything she wants as much as she wants and to change situations to her liking. I'm in no way going to speak anymore about the plot as i REALLY want you to see for your self how this goes.. But Her doing all these 'fixes' to her life ultimately ruins someone elses.. As this happens she now tries to fix all she has done wrong.
This movie was well thought out. It will remind you of The Butterfly Effect in alot of ways of how altering situations in the past will change the present. But how this film tells the story is just amazing. The characters are lovable, the character development is outstanding, the life situations are cute as hell and the acting makes you think you're back in school again being there with Makoto and the gang. If this wasn't a film, the genre would be Slice of Life/drama/Romance. (Seeing how Slice of Life isn't a movie genre). All in all, i'd have to say that this is the best Anime film that i have ever seen.. And now i'm actually glad that i didn't go to the Ponyo event. But still disappointed that i didn't get the Venti sized drink to enjoy this movie with (I did have string cheese and Nilla Wafers though). The only bad thing i can say about this film is part of the execution. Theres parts that didn't really need to be there. Like scenes that stare at an object too long. But other than that, this is almost a flawless movie. When it finished, the theater gave it a standing ovation.
Thats the only time i've seen one of these at Comic-Con.
As I walk out of the Screening, I'm hit with a huge smile that would last the whole night as my heart strings are pulled but only my kidneys are effected.
Have you ever seen a movie sooo good that your kidneys had some strong unusual feeling?
First time it's happened to me.

SUGGESTIONS;
I've saw this on a HUGEE screen with surround sound and a enjoyable yet modest crowd.
If you want your kidneys to hurt like mine, i suggest you find a shit load of friends
and rent a theater. If you can't do that, view it on a 1080p 40 inch or bigger screen with
120Hz shitting out of it (with friends).
You'll need surround sound for sure as the audio in this movie uses the
left and right speakers individually quite a bit. The music is gorgeous too.
If you watch on a basic tube tv or computer screen, you pretty much miss out on the animation capturing your heart.

-AWARDS-
WINS
-Gertie Award for the best animated feature film
at the thirty-ninth Sitges International Film Festival of Catalonia.
-The Animation Grand Award, given to the year's most entertaining animated film
-Animation of the Year prize at the thirtieth Japan Academy Prize.
at the prestigious sixty-first Annual Mainichi Film Awards
-The Grand Prize in the animation division
at the 2006 Japan Media Arts Festival.
-Animation of the Year
-Director Award
Hosoda Mamoru (The Girl Who Lept Through Time)
-Best Original Story/Work
-Tsutsui Yasutaka (The Girl Who Lept Through Time)
-Scriptwriting Award
Okudera Satoko (The Girl Who Lept Through Time)
-Achievement in Art Direction
Yamamoto Nizo (The Girl Who Lept Through Time)
-Character Design Award
Sadamoto Yoshiyuki (The Girl Who Lept Through Time)
At the sixth annual Tokyo International Anime Fair,
-Special Distinction for Feature Film
at France's thirty-first Annecy International Animated Film Festival (June 16, 2007)

WIN COUNT: 11 (that i know of)
Other shit
It was nominated for, but did not win, the twenty-seventh Nihon SF Taisho Award.
It played to full-house theatres during a screening in August 2007 at the ninth Cinemanila International Film Festival in Manila, Philippines.
Tsutsui Yasutaka praised the film as being "a true second-generation" of his book at the Tokyo International Anime Fair on March 24, 2006.

Side notes;
I loved the characters sooo much, that i felt empty from having to leave them so soon

Links
Anime News Network page
^^^As of now its the 8th ranked title on the site.
But i personally feel that its better than some of it's "higher ranked" animes.
Code Gease and Spirited Away for example.

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VERDICT
Art A
Animation B+
Story B
Characters A+
Acting B+/A-
Music B
Laughs B-
Action N/A
Drama A-
Execution A (Just enough time to tell the story and get in everybody's personality, this attachment to the characters allows the drama to succeed later in the movie.)

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9.3