<h4>Winners</h4>

1. Caitlin

44. Debaser

10. Momo83

Winners have seven days to claim their prizes or a new winner will be drawn!

This is Round Five of The Anime Blog’s Garage Sale Giveaway and we have even more goodies this time around! For those new to our Garage Sale Giveaways, please read the the original post!

The contest is simple:

1. You must register with the site
2. Log in with your user name and password, then choose an item from our list of loot
3. List the item you want in the comments section
4. Your comment will be given a number. If your number is chosen from our random drawing, you’ll win the item you listed!

Additional Details

This giveaway has a 70 entry comment limit. When we reach 70, we’ll randomly draw a number between 1 and 70. If your comment number is drawn, you’ll be the proud owner of whatever listed! For example:

22. Smitty says:
April 30th, 2008 at 7:15 am
I sure would love a copy of Karas: The Revelation!!! ^_^

If we draw number 22 and your user name is Smitty, then you’ve just won a copy of Karas: The Revelation.

List of Loot

Anime DVDs

1. Tetsujin 28, Volume 1
2. Beck, Mongolian Chop Squad, Volume 3
3. Black Cat, Volume 6
4. Karas: The Revelation
5. Glass Fleet, Volumes 1-2
6. Glass Fleet, Volumes 3-4
7. Ikkitousen, Volumes 1-2, 4
8. Nerima Daikon Brothers, Volumes 1-2
9. Ah, My Goddess! Volume 1
10. Peach Girl, Volume 4
11. Red Garden, Volume 1
12. Witchblade, Volume 1
13. Witchblade Volume 2
14. Venus, Versus Virus, Volume 1
15. Vision of Escaflowne: Volumes 2-3
16. Vision of Escaflowne: Volumes 4-5
17. Vision of Escaflowne: Volumes 7-8
18. Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Volume 1
19. Samurai X: Trust
20. Sentimental Journey: Disc 1
21. Speed Grapher, Volumes 1-2
22. Strawberry Marshmallow, Complete Series
23. Yu Yu Hakusho, Volumes 5-6

Manga

1. Mars: Volumes 1-5
2. Mars: Volumes 7-8
3. Mars: Volumes: 11-15
4. Blade of the Immortal: Volume 3
5. Descendants of Darkness: Volume 1
6. Crimson Hero: Volume 1

Remember, you must register to enter. After you’ve registered, check out the loot and comment below!

Contest Rules

• All entrants must be a registered user to win.
• You must post a comment with the name of one of the articles being given away. If you do not list an item in your comment and your number is chosen, you’ll receive the prize of our choice.
• Limit one post and one item request per registered user.
• Flooding the board with multiple posts will result in deletion of your entry.
• If you’ve won in the past four months, you are not eligible to win. We appreciate your participation, but we want everyone to have a chance.
• All entrants must live in the continental United States. Sorry international friends – shipping is expensive these days!

Deadline:

• The winner will be randomly drawn when 70 unique entries have been posted. Any entrant posting after the 70 comment mark is not eligible to win, even if comments are still open.

Winner:

• The winner’s user name (but not your email address) will be posted on the site. We will notify you by e-mail.

If you have any questions about registering, please read our privacy policy. Good luck and don’t forget to tell your friends! The more comments we get, the faster you can win!

This is Round Four of The Anime Blog’s Garage Sale Giveaway! There’s even more goodies this time around so take the time to look the list over! For those new to our Garage Sale Giveaways, please read the original post!

The contest is simple: You choose one item or group of items from our pile of loot, and post one comment declaring your desire to be owner of said loot. When we reach sixty comments, I’ll randomly draw a number between one and sixty. If I draw your comment number, you’re now the proud owner of whatever you declared you liked within your comment. For example:

1. Anime Fan
I sure would like me Karas: The Revelation!

If I draw “1″ and your username is “Anime Fan”, then you win Karas: The Revelation, savvy?

One thing to please remember when entering is that you MUST register with the site to enter! Why? Because it makes it easier to contact you if you win, i.e. search the registry for your contact info.

There have been numerous instances when someone lost a prize solely because they did not register. Don’t be “that” guy! Register and actually be eligible to win! If you have any reservations about registering, please read our privacy policy and know we never sell your info nor contact you unless you’ve won.

After you’ve registered, check out the loot and comment below!

*Note: Please read the rules under “To Enter” carefully!!!

To Enter:

• All entrants must live in the continental U.S.
• All entrants must be a registered user to win.
• Post a comment in the comment board below with the name of one of the articles being given away.
• You must list an item in your comment or the comment will be deleted. Saying, “I want to win”, or “I want so and so to win”, will also result in deletion of the comment.
• One post and one item only per registered user. Flooding the board with multiple posts will result in deletion of ALL said user’s posts.

Deadline:

• Deadline is numerical: 60 unique comments (minimum). The winner will be randomly drawn when 60 comments have been posted.

Winner:

• Winner’s user name will be posted on the site and notified by e-mail!

Good luck and don’t forget to tell your friends! The more comments we get, the faster you can win!

Manga

1. Mars: Volumes 1-5
2. Mars: Volumes 7-8
3. Mars: Volumes: 11-15
4. Blade of the Immortal: Volume 3
5. Descendants of Darkness: Volume 1
6. Crimson Hero: Volume 1

Anime DVDs

1. Tetsujin 28, Volume 1
2. Beck, Mongolian Chop Squad, Volume 3
3. Black Cat, Volume 6
4. Karas: The Revelation
5. Glass Fleet, Volumes 1-2
6. Ikkitousen, Volume 2
7. Ikkitousen, Volume 4
8. Nerima Daikon Brothers, Volumes 1-2
9. Ah, My Goddess! Volume 1
10. Red Garden, Volume 1
11. Witchblade, Volume 1
12. Witchblade Volume 2
13. Venus, Versus Virus, Volume 1
14. Vision of Escaflowne: Volumes 2-3
15. Vision of Escaflowne: Volumes 4-5
16. Vision of Escaflowne: Volumes 7-8
17. Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Volume 1
18. Solty Rei, Volume 4
19. Samurai X: Trust
20. Sentimental Journey: Disc 1
21. Strawberry Marshmallow, Complete Series
22. Yu Yu Hakusho, Volumes 5-6

Viruses can rob us of function, health and vitality, and at the extreme, they can rob us of life. There are fates worse than death however, and living without a soul is an existence not worth living; an existence which the ladies of the Venus Vanguard are prepared to remedy.

plot summary

There are things in his world we cannot see with the naked eye; things that can cripple and kill. There are also other unseen creatures which take more than lives: they take souls. Viruses aren’t just mindless micro-organisms, they’re also soul-stealing beings which exist in tandem with humans, but are invisible to the majority of the population.

Those who can see Viruses seldom see them for long, since Viruses prefer to devour the souls of those who can detect them. Sumire Takahana is one who can see Viruses and is thus targeted by them, when fate intervenes in the manner of the goth-loli Virus fighter, Lucia Nahashi.

Lucia, along with Laura and Sōichirō Nahashi, is part of the Venus Vanguard, a group of fighters sworn to eradicate the Virus menace. Lucia saves Sumire from the Viruses and senses an unknown power emanating from Sumire.

Sumire is then sucked, against her will, into Lucia’s world, as she discovers she has powers that can help the Vanguard destroy the Viruses once and for all. But is the price Sumire pays for her powers worth the sacrifice?

review

There was no spark when I watched Venus Versus Virus- VVV for short- Volume One, no connection. Nothing. I gave Volume One my undivided attention but it failed to keep it.

VVV’s concept wasn’t as fresh as it could have been and felt contrived. The idea of young girls fighting otherworldly powers, while inspiring and potentially fascinating, felt too formulaic in this instance. Everything was already setup from the get-go for VVV to be what it is: cute girls with inherent powers doing brave things. How could this go wrong? It’s not a bad formula and is in fact a pretty standard template for anime and manga.

Character Development

Where Volume One went wrong was that there was no connection with any of the characters. The characters themselves were also too formulaic. In order for a series to set itself apart if an anime formula is followed, at least the characters must be non-standard. But I could feel myself moving away from the story since I felt nothing for the characters. I can sometimes forgive a story that’s been done before, and done better, if the characters move me and connect with me.

I don’t like to have a sense of déjà vu when I watch anime; I like to be surprised, I like to have a feeling of, “Hey, that series really got me!” Instead, VVV elicited many: “M’yep, thought you might do/say/ wear that.” Perhaps the later volumes of the series will define and develop the characters more, but I wish they could have set some spark into the first volume which would keep viewers interested enough to watch volume two.

Character Design

Lucia and Laura’s characters were designed as lolitas. As much as I adore the style in real-life, I’m beginning to dislike it in anime; a lot. However, to be fair, the gals of Venus Vanguard are using a clothing shop as a front for their anti-Virus operations; dressing in their wares is a damn fine way to advertise and sell them. But I still feel as if the use of lolis is ever so slightly gratuitous and abused in VVV.

Sumire’s school uniform is a quite novel, although unlikely, design. It’s good to see something new done with the same old school uniforms which habitually show up in anime. The colors for the uniform weren’t as good as the cut and overall design, but it made for a pleasant change of pace from the standard fuku.

The designs for the Viruses, unlike the school uniforms, were pretty blah. I like it when studios go the extra mile with the bad guy’s designs; makes for added interest. The overall character designs are fairly mediocre, so far, considering the studio can get inventive with this genre of anime.

Animation

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anything produced by Studio Hibari, the company behind Venus Versus Virus’ anime production and I wasn’t impressed with my premiere viewing of their work. The animation was fairly average and standard with a few good-to-great shots. They did do something interesting with flashbacks: they framed them. Whenever a character had a flashback, it was set in an oval frame. It was interesting but the novelty wore off the umpteenth time it was used.

Music

“Bravin’ Bad Brew” is the name of the OP by Riryka. The song is, like the rest of the anime, average, but the beginning is catchy enough: I can’t seem to get, “I’m in the hell. I’m in the fate.” outta my head. The ED, “Shijun no Zankoku” by Yousei Teikoku is only slighter better than the OP.

Voice Acting

The Japanese voice cast was eons better than the English one, which seemed overly bright and forced. However, I wasn’t taken much with the Japanese voice cast either. It also was average.

Venus Versus Virus is an average anime that’s nothing new. Everything about is fairly standard and it doesn’t manage to set itself apart. Maybe the series will spark some sort of interest or connection with audiences, or else, it too will just be another soulless addition to the anime world.

Rating

Venus Versus Virus, Volume One gets 2.5 out of 4 Hammies.

Click here to start watching!

Look for the official release of Volume 1 on November 13th, 2007!