Claymore
Claymore started out, as a lot of anime does, as a manga.
This dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Norihiro Yagi. It appeared in the Monthly Shōnen Jump in May 2001.
When Monthly was canceled in June 2007, the series moved to Weekly Shonen Jump.
The first eleven volumes of the series was made into a twenty-six episode anime series by Madhouse Studios, and it premiered in Japan on NTV on April 3, 2007.
The plot is basically that a group of superhuman warriors called Claymores are created by a nameless secret organization to protect humans from flesh-eating creatures called Yoma.
Most of the claymores are female, because human males who are changed to hybrids (by implanting Yoma flesh and blood into humans) tend to lose control of their powers faster.
The series follows the adventures of one Claymore named Clare and her friend Raki.
Vampire Knight
Continuing along with Vampire Animes....
Vampire Knight, a manga and anime series written by Matsuri Hino, premiered in the January 2005 issue of LaLa magazine and is still on-going.
Hakusensha publishes chapters in collected volumes, nine of which have been released in Japan.
A twenty-six episode anime adaptation was produced by Studio Deen and directed by Kiyoko Sayama.
The first season of thirteen episodes, premiered on TV Tokyo in Japan on April 8, 2008 and ran until the season finale on July 1, 2008.
The second thirteen episode season, called Vampire Knight Guilty, premiered on October 7, 2008.
Besides the manga and anime, two drama CDs have been released, two light novels, a video game (Vampire Knight DS coming out in 2009) and the official Vampire Knight Fanbook was released in November 2008.
Hellsing
And now for one of my personal favorite animes.....Hellsing.
Hellsing is a Japanese manga and anime series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano.
It debuted in Young King Ours in 1997 and ended in 2008.
Hellsing chronicles the efforts of the mysterious and secret Hellsing Organization, as it combats vampires, ghouls, and other supernatural foes who threaten the United Kingdom.
Dark Horse Comics is licensed for the English language release of the manga in North America. In Australia and New Zealand, Madman Entertainment owns the rights and in Singapore the rights are owned by Chuang Yi.
Hellsing: The Dawn, a prequel series, has been published in special editions of Young King OURs since 2001.
The anime series was produced by Gonzo and directed by Umanosuke Iida from a screenplay by Chiaki Konaka.
It is different from the manga in terms of plot, though it uses some of the same characters and similar character designs.
The anime was broadcast on Fuji Television in Japan from October 10, 2001 to January 16, 2002.
Satelight and Geneon. is producing an original video animation (OVA) called Hellsing Ultimate. Ultimate follows the manga story line more closely than the first anime series.
Hellsing (Complete Boxed Set)
xxxHolic
This is another manga, anime from CLAMP that ties in with Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and Cardcaptor Sakura.
xxxHolic has been serialized in Kodansha's Young Magazine since 2003 and published in volumes under the KC Deluxe label.
It's published in the United Kingdom by Tanoshimi and in the US by Del Rey Manga.
On August 20, 2005, an animated movie, xxxHolic: A Midsummer Night's Dream, was released in Japan. The movie was released on DVD on November 24, 2006 and TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) began airing a TV animation series April 6, 2006 in Japan. Funimation Entertainment obtained the rights to both the movie and TV series for distribution in the United States.
At the end of the second season run of the anime, a special episode was announced for a DVD-only release. It will be bundled for release with volume 14 of the manga on January 16, 2009.
In the manga there are references to Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Magic Knight Rayearth, Legal Drug, Kobato, Chobits, Lupin III and Cat's Eye.
In the anime, there are references to Ōkiku Furikabutte (a baseball manga) and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
"Watanuki's Sixteen-day-old Moon Grass Story" was released as a video game in Japan for the PlayStation 2 on August 9, 2007.
Cardcaptor Sakura
Cardcaptor Sakura is a magical girl manga series from the famous all-female artist team CLAMP (creators of Angelic Layer, Magic Knight Rayearth and Tokyo Babylon, among others) .
Cardcaptor Sakura is published in Japan by Kodansha (the largest manga publisher in Japan) and was serialized in Nakayoshi (a shōjo manga magazine).
The manga series consists of twelve volumes.
The Cardcaptor Sakura manga is well-known for its emphasis on the shōjo genre (manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10 and 18) of the series, with nearly every page having detailed flowers, bubbles, or sparkles around the main characters.
It won the Seiun Award for Best Manga in 2001, and the anime won the Animage Grand Prix award for best anime in 1999.
The manga was translated into English by Tokyopop.
Cardcaptor Sakura was adapted into an anime television series, animated by Madhouse (Death Note, Chobits, Trigun) and directed by Morio Asaka (who also did Chobits) .
The character designer and chief animation director for the series was Kumiko Takahashi (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam).
It premiered on NHK from April 8, 1998 and finished airing on March 21, 2000.
Two theatrically released movies (Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie and Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card), and several specials (Tomoyo's video diary 1, 2 and 3) were also produced.
The second season of TV series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1999.
Nelvana produced an English dub of the anime series, titled Cardcaptors, which aired in English-speaking countries.
An unedited English translation, bearing the original title, Cardcaptor Sakura, was broadcast in its English-language networks by the anime television network Animax.
Cardcaptor Sakura has also been released in North America (but not the UK or Australia) on unedited and subtitled DVDs under its original title.
Besides being a very popular anime, Cardcaptor Sakura has another interesting quirk.
Several of the characters from Cardcaptor Sakura have been reworked for use in another Clamp series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.
Sakura (The Princess of Clow Country) and "Syaoran" Li (The son of Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li) are two of the cross overs from Cardcaptor to Tsubasa.
The series has been adapted into several video games, developed for Game Boy, PlayStation, WonderSwan, Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance and PlayStation 2.
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