Everyone knows Adult Swim for the comedy of shows like Robot Chicken, Family Guy, and American Dad (among many others). I of course know them for this as well, but Adult Swim has more than just its comedy. Saturday Nights are home to "Action Saturdays." A lineup of Anime, new and old, that combines ones taste for fantasy style action with solid story-telling and certain "What if?" elements. Currently there are two shows running with new episodes and one returning show. I'll be reviewing these for you.

First we have the ongoing shows.

"Death Note" Currently airing on Saturday at 11:30pm eastern time. Death Note Wikipedia Page

Main Characters:

Light Yagami (Kira)

L (Ryuzaki, Hideki Ryoga)

Misa Amane

Show plotline - Light Yagami is an extremely intelligent young man who resents the crime and corruption in the world. His life undergoes a drastic change in the year 2003, when he discovers a mysterious notebook, known as the "Death Note", lying on the ground. The Death Note's instructions claim that if a human's name is written within it, that person shall die. Light is initially skeptical of the Death Note's authenticity, believing it is just a prank. However, after experimenting with it and killing two criminals, Light is forced to admit that the Death Note is real. After meeting with the previous owner of the Death Note, a shinigami (God of Death) named Ryuk, Light seeks to become "the God of the new world" by passing his judgment on criminals.

Soon, the number of inexplicable deaths of reported criminals catches the attention of the International Police Organization and a mysterious detective known only as "L". L quickly learns that the serial killer, dubbed by the public as "Kira" (derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the word "Killer"), is located in Japan. L also concludes that Kira can kill people without laying a finger on them. Light realizes that L will be his greatest nemesis, and a game of psychological cat and mouse between the two begins. <--- From Wikipedia

While watching the show you will get encompassed in the battle of wits between Kira and L as they try to out think each other and work around the other's traps. One situation prompted a poster on the Adult Swim MBs to compare L and his manipulation of Kira to Peyton Manning and his manipulation of a defense. Another thing you will find yourself thinking about is what you would do in either situation? What would you do if you were facing a murderer that could kill you just by knowing your name? What would you do if by some chance YOU ended up in control of the Death Note? Interesting situations. You also will find yourself picking sides as Kira (although the show's protagonist) starts making some questionable decisions (You'll understand what that means if you start watching).

Overall I give the show an A+. I've only seen up to episode 11 of the near 40 episode series, but from what I've seen so far, the greatness of this show has only begun.

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"Blood+" Currently airing on Sunday at 12:30am eastern time Blood+ Wikipedia Page

Main Characters

Saya Otonashi

Haji

Kai Miyagusuku

Diva

(There are others but too many to list)

Show Plotline - Under the care of her adoptive family, Saya Otonashi has been living the life of an anemic and amnesiac, but otherwise ordinary schoolgirl. Saya’s happy life is shattered when she is attacked by a chiroptera, and learns that she is the only one who can defeat them.

Armed with her sword, Saya embarks on a journey with her family, allies, and her Chevalier, Haji, to rid the world of Chiropterans and rediscover her identity. The course of the journey reveals the background history of the chiropterans and Saya's very deep past, which extends into the mid-19th century.

The series is initially set in present day (September 2005) Okinawa City (Koza), on Okinawa Island, near the US Kadena Air Base. In the course of the series, Saya visits locales across the world, while fighting enemy chiropterans and searching for her origins. <---- from Wikipedia

Blood+ was inspired by the Anime film Blood: The Last Vampire. Although nearing its end, Blood+ has done its job of keeping me semi-entertained most of the time and really entertained a few times during its run. The idea of a badass Vampire Chick with a badass Katana killing monsters is great in my mind, however Blood+ suffers from the fact that there is too much story and not enough action... which is the exact opposite of Blood: The Last Vampire.

Overall I give this series a B-/C+. Of course there are still about ten episodes left so my grade may change.

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Returning Series

BLEACH Currently airing reruns on Saturday at 11:00pm Bleach Wikipedia Page

Main Characters

Ichigo Kurosaki

Rukia Kuchiki

Orihime Inoue

Uryu Ishida

Sado "Chad" Yasotura

(There are others but again too many to name)

Show Plotline - The story opens with the sudden appearance of the shinigami (Death God, but translated as Soul Reaper in the Bleach English Dub), Rukia Kuchiki, in Ichigo Kurosaki's bedroom. She is surprised at his ability to see her, but their resulting conversation is interrupted by the appearance of a hollow, an evil spirit. After Rukia is severely wounded while trying to protect Ichigo, she intends to transfer half her powers to Ichigo, hoping to give him the opportunity to face the hollow on equal footing. Ichigo unintentionally absorbs almost all her powers instead, allowing him to defeat the hollow with ease.

The next day, Rukia appears in Ichigo's classroom as a transfer student. Much to his surprise, she appears to be a normal human. She theorizes that it was the unusual strength of Ichigo's spirit that caused him to absorb almost all her powers, thus leaving her stranded in the human world. Rukia has transferred herself into a gigai — an artificial human body — while waiting to recover her abilities. In the meantime, Ichigo must take over her job as a shinigami, battling hollows and guiding lost souls to Soul Society.

Bleach has become my favorite anime series eclipsing Dragon Ball Z (As you may have seen from my past few avatars). I have seen up to episode 52 in the English Dub and those episodes got me so hooked that I have gone and watched all of the Japanese episodes up to the current episode 154. This show has got me completely hooked. It blends the ridiculous comedy with the heart pounding action perfectly. Although the voice acting falls short on the English side in a few cases it doesn't really take anything away from the show. The only thing that bothers me about this anime is that they actually have a 40+ episode filler story (Bount Arc). While the action and drama in that saga is pretty good, after seeing the end of the first part of the main story (Soul Society Arc) I was completely amped up for the main antagonist to make his move, but that wasn't the case.

I could go on for days talking about this show so I'll just give it a A+.

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There have been plenty of shows in the world of Anime that have had their run on Adult Swim. From older shows like Cowboy Bebop FullMetal Alchemist (One hell of a show), Inuyasha, Trigun and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex/SAC 2nd Gig to finished stories like Eureka 7, Trinity Blood, Samurai Champloo, Wolf's Rain and S-Cry-ed (pronounced Scried) to ongoing and returning shows like Bleach, Blood+ and Death Note, Adult Swim has more than enough anime shows to satisfy my taste for action, drama, comedy, love, tragedy, and complete stupidity. Thanks Adult Swim for bringing more Anime to my attention.