Akikan! Complete Collection

- Synopsis: Our main character is in for a huge surprise when he routinely builds upon his juice can collection. His day goes on like any other until one of his drinks transforms into a cute girl! Unknowingly, he is involved in an experiment that will decide the future of 2 types of Akikan girls: the aluminum can and steel cans. With various enemies to deal with, as well as whacky situations, our main character must press on as his once ordinary life changes drastically. =========================================================================================================== - Comments: Nice and simple anime to relax and watch. Nothing crazy really goes on in this anime. Some of the scenes are silly and loaded with fan-service, which helps add humor and entertainment. I would say this is a much more tamed version of stimulating animes such as Sekirei. For one, there isn't any nudity. The girls are pretty easy to tell apart thanks to their color-coded and flavor inspired theme/design. Much of them are also cute and adorable. Most of them are content with just being with their masters. - Analysis: Trouble tends to come to even those that act cautious. Those that actively engage in reckless behavior probably won't live a long life. As such, the protagonist unwillingly wants to be involved in anything dangerous. A smart way to live, however, his enemies don't share the same sentiments. Which goes to show that most people will never be able to agree. Unless agreeing to disagree counts. Socializing is also a commonly addressed concept. This is most likely true for the simple reason that humans need social interactions to survive. As well, as to make life more enjoyable. Basically, the power of bonds is probably the one thing that can bring people of different backgrounds together. It's a bit of a cliche, but nobody is truly alone in the world. - Features: Japanese audio with English subtitles. Includes 12 episodes on 2 DVDs with a run-time of about 5 hours. Rated TV-14 for violence and fan-service. =========================================================================================================== - Recommendations: Kampfer, Samurai Flamenco, Shomin Sample, Prison School, Binbougami ga, Date A Live, Code:Breaker, K, Tokyo ESP, Maken-Ki, Ben-To, Sekirei, Chobits, and Lord Marksman and Vanadis.

Good simple humorous anime. Short, and sweet. Unfortunately there's no english dub on it.

this is a great dvd, at a great price, and i recieved it super fast. you should order yours now

This is a funny show to watch loved it I definitely recommend it was a bit weird at times but overall still good

It's pretty cute, but there's really not a whole lot going for it other than the very slight romance, and waiting for Grape to appear. Grape made this two stars instead of one.

Funny anime not for ppl under 17

Only in Japan... With a fateful kiss on the rim of a steel can, Kakeru finds himself smooching a pretty blonde who tells him that she's a sentient soda container, and he'd better get used to her since he purchased her. It's soon revealed that there are several other bubbly soda-girls in town, and in fine anime fashion... they gotta fight. It's an internecine squabble between aluminum and steel cans, as it turns out. (Oh, the prejudice! The bigotry! Why can't we all get along?!) Carbonated shenanigans ensue. Akikan is too obscure a title to merit high-profile reviews anywhere, but among anime reviewers on the Internet, it has often been panned as a mediocre copy of more popular anime in the "battle harem" genre. Listen, not to kick up a fizz, but I completely disagree with this assessment! I laughed and smiled all the way through it, and I suspect the reason a lot of people can't get into this series is that they mistake it for a serious show. The thing is, Akikan is a parody. A gentle parody, but a parody nonetheless. More than any other anime, I feel like Akikan is poking fun at Sekirei , copying some things with a twist, and totally inverting others for comedic effect. In Sekirei, the mad scientist CEO of a ridiculously wealthy corporation creates battle-maidens who must live with a male "Ashikabi" who unlocks their power with a kiss as the girls fight one another for supremacy. Sugary-sweet Musubi finds shy "good guy" Minato, and a sweet romance ensues. In Akikan, on the other hand, the evil organization behind things is an under-funded government economic research study with two employees, so their budget is drastically smaller (yay, realism!) and their kiss-activated combatants are battling soda can women. The point of the battle is also much more modest: determining which metal makes for the most economically-sensible soda container. As for our protagonists, rather than a standard, easily-embarrassed shy-guy, Kakeru is a foul-mouthed and narcissistic class clown with a good heart but zero sense of shame. Melon is surprisingly unsweet to him (maybe she's diet?) and is unambitious about her future as a soda can. Her inner turmoil mainly stems from the abandonment issues that come with being a disposable consumer good people use for about 2 minutes, crush, and toss in the trash. The stakes are hilariously small, and if you allow yourself to soak in the mixture of absurdity and "that's... actually kinda logical" appropriateness, Akikan can be a very satisfying show. Where this anime probably made a mistake and lost some viewers is that its parody is so gentle as to be almost imperceptible at times. For all its weirdness, it follows the "battle harem" formula to the letter, and it follows it with a straight face and sometimes with sincerity. Akikan seems to have trouble deciding if it wants you to laugh at its characters as exaggerations of tired formulas it's poking fun at, or caring about them as people worth loving within the context of their own universe. The shift is never jarring, but I think Akikan could have found a more broadly-accepting audience if it had either laid the silliness on a little thicker (a la Excel Saga) or worked with more pathos on the character development. Even so, I stand by my recommendation with this one. Akikan won't be everyone's thing. It isn't hearty fare that gives you food for thought or animated health food that makes you a more humanistic-minded person. But as soda for the mind - when you get home and just want something fun and sweet with a little pop to help you kick back and relax - Akikan is well-worth popping the tab on. Bottoms-up!

This rates a seven out of ten, or a four out of five, simply because it is a parody that never quits pushing against the boundry limits of the story. Somehow a sub-department of the Japanese Government manages to create both aluminum and steel cans for various flavors of fruit drinks, both with and without carbonation, decides they need to choose one type of can, either the steel can or the aluminum can, so they somehow animate them so that some type of bureaucratic animation magic makes a very, very few selected cans come to life when the buyer's lips touch the can opening. Seriously, that is the story. The double cross is that they then set it up for the aluminum cans and the steel cans to fight, with the winning kind of can being the type to be selected for every flavor. Right-- and we have some oceanfront property in Arizona, too, and it can be yours for a most reasonable downpayment-- Actually, that is the story, but to make the parody section work well, every male in the entire series is a nightmarishly bad type of personality, arrogant or whimpy, dumber than a brick to almost as smart as a genius brick, and they are all confused by physical attraction, male gender role casting, and the women are the only ones with more than a half a clue. To help balance it out the women manage to mess things up as much as the men, and, to avoid it even halfway making sense, elements of same sex relationships are used to stir the pot so nothing ever sets into a solid character. The result of this is that it is actually funny, you realize you cannot accept any of the personality types shown, and that love can blossom between a human and a can. Or humans and cats. Or maybe cans and cats. It sounds stupid, it is stupid, but as a parody-- it works. Now if they can do something to make it affordable. . . .