McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton achieved his life-long ambition by winning the Monaco Grand Prix in a thrilling race in tricky weather conditions. He survived a brush against the Armco barrier on lap five exiting the Tabac corner and went on to take an all-important win. Hamilton’s second victory of the season (the sixth in his Grand Prix career) came at the perfect time to take the championship lead.

Robert Kubica beat pole-sitter Felipe Massa in the rain-affected race with second position thanks to pitting onto the groove (dry slicks) Bridgestone at the right time. Despite locking out the front row, the Ferraris made the wrong strategy call in the race and suffered the consequences. This was especially true for world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who was given a drive-through penalty for making his tyre decision at the start of the race too late… and then crashing his F2008 against other cars.

The Finn even took out the impressive Adrian Sutil in the Force India after losing control under braking for the chicane… At that point, Sutil was driving faultlessly around the streets of the Principality, staying out of trouble and gaining places after starting from the back of the grid. Force India were looking good with fourth position in the remaining laps of the Grand Prix until that moment with the world champion…

The collision meant Mark Webber (for Red Bull) and Sebastian Vettel (in the sister team that of Toro Rosso) to complete the top five. Honda’s Rubens Barrichello profited from all the incidents in this dramatic Monaco Grand Prix with a fine sixth – bringing an end to his nightmare 22 race points drought which stretched back to the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Kazuki Nakajima kept out of trouble to finish seventh for Williams (competing in the team’s 600th Grand Prix), while Heikki Kovalainen managed to score the final point despite stalling his McLaren on the parade lap.

Before the race even began, several drivers were concerned about the weather conditions. Without traction control, it was extremely difficult to stay on the track. Even though the rain is a great variety in levelling out the playing field – by which the mid-field teams can score big – it was still a challenge for all the Formula One drivers to control over 700 brake horsepower around a twisty and narrow street circuit. So making the right call in starting on which Bridgestone was the key question.

With three minutes before the start of the race, the drivers and teams made the decision to start on intermediates. But unfortunately, Raikkonen made the choice too late and was given a drive-through penalty for this mistake.

As the red five lights flicked off, Hamilton made a clean getaway from third on the grid to move ahead of Raikkonen as the cars heading into Saint Devote. Leading from the front was Massa and at this early stage of the race, the Brazilian was the quickest.

On lap five while running second, Lewis made an error on approaching the Swimming Pool complex. The McLaren went into oversteer and he brush the Armco barrier with his right-rear tyre. This resulted in a puncture for Lewis but luckily he made it back to pits and was able to continue (without losing too many positions). During this pit stop to replace the damage Bridgestone, the McLaren mechanics decided to switch strategy and fuelled Hamilton’s car with more fuel. This gave the advantage to them over Ferrari in the outcome of the race.

The safety car made its first appearance on lap seven after a series of incidents at Casino Square. First double world champion Fernando Alonso tagged the wall and – like Hamilton – destroyed his rear-right tyre but he managed to make it back to the pits and continue. Moments later, David Coulthard (in the Red Bull) slid into the same barrier, and was then collected mid-crash by Sebastien Bourdais (in the sister Toro Rosso), who was having an accident of his own! Both cars were out on the spot.

Alonso took the opportunity to switch to the extreme wets during his stop for repairs and that gave him that extra pace to challenge the other cars when the race resumed following three laps under the safety car.

Unfortunately, his charge with a better-spec wet tyre resulted in him tangling into BMW’s Nick Heidfeld in the Hotel Hairpin (formerly known as Loews), breaking his Renault’s front wing and forcing Heidfeld to pit with a puncture.

Nico Rosberg also lost his wing in an incident with Kovalainen in a traffic jam behind the interlocking BMW and Renault in the tight hairpin.

At this point, a message flashed on to the timing screens from Formula One Management (FOM) that car number one (Kimi Raikkonen) will need to serve a drive-through penalty. The Iceman took this after the restart – losing him time and position – but he would lose even more when he missed his braking point at Sainte Devote breaking his front wing.

Team-mate Felipe Massa also had a moment at the first corner, though the Brazilian didn’t hit the barrier and was able to continue. By then Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber took the lead of the Monaco Grand Prix. The Pole couldn’t shake off the Brazilian, and when the Ferrari stayed out six laps longer than Kubica before its first pit stop, Massa was able to get back in front of the BMW Sauber. But both were behind Lewis Hamilton, however…

Initially the McLaren driver was dropping away from the pair due to running with a heavy fuel load, but as his car lightened and the track began to dry out, Lewis was setting purple sectors. He was lapping between one and three seconds faster than Massa during the middle part of the race.

By the time Hamilton made his final pit stop and took on dry groove Bridgestone on lap 53, his lead over second-place was nearly 40 seconds. He had no problems rejoining the race up front.

The expected second phase of the rain shower didn’t arrive and McLaren made the right call to bring in Hamilton with the correct tyre selection. Robert Kubica also benefitted by switching to ‘slicks’ and gained a place over Felipe Massa. Ferrari made a mistake by delaying the decision to switch to groove tyres for Massa and this ultimately cost them the race.

Behind Hamilton, Kubica and Massa was Adrian Sutil in the Force India. The German was driving a beautiful clean race and gained an advantage when the team chose the perfect moment to change onto the dry tyres. This allowed Sutil to take fourth from Mark Webber who made his tyre call a fraction too soon in the semi-dry track conditions.

Sutil was enjoying the moment battling against world champion Raikkonen and the Red Bull of Webber until Nico Rosberg had a huge crash on the entry to the Swimming Pool section on lap 61 – prompting a second safety car.

This was bad news for Lewis Hamilton. After comfortably stretching his lead to around 40 seconds, the safety car wiped out that time advantage and now Kubica was on his tail. As the race resume with only eleven and a half minutes to go (the race was approaching its two-hour limit), Raikkonen made a silly error in his determination to get past Sutil on the restart.

It seems Kimi lost control under braking on his approach to the sea front chicane. The Finn tried to lose some speed but he couldn’t slow down… Kimi ploughed into the rear of the Force India causing terminal damage to Sutil and ending all hopes for the team and the German.

Raikkonen was able to continue but that incident cost him the championship lead. Ninth position was a disappointing result for the Iceman after a frustrating race.

As the chequered flag fell on the two-hour mark, Lewis Hamilton crossed over the finish line feeling overjoyed. It had been a fantastic drive from the McLaren star and crucially it came at the time after four dominant races from rival Ferrari.

Robert Kubica finished in an excellent second position without making any mistakes in the wet-dry race. Felipe Massa came home in third and even though he started on pole position, it wasn’t a good result for Scuderia. At least Massa should be satisfied to out-perform his team-mate and he is now only a single point behind Raikkonen in the championship standings.

Mark Webber benefitted from the Raikkonen/Sutil incident to take fourth ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who finally scored a result for the new Toro Rosso STR3. Rubens Barrichello finished in sixth ahead of Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams and Heikki Kovalainen in the McLaren.

Behind Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso was tenth for Renault after a series of collisions, followed by Jenson Button, who lost his Honda’s front wing on the opening lap in a brush with Nick Heidfeld. The Toyotas of the three-time spinning Timo Glock(!) and Jarno Trulli came home in P12 and P13 while the last remaining runner was Heidfeld.

Non-finishes were Sutil, Rosberg, Coulthard and Bourdais with Nelson Piquet joining the list of retirements after dropping out of a tough fight with Vettel after brushing a wall. Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella also recorded a DNF in his 200th Grand Prix.

The result of this thrilling race puts Hamilton back in the championship lead with 38 points to Raikkonen’s 35, Massa’s 34 and Kubica’s 32. In the constructors’ standings, Ferrari have 69 to McLaren’s 53 and BMW Sauber’s 52. The battle for the world championship has suddenly come alive again as Formula One heads over the Atlantic to Canada in a fortnight’s time.

Monaco Grand Prix, 76 laps

1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 2h00:42.272
2. Kubica BMW Sauber +3.069
3. Massa Ferrari +4.811
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault +19.264
5. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari +24.657
6. Barrichello Honda +28.408
7. Nakajima Williams-Toyota +30.180
8. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes +33.191
9. Raikkonen Ferrari +33.793
10. Alonso Renault +1 lap
11. Button Honda +1 lap
12. Glock Toyota +1 lap
13. Trulli Toyota +1 lap
14. Heidfeld BMW Sauber +4 laps

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:16.689

Not classified/retirements:

Sutil Force India-Ferrari 67 laps
Rosberg Williams-Toyota 58 laps
Piquet Renault 46 laps
Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 37 laps
Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 13 laps
Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 13 laps

World Championship standings, round 6:

Drivers’

1. Hamilton 38
2. Raikkonen 35
3. Massa 34
4. Kubica 32
5. Heidfeld 20
6. Kovalainen 15
7. Webber 15
8. Alonso 9
9. Trulli 9
10. Rosberg 8
11. Nakajima 7
12. Vettel 4
13. Barrichello 3
14. Button 3
15. Bourdais 2

Constructors’

1. Ferrari 69
2. McLaren-Mercedes 53
3. BMW Sauber 52
4. Williams-Toyota 15
5. Red Bull-Renault 15
6. Renault 9
7. Toyota 9
8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6
9. Honda 6

Next race: Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal. June 6-8

Ferrari arrived at Monte Carlo hoping for a much better showing than they managed last season when the McLarens ran rings around them with a perfect 1-2 result. Fast-forward twelve months on, not only have Scuderia improved on form with a quick and reliable car, but Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen locked out the front row of the grid even though the McLarens were the pre-race favourite.

Indeed, Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver around the streets of the Principality after setting the pace in the Mercedes-powered MP4-23 during opening practice on Thursday. You would expect the team and driver to continue this impressive form into the all-important qualifying session, but it seems their Italian rival have something up its sleeve in terms of outright performance.

With Felipe Massa scoring his third pole position of the season with a lap time of one minute, 15.787 seconds around the tight, twisty and challenging street circuit, it will be fascinating whether McLaren can fight back. World champion Kimi Raikkonen is alongside his team-mate with second position giving Ferrari its first front row start since 1979. By starting at the front, Ferrari will have the advantage in strategy and hopefully can end that winless streak at Monaco after six difficult years.

Championship challenger Lewis Hamilton was disappointed and shocked to only qualify in third. The McLaren driver admitted later on that he was losing time to the red cars in the middle sector of the lap, but he remains optimistic for the race ahead. His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was only two-tenths of a second slower and will start the race in fourth.

Behind the two top teams in Formula One, Robert Kubica took his customary fifth position for BMW Sauber while Nico Rosberg carried his excellent practice form into qualifying with sixth for Williams. The British squad is celebrating its 600th Grand Prix and team boss Sir Frank Williams is hoping Rosberg can score some championship points in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Double world champion and two-time Monaco winner Fernando Alonso lines up in seventh for Renault despite a lack of speed and rear-end grip in the R28. Toyota’s Jarno Trulli will start in eighth ahead of the Red Bull pair of Mark Webber and David Coulthard – ninth and tenth respectively.

In Coulthard’s case, the Scot was unable to take part in the top-ten shootout for pole position after losing control of his car under braking at the sea front chicane. The Red Bull locked its rear brakes over a crest in the road and the car pitched right into the Armco and DC became a passenger as the car went out of control down an escape room… Luckily he was unhurt but the Red Bull RB4 suffered heavy damage.

Several drivers’ last efforts in Q2 were affected when Coulthard struck the barrier. That left Nick Heidfeld down in P13 (his worst for 2008), both Hondas (Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, though the latter is under investigation by the race stewards for blocking one of Giancarlo Fisichella’s laps in Q1), Kazuki Nakajima, and Timo Glock.

Nelson Piquet continued to struggle in qualifying after being knocked out in Q1. The Brazilian is under pressure to perform and it didn’t help that he nearly damaged his car when exiting Portier during his fast lap… He will line up 17th on the grid.

Both of Scuderia Toro Rosso’s new cars were also knocked out in the first round. Champ Car star Sebastien Bourdais was unlucky not to make it through, with his last lap just half a tenth slower than Kazuki Nakajima in 15th. Team-mate Sebastian Vettle was one-tenth slower and is in P18.

And bring up the rear, are the Force India drivers of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella. The 2008 Monaco Grand Prix is Fisichella’s 200th Grand Prix but it was a frustrating session for the Italian. Not only was he given a five-pace penalty for changing the gearbox before qualifying, but he is under investigation over a blocking incident with Honda’s Barrichello…

Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix will be an interesting contest between the top four drivers in Formula One. Felipe Massa might not be a fan of this street circuit but he will have the advantage of having a clear track in front of him. If the Brazilian wins, he will significantly reduce the points gap to world champion Kimi Raikkonen in the drivers’ standings. For Raikkonen, the Finn has to challenge his team-mate for the race victory in order to sustain his championship lead. As for Lewis Hamilton, he wants that ‘dream result’ by winning for the team while McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen is hoping that he has an opportunity to score that elusive first victory after a set-back race in Turkey.

There is a possibility of rain heading to Monte Carlo on Sunday and it should be a dramatic race if the heavens open… Without traction control, it will be a challenging task for the 20 drivers to control 700 brake horsepower around a twisting street circuit for 78 laps… Let’s see what happens on race day!

Monaco Grand Prix grid

1. MASSA Ferrari 1:15.787
2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1:15.815
3. HAMILTON McLaren 1:15.839
4. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1:16.165
5. KUBICA BMW 1:16.171
6. ROSBERG Williams 1:16.548
7. ALONSO Renault 1:16.852
8. TRULLI Toyota 1:17.203
9. WEBBER Red Bull 1:17.343
10. COULTHARD Red Bull 1:15.839
11. GLOCK Toyota 1:15.907
12. BUTTON Honda 1:16.101
13. HEIDFELD BMW 1:16.455
14. NAKAJIMA Williams 1:16.479
15. BARRICHELLO Honda 1:16.537
16. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1:16.806
17. PIQUET Renault 1:16.933
18. SUTIL Force India 1:17.225
19. FISICHELLA Force India 1:17.823*
20. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1:16.955**

* Under investigating for blocking
** Penalised for gearbox change

Yes it’s that time of year once again where anime, manga and videogame fans invade London and the ExCel Centre! We will be there to cover the event and hopefully will grab some interviews with various cosplayers, list news and announcements, images of the guests and coverage of the Masquerade as many people have worked hard on their cosplay. Sadly I will not be cosplaying for this event however I shall be doing my best to give you complete coverage of the Saturday event!

I am looking forward to this weekend in general and could open things up for a possible vote on the best cosplayer of the weekend. If you notice me or any of the staff, then feel free to say hello. We won’t bite! Look forward though to our coverage once we get back as this is the largest event in the UK for anime and manga fans. Let’s just hope the weather doesn’t dampen things…

Whilst the dvd finally reached UK a fair while ago after much delay, I’ve finally got round to watching it last night and reviewing it. The story is based on the novel by Futaro Yamada called the Kouga Ninja Scrolls. During the Tokugawa Shogunate, two rival ninja clans, Kouga and Iga have been rivals for 400 years. Gennosuke (Joe Odagiri) is in love with Oboro (Yukie Nakama) but each of them are from the two different ninja clans and their love for each other is forbidden. Tokugawa Ieyasu becomes worried at the possibility that these ninjas proclaimed as instruments of war will pose a threat throughout the peace of Japan and thus calls both rivals to call up 5 of their best warriors to fight each other with only one clan to claim supremacy.

 Overall the visual and cinematography of the film is brilliant with a clean and pure look. The imagery in moments is simply stunning showing Japan’s gorgeous surroundings from forestry to sunset skies. The fight scenes were impressive with nice touches of choreography. There is good and careful use of wire-fu to enhance the ninjas’ attributes of agility and skill.  The use of special abilities the ninja’s possessed and raw fighting skills were used exceptionally and well balanced, with fantastic use of CGI. The CGI was added exceptionally well and it’s refreshing to see an action film not rely too much on the use of CGI but subtle additions to enhance actions scenes such as the glowing eyes of Oboro. By end of the film however, it left me thinking that there wasn’t really a long sequence and epic climactic duel or battle between any of the ninjas, which was rather disappointing. Had there been such a fight or battle, I think it could have blended perfectly to the overall premise of the film.

 The acting does its job well and overall is solid with each character fitting their personality well; however Joe Odagiri is outstanding with the best performance of the film by far. His character although devastated and tormented by the events occurring, still seems to have a peaceful and determined spirit and his acting style to accommodate this was simply brilliant.

Alright well there are a few other parts of the film which in fairness I was slightly disappointed in.  I didn’t particularly feel too attached to any of the ninjas emotionally, however I wish I was as each character looked very interesting in their own distinguished way with excellent character designs (especially the stunning female ninjas may I add…) . With the exception of Oboro and Gennosuke, the characterisation of the other 8 ninjas was not fully brought into the story, rather highlighted. The love between Oboro and Gennosuke although very apparent and affectionate, the story didn’t seem to blossom too much on this even though it was one of the main progressions of the plot. I guess however if the story focused more on the relationship between Oboro and Gennosuke that would mean fewer stories on the other characters soooo I guess if the film was longer, the depth of character and relationships between the ninjas could have been shown more. There was an equal balance in drama and action however I think if there was some emphasis on character and confrontations then it could have brought out more emotional impact.

Apart from its flaws, I highly recommend Shinobi, at the end of the movie even though I thought there were parts that could have been better, it was very good viewing with an end credits song by Ayumi Hamasaki that is fantastic and fits the atmosphere perfectly.

aka The Grand Tribe/ The Wealthy Family

Whilst the book told us the events from Daisuke (the father’s) point of view, the drama sheds a different light on the story and instead shows us it through Teppei (the eldest son’s) eyes.

The focal point of the story is the relationship and power struggle between Daisuke Manpyo, a powerful banker and Teppei Manpyo the executive managing director of his Grandfather’s steel firm.
Daisuke hates his son and when Teppei finds out the reason, his whole life is turned upside down with fatal consequences.

I have to admit when I first heard about this drama I wasn’t that enthusiastic, the description did not sound that exciting and the only thing it had going for it (or so I thought) was its all star cast with the likes of Takuya Kimura, Narimiya Hiroki, Kitaooji Kinya and Hasegawa Kyoko.
When I watched the first episode it was more out of principal than interest. After I’d gone to all the trouble of getting my hands on the series, I had to at least successfully complete one episode.
After about half an hour I thought that I’d probably end up dropping the series, but then something grabbed me and I found myself hooked; the first episode had finished and I found myself unable to turn my attentions away.
The focus and most interesting part of this drama is the relationship between father and son, what starts off as a seemingly normal father-son relationship suddenly starts heading in new and unexpected direction, twisting the story up and tearing up any misconceptions you initially had about how the story would pan out. It is really what kept me so interested in this drama, the need to see how it would develop and tie up was extremely motivating in my progression through the series.
It’s not an easy watch, it really requires you to be paying attention; with a plot revolving around banking and the steel industry you’d expect nothing more than an intelligent and well conceived plot, but at the same time you’d be forgiven for assuming it would be a dull watch.

Takuya Kimura manages to play the protagonist perfectly, flowing with emotion and optimism no matter what punches his father pulls. Kimura really shines in this, quite possibly his best role to date. A far cry from all of his other stereotypical “hero” roles. Teppei is one of his most interesting and complex characters to date, he is also the most human as is evident in his final actions in the story. The character is a challenge, which I believe Kimu rises to.

The rest of the cast can’t be ignored Kitaooji Kinya does fantastically well in his role as the tyrannical father, a character that is extremely easy to hate and will often cause you to scream at the TV, but at the same time there is some understanding to his character and I often found myself angry at feeling sorry for him at times, though there is one scene in particular that sticks out that I belive he completely deserved sympathy for, won’t spoil it though by explaining why.

Hasegawa Kyoko was absolutely stunning as Teppei’s wife, she was sweet, compassionate and extremely supportive of her husband,. She was dedicated and her character made it easy not to care when Teppei’s ex came onto the scene, she just didn’t feel as if she stood a chance.

In regards to the ending of the series, from my own feelings and hearing the reviews of fellow fans of the show; all have said the same thing. At the time I watched it I felt disappointed and a little cheated at how it finished, after seeing Teppei struggling through all the impossible hurdles that his father threw at him; his final actions seemed completely out of character… negative and selfish. But when I came back to think on it a few hours later when I was explaining the series to someone; I realised that there really was no other way to end the series, they got it completely right. The ending provided perfect closure for a near perfect masterpiece of a drama.

Winning numerous awards including best actor, best supporting actor and best supporting actress; Karei Naru Ichizoku is definitely worth a watch if you have the patience to sit and absorb the complex story and relationships of this story. From start to finish the series is moving, emotional, intense and powerful with a truly magnificent ending.

The ending of the first episode proves just as powerful as the ending of the last episode (which is saying something). Looking at these pictures you are probably confused as to how two men and a big fish can create such a powerful scene, but watch it and see! I give this scene FULL credit for me being won over by this series.

(All screens taken from episode 1)

Original story created by – Yuu Watase (manga-ka)

Mangas are transformed into live action dramas as fast as they are animes these days. So it should have been no shock to manga and drama fans alike when best selling shojo Manga Zettai Kareshi was given announced as getting the full live treatment.

Riko Izawa is your run of the mill shojo heroine. She’s cute, kind, taken advantage of by those she trusts and just a little bit ditzy.She’s not had much luck in her live in the love department. With her past loves telling her that she was too serious.

Still the optimist Riko sets her sights on handsome Ishizeki Hayato, seemingly kind but totally oblivious to her affections.

Unfortunately Riko is shot down before she even gets a chance to ask Handsome Hayato out. But in her dark hour Riko is approached by a curious salesman calling himself Namakiri.

He offers Riko the chance to be a test subject for his newest creation the ‘Nightly Series’ a new technology designed to produce the ideal man for every woman in robot form.Riko accepts and the next day she is delivered a very human looking robot hunk, naming him Night because he is part of the Nightly Series/ he is her Knight in shining armour surely things couldn’t be better for Riko?

However with a back stabbing best friend, childhood friend/ boss who is romantically interested in Riko, the huge debt she ends up with for buying Night and trying to keep Night’s tin man secret, a secret. Riko’s absolute boyfriend could be more trouble than he’s worth.

Ok so first of all the manga and drama have one fundamental difference; in the manga Riko is a high school student and Soshi is her childhood friend. In the drama Riko is a temp in an office for Asamato Confectioners and Soshi is one of her bosses.
Most fans speculate the reason for this is that the idea of a high schooler buying a love doll is controversial; it seems a little less wrong that she’s an office worker in the live version.

Soshi’s character undergoes the most change; however he is likable in both the manga and drama.
In the manga he is portrayed as a quiet, reserved and intelligent young man who has always been interested in Riko. In the drama his character is given a complete makeover and instead he is shown as a kind hearted, womaniser (if there is such a thing ^^;). He meets Riko for the first time in the series and is immediately drawn to her pure hearted naivety.

Night’s character is slightly changed. In the manga he is shown as a lot more human so much so that it is actually said that he fell in love with Riko rather than was programmed to love her. In the drama they seem to be making a point of the fact that he is a robot and I wonder if this foreshadows a greater difference in the story much later on. I guess only time will tell.

Night Tenjo

The acting so far has been amiable. Aibu Saki is perfect as our cute, naive and honest heroine.
Hayami Mokomichi pulls off the robot perfectly, though I’m wondering if he’s more robotic than intended? Sometimes maybe a little bit stiff, but hey it works well enough.
Mizushima Hiro does Soshi well the kind hearted womanizer (if such a thing exists) though he probably has the easiest character to portray as Soshi is completely changed from the manga and so fans having nothing in which to compare him to. Also his role of Nanba in the recent Hana Kimi was very similar.
Still he pulls it off and he has some kind of chemistry going with Aibu, which makes them worth a watch.

Apart from the main 3 characters there is also Ueno Natsuhi playing the daring role of Riko’s best friend Ito Mika and I say daring because Mika is not a nice character. She is cruel and vindictive. The only objects/ boyfriends she wants are those that belong to other people and once they are tossed aside by their owner she wants nothing more to do with them. Personally I think the girl has issues, I’m sure her character will either get her just desserts or will be given a cruel back story to explain her behaviour later on.

A prominent character in the first episode is Kyo Nobuo playing the role of Ishizeki Hayato, Riko’s original love interest.
Whilst his character (As far as I am aware) only appears in the first episode, the whole story completely depends on his role. He is the stepping stone to the start of everything, so love him or hate him; he is needed.

The first episode was a very powerful opener, the proceeding 2 episodes were not quite as strong, but still managed to quite safely hold their own.
After watching the first 3 episodes I have high hopes for this series, which I hope isn’t its downfall.
So many dramas I have had high hopes for in the past and have subsequently ended up disappointing me with their open threads and lack of closure.
If done the right way I feel this drama could leave a strong and positive message. That the perfect person isn’t always the right person.

Anyway case closed, if you are interested after that check it out and see what you think ^-^ it’s a bit of light-hearted fun.

Many years ago there was a war with the giants known as the Zentradi which lead to near extinction of the human race by the extraterrestrials. Faced with the threat of destruction, a colony fleet was created entrusting mankind into space as part of future expansion into the galaxy. As the years went on, in 2059 A.D. the 25th vast colony fleet was created known as Macross Frontier as mankind continued to expand towards the centre of the galaxy.
As part of a whirlwind galaxy wide tour the Galactic Fairy a beautiful idol and talented songstress known as Sheryl Norme makes a planned appearance to Macross Frontier and so preparations for the hugely popular concert begins . As work goes underway a group of highly skilled pilots are commissioned to take film footage of the concert live and to put on an acrobatic show. Luka, a young computer specialist double checks the aerobic routine while Michal acts as team leader. Alto, often teased about his beauty however is dissatisfied about having his lead stunts cut down but that is the least of his worries as danger looms…

Being a massive fan of Macross Plus I have been anticipating this series for quite some time, and it doesn’t disappoint. Production values are high as the art direction from mixing shiny, detailed CG models of the aircrafts to liberal use of alpha blending to illustrate holographic displays, the world is set alight with vibrant scenery, rich colours and detailed traditional cel animation.
The premise of the story is set around the three talented cadets that are hired to put on a show during the Sheryl concert and is fairly stereotypical. Luka, a young male of pink hair is a computer expert often seen analysing and organising routines and missions while Michal is your established, professional pilot with above average skills in every area. Alto however is a young, brash male, confidant in his abilities but still lacking in direction and wanting to beat Michal to prove himself. Obsessed with being set free from the constraints of the ceiling height set by the artificial sky of Macross Frontier, Alto wishes to pilot a Valkyrie, an aircraft built for space combat and not the Ex-Gear they currently use.

His paths cross with an upbeat, fun loving female called Ranka Lee, a worker at a Chinese Restaurant called Nyan Nyan, who gets lost while looking to get to the Sheryl convert that her brother managed to get tickets for. One thing that struck me when watching this was the seiyuu’s debut for Ranka Lee - Megumi Nakajima. I swore I recognised her voice as one of the lead females for a Studio Ghibli movie but was proved wrong. Her debut not only as a seiyuu (voice actor) but as a singer also is stunning. Her warm tones, energised performance and strong projection of performance gives her a strong presence for her character where emotions often ebb and flow. Speaking of high performances the music is once again being handled by famed composer Yoko Kanno which sets the mood perfectly with the visuals. From ambient soothing tunes to the lavish productions of Sheryl’s concert music, Maaya Sakamoto also chips in with the them tune.

Action heats up though as alien forces start to attack during Sheryl’s concert, outside of Macross Frontier forcing everyone to evacuate into the underground shelters. Dogfights are fluid and well choreographed as it is all handed in 3D however it is done in a way that it complements the traditional 2D animation rather than alienating it. The angles used and composition really does make this a visual treat and a joy to watch, which is credit to CG artists.

Macross Frontier Episode 01 is a good introduction of what’s to come with a small revelation at the end making you want to watch more. If you are a fan of drama, mecha, great production values, music and characterisation then I would recommend this. One of the highlights for me of the new anime season because it isn’t your usual fluff and a keeper for me.

Felipe Massa once again proved unbeatable at the Istanbul Park circuit with a commanding drive in the winning Ferrari F2008. The Brazilian’s second win of the season places him in striking distance in the world championship honours.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton finished in an excellent second position after driving an aggressive race by running a three-stop strategy. Even though Lewis overtook the race leader Massa on the 24th lap with a brilliant overtaking move, the extra pit stop cost him that race win… But at least the McLaren driver should be satisfied with the result, especially beating the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finn recovered from a bad start to finish in a close third but his points lead in the drivers’ standing is now reduced to seven points after team-mate Massa latest victory.

As for his fellow countrymen, Heikki Kovalainen suffered a left-rear puncture (possibly caused by Kimi’s front wing endplate piercing his Bridgestone tyre at Turn 1) that resulted him dropping down the field. Heikki did well to recover with some spectacular overtaking manoeuvres but in the end finished a lapped 12th.

The BMW Sauber pair of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld finished the 58-lap race in fourth and fifth respectively, though the lack of pace was a worry. That elusive first win for the German/Swiss manufacturer will come another day.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso came home in a solid sixth place for Renault, casting aside the disappointment from the previous race in Barcelona. Seventh went to Mark Webber for Red Bull Racing with Nico Rosberg taking the final point finish with eighth for Williams.

Finishing in ninth was David Coulthard in the second Red Bull and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli was the last unlapped runner with tenth.

Honda’s Jenson Button had a difficult race to 11th position while his team-mate Rubens Barrichello – whose 257th Grand Prix outing did not produce anything to shout about – came home in a disappointing P14. Between the Honda pair was Kovalainen and Timo Glock’s Toyota.

Nelson Piquet’s poor qualifying performance left him 15th, with Adrian Sutil (Force India) and Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) completing the finishers.

The latter duo both stopped at the end of the first lap to have repairs made after Giancarlo Fisichella’s unhappy weekend came to an end as he tried to pass Kazuki Nakajima – by flying over the top of the Williams! Neither the Italian, nor the Japanese (who got to the pits minus his rear wing) were able to continue.

The other retiree was Sebastien Bourdais, who lost control of his Toro Rosso after it developed a mechanical problem at the rear of the car as he was braking… The former Champ Car champion was out after sliding into the gravel trap.

The 2008 Turkish Grand Prix result leaves Raikkonen with a diminished lead in the world championship chase with 35 points, ahead of Massa and Hamilton on 28 and Kubica on 24. Ferrari extends their advantage atop the constructor standings, heading BMW Sauber by 19 points, with McLaren a further two adrift. The next race is the glamorous Monaco Grand Prix on the streets of the Principality. Can McLaren stop Ferrari on its winning run? Let’s find out in a fortnight’s time.

Turkish Grand Prix result – 58 laps

1. MASSA Ferrari 1h26:49.451
2. HAMILTON McLaren +3.7s
3. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +4.2s
4. KUBICA BMW +21.6s
5. HEIDFELD BMW +38.7s
6. ALONSO Renault +53.7s
7. WEBBER Red Bull +64.2s
8. ROSBERG Williams +71.4s
9. COULTHARD Red Bull +75.2s
10. TRULLI Toyota +76.3s
11. BUTTON Honda +1 lap
12. KOVALAINEN McLaren +1 lap
13. GLOCK Toyota +1 lap
14. BARRICHELLO Honda +1 lap
15. PIQUET Renault +1 lap
16. SUTIL Force India +1 lap
17. VETTEL Toro Rosso +1 lap
R. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +34 laps
R. NAKAJIMA Williams +57 laps
R. FISICHELLA Force India +58 laps

Fastest lap: RAIKKONEN 1m26.506s

Drivers’ championship standings – round 5:

1. Raikkonen 5
2. Hamilton 28
3. Massa 28
4. Kubica 24
5. Heidfeld 20
6. Kovalainen 14
7. Webber 10
8. Alonso 9
9. Trulli 9
10. Rosberg 8
11. Nakajima 5
12. Button 3
13. Bourdais 2

Constructors’ championship standings:

1. Ferrari 63
2. BMW Sauber 44
3. McLaren-Mercedes 42
4. Williams-Toyota 13
5. Red Bull-Renault 10
6. Renault 9
7. Toyota 9
8. Honda 3
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2

NEXT RACE: Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo. May 22-25

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa achieved his third successive pole position after a dominant performance in qualifying at Istanbul Park.

The Brazilian, who is chasing a third straight victory on his favourite circuit, was comfortable the quickest driver on the challenging Hermann Tilke-designed race track. His time of one minute, 27.617 seconds was two-tenths of a second faster than the McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen – who bounced back in style after his big crash in last month’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Kovalainen’s car seemed to have a better balance over his team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The British driver was struggling with his Bridgestone and was disappointed that he could only set the third quickest time after making a bad choice over the hard compound tyres… But at least he will start the race ahead of the world champion, Kimi Raikkonen.

The Iceman couldn’t match the pace compare to his Scuderia team-mate, but the differences could be down to different fuel load. Is Kimi running a longer first stint in the race? We shall see.

Robert Kubica lines up fifth on the grid for BMW Sauber with Mark Webber alongside him. It was a good result for the Australian after he damaged his Red Bull Racing against the Armco barrier during the practice session on Friday. Double world champion Fernando Alonso is in seventh position for Renault ahead of Jarno Trulli’s Toyota and birthday boy Nick Heidfeld in the second BMW Sauber.

Rounding up the top ten is David Coulthard, who chose to save fuel and only did one qualifying run in Q3.

With the demise of Super Aguri, the qualifying format was tweaked to a new format with the five slowest cars dropping out in Q1 and Q2. This made life difficult especially for Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams and Nelson Piquet in the Renault. The Japanese went into a spin exiting Turn 7 on his first Q1 run while the Brazilian was knocked out as the others improved in the final seconds of the session.

As for Giancarlo Fisichella, even though the Italian out-qualified his Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil by half a second, he will start behind the German thanks to his penalty for passing the pit exit red light at the start of Friday practice. It will be a tough race for Fisichella started from the back.

But all interest will be at the front. Can Felipe score his third successive win at the Turkish Grand Prix? Can the two McLarens find a way to prevent this and what about Raikkonen? Does the Finn have the speed to challenge for the win? Bring on race day!

Starting grid for the Turkish Grand Prix

1. MASSA Ferrari 1:27.617
2. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1:27.808
3. HAMILTON McLaren 1:27.923
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1:27.936
5. KUBICA BMW 1:28.390
6. WEBBER Red Bull 1:28.417
7. ALONSO Renault 1:28.422
8. TRULLI Toyota 1:28.836
9. HEIDFELD BMW 1:28.882
10. COULTHARD Red Bull 1:29.959
11. ROSBERG Williams 1:27.012
12. BARRICHELLO Honda 1:27.219
13. BUTTON Honda 1:27.298
14. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1:27.412
15. GLOCK Toyota 1:27.806
16. NAKAJIMA Williams 1:27.547
17. PIQUET Renault 1:27.568
18. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1:27.621
19. SUTIL Force India 1:28.325
20. FISICHELLA Force India 1:27.807*

*Three-place grid penalty for passing red light at pit lane exit in practice

Granted this might not interest us in the UK, however there is a good chance of this possibly coming to our shores in a cinema near you in the future, possibly to be distributed by Manga Entertainment. For those who are from the USA though tickets are on sale now and will also feature exclusive footage as well as a behind the scenes look of the characters! This is only available at this event of which will air for two nights only on June 11th - 12th, 7:30pm.