This is not your typical shonen anime. In this anime Shikibane are freshly killed humans who have regrets preventing them from accepting death, for example a singer dies but she still has her duty to sing for her fans, her dying will to sing would cause her to be reborn as a Shikibane. Shikibane are not regular zombies but are distorted creatures that reflect their dying will. This is where the Shikibane Hime, young girls who have become Shikibane but rather than becoming a monster they become contracted to a monk, come in to play. The monk supplies life energy to prevent the Shikibane Hime from turning into a Shikibane. In return, the Shikibane Hime are the only ones that can kill Shikibane.

The story revolves around two protagonists, Oouri and Makina. Oouri being the male protagonist happens to get caught up in Shikibane after accidentally discovering Makina in his orphanage. Makina is a Shikibane Hime due to personal reasons.

Dazzling scenes that spoil your eyes are featured in Houkago no Pleiades / 放課後のプレアデス (which literally means, Afterschool Pleiades, however it's official English name is Wish Upon the Pleiades). Subaru (yes, the car company!) and Gainax team up to create a simple mahou shoujo (magical girl) anime. Houkago no Pleiades introduces our heroine Subaru in her younger years watching the stars with her telescope. After a view of a spectacular night sky, Subaru is now in present day walking to school. Little did she know that a discovery will be made at school, leaving a memory with her forever. This original net anime aired on February 1^st. If you haven't seen it yet you can watch it here. Spoilers will be little to none in this review.

If you haven't seen it already, Gainax x Subaru have kindly subbed their Houkago no Pleiades for the whole world to see in English. It'd have been nice if they released both at the same time but it's the thought that counts.

The series, officially called Wish Upon the Pleiades was quite surprising to most. Not only is it a collaboration between a car company and Gainax but it doesn't even come close to blatant advertising. It's about magical girls and perhaps the only reference to a car in the entire series is that the magical fighting sticks the girls ride make engine sounds (and that the main character's name is Subaru).

As for how this sells cars, we definitely don't know. But due to the international attention this series has been getting they decided to put English subs on it so I guess they've still got something up their sleeve.

Check out the first 4 episodes after the jump in a convenient youtube playlist.

Happy February everyone! Welcome to the shortest month of the year. Also now that it's February you can get your Subaru x Gainax magical girl show fix with Houkago no Pleaides. The first four episodes were released yesterday and we've embedded them after the jump.

Unfortunately there's no subs, but it seems like your typical magical girl show (unlike Madoka). Don't let that stop from enjoying their ridiculously large budget for a very short show.

What could be stranger than anything Gainax produces on it's own? Nothing, unless Gainax is working with Subaru. That's right Houkago no Pleiades is a joint project between the creators of shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, and the creators of cars such as the Impreza!

Houkago no Pleiades, Afterschool Pleiades in English, takes its name from the star cluster Pleiades, which is called Subaru in Japanese. It is the same star cluster the car manufacturer is named after. What the series is actually about is still uncertain. But it seems the series will involve astronomy and magical girls rather than cars. Although, considering Gainax's track record it's never safe to make any assumptions.

The series will be an original net animation premiering exclusively on Youtube in HD. It's schedule to premiere February 1. Check out the trailers below the jump.

This isn't your typical anime, from the studio that brought you Neon Genesis Evangelion and FLCL, Gainax presents its latest anime Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt:

Rating: WTF/10