“On the Eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, Eight Dragon Priestess Guardians,” Akane Motomiya is walking to school, when she hears a voice calling to her from an old well. When she goes to investigate, she is sucked into the well by Akuram, the oni leader who wants to control Akane and take over Kyou, a land that greatly resembles Kyoto of the Heian period. Akane, it seems, is meant to be the Priestess of the Dragon God, and is given powers and eight Guardians to protect her. Along with two her friends Shimon and Tenma, who were sucked in as well, she must protect Kyou from Akuma and his oni before they can return to their time. Yes, Haruka, Beyond the Stream of Time, another Shojo Beat title. I really like this title, mostly because it happens in the Heian period. I love the history and the costumes. It also has dragons and other legendary creatures, which is another thing I love. This title has gotten a lot of flack for being so derivative of Fushigi Yuugi, the title that originated the “girl goes back in time and is surrounded by a ton of bishonen”,…
Bandai Visual USA has announced that it will release the anime version of Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time. This is both good and bad. The good is that a shojo anime series has been licensed. There aren’t a lot of shojo anime out there, and with the manga version of this story being released in Viz’s Shojo Beat, a tie-in should help sales. Readers who like Haruka should check it out when it comes out. I do encourage people to check out the anime versions of manga they like. Especially a short series like this. Haruka is only 26 episodes long. Seeing the characters move and hearing them speak really adds another dimension to the story. I’ll admit that, while I usually end up preferring the manga to the anime, I have never regretted watching the anime. The bad thing about this is that Bandai Visual USA got it. If you aren’t familiar with anime, then you should know that Bandai Visual has a reputation for high priced volumes for less content. And it looks like this release isn’t going to be much different. According to Anime on DVD, this release of Haruka will be subbed only, and will…