“Winners” more accurately, as the depth of applicants in the NHRV staff contest was so good that we decided to accept three new writers.  So congratulations to kadian1364, Buttercup and Kylaran.

kadian1364 has been posting enthusiastic and insightful comments on many different corners of the anime blogosphere for some time, and he kicks things off with a review of the Ghibli classic, Porco Rosso.  Buttercup is an anime and J-drama fan and (she tells us) a hardcore WOW player.  Her first review is of the live action thriller, Liar Game.  Kylaran is a psychology major who is particularly interested in otaku culture.  He’ll be posting his first article on the blog in the near future.  Feel free to stop by on the forum and wish them luck (but not in the “Introductions” forum, which is closing down today).

Finally a word to those who weren’t selected.  We were overwhelmed by the quality of applicants, and there were some among you who were particularly unlucky to miss out.  There will be other opportunities to join the NHRV staff in the future, and I’ll be making an announcement about this within the next couple of months.  As for the staff contest, which we started essentially to test the waters, I think we can consider it a success, and we’ll almost certainly be running one again around this time next year.  In the meantime, good luck to our new staff members, and I hope you enjoy what they have to offer in the future, both near and far.

The NHRV staff contest will be closing in just two days, so don’t forget to get your application in.  This will be the last chance you’ll have to join The Nihon Review for a while, as we’ll be closing applications temporarily once the contest is over.  Get on board, it’s a great opportunity to improve your writing and work with a team of enthusiastic people.

Edit: (6th Feb 2009) The staff contest is now over. We want to thank everyone who took part. The quality of entrants surprised us, and now we have the difficult task of deciding the winners. We will announce the results very soon, so stay tuned.

It’s not an understatement to say that reading people’s thoughts on soundtracks is something that brings me that rush of excitement since the background music forms such an integral part of the anime viewing experience through its interplay with the mood and emotions flowing out of a given scene. And given how hard it can be to articulate on this subject, I’m glad to have the excellent writing staff at the Nihon Review supporting me in this endeavor.

Today’s review looks at the music from Mobile Suit Gundam 00.  Shadowmage notes that the soundtrack contains the grand, epic tracks that one might expect out of the franchise, but the diversity of themes isn’t one of its stronger suits.  So with that in mind, I give you his review of the Gundam 00 Original Soundtrack 2.

Though Yoshiura Yasuhiro’s works have gotten plaudits from many viewers, Shadowmage notes that while both Eve no Jikan and Pale Cocoon stand out by virtue of their art and animation, the overall execution leaves him wanting at times, preventing both shows from truly reaching greatness.

After a lengthy bout of inactivity, we’ve decided to officially close down our Soundtracks section.  However, this isn’t the end of soundtrack reviews from The Nihon Review staff, and we’ll be making (or at least aspiring to make) regular contributions to our new official anime soundtrack affiliation site, Anime Instrumentality Blog, which is run by our very own anime music aficionado, zzeroparticle.  Check out Anime Instrumentality Blog for yourself, I daresay it’s the best anime music review site on the web, and we take massive pride in our new partnership.

Today we’ve got two new anime reviews: Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Umineko no Naku Koro ni.