Do you like free anime? I know I sure as heck do! I like it even better when it's legal and supported by the creator of said anime. Getting on to the point though, a new anime is coming to a world wide web near you! The director of Cowboy Bebop, Toshihiro Kawamoto, and Cindy Yamauchi, an animator whose work includes Akira, have teamed up to bring you Spiral. Not only have they teamed up, but they've already recruited Kawamoto, a director who's best know for Goldenboy and his work on a number of Gundam series. There's still one nagging detail though: Why? Why are they making this anime and putting it on the web for the world to download for free? Well, the answer is easy: Promotion! Promotion of a new media website called Mondo Media. It's a dandy way to promote a website, and anything that gets me more anime makes me a happy boy, so why not check out Mondo Media now, the soon to be home of Spiral!

We all know Gonzo as a loveable Sesame Street character, but some of us also know of GONZO the anime studio who produced Blue Submarine No. 6 and Gatekeepers. Why am I talking about Gonzo, you ask? Well, they're at it again with another series that looks to be as good as the two mentioned above. The new series is called Vandread and will tell the story of an intergalactic gender war, at the center of which a young man named Hibiki discovers he can merge his robot with two of those from the female side of the war to create a mysterious and more powerful mecha.

Now gender war sure does sound like fun. I mean revenge on that guy who dumped you or the girl who laughed when you asked her out, but this looks like it'll be one great anime! Of course, the promise that Vandread will introduce "150 beautiful female characters" by the end of its run has nothing to do with it! Vandread is also bringing GONZO's talent together in a big way. Vandread is the first project that Mahiro Maeda (director of Blue Submarine No.6), Shinji Higuchi (special effects director of Gamera), Umanosuke Iida (director of Devil Man), Takeshi Mori (director of Gunsmith Cats), Hiroshi Yamaguchi (writer of Gatekeepers) and producer Shouji Hamamura have worked on together. The show looks great... not that it has anything to do with those 150 women mind you. Nice art and a history of good stories from GONZO makes Vandread look like a great show to keep your eye on. Where can you keep your eye on it? Why you could be watching it right now! It started October 3rd on Japan's WOWOW channel. There has been no word on whether it will ever see American shores, but lets keep hope alive (Mmmmm... 150, I can't wait)!