Anime Field’s Naruto and Bleach Week might have ended two weeks ago, but given the insatiable downloading desires of Naruto and Bleach fans, I figured I couldn’t go wrong featuring a Naruto and Bleach direct downloads forum.

1. OtakuTalk

• Speed: Unknown (Sorry, I haven’t had the time to gain access to their downloads section)
• Posts Required to Access Downloads: 10 posts.
• Content: Recent anime episodes and manga chapters of Naruto and Bleach.
• Update Frequency: Frequent
• Video Format: .avi (HQ)
• Note: Requires free registration and 10 non-spam forum posts to access downloads. Ad-free.

Edit: An updated review of OtakuTalk is available.

Oops. I just realised my previous post on MrPC’s Anime (direct download site) is completely outdated after a comment by excentric. But I guess that shouldn’t be surprising given that it was written almost 6 months back.

So, here’s an updated post:

1. MrPC’s Anime

• Speed: Fast
• Public Content: Around 27 ongoing (e.g. TOKKO, Dai Mahou Touge, Himawari, Good Witch of the West, etc.) and 3 completed (e.g. Karin, Magikano, etc.) anime series.
• Update Frequency: Very Frequent
• Video Format: .avi (HQ) and .mkv (HQ)
• Note: Hassle-free site, e.g. no registration or forum posting required to access downloads. Multiple mirrors available for most anime episodes. Completed anime series are transferred to a donor-only section a few weeks (or months) after they end.

Another .rmvb direct downloads site here, but this one is as filled with J-Drama as it is with anime episodes. It’s not a new site, and in fact, has been in the scene for at least a year now (it’s more established than this blog anyhow), but in the past, himura-KAORU.com used to focus primarily on Sailor Moon and Magic Knight Rayearth only, as well as suffer from bandwidth outages rather often.

Today, I am happy to say that the site’s anime selection has expanded, but am slightly sad to say that most of the anime and J-Drama available are now hosted on free file hosts (primarily Sendspace and Rapidshare).

In any case, if you can handle the .rmvb, here it is:

1. himura-Kaoru.com

• Speed: Above Average
• Content: 6 completed (e.g. Full Moon wo Sagashite, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, etc.) and 3 ongoing (i.e. NANA, Tsubasa Chronicle and xxxHolic) anime series, plus 5 J-Drama series (e.g. Gokusen, Hana Yori Dango, Densha Otoko, etc.).
• Video Format: .rm and .rmvb (LQ to HQ). Some J-Drama episodes are encoded well enough to constitute as High Quality.
• Note: Hassle-free site, e.g. no registration or forum posting required to access downloads. Ad-free too. However, all the J-Drama and quite a bit of anime are hosted on free file hosts (e.g. Rapidshare).

These are the anime direct download sites and XDCC bots featured this week (in chronological order):

1. Anime DESU – Anime DDLs via Gigagone
2. AnimeYuki XDCC Bot Listing – Just Another XDCC Bot Pack List Site
3. AnimeArk – Anime Direct Downloads Forum
4. AnimeCorner.nl – .rmvb Anime Direct Downloads Site
5. Anime-Addict.com – .rmvb Anime Direct Downloads Site
6. Anime-Centric.NET – Anime Direct Downloads Site
7. Lavendermedia.tk – Anime Direct Downloads (on Free File Hosts) Forum

If you missed last week’s wrap-up, you can still get it here.

Lavendermedia.tk is most similar in type to Shareparadise.net – anime forums in which some of their admins and members upload episodes onto free file hosts, e.g. Megaupload, which are then provided to other members to download.

In the case of Shareparadise.net, members are required to accumulate points by posting or uploading anime to free file hosts (and posting the link), which can then be used to access download links to files uploaded by other members.

But in the case of Lavendermedia.tk, a more conventional system is used, where you will just have to accumulate 30 non-spam posts in order to access their Full Episodes section, after which no additional posting is required to maintain membership or to access download links.

1. Lavendermedia.tk

• Posts Required to Access Downloads: 30 posts
• Content: 70+ complete (e.g. Rizelmine, Outlaw Star, Flame of Recca, Tokyo Mew Mew, etc.) and ongoing (e.g. Nana, Bleach, Naruto, etc.) anime series.
• Video Format: Mostly .avi (HQ), but there are some in .rmvb and .wmv (LQ to MQ)
• Note: Requires registration and forum posting to access downloads section where the bulk of free file host download links to full episodes are listed.

For those who want a “full-fledged” anime direct downloads site, i.e. .avi files (no .rmvb) and with their own media servers (no free file hosts), here’s one to satiate your appetite (I hope):

1. Anime-Centric.NET

• Speed: Quite Fast
• Content: 5 anime series – both ongoing (e.g. Bleach, Eyeshield21, .HACK//Sign, etc.) and completed series (e.g. Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, etc.) – and 1 movie (Naruto Movie 2)
• Video Format: .avi (HQ)
• Note: Hassle-free site, i.e. no registration or forum posting required to access downloads.

P.S.: Nope. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to say that anime DDL sites that use free file hosts or provide .rmvb files are not full-fledged DDL sites. I just needed a short term to describe those type of sites.

Unless you are already a master of the various textual sound effects used in anime and manga, check out this comprehensive glossary featured over at Boing Boing.

A short preview:

gucha = smashing, crushing (see also gusha)
guchi guchi = wet sound? twisting sound? We’re not sure.
gui = grab (see also gaba, gu, gyu)
gui = gulp
Gunya = sudden mental realization
guon = the sound of a dryer. For the sound of a washing machine, see goun

Let’s break out of our “free file host anime direct download site” (quite a mouthful, isn’t it?) series for a moment, and look at yet another .rmvb anime direct downloads site.

1. Anime-Addict.com

• Speed: Quite Fast
• Content: 21 anime series – both ongoing (e.g. Cluster Edge, Bleach, etc.) and completed series (e.g. Xenosaga, Ragnarok The Animation, Suzuka, etc.) plus 1 live action series (GTO: Live Action).
• Video Format: .rmvb (LQ to MQ)
• Note: Free registration required (email confirmation not required). Files are compressed as .zip, possibly to prevent auto-streaming.