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Reviews
Watching the crap so you (hopefully) don't have to...
Big O
O, how much do I hate thee? Let me count the ways! I've seen this show so many times, everytime it comes on I quickly change the channel. The story's interesing enough; a city has a peaceful, normal life until one day 40 years ago, everyone loses their memory. Enter Roger, a Batman wanna-be in a suit (just look at that freaky square chin...) who's on a misson to find out what happened as well as protect the city with what looks like a Gundam leftover with big gorilla arms and laser beams. He also has a butler (here we go with the Batman thing again) and a android to assist him; unfortunately, it doesn't help the series.
Bottom Line: Having trouble sleeping? Don't take pills - just watch Big O! Guarenteed to make you sleep like a baby and cry like one after watching this waste of time.
Twilight Of The Dark Master
Here is yet another anime film that is set in "the future". The story focuses on Tsunami, a demon hunter who looks like the lead singer of The Cure (Robert Smith in case you don't know) with straight white hair. Anyway, he has to help this woman who was engaged to marry a man who's now become a demon - woah, that's a mouthful. On top of all this, assasins are out to kill him as well as some demonic force. This one isn't for the kids since it contains violence, a bit of gore, and hinted at sex scenes...with Jell-O??
Bottom Line: TODM is a great film with lots of action - isn't that how a lot of anime is nowadays?
NightWalker
Everyone's had their share of vampire anime - Vampire Hunter D's on the top of my list - and this one is just as good. Meet Shido, a vampire/detective who with the help of Yayoi (a police detective), Guni (a bat-type demon with an attitude), and Riho (his secretary and a high shcool student) sets out to kill nightbreeds - demons who posses humans and often grant one's desires at a high price. Things get even more complicated when he has to face Cain, Shido's maker and former lover. Like Twilight Of The Dark Master, this one has plenty of blood and gore, especially in the second episode when a woman who's possesed by a breed has to eat human flesh in exchange for acting talent. There's also nudity too but no sex or anything like that. Both the dub and the sub are really good, except for the last episode (there are only 12 episodes, by the way) where in the dub, Shido starts screaming as he watches someone die. Too bad it sounds like he's in labor - "Okay Mr. Shido, one more push...and it's a boy!"
Bottom Line: Sour bits of acting aside, NightWalker is definately a must have. If you don't have a DVD player, I'd proably say buy the dub & sub unless you have a preference.
Love Hina
I never actually saw this series until a friend gave me the first three volumes on DVD, but once I did I was quite surprised. The story focuses around Keitaro, a 20 year old guy who's been trying to get into Tokyo University for two years. His reason? To keep a promise to a girl whose name he can't even remember! After visiting his grandmother at the Hinata Apartments, he's surprised to find out that the place is an all-girls dormotory and he has been named the appartment manager. Surrounded by five young ladies, ranging from junior high school students to a young woman who's deadly with a sword, Keitaro's guarenteed to get into all kinds of trouble. The quality of animation is excellent, mostly because it had a huge help with the aid of computer technology; the series has its share of plenty of comedy - if you're a Tenchi Muyo fan, you'll definately want to keep an eye out for this one. Currently, all the episodes have been released on DVD (I believe there are 6 volumes), but that doesn't include the Love Hina Christmas special, Spring special (I don't know what it's called), and the latest film 'Love Hina Again' .
Bottom Line: A great series with plenty of laughs topped with moments that'll make you go "Awwww".
Naruto
If there's anyone out there who has read Shonen Jump, then you should be familiar with the manga Naruto. But just in case you haven't, Naruto is a action/comedy series about a boy who wants to become the greatest ninja ever. His background is kinda weird though; before he was born, an evil fox demon attacked a village. After the demon was killed, the elders of the village decided to seal it in the naval of a newborn baby - that baby was Nartuo (this is why he has no parents). No matter what the complications are he's willing to achieve his goals. But if you want to buy this gem, save your money; right now, the Naruto anime isn't available in the U.S. The only real way to get it is by purchasing a fan-sub. Believe me - it's worth it. Quality is good and there's plenty of action for you hyper types. There is blood in it - and yes it can get kinda gory sometimes - but that's only during the major fight scenes.
Bottom Line: Action+Comedy = A great combination
Dragon Half
Again, this was recommended by a friend but I never had a chance to bought it until recently. It sucks though because there are two episodes...and that's it. They're all about Mink, a girl who is a dragon half (her dad is human but her mom is a red dragon) who has a huge crush - like every other girl in the world - for Dick Saucer a singer/dragonslayer. Her main goal is to find the People Potion which has the power to turn any non-human person into a human. There's a side story about a king who wants to kill Mink's dad to marry her mom and lies to Dick Saucer in order to have him kill her, but the main focus is the comedy. From Mink's dad being whacked on the head with a mallet to Dick Saucer suffering from constipation (you'll have to see that for yourself) it's filled with comedy gallore! That said, it's not for the young kids since there' s a lot of "ridiculous violence" and a scene where Mink accidently shows her "goodies".
Bottom Line: ADV Films (the company that released Dragon Half) claims it's "the funniest anime ever made" - they're telling the truth.
Rayearth
No, I'm not talking about Magic Knight Rayearth the manga & anime series of famous popularity; I'm talking about the 3 episode OVA series that's nothing more than a "what if?" story. All three girls - Umi, Fuu, and Hikaru - are graduating from junior high (wearing uniforms that make them look like part-time nuns) and after unwittingly making a wish beneath a cherry tree that, according to legend, will grant the wish no matter what, they become the last hope of Earth against Cephiro. This time around, Clef actually looks like a real man instead of a young kid, Alcyone has a pet cat thing, Princess Emeraude does nothing but sing and play with her hair, and Eagle is the one behind this whole thing. Sure the animation is beautiful and so are the characters but I have a major complaint - the dub SUCKS! ....Correction - it's okay, but if you've ever seen Magic Knight Rayearth (the series released by Anime Works) they don't use the same voice actors probably because Rayearth is released by Manga Video. Still, the sub version's way better; you'll see what I mean after you hear how Ferio sounds like a 30 year old man in a 15 year old body going through puberty.
Bottom Line: A great piece of work if you can ignore the dub which sholdn't be hard anyway.
Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
I had to go out and buy it after I saw it on the Sci-Fi Channel. It all focuses on a guy called Laocorn (his voice is done by the guy who was the voice of Ryo from Ronin Warriors) who's looking for the six pieces of the armor of Mars - once he finds them, he will become a god (so what else is new?) His sister Sulia goes out in search of help to stop her brother and finds Terry Bogard (whose voiced by Mark Hildreth of Gundam Wing fame), his brother Andy, Mai Shirauni, and Joe Higashi. The animation is pretty good and the dub is a lot better than the sub since their voices show a lot more emotion, plus the translation is sort of questionable and it's understandable since Viz Video did the translations (the film was released on DVD by Pioneer). The only problem with buying it on DVD? No chapter selections *sigh*
Bottom Line: This film is great but the ending's kinda sad - you'll understand once you see for yourself.
Sailor Moon
I know what you're thinking - "Sailor Moon's for kids! You couldn't possibly like it, right?" Of course I do - at least I like the Japanese version anyway. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, Sailor Moon is about Usagi Tsukino (Serena in the dub) who, with the help of a myserious cat named Luna, discovers that she's "the champion of justice" sworn to defend Earth and the universe from evil. She's not alone though with help from Sailor Venus, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, and other Sailor Soldiers who won't show up until much later (Sailor Pluto, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Star Healer, Sailor Star Maker). The quality is kinda dated since it came out in Japan in 1992 but it's still all good. The dub however is another story; when DIC owned the rights, the dub was pretty good but now that Cloverway owns the rights, and I have to be frank, it completely sucks. How the heck can they make Usagi sound like an annoying 5 year old?
Bottom Line: Great anime if you like this sort of thing. If not, then just don't bother. But if you're a fan, then go to my SM site, Guardians Of The Galaxy.
Gundam Wing
Believe me when I say that if I didn't like this series, I would have never bothered to create Gundam Wing Haven. It takes place in AC (After Colony) 195 - for you Gundam purists out there, GW is held in an alternate universe in order to preserve the timeline for the other Gundam series. The space colonies are being oppressed so 5 young boys who are Gundam pilots are sent to Earth and everyone makes it without being spotted except for Heero Yuy, who is shot down. Relena Darilan discovers Heero on a beach and that's where things start to change. GW came out in 1995 so the animation is somewhat dated but still good. The dub is top noch - my personal fave: Brad Swalie as Quatre. The mecha battles just rock and so does the subbed version. However, this is one of those series where if you don't watch it from the very begining you won't understand it later. Also, it involves a lot of political issues so those who aren't interested in that probably shouldn't see it.
Bottom Line: Loads of action, cute guys - what more could an anime fan ask for?!
Blue Seed
This story gets a bit complicated so here it goes: Momiji is a school girl who discovers that she had a twin sister - who is believed to be dead - and is part of the Kushinada family which has the ability to kill Aragami (a shapeless being which takes over other living things) at the cost of their lives. After nearly being killed by an Aragami at school who took the form of a tree, she is placed in the care of the TAC, the only organization dedicated to fighting these creatures. Kusanagi suddenly appears since it's his duty to protect the Kushinada, and yes, love does ensue. Quite a bit of action and excellent voice acting in the dub and sub. The DVDs are better than the VHS tapes since you get more of the Omake Theaters (little spoofs) - if you buy the episodes on tape, you get two episodes and one of the Omake Theaters.
Bottom Line: So what if there's a little romance in it? At least it's not hentai... *shudders*
Perfect Blue
This is a psychological thriller focusing around Mina, a pop singer who's part of a singing group called CHAM but decides to try her luck as an actress. Thanks to some "tugging on the strings" she lands her first role in a popular tv series. But things start turning dangerous after she agrees to do a rape scene for one of the episodes; threats, murders, and weird dreams start to affect her thinking and eventually reality starts to blur. What is real and what is only in her mind? Even the director says it's going to be confusing the first time you watch it, but after seeing the film (and owning it on DVD as well), Perfect Blue is definatly going to give you a scare.
Bottom Line: Masterful film, but not for the feint of heart due to the violence/gore and the brief nudity during a photo shoot - don't worry there's no sex.