- Paprika theatrical movie. Another masterpiece from from Satoshi Kon, who this time takes on the world of dreams outright, with helm from some of the characters he started developing in his TV series. Whos says the genius lard bucket can't get the hot chick. (6-29-2007)
- Paradise Kiss (12 epiose TV series) this is a visually interesting tale of student Fashionistas who are preparing for the big design competition. Runaway high school girl blunders into their world and becomes their model. Very creative series, except the protagonists, who have renamed themselves "George" and "Caroline", are terminally self-indulgent and self-centered. (3-3-2006)
- Petite Princess Yucie (ADV, 26 24 minute episodes) This was a complete surprise, just like Princess 9. It looks like a fairly mundate kiddy story about girls wanting to be magical princesses. Although it is generally G-rated it is much edgier and entertaining than it first appears. A hint is the opening scene which depicts a bitter battle between knights in armor and the forces of darkness. This appears to have no connection to the story of the five candidates, from five different dimensions, for Platinum Princess and the Eternal Tiara which grants one wish. The secret is that there used to be six dimensions, and normally six candidates, but one was destroyed by the tiara. The tiara is like the Philospher's Stone in Full Metal Alchemist since it requires the human sacrifice of the candidates who lose. If the sacrifice isn't mades, then worlds are destroyed. The girls chosen as candidates have had their physical and emotional growth frozen at age ten. In fact Yucies original motivation to become Platinum Princess is so that she grow to match her chronological age. This doesn't seem to be so much of a problem for the Demon World candidate, where puberty seems to start before 10, and who can morph into a mature battle form anyway. The demon candidate is responsible for what little fan service there is in this show. Although initially hostile to Yucie, the Demon Princess finally declares her love for Yucie in a three hankey scene right before she and the other losing candidates die. Not to worry, though, since there is liberal use of deus ex machina, but without tidy wind ups of all the plot situations. (2-17-2006)
- Piano. (9 24 minute episodes from ) Kind of reminded me of Junkers come here, with no dog and no plot. Nothing really happens in this story about a young school girl who tries to find the resolve to continue studying the pianp. Character designs by the same person who created O My Goddess. A pleasnt, quiet series. (2-17-2006)
- Pita Ten. (not released in the US) This is a TV and manga series from the same person who brought you Digi-Charat. In fact, Misha the intern angel reminds me of Rabi En Rose in design and temperment. Surprisingly, the series has a fairly serious background theme that is finally fully addressed in the last episode. The main character, 6th grader Koutaro, is in deep denial about the death of his mother, resulting in detachment and sometimes violent behavior (more obvious in the manga than the anime.) Missing parents are a recurring theme, as well as dealing with loss. There is little plot until the final few episodes. What dramatic tension and plot there is revolves around the odd-couple love that is shared by slovenly, self-centered angel-in-training Misha and Yamato Nadeshiko devil from Hell Shia. The scenes in which Shia, and later Misha, prepare for their deaths are definitely of the three hankey variety. (6-8-2004)
-
Princess 9 from ADV. I can't stand baseball, but
this I couldn't stop watching. The story about a female high school baseball
team fighting for the right to compete against male teams as equals. 6
DVDs
released. This is one case where you really wished there was a fairy tale
ending. The girls deserved it, especially Yuki. In the last game Ryo starts
doing her Shinji imitation and it's downhill from there. Takasugi is really
a jerk and needs to have his ego knocked down a few notches. It's good to see that Ifurita finally got another gig as the rich girl manager of the team. Guess in
whose arms Ryo ends up in at the last scene.(8-12-2002)
-
Princess Arete. Another I saw as part of the Egyptian
Theater Anime Festival. This has a European look sometimes. Another story about a princess who
learns how to take care of herself. In a far future, technology is only
remembered as wizardry and exists mainly as a few baubles and books. Although
long thought all dead, a wizard appears. Kind of a disappointing ending,
but worth watching.(5-11-2003)
-
Project
A-ko, all tapes. A-KO is addictive after a certain point.
The daughter of Wonderwoman and Superman is spunky if nothing else. A-KO,
B-ko, and C-ko all learn how to get along after a certain point, even
if they have to jump realities to do it. It's all on DVD now. I think
a remastered version is coming out. (8-12-2002)
- Rahxephon TV series -2X episodes This is a great series up until until the finale. Just like Last Exile, this series spawned a flurry of debate on what the ending was all about. Otherwise, it was often commented that this was Evangelion the way it should have been done. Survivors from the lost civilization of Mu (the one that came before Atlantis) have decided to execute a massive reset via mecha singing to get the world right. Episode 18 is the dramatic high point when the hero is too clueless to realize that he's battering his former girl friend to death when he thinks he's protecting her. (6-29-2007)
-
Rail
of the Star from ADV. Incredible historical tale of Japanese refugees
fleeing Korea at the end of World War II. Doesn't ignore Japanese mistreatment
of Koreans. VHS only, but get it.
- Ray the Animation (TV series) A Blackjack pastiche in which a young girl whose body has been looted by organ harvesters is given a second chance by Blackjack, who only appears very briefly. In place of her missing eyes, she receives prosthetic X-ray eyes that give her a leg up as she follows the career path of her savior, as a mercenary underground surgeon, but with a much better body. (7-1-2007)
-
Read or Die crams an incredible amount
of everything into three 25 minutes OVA episodes. Yes, it is as good as
they say it is. A bibliophile substitute teacher with telekinetic powers
over paper, not to mention a very well endowed figure hidden under her
trademark overcoat, sets out to save the world while falling in love with
a clone of Mata Hari. The sequel TV series is tied in more closely with the OVA even though at first it seems to be just a cheap knock-off. (12-29-2004)
-
Robot
Carnival You always hurt the one you love. This is a very
nice anthology of robot stories ranging from the tragic to the hysterical.
The steam punk battle between American and Japanese robots is a gas.
-
Robotech The New Generation, tapes 1-6
out of ?. A guilty pleasure. This is what Harmony Gold did to
Genesis
Climber Mospeada. I also have the silly comic books, including the
very strange Tavicat ones. This is also out on 4 DVDs now. (8-12-2002)
- Roman Holiday. This is a classic live action American film but it deserves mention for its influence on anime. Check it out, Audrey Hepburn is the original anime babe. She has the giant Betty Boop eyes naturally. We know that Japanese animators have seen the film since there is a direct reference to it in Captain Tylor by the the Empress. There is also a whole Roman Holiday sequence in Scrapped Princess, although the male character comes out much worse than Gregory Peck. Also strongly referenced in Paprika. (11-28-2003)
-
Rose
of Versailles , (Versailles no Bara) Finally made it through this classic, and it was worth it, especially with related modern series such as Chevalier d'Eon or Pumpkin Scissors. Half the fun of the series is figuring out how the fictional characters are worked into historical events and into relations with historical personages. Amazing how many tie ins there are with American history, if you follow all the references from the Wikipedia entry. For example, which American Civil War general was desceneded? A shame that this one will probably never be released in the US. Small parts of the manga were translated by Frederick Schodt. 50 episode TV series. (7-1-2007)
- Rozen Maiden is like NHK meets Gash (Zatch) Bell, with a strange variation on a harem theme with a dash of existentialism. We don't know why we're here either, and struggle so. If Shinku ever became a human, she'd make a fortune writing a book on her tough love methods for treating nasty little hikkikomori like Jun. 12 episodes in the first TV season. (5/10/2007)
-
Roujin
Z Movie The elderly get their revenge.
- Rune Soldier. I've madie it through the first five DVDs of this series that seems
to take place in the Lodoss Wars universe. Seems to be very slapstick picaresque adventures in a typical harem setting, but there are hints of a fate of the world type conspiracy brewing. Good time guy Louie is a not very focused magic student who spends time drinking and brawling when he should be studying. Nevertheless, he has a good heart and knows that he should be doing something to make his adoptive "uncle," the head of the magic school, and "Aunt Jenny," the head priestess of Mylee, pround of him instead of embarassed. He decides to fall in with a group of part-time female adventurers who definitely see him as an example of low-side compliance. The team is headed by Melissa, an aristocrat who has run away from home to be a novice of Mylee to escape a bad marriage. The anime is fairly respectable, so far (although a preview of the next DVD looks questionable) but the original manga is pretty raunchy and Melissa provides a lot of the fan service in it. She is extremely self-centered, but seems to care about Merrill, the thief of the bunch. Merrill can be hard boiled and abusive, but can also be a vulnerable little lost (and self-destructive) waif as we see in a few episodes. When she's in a long dress, she definitely provides the cuteness factor. Louie saves her life a few times, but gets no gratitude. We respect Louie since he seems to be genuinely concerned about her, even abandoning his nightly carousing to look after her. The other self-destructive character is the ex-soldier Genie who runs around nearly naked, but doesn't contribute to the fanservice quota since she is so butch. She is initially the most physically and verbally abusive to Louie, but develops an undertstanding with him after he starts standing up to her. Finally there is Louie's gal pal and classmate, the wealthy but down to earth bourgeosie princess Ila with the really big glasses and other attributes. Louie and Ila seem to miss every opportunity to communicate their true feelings to each other. This may not be a classic, but it is fun. (11-28-2003)
-
Rurouni Kenshin and Samurai X.
The former title is used to refer to the TV series (available from Media
Blasters) while the latter is used to refer to the OVAs and movie (from
ADV!) The 4 part OAV is just incredible and is truly a work of art. The
characters and art styles are hard to relate to the TV series except at
certain times. The TV series starts off very cartoonish and silly, but
eventually gets very serious, although the fight scenes are more related
to HK wire fighting than to a Kurosawa Samurai epic. All available on
DVD. The TV series is up to 14 discs at the last count! In a way this
is a Tenchi type story since the male lead keeps growing his harem. His
otherwise serious opponent/ally Saitoh makes the observation that Kaoru
is the Tanuki Girl, Megumi (the former drug dealing doctor) is a kitsune,
so Machimaki must be the weasel girl. There is a also a Kenshin Seisou
Hen which follows Kenshin to his death by disease, with Kaoru soon to
follow him. This is rendered in the same style as the Samurai X and is
dead serious with no humor, but looks beautiful. The first half is a recap
of the TV series told from Kaoru's point of view. (10-20-2002)
-
Sakura
Wars DVD. A definite triumph of form over function. Beautiful
to watch even if the translation makes no sense whatsoever. The Sakura
character is one of the cleanest designs in all of anime-dom. Otherwise,
this refugee from a RPG is just darn weird. Looks great on the DVD. There
is TV series coming out on DVD in the US and the movie was premiered in
the US at Anime Expo 2002. The movie looks and sounds fantastic and features
an evil American who is literally a demon. The TV series is being released
on DVD as Return of the Spirit Warriors(10-20-2002)
- Samurai 7. This is supposed to be derived from the Akira Kurosawa classic. If you take that into consideration, this series is rather annoying. However, if you take it on its own terms, it may have some promise. Space opera, robots, and magical girls weren't in the original movie. (12-29-2004)
- Samurai Champloo looks rather promising. Two punk samurai team up with runaway waitress Fuu. (12-29-2004)
-
Sazan
Eyes , also known as 3x3 Eyes. This series does get bloody,
but it is also sometimes moving. The last parts of the series, retell
the Chinese story of the
white
snake demon masquerading as a girl who falls so much in love that
it's willing to betray its master . Check out
Caroline
Young's painting of the snake goddess. Americans play the role of
fools in Shakespeare. MacDonald is the one who explains to the hero that
the zombie curse isn't what controls the hero. A DVD set has been released
that has everything on it!
-
Slayers
Movie, OAVs, and TV series,. Megumi is hilarious. Remember that Lina is
only 14 and has never been kissed. My theory is that Yuriko Star is an
avatar of Lina. Yuriko always punches first and asks questions later and
is easily outraged. Same eyelashes. Complete TV series is out on DVD,
including availability in three boxed sets. I heard that the second season
kind of dragged, but it turned out to be outstanding. Believe it or not,
Lost Universe is part of the Slayers World. The first TV series DVDs have
finally been cured of their infamous audio glitches and have been released.
(8-12-2002)
-
Scrapped Princess throws everything at you: swords and sorcery, space opera, giant robots, conspiracies, doomed love, long lost children, melodrama, pathos, reformed villains, and plenty of three hankie deaths. Sort of like Snow White with a brother and sister team of
swordsman/mage replacing the Seven Dwarves. In a post technological world (think Princess Arete)
the last remnants of a super-technology seem to be magic. Hidden Princess Pacifica and here step brother Shannon and stepsister Racquel are the reincarnations or the three Mauser sibling who were in the thick of an intergalactic war with invading aliens. In a futile attempt to save her brother and sister, Pacifica's ancestor turned Quisling and sold out the human race. Her punishment was that her consciousness was preserved in an AI program ans the God Mauser, jailer of mankind. Another human, Browning, sought to thwart her and implemented a scheme to free humanity after 5000 years. Surviving sentient
super weapons who manifest themselves as rather sour little girls or brutal saddists who enjoy "resetting" human history have
been manipulating history and the gene pool while playing out forgotten
battles. Gets serious sometimes as when apprentice knight Leo realizes
that being an honorable knight could mean having to murder Pacifica. Others have commented that orphaned servant girly Winnia looks like a Rei Ayanami with red hair and really big, eh, assets. Note that most of the main characters are named after firearms companies, including Steyr, Casull, and CZ. (11-28-2003)
- Shuffle TV series This harem romance is about as close to porn as you can get in a mainstream series, with lot of waist-up nudity and hyper realistic panty shots. If you like girls with really long, pointy ears, this show is for you. (6-29-2007)
-
Sol
Bianca This DVD is incredible technically, using the same
effects as Blue Submarine. The second story on the first DVD is pretty
good. Three DVDs total. The last one was kind of disappointing and looked
kind of rushed.
- Someday's Dreamers (Geneon) takes the concept of Witch Hunter Robin and adds a twist to it. In an alternate world witches exist, but instead of being hunted down, they are so regulated with with OSHA type red tape and regulations that they'll nevery have the spare time to ever even think of taking over the world and become a threat to regular mortals. This TV series is pretty quiet and gentle in tone with no fan service, but in the end it doesn't quite jell. Maybe the bad witches from WHR end up here as the ultimate punishment. (12-27-2004)
-
Space
Firebird Long out of print VHS tapes were released in the USA as both anuncut version that has a longer opening
sequence and a kiddie version. Very complex Tezuka even in
this version. Sort of like an early Eva including the end of the world
and a new Adam and Eve. In fact, I think the end of the Eva movie is an homage to this Tezuka wonder. Phoenix 2772 is the name of the full
length version and it is indeed remarkable. (11-28-2003)
- Spirit
of Wonder as released on VHS(and very briefly on DVD) in the US was
based on just one sequence from a series of stories by Kenji Tsuruta.
At AX2002 I saw a two part OVA from Bandai that brings to the screen the
Windy story arc. It's still in Bristol but moved to the 1950s. Windy's
father, his friends, and her husband plot a trip to the moon by riding
the ether currents. Of course, Windy is the mastermind who makes it all
possible. This production looks really good with very high production
values and a realistic animation style. Sort of an upbeat Jin-Roh. There
is some gratuitous fan service provided by the 50s version of Miss China
that seems out of place in so lyrical a story. Included were two shorter
stories that follow the original Miss China story line. In the first Miss
China shrinks to almost nothing due to one of the Professor's mad experiments,
and then grows to gargantuan proportions. In the second she's back to
normal size, but she and her friends, except for Miss Lily, take a dimensional
trip in which Miss China gets to fight a vomit (no kidding) monster and
sees her parents back in China. The screening was all in Japanese, so
I'm not sure of all the details. Animeigo did release for a short time
a DVD version of the original OAV which recently became available again
on the Internet at Robert's Animecorner when I small cache was located.
The DVD is of low quality by modern standards, but it is your only hope
since both the tapes and DVD are out of release and the license has lapsed.
The Windy story is called the Scientific Boys Club and may be released
in the US. The original manga are available in a beautiful German edition
via Amazon Germany. (5-11-2002)
-
Spiral. Imagine the New Kindaichi files meets the
Village of the Damned. Art work isn't that great, but the story is interesting.
Loner genius and a mouthy female who may be smarter than he is battle
a secret organization of murderous mutant children. (4-23-2003)
-
Steel Angel Kurumi distributed by ADV is another
story of combat androids who look like pretty girls in French maid outfits.
Actually kind of entertaining, especially since it takes place in a period
usually avoided by anime-the 1920s when the militarists were on the rise
and Japan was about to embark on some really ill-advised adventures. Sakura
Taisen and Kishin Corps are the only others I can think of. In spite of
the maid outfits, and the packaging, the series is not as naughty as one
might expect, with the possible exception of the scene in which the buck
naked Saki is laid out on an operating table before she is activated.
Although Kurumi wears a short skirt and jumps around a lot, there are
no scenes in which her modesty is compromised Of course, she and Saki
do appear buck-naked in bath scenes in some episodes. After watching all the episodes,
I've decided this is sort of like Neon Genesis Evangelion with the Angels
wearing the maid outfits. There are some obvious parodies of scenes from Eva. There is also a Special which follows the Angels
settling down to what passes for everyday life for them. Saki becomes
a famous movie star, Karinka narrowly avoids a date with the perverted
General, and Kurumi collapses after attempting to be a Kyo-onna, or, Yamato Nadeshiko. Kurumi
2 is another series in which the Angels show up in the current period
and end up in junior high and high school. This series is pretty much an homage to Project A-ko and Utena and is mainly R&R for the girls. After all the big ticket battles they've had, Kurumi and Karinka are finally humbled when they get into a pillow and break a cello. As penance, they have to get jobs as construction workers. The surprise is that unlike Excel or Kiyone and Mihoshi they are actually pretty good at it. Kurumi Zero apparently takes
place in the future after the Demons have been beaten and the Angels retire
as moochers who have moved in with a suicidal girl. Karinka finally gets her due, condemned to spend the rest of eternity as a whiny preteen. Kurumi no longer has a go-shujin of any kind and seems to be on downers. Surprisingly, this 15minute long episode show works in time travel, intergalactic warfare(11-28-2002)
- Strange Dawn. Is another one that looks like a kiddie show but gets very serious. I have seen the first two DVDs. Two schools girls are transported to a Lilliputian world that is just as messed up as ours. Works a lot better than it first appears and is recommended. Hope that the second half of the series is released some day (12-27-2004)
- Submarine 707R (Unfinished series?) One would like this intentionally retro series to be better than it is. The villain, Captain Red, is a classic design and his evil organization bent on destroying the World Government via submarine attacks is pretty cool. The show, though, seems to be mainly intent on showing how stupid and arrogant the American submariners are while the underdog Japanese are incredibly resourceful. (3-3-2006)
- Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi) (TV series, going on 2 seasons) Just as good as all the hype claims. Probably won't go over well with fundamentalists since it suggests that a high school girl is God and recreated reality 3 years ago when something upset her. Various agencies (not the governmental types) have formed an uneasy alliance to prevent another cosmic reset, an perhaps to exploit her powers. The light novels are being translated online (7-1-2007)
-
The Tale of Genji Beautiful, but it put
me to sleep. I think an animated biography of Lady Murasaki might be better.
- Teizoroku Daydream (Ghost Talker's Daydream, 4 part OVA) What if Rei Ayanami grew up to be an adult and had to find a job? What if she had supernatural abilities? What if she had to pull down two gigs to make ends meet, and used the same work clothes for both jobs? What if her only job skills were as a dominatrix? (7-1-2007)
-
Tenchi stories Another guilty pleasure.
Kiyone is my favorite, although she really isn't in the original OAV series.
A standing question is whether Ryoko and Ayeka are a couple. Of course
they are, at least in the sense that they are inseparable and they are
continuously trading off being the Maiden in Distress so they can rescue
each other.
- Tenchi in Love The title has no relation to the
story. The assumed roles in the past give some more insight to the
characters.
- Tenchi in Tokyo, 8 DVDs available. Do we get to
see Yuki when she grows up? Kind of long for what's there, but some
moving scenes in the last episode. I finally gave away the DVDs and
tapes I had.
- Tenchi Muyo OAV series DVD. This is the continuity
I prefer with Ryoko a 700 year old demon who tries to kill Tenchi
at first. Washu's
background as a wronged mom is also important. The OAV continuity
is supposed to be resumed soon.
- Tenchi the Movie 2, The Daughter of Darkness is
very strange.
- Tenchi Forever is the most sophisticated of all the stories.
Ryoko and Ayeka even cooperate.
- Tenchi Universe (the TV series). Some episodes
are really good, especially the alternate universes one and the ghost
ship story. We also get a bid dose of Kiyone.
- Pretty Sammy tapes Sasami as Tenchi's little sister
makes sense. I liked the story that made fun of Bill Gates. (6/22/2002)
-
Tree of Palm. This very artsy movie is a telling
of the Pinnochio story in a world that looks like something out of Metal
Hurlant. Some characters look as if they came from a children's film,
but this is very heavy, serious stuff. Recommended, but ti can be tedious.
- Treasure Planet. This is from Disney, but deserves mention. I saw the trailer right before I saw Spirited Away at the El Capitan in LA, and I thought TP had to be the worst possible example of animation. However, I got to see it for free at Comicon in San Diegon and it's one of the few cases where a trailer actually does a disservice to the movie. TP is actually true to the original story and doesn't have an over abundance of cloying cute modern Disney conventions. People die and bad guys are conflicted, but not totally redeemed. Suppress your Disney bashing and go see this.(11-28-2003)
- Shingetsutan Tsukihime. This was apparently based on a video game created by amateurs. After the first DVD, it's pretty addicitive. A boy with supernatural powers that he can barely understand is drafted by a woman vampire to help hunt down monsters who are worse than she is. Then again, it turns out that the boy's family has a very unsavory history of its own. (12-29-2004)
-
Tsukikage
Ran , Carried by the Wind (Carried by the Wind Moon-Shadow Orchid)
from Madhouse and distributed by Bandai has beautiful animation and deadly
fight scenes, but is also a Xena style comedy. The Enka opening song is
a change of pace. A female Toshiro Mifune character with a weakness for
sake and a cute female Chinese martial artist wander what looks to be
the Tokugawa era countryside. 13 episode TV serie. The fight scenes are
incredible and people do get killed in them, especially the innocents.
All of the episodes are fairly similar, but that is okay. An American
female fighter Stephahie, appears, as well as Ran's ex-boyfriend who taught
her swordshmanship.(5-26-2003)
-
Urusei Yatsura,
selected episodes, OVAs, movies.
Beautiful Dreamer has
to be some kind of classic and is out on DVD. That and other episodes
are very experimental and trippy. DVDs of the TV series are coming out.
These still look as good as anything out now. (10-20-2002)
-
Venus
Wars Early classic cynical antiwar anime. Also a manga, including
a version in which the story is told from the opposite side. I think a
DVD is out. (4-7-2002)
-
Video
Girl Ai I didn't like the ending. I'm really starting to
hate the manga. The first episode was promising.
-
Voices of a Distant Star (Hoshi no Koe) is an
amazing half hour created by an out of work guy in Japan on his G4. I
saw the anime at the 2002 Comicon with a panel including the creator and
voice actors. This is an original take on the Gunbuster plot with an interesting
twist. ADV will be distributing it and it's worth a look. (1-18-2003)
- The Weathering Continent This short movie has some interesting ideas, especially the city of the dead in which the dead can't quite let go of this world. It seems as if there should be more story, but this is all there is as far as I know. Out on DVD now. (6-8-2004)
-
Wings
of Honeamise Another classic. Out on DVD, but doesn't look
that good. Still worth buying. Gainax amazes in this story of the space
race on another planet or parallel world.
-
Witch Hunter Robin. (Bandai) 26 episode TV series. Like
Juuni Kokki, it is dead serious and dark with no comic relief or romance.
In a parallel world witches are real and hunted down by international
agencies. Robin is a witch, a firestarter, who was trained by the Vatican
to hunt down other witches, just as the US Cavalry used Apache scouts
to hunt down other Apaches. You know what happened to those Apache scouts
when they weren't needed anymore. Ambiguous and unsatisfying ending. Poor
motion animation, but outstanding design. Highly recommended. After I saw the last episode I realized I hadn't seen the first half of the series. It maded more sense after I bought the whole series on DVD and saw it. Now being
released in the US(9-25-2003)
-
Wolf's Rain. In a dying world, four werewolves
search for salvation. Works better than it sounds, with music by Yoko
Kanno. Looks good so far. (2-28-2003)
- Xenosaga (12 episode TV series unreleased in the US) This series corresponds roughly to the first part of the sprawling game from what I understand. Just as in Tsukihime, there are references to a complex backstory that are teasingly mentioned. The impression of the story is E.E. Smith meets Frankenstein with a liberal sprinkling of Hebrew and Christian references. There are Space Marines, mile long (or more) starships, vast galactic conspiracies, corporations, mad scientists, aliens bent on wiping out mankind, artificial humans, and cyborgs gone out of control. The story focues on Shion, a very charming mad scientist and megane-ko who seems more concerned with developing a soul within the ruthless killer android KOS-MOS. She also seems to regard some of the Realian artificial humans as precious to her as her own children. Needless to say, it's not a good idea to kidnap and terrorize little Realians when Shion is around. Little fan service, although the galactic fashion seems to demand that all of the females show a token amount of cleavage. The scene in which a Realian, who is modeled afer a 10 year old girl, is being tormented and terrorized by the villain, is ver intense. (2-17-2006)
- Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. There are two OAVs out from Sony under
this title from an aborted planned run of 6. Two more Region 2 DVDs have
come out recently, covering the destruction of Cafe Alpha and Alpha's subsequent
life on the road. Perverts seem to have gotten on board the latest production,
as evinced by a little too much attention to getting Alpha's and Kokone's
nether region anatomy more correct than it needs to be. Do we really need
a panty shot in YKK? (9-25-2003)
-
You're
Under Arrest . The TV series goes up
to over 40 plus a movie and specials. I saw the last episode at that con in D.C. The same people
who brought you
Oh, My Goddess. Look for the Emily flying boat in one of
the early episodes. It actually exists in a park in Tokyo. An American DVD collection
of the entire series is coming out, plus the mini-specials.
I like the movie although it has generally received bad reviews. (11-28-2003)
