Ergo Proxy

     Ergo Proxy is a 23 episode cyberpunk/post apocalyptic sci-fi anime that aired on satellite TV in Japan in 2006.  The series is an original production by the production company Manglobe.

    Years after the world was decimated by a global war, the remnants of humanity reside in domed cities, away from the poisons and dangers of the ravaged world. The domed cities operate independent from each other and are ruled by logic programs. Romdo is the shining jewel of the domed cities. Its citizens are humans with companion androids known as autoreivs. Re-l (Real) Mayer is a member of the Security Bureau in Romdi.  Together with her autoreiv partner, Iggy; they investigate and combat crimes against the domes citizens. Upon investigating a case of an autoreiv that was infected with a new and mysterious virus, they come across a powerful and unknown creature. Through investigating on her own Re-l finds that it is a being known as a Proxy. While tracking the powerful monster she crosses paths with an immigrant named Vincent Law who seems linked to the creature. After Vincent becomes involved in a murder he flees the domed city to the lawless wilderness with Re-l following close behind, intent on discovering the link between Vincent and the Proxy. Once on the outside world Re-l discovers that there are small pockets of humans living off of the land, away from the pampered and protected domes. She and Vincent discover truths about themselves, the Proxy’s and the domed cities, on their trek to Vincent’s home dome.

    This is one of the best looking and interesting TV anime ever made. It is highly detailed with realistic character designs and incredible scenery. In the beginning of the series the quality is of that found in many movies. The story and mystery is engaging but sometimes confusing. While you can compare this series to other stories it is very unique compared to modern standards. It is a breath of fresh air in a stale line of titles available. The main characters are well developed but the side ones are mostly left as 2 dimensional creatures. The story primarily focuses around Re-l, Vincent and their journey to discover answers about the world around them. I would easily include this series in my top 10 best anime TV series ever made. While the art is phenomenal in the beginning, one of two things happens as you get into the series, either they scaled back the quality or you got used to it.  In the later episodes the artwork doesn’t seem as detailed as it was in the beginning. Not that the art is horrible, it is still one of the best looking TV series ever and retains movie quality art through out.

    As the story progresses things tend to get confusing about what is going on, partially because there is so much that they don’t explain until the very end and partially because of reality being bent at times. There was one annoying episode that was out of place in a way, but was used to explain much of what was going on. There was another episode that they could have done with out that dealt with a Disney Land like reality. The end though did seem to be rushed a little and was a little disappointing with how quickly it wrapped up. What would be great would be a theatrical movie to follow up with the end of the series, but that seems unlikely and is unneeded to complete the story, it would just be nice to see a little more of this interesting world. The series, in the end, is very good, one of the best in this decade (2000-2009). If you are a fan of Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed or Noein you will enjoy this series.

    The series is currently available on disc in North America from FUNimation and includes an English dub version.

Akira

Akira is arguably the most preeminent anime movie ever made. It was released in Japan in 1988 and then the world in 1989 and 1990. It is Katsuhiro Otomo’s masterpiece that helped launch anime into the world stage and has created hordes of fans. This post apocalyptic cyberpunk tale is based on the manga by the same name. It was released during the run of the manga which ends a little differently.

It is assumed that anyone and everyone has watched this movie, regardless I will continue with my format and do a brief synopsis of it.

    In the 80’s Japan’s government was secretly grooming children who had an affinity for psychokinetic powers for military uses. The most successful was a young boy named Akira, whose power grew unchecked. Soon that power ran out of control and took over his being. In the end he destroyed himself, taking most of Tokyo with him. This explosion triggered the third world war. Decades later Neo-Tokyo is a thriving and successful megalopolis, with the horrors of war a memory of the older generation. The city is not a utopia though and street gangs are a rampant and dangerous problem. There is also social unrest with the student bodies and protests are staged to fight the corruption of the central government. During a fight between two rival motorcycle gangs one of the hoodlums, Testuo, crashes into a boy on an abandoned highway. As other members of the gang come to his rescue they find him badly wounded and near unconsciousness. The strange boy remains unharmed but before they can find out who the boy is military helicopters arrive. They triage Testuo and load him and the boy onto a helicopter. The rest of the gang is arrested and handed over to the police.

    While in central booking, Kaneda, the gang’s leader, notices a beautiful young girl. He convinces that authorities that she is a part of their gang as they are let go. Outside of the station he finds out that she was arrested at a protest the night before and is part of a guerilla resistance group. This group broke into a top secret government facility that is still doing tests on children and kidnapped one of the original test subjects. This test subject is the same boy that Tetsuo crashed into. Due to both an interest in finding his friend and getting laid, Kaneda joins up with the resistance group. During another mission into the facility he finds that Tetsuo has become a part of their experiments. His powers soon grow out of control, like Akira’s, and everyone must race to stop him before Neo-Tokyo is destroyed.

    This movie is now over 20 years old. Yet I still think the animation can hold up to today’s standards. The amount of detail put into the creation of this film is astounding, even more so that it was done entirely by hand in Otomo’s modest production studio. While the character designs are not realistic they are still well done, classic Otomo style, like that found in his recent series Freedom. One thing that the movie was credited for at the time was that it utilized technology that matched the characters mouth movement to the worlds they spoke, lending it to a more realistic flow. The scope of the story was wholly original and unique; I have not really come across much that imitates the story. The soundtrack as well is creative and entertaining. Another soundtrack I can think of that is close to resembling Akira’s would be that for the Ghost in the Shell movies. This movie is truly one of my all time favorites, while it has been replaced at the top of the pile by other movies it is still the one movie, anime or not, I have watched the most. I have literally watched this movie over 200 times. It was my first introduction to anime as anime when I was lucky enough to see it in the theater. A few years afterward I bought the subtitled VHS copy. In the summer between 8^th grade and freshman year of high school I watched the movie at least once a day, sometimes two or three times, for lack of anything else better to do. This movie, like so many others from my anime generation, say that this title was the beginning of fandom.

    Even in Japan this is considered one of the important classics and is still highly regarded. While it is over 20 years old it is still viable and watchable today. There is some dating to it, linking it to the 80’s, such as some of the characters clothing and hair styles. More subtly it can also be viewed as a criticism on social excess in Japan in the 80’s. Yet the story is futuristic and can also pertain to societal excesses today. Otomo may have slipped into obscurity in recent years, only marginally successful with Steam Boy but his work is still no less important or incredible. He may not be Miyazaki but he can still be considered a creative force in the world of manga and anime. Take some time and rewatch this classic if it has been a while since your last viewing and remember what the industry and technology was like when it was created. Compare it to current films and decide for your self if it can compete with them. I think it does and I will always have a love for this movie, my baptism to anime.

Memories

Memories is a theatrical anthology of shorts that came out in the 1995. It is made up of three independent vignettes done by 3 different directors. The shorts are, Magnetic Rose, Stink Bomb and Cannon Fodder.

    The first short, Magnetic Rose, is a beautifully detailed futuristic drama that deals with the crew of a salvage ship discovering the mother lode in a derelict space junk yard. Two members of the four man crew leave the ship to investigate an asteroid with a house built into it after picking up a distress signal. As they explore it they discover it was the residence of an opera diva from the previous century. While searching for anything valuable to scavenge they are attacked by the automated defenses of the residence. As they fight to get back to their ship they discover that the automated systems have gone haywire with years of solitude and soon they have to fight between reality, fantasy and their own pasts to make it out alive.

    The second short, Stink Bomb, is a comedic yet sinister romp that deals with the possibility of biological weapons falling into the wrong hands. A young assistant at a bio research facility accidentally ingests a top secret military bio weapon thinking it was a cold remedy. He passes out to wake up the next day still at work, finding everyone in the facility dead. After calling an ambulance he realizes he took the wrong pill and quickly calls the government alerting them to the problem as he heads out on his own to Tokyo to meet with them. Unknown to him, the effects of the weapon emanate from his body and as he recklessly travels to Tokyo he endangers millions of people’s lives. The power of the weapon increases with his stress and as the military tries to capture him his stress level increases exponentially.

    The third story, Cannon Fodder, is a stylized and socially critical adventure that takes place in a 1984 type world. In a city that is always at war with an unknown and distant enemy country the business of the day is operating the large cannons that dot the cityscape. One way or another the resident's of the city work in jobs relating to the cannons and their operations. Our story follows one lower class family in a day of their life, the father works on a cannon loading crew, the mother works at a munitions factory and the son goes to school to learn the finer points of operating the cannon. As we progress through the day we see the realities of the underclass grunts coinciding with the son’s childlike fantasies of the magnificence of operating the towering behemoths. The citizens don’t really know why they are fighting or who they are fighting, in the end of the day they are safe and sound, their job is done and they live to see another day of the same thing.

    Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira, Steam Boy) is the overlying name behind the movie. Magnetic Rose is based on a manga of his.  He wrote and directed Cannon Fodder and produced the entire movie. Satoshi Kon (Paprika, Perfect Blue) wrote the script for Magnetic Rose which was directed by noted music video director Morimoto Koji. Stink Bomb was written by Otomo and directed by Okamura Tensai (Wolfs Rain).

    Each story is unique and different in scope and message. Out of all of them Stink Bomb is my favorite, for its comedic value alone. Magnetic Rose is beautiful and haunting while Cannon Fodder is very unique. I enjoy this movie and have since I first viewed it in the mid 90’s. Even with its aged it is still a good film. The animation isn’t of the highest quality compared to today’s standards but it is still quality none the less. The soundtrack is highly entertaining and well done, with each sequence having diverging styles. Most people will find something to enjoy from the movie. It took a long time for it to be released in America and is currently a little hard to track down. It is one of the gems of the industry and deserves a spot on every collector and fans shelf.

X the movie

X the movie, is the feature length adaption of the manga by the same name from the ladies of CLAMP. This acclaimed supernatural bishonen story was also redone as a 26 episode TV series. Seeing, in my opinion, the TV series was a pile of garbage, we will ignore its existence and only talk about the movie.

    We find Tokyo at the turn of the century and on the brink of an epic supernatural battle that will decide the worlds' fate. Hidden in the shadows exist two forces, the Dragons of Earth and the Dragons of Heaven. Each group has its own vision of the future of the world and the power to make their vision true. The members that make up these groups gather in Tokyo as the final battle is about to begin. With them, comes the one person who will decide the winner and the loser of the battle, Kamui. According to the mystics of both groups Kamui will return to his home of Tokyo and join with one of the forces, thus causing his equal, another Kamui, to join the other force. Both Kamui will fight to the death to determine the winner and the fate of the world.

    Kamui returns to Tokyo, unaware of the plots around him, after the bizarre death of his mother who died while giving birth to a mystical sword. He returns to find answers and to reclaim something of his lost childhood happiness. Instead of finding peace he is involved in the struggle between opposing ideals. The Dragons of Heaven see humanity as needing their guidance and careful tutelage to progress to greater things. They strive to protect mankind from the shadows while it continues on its course. The Dragons of Earth see humanity as blight on the planet and wish to return the world to the natural order of things. Kamui inadvertently drags his childhood friends, Fuma and Kotori, into the battle as he tries to reconnect with them. The Dragons of Heaven quickly bring Kamui into their fold and introduce him to their leader, the blind prophet Kanoe who tells him about the unfolding events. With all of their convincing and pleading Kamui is resistant to join either force and chooses to distance himself from the struggle. Fate proves otherwise and he can not escape making a choice. When Kotori is kidnapped and Fuma is approached by the Dragons of Earth, Kamui can no longer sit idly by and watch the world collapse around him. As time runs out he must accept his fate and help to choose what will happen to mankind.

    This is a CLAMP series true and through. It also has not aged well, it came out in 1996. It integrated some CG that looks childish and low quality with today’s standards. Before my first viewing of this movie a man I ran into told me above anything else the movie was eye candy, and at the time, 1997, it was true. The characters fit the CLAMP bill, impossibly skinny waists, long limbs and large eyes. Most of the male characters are just as feminine as the female characters. Poor artwork aside this is one of CLAMP’s best works. It is by far the most depressing and twisted story they have come up with. I prefer the movie over the TV series for the fact that it is more bleak. I love stories that don’t end happily and this one is one of the top on the list. For a number of years this movie was my number one favorite anime movie because it was so dark. It may not be anything new, hell Evangelion had the same basic premise, but it is delivered so well that it stands out among the rest that are similar. I think it only should have been a movie even though the manga started running before the movie was made. It is nice, compact and tidy with little room for anything else. The manga/TV series flesh out the back ground of the characters and how they all gathered and what motivates them, which I think that just lends to watering the story down. The manga/TV series also adds more to the events dealing with the main struggle, which I also think waters the story down. Unlike many titles I greatly enjoy, this one was perfect as an hour and a half package of doom and misery. For a taste of the darker side of CLAMP, if for some ungodly reason you have never seen this movie, please do. Otherwise watch it again and remember where they first showed the ruthlessness they played with in Code Geass.

Ghost Hunt

Ghost Hunt is a 25 episode horror series based on the manga by the same name which is based off of a series of light novels by the same name that aired on TV in Japan in 2006 and 2007.

    This shojo horror series follows a small group of paranormal investigators as they solve a number of cases involving haunting. The main characters are; high school student Mai Taniyama who has latched onto high school student Kazuya Shibuya and his paranormal investigation company.  Kazuya’s company SPR utilizes technology to observe and prove/disprove the existence of paranormal activities. At first Mai elects to stand in for Kazuya’s assistant after she injures him, but once he returns she continues to aid the company, mostly due to her attraction to Kazuya. As she spends more time working with the investigators on the various cases she begins to understand the world they live in and believe in peoples abilities to interact with the super natural.

    The series is split into 8 separate chapters. Each chapter is a multi-episode investigation story. The different chapters have nothing in common with each other but they will sometimes reference an event from an earlier chapter. Ultimately you only need to watch the first chapter first, and then the rest can be viewed in any order. The first chapter introduces all of the main characters and brings Mai together with them for the first time. All of the chapters involve the group of investigators solving cases of haunting's, from the ghost of a lost child to a haunted school.

    This is single-handedly the creepiest anime I have ever seen. Even though its intended audience is teenage girls, this show is entertaining for people of all ages. I would suggest a mature audience due to some of the subject matter. The more frightening story would be the second one where the team investigates a possible possession of a young girl in her house. Even though it is just a cartoon the use of atmosphere, psychology and sound effects matches that of any great live action horror film. I was very creeped out and a bit disturbed during part of the story, as was a friend of mine. Once that happened our respect for the show increased greatly. 

    Initially, with the first few episodes, the series seemed a waste of time. It seemed that it was going to be yet another story dealing with a motley yet lovable crew of teenage ghost busters. I decided to give the series a customary 5 episode test run and was glad I did. The first story wrapped up and did little to impress us as it was little more than an introduction of the cast. The second chapter started and we were drawn in by the end of it's first episode.

    While there is the ever present love story between Mai and Kazuya, the stereotypical cast of characters (too cool monk, blond priest, creepy medium) and a propensity for odd ball antics, the series as a whole is very entertaining and creepy. As it progresses each chapter seems to become darker in subject matter, such as one dealing with a man who would kidnap and torture/murder people because he thought he could live forever. It isn’t original by any stretch of the word, but it is well done and enjoyable. The characters, while type cast are enjoyable. There’s something to be said for a cartoon that can scare you. Even though the series is initially aimed at the shojo crowd I wouldn’t leave it to them exclusively. Fans of Blood, Jigoku Shojo or Monster would enjoy this series as well as fans of plain mysteries and ghost stories.

Puni Puni Poemi

Puni Puni Poemi is a 2 part OAV set that takes place in an alternate version of the world found in Excel Saga both of which are created by Shinichi Watanabe a.k.a. Nabeshin. While the stories take place in the same universe they are not really related.

    Poemi Watanabe is an energetic and optimistic grade school student who dashes her dreams of being a voice actress to become a magical girl after her ‘parents’ are killed by a mysterious alien invader. She is taken in by her classmates’ family and with their help she finds the strength to move beyond her tragic loses to defend the world from the aliens’ malicious plot.

    This is single handedly the most insane anime ever created and it is unlikely that there will ever be one to top it. The entire thing moves at an astounding clip, like a chipmunk hopped up on meth. The pace is initiated by the hyperactive Poemi and her lighting quick dialogue. Poemi also provides much of the commentary and narration of the story. The cast of characters are just as bizarre and frantic as the heroine. Her classmate and secret admirer, Futaba, convinces Poemi to stay with her large, all female, family who are also magical girls. Her father is/was Nabeshin, the films director and she refers to him as director instead of father. The aliens…well let’s just say they don’t wear pants. There is an incredibly amount of sexuality in the show, although not hentai it can be very suggestive. The entire purpose of the show is deep satire against the magical girl genre, otaku and the industry as a whole.

    This OAV set is funny, one of the funniest anime I have ever seen. It is brain warpingly insane. The pace, plot and random changes in logic are breath taking to say the least. After the first time watching it my head hurt and I questioned my own sanity. While it is entertaining it isn’t any great work of literary or artistic merit. The animation is low quality and childish and the story makes no sense at times. All that just adds to the charm of the show. It takes a special kind of person to enjoy this one and if you like Excel Saga you will love this can of oddity. The best way to explain it to someone who has seen Excel Saga is to take all of the really insane moments of the entire series and cram it into 50 or so minutes of animated chaos. This show is not for the faint of heart or the young, as some of the subject matter is sexually mature and the rapid fire delivery has to be damaging to delicate and still developing psyches. Thankfully the series was brought over to America and is readily available on DVD. I never watched the dub so I don’t know how that turned out but I can only guess at its poor quality.

New Kimagure Orange Road: Summer's Beginning

New Kimagure Orange Road: Summer’s Beginning (新きまぐれオレンジ☆ロード ～ そして、あの夏のはじまり) is the final chapter of the KOR supernatural romance franchise based on the manga by Matsumoto Izumi.  The movie was released in Japan in 1996 and puts the series to rest.

    Taking place a number of years after the series we find the protagonist, Kyosuke Kasuga, a college student. He had finally selected Madoka over Hikaru and is pursuing a career as a photographer. Madoka is going to school for music while Hikaru has gone to America for theater to get away from the pain of losing out on Kyosuke’s love. On his way to catch a train to school, Kyosuke runs across the street as the light changes and is struck by a car, putting him in a coma. In the accident his subconscious is sent 3 years into the future. As he wanders around the future version of his home he discovers that his future self is missing in Bosnia. He had gone to cover the war and was involved in an explosion. Once his grandfather realizes that he has come into the future he knows that the future version of him is stuck in time.

    In order to set everything the way it should be, to bring the future Kyosuke back from oblivion and return the other to his time, they must rely on their family abilities. At the same time Kyosuke yearns to make contact with the only person he thinks can help him, Madoka. In trying to find her he discovers that his future self is married to her. Before he can connect with her though he runs into the future Hikaru, who is visiting Japan to audition for a play. Hikaru misinterprets what is going on with Kyosuke and see’s this as an opportunity to be with him over Madoka. Kyosuke must push his abilities to the limits in order to bring back his future self all while trying to decide between Madoka and Hikaru again. What damage will he cause in both times and relationships before he can return home?

    It is a bit odd that the first thing I had ever seen of the KOR series was this movie, the one that put a final ending on the story. I had originally watched it on the Sci-Fi channel in the late 90’s during one of their anime weeks and instantly fell in love with it. I knew a little bit of the background with the story beforehand so I wasn’t really a fish out of water in context to the movie. The animation from this movie is a world beyond that found in the series, but by today’s standards it isn’t very detailed or high quality.

    What is a driving force behind this movie is the story its self and the character interactions. The story gives just enough background about the 3 main characters that you don’t necessarily need to have any experience with the series to understand the characters motivations. The characters are likable, even though you want to hit Kyosuke for being a knob through out.  The story makes you think about what it would be like in a similar situation. How would you react after seeing what your life would be like in 3 years or 5 or 10? In all the movie is very nice, easy going, and comfortable. It puts a very nice end to this interesting romance. It’s just a shame that more stories don’t follow suit.

    If you are a fan of the KOR series and have not seen this movie it is highly recommended, if you are a fan of such series as Suzuka, Maison Ikkoku, Touch or Marmalade Boy you will enjoy this movie and the series, although if you fret over ruining the series’ ending don’t watch this movie first.

Colorful

Colorful is a 16 episode mini sketch comedy show that aired on TV in Japan in 1999 that is based on the manga of the same name.

    The best way to sum up this oddball sketch comedy series is by saying it shows men behaving badly and receiving divine intervention for doing so. This quirky and perverted series deals with male perversion and the lengths men go through to look down a girls shirt or see some panties. While there is no central plot or central characters there are a number of reoccurring characters through out the show. Among the cast of odd balls are two college students, a perverted high school gym teacher and an expatriate looking for the perfect ‘upside down Mt. Fuji’. The series resembles to some degree and flows much like the old MTV show Liquid Television, with the exception that everything in Colorful is by the same people and deals with innocent male perversion. Each episode is made of a number of various length shorts. Between each sort are odd avant-garde intermissions. Animation quality in the series changes at will from finely detailed to childish. Standard effect techniques are employed and a vast knowledge of Japan is not needed to understand the series. While everything takes place in Japan perversion is universal in modern society.

    This short, each episode tops in at around six minutes, quirky and insane series is easily enjoyable and relatable if your male. The animation is somewhat high quality for the time period, which tended to be a low point in quality, but it’s nothing compared to today’s standards. With how short it takes to go through the series I can’t find much to complain about aside from the disappointing final episode, which wasn’t really funny and actually pretty stupid. Aside from that there are many memorable moments for this show. The length is just right if you are watching the entire thing in one go, it doesn’t really lag too much and you look forward to the next bizarre vignette. One thing I can say is I don’t see a point for there to be more of this show. You can only run the same cleavage glimpsing scenarios so many times before it becomes dry and stale. The creators did well to keep it the way they did, with the exception of the abysmal final episode. So if you are a fan of such shows as Golden Boy, Today in Class 5-2 or Gyagu Manga Biyori this show will be right up your alley.

Golden Boy

Golden Boy is a 6 episode comedy OAV set from the mid 90’s based on the manga by the same name. It was released commercially in the US by AD Vision in both dub and sub formats.

    Kintaro Oe dropped out of college right before graduation. He decided at the last moment he didn’t want to be a lawyer and instead turned his eye towards the life of a freeter. His occupation would be that of the wandering temporary worker, traveling across Japan on his trusted bike, picking up odd jobs. His entire purpose for making this drastic career change is to experience life to its fullest.

    Our introduction to Kintaro is as he is on his way to his next job, that of a computer programming intern. He is run off of the road by a woman driving an exotic sports car. The woman throws a wad of cash at him for any damages that might have been done then speeds off. He heads off to fix his bike at a local bike shop and finds the owner being harassed by yakuza thugs. He offers the shop owner with the money the woman gave him to help with his yakuza problem and heads on his way to the job. Upon arrival he finds the business has hired only beautiful women and the president, his new boss, is the crazy woman who ran him off of the road. His perceived idiocy, lack of experience in programming and inherent perversion causes the president to deny his hiring. He then pleads his case and she instead turns him into the office lackey. During the course of his servitude he learns the basics of programming but one night as he is cleaning late he shuts down the mainframe. The president has been working late and finds he has erased month’s worth of work that is due the next week, she immediately fires him. As the week progresses the entire office puts in all-nighters to recreate what Kintaro inadvertently destroyed.  Just before their deadline he leaves a disk for them at the lobby. When the president opens the program he singlehandedly built, she frantically leaves to search for him, to bring him back to the company and give him the respect his abilities deserve. Kintaro on the other hand is happily on his way to the next town and next job experience.

    Kintaro continues on his adventures, stopping into a new town, working a unique job then leaving again for the next job before his employers realize how special and talented he is. He continues to make the most of his experiences and keeps a positive outlook on everything, selflessly helping everyone he can, even if they don’t realize his good intentions right away. Eventually he has a large cast of women after him to apologize for treating him like garbage and to bring him back to work for them

    You may be asking your self how this series is considered a comedy when it seems to be serious from my brief synopsis. In fact it is an incredibly infectious and perverted comedy. Kintaro is one of the worlds biggest closet perverts who has a penchant for toilet fetishes and bondage. All of the women he deals with are well endowed and sexually charged. The original boss from the computer programming firm wears revealing and somewhat impossible clothing. Kintaro is both frightened of her and lusting after her, fantasizing about being her sex slave. The comedy is all in Kintaro’s odd ball reactions to everything about him. His perversion, his sincere want to help everyone and his ability to overcome any odds. When it comes to pure comedy this show is best watched in English if you are a native English speaker. While the dub job leaves something to be desired it isn’t bad. The reason it is suggested to watch it in English is for the idea that you can pick up on the vocal nuances that appear in English. There are similar nuances in Japanese but unless you are very familiar with how they work and what they represent you will miss a portion of the comedy. So much of the humor is with Kintaro’s reactions. While the Japanese is good, most people won’t feel the full effect in a foreign language. One thing that is entertaining to do with the dub, which was done by AD Vision, is to compare the voice actors in Neon Genesis Evangelion as the dubs were made in the same time period, utilizing the same in-house talent.

    Golden Boy is perverted, adolescent comedy. I say adolescent in the fact that its perverted humor dealing with bra sizes, toilets and bouncing breasts. Aside from all of this the show is fun to watch and will leave you with aching sides. The only other series that made me laugh as hard was Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge. The animation is nice for the time, hand drawn, nicely detailed for the mid 90’s and a good color pallet. The music is forgettable and the opening theme sounds like something out of some galge. All in all this 6 episode OAV set is worth watching if you enjoy stupid comedy. Kintaro is an easily likable goofball pervert who is just naive enough to survive anything thrown at him. The DVD is hard to find but does exist. The manga is even harder to find as it has never been licensed in America. The OAV’s cover 5 stories form the first tankobon with the 6^th episode being wholly original. 

Tokyo Marble Chocolate

In late 2007 Production I.G. released a 2 episode OAV set titled Tokyo Marble Chocolate that tells the tale of two awkward lovers and how they come to terms with their problems.

    Each episode follows the exact same time frame. The first, Mata Aimasho, is from the narrative perspective of Chizuru, the girlfriend. The second, Zenryoku Shonen, is from the narrative perspective of Yudai, the boyfriend. Chizuru and Yudai have had horrible relationships in the past, causing each of them to think that they are forever doomed to misery and failure in love. Chizuru has determined to break up with Yudai to save herself any more heart ache and to move on with her solitary existence. Yudai is trying to muster his confidence and explain to Chizuru his true feelings. They agree to meet for dinner. Both plan to exchange gifts, unknown to the other. Yudai’s gift is a way to help explain his love, Chizuru’s is a gift of parting. Upon their meeting Yudai’s gift to Chizuru, a miniature donkey, wreaks havoc and causes Chizuru to chase after it while Yudai has stepped away from the table. The wild donkey takes her on an adventure through town that causes her to loose her cell phone and the parting present. The donkey, smarter than either of the adults, knows where the present has ended up and helps to protect Chizuru from any perceived threats.

    Yudai on the other hand goes searching for Chizuru, the donkey and her phone. The present was supposed to be a bunny but there was a mistake at the pet store. Upon calling her phone Yudai discovers that a strange man has found it and is meeting up with Chizuru to return it. After hours of scouring the city for his girlfriend and the donkey, he returns to his own home to find an old fling needing a place to stay after a fight with her boyfriend.

    Will these completely compatible yet completely awkward people come to the realization that they are what the other needs or will misunderstandings and unspoken feelings drive them apart into loneliness and unneeded solitude?

    This is a quaint and cute story that has a total run time of about an hour. The animation is simplistic and actually reminded me of the old anime The Adventures of the Little Prince for some reason. The piece was created wholly by Production I.G. staff and is not based on any other source material. The timeline of the story is about 24 hours and as stated above each episode follows the same events but from the different perspectives of the main characters. Aside form the main characters, there are less then a handful of supporting characters that play minor roles. There is really no in depth development for any of the characters but you get a good sense of Yudai and Chizuru as the series shows their personalities and the troubles they bring. From beginning to end it is satisfying and while it would be nice to see more of the characters, which are a bit funny, there is no need for anymore of this story to be made. This is a nice and low key romance story with a bit of madcap comedy. If you like romances this is a nice little story to watch that won’t take too much time and will leave a warm feeling in your heart.

UPDATE: It appears that an English subtitle of the series exists, perhaps on the Japanese DVD, but does not seem to have been licensed or officially released in North America.

 

Hyakko

Hyakko (ヒャッコ) is a 13 episode slice of life comedy based on the manga of the same name by Kato Haruaki.  It ran on TV in Japan over the fall of 2008.

    The story follows four first year high school students, Ayumi Nonomura, Torako Kageyama, Tatsuki Iizuki and Suzume Saotome. They all attend high school at the prestigious private Kamizono Academy. The series and friendships start out as we find timid and dimwitted Ayumi as she finds herself lost on the sprawled academy complex. Wandering around, trying to find her homeroom on her first day, the first person she runs into is Tatsuki. This snobbish child of privilege has attended the academy since grade school but finds herself lost as well. Unwilling to admit she doesn’t know where she is going; Ayumi, none the less, follows her. As they struggle to make contact with other human beings let alone find their classroom, they are interrupted by the high spirited and spunky Torako jumping out of a 2^nd story window, followed closely by quiet and bizarre Suzume. Torako and Suzume, childhood friends, are also first year students trying to find their homeroom. Torako, having an alpha personality, takes the lead and decides they will find their way together.

    After what seems like hours of wandering around they have found neither another human being nor a way to get into any of the buildings. In a last resort Torako picks up a brick to throw through a window. Tatsuki struggles with her resulting in the brick going through the window just as a member of the faculty happens to stroll by. After initially fleeing the scene, Torako returns, cold cocks the teacher and grabs Ayumi and Tatsuki to make their break. They find their homeroom by the end of the day only to discover the teacher they assaulted is their homeroom teacher. After a severe scolding the four are released to go home for the day and Torako suggests they should all be friends.

    From there they band together, some more willing then others, and go about doing things every Japanese high school student does, like trying out for after school clubs and attending art class. As they spend more time together they begin to realize that everyone else in their class has a bizarre and unique personality and soon they are joining in on the high jinks as well.

    This would be about an average to sub par in the slice of 'school life that revolves around a group of girl’s' type series. While the characters are memorable and entertaining it isn’t anything new. All of the stereotypes and situations have been done before…it’s all just old hat for an increasingly crowded field. That isn’t to say I did not enjoy the series. It was funny, the characters were quirky and the art was decent. The most entertaining part of the series was their homeroom teacher and his over the top reactions. Torako is one of the more enjoyable hyperactive idiot characters. Where her stereotype is usually ignorant and offensive about it, such as Tomo from Azumanga Daioh, Torako is the eternal optimist and can’t seem to accept anyone not having fun or enjoying her company.  

    The episodes and show in its entirety doesn’t do much more than introduce a large cast of odd ball characters and show them doing random things in school. Almost all of the series takes place with in the school, with little to nothing shown with the characters lives outside of school. In fact there are only a handful of adults that are shown in the series. While the writing is good and the comedy is entertaining, it is the usual fare, some perverted, some screw ball situational, etc. You have the girl who looks like the girl from The Ring, you have the large breasted bimbo, you have the pervert, you have the chick who speaks Kansai-ben, you have the science geek, a few tsundere and a few delinquents. The saving grace for the series is its length; with only 13 episodes devoted to it you aren’t wasting a lot of time ingesting it.

    So if you are a fan of such slice of school life comedies as; Azumanga Daioh, Ichigo Mashimaro, Lucky Star or Sketchbook then you can enjoy this series, just don’t expect it to be your number one series of all time, or maybe even that year.  The series was released in North America on DVD by Right Stuf and is streaming on Crunchyroll.

First Look at the New Titles for the Winter of 2009

As January provides new series to fill in the empty spaces left by half season shows, there are a number of new titles premiering this month.

A year after the 2^nd season started we have the third series in the Minami-ke franchise, Minami-ke Okaeri. The story continues the mundane adventures of the 3 orphaned Minami sisters and their cast of bizarre friends. From the first episode of the new series it seems to have returned to the sketch format from the first series as opposed to an episodic format found in the second series. As I have stated previously the series was more enjoyable if each installment was compromised of a number of little scenarios that didn’t relatively relate to each other, and Okaeri has provided that once again. Not that the second season was bad, with each episode dealing with one main plot, it just didn’t flow as smoothly as the first season.

The disappointing thing I have found so far with the new series is the artwork. The attention to detail has gone down noticeably in the characters and the backgrounds. The characters have grown older and it’s noticeable, but their faces particularly have changed significantly. Where before they had soft rounded chins they now have pointy chins and all of the female characters have two little hair wisps that frame into their cheeks, it’s actually kind of distracting.

Where the past series had finely detailed facial and hair features with the coloring in the hair doing some funky gradual shading, the new series is pretty flat with the hair and faces. The backgrounds seem devoid of life as well compared to before. The most concerting thing about these noticeable changes is the fact that the character designer for Okaeri is the same character designer from Okawari. So it’s anyone’s guess as to why the change, perhaps just to help show that the characters have all aged. That still does not explain the lack of detail in comparison. Regardless of this picky little problem the series is entertaining as always. I enjoyed the first episode of Okaeri more than any of the episodes of Okawari, which might be due to the segmented way it was presented. I’m happy to have more adventure of the Minami sisters regardless of the quality of the artwork.

Asu no Yoichi is a brand new series that doesn’t know whether it wants to be a samurai show, a harem show or a preteen shonen adventure. The story deals with anachronistic Yoichi, who has been raised from birth in a secluded mountain by his strange father in the ways of their samurai family. At the ripe age of 17 Yoichi’s father decides that there is nothing more he can teach his son and arranges to send him to train at a sister dojo in the city. This will be Yoichi’s first time away from his mountain home but he agrees eagerly in order to improve his sword skills. Yoichi has been raised since birth as a samurai, in manners, skills, speech and dress. He looks like he came directly from the 1700’s. He knows of the world outside of his home but has never visited it or been explained about modern society.

The sister dojo is located in the city and is manned by 4, apparently, orphaned sisters. They are normal, modern people and are unsure as to what their guest will be like, considering that they were notified of his impending arrival via an arrow with a message attached to it. The sisters head off to a local shopping center, which was chosen as the meeting place. Yoichi on the other hand has caused trouble for himself already upon arriving at the city. A thug bumps starts harassing him and Yoichi quickly dispatches him with his boken (wooden practice katana) causing him to be arrested by a police officer. While being questioned at the koban (neighborhood police station) Yoichi excuses himself from the cops because of his meeting with the people who run the sister dojo. Once at the mall he becomes even more disoriented. When a purse snatcher causes a commotion he springs into action, defying the security guards and tracks the fleet footed thief through out the mall. Before he catches him he causes quite a commotion, damages some stuff, breaks into a girl in a changing room, accidentally fondles her, ends up face first in another girls panties at a book store and generally causes alarm by his actions.

After leaving the thief for the authorities he again resumes his search for the people eh is meeting. He finds a lost young girl and offers to help her find her sister. The girl points her out and he swings from the ceiling down to her like Tarzan. Security notices this and tries to apprehend him, when he accidentally falls out of the building and onto a train. Riding the train back to the mall he is about to give up and return to his mountain when the sister of the little girl asks if he is Yoichi and explains that she has been waiting for him. She takes him to the dojo where he is reintroduced to the little lost girl, the girl he molested and the girl whose panties he buried his face in. He is now at his new home.

Ok, so that is petty much the first episode in a large nut shell. Here are my biggest problems with this series. The four sisters fit every single stereotypical moe fanservice role possible. The oldest has a massive and un-Japanese bust, wears aprons everywhere and has a giant ornate bow in her long flowing oddly colored hair. The next in line, the apparent tsundere sister, wears cosplay ripe outfits. The third sister has a large and present ahoge that looks like a bugs’ antenna, sports glasses and cosplay ripe clothing. The fourth and youngest fits the classic innocent scared little sister role, quite and timid. So just to start out with these 4 classical stereotypical fan service characters puts a huge strike against the series for me. Then to have Yoichi in atypical, played out ecchi scenarios was even more annoying. To top it all off, when he helps the youngest sister look for the oldest one he asks her what is noticeable about her appearance. The sister states she has a giant chest. From that point he scans a number of large breasted women in the crown and comments on each of them before finding the target chest. If it weren’t for the horribly bad ecchi comedy, the glaring and prominent harem story this might be a mildly entertaining anime. Aside form all of that it also suffers from shonen action tendencies as Yoichi is a master swordsman of his family school and has a plethora of long named distinctive attacks that rely more on his spiritual (or whatever) power then actually hitting the target with his sword it’s self. His goal of coming to the city is also to grow stronger meaning training and possibly fighting a slew of tough opponents. In fact the only thing that would make this show interesting is the fish out of water aspect of it. To see this kid, who has been raised like it’s the 1700’s have to adjust to the 21^st century. Based upon the horrible plot devices and creative writing so far I can’t see that aspect of the story being very riveting of entertaining, instead they will pull out old tricks like the kid having to cope with coed gym class and bloomers or how to deal with a TV. The series already had an Elf moment when Yoichi had his first escalator encounter. I might watch episode 2, just to see how horrible his introduction to school life goes, but I won’t watch past that. This series has its target audience, but even some of them might see this as going too far.

Michiko to Hatchin is actually a hold over from the fall season that I have finally gotten around to watching the first episode of. This stylish and hip series follows an orphaned girl and the escaped convict who rescued her from abusive foster parents on some unknown adventure through Brasil. Hanna is a young girl who was graciously brought off of the rough streets by a half Japanese minister and his family. The man of God is not however a man of virtue. He is as corrupt and manipulative as the cruel world around them. Hanna is brought into a reverse Cinderella life as she is the outsider that is being tormented relentlessly by the priests’ wife and two children. The wife sets Hanna up for her myriad abuses and the children deliver them. In one scene the boy is riding her like a horse while the girl is threatening to burn her with a hot iron. The priest however that the time of their plaything may be short as a mysterious woman named Michiko has broken out of a maximum security prison for some unknown reason. The priest knows, again unknown as of yet, that this wild woman will be coming straight for Hanna, there is a possibility that she is her mother. As predicted Michiko arrives at the house in a grand spectacle. She crashes through the window on a scooter to land on the kitchen table in the middle of breakfast. Michiko pinpoints Hanna and offers her the chance to escape from the hell she resides in. With uncertainty she accepts the strangers offer at a chance for freedom and two hit the road, with the authorities in hot pursuit.

This is a very stylized series, the characters designs mimic something you might find in he modern American pulp comic world. They are very non-Anime and the series is a breath of fresh air in the stagnant uninventive world around it. The series takes place in Brasil and depicts it as a desolate and depressing place…from what I know of Brasil the series looks like it would be in Mexico, but whatever, they’ve only really shown one town. What is interesting to note is the flagrant use of Portuguese text throughout the show, which is a nice additive. I have high hopes for this show being interesting, unique and entertaining and can not wait to watch more of it.

Moryo no Hako is another fall season hold over that I actually forgot about. This moody and creepy series begins with a man on a long distance train ride. At some point as he is napping a strange man sits in the bench across from him. The first man wakes up to find his travel companion creepy and mildly insane as he is smiling and talking to himself while hold an elaborately ornate box on his lap. When a strange sound comes from the box the crazy man asks the first man if he heard it too. He then proceeds to open the panels on the front of it revealing a girls head. Its eyes open, look around, focus on the first man and speak the strange sound again to him. From there we move to a story of a school girl in the early 50’s. The girl goes to a private all girls academy and has fallen for the top girl of her class. The top girl ends up becoming friends with the other girl and they spend as much time as they can together. On a moonlit walk she tells her that they are one another and in death one will become the other and so on. The girls’ mother warns her about her friend and tells her to stay away from her; this just drives her further away. On the night the two plan to go on a train ride and spend time at a far away lake for the summer vacation the strange girl is hit by a train and killed. The girl who loved her goes crazy and when the authorities ask if she knew the dead girl she says no, that she is the dead girl.

So the first episode really didn’t give me too much info into the plot of the series so here is a synopsis of it from Anime News Network.

The story follows a series of bizarre murders of schoolgirls who have been dismembered and stuffed into boxes. The private investigator hired by a missing daughter’s mother joins forces with an antique book seller and others to unravel the murder spree.

Needless to say I’m really intrigued with the story, even before I found out the synopsis of the series. Upon reading up on it as well I found out that Clamp has a hand in the character design, which I should have figured. The first thing I noticed was how freaking large the school girls eyes were. I should have known it was a Clamp design. Either way, the series is dark, creepy and macabre so I am definitely intrigued and will continue to watch it.