GAD Guard

If you liked the artsy, exaggerated robots from 'FLCL', you'll enjoy this anime series. It occurs several hundred years into the future, ostensibly, but it just seems like a more cyberpunk version of the world that's gone backwards and forwards with technology and fashion alike. Very attractively rendered and the animation is smooth and professional. This is also another of the new breed of anime that uses jazz themes not just for the opening and closing credits, but the whole show has a jazz feel to it. The main character, Hajiki, is a bike courier who hangs out with his friends in the slums, Night Town, aspiring to make it to Day Town, and above it all drifts the ruling class of Gold Town. But one fateful package crosses Hajiki's lap that changes his life forever.

Gasaraki

Wow, so much happens in this series! It starts out with a bunch of mecha combat robot suits, but then someone's metabolism is being jacked up for performance, and then it's explained that this person has been tasked by the government, in the past, to perform a traditional Japanese dance - the Gasara - to generate enough energy to open a portal to another dimension, perhaps to unleash a demon? Both in the mecha and on the astral plane, however, he is countered by a mysterious woman similarly gifted who seems to have answers to many of his questions...

The production value is high, there's wonderful detail in the military technical support sequences, and interpersonal conflict is established clearly in the first few episodes. While they follow the sophisticated anime tradition of never revealing too much information, letting sentences fraught with meaning simply taper off without completion, the astute viewer is left to figure things out on his own and this is also a rewarding storytelling experience. It's not so obscure or oblique as to lose you for very long, though it is geared to provoke questions in your mind every time the plot twists or a new sentence goes unspoken.

Ghost in the Shell

Knowing very little about anime initially, I took it on my friends' word that this was the ground-breaking epic they made it out to be. GitS is based on a manga series (which you can find in the links below), and it really is a milestone achievement in the realm of animated features. It's suitably dark for my tastes, heavily cyber and all that good stuff, pays attention to interesting detail (like the effect of a gun so powerful it pushes the shooter back), and is rife with philosophical implications about the nature of consciousness and life. You don't get that in American TV, much less animation.

Gokusen

A new female teacher, Yamaguchi Kumiko, is hired to instruct at a boys' school where violence is the norm. The kids are ugly, scary, and supremely disrespectful... if only they knew Yamaguchi-sensei is a daughter of the yakuza.

The artwork in this series is fantastic, it's an interesting subtle style more reminiscent of certain Spanish graphic novel artists; the animation is likewise very smooth and pleasant. The story is deeply grounded in contemporary Japanese culture and has many diverse characters. Some of the humor is absurd, but not too much. The pace is reasonable and the development of the story is engaging. I'm looking forward to enjoying this series!

Golden Boy: Wandering Student

This is one of the first anime I'd ever seen, it having been lent to me by a friend. There's only six episodes of it so it was quick to breeze through, but I loved everything about it. Quick pace, hilarious humor (though some may be offended by the stratified sexual themes - such people tend to overlook the heart behind the message, preferring to be offended), and great animation. Luckily I found a 2-DVD set for sale, though the one time I did hear a dubbed version they didn't do too bad in their selection of voice actors. What's funny is that Kintaro's name actually means "golden boy". That doesn't seem to come up much.

Grave of the Fireflies / Hotaru no Haka

This is probably the saddest, most emotional anime I've ever seen! It's based on the semi-autobiography of Akiyuki Nosaka and recounts his experiences in war-torn Japan. It's not propagandic and self-victimizing, it just tells the story from Japan's perspective and relates the lives of individuals within the context of those events. If anything it's a biting social commentary, as the main character finds little assistance or mercy from his countrymen while trying to support his baby sister. This isn't a series, it's one movie put out by Studio Ghibli. The animation is incredible, lavish and precise; the story is compelling and the voice actors were particularly apt. I'm so glad I couldn't hear this dubbed, I know they would screw up the little girl's voice every time. Animation in the States doesn't place so high a value on voice actors, for some reason...

Gunslinger Girl

Here is another tragic story of anti-heroes and oppressive Systems at odds with human nature. This series focuses on a group of five young girls who have been conditioned with black market cybernetic body parts and intense firearms instruction, including offensive strikes, used as implements for anti-terrorist ploys. Usually. The girls discover their own identities as they confer among themselves, and their "older brothers" (combat partners and personal trainers/supervisors) have to extend their understanding to encompass that of the psychological little girl, as well as wrestle with their introspection as new issues and conflicts arise. The girls' personal stories are unanimously tragic, and the events they find themselves pushed through like pawns are incredibly depressing and pathos-evoking. This is some hard-edged storytelling.

The production value here is excellent as this is a very recent series. The format is in letterbox and this is noteworthy because they actually do something with the blank spaces above and below the screen: being that this takes place in Italy, the screen is trimmed with subtle grey and black tapestry in the style of velvet wallpaper. It's a cunning effect and a remarkable complement to the tragic atmosphere that plays itself out in each episode.

Hanaukyo Maids / Taro Hanaukyo

When young, sikly Taro's mother dies he has to seek out his grandfather; he encounters his grandfather's mansion but the old man has likewise passed away. However, he prepared for his grandson's inevitable arrival and bequeathed unto him a mighty estate of power and opulence, run by an army of diversely skilled and fanatically loyal housemaids. This isn't exactly a coming-of-age epic for Taro since he's allergic to girls, so there's no out-and-out dozen-girl orgies like you might think. Instead Taro has to learn how to be served, and the maids have to adjust to him wanting to pitch in and help with everything as he does not believe it's right for him to sit around and be waited on constantly. Later in the series we encounter a girl from a rival estate whose history is defined by always being one-upped by Taro's scheming grandfather. This girl intends revenge but finds Taro completely unprepared and unaware of his grandfather's ambitions. Hilarity ensues. Why do I like this series? Because the women are sweet and kind and charming, and I like the flirting. Also it's a bizarre and interesting story to me, and I want to see where it goes. I'm completely tuned into the Japanese sense of sweetness and sentimentality, for better or for worse, so I actually do enjoy this series where other people may roll their eyes.

(Kyougoku Natsuhiko's Rumors:) Hundred Stories / Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari

It seems to deal with supernatural horror. The premise is that a novice writer is traveling the countryside to record one hundred stories of the supernatural entering people's everyday lives. I'm sure he anticipates collecting ghost stories from housewives and such, but accidentally stumbles upon a gang of ostensibly malefic entities who seem to enact their own formula of justice upon moral criminals. If foreshadowing is worth anything, he's probably going to trail these guys for most of the 100 stories. (Legend holds that if a person recites a hundred kaidan - stories of the supernatural in everyday life - they too will encounter the supernatural.)

Visually the illustration retains much of the quality of manga, lots of little detailed lines and accents, but most of the images are very dark, lots of shadows, murky watercolored scenery. While I'm usually entertained by Japanese absurdism, I don't get the contrast between the plot of murder and vengeance, and the opening theme music which lyrics are closer to "let's get to fuckin', baby", musing about a woman's breath on a man's ear and all that. Entirely sung in English. The closing credits music had me fooled: I really thought they'd borrowed an old smoky verve jazz number, but no, they just found a Japanese woman with a smoky voice and very little accent to sing about "the moment of love" in verve style. Incredible but, again, nothing to do with the storyline at all. As of this writing (01DEC03) there are only three fansubbed episodes available for download.

InuYasha

This series took me by storm. I've only seen the dubbed version, which means Kagome's voice is ridiculous, but everything about it was spectactular. I love the well-developed context they could create for themselves, the meshing of historical Japan with supernatural influence, and again, I care about the characters! It's about a half-dog-demon working with a girl who has the ability to sense fragments of a magical jewel that imparts all sorts of tremendous powers upon the owner... and more too confusing to bring up now. It's just a spectacular creation, a fascinating story with humor, horror, and plenty of action.

Karakuri Zoushi Ayatsuri Sakon

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien / The Eternity You Long For

It should be apparent at this point that I have a weakness for Japanese high school drama. Is it because the girls are so cute? Is it because they boys are so clueless, at the first major watershed event of their lives? Is it because of all the wonderful little details in cultural differences and the strange similarities, adventitious and innate? Who can say. This series starts off with a shy, timid girl who has a crush on a guy, so her friend befriends a new social circle to form a gateway for the timid girl to get closer to him. But then, wouldn't you know it, the gateway girl starts to develop her own feelings... The artwork is pretty but not remarkable; many of the characters look familiar from other anime, so this series is an evidence of the genre beginning to repeat itself. While I enjoy this show, I wouldn't recommend it unless I knew someone else was also into this kind of thing; it's certainly not a title one would want to use to break in a novice and impress someone.

Kyou Kara Maou

This is the tale of a normal schoolboy transported from his normal, everyday world in Japan to a mystical realm resembling the more opulent side of medieval Europe. Magic, monsters, and class struggle are among many of the new factors Shibuya Yuri (Japanization of the German "Juli", or July) must contend with (not to mention man-boy love), in his new role as the King of Demons! ...What the hell?

Last Exile

In an alternate universe, airborne couriers pilot "Vanships" for deliveries and races. Claus and Ravey are two young pilots who push hard to succeed, both to earn money to upgrade their Vanship as well as to earn prestige among the older pilots. However, a mysterious pilot's dying wish is that they transport a young girl to the dreaded battleship, the Silvanna, garnering for themselves the unwanted attention of some strange and powerful alien threat.

I really enjoy the art-deco feel to the artwork here; the artists romanticize some 1940s aesthetics in terms of fashion, architecture, and military apparel, and predominates the exposition of this story. The animation is smooth and never cheap, the result of higher production values. Last Exile also presents some of the happier meshes between standard animation and CGI. I was engaged in the storyline almost immediately, satisfied with the script and character development. The script is presented more maturely with fewer silly jokes for kids - this joint leans more towards an adult story.

Maburaho

What started out to look like yet another teenage high school drama turned into something much different - it was the levitation and transformation spells that gave it away. Shikimori is a frail young man who can only use magic eight times in his life before he turns to dust, whereas his classmates can all cast spells tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of times. But one day two beautiful women suddenly want his semen, and one wants his head on a platter. What gives? This is a fun, inoffensive little series. The comic violence goes over the top, and there are smatterings of sexual humor throughout, of course. I guess I'll follow this for a while but there are other series I'd rather follow, obviously.

Mahoujin Guruguru

Okay, this one's clear-cut: it's a cute little kids' show. Little kids are the main characters and they're drawn akin to chibi-style. But it also makes funny little videogame references, so it's almost like a spoof of what goes on inside a videogame before the hero picks up a sword and goes off to save a nation - the main character, Nike, absolutely does not want any of this hero business, though that's been his parents' aspiration for him since infancy. To assist him in a quest to vanquish a great evil, he is paired up with Kukuri who can (purportedly) summon objects and monsters - or could, if she had a better memory for magical spells. Hilarity ensues. I think an adult who grew up with games like 'Gauntlet' and 'Zelda' would enjoy the wry humor in this series, though this isn't a title to brag about with your friends.

Mama Is A 4th Grader!

Oldschool animation, I wonder how old this is? And still unlicensed! I watched the first episode and followed the premise: a woman in one part of her life has a baby which is zapped back in time due to a thunderstorm and a TV set; in the childhood of her life (specifically, when she's in 4th grade) the baby appears and she decides to take care of it herself. It also comes with a two-way transmitter that evidently functions through time... The premise was too ridiculous, like someone making up a wacky premise on another sitcom. It's not a hateful series, it's just not captivating to me.

Massugu Ni Ikou / Let's Go Straight

I really liked the artwork, how it leaps between somewhat realistic and extreme cutesy-cartoonish to accentuate emotions. I like it when an anime takes liberties like that. I didn't care for the story itself: it's about a dog's loyalty to his master... mistress, in this case. And she's interested in a boy, so the dog feels threatened and goes through all sorts of adventures to keep them apart. I pretty much got the joke after the first episode and have felt no need to pursue this series, though it's entertaining enough to be listed here.

Mezzo DSA

A spin-off of Mezzo Forte, this series is less "ecchi". Two guys and a girl run around solving crimes, essentially: the girl is young but incredibly sexy, the guys are older and kinda buffoonish but have their own crucial skills to lend, and the crimes are generally of outlandish nature. Within the first three episodes they'd already dealt with ghosts and aliens, and it just ran away with the ball from there.

Animation is smooth and pleasant. The artwork is on the modern side without breaking any new ground, just fashionably modern. The action sequences are great and accent the storyline just fine. All in all I'm really happy with this series, even if I don't have a lot to say about it; it's merely "better than average", it's not mindblowing or anything.

Mizu Iro Jidai / Watercolor Era / The Blue-Green Years

Wow, this is one of the seminal works in the genre of high school romance anime, surely. It's pretty remarkable to watch! Even the title (lit. "water color age" or "aqua age") evokes feelings of nostalgia and bittersweet memories. The theme initiated here hasn't changed much, teenaged rivals out for the same heart. In this case it's young Yuuko who has grown up with her childhood friend, Hiroshi, who only realizes her crush on the boy while probing his heart's contents on behalf of her girlfriend Taka. The irony! Well, this little plot will replay itself many more times in the future after this inspirational series. The art and animation are very oldschool (lots of frozen images as people experience strong emotions or think deeply, etc.) but the plot is realistic and relevant - if a bit too fast-paced - and the characters are treated seriously and respectfully.

Monster

This is a sophisticated drama with a hint of supernatural eeriness to it. The predominant conflict is that of a moral dilemma, and the character who has to wrestle with this is a particularly gifted neurosurgeon. Unfortunately, he's married to a shrewish trophy wife who happens to be the daughter of the director of the hospital. Our hero is merely a pawn for the director, who thinks nothing of pulling the doctor out of operations to place him with patients of greater public prestige. Finally he musters the courage to follow his heart and operate on a little boy, rather than on the mayor of the city (who has promoted substantial financial gifts for various projects in the hospital). However, the boy is afflicted with a tricky gunshot to the head; his parents were both killed immediately, and his sister will only lie in bed and whisper, "Kill... kill..."

The artwork here takes the stylistic expression of traditional anime (sharper eyes for evil characters, rounder features for hapless, unrefined types, etc.), but this only accents the skilled rendering with its own style. The focus here is mainly on realism and it's easy to appreciate the detail in many illustrations. This is definitely not one for little kids: not enough flash-bang-zoom action occurs, the pace is slow and deliberate, and the graphic material is pretty grim. This is great for adults, though, and I'm anxious to see where the series goes.

Naruto

Naruto is one of my favorite series! I have nearly 80 episodes of this show but I watch it with a friend, so she has to come over before I get to see what happens next. Naruto's a prankish badboy who's ostracized from his village because he's being used as a vessel for a demon that attacked the town when he was born. He's training to become the greatest ninja of all so the town will have to acknowledge him as a hero. He has to wrestle with his own temper, his unrequited crush on a girl, his goal to achieve greatness, and the oppressive hatred lavished upon him by the townsfolk and their children. He has a lot to contend with, but he's slowly getting better!

The production quality here varies from episode to episode. The production values necessarily go up when an important plot point is being presented, the fight scenes are much smoother and feature more interesting detail; in-between times, however, there are many frozen scenes with someone's mouth moving or someone thinking very hard or the camera hanging too long with a shot of a door or something... you can tell they're stalling to fill minutes, and it's kind of discouraging. Along the same lines, they do tend to rely on flashback sequences heavily (less of the time it's an individual's history; more of the time it's cuts from previous episodes that become painful to go over again and again). Regardless, I'm a dedicated fan and am tremendously satisfied with the story arc as it unfolds. The characters are well-defined and interesting to remember, it is very easy to care about any of them. As I said, sometimes you're very aware the producers are inserting filler material to pad out the half hour, but when the action strikes it's very strong and relentless and seems to make the waiting period worth it.

Ninja Scroll

Coming Soon...