A-kun and TharzZzy's Anime Review
The Biggest and Most Notable
BTW, if you're wondering where we stand on Dubbed versus Subtitled, it doesn't matter much to us. The first one you hear is the one you'll like the most anyway, because you feel it fits better. The main thing we think about is cost versus having to watch the subtitles. Some people can follow the subtitles fast enough while others can't.
Besides, it doesn't matter much. No matter which you buy, the opening and ending songs will be in Japanese anyway, save for the Fatal Fury saga, Tekken and a few others.
And you can ignore MOST of TharzZzy's opinions. He felt I pretty much said it all.
Anime Ratings: These are our opinions on these Anime. You may object to the ratings given. 0 means don't even bother with it. *** means it's up to you as to whether or not you like it or hate it. ***** means you've gotta see it at least once.
Mixing Codes: If there are two things that conflict, such as Romance and Combat, this means there's a little of both. The proportions may not be fair. When there's something like Combat and Blood, that means the fighting may vary. Some fights may not get as brutal as others.
Main Codes: What's listed under Main is the main theme of the series or at least what we felt was the main theme. The others are varying.
Rating Codes:
[Silly] - There's at least something that'll make us smile. Silly moments what everyone can enjoy. If this is the Main Code, that means that if you don't get or don't like most of the jokes, don't bother seeing the rest of the series. It's probably not your thing.
[WAFF] - You get a Warm And Fuzzy Feeling when you see this movie. WAFF means the stuff that may follow some angsty scenes and it should get you the feeling that everything turns out for the better.
[Angst] - There's some depressing/serious scenes. If this is the Main Code, then there's a lot of angst in the story. Don't expect too many happy moments.
[Combat] - There's conflict in the story. Whether it's purely physical like hand-to-hand fighting or just competing in sports, there's a conflict. If this is the Main Code, then the world is probably surrounding fighting.
[Blood] - Expect some REALLY violent fighting. Weapons will most likely be used to draw blood. Sometimes, it won't be much, but it will be there. If this is the Main Code, it's probably pretty violent all throughout the story.
[Violence] - Ultra-violent stuff here. Those with weak stomaches should NOT watch this. If Main Code, expect some rather excessively violent scenes.
[Romance] - Ah, love. Not for those of iron stomaches. They'll rust. If this is the Main Code, don't expect much of anything else.
[Underwear] - There are a lot of shots of underwear/tight swimwear or people in states of partial dress. They might have torn clothes or it might be that a girl's skirt gets blown up. In some cases, you'll get Crotch Camera, which, depending on your preferences and the gender of the person with Crotch Cam, may make you either get a nosebleed or retch. If this is the Main Code, then get used to the butt-shots and Crotch Cams.
[Nudity] - *blush* Yes, there's probably some topless girls running around or at least you'll see the nude back of a girl.
[Sexual] - *AHEM*, there's some more-than-obvious sexual interactions or more than subtle hints to that angle. It may be cut short before they get going or they might decide to fade out just as it's begun, but there is definitely sexual scenes suggested. If this is the Main Code, then people under the legal age should probably not view this unless it's for a sexual education course. In other words, you can see some positions often found in the Kama Sutra.
[Twisted] - If Twisted is capitalized, then expect sick or perverted things. Example: Tentacle beasts, horny space monsters, ogling of women, strange fluids, etc.
[Bizarre] - Expect the strangest things. Cats turning into coats then back to cats, creatures too bizarre for words, and just unusual/unnatural things. Monsters, demons, and genetical-made freaks are included.
[Sci Fi] - This is either super high-tech stuff or unusual vehicles that would not normally appear on Earth. Aliens also fall into this category. Unless in the Main Code, the world doesn't revolve around this super-tech.
[Magic] - These are usually magical worlds. They may not be heavy in magic, but there's usually at least a spell or a chant. If the Main Code, well, you get the picture. This category also works for anything that involves psionics, spiritual energy or any other form of super-natural attack.
[Religion] - It's usually a presentation of another Religion, most likely one familiar to Japan such as Buddhist, Taoist, Shinto, Christianity, etc. If it's the Main Code, there's stuff within that may be stuff that may be offensive to those who are heavily religious as this will probably present a new form of religion that may contradict yours. Close-minded people beware.
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Neon Genesis Evangelion TV (Dubbed)
Main Code: [Religion][Angst][Bizarre]
Secondary Code: [Violence][Nudity][Sci Fi][Combat][Silly]
A-kun's Review: Ever wonder how the world might turn out? Well, this is one of those really vicious sort of stories about the possible future. When Angels return, some might've thought that this would be a good thing. Others, however, knew the real reason. This series begins the seventeen trials of humanity by pitting humans against the Angels themselves.
This is a rather gory, yet thought-provoking series. They introduce numerous ideals. I found myself wishing the lead character had a bigger spine, though. But then again, seeing as these fourteen year-olds have to pilot psychotic warmachines against giant monsters, it's perfectly understandable that the lead character was at least frightened. Despite all the heavy angst, it's really kinda fun in the first half of the series.
As for the voice actors, I felt they did fairly well for their roles. If you've got a stout stomach, I'd strongly recommend you see this series.
Anime Rating: ****
TharzZzDunN's Review: Eh.
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Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon R (Dubbed)
Main Code: [Romance][Magic]
Secondary Code: [Sci Fi][Bizarre][Combat][Silly][Angst]
A-kun's Review: Laugh all you want, but I feel there's still a story inbetween the silliness. Yeah, I, like many people want to cough up my lunch when I see some of the overly sappy moments, but the series is more drawn out than the manga and a lot more happened.
Of course, it _was_ annoying how just about everything one of the Sailors becomes interested in either was or became a trap, but you have to remember that when you want to lure your enemies into a deadly trap, you have to research what they're doing.
As for the voice actors, I've only seen to the end of Sailor Moon R (the defeat of the Wiseman), so I have no data on the voice actors of the Sailor Moon S if there were any (DiD DiC DuB ThE... er, dub the rest of the series? Anyone know?). But you'll probably notice a vast difference between the voice actress of Usagi in the first ten episodes of the original TV season and the voice actress for the rest of the series. I like the second one more.
Anime Rating: ***
TharzZzDunN's Review: Neato compleato!
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Urusei Yatsura TV and OAV (Subtitled)
Main Code: [Silly][Bizarre][Romance]
Secondary Code: [Sci Fi][WAFF][Underwear][Nudity]
A-kun's Review: This was Rumiko Takahashi's longest running series or at least I _think_ it is. Each tape you rent contains about six to eight episodes and there are more than eighteen tapes if I remember correctly.
Ataru Moroboshi was a normal hormone-driven teenage boy with an obsession over girls. That is, until he was informed that he'd have to save Earth from some very powerful, but very polite, invaders by playing tag with an alien princess named Lum. Ataru thought of course that he could win easily, even though they gave him ten days to try. After all, with his Pervert Powers (tm), he could easily catch any girl, no matter how fast she could run. All he had to do was grab the horns on her head. It wasn't until the first day of Tag that he found out that Lum could fly. Naturally, this wasn't easy for him to compensate for, so after nine days of trying and failing miserably, Ataru's girlfriend, Shinobu, told him that if he won, she'd marry him. Surprised, Ataru finally gets a good idea and takes off Lum's bikini. Lum attempts to get it back, but Ataru slips behind her and grabs her horns, thus saving Earth. Then, he makes the mistake of saying, "Finally I can get married!". Well, Lum thinks this is a proposal to her and accepts, much to Ataru's dismay. Now, Shinobu won't stop throwing things at Ataru, Ataru's *friends* want Lum all to themselves and Ataru has to deal with reluctant new fiancees, crazy rivals, alien fleets, time-travelling devices, mythical monsters, parallel dimensions, Lum's *friends*, bizarre foodstuffs and giant monsters. It sounds a lot like Ranma 1/2, but this series gets crazier and there isn't as much martial arts action.
The voices for the Japanese version are pretty good.
As for the OAVs, these are stories that are outside of the normal continuity, thus, they don't REALLY affect the world. These are just ideas that the artist had for alternate or side stories that couldn't be fit into the normal series. You'll find the stranger tales in these particular OAVs.
Anime Rating: ***
TharzZzDunN's Review: Piyo-Piyo!
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Urusei Yatsura: The Movie 1 - Only You (Subtitled)
Main Code: [Silly][Bizarre][Romance]
Secondary Code: [Sci Fi][WAFF][Underwear]
A-kun's Review: This was the first and ONLY movie to go as Rumiko Takahashi wanted. As such, it's the only one accepted as canon by hardcore fans as they feel that if the directors of the movie don't want to follow her vision, then they shouldn't bother making the movie. Anyway, I saw this one in it's true form and it was pretty good.
I won't spoil the movie. You can go see if for yourself. All of the Urusei Yatsura movies have to be seen to be believed anyway.
Anime Rating: ***
TharzZzDunN's Review: Choco-Zolom!
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Urusei Yatsura: The Movie 2 - Beautiful Dreamer (Dubbed and Subtitled)
Main Code: [Silly][Bizarre][Romance]
Secondary Code: [Sci Fi][WAFF][Underwear]
A-kun's Review: This one was pretty good and ends a lot like most Urusei Yatsura stories. With you thinking that the problem is resolved... until you see something that makes you realize that it's just going to keep going on and on.
Again, no spoilers.
Anime Rating: ***
TharzZzDunN's Review: Urk!
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Urusei Yatsura: The Movie 3 - Remember My Love (Subtitled)
Main Code: [Silly][Bizarre][Romance]
Secondary Code: [Sci Fi][WAFF][Underwear]
A-kun's Review: This was an okay story, but unlike the other Urusei Yatsura movies, this one was focused more on romance than comedy. You find yourself watching the screen intently rather than laughing.
Once again, I won't spoil the movie. Go see it yourself.
Anime Rating: ***
TharzZzDunN's Review: Inflate, use right hand, repeat!
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Ranma 1/2 TV Series (Dubbed)
Main Code: [Combat][Romance][Silly]
Secondary Code: [Underwear][Nudity][Bizarre][WAFF][Magic]
A-kun's Review: Right off the bat, we have a very confused young... uh, aquatransexual. It may not be in your dictionaries, but it's a word.... nowadays anyway. Ranma changes genders due to a curse, however, being an anime male, he somehow gets a lot of fiancees as well as a lot of rivals (it's an anime thing). You quickly develop a disliking for some of the characters, but it can be amusing at times (Martial Arts Tea Ceremony). Ranma and his friends often get into the craziest things, so you might be tempted to watch just to see what sort of strange adventures they'll have next. Oh, and don't be fooled when they call it a Romance-Martial Arts-Sex-Comedy. There's a few scenes of girls in the bathroom, but no actual sex. It's mostly martial arts and comedy with some romance on the side.
Personally, I do like the first TV season, because a LOT of the quality quickly slipped out of this in favor of churning out episodes really fast for the second season on. While some scenes, they did try quite a bit to have high quality, it's rather disgusting by the third TV season how the jaw-line for some characters can change into a 90 degree triangle corner or can disappear altogether, giving the character a frog-esque appearance. If you want to see constant quality, look into the manga. The manga had more of Rumiko Takahashi's personal art and thus was a lot better than the later TV seasons. Plus, if you know what Jusenkyo will do from the manga, the later TV episodes begin to contradict that and vice versa.
As for the voices, I haven't heard the original, but I'd say they did at least a fair job matching up the voices to the personality.
Anime Rating: ***
TharzZzDunN's Review: A dry British comedy revolving around a mysterious ten pound note, and the baby who was wrapped up in it. Alicia Silverstone gives an Oscar-winning performance as Charlton Heston, incidentally her performance as a gladiator was superb! Not to mention all those wacky shower scenes where she kept dropping the soap.
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Ranma 1/2: The Movie - Big Trouble in Nekonron, China (Dubbed)
Main Code: [Combat][Romance][Silly]
Secondary Code: [Underwear][Bizarre][WAFF][Magic]
A-kun's Review: If you know a majority of the main cast, then it's all right to see this movie. You should know all of the characters up to the end of the first season, but not all of the scenes will make sense until after the second or third season. The movie introduces a lot of characters, if briefly. Also, it's advisable to know a majority of the people who are cursed.
I will never spoil the movie. Go see it yourself.
Anime Rating: ***
TharzZzDunN's Review: Kurt Russell finally gets to shine in this Shakespearean adaptation of 'Curious George Pops A Cap In Yo ASS, WORD!' At last a leading lady to play to Kurt's billiant stage presence who doesn't look exactly like Goldie Hawn!
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Ranma 1/2: The Movie 2 (Dubbed)
Main Code: [Combat][Romance][Silly]
Secondary Code: [Underwear][Bizarre][WAFF][Magic]
A-kun's Review: You should have seen most of the second and third seasons before seeing this. Some of the seemingly minor characters in the other movie are given more importance while others are given less. For a guide as to when you should watch this movie, you should at least know who Ukyou Kuonji is and have a general idea of what her relationship is to Ranma.
Shoo. I'm not spoiling it. Go see it yourself.
Anime Rating: ****
TharzZzDunN's Review: Jiggy, Jiggly, Jiggaly-kaboom! This spoof of the previous events of all the other Ranma 1/2 story lines utterly failed to assuage the burning question in this reviewer's mind: What happened to the crab?
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Ranma 1/2: The OAV series (Dubbed)
Main Code: [Combat][Romance][Silly]
Secondary Code: [Underwear][Nudity][Bizarre][WAFF][Magic]
A-kun's Review: If you were wondering when you should see these, it should be after you see the second movie or at the very least the beginning of the third season of the TV series. Otherwise, you'll miss a few things. You don't really NEED the information, but my friends and I were lost when we saw a few new characters. The OAVs assume that you know most of the rest of the series or have seen the manga.
Unlike the TV series, the OAVs always have slightly better animation than the original. Sometimes up to the point of surpassing the quality seen in the movies!
There are, to my knowledge, six OAVs to Ranma 1/2. 'Desperately Seeking Shampoo', 'Akane and her Sisters', 'Like Water for Ranma', 'An Akane To Remember', 'One Flew Over the Kuno's Nest' and 'Faster Kasumi, Kill, Kill'. If you look at them, all of these titles are actually real movie titles that have been altered.
Anime Rating: ****
TharzZzDunN's Review: I liked the jello wrestling best! Ranma-chan _becomes_ the Femi-nazi gym teacher who preys on the nerdy girls from the Biology lab. Two thumbs up for that tender mastication scene between Kasumi and Nabiki!
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Devil Hunter Yohko (Dubbed and Subtitled)
Main Code: [Magic][Bizzare]
Secondary Code: [Silly][Angst][WAFF][Underwear][Nudity][Sexual][Blood]
A-kun's Review: A young sixteen year-old girl by the name of Yohko has two people in her life that she really likes. The first is a boy who she's got the hots for and the second is a senior girl that she envies. However, as fate and destiny and all that garbage decrees, this means something bad is going to happen and real soon. The boy she likes gets kidnapped, the girl she envies becomes her sworn enemy and a good friend of hers gets possessed and manages to seduce her...mostly. Yohko finds out, almost too late, that she's the latest generation of Devil Hunters and until she becomes an official Devil Hunter, she's got to keep herself pure of body and mind. But, fortunately, after she becomes a Devil Hunter, she can sleep around all she wants. Very silly at times, very serious at others. Sort of like how real life works.
I saw this first in Subtitled when we rented it, but when I went to buy it, I made the mistake of grabbing the Dubbed version. Most of the time, there's something to like about both versions. Like a character's line is better or maybe you understand it more. This is one of the few exceptions, I think. I found myself gritting my teeth as the Dubbed Yohko's actress squeaks out a painfully sharp, "GRAMMA!" where as the Subtitled Yohko lets out a relieved, "Obasan!" ("Obasan" means "Grandmother", sillies!). Not to mention quite a few of the speeches sound a lot better in Japanese. I'd heavily recommend the Subtitled version in this case.
Anime Rating: ***
TharzZzDunN's Review: I found the hidden plot revolving around Chiaki to be frightening and painful. The core of which is a young woman's descent into the world of high-power finance, the Shinto Battle Armor Squads, and the chances a young woman will take to seduce an emperor.
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Reviews coming soon: Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Devil Hunter Yohko 2&3, Devil Hunter Yohko 4, Variable Geo, Tenchi Muyo: The OAV, Magical Project S, Hyper Dolls 1 and 2, Night Warriors 1 and 2.
TharzZzDunN's Review: IT STINGS! IT STINGS! IT STINGS! And then you add just a dash of Old Spice! (
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