Production: Six-Part OAV Series
Genre: Fantasy
Description: This is a superbly produced series whose big studio budget is reflected in its exceptional character design and lusterous backgrounds. The story centers around a teenage boy who is transported to a mysterious world and is thrust into a battle between opposing forces grappling for control of "El-Hazard". There are many light-hearted moments in the story, especially due to the fact that the main character is forced to dress as a woman throughout most of the series beacuse of his uncanny resemblance to a missing princess. While Fantasy is not my favorite genre, the characters really won me over. The series is fairly short, but manages to leave the viewer satisfied.
Availability: Commercial
Rating: 8 out of 10
Production: Six-Part OAV Series, Twelve Episode TV Series
Genre: Magical Comedy
Description: This is an utterly charming series about a group of high school students who form a magician's club in their school in order to fight aliens which are attempting to colonize Earth. Sound strange? Well, you'll just have to watch to see how well done this series is. The characters are absolutely loveable and the love "quadrangle" that develops between them provides for not only some humorous moments but some genuinely touching ones as well.
Availability: Commercial
Rating: 9 out of 10
Production: Thirty Episode TV Series
Genre: Drama
Description: One of the most emotionally captivating Anime of all time. It centers around the lives of three girls at a private high school. Lesbianism, suicide, divorce, and other realities of teenage life are dealt with in agonizing realism. You can not help but feel for these characters. The direction is excellent and adds greatly to the feeling of despair that hangs over the series. It is undoubetdly one of the most serious Anime out there, and will likely never be released commercially here in the US because of the frankness with which it depicts difficult topics.
Availability: Fansub
Rating: 9 out of 10
Production: Four-Part OAV, Twenty-Nine Episode TV Series
Genre: Horror
Description: This incredibly popular series revolves around a young vampire whose duty is to rid the world of stray demons that possess humans. As a vampire, however, she must also kill people in order to stay alive. Miyu is a complex character who can seem gentle one moment and sinister the next. The viewer wants to pity her, but at the same time is uneasy because of her seeming indifference to human life. The OAV's are brilliant, dripping with a meloncholy unmatched in Anime. The TV series is somewhat lighter, as Miyu befriends some humans, though the ending is just as macabre. Miyu's companion, Larva, is an exceptionally well designed character, and remains a favorite of Anime fans.
Availability: Commercial
Rating: OAV 9 out of 10
TV 8 out of 10