The Betterman series DOES NOT pretent to be dark. It strives to
be "eerie;" clinging to you like the flu and giving hitting you with it
so bad that you end up demanding more. That's the type of show
Betterman is.
It lures you in with pretty ladies and girls (and a nerdy military
otaku); daring you to dive deep into the darkness with everybody.
Your only source of clues come from the cliched lovely-looking,
eyeglass-wearing scientist. And the cliched pink-haired girl with
warn you, using her "exotic" choice of words, of several dangerous
monsters that will attack you. Your only choice of weapons are
from the outragiously powerful Akamatsu company. And of course,
you have the title "hero" who comes to finish off the monsters...
Betterman is something that gets referred when you look "psychological
thriller" up in an encyclopedia. It messes with your head by
playing mind games; but it leaves you wanting more in order to see this
saga to its end. Highly recommended.
Another piece of work from the expert Kia Asamiya. This OVA
follows the adventures of Compiler and Assembler as their plans to take
over the world have been put on hold. These two ladies from the
inner depths of technology have decided to share a home with two
brothers; the older being an expert at picking up ladies, and the
younger still going to college and shy with girls.
The adventures usually revolve around these four trying not to kill
each other by accident as well as the "Council" sending their henchmen
to try to eliminate our heroines. And then we have the
green-haired lass known as "Interpreter." If you don't mind the
cartoon-esque violence, then this is for you.
A gang of techno-thugs which include two android cat-girls. A
special police force which utilize tanks. A back-story about
air-cleaning science gone totally wrong. And one high-strung
mayor who's in need of her prozac. This is all from the creator
of Ghost In The Shell and Appleseed. At any rate, you'd still
need to run as far away as you can. Because Tank Police is filled
with enough cyberpunk action and plot twists (for its time) to keep you
busy. Recommended; the old and the new versions.
A lot of complaints were made about the idea that AIC is merely milking
their talents dry. With the TV version of El Hazard, they
complained about how fruity the new Ifurita was compared to the old and
cold-hearted version. And these were the same people who didn't
like "that mean lesbian" Fatora. And they didn't like Pioneer for
"putting words in everyone's mouths" in the dub.
But if you go past all the negative garbage that people spew out; then
you'll find a great jewel within this "alternative" story. Most
of the ladies are drawn exoticly and sexily; even though it hadn't been
meant for it. The plot manages to be light despite all the
serious situations. And everything still manages to fall into
place. Even Katsuhiko Jinna (bastard so-and-so and Gihren Zabi
fan he is) manages to play his cards straight as a character.
Motoko Kusanagi is 90% android; her brain is the only humane piece of
humanity left. She's part of an elite force within the government
known as "Section 8." Their job is to capture or eliminate any
super-hackers that commit themselves to the dark side of the future's
technological advances. But then again, as the entity known as
the "Puppet Master" makes the scene, nothing is as it really seems to
be anymore.
If Neon Genesis Evangelion can be known as the highest form of anime
creation during the 90's; GitS can be known as the one of the most
marketable. Despite being so dark and such a
"techno-gibberish-filled sleeper," this is actually one of the best
anime movies I've seen. And with a TV series either planned out
already out; there's hope that the anime world can flock to something
with a lot more well-roundedness and a lot less disgust.
During Mihoshi's "Cop Flashback" episode; Ryoko complained about her
"bringing down God to save the day." And that God came down in
the form as "Pretty Sammy," the magical girl version of Sasami.
Afterwhich we AIC fans get to experience the adventures of Sasami and
her friends, her singing single mother, and her best friend who ends up
becoming her magical antagonist Pixy Misa.
Another mind-numbing masterpiece from the same guys who brung you
Tenchi Muyo. And of course we get to see more of Kiyone; the only
hot babe sane enough to do battle with Mihoshi's sweet stupidity.
And not only does Pretty Sammy fights against Pixy Misa's gift so speak
in another language; she also gets to fight the anime version of Bill
Gates as well as evil Ramia's sudden amnesia.
60 Years after Char's Neo Zeon had been defeated, 30 years after Side
4's Crossbone Vanguard reared its ugly head, another form of antagonism
rises to fight against the Federation. Calling themselvse the
Zanscare Empire / B.E.S.P.A., they're intent on taking over Earth so
they can call it their new home. The only other military force in
the way is the League Militaire; with the youngest Gundam pilot on
record, Usso Ebbing, as the star of the show.
Once again, Yoshiyuki Tomino utilizes his unforgiving powers to tell
the story of of how "war sucks." This is one of the more
hardlined Gundam war shows (next to Zeta Gundam) despite its spit-poor
animation. And the making of the toys behind this series had been
placed into the back burner as Tomino tells his story about young kids,
misguided soldiers, and pretty ladies dying like mayflies.
One thing can be said about AIC... They can't seem to let go of
this "Tenchi Muyo" virus to save their lives. It's apparent when
you watch Ninja Cadets as characters start looking like they were
taking their break from doing other AIC shows like Tenchi and El
Hazard. It's not really a bad thing, in my opinion.
Ninja Cadets is an interesting story about a group of teens training to
be ninjas. Their "final exam" is to go to a conquered empire and
snatch magical scrolls for themselves. But they end up in a fight
with the rivaling veterans, and their mission is to capture a
"princess." Recommended for those who want to see AIC characters
as ninjas.
It's a dating sim. It's a strategy RPG. You get to meet
pretty girls. You get to command these pretty girls and have them
pilot their mecha to fight against demons. In the world of anime,
anything's possible.
Sakura Wars (or which I refer to as "Cherry Warz") is an OVA based on
the first dating / strategy simulation which took Japan by storm.
It featured Ichirou Ougami trying to put his best face forward as he
ends up spending more time punching tickets than punching the lights
out of demons. Okay; the show featured more about the young
ladies and how they interacted with each other. But it was cute
to see how those mini-games get fitted into the OVA.
When Mighty Morphing Power Rangers became an instant hit in the US, I
was one of those guys who followed along with whatever "plot" it had
until I lost interest from all those supposedly "newer" MMPR
shows. And then I found out that they were all merely the
original Japanese shows using people from American shores and stock
fotages.
Shinesman is a mockery of those "sentai/MMPR" shows that everyone's
grown to love, hate, or love to hate. Five people in
different-colored spandex suits that fight monsters... Not since
"Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters From Beverly Hills" had I had the
reason to laugh so loudly. A fun show to watch.
Made before the Mobius TV series and along with the manga; the two
movies are basically the "trials and tribulations of Katsumi
Liquer." As we're introduced to the battle between the AMPD and
the Lucifer Hawks, we also witness Katsumi's pre-transformation from a
woman living her regular life into the frontline soldier with magical
powers at her disposal.
The movies revolve around our heroine, Nami, Kiddy, Lebia, Yuki, and
Rally; as well as the antagonists they do battle with. Another
prized work from the great Kia Asamiya.
The popularity of the four ladies that make up CLAMP manages to take hold of the US through their most hardcore and unedited works. One of them just happens to be X/1999; which tells the tale of an epic battle between the "Dragons of Earth" and the "Dragons of Heaven." Fans of CLAMP are treated to a nifty cross-over with the characters from Tokyo Babylon, Subaru and Seiichirou.
Despite its short length (as a movie) and its number of dead bodies; CLAMP still manages to insert some cliches and humor into it. And most of the characters were able to make themselves more 3-dimensional than 2-dimensional. Hopefully, the TV series will follow the manga and tell us a better tale.
Four ladies with short skirts that name themselves after card symbols
and use their powers to fight bad guys and chess pieces that run
amuck. I hear complaints on how empty this type of show is; when
it's really just good, senseless fun. This is one of the shows
where the infamous Apollo Smile (who the dub VA of Coco Hearts) can be
heard. I'm just glad that this is the era where voice
actors/actresses need to shut up and just voice-act.
Sprites for Genjuro Kibagami are from ActJapan / Mugen Sharp. Samurai Shodown / Spirits is copyrighted to SNK and its affiliates. Everything else is copywrited to their respective, and respected, owners. Beware of dogs with large, bloodied swords.