JULY 11th, '99: NINJA CADTES
It is a cool anime - nothing more to say than that. The problems I had with it were that the tape quality was not the greatest - made by a newer upstart company, the picture quality is not the greatest - not bad enough to skip buying it though. Also, I don't like watching ninja shows where they decide that back in that time period they had giant mecha... I know it may be cool, but I prefer to stick with a bit more reality than that - it was a crude giant used 2 times to destroy a castle, but it still bugged me. Otherwise I loved it - it was funny and very well done. I give it a 9.5 and strongly recommend it.
GALAXY FRAULEIN RETURNS
I had wanted more of this show way back when they released the first 2... It is goofy, but it is also a great show. A young girl who is the "Savior of Light", attending school with her mecha friend (looks normal) - who eats continually. She also has a crush on a beautiful T.V. idol who is a female version of Tuxedo Mask. The show is extremely funny - Yuna Returns actually gets more serious than the others, but retains a high amount of comedy. I enjoyed the series very much and give it a 9, as some may not care for the antics and ultra cute/near bisexual comedy.
MAY 11th, '99: THOSE WHO HUNT ELVES
This is best explained as a pretty average anime. 3 humans have been transported to another world and just before they can get the elven high priestess to translate the spell on to her body (which can then be used to send them back) - she is interupted... the spell breaks into 5 parts across their world. Each missing piece is on the bodies of 5 elven females and it is up to the main characters to find these elves... of course they have to strip them down to find the spell fragment. I saw the english dub of this as a friend had bought it. The dubbing was poor - not the voice acting, but the editing... it all came from the center speaker - while the music and other sound came surround. As far as art - it is pretty good - especially on the elf females - the main characters seem a bit non-descript and some of the enemies are... um... fishmen - in the first episode anyhow. There is plenty of slapstick comedy - I do not see this show ever being serious. Oh, they also appear with a TANK... yup, interesting idea. It isn't going to win ADV any fame, but it is a decent show... I'd rent it first as it may not be what everyone will love. I give it a 5.5
MAR. 15th '99: SABER MARIONETTE J TO X
THIS IS A FANSUB
I love Saber Marionette J, so when I finished watching the OAV tapes and saw a preview for Saber Marionette J 2, I was pretty excited... I hoped that someone would enjoy the series enough to fansub it. Someone did - it is called Saber Marionette J to X, the name worried me - I hoped it wasn't like Tenchi or El Hazard, in that they just alter the story and retell it. They continued it!!! How is it? GREAT!!! There is no "solid" goal yet, but the 2 episodes that are fansubbed were great to watch - I was quite pleased. The artwork took a turn, but not bad. They simplified the character art a bit - kinda "cute looking". It is not bad at all. Everyone still looks like they should. The story still occurs right after the others, so there are no females yet, but it is still being worked on. Lime and Bloodberry get jobs and the Saberdolls move to an apartment of their own, studying society and trying to grow more. I give the show a 10 so far.
PANZER DRAGOON
I saw the english dub by ADVision. It was pretty decent dubbing. At first it seemed like the male voice actor for the lead was a bit stiff at first, but it got better. This was a one-time episode and the only real problem was that it was short. It is a good title: very good, but short. They got right to the point and wasted no time. It could have been longer - two tapes would have been great. A very good title and worth seeing. It follows the first game very well as a story - with a girlfriend added. There are plenty of Computer Rendered ships. Looks real good. I say give it a 9 - especially for fans of the game.
SORCERER HUNTERS
This too was a friend's dub copy watched... ADV... pretty decent for dubbing again. Had no complaints on the voice actors. The show is cool - may seem a bit sexist that the females transform into dominatrixes and the guys stay normal when fighting, but otherwise cool. It's a team of magic users hunting down sorcerers who use majic for evil purposes - protecting society in a late middle ages period. The artwork is great - the intro is really cool. The show is kinda hard to explain - it seems very familiar territory, but still different... like it took many cool ideas from other shows and bundled it to make on series. It is a safe show to buy - no (at least) male should be disappointed with it. It's not sexist really, but it doesn't seem like it would appeal to many females. It is a great show so far and safe to buy if you cannot rent... give it a 9.
DEC. 30th: MY DEAR MARIE
I looked at this one alot - sitting there on the store shelf and thought, "maybe later"... well, it's later. I got home and popped it in and it turns out that this was an excellent show. For a very short-lived title, it was very memorable - you laugh, cry, laugh some more. The story is about your average SHY guy who is basically just short of genius, but not too athletic - he joins a tennis club to be close to a girl he is in love with - being shy, he doesn't approach her - instead he builds an exact duplicate of her!!! This android has more of a mind of her own than our main character thought she would - and the fun begins. She ends up becoming friends with the girl he likes (he says she is his sister) and actually tries to pair them together... sorta - then she begins to think SHE may love him - it later ends rather oddly. The show is extremely funny at times - as well as making you almost want to cry in others... definitely worth seeing. Artwork is great - with kinda big ears, but you get over it quickly. Give it a 9.5, this one should please most anyone.
OCT. 9th: CLAMP SCHOOL
O.K. at first I was not sure about this title - it is from AnimeVillage.com... I never looked it up before and didn't know what I was getting - I knew it was supposed to be popular (at least CLAMP). I even thought by glancing at the cover that the characters were young girls - NO... they are boys - 10 and 11 yr. olds - They are honor students - on the school council. all three have above average skills - and put them to use to protect all women and help them in time of need... it is an excellent show - great artwork - really catchy tunes. There are no bouncing breasts - no blood and guts, no sex, no mecha... What can it offer an American? It may not suit the average American viewer - it is a great title for females, or if you have children who can read. I loved it, but my tastes are like that. Most of the people I know wouldn't - it is too cute - with no bouncing boobs... It has plenty of action - laughs and tearjerker moments - If you are looking for a great title that can be enjoyed by both sexes then this is it. It has a lot of "style" and moral - and like I said, it has excellent artwork to it... I personally give it a 9.5 - I will watch it again and even with a more limited audience, it still gets high rating from me.
SEPT. 13th: BATTLE ATHLETES
Well, if you're reading this - you must want to know a bit about it? This is a Pioneer title; it is about the year 5000 A.D. or so - the universe has come out of deadly warfare and settles things through an Olympics of sort - it has become very popular and becomes part of society - This show deals with young females trying to become "Cosmic Beauty" of this event and attending the University Satellite to improve their athletic as well as scholastic abilities. It is very sport-oriented, all female, and along a "cute, but serious" setting - it has plenty of comedy, but it ends up feeling more goal oriented rather than wacky. The artwork is great and the characters are well-thought... taking some rather traditional types, yet making them enjoyable. The first tape is very long over an hour and a half, but much of the beginning is covering battles and history leading to our situation for the show. It was a good idea to make the first tape this long - it ends at a point where you can begin to look forward to another. This show may not be a huge hit here, but it is good and worth a look. Like I said - if you enjoyed METAL FIGHTER MIKU, you will probably like this as well. Give it an 8.9 it is hard to say for a general public.
AUGUST 23rd: TEKKAMAN BLADE II
This is an excellent anime - I was worried about buying it because of Evangelion being great - I thought it would ruin the potential for me to enjoy it - the release of this anime now was very good - one thing about Evangelion was it had a slow pace to it... This show doesn't - it goes back to the good old days of anime that pounded you with a lot of info and story in a short period of time. Fast-paced and a strong amount of action make this title a good one to own. The story is pretty traditional, but with the twist of acrobatic battles and the appeal of the characters make this show great. It's a high energy show that will sit nicely after the slower pace of Evangelion. I give it a 9 because I really got sucked into it even when I started it with doubts.
AUGUST 10th: SLAYERS - The Motion Picture
The majority of the public will probably just love it... I liked it - it was o.k., but it didn't have Galrie (Ya know the swordfighter) I liked the pair of them - other than that, there was the dubbing - which was good. They spliced in a lot of "American jokes" and some anime jokes. The engilsh dub had bad editing in my opinion and a fair chance of getting a "bad copy" - it was my friend who bought it and it was his second tape; the first was as he said, "too bright" - bad picture - the second had 5 quick "ZAP" noises - if you have experience (especially with hometheater you'll know the "zap" noise) - it boils down to cost vs. quality with stereo editing that could have been better (the editor had a preference for the left speaker) and chance of a bad tape, you'll want to move with caution - otherwise it is a good movie and the artwork is polished a bit too!!! Give it a 7 - they couldn't get the original voice actors, but did a good job.
WANDERERS: Final video QUEST 7
The artwork during the series has shifted from odd to excellent, the story is good and has some great moments - the story didn't "move" as well as the original, but it was good. The final tape was worthwhile... it did waste some time with Rune and Nanami walking... in the end I was pleased with the series - even a bit more than the Tenchi T.V... the series as a whole gets an 8.5 - it is not as EXCELLENT as the first series, but does it justice as a remake and is fun to watch...
JULY 25th: GREY - Digital Target
"English Dubbed"
O.K. This title is.... hmmm... decent. If you have seen everything else - it is o.k. This show has little going for it, it's pretty standard. The story has an interesting twist, but that is about all.
Graphically speaking, it is average - good solid old style anime. Nothing overly flashy... the dubbing - since it is by VIZ is decent - no worries there. This anime is pretty "tired" though. the story is broken into sections, which bothered me a bit. If asked, "Will I buy it?", I would say NO. The artwork, story, dubbing, and music are all average, so it gets a 5.5 for a rating, it is not an embarassing title for VIZ, but it will not bring them fame.
JULY 24th: AYAME'S HIGH KICK
"English Dubbed"
Ayame is a twelth grader hoping to become a female pro wrestler, first off you must be told that she is a senior, because the dubbing job on this show makes you think they are still Freshmen - if that...
Yes, although the dubbing is not HORRIBLE, it does seem that it is intended to make the characters look stupid. The show itself seems targeted for a young audience - even when I was a senior in highschool - things weren't that silly. If you think Sailor Moon is stupid, don't even try this. I like Sailor Moon, but this lacks bigtime on any higher level of thinking than about 7th grade. The artwork is average at best - some decent character designs, but shading and technique are low. The show has it's little moments when it seemed O.K. but it didn't come through... It deserves a 4.5 - there really is nothing to see and I'd be amazed if any more were made.
JUNE 8th: DIRTY PAIR FLASH act 1
Here we have a pretty goofy show - I'm not sure how it compares with the original, I never saw it... I will have to base it on what many will first time viewer appeal. This show has the now standard well-endowed anime females, who of course blow everything up in their path as they argue at each other. This is pushed to it's limit and you may find yourself wondering "why did I get it???". It isn't really bad if you watch it through. I'm not sure how well the title can hold - it keeps everything at a very fast pace and leaves very little time for anything "meaningful" to come through. I would not mind seeing more, but I think I want to leave it for rental or watching a friend's tape until I can see if it will have lasting appeal... the art is rather good - very cute new era anime girls - lack of any real characters as of yet, give it a 6.5 for potential and some destructive mayhem...
MAY 6th: CAPRICORN
This is basically taking OUTLANDERS and changing it to make a new story, does it work??? Well, to be honest I prefer Outlanders. The characters didn't develope well and the artwork was fairly standard... it's O.K. give it a 5.
MAY 4th: Burn Up W vol. 4 - or all...
O.K. this show has good artwork, but the first tape was a bit disturbing - Come On!!! Each female's breasts bounce differently??!!?!?! Anyhow it was O.K. I got the next one and a story finally started developing... 3rd, not bad the story is still pretty decent, NOW ith the 4th tape - it is going nowhere, I do not believe I heard of ADV making another, the story was left unfinished and it just kinda fizzles. It is not all that bad, but I would consider just renting it as it is not a title I really ever watch "again". I would give it a 6.5 - above average, but mainly for a story that might have done something and really nice artwork.
It turns out that even though the cover of Dragon Century does not offer much for looks - it turns out to be a really great show. Dragons are sent back to the realm of Earth to defend it from demons which are about to attack - the people don't realize it and destroy most of the dragons, viewing them as a threat. During a fight in the city, a young girl who dislikes the way society has become notices that as the dragon is being killed it drops an egg - hatching a baby. In the firefight, she manages to slip away with the baby dragon and raises it. Just as she is caught by a special officer, there is an all out attck by the demons - they slaughter thousands almost instantly... she then realizes that she really doesn't want her world destroyed - and vows with the dragon to save it. Pretty cool show - well written , good artwork too - this is a good one to pick up... give it a 9.
Powerdolls - I was expecting more... I knew it was short, but if you've seen a lot of anime - you know that the Japanese have a way of developing a story in a very short period of time. This didn't - the characters, other than two, didn't develope and lacked personality. The action seemed a bit flat too. I was originally rather excited when I first heard of this title, but after buying the game for PC (bla..) and hearing that it was "O.K. - not all that great", I blew it off, if you want to see it go ahead it's "O.K.", but I won't buy it... not at ADV's price. Give it a 5.5 - for nice try...
O.K. Twilight of the Darkmaster is pretty cool - short, but cool - very stylishly done with really cool music, if your in the mood get it - it's good. A pharmicudical Co. is producing an enhancement drug that actually turns humans into demonic mosters after prolonged use - other than this it's pretty staight-forward on the Demon Anime expectations - no Naughty Tentacles though... give it an 8.5
Tokyo Revelation, this is a pretty decent title as well - older looking - doesn't have the flashy look of Twilight, but it has a pretty good story - two young men are reunited in high school, both with an interest in Demonology - one has actually achived opening the gateway - he hates mankind for all the cruelty he's grown up with - only the one man has ever stood up for him and was his friend, he is a reincarnation of a deity - after Satan has the ability to take form on Earth, it is up to the two of them to stop him... there's more to it than this, but that's the main idea. Pretty good.
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