Claymore vol. 1

Claymore takes place in a land similar to medieval Europe, were shape shifting, flesh eating monsters called yoma terrorize the human population. The only hope commoners have for survival is to hire Claymores, mysterious, sword wielding women whose frigid beauty(not to mention icy personalities) are complimented by their pale skin and hair. They are not quite human and far more powerful than a mortal, so they are feared by the same people they protect. They simply go to a town, slay the yoma(s) and leave, their payment given to a shadowy man who represents the equally shadowy "organization" who controls the Claymores. On one such mission, Claire, the main character, comes across a boy whose family had just been killed by a yoma, Claire has a brief moment of sympathy and finds a family for the boy to stay with in the town. But fearful that he is cursed from his contact with a yoma, the towns people later banish him from the village and Claire finds him again, wandering in the desert. She allows him to travel with her temporarily and the two slowly bond. it is soon obvious that there is more to Claire than her icy exterior. We certainly understand this much more when a flashback arch begins on the last several episodes of the volume, showing Claire's life before she became a Claymore.

Claymore is a compelling, interesting take on the dark low-fantasy sub genre. The plot is only getting geared up at this point, but all ready there are many points of interest and the viewer can certainly tell its going to be a hell of a story. The flashback episodes in particular are a gutsy move, but completely pay off so far, they pack a emotional punch and give you a strong attachment to and better understanding of Claire. The Claymores themselves are amazing, their character designs are some of the most appealing i've seen in anime. It is refreshing to see powerful, beautiful female characters in anime that aren't running around half naked all of the time. The claymores exude femininity and sensuality but are fully clothed in battle suits and armor. While Claire and Theresa are excellent characters, the young boy that follows Claire around is not. He earns sympathy from the viewer and has his moments, but gets rather obnoxious at times. Also, while there is plenty of gory action scenes, some very well choreographed, the frame rate is a bit slow and there is a over reliance on still frames. Despite this, Claymore looks like it is shaping up to be a top notch series.

Grade:B+ Reviewed: episodes 1-5 Format: English Dub, DVD

Boys Be...

Boys Be...is a nostalgic, slice of life high school romance series with a refreshing twist, it is told primarily from the male point of view. We follow three male protagonists (an emotionally reserved artist, a jock and a wanna be ladies man) through the many ups and downs of young love and friendship. The characters, male and female, are very well developed and are much more than the one dimensional stereotypes that this genre often resorts to, making it very easy for the viewer to emotionally invest in them. Boys be... thankfully avoids many of the traps, cheap humor and recycled plot devices that sometimes plague high school/romance amine, resulting in a more realistic and believable feel, that being said, I doubt Boys Be... will have any kind of crossover potential for those who don't care for the genre. Due to it's episodic nature and short length , the self-contained mini-story archs or stand alone episodes stick out and are given more weight. This is a mixed blessing because some episodes are noticeably weaker than others, while several episodes in particular achieve nirvana. Boys Be... is a must see for romantics and genre aficionados.

Grade: A- Reviewed: 1-13 episodes (complete) Format: English Dub, DVD

Negima!?

Negima!? is a remake of the previous Negima! anime, apparently the original(which I have not seen) irked fans of the manga enough the the series was completely redone only a couple years after the original anime came out.

The titular charcter is a ten year old boy wizard, who just completed magic academy in Britian. For the next step of his training, Harry-I mean Negima must study under a great wizard in Japan, while teaching at a all-girls school as cover. The troublem is, none of the girls must see him use magic, and if they do there are two options: take them in as his partner(a kiss is required to seal the pact), or erase their memory. Negima hasnt quite mastered the latter, so naturally he soon as half of his class bestowed with magical abilties; this is a good thing because all sorts of supernatural villians come into play.

Negima!? is painfully riddled with cliches, the series main selling point is the massive amout of girls, all with there own quirks and tempermants, which make up Negis class. They are not so much characters they are walking, talking archetypes, weve seen them many times before in anime, and only several are actually developed. Pretty much everything about Negima!? is bland and feels recycled from a several dozen better series before it. The only real saving grace is the wacky, completly random humor that prevades the series. This factor alone gave me the strenghth to trudge forward, until I just lost interest all together, who knows, it might have gotten better, but I doubt I will pick it up agin and find out. Negima!? is far from the worst anime out there, but I wouldn't recommend it anytime soon.
Grade:C- Reviewed 1-12/out of 26 episodes Format: English Dub, DVD

Ergo Proxy

Ergo Proxy is really a bittersweet series for me. It had an incredible amount of potential, and quite a few sublime and simply brilliant moments, it also looks and sounds amazing (boasts one of the best OP's I've ever experienced), no expense was spared in the making of this series, hell they even got the the rights to use Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" for the closing theme. Unfortunately Ergo Proxy posseses many deep flaws and misteps that would render a lesser series unwatchable.

Ergo Proxy is set in the distant post-apocalyptic future, where man has turned the earths surface into a cold, barren desert-like wastleland. In this landscape of decay lies an oasis, a utopian city that has sealed itself off from the outside world. The citizens of this meterpolis live out their existance ignorant of the outside world and make use of androids(called auto-raves) to assit them in everyday tasks and activities. Enter Re-L Mayar (who bares an uncanny resemblance to Evanesence's lead singer Amy Lee), a member of the police force and the daughter of one of the city's mysterious founders. She, along with her auto-rave parter, are investegating a stange virus that causes auto-raves to act irractically and sometimes violently. In her investegation, she meets Vincent, an immigrant to the city trying to earn his citizenship. After Re-l is attacked by a strange winged monster, she finds herself the victim of a coverup, she probes for answers, finding dark secrets and clues that point to both the outside world, the strange creature that attacked her and Vincent. When Vincent becomes a fugitive and escapes from the city, Re-l follows him. Together, along with an infected Autorave named Pino, they embark on a journey arcoss the forign land to find the truth about the winged god-like monsters, called Proxys, who seem drawn to Vincent.

Ergo Proxy is a anime of many high and low points. Some episodes are a marvel, utterly compelling and powerful, yet the series contains some of the worst filler episodes I have ever seen, likewise the story is very interesting and original sci-fi, full of many unexpected twists and turns. Re-L and Vincents jouneys feels like a sci-fi version of Apoclaypse Now, complete with a couple paticularly haunting, surreal stops along the way.The story however is also extreamly complex, sometimes ridiculously so, and especially twords the end, becomes hoplessly muddled and distracted, the writers all to content with jetsoning the main story line in favor of brain-melting pop-pschyo-philospophy and mental cross-examianations of the charcters psyche ala Neon Genesis. Vincent and Re-L have a nice, sometimes intesnse chemistry, but not enough screen time is given to this. Ergo Proxy is nearly drailed by its flaws, but despite this it I will always have a special place for it it, the viewing experience was unforgetable(although I screamed at my TV more than one) and it really spoke to me at times. If you have the patience, this is good series to check out.
Grade:B/B+

Reviewed:episodes 1-23(complete) Format: English Dub, DVD

Angel Cop

In the near future, Japan becomes the most economically powerful country in the world. Naturally this makes it a prime target for terrorists, namely the international terror group known as the Red May, who seek to bring Japan(and thus the world market) to its knees. Enter Angel (who happens to be a cop) a member of an anti-terror force who hates terrorists, loves ultra violence and is a complete bitch to boot (her appalling lack of empathy is borderline sociopath). It seems however that someone else has it in for the Red May, vigilantes with telekinetic powers and a fondness for 80's hair-metal fashion! Suddenly Angel and her cohorts find themselves drawn into a cesspool of government corruption, kooky science and more carnage than you can shake a stick at.

Angel Cop easily falls into the so bad, its good category; the excessive violence and gore, horrendous dialogue(including the immortal, climax killing line "If this is justice than I'm a banana!") and overblown plot are all so ridiculously cheesy and overdone that one cant help but laugh aloud, it pure, brain-cell killing entertainment, it feels like a 80's action B-movie on steroids (its also worth mentioning that the actions scenes are exciting and well executed).
Grade: B-
Reviewed:Ovas 1-6(complete) Format: English Dub, VHS

Blue Submarine No. 6

In the future, Earth is almost entirely covered with water ala waterworld, due to a catastrophic environmental disaster caused by a rogue scientist. Mankind's survival rests on it's fleet of submarines who stave of the armys of aquatic mutants(which were also created by the afromentioned rogue scientist). The three protagonists (a disillusioned pilot, a headstrong female officer and a kind, beautiful mermaid type mutant.) are compelling characters, its a shame the series didn't have enough time to complety flesh them out. That being said one, if not the best part of Blue Submarine No.6 is the captivating relationship that devolps between the pilot and mermaid/mutant, its very touching and powerful. The series also boasts some impressive action scences, top-notch animation and a strong enviromental message. Unfortunatley the main villian is obnoxious and feels sorley out of place as does the musical score, which takes some of the intensity out of the battle scences. Finally, the plot feels rushed at times, the series could have benefited from a longer running time. Qualms aside, Blue Submarine No.6 is fine series that should especially appeal to the sci-fi/fantasy crowd.

Grade:B

Reviewed: episodes 1-4 (complete) Format: English Dub, DVD

Shuffle! vol 1

Shuffle! starts off laying the groundwork for a run of the mill harem romcom. The average guy, his childhood friend, his school life etc. Then who should transfer to his high school, but two beautiful girls who both want the poor guy as a husband. Furthermore, one is the princess of heaven, the other the princess of the demon world (could this turn out to be Legend of the Overfiend lite?). Fanservice and hijinks follow as several more females enter the picture. I have to admit, for all the relentless cliche's,(although its overfiendesque supernatural bent is a nice touch ) Shuffle! has its moments, and is fine, brainless entertainment, for the time being anyway. I'll have to see if it improves or self-destructs in the next volume(S).

Grade:C+

Reviewed: vol 1(ep 1-4) format: english dub, DVD