Vandread

Since the days of space pioneering, men and women have been cut off from one another. They have developed their own seprate colonies and cultures, they are also mortal enemies. Welcome to the world of Vandread, which offers a original take on the mecha genre by pitting the two genders together in the ultimate battle of the sexes. The plot follows Hedeki, a boastful teen male who's a stowaway on a battleship that's off to engage the women, unfortunately it gets hijacked by an all female pirate ship. When a far greater threat against humanity as a whole comes into play, its up to the female pirates and their male captives to try to put aside their many differences and work as a team. Vandread's unusual premise has a lot of potential humor and promise, it's somewhat of a shame that its execution is simply better than average. The show never finds a calm, steady pace, and as a result feels a little choppy at times, unsure if it wants to be a straight up mecha show or a character/situation driven dramady. The shows strengths are obviously in the second department, the mecha action scenes are frankly, boring. It doesn't help that the The CGI is sometimes of very poor quality . This would be easy to look over but they are excessively frequent, leading to the idea that they serve more as episode filler than being actually integral to the story/plot. Despite this, Vandread is still a worth a look for its characters, original premise and humor.

Grade:B-

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

Berserk

Set in a dark fantasy version of medieval Europe, where demons still roam the land,Berserk tells the violent tale of three outcasts; Guts, a troubled warrior whose skill and on the battlefield is nearly unmatched. Griffith is the eerily beautiful, charismatic and brilliant leader of the Band of the Hawk;a mercenary army that is rising to power in the feudal kingdom of Midland. Finally there's Caska a female officer in the Band of the Hawk with quite a few demons of her own, who secretly longs for Griffith. As the Hawks grow in favor among the royal family, and Griffith's aspirations of power become tangible, the three souls fates become irreversibly binded and the stage is set for a tragic fall aided by political treachery, betrayal and Griffiths own horrific secret. Berserk is masterpiece of anime. The complex, multilayered plot is magnificent, surpassing many others in both anime and live action. Berserk also as some of the most complex, three dimensional and well written characters in anime. Griffith especially stands out, he is the greatest villian ive seen in this medium. While the animation is a bit outdated and there are some other minor techinal issues, I hardly noticed them because I was so involved in everything else. Peheps the biggest issue that cant be ignored is the sudden, brutal ending, which no matter how you prepare yourselves is going to leave you shellshocked. Beserk is a anime classic of increadiable pathos, power and depth and amoung the greatest animes ever made.
A must see, sepecially for fans of dark fantasy.

Grade: A+

Reviewed: episodes 1-26(complete) Format: English Dub, DVD

Negima!? Spring and Summer specials

While I disliked the series behind these OVA's, I actually didn't mind the Spring and Summer Specials to much, it's only a slight improvement mind you, but the animation is crisp, the girls are cute and the whole thing is certainly easy on the eyes; it's easy to sit down and relax to. I wont bother discussing the plot because there really isnt one, just a bunch of contrived situations used to hold the thing together(negi losing his glasses ect.) Bottom line, see it if your a negima fan, if your not or haven't heard of the series before, skip it, but if you end up seeing it anyways, theres worse ways spend a half an hour or so. I do need to give props to the creative opening scence which was pretty awesome.

Grade: C

The Wallflower

This title turns the harem genre on its head, with amusing results. Four bishonen men who are freeloading off a middle aged rich women are assigned an impossible task; take her scary,unkempt goth niece and turn her into a lady....or else pay rent. This is from Wantanabe, the famed(or infamous) director of Excel Saga and Puni Puni Poemy, and much of his trademark humor is to be found in the Wallflower(though the raunch is dialed down considerably), he also displays some depth by finding humor in the characters, but in a surprisingly sympathetic way, don't get me wrong, there is very little seriousness to be found here, but beneath the madcap silliness, the exaggerated metro sexuality of the boys and ghoulish goth hijinks of the lady in training, there's a respect for the characters that really goes along ways for the series. That being said, while the Wallflower is funny;sometimes riotously so, the humor gets extremely repetitave and many gags that should have been used once or twice get replayed ad nausem. Another detractor is the low-budget animation, which takes some getting used to, especially the excessive use of SD characters. In the end The Wallflower doesn't reach it's full potential, which is a shame, but is still a quirky, funny show that hard not to like.

Grade: B

Reviewed: episodes 1-25(Complete) Format: English Dub, DVD

Full Metal Panic!

Sousuke Sagara has spent his life in war zones, he now is under the employment of Mithril, a secretive mercenary organization that intervenes in various conflicts across the globe. But the battle hardened teen faces the most difficult assignment to date;posing as a regular high school teen in order to serve as body guard to Japanese High-Schooler Kaname Chidori, who is one one the "whispered"(people who unknowingly possess knowledge of "Black Technology"). Sousuke must adapt to high school life while protecting Kaname from power hungry foes bent on using the black technology for their own devices. FMP! is a delightful hybrid of mecha, comedy, action and romance anime, while most genre mashing anime have trouble juggling their various parts, FMP! deftly combines them into one cohesive product; thus it truly has something for everyone. On top of this, the cast of characters are some of my favorite in anime, the supporting characters are fantastic and Kaname and Sousuke are perfect as leads and share wonderful chemistry. The animation is some of studio Gonzo's best and the action set pieces are genuinely exciting as is the storytelling.
Well I could go on, but i'll sum up my praises in a couple lines. Full Metal Panic! is seriously one of the most entertaining and addictive anime titles out there. If you haven't seen this one yet, pick it up immediately.

Grade: A+

Reviewed: episodes 1-24(complete) Format: English Dub, DVD.

Romeo x Juliet(vol 1)

In the midst of the otakugasm that that was Sakuracon, I managed to find time to attend the premiere of this anime Shakespeare adaption. I had reasonably high hopes, given the source material and the fact that I recently finished the anime adaption of the Count of Monte Kristo, and it was terrific.However, after the first then minutes I realized there was no way in hell this was going to be the next Gankutsuou. Romero x Juliet reminded me of one of those campy, but well meaning direct to video/cable movie genre mashup/ lit adaptions. It isn't has bad as it sounds, yes there are plenty of cliches, eye-rolling moments and unintentional humor(the only fantasy element injected into this tale so far is flying horses(WTF!)) also distracting was the dub's abrupt back and forth from regular English to Shakespearean prose, but the show has energy and charm, not to mention a nice sense of intentional humor(the bard has a hilarious, tongue in cheek extended cameo for example.) The two leads have good chemistry so far, which could lead to a satisfying, if inevitable romance down the road. Worth keeping an eye on, hopefully it can find its footing.

Grade: C+