Afro Samurai

Western and Eastern pop-culture collide in this bloody, action packed tale of vengeance and the shonen placed importance of numerical rankings. After young Afro's dad is killed by a pistol toting baddie(delightfully played by a snarling Ron Peralman) in order to obtain his fathers number one ranked bandanna, the stoic Afro dedicates his life to cutting his way to the top of the bandanna chain and eventually slay his fathers killer. First of all, let me state that the production values on this thing are incredible, blowing countless other titles out of the water. Obviously an ish load of money was available for this production, and it shows; from the eye-poppingly fluid animation to the Rza soundtrack to the presence of Samuel Jackson proving the vocal talent for the near mute Afro and the relentless chatterbox that is his sidekick of sorts, Ninja-Ninja. Afro Samurai is a triumph of style over substance, the plot, besides the rather involving, exciting flashbacks to Afro's childhood, is completely throwaway, serving as a link to one evisceration to the next, the characters follow the same route ranging from completely badass, but still rather cardboard to horribly annoying. The show also makes the sin of wasting an awesome villain(Pealman's gunslinger), he gets maybe several minutes or so screen time, most of it in a disappointing final battle, the show creators instead thought it would be wise to introduce a pointless shadowy organization led by one of the most obnoxious characters I had the displeasure of seeing,What a missed opportunity. In conclusion, Afro Samurai is like many a mega budget Hollywood f/x blockbusters; unparalleled eyecandy and kick-ass wall to wall action,but that's all your getting, which, especially in Afro's case isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Grade: B-/B

Reviewed: episodes 1-5(complete) Format: DVD

Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu

The second entry into FMP! series drops the action/mecha and drama aspects from the original entry and focuses entirely on comedy, resulting in one of the funniest anime's I have seen. Sousuke Sagara continues his role as Kaname Chidori's "protector" while posing as a a student at her high school. Sousuke and Kaname have wonderful chemistry together and Fumoffu takes full advantage of this by following their daily(although I wouldn't say normal) high school lives and by putting the large, colorful FMP! cast in supporting roles. A great deal of the humor is elicited from the socially awkward, battle hardened Sousuke overreacting to benign situations and in the process causing all sorts of mayhem and general chaos, with the hair trigger tempered Kaname en route. While the show is solid, both content wise and from a technical point of view(the excellent animation remains from the original FMP!) several episodes are a bit flat and noticeably weaker than the collective whole, and there are one or two running gags I didn't really care for. This being said even if you aren't a FMP! fan, I honestly can't see anyone disliking this series. On the other hand, if you are a fan, this is chance to reunite with beloved characters in a hilarious, high energy comedy that despite losing its serious edge, still reminds the viewer why they love FMP! so much.

Grade:A-

Reviewed: episodes 1-15(complete) Format: English Dub, DVD

Gun X Sword vol. 1

Gun X Sword follows the adventures of a mysterious man who is seeking the killers of his bride on a planet where apparently everything resembles the wild west to some degree(trigun), and in the most gratuitous use of mecha i have seen, can call an all powerful mech from space for reasons still unclear. Our dashing hero's body has been lifted off Spike from Cowboy Bebop and his personality, Vash the Stampede(trigun yet again). In one his escapades, he saves a village from bandits and reluctantly acquires a spunky female sidekick who is probably the most interesting person in the show so far. In the four episodes on the disk, our protagonists get into one sticky situation after the other; the series takes itself somewhat seriously, but then they include a episode dealing with a cult of mustached men who are kidnapping women for wacky mating purposes, oh yah and their gigantic mustaches have special powers(I never thought I would see someone get slapped around with by a mustache...) WTF!? I almost stopped right there, but at least I stuck around because the last episode on the disk was actually the best. Gun X Sword is a Frankenstein anime assembled from various sources(trigiun being the most frequent donor) and it sometimes mistakes originality for uncomfortably bizarre going ons. In short its not a very good show, at least so far, at least there is one interesting episode, the animation is good and the proceedings/pacing are energetic, it could get better, but.....

Grade:C-/D+

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

Chobits

Chobits is sci-fi romantic-comedy that is aimed pretty squarely at male viewers, which is a significant departure for CLAMP. Hideki is a young adult who has recently moved from rural Japan into Tokyo to become a college student. One day he finds a beautiful persacom(android) laying in a trash heap next to his apartment complex, which is unusual seeing how persacoms are both expensive and popular. Naturally Hideki takes her home only to find her memory has been wiped clean, the only word she knows how to speak is "chi", which Hideki names her. Aided by several tech savvy friends, Hideki tries to unravel the mystery behind chi's origins while at the same time finding himself slowly falling for her. Chobits is in turns surprisingly less and just about as creepy as it sounds. As expected there is alot of fan-service and some unpleasant undertones, but as a whole Chobits is a nice, sometimes charming, slow paced piece of fluff. The series biggest weakness is the underlying plot that doesn't really become prominent until the latter half, while the revelation about chi is unexpected and interesting, the whole thing for the most part is handled clumsily, most notably in the end segment of the series which is poorly paced, leading to a forgettable climax/conclusion. Overall, I would recommend Chobits, it's a warmhearted romance, layered with humor, wrapped in a guilty pleasure.

Grade:B

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

Blue Gender

Wow, never before have I seen an anime series self-destruct so utterly and completely than Blue Gender, but it wasn't a quick fall, no Gender extends its suicide into a maddening dozen or so episodes. This wouldn't have bothered me in the least but Blue Gender showed some real promise(hence why I stuck around, holding out hope till the end, but alas). The sci-fi action series takes place in the post-apocalyptic future, were the human race has been devastated by a new species of called the blue (the look similar to the bugs of Starship Troopers) whose natural instinct seems to be the extinction of the human race. Has a result the last silvers of humanity live in a space station in Earth's orbit, but conduct military operations on the planets surface in order to obtain humans still in cryogenic sleep or "sleepers", whose role are essential to the human's survival. The first half of the show follows a small group of soldiers, lead by a hardened, icy woman called Marlene. They are charged with bringing a sleeper named Yugi back to the space station, which is a bit tough, seeing as they are cut off from their comrades in a land crawling with blue. While the first several episodes are a little iffy(Yugi starts off as a whiny little bitch, you just wish they would duct tape his mouth shut at some points) but out of nowhere the show really starts clicking, Yugi ends up being rather likable and Marlene goes through a nicely paced charter metamorphosis. The action scenes with the blue are messy and frenetic, the sci-fi storyline is gritter and more realistic than most sci-fi mecha series, which is a refreshing change of pace, a romantic chemistry builds between are leads and the show becomes pretty compelling in general. Oh, if only they just ended it at the halfway point...Once the mission is complete and the protagonist go to the space station, everything and I mean everything goes to hell. For and foremost, with utter disregard for being true to character ,Yugi' does a complete, 180 degree turn and for the rest of the series is a completely unlikeable,self absorbed, hair-pullingly obnoxious waste of screen time. Every other character except Marlene at this point (who is actually probably the reason I watched till the end.) are devoid of any remotely likable(or human) qualities. Unsurprisingly, the writing and plot departments take a free fall into the crapper. This slow, agonizing torture goes on for many episodes before the incredibly(but at this point I just wanted it to end) piss poor excuse for a climax/resolution that spares no expense with the dime store new age philosophizing. I will say that at least the ending, though cookie-cutter d was a happy one, and leaves the protagonists in a good place. Blue Gender was a horrible disappointment, to this day I'm still wondering what the hell happened, but at least the first half was great.

Grade:C (on the virtue of the first half)

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

Welcome to the N.H.K

Welcome to the NHK is a dark comedy/character drama that both satirizes and seriously examines the more problematic, unseemly side of otaku culture as well as a troubling trend in Japanese youth. Sato is a 22 year old NEET (no job, no work experience, a recluse) who has a serious phobia of the outside world and as shut himself inside his dank, cluttered apartment(paid for by his parents). He believes/fantasies the the cause of his problems is a massive, nation-wide conspiracy aimed at turning japanese youth in recluses so the media will turn a hefty profit. Enter Misaki, an odd teenage girl who knows an unusual amount about Sato's life and is determined to turn him back into a productive member of society, although Misaki herself as quite a few issues of her own. Sato is both helped(and hindered) by several acquaintances from his high school days;his next door neighbor/best friend who is a hardcore otaku and aspiring erotic game developer, and a successful,yet troubled career woman who has shares a strong, intimate connection with Sato. The series benefits greatly from its small cast, each main characters is given a great deal of screen time and development. I have heard some criticize Welcome to the NHK , claiming it is overtly mean spirited to it's characters. I strongly disagree, while its true that the show goes to some dark places and puts the cast through the wringer, it is also incredibly humane and sympathetic to its cast. If anything Welcome to the NHK is rarity in anime, it treats its characters very realistically, it doesn't sugarcoat their problems or suffering. It is this attention to realism that probably turns some viewers off, its true that I found several segments of the show(mainly near the end) rather depressing and dark, however these moments were not unwarranted. While the show does finds humor in it's deeply flawed characters, it is never feels exploitative and you really grow to care and relate to them, this being said it also treats the cast with respect that is lacking in most other anime that deal/use these themes. Welcome to the NHK, despite some minor flaws involving animation quality and borderline filler in several episodes, is a well written, character driven series that is at turns funny, powerful and melancholic.

Grade: A

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

Shuffle!

In my review for the first volume of Shuffle!, I was largely unimpressed by the first four episodes of this moe harem series, I didn't hold out to much hope for improvement. Shockingly enough, Shuffle! does get better, I soon found myself pretty much addicted to it. Shuffle!'s plot is pretty much the standard for many a dating sim/hentai game(which it's actually based off), normal nice guy has his normal life turned upside down by a horde of beautiful women madly(and illogically) falling head over heels for him. Shuffle! adds a reverse-gender overfiendish bent to the mix, were the main competitors for the guys affections are the princess of heaven and the princess of the demon realm, seeking to make him their groom(unlike overfiend, no tentacles are involved). Has I stated in my first review, Sfuffle! is filled with cliches, but like the better harem series it has them glossed up and pretty much perfected. The odd thing about Shuffle! is that is it starts off mediocre and progressively gets better, leading up to a the series end segment, which, if your a harem or moe follower, is simply gangbusters; the series at this point makes a unexpected, ballsy move throwing in a jaw dropping, delightfully dark twist. While Shuffle! certainly inst for everyone(I doubt it has any sort of crossover potential to anime viewers who aren't accustomed to, or simply don't care for the genres Shuffle!represents), I was greatly entertained.
Grade: B/B+

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