Sekirei

Sekirei is true guilty pleasure. The whole things jam packed with gratuitous nudity and fan service, the plot and characters are derivative and oh so cliched; and did I mention it's a harem anime?Yet it works despite all this; a true sign of the impending zombie apocalypse me thinks. So basically the plot centers around the typical harem genre staple nice guy who seems to be suffering from dangerously low levels of testosterone. One day he crosses paths with beautiful, well-endowed (the breast proportions in this show are udderly ridiculous ) girl who claims to be a Sekirei, a female fighter with extraterrestrial origins and unique powers. But you see every Sekirei needs a partner/master if you will in order to fully realize their potential, so before you can say Negima! the bond is sealed between them via a kiss. Soon he finds himself cast into a deadly city wide tournament where Sekireis beat the stuffing out of one another with an evil corporation(no way!) pulling the strings. Maybe I'm a closet harem devotee, or maybe Sekirei really is a good show despite itself. I ended up not merely enjoying the harem hi jinks and quality nudity but I found myself becoming genuinely invested in the characters and the plot. It's was refreshing and frightening in the sense that I got much more out of the show than I expected although when scrutinized with a critical eye the show shouldn't be good at all. I'll chalk Seikrei up to being the anime equivalent of a fun B-movie and move on with my life. If you got some brain cells/time to kill and are in the market for a fan service comedy with plentiful boobs and brawling, you owe it to yourself to check out Sekirei.

Garde:B-

Reviewed: Episodes 12/12 (complete) Format DVD, English Dub.

Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

Watching the entirety of Ryo-Ohki is the equivalent of watching a former classmate you have fond memories of making a drunken ass of themselves at a class reunion. Nine years have passed since the events of the mangificant OVA's that spawned the rocky TM franchise, yup the gangs all back and looking incredibly worse for it thanks to the atrocious character designs that turn Ryoko into what resembles a grotesque space chimp/human hybrid! Speaking of Ryoko(who is by far the best character in the whole damn series) she gets absolutely shafted here; her personality and character getting warped by the writers, who would rather spend much more time with the titular Ryo-Ohki; one of the most annoying and useless characters you'll come across. Oh, I almost forgot theres a plot to; the standard cosmic evil endangering the universe mumbo jumbo that's just a poor excuse to milk this cash cow one more time so suckers (myself included) will shell out to see Ryoko...um I mean Tenchi and the gang again. My advice to Tenchi fans, avoid this and watch the original OVA's again.

Grade: D

Reviewed: OVA's 6/6(complete) Format: DVD, English Dub.

Boogiepop Phantom

I'll say this right now; much as the case was with Lain, Boogiepop Phantom is not for all tastes. Some viewers will be unable to make heads or tails of overarching plot or be able to distinguish just what the hell is going on. To say BP is complex is the understatement of the year and the episodic series structure, with a new characters every episode, makes things a beast to keep track of. This is an anime that requires your full, alert and undivided attention throughout its twelve episode running time. Ok, with that disclaimer out of the way the answer is yes, you need to drop everything your doing and watch this anime, it's that damn good. It's nearly impossible to give a description of the plot without giving away spoilers so here's the basic jest of things: After a night of severe electrical disturbances; children and teens from a highly populated urban area start disappearing; the culprit is rumored to be Boogiepop; a malevolent being who prowels the night. Along with the disappearances are a rash of gruesome murders that plague the city and in the middle of everything are the students of the high school where the largest electrical disturbance was spotted. The story follows the teens as they are slowly drawn into a dark new reality were their lives affect the fates of those around them and death as well as Boogiepop are only a few steps away. Is she a friend or foe? Boogiepop Phantom is a masterfully plotted, gruelingly intense mindbender wrapped in the packaging of a sci-fi horror film. There are plenty of jaw dropping, mind blowing moments as you see events play out from different characters perspectives and unlike most horror themed anime, there are some genuinely terrifying moments. Seeing BP once is probably not enough; it stays lodged in your head demanding to be seen again so it can be scrutinized further. If your in the mood for a cerebral, scary anime; Boogiepop Phantom is at the top of it's class.

Grade: A

Reviewed: episodes 12/12(complete) Format: DVD, English Dub.

Sola

Yorito, our somewhat melancholic protagonist is fixated on the sky; choosing to opt out of class in favor of taking pictures of the heavens. He lives alone, his only family being his stoic, ill sister who's on an extended stay at the hospital. Everything changes one summer night when he crosses paths with Matsuri, a supernatural being known as a Yaka; a creature who can only roam freely during the night (sunlight is bad for her health, not unlike a vampire) and soon shes taking refuge at our protagonists home. In the tradition of Air, some truly tragic complications ensue and shocking truths will be revealed (the big twist near end is a whammy). Sola is an all around solid title; the characters, while unimpressive at first grow in stock and are surprisingly well developed for a series as short as this one. Starting off as a supernatural tinged romantic comedy, Sola gradually moves to into darker territory and does a commendable job of unveiling its twist filled, tragic storyline at just the right pace. It is also one of the rare series that has no crucial flaws and succeeds in every category, yet ends up being simply a good series instead of a great one. Still, this is a must see for fans of tragi-drama and studio Key.

Grade: B/B+

Reviewed: episodes 15/15 (complete) Format: DVD, English Sub

Pani Poni Dash!

Pani Poni Dash successfully mixes some of he surreal and nostalgic elements of Azumanga Daioh with the rapid fire wackiness(albeit much more tame) of Excel Saga. The result being a truly bizarre, often hilarious send up (and glorification) of modern anime conventions, particularly moe. Amazingly there is a overarching plot tying everything together(just barley) involving Rebbecca, a child prodigy who winds up teaching an unruly class of teens, eventually being befriended by a group of stereotypical anime girls (the brains, the manic airhead, the bitch ect) and the strange events and wacked out adventures they partake in over the course of the school year; all the while being monitored by a group of less than competent aliens.

While the endless stream of gags are more hit than miss, there are still a couple of segments(and even one or two whole episodes) that bite the dust. Repetition is also a nuisance at times; some jokes are needlessly recycled or simply beaten into the ground. Despite these shortcomings, Pani Poni Dash! is quite a funny show, with some truly sublime, gut busting moments that elevate the series dramatically. Quite a few of these moments involve my two favorite characters; Rebbecca's sad sack, forever ill-fated, talking rabbit companion, Mesousa who is stalked and harassed by a cat who claims to be god and lives in a soda machine (I'm serious!). Pani Poni Dash is certainly not for everyone, its certainly an acquired taste, but once you get in the groove and the show starts to roll, its a blast.

Grade:B+

Reviewed: episodes 1-26/26, Format: English Dub, DVD.