Viewing List: Jul 31, 2005

My current viewing list is at the bottom. This is where you can post comments.
I have some other shows I haven't started watching for various reasons.

Fafner
Melody of Oblivion
Madlax
Tenjho Tenge
Burst Angel
Gantz Season 2
Planetes
Cyberteam in Akihabara
Blue Seed
Requiem For the Darkness
Gravitation
Patlabor TV
Demon Lord Dante
Corrector Yui (VIZ stopped releases)
Soar High Izami
Arjuna
Knight Hunters Weiz Kruz Season 1
Virus Buster Serge
Decendants of Darkness

R.O.D. the TV 9/10

I watched the last 3 episodes of R.O.D. the T.V. last week, here's the thoughts.

This is actually a sequel of sorts to the original OAVs that came out a few years ago R.O.D. (Read or Die). I really liked R.O.D. and had high hopes for the new series. A quick note, the creators of R.O.D. the TV (RODTV) say that the R.O.D. does not mean Read or Die or Read or Dream but is meant to tie the two series of stories together. (Read or Dream has never been animated and I don't know much about it.) Following the act of an excellent OAV is difficult but RODTV pulls it off nicely. The art here is great for a TV series and thankfully very close in quality to the OAV. While the characters are different, the new designs are of the same style. The music is also very much of the same style which is all good and the newly introduced voice actors are generally better than average based on the quite different personalities the new characters have. R.O.D. the TV ran 26 episodes in 2003-2004.

The story begins with a famous female author coming to Hong Kong for a book signing and getting three girl bodyguards to protect her while she's there. The author is Nenene, the young schoolgirl author who was friends with Yomiko Readman, the paper master from the OAV. We don't meet Nenene in the OAV but the show assumes you recognize her and note that she is several years older now than the last time she was encountered in the novels you haven't read. This story takes place 5(?) years after the events in the OAV and we learn Yomiko has disappeared, has not been seen in that time and that Nenene is searching for her. As for the 3 bodyguards, they are also paper masters (they can manipulate paper into shields, arrows, blades, planes, etc.) and are new to the R.O.D. universe. Things get off to an action packed start early and the series keeps up the action throughout. I can't reveal much of the plot, as it's not clear at first, but the sisters end up living with Nenene in Japan and the forces of evil appear to threaten them all. Over the course of the series many familiar faces from the OAVs appear, the events of the past 5(?) years are revealed and the events of the OAVs are referenced to tie the two shows together.

I really liked this show. The action scenes are top notch and I really liked all the new characters. The fact that RODTV ties into the OAV is great, it's like you're watching the next chapter of a great story and I feel a story is always better when you don't have to spend time introducing the world and characters. One last note, I'm not sure if they mention this in the series but Nenene doesn't normally wear glasses. The ones she wears are those left behind by her missing friend.

I really can't find anything wrong with this series other than I wish a certain character appeared sooner in the series as she's the all time fave. I would recommend watching the OAV first though.

Midori Days 9/10

Just watched the final 4 of 13 episodes of Midori Days and I want to watch the whole show again.

On the technical side this show has no problems. The quality looks great as all newer anime should, the JP VAs are up the the usual standards and the music is very acceptable. Where this show shines on the technical side are the character designs. In my mind, a series lives or dies by it's character designs. While I really like something like Daphne in the Brilliant Blue, the somewhat hideous designs nearly put me off, and probably DID put off many. Midori Days has designs I particularly like, I suppose it's the cheerful look of usually happy Midori and the delinquent look of usually angry Seiji are quite different but blend together really well. They don't look like different designers came up with each character design though they are quite different. I'll note here that Midori Days aired in 2004.

This show has a strange premise, even for an anime. This guy named Seiji, a tough guy, a delinquent, one day wakes up with a small green haired girl on his right hand. Since this is his demon-hand when he fights this poses a problem. Midori (which means green in Japanese) doesn't seem to find the new arrangement a problem at all because as a very shy girl, she's had a huge crush on Seiji for quite a while and this is the perfect opportunity to get to know him.

Midori's deranged thought processes aside even you, the reader, can imagine the hilarity that ensues. And it's hilarious like Nick Kannon. Midori also has the ability to move around, she kinda flies, dragging Seiji around behind her. It's funny. VERY funny. There is also a more serious side to the story as we see how Midori's real body has fallen into a coma and her family is frantic. As the months go by Midori's mom gets more and more desperate and we see a side of the story not usually shown so as not to ruin the comedy of the premise.

I laughed out loud alot watching this show, that along with quite a bit of fan-service, a class-president with crazy plans to catch Seiji herself, and a nice ending left me looking forward to finding a show as good as this one again. Watch this show, watch it now. You've never seen anything quite like it.

Divergence Eve 8/10

For a show where all the many female characters have ENORMOUS breasts, the story behind the cleavage was great.

This show aired in 2003 and ran for 13 episodes. On the technical side I enjoyed the look of this show which has the same character designs as Amazing Nurse Nanako. All the girls have huge racks that the animators constantly animate jiggling around so that's always welcome. (Watch for the girl on the bridge where they keep repeating the animation throughout the series. I never got tired of it.) The JP voices are great and the score is excellent. I loved the opening theme as it rocked and liked the end theme but it really seemed out of place in this show, a little too happy. The only real complaint I have is the CG animation used throughout the series. It's detailed but:

A) it moves too smoothly, it looks fake
B) it's not well blended with the cell animation

The plot of this show had me dubious at first. A bunch of large-breasted girls in space. Seen it. After watching this series though I can safely say my first impression was WAY off. This show stands alone as the best gripping sci-fi anime thriller I've seen. It really reminded me of the movie Event Horizon. Yes, it's that good. You can quote me.

It's basically about these 4 girls transferred to a remote space outpost to train as members of it's Seraphim unit, whose mission is not immediately revealed to us or the trainees. While remote, the outpost is home to 10 million people and a considerable military operation. In this show man has developed a type of manhole technology and this is the endpoint of the first developed jump point. It's something like a planet split in two with the jump gate in the core that remains in the centre. Of course it wouldn't be much of a show if it was all smiles and chocolate deep in space.

The gate uses travel through alternate dimensions in order to shorten the travel distance and something other than humans keeps trying to get out. Something mean. (Isn't that always the case?) We are initially given few details about the creatures in the gate and the overall situation at the outpost but are treated to the results of the havoc it causes when it shows up and we see the military contingent on the outpost are scared shitless. Over the episodes the girls' training continues and we are given more and more information regarding what this alien wants, why the situation on the outpost is so dire and what the Seraphim unit actually does.

While the series is not as suspenseful as Event Horizon it does have it's freaky moments and the main character Misaki is revealed to be something more than the ditzy girl we meet in the initial episode. (Isn't that always the case?)

I'm a sucker for sci-fi and I'm a sucker for large-breasted character designs but I didn't need to be a sucker to really enjoy the story here. Highly recommended.

(Note: The series ends satisfactorily after 13 episodes but does continue into a second season that I have not yet seen. Apparently the story changes quite a bit so I will review it separately at a later time.)

Koi Kaze 5/10

I just watched the 12th and final episode of Koi Kaze and I must say SOMETHING but let's review the more technical side of the show before going where angels fear to tread.

I liked the look of this show, the character designs were a style I hadn't seen before but the quality dipped here and there throughout the series. The voice acting was quite good and the music was average but I really didn't care for the end credits song. I like that crazy voice in fast songs like in Azumanga Daioh but not in the slow end theme used for Koi Kaze. This show ran for 13 episodes in 2004. Now on to the show itself.

Before I get into the plot here I have to mention I don't have a sister so I can't speak from direct experience on the whole brother/sister relationship and I've never been separated from my siblings for long periods of time so again I am not drawing on first hand experience.

In case you haven't heard, Koi Kaze is the story of a 27 year old guy living with his divorced dad. His mom lives with his now 15(?) (first year of high school) year old sister. They haven't really had ANY contact since the parents were divorced which was about when the sister was 2 or so. The brother meets his sister one day and I suppose falls in love with her without knowing who she really is. Not long after, the sister moves in with the two men so she can live closer to her high school. This is when the brother discovers her true identity and the remaining focus of the show is how the two resolve their feelings for one another.

This show deals with a taboo that's taboo even in Japan, brother/sister incest. My curiosity about the validity of this premise led me to do a little research. See http://flatrock.org.nz/topics/relationships/reunions_set_off_sex_urges.htm
for more information.

This show seems to be an accurate depiction of a situation that I'm sure could very easily ruin peoples lives and destroy a family. In my mind, the taboo associated with this situation, combined with the fear of losing the object of affection would cause the brother to act in the irrational ways he does at times in the series so I found the show realistic enough as far as this is concerned.

One plot hole I did feel detracted from the show was the idea that the siblings had had NO contact for about 13 years. C'mon, gimme a break. The only reason for this would be if the parents HATED each other and one of them had poisoned their kid against the parent they weren't living with. If that was the case then why was everyone so friendly when they meet later on? Using an adoption angle would've been more believable as far as I'm concerned.

Do I recommend this show? Yes. Even if it's an unnatural love story it's a love story and it's kinda nice. This show also works as a case study of a troublesome situation that I found interesing. Please take the time to read the website mentioned above once you've seen the show to put things in perspective. Whether or not you agree with me that the show is believable, this is one show I am interested in some second opinions.

Sentimental Journey 5/10

Not that girly is a bad thing but WHOA! By the second disc I had to watch some lesbian porn to re-affirm my manhood. I just watched all 12 episodes over the last couple of days and was surprised at how entertaining the show actually was. For some odd reason this show has HUGE production values. The backgrounds are insanely detailed for a TV series. The character designs are good and the Japanese VAs (they change each episode) are good throughout. This show is a hand-drawn/coloured one so as it looks as good as it does I give major props. Note: This title is Japanese with English subs only. I suppose this is because only fan-boys such as myself are the target market and we NEVER watch the dubs. This show aired in 1998.

This show's setup is a little strange. Each episode focuses on a different female main character and her dealing with a guy she liked in the past who moved away. The girls don't appear in more than one episode and the guys are never shown. I thought it might be cool if it was all the SAME guy, going around breaking these girls hearts but I'm pretty sure that's not the case. The majority of the girls are in high school but there are a couple of exceptions.

As I mentioned above, I found this show pretty entertaining considering. I've seen Seraphim Call which is almost exactly the same show, but this one is a little different. The stories in the episodes are each located in a different part of Japan apparently, though I'm not as familiar with the various locales so only different accents really stood out for me. It seems like the time of year moves around but I don't believe that has any real significance. The stories are pretty basic, the problems the girls must face usually are about them moving on in life, after carrying torches for the guys for varying amounts of time. I liked how the show seemed based in the modern day, and the characters seemed pretty believable overall. I figure this show is really aimed at girls younger than the characters as no sex, drugs, smoking or bad behaviour in general is depicted or part of the plots. This makes the stories a little on the sugary sweet side but that's OK as far as I'm concerned.

As I watched this show I got to thinking about how we really have nothing like this in North America. I'm not sure if early teen girls (as I am not one) would take to a show like this but it tells stories that usually centre on overcoming a problem with hope for the future and no action or over-the-top comedy to detract from the realness of the situations.

I liked this show and I'd say is very recommended for just about any age girls. Fan-boys might like it but manly-men might want to steer clear. (In case you're wondering, my favourite story was episode 4 about the girl in the hospital.)

Maps 3/10

I've seen a few sci-fi anime where the spaceships in the show are represented by girls, meaning the show has girl characters who represent the ships or the ship's computers. Lost Universe, Infinite Ryvius, Megazone 23, World of Narue are examples of this. Maps takes this idea to a strange new place. There are like 5-6 ships, shaped like angel girl statues, each with a girl as the representation of ship. It's a unique idea as far as I'm aware so I thought I'd point it out. Having seen as much anime as I have, unique is good.

Maps is an OVA from the days when money flowed like urine after a Big Gulp and the OAVs spread across the market like brains on toast. Days like 1994. Since I usually like these old school, hand drawn, short little shows not based on an existing manga or show I went into this disc not looking for much plot-wise but for a great looking, old-school OAV with some fan-service to sell the thing.

I was not disappointed. The animation is great throughout, the Japanese VAs are up to par, and the music is pretty good. There is some fan-service for you keeping score, but not much. This show actually stands up pretty good in the plot department but suffers a bit at the end as you know no more shows are coming after the four here. This is to bad as the last episode really leaves the show open for more. Ah, well. I've got better OAV's I want more episodes of first. (Dragon Half anyone?)

The plot is basically that some "spaceship" comes to earth a picks up this kid who has some space map in his DNA. (Major Disarray says "Flight of the Navigator did it!") Fight with some other "spaceship" ensues. The next 3 episodes involve the guy, his girl, and the spaceship girl running around the galaxy looking for pieces of an interstellar map and battling other spaceship girls. (Kryten says "It's a classic tale.")

Recommended if you dig average old school OAVs. If you want tons of fan-service, shiny new looking computer coloured art or a vast engaging storyline, look elsewhere.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 7/10

To celebrate the upcoming airing of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (GITS:SAC) on YTV, your Canadian home for anime on TV, and having just watched the last disc of the first season, I'm gonna review it. With no spoilers of course.

Running 26 episodes and airing in 2002-2003, GITS:SAC is an alternate universe to the 2 GITS movies that have been released in theatres and on DVD. The Major (Makoto) is still around, unlike in the second movie, and the human guy from that same movie is now one of the main characters. Some purists may HATE this but I really don't care. The more interesting characters the better I say.

This show looks amazing. The backgrounds are beautiful and the CG is well done and nicely blended with the rest of the show. The japanese VAs are pretty average, but nothing bad. I have only 2 complaints.

1.I HATE the CG intro but I LOVE the song. I suggest closing your eyes until it's over.
2. I really wish that the Major had been given a character design a little more like the original manga. She looks kinda dykey in my opinion. (I that a word? Dykey?)

GITS:SAC plays out a little like Witch Hunter Robin (WHR), where there's a running plot through the whole series, and a bunch of pretty stand-alone episodes scattered throughout the first 3/4 of the series. I always like this since as the show progresses you have a reason to watch the next episode because you're keen to find out more about the main plot. Some shows don't really get the main plot going until half-way through the series (Chrono Crusade) and I for one, lose intrest. The stand-alone shows are all quite good with usually quite a bit more action than the main plot episodes, which get a bit long winded at times with explanations. No fear though, it's not nearly as bad as the movies.

One of the great things about this show is the comic relief provided by the Tachikomas (sp?), the little blue tank guys. Even the most gritty episodes are lightened up a bit and I've always felt this is one of the most important elements in a great drama. Movie, TV series, play, whatever. Viewers need a break from the constant drama. I credit English Lit. 12 for that bit of insight.

I really feel this show is a step up in quality from WHR, so if you like that, you'll love this. To everyone else, check it out. It's recommended. More fan-service migh have been nice though.

The issue with distributors?

Being an old man and a lazy writer I'm going to go over this article item at a time, making some notes just to expand or correct the content. My comments will be in blue. The original was by Jesse from zannen.ca, go visit his site. Read my blog. Send me an e-mail. zenith27@telus.net and tell me how much you hate me. Here we go.

Like it or not, the anime market in North America has always been built on doing everything possible to get you to buy video releases.

The market is based on video sales as the main revenue stream is what I think what you mean.

Even today, companies will package the first volumes of many series with a high episode count, a box to hold the entire series, the most inane extras that you're not going to want anyway, and a price tag of $30-40 US just to entice customers into buying it blindly.

Well, most companies now offer trailers on the net, reviews are everywhere and you can always download the show and preview it that way. (No that I advocate this. =P) Of course, I love my Najica panties.

I mean, they've always had to work under the assumption that their audience hadn't already previewed this series through illegitimate means, right?

I can't speak for the companies but fan-subs have been around for years. How else did enough people see KOR to demand it be released legally?

That's why it's rather dissapointing how Canadians have always gotten short-changed in this particular area of the market, which is only now improving - at a very, very slow rate.

Bzzzt! WRONG! There used to be only 5-6 NA companies releasing stuff on VHS (AnimeEigo, Streamline Pictures, Pioneer, A.D.Vision, VIZ and U.S Manga) and the tapes were usually $50 for 1-2 episodes. Popularity rose sharply in about 1998 when MANY more shows started being released. The episode counts went up, and the number of companies grew. (AnimeVillage (Bandai), Rightstuf, Media Blasters) Sadly the prices stayed about the same but you got alot more bang for your buck. Most of these companies titles were available in comic book stores, through mail order and some at A&B Sound and Sam the Record Man.

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, anime DVDs simply couldn't be found on Canadian shelves.

Virgin megastore and comic book stores. Don't forget mail order.

You may have been able to find a few at outrageous prices if you looked through some specialty stores, but even mainstream anime releases in the US were pretty much regarded as underground commodities up here.

It was the same in the US I'm afraid.

A few years later, Pioneer (now Geneon Entertainment) stepped in and finally began dribbling
their titles onto shelves at Future Shop, A&B Sound, HMV, and other major Canadian retailers.

This is NOT the fault of Pioneer or any other studio. This was a decision entierly up ton the stores themselves. Virgin had a very large selection and had no trouble getting in the newest releases the day they were scheduled to be released.

The only problem was that most of these releases were essentially "leftovers" from US retailers with completely erratic releases, and with no competition, Pioneer was free to charge whatever the hell they wanted, which was quite unreasonably high.

The prices for Pioneer have always been high. This was not a case of raising prices due to increased demand. Again, new releases were not common but not unheard of. (Note that ALL the prices were high, regardless of studio. It was better than a $100 LD imported from Japan)
Virgin used to get a shipment each Tuesday and I used to go down there and get the latest stuff. Ranma 1/2, ElHazard TV, Tenchi TV, and various others over time.

Why did this happen? Well, while anime DVDs sold reasonably well for quite a few years as it began transforming from an underground thing to a mainstream niche, the real "boom" didn't
occur until Gundam Wing and Tenchi Muyo made their big debuts on Cartoon Network in 1999.

The first boom really started with Sailor Moon in 1996. In Canada it was that and Escaflowne.

They were pretty much the first anime to air on mainstream television that hadn't been "repackaged", and they made quite an impact. Prices started coming down, and the number of titles being released shot right up.

The prices came down for one reason. DVD. Period. Cheaper to make, less costly to ship. Uses less shelf space.

Of course, not quite as many Canadians caught Gundam Wing when it aired on YTV at 11:30pm, so naturally there wasn't very much demand for that up north. Or any other anime DVDs, for that matter.

Au contraire, I would say more anime was sold than ever. Evangelion, Escaflowne, Tenchi, Ranma 1/2. Especially Evangelion. That show alone made anime fans out of alot of people. Not as much demand as the US, but still pretty good.

In terms of pricing, a lot of people claim that we should stop complaining because the discs will always be more expensive in Japan and every anime fan in North America is a spoiled brat, blah blah blah.

Damn right! My Sailor Moon Super S movie cost $100. But the box was SOOOOOO pink.

While it's pretty hard to convince these people otherwise, it's pretty much undeniable that that markets for anime are different on each side of the ocean. In most cases in Japan, there is generally some (legitimate) alternative way to view most shows, leaving only the hardcore fans to spend the big yen on those expensive video releases.

I totally agree.

Of course, with US fans almost entirely relying on video releases. The Canadian prices on some products are often compared to the Japanese releases, but you can't honestly use that as justification when the Canadian market for anime is pretty much exactly the same as the US market.

This is NOT true. An average anime DVD in Japan is about $50 US. Usually 2 TV eps. or 1 OVA. DVD's have NEVER been that much per episode here.

For instance, in Australia and the UK anime is normally sublicensed to companies like Madman or MVM who normally release pretty much the same product, only retuned for their specific region. However, the distribution rights for anime normally aren't different for the United States and Canada, so whatever company holds the rights to distribute a product in the US should also distribute the product in Canada.

That's right. Most DVDs state for US and Canada on the packaging.

<>You may have heard from various sources that Canada has some of the lowest DVD prices in the entire world. Thanks to some kind of weird distribution process that I'll never understand, this is true; the prices of DVDs and CDs are marked down considerably by the companies that re-distribute them to Canadian retailers, but for some reason it doesn't seem to work this way with anime. Since most other companies in North America don't seem to have a hard time distributing their DVDs up here, I don't see why anime has to be the sole exception.


This is because the market for new movies is MUCH larger than for anime so the stores buy enough to get lower prices. Old movies and TV series have already made their money, so DVD sales are gravy. Prices can be lower. Anime producers are trying to recoup their investments using their only revenue stream. As for prices being cheaper for DVDs here I have never heard of that. CDs are cheaper due to the cutthroat competition here. A&B Sound, HMV, Music World, Future Shop and Virgin (until it closes), Sam the Record Man (I think it's replacing Virgin)

To address this problem, most companies either create small branches in Canada, or outsource distribution to a third party company. While neither tactic is necessarily "bad", these companies and branches can very often be held responsible for not educating retailers about their products. And with the oversaturation that the US market is currently facing, controlling the "spill-over" into the Canadian market is becoming increasingly difficult for these middlemen.

I'm not sure what you mean by "spill-over". I do agree with the rest though.

But, it's not like we're cut off completely. Many Canadian online stores such as The C&L and DVD Soon provide a lot of relief and offer extremely competitive low prices. (And I highly recommend trying them both.)

It's www.thecnl.com

Of course, that doesn't really mean anything because we don't live in some kind of fantasy world where everyone shops online thereby eliminating the need for brick and mortar stores, leaving the freed up space to build parks and cancer clinics - no, in this world, the vast majority of people buy their DVDs in regular retail outlets. That includes me, in case you were curious.

You KNOW anime fans are not in the vast majority. But I do agree of course.

Presenting the product in front of people's faces can only increase the number of avid anime buyers out there, and the more the fanbase grows, the more efficient the anime industry in Canada is likely to become.

Go to the CNL warehouse. It's awesome. All your anime needs. Ever. I still agree here.

I still think the ideal market for all three territories would be trying to get televised broadcasts for as many twenty-six episode shows as possible and then selling each in complete digi-pack boxsets.

Those boxsets are the big trend nowadays.

<>But while it may work that way in France, I don't think that logic is going to spread anywhere else anytime soon. The Canadian market can only really work if it follows the same model as the US market, so I think it's important to analyse each of the major anime distributors in the US individually. For argument's sake, I've listed them below from "best" to "worst" in terms of pricing and availability in Canada:

What I've traditionally done at this site is rank the various distributors based on their ability to deliver products in Canada because, of course, my opinion on the matter is completely accurate and infallible without question.

I'll hold you to that.

However, virtually every company in the industry is in the middle of a transition of some sort, so it may be better to simply analyse where each company currently stands, and what the future may bring for each one.

The companies have actually been very stable for about the last year in terms of who is doing the distribution. The prices have dropped lately from Bandai and Geneon though.

I'll edit the table. I didn't edit the distributors. One final note of interest. A couple of the major chains in the lower mainland (Future Shop, London Drugs) get their DVDs from C&L. I can count on two hands the number of titles they don't currently have in stock. It's not availability. It's apathy.

---

Company	Canadian distributor	Status
ADV Films	ADV Films	In the past 3 years ADV has missed less then 10 release dates. Best prices over the years.
Anime Crash	Sony Music Entertainment	No comment
AnimEigo	KOCH	UY OVAs and movies came out on schedule. The TV series is always out on time as well.
Bandai Entertainment	Bandai Canada?	Bandai got their act together about a year ago and their prices are now on par with ADV. Few missed release dates, mostly around their distribution switch.
Central Park Media	Some company	Slashing prices. Not many new releases. No missed release dates though.
FUNimation Entertainment	kaBoom Entertainment	No problems. Only delayed title was Kiddy Grade box. I never saw any delay in releases. Cheapest anime there is!
Geneon Entertainment	Vid Canada	Finally the prices went down! Glory Glory!!
Manga Entertainment	Anchor Bay Entertainment	Not much in the way of releases. Cheap prices though.
Media Blasters	SJS?	Not many missed release dates. Average prices. Better and better shows lately. AMG late this year!
Viz Media	SJS	Low episode counts but lower prices than once upon a time. I love Maison Ikkoku, STOP THE EXCLUSIVE DEAL WITH THE RIGHTSTUF!!!

There are a couple others. TokyoPop is good but mostly manga, and Sync-Point is a bit of a joke.

New Cutey Honey 6/10

Watched all 8 episodes over the last couple of days. There's a bit of a story behind why it's taken me so long to see this show. A long time ago I was given a promotional video of Cutey Honey on VHS (about 1998). I had never heard of it but had enjoyed several ADV releases of the day which were all fan-service heavy: Devil Hunter Yohko, Plastic Little, Iczelion. So I figured, what the hell, it was free. The tape had 2 episodes and was marked 3, I know now these were episodes 5 & 6. I popped the tape in and hit play. What followed was the most annoying opening theme EVER. You know the one. Once the song was over I took out the tape and put it on a shelf I couldn't reach.

Fast forward to 2004. (SIX YEARS!!! oh man...i'm so old) I had seen Devil Lady and really liked it. So I went looking for more Go Nagai titles. Kekko Kamen was....interesting. Demon Lord Dante was edited so I boycotted it. MazinKaiser was good. Oh, what's this...aw crap. Cutey Honey. Sooooo I bought the Essential Anime version and brought it home, where it sat for a year.

In working through my DVDs I hadn't seen, Cutey Honey was next. I closed my eyes and was.....surprised. For the record this show came out in Japan in 1994 & 1995.

Since this is an OAV the animation is great throughout. The first 4 episodes have a great Japanese version of the song I so hated 7 years earlier. Wow. I liked the character designs and the VAs were fine.

The first 4 episodes make up one arc and the second 4 make up the second. Since a whole story is crammed into 4 episodes I can't complain about the plot. This OAV is actually based on a kid's anime that aired back in 1973! WTF! I can't help but think that these OAVs were created to fulfil some young boy's fantasy. Imagine if in another 10 years they produce an R rated Sailor Moon OAV with tons of breasteses. THAT'S an idea I can get behind! The fan-service here is well done and actually somewhat well thought out. (There's only one shower scene) If you like fan-service, this show is a pretty good one. It looks good and is evenly distributed throughout.

Two perky breasteses up! (Skip the openings on the second disc though.)

zannen.ca, better than previously advertised

I must mention that the zannan.ca guys read the comments on their posts and reply. I owe them an apology as I mistakenly ripped on them for a lack of this. My sincere apologies.

Chrono Crusade 8/10

No spoilers here.

I watched the last 16 episodes in a marathon last weekend so here's a review. Chrono Crusade is a bit of a mixed bag. The first 10 episodes are a bit poor but the last 14 are really good, plot wise. The look of the show, released in 2004, is very Gonzo, if you know what I mean. Lots of bright colours and great character designs. Especially Rosette, the blond-haired, blue-eyed, fan-service nun. There isn't enough nun fan-service in the available anime these days. Devine Luv episode 1 is all I can think of and I think she's a priest. The music struck me as average, meaning no memorable music but none that pissed me off either. I only watched a bit of the dub and I didn't like Rosette's VA. The japanese track, which I watched, was great. Over 7 discs we get 24 episodes and no promo video which I have seen and has some showering fan-service. I feel a little ripped off.

Reminder to ADV: 24 eps = 6 discs, not 7

A message to ADV. DON'T LET YOUR VA'S DO COMMENTARIES WITHOUT GETTING THEM TO WATCH THE SHOW FIRST!!!! I really HATE listening to the same stories about the Houston acting scene and the incessant comments about how hard it is to be a VA and how only talented actors can do it. I really don't care. I'd rather hear what the VA's think about their characters, and the show in general. When the VA's haven't even SEEN the episode before doing the commentary it PISSES ME OFF!!! The best commentaries you've ever had were for DHY and Megazone 23. Here's an idea. Get Matt, David and Janice in there. I want an informed commentary damnit!

The story. Well, I really had a bad feeling over the first 10 episodes. I felt I wasn't sold enough on the overall direction the story was going. So while the episodes were OK comedy wise, I really felt I was wasting my time. Mixing more of these lighter episodes towards the end would've broken the tension that builds up too much in the latter half of the series.

I really liked the latter half of the episodes and I don't think there were any real problems with it, my suggestions are simply to clean up the first half. I enjoyed the religious take this show had, mainly because the mainstream media companies are too scared of the Christian right to produce anything like this. Look at the backlash against Dogma. And that was before W. got into the White House.

Of course the best part of the show is the ending. I won't give away what happens but the last episode is why I watch anime. Few series endings are in this catagory: Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne, RahXephon, Please Teacher, Orphen to name most of them. Most series endings are crap, Chrono Crusade nails it. Period.

For the last episode alone. High recommendation.

Gungrave 7/10

No spoilers here. These 26 episodes aired in 2003.

Having just watched the last 3 episodes I can pretty much pass judgement here. I really liked this show overall. Over 7 discs I don't feel too ripped off, the show looks great throughout, the animation quality doesn't dip much, and the soundtrack is great. I liked most of the voice acting except for old Harry. What the hell? Smoking sure took a toll in the years between the first and second halves of the series. Two crappy things.

1. The spines on the DVDs are this retarded beige colour, WTF. Grave's colours are red, black, and white. Where did beige come from?
2. The extras. No interviews with the creators which I always like.

Time to pile on the story a little.

The first episode is one of those classic big bang types, then the second episode takes us God knows how far into the past. This is almost always a good sign as the creators are giving us a taste of the good stuff later in the series BUT we can also expect a few boring establishment episodes. Of course the good stuff preview has to be GOOD. Which this is. Lucky me. Berserk was like this in this aspect BUT in Gungrave the first episode is actually, time-wise, in the middle of the series. It wasn't perfect though. I felt this preview episode introduced too many characters. I forgot them by the time I got to them in the rest of the episodes. Berserk did this better as it only introduced 2 characters. One of whom had an exposed enlarged brain which made him someone easy to spot later on.

We then spend a little over half the series watching, basically, a mobster anime. A very good mobster anime. Being a huge fan of the Sopranos, Goodfellas, Casino, etc... I really really liked this first half. Not too many characters to confuse me (unlike the Sopranos). I was concerned though because I had just watched Texhnolyze and Heat Guy J. I wasn't keen to watch the same show again. No fears dear readers, Gungrave's first half is different and better. Whew. The story is basically about two friends as they take different paths through the ranks of a criminal organization. The power-hungry violent guy and the quiet, submissive violent guy. These episodes span several years and are terrific viewing.

The second half of the series happens 15(?) years after Brandon Heat is turned into Beyond the Grave whom we saw in the first episode. Now the series takes a bit of a dive plot-wise. It's like Sailor Moon but replace the Sailor Senshi with Grave and the female monster-of-the-week with a male monster-of the-week. The fights are cool but these episodes are a letdown after the really great first half. The ending? Not bad but not great. A bit of a twist but a let-down.

Nothing really bad overall but the first half really sold me on this show and I can recommend it solely on that.

zannen.ca sucks

I'm a little annoyed today. Lately I've been reading a certain anime commentary site based in Canada. (http://zannen.ca/) For someone with such strong opinions about the state of the anime industry in Canada I'm a little surprised the guys who run this site have no interest in the feedback of the readers.

I want to comment on their blasting of YTV over the perceived problems about the airing of certain anime on YTV.

Give YTV a break guys. So they shrink or talk over the end credits of some of the shows. So they forget to subtitle japanese text at times. So they play some of the heavily edited Fox stuff. Bitch, bitch, bitch.

They played Witch Hunter Robin with few if any edits. They played .hack with few if any edits. They play Inu Yasha with few edits. They play Gundam Seed with few edits. What the hell do you guys REALLY want? A 24h non-edited anime channel. Ask for them to play it in japanese while you're at it.

A few edits aren't the end of the world. If you add up all the time you spent blinking during a given episode you miss more then than the edits consist of. If you don't like it, buy the DVDs.

You guys want FRUITS BASKET aired? Are you kidding? Not in a million years. Don't get me wrong, I really liked Fruits Basket. Bought the DVDs and the soundtrack but c'mon. It's never gonna air until a few, less "niche" shows make it to air.

I also can't believe the complaining about the HUGE edits to One Piece, Yu Gi Oh!, etc... Take it from someone who's seen 300+ complete anime series. Dozens of anime movies and OVAs. These shows aren't in the same league as Fruits Basket. These 300+ episode monsters are the worst in anime. Churning out episode after episode, week after week. Crappy storylines, crappy production quality, crappy characters. Even Inu Yasha gets close to this catagory. Don't worry, there'll be so many episodes you won't be able to remember any edits a month later.

What I'm getting at is there are MUCH better shows out there that deserve your time to shill if you MUST see them on TV. Trigun, Kenshin, Orphen, Brigadoon, R.O.D. The TV, Last Exile, RahXephon, Evangelion and of course Cowboy Bebop to name a few. Hell, YTV announces G.I.T.S.:S.A.C. will air and all I see are complaints for a show THAT HASN'T EVEN AIRED!!! FUCK!

If you're hoping YTV is going to listen to your suggestions you aren't going about it the right way.