Archive for 'Japanese Anime' Category
Samurai 7 by Gonzo 2004
12 December 2005Usually I am not a fan of remakes, but I did enjoy the Magnificent 7, the western adaption of Akira Kurosawa’s masterwork THE SEVEN SAMURAI. And I did enjoy this re-interpretration of the classic story, though it is a bit surreal. In this Samurai are really supermen that can deflect huge cannon shots with their [...]
Ghost in a Shell Stand Alone Complex 2nd SAC (2004)
29 November 2005Wow. I have loved everything GHOST IN A SHELL that I have seen, but was surprised by the fact that this second season actually seemed to top the first season and the laughing man story-line. Sure it isn’t as violent or surreal as the Oshii films of the same name, but this had some hands [...]
Patlabor The Mobile Police The TV Series Volume 10
7 September 2005This is the 10th and final volume of the original series of Patlabor Television series (though there was an OVA that takes place later). This is such a great show, really a Hill Street Blues about cops that pilot giant robots called Patlabor’s and cause huge amounts of destruction in their wake. Such an amazing [...]
Planetes (2005)
14 July 2005This is one incredible anime, more a straight science fiction story, than a normal anime (though it does have some anime elements such as the female lead Tanabe, who is all heart, and ideals, and creates the love story that while central isn’t actually the main focus). This is an amazing character piece set in [...]
Parasite Dolls by Yoshinaga Nayoyuki & Nakazawa Kazuto (2002)
5 July 2005I have always loved Bubblegum Crisis, though the original world the best (Crisis, Crash and AD Police), I just thought the boomers were much cooler being less organic than the 2046 version or the awful remake of AD police. Parasite Dolls is a semi sequel to the original AD police, being a new story about [...]
Howl’s Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki (2005)
27 June 2005I have to begin this review by saying I am a huge Miyazaki fan, and have every Studio Gibli film on DVD, and was so excited when I first heard this film was going into production that I went out and bought Diana Wynne Jones’s Children’s novel that this was based on (and it’s almost [...]
Texhnolyze 6 Death & Serenity
31 May 2005Hmmm, not sure what to say about this show. It certainly didn’t live up to my expectations from Hamashaki Hiroshi. There aren’t so many deep meanings going on as in his other series, thought it always seemed deeper than it appears to have actually been. Honestly at the end I can’t say exactly what went [...]
Mezzo by Umetsu Yasuomi (2003)
15 May 2005I was expecting this to be good because I enjoyed MEZZO FORTE, the ultra violent follow up to Umetsu Yasuomi’s KITE, and this is the continuation, though in TV form. It isn’t quite as violent, though is still as action pact, and has the same great characters thought with an upgrade in the character designs. [...]
Paranoia Agent 3 Serial Psychosis by Kon Satoshi (2004)
22 April 2005Satoshi Kon’s series continues, and it gets even
stranger, after starting to come together in the last volume, and then completely falling apart, these 3 episodes go in a completely different direction with mostly completely new characters (except the character Maromi). This series continues really strong, and I really don’t know what is going on.
REVIEW CONTAINS [...]
Read or Die: The TV (2003)
18 April 2005I loved the movie of this, so was intrigued by the series, but was depressed that is wasn’t about Yomiko Readman or agent “Paper,” but I did like the new characters, so I was watching, and was happy to find that it was actually about Yomiko as well as the 3 new Paper Masters, and [...]
Gantz (2004)
15 April 2005The latest work from production house Gonzo was deemed too violent for Japanese TV and was edited for content (and it is bloody as can be). My biggest complaint is that this is another DVD with only 2 episodes on it. And the initial box is set for 6 volumes, and the whole season is [...]
Mezzo 2 by Umetsu Yasuomi (2003)
29 March 2005The continuation of Mezzo is back, and I didn’t really like it this time, certainly not as much as I thought, and certainly not as much as MEZZO FORTE, which had great style, heavy violence and cool characters. Also animation is pretty sub par, though I like the actual designs. After watching Paranoia Agent you [...]
Paranoia Agent 2 True Believers by Kon Satoshi (2004)
29 March 2005This is the continuation of the Paranoia Agent TV series by the incredible director Kon Satoshi. I didn’t think I would see this for a while, but I didn’t even realize I already had it (talk about too many DVD’s :p ). In this first we think we are finding out the exact truth, but [...]
Paranoia Agent 1 Enter Lil’ Slugger by Kon Satoshi (2004)
28 March 2005I have been a fan of Kon Satoshi since I saw Perfect Blue when it was released in the US, and it really blew me away as something totally different than anything else I had seen. I subsequently loved both MILLENIUM ACTRESS and TOKYO GODFATHERS, and think Kon is set to be the next big [...]
Steamboy by Otomo Katsuhiro (2004)
18 March 2005Another masterpiece from Otomo Katsuhiro, this one a steampunk epic, that really defines the term steampunk (Webster’s new Millennium Dictionary defines it as: a genre of science fiction set in Victorian times when steam was the main source of machine power; also written steam-punk and in this movie it really is all about steam, [...]
Ghost in a Shell by Oshii Mamoru (1995)
2 March 2005Oshii Mamoru’s seminal cyberpunk masterpiece based on the equally seminal Manga of the same name by Shirow Masamune. This was really one of the 3 big ANIME films that got me so addicted to anime, the other 2 being AKIRA and MACROSS THE MOVIE: DO YOU REMEMBER LOVE. All 3 masterpieces of cell shaded anime, [...]
Texhnolyze Volume 5 Lies and Despair
1 March 2005I am still enjoying this series, though I still don’t really know what is going on. I am starting to get annoyed by the visual overlays that happen, especially during some of the fighting scenes. The visual snow does get annoying. Though that is nothing compared to GENEON’s practice of screwing it’s customers. I thought [...]
Last Exile Episodes 18-26 by Chigara Koichi (2003)
15 February 2005It took me a long time to get from the start of this to the middle, but from their I just powered through it all in 2 days. Gonzo really proved it’s meddle with this one. I really enjoyed this anime, and maybe it is just the joy of flying and the really cool vanships [...]
Ghost in a Shell 2: Innocence by Oshii Mamoru (2004)
15 February 2005Just got back from watching this opening day at the Arc Light watching GHOST IN A SHELL 2: INNOCENCE . It rocked. Absolutely bad ass. It does make me fiend for APPLESEED though, as some of the 3D still doesn’t match with the 2D Animation, but it certainly has improved. GITS has always been [...]
Appleseed by Aramaki Shinji (2004)
15 February 2005Fantastic. This is the best computer animated film I have seen yet, I enjoyed it more than FINAL FANTASY (yes I loved final fantasy, me and about 3 others). Of course I am also a huge fan of Shirow Masamune. His Intron Depot books are amazing, and I always loved the Appleseed Manga, though wasn’t [...]
Last Exile Episodes 9-17 Chigara Koichi (2003)
25 January 2005This continues Gonzo’s steampunk epic with our hero Claus Valca. Here we start to find out what is going on with this series.
Last Exile Episodes 1-8 by Chigara Koichi (2003)
15 January 2005Gonzo has brought it’s merging of computer animation and anime to a knew level with it’s steampunk epic LAST EXILE. The story starts off simple enough with 2 sky couriers, but starts to delve into a much more complicated world of politics and intrigue in a world much different from our own.