Gundam W - The Start of the Toonami's Downfall

Episode 1 --- Episode 2 --- Episode 3 --- Episode 4

This is another Fan Sub I picked up at Chicago's Visions Science Fiction Convention, so my reviews may get a little confusing. If I'm correct, Gundam was the first giant mecha series created which in turn, inspired all the others, so I was sure that this was going to be good.

Of course being a huge Macross fan may prevent me from saying it's the best, but the show's story makes this great and unique from every other mecha show. My basic impression of Gundam W is that it is Macross without the comic bits or the songs. If that doesn't make it its own series I don't know what does. The animation, artwork, and soundtrack are also great which makes this a title every anime fan should check out.

And it seemed like everyone did. Soon, Cartoon Network's Toonami block was filled with every possible spin off Gundam had to offer. It was just too much for me. Each series had different characters (unlike Tenchi Muyo!), so it was the Gundam that I loved. I lost track of Rurouni Kenshin and it seemed that everytime I turned Toonami on I'd just be screaming "that's nothing compared to Zero". Soon, Toonami was just a fond memory of my adolescents.

The Meteor the Girl Saw

The World Federation, after successfully gaining control of most space colonies, is trying to prevent rebels from succeeding with Operation M. Lt. Zechs has run into one of the enemies trying to bring a weapon to Earth. Little does he know that he is dealing with a Mobile Suit made of a very strong Gundamium alloy. With several other attacks occuring on Earth, has the Federation met their match?

There isn't much done for drama until the end when the pilot, Heero, is planning to kill the girl who found him, Relena, for knowing who he is. This doesn't really hurt the episode since the action sequences are very well done. Really the only noticible problem or something one will soon realize as they watch a few more episodes is that the characters are very one dimensional. It seems that it will be difficult to make these characters dynamic.
The Gundam Called Death

Heero, a new student, is the topic of many questions at his new school, especialy by Relena. I guess we'd all be curious if of someone who threatened our lives. On the military front, the Federation and Zechs are searching for the downed Gundam, but so is another Gundam. The situation becomes more heated when the pilot of the downed suit seems to be willing to stop the enemies from finding his suit.

We get to know the character of Relena better, who seems to be who the series will use to pull all the events in the together. The introduction of Duo is cool, but otherwise there isn't anything to scream and shout about when compared to the first episode. Fortunately, the action is kept up to par and the more intense scenario between the two pilots and Relena are played out well which allows the show to remain worthwhile.

Five Gundams Confirmed

Heero has been under the survalence of the Naval Hospital, and he wants to escape. This hope does seem to become a possible reality when somebody he ran into before his accident is ready to break him out whether he like the guy or not. In the meantime Zechs has predicted that the next Gundam attack will be at a military ceremony at Corsica, but even if the Federation knows where the attack is going to be, are they ready to face all possibilities that could occur during the attack?

This is a pretty fast paced and well organized episode, and the action keeps one glued to the screen. Afterwards one should realize that there is nothing to the episode character wise except for the alliance between two of the pilots being formed. Maybe the show is trying to gain the HK Cinema crowd. I shouldn't be so hard on the episode for this because the action makes this episode possibly the most fun to watch.
The Nightmare at Victoria

The WF's enemy has gone and taken a cheap shot by destroying the Space Academy's cadet dorm which has really pissed of the base commander and instructor Noyn. As for Heero, he's driving Duo nuts with his antisocial behavior, but Duo will soon be relieved of the nuscanse since he has just been assigned a new mission.

This is probably the best episode thus far. It's indeed the best written episode especially dialogue and character building wise. We are made to sympathise with the "real" enemy, and that is something hardly done well in any form of media. Fey also gets under our skin as a great anti-hero, but more importantly, Noyn and Zechs prove to be great characters, and we finally have a character which adds a lot of depth in Zechs.

Fatal Fury - How Much Can One Video Game Take

OVA --- Motion Picture
I was not impressed by Final Fantasy: Unlimited, so I guess quite a bit.

If you are wondering why there is a no rating sticker on the box I scanned, I bought Fatal Fury used (and third hand) for $5 from First Choice Video, a video rental store (since closed) in Morton, Illinois. Living in Morton makes it difficult to get a hold of any anime unless your willing to drive to Peoria (15 miles at best, but we were bitching about gas prices even then), so I'd buy whatever I can get. Quite a bargain because there is no way I'd pay full price for a new version. But I'm a huge video game fighter fan, so I still enjoyed watching it. I have no urge to follow anything that was spawned from this title.

Except for Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture which I saw on free cable. Oh for the days of the Original SciFi Channel.

Fatal Fury: The OVA - Legend of the Hungry Wolf

Oh yeah! I can't forget to include the Duran Duran midi I had used for the original page.

Ten years after the Bogard brothers' father, Jeff, is murdered by his rival in an attemp to be the only one who would know the ultimate martial art technique, Terry and Andy are reunited to learn from their father's master and to avenge his death. The two feel the best way to settle who technique will passed to is by seeing who would beat who in the King of Fighter tournament. Their father's murderer runs the tournament, and he wants to stop anyone from carrying this knowledge on. Now the question is, how can the two beat the crap out of each other and avoid the inevitable assassination attempts at the same time?

I think this anime was produced quickly to try capitalizing on the success the Street Fighter 2 anime had, and the fast and cheap quality is apparent. The animation itself isn't bad, but the colors are pretty dull, the soundtrack absolutely sucks, the dialouge isn't very good, and the fights are pretty short. It still captures some of what made the game though I can't say Fatal Fury one was much of a game, but you get the idea. They do a great job of the producing the authentic special moves, and there is some great artwork. A video rental store is actually more likely to carry this title since it is based on a video game rather than other titles like Neon Genesis Evangelion, so it might be worth a rent, but otherwise don't buy it unless your a huge fan of Fatal Fury.

And that's a stretch. I was a big fan of Fatal Fury 2 on the SNES, but that doesn't inspire me to buy the second OVA.

Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture

No matter how much you dress up a turd it is still a turd. Actually, that's a pretty good plot summary. Yes, that is a bit extreme to describe my disappointment when I saw that Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture wasn't much of an improvement over Legend of the Hungry Wolf. Since I haven't seen Fatal Fury 2, and I still won't, you might call me under qualified to give a review to the film, but many people signed my guestbook asking for this, (if you want to piss on my opinions, go right ahead) so I had to give this film a chance.

Sign Guestbook --- View Guestbook

Laocorn is a descendent of Gaudeamus, so naturally he is searching for his ancestor's armor that made him nearly invincible against the Romans. He wants that same power, and the only person that immediately opposes him is his twin sister Sulia. Unfortunately, she can't stop his army, so she finds Terry Bogard, and gains his assistance along with brother Andy, Joe Higashi, and Mai Shiranui. Now they are trying to prevent him from capture to the other three pieces of armor and save Laocorn's soul from the reemergence of the God of War.

There are some excellent fight scenes, but only for the art work. The action is very poor. Mai, Joe, and Andy work as a great comic team which helps the Andy/Mai relationship, but this hardly works on the romantic or emotional level. Yet, these are among the few forgivable flaws of the movie.

Then you have the Terry/Sulia relationship which allows for some great redrawn LotHW footage, but this ends in an extremely pathetic way. Maybe this isn't something that needs to be stated, but it seems the Japanese really go out of their way to sacrifice themselves for anything.

As for the plot, it seems perfect for these characters unlike LotHW, but since I haven't seen any of the film's bad guys in the Fatal Fury games, I don't find them to be extremely effective villains except for the guy with the Clockwork Orange mask. What the heck was the reason for bringing Billy and Geese back when they do jack s*** for the plot, for a sequel? With this ridiculous ending, I hope not.

Toshinden had a similar story line, and Fatal Fury shows that detailed art and high production value doesn't make a great film. Makes me wish the more likable Toshin fighters could teach the FF cast a lesson.

animatedcartoons.co/top-fatal-fury-king-of-fighters-artwork/

legend of the crystals Based on FINAL FANTASY

Episode 1 --- Episode 2

I heard about this anime back when it was just being released in Japan before I was even interested in anime.  Once I heard it was coming to the States I had to check it out. It's not as good as the games (no s***), but it's without a doubt the best game to anime translation I've seen (despite not playing FFV, but I own Chocobo Dungeons), and everything in it is of excellent quality.

Even if you never played the games (and if you haven't your one of the people preventing good RPGs from reaching American video games consoles) you'll find this enjoyable. I'm not quick to buy volume 2, but its not a waste of your money to check this out especially since FFV wasn't released in the U.S.

The Wind Chapter

Two hundred years after Final Fantasy V, three of the four elemental crystals of Planet R have been stolen, and only the Wind Crystal remains. To prevent the loss of this crystal, Lenaly and her grandfather go to protect it while trying to avoid the arrogant, reckless Prettz.  After an attack by a giant spider, the old guy is to exhausted to continued, he has to trust Prettz to protect his granddaugter which may be tough since the sky pirate Rouge has an idea of a new treasure for her collection.

It is humorous, runs at a good pace, has great animation, has a great soundtrack, and a decent story. Hell, it even made sure to put in the trademark Chocobos. This title just seems to be a little to tame, even for Final Fantasy. One of the few times I wanted more rude humor, but of course the final joke makes up for what it lacks.

The Fire Chapter

Our two heroes are first captured by the kingdom's air force. Then Rouge's pirates attack and capture them a long with the ship's captain.  Despite unorthodox torture, Prettz will not tell the interesting location of the crystal, so the three are imprisoned. Here the spirit of one of the original guardians of the crystals, appears to tell the group of there destiny, and to embarrass the hell out of Prettz.

There's a lot of action, but its still able to keep everything that made the first episode so much fun. The humor even improves (comedy wise not taste wise). The action sequences seem to be like the video games' which is an additional touch. I can't say its better than the first episode, but it comes close, kind of like FFII(U.S.) and FFIII(U.S) by many critics.

Final Fantasy (Legend of the Crystals) © 1994 Square/NTT Publishing Co., Ltd

Dirty Pair Flash - Act 1: Because I had few options.

Episode 1 --- Episode 2

Anyone who has/had taken a huge interest into anime as I did had at least heard of the Dirty Pair series and films. I never took the time to find these tapes since the preview before Akira's Orion Home Video release didn't leave a good impression of the films which may had prevented me from trying to find out how good the series truly was. Since it's now pretty difficult to just go to Suncoast to find these videos, I figured I had to give ADV Films release of Flash a chance. At the time, I felt it was worth it since I needed a hyper, gun toting chick anime and Burn-Up X hadn't come out yet.

Sadly, I'd say 2 years removed, this series is pretty forgetable. It is not a knock on the animation, but it just does not stand out as a tease anime. Any incarnation of Burn-Up can do a better job at keeping one's attention, and with the release of the Kite franchise, you don't need humor to have hyper action. Again, I hadn't gotten around to the original franchise (and I had the chance when ADV got the rights), so I don't want to discourage anyone from exploring this universe. This is a series that just didn't stand out to me.

Runaway Angel

The head of the 3WA cannot stand the responsibility that is put on his shoulders by the new Lovely Angels Yuri, a trouble consultant who misses work 74% of the time for dates, and Kei, an officer on her fourth probation due to her temper and violent tendencies. For these two, it's another normal day off just being glad to have a salary instead of wages until a dying man gives Yuri a card that has to be taken to the 3WA. Yuri and the reluctant Kei must now avoid the police, incompetent hoodlums, and being seen in torn up (and revealing) clothing to get this card to headquarters.

What a way to open a series. They take a simple concept, and successfully use it for a half hour of material. Like Burn-Up W, this series is based on another generation/incarnation of characters and that usually seems to work. I still wonder how anime can do this so well.

The main characters do seem a little overly mean to each other, but you can't help liking them for their quirks. All the action is executed well, so for what this episode was, you can't get much better. Technically, it looks a lot better that the original DP's animation and art. With a good sound track, this is what I call high quality anime.

Darkside Angel

Being a little too over confident with air port security, Kei inadvertently lets the body she was guarding get killed. The two give chase after the assassin who eventually gets the best of the Lovely Angels, but spares their lives. Surprisingly, the assassin is captured by the military police. Kei smells a rat, and despite Yuri's objections, Kei is preparing for round two.

This episode gives us some great insight into how the main characters think, and the assassin is far more interesting than one would think. The episode does feel rather slow moving though which is probably due to saving most of the action until the end. It makes the episode seem overly serious. Fortunately, seeing the full violent power of the angels make this episode worth seeing.


Dirty Pair Flash © Takachiho & Studio Nue - Sunrise

Devil Hunter Yohko - The Funny Nude Demon Anime

Volume 1 - Volume 6


Without a doubt, Devil Hunter Yohko is one of the funniest and raciest anime I've seen (I thought that title belonged to Burn-Up W, but they got all the T&A out in the first two files). Its a great parody on the teenagers v. the monster type movies, so it has an edge. All the animation is good, but you can tell that there was a lot of improvement from volume 1 to volume 6. May not be a must buy, but it won't hurt you to check it out.



Volume 6
If your asking why I bought Devil Hunter Yohko 6 first, it is because of SunCoast placing a label saying must be 18 to purchase on it.
Its a normal day of school for Ms. Yohko Mano. Normal is her spending most of her time looking at attractive boys. This day, her taste tends to change every few hours, she's trying to get Tatuno to pay attention to her, but he seems to be taken by a girl in a slutty outfit with a hair do that resembles Yohko's. Her depression doesn't last long. Now that there is a new student teacher at school, Mr. Sato, but again she sees him with the same girl. Only with this encounter do they see eye to eye, and the two girls are identical.
Yohko's best friend Chigako does some investigating into this girl, Ayako, but during her telephone debriefing, Yohko's apprentice, Azusa, lures her into a dual with Ayako. After Yohko's grandmother, Madoka, stops the dual, we find out about that Madoka had a twin sister who she beat out for the title of 107th Devil Hunter, and she is pretty bitter. Now Yohko must be prepared to face Ayako again to protect her title, that is if she can stay focused on the battle instead of Mr. Sato.
It may not be a must see, but its still fun to watch. The battle scenes have their own sense of humor, and all the classic emotions literally being shown in character concept (hearts for eyes, etc) make it even more comical. At some points the humor becomes a little too ridiculus, and its attempts to be serious can get a little boring. Otherwise, everything works well. Another great thing about it is that you don't have to buy the other 3 dubbed volumes, 4 if your buying subtitled versions, because it isn't really a continuing series (I do know that the first volume was made in 1990 and this was made in 1995). Maybe something that other fans will be glad to hear that there are still a lot of risque moments in the action, especially the final battle.
***Additional***

The dub is good, but I doubt that lines like "the truth is out there" and to a lesser extent "there can be only one" were in the original Japanese version, so its not exactly the most direct translation.

Volume 1

It seems to be a normal day for Yohko Mano. Her grandma and mom are fighting over their views about virginity, she's late for school, but this time the principal of the school decides to punish one of Yohko's friend for it (the friend's name isn't overly important since this is the only show he's in. Okay I'm to lazy to pop the video in while I'm writing the review).
Things become more hectic as the day goes a long when a tentacled monster attacks her, and her grandma pulls her out of bed with a demon. All of this leads to her grandma telling her she's the 108th Devil Hunter of the Mano family, and she's has to prevent the rise of the new dark queen. The more dificult part maybe staying a virgin until she gets the ring of the Hunter, or there will be no 108th Devil Hunter.
As I said in my overall review, you can obviously tell the superior quality in the 6th tape animation wise, but aside from that Volume 1 is apretty good anime. It's pretty racy and maybe too racy for a cartoon (that isn't hentai), but it does use this to get in as much humor as possible.
For a series opening show its well done. I feel that usually the best episodes come a long when all the viewers are familiar with the show which allows for better plot construction. The best thing about the video is that it doesn't go half way with any of the concept which may be why the Viz Communication's catalog requires an "18 or older to purchase". The series is good enough that you can buy any video in the series and not be wasting your money. The only thing that I am confused about is why everyone pays so much attention to the series music when it is not an essential part of the series.

Sailor Moon S - Gender Issues for Being Ahead of the Curve

Episode 90 - Episode 91 - Episode 92 - Episode 93 - The Movie

First off, it was a pain in the butt trying to find out which series was which. I did not want to just pick up more Queen Beryl or evil Chibi episodes. That would have made me feel like a poser, and a poser of female anime shows at that. It was high school when I did not want to mess around with gender role issues, so even buying these fan subs kind of felt like being on the down low.

Now 10 years later, I'm revisiting these reviews (as an act of preserving nostalgia) and wearing eye shadow at bars (just to play on the androgynous angle). Perhaps this is the root to my dilemmas, I refuse to change. Go ahead and comment on this. Save me some money and time from my shrink.

Episode 1: The Premonition of the World's Destruction / Enter in the Mysterious New Warriors

Rei has a vision of the end of the world which is down played by the other girls since they are studying for high school entrance exams. Later that day, she is working at the shrine where she is attacked by a demoness formed from her family's fortune tree. This monster seems to be after Rei's Pure Heart. It goes from bad to worse when 4 of the 5 soldiers and Tuxedo Mask have been trapped and Usagi has lost her power.

So far, the biggest problem with this series is that we have little background info on the uber villain. All we have at this point are two guys wanting pure hearts to form a chalice to rule the world. This does give more time to concentrate on the soldiers, but concentrating on Rei without allowing her to pick on Usagi isn't that lively. I feel the best aspect of the episode is the mystery behind the two new soldiers, and their seemingly selfish plan. This episode is pretty much exposition on what is to come for the rest of the series, and it serves that purpose. The episode isn't bad since it'll get better once we're past this, so it was good to see the girls act how they normally act.

Episode 2 - The Birth of a Rod of Love! / Usagi's New Transformation

After the last battle, Usagi has been pretty down, and thinks she might even be kicked out of the Sailor Soldiers. Mamoru decides to try to cheer her up by taking her to a house full of little kittens who are watched over by one little girl. When Usagi finds out that this house is going to be destroyed, she starts a crusade to give all the cats homes no matter how many each soldier has to take care of. While all this is happening, the girl who watches over the cats is being attacked for her pure heart by a demoness formed from her puzzle of a cat. Still, Usagi can't transform. Usagi has to come up with some miracle to save the day, so I guess their pretty much doomed.

I may sound bias, but how can anyone not like a episode of any show that has a lot of kittens? Add the rest of the characters in the show being the way they always have been, and the result is a very good episode. Only problem I can see is why do the new soldiers have to be more powerful, but of course I can't say I blame them for not joining the others for that fact.

Episode 3: A Pretty Boy! / The Secret of Ten'ou Haruka

Usagi has set her mind to studying for her exams, that is until she sees Minako hanging out in an arcade. While they are playing a racing game, a boy named Haruka wants to join in. Minako decides to try to win him over, and also convince Usagi to stay loyal to Mamoru, but how can they compete with whom seems to be his girlfriend. They soon have to forget about this though when the mechanic working on Haruka's car is attacked by the car for his pure heart.

Any episode that is based on any character trying to succeed with a goal, and deal with Usagi seems to work. The episode may be based on a simple concept, but it really works well especially with its surprise ending. Also it's nice to see a more caring attitude by the two new soldiers and to know what planets they represent.

Episode 4: Usagi Yearns! / The Elegant Genius Michiri

Usagi's goal has changed from studying to being the perfect bride for Mamoru. To bad the other soldiers do not take her request for help in achieving this goal seriousely. Upset with the others, she wonders around until she sees Michiri and Haruka. She is amazed with Michiri's talent in playing the violin, and immediatly starts to idolize her. Michiri plays along with this and gives her tickets to a orchestral concert for her, Mamoru, and the other soldiers. This romantic evening for Usagi is unfortunately cut short when a cello steals the pure heart of one of the performers.

The episode has a similar concept to the preceding one, and again the episode works well. It's great that they are giving us a better insight into the other two soldiers, and it's interesting to find out what their goal is. Also the fight scene in this episode is of the same quality of the last three episodes which have all been better than most of the ones in the dubbed episodes.

Sailor Moon © Naako Takeuchi/Kodansha and Toei Animation

Super Atragon: How the US Victory Was a Bad Thing

It seems to me that the Japanese had this opinion of themselves after WWII towards the United States:

We were your enemies, but at least we were not Nazis.

They were also pretty bitter about the A-Bomb too, so despite the evil acts they committed (according to my Mandarin teachers) they never let their defeat settle very well. According to WWE Classics of Demand, it would seem that the Japanese felt victimized when it was all over, hence the evil American gimmicks.

Perhaps it was not a victimization, rather, they were just the losers of a sporting event. This would explain how they rose back to an economic power, and also developed a strong sense of nationalism after a great defeat.

If this is true, it easy to see how they developed animes like Kishin Corps. and Super Atragon to show how the great nation of Japan was never, ever the bad guys.

Volume 1 - Volume 2

Super Atragon is definately an anime made out to be a tale of epic proportions, so it would seem pretty easy to make fun of. By no mean is this a bad mini series despite a character with the name Go (at least for the thrifty Dub fan) may confuse you at some points. It's actually turns out to be something so good that you want to make few wise cracks out of respect to it, especially with the name our hero. There is no way each tape in the series should cost $30 a piece, but it is one that is definitely worth seeing. I also think A.D.V. Films may have played a part in why I bought this by showing a preview for it on every other Neon Genesis Evangelion tape kinda like brain washing.

Zero Hour to Extinction

Is it an early spring for the Southern Hemisphere, or is their the possibility something is melting the South Pole? To find the answer, the U.N. sends an exhibition to confirm the existence of a giant column that is producing microwaves. After the exhibition has been attacked, the U.N. decides to counter attack with two nuclear missiles which proves ineffective. In retaliation, giant ring start attacking the U.N. fleet by crushing them in their center and bending energy beams. Go and Annete are seperated after the counter attack, and Go awakens to see that he aboard a the Ra, a ship that is hidden inside an ice berg. Is this ship the only way to defeat this new enemy, and is Annete even alive after the first attack?

This anime does live up to all the attention given to it. The soundtrack is magnificent, the story does a great job combinig history and modern sci-fi, and the animation is matches the quality of these elements. Of course, the villainess could have been drawn a little better. With every preview I saw I thought she was a guy. Still it does seem to try pushing everything really far which makes it so much fun to give it a little MST3K treatment.

If your not interested in explotion filled sci-fi, the total concentration of the action may not be for you. SA does tries to cater to the audience that needs the total Michael experience. When one examines plot, WWII, unknown, invincible enemy, unusual technology, high body count, for war nuts or RPG fans its something they have to see. For if you like MST3K, you will be able to tolerate it when it goes over the top.

Volume 2

The U.N. Forces and the Ra seem to be trying in vain to stop indivual cylinders from going into space. If they complete a ring around the Earth, microwaves will cook the Earth. Fortunately, the Ra has found is a radio signal that is transmitted to each cylinder to direct it, so if they could lure the roaming source to them they should be able to stop the apocolypse. As they are waiting for the attack and as Annete prepare to face Avitar, Go is told the truth about his grandfather, father, the Ra, Annete, and her rival Avitar who represents a subterainian race that wants to destroy the surface humans. So now the Ra has to deal with Avitar, and the U.N. who refuses to allow the Ra to fight independently.

I don't know if my plot summary makes the episode sound elaborate or simple, but by the end of it, we receive one of the best climaxes to a series ever. Some of the Go Annete relationship is over done. You may want to have a trash can nearby for the under water scene, but it's still done better than any of the physical romance in Titanic (If you want to see James Cameron's best film, see The Terminator). The action sequences are well done with even some HK cinema elements tossed in. The rivalry between Avitar and Annete is almost as good as the one between Guld and Isamu from Macross Plus. The best thing about the series now is that it is now a single video, so now all can see it and give Super Atragon the respect it deserve.

Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie, or the Birth of a KMFDM Fan.

And the only midi I could find back in 1997 was Blind by Korn. The only knowledge about Korn was that they were a popular among some of the perceived troublemakers when I was in high school. Blind was featured as the credits song on the US release of Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie, so it was cool to know that I was going to have people immediately on my side when we called them sell outs when they released the "Follow the Leader."

STII has always been a title that I end up finding more and more about. Like how I'm pissed I didn't immediately buy the DVD which featured the European cut that featured a KMFDM soundtrack (not just "Ultra" which is used in the scene that sells the flick). I thought my fansub of the complete version that set the anime fight scene standard of shower nudity before the hot chick fights was going to be enough.

Memo 1: Get on E-Bay and see if I can get the disc at a steal.

As I said, this title is a must, but this isn't art. For me, it is what the fanboy who got reintroduced to anime via Game Fan magazine tribute to the lost periodical. For everyone else, B-Movie bliss.

Memo 2: Get bis sis to try talking Rifftrax into covering this one. After Manga let Conan and Andy redub Ghost in the Shell, I'd be sure they would take the MST3K treatment as an excuse to release the DVD with the all possible soundtrack attached.

Memo 3: Disregard memo 1.

Some of the best street fighters have been involved in terrorist activities, including MI6 agent Cammy White. A bigger problem is that any of them who are captured cannot remember the last 3 years. This leads Chun Li and Interpole to believe that the Shadowlaw organiztion, headed by M. Bison, is behind this. Interpole has decided enter a joint mission with the U.S. military forces led by Col. Guile to find Bison's hide out and destroy it.

Of course Bison has some goals of his own, such as aquiring Ryu, who is believed to be the greatest fighter of all time. Bison's problem is he can't find Ryu, but he has been told that Ryu's friend and rival, Ken Masters, may be equal to him. So it's a race to see if Bison can be stopped before he can aquire the ultimate hitman.

First off, the animation and the song track which includes Alice in Chains, Silver Chair, and Korn are great. The story is also good enough to hold everything together, and the fights don't need a story to be good.

Unfortunately it has been really Americanized. I've heard the score (and now know) was changed, and I feel it was done for the worst. The idea of seeing through the monitors of cyborgs sight is a little overdone to try to impress us (correction: this was in the Japanese version). It actually leads me to question of who truly came up with their vision. SFII or City of Lost Children.
Even if the fights are cool, some should never have been put in this story. I guess they figured they needed to introduce all the characters. Also the story isn't closed well enough. We don't know what happened to 5 of the fighters. The worst thing is the dubbing, but obviously you won't find a subtitled version (fansubs are the only ones, until the DVD came out).

To some extent, I may have really enjoyed this film because the Street Fighter series is my favorite video game series (no matter how bad this dub was, I still watched it again and again), but still it is anime that I think is worth buying and it is a must for SF2 fans. Its is also pretty cheap, can be found anywhere, so its a good intro to people interested in seeing what anime is like.

Sailor Moon Name Translations - You Can Assume Why This Isn't on My Main Blog

When I first became interested in anime, I was trying to avoid Sailor Moon thinking it was a fad in the U.S. created by DiC's Marketing. My "how a summer vacation without anything on TV to watch" can do funny things to a man. Now Sailor Moon is probably one of my favorite series. By noway is it one of the best anime television shows, but how can you not like it with all its uses of anime cliches, its art style, and the fact that is mind bogglingly cute (of course this is coming from a boy who collects Beanie Baby cats). I wasn't going to create a site for this series despite how much I liked it until I had some episodes I could watch over and over again. I don't want to seem under qualified.

After going to the Visions 98 Sci-fi convention in Chicago, I picked up three or four episode videos, one from each undubbed season. Man are we being deprived back here in the states. These episodes get into a lot deeper and darker scenarios than the first two series. This is probably something every SM fan wants and this could only win more fans to the show. If that statement turns off some SM fans, this is still the same Sailor Moon character wise, so nothing is really lost. Hell, the only thing that can screw with a fan's mind from these episodes I saw is the relationship between Uranus and Neptune. If the transformation sequences weren't enough to mess with an 18 year-olds mind (this is a joke, not a request to receive SM hentai in my e-mail).

I ended up writing quite a few pages devoted to this series, so there are actual reviews to come. Until then, here are some name translations and a theme song midi to hold you over till then.

Sailor Scout - English Name - Original Name

Sailor Moon - Serena - Usagi

Sailor Mercury - Amy - Ami

Sailor Mars - Raye - Rei

Sailor Jupiter - Leeta - Makoto

Sailor Venus - Mina - Minako

Sailor Chibi Moon - Reeni - Chibi-Usa

Tuxedo Mask - Darian - Mamoru

Molly - Naru

Melvin - Umino

Sailor Moon © Naako Takeuchi/Kodansha and Toei Animation

Ranma 1/2: Hard Battle - The Third Season I Suppose

I've been told that Viz really messed up the distribution of Ranma 1/2 when they originally released it. Out-of-order episodes on the tapes. The seasons were not released in proper order. This information make just be Wiki bull, and I got it second hand from my media obsessed sister, but as one who claims to be a Fanboy, the disrespect a distributor can have towards a product is disturbing.

Then again, this is Ranma 1/2. I cannot say that I got the impression that there was a running plot from reading the backs of tape boxs. This is situation comedy done with the right intentions. Create impossible situations that should allow for new ideas each time.

Of course Ranma 1/2 is not The Simpsons, Excel Saga, Red Dwarf, or South Park, so it falls into formulated situations. But these are formulated situations derived from Kung Fu experts turning into chicks, cats, ducks, pigs, and pandas. How can one not be intrigued to see what the series has to offer? Especially when you get a cute theme song like this one.

Ranma Gains Yet Another Suitor Akane and Ryouga, 2-gether 4-ever Akane the Super Duper Girl Killer from Jusenkyo

If your really into animation, and that doesn't just mean anime, it would not be surprising for you to have heard of Ranma 1/2. Just the concept of a guy changing into a girl when splashed with cold water seems to sparks anyones interest. Then you throw in the panda, the cat, and P-chan, how can you resist seeing this at some point.

There are some constant flaws with the series. The fact that the show will squeeze in an "Anything Goes Martial Arts" fight if it is needed or not can get annoying, but all in all every episode is pretty funny. I don't advice trying to collect the entire series (it would cost 4 times what Evangelion does), and if you are going to collect only certain episodes make sure they're definately the ones you want. I do feel that every anime fan should try to view Ranma 1/2 because the series seems to fit for the American mainstream, it just seems meant for MTV's Twisted Toon Thursdays (am I the only one who remembers Cartoon Sushi?). Put Steve Austin's commentary over some of the fights, and you know it would work.

Ranma Gains Yet Another Suitor

Akane, Ranma's fiance, witnesses Ranma's father get the crap kick out of him by spatula wielding challenger. Ranma is unable to get pops to tell him what is going on, and the only theory that he and Akane have is that pops has an illegitimate child. No matter how impressed Ranma is by the concept that his dad still gets around (^_-,^_-), he knows there is definitely trouble ahead which he meets the next day when his old friend and now the greatest okonomiyaki cook in Japan, Ukyo, transfers to his high school. The new kids reason for the transfer, vengeance and this grudge will be settled under anything goes okonomiyaki rules.


Pretty cool episode despite not much use of the Jusenkyo curse. All the characters are fun with their extreme personalities, and Ukyo's use of kitchen utensils and food make the character worthwhile. Her (oops gave away the ending) attitude is also pretty cool, wanting to be tough but has an obvious obstacle in doing that (to her credit, she is more interesting than Mulan). The fight does fit in but runs a little to long. After the climax everything calms down a little to fast. All in all its a great show, but Ukyo's dubbing is done pretty poorly though since there isn't even an attempt to cover up the estrogen.


Akane and Ryouga, 2-gether 4-ever

Ryouga has come back from another trip with gifts for Akane, but he kind of forgets about his reason for coming back when he finds out Ranma has another fiance. After he fails to defeat a double team by Ukyo and Ranma, Akane tends his wounds which gives Ukyo an idea to win Ran-Chan. Ukyo decides to set Ryouga and Akane on a date, but when the okonomiyaki love letter reaches the Tendo Training Hall, half of it gets stepped on by Ranma during a chase with P-Chan, so Akane think she has a new challenger to face.


This episodes pretty cute because I guess I can sympathize with Ryouga's dating difficulties (you will disavow any knowledge of the above statement after you read the review). Its a good episode for Ukyo playing towards her personality well, and the Jusenkyo curse is used extremely well. Unfortunately it falls apart when Akane is willing to go on a date with Ryouga. The show is still well paced, but could have been a lot shorter.


Akane the Super Duper Girl

Shampoo pulls another trick on Akane to try to show her superiority, and Akane is pissed, but with Ranma's attitude towards helping her train, how can she defeat her rival. In the mean time, Happosai, Genma's master, is fixing up some Super Sopa which will make him the strongest man on Earth, but allowing his perversion to get the best of him, he misplaces his food which is accidently by Akane. Now she believes she can not only beat Shampoo, but even Ranma. Is her vengeane worth ignoring the possible side effect that Ranma claims there is?


Better than I expected because the basis of the character of Happosai turned me away from getting any video with him in it. He's actually one of the better parts about the episode along with Ranma gluttonous attitude. Otherwise there is nothing overly impressive with the episode except the thought of what the side effect could do to Akane. It runs long, the anything goes table tennis is rather tedious and when they have a second game you know they are just filling in 30 min. To bad it had to be on the same tape with "Killer from Jusenkyo".


Killer from Jusenkyo

Who knew you were regulated in how you were cursed? The Jusenkyo Commitee is pretty peeved with the antics of Genma, Ranma, Shampoo, Mouse, and Ryouga, so they plan to teach them a lesson. First the cat and duck are kidnapped, followed by P-Chan, and then the panda. It's now up to Happosai, Ranma, Akane, and Kenay, a master swordsman of the commitee with one weakness, to save the four before they get special training on how to use their curse correctly.


This is probably the best paced episode in the series. You might get bored with Genma and Ranma taking repeated swims, but otherwise everything fits in. The characters are all used well (the only thing the video is missing is Ukyo) and the common foe works well. Maybe not the funniest episode, but definitely worth the time to see.

Ranma 1/2 © 1996 Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. - Kitty - Fuji TV

Ghost In The Shell - In a World Between Akira and Miyazaki

Ghost in the Shell is probably the most talked about title before Neon Genesis Evangelion came along, and it is the first in this decade (1990's) that has been able to get decent attention in the U.S. cinemas. Many hoped it would be the next Akira, and despite it is a very good film, it is far from being Akira.

To check out my Akira review, visit Russ's Online Home - rohmobile.com.

And as a bonus to this blog, check out this cool Ghost in the Shell midi that was originally part of The Bus's Transit of Anime Realities.

The year is 2019, and technology is being used to enhance humans and create cyborgs. With these advancements comes one problem, the mind is even more vulnerable. People can now hack into a persons ghost (soul/mind) to take the information they want, or even alter the memories of the victims to control them. This is why there is a government security branch called Section 9. They are a group of mostly cyborgs who deal with this kind of terrorism. The newest threat is a hacker called the Puppet Master, that no one even has the faintest idea who he is.

Three members of Section 9 are on his tail though, led by Major Motoko Kusanagi and assisted by a fellow cyborg Bateau and the mostly human Togusa. Will they succeed in capturing the Puppet Master, or will the Major's own existential queries interfer with not only this case but international security?

For a 17 year-old in 1997, Ghost in the Shell was one of the best animes I had seen. I don't particulary care for the style its drawn in (which is not particularly loyal to the Manga), but I still have to say it does capture more realism than most animes.

The action scenes are superb. The battle with the tank is one of the best action sequences I've ever seen. Also the converging of CGI and traditional animation works very well.

If there is a problem with the film, it might be how much time they spend on the major trying to find a meaning to her exitstance. The long scenes they show with her looking at society are extremely boring no matter how good they look. Also the ending isn't very satisfying. They had so much potential to take the ending to much higher levels.

Ghost in the Shell does what I think anime was meant to do which is to use plots that are simply assumed to be done in live action, and to do it as well as live action. No, this is not the next Akira, and maybe I should have bought Burn Up at the time, but GITS won't disappoint you if you see it. This is a great example of a films whose positives overcome the viewer's concerns with the its negatives.

www.deviantart.com/i-guyjin-i