Quickie Anime Reviews

Casshan: The Robot Hunter --- Galaxy Express 999 --- Adieu Galaxy Express 999 --- Gall Force: Eternal Story --- Records of the Lodoss War --- Roujin Z ---Urusei Yatsura 2 --- Vampire Hunter --- Venus Wars


This blog is dedicated to all that I dubbed of the Sci-Fi Channel. Mostly U.S. Manga Corps and Viz dubs, mostly out-of-print. I just hope this post isn't mostly useless. It at least shows their are good Central Park Media titles which is something they tended to fail to do with their previews.


Casshan: The Robot Hunter


The Black King robot has developed an effective way to stop the destruction of the earth's environment. Wipe out the wasteful humans and let the bots run the show. One problem though, BK's creator's son doesn't like the machine wizzin on his dad's dream, and add the fact BK killed his family, he's out for revenge.


Streamline Pictures must have thought just because anime was going to be hip, Casshan would have to make some money. The story becomes ridiculous the farther in it goes, the characters are emotionless, and the action isn't anything to boast about. The animation is good, but with a bad soundtrack. You shouldn't watch this film to get anything from it, but if you have 90 min. to kill, this will literally do it.


Galaxy Express 999

Ten year-old Tetsuro has only one goal, to kill the robot who murdered his mother for sport. Unfortunately, the only way he can do this is to steal a pass to ride the 3 nine train to find him, that is until the mysterious women, Maitel offers him a chance to travel along with her. Now if they can get pass space pirates and other cyborgs our hero might get a chance for vengeance and Maitel may succeed with her mysterious goal.

If you enjoy wild fantasies this is it. The worlds visited are all unique as is all the character art work, especially Maitel. The film does run long after a false climax, but it does work to set up the sequel. It's actually more dark than the description makes it seem. The animation is really good despite one might compare to titles that are 15 to 20 years younger, and the other technical aspects are excellent. Sometimes it runs slow, but its definitely worth seeing.


Adieu Galaxy Express 999

Two years after the first film, robots are now destroying all the humans they can find. Tetsuro is pissed about this because he thought he destroyed their home world. Everything seems hopeless until Maitel calls for him to board 3 nine again without a known reason. This does confuse him especially when there are rumors that Maitel is now the cyborg queen. Again, he doesn't know who he can trust, and just hopes he'll survive the ride.

Not as good as the first film because it lacks in the adventure the first one had. The film still works though with its goals of having more emotion than action. It also does a good job at answering any questions left unknown from the first film. Technically, its as good as the first and you can't expect much improvement in animation in only two years. All in all, it's a worthy end to the tale of 3 nine.


Gall Force: Eternal Story

The biomechanical race (best description I could come up with), the Paranoids, have forced the all female race of the Solnoids to try to escape this war by going to the planet called Chaos. During the battle, a battered Solnoid space craft with a crew of seven leaps to hyperspace before the rest of their fleet leaving them alone to face the Paranoid forces. Now for them to reach Chaos, all must being willing to sacrifice their lives, so that other crew members can reach their sanctuary.

"Epic space battles and heart-wrenching sacrifice characterize this tragic yet inspiring class war drama.", says the add in AnimeNation's 98 catalog. Talk about over blowing something to sell it. Yes there is a hell of a lot of sacrifice. These are the only attempts to try making the audience feel any emotion which gets tiresome after the first two crew members are sacrificed with only 15 (at the most) minutes between them.

I saw the dub, so hopefully this was just a bad English translation of the emotions we were supposed to be feeling, but that is a huge hope. There are some cute scenes, but this has to be the worst written title I've seen. We've seen this story in other incarnations in the media and almost everyone of them has done it better (makes me yearn for Battlestar Galatica: The Motion Picture). As for the space battles, the animation is good, but most of the sound effects for the ships propulsion are stolen from the speeder bike scene in Return of the Jedi. In fact, the sound effects in this film's speeder scenes are the sound effects of the RotJ's unedited and in its entirety. Sacrilege V_V.

This film isn't what I consider to be worthwhile, but there are many aspects that can draw people into seeing it. Personally, I need to wash this film out of my system by watching the Star Wars Trilogy.


Records of the Lodoss War


Six heroes, a knight, an elf, a wizard, a Dwarf, and a priest, go on a quest to prevent a new evil from being born on the continent of Lodoss, an island that was formed after a war between the god of light and the god of darkness.

Not much of a description I know, but if you enjoy RPG's you get the gist of it. The story seems to have a lot of potential, it's just not my cup of tea. The characters are great which does make me want to sample some more of the series. The animation is great, but the soundtrack is horrid, get past that and the title is well worth your time.


Roujin Z

Old people are really crimping the lifestyle of the youth in Japan, but not for much longer. A medical breakthrough has come in the form of a robot that monitors the senior it cares for and does everything for him/her. The film's heroin is upset that they want to replace her care with a machine that has no feeling taking her job, and the fact that her old folk is the test subject makes her want to stop this project and free him. Unfortunately, her attempts seem to give the robot a mind of its own, and we're forced to wonder if being at a nursing home is what the robot was meant for.

The description of this film may not grab you, but it turn out to have a great story which make it worth seeing. It can get ridiculous at some points, but the characters hold the tale together. The animation is unique and the soundtrack works. No, it isn't perfect because there are a lot of unbelievable elements, but is was worth releasing in theaters unlike films like Anastasia (and this is coming from someone who hates to rip into John Cusack films).


Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer

As Ataru's high school is planning for its annual festival, one weird thing keeps occurring. This weird thing is that the same day keeps occurring. When people finally realize this, the world itself seems to be falling to pieces, and everyone is disappearing except our main characters which implies that one of them has a clue about what is happening. When you get down to it, the incompetent Ataru may have to save the day.

This is a cute title, but its extremely deep plot is what keeps you watching. All the characters are fun no matter how ridiculous they can seem. It can get overly confusing is the film's only flaw. As for the technical aspects, its animated like all other Rumiko Takahashi translations.



Vampire Hunter D

The Daughter of werewolf hunter, Doris Rumm, was attacked by the vampire Count Lee, and he is determined to make her his new wife. Her town shuns her, so the only help she can get is from D, a vampire hunter who is half human and half vampire.

I love post Hammer Films vampire flicks, and this is able to stand with the best live action titles. You can tell the age of the film, but the animation still delivers. The story is superb, but some of the action scenes are a little over done. Also the dialogue could have been worked on. The soundtrack is great and it fits the mood of the title. When it comes down to the battle of the half vampires, Blade v. D, the action is excellent in Snipe's film, but if you want an excellent story, keep in mind Blade had a good one, go with D.


Venus Wars

The Ishtar army has conquered the city of IO which puts them in total control of Venus. A group of bikers led by Hiro are fed up with the cities lack to take action, so they decide to take out a heavily armed tank as an act of vengeance. After the very destructive battle, the bikers are taken by the resistance, and to free his friend, Hiro must join these rebels.

The story is like a lot of live action, future worlds at war films, but is written well enough to hold up with the best of them. Unfortunately, to some extent it feels like Akira without the crazy kid. The action is great, but the climax doesn't deliver. It's set up just like Return of the Jedi, but the set up falls apart when we only focus on Hiro v. the dictator.

All the characters are belivable and that is the film's best quality. The worse thing about this film is the 10 minutes of bull sh** at the end. Most of the animation is top notch, but when they try to merge it with some live action backgrounds, it just plain sucks. All other technical qualities are good, and it does have a great soundtrack until the end of the film. Worth watching until the bad guy gets it, then it turns into a crappy music video (the type that wins the viewer's choice of the year award by MTV).

Project A-ko or Akira: Why So Serious

Project A-ko is one of the first animes I've ever heard of, but because I heard that the first movie is the only must buy, I was looking just for this video. Everyone else must have wanted it because it took me a good six months to find it.


This is one of the funniest and surreal titles I've ever seen. I would say very Tenchesque if this wasn't made before Tenchi, so this may have inspired titles like Tenchi Muyo! and El-Hazard(I can definitely draw Fatora and B-ko comparisons). It's laugh out loud funny with its cute humor that makes you wonder why we now resort to toilet humor like South Park and Beavis and Butthead. Of course, I'm not willing to stop drinking from the bowl. If you're looking for a comedic anime unless a lot of unnecesary crying drives you nuts, Project A-Ko is a must own or atleast a rent which might be easier.

A-ko has transferred to Gravitron High School along with her ditzy sidekick C-ko. Maybe A-ko isn't becoming a popular school icon, but C-ko sure is especially by the class's smartest and richest student B-ko. Well its actually gone beyond idolizing for B-ko since she wants to destroy A-ko so she'd be C-ko's best friend. Add in the fact that B-ko has held a grudge with A-ko since kindergarden she'll do anything to succeed. One problem with her plan, A-ko is extremely strong, so she needs to resort to robot warfare to stop her nemesis. While all this is going on, a spaceship is approaching Earth to take back a princess that left for this planet and these aliens seemed to have narrowed the princess down to one overly sensitive blond high schooler.

Personally, I feel the plot is good enough without the aliens, but it does create a kick ass finale. The humor never stops even in the action sequences, and it featured the greatest one-on-one fight until Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie's Chun Li v. Vega. The animation and soundtrack are great, and since I haven't found anyone who sells the dubbed version, nothing is lost in translation which does include the possible homosexual feelings of B-ko towards C-ko (she thinks about the blond's cuteness while she is swimming in the nude if you don't believe me).

This idea of this can slow the film down, but otherwise this is virtually perfect acceptable any audience except for some gratuigious nudity i.e. B-ko's swimming scene. It doesn't exactly seem like I'd continue a movie series with this film, but it would make a great TV series, we could use a change of pace from all this Sailor Moon stuff.

©1986 Soeishinsha/Final-Nishijima

Macross II - What happenes after Macross 7

Episode 1 --- Episode 2 --- Episode 3 --- Episode 4 --- Episode 5 --- Episode 6

Have you ever played the 8-bit Mega Man games, seen any sports film sequal, or to a lesser extent (since the film and series that I will mention is something that I enjoy as much as anime, this is a major lesser extent) The Return of the Jedi. You bring up the same plot premise, the same triumph, and usually people will see it no matter how good it is. Rarely is there improvement (Jedi isn't as good as Empire Strikes Back and Mega Man 3-6 aren't as good 2), but this is a major improvement on the Macross Saga. I mean, the Macross Saga that was on Toonami.


After a few years animation naturally improves (compare this to Macross Plus that was created after this), but there is a lot more to Macross 2 that makes it greater than what I was watching everyday on Cartoon Network at 3:30. These are characters, music, and plot which also are lacking a bit in Robotech.


Emmerich and Devlin could learn from these. Especially in the music category because there is no way I'd put a Bob Dylan impersonater singing David Bowie on a soundtrack. If you like Macross in any form which includes Robotech, you've got to see this. Possible exception to Macross Plus fans who may like the more dramatic less action based show, or just have a thing for Lucy or Sharon. Sorry neither Ishtar or Silvie are as good looking as those two.


*Warning* Macross 2 is packaged in the so called movie form that is actually all 6 episodes of the series just without end or opening credits behind each episode. Hell, they even kept the commercial bumper, maybe just so you know where you can pause to relief yourself.


Contact


Hibiki Kanzaki is a reporter for SNN who has just reported on one of the biggest scandals when he caught U.N. Spacey's Commander Exagram and valkyrie ace Lt. Silvie Gena leaving a hotel together (wink wink nudge nudge). Sure, the approach isn't professional journalism, so he is still forced to apologize to the two, but fortunately an attack occurs from "Transcend Zentradi". Ever the opportunist, Kanzaki voluteers to fly into the danger zone to get the scoop. Unfortunately, he only gets to pilot for his new rival reporter Dennis Lone.


Ishtar


Hibiki along with the help of his transvestite friend, Mosh, are taking care of the girl he and Dennis found on the enemy ship. He acts pretty kind, and basicly tell the girl whose name is Ishtar that he wants to show her to the world through TV. Distracted by his footage of the battle being edited by U.N. Spacey, Ishtar go out to see Macross City as she tries to make her way to see the Alus (the Macross) and survive the culture shock.


Festival


Ishtar is allowed to stay on Earth, but the only way she can give any knowledge to Hibiki is by going to the Macross. Here we find out that the enemy are the Marduk who uses song to control the Zentran. Their final goal is to destroy all other cultures.


Marduk Disorder


Since there is a threat of contamination in the Marduk fleet, they plan to brain wash Ishtar, so she can continue as an emulator. As a bonus they're going to try to brain wash Hibiki, so he can be used as a spy, but Silvie comes to the rescue.


Station Break


Hibiki and Silvie are arrested after Hibiki shows the footage from the Marduk ship. The U.N., not wanting the people of Earth to panic, disavows any facts in the film despite the Marduk are now pushing pass each defense line.


Sing Along


Exagram allows Silvie to be released to break Hibiki out, so that they can activate the Macross. In the first fleet of the Marduk, Feff allows Ishtar to leave because there is no way he wants to see her die (ain't that cute). Now the question is can the Alus destroy the mothership.


Whatever Robotech did, Macross II did it better. The chararcters aren't totally original, but they are refined. Hibiki is to Rick as Ishar is to Lynn Min Mei as Silvie is to the boring looking chick, Lisa. They're all improvements. It doesn't take much to be better than Min Mei, but by the end they all are out of character. Why have Hibiki end up with ______ instead of ______?


The music is great (nothing compared to Plus), and the plot is better constructed than Robotech which it would have to be since it is only 6 episodes. Its a great title, but there are indeed better ones to choose. Since it's packaged in a weird way maybe you're better off checking some other title before, so you don't make the mistake of watching 6 TV episodes in one night. Even South Park can be boring after 4 episodes depending how much you like or dislike Kenny dying. Also the cuteness of Lovers Again could get under your skin, but it can't be as bad as 6 Dragon Ball Z episodes.

Macross 2: Lovers Again © 1992, 1993 Big West / Macross II Project

Golden Boy: Any Teen's Reason to Enjoy Anime

Golden Boy is another one of the first titles that I had heard about when I first got interested in anime. It did take about a year and a half for me to finally work up the nerve to purchase this tape. When the box has a chick with erect nipples on the front, I didn't want people to thing I got interested in anime for the hentai which this title is not.


Yes, the girls seem to be what the creators want the public to be interested in first, but that is only half of this series's fun. The situations the main character gets into is actually the most important concept about the series. Some of the scenarios don't seem like they'd work well, so I don't plan on getting a few of the episodes (2, 3, 5), but otherwise viewing Golden Boy tape is a must.


As for technical qualities I've seen better animation, music, dubbing (its not that bad, but Kintaro's voice can get annoying), but there are some very effective (and unfortunately some very ineffective) art work. Of course these categories shouldn't be the series biggest draws, the comedy is. If you like the Fahrely Brother's movies, you'll love this humor.


Meet Kintaro Oe. He's a 25 year-old mountain bike riding freeter (a person who only specializes in part time jobs) who dropped out of college despite having enough credits to receive a law degree. As he is heading to his next job at TN Software, he has a bike accident with one of the scariest and sexiest woman he's ever seen. Despite he was in the middle of the road and listening to headphones, the women gives him money to pay for any damage ($10,000). When he finally arrives at the job he gets a chance to meet the president of the company...again, and is immediately put on toilet cleaning duty which he doesn't consider to be that bad since its an all female company. Wanting to learn how to program, he agrees to work for free just to prove what he can do. Now its a race to see who will go nuts first, Madam President or Kintaro.


It does seem to start out slow, but we immediately accept that Kintaro is just a perverted nice guy who we can sympathize with (at least from the male perspective). Once we get to the TN scenes, the real comedy begins to pick up. Maybe I enjoyed it more than others will because of the time I put into computers, but I guarantee that some of the comedy is so funny that you will try not to listen to it because it's so funny it'll hurt.


There isn't to much to the plot, so it fits into 30 minutes pretty well. It lack of emotional depth doesn't hurt it. I guess all the emotional aspects (despite they're very few) that make up Kintaro make up for this. As for a supporting cast there isn't much, but the character of the president works very well with how cold she is, and her dynamic change at the end despite how unlikely it should have been seems to work well. When it comes to animation, the thoughts of Kintaro and the actions of the presidents...I mean president are drawn to their funniest. All and all Golden Boy is a great video to own, and nothing about it will disappoint you.

Goldenboy © 1995 TATSUYA EGAWA / Sheisha - KSS

Sailor Moon Super S: The Last Filler Season

Episode 1 --- Episode 2 --- Episode 3 --- Episode 4 --- The Movie

Because there may have been too many gender and individual personality confusion in S, Super S seems to try to keep the premise pretty simple like the first series. There does not seem to be much to for the character to discover about their enemy, they just know they have to defeat them. And there was something about a Pegasus and Chibi-Usa which is so cute, it's diabetic.

Perhaps the creator, Naoko Takeuchi, felt he needed to get back to basics to please an audience who did not care for the prior season. This would be worth it for the extremely dark series, Sailor Stars, that Takeuchi does not want released in the States. He feels that Sailor Moon should maintain its status as a kids series in the US, and the last season would change our perception of it and even the marketability.

I admit, guys who transform into female super heroes, those seem like tough toys to make. Since I'm not a SM toy collector, I definitely need to make the time to find the fansubs of my favorite Sailor Moon incarnation. Until then, I guess I got to make due with Super S or spend the cash on Revolutionary Girl Utena. It's a pricy road to the top of the Otakus.

Episode 128: Meeting of Destiny: Pegagus' Nancing Night

Chibiusa has a dream where she wanders into a forest, and finds a mysterious pegasus (Sorry for the weak adjective, but I don't know how else one would describe a new character we know nothing about and build suspence at the same time). The pegasus seems to appreciate the meeting, but tells Chibiusa to keep it as a secret. After Usagi gets her up they go to witness a solar eclipse, but during the darkness, something weird is happening. A new group of out-of-this-world being are trying to take over Earth, but they need to capture Pegasus who lives in beautiful dreams. The assailants for this job the Amazon Trio, their first target Nazuki.


This series doesn't seem as dark as Sailor Moon S which some fans may prefer, and it still uses the concept of the villains that send a new demon to be defeated by the soldiers. I'm sorry, but that does get a tad old. Since the episode is trying to introduce a new premise, it can't take the time to let the soldiers interact with each other properly which was a problem with the first episode of S. It does have its moments, and you can't help but like the Amazon Trio, but this is one of the weaker episodes of Sailor Moon.

Episode 129: Super Transformation Once Again


Reika has returned from Africa only to prepare to go to school in Europe. Her boyfriend Motoki doesn't feel the relationship can work, so he is avoiding Reika no matter how much pleading Minako and Usagi can muster. In the mean time, Tiger Eye trying to make up for his past failure decides to see if the weak spirited Reika has the dreams that contain Pegasus.


The episode lets all the soldiers be themselves, but one does hope to find them in weirder situations. Fortunately, the characters they're dealing with are pretty interesting, so nothing is really lost. I do wish Chibiusa got a little less to do though. Maybe its just me, but I wouldn't want to be taking romance tips from a ten year-old. Of course that might be a gal thing. I guess Sailor Moon getting a new transformation is what makes the episode really worth while.

Episode 130: To Protect Mother's Dream


Usagi's day has just been ruined when her mother refuses to make another Lemon Pie since Chibiusa ate her share of the last one. Chibiusa does feel a little guilty, but Usagi's mother does make her feel better by showing her some photos of Usagi as a child to show how similar they are to each other. Mother decides to go and get some more lemons to make more pies where she runs into a red hair guy who claims to have mistaken her for his missing mother. I would say something smells fishy, but that would be the wrong member of the Trio.


Now this is the kind of situation I like to see Usagi in. It's also good that another member gets in on the dream capturing. Add a cute photo album and you get the best episode in the series thus far.

Episode 131: The Amazon Trap


Hawk Eye has developed a new cage to capture Pegasus for the next time it decides to save the soldiers' butts. All they need is bait, so Tiger Eye decides to try getting a chance to see the dreams of Naru, but his seductive ways do not seem to conquer her feelings for Umino. That is until he claims to only have three months to live.


It would be a fair assumption that the shorter the summary the more I liked the episode. This episode also contained Umino acting like...well Umino which only adds to its comic edge. It's also good that the Trio was working as a team, but the episodes fight scene leaves more to be desired.

www.buzzfeed.com

Robotech II: The Sentinels...I Think This Is Tied to SDF Macross.

Alright, obviously Robotech: The Macross Saga wasn't the best Japanese Animated show from the 80s, but it is indeed a reason why anime is so popular. I've been in heaven ever since Ted Turner (I refuse to hear bad comments about this great capitalist who also gives us Braves Baseball and the n.W.o.Hollywood) put Robotech on Cartoon Network along with Voltron and Sailor Moon. Yes, a lot of it is pretty corny. Two words Min Mei, but its the only drama that we've seen in an animated show in the U.S. that isn't on HBO at 10:30 at night.

Robotech II: The Sentinels gives us a few answers to some questions never answered or needed more closure from the First Robotech Generation despite it doesn't answer how the hell Dana is blond. If your a fan, it's worth $20 to see it, but otherwise don't expect to see something that can compare to Macross II and Plus. Unfortunately if your a fan, you'll be pissed to see how much more the Saga could have held, making you want to say screw Bowie, Louie, Zor, and Dana.

It's been anywhere from 7 to 9 years after Cyron rammed is battle cruiser into SDF 1 and 2, but fortunately the human kind is ready to prevent another apocaliptic war, and plans to send the SDF 3 to meet with the Robotech masters to try preventing any cultural misunderstanding. Major General Rick Hunter does have two difficult task ahead of him. The crew will get some help from the Zentradi running the Robotech factory which includes Commander Britai, but obviously there are those who are opposed, so Rick and company will have to deal with this.

There is a second part to this story though. The humans aren't the only ones looking for the Robotech masters. The Invid (yes you'll see these bad a****) are commensing a hostile takeover of their home world. Basicly the earthling are going to run into the ugly guys soon, but they are too concerned about making Rick and Lisa wedding perfect to worry about it.

The film is entertaining, but I wouldn't recommend this to any none Robotech fans which includes Macross fans. There isn't much for drama, humor, and there is hardly any action. It plays like a normal TV episode which it shouldn't if you have to fill 90 min. The runtime isn't that big a deal because it plays out in defined acts. Also the animation seems to have been intentionally drawn a little more like American animation which loses the original charm.

Fans (like me) will probably enjoy a lot about the old characters and the fact we see little Dana and Bowie along with the other new characters in the film. Sadly, we never see the Invid and humans clash, the ending is very anti-climatic. How was Robotech's second generation story be completely told when you still have characters in a story before it. If your not a fan, you'll struggle through Robotech II: The Sentinels, and if you are you'll curse Harvest Gold.

Macross 7: The Motion Picture in all of its 30 minute glory

gallery.minitokyo.net/

I guess the stereotype that all Japanese find small things to be exceptionally cute.

Macross 7 is the first actual fansub anime that I've ever bought, so bare with me if my review becomes a tad confusing. This video is the first motion picture which runs a little over a half hour length, so I'm kind of pissed that I paid $20 for this, but this is indeed Macross. Maybe even a little to much Macross.

I've always considered the music to be the reason for any Macross series, but I didn't expect a rock opera. Aside from that this title is pretty cool. The tone of this series isn't as deep and serious as Macross Plus, so it's more like traditional Macross (SDF and 2) which some may prefer. The songs may get annoying, but if your a Macross fan you should enjoy this and we can only hope that some major distributor picks this title up. It may be more expensive, but some people are too lazy to search for subs, so it'd be the only way to expose some people to this series.

Basara has crash landed after defolding on a snow covered planet. There are not many people on the planet who seem to care for musicians, but a little kid, Pedro, seems to be familiar with Basara's band, and he can hardly control his bodily functions when he's around his idol. Basara decides to take the little guy on a flight where he soon gets into a sing off with a Zentradi, Emiria. Fortunately their battle gives the Song Patrol a vague location of to start their searh, but it also attracts the evil Protodevlins, an enemy that can only be defeated by song.

Sorry if my review isn't too deep, but there isn't really a lot to this film. The story is good, but when I buy a movie, I do feel I deserve a little more than 30 minutes, but as an episode in a TV series it's excellent. One does get a chance to know the characters the film is concentrating on, Emiria and Basara are both pretty cool, but you won't learn much about the other characters in the series. Also the over use of pop music and of Pedro can get under your skin. No matter what you think of how the songs are used, the music is great and so is the animation. The artwork is as good as PLUS, but maybe a little work can be done on the color. Of course this is supposed to be a lighter series than PLUS, so maybe the animators were just making sure of that.

New Kimagure Orange Road - Summer's Beginning

I saw the preview for New KOR before NGE Genesis 0:11. The animation and music impressed me. When it came to plot I figured it was probably something like Maison Ikouku (possible misspelling) a series I wanted to see but seemed to be too expensive. Finding out that this was about time travel kind of clinched the purchase. Now I only wish I knew who distributes the original KOR series. Everything about this film is great. Maybe not the best, but definitely worth seeing.

The year is 1994. Twenty-two year old Japanese photographer Kyosuke Kasuga is missing somewhere in Bosnia after a Serbian attack. His girlfriend Madoka seems to have given up hope that he is even alive until she gets a phone call from Kyosuke's grandfather asking if she has found the Kyosuke from 3 years ago.

In the summer of 1991, Kyosuke awakens to a phone call warning him to watch out for a car. Thinking this was some prank, he goes to his school to find out from the girl he loves, Ayukawa, that he has won a photo contest, and she promises him a special prize. Next stop on his schedule is the local cafe where he finds out a former girl friend, Hikaru, is going to New York to try to break into show business. This brings up some sad memories which makes him forget that he's late for class, and also the phone call.

Back to 1994. Kyosuke awakens at the steps of his apartment to find out that 3 years have passed since the accident. The only thing that he thinks he can do is to find Ayukawa which may lead to some answers. There is one problem though, he has met an older, more beautiful Hikaru who seems to be making the moves on him. In the mean time Madoka is searching for him, but what will happen if Hikaru gets in her way.

The plot does seem complex, and you need to see it to totally understand it. I feel my description of the film won't give you the resolution's concept which maybe the reason a kid like me can relate with Kyosuke. All in all its a fantasy drama, but it does have a great mixture of comedy. It isn't laugh out loud, but it does help keep the weird mood. The animation and artwork are great and the music is superb. It's just a film that anyone can enjoy. If you enjoy that time traveling s*** like I do, then you'll love this film. Also if you're like me, you'll be glad to see a film about a character just as pathetic as me when it comes to dealing with girls.

Shin Kimagure Orange Road © 1996 ISUMI MATSUMOTO, KENJI TERADA / SHUEISHA, TOHO, NTV, VAP, and Studio Pierrot

Gunsmith Cats - Chicago Crime Never Looked so Cute

Chapter 1 --- Chapter 2 --- Chapter 3



Since my interest anime interest began in early 1997 due to AnimeFan in GameFan magazine, one of the title reviewed was the final Gunsmith Cats chapter. It seemed to be pretty unique since it was set in my favorite big city. Unfortunately, SunCoast was putting "must be 18 years old to purchase, ID required" stickers on almost every video tape, I had to wait until they restocked these videos to buy them. When February 1998 came around, I had only one month till I was 18, but all that waiting became unnecessary when A.D.V. films put all the episodes on one tape. Finally, those guys correctly packaged an anime and sold it at a fair price.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/madoverlord/gunsmith-cats-explosive-edition/posts/

Now I have the whole series. Probably, the most interesting thing about it is how accurately portrays the "Windy City" from its L Trains to the sky line, the interstate highway to the the soda cans, Min Mei Hopkins is wearing a shirt of my favorite baseball team (and that isn't the Sox), and the blues soundtrack which is pretty cool. Its got a lot of action, but I feel its still more of a comedy kind of like any Schwartzineger action film between T2 and Eraser. The biggest flaw with the series is that it tries to hard to create scandals and conspiracies that hurt the series as it goes a long.

If you want a comedy, you may want to buy the first 3 Files of Burn-Up W instead, but the comedy is a lot more ridiculus, so if you want something more down to earth this is it. Also the action in GSC and conspiracies are delivered better than Burn-Up W did. When it comes to these series your going to have to give something to get something, but either way you'll still get chicks with guns.

Neutral Zone

Rally Vincent and May Hopkins operate a gun shop called Gunsmith Cats, but on the side they do some bounty hunting. There most recent job was to capture drug runner, Jonathan Washington. A day or so after the arrest, ATF agent Bill Collins tells the two that Washington is a gun runner, and that the ATF needs the girls for a sting operation that won't pay. Not like they have a choice since Rally doesn't have the necessary license to run the shop, and Mei can be charged with numerous illegal explosive counts.

I know there isn't much length to the summary, but a good half hour episode on TV shouldn't have too much. This is the best episode of the series because it is able to stay focused on the main conflict, and doesn't sacrifice anything to do so. The comedy is great, you're amazed at the authentisity of the setting, and the dubbing is pretty good. I can't really think of anything wrong with the episode except that it may try to hard to tell the viewer to focus on Rally. Probably the best single episode I've seen in a series with the possible exception of Neon Genesis Evangelion episodes 19 and 20.

Swing High

Washington has been assasinated by a Russian hit women who uses Collins ID to get into the safe house that the victim was being held in. I guess you'd call it a last request when Washington tells the girls to deliver his "Rolex" watch to his "daughter" at a her "address". When the two find out that the rolex, daughter, and address are fake, Becky cracks a the code formed by these to lead them to a list of gun warehouses. The two girls go to shut down one of the operations, but they don't know that they are next on the Russian's hit list.

This is not the summary you want for 30 min. of TV. The episode couldn't make good transitions to the next plot twist, and these transitions don't allow for any charater development to occur. There is less comedy, but still some great bits, and the action sequences are superbly done. Its not a bad follow up, but it could have been done a lot better.

High Speed Edge

The hit woman's identity is revealed to be former KGB agent Natasia Radinov, and she is considered to be more of a T-800 than woman. Of course she died in the car chase, right? The ATF is prepared to close this case despite that the key players are still at large which includes Radinov who just loves to inflict damage on Rally's Cobra. On the plus side, the cats are going to be rewarded for their assistance in the case by a state representative and Chicago mayor canidate who is trying to keep guns off our streets, but this is going to occur at a public ceremony and being out in the public eye may not be the right place for our heroines.

The plot is structured a little better than the last episode, but sacrifices the comedy that makes the series what it is. The action isn't as lively concentrating on suspence, so these scenes are kind of disappointing. Its noneventful ending seals it fate to be the weakest episode in the series. Now I've seen worse anime episodes and finales, but this is a disappointment despite every technical part of the animation and sound is great.

www.imdb.com

Kiki's Delivery Service - Why Did Hartman's Wife Had to Screw this Release Up?

Who wasn't anticipating this video release, besides for all you smeggers who think that foreign films (I'm coming from an American stand point) shouldn't be dubbed. Sure the voice cast did a lot to draw me in, but I really wanted to see one of Miyazaki's films. This one lives up to my expectations. Kiki's Delivery Service is a fun family film with decent animation, a good story, and for a dub, it's great. This kinda surprises me that this was a successful family film when I immediately think of Miyazaki/Princess Moninoke (possible misspelling). No matter how old you are you'll enjoy this film. For the 18 to 30 years old age group, simply having the voice of Janaene Garofalo should clinch this purchase (especially when your older sister pays for it^_^).

So far, I don't see any Phil Hartman we hardly knew the stuff.  I got a bad feeling about this review being more about the voice cast than the film.  In case of that, here is a midi of the theme as a peace offering.

The first full moon after Kiki's thirteenth birthday has come, and her parents allow her to go out on the witch's rite of passage. This would be finding a town of her own to perfect her skills as a service to the town. Despite her cat's, Jiji, objections she decides to find her place in one of the bigger cities. Her experiences don't start out well, but she eventually meets up with a baker who is trying to reach a customer who has left her baby's pacifier. As a favor she flies to deliver the pacifier to the customer and as a reward, the baker, Osono, allows Kiki to stay at her house. After this experience gives her the idea to start her own, well you already know the rest. The rest of the film is about her experiences with friends like Tombo and Ursula.

When I said the animation was only decent, I may not have been giving it the credit it deserves. It's pretty good, but you can tell the age of the film by it. The character design does make you look pass this though. When it comes to the story, it seems it would work better as a series, but it still works rather well even if it can seem sort of long. I believe the U.S./Canada soundtrack was changed from the original, but it still is pretty good. There could be upgrades, but there are really no flaws with the film, and probably Miyazaki's next U.S. release (Castle in the Sky) should be as good if not better depending on the year its of original release. There is no way you can be disappointed with this film, its pretty much a masterpiece. Also it's has another great voice performance by Phil Hartman, may he RIP.

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