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.