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| AD Police (OAV) |
Excellent |
This will probably get overlooked by the younger crowd because it's not cutesy saucer eyed girlie fluff with pink and purple hair. But it IS good. Unlike BB Crash, this "prequel" to the seminal BGC has the same look and feel, and sounds, as the original. English version- Leon sounds just like himself, and very convincingly is a rookie cop, he doesn't have that suave bravado yet. The music is good, but what gets me is that these 3 shows are much darker and more violent (and graphically sexual) than BGC ever was. Out of 3 episodes, 1 and 2 are really good, and 3 is not so good. But they were better than expected, must have if a BGC fan- don't miss |
| Agent Aika (OAV) |
Bad |
My problem with shows like this is, you get a really hot woman, beautiful character design, and that's supposed to satisfy. Knuckleheads who say men are all just pigs or something, and want nothing more than sexy women could never be more wrong. When shows like this appear, sure they sell- but mostly to the porn-buying crowd who really only want to see ass. But from what I've read, and what I know about myself, me and the rest of the otaku/fanboys aren't so easily bought off. I haven't watched this in years, I bought the vhs long ago, and never re-watched it more than once or twice. It just isn't good. Sure, the girls are lovely, but what the HELL is with all the crotch shots? And the extremely bouncy boobs? It's just fetish. Yes they got my money (a long time ago). But it didn't impress me. Blahhh |
| Bubblegum Crash (OAV) |
Good |
I first saw orignal BGC many years ago, it took me all that time to finally get to Crash. I wasn't missing anything. The problem with this 3 ep followup to BGC is that it is less than the sum of its parts. It has things I like from the original: the same character designs, the surroundings are similar, bright city buildings in the night, neat vehicles, and most of the English voice cast even returns! Intro song is not bad, and for the end songs they are reinterpreted by Cindy Wheeler again, who is a great vocalist and was on orignal BGC to. There are more boomers, lots of different types are shown, lots of action... and the end result is.... terrible. Why? The story is lousy, there is too much lame dialogue where they sit and over explain stuff. I loved the mystery, questions and brooding of the original, and it is replaced with ho-hum talking about things we should have been smart enough to know before, for example, when the first major villain dies, before he goes, he opens his eyes, announces his name and tells what his purpose is and what his followers aim to do! No! NO!!! The ending is bad also. Throughout the evil mastermind is this voice, which is just really lame. One of my favorite male characters in all of anime, Leon, has completely lost his character and NO IT"S NOT THE VOICE ACTOR'S FAULT it's the script. Daley also has no charisma, instead of the chiding, joking, and suave attitudes they used to have, they just sit around talking serious and wondering what's going to happen next? As if they're helpless, and again trying to explain everything. Fortunately they killed it after 3 episodes, it would have destroyed the BGC franchise if this was it's successor. Instead it is a sequel of 3 eps that you can miss. |
| Bubblegum Crisis (OAV) |
Masterpiece |
BGC is my favorite anime of all time. I bought it in 2001 or 02 on vhs, it was fully dub in English including the music. I still watch the tapes, to this day. It starts with the lights coming on, and the song "Hurricane" begins, the voice of Cindy Wheeler rises up in the night as the scenes flash back and forth between a noisy battle between the ADPolice... and an out-of-control BOOMER. It slaughters the men ruthlessly, takes off, and then the motorcycles suddenly come rushing and begins the song "Lonely", as Leon (an ADPolice lieutenant) says "Ah, so these are the imfamous Knight Sabers".... and with that you have the incredible beginning to one of the most amazing anime series ever. Each episode begins with great music, "Mad Machine" episode 2, is another favorite- the reinterpretations into English are so good that AnimEigo has threatened harm to anyone who asks them another time to release a CD sound track!!! My heart goes out to the guy who sings the end-song to ep 1, which sounds great to me, very strained and sad (but gets trashed by reviewers). The mood of sadness, darkness, decay and helplessness against the multi-billion $ corporations, the military, satellite weapons, this permeats the entire 8 episodes and can be a real downer to anyone used to the crappy candy-coated cute girl anime of today. You have to really be nastalgic to appreciate this series, which is from 1987. A love for anything 80s doesn't hurt either. There are plenty of technical issues (muffled sound), choppy animation, and it shows its age- but to me, these things only make it more loveable. What I can say is that if you like things like Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, you will definitely like BGC. I can't give it any higher rating. |
| Capricorn (OAV) |
Very good |
Judging an anime by it's cover can have its dangers, but sometimes it can reveal a pleasant surprise. Capricorn is not a great OAV but wasn't as terrible as it seemed at the beginning. Basically it's about a 8th grade boy who is transported to a bizarre world populated by talking cats, dogs, ducks, and other goofy fantasy creatures. Think old school Disney cartoons. It turns out to be a planet in a parallel reality to Earth- and the inhabitants refer to Earth as 'Capricorn'. They know nothing else about it. The ruler of this world is a military dictator named Zorba, who is unmistakeably a parody of Hitler. In fact, there are several Nazi references in the film- his storm troopers are called "Panzer Troupe", he assumes power by having the king arrested and claims he has to protect their world from invaders, very similar to Hitler's rise to power, he asks the people to make him dictator for a time period- and makes this speech atop a viewing stand with an emblem above it that is very fascistic- he even salutes the crowd by raising his right hand. Aha! The fact that he is a very big, talking cat is also alike the comic book MAUS, in which the Jews are mice and the Nazis cats- the two peasants who take in the main character Taku are also mice. Nazi references aside, the story is surprisingly good, somewhat predictable but not a total bore. The dragon-girl Mona is the cutest such creature you've probably ever seen, and her voice actor does a good job getting this across without being annoying. Her presence in this little movie is a joy. Animation is very aged, and sloppy at times. Seeing more than five or six characters in a scene is rare, and usually done with stills. The final battle is like most final battles in 1 hour OAV's, it ends predictably as does the story wrap up. But considering so many OAVs from this time period had little or no plot, and sometimes no ending when the credits roll- this one has a logical beginning, story development and conclusion that is satisfying. The characters aren't real deep, but the events are high stakes enough for it to be compelling. I liked it. The background music is decent throughout, and the ending theme "Stranger Days" is a great song complete with power guitars and a sax, and it plays out three times on ADV's release to allow for the Japanese and English credits to roll. No complaints from me. I got it for $6. Worth my time. |
| Cowboy Bebop (TV) |
Masterpiece |
I would challenge anyone who says CB is not the pinnacle of anime storytelling to tell me what they place above it. Out of 26 episodes there are a few that aren't perfect, but I adore MOST of them- and like BGC, this is one series I can plop down with on an uneventful weekend and watch a dvd of 4 or 5 of them and still enjoy it- even after I've seen them each dozens of times. You can see the shortcuts with backgrounds, cg spaceships and space is generally easy to draw- but the heart of CB is it's characters, it's world, its adventure. The dialogue, even in the lesser eps is excellent- specific to the English version- Jet's soothing voice is comforting and wise, Spike is cool and collected, and Ed is Ed. It's an excellent narrative, is inspired and inspiring, and anyone dedicated to anime (+anyone who loves adventure) should watch this. Great stuff |
| Cowboy Bebop: The Movie |
Masterpiece |
Does something so awesome as Bebop even need a review from me? I think not. But I can't recommend it enough to any CB fan, or anyone who likes plot development, action, high stakes fights to the death. Fantastic movie. I hope they do another one. |
| Dangaioh (OAV) |
Very good |
Original DANGAIOH is rated low everywhere else I looked. It was way better than I expected, I thoroughly enjoyed it. But things are wrong with the English Dub by MANGA Entertainment: the entire 1st ep is chopped into a "prologue" with a terrible narration about how the Dangaioh Team was formed. Then it leads into ep 2 and 3 only, with no credits and seperate beginning for ep 3. The reason seems to be, to make it have a beginning and end and run like a feature length movie. Including ep 1 would have made it run too long, and it's basically incomplete at 3 episodes anyway.
From what I was able to gather, ep 1 looks like it was a pretty good fight, and it clearly develops the characters- so it's a shame they cut it out, and it really infuriated the fans!!! Besides that, I loved practically everything else about the show. The character dresigns are ADORABLE, for once the male character is quite cute and he's supposed to be 20, an adult, not a kid. My favorite was Pai, a lovely woman with dark complexion and super hot bathing suit as her normal attire! And in one scene, she gets into a fight with cute leg warmers on!! The Dub cast was ok, but uneven, it ranges from villains whining "please help!" a bit too weak, to them suddenly belting out "take that FUCKERS!" and other harsh language. The music is classic 80s Mecha anime tunes, the ending song is in English and sounded kinda cool, but then it just faded out halfway through. I bought this for $1 from an amazon seller on VHS tape and for that money, why not? I totally recommend it, there are some emotional fights, some good themes on friendship, a decent mech transformation that it not just the same recycled footage in every episode, they change the colors and length of it to match the sky and place where they're fighting. And for all the bare skin, and 80s music, this was a lot of fun. I'm going to hunt around and see if I can find the original sub version with episode 1... I bet it's even better in its original form. |
| Dirty Pair (OAV) |
Excellent |
Mixed reviews on this- but it's a classic. I have some VHS promos from an anime sales company that was going down, watched them all. Pam Lauer makes debut as Kei, the first episode "Prison Break! Or.. I hate people with grudges!" is a RIOT. Literally. My favorite moment is when these two step into the control room of their client and Kei announces flatly, "Uhm, we're the 'Lovely Angels'" almost sarcastically. I still ROFL when I hear that. Again, ppl criticize the English cast as bad, which is total horse shit.
First two eps are the best, the second two are a bit odd- the one with the "god" is a bit inappropriate and kind of in the wrong territory. This used to be all you could get of the original DP in the US, in English. Even the TV series wasn't subbed- until recently? Anyway, here's you're intro to Dirty Pair and Kei's awesome red poofy 80s do with headband. On DVD they renamed it "Girls with Guns" but it never had that name in Japan or on the original US release that I have. |
| Dirty Pair Flash 3 (OAV) |
Excellent |
Here you have some of the better episodes of DPFlash. Well, I did say SOME. The volleyball ep is a hilarious and neat story- quite believable in a way, very original, clever, and ends perfectly. The 13 year old assassin dressed like a hooker is gross and stupid. Best ep on here is the flight that goes down, Kei-taro! I won't lie, as much as I prefer Original DP over DPFlash, one thing stands out- the music. I own the full vocal collection on CD for some years, and DPF 3 has the end-song that will take your breath away- Looking into the eye(s) of the Heart- probably one of my favorite songs from the anime world. I'm going to take guitar lessons just so I can play that song... it seriously rocks. |
| Dirty Pair OAV 1 |
Excellent |
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| Dirty Pair OAV 2 |
Excellent |
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| Dirty Pair OAV 3 |
Excellent |
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| Dirty Pair OAV 4 |
Excellent |
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| Dirty Pair OAV 5 |
Excellent |
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| Dirty Pair: Affair on Nolandia (OAV) |
Decent |
Visuals&Animation=C; Story=D; Sound&Music=E
This is the first Dirty Pair feature I've been really disappointed in. A semi-coherent missing persons plot, then hallucinatory experiences in a alien tropical world, which were just as confusing for me as for Kei and Yuri, followed by suddenly the girls frollicking on jet skis and suntanning.. which IS explained, but is still just ridiculous. The vocals were off- Pam Lauer does Kei and sounds the best, but nearly everyone else was deadpan. The supposed missing, Missinie(!), is hardly seen in the movie. We are treated to a chase by Yuri of the villain which features some of the worst animated cars I've ever seen, which is partly on foot with poor Yuri huffing and puffing and groaning in exhaustion- a bit out of character for her! The one thing I did like about this show is Kei & Yuri's character designs. Tsukasa Dokite went for a more realistic look, and the girls look spectacular and much more mature- the biggest improvement was on Yuri who was never my favorite- their hot looks also more closely realize the original cover illustrations for Takachiho's novels. The rest of the characters and animation is ass, forgive it for its age. The soundtrack is probably the worst for any DP ever, there is just some muffled synthesizer mess here and there, and no intro-song- no theme- and only a half audible song at the end which is completely forgettable. CONTRARY to almost every unfair review that demands giant egg-shaped eyes, pointed noses and V-shaped faces, you could watch Affair on Nolandia, on mute, just to see the Kei & Yuri flaunt their awesome looks and shoot their lasers at people, and find it pleasing. If you're looking for an interesting adventure, an inspiring story, or romance or anything else- sorry. |
| Dirty Pair: Project Eden (movie) |
Masterpiece |
Bought this a few weeks ago, watched and absolutely enjoyed every minute. Project Eden stands above all the OAV eps easily, and it finally fills in the gap between the TV series from '85 and the OAVs '87. It has Yuri in her original yellow costume, and in the English dub we get Pam Lauer back!! She is a perfect Kei, she IS Kei, way better than the Japanese version. The story has been criticized by fans who do not like the love-story subplot- and I don't know why. It develops with the simple plot very well, and is totally entertaining and fun to see. Don't dig into so many spoilers and make your mind up before watching your movies, just let it take you and I promise with this one you'll have a good time. Some hilarious but interesting period notes: the two "mining colonies" accusing eachother are very obviously a parody on the Soviet Union and the US, they even dress in stereotypical clothes (the "americanized" fellow wears plaid! and what looks like a NRA or UAW cap!!!) I enjoyed the original Japanese preview, and the ending with the nude Kei and Yuri sitting in martini glasses, how appropriate! But it also is a classy reminder that this is kind of for grownups, like 18+ and not for kids! But I give it a top rating for sure, DP fans will LOVE it |
| Dragoon (OAV) |
Bad |
This thing begins a story, which is a combination of magical fantasy and sci-fi, but I don't know what the point of it was. Yet another mysterious magical/android girl who is a deadly weapon/power designed by government/military/pirates/bad people. Apparently the girl in this (who is found by the main character) is supposed to turn into "the Dragoon". But that never happens. Nope. The story begins, a teen who dreams of being some kind of swordsman finds the girl (is she wearing clothes? of course not!). They meet some interesting people, one of them is a butch type woman who I really liked, it sets itself up for the next episode nicely- but THERE IS NO NEXT EPISODE. No explanation. A beginning without an end. Or even a second chapter. No "dragoon". No magical transformation. The beginning of a battle, but no full fledged battle, no conclusion, nowhere. It's another random release from ADV Films back in the hayday. I guess I assumed there was a second set of episodes- but it wasn't good enough for me to search for, and according to the 'pedia, there are none anyway. |
| Gestalt (OAV) |
Bad |
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| Ghost in the Shell (movie) |
Masterpiece |
Opening with a screechy and eerie sounding song, and with cg backgrounds that make you stop and drool, this movie is (real) beginning of the cyberpunk movement. The action is just amazing, in the beginning you see a man's head pop open, a crazy guy with a gun is chased through slums and murders several people, with body motion as fluid as live action. The sense of setting is very strong, this movie makes you feel mesmerized by where you are, it is visually breathtaking.
The characters are only as strong as 78 minutes can make them, which does a good job of setting the stage for something later- but not for a self-contained movie itself. One of my issues with it is that the plot is a bit confused, and doesn't know where it's going. There is a lot of dialogue, which is about stuff that makes no sense and theories that do not exist. It seems that they decided to confuse their viewer in lieu of actually writing a coherent plot that one could understand and follow. Instead, you are just awestruck by the visuals, amazed by the action, utterly dumbfounded with confusion about what they're trying to do or why, and then it has an anticlimactic ending. Which leaves the door open for more- and fortunately, there is much more! Another movie, plus a whole series. I will definitely check them out- even though this wasn't the best anime movie I've ever seen, it was a lot of fun to watch, enough to want more. Check it out- rating well deserved |
