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Story

When middle school student Yurie Hitotsubashi unexpectedly becomes a god overnight things begin to get a little weird. Before she knows it she has a new friend, her cat is acting weird and she’s being called in to help the government deal with aliens. If this keeps up how will she study for her tests?

What’s a middle school god… er, girl to do?

My Opinion

I caught a little piece of Kamichu! back when it was released in the states and I wasn’t that impressed. I must have seen the wrong piece because I just finished watching the Kamichu! Volume 1 DVD and it was great.

Kamichu! combines the slow pace of a slice of life anime with the bizarre characters and situations of a modern fantasy. The end result is a sweet and touching anime that reminds me very strongly of some of Hayao Miyazaki’s work. I would have believed it completely if someone had shown me this anime and told be that it came from Studio Ghibli.

Everything in this anime works beautifully together. The art does a wonderful job combining the miraculous and magical with the everyday and ordinary. The characters are likable and entertaining. The story keeps you wondering what’s coming next. All together they produce a great anime.

The English voice acting deserves some mention as well. The English voices were very well suited to the characters in my opinion. Granted, I didn’t become a fan of the anime before it was translated so I didn’t suffer the shock of hearing a new voice when I watched the dub. I still think the English cast did a great job.

Is it worth it?

Kamichu! is more than worth it. Anything that can be confused with something from Studio Ghibli is worth checking out. I highly recommend Kamichu!

Anime, Reviews, Comedy, Drama, Magic, Romance, Slice Of Life, Supernatural, Gods, Moe, School, Kamichu!, Yurie Hitotsubashi, Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli

Saiyuki is loosely based on Journey to the West, a great piece of Chinese literature. Journey to the West has been used in anime movies and TV shows quite a bit, so some of the names and situations may seem very familiar.

Story

Humans and demons once lived together peacefully. Until something happened to break that peace. Now the demons are attacking and killing people. One priest has been chosen to stop it.

Genjo Sanzo along with his companions Cho Hakkai, Sha Gojyo and Son Goku are travelling west to India. There someone is trying to reawaken a great demon that has been sealed away.

Will Genjo Sanzo make it there in time? Will humans and demons be able to live together again?

Will Goku be able to defeat Cell? Whoops, wrong show…

My Opinion

While it may be based on Journey to the West, I kinda doubt the original had a dragon that turned into a jeep. I’m not saying that’s a good or bad thing. I’m just saying that Saiyuki isn’t a replacement for reading the story.

I’ve liked what I’ve seen of Saiyuki, but it’s not great. It’s not bad, but it’s not super-awesome either. It’s got some fairly interesting characters trying to save a world that hates them. Sounds like X-Men, and I love me some X-Men.

Is it worth it?

Saiyuki is a rental. It’s a decent anime to pass the time with until you can find the anime you really want. The characters can be entertaining, and one kinda looks like David Bowie, but overall there are just better shows out there.

Anime, Review, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural, Saiyuki, A Journey to the West, X-Men, David Bowie

Story

Vincent Law is still on the run, still being chased. The farther he gets from the domed city of Romdeau the tighter he becomes bound to the mystery of the proxy. Vincent Law and his pursuer both have questions that haunt them. Unfortunately they’re both running headlong into the answers they’re trying so desperately to escape.

My Opinion

Ergo Proxy Volume 3 continues to impress. No matter how many questions are answered, even more pop up to take their place. Even the answers you see coming are handled so well that it still seems like a surprise. That’s the trick isn’t it? Revealing enough information to keep us interested without giving it away all at once. Getting us to ask the right questions at the right times. Ergo Proxy accomplishes that and does it well.

The story, art and acting work beautifully together to create a mood and atmosphere that pulls you in. The dark future so often presented in sci-fi anime is well crafted and grows beyond a mere setting. I’m looking forward to seeing more of it.

Though I haven’t seen any signs of it yet, the only thing I’m concerned about is that the show will start to collapse upon itself. The sheer weight of everything that’s happening could begin to distort the story.

Is it worth it?

Yep. Ergo Proxy Volume 3 follows up the strong beginning of the first 2 volumes with some excellent anime. As long as the story can stay focused I think the entire series will be worth it. I got my fingers crossed.

Anime, Reviews, DVD, Geneon, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Science Fiction, Supernatural, Sci-Fi, Vincent Law

Story

Hare is going about his day in his tropical island(?) village when something strange happens to him. That evening his mom brings home an orphan girl named Guu to live with them. She seems nice, and she’s awfully cute, so Hare overcomes his misgivings. The next day Guu’s real personality comes out. It’s such a big change that Hare thinks it’s someone else.

After that Hare spends his time trying to keep Guu out of trouble. He has his hands full.

My Opinion

Hare+Guu is ok. It has some pretty funny moments and can be fairly entertaining. The simple art style is simple enough for kids but flexible enough to interest parents too. It fits because you could describe the whole show that way.

Hare seems to be aimed at older kids, but that’s a call for parents. If you’re concerned about some mild bad language like the occasional “damn” or Hare’s mom drinking pretty heavily, then this anime is not for you. If it doesn’t bother you to let your kids see it, then I’d recommend Hare+Guu. It’s something you might enjoy watching with ‘em.

Extras

The special features weren’t out of the ordinary, but there’s plenty of ‘em. Text less opening and closing, production gallery and cultural notes.

The extra I enjoyed the most was the English outtakes. I always like to see those in the extras. To me it’s the same as seeing outtakes or a gag reel on a movie DVD. I enjoy ‘em both.

Is it worth it?

Hare+Guu is a rental. It has it’s good points and I enjoyed it, but this isn’t one you should just pick up without seeing some of it first.

Hare+Guu might be aimed at a younger audience, if you can get past the language and alcohol, but it has some entertainment value for older viewers as well.

Anime, Reviews, DVD, Comedy, Older Children, Kids, AN Entertainment, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Hare+Guu, Hare Guu, Special Features, Extras, Outtakes

This isn’t a full DVD review because I haven’t seen the DVD of Pani Poni Dash!. I have seen a few episodes and I wanted to point out this anime to people that might be overlooking it.

I’ve heard of it before, but never really gave it much thought. It seems to be one of those love ‘em or hate ‘em anime. I can see why too. It has some pretty strange aspects to it. That can turn a lot of people off. It’s pretty easy to not “get” this anime. I almost didn’t, then I had an epiphany.

Pani Poni Dash! is Cromartie High School for Girls.

After I figured that out, everything kinda fell into place. The show made sense, or at least it no longer needed to make sense. Before I identified Pani Poni Dash! as Cromartie High on estrogen therapy I was trying to compare it to other anime.

Azumanga Daioh is the obvious choice. Both feature child prodigies, both are about a class of high school girls and both have a strange and mysterious cat character. Pani Poni Dash! is just too strange for that comparison to hold up though.

Whatever anime you compare it to, Pani Poni Dash! is a cool show. It has moments of strangeness that can take some getting used to, but once you do you begin to look forward to them.

I’d recommend checking out Pani Poni Dash!, it’s a strange and amusing show. I’ll add the DVDs to my rental list and do a full review later.

Anime, Comedy, Humor, High School, High School Girls, Pani Poni Dash!, Cromartie High School, Azumanga Daioh

Story

The investigation into the proxy takes a dangerous turn when Real leaves the saftly of the Romdeau dome to find Vincent Law. Will she recognize him after all the changes he’s gone though?

Vincent is having troubles of his own. The patrols outside the city have increased and some are blaming him. Hoody manages to save him from an angry mob.

Can Vincent live up to the lies Hoody had to tell to save his hide?

Will Real find the connection between Vincent and the proxy?

My Opinion

I was afraid the second volume might start to lag after the strong opening from the first few episodes on the first volume. I guess I had nothing to worry about. The second volume of Ergo Proxy lives up to the standards of the first DVD.

As the story progresses some questions are answered, but others take their place. This anime does a great job of drawing you in as the mystery unfolds. Questions are answered, not like some shows that try to keep the suspense up by sidestepping the questions at the last second.

DVD Extras

None. Well, Geneon Previews and DVD Credits. Those aren’t extras those are ads. That’s really disappointing. How hard would it have been to throw a couple of commercials on the DVD? Maybe some concept art? Anything would have been better than when we got. Oh wait, we didn’t get anything. I would almost prefer not to see an “Extras” menu option if it’s going to be empty.

Is it worth it?

Yep, Ergo Proxy is a great anime. The story more than makes up for the complete lack of extras. I’d recommend this anime. if you don’t want to buy it, then at least rent it. It’s good.

Anime, Reviews, Geneon, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Science Fiction, Supernatural, Real Mayar, Vincent Law

Crunchyroll is streaming Welcome to the NHK now. Check out the post on AnimeNewsNetwork for the details.

Looks like official anime streams are catching on. I couldn’t be happier about that. I can’t wait until other companies catch on that this is a great way to promote their titles.

I checked out the first 2 episodes to get an idea of what we can look forward to. I’m impressed. The streaming video was offered in a couple of different qualities. The basic quality looked great in my opinion. The videos can be enlarged as well, so it’s not like you’re trying to watch the episode on a postage stamp.

I have a couple of gripes with it, but it’s just nit-picking. ADV and Crunchyroll have done a great job with the first 2 episodes. If they don’t screw up later then this should be good for everyone.

Anime, Online, News, ADV, Welcome to the NHK, Crunchyroll, Streaming, Video

In my review of the Lucky Star Volume 1 DVD I questioned the reasons behind the casting choices. I’ve been thinking about it since and I may be more confused than ever.

The Girl’s Got Talent

Does it matter why Wendee Lee was cast as Konata Izumi? She is a talented voice actress after all. Even if the decision to offer her the role was based on marketing, it’s happened before and it’ll happen again.

There’s a part of me that hopes she was given the part because of her former role. There’s been some pretty cool stuff released in Japan that plays off of the connection between Haruhi and Konata. If the people in charge wanted Haruhi’s English voice talent to play Konata, then that could mean we might be seeing some of that cool stuff over here.

Bad Anime Fan! No Pocky!

Is it bad of me to think that way? Am I less of an anime fan because I’d like a shot at some of the cool stuff without paying through the nose on e-bay then paying international shipping?

I hope not, because that is the only thing I have to cling to when I think that maybe, just maybe, the folks that bring anime to the States and produce the English dubs might not care if the talent they cast really is the best choice. My only protection from a mental collapse brought on by cynicism is the hope of one day having a highly detailed Konata Izumi figure dressed as Haruhi Suzumiya, complete with interchangeable “Ultra Director” and “Brigade Leader” armbands.

Besides, if the dub sucks I’ll just watch the subs.

Anime, Opinion, Lucky Star, Voice Talent, Casting, English, Dub, Sub, Konata Izumi, Haruhi Suzumiya, Wendee Lee

Story

Lucky Star follows high school friends Konata Izumi, Miyuki Takara, and twin sisters Kagami and Tsukasa Hiiragi. The friends do what ordinary young girls do. They go to school, try to pass their tests and try to have some fun in between.

My Opinion

I’ve been waiting to see what the English version of Lucky star would be like. I was especially interested in hearing the voices for the characters. I knew that at best it would take a while to get used to them and at worst… Well, I was hoping no one would be stupid enough to do that to Lucky Star.

It will take some getting used to. Like the Japanese version, Konata is played by the same person that played Haruhi Suzumiya. I hope that was done because she was the best person for the job, and not so that the jokes and tie ins to The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya can be imported more easily.

After watching the first DVD I’m not so sure. Konata just doesn’t seem right in English, the jokes fall a bit flat. It’s not just Wendee Lee’s portrayal of Konata. If it were I’d just say she wasn’t right for the part.

There is another English version character that stands out, this time from the Lucky Channel segment. Akira Kogami seems to be too restrained. When she’s White Akira she doesn’t have that over the top cuteness. She seems to be trying, but she’s not quite making it. As Black Akira she doesn’t have enough bitterness. She seems mildly cynical, but that’s about it. The performance stayed in the middle of the road and as a result never quite lived up to the character.

I’ll have to give it a few more episodes, at least 2 more DVDs, before I make up my mind. If the English cast doesn’t grow on me by then I’ll just have to switch over to subtitles. Yay DVDS!

DVD Extras

There are a couple of good extras on this disc. The key scenes galleries offer a little more insight into the show. Pretty cool. My favorite special feature would have to be “The Adventures of Minoru Shiraishi #1“. In the Japanese version Minoru Shiraishi plays himself, or a characterization of himself.

Is it worth it?

Lucky Star DVD Volume 1 is worth the money. Even if the English cast makes your skin crawl, you can always switch over to the Japanese audio and read subtitles.

Buy Lucky Star, I’m going to.

Anime, Reviews, DVD, Lucky Star, Lucky Star Volume 1, Dub, Sub, English, Japanese, Konata Izumi, Miyuki Takara, Kagami Hiiragi, Tsukasa Hiiragi, Akira Kogami, White Akira, Black Akira, Minoru Shiraishi, Wendee Lee

The movie casting game is still going on. There have been a couple of comments with some interesting casting suggestions for a Bleach live action movie.

Reminder

I’m using this to try out a grab bag giveaway. If you follow a couple of simple rules, you might get some free manga. Just leave a comment with your casting suggestions for a live action Bleach movie.

Repeat answers are allowed. I’m asking for your opinion. If you agree with someone else that’s cool with me. Don’t think you’re out of it because someone listed one of your answers already. This is about having fun after all.

If you want a shot at free stuff, then make sure to cast the following characters. You can also cast any others you want. These are the ones required for the grab bag.

• Ichigo Kurosaki

• Rukia Kuchiki

• Orihime Inoue

• Sado “Chad” Yasutora

• Uryu Ishida

• Kenpachi Zaraki

If you’re not interested in a chance at free manga, then don’t worry about the list. You can still drop in with your suggestions for a Bleach dream cast.

My Favorite Suggestions

A few of my favorite suggestions so far…

• Ikkaku - Jason Statham

• Yumichika - Orlando Bloom

• Urahara - Matthew McConaughey

So far this one has been nearly unanamous…

• Rukia - Christina Ricci

Future Casting Calls

I really hope this works out because I enjoy this kind of game. I’ve enjoyed reading the opinions and casting suggestions, but I’d like to see some more. I hope to do this again.

If you want to suggest an anime for the next Casting Call game, just let me know.

Anime, Opinions, Fun Stuff, Games, Contests, Manga, Free Stuff, Free Manga, Free, Live Action Anime, Casting, Bleach, Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, Orihime Inoue, Sado “Chad” Yasutora, Uryu Ishida, Kenpachi Zaraki, Ikkaku, Jason Statham, Yumichika, Orlando Bloom, Urahara, Matthew McConaughey, Christina Ricci

Story

Black Blood Brothers is the story of Jirou and Kotaru Mochizuki, brothers and vampires. Relations between the vampires, a.k.a. black bloods, and humans, a.k.a. red bloods, are tense. The tension is only made worse by the reappearance of a vampire bloodline that even other vampires are threatened by, the Kowloon Children.

The Kowloon Children are different from other vampires, they’re far more infectious. While other black bloods have to give their blood to humans to infect them and make them a vampire, the Kowloon Children only need to bite them. Everybody one of the Kowloon Children feeds on becomes one of the Kowloon Children. This makes them very dangerous, but even more dangerous is their ability to turn other vampires.

My Opinion

Black Blood Brothers takes an interesting view of vampires. By taking bits of folklore, movie magic and even making up brand new pieces to fill in the gaps a very cool vampire mythology is presented. I especially liked the ability of the Kowloon Children bloodline to turn with a bite while other bloodlines have to do things the old fashioned way. It gives the heroes of the story something to fight against, something better than the infighting between vampire bloodlines that you normally see.

This is a great anime for vampire fans, but you don’t need to be one to enjoy it. Black Blood Brothers is more of an action anime than a horror anime. It’s more like Blade than Near Dark (best vampire movie ever).

Extras

FUNimation gives us the basics. Clean opening and closing, trailers and TV promo spots. We also get commentary for each episode. That’s something you don’t see very often for anime, at least I don’t, so that’s kind of cool.

Is it worth it?

Black Blood Brothers is worth checking out. Vampire fans will love getting to know the different bloodlines and everyone else will enjoy the fights and comedy.

I’d recommend checking out Black Blood Brothers. This one might even be worth buying for the collection.

Anime, Reviews, DVD, FUNimation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Supernatural, Vampires, Bloodlines, Kowloon Children, Blade, Near Dark

Story

Mahoro is a combat model android built to fight off the alien invasion of Earth that no one even knows happened. Her preset life span is set to expire, but living a civilian life will lengthen the time she has left. Due to her service against the alien aggressors she’s given a choice. Continue fighting and expire in about a month or retire to a civilian life and live for another year.

Mahoro chooses to retire and become a maid, but that doesn’t mean the action is over. On her way to a job interview she stops a bus highjacking, then she almost kills her new employer.

Looks like the life of a maid has challenges of it’s own.

My Opinion

Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden is your basic “battle android/maid comedy action fanservice ecchi drama“. What, you haven’t heard of that category of anime? ok, so maybe it’s not a fully fledged category of anime. I can really only think of a couple more anime like Mahoromatic. If you’ve enjoyed one of those then you’ll probably enjoy this one too.

I was a bit surprised by the amount of nudity and sexual humor. It wasn’t anything extremely offensive, but it might not be one you want to watch with the kids. Older teens? That’s probably ok, but as a parent (and or guardian) it’s your call.

Extras on the disc are pretty sparse. Clean opening, some art and trailers are all you get.

Is it worth it?

If you’re a fan of ecchi comedies with a little bit of action and a lot of boobs, then Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden might be just right for you.

I recommend it.

Anime, Reviews, DVD, Action, Comedy, Romance, Science Fiction, Ecchi, Fanservice, Fan Service, Nudity, Sexual Humor, Maid, Boobs

Story

Kai was raised by the Ashrum organization, one of the 12 companies that control the world. After his mother dies he joins Ashurum’s special psychic unit. As one of the highly trained psychics called E’s, pronounced Ess (?), he’s able to support his sister who is undergoing medical treatment provided by Ashurum.

While on a dangerous assignment Kai goes missing in action and discovers that the world may be different than he once believed.

My Opinion

While E’s Otherwise seems to be made up of bits and pieces of anime I’ve seen before, it fits together well. If you like the shady organization that gets, presumably, overthrown by a once naive hero it has betrayed type of anime then E’s Otherwise would be perfect for your collection. It may be well done, but what it’s doing isn’t that original. The plot and characters are all things we’ve seen before.

The extras on the DVD follow the anime’s lead. Just what you’d expect and nothing really special. Clean opening and closing, promo spots and trailers for other anime by ADV. Remember when DVDs had cool stuff on ‘em?

Oh about the “E’s” thing. I think it stands for “Esper”, a psychic. I don’t know for sure, it wasn’t explained in the episodes I watched. That’s just my theory. If you know I’m wrong then let me know. I’d be interested to find out what it does mean.

Is it worth it?

E’s Otherwise may be covering old ground, but it does it well. There’s a reason those stories get told over and over, because they work.

I’d say this is a rental. There’s nothing on the DVD worth buying.

Anime, Reviews, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction, Supernatural, DVD, ADV, E’s Otherwise

Story

Three young men travel back in time in an attempt to stop a war that nearly annihilates the human race. Easier said than done. They didn’t arrive in the time they expected to. Now they only have 3 months to save the human race. All the while being hunted down by the genetically engineered monsters that started the war they’re trying to prevent.

My Opinion

Generator Gawl is a pretty solid anime from the late 90s. Sure there are a few things I can gripe about, and I will, but overall it’s a decent anime.

The art is a bit dated, but it’s not too bad. I don’t think the art detracts enough from the show to distract me from the story. The same can’t really be said about the English dub though. It’s not even a matter of bad voice acting, though a couple of ‘em did bug me. Nope, this is more of a sound quality issue. The voices don’t sound like they’re in the same environment that is shown on the screen. The best that can be said about it is that it makes me realize how much the English audio has improved. That makes me happy.

What the Generator Gawl anime does have going for it is action. The monsters look like classic examples of kaiju. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a movie made from this anime, rubber suits and all.

There’s also a bit of comic relief. Gawl doesn’t get along with the landlady’s daughter. Of course there was the whole perverted stalker misunderstanding, so it’s kinda understandable. Pretty standard stuff.

Is it worth it?

If you only like new anime, keep lookin’, you won’t be interested in this one. Generator Gawl shows it’s age, but if you can look past that it could be a nice reminder to the older anime fans about how far anime has come. Too bad you can’t change the past.

With some decent, though short, monster battles and a bit of humor Generator Gawl comes in as a rental.

Anime, Reviews, Action, Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Monsters, DVD, Generator Gawl, Generator Gawl Volume 1, ADV

Here it is folks. This is the first casting call post. If you missed the explanation of what’s going on here, then check out the previous post.

Everyone have fun with this one. I look forward to seeing your choices.

The anime to cast is…

Bleach

You can cast the role of any extra characters you want, but the characters I’m looking for are…

• Ichigo Kurosaki
• Rukia Kuchiki
• Orihime Inoue
• Sado “Chad” Yasutora
• Uryu Ishida

and because my g/f and I like him…

• Kenpachi Zaraki

These are the characters that you have to use if you want a shot at some free manga. If you don’t care about that, then ignore the list and cast your favorite characters.

Type of Casting

Serious: The actor that you think is best for the part.

Leave a comment with your dream cast for a big budget live action version of Bleach.

Anime, Opinions, Fun Stuff, Contests, Manga, Free Stuff, Free Manga, Free, Live Action Anime, Casting, Bleach, Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, Orihime Inoue, Sado “Chad” Yasutora, Uryu Ishida, Kenpachi Zaraki