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

Kurohime is the most beautiful and powerful witch in the world. She’s also a gunslinger that uses magic bullets. She’s also cursed and in the body of a little girl named Himeko.

The only way to break the curse is for Kurohime to fall in love. Unfortunately her love is fleeting, so the curse is never broken for long. Can she find someone other than herself that she can love for more than a few moments?

My Opinion

The art is pretty cool, and it has some pretty entertaining moments. Unfortunately Kurohime’s curse undermines almost all of the positive points. Yep, the curse is that bad. There are about 3 short story arcs in the first volume of Kurohime, and by the time I finished the book the curse was already making the stories repetitive and boring.

Repetitive and boring.

After 3 stories.

That’s pretty darn bad. To make things even worse it looks like the stories would have been pretty good if the curse had just been left out. Yeah, I know the curse is needed to turn Kurohime from a narcissistic bitch into a decent person, eventually. I think it could have been handled better. If the conditions for breaking the curse had been structured differently or if she slowly regained her powers as the story progresses instead of the instant transformations. The formula of the stories isn’t hard to figure out, so you have a pretty good idea about what’s going to happen.

Is it worth it?

Nope, not really. The art is cool and the story had potential, but the curse did more than turn Kurohime into Himeko. It also ruined the story.

Look somewhere else for your gunslinging babes.

Manga, Reviews, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural, Kurohime, Magic, Witch, Gunslinger, Shonen Jump, Shonen Jump Advanced

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

Train Heartnet used to work for the secret organization Chronos as an assassin. He was known as the infamous “Black Cat”. When that life became too much for him he gave it all up. The Black Cat died and came back as a stray.

Now Train works with his partner Sven as a sweeper, a bounty hunter. In their latest job they’re working with a thief to find a dangerous weapons dealer before he can release the most dangerous weapon in his arsenal.

Will they make it in time? What’s up with their new ally?

My Opinion

Black Cat is pretty darn good. I wasn’t sure quite what to expect because there are some things about it that seem similar to other manga and anime. You got the whole bounty hunter thing going on, which seems to be a pretty popular career choice for manga characters. Then you got the whole secret, possibly criminal, organization that the main character used to work for. All you need is an ex-cop partner and you got Cowboy Bebop.

Wait… What was Sven’s old line of work? Hmmm…

Well, Black Cat isn’t Cowboy Bebop, but there are similarities. It doesn’t come across as a copy or a rip off though. Black Cat has it’s own thing going on, and it’s pretty darn good.

The art and story work well together. There’s a great balance of action, drama and humor. The characters are pretty likeable, even if they kind of remind you of someone else from time to time.

Is it worth it?

Yep, Black Cat is worth checking out. A the story is well balanced, the art works well and the characters are likeable. While it might seem like Cowboy Bebop without the spaceships at first, it’s own personality shines through.

Manga, Reviews, Action, Adventure, Shonen Jump, Black Cat, Kentaro Yabuki, Train Heartnet, Bounty Hunters, Cowboy Bebop

Story

After a few unfortunate events Mai Taniyama finds herself working for Shibuya Psychic Research. Specifically she’s an assistant to it’s 17 year old President, Kauya Shibuya. Shibuya Psychic Research is currently investigating Mai’s school, or at least the old school building on the property.

A lot of strange things have happened in the old building and even more rumors have been spread about it. What’s really going on with the old building? Could it really be haunted?

My Opinion

I like the Ghost Hunt anime, so I was expecting to enjoy the manga as well. I did notice a few differences, but they really do more to enhance the manga than detract from it.

There’s a bit more humor in the manga. That’s not a bad thing, suspense and humor work very well together if done properly. It worked for The X-Files. I think the mixture of humor is done very well in Ghost Hunt.

The pacing is also a bit different. No surprise there, there’s always a pacing difference between anime and manga because the two mediums just work differently. In the manga I could read the first story in one shot. The anime tends to break things up. I don’t think there’s a single story in the anime that doesn’t require multiple episodes. I could be wrong, I haven’t seen the whole thing.

Is it worth it?

Yep, it’s worth it. If you like supernatural suspense with a bit of humor to break the tension every so often, you won’t go wrong with Ghost Hunt. It’s a darn good manga.

Manga, Reviews, Horror, Romance, Supernatural, Humor, Mai Taniyama, Kauya Shibuya, X-Files

Digital or Dead Tree?

That seems to be how things are breaking down. The company is splitting into a manga publisher and an online publisher. That makes sense. Even if the dead trees stop selling, some part of Tokyopop may survive. It leaves me with a question though.

How closely will the 2 companies be working?

When it was one company it made sense that their own online community would be the place to find digital Tokyopop stuff. Will that be changing now? Will the online community start offering digital versions of titles that Tokyopop Inc, the dead tree publisher, doesn’t have? What about the other way around? Could we see digital versions of Tokyopop titles on other websites?

I’m rooting for Tokyopop, no matter how this shakes out.

Manga, News, Opinion, Tokyopop, Online, Community

Technical difficulties have made things pretty hard on a lot of us at 451 Press. Not the least of which is the head honcho. Problems with the server have made it close to impossible to get posts up on time or even at all lately.

I hope that is going to change soon. That’s about the best I can do, hope. I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to finish writing this post before I get an error message.

There are some signs that things will be improving though. I don’t want to talk to much about it. I’d hate to get fired for letting you know that things will be improving soon. 0o

I want to thank you for sticking around while things have been slow, and sometimes just plain weird. I appreciate your patience with us.

Thank you.