Armitage
- Dual Matrix (DVD) Before The
Matrix and before Ghost
in the Shell there was Armitage, one of the original cyberpunk heroes.
This sequel
to Poly Matrix puts Armitage in the middle of a
struggle for robot rights as she tries (unsuccessfully)
to hide her dual life. And amazingly, she has reproduced,
but how is the question that everyone wants to know.
Chock full of mind-blowing, dynamic conflict as well as a direction
style that keeps you guessing as to what will happen next, Armitage
is an excellent
series to keep track of. Like Patlabor,
it's full of big issues, enormous action and larger than life characters.
Gunsmith
Cats - Bulletproof (DVD)
Designer Kenichi
Sonoda'shot
manga about hot girls with a hot
car and even hotter firearms comes to DVD in this amazing OVA
series. Don't get caught in the crossfire, as Rally knows guns so
well she can tell how many bullets are in it by the weight, while
her partner Minnie May is equally effective with explosives.
Handsomely designed and skillfully executed, this series builds suspense
while being slick, fast-paced and incredibly violent, yet without the
usual gore of many other violent
anime. But still, it's so effective that you'll find it terrifying,
exciting and exhilarating - and there's no denying that any chick
that drives a Shelby
GT500 gets our attention!
Reign
the Conqueror
Peter (Aeon Flux) Chung's take on Alexander
the Great. The series boasts the most unique and stunningly original
final episode since The
Prisoner - and will justify watching the entire series. We really
dig Chung's work, his art is like nothing else out there.
Reign
features an amazingly complex plot with over a dozen major characters
means that you can never take your eyes off the screen or mute
the dialog, and skipping a single episode will leave you lost.
Our only wish was that Drew Neumann could have been brought back
to do the soundtrack, but nevertheless, the series is a new Chung
masterpiece and as always, we're interested in anything else he's
got out there.
Batman
The Animated Series
One of the very few cartoons produced in the US that we consider
to be better than actual anime, the gothic-looking, noir-inspired,
art-direction-up-the-wazoo, spectacular Batman - The Animated Series
is the model for all others to follow.
Looking
like nothing that has ever come before to television before (with
the exception of the Fleischer
Superman shorts), the series' only peer is Frank Miller's exceptional Dark
Knight Returns comic book. Superior voice-casting and excellent
scripts highlight the series, and the characters have never been
truer-to-form. For many, this is *the* incarnation of Batman, it
was finally done right. And the Japanese took note, producing anime
that looked similar.
Now
you can enjoy building and fighting your own homemade creations without
having to spend a fortune in servos
and electric motors by using this software for your personal
computer. This is really cool stuff for the
tinkerer and anime fan alike.
Chobits
Manga Volume 1
It's a geek fantasy come true - she's a beautiful girl and
she's also a personal computer! Produced by the fantastic females
at CLAMP,
this amazing manga
series (distributed by Tokyopop)
tells the tale of an A.I. with
a dark secret and the boy who loves her.
As
is typical for this group, the to-die-for artwork is accompanied
by an astoundingly complex and subtle plot, with many twists
and turns, and a warmth and heart that is true classic CLAMP.
The book does a good job of fairly balancing the pictures of
the five pilots as well as other important characters. It has
images from the Endless
Waltz as well as some from the earlier movies. Filled with
crisp clear photos and illustrations, Art of Gundam Wing provides
the reader with everything they need as a visual reference
to the characters and mecha from the show.
The
Animator's Workbook
Combine this book with others from Watson-Guptil, and you have the makings of your own anime studio! If you are an aspiring animator you have probably squeezed all you can out of Preston Blair. If "Illusion of Life" is too expensive, this is the book for you. One thing all of these books have in common is they include pretty much everything you need to know about the fundamentals of animation.
Inu
Yasha Original Soundtrack Album
If you've been watching Inu
Yasha, the latest amazing creation from Rumiko
Takahashi, then you already know just how fabulous the
music is. From the beautiful, sing-able "My Will" closing
title theme to the amazing bumpers and the eerie supernatural
sounds that populate the series, the music is simply astounding.
This album as everything you've ever wanted to hear and more
from the series. We say that it has "high replay value",
as you'll want to listen over and over again.
