Kimagure
Orange Road TV Series Vol. 1 KOR (as it known to
fans) is the hilarious, charming, and often touching story of three
high school students and their relationships with each other and
their friends. The story centers on Kyousuke, a somewhat shy teenager
who is drawn into a love triangle between two girls: one a lively
tomboy who desires him, and the other, a statuesque, aloof lady
he must worship from afar (who is best friends with the tomboy...
Oops!). Kyousuke has other problems as well, such as keeping hidden the family
secret (psyonic powers). However, it is the stunningly beautiful, moody Madoka
that steals the show. One moment playful, the next moment disinterested, the
mystery of what's going on under that head of hair makes her even more alluring.
KOR is a delight in every way and one of the most perfect series of its
type. Cherished
by fans for over a decade, it's finally available
in America.
Android
Kikaider - Lonely Soul
We're suckers for retro-style
anime that has a lush graphic-novel
look, and Kikaider is definitely in that league. With a wonderful 70's era
manga/comic look, yet, modern kick-ass animation, it's a fantastic mesh of the
old and new, giving it a very stylized feel with its similarities to the layout
and movement of a manga
series. Based on a Japanese live-action superhero
show, the anime allows a greater creative freedom for the storytellers and
they make use of that freedom with
dramatic flair.
Originally airing in Japan during 2000, Kikaider uses the digital animation look
to mesh with the feel of the series 70's style. The transfer has very
vibrant colors and a clean look to the show, adding to the graphic-novel feeling.
Cartoon Network (previously) ran it as a part of Adult Swim, but now we don't
need to stay up until midnight to watch it!
The latest CPM release of Gall Force: Earth Chapter continues the storyline set
forth in Gall Force: Eternal Story (with Rhea
Gall Force coming afterwards). In this series of three-OVAs-on-one-DVD, humanity
is the legacy left by the Solnoids and Paranoids, but they are following the
war-like ways of their ancestors. Paranoid-like machines known as Cyberoids (or
MMEs) now seek to destroy every
human they can.
Sonada is an avid gun fanatic, so you'll see lots of recognizable hardware being
used by the characters. If bodacious babes
packin' pistols is
your thing,
then you'll appreciate all that Gall
Force has to offer.
Great
Teacher Onizuka
What do you get when you combine unruly students, crabby teachers, and a twenty-two
year old ex-gang member with aspirations to become the greatest high school teacher
the world has ever known? Sheer
pandemonium, unbelievable situations that you
couldn't conjure up in your wildest dreams, and laughs guaranteed to have
you rolling all over the floor non-stop.
Welcome to the world of Eikichi Onizuka,
teacher in training. Vulgar, hot-tempered, and rough around the edges, he makes
use of these qualities along with his street smarts to deal with his formidable
adversaries at Holy Forest Acedemy.
Based on the wildly successful manga by
Tohru
Fujisawa, 'GTO' is clever, witty, and devilishly funny, but is also
sharply insightful about how to inspire students. Without a doubt, Onizuka's
antics will knock your socks
off, and you'll never look at high school quite
the same way again.
Daft
Punk / Interstella 5555
This DVD is an extension of four previously released music videos based on Daft
Punk's Discovery
album, directed by anime grand-master Leiji Matsumoto (Harlock, Yamato, Queen
Emeraldus, Galaxy
Express, and more...). Now the entire album has been animated and tells a
more complete story, which has twists and turns, and moreover, a respectable
ending.
Sound effects have been added in certain parts, and complement the music. The
audio is fantastic, and Matsumoto's art has never looked so sharp. The plot is
remarkably complex considering that the story moves forward entirely on the strength
of the visuals. If you're into the music or Matsumoto, this DVD is worth every
cent. We think it's a match made in heaven.
Xenosaga
for PS2 The Playstation
console has always had a good stable of solid
RPGs, and Xenosaga
clearly adds to their already impressive
library. It's a shoe-in for recommendation here, as it's a deep-plotted,
Action-Horror-Sci-Fi-Drama done in an anime-style and set in outer space. What
more do you need? The characters are amazingly complex and subtle, the animation
is top notch, and the storyline is simply one of the best ever put to any medium
other than a novel. Many fans are claiming that this
game is worth making
into a movie (and some of the cut scenes are long enough that you'll think
you're in a movie!).
Namco has
created a helluva' game, the
only RPG we can think of to go head-to-head with Square.
With 60 to 80 hours of gameplay squeezed onto the disk this game is an investment
that will be well-spent. That said, it's not for everyone. You need to be a die-hard
gamer and an RPG fan. You'll also need vacation time because once you're hooked
into the game, little things like work, school, eating and sleeping just seem
so .... unimportant.
Animated
Classics of
Japanese Literature
What's yet another anime DVD doing in the book section? Welcome to Animated
Classics of Japanese Literature, a great way to introduce yourself to Japanese
culture by learning some of their classic
fables and great literature.
You'll find these DVDs to be entertaining as well as educational.
These animated tales both inspire and act as a "Cliff
Notes" version of each story without detracting from the feel of the
original work. These are excellent stories and skillfully executed, as only
the Japanese could do. In a country where 75% of the population reads manga,
it is hardly surprising to discover this treatment of traditional
literature. We're just surprised it didn't happen sooner!
Video
Girl Ai
We've often compared Chobits to
Video Girl Ai, but many newcomers to the anime
scene have no idea what "Ai" is all about. Here's your opportunity
to rectify that horrible oversight.
From the creator of Iria comes
a love triangle too complicated to express in a paragraph, but our hero is
too damn shy to express how he yearns. A magical interaction between a "date
video" and an electrical short, and poof, instant video-girl. She will
help him to win the girl of his dreams, or is Ai really the girl for him? A
love triangle within a love triangle!
This is manga with real depth, the characters are multi-layered and complex.
All are struggling with the issues of teenage love and just being a teenager.
A feeling of naive, childlike innocence runs through this manga, a feeling
you'll remember from your youth. Your first crush, and the first time you *were*
crushed. Touching, funny and sad, Video Girl Ai plays the heart strings we've
all experienced. A manga you'll identify with so strongly, you'll swear it
was written just for you.
Encyclopedia
of Contemporary
Japanese Culture
This mega-informative volume contains a little bit about everything you need
to know about Japan since 1945 to today. Over 700 entries cover areas such
as literature, architecture, food, health, political economy, religion, and
technology. And while it does cover music, film, TV & anime and manga,
it also looks at more traditional aspects of Japan in the modern world, including
kabuki and noh, fishing and fireworks.
With only 634 pages, the book sensibly points readers towards more in-depth
studies. You may not get all the answers you want from an entry, but in most
cases, you can close this book with a better idea of where you should look
next. It would take twenty other books to cover the subjects that this one
volume takes on - making this an excellent starting point for students of Japanese
culture, or anyone with a deep need to understand modern Japan.
WXII
Patlabor The Movie 3 O.S.T. This music, by Kenji Kawai, is experimental and atmospheric. In combination with the
movie however, it's downright creepy, but nevertheless, this soundtrack album
(or BGM, as we used to refer to them) is as far removed from your normal j-pop soundtrack
as Goth is
from Britney
Spears! In other words, if you're looking for something other than the standard
fare, we suggest you give this a try. It's not bouncy, it's not humm-able, and
it's not infused with idol-singers.
And that's why it's good. If you're tired of usual Casio-Keyboard compositions
and want something a little less generic and roller-rink sounding, then this
might be what you're looking for. And yes, track #15 was written by Beethoven (which
adds to the atmosphere)...
Jai2
Fred Schodt's (author of Manga Manga and Dreamland Japan) website.
Little Gamers
Ultra-cool Web comic. If you've *ever* done online gaming, you'll get it.
