The universe is a dangerous place. Pirates, aliens, and terrorists are everwhere, threatening to destroy civilization as we know it. But fear not! The gun loving, boy crazy, cosplay obsessed, obsessively religious, and super lucky Angel Brigade are here to make a buck and save the day!
Resembling a harem anime without the boy, Galaxy Angels takes the classic "Cute Girls Doing Bad Things", and puts it in space. An episodic half length anime, Galaxy Angels is mostly character (or often character flaw) driven comedy, with the occasional foray into melodrama.
Available in R1 from Bandai Entertainment
[Entry by Abraham Evangelista]
With a carefree heart, a perpetually-hungry android companion, a collection of other powerful friends who've taken it upon themselves to be her bodyguard, and a giant robot, Yuna defends goodness in her corner of the universe as the Champion of Light. But she isn't all business; finding lost puppies and taking part in Iron Chef tournaments is just as important to Yuna as is thwarting those who try to take over or destroy the galaxy.
On the surface, Galaxy Fraulein Yuna is a parody of shows like Sailor Moon (try to spot the Senshi cameo in the first episode) or Iczer-1, but with more giant robots and fewer male characters (even the tuxedo-garbed flower-throwing "love-interest" character is female). But if you look deeper than that, you see a story about a champion of goodness who truly is good, down to the core. In situations where other heroes would set aside their principles to save the world, Yuna remains steadfast to the values which made her the Champion of Light, which puts her head and shoulders above all the other magical warrior girls.
Two OAV series released on one R1 DVD, available from ADV.
[Entry by Rob Kelk]
A series of nine SF OAVs, split into two distinct series, based around the actions of a group of girls. Each series follows the same group, although they are often recast for whatever is going on in the series. In one series, they are the last surviving group on one side of a space battle which they attempt to escape, sacrificing much in the process, to reach a planet on which they can shelter. In the other series, Earth is attacked, and the survivors have to get help, find ways of getting off the planet and survive whilst doing it. There was also a parody of one of the stories - 10 Little Gall Force was a parody of Stardust War. The team(s) also turn up in the ArtMic parody OAV, Scramble Wars. The series is available in the US from USMC/CPM, whilst the parodies were available from AnimEigo.
[Entry by Chika]
A post-apocalyptic world sees a young boy with no parents brought up by a stranded war robot (warroid) as a soldier but when a mysterious enemy slaughters the only parent he had ever had, he goes to war only to find that the war had ended many years before. He meets up with a battered warroid who has no memory of his past but seems to be full of surprises and a girl who gets the hots for him, when she isn't thinking of money, and the group go off treasure hunting, only to find that their hunt will eventually turn into a fight to save the planet and end the long dormant war ... Available from AnimEigo.
[Entry by Chika]
Proof positive that one of the best ways to lure otaku to your manga or animated TV series is to make it all about them. This slice-of-life comedy follows a group of different types of people who are members of the Shiiou University student club Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyuukai (Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture). or Genshiken for short. The Genshiken is all about the appreciation of various arts that otaku in Japan enjoy, including anime (especially the show-within-a-show Kujibiki Unbalance), manga, doujinshi, video games, cosplay (Tanaka Souichirou likes designing outfits, and the soft-spoken, well-built Kanako Ohno loves dressing in them; no surprise that they eventually end up as a couple), plastic models and yaoi. The series starts as freshman Kanji Sasahara looks for a club to join based on something that he would enjoy, and he hesitatingly settles on the Genshiken (especially after they catch him having a look through their erotic doujinshi collection), but he quickly comes to terms with his otakuness. The other members include hardcore president Harunobu Madarame, the handsome, easy-going video game enthusiast Makoto Kousaka, and his long-suffering, practical girlfriend, Saki Kasukabe, who hates otaku but grudgingly hangs out at the Genshiken to have some more time with Kousaka.
Genshiken drew in and kept its fans because of how well-developed the characters are, without the cynically high level of stereotyping that anime (and its parodic portrayal of its audience) is sometimes subject to. Anime Works has released the first TV series (with Kujibiki Unbalance OVAs) in North America, are currently releasing the Kujibiki Unbalance TV series (with Genshiken OVAs which continue the story), and will put out the second Genshiken TV series once that's completed.
[Entry by Dave Watson]
An amazing adaptation of the original Journey To The West. In this retelling, the Sanzo priest (Genjo Sanzo) is accompanied by Son Goku, Cho Hakkai (with his flying dragon Hakuryu), and Sho Gojyo. On their way to investigate the resurrection of Gyumaoh, they encounter several demons, and that's about where the similarities end to the other versions. Sanzo's a cursing, drinking, gun-toting monk with blond hair, Goku's always hungry, Hakkai uses chi blasts, Hakuryu can turn into a jeep, and Gojyo's a poker playing womanizer. Basically, to rip off an old car commercial, this isn't your father's Journey To The West. The main force trying to stop the Sanzo party is led by Kougaji, who is being forced to oppose Sanzo by Gyukumen Koushu, Gyumaoh's concubine. Aiding Kougaji are his half-sister, Lirin, and his trusted friends, an apothecary named Yaone, and a warrior named Dokugakugi. Action, adventure, mystery, mysticism, introspection, an awesome opening song, and a sense of humor that shows up whenever it feels like it, all make this a top-notch anime.
Licenced by ADV in North America, and by Madman in Australia.
[Entry by Bill Martin]
see Kishin Heidan
It's a time when cats are feared. They possess the ability to change into nekojin (cat-people), enter electronic equipment, and they torture humanity. The best way to defeat them is with the use of talismans that have been plugged into a computer.
However, not all of the "Phantom Cats" are evil. Such is the case of one named Maya who hangs around Yoichi Taba, the lone guy working for Kagura Security. When Maya gets kidnapped, Yoichi gets "forced" into hiring his Kagura Security compatriots to get her back. Hijinx ensue when the ladies try to take advantage of his situation.
Available in North America from CPM.
[Entry by Bill Martin]
Hong Kong, years from now, and a collaboration work between Masamune Shirow and western influences to produce a special police force on the hunt for a mysterious creature that steals peoples' "ghosts" and reprograms them for its own purposes. However, it seems to be so elusive that it is questionable if it is actually one person, or even human. The common factor with the force is their cybernetic upgrades. Based on the successful manga series, though the manga is nowhere as dark as the film. Some folk refer to this film as "Frain's Folly" as it saw the end of Andy Frain at Manga Video after poor sales in the UK.
[Entry by Chika]
The latest animated version of the story of Ghost in the Shell, a series originally created by Masamune Shirow, features all the characters that were made famous in the original series and just about all the same mecha and premise of the original. This version, however, bears closer resemblance to the manga original with all the humour still very much present from Batou's flippancy to the adventures of the "Tachikomas", the robot tanks with their own AI and a short series to boot at the end of each episode: "Tachikomatic Days". In this post-WWIII setting, most folk are at least partially cybernetically enhanced, including the use of artificial brains. This leads to a number of possibilities for crime which section 9 must deal with. The series is divided mostly into stand alone episodes and an ongoing story about a serial blackmailer known as the "Laughing Man". Available from Manga Video.
[Entry by Chika]
Sword and Sorcery go "slumming" in this bawdy tour across the myths and magical tales of dozens of countries. Teenaged thief, swordsman and sometime sorcerer Gokudou wants the simple things in life: unlimited wealth, beautiful women, and a chance to get away from his old witch Mother (who happens to be a very good sorceress). He sets off on a series of adventures that take him to strange lands with odd companions and the occasional body switch. Comedy, adventure, pretty girls and even musical reviews make Gokudou-kun a fast-pasted and fun piece of "low fantasy".
Licenced by Media Blasters in North America.
[Entry by Dave Baranyi]
A successful comedy based on the manga which also spawned a live-action series (drama).
Kumiko Yamaguchi is a nerdy, glasses-wearing new teacher anxious to start her new future of molding the impressionable minds of Japan's youth at an all-boys school! But her dream takes a slight detour when she's given the worst class in the school - filled with delinquents. If that's not enough, she's also the last surviving heir of Yamaguchi clan - the largest, most powerful yakuza clan in Japan - and if her Grandfather's lackies have their way, their next boss.
Even though Kumiko (or Yankumi as her students nickname her) may seem geeky and weak, she was raised in a yakuza household where she learned to fight and be strong from the toughest yakuza in Japan. As a result, she is able to save her students from all sorts of trouble, but eventually the students, and even the faculty, begin to suspect she's more than just a bookworm. Especially when she lapses into yakuza lingo and rough talkin'.
The series creates plenty of laughs just with the tension Yankumi faced being a teacher to delinquents and the demands placed on her being a yakuza heir, but it's the characters make this series. The characters are troubled and rough, but likable. And Yankumi is so fun and spirited that her optimistic spirit is infectious. You can't help but root for this motley crew of hooligans and gangsters.
Age: 14+ Warnings: Fighting (fisticuffs), swearing (in the dub), and criminal behavior.
[Entry by Travers Naran]
In this six-OVA comedy series, 25-year-old Kintaro Oe was a student at the prestigious Tokyo University who had all the credits required to graduate with a degree, but he chose to become a freeter instead, travelling from town to town, taking different jobs and learning various things, all of which he scribbles and sketches in his notebook. All of his pursuits bring him in contact with various attractive young women who initially get bad impressions of him (especially when he's caught cuddling the toilet seats they use), but change their minds when they find out that Kintaro is actually more intelligent, capable and sincere than the average pervert, and less awkward and incompetent than he originally appears. By the time they realize this, he has usually already left to go on to the next town and the next job without taking advantage of the women's new attitudes towards him.
This series is renowned for its high levels of physical humour and various levels of fan service and naughty situations, including a computer programming company president who obviously doesn't believe in brassieres and a seemingly reserved and traditional young Japanese women who is actually a...let's just say more than avid motorcyclist. It's all still pretty tame compared to Tatsuya Egawa and his assistants' (that's how it's credited) near-pornographic original manga, though. Golden Boy was one of ADV Films' earlier titles, and its English dub is far and away the most acclaimed one they have ever produced. Their license expired in 2006 and they chose not to renew it, so Anime Works picked it up and re-released it themselves, complete with ADV's English dub track.
[Entry by Dave Watson]
A powerful and moving story about two children orphaned when their village is fire-bombed in WWII. This is an excellent work by Studio Ghibli that should include the warning "May cause severe sadness." The art is fabulous and the story has a strong emotional impact.
Available in North America from CPM.
[Entry by Robin Casady]
Even though the series starts off with an shot up a schoolgirl's skirt, the series follows the exploits of Ekichi Onizuka in his quest to be a great teacher and all the troubles he encounters. From the vice principal to the class that hasn't keep a teacher all year in who knows how long, he's got his hands full, then there's the fact that he's got the hots for a fellow teacher. Released by TokyoPop in North America.
[Entry by Bill Martin]
An affectionate parody of mecha anime and a good story concerning the life and times of Takaya Noriko, a schoolgirl whose father died in mysterious circumstances during an ongoing war with a strange alien race. Noriko has to learn how to control her mecha, make friends, deal with a traumatic love affair that ends badly, and try to prop up her mentor who, while she starts out strong enough, she suffers later on. All this set against deteriorating friendships caused by the effects of time dilation! Previously available on VHS in the US from US Renditions, then from Manga Video; the licence has expired. Be aware that the UK version, distributed by Kiseki Films, is edited.
[Entry by Chika]
One thing to keep in mind with Gundam is that
there are two main continuities. One is known by the Universal Calendar and the other is the After Colony calender.
The UC timeline is the original, while the newer Gundam Wing universe uses the AC timeline. Other than that they have giant robots and semi-realistic near-future Earth space civilizations at war, they don't interrelate much.
Mobile Suit Gundam was the first 'gritty' and 'realistic' giant robot stories, paving the way for other series. Before MS Gundam, most giant robot stories were vehicles for selling toys in Japan. Gundam revolutionized the genre by putting a background and a more realistic use of giant robots. Gundam is war story, with extras.
Adding in ambiguous allies and enemies and an unusual manifest destiny, it managed to tell a compelling story
of a young man thrust into the middle of an unwanted war. He and the ship he ends up on become the pivot on which their history is decided. The UC timeline has the colonies rebelling against a static Earth Federation. One of the more interesting points is
that no one is really good or evil, per se. Both have faults and heroes, both have their villains. The Gundam units are on Earth's side for the most part.
MS Gundam, Stardust Memories, War in the Pocket and MS Team
08 all are based (loosely) in the UC timeline. They all use or make mention of the One Year War.
Many Gundam shows are available from Bandai in North America.
Gundam Wing (and the finale, Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz) are based in the newer AC (After Colony) timeline. A repressive Earth government is tyrannizing everyone, holding an iron grip over their colonies. The colonies finally rebel, using five Gundam mobile suits. Piloted by young freedom fighters, they are the colonies best hope to break the iron grip of Earth. Part soldiers and part terrorists, the young pilots fight and interact with foes. Still a war drama, Gundam Wing puts an effort into some social commentary on war and death.
Gundam Wing has been televised in the U.S., and is available from Bandai in North America and Madman in Australia.
[Entry by Arthur Hansen]
See Gundam
See Gundam
see Battle Angel
Don't be fooled, it is not what it seems. The trailer, the box blurb, and even the first few episodes make Gunparade March seem like a second-rate Gundam (with lots of girls) versus the alien invaders who will save the Earth saga. The army mecha division is even based at an all-girls' high school with only two boys on campus for extra shonen-ness.
Ever hear of 'a wolf in sheep's clothing'? This series is a shoujo high-school romantic-angst story masquerading as a shonen mecha adventure. In truth, there are few battles, and when we leave this little corner of the war, the war goes on. Also, even though there are girls everywhere, there is basically no fanservice except for the single change-of-pace romantic-comedy episode that has some above average bloomer service. There is, however, an adorable little 8-year-old girl with a tragic backstory.
Available from Media Blasters.
[Entry by Rob Maxwell]
This is a thirteen-episode series set in modern-day Italy, rife with political and police corruption, organised crime and terrorism. A shadowy government agency uses cyborged adolescent girls as assassins, tied to their supervisors ("fratello", or siblings) by brainwashing and mental conditioning for obedience and loyalty. The story is often bloody and violent but also includes scenes where the girls interact with each other and their fratello in a remarkably sympathetic manner. Each of the girls featured has a distinct personality, often mirroring their fratello for whom they feel "affection" in differing ways.
In the wrong hands this series could have been superficial; Madhouse are to be congratulated on avoiding the obvious pitfalls. The character animation is not the finest but the backgrounds are faithful to the Italian cities the stories are set in. The violence is realistically displayed; blood and death are inextricably linked in this series. Technically, the depiction of firearms is pretty well spot-on. Each of the girls has a signature weapon and uses it appropriately, a rarity in anime. American R1 licencing was announced by FUNimation in June 2004; the R2 Japanese DVDs are already being released.
[Entry by Robert Sneddon]
Rally Vincent and May Hopkins are bounty-hunters in Chicago. Rally is a sharp-shooter with a passion for fast 70's sports cars, and May likes explosives - lots of explosives. A BATF agent named Bill Collins "hires" Rally to help him break up a gun-smuggling ring, and big trouble ensues, leading eventually to the Mayor's office. Based loosely on the manga by Kenichi Sonoda. Good art and animation. Some violence and lots of shooting. Three episodes. Available from ADV Films.
[Entry by Ben Cantrick]
