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Synopsis
In a digital realm between life and the hereafter, there lies an empty room, a black sphere, and the trapped souls of the unfortunate. Here, the only meaning left is in the brutal game. Welcome to GANTZ, the next level of action, horror, and science fiction. Inspired from nightmares, Gantz brings forth a shocking vision produced in precise 2D/3D animation to showcase a slick and bizarre tale.

Review
In volume two, the episodes three and four are displayed. While episode three is not new to me due to the advance screener I had received a while ago, it was a nice refreshment. The show continues off with Onion Boy’s father, pissed as hell after the gamers gangbanged his son to death in other words, killed him. No, no, let us put it in better terms; slaughtered. And from volume one we all know what happens to the scrubs of the show, so let us continue on and discuss what is about to happen to the four left over gamers.

So Kei, Kato, Ms. Melons and the mysterious dude is still alive in the world of Gantz. After having to exert a tremendous amount of effort to run away from Onion Man, they finally get backed into a position of no escape. With Onion Man mad and the there newbies scared how will it turn out? Are you intrigued yet? If your answer is no, this volume finally explains quite a bit of what Gantz really is. It is certainly very interesting to know briefly what it is all about.

The action so far is just magnificent. I cannot find a better way to word it. All that blood and gore flying all over the place will make you even more excited for what will come next. The story is ichiban. Everything in this show accompanies each other so well. Gantz has become one of my favorites in such a short time. The replay value of Gantz is like none other. Sometimes I think I am sadistic for liking what I am seeing. Maybe I am a bit crazy… x_O.

While I dislike the way this series is released, at least the dates are closer together, which makes the wait time for the next volume shorter. I am more for the three to four episodes for $29.99 rather than the two for $19.99 format. It seems, no wait, it is that ADV Films has found a special cow and they are milking it for all that it is worth, down to the last drop. Hey, there is nothing wrong with that, unless you have an unlimited amount of resources in your hands’ reach. Which I can assure you, no one has :).

The Breakdown
With the action so fluid and the storyline so addictive. Who can possibly resist the lust for Gantz?

Synopsis
Dragon Drive is the story of a young man who gets addicted to a virtual reality videogame about battling dragons. One day there is a glitch in the game and our hero, Reiji, finds himself in a real world with real dragons! Since he is there, he might as well save the world, right?

Review
This series started off really well. The first set of episodes show how Reiji gets into the game Dragon Drive and how he eventually becomes very good at it. These episodes are fun, exciting and interesting because the game itself is interesting to learn about. But after 6 or so episodes when Reiji shows up in that alternate world the anime progresses into its true self, which is nothing more than the same cliche anime I’ve seen a million times before. Essentially the first episodes are just a really cool intro to a really bad anime.

Even cliche anime can be good though if the characters are great. While the good guys in Dragon Drive were likable enough, they were also a bunch of idiots who each repeated their mistakes over and over again throughout the whole series. The bad guys were even worse. The main villian is obsessed with the idea that life is a game that he has to win, so he keeps doing all these terrible things to get his best ending. Everytime the good guys get into a fight with the bad guys, the bad guys overwhelm the good guys and then let them go for some reason. Every… time…

Beyond that, several characters have horrible voices. One particular character who keeps shouting, ‘My sweet honey!’ to a girl he likes has the most annoying voice I have ever heard in an anime. Even the music was generic and uninspiring with the exception of perhaps the ending theme. Add to that animation sequences that get repeated over and over again, dragons that look like mechs and dragged out combat with little or no story progression and there you have it… Dragon Drive!!

The Breakdown
I suffered through 38 episodes of this crap so that you don’t have to.

Synopsis
High school student Kazuki Shikimori comes from a line of powerful magicians with extraordinary DNA and he attends the most prestigious school for wizards in all of Japan. It would seem that life is good for Kazuki. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be further from the truth. He’s not the most smooth when it comes to the ladies, his grades are poor, his athletic skill is next to none, and to top it all off, he can only use his magic eight times before he turns into dust! However, three magical hotties have learned of his genetic secret and are all after him! Suddenly he has become the most “popular” kid in class. Are all these girls out to romance him, or are they only after his DNA?

Review
Kazuki Shikimori, an average high school kid with a not so average magical ability for Aoi Academy’s standards, is suddenly is approached by three hottest babes of the entire school. What can the biggest loser do, now that he is the biggest winner? Heck what can he do other than to dodge and hide? Anyways, this comedy has got to be one of the all time greats. From the start I liked the character interactions, the fluid animation and the music that this series boasts. The thing that was not so up to par was the English dub… it is just horrible how character names are pronounced, it seems so strange. It is enough to drive my head to the wall every time someone says a name. Other than that, the dub actually was good. I am no expert on dub since I usually do not watch anime with that feature, but I believe anyone would probably agree with me on that one :P.

The story commences with the girls all wanting Kazuki’s genes, so that their own family’s bloodline will become stronger with the child that will result. But Yuna on the other hand, has another motif, other than his genes. Kazuki and Yuna first met when they were children, during that meeting she made a promise to him that she will be her bride when the right time comes. And lucky her, when her family told her to go get Kazuki’s genes, she finds out that he was the boy that she had met and now for her, it is not about the genes, but rather the love for him.

I love shows like this. It gives me this weird sense of emotion that I cannot explain. Maybe I am just happy that I get to watch things like this (^_^). I have probably viewed Maburaho twenty to thirty times already since getting it in the mail from ADV Films. It is truly an amazing title that comedy goers should definitely look out for. Ecchi humor fans would also be grateful of Maburaho. And I know this might sound absurd to some of you, but I truly believe that this series definitely has the potential to top titles, such as, Ai Yori Aoshi and Love Hina, if it has not already in my heart.

The Breakdown
Maburaho is a series, such that, it brings a special warmth into your heart, a smile onto your face and a delightful experience for you to reminisce. All in all, you will fall in love.

Synopsis
Popotan is about a trio of sisters, Ai, Mai and Mii, who travel through time and space in search of the reason of their existence by following clues left only by the words of the Popotan (flowers) they encounter on their journey.

Review
Popotan starts out seeming like little more than an average anime. It has a bunch of girls with mysterious powers, each of whom fulfill a role that has been seen a million times before. There is the older sister who acts like the kind mother, the middle sister who is of course the emotional teenager and the youngest sister who is cute, happy and energetic. Despite these cliches, by the end-through surprisingly deep character development that is slowly and with subtlety revealed over the twelve episodes-the story comes through in a way that is powerfully emotional and rewarding. The viewer becomes completely attached to the characters.

The Breakdown
Popotan succeeds in being an emotional and enjoyable drama.

Synopsis
Like all girls her age, Hibari Hanakoganei covets the latest fashion in mechanical pets – a PataPi to call her own! But when a strange White Prince provides one, she becomes the target of an equally mysterious Black Prince who plots to steal the prized pet. It’s PataPi Densuke to the rescue, however, transforming into a powerful Diva who bears a striking resemblance to Hibari herself! With astonishing battle agility, Densuke proves to be no ordinary child’s toy! Hibari’s not the only one with a PataPi of extraordinary powers, and despite an unlikely friendship, she joins forces with others to form the Cyber Team! Together they will solve the riddle of the Black Prince – or will his flock of nefarious cohorts put an end to the dynamic divas of Akihabara?

Review
Watching Cyber Team in Akihabara is like having a bunch of wild chickens running around with their heads chopped off; in other words, it does not know which direction it is heading. Is it a shounen title, a shoujo title or a mixture? The three female lead characters make it shoujo, the little bit of ecchi humor makes it shounen. Okay… maybe it is a mixture, but I seriously believe that if it was only one single category it would have been better, as the show is not entertaining. It lacks focus in various areas, such as, the story and the characters.

The show gets repetitive, which makes it distasteful. The way these girls transform their PataPi’s become so annoying over time. Especially Hibari, who just screams out “Noooooooo!!!” The worst part of Cyber Team in Akihabara is that it is listed as a comedy, but I did not find myself to even chuckle to the comedic segments of the show. Let us move onto the story. What is it? All I attained from watching it was there was this girl who dreamed of a prince and the prince gives her a PataPi and then things start to happen. Comon, give us something much more than that in five episodes. At least go into who that prince is or what is the purpose of the evil organization. I feel that I was being hung out dry on a clothesline and after episode three, continuing watching was just an obligation. It was not a fun experience at all.

On the back of the DVD cover states, “This isn’t child’s play!” But seriously, Cyber Team in Akihabara will only appeal to children. Every aspect of this show seems to be aimed towards children. Maybe this series will become better later on, but as of this instance, volume one, it is just not worth your time and money. Go move onto other better ADV Films titles, since they have a large selection of products anyways.

The Breakdown
If you want to see a series with an average story and three twelve year old girls, whom all battle evil with their fighting capable gadgets. Then this is the title for you, if not, stay away.

Synopsis
Spike and Jet are two down-on-their luck bounty hunters (called cowboys) always looking for the next big score. Spike is brash, young, and tough. He practices Bruce Lee’s martial arts style, Jeet Kune Do, and treasures his little space fighter, the Swordfish II. Jet is the wiser, older of the two, knowing when to make a move and when to hold the cards. They move from plant to planet in their spaceship, the Bebop, and go from one bounty to the next, never staying in one place too long. Rarely ever making money or getting food, Cowboy Bebop is a set of tales  in the life of these two as they go about space, encountering the pasts they left behind along the way. Of course, during the course of their adventures, they obtain three new crewmates: a sultry woman that goes by the name Faye Valentine, a dog with a high IQ that goes by Ein, and a computer hacking wizard named Ed. Along with Spike and Jet, they travel the stars.

Review
I was browsing our reviews section for any big omission from our reviews archive, and as of this writing, no one had completely reviewed Cowboy Bebop. The first three volumes had been reviewed by three different people, but that was not a good enough indication of just how great this show is. Taking it upon myself to rectify such a huge problem, I am now here to review my favorite anime series, right next to Neon Genesis Evangelion and Trigun.

I won’t be one of those guys who likes to say that the first anime they got into is also their favorite one. ‘I got into anime through Bebop…and it still rocks!’ I’d seen plenty of anime before Bebop came around, and I wasn’t there to see it when it first came out in America either. I just happened to be flipping through the channels when I came upon Adult Swim and noticed they were airing the five ’story’ episodes of Cowboy Bebop. I tuned in right from the beginning to see what it was about, and didn’t stop till I saw the whole thing. What I saw was unlike any anime (or anything, for that matter) that I’d seen before. I hold very fond memories of that night and seeing this show.

The first thing to jump out to most people about Bebop is the absolutely-frickin’-tastic music. Yoko Kanno (also responsible for such great music in Escaflowne, Macross Plus, and Ghost in the Shell) created a mix of blues and jazz that resonates with the material like nothing else could have. The show fits the music more than the other way around for me. Another thing that pops right out about the show is its still wonderful animation, despite coming from 1998. Most shows from that time did not look this good, and a bunch still don’t. It’s a testament to Bebop’s wonderful production values.

Bebop is made up of a bunch of vignettes strung together by the main five characters. These guys go from one episode to the next, with rarely any connection from one to the other. Each episode delves into different themes and ideas, from the nature of man and God to blaxploitation. I love the episodic nature of this series, and despite that, you get a wonderful understanding of each character through their experiences, even though you don’t get much character background. There are episodes devoted to each character’s pasts, but they come few and far between. But I’ll bet you anything you’ll be hard pressed to not feel even a slight hint of sadness during the final episodes’s closing moments. Bebop is amazing.

The Breakdown
After all is said and done, is Cowboy Bebop really one of the best animes ever? Simply put: YES. I haven’t seen anything better, and only a couple of shows are equal in quality and enjoyability as to that of Bebop. I know there are Bebop-haters out there. To them, I say: you’re missing out. Bebop is overhyped, I agree. But take the hype away and you get one of the best animes of the last two decades.

Synopsis
Being a teenager is rough enough, but young Daisuke’s got more troubles than any ten normal guys. Due to a strange quirk of genetics, Daisuke’s been cursed with an ancient family affliction that’s sure to put some major kinks in his relationship with the opposite sex. You see, whenever he becomes… enamored… with the object of his desires, Daisuke finds himself transformed into the legendary thief Phantom Dark! Unfortunately, the only way to return to his true form is for his true love to love Daisuke for himself; but when she’s only got eyes for Dark, how can Daisuke compete with himself? Stealing the heart of one’s true love has never been as complicated… or intriguing… as in The Dawn of Dark, the first scintillating volume of DNAngel!

Review
Approximately five months upon viewing D.N. Angel volume one, “The Dawn of Dark,” I was recommended by a friend to read the manga. He said that one of his friends was crazy about it. My reaction at first? “Yeah right.” But after viewing this first volume, I completely understand why his friend was crazy about this series. It is very smooth. Everything just works out so nicely. Nowhere would you be like… uh… I got to check that out again to understand it.

The story is wrapped around a boy who was born into a family where all the males inherit the “Dark” gene. That is, the gene that will transform the person to Dark, the phantom thief. This sounds like a bad thing initially, as we all associate things that are dark to be evil. In this case, it is actually an opposite. Dark steals the artwork to seal off its evil powers. Krad, the angel looking dude, on the other hand seems to be the bad guy who tries to stop Dark anyway he can. So there you have it, a part of the story that is. The other part of the story is quite astonishing, hence be sure check that out yourself!

This series has a lot to offer. I especially like the “no fluff” approach. Where there are hardly any useless scenes displayed. The animation is impressive. There is not an overly excessive use of CGs. Overall, D.N. Angel is a pretty complete package. It gives you everything you should expect from a top notch anime title, from comedy to action, action to story, and story to character development. This nifty title also contains great sounds that will surely grasp your undivided attention! In addition an extra bonus is that this volume alone contains four amazing episodes, what better deal can you ask for really for $29.98? A collector’s box edition is also available, look around for the best deal you can. I saw a good deal at DVDPlanet for only $27.97.

The Breakdown
If you want a title with a great story, nice characters, amazing animation and adequate comedy, then this baby is for you. Go get it now!

Synopsis
Kenshiro, the grandmaster of the Fist of the North Star, returns in the first of four new adventures! As he travels a ruined world almost devoid of life, he finds yet another army of heartless rogues slaughtering the innocent, all under the employ of Sanga, the merciless lord of the city of Last Land. As our hero launches his own, personal war against the Cursed City, he will face overwhelming odds with only two weapons at his command. An absolute determination to seek justice, and the Fist of the North Star!

Review
The fist is back and it is badder than ever. I can remember the old memories. Boy were they sweet; guys with their heads exploding after punches and kicks by Kenshiro. This new Fist of the North Star does not lack any of the original formula, which makes it so damn cool. And now with the juiced up animation, it takes the violence to a whole new level! Brains, blood, and guts, all are included in this crazy title.

In this first volume, or first episode, a tyrant by the name of Sanga sought out to rule over anything that was within his reach. As if Last Land was not enough, he ordered troops to annihilate the Village of Freedom. This village was a village that opposed his rule. It was not just a plain case of razing. The main focus was the “woman of miracles,” Sara, who like Kenshiro uses vital points in her skills. Her ability to cure the sick was just something Sanga can not pass up. With her god like healing art, Sanga sets out to keep the civilians under completely control with his “god as arrived” lies.

What does our hero do? Exactly what he has been doing from the very beginning; blow up heads. I think I need a psychiatrist after viewing this show. I was laughing while brains were splattering all over the place. It gets quite interesting with the ways Kenshiro beats his enemies; a jaw breaker here and a point of a finger there. It is just great to see this style once again from Fist of the North Star and not a parody of a wacky series. What a classic.

The Breakdown
New Fist of the North Star is something you got to see. It screams “cool” all over. Also on another note, volume two review of New Fist of the North Star will be up soon, look forward to that.

Synopsis
2225 AD an act of sabotage has sent a space station plummeting towards a dense plasma phenomena known as the Sea of Geduld. With only hours to spare before the collapse of the entire station, The group of teens and young children, all that were training on-board the ship, will seek safety aboard the Ryvius, an interstellar spacecraft hidden deep inside the station. With the adult crew and instructors killed, these young astronauts must rely on their training, courage, and most importantly… each other. Prepare for the journey home.

Review
Annoying characters, Bad relationships and Complicated human emotions all make up Infinite Ryvius. This is the ABC of what not to do in an anime. From the beginning to the end, all you have are questions. Every action taken is a question. All the senseless shouting and back stabbing are questions and all the crap Kouji Aiba takes from people are questions. What the hell? I am watching an anime and trying to have a good time doing it. Why am I faced with such annoying circumstances? By the time the series have drifted mid way I am already angry with the show itself. It became an obligation for me to ride this pony through.

A person who is neck to neck with his brother and shows no reason as to what generates his anger should shoot himself in the face. Really. I am sick of seeing Yuuki Aiba arguing with his brother or fighting with his brother just because of something so small. Something such as a position change, Kouji from sitting in the cockpit of the Ryvius to the cockpit of the Vital Guarder.

With all the negatives, the only positive I found while watching Infinite Ryvius is the portrayal of the true nature of humans. It is very accurate. People bully one another to get a certain thing. Corruption, fear, uncertainty, jealousy, love, happiness, sadness and selfishness are all in this show. There are more, but that is all I can list from the top of my head. This part of the show is realistic, therefore it contributes even more to why I dislike this show. Was it meant for the viewer to feel hatred? If so, was my hatred from the show a positive thing for the creators? You see, those are the questions I am talking about; non-stop flowing of questions with multiple to no answers at all. Argh! I need rest, I am going crazy. Ja ne.

The Breakdown
Okay, okay, maybe I am being too harsh on this title. There are some interesting points. I mean it did made me continue watching it… oh wait that was because I had to in order to do this review. :P

Synopsis
Meet Narue, an adorable schoolgirl with a secret. She’s really an alien with powers right out of a sci-fi comic! But growing up is never easy, and sometimes it doesn’t help when you’re from outer space. Join our spunky heroine as she faces androids, alien invaders, and her first date with the boy next door. It’s the sci-fi comedy that’s a direct hit to your heart!

Review
Before I get to the review, I would just like to say that, whatever you have heard that is positive about “The World of Narue” is true, and anything you heard that is negative is false. Now that I got that off my chest here it goes. The show starts out strange. It has the make up of another battle in one episode, calm breeze the next. Surprisingly the actions that took place in the first episode were just to set up for all the story development throughout the show. It was very smart, the pieces connected well. There were no breaks and it was addicting; so addicting that I would have loved if the series would have gone further than twelve episodes, but even with twelve episodes, “The World of Narue” still does not fail to impress!

Our main character, or main focus is a girl named Narue Nanase. She begins the show as a loner. The tone of her voice, and her actions all represent a person who wants nothing from anyone. That is, until she saves Kazuto Iizuka from a space ninja who disguised himself as a cute little puppy. Her weapon of choice reminds me of someone; I can not seem to recall who. Oh wells. Anyways, when Kazuto gathers himself from what had happened, he uses some lame excuse just so he can talk to Narue. And that is how it all starts. Yeah, I am bad at story telling :P.

“The World of Narue” is fun. Every minute spent was well worth it. I loved the fact that while watching this series, I was able to put all my thoughts aside and focus on the show itself. I did not have to think about anything else but what was going to happen next on the television. Now I understand why “The World of Narue” made such a big commotion within the fans. It certainly is a great piece, in which everyone could enjoy and surely a direct hit to your heart!

The Breakdown
I am glad that I was able to experience such an amazing anime. Is it time for Narue 2? :)