Animesou.com

Synopsis
It has been 10 years since the conclusion of the Egyptian Memory Arc. The threat of Yami Bakura and Dark Master Zork was stopped by the hands of Yugi and his friends. Pharaoh Atemu’s soul has at last been laid to rest. But evil still lurks in the shadows…

Yuki Judai, age fifteen, the one who succeeds the will of Yugi, applies to an elite duel monsters school called Duel Academia, founded by none other than Seto Kaiba. There, new friendships are formed, and new challenges await as he strives to become the number one duelist.

Review
Yugioh GX is the sequel to Yugioh Duel Monsters. Some say that Yugioh GX is the second season to the Duel Monster series even though Duel Monsters can be broken up into its component parts: Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, Noa arc, Doma (American title: Waking the Dragons), KC Grand Prix, and Egyptian Memory arc. It first aired in Japan October 6, 2004 and I have been watching it ever since. The initials GX can stand for Generation-X or Generation Next (*cough* Dragon Ball GT). What distinguishes the GX series from its predecessors is that Yugi is not the protagonist, although he makes a brief cameo in the first episode. Yugi’s trademark is the Black Magician, while Yuki Judai uses an elemental hero deck where nearly all of his monster cards are fusible. He is by no means the invincible King of Duels because he does lose on occasion. However, he does manage to pull off the same miracle wins in similar fashion to Yugi just without the spiky hair.

TV-Toyko’s Japanese website is located at http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/yugioh/. The Official U.S. website is http://www.yugioh.com/gx.php. To my amazement, the producers were careful this time around to be faithful to the Japanese names of the characters (NOT TRUE ANYMORE SEE UPDATE). In the first Duel Monsters series, many of the character names were overhauled. Joey (Captain Planet) Wheeler’s original name was Jounouchi Kazuya. Tea Gardner was Anzu Mazaki. Tristin Taylor was Honda Hiroto. Duke Devlin was changed from Otogi Ryuji. Yami was used instead of Atemu (No, Yami is not the Pharaoh’s real name!! - Battle City dub reference and critical mistake). Rishid was replaced by Odion. Shizuka was transformed into Serenity. Inspector Kaga became Weevil Underwood and Ryusaki Rex Raptor. Finally, Alister as opposed to Amelda (Doma arc). I still doubt they will be addressing the main character as Judai like in the Japanese version. My prediction is that in the American version they will call him Yuki to be synonymous with Yugi, a difference of only one letter. We’ll have to wait and see if Cronos-sensei still has his accent (SeƱor Judai!). They did change the God Card names of the dormitories to the American versions notably Osiris Red to Slifer (the last name of the ever so prideful Roger Slifer, a comic book writer and producer).

**News Update 8/5/05** If you check the American website you’ll see that they changed the names of the entire GX cast. Cronos = Dr. Crowller! In what subject did he earn his Ph.D? Manjoume = Chazz Princeton! WTF??? What about his nickname Manjoume Thunda? Chazz Thunder? Thunder Chazz? As I predicted, they kept Yuki to correspond with Yugi.

The Breakdown
Yugioh GX is for those who haven’t had enough of Yugioh. I leave you boys with this final image of Asuka. Chao!~

Synopsis
In the aftermath of Kenshiro’s attack on the citadel of Last Land, the boy known as Lord Doha falls deathly ill. Sara’s prognosis is dire. The serum to save his life is a two day drive each way. There is a shorter path… but it runs through Cliffland, a land haunted by demons that practice a mysterious killing technique.

Meanwhile, a new mysterious warrior arrives in Last Land, vowing to take all that Sanga has claimed. The balance of power is once again thrown into chaos as fist is pitted against fist in a struggle to see whose justice will prevail.

Review
Continuing from where we left off in volume one, volume two exercises my theory about how Fist of the North Star resembles Dragon Ball Z in a way in that it makes you wait a while for something to finally happen. I say this because when Seiji (Gackt’s character) is introduced, he takes over all of Sanga’s possessions. Of course he did this when our hero Kenshiro was away looking for a serum to cure Bista’s medical condition. To our surprise, it just so happens that a variety of things happen when Kenshiro goes away; things that make your blood boil. So basically, in volume two you are seeing the take over of Seiji and the fighting for a path to locate the serum from Kenshiro. This whole process seems to take years. As I was watching it, I was shouting to the screen, “Comon dude, get back to Lost Land and kick Seiji’s cocky rear end already!” And that is how I arrived to my theory of resemblance that Fist of the North Star has towards Dragon Ball Z.

Anyhoo, aside from what I have just stated above, this series continues on with a bang. In this volume, you find out that there are other forms of martial arts in this world that was derived from Hokuto Shinken (Fist of the North Star). This is the case, because of the battle for the rights to be the heir of the Fist of the North Star. Those who lost were not allowed to practice Hokuto Shinken again. In the Clifflander’s case, they modified the style and called it Hokumon ken. This side story is quite fascinating. These Clifflanders were thought as the bad guys, because they killed anyone who ventures on to their mountain. Little did those people know, that the reason to why they kill is that they are protecting the world from another disaster to arise.

Volume two is still impressive, but a bit under par with volume one as volume two was mainly a side story with the Clifflanders. There were still movements along the main story, but barely. The story really cannot advance when your main character is busy doing a side show ^_^;;. Right? Let us look forward to volume three; it will surely be electrifying as Kenshiro finally meets Seiji! I want to see blood and lots’ of it!

The Breakdown
I really hate when an anime ends on a climatic note :(. This volume does just that as, Kenshiro finally is returning to Lost Land to destroy Seiji hhahahaaha.

Synopsis
Meet Yucie. A girl under a spell. She wants to be a Platinum Princess, and the only way to do that is to attend the Princess Academy. Under the guidance of Queen Ercell and with the unwitting help of a schoolmate named Glenda, a princess from the Demon World, she will embark on her journey to obtain the Tiara of Eternity. As Yucie meets new friends and works odd jobs, she will discover that becoming a princess is more work than she thought.

Review
Petite Princess Yucie is an amazing piece of work. There is a great deal of fun involved in it. The story is touching at times and it blends together so well with the characters displayed. The animation seemed as if it was a reflection from water; it was so fluid and lucid that I was fascinated by its beauty. Well, you can say that all of this was expected from a title by Gainax. But let us put the producer part aside, Petite Princess itself is a very entertaining series that will certainly have your emotions running on its edge as it progresses.

So an anime about a girl with the situation Gary Coleman has, that is so boring right? Not! Petite Princess plays with your emotions throughout. You will feel anger, happiness, sadness and whatever else you can feel. Those three emotions are the ones I recall myself feeling as I was watching this show, but there is certainly more than what meets my eyes. The beautiful aspect of it; every episode has some sort of moral in it. At the beginning of Yucie’s day might be despair, but at the end, the show will work itself to something joyful.

What else can you expect from Petite Princess? A bunch of unusual characters that is what! The shy and quiet Cocoloo, the always energetic Yucie, the “what rhymes with witch, but starts with a B” Glenda and the list goes on. These characters make the show that much more interesting. I mean, sure, sometimes you might find the arguments that Yucie and Glenda have are annoying, but when you look at it lightly, it is quite hilarious the way that they get at each other’s throats. I am undoubtedly astonished by this title and I will be looking forward to the next installments.

The Breakdown
Petite Princess Yucie is awe-inspiring. The foundation of this piece of art is built strong by Gainax from top to bottom. I am certainly liking what this title is showing me.

Synopsis
Darkness hides the pieces of her beloved’s shattered heart, and time is running out for Duck to find them. Using the power of an enchanted amulet, Duck becomes Princess Tutu to uncover the mystery and keep herself and the Prince alive. What secrets bind this passionate girl, a clumsy duck, with an omnipresent storyteller?

Review
In a world where talking animals are seen as a norm, and a story based on another story, comes this fun and elegant piece called Princess Tutu. This anime is probably the only one with the simplest names to remember! Mr. Cat, Anteaterina, Duck and etc. From the character names you can probably guess what age group this is aimed towards; twelve and up. Do not be discouraged by its demographics though. This title is suitable for people of all ages. I certainly loved the unexpected comedic segments and the art of ballet portrayed in this show; it was a fresh idea that I have never seen.

As stated before, Princess Tutu is a story within a story, or if you want to make things a bit less complicated, it is the sequel of a book titled “The Prince and the Raven.” The author Drosselmeyer past a way as he was writing the story, but magically he appears before a duck who was admiring the ballet performed by Mytho (The Prince) and poof, duck becomes Duck (human).

The main point of Princess Tutu is that she must find the broken heart shards of the prince. Upon retrieving each heart shard, he will regain a piece of emotion. Thank god the retrieval process is going pretty fast, because I just cannot stand the dead voice of Mytho. The guy sounds like he is struggling for a breath of air just to say, “I don’t know.”

The Breakdown
Princess Tutu is an enjoyable cute little title with a great music score. Those who are macho fans will not like the ballet aspect of the show, but I am certain that every fan will discover something to like about Princess Tutu upon viewing it!

Synopsis
Kanae is Kouta little sister. When they were children, Kanae, Kouta, and their cousin Yuka used to play together. She had a habit of finding shells along the beach. One day something tragic happened on their way home…As a result of this traumatic experience Kouta, now a college student, suffers from amnesia. A mysterious girl, Lucy, with pink hair and horns seems to be the missing link to unlocking that buried memory.

Review
Anime News Network and Animenfo.com classify Elfen Lied as a horror anime. Animenfo defines horror as: ‘Creepy tales of ghosts, demons, vengeful ex-girlfriends and other frightening creatures.’ Animenfo lists Arc the Lad as horror which tells me that their classification system is somewhat at ends with itself. In my opinion, Perfect Blue is the prime example of the horror genre. Elfen Lied is not scary in the sense that it’ll raise your heartbeat and have you grasping for air, but it will get you to perhaps cover your eyes when decapitated heads and limbs fly everywhere and blood starts spewing. Lucy does fall into that last category as Kouta’s frightening vengeful ex-girlfriend. I have to admit if I was to meet Lucy in person I would be scared and attempt to run. Not that it would do me any good. I would be dead on sight.

The official Japanese site can be found at http://www.vap.co.jp/elfenlied/ There you’ll find episode summaries and previews, screen shots, DVD information, character bios and sketches, and wallpaper galleries.

The Breakdown
The most overrated anime of 2004, it is that good. At least ADV thought so. They licensed it days after the second episode aired much to the dismay of fansubbers. It was a must have acquisition.

Synopsis
Mix Juice, a hot new girl band, is managed by Michael Hanagata… a man who would do anything for success! But he’s underestimated how serious the girls are about making their dreams come true! No matter what he throws at them, they’ll do whatever t takes to “make it!” And they’ll do it with a smile. Destiny takes a turn, when Mix Juice hooks up with Dr. Susumo Tsukumo, a boy genius scientist, who wants the girls to be the first band on the moon. Will their career soar or plummet? Will perky Kiku #8 keep them safe or drive them crazy!? One thing is for sure: there’s never a dull moment when you’re chasing your dreams Wandaba Style!

Review
What in the world is Wandaba exactly? It is like Excel Saga and Puni Puni Poemi gone proper, which is a good thing. This crazy zany show is officially better than any of the loco shows out there. I mean there are girls, comedy, and girls and comedy and girls and more comedy. What more do you need? Absolutely nothing, as you toss in the fact that these girls will have to perform on the moon with the assistance of a genius scientist kid, Dr. Tsukumo. In each episode, Dr. Tsukumo attempts to send Mix Juice to the moon utilizing natural means, but it ends up with a calculation error or another as they fail to land on the moon. With these strange girls and their wacky characters, a lot of amusement is created. I just love how this show keeps its sanity within the insanity. If that make sense or not :).

The Wandaba theme will give any viewer a bad case of earworms; I mean it just hits you without you even noticing. Soon enough, you will bop to the theme, every time they go Wandaba Style. This show is hilarious, Kiku #8 is a real treat, and she keeps everything calm even when Mix Juice was facing a life and death situation. But then, her energy ran out on them without telling them how to control the ship back to Earth. Whoa was that a sight to see, when the girls go wild out on the ship.

This blend of comedy and craziness is finally right. The various personalities will have you wondering why all the other shows like this cannot be like this. You know, be entertaining and comprehendible? That is one thing most of these shows lack, since every attention is paid to try to get a cheap chuckle out of the viewer. Wandaba Style is no cheap chuckle; you will find yourself laughing out loud and at the same time loving what you are watching.

The Breakdown
With a full cast of fun characters, along with a tremendous amount of laughs dished out. Wandaba Style will make a mark in 2005! Watch for it.

Synopsis
The last thing Kei remembers is the train running over his body, crushing him. Now he finds himself in a room filled with strangers, all recently deceased, all resurrected by the strange black sphere known only as Gantz.

Their reprieve from death may only be temporary, however. Unless they complete the brutal missions that Gantz assigns, none of them will live long enough to leave the room. Is this strange ‘afterlife’ real, or just a dream? All Kei and the others know is that if they fail the mission, they will all die again.

Review
In this advance screener review I will just go over the concept of Gantz. Since only two episodes were included in the DVD, I cannot make a full assessment of the show, other than from what I have seen at this early stage. So let us start it off. This show is gory, but at the same time it manages to maintain a fun atmosphere. What I am most fond of Gantz is that it is exciting; to the point where you feel like you want to be in the world with them. Gantz achieves this because it plays like a game. And most of us have a gamer in us, therefore we tend to attract to the show immediately. This game we call Gantz is like the Matrix, or any adventure game, where the goal is to seek and destroy the designated target(s). If you fail to obliterate the target within the time limit… something bad will happen. (I do not know what will happen since the one hour limit has not full elapsed yet in episode two :P).

The animation is amazing, astonishing, astounding and much more. A simple word cannot do its justice. The sound is great, but the opening theme is just senseless. The story so far is very interesting and has gotten me anxiously waiting for the full version of volume one to be released. Gantz is flat out impressive as I am completely addicted to it. Let us go onto the main characters a bit now.

There are three main characters: Kei Kurono, Masaru Kato, and Kei Kishimoto. Kei Kurono was a brave boy, but as time passed, he became less impulsive and more cowardice. He would stand back when he feels threatened by a situation, and is a bit of a hentai too. But what can we do, he is probably going to be the main focus of the three later on. Masaru Kato is Kei Kurono reversed. He was a shy boy, but now he will stand for what he believes is right. Kato is tough looking, but deep inside he still needs to convince himself badly in order for his body to act. Kei Kishimoto is a sexy babe oops, I mean she is hot, err, I mean she is a character that tried to commit suicide as she was taking a bath and winds up naked in front of a group of dead men that were brought to the Gantz. As she regains her consciousness, she almost gets raped by one of the yakuza in the apartment, but was saved by Kato.

The first mission these players have to accomplish is to kill some onion loving alien. It all seemed too easy as the players except the three main characters destroyed Onion Boy, whom only wanted to eat his onions. But when they thought it was over, the real deal just begins as the father of Onion Boy shows up and sees that his son is blown into pieces. At this moment, the second episode comes to an end and I am left with this show in my mind through my Christmas week. Oh how nice of ADV Films to do that to me :).

The Breakdown
When the show began, I immediately knew it was a show for me. Gantz was more than I expected and it certainly deserves all the hype it is receiving; as it strikes you to a point where a luxury (anime) becomes a necessity (Gantz).

Synopsis
The next level of man’s evolution is through the brain. One day we will be able to attach our minds directly to a machine and control it with our thoughts. As science further advances at an alarming pace, the entire city of Tokyo has become the guinea pig of experimental research as unethical clinical trials are conducted amongst its innocent populace. Who will defend us when the government is in on this scheme? The fate of Tokyo rests in the two hands of one maverick woman.

Review
Baku-ten, short for Bakuretsu Tenshi, first aired on April 6, 2004. The English title is Burst Angel or Explosive Angel referring to Joe’s alias: the angel from Hell. Blasts and smoke are always left in her wake. Lara Croft Tomb Raider eat your heart out! No one can mess with Joe and expect to come back in one piece.

The official Japanese flash site is http://www.baku-ten.com where you’ll find character biographies and incomplete story information. The website is largely under construction with no special wallpapers. It is like it was abandoned an no longer updated. Bandai’s site http://www.b-ch.com/contents/bakuten/index.html can finished episode descriptions with a small screenshot.

The Breakdown
Everybody loosey!

Synopsis
Enter Sawamura Seiji. He has spent the last 17 years and two months of his entire life without a girlfriend. His record now stands at 20 rejections. Well with a reputation as Mad Dog Sawamura and his Devil’s Right Hand, it is far from easy to find a girl that will accept him. They are either afraid of him or see him as a delinquent. Is he doomed to spend the rest of his life with only his right hand as his lover? There is more truth to this statement than it seems when magically out of nowhere a miniature girl is affixed to where his hand used to be.

Review
Midori no Hibi is one of the latest and by far the best of the romance animes of 2004. It is the most bizarre idea ever that can only be made possible in the anime world. A beautiful girl, not to mention naked, attached to where your fingers and right palm once were. This takes the mysterious dream girl appearing out of nowhere animes like Ah! My Goddess and Ai Yori Aoshi to a whole new level. It is like the story of sleeping beauty minus the annoying dwarves where Midori, who is incredibly shy in real life, finally gets her wish granted to confess to Seiji her true feelings about him. Seiji, Midori’s prince, must first cope with his new lifestyle with a talking right arm and find a way to merge Midori back to her original body.

The official website is simple enough, http://www.midorinohibi.com. On the front page is a cute picture of Seiji wearing the scarf Midori knitted for him.

The Breakdown
Seiji for life! Seiji Zakkon!

Synopsis
Mugen’s a buck wild warrior-violent, thoughtless and womanizing. Jin is a vagrant ronin-mysterious, traditional, and well-mannered. These two fiercely independent warriors couldn’t be more different from one another, yet their paths cross when Fuu, a ditzy waitress, saves them from being executed when they are arrested after a violent swordfight. Fuu convinces the two vagrant young men to help her find a mysterious samurai ‘who smells of sunflowers.’ And their journey begins.

Review
This show has been getting a lot of hype. And for good reason. Reason one: the guy who directed Cowboy Bebop, Shinichiro Watanabe, is also directing Samurai Champloo. Reason two: one of the two credited screen/scriptwriters for Samurai Champloo was also one of the credited screen/scriptwriters for Cowboy Bebop (Dai Sato). Reason three: the other screen/scriptwriter, Shinji Obara, has made it a rule (basically) that no character can have more than two-three lines of dialogue before someone else speaks, so as to cut down on needless and annoying exposition, an anime staple that really does need to go away. These three reasons alone are good enough to create the hype Champloo has been getting, and in the end it’s well deserved.

It’s unfortunate though that this show gets compared to Bebop so much just because of the same scriptwriter and director. Bebop is a class A anime, and to top it (even by the same people) is an unfair pedestal to put this show on. I’ll state here and now that so far, Champloo is not as good as Bebop. But it’s still amazing in its own right, and far better than most other anime shows out there. So far, anyway. But please, put the Bebop comparison aside. This is its own show.

The first thing I should mention is the animation for this show. It’s amazing. Along with the splendid roughness and gritty character designs (a far different style than used in Bebop), the animation is fluid and colorful, while keeping a darker, more somber tone in the background. Colors represent characters, with Fuu’s kimono looking bright and happy, Mugen’s clothes looking fiery red (to symbolize his recklessness) and Jin, who wears dark, foreboding colors. The fight scenes especially scream of high production values, where every fight is shown on screen instead of blue sword-slash still-screens or off-camera action. The action scenes in Champloo are treated like good, real action sequences.

The music as well, with hop-hop artists like fat jon, Nujabes, and Tsutchie contributing to the score, is stellar, and took me by surprise (I mean…samurai and hip-hop?). Watanabe planned the show around the music, and it shows. He shows and treats the show with the inventiveness that hip hop showed in its early days. He doesn’t take the show to seriously, and even goes so far as to use record scratching as a transitional tool. It’s very slick.

The Breakdown
The hype was called for. This show rocks completely and I absolutely cannot wait for Vol. 2 to come out. In fact, I think I’ll go rewatch it again right now.