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Synopsis
WARNING!!! THE SUBJECT MATTER…Just Kidding. A resturant by the beach of Misaki. Gorgeous female workers ready to take your order. What could be better! (I guess a hentai but that is not what this is.) The fourth Pia Carrot resturant is about to open its doors. But first it’ll require some extra help from Sayaka and Tomomi, waitresses from the original and second resturant. However, is there another reason why the both of them fled to the new resturant?

Review
Sayaka is a new character in the Dreamcast/Playstation 2 Pia Carrot e Youkoso!! 3 game released in 2003. The PC game came out two years earlier in 2001. Sakuya came from the first resturant probably hired by Yusuke’s father. She was not in the first game/hentai series and must have joined after Yusuke finished working there and went on to become the manager of the second resturant.

Tomomi’s story comes from Pia Carrot 2. She is a junior high school student. Her best friends, Shima Noriko and Kamizuka Yuki, who also appear in the movie, talk about how cool the Pia Carrot uniforms are. Because of her age, Tomomi can’t work at Pia Carrot. As Koji, you are able to date Tomomi. Eventually she does wait tables at the second Pia Carrot resturant. She then moves to the fourth resturant once she found out that Koji already likes Asuza. The three girls are characters in Pia Carrot e Youkoso!! 2 and 2.5 as you can see at the bottom character page of http://www.interchannel.co.jp/game/pia2.5/pro/index.html.

Compare the pictures of Noriko, Yuki, and Tomomi from Pia Carrot 2 to Pia Carrot 3. http://www.interchannel.co.jp/game/pia3/index.html. I’m surprised they don’t have a picture of Miyuki in Pia Carrot 3. Maybe she is a character exclusive to the movie or a minor character in game 3. There is some beautiful artwork for the movie. I’ve included some wallpapers for your delight. If you want more, you can purchase figurines on eBay.

The Breakdown
Not really a dating simulation as the other Pia Carrot series were. Not really a love story either. More like love sickness.

Synopsis
As the tale unfolds you will be presented a series of dilemmas. But beware, for your choices will ultimately determine the outcome of the story, and the fate of our heroes! Long ago, in a land ravaged by strife, an ancient race of mages crafted the ultimate weapon to destroy their enemies and end all wars. They called it the Aryx Orthian, the Scourge of Worlds. Hidden safely for hundreds of years, the Scourge is now sought by a new evil threatening to unleash its incredible power. To save the world, three fearless heroes – Regdar the fearless warrior, Lidda the rogue halfling, and Mialee the elven wizard – must embark on a treacherous quest and choose between honor and evil, life and death. With hundreds of unique story combinations this computer-animated fantasy delivers a DVD experience like no other.

Review
Scourge of Worlds is a Dungeons and Dragons adventure, which makes the viewer choose the destiny of the characters that are displayed on screen. What I liked was the great animation that this movie contains. The computer graphics were amazing, although the combat fighting seemed a little fake; if you asked me. In the path that I chose it was quite comical at certain points. Just a “heheh” laugh, but that undoubtedly brightened the mood of Scourge of Worlds and made it much more entertaining than it was without those quick hitters.

The story is well, different. I only got through one ending so there are a few more endings to this movie. By doing this the show is more mysterious and for the die hard fans, it would be a joy for them to browse through this movie again and again, as it does contain an adequate replay value due to the interest that it may spur with all those alternative endings.

As the synopsis stated, the story is about the Scourge of Worlds; a weapon of some sort that has enough power to destroy the world. Regdar’s mentor, Briathion sets out to retrieve it for a particular purpose that you will soon find out later, that he is being controlled by a wannabe angel who acts as his guardian. The things get a bit complicated, but it manages to work out as the scenes move on. I am actually happy about the ending that I attained through my selections. It was not a disappointment and the good beat out the evil in my ending :). Scourge of Worlds is not a title for those who are not Dungeons and Dragons fan. For those who are, well this DVD just found a home.

The Breakdown
Scourge of Worlds is really not a bad title at all, I would say given another reviewer, probably he or she might have view it has something better than what I make it out to be.

Synopsis
Spike and Jet are back, along with Faye, Ed, and Ein, in this movie comeback that takes place between episodes 22 and 23 of the TV series. A new foe has risen in the form of a mysterious man in a black trenchcoat who is using chemical warfare in a metropolis on Mars. A bounty has been put on his head, and so the Bebop team heads out to get him. The strange thing is, he’s already dead.

Review
Sweet, more Bebop! That’s never a bad thing, especially if you’re a fan of the franchise (like me). If you don’t know what Bebop is, I recommend you watch the TV series first, so go read my review of the TV series first. If you’ve already seen the TV series, then by all means, keep reading. After the end of Bebop in 1998, a lot of fans were hungry for much much more. What we got  was a  full-length film, while  not as good as getting another whole TV series, really helps to flesh out the Bebop universe and Spike’s character, which is a huge plus and tells us why he made some of the decisions he made at the end of the TV series. The rest of the cast aren’t there for much other than to be there, though Faye and Ed help out in weird and interesting ways.

Two things should be lauded for before anything else about the movie: the music and animation. While the music isn’t as strong as in the TV series,  composer Yoko Kanno  tries a lot of new thing (like pop and soft rock instead of jazz) and it works well. The animation, one of Bones Studios’ (RahXephon, Scrapped Princess) first projects, is downright amazing. The two major hand-to-hand fight scenes in the film are good enough to watch over and over again, and we’re talking about animation. The style and flair with which they are directed is remniscent of Bruce Lee and John Woo mixed as one. It’s quite a sight. Other than the fight scenes, everything else still looks great, from ships to backgrounds to characters.

One minor annoyance in the end is the length. Since the film is really just one long filler episode of the TV series, there’s a lot of downtime with no action or tension, leaving us bored and looking at our watches. I don’t see how this can be rectified, which proves why the 30 minute per episode time frame of the TV series worked so well.

The Breakdown
Buy it, and try it out. If you’re already a fan of Bebop, this would be a great addition to your collection. Very fun and enjoyable to watch.

Synopsis
The Sanzo party-after rescuing a girl from a demon-are invited to stay at her master’s shrine, the House of Dougan. However the invitation turns out to be less friendly than anticipated and they find themselves desperate to escape from a trap!

Review
Saiyuki: Requiem is a very well animated story filled with action, suspence and horror. For those familiar with the characters from the series, this movie will feel like another-albeit extended-episode. For those unfamiliar with the series, the characters will mean little and the story will suffer because of it. Sadly, without the series, this movie is nothing more than a random series of events with no particular meaning. With the expection of the bad guy whose past is described in detail through the use of flashbacks, the characters are almost entirely undeveloped as almost all of the dialogue assumes that the viewer is already completely aware of the characters lives, relationships and personalities. There is little reason to care about what happens to this group of people. Honestly even to those who have seen the series, the story is just too confusing and random to be taken seriously.

What saves this movie from the bargain bin is its well animated and exciting action scenes which spice things up frequently throughout. The fights are easy to follow and fun, and action fans will enjoy them.

The Breakdown
As a standalone product it leaves a lot to be desired, but if looked at as another episode of the series I have no doubt that it can be enjoyed.

Synopsis
Thirteen years have passed since the One Year War of 0079 in the original Mobile Suit Gundam series (making it 0093). A lot has come to pass since then for the Earth Federation and the colonies, and now Char Aznable (with his Sazabi) has come back yet again, this time with a Neo Zeon Army backing him up. His plan is to drop colonies and asteroids on Earth until it creates a nuclear winter and every human will be forced into space and evolve into Newtypes. There to stop him are Amuro Ray (his arch-rival) and his army unit, the Londo Bell. Amuro has a new, all-powerful Gundam on his hands (the Nu Gundam) to stop Char and save the earth from a nuclear winter.

Review
Man oh man. A Gundam fan’s wet dream. Char’s Counterattack came out in 1988 to finally finish the Zeon/Federation and Amuro/Char rivalries once and for all. Everything comes to a head in this film, with people dying left and right and political betrayals up and down the ranks. Despite being the end film after the release of three major Gundam series (Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam, and Gundam ZZ), the only returning characters are from Mobile Suit Gundam, which has already been released in the States. So my recommendation is you make sure to definily watch that, and then you can watch this with relatively free hassle.

Being the end of an era, there’s a massive amount of action scenes, a lot of people dying, and a lot of philosophizing. If your a Gundam fan, you’ll love this. If you’re not, then you won’t like this. It basically comes down to that, since Counterattack is a Gundam show through and through. There’s lots of awesome Gundams in this one, a lot of Newtypes, and a lot of useless technical jargon. The music isn’t anything special, but the animation for a film from 1988 is wonderful. The mobile suit action sequences are done with a style and veritas I rarely see with giant robot anime, and I can see myself watching these again for fun many times over.

The Breakdown
As I keep saying, only the Gundam faithful should watch this, since otherwise you won’t really understand what’s going on. If you are a Gundam fan, this is exactly what you’re looking for. Tomino couldn’t have resolved everything any better.

Synopsis
Prostitute robot dolls roam empty streets for men, but humanity has wiped itself out. Malice@Doll is one wuch prostitutte. After suffering ravishment by a grotesque tentacled creature, she is mysteriously transformed into a human being. Overcoe with joy, she seeks to transfer this gift through a loving kiss.

But with every gift there comes a curse…

Review
Should Malice@Doll be considered a hentai even if there is hardly any pornography in it? The total time of the accumulated sex scenes are approximately fifteen to twenty seconds. I mean, the entire eighty minutes show, only has twenty seconds of sex scenes? Not to mention, there is nothing shown while the scenes are being displayed. Is this a hentai? Or is it not? I have seen more naked boobs in other ecchi anime that has been given a rating of 13+ than Malice@Doll; a 17+ ‘hentai’ 3D CGI animation.

The production was cheap for Malice@Doll, even an extra feature in the DVD revealed that the sole reason the show is about dolls is because it will be cheaper for them to create emotionless faces rather than lively faces. This show is more focused on plot. It creates an atmosphere of ‘what if one person all of a sudden is different from the rest and that specific person wants everyone to be like her.’ It becomes a disaster.

Malice@Doll has a good story, but it would have been even better if it was not so dead. Even though Malice turns all the other robots to organic beings (disgusting organic beings at that) the show is still dull. I guess, the price you pay is the quality you are going to get. And certainly Malice@Doll is a very good example of that old saying.

The Breakdown
Malice@Doll just might be telling the future. I do not mean the end of the human race, but rather robotic prostitutes. Just imagine that in 2050 hehe.

Synopsis
Yugioh! Duel Monsters is the story of a boy named Yugi, who was destined to solve the mystery behind the millennium puzzle. Within this ancient artifact is the soul of a Pharaoh, whose name has been forgotten in history. The days of Battle City are gone, but the presence of the Egyptian god cards can still be felt. Old rivals, Yugi and Kaiba, even Pegasus, must once again face one other putting the title of the King of Game at stake. However, is someone else simply manipulating them? Anubis, the evil god of the dead, who was once defeated in battle by the Pharaoh, now yearns to take Yugi’s life…

Review
Not to be mistaken for the 30 minute first season’s Red Eyes Black Dragon Movie, Yugioh the Movie is a cooperative project by 4Kids USA and Japan developed specifically for western audiences. It is its own complete story arc between the events of Battle City and the upcoming Doma arc. It is stated that Anubis is the scariest villain ever seen because he is not human (Pecoriello). However, Anubis is a pushover. His dueling skills are sub-par in comparison to Marik and Bakura. If you want scary, try taking on an immortal like Dartz who is more wicked than Yami Marik.

The movie’s website can be found at http://yugioh.warnerbros.com. There you can find wallpapers, music, character and story information.

Please note that this review is not done by Ebert & Roper but by me hinatasou. I am age 20, nowhere near the targeted age for the audience. More importantly, I have watched all of the Japanese episodes beforehand and carry a bias towards the English dub.

The Breakdown
Take home message…umm…Remember, it’s OSIRIS not slifer the sky dragon.

Synopsis
A touching tale that illustrates the subtle and confused teenage emotions experienced by 11-year-old Hiromi, and her unique friendship with Junkers, a talking dog. As their relationship develops, Hiromi struggles with a longing for adulthood as she is faced with the challenges of her parents’ unexpected divorce. Will Hiromi be able to restore happiness in her life?

Review
Junkers Come Here has deceived me. When I first heard of this title I quickly came to a conclusion that this was another kiddy anime. I could not be more wrong. Junkers Come Here is a very well done anime. It is one of a handful of anime that proves to the world that it is not necessary to have the 3D CG scenes or female characters with big breasts in order to be good. I loved the way how the story flowed as the characters were growing with it on the same pace. By doing that, everything is in sync, and confusion would be kept to a minimum or none at all.

Hiromi, like every immature eleven year old, wanted what was good for herself and did not think of what would happen to others by her actions. When Junkers reveals his secret to Hiromi, at first she did not believe it, but when she subconsciously wished for “something” to happen, Junkers granted it. All of a sudden the story is about what this little girl can do to try and heal everything; her parent’s relationship being the top priority. This movie is touching. It taps into the viewers’ hearts and delivers a warmth that is unrivaled by any other movie that I have seen that is set in the present time period.

Junkers Come Here, make sure this title is on your buy list. You will be entertained by this work of art. This is a rare classic, and I sure hope that more anime of this caliber is created. No need for the violence, no need for the ecchi humor. Just a need for a deep, well thought out story that can somehow relate to the viewers. Junkers Come Here, wow.

The Breakdown
Junkers is so cool!

Synopsis
When Alice Hayashi, the youngest person ever to go into space crashes her shuttle at the North Pole, she is thrown thirty years into the future. But her trip through time is far from accidental. The world is now ruled with an iron fist by Nero and his supercomputer, the SS10X. And because of a common link between her, Nero and the SS10X, Alice may be the future’s only chance for freedom…

Review
ArtsMagicDVD did a good job with this release. The story is cold at the beginning, like the setting (North Pole), but towards the end the story becomes quite an experience. Alice Hayashi who was on her way to the moon, suddenly was in what she recalled an accident. When she woke up she was being chased down by both Nero and the Federation Liberation Forces. After a lengthy speed chase, she wipes out and is then found by Yuan, one of her only friends in this strange world. When Alice came to, the situation was stated to Yuan, in other words, us. Then the escape plan was put into play as they were being chased yet again. This time they get away and the meat of the story begins here.

Obviously in order to find the answer to why people were being captivated by Nero, they would have to pay a visit to Nero. I love the twist of the story this part of the movie brought. It was predictable, yet it was not. Something that you can work out the answer if you thought about it for a long time, but you would have never thought about this factor. This really got me up to appreciate this full CG movie more.

The ending was enjoyable. Everyone got what they wanted. Yuan and Maria (SS01X) found the location of where the people were captured and they venture out to free them, and Alice goes back to her time and has a surprise awaiting her rescue. :P. Overall, this movie got entertaining towards the end. Only if it was like that throughout, it would have been great, instead of now, being mediocre.

The Breakdown
You will like the unexpected ending. It baffled me for a while, but I slowly processed the information and enjoyed it.

Synopsis
Kujaku, the young martial arts mystic-in-training, must rescue his supernaturally powered sister from an evil sorcerer. The warlock plans to use her abilities to unleash eternal darkness upon the Earth. But Kujaku shares a psychic link to his sister, and nothing, not even evil hordes of warrior minions, will stand in his way!

Review
Spirit Warrior is one of those typical light versus darkness, good versus evil anime, but what anime today is not about good versus evil? The idea is overdone; newer and fresher ideas must be developed! And what better to do than to add history into the mix? I am talking about adding the Nazis. So now we have characters with mystical powers and at the same time around the period where the Nazis still existed. Is not that cool? Where are the story planners? They really got away with this one. The story is lacking; it moves with quick speed and pretty much lacks depth also.

Check out the flow of the story. Introduce main characters, one main character (the good character) goes to try and save the other main character (the soon to be evil character). Things happen and the soon to be evil character becomes the evil character. When the good character first fights with the evil character, he fails, builds up, fights again and wins… simple? Not really, throw in the fact that the evil character is the good character’s older sister; also throw in another fact that both these characters are fighting the same way their guardians were fighting many years ago, so it was kind of like fate or destiny.

What did not appeal to me was how the fantasy theme was mixed with present time theme and was mixed with a little bit of futuristic theme. Fantasy theme, with all the mystical powers, present time theme, with the Nazis (not really present time 2004, but bear with me please :P), and futuristic theme, with cyborg (the Nazi soldiers are cyborgs in this movie).

By the time you are reading this paragraph, I am assuming you are saying in your head, “Gee dude, your writing tone, sounds quick and lacks depth.” If you say that in your head, then I have accomplished what I wanted, which is to show you how it feels when watching Spirit Warrior. I will not bash Spirit Warrior any further, but as an honest reviewer, skip this title for your sake.

The Breakdown
This review was suppose to be up somewhere at the end of December, but due to my trip to Hong Kong it was postponed. Spirit Warrior: Regent of Darkness, should only be a rent title in my view. Making a purchase means either you have a lot of money to waste or you are in love with the title, both are cool with me, but for us who are poor, we shall resort to renting :P.