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Synopsis
A boy sacrifices himself before what seems to be an unbeatable monster, many levels ahead of his own. All becomes dim and gray. A sudden fear comes over him as he realizes he can no longer move his body. He cries for help. A mysterious girl in white raiment says these words: ‘You must not die.’ She revives him and bestows a powerful bracelet on his wrist. ‘If you use Data Drain you can defeat him. The only one who can save The World is you - the one to continue the legend of the dot hackers.’

Review
Hack//Dusk or officially titled Hack//Legend of Twilight’s Bracelet is a 12-episode sequel to the Dot Hack video games and the first anime series Hack//Sign. The anime is about a junior high school student, Shugo, and his younger twin sister Rena who have both won a Limited Character Campaign to play as the legendary heroes Kite and Black Rose respectively. Because their parents are divorced, they use this opportunity to spend time with each other, even if it is in a fake virtual environment.

The Breakdown
Few sequels have ever surpassed their originals. However, Hack//Legend of Twilight’s Bracelet does just that.

Synopsis
Claus’s father was a unique nobleman, coming down to the land of Norikia, longing for the free sky. Soon after Claus’s family moved next door, he became close friends with Lavi’s father. They soon formed a vanship team of pilot and navi. From age one, Claus and Lavi spent their childhood together learning from their fathers the trade of vanship flying. However, this story ends in tragedy. The last time Lavi and Claus saw of their fathers was departing through the Grand Stream delivering a treaty of peace. The document never reacted its destination, and the war between the country of Dusis and Anatore continues to this day…

Review
Directed by Chiaki Koichi (Magic Knight Rayearth), Last Exile first aired April 6, 2003 and ended with episode 26 on September 29, 2003. Do not let the title fool you. Last Exile is not tied to any religious movement and is not a banishment of any kind (unless you count the expelling of the Guild from the world of Prestale). The Exile, the final weapon, refers to an ancient migration ship hidden in the Grand Stream. It is said that it was used by the beings that created the world. Now it is the last hope the people of Prestale have to change the world.

The Breakdown
An all-star cast of characters: Claus, Lavi, Sophia, Tatiana, Alex, Moran, Al, Alistia, Dio, and the crazy crew of mechanics.

Synopsis
The final, shocking conclusion! Utena is about to discover the truth behind the secrets, the duels, and her own forgotten past. To do this, she must confront the prince who once saved her life, and face her most terrifying nightmare. For the last time, Utena must draw her word and fight her own inner demons. Will there be a happy ending?

Review
As an anime viewer that is not an Utena fan and did not have any exposure to Utena until just recently, I will have to say that this show is certainly interesting, in that for some scenes there are songs in which it is describing the mood of the scene. I rarely see anime with songs that is solely for the anime at that specific scene. Those songs, although are weird, but was creative in a way, so I very much appreciate them rather than the standard stuff we are so used to being exposed to. First of all I would like to make this clear to you guys; I have never tried watching a series from only the end and writing a review about it so pardon me if I sound too vague. Now that that is off my chest, we can go through what this finale is about.

Revolutionary Girl Utena: Finale could be described with one word… wow. I say wow, because I was dragged into this compelling story right from the end of episode thirty seven. The climax of this finale achieves an even higher altitude than the summit of Mount Everest. Well… maybe not, but hey that was a good metaphor. Anyways, the more you think something is going to happen the more it does not. As I was viewing I said to myself, ‘Oh my god, this and that is going to happen, just like all them other series that I have watched throughout the years.’ But no no, none of what I thought happened. Just as when Utena was going to face her so called destiny, which is to meet the prince and live happily ever after… well that was the message I received, but good thing this series was not something like that. I was getting tired of anime without twists, and just as expected, a big twist comes and surprisingly it was quite adequate to satisfy my needs. Let me give you a hint for where I was startled. Pick up the Finale DVD and on the back take a look at the lowest screenshot, the one with Utena in front of Himemiya and Himemiya looks scared and innocent. Have an idea yet? No, oh wells, watch it and you will see what I am talking about.

Well the synopsis was a hundred percent correct on the shocking conclusion. That is what made this great, a person like me, who did not follow the entire show, watches the few final episodes and is suddenly attached to it emotionally with the emotional scenes. That gave me a sense that this show is a work of art. I mean, comon, I was not even familiar with the characters. Utena? The pink hair girl? Himemiya? The girl that looks like another character from another anime I cannot recall? I did not know the whole background of the characters, but still they were able to touch me. Especially at the end, where Utena opens the rose coffin; the whole process was great in every way possible to me, because it showed what friendship was about. I definitely recommend Revolutionary Girl Utena to all who enjoy anime, this coming from a developing Utena fan in the making!!!

The Breakdown
I am currently running late!!! Thanks to CPM for sending me this screener and uhh… for those who have anything against Utena without actually checking out what it is really about, shame on you! Ja ne.

Synopsis
A boy regains consciousness and finds himself lying on the sticky floor of what appears to be the insides of a monster. Dazed, a girl named Mimiru kindly greets him. Irritated, he suddenly teleports away from her, but more visitors, the Scarlet Knights, confront him. Claiming to be the guardians against evil, they question him about a cat-like character that has been seen around him. Evading them, only to meet Mimiru once again, he nonchalantly attempts to log out completely. Here is where it all goes wrong…

Review
The current generation of video games today applied to role playing are what are classified as MMORPG, standing for Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.Instead of playing by yourself at home or occasionally if you have extra controllers with a couple of friends or relatives over, one is able to experience an environment amidst millions of other users, all interacting, all playing the same game from any country on the planet. It is dynamic in the sense that it a virtual recreation of the real world. You are able to talk to people, even develop to the extent of a relationship with fellow players. The feelings and personality of that person are reflected in the character that they play. But you must remember that it is all just a game, a form of entertainment. Now imagine being trapped in this virtual world where it is no longer a game. Every beating moment of it is real. The name of the boy described above is Tsukasa, and his situation is just that.

The Breakdown
A combination of the two best things in the world, anime and video games.

Synopsis
At the dawn of the new millenium, mankind has awakened a threat unlike any faced before: the Angels. Conventional weapons are useless against them. They can only be stopped by means of the Evangelions - bio-engineered vessels born from the Angel’s own technology mixed with human science. But the knowledge brought by the Angels is also the key to bringing about a startling new genesis for the human race. Placed in the hands of three young pilots, the final fate of humanity resting upon their shoulders, the Eva’s are the world’s last hope…

Review
Hoo boy, a review of Evangelion. Not the easiest of  anime’s to review. This ‘movie’ is really two things. There is the ‘Death’ part of this disc, which is a recap of the first 24 episodes with new footage strewn about made especially for this recap. Then there is the ‘Rebirth’ part, and this is where Manga Entertainment  once again falls flat on it’s face. In Japan, Rebirth was the first 30 minutes of End of Evangelion, but there were parts missing since technically, the End of Eva wasn’t finished yet. On this release, Manga just saw fit to shove the first 30 minutes of actual footage from the End of Eva on the disc. I really wanted to see the differences between Rebirth and End of Eva, but I guess I don’t get to (at least with the US DVD release).

Aside from that, how’s the actual content? Good…and bad. I will say right now that unless you’re a hardcore fan, do not buy this disc. There is nothing really new in it aside from some special footage for Death, which doesn’t make it that worthwhile to the normal fan. However, to the hardcore (like me), you will eat this stuff up. Rebirth is most defintely pointless, because if your buying this at all you already have or are planning to buy End of Evangelion anyway…which Rebirth is the first 30 minutes of. Buy this disc for its extras and for the cool new footage  in Death. Also, do not plan to watch this recap if you haven’t seen the show. The recap cannot help you understand anything. It was originally made in Japan to remind everyone what is going on in Evangelion, since the movie was coming out soon but it had been quite awhile since the series came. Death is good though if you’ve seen the series (as a recap).

The Breakdown
Has some very good extras (who knew Manga was smart enough to pretty much translate and put the Red Cross book on the DVD?) And I must reiterate, I thoroughly enjoyed Death and it’s new footage (while there isn’t to much, it’s still good.) Rebirth is End of Eva’s first 30 minutes, making it useless, because once you buy End of Eva, you have Rebirth anyway. Also, for some, the Mokuji special featureon the DVD  won’t work for them, and it’s a really great feature to. I, however, did not run into any problems with it on my DVD player.

Synopsis
At the dawn of the new millenium, mankind has awakened a threat unlike any faced before: the Angels. Conventional weapons are useless against them. They can only be stopped by means of the Evangelions - bio-engineered vessels born from the Angel’s own technology mixed with human science. But the knowledge brought by the Angels is also the key to bringing about a startling new genesis for the human race. Placed in the hands of three young pilots, the final fate of humanity resting upon their shoulders, the Eva’s are the world’s last hope…

Review
The one that ends the epic. This is the true ending to the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series. But before you go all crazy, I want to say that episodes 25 and 26 go with this ending movie, as Ganiax and Director Hideaki Anno confirmed long ago. (Episodes 25 and 26 of the TV series are what goes on in Shinji’s head, this movie is what goes on outside of him, also confirmed by Gainax). I can’t really say much about the actual movie, because it would give away too much even talking about its beginning. (It is the end, after all.)

I’ll give a brief synopsis: Kaworu, the last angel, is dead. All the events of episode 24 have taken place and the movie begins where that episode left off. It’s the next day, the night before Shinji having been forced to kill Kaworu, and he looks on into one of the great Tokyo-3 craters as the sun heats the Earth. He then heads to Asuka’s hospital bed to ask her for help, but she doesn’t respond. (Being comatose and all, that happens from being mind raped by an angel.) He is very frustrated geting no response from her, and starts shaking her wildly. She flips over, and her shirt opens, revealing you know what. Shinji sees this, and reacts like you would expect an extremely messed up, frustrated, abandoned child to act. And thus the movie begins to end all movies.

The Breakdown
Simply has one of the most breathtaking stories of the modern era. While pointlessly ambiguous in some cases, in the end it is all worth it. Has some excellent action to, so for those action nuts out there there is something for you guys to. Simply put, buy this disc.

Synopsis
This anime is about a world in another dimension dying off, because of something (spoiler). In order to prevent the so-called destruction of this world named Cephiro. The Princess (Princess Emeraude) has summoned the Magic Knights of another world (Tokyo). And then here comes Hikaru (Fire), Umi (Water) and Fuu (Wind). They didn’t know each other till they got to Cephiro and started to become friends.

Review
For the first season of this anime it goes on with saving the Princess from the EVIL Lord Zagato!!!!! (Spoiler alarm going off). The Magic Knights must accomplish several tasks in order for them to save the princess. Such as, learning magic, evolving their armors, weapons and finally awakening the slumbering Rune-Gods (Rayearth, Windam, and Selece). There is comedy in MKR, but it wasn’t really funny where I’d had to hold my stomach or comedy that caused me to almost died laughing.

After the first season is over, we go to second season, which is basically the same. The Magic Knights are summoned once again to save Cephiro the thing is that nobody knows who summoned them. Since this thing happened back in first season… Anyways, they go through all the fights and drama. The creators have put a lot of time in the story as it never left me lost. Also there are love affairs going on with the Magic Knights. Therefore making it more interesting. In second season Cephiro is just horded by invaders that want Cephiro for their own countries (Autozam, Fahren and Chizeta).

We all know who stops them to achieve the goal. In the end, this is quite an enjoyable series as it boasts 50+ episodes with story development in each. Unlike some anime series out there that go nowhere with 2 - 3 eps.

The Breakdown
MKR was worth my time, it took me two days just to finish the whole thing. Sometimes things go slow, which makes you anxious to see what comes next. One thing is that MKR is predictable, probably an aspect the creators created on purpose or it was just too predictable… One last thing, get it when you have a chance!!!

Synopsis
1919 Tokyo, Japan, years after the Great Demon War, a global task force called the Imperial Floral Assault Unit is organizing to combat the return of the monsters. The latest in technological innovation, the Kubo Spirit Armor, designed by engineers of Kanzaki Industries, is still in its testing phase. Only ones with enough spiritual energy can pilot the steam-powered machines. Kohran, Maria, Iris, Kanna, Sumire, Sakura, and lastly Ichiro are summoned as Tokyo’s last line of defense.

Review
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The Breakdown
The OAV isn’t bad but seems to be a bit rushed. But since this is an OAV and not the TV series (Which hasn’t been released in the US) I guess it can be forgiven. I still wish this Sakura Wars OAV stood on it’s own better. A more complete story would have been great.

Synopsis
Winner of the Golden Bear Award at the 52nd Berlin International Film Festival, Spirited Away makes its first appearance on the North American shoreline. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke), the film itself has broken box office records in Japan. Originally aimed for the 10-year-old female audience, it is a movie suitable for the young and the old alike.

Review
It could not have been described better than in the words of Hayao Miyazaki himself: ‘This film is an adventure story, although the characters neither swing weapons around, nor use supernatural powers in battle. It is an adventure story, but its theme is not a confrontation between good and evil. It is a story of a girl who was thrown into a world where both good and evil exist. She gets trained, learns about friendship and devotion, and survives by using her wisdom. She finds her way out, dodges, and comes back to her old daily life for the time being. However, it is not because evil was destroyed, evil does not simply disappear from the world. It is because she gained the power to live. Today, the world has become ambiguous; but even though it is ambiguous, the world is encroaching and trying to consume everything. It is the main theme of this film to describe such a world clearly in the form of a fantasy.’

The Breakdown
Excellent film. A must see for all anime fans and a perfect starter for anyone who might be skeptical having sincere doubts of watching anime.