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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
Koji Maeda is your typical high school student who is looking for a part time job over the summer. He seems to have found his calling at Pia Carrot. More like he can’t resist all the pretty girls. While contemplating his destiny, out of the blue, a girl dashes across and collides with him. He later finds out that the same violent girl he bumped into earlier will be his coworker from now on. No way can life get any easier for Koji!

Review
The PC game to Pia Carrot 2 was released in Japan in 1997 followed by the SegaSaturn version in 1998 retailing for  ?7200 ($65.16). The anime is the sequel OVA series to Pia Carrot 1 but with a brand new cast (like how Onegai Twins is related to Onegai Sensei). It is a non-hentai version of similar events in the Pia Carrot 2 hentai DVD. Yusuke Kinoshita is the owner of the 2nd Pia Carrot restaurant. He only makes a brief appearance next to Aoi. You discover that he is soon getting married (to Satomi?). Rumi (Yusuke’s sister’s) appears in episode 4, a dyed blond, and works at the resturant to help out with the Autumn Gourmet Fair. Rumi will be turning 16, and has matured from what was seen in the first game. DX contains most of the characters from the video game, minus Sanae, Harue, and Tomomi. The storyline of Pia Carrot 2 follows Hinomori Asuza-san’s ending, the hardest person to win over.

The game site can be found at http://www.interchannel.co.jp/game/pia2/index.html The bottom link takes you to the Pia Carrot 2.5 page with character profiles.

The Breakdown
Short romance anime. You’ll appreciate the minor characters for their funny remarks. Koji might cheer on every girl that works hard but when it comes to Asuza there is no stopping their arguing. They are like two reincarnated warlords.

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
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.

Synopsis
When it comes to martial arts, Kiichi Miyazawa has always been the best. But when his father is hospitalized, it’s time for the teen super-star to become a man and take on the big time. Kiichi must take his father’s place in the ring against the champion of World Pro-Wrestling, the legendary Iron Kiba! Will he survive and triumph in his father’s name? Or will his family’s arch-nemesis terminate his martial arts career… and his life!

Review
Shootfighter Tekken gets better by volume and in volume three the potential of this short series is reached. After Kiichi finished his fight from earlier, his father is scheduled to battle Iron Kiba. That is, until something unpleasant happens to his father, that Kiichi decides to take his father’s place in the battle. With time short at hands, Kiichi trains himself immensely to prepare for a fight of life and death.

The thing I find interesting about Shootfighter Tekken is that it is not a piece of anime work where there are anything extraordinary. It is a piece that works within the boundaries, and excels at it with an unbelievable success rate. I remember in the first volume, I assumed that the rest of the show was just going to be a kid fighting senselessly, but I cannot be anymore wrong as this anime is beyond just the fighting. The messages within the dialogue are meaningful if you can break it down enough and it is not that difficult to acknowledge what is going on in Shootfighter.

All in all, this show demonstrates a lesson, a lesson where fighting is not always the answer to a question as fighting can lead to even more fighting – which is just pointless. Although if there is a legit and logical reason to a fight, such as, for a belief or something, stand up and represent!

The Breakdown
It was sure fun to have experienced such an anime. Shootfighter Tekken improved by volume and in just three volumes, you can get a ton of ass kicking and some joy from the whoopings.

Synopsis
A sinister tree lurks over a village, sheltering the inhabitants for a terrible price. Victims are plagued by voices, then driven to madness and death. When renegade surgeon Black Jack operates on the latest casualty, he discovers a horrifying parasitic plant. Does the tree’s spirit seek to possess a human host? Now the doctor who plays at being god must defy the ancient fury of nature!

Review
Is there anything, anything at all that Black Jack cannot display? Just when you think you have seen basically everything Black Jack could offer and toss at you, there are other weird procedures happening. This time around we are dealing with a “Chia Pet.” A boy suddenly falls ill and plants begin to sprout from his skin. As this phenomenon occurs, his brother calls Black Jack and requests a visit from the doctor. When Black Jack arrives he is stunned by this illness as he has never seen such a thing before and begins the diagnoses.

Now up to volume five, the drama is still as constant as ever. With various plot twists, adds more intensity, which creates even more excitement that benefits the viewers’ experience. I mean, sometimes I get goose bumps just seeing what unfolds on the screen. It is that impressive. The dialogue brings the characters out of the television set and into your room. As the story progresses to the medical treatment scenes, you feel as if you are there watching every move that Black Jack does. Not only that, in every scene you feel that you are a witness. The show is so amazing that it is mind boggling.

I really cannot predict what else there is for this series, but I know it will be a hell of an opportunity to observe the great mind of Osamu Tezuka at work. I know for sure that if you are up to volume five, you will most definitely continue on this masterpiece, if you are just on the borderline, your mind will impulsively act on its own to make Black Jack a part of your collection.

The Breakdown
This title we call Black Jack, is really something! I cannot imagine where I would be without it! ^_^;;

Synopsis
In the 24th century, intergalactic space travel has become a reality. One of the first outposts in the far reaches of space is Watcher’s Nest – an inflation hole drive portal – which has recently come under attack by a mysterious force known simply as Ghoul… A group of young female cadets assigned to the portal are unexpectedly thrown into a hornet’s nest of trouble as they finalize their training to become elite pilots in the Seraphim Squadron. What more could you ask for than a bevy of beauties forced to put their lives on the line to answer the call of duty. Divergence Eve is a bold and imaginative voyage leading directly into the heart of evil. A dark tale enlivened by a shocking mystery which will have you guessing until the final fade out.

Review
Divergence Eve has a strange plot, a plot in that the movement of the story is put in reverse. Indeed it is strange, but that is what makes a show like Divergence Eve unique. You begin confused as hell, as scenes are just passing by and you have no idea what the story is or how the characters arrived at the destination they are at. Slowly, but surely though, everything becomes clear to the viewer as the show runs from episode to episode.

This ploy that the crew behind Divergence Eve plotted out is not only smart, but can be quite an enjoyment as well. Why? Because not everything is shown to you. One thing I cannot stand in my years of experiencing anime is when an anime treats me like a person without a mind or without any form of imagination prowess, and this anime here does not do any of that. It works your mind into predicting what may happen next, as fun and excitement swarms within your head.

The thing that picks my mind about Divergence Eve is that the opening theme is serious, whereas, the closing theme is a fun filled piece. Not that it is a bad thing though, because it is showing Masaki Kureha in a cosplay marathon :). Nope, there is nothing to complain about that.

Now how can I review Divergence Eve without mentioning the babes :P. Although not much is revealed to the audience in the first volume, but what is revealed is that there is going to be something rather interesting about Ensign Masaki Kureha. Her past is the main focus so far in the show, as hints of it is shown to the viewer. Her power is hehe… I will let you discover that when you pick this title off the shelves.

The Breakdown
Let us face the facts, Divergence Eve is not going to be loved by everyone due to the way it runs, but for those who see through the preceding issues, Divergence Eve is an anime worth every cent you paid for.

Synopsis
Everyone’s favorite feline, Hello Kitty, is here with her friends in some of the best stories of all time! Come along and join Hello Kitty, Mimmy, Badtz-Maru, Pochacco, My Melody and Dear Daniel as they bring new versions of old favorites to life. In this exciting all new volume of Hello Kitty’s Animation Theater, you get eight fun-filled episodes with Sanrio’s most loved characters.

Review
Hello Kitty’s Animation Theater 1: Once Upon A Time consists of eight episodes of fun filled childhood stories that most, if not everyone have heard at least once or twice in their life. The stories that are reenacted into a motion picture are: “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” “King Midas’ Donkey Ears,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Hansel and Gretel,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “The Bamboo Princess,” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Now, the more mature fans would not give this title the slightest of peeks, but those who have children should most definitely seek out this piece of work. Even I liked Hello Kitty’s Animation Theater for the great compilations of stories and cute characters and I am not much of a Sanrio fan.

There really is not much to say about Animation Theater other than how worthwhile it is for children. You already know how each story will turn out. Just watching the Sanrio characters talking and acting is a delight. Who knows, maybe those who are macho will like this title too. One thing I am certain about is that Animation Theater’s replay value is off the chart high. It will be a difficult task to accomplish for any parent to pull their kids from the television set as their bed time passes by.

The Breakdown
Any child would be exhilarated watching this DVD. While reading the stories provide a better education experience, but watching it play out on screen is not a bad thing at all. It will definitely put a big smile on any kids’ face. This DVD is a must buy for any parent.