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Synopsis
Kuromi is back, and more determined than ever to make it in the anime business. But all hell breaks loose when the boss quits smoking just when the workload bursts out of control. Can Kuromi overcome this almost insurmountable obstacle?  

Review
Those who are fans of the first Animation Runner Kuromi will find that this sequel is a nice little touch to a neat title that gives anime fans a peek at how anime is… or at least the processes that it goes through in order for it to be released. In the first installment of Animation Runner, Kuromi had to lead her unique, slacking team to create an episode of anime. If putting together one episode was that difficult of a task, then you would definitely want to see what kind of havoc would develop when the crew has been given the assignment to create one episode for three different series; that is three episodes by the way for those who are bad at math.  

How is Kuromi going to motivate her lazy staff? Well, she almost does not, because a hot shot animation runner comes barging in their studio and starts demanding things to be done by using strict methods… that works. Of course, since this hot shot animation runner is all about making the dead line, at the expense of the quality of the anime; we got a dilemma here. While Shihonmatsu is on the edge, going cold turkey from cigarettes, and the staff’s motivation runs low, it is time for Kuromi to take back Studio Petit, for the sake of her staff and for the sake of producing great anime.  

Animation Runner Kuromi 2, pretty much sticks with the same formula as the first installment. Nothing much changed, and nothing much added. As I was watching it, it felt like it was a good bridge between the two OAVs, but that is about it. Certainly this show is about delivering fun to the audience and at times it does. However, the fun is not always there, there are some tense moments that make you wonder if this really is what you wanted to bargain for.

Synopsis
A young man named Monkey D. Luffy dreams of becoming King of the Pirates. When he’s captured by a band of pirates, Luffy escapes to a naval base ruled by an evil captain. Luffy saves the famous swordsman, Zolo from execution in exchange for joining his crew, and the real adventure begins!

Review
One Piece is an example of a show where my stupidity led me to assume that a certain anime is bad because of the way it looked. Man I so deserve a beating from Nami. Not only did this show, proved me wrong, but it surpassed anything that I could have expected from it. The beef that I did have with One Piece is the version I received. It was the TV edited version, which means, some of the show was edited so that it would be appropriate to be shown on cartoon Saturdays or something. The addition of fade in and fade outs made for commercial breaks were annoying, but I guess I should stop with the ranting, I mean, it did warn me on the front and back cover that it was the TV version.

Okay, moving away from the being edited topic, because that can be a whole Rant-ON article in itself. The show is very enjoyable, and the characters are likable. Coby is one funny dude due to the way he reacts to the crazy decisions of Luffy’s. Obviously, our main character is the fellow with the straw hat, yes, that guy named Monkey D. Luffy.

From the start we are introduced to a few of the characters who will have some sort of significance in the show later on. You have heard two names already. Luffy, and Coby (somehow even though he does not become a pirate), the other names you will hear are Roronoa Zoro (Zolo), the pirate hunter and later on Nami, the pirate thieve. At first glance, you already know One Piece will be a fun adventure due to its animation style. It is not serious, although it could be. One thing I liked from the animation is the use of colors. The colors define the emotion a certain character is feeling and it is weird how I just like the utilization of that method in anime.

The plot of One Piece is kept to the basics. This whole adventure was sparked by a little boy’s dream; to be the Pirate King. That little boy has now grown and is now beginning to chase his dream by rounding up a crew of pirates. Of course, this task will not be easy, and if it was not for Luffy’s forbidden fruit abilities he would have been dead by the first volume. The show constantly hangs itself on the cliff. And that is how it gets you addicted to want to continue watching it. The way they did that certainly has me hooked and reeled in. Now if only an unedited version was released. Now that would be cool. I am sure a lot of us are yearning for it.

The Breakdown
Overall, One Piece is great. The story keeps the viewers entertained at all times, while everything else is consistent at providing a good experience. I have fallen in love with One Piece and I hope you do too, because if you do not, you will be missing out on some serious fun.

Synopsis
Growing up can be painful - especially when you fall down a flight of stairs, suffer severe head trauma, and wake up with the mental capacity of a kindergartener. Ouch! Now 17-year-old Nanaka Kirisato has to grow up all over again. You see, Nanaka thinks she’s been through a magical transformation, and she just can’t wrap her head around the head trauma. But if she thought fitting in as an unpopular bookworm was hard, subtracting eleven years certainly won’t help. Throw in a mullet-headed boy bully, a karate-chopping girl bully, a bullheaded best friend, and a barrage of schoolyard battles, and Nanaka’s problems multiply exponentially! It all adds up to mayhem and mass hysteria in the first hysterical volume of Nanaka 6/17.

Review
Imagine yourself being seventeen years old one day and then after a freak accident, turning six the other. Of course, you most likely would not be able to remember that you have mentally gone back eleven years, but the thought of it is something that intrigues some people. I mean, you lose (forget) all that has happened in between those eleven years gap. Do you or can you imagine how painful it would be for those who care for you, that you forget? You probably cannot. And in Nanaka’s case, such grief was not necessary. The serious, Nanaka, who only cared about the future and exams did not have much friends… except a childhood one. And she did not have anybody else to care for her in her family other than a daughter obsessed father who depends on Nanaka’s childhood friend, Nenji.

“Raging Hair” Nenji Nagihara, as stated above is Nanaka’s only childhood friend of any significance shown at this point of the anime. The dude is like a version of Seiji ‘Maddog’ Sawamura from Midori Days. He fights not because he picks them, but because people just want to spar with him… on a daily routine. And on one rainy day as Nenji beats his opponents to a pulp, Nanaka questions if he would ever stop fighting, and if he would ever grow up for a change. Oh boy. What a turn of events eh? After one killer line from Nenji to Nanaka, Nanaka runs off on her own, only to wake up eleven years younger in her mind.

Is it a bad thing or a good thing? That was a thought that has gone through Nenji’s head. Thinking about it. Nanaka who was too mature for her age turns immature, and the usually immature Nenji who would punch first, talk never, now has to learn a bit of responsibility by taking care of the six year old Nanaka, who also thinks that she has grown physically because of some magic spell. Things seem fine at the moment right? You are following all this right? Now let us get down a little further. Add these elements to the story. Jealous classmates, a love rival and the fact that this whole debacle has to be kept secret. How do you keep a six year old from not acting like one? Answer. You cannot. And Nenji learns that when the school becomes suspicious of them going out, as Nanaka is always with Nenji and vice versa. Sigh… I sure feel for him.

Anyways, Nanaka 6/17 is a loose title. It does not require you to put your thinking caps on in order to comprehend the plot. Its simplicity is what really appealed to me. Sure you like the good animation, the nice soundtrack and a dose of interest factor in it. But I believe that actually understanding the whole situation with those added features is better than being lost with those same added features. This title certainly delivers when it comes to that department. It is also a joy to watch this show after Nanaka’s accident as cruel as that may sound. Why? Because the mature seventeen year old Nanaka is one boring bookworm :). I know, she will recover from amnesia and turn back to Nanaka 17, but I can only hope that there are a lot of cool and fun things that happen as we deal with Nanaka 6 hehe.

The Breakdown
Nanaka 6/17 feels like a Midori Days like title. The concepts are very similar. One guy fighting character, one female character and one love rival. Midori was a shy serious girl before she became Seiji’s right hand… the same happens to Nanaka when she turns six. So it is easy to say that if you enjoyed a title like Midori Days, you will most definitely enjoy Nanaka 6/17.

Synopsis
When do children stop believing in Santa Claus? When they’re four? Five? Kids begin to take a closer look at reality during elementary school. But for one individual his version of reality was different. He has never celebrated Christmas with anyone. Presents were always mailed to him. In his loneliness, the boy decided that there was no Santa and that he didn’t need him.   
  
But this Christmas, perhaps his streak of unhappiness might end. A girl appears out from nowhere and asks him, ‘Would you like to spend the night with me?’      

Review
Itsudatte My Santa is a 2 episode OVA holiday series released last year on December 12th by none other than Ken Akamatsu whose most famous works include Love Hina and Maho Sensei Negima/Magister Negi Magi. Modern day Christmas shopping where department stores hold sales date back to the 1930s coinciding with the end of the year bonuses. Christmas Day is not a national holiday although it is common for people to exchange gifts, have parties, and eat cake on Christmas Eve.       
  
The official Japanese website for Itsudatte My Santa can be found at http://www.threefatsamurai.com/mysanta/. On the right hand side in pink are four options: story, characters, DVDs and CDs, and special trading cards.                    

Likes: Maimai’s appetite

Dislikes: In less than a few frames of animation in episode 2, time skips from winter, to summer, to fall, and back to winter again.        

The Breakdown
Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!          

Synopsis
The worlds of humans and demons have overlapped since time immemorial, and a young woman named Yurine and her servant, the Karas, have long maintained order and balance between the worlds. But humans have finally lost their fears of the denizens of darkness.

Disgusted by human arrogance, the Karas turns his back on the laws he helped uphold for so long, taking the name Eko and leading a group of mechanized demons in an attack against the human race.

Meanwhile, a detective named Kure who works at the police division in charge of demon-related incidents opens a case involving a series of bizarre murders that look like the work of a water demon. Elsewhere, the demon Nue, who came to town to fight Eko, spots a water demon disguised as a famous warrior… and then Yuri shows up with another Karas.

This new guardian of the city is determined to stop Eko’s evil ambitions, but he has a fierce fight ahead of him.

Review
After reading the package that I have received along with watching the DVD sampler, I can say that what I have seen so far from Karas is too good, way too freaken good. The blending of 2D and 3D animation is amazing. The action makes it even sweeter as it is quick and hard hitting. This show has some sort of magic to it that attracts the viewer. I was mesmerized by the details and the way the show flows so seamlessly together (animation-wise) at times. But I am sure you have heard enough about the animation and how good it is. Let us go into what Karas is really about.

We commence with an exciting chase scene that will get anybody’s heart racing. During the sequence, there are some things that one could pick up about the show, such as, characters that will have a significant role later on, the transforming ability of Karas, and the sometimes confusing flow of the feature. Why would I say that it is confusing? Well, Karas feels like it just pieces together scenes one after another, whether they connect or not, it is up to whether you have the ability to think fast and connect it yourself. I actually watched the first twenty some odd minutes of the show three times to finally realize why this part happened and why that part occurred. Maybe it is because it is only six episodes long and things might have to be skipped over to fit all there is to fit. It certainly does not make it fun to feel like you are always catching up and just when you do make sense of what is happening, the show blazes away again. It is a marathon, so stay strong people!

Okay, what is Karas about? The story goes something like this. The previous Karas dies in battle fighting Eko (the ex-Karas). With Eko and his crew of blood consuming mechanical demon monsters running around Tokyo, a new Karas has to arise, and that leads us to, Otoha. There is not much detail about how or why he was chosen, but his side job is a demon doctor and of course, his main job is to be the protector of Tokyo, the Karas (it translates into crow, by the way). Anyways that is pretty much how the show starts out. It builds up from there. We follow Nue (a mechanical demon), who left Eko’s Mikura group in order to follow his own path. What that path is, is still to be determined, but he does help Karas. But then we also follow other characters of the show as well; Kure, Sagisaka and even Hinaru (the girl who seems to be everywhere). When you go further, other characters will appear, such as, a female Karas and a Yurine twin. But just when things begin to reach a high point and get extremely exciting, the first DVD ends :(.

The music score of Karas drags you into the show. The main theme is beautifully composed and is sweet to the ears. Every time it came on, I could not resist from sitting up straight and direct all my attention to the show. The dub was not bad either, having three big names in the project: Jay Hernandez, Matthew Lillard, and Piper Perabo (Because of this, you know Manga Entertainment was serious about this release). The voices of the characters were pretty sweet. I liked how Karas sounded in both English dialogue and Japanese dialogue. Of course, I am more on the subtitles side though :).

The Breakdown
Certainly, Karas has the looks and sounds of a killer hit, that is something we cannot deny. From the get-go you get your monies worth of action, animation and audio. Although, the way the plot flowed, has gotten me a little skeptical about whether some of the audience would like it. As I have stated above. At times, the anime, would seems like scenes are just being pieced together without any sort of transition or development. But other than that complaint, from the time you play the feature initially to the time the run time has fully elapsed. In the end, when the smoke clears, Karas is entertaining. Manga Entertainment deserves a lot of props for delivering this top notch OAV to the fans of the States. You must see it to realize what I am talking about!

Synopsis
Sasahara is a freshman at Shiiou University. During a club forum, taking interest in both Anime and Manga, he stumbles upon the Genshiken Club, a club dedicated to the study of modern visual culture.

Soon after joining Genshiken, he discovers that the people in the club are nothing more than otakus and lolicons obsessed with doujinshi. How does Sasahara fit into this group of people? More importantly, what is this club all about despite the given title?

Review
The Film Club, Key Club, Anime Club, Karate Club along with dozens of clubs were offered to me in high school. But despite the diversity of my school, I have never encountered the name of a Genshiken Club. After, I started to take interest in what this club is all about.

Surprisingly, as it turned out, there was almost nothing regarding the purpose of this club as shown in the anime; instead what we see is a group of people who socialize about their passions with each other without a fear of being seen as a stigma to Japanese society: being an Otaku.

First of all, I would like to say that despite my love for Anime (and maybe some Manga), I am not an Otaku (despite my hate of that word being used), and can no way be compared to some of the people portayed in the anime. If my hand breaks, I would either scream or go to the hospital in pain rather than continue to wait in line for a few magazines. If someone broke my Gundam model (if I ever decide to even watch one let alone build one), I would probably build another one. If my… oh you get the idea. My point is that I don’t know how accurate the description of the anime is or even how realistic the portrayal of the characters are. It is hard for me to approach the identity of each character due to too biasness. I’m pretty sure there are different levels of fanatics out there (and that I am no where on that level). But what I get out of this is Genshiken’s attempt to re-discover the sub-culture of Japan, to slowly work it’s way into publicity that is rarely seen. To take a peek at this area that is un-discovered and shunned by many people, Genshiken challenges people to view this type of people with more acceptance.

Kohsaka is an Otaku in the anime and is a member of Genshiken. In addition to that, there is a girl named Saki who likes him. As the anime progresses, we see how Saki opposes the Genshiken club as a whole but ultimately finds the people of the club acceptable. What it takes to be an Otaku is out of my imagination and I know nothing other than the fact that there criticized. Genshiken tries to shatter the stereotype of these people as being unsociable, disliked, and friendless.

All of the characters in Genshiken were enjoyable to watch. From the doujin-fanatic Madarame, to the almost all Otaku hating Saki, to Sasahara who is in the midst of discovering his passion for the ‘visual culture of Japan’. In the end, each character did not feel strange to me nor did they feel too unique to me. Instead, I am able to relate to each character’s feelings and understand the actions and responses they up forth. If you try and look for something unique in the characters, you will find it. But if you look outside the unexpected, you will see that these people are…well… just people with a love for something.

In addition, the animation and music were both well done. Character designs were interesting and made to stereotype what Otakus would look like. But as we see, Kohsaka looks ‘ordinary’ and even has a girlfriend. Furthermore, the soundtrack is great. I especially liked the opening theme also.

The Breakdown
All in all, Genshiken is a great anime that goes over an area of Japan’s sub-culture that is rarely explored and greatly discriminated against. I feel like hugging an Otaku…*looks around….hugs self*… j/k

Synopsis
Momoko yearns to live in 18th century Versailles, rather than in her back-country hometown of Shimotsuma. To escape, she loses herself in the dreamy, doll-like fasions of the “Lolita” scene. Her idol is Akinori Isobe, chief designer of Baby, the Stars Shine Bright - her favorite design house - and she frequently travels all the way to Tokyo to shop at the store.

One languid summer, to help fund her expensive hobby, Momoko runs a classified ad offering brand-name knock-off clothes for sale. She encounters a buyer named Ichigo, who happens to live in her neighborbood.

Super-rebel Ichigo is a “Yanki”-style member of the Ponytails motorbike gang, one of Ibaraki’s Wild Speed Tribes, whose teeth-rattling customized bikes are decked out with fiberglass shields and bannered backrests.

Somewhat against Momoko’s will, she and Ichigo slowly develop a strong friendship as they share their feelings on the odd going-ons around them.

Review
Talk about pairing an odd couple together. Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogari) is a hilarious movie about two high school girls with two way different personalities. Momoko Ryugasaki (Kyoko Fukada) is a rococo obsessed teen who dresses in the odd but cute Lolita style. Ichigo Shirayuri (Anna Tsuchiya) is a ‘yanki,’ a female biker gang member. As the show begins and Momoko narrates through her life, you are given laugh after laugh after laugh. I just cannot believe how this show just puts a smile on my face from the beginning to the end.

Kamikaze Girls finds a way to humor the viewer, whether it is some quick hitter dialogues, or the action on the screen. It is, simply put, a total entertainment package. The acting was great, and the jokes work. Momoko’s range or attires throughout was pretty. I think it is illegal to be that cute. On the other hand we have Ichigo, who has a lame Jusco (a large department store in Japan) influenced attire. While it was funny how the show portrayed Jusco, it is still a nice place to shop at!

The plot of Kamikaze Girls at first revolves around Momoko and how she isolates herself from other people. Then comes Ichiko (notice I said, ‘Ichiko’) who pays Momoko a visit after seeing her advertisement on the bootleg Versach (notice I spelled Versach and not otherwise) leftovers that her father had put away because of an incident that happened earlier which lead them to move from the city to Shimotsuma. After their first encounter, Ichiko becomes a frequent guest of Momoko’s house and that is how their friendship begins.

As the story progresses in a steady yet jaw dropping, stomach turning, laugh out loud inducing pace, we learn the background histories of both of our heroines: Momoko, who has always been mature for her age and Ichigo, who began as a goodie goodie nerd to a rude, saliva spiting punk. Their personalities certainly are not the most compatible, but the movie relies on their constant clashing of different views and beliefs. It is a show that focuses on friendships, and how even if people are brought up in separate worlds or are complete polar opposites of one another, a special bond could be found where nobody thought could be at first, as a long as a point of interest exists between each other.

The Breakdown
Kamikaze Girls is an instant classic. The fun that accompanies this show is superb. You would find yourself enjoying this no matter how many times you replay it… except unless maybe if you re-watch it twenty-four, seven; then it is not the movie that is the problem, somebody needs some help. ^_^.

Synopsis
Explore the world of otaku, the devoted fans of Japanese animation. Since the introduction of Speed Racer to the U.S., these men, women and children have built a community based on their common love for this uniquely imaginative medium. Through conventions, fan clubs, online forums, and more, they have expanded otaku fandom into a highly popular cultural phenomenon.
Otaku Unite! is the first documentary to follow the evolution of this phenomenon from its humble beginnings to its current state as a major influence of pop culture today.

Review
What is an Otaku? The term otaku in my terms represents a person who is a complete zealot of anime and manga. They would travel around the world just to attend an anime convention or in an even extremer case, make it a habit to spend hours boiling DVDs or comics. In a sense, if you are reading this, you have a bit of otaku you in. I have some in me. And even though the Japanese do not interpret the term otaku as something one should take pride in, we as Americans have evolved the word to our likings. And this documentary here, is just the right show for your curiosity if you have ever wondered to yourself how Japanese animation got so big in a country where Superman, Batman and Spiderman ruled the land.

Otaku Unite, other than a pretty self-explanatory title, digs into anime and how it has changed so much in a decade. I do not know about you… I am not old, but even I still remember the days of anime on copied VHS tapes and the means of distribution was through friends. I liked how this documentary went into this fact. It brought me some fond memories of those days begging to borrow an anime video, and those urges for more. Anime is like crack in a way, but worst. Why would I say that? Well, think of it this way. Crack addicts can go through rehab and all, but where do anime addicts go? Once you are in this community, you are a member for life. Best example I can give is myself. I was an anime fan since I was born. Then there was a time in my life where I have not watched any anime at all for at least a good seven to eight years. Talk about cold turkey. Anyways, somehow this form of art, crept back into my life and ever since I do not feel like what had happened earlier in my life would ever repeat itself again.

This DVD is truly great. It features interviews from various guests that have taken some part or another in the growth of this hobby. For an example, the creator of the infamous anime web links directories webpage, Anipike.com; if you do not know what that website is, take that otaku tag off and go home please. This documentary ventures into the beginning, the days of Robotech and Speed Racer. The information this title delivers is great. For those who just got into this hobby, you are now able to learn a part of why anime has taken such a big leap from small fry to big man on campus all on one DVD.

The Breakdown
Otaku Unite is a fun filled documentary from coverage in Kaiju wrestling to following an anime otaku around to various conventions. I do not know if it was on purpose, but finding an absolute nerd like guy to follow around in anime conventions was a bit… umm… stereotypical. I mean, that guy represents almost every single anime extremist stereotype there is, if he did not fill a certain stereotype, another fan who was interviewed did. I really do not see this as a negative, but in the end, this documentary refreshed me, and it gave me a new perspective to view anime in general. There is more to it than just buying DVDs. Anime is life. It changes on a constant pace. To look back at this hobby and reminisce its growth overtime is astonishing and I thank Central Park Media for bringing us Otaku Unite! Yay!

Synopsis
Despite his parents’ protests, Kazuto Tokino has taken it upon himself to run his late grandfather’s bathhouse. But with no previous management experience, Kazuto must rely on his sunny disposition to keep his new business afloat. And when the alien Princess Valkyrie destroys the bathhouse, mortally wounding Kazuto in the process, dark clouds seem poised to rain on his parade of optimism.
With a magical kiss, the princess saves Kazuto’s life, but at a grave cost to her own: transformed into an 8 year old, she is stranded on Earth, unable to fend for herself. Now, with an entire solar system out searching for her shrunken highness, Kazuto must defend the Tokino bathhouse, not only from hordes of alien invaders, but also from his new, hyper-adorable, sugary-sweet little houseguest!

Review
Cat girls galore, yay! Err… Umm… from the introduction you should have already figured out a part of the show, now here is the other. UFL Ultramaiden Valkyrie is a show featuring Kazuto Tokino and Princess Valkyrie (also known as Val). Her meeting with Kazuto was purely accidental. She crash landed into the hot springs that Kazuto runs, as a result killing him. Valkyrie then used her powers to revive him, and in the process she gave him a part of her soul at the expense of her physical appearance, which turned to that of a young little girl.

UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie is another one of those shows where there is a guy, a girl who is secretly in love with him and a girl that outright shows her love for the male character, Kazuto. While this formula is used and reused, it just does not feel right for this series. Maybe it was because of Princess Valkyrie’s ability to transform into child form… but that should not be the case as Tenjho Tenge’s Maya has that ability but that show still flowed nicely. UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie is more like, here is Val and when something is about to happen to Kazuto, here is Princess Valkyrie.

The characters are simple; there have not been any signs of complicated deep dark secrets or anything. The plot is a relatively straightforward deal. Seeing Val is kind of cute at times, but as with most children… they do tend to get annoying at certain periods. I am keeping a note that I have not seen much of this piece yet, for all that we know this could be a late bloomer. But as of now, UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie is nothing more than a mediocre attempt at creating a good humor title. Sure, Ms. Sanada and her craziness were nice, but other than that, there was nothing present that solidifies UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie as a title that is worth much of your time or money.

The Breakdown
Certainly I am looking forward to the future volumes, there is potential in this title and hopefully it does get better.

Synopsis
Ichise is an “entertainment fighter” in the underground city of Lukuss. However, when a gang punishes Ichise by cutting his arm and leg off, his will to live overcomes the odds and attracts the attention of the ruling Organo syndicate that controls both the city and the cybernetic Texhnolyze technology which is usually reserved for the elite. Meanwhile, an outsider has come down to the city and, along with a young psychic girl, the dominos are beginning to fall in the seething unrest of the city as their paths slowly intertwine with Ichise’s. What will come of these people and what will happen in this city of no hope?

Review
Ahhh….Texhnolyze. The new anime from the staff of Serial Experiments Lain. I would like to get out of the way right now a misconception many have about Texhnolyze, even other reviewers: yoshitoshi ABe (as he prefers it spelled), the creator of Lain, NieA_7, and Haibane Renmei, merely served as character designer and artist for Texhnolyze. He had little to do with the plot and story of the show. The trademarks that NieA_7 and Haibane Renmei share are non-existent here, and you can tell that the show was more in the hands of the other staff of Lain rather than ABe. But that’s no knock on Texhnolyze, which is one of the most brilliant (and overly serious) anime I’ve ever seen. I’ve noticed that little is talked about Texholyze in online circles. Many haven’t seen it and the few who have are turned off by the first few episodes, which throws you right into the show like throwing someone into freezing cold water.

But they don’t know what they are missing. The first two episodes are an extreme version of the style prevalent in the show, which is somewhat abstract and obtuse. But this “extreme” version dissipates as the show progresses (thankfully). The first episode has at most 12 lines of dialogue, and the main character rarely, if ever, speaks throughout the entire show. The creators of Lain were attempting to create something extremely different in Texhnolyze, and in that they succeeded. Each aspect of the show is a symbol, or a representation, of something that can be applied to our own world. Texhnolyze is trying to say something about us as humans and the way we perceive ourselves in the story it tells.

The story revolves around more than just the main character, Ichise. The first half of the show is intra-gang related warfare between three groups; the Organo, those who already control the underground city of Lukuss, the Salvation Union, who don’t believe in texhnolyzing lost limbs (or at all, for that matter), and the Rakan, a reckless group of young adults fed up with how things currently work. These groups battle it out, and the second half of the show is the aftermath and repurcussions of these battles and how it’ll relate to the “surface world” and the elite “Class” group of people who control Lukuss from behind the seat of power.

As you can tell, Texhnolyze is a hard show to pin down and explain. There are a lot of different factions and characters involved, and I became completely engrossed in the story. After a second viewing, the show castly improves, since now you know everything and so the first couple of episodes make A LOT more sense. And that’s the kind of replayablility I can appreciate. The characters are for the most part cold and calculating bastards. Ichise rarely speaks, and the leaders of the gangs generally don’t either. This is a far more visual anime than it is a dialogue heavy one. I don’t want to spoil too much of the show beforehand, but the mysteries surrounding the show are extremely intriguing, from where raffia (the material that the robots parts of limbs is made from) comes from to what the “surface world” is.

The show is dank and dark and depressing, because the entirety of the show takes place underground in an artificial city. When you finally do find out about the much-hyped surface world, you’re mind will be blown away by the sheer amount of things going on, both for the story and symbolically. I was shocked and in awe at the same time. The story slowly dolls out the details, leaving you on the edge of your seat every time to find out more. That’s exactly what I want from an anime like this.

The Breakdown
Texhnolyze is highly underrated, and unfairly maligned because of its experimental style, of which is most prevalent very early on. It goes away for the most part for those who don’t like it, and the show opens up to be extremely compelling and riveting in the end run. The animation is excellent, the music pretty good, and the story downright inspiring and depressing at the same time. The show will tug on your emotions, and the ending will leave you in tears, if not a sentimental smile on your face. The show is abstract and confusing and sometimes hard to put up with, but if you can get through these few problems a great show awaits.