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Synopsis
Twenty-two years ago, a cataclysmic earthquake destroyed the Kanegawa region of Japan and threw the country into choas. The damagaed region was abandoned and labeled the ‘Muraji Special Economic District,’ more commonly known as the Lost Ground. After the earthquake, the Lost Ground became home to a rising number of Alter Users, those with the psychic ability to change matter and create Alters (think summons, like from Final Fantasy) with unique powers. Two percent of anyone born on the Lost Ground obtain these powers for some unknown reason. To keep the Lost Ground under control, the special police force HOLD was created. Within it is an anti-Alter unit, HOLY, which was formed to combate the renegade Native Alters in the Lost Ground.

None of this really matters to Kazuma, a Native Alter who uses his powerful alter, Shell Bullet, in his search for money and thrills. But when Kazuma runs into the oppressive HOLY, he is forced into fighting for the freedom and safety of those he cares about. Unfortunately, a powerful Alter user in HOLY’s group, Ryuho, is just to much for Kazuma to handle…

Review
And with that very long synopsis, the review! Right. Anyway, I’d been anticipating this show for quite a long time, since it had finished airing in Japan, in fact. It sounded like a new era DBZ-style show but shortened with to 26 episodes and does not spend it’s time on useless power levels and long stares. And that does hold true. So far, the show has almost no filler and is filled with stylish fights aplenty including some interesting alter powers. Kazuma is an interesting hero, trying to act tough but merely coming off as a helpful guy. It’s Ryuho who is more interesting. He has a dark, messed up past, he’s changed in the 7 years he’s been seperated from his love interest (oh, who by the way, has come back to the Lost Ground), and doesn’t really want to do anything with anybody. He’s got a big chip on his shoulder. The characters, despite what other reviews may tell you, do in fact get a good bit of character development, in these 5 episodes anyway. You learn quite a bit about each characters past and idiosyncrasies, and I have to tell you, some of these Alter users are funny.

Anyway, the story is interesting, the characters fun, and there are no useless filler episodes. Another plus is the rather nicely choreographed fights and the dialogue doesn’t grate on the nerves. Good stuff.

The Breakdown
Let’s see. The story, characters, animation, and so forth are in excellent shape. On the other hand, the music isn’t great, there are one to many characters (and some are rather bland and useless) and the story moves a bit to fast in this first volume. With that in mind, you make the choice. What do I recommend? If you have some spare cash lying around, use it to buy this and give it a try, but it’s not an absolute must-own.

Synopsis
Continuing the adventures of Daisuke Aurora and his android partner ‘J,’ volume 2 of the series has Daisuke and J fighting off Claire Leonelli’s continued attacks on their very lives as well as the duo having to go to the mysterious ‘underground’ to retrive a lost heirloom of Daisuke’s, and finally, to solve the very tragic past of a certain guitarist.

Review
The show is getting better and better. While I was enthralled with the first volume, this one is better because of the very fact that each self-contained story is more interesting and plot driven. While the show still has no overall story connecting each episode, much like the last volume, it’s much like Cowboy Bebop in its episodic style: each story isn’t really related, but each episode is so good you just want more. The same holds true for Heat Guy J. Each episode is a wonderfully visceral style of art, animation, music, and characters to create an overall package that really meshes well. At times, the show does walk a fine line of pretension, but it never falls off and stays steady to keep itself riveting and cool.

The Breakdown
Just about everything in this show is good. I’m having problems saying anything bad about this show, and I’m very jaded. Just buy this now already and stop wasting time.

Synopsis
Produced by GAINAX (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and animated by Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell), FLCL takes animation to yet another level. Get ready for this shocking, funny, and right out freaky show about adolescence, expectations and alien intrigue. Naota wants to be normal. But with a talented brother leaving Japan for the US to play baseball, everyone now looks at him a bit differently. His brother’s girlfriend is acting strange and now there’s an even stranger girl hitting on him.
Literally.
With a bass guitar.
Oh, did I mention the robots that keep springing from his head?

Review
Let us take a moment and ask ourselves, “What in the hell is FLCL (Fooly Cooly, Furi Kuri)?” This zany yet hilarious Anime is by far a one of a kind. Just after watching the first episode got me attached to FLCL. Where could you find someone using seaweed as fake eyebrows? Where could you find a kid with strange stuff growing from his head? and where could you find a lady bashing things (preferably people) with her guitar as she is speeding on a moped? You sure as heck cannot find it anywhere else than in FLCL. When I first heard about the title I was curious of what GAINAX was going to put on the table. So I searched around the Internet and immediately found a picture of Haruhara Haruko within a picture, picking her nose as This has got to be on my all time favorites list. Short and sweet are two adjectives that could be used to describe FLCL.

Now, I know a lot of fans would disagree with me on the short part. I assume they would have liked more. But life is not perfect, so you really cannot expect Anime to be perfect. A good example of how FLCL is not perfect is how it is distributed in the United States. Check out the strategy that was used by Synch-Point into distributing FLCL. A six episodes series, divided into three DVDs, hence creating two episodes per DVD. As if that was not bad enough, each DVD has a MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price) of $29.95. Still do not think it is bad enough? Check out the release dates: Volume 1 – August 25, 2002 | Volume 2 – February 25 2003 | Volume 3 – July 22, 2003. Oh wow, thank god I had other series to watch other than FLCL during its’ release period. Heck I did not even invest in FLCL until a few months ago, after everything came out. I understand that Synch-Point is an up and coming distributing company, but dang, those are some huge gaps between releases. Most I ever encountered was a two month gap and that was for GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka), which is a longer series, with more episodes in the DVD and for the most part, more entertaining than FLCL. But oh wells, good thing everything has past now, and fans could enjoy FLCL without experiencing the release gaps anymore.

The Breakdown
So there you have it, FLCL is a great piece; that is the best I could conclude this review at 4:32 in the morning.

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
Now that the Steel Angels have found the powerful Academy, they plan a daring break-in to save Nakahito, who is being pressured by the mysterious Mikhail to betray Kurumi. Unfortunately, the Academy is aware of their every move, and they successfully succeed in dividing and conquering the group. Saki and Karinka are trapped within a powerful force field. Dr. Amagi is captured by the Academy scientists. And when Nakahito makes his stand, he inadvertently activates Kurumi’s greatest threat. Now Kurumi must face her most powerful foe-a ruthless killing machine that has the same supercharged Mark II Angel Heart that Kurumi has. Will Kurumi’s better nature win out? Or will her dark side get the better of her? Find out in the exciting conclusion to the most thrilling, action-packed anime smash of the year!

Review
Steel Angel Kurumi captivates you with all sorts of things, such as, action, romance, and comedy; although, this volume has a more serious tone than the other previous volumes. What I like the most from Steel Angel Kurumi is that it is short in time, the running time that is and even though each episode is approximately fifteen minutes long, it makes up twenty four episodes. Enough with the introduction let us get down to business. Now it has been a while since I have reviewed my last volume of Steel Angel Kurumi and looking back at my review of the third volume, I stated that it ended with an intense moment. And Steel Angel Kurumi certainly does not disappoint with the turn out of all that intensity enough to give me a heart attack, well maybe not that serious heh :P, but I guarantee you will be in for a treat, as the ending is very, very, acceptable; probably one of the best endings I have seen throughout this year (2003).

In this volume, we get a little surprise as Mikhail was actually not a boy… Mikhail was actually a steel angel that shape shifted into a boy form to fool Nakahito into following her to the Academy’s base (Comon guys would it actually matter? If you saw some pretty lady wearing quite a revealing attire, would not you follow them too? ;-) ). This steel angel is not to be taken lightly; she boasts both an Angel Heart and an Angel Heart Mark II in her. When she transformed from the boy form to the steel angel form I was at a disgusted state, but then went back to normal as I saw that Mikhail was female (Sorry I was never much of a yaoi fan). Anyways she gets commanded to terminate Kurumi. And of course, this task was not easy, as we see flashes of Kurumi’s hidden demonic powers as the battle progressed.

By the time the climax is reached, the episodes are just flying out the windows, one after another, until finally, we are up to the last episode, in which, a better ending could not be planned out, in my honorable opinion. Steel Angel Kurumi definitely has an ability to attract its viewers and hold them for a fun ride. I am delighted to have been able to watch such a great series, and now that Steel Angel Kurumi has ended, it is time to move onto Steel Angel Kurumi: Encore! Yay!

The Breakdown
Hmmm… now that the threat of Kurumi changing to a demon is neutralized, what will happen in the future of the series?

Synopsis
After Yugi’s victory at Battle City, you thought he’d be given some time to relax. Absolutely not. The key to Yugi’s memory has been sealed. The God Cards are stolen. A new enemy comes to challenge the young pharaoh and his friends, the three swordsmen of Doma who possess a power different than the millennium items. Oreikarukosu, an ancient light strong enough to dominate even God…

Review
The Doma (Doom) Arc has yet to be dubbed in english and butchered. Maybe butchered comes off as too strong of a word, how about profoundly edited. At the time of this review, KidsWB is 37 episodes behind (on Episode 108 Neia’s Arc). It won’t be until more than half a year until the English catches up assuming no reruns. Doma is the latest new series from Japan published by Kazuki Takahashi since February 2003. This assessment is in and of itself both a review and preview for season 3, Episodes 145-184 after the duels within Battle City conclude. Volume 19 shown above includes 164 - 171. Episode 145 begins a whole new saga not featured in the manga, sort of a transition series between Battle City and the Egyptian Memory Arc.

The Breakdown
For fans of the show and want to watch it before everyone else does, to poke-lovers and other monster fanatics who just can’t get enough, and those who own the card game and want even more strategies to try out at tournaments.

Synopsis
Kai Kudo has been recently stationed at AESES, an independent facility of the Ashurum military. He recalls nothing of his past memory only that after his mother died, it was Ashurum hat adopted him and his sickly sister named Hikaru. As an Esper, he possesses powers that ordinary humans would only envy and fear. Outside of Ashurum, siblings like Kai and Hikaru would regularly be killed and never have the chance to experience fun and joy. That is why AESES was created, to harness the abilities of Espers to help people and save other Espers. At least that was what Kai was told…

Review
E’s Otherwise is a 26 episode series based on a popular comic series featured in G Fantasy Monthly. It is directed by Shimoda Masami (Ai Yori Aoshi, Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi) and scripted by Chiba Katsuhiko (Rune Soldier, Stellvia). E’s Otherwise is the japanese X-Men series; instead of mutants they are called Espers. Unlike the X-Men that are limited to a single mutant power, Espers have greater variety in that they can teleport, launch fireballs, and levitate. An esper’s powers are more psychic and telekinetic. Unfortunately their powers are not limitless like the X-Men. As explained in episode 4, when both psy-energy and physical strength are low and if an Esper forcibly invokes their powers, their stamina will be used to replenish their powers diminishing their life.

The Breakdown
E’s Otherwise starts off better than it finishes, similar to Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040.

Synopsis
Imagine that it’s your fourteenth birthday and on that day you’ve finally confessed to your true love only to find out that she thinks of you as a best friend. Depressed you stare at a painting of your girlfriend in the safety of your own home when suddenly it happens. A great pain afflicts your chest, you gain a few inches of height, and your hair changes from red to purple. That is the life of Daisuke whose bloodline carries the legendary phantom thief Dark Mousy. It’s been forty years since his last appearance but his purpose is the same, to steal in order to protect those who are in need.

Review
Parts of this review come from the past Watcher column right here at animesou. Just a reminder, DNAngel is not the same as DNA^2 that Alpha has been reviewing, although Dark is quite the womanizer. Nor is it related to the Angel’s Sanctuary OVA. The series is much longer than either one of them, 26 episodes in length. DNAngel is based off of the manga by Yukiru Sugisaki. The DN in DNAngel can represent the initials Niwa Daisuke. Angel symbolizes Daisuke’s other personality, Dark-san. The story with the whole split personalities between Dark and Daisuke seems reminiscent of Yugioh, Samurai Deeper Kyo, and Angel’s Sanctuary in that there is another spirit sharing the host’s body. DNAngel is slightly different because Dark-san is constantly being reincarnated through the generations along the male bloodline. The last person who transformed into Dark was Daisuke’s grandfather. Daisuke is not the only one though; his classmate Hiwatari-kun contains the soul of the white angel Krad, Dark’s arch nemesis.

The Breakdown
High scores all around in animation, story, characters, and music. Don’t forget, inside you a piece of Dark exists.

Synopsis
It’s nineteenth century Japan. The Tokugawa Shogunate is on the brink of collapse. Rebel clans of warriors from all over the country vie for power in a struggle to see whose view on what Japan shall become will reign supreme. Enter Kenshin Himura, a young assassin, who, under the tutelage of master swordsman Seijuro Hiko, has become embroiled in the conflict, fighting for the rebel clans to bring about a new peace-loving country. He enters the fight at the tender age of his mid-teens, bringing inside of him his own conflict: is fighting to bring about peace really just about killing people and ending people’s happiness in the end? Thus a woman comes into Kenshin’s life to help answer that very question.

Review
I first must state that when I first saw this, I had no previous knowledge of the whole Kenshin mythos, so I went into this blind, not expecting much at that. My presumptions turned out wrong, in the end. This first DVD of 2 episodes embodies what I love most about anime, the realistic depiction of fighting (with swords no less), a tragic past with a less than hopeful romance, and the slaughtering of people for the sake of a vision not to come. All of these things are in these first two episodes. On top of that, expect lots of killing, and lots of blood. This OVA has no qualms about showing how horrible killing people with a sword is, or with the other multitude of weapons depicted within. But’s it’s all very realistic, with no gratuitous blood or gore, which is something I like very much. You can also feel the anguish of the main characters within the story, especially the dilemma within Kenshin himself.

The Breakdown
Are you a fan of serious romances? It’s here. How about action? Oh, it’s definitely here. Like political anime? Check. If there is anything you like about anime, it’s here. Well, that is, except for comedy. Not one joke to be had. But it’s not needed here. Buy now!

Synopsis
It’s nineteenth century Japan. The Tokugawa Shogunate is on the brink of collapse. Rebel clans of warriors from all over the country vie for power in a struggle to see who’s view on what Japan shall become will reign supreme. Enter Kenshin Himura, a young assassin, who, under the tutelage of master swordsman Seijuro Hiko, has become embroiled in the conflict, fighting for the rebel clans to bring about a new peace-loving country. He enters the fight at the tender age of his mid-teens, bringing inside of him his own conflict: is fighting to bring about peace really just about killing people and ending people’s happiness in the end? Thus a woman comes into Kenshin’s life to help answer that very question.

Review
After the crazy, fast paced action of the first 2 episodes that were in Samurai X: Trust, coupled with the tragic romance and historical backgrounds, I was expecting more of the same in these final 2 episodes. Not exactly. These 2 episodes explore Tomoe’s and Kenshin’s love for each other very very deeply, and as tragic as their love ends up being, we are unaware of such things for the majority of the disc. Since I picked up the hints that were dropped along the way, I knew that Tomoe was a spy for the Tokugawa Shogunate, making the love seem a bit pointless, thus making the first episode on this disc not to be quite so good. But then  you realize that Tomoe did indeed fall in love with Kenshin eventually and was in a trap she herself had created. And that is what ultimately makes this show excellent.

Tomoe, having lost her fiancee to this assassin is out now to exact revenge by being his lover but secretly keeping tabs on Kenshin and also to  weaken his fighting spirit with her ‘love.’ Problem is, while she is in the process of doing this to help the Tokugawa and for her own vengeance, she falls in love with Kenshin. What is she to do now? Exact revenge or try and get outside of the trap she has created for Kenshin, maybe costing her own life, but is it worth her life, for Kenshin’s sake? Oh, and I haven’t even gotten started  on the important connections this makes to the TV series and the final OVA, Samurai X: Reflection either, or the excellent fight scenes in the latter half of the second (and final) episode. Truly some of the best stuff I’ve seen, despite some predictability.

The Breakdown
I believe that anyone who considers themselves an anime fan to have to watch this prequel OVA series known as Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal. It contains within itself an excellent story of the love of two characters set against one of the most gruesome times in Japanese history.