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Synopsis
This very special Collector’s Series DVD Boxset contains a bonus disc containing never-before-seen features!

Dragged through a time warp by a giant machine, Shu is thrust into a hellish future just as it explodes into war! He is caught in the carnage as a tyrant unleashes deadly force against a rebel army. But Shu is not alone? he is surrounded by courageous soldiers, a battalion of enslaved children, and enigmatic wanderers, each with their own fascinating story. Together, they face the ultimate challenge of survival in a world gone mad!

Review
In a world where water is scarce, a mad tyrant, Hamdo tires to obtain control of an infinite supply of water by capturing Lala Ru, who has the ability to generate water from her mysterious pendant. His plan almost succeeded if not for Shu, a punk kid who got involved with everything because he was a bit nosy – curious.

Upon his arrival at Hellywood, he goes through exactly what the name of the place suggests; hell. He is tortured, battered, kicked around and just beaten so bad that he could not walk. All this because he told the truth? Well even if he lied he would still get the crap beaten out of him. What kind of world is this? Villages were pillaged as women, kids and men were enslaved in the Hellywood system. Kids were used as soldiers to fight this “war” of Hamdo’s. Every rule of invasion is broken. No one as the cahones to stop Hamdo’s ambitions, that is until Shu stepped up and sought justice in this unjust world.

Now and Then, Here and There is a superb series. It brings a variety of emotions to the viewers. For an example, you would laugh at the way Hamdo acts, because he is obviously crazy. Ehh… you sometimes ponder how he obtained his power over the people of Hellywood in the first place, with the state his mind is in.

Akitaroh Daichi has done a great job with Now and Then, Here and There. The interest meter goes up as the story unwinds. This has really been an entertaining show to me, and it certainly would be for you as well.

The Breakdown
Thirteen episodes of addictive television. That is not good for my eyes! No!!!!!

Synopsis
The flow of time is complicated. Even if you remove one cause, a new cause is born…

Makimura Koutarou is your typical high schooler, an avid member of the boxing club who all of a sudden resolved to confess his love to the school idol Serizawa Kaho. That night by accident, a mysterious person showers Koutarou with tachyon particles. As a result, his body randomly jumps forwards and backwards to different dates within a one-month time span. This phenomenon is what is called a ‘day drop.’ On August 31, the last day of summer vacation, he discovers that Kaho’s life passes away due to a car collision. Does Koutarou stand a chance at changing Kaho’s depressing fate?

Review
Natsuiro no Sunadokei, or Natsuiro Komachi, translates to the Hourglass of Summer Colors. It is based off of the Playstation 2 hentai dating simulation game developed by Princess Soft. Princess Soft is most famous for releasing Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. Other game titles include Suika, Moekan, Cafe Little Wish: Mahou no Recipe, and 21: TwoOne for the Dreamcast, and F: Fanatic, Love Doll: Lovely Idol, Final Approach, and Happy Breeding: Cheerful Party for the PS2.

The official anime site is located at http://www.kss-inc.co.jp/anime/natsuiro/ where you can find episode screen captures, brief character and casting, and DVD information with covers. The video game site is located at http://www.oaks-soft.co.jp/princess-soft/natsuiro/ and features a better character profiles page.

The Breakdown
Natsuiro no Sunadokei is a romantic, short summer anime series. Perfect for going back to school.

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

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

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

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

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

Synopsis
The mind-shattering prequel to the hit cult thriller, Ichi the Killer!

A masochistic mobster meets his match in the dark streets of Tokyo. His nemesis, Ichi, is a psychopathic killer with an unrelenting thirst for bloodshed. A horrifying secret burns in his mind, and his hands deal death without mercy. At last, the shrouds of mystery are parted to reveal the origin of the monster. The city will know its greatest fear at the unveiling of Ichi the Killer!

Review
A show with all the things necessary to satisfy the crude and horrendous minds of some disturbingly violent people is what Ichi the Killer: Episode Zero is. This series is cool, do not get me wrong. I like a series that just makes me sick with the happenings on the screen. I find myself laughing to the way some of these characters in this series get their ass kicked or killed by Hajime (Ichi).

Now I have seen the live action movie directed by Takashi Miike. I did not understand anything that was going on there. Maninly due to the fact that I did not care to understand. But after watching the animation I got a sense of why Ichi is the way he is. Now I understand why Miike had a scene where a woman got a big bruised eye from some guy and Ichi was just standing there, looking as if he did not know what to do. That is what is so great about his works, it is unpredictable, strange, and just when you think you understand what is going on, you have to go back, because most of the time you are wrong.

Ehh… anyhoo enough with the preaching of the live action hehe. :)

The show starts out with what I assume is the ending. Then it flashes back to how Hajime became Ichi. I tell you, if you are a bully and pick on some kid profusely, you better watch it. I guarantee you will stop once you see what happens when that kid snaps.
Throughout the episode you are kept glued to your seat as the pace quickens and Hajime’s character just makes you want to know more about his life. You are in a denial state during certain scenes, as you say to yourself, “Oh no, he did not…”

Ichi the Killer is sadistic; it is what I consider a guilty pleasure, because I am crazy. Uhh no, because it just seems fun to envision myself beating the crap out of someone. I am sure you have imagined yourself knocking someone out throughout your life time and Ichi the Killer accomplishes this job for you, as it is action packed and filled with a sad/dark theme that is sure to attract.

The Breakdown
I would not expect myself saying this about Ichi the Killer, but this first volume really impressed me a ton, I am looking forward to how it develops.

Synopsis
Fighting is a way of life for teen martial arts prodigy Kiichi Miyazawa. When his best friend goes down in a grappling match with a deadly Jujitsu master, Kiichi takes matters into his own hands and enters the ring. But this time he may have taken on more than he can handle.

The challenge is to the death, and his opponent has the near-supernatural ability to predict his every move. Honor, guts, and glory are all on the line in this no-holds-barred martial arts blood match!

Review
The more Shootfighter Tekken evolves its story the better it is. The first volume was a bit fast, a bit too fast that you just start and end. There is hardly that break in the middle where you can take everything in. Round 2 is almost an extension to Round 1, as watching this volume makes me appreciate Round 1 even more. What a series this has become already with only two volumes out!

Round 2 commences with a challenge to Keybo, (What is new?) from a wrestler named “Man-Eater.” Wow, I sure as hell do not want a piece of this guy after hearing his moniker ^_^. There is a surprise in this volume as the first challenger was not actually the “main” challenger of Round 2. Man-Eater was actually a comedian, although he does not look like it. You shall see how he makes you laugh. I got a good kick out of the stupidity this guy holds. Much like the Great Doborabo of Dragon Half. It is just great, this series needs a light substance, and from Man-Eater, it achieves it.

Now to serious business, the Iron Kiba is the biggest (damn I cannot use profanity here) you will ever see in an anime. This guy acts all big, but he pays everyone to do his dirty work. What the hell? First he gets Man-Eater, and once there was a twist at that attempt he gets Shingo, a fighter under the art of Gogetsu style (jujitsu) to challenge Keybo to a match. The fighting scenes are top notch in Round 2. The various moves that were displayed are a bonus, since it is not the usual, money saving fighting scenes technique that some series have, where they show the same cuts over and over again.

Shootfighter Tekken is starting to get interesting, it is one series that you have to pay attention to as it may not receive the big hype some other series may have, but it certainly has the potential to be a good little title to be in your collection.

The Breakdown
This title went from rent in Round 1, to own in Round 2. Nice transformation.

Synopsis
‘Pandy and Retro, two unlikely renegades, awaken naked on Earth with no recollection of their past. After embarking on a devastating crime spree for food, clothing and transportation in downtown Tokyo, they are captured by authorities and sent to the infamous lunar prison called Dead Leaves.

After a brief incarceration, they discover that the prison is really a top-secret cloning facility, occupied by villainous prison guards and deformed genetic experiments. High-speed frantic action combined with hyper-violent and semi-humorous chase scenes follow as the two decide to break out of the prison with the aid of their fellow mutant inmates.’

Review
Everywhere I’ve read, I’ve been hearing rave reviews about this title. Well this review here isn’t one of them. Anime in general has always had a certain formula that each title never really strays too far from. They usually fall into a certain genre. Dead Leaves was obviously done to be different. Different in this case means insanely incoherent.

The story is about a girl with a mutated eye gene and a guy who has a monitor for a head. (Reminds me of the old Gamefan Magazine’s mascot). They wake up naked with no memory. From there they go through the rest of the show fighting and blasting everything in sight, all while desperately trying to be cool. The thing the writers need to know is that in order to have cool characters, you need to care about them and in order to care about characters you need a good story. This show just doesn’t have that.

The creators must have had Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) because the scenes flash by in such rapid succession that you just stop trying to make sense of it all. Don’t let me get started on the bewildering barrage of a bazillion bullets bombarding the screen (That’s a lot of B’s, don’t get stung). I can’t imagine the test screening where they proclaimed this a form of entertainment.

I agree with what one of the voice actors said in the extras. ‘If you watch Dead Leaves drunk you’ll throw up.?What he didn’t mention is that the whole creative team was drunk when they were making this and most of the time it looks like they threw up on the animation cels.

The Breakdown
If you love toilet humor then this is for you. You gotta love the guy with the drill pecker…Is this anime? I hope this type of anime never catches on and becomes the norm.

Synopsis
In a war zone devastated by minefields and strife, a dying child is missing. She fights a foe more deadly than any terrorist. Her heart is a time bomb that will kill her even as the explosions annihilate her home. Can renegade doctor Black Jack recover his patient before both their lives are claimed by war?

Review
Central Park Media brings to you another dose of this addictive drug I call Black Jack. I cannot praise this series anymore; it would just be spoiling it. In this volume, Black Jack is hired by a mob boss to cure his grand daughter who has a heart condition in another country where a war has broken out. With the obligation to comply with his word, he travels long distances just to meet up with his client. (Notice I used client, instead of patient ^_^).

After a successful operation, Black Jack stayed for an extra month or two to help out with the refugees. He charged $1 for every patient, but he took IOUs. (Hmm… so he was not all about the money after all). The show later shifts to New York City where it is all jolly. That is until, the mob boss gets shot up and an immediate operation had to be performed in order to save his life. Black Jack was present, but a jealous doctor opposed in having an unlicensed doctor to operate on any patients. Because of his jealousy, he almost caused the life of another. Of course, Black Jack would not allow that to happen… will he?

I know I sound like a broken record, but I must give credit to where it is due. Black Jack really has been one of a few series that has amazed me this year. This is something that I can never overdose on :P. This is the only doctor you should be checking out for you anime-insomnia.

The Breakdown
Let us state the obvious. You make the choices in your life. But making the choice to watch Black Jack certainly will not be a bad choice, out of the many choices you will make throughout your life time.

Synopsis
Like all girls her age, Hibari Hanakoganei covets the latest fashion in mechanical pets – a PataPi to call her own! But when a strange White Prince provides one, she becomes the target of an equally mysterious Black Prince who plots to steal the prized pet. It’s PataPi Densuke to the rescue, however, transforming into a powerful Diva who bears a striking resemblance to Hibari herself! With astonishing battle agility, Densuke proves to be no ordinary child’s toy! Hibari’s not the only one with a PataPi of extraordinary powers, and despite an unlikely friendship, she joins forces with others to form the Cyber Team! Together they will solve the riddle of the Black Prince – or will his flock of nefarious cohorts put an end to the dynamic divas of Akihabara?

Review
Watching Cyber Team in Akihabara is like having a bunch of wild chickens running around with their heads chopped off; in other words, it does not know which direction it is heading. Is it a shounen title, a shoujo title or a mixture? The three female lead characters make it shoujo, the little bit of ecchi humor makes it shounen. Okay… maybe it is a mixture, but I seriously believe that if it was only one single category it would have been better, as the show is not entertaining. It lacks focus in various areas, such as, the story and the characters.

The show gets repetitive, which makes it distasteful. The way these girls transform their PataPi’s become so annoying over time. Especially Hibari, who just screams out “Noooooooo!!!” The worst part of Cyber Team in Akihabara is that it is listed as a comedy, but I did not find myself to even chuckle to the comedic segments of the show. Let us move onto the story. What is it? All I attained from watching it was there was this girl who dreamed of a prince and the prince gives her a PataPi and then things start to happen. Comon, give us something much more than that in five episodes. At least go into who that prince is or what is the purpose of the evil organization. I feel that I was being hung out dry on a clothesline and after episode three, continuing watching was just an obligation. It was not a fun experience at all.

On the back of the DVD cover states, “This isn’t child’s play!” But seriously, Cyber Team in Akihabara will only appeal to children. Every aspect of this show seems to be aimed towards children. Maybe this series will become better later on, but as of this instance, volume one, it is just not worth your time and money. Go move onto other better ADV Films titles, since they have a large selection of products anyways.

The Breakdown
If you want to see a series with an average story and three twelve year old girls, whom all battle evil with their fighting capable gadgets. Then this is the title for you, if not, stay away.

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

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

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

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

Synopsis
Spike and Jet are two down-on-their luck bounty hunters (called cowboys) always looking for the next big score. Spike is brash, young, and tough. He practices Bruce Lee’s martial arts style, Jeet Kune Do, and treasures his little space fighter, the Swordfish II. Jet is the wiser, older of the two, knowing when to make a move and when to hold the cards. They move from plant to planet in their spaceship, the Bebop, and go from one bounty to the next, never staying in one place too long. Rarely ever making money or getting food, Cowboy Bebop is a set of tales  in the life of these two as they go about space, encountering the pasts they left behind along the way. Of course, during the course of their adventures, they obtain three new crewmates: a sultry woman that goes by the name Faye Valentine, a dog with a high IQ that goes by Ein, and a computer hacking wizard named Ed. Along with Spike and Jet, they travel the stars.

Review
I was browsing our reviews section for any big omission from our reviews archive, and as of this writing, no one had completely reviewed Cowboy Bebop. The first three volumes had been reviewed by three different people, but that was not a good enough indication of just how great this show is. Taking it upon myself to rectify such a huge problem, I am now here to review my favorite anime series, right next to Neon Genesis Evangelion and Trigun.

I won’t be one of those guys who likes to say that the first anime they got into is also their favorite one. ‘I got into anime through Bebop…and it still rocks!’ I’d seen plenty of anime before Bebop came around, and I wasn’t there to see it when it first came out in America either. I just happened to be flipping through the channels when I came upon Adult Swim and noticed they were airing the five ’story’ episodes of Cowboy Bebop. I tuned in right from the beginning to see what it was about, and didn’t stop till I saw the whole thing. What I saw was unlike any anime (or anything, for that matter) that I’d seen before. I hold very fond memories of that night and seeing this show.

The first thing to jump out to most people about Bebop is the absolutely-frickin’-tastic music. Yoko Kanno (also responsible for such great music in Escaflowne, Macross Plus, and Ghost in the Shell) created a mix of blues and jazz that resonates with the material like nothing else could have. The show fits the music more than the other way around for me. Another thing that pops right out about the show is its still wonderful animation, despite coming from 1998. Most shows from that time did not look this good, and a bunch still don’t. It’s a testament to Bebop’s wonderful production values.

Bebop is made up of a bunch of vignettes strung together by the main five characters. These guys go from one episode to the next, with rarely any connection from one to the other. Each episode delves into different themes and ideas, from the nature of man and God to blaxploitation. I love the episodic nature of this series, and despite that, you get a wonderful understanding of each character through their experiences, even though you don’t get much character background. There are episodes devoted to each character’s pasts, but they come few and far between. But I’ll bet you anything you’ll be hard pressed to not feel even a slight hint of sadness during the final episodes’s closing moments. Bebop is amazing.

The Breakdown
After all is said and done, is Cowboy Bebop really one of the best animes ever? Simply put: YES. I haven’t seen anything better, and only a couple of shows are equal in quality and enjoyability as to that of Bebop. I know there are Bebop-haters out there. To them, I say: you’re missing out. Bebop is overhyped, I agree. But take the hype away and you get one of the best animes of the last two decades.