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Synopsis
When she was little, Utena was very sad for her mother and father had passed away. A traveling prince wrapped her in a rose scented embrace and gently wiped her tears saying ‘never to lose that strength or nobility…’ He gave her a signet ring saying it would one day lead Utena to him. So impressed was she by him that she vowed to become a prince herself. Now a student of Ohtori Academy, Utena finds herself enveloped in the true meaning of the rose signet, the symbol of a duelist fighting for the power to revolutionize the world.

Review
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The Breakdown
If you want true sword duels get Kenshin. Otherwise this is a good variation combining elements of a love story, fairy tale, and action sequences.

Synopsis
Meiji Era year 27- On his way homebound, Kenshin became shipwrecked on sea. Half a year has gone by since his sudden disappearance. Kaoru waits daily portside for her lover’s return recalling times past all the instances when Kenshin had come through for her. In the meantime, Kenji, the child of Kenshin and Kaoru, had left his Tokyo home to obtain greater strength with the sword, a strength that will surpass his father’s.

Review
Unlike the first OVA that took place prior to the anime series, Rurouni Kenshin Seisouhen OVA is set years after the anime series. Composed of two episodes with the second twice as long as the first drawn in the same animation style as the original four part OVA, Seisouhen gives a glimpse of the future of the Kenshin-gumi. The protagonists of the anime, Kenshin, Kaoru, Yahiko, and Sanosuke, have not been immune to change. Kenshin passes down the Sakabatou to Yahiko and decides to help the less fortunate, those who are ill, and those who are suffering from pain sort of like a missionary. Kaoru, now Kenshin’s wife, raises his son until she herself falls ill. Yahiko fulfills his dream of growing up to be a master swordsman just like Kenshin. Sanosuke, still wearing the white jacket with the letter “aku” on the back, apparently has not had a shave or hair cut for quite some time but is nevertheless as arrogant as ever.

In addition, Seisouhen has been criticized for covering the Revenge Arc so briefly, with a short fight scene between Kenshin and Enishi. It is more romanticized though comparing Kaoru’s love for Kenshin with Enishi’s love for his sister, Tomoe. The story of Kenji carries the theme of the prodigal son. The father he knew was not the idolized and legendary Hitokiri Battousai. Thus, he leaves for Kyoto to learn the strongest technique there is, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. It is up to Yahiko to defeat the hardheaded youth and to show him the way once again. Seisouhen comes to an end with the symbolic reunion between Shinta and Kaoru.

The Breakdown
Rurouni Kenshin Seisouhen OVA concludes the Rurouni Kenshin saga. More serious like the first OVA, no “oros.” The only exception might be Sanosuke who maintains his charm. Another must see for all must Rurouni Kenshin fans.

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

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

Synopsis
Years after the battle against the Tokugawa, there are those who still carry the stains of bloodshed. Shigure Takimi beheld the final moments of Gentatsu’s death by the hand of Hitokiri Battousai. Now, Shigure leads the second generation of Shougi Tai rebels to put an end to the corruptive forces of the Meiji government. One man is destined to confront him, Himura Kenshin. Will Kenshin be able to bring peace to their overlapping pasts, or will Shigure invoke another civil war?

Review
Rurouni Kenshin The Movie sets after the Kyoto Arc and the fight with Shishio, but centralizes around the death of Gentatsu. Graphics and music are drawn straight from the anime series providing a familiar feeling of watching an episode, only three times as long. Kaoru, Yahiko, Sanosuke, and even Saitou make their appearance. The fighting scenes are action packed as expected with Sanosuke’s Futae No Kiwami and street punk attitude, Saitou’s gatotsu and his Aku Soku Zan philosophy, climaxing in a dramatic finish between Kenshin’s Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and Shigure’s Saiki Kanuma Ryu styles. Definitely a must see for all Rurouni Kenshin fans.

The Breakdown
The fighting scenes are action packed as expected with Sanosuke’s Futae No Kiwami and street punk attitude, Saitou’s gatotsu and his Aku Soku Zan philosophy, climaxing in a dramatic finish between Kenshin’s Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and Shigure’s Saiki Kanuma Ryu styles. Definitely a must see for all Rurouni Kenshin fans.

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

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

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

Synopsis
At the Yokota Base in Japan, a nervous American military is on the brink of the Vietnam War. But a greater threat exists within the walls of the heavily-guarded compound: Vampires.
A team of top-secret undercover agents learn of these blood-sucking fiends, and dispatch the mysterious Saya to hunt down and destroy them. This beautiful yet dangerous girl must use her extraordinary abilities and lethal Japanese sword to save the humans from these sinister creatures of the night..

Review
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The Breakdown
Saya, pretty but deadly hehe. What’s with this!? A female vampire slayer in a school uniform? Blood is a good watch, and its not confusing at all, just straight forward throughout the show.

Synopsis
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Review
BS#6 is based on the hit manga Blue Submarine No. 6 in 1960 by Ozawa-san. The scientist Zorndyke has seemingly turned his back on humanity, creating a race of beast/ people to challenge the humans for global supremacy. Now it’s up to Mayumi Kino, a young female pilot, Tetsu Hayumi, a jaded veteran soldier and the flagship, the Blue Submarine No. 6. to stop him. About 90% of the show was done in 3D, the action, water, and the mechs. As I was watching BS#6, I was wondering if this series will be the same hit if it was done all in 2D. Turns out that without the 3D effects, BS#6 overall, would be dull.

The Breakdown
BS#6 is good when there isn’t anything else to watch, of course this series had the most 3D effects I’ve seen that actually made a difference in the overall product.

Synopsis
Let me give a quick summary as to what Boys Be is. Boys Be is a show where Boys date Girls. The whole show seems like a dating simulation game. (Ed. - Very popular in Japan, But still haven’t made a splash in the USA. Only release I can tink of is Thousand Arms for Playstation one.)

Review
There are sad times and happy times in Boys Be. Kyoichi Kanzaki the main character and Nitta Chiharu (female main character) are friends since childhood. The 13 episodes of Boys Be show their relationship and friendship of a group of friends.
Of course, you won’t be just seeing this main character relationship; you’ll see others too. All are quite interesting ^_^.

The flaw in Boys Be is that it’s sometimes too similar to a dating simulation game. Almost the same as Tokimeki Memorial series of games.

The Breakdown
Boys Be is pretty realistic. It shows that the main character doesn’t always get the girls, but then a 360 degrees turn happens…

Synopsis
Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 is bubblelicious! I love this series. It’s a remake of the very successful classic… guess what it’s named? Bubblegum Crisis, silly! It’s about this underground group of girls know as the Knight Sabers, who fight these robots called ‘Boomers’ when they malfunction and go on a rampage like Godzilla looking for his next movie sequel. The Knight Sabers do this incognito, so they try and get things done before the police get there.

Review
The ‘Boomers’ have taken the place of the workers who do routine jobs and are basically everywhere in Tokyo. Priss (the main character) has heard about this underground organization on the web and will do anything to find out how to join them. I couldn’t believe that this series is so entertaining. Everything about it is great. The music (Neo Techno stuff) is excellent and fits the scenes perfectly. The voice acting is superb (except for Leon’s, It’s a little to gruff for me). The character design is great (but you can definitely see El- Hazard inspired designs in this series too. Boy, I didn’t think that series had such an impact on characters. It’s everywhere now).
The new designs for the exo-suits the Knight Sabers wear are extremely cool too. The effects used in BC 2040 are revolutionary. It’s one of the first times I’ve seen computer graphics seamlessly integrated into hand-drawn animation done right (the other time is in Serial Experiment’s Lain). On a down note, the series really losses it’s budget near the final chapters and the animation drops dramatically. What happened? The story started losing steam in the latter half of the series also. Even though BGC 2040’s bubble popped near it’s finale, I still recommend it.

The Breakdown
If you’ve seen the original BGC or not, this updated version is worth a viewing. One question though…Why is it called Bubblegum Crisis? Is it because they are in a sticky situation?

Synopsis
Team Warrior is Back! Ready, aim, and fire up for animated adventure with Team Warrior! Join rowdy Rio and her friends – the machine-gun maniac Maya, the lovely Lilica, tech talent Nanvel, guy Friday Yuji, and their boss Maki – as they take on four of their hottest cases ever!
Mechanical insects, firefighting jewel robbers, panty thieves, sexy shieks, and fawning fathers – there’s never a dull moment when the babes of Burn-Up Excess are on the job!

Review
After all that waiting ADV made us do. Finally the sequel to Burn-Up W is released. Boasting the one and only ADV jiggle counter for the perverts out there :P.

Burn-Up eXcess, takes off right where the OVA left off, after the hotel incident in the OVA, Team Warrior is back to deal with a tower incident in episode one. A terrorist group has taken control of the Neo Tokyo tower and demands their requests be made or else their little insect friends wouldn’t be too happy.

Now, who else to turn to other than Team W? Not much has yet to be revealed about the bad lady who’s in three episodes causing havoc out of four. Only that she is working for a group of unknowns.

Anyways, I liked Burn-Up from the first day so I enjoyed the ecchi humor and crazy action scenes that are really just crazy. Rio and the gang are back and are going to be waiting your local video store.

The Breakdown
It’s nice to see Team Warrior back for action, I’m surely glad they did!