Miwa Satoshi

To add my two cents.

I've seen plenty of movies in my (relatively short) time on this planet, and I have to admit that very little truly impresses me anymore.

Then something comes along that reinstills the wonder of film into my heart like nothing else before it.

This first installment of the Lord of the Rings saga is so good, that no word or combination thereof can adequately describe just how good this is.

Trust me, if I could give this movie a fifteen out of ten, I would.

Fantasy fans rejoice, for JRR Tolkien's classic has been given the treatment it deserves.

Go watch this film.

I just about completely gave up on this anime after the first segment, which was a near carbon-copy of Tanin no Kankei, done badly. Chizuru, as the archetypal big-breasted anime Lolita, was heavily overdone, and the teacher was absolutely unrealistic (and hardly sympathetic). The "trick" ending came as no surprise, either.

The second half of the show, though, almost makes this show viable, with some hilarious scenes as Chizuru tries to come to terms with her own "Strange Love". However, Hen is hardly a groundbreaking title, and may only really be a good rental if you're bored and have nothing better to do.

Genocyber is one of the most repulsive, ultraviolent examples of anime I've had the misfortune of watching. With unsympathetic characters, low-budget animation, and an eerie fascination with blood and gore, Genocyber loses any moral message it tries to express in a bloodbath of proportions matched only by fellow Ohata Koichi titles such as MD Geist.

Many people think that titles like this are what makes anime worth viewing. I thoroughly disagree with that opinion. Genocyber has precious little coherent plot to go with the scenes of carnage it presents, and gratuitously adds sequences (for example) of children being little blown apart by helicopter gunships in slow motion.

Sure, it's not real, but should we be encouraging this kind of stuff by buying or renting this sort of sludge?

Granted, violence is a fact of life, and a fact of entertainment, but I can't possibly with any sense of conscience support or endorse this much glorification of violence for entertainment's sake. Especially in a title as pointless and overwhelmingly bad as Genocyber.

I really thought this show would be funnier.

Instead, we get a rather unoriginal and schizophrenic fantasy show, with character elements a little too reminiscent of Urusei Yatsura, with little of the charm, and a bit of S-and-M teasing to be "interesting".

Meanwhile, the storyline itself, which can actually be downright depressing, meshes quite badly with the whimsical naming scheme, and the actual animation, while serviceable, isn't great. The most exciting part of the series is the music, which is excellent, but hardly enough to carry the series.

Still, if you've had your Slayers fix, or need a follow-up to Maze Bakunetsu Jikuu, and need something to tide you over until they make an anime that does justice to the Dungeons and Dragons genre, you might want to give this show a try. But don't take it too seriously, okay?

Definitely aimed at children, this pun-laden, but endearing series is an entertaining show which shows what just might happen if all the fairy tale characters of yore went to grade school together.

The misadventures of the witch-in-training Chacha (Little Red Riding Hood), her childhood friend Riiya (a werewolf, or rather, werepuppy), and Riiya's rival for her affections, Shiine-chan (a budding magic-user who *tries* to be debonair) are enjoyable, and if you're not expecting a philosophically heavy series, a wonderful way to spend time, especially with children or young teens in the audience.

The one contrived bit of each episode is Chacha turning into a magical princess to defeat the day's villain (something which was absent from the original comic series). It shouldn't detract terribly from the viewing experience.

All in all, a good series that kids and adults can enjoy together (if you don't mind a bit of a sugary aftertaste).

Though not a great anime, Garaga was actually worth the rental price, featuring surprisingly slick action sequences with a decent storyline and characters.

Of course, one wouldn't expect this after seeing trailers of this title which feature the main character (Jay M. Jay, unfortunately one of the worst hero names conceived of in anime) slicing through a bunch of incommunicado apemen. ("Get the spaceman!")

It's not exactly like that, with the apelike Umlanga actually being a very important part of the plotline, and almost every character having some sort of ulterior motive or dark secret. Jay certainly has his hands full figuring out the secrets of the mysterious planet Garaga, and it's actually neat seeing an intelligent plot in a late '80s anime.

Unfortunately, the movie ends too abruptly, with an ending that's a bit of a letdown, but apart from that (and some utterly awful background music), it actually escapes being fodder for MST3K and ends up as a worthwhile viewing after all.

Not even Mystery Science Theater 3000 could save this abominable, brainless, and apparently self-indulgent dreck. Obviously it never occurred to the people involved in this movie that plot, characterization, and believability were actually important parts of a film.

Ironically, it's probably beyond recouped all its expenses because of our modern-day celebrations of bad cinema, but this isn't even fun in a campy way. Aargh! I want my brain cells back!

Well, I cried at the end of this movie too. And I'm a guy.

Though the 2nd movie (Shin KOR Ano Natsu ni Hajimaru/Summer's Beginning) does reconcile a lot of the situations caused in this movie, Ano hi ni kaeritai is all the ending that's necessary to this series. If you're a fan of romance stories, this is certainly one to watch, as it's beautiful, atmospheric almost to the point of unbearability, and very honest. Sure, the animation's a bit dated, but I've yet to see any American animated feature attempt this with even the least bit of seriousness.

Well worth your time, and I guarantee you'll never resort to WB teen soaps ever again!

This movie takes place two and a half years after the events chronicled in the original Aa Megamisama video series. As such, the relationships between the main characters (in particular Keiichi and Belldandy) have evolved offscreen to a certain point, and some characters that had been introduced in the manga only now make their first onscreen appearances.

However, that doesn't detract from this wonderful film, which, though very much a fantasy, is a story that is sweet, without being boring, and if a touch melodramatic, then not excessively corny.

Aa Megamisama the movie seemingly follows two tracks - examining the relationship between the mortal Keiichi and the seemingly submissive goddess Belldandy who has come to live with him - and examining Belldandy's own past, which is not as perfect as one would think. Especially when someone from that past starts a chain of events that could bring down all of Heaven.

It might take a while for this movie to be distributed on US shores, but it'll certainly be worth the wait.

Several of the readers have pointed out that the last few minutes of this film are "easily misunderstood" and "underappreciated".

They fail to make notice that nowhere in the preceding hour-plus of this film is there any indication that the events occurring were supposed to lead to the final scenes. Ikuhara Kunihiko is said to have added the ending "because he felt like it" (though this is perhaps at best apocryphal). Perhaps that's not the best way of deciding how to end a film, because the result seems, at least to this viewer (and not a few others) to be disjointed, uncalled for, and an utter letdown of the integrity of the artwork.

Until then, Revolutionary Girl Utena - Adolescence Apocalypse (not Utena's Adolescence as translated here) is a simmeringly angsty, almost erotic film that is visually entrancing and unique, not unlike Angel's Egg and the Urusei Yatsura films in surreality and possibilities of interpretation. So the ending just seems that much sillier and disappointing as a result of the comparison with those other films.

Though Ikuhara may have been searching for something truly symbolic in his ending to this film, his self-indulgent ending dooms this work to only marginal importance, which is far less than this movie, or this series deserves.

After watching Dragon Half, Elf Princess Rane, and Kodomo no Omocha, one would think the Japanese couldn't possibly produce something crazier than those series. Excel Saga not only proved me wrong, but proved just how completely inadequate words can be when you're trying to describe an animated feature.

From the opening credits (a rather odd spoof of Japanese pop videos that includes the two main characters lipsynching to the opening song while in strange backdrops (like men's communal baths) to the ending song, where Menchi the dog sings (with a human interpreter in a little square in the corner) while various condiments are sprinkled over her, this series lampoons just about anything and everything.

While it's not always coherent, it's energetic and funny, and there's nothing like watching a series that tries to off its own creator (in this case the original comic writer) at least twice an episode. (And the main character dies at least twice as often as that!) If maybe not quite as creative as FLCL, it certainly pulls everything off a lot cleaner.

Excel Saga is an anime beyond words ... a "Weird Anime" indeed.

This alternately hilarious and poignant series is simply one of the wildest emotional roller-coasters Japan has produced, and it's quite simply a lot of fun. As Miki and Yuu weather all manner of things while coming to terms with their attraction to each other, you feel all the mood swings a high schooler can have. It's like returning to your teenage years, even if they all just happen to be high-class Japanese who vacation every other week. Marmalade Boy appeals to the high schooler in all of us - and let's hope this series gets the exposure in the Western world it deserves.

Prince of the Sun has to be one of the funniest films I've seen in a while. From the horrendous special effects, to the horribly done attempts at comedy ("I'm invisible, you can't see me!"), to how everyone has a quaint grasp of the Queen's English despite never quite matching the mouth movements...it's silly, and it's a pity MST3K never got a hold of this thing.

I can't rate it a one. Oh no. It's too entertaining for that. But don't expect it to win any awards, unless they have "Raspberry" somewhere in the title. Prince of the Sun is so bad, it gives a whole new meaning to trash cinema - so rent it if you can!

Fairy Princess Rane is one of the laugh-out-loud funniest OAVs of 1995, and it's definitely a must-see for fans of comedy anywhere. I'd hate to see it dubbed though...the machine-gun dialogue and numerous dialects used within make it hard enough to translate into subtitles! With zany jokes you may never see coming to some of the downright silliest dialogue ever heard in an anime, it's a ride you'll definitely enjoy. It's just too bad it's so short!

Hayao Miyazaki really put his heart and soul into this film...and it shows. Porco Rosso is simply one of the most...perfect movies I have seen. Imbued with Miyazaki's light-hearted sense of humor, yet set in the very real danger of pre-WW2 Fascist Italy, this is one animation that desperately needs to see the light of day in America. The aerial scenes are some of the best I've ever seen - the art style is lush and poetic (the Adriatic never looked better on the screen) and the characters are appealing... and very human, all with their faults and virtues. Porco is best of all...with his world-weary personality, and his penchant for wine and women, he seems an unlikely hero...if he weren't so truly noble inside. Here's hoping Disney does this film the justice it deserves!

A video made by otaku, for otaku, about otaku. This is what Gainax set out to do in 1991, and it not only succeeds, but is the funniest (yet hilariously true) view of the obsessive fanatic I have seen! Any seasoned fan of anime will be brought to a smile by the tongue-in-cheek look in the mirror that Gainax has produced. From the joys of cosplay and the endless nights of watching tapes...garage kits and the industry in-jokes...cel thieves, magical girls...it's all here, folks! And the fake live-action otaku interviews are simply priceless. Watch...and learn. Maybe someday you too will aspire to be...the Otaking.