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Synopsis:
Lucy, one of a race of mutated humans called a Diclonius, has just escaped from a government research facility that had been studying her bizarre race. The Diclonius are born with a rare disease that give them two cat-ear like horns and are able to control transparent telekinetic "vectors" which can be used from simple things such as moving items around to destroying anything within it's reach. For seven years Lucy had been tested and tortured but endured everything until her time came for revenge upon her captors and life itself and eventually escapes by carving a path of destruction and with no regard for human life she makes her way to the outside world. Before she gets away however Lucy is shot at with a .50 caliber rifle that breaks a metal helmet she still had on her head and knocks her into the sea. The next day while at the beach, university student Kohta finds Lucy battered and bruised on the beach but the only thing she is capable of saying is "Nyuu" and she isn't even aware of her surroundings. Since Kohta is a maintenance man for his cousin's inn he takes Lucy (who he calls Nyuu since that's all she knows how to say) to the inn to take care of her and maybe help her recover her memory.
Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 14 (13 + 1 OVA)
Review:
Watching the first seven minutes of Elfen Lied is like having a championship boxer punch you in the gut with all his strength and leave his fist there while grinning right in your face. This is how Elfen Lied attacks you upon your initial view as this series throws senseless blood and violence your way with a no holds barred attitude. Simply put, Elfen Lied is an amazingly powerful series that will have you questioning the length at which revenge can be taken. Through the 14 episodes you learn about Lucy's past and how she is connected to Kohta while the government makes it's move to try and locate Lucy and eliminate her at any cost. What's scary is how Elfen Lied presents it's cast of characters and how they are all tied together somehow by some coincidence and everyone's life has an impact to the main story whether it be past or present. You can't decide whether to love or hate Lucy/Nyuu as you'll question that if her means of revenge are overcompensating her saddened past or if Nana (another Diclonius) is being too naive in her attempt to please everyone around her by doing the right thing no matter what may happen to her. With a few plot twists and a haunting tale of revenge, humanity, the reclaiming of forgotten pasts, and an ending that will linger in your mind for a long time to come... Elfen Lied should not be missed
Elfen Lied (trailer)
Recommendation: |Extremely High|
Media type: DVD
From: Section23/ADV
Spoken languages: English;Japanese
Subtitles: English
Synopsis:
Set in the fantasy world of Guardia, our story takes place in some unknown time as we see young Red Lynx sky pirate Coud Van Giruet (or just Coud) about to embark on another raid for treasure. However, the rest of the crew isn't so fond of having Coud tag along since he tends to act before thinking which causes more trouble for than the Red Lynx than any enemy that they face. Excluded from the recent raid Coud decides to check out the teams most recent plunder in the store room and finds a coffin. Curious, he takes a closer look and see that it contains a young girl with a huge jewel that is just laying on top of her seemingly lifeless body. Well, since no one is looking, Coud decides to take a closer look at the jewel but when he removes it the girl awakens and her first words she says to him after an awkward moment of silence is "I hate all humans." then slowly walks away. As Coud is about to go after her the ship is suddenly attacked by some unknown military force determined to take the girl they found away, but for some unknown reason Coud decides to protect this strange girl named Reverie Metherlence from everyone. When Coud and Reverie are both backed into a corner during the fight she reveals her true identity as an Elemental Gelade, a living weapon, and fuses with Coud as a giant sword on his right arm. After a lengthy fight Coud learns that Reverie (or Ren) wants nothing more than to find her homeland, with a smile on his face Coud says he promises to help her no matter what it takes.
Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 26
Review:
I'll admit, when I first started watching this anime I was really put off by the animation and the somewhat lame setting it started with. But, when the shows saving grace, Ren, hit the screen I felt like I was slapped in the face as what I was watching was telling me "take another look..." and her character made me sit up and pay more attention and watch Elemental Gelade from a new angle. From the very first episode this series will actually present you with two stories that walk hand in hand very well from beginning to end one being the overall story about the gelades as humanoid weapons and then the other about relationship of Coud and Ren. But at one point the main story starts to get overshadowed by their mysterious romance and at you'll start losing focus on the main story and start finding yourself going from episode to episode wondering what will happen with Ren and Coud instead.
But you know what? This won't bother you in the least because this fantasy style romance is so well paced that it's what really makes this series unique in it's own way. It's interesting to watch Ren cope with feelings even though she doesn't know what they are and Coud accepts Ren as a person and not a weapon of power and the difference in species doesn't affect him at all.
Although the overall story is a bit weak and the animation kind of dated looking, the extremely powerful romance presented here more than makes up for everything. When it's all said and done you'll get complete closure that might even leave a smile on your face. Recommended to watch at least once if anything, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Elemental Gelade (opening)
Recommendation:|Above Average|
Media type: DVD
From: Geneon/FUNimation
Spoken languages: English;Japanese
Subtitles: English
Synopsis:
What if everything you had, everyone you knew, was gone in an instant? Would you actually miss them? Would you realize you were taking everything for granted? Maybe the real person behind your mask would finally reveal itself when faced with this dilemma. These are the questions self absorbed little brat Mirai Onozawa asks herself when her and her younger brother Yuki are caught in a massive earthquake while visiting Odaiba for a robot exhibition. The little boy that she found to once be annoying becomes a beacon of strength for her to return home with through a city ravaged by mother nature.
Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 11
Review:
Here we have a show taking on somewhat of a different angle in terms of storytelling. What we get is a show that tells us about how mankind works together when opposing an uncontrollable force, the Earth itself. As you watch you see everyone does what they can to help each other survive in a time of desperation and also explores the outcome of such devastation. But that's not Tokyo Magnitudes main focus either as it also shows how these turn of events affect one girl and her self-centeredness when she's given the mass destruction she wished would happen for so long. Her outlook on life changes as she realizes she needs to open up and rely on others and also that life at home isn't so bad. As the turn of events unfold she starts to regret her attitude towards her family, and now the young little brother she found so annoying is now her only reason to return home. At first, I completely despised Mirai and just wished someone would slap the shit out of her but as the show progressed you actually begin to understand her bitterness somewhat when she begins to realize how unwarranted it was. Mirai's character growth is amazingly well portrayed and will have an impact on the audience in that you just can't bring yourself to hate this girl like you once did in the very beginning.
Now if you're thinking "An Earthquake destroys Tokyo? Awesome! Let the body-count rise!" Let me stop you right there because that's not what the show is about. It's more like about what happens *after* the Earthquake and how people deal with it. No one person is looking out for themselves but rather what they can do to work together to survive against an un-opposable force. What you get is a remarkable, yet sad, coming of age story of human survival. An excellent and short anime that is worth it's small time investment
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (opening)
Recommendation: |High|
Synopsis:
Mahoro is a battle android, she is extremely powerful and fast but being revered as the greatest fighting machine ever created has it's price... she has a rather short life span of only a few years. As our story opens we see Mahoro being given a choice from her superiors, retire with a remaining life span of 398 days or continue to fight which will shorten her life span to just 30 days. With an old debt to repay Mahoro retires and heads to Earth to look after Suguru Misato a junior high student whose father happened to be Mahoro's commander that she was forced to kill during an alien terrorist attack. Unbeknownst to Suguru that his father was even a space commander, he hires Maharo as a maid to take care of him since living on his own has started to take it's toll.
Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 26
Review:
What we have here is a potentially great premise for an over the top hilarious series, but as it turns out it's only average at best... and that's giving more credit than it's due. What this anime wants to do is combine two types of story telling of comedy and dramatic sci-fi and in the end it's shoving way too many story elements in your face and tries to give you closure in a very short period of time. The series could have worked better had only one path been followed but instead it feels like the show goofs off with showing you things like Mahoro cleaning the house, a school festival, Suguru hiding his porn collection, and then towards the end... a near death android battle which, while cool, was out of place with the rest of the events in the season. It doesn't help that all the characters except for Mahoro and Suguru that go with this plot are easily forgettable and you probably won't even remember their names during the show nor will you care. Even the relationship between Mahoro and Suguru seemed to be stuck in neutral until the very end where the series tries to wrap that all up with one episode which only felt like it was taking the easy way out before rolling the credits.
With primitive animation and it's lazy plot that has you going through the motions and then tries to tie all it's loose ends within the last two episodes of the second season, Mahoromatic isn't one I'd recommend all that much. Granted the show does have it's moments but the heavy sci-fi undertone could have been dropped altogether to make this a fun series... but instead, all it does is dig plot holes leaving one of the worst told final episodes I have seen to date. Although semi-enjoyable, by passing on this series you're not missing much.
A tribute to Mahoromatic
Recommendation: |Below Average|
Media type: DVD
From: Hentai Filmworks (Hm? What's that? Whoops, my bad...) I meant Sentai Filmworks
Spoken languages: English;Japanese
Subtitles: English
Synopsis:
Set in an unknown land on a parallel yet different timeline we follow Yajiro Kojima who has dedicated his life to becoming a master swordsman and refuses to fight any battles with a firearm. However, when his lord is kidnapped by a group of gunmen he then launches a frontal assault on the gunmen with his fellow samurai which fails miserably. During a retreat to regroup Yajiro happens across a young, busty woman, taking a bath in a hotspring that introduces herself as Rushuna Tendo. With the enemy in pursuit Rushuna hides Yajiro in the hotspring with her and camouflaging his face against her gigantic yabos. After the gunmen pass, she explains that she is traveling the countryside to spread the word of her ultimate battle strategy which is to remove the enemy's will to fight. Yajiro then hears a renewed assault on the enemy fort and leaves to rejoin the battle, however Rushuna follows him. When she arrives at the battlefield Rushuna explains that she needs to go through the fort to continue her travels, within a blink of an eye she incapacitates the entire army of enemy gunmen with a lone pistol and a seemingly endless supply of bullets stored in her cleavage, and without killing a single person. After recovering the lord of his samauri tribe Yajiro vows to follow Rushuna on her travels determined to find out more about this pleasant yet deadly woman and her bizarre mission in life.
Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 12
Review:
Although it may sound intriguing, blonde-haired babe with big knockers, legs-a-plenty, and god-like accuracy with a gun, Grenadier still falls into line with a lot of typical anime with this type of character. If you're just getting started in watching anime, this does come across as pretty damn cool as the gunfights are quite imaginative and present some sweet choreography, but for me I've seen this type indestructible superbabe all too often and while it's not necessarily a bad thing, it does get a bit old. The main downside with Grenadier is that the characters lack alot of originality and don't present themselves well as their own person and get heavily overshadowed by Rushuna's presence and you tend to find yourself losing interest when she isn't on screen, which isn't very often. The antagonists that Rushuna encounters through her travels do have some merit and are unique but it seems that the thought put into them gets lost as there are just too many to be presented well in a short 12 episode span and therefore are taken out by Rushuna and Yajiro in a matter of minutes and are quickly forgotten.
If you're looking for brainless action with no sense of seriousness then check out Grenadier because at no time does this show take itself seriously and even puts comedic elements at just the right places to lighten the mood. But if you're looking for a solid story to back up the onscreen firefights with a dark aura of seriousness then you just might want to keep looking. I do recommend Grenadier but it's one of those shows that you really have to be in the mood for because Rushuna's cuteness and positive attitude prevent the show from sinking into the realm of despair even when she is causing massive destruction.
Grendier (opening)
Recommendation: |Average|
Media type: DVD
From: Anime Works/Meida Blasters
Spoken languages: English;Japanese
Subtitles: English
Synopsis:
Keitaro who just failed his entrance exam to Tokyo U... again. Down on his luck he gets a message from his grandmother that she needs help running her dormitory. With nothing better to do while studying for the next exam, Keitaro accepts. However, once he gets there he quickly realizes that it's an all girls dorm. All the residents deem him as unacceptable and constantly give him trouble and usually end up kicking his ass in some form or another. Instead of backing down, Keitaro busts his ass to be accepted as the new manager.
Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 30 (25 episodes and 5 OVAs to bring total closure)
Y'know, I don't know what the deal is with harem anime but I find them so freakin' hilarious. Anyway... Love Hina, probably one of the better shows I've sat through. For Love Hina, it's loaded with slap-stick comedy and there really is no plot because something changes from episode to episode. What keeps it going strong is watching each character change thier view towards Keitaro and eventually form some kind of bond with him and everyone starts looking out for one and other. But then there's Naru, she and Keitaro are *constantly* fighting but of course... start taking a liking to each other. The whole series blends comedy and romance just right and it can be summed up in one word, fun... including the three follow up movies. I watched it, I liked it, but that's just my opinion. Yes, the English track is utterly horrid and the intro song is corny as hell.
To get the full story on Love Hina you'd have to watch the entire series first followed by the Christmas Special, the Spring Special, and finally Love Hina Again which brings this great series to an epic closing.
Love Hina (opening)
Recommendation: |Above Average|
Media type: DVD
From: FUNimaition/Bandai Entertainment
Spoken languages: English;Japanese
Subtitles: English
*Note - FUNimation failed to obtain the entire series and all they offer is the original 25 episode series without the OVAs. This is makes the anime incomplete and a total waste without them which can only be summed up in two words... EPIC FAILURE! Unless they can provide us with the complete series from start to finish with OVAs included on DVD like Bandai did then just pass on it altogether. It's not worth your hard earned cash as it is!
Synopsis:
Naomi Armitage makes her return in Dual-Matrix but not as a smart-mouthed loose-cannon cop but this time as a family oriented mother hell bent on revenge for robot rights. Yes, robots and humans co-exist but these robots aren't always obedient and sometimes think for themselves and there is a system of government in place to pass a law that either allows robots to live as they please or become slave-like to obey humans. Armitage is the only successful "third" type android to exist which is ridiculously human-like capable of human emotion and conceiving life... yes, she can get pregnant. She also has the ability to perform telepresence which allows her to hack any system and also connect to other robots. Dual-Matrix picks up as Armitage and her husband Ross are beginning to have a normal life on Mars (which is, of course, colonized) under assumed names with thier daughter Yoko. Armitage receives a video signal from earth that displays other third type robots such as herself in a research lab getting slaughtered (destroyed?) by soldiers in mech suits. Armitage decides to take it upon herself and head to earth to investigate the incident and dons her leather suit and computerized sun-glasses once again.
Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 1 (it's a movie)
Review:
Just a note to start Dual-Matrix is a sequel to Poly-Matrix. I had seen the original Arimitage III a very long time ago so if you haven't watched Armitage III or Poly-Matrix (which are almost the same thing) then you might wanna check those out first.
The expansive worlds that Dual-Matrix drops you into is impressive as it's vision of the future is quite original. Nothing ever feels displaced and every little detail shows some sign of what technology could be in years to come. To me, this really stands out especially for a 90 minute movie instead of a lengthy series. You'll find yourself instantly connecting with the protagonist Armitage as her strong will and cocky attitude while maintaining her family woman mindset make for one original character and you'll even find yourself cheering her on in almost every battle. Even the other people in the story have a sense of individuality that helps everyone stand out in thier own way whether they be hero or villain. There is no trip into anyone's past as it's doesn't seem necessary because what you're getting in the present is good enough it would simply be wasting time.
The animation here is above average but I didn't appreciate the primitive CGI used in some scenes with it's low color palette that stuck out like a sore thumb... badly. You're also given a cast of characters that are either welcome or despicable put into an imaginative universe making Dual-Matrix stand nicely on it's own and with this combination I would recommend it. But please, watch Poly-Matrix or Armitage III (if you can find it) first. Yeah, the English track was good but I've come to expect this from Pioneer releases.
Armitage III: Dual-Matrix (trailer)
Recommendation: |Above Average|
Media type: DVD
From: Geneon
Spoken languages: English;Japanese
Subtitles: English
Synopsis:
In the distant future Mars is now inhabited due to Earths over-population, humans and robots (called seconds) are co-existing but the fight for robot rights rages on. More advanced robots called 'thirds' are considered 'too human' and are deemed illegal but robot right activists want all robot types to be accepted as equals and become part of normal society. However, someone has made it their responsibility to eliminate all third types in existence since they are quite rare and to make sure that humans are only existing for humans. On the case is loose-cannon cop Naomi Armitage with her sexy outfit wearing unorthodox manner of solving crimes and recent transfer from Earth fellow officer Ross Sylibus. Ross is assigned to the case even though he despises robots from some unknown reason he won't speak of but the more time he spends with Armitage as his partner the more his opinion of robots and humanity changes as he slowly realizes that she is also an illegal third type robot.
Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 1 (originally it was 6 episodes long, not 1 90 minute "movie")
Review:
Poly-Matrix is supposed to be a stand alone movie. However, what it really is, is a *heavily* butchered version of a 4 OVA (Original Video Animation or 'direct to video') series called Armitage III that's taking a 140 minute anime and cutting to down to 90 minutes. 140 minutes... 90 minutes... so it's gonna *really* be hard for me to focus on any positive points but since the original Armitage III set is hard to find and you can't rent it then I'll have to try and look at it from that point-of-view. But I originally watched it on laser disc so if that's not a dead giveaway of how long I been watching this stuff then I don't know what is.
I always liked this series as I found it to be quite original using the 'humans and robots' story that can sometimes feel like it's tired from it's constant usage. Armitage III takes this plot and sticks it into a cyberpunk world that really shows it's originality by combining great animation and a soundtrack that fits perfectly using classic 80s sounding cheesy keyboard pop rock. This gives the entire movie a great dated feeling that makes it look like it was pushing the limit of technology at the time it was created. The thing about this butchered version though is that our two protagonists have had all shreds of characterization stripped from them leaving Ross looking like a 7 foot tall mannequin that's just being lead around and accepting everything he's told and Armitage going from kicking ass one minute to being depressed the next while questioning what she really is. This ultimately leaves you with a movie that sort of feels flat as you'll have trouble connecting with the characters since they will be rapidly changing their emotional state but enough of the plot is intact to still make it worth checking out. It still remains better than it's sequel Dual-Matrix.
I was disappointed with the DVD as it doesn't have the original Japanese track with it and you have to deal with Elizabeth Berkley and Keifer Sutherland trying to make an extra paycheck. While Berkley did a decent job with Armitage, Sutherland's performance as Ross sounded like he just phoned his lines in and called it a day. Branding anime with familiar names doesn't mean it's going to make it any better.
Armitage III (original opening)
Armitage III: Poly-Matrix (trailer)
Recommendation: |Average| for the movie, |High| for the uncut OVA series
Media type: DVD
From: Geneon
Spoken languages: English (movie), English;Japanese (uncut series)
Subtitles: None (movie), English (uncut series)
