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 Continue reading »
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 Continue reading »
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 complete 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;Japanese (uncut series)
