Burn Up Excess - To Serve and Protect (Vol. 1) (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)After two to three years of letting the license for this anime sit on the shelf, ADV Films has finally decided to reenact this anime for US commerical release!
Generally, a person would not watch an anime like Burn-Up Excess for any sort of educational value whatsoever. It does not have heart-wrenching drama or a stunning story that makes you sit up and say "Wow!" Rather, a person would watch this if you needed something to laugh at. And Burn Up Excess provides lots to laugh about.
Enter Rio, the foremost character of Burn Up Excess (and the one you see on the front cover.) She's broke, she overspends, and her answering machine is loaded with messages from various bill collectors. To pay all this, she works at Policetown HQ. However, what's special about her (or her job, at least) is that she belongs to Team Warrior.
Team Warrior is a small elite crime squad that serves as a police special operations unit. Along with Rio in this unit are Maya, a green haired gun maniac, Yuji, a driver/pilot of all vehicles and part-time pervert, Nanvel, the mechanical genius, Lilica, the hyper computer hacker, and Maki, their boss, who is always cool and collected. Together, they face off against the many terrorist who would dare to take on the law, or Maya's big gun, or Rio's special-issue police baton, whichever is convenient.
Ladies might not be as appreciative of this series as most gentlemen would be. This series is absolutely loaded with "fan service," or raw appeal for men. There is much suggested nudity (nothing concrete), as well as four of the five Warrior ladies have huge chest that will definitely lead to back strain later in their lives. Added to this is ADV Film's patented Jiggle Counter, an extra that can be set to show how many times the breasts of the Warrior ladies bounce during the DVD. This show was obviously created with the male fan in mind.
So, if you feel you are in need of some laughs, then pick up this popular comedy/action anime, as there's a lot of fighting and loads of humor to be served up!

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Knights of the Zodiac - Battle of the Bronze Knights (Vol. 1) (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)As a Saint Seiya fan, I am utterly disgusted with what DIC did to the Saint Seiya/Knights of the Zodiac series. Not only is the original music cut, but the English dubbing is simply horrible. The voice-actors are mediocre but the dubbed script was unacceptably bad. If DIC insist on a English dub, at least they can put more effort in making a decent script.

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Martian Successor Nadesico - The Complete Chronicles (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)The hero who became...an anime fan?
Yes indeed, Nadesico is definitely the most enjoyable anime series I've ever seen. So what exactly is Nadesico? Basically, it's a Mecha comedy. But in actuality, it's much more than that. Most comedies go for one kind of laugh. Some shoot for all kinds, but some of the jokes fall flat. I can honestly say that Nadesico is a brilliant show. It makes fun of EVERYTHING. It makes fun of Mecha anime, it makes fun of sci-fi, it makes fun of video games, it makes fun pop culture, it even makes fun of the fact that some of it's puns are totally silly. And seemingly EVERY joke is hilarious. Seriously. It would seem almost impossible that you would not find SOMETHING funny in this show (especially if you find the stereotype of a kid turned hero or a guy being chased by tons of girls funny). But wait, there's more.
Not only is this show hilarious, it also features great characters that (once again) know they are the stereotyped kind and have fun with it. The voices (even in the English dub) are absolutely perfect. They convey everything from serious drama to wacked out comedy perfectly without skipping a beat. And then there is the plot.
The plot may seem on the surface to be just a parody of all the Mecha shows that have come and gone in recent history. But look closer, and you'll find that the plot twists and turns as well as any. Seriously, when the story and drama kicks into high gear, I'd rank this show with Macross any day.
But, you may ask, is every episode the same thing? Mecha action and comedy? No, indeed. The variety in the episodes is truly staggering. You have TWO World War II themed episodes (one about tank battles, another about submarine battles), an episode out of chronological order, a standing in space episode, a talent show episode, and of course a showdown epsisode (to mention just a few). And every single episode is flawlessly executed. Even the review episode is a brilliant take on the episode reviews in all Mecha sagas.
And for what it's worth, the animation and music in this show are both EXCELLENT. Don't belive me? Just watch the into and ending. Sure, lots of shows have great intros, and lots of shows have great endings. But both?
All in all, this is one of the most brilliant shows I've ever seen. The only show I could maybe compare to it is the excellent CGI cartoon show "Reboot". In it's third season, it also features epsidoes with parody famous movies and pop culture, and it also has a great story, cool characters, and an awesome plot. If you love Mecha anime, you must have this show. If you hate anime, you still need to try it. It is very balanced show, and you're sure to find something to love. Yes, you've probably seen battles, animation, characters, and plot like this before. But in this world, there's no such thing as originality (or as Picaso said "Good artists copy, great artists steal". Nadesico makes no bones about it, they're stealing. And they're artists.

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Sakura Wars TV: Complete Collection (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)Anyone interested in Sakura Taisen (Sakura Wars) - whether a fan of the games or just interested in the anime - should definitely watch this 5-disc compilation of the entire 25-episode run of the TV series. Be aware, though, that the story told in the TV series is slightly but significantly different from that told in the OAV (and also from that told in the new manga version, which is now being published in English in the USA). I definitely recommend watching the TV series BEFORE watching "Sakura Wars: The Movie", because otherwise the latter won't make much sense to you at all and the TV series provides a tremendous amount of character development missing from the OVA. (Also, I strongly recommend watching the TV series and the movie both before watching "Sakura Taisen: Ecole de Paris", since that particular anime takes place in the timeframe between the series and the movie.)
Note also: the TV series has a lot of emotional heft to it and can get dark, almost somber in places, but I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that everything works out in the end. HOW it works out, though, you'll just have to watch to find out! :)
P.S. On further thought, I wanted to put in a word here about the alternate-history background of this anime. Sakura Wars takes place in a timeline where steam appears to have become the dominant method of power generation and propulsion (right down to steam-powered telephones!!) and also where technology in this version of the 1920's is up to at least 1990's levels (computerlike machines and some form of virtual reality simulator are seen being used in several scenes, and there is obviously some kind of video technology as well). Also, socially and politically, the 1920's Japan of Sakura Wars seems to be a very different place from the 1920's Japan of our "real" time line - in fact, according to the new English translation of the manga, the characters for the Imperial era "Taisho" used in this series translate to "Broad Truth" in English, not "Great Truth" as in our actual history. Something to be aware of as you watch the show.

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It is the 1920s, and Japan is under attack by demonic invaders.The government has designed sturdy, albeit steam-owered, robot armor suits for the impending battle, but only young ladies with the proper combination of virtue and spirit can pilot the robots successfully.

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