Reviews

If you're looking for a great samurai story it doesn't get much better that Ruroni Kenshin.

Kenshin is just about the best samurai to ever pick up a blade, but now that Japan has settled into the peaceful Meiji period guys like him are no long needed. In fact, ex-samurai are scorned by the public in general. So Kenshin sets out to try and find a normal life for himself. In time Kenshin finds a home and friends in a Tokyo dojo but ghosts from his past keep popping up as do people out to destroy the new government. Kenshin, who has vowed never to kill again, isn't about to let anyone disrupt the new life he's built for himself. So such times come he reluctantly heads out to knock some heads.

I really just can't get over how great this show is. Richly draw characters, great action, compelling stories, romance, humor and more all set against a very real felling backdrop of late 1870's Japan. RK works not only as a good anime, but historical show as well.

One other thing I like about the show is the villains. RK's creator (whose name escapes me at the moment) is an admitted fan of American comics and you can see that in some of the villains. Psycho killer Jin-E bears an (pardon the expression) uncanny resemblence to Gambit from the X-Men. I've also seem elements of characters like Spawn, Wolverine, Omega Red, the Absorbing Man, the Incredible Hulk and Daredevil in some bad guys. Really cool.

In short, Kenshin is a show that belongs on the shelf of anyone who calls themself an anime fan.

This is the most amazing TV show I've ever seen. I'm not kidding when I say that EVA changed my life. I'll never be able to look at anime, manga, comics, TV...aw, heck. I'll never be able to look at anything the same ever again. The EVAs, Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Misato, Kensuke, Gendo and all the other characters have been forever burned into my mind, heart and soul. And I thank God for it every day.

The twists of the plot, the vivid characters, the AWESOME mecha and the music are all fantastic. You care about the kids and the rest of the cast like they were your own family and feel everything they feel. You can't help but wish it was you in the cockpit of an EVA, ready to go one-on-one with an Angel. And at the series' end you can't help but feel as if you've learned something very important.

I could go on about Evangelion forever, but I won't. I'll just say that it's the best anime I've ever seen and that it will always have a place of honor in my heart.

And remember, "Congratulations"!

"Otaku No Video" is to anime fans what "Trekkies" is to "Star Trek" fans. When you're watching this thing it's hard not to find yourself nodding "Yeah, that's me" or "I remember when that happened to me." ONV is something that anime fans can rally around and say with pride/shame "This is who we are!" The boys at Gainax were just brilliant with this. Not only are there more cameos and references to the world of anime/manga than even a Otaking can count, but they story is filled with characters that are just like people most anime fans know. And the interviews with "real" otaku are just a riot. And the thing that makes them funny is that you know that there really are guys like that out there. So otaku of the world take pride. Our mission to Otakunize the world has only just started!

More an update than a sequel, BGC 2040 is a worthy addition to the Bubblegum Crisis mythos.

In this version all the characters have been redesigned, some radically. Most noticeable is Linna who went from being aerobics instructor to, ugh, an office lady. Sylia also got a major overhaul but I think this one is a real improvement. Plus, the implication that reason that all the Knight Sabers are female may have a lot to do with Sylia's sexuality adds a fun fan service element to things.

While the impact of changes is something for fan debate, I for one like most of them. They make the old world of original BGC, which is starting to show it's age after 15 years, seem more modern and relevant.

Style wise, the updated version of the Boomers, the Hardsuits and other technology looks really good. When you see it it's not hard to imagine that things like them could one day exist. One of the best improvements is to the Boomers. Back in the old days they were very stiff and Terminator-like. Now they seem more bio-mechanical which only makes them more creepy.

It's should also be noted that the animation on this is above average for a TV show, the voice actors are all wonderful and the music just kicks butt. I absolutely love the opening theme "Y'know."

In short, BGC 2040 is a good modern spin on an anime classic. Give this one a spin.

"Bubblegum Crisis." Those are words you hear said with reverence from just about every anime fan. It's one of those shows that inspired so many imitators and so many fans. When you hear so much good stuff about anything you really have to wonder if it can live up to the hype. In my opinion it does.

One thing that surprised me was just how much time was spent on characterization. While you hear mostly about the action, BGC does devote a good amount of time to its characters. Even one-shot characters like Irene Chang and Vision are well drawn. But the focus is on the Knight Sabers and each of them get at least one very good moment.

BGC also comes with an array of fun secondary characters like sleazy informant Fargo, who's always hitting on Sylia, cops Leon NcNickel and Daley Wong, Dr. Raven, and Slyia's perverted little brother Mackie. These guys also have their little moments and add some comic relief.

One thing that surprised me was that this show wasn't as dark as I'd expected it to be. You hear a lot of talk about how Mega Tokyo is really grim and gritty and stuff like that. But except for Genom running just about everything, Mega Tokyo doesn't seem that bad to me. It's really no worse than New York during a high crime year.

While it may look a little silly now, for 1985 BGC was really something big. Besides, what doesn't look goofy after fifteen years? In the end its formula of four really cute women, some really great mecha, good villains, cool VAs and some pretty decent music works. This is one for any anime fan.

No doubt about it, Urusei Yatsura was one of the best anime series of the 80's. This tale of an alien princess, Lum, in love with the world's biggest lecher, Ataru, could only come from the wild mind of Rumiko Takahashi.

This fantastic comedy/sci-fi/romance is full of memorable characters like Ten, Sakura, Mendo, Shinobu, Ryunosuke, Ran, Cherry and a lot of others. The stories will have you busting out laughing and the animation is pretty good by 80's standards. The voice actors are all first rate, but a special round of applause must be given to Fumi Hirano for her portrayal of Lum. It's just to perfect for words.

So if you're an anime fan, your collection isn't complete without some UY in it. Da'cha!

Martial arts movies just don't get much better than this. You've got Bruce Lee doing all his best stuff, punching, kicking, and giving those weird martial artist screams.

The story, while not the greatest, is pretty good. It's simple, but does manage to have few good twists. I also thought the photography was rather impressive. If it weren't for the 70's haircuts and things like that, you'd have a hard time telling that this movie wasn't made today.

Overall, this movie has some flaws, but Bruce Lee's coolness and the awesome fights more than make up for it. Just watch and you'll see why "Enter the Dragon" is the standard to beat in martial arts movies.

This one had to be a no-brainer for MTV. People loved the voyeurism of "The Real World" so why not cram a bunch of twentysomethings into a Winnebago, send them out on the road and see what happens?As each season goes by we get to watch our "Road Rulers" drive across America, Europe, Australia, Canada, Central America or whatever, seeing the sites and taking part in weird activities set up by MTV. When the trip is over there's a lot of crying and everyone gets some really fabulous gifts.

Now if you've ever been on a long car trip you know that nothing will make your emotions run higher than being forced to spend many hours in a cramped space with someone. That's the appeal of the show. We get to watch these people scream and curse at each other one minute, and then blatantly flirt with each other the next. It's crude, but it's human drama at its most real. It's the sort of thing MTV will put on for eight hours at a time when they could be playing videos.

This isn't the best show ever, but if you want real human emotion and drama this is for you.

The only thing that really compares to this show is the movie "Scream." Both incorporated the knowledge all fans of each genre (horror for 'Scream' and mecha for MSN) to make something original and funny.

"Funny" being the prime word here. This thing is a riot! The entire crew of the Nadesico is made up the the biggest bunch of weirdoes this side of Jupiter. You've got a super-perky, dim, but, for no apparent reason, capable captain, a pilot obsessed with a cheesy 70's mecha show, a engineer who joined up just to get away from his wife, another pilot who just want to be a cook and for the captain to not be in love with him, a genius little girl you thinks everyone around her is an idiot (she's right), a beancounter, a former secretary, and a voice actor. Think 'Hogan's Heroes' meets 'BattleStar Galatica.

While the show is great, the US version has some flaws. The subtitled version is hard to read. For some reason a light blue color is used at times that's almost impossible to see. The dubbed version has screens that have had the kanji glaringly replaced with English.

On the plus side the VA in both versions are all very good. You also get the song lyrics in English and phonetics. That's a rather nice bonus.

MSN is a great parody of the mecha genre and to a greater extent anime fandom as a whole. The story is funny, but with enough serious stuff to keep things from getting to silly.

Overall, this is a good series to invest your anime-buying money in.

Castlevania was one of the first, and best, games released on the old NES system.

The story is pretty simple: You're Simon Belmont, vampire hunter. That jerk the Count has kidnaped your girlfriend, Sophia, and it's up to you to save her before the Count makes her into a snack. Armed with a variety of whips and other magic items (stakes, garlic, holy water, diamonds...) you must fight your way though the armies of zombies, ghouls, bats, hunchbacks, werewolves, Frankinstiens and other monsters that serve the Count.

Once you've made in though that you get to go man-to-monster with the main man himself. Can you put the Count down for the count?

Okay, enough. The fact is that Castlevania was one of the best video games of the 80s. It was challenging, fun and for the time had great graphics. But best off all was the music. I still remember the awesome Castlevania theme. It just rocked! The perfect music to go along with kicking some vampire butt!

There's only one thing in this world that could get me to watch a movie about religion. That's Kevin Smith. The guy's comic book fan (I love comics) and a great writer to boot.

Frankly, I don't see what all those religious types got so worked up about. This film is a satire and blatantly so. I mean, if there's anything in this world that's prime fodder for satire it's religion. Now it would have been easy for Kevin to turn this film into something that slams the Catholic Church, but he didn't. IMO, he made a movie that does point out the hypocrisies and follies of all religions, not just Catholicism, but also makes a good point about the importance of faith. It's not important what your faith is. What's important is that you have faith. I actually walked out of the theater feeling uplifted. And I'm an agnostic.

While it's a good movie, this flick does have some flaws. Two of the biggest are called Jay and Silent Bob. Now I love J&SB, but I really don't think they needed to be this movie. Sure, they were funny, but I think the film overall would have been better without them.

My other complaint is that so much stuff got left out. Like a lot of Kevin Smith fans I read the script for "Dogma" on the net way before it got to the theaters. Rufus' story about Mary and Joseph's sex life, and the "Fat Albert" scene didn't make the final cut. Which is a real shame since those were some of the funniest stuff in the script.

Overall, this is a good movie. It does what a good satire should: it makes you laugh and think at the same time.

I'd heard a lot about this movie over the years, so tonight when it was on AMC I decided to to see if it lived up to the hype. I was not disappointed. While there are some moments that make the movie rather dated, I'd say it's stood the test of time very well.

While the pace may be a bit slow, the story does a great job of building things up. The story is very thought provoking and makes a real comment on human nature. The characters, while a bit cliche at times, are sympathetic and well acted.

While the movie, overall, is very good it does have some flaws. I really felt that the story went to far in beating me over the head with the Klaatu/Christ parallel. Also, Gort is just silly looking. It's rather hard to be afraid of a monster so awkward that he makes Frankinstein look like a ballerina.

So while the film is a bit dated, it's still well worth your time to watch.

This is the show I've been waiting for! It's so great to finally see TV taking some risks again. I mean, until "Action" hit the airwaves I never knew you could say the word "humjob" on television. God Bless America!

I don't know what it is, but this show has magnetism. It's not that you like any of the characters. Peter Dragon is just about the most loathsome man you could ever hope to met. I'd bet that in a past life he was the one who ratted Anne Frank out to the Nazis. But Jay Mohr gives such life to the character you can't help but be draw to him. Even if it's just to see what cruel, twisted, slimy, selfish thing he'll do next.

And Peter is just the tip of the show's iceberg. You've got Wendy Ward, former child star turned drug addict and prostitute, turned Peter's employee/bedmate (she's the only person willing to say exactly what's on her mind). She played to perfection by Illeana Dougless.

The only really sympathetic character on the show is Adam Rafkin--a hack sitcom writer who managed to come up with a movie called "Beverly Hills Gun Club" which Peter thinks he can make into his next smash. Peter plays Adam like a fiddle which Adam responds to with a sort perplexed acceptance.

Buddy Hackett should also be given points for his performance as Peter's uncle Lonnie. He's head of security for Peter's studio, a job Peter probably gave him with the last once of compassion he had.

All in all, "Action" is edgy, innovative sometimes crude but always funny. A lot of things most shows aren't today. This is a program that takes chances and they pay off. Watch it!

For the record, I saw the dubbed version of this movie. The American voices are pretty good, but I still like the Japanese ones better.

Ataru and Lum's voices are in the spirit of their JP counterparts, but Lum just sounds a bit off. The NA voice, while still very good, just doesn't have that super sweet, cuteness her JP voice has. Atuaru's voice suits him, but doesn't quite give off that air of lechery his JP voice does. The other voice are all well done, with Sakura, Perm, Ten and Mendou being especially good. Mendou's VA really captures his arrogance.

As for the story, the only thing I can really compare it to is "Dark City." I know UY and Dark City are about as far apart as you can get, but both movies really convey the whole "What is a dream? What is real?" idea. While I was disappointed that this movie didn't have the wild physical antics we see on the show, I found myself enjoying the intelligent and philosophical script.

Overall, this film has a few flaws but I enjoyed it a lot. "Beautiful Dreamer" should be in the library of any anime fan.

Now this is something new. A romantic comedy set on a Japanese air base. "Airbats" does a great job of combining romance with some very funny humor. The characters are all very real and you can't help but root for the couples to get together. The animation and voice acting are wonderful and the flight scenes just kick butt. This is a anime you can watch with your girlfriend and you'll both enjoy it.

Since MTV isn't in the business of play music videos anymore (watch a few hours if you don't believe me) it's become a home to some of most offbeat comedies this side of FOX. The best of these shows is Daria. Now this is a show for those of us who were outcasts in high school! Daria navigates her suburban world of dumb jocks, mall chicks, detached parents, annoying siblings, teen angst, useless teachers, and all the other hells of teen life with a sharp wit and a sense of irony. Together with bohemian pal Jane Lane, Daria goes though her life just trying to get though high school with some sense of self-worth intact. As she once said, "I don't have low self-esteem. I just have low esteem for everyone else." This girl is my hero.

Dolph Lungren, the toughest man ever to come out of Sweden, teams with Brian Benben to stop a drug dealer from outer space. If you can get past the fact the Brain Benben is no action star, and that Dolph just can't act, this isn't a bad movie. Well, yes it is. But it's bad in an entertaining way.

The idea of a drug dealer from space peddling human brain chemicals is a pretty original concept. The bad guy's razor weapon rocks, and the way he only says "I come in peace" is fairly creepy. The film is shot pretty well and has some good action and decent humor. If you run across this flick on late night TV it's worth watching.

I don't know why people made such a big deal about this Kris Kristoffer vehicle. It come out in '87 when "glasnost" was part of everyone's vocabulary. You'd think a story about Russia taking over America (Yeah, right!) would be better than this. Instead we got an over-hyped, grueling TV movie that was as dull as a geology lecture. The only thing I liked was how the Soviet officer's uniforms made them look like storm troopers. BTW, did you notice that the regions the Soviets divided the country into match the spheres of influence of the Baby Bells? If you look closely you'll see that the Midwest was actually called "Ameritech." In short, the reason this movie isn't on video and will never be on TV is that it sucked.

This was such a great show! Johnny is the perfect character for a 90's teen adventure show. TRAoJQ had the great action-adventure feel of the 60's show, but gave it a cool 90's, sci-fi spin. Not everyone agreed with stuff like the introduction of Jesse and the new Dr. Zinn, but I thought they were great. Jesse was a awesome character and Johnny's equal in every way. Plus the romantic tension between them was fun. The new Dr. Zinn was much better than the 60's one. I was never afraid of the old man version.

Anyway, this is a great cartoon that meet its end way to early. Watch if you get the chance.

Now this is Sailor Moon! Awesome action, cool villains, romance, friendship and really short skirts. The usually overlooked Mamoru gets some of his best moments in this story. The flashbacks to his childhood are heartbreaking. The Senshi's fights with Foire and his flowers were some of the best action I've ever seen in anime. The nail-biting ending on the asteroid --with each Sailor's flashback to before they met Usagi-- is a must-see for any SM fan.

My only complaint is that I really hated Usagi and Luna's Japanese voices.

Forget "Cheers" and "The Cosby Show," for me "Night Court" will always be the best sitcom of the 80's. The cast was just great and the episodes were outrages. 80's TV didn't get much better than this.

Even though the premise may seem repetitive, this is a very creative show. They really aren't keeping the horse in the barn on this one. Every week there's a interesting mission or twist on the concept of time travel. The characters are very unique and are well portrayed. This is the best time travel show since Dr. Who.

This movie does stay very close to the comics. There is one major change involving Fairchild, but under the circumstances it's an understandable one. It's really great when you're watching the movie and thinking, "I remember this scene from the comics!"

The voices are mostly pretty good. Mark Hamil is awesome as Threshold! My only complaints are that Flea makes Grunge sound way to dumb and Bobby only gets a cameo. Oh well, at least Rainmaker got a few lines...

This is, hands down, the best horror/comedy movie since "Ghostbusters." Great one-liners, insane humor, romance, and action that makes "Die Hard" look like "Snow White." This is all possible because of Bruce Campbell. He is *the* underrated actor of the 90's. When Ash says "Hail to the king, baby," Bruce is the one that makes you want to bow.