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Reviews
Abenobashi mahô shôtengai (2002)
Why did it have to be Gainax?...
This series was a bit entertaining. Oh, all right, it was quite funny...at first. But near the end of the next-to-last disc Gainax started leaving its fingerprints on the series. See, Gainax, the makers of Neon Genesis Evangelion, has this fixation on ending all their series as though they're all epic sagas. Every series must be brought to a huge conflict, and then after much philosophizing be brought to a sudden end that doesn't solve the conflicts introduced throughout the series. Why this is, I have no idea. Maybe the success of NGE went to their heads and now they have a compulsion to do their series this way. See, the series could have been resolved by the episode I mentioned above (the last one on the next-to-last disc). but, noooo!, Gainax needs its "epci saga" ending! Thus the series was dragged to an ending that seems more tacked on than anything. The dub voice actors helped improve the enjoyment--but not in the usual way. I refer instead to the "outtakes" on the discs: the original scene was kept but better lines were used. These definitely made me laugh--unlike the original script did after a while. (Gee, did Arumi have to remain a shrew throughout the series? After a while I just wanted Sashi to shut her up somehow!) This series could have been better...but ADV can only improve it up to a limit. This series was ruined by poor characterization and by being a Gainax product. Trust me: you can find better and funnier anime out there.
Taiho shichauzo! (1996)
Another hit by Kosuke Fujishima
Kosuke Fujishima, like Rumiko Takahashi, can't make a bad series to save his life. I'll admit up front that I've only seen the OVA movie, the first 3 discs of the regular series, and the bonus episodes--but I'm in love with the series.
The characters in the series are funny and fun...but they're also sweet and can be serious when they need to be. You will be drawn into the fumbling relationship between Ken and Natsumi, laugh at the travails of Miyuki, smirk at the tattling of Yoriko (my personal favorite character in the series)...you will love this series if you watch it.
Of course, what really makes this series great is the voice acting. From Pam Mercer's cute whiny voice for Yoriko to Jason Hatfield's bombastic pronouncements for Strikeman, you can't help but love this series.
And even though I'm not a gear-head like Kosuke Fijushima, Miyuki's talks about her equipment only translate into a passion for her work, which only makes the anime that much sweeter. All in all, this is a great anime. Regardless of whether you get the OVA, the TV series, the mini-episodes,or the original 4 episodes, you will love this series. And my spoiler? On the bonus disc for the first boxed set, the combinations to unlock the easter eggs are 2112 and 867-5309 (ha ha).
Assenburu insâto (1989)
Could be better, but still good
This 2-episode series is pretty funny. Not "Excel Saga" funny...not even "Maison Ikkoku" funny. That being said, it's still amusing.
The series, such as it is, is a parody of J-Pop culture, from energy drinks to the idol industry. Still, some of these jokes are for the die-hard anime fan. (Like the golden idols destroyed accidentally by Maron's fight with the enemy mecha, said to be from the "Go dynasty". A close look reveals that the idols are mecha designs from Go Nagai's various anime series.) What really hurt this series was the voice acting for the dub. Jessica Calvello shines in her role, and the police captain's actor is good, but the rest are so grating that one cringes when their characters appear on screen.
This series was just intended as an in-joke about J-Pop culture. As that, it shines. Don't expect too much from it. And if you can get past the awful voices used in the dub, you'll find it an amusing little anime.
Heppoko jikken animêshon excel saga (1999)
The humor anime anyone can love--how'd that happen?
A friend lent me the first disc to this series...and from the moment I watch the first episode I was hooked. And if you watch it too, so will you.
The series is based on Koshi Rikdo's dark humor satire of the "shadowy world" struggle between government agents and terrorists. Into this mix Shinichi Watanabe threw in anything he could to make the series so over-the-top fall-down-with-sides-hurting-from-laughing-so-hard FUNNY while keeping it from going stale. Struggles with TV Tokyo over broadcasting the series? Throw in gags about those struggles! All those genres of J-Pop TV that are competing with him and his show? Make fun of all of them--a different one for each episode! Add variations on the slapstick routines in it (no scene is ever perfectly repeated) to make the old new again, and you have a funny funny series.
But when it was brought over to America, ADV went the extra light-year (not just mile) to make it even funnier. From the rapid-fire delivery of Jessica Calvello to the moans of Rob Mungle, the voice actors give a new life to the characters that the original voice cast couldn't do.
Also, ADV threw in lots of extras. Vid-Notes help explain the little gags (though some of the explanations only make sense if you watch the subtitles). Six "Menchi" food commercials on Disc 2. The hilarious extended menu dialog of Disc 3. The ridiculous "newspaper" on Disc 5's extras menu--check out the Personals! All in all, this is the funniest anime I've ever seen. --Is that good enough, Lord IlPalazzo? No, please don't pull the---
Serial Experiments Lain (1998)
Lain: the definitive description
This series, which was done almost entirely on computers (which explains the great visuals), is unique for two reasons: it was made for the American audience and not the Japanese audience; and it is in fact a hybrid of a commercial for personal electronics (Pioneer) and a supernatural thriller (Triangle Staff). This is why so much of the language on display throughout the series is in English--and why it contains so many references to American pop culture: Ep. 3--contains scenes from four "shadowy world" movies; Ep. 4--the "PK" question also refers to "psychokinesis", which Lain displays in that episode, a pun that works only in English; Ep. 5--uses the plot device from the TV show "Quantum Leap"; Ep. 9--the scene Lain and Taro is a role-reversed scene right out of any 'hard-boiled' mystery; and the Knights' search engine's icon is a cross between Freddie Cruegar and a "grey". There is also a good deal of religious imagery, from Lain being presented as Christ returning in Ep. 7 to everyone on the Wired being made in Lain's image in Ep. 8. It's no harder to understand than any other series where the villain is a disembodied spirit and the hero is a medium (which is fairly common in Japanese supernatural thriller anime), but because it has so much Americana mixed into it, it can be overwhelming at first. One must look for all sorts of little clues throughout it to understand it. This is a great anime--but not for those who want something straightforward and entertaining. This is a thinker's anime: intellectuals and mystery buffs and supernatural thriller buffs only!