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Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

(26 episode series)

I'm going to say right up front that this is an excellent series and that you should definitely see it if you're a sci-fi fan and/or a cyberpunk fan. Based on the same manga that the movies are based on, the series takes place in the near future and is set primarily in Japan. Technology is very pervasive, with nearly everyone having accepted some form of "cyberization" that links them to an even more advanced version of the internet.

So why do I prefer the series over the movie? Well, as much as I hate to say it, there's just a lot more going on in the series and the movie tends to drag on a bit. That's not to say that I don't mind some cerebral stimulation and some philosophy, but there just has to be more there for me to be interested in, like some good characters. The movies really only ever focus on two of the many characters who make up Section 9. The series, being a series, is able to explore more of the other characters.

I tend to like series with a large ensemble casts and multi-episode story arcs, and wouldn't you know it, but this series happens to fit the bill. Actually one of the nice things about this series is that it manages to introduce you to everyone and the setting everything is taking place in without really slowing the pace down. A lot of anime tends to do that, the thing is while it’s nice to be introduced to characters before we jump into the story, it tends to make the first few episodes kind of drag. This is also why the "three episode rule" exists, because that's usually about the time introductions are over and the plot starts.

GitS;SAC's solution to this is to actually live up to its name and have plenty of stand alone episodes which are unrelated to the main plot, which we catch up to later on. This way, we get to learn about each of the different members of Section 9 by watching them as they go about their jobs, defending Japan against cyber-terrorism. We even follow the antics of the new Tachikomas, robotic "think tanks" where are controlled by Artificial Intelligence. Each of these stand alone episodes is usually pretty good in its own right, exploring different themes which touch on the philosophies that tend to go hand in hand with the type of technologies presented in this series. There are times this gets a little tiring, such as with the Tachikomas, and just insulting, as with the episode featuring "Imperial" Americans.

As an aside, I have to note, yet again, that it seems like someone at Production I.G has an anti-American axe to grind. Yes, I know there is supposed to be some kind of backstory which explains the how the American Empire came into being, but that should've been in the show, and it still could've done without presenting the actual Americans who showed up like they were buffoons. If anything, they should have been creepy since they were from the CIA, but I digress.

In any case, another nice thing these little stand alone episodes did was to give us an occasional break when the main plotline started, and actually helped to set the pacing a little better. Movies have something of a disadvantage when it comes to this, because they have a much more limited amount of time to do everything in. So whereas in a movie, things which take place over the course of weeks or months can seem to be happening in a much more rapid-fire pacing, and diversions away from it can negatively affect the story. In a series, we only get a finite amount of time in each installment, and especially in the case of longer series, there are plenty of episodes to stretch things out over. Plus, the main Laughing Man plotline started out essentially as any other story covered in the series up to that point, and it got the same kind of attention as everything else, and other things were still going on. In a way, this adds a kind of realism, because in real life we don’t have a preset plot that takes over everything and we focus all out attention on.

This approach also allows the series to slowly delve into the plot, until we realize just how much there is to the story it's telling. In this case, it involves an expert hacker, the Laughing Man, who has a beef with a micro-machine pharmaceutical company. It isn't until later why this is, or how far this shady deal to give this company an unfair leg-up over a competitor goes. That's actually another aspect I like about this series, which is that while it still goes over more abstract ideas like just what makes us human, what exactly a "ghost" is, why people might choose to isolate themselves in such an interconnected society, and other things like that with much more real things, like parts of the government working against each other in a struggle for power, corrupt politicians and police, government interference in the marketplace, and smaller idea men getting crushed by large corporations.

As it turns out, this is all about a possible cure to a debilitating disease that has emerged thanks to the push to implant the human body with technology. A lesser known scientist seems to have discovered a possible cure using some other kind of naturally derived, biological treatment, but this information is suppressed by a collaboration between government officials and a large technology corporation which is developing a micro-machine based "cure" which actually doesn’t work all that well. This was all done in the name of money, naturally, and this really pissed the Laughing Man off, and he tried to do something about it. What makes this interesting, aside from learning who the Laughing Man is and what he's about, is just how deep this conspiracy goes. It apparently leads to confrontations with the narc squad and even the military. Things actually look pretty bad for Section 9 there for a while.

Unfortunately, that last part is one of where the series lacks. Why? Well, it's just very anti-climactic. Everything has gone to hell and has fallen apart, characters are captured and maybe worse, leaving only one who has no clue as to what is going on. Everything gets real tense, the character decides to take action, and then nothing. It was all a part of a bigger plan, and move along now, nothing to see.

That being said, this is one of the series few weaknesses, the others being the anti-American episode, and some of the cutesy stuff with the Tachikomas that went on a bit longer than it really should have.

When it comes to the characters, Batou and Major Motoko Kusanagi are easily my favorites. They are both complex characters with interesting backgrounds (or in the case of the Major, a mysterious background). They have a sense of humor (especially Batou), and both are easy to empathize and sympathize with. It's also obvious that Batou has romantic feelings for the Major, even if she doesn't really share them. I really normally don’t go for the whole leader/subordinate romance thing, but here my only real problem was that it got milked way too much toward the end of the series, and came off as somewhat forced for the sake of drama.

Togusa is also an interesting character. He's the least cyberized member of Section 9, and the only one with a law enforcement rather than a military background. He's also a family man, and we actually get to meet his family a few times, so anything that happens to him tends to generate a bit more sympathy for him. He really gets a chance to shine in the series, even more so than in the second movie where he was partnered with Batou. About the only thing there is a plotline that seems to go no where, as at the end of one episode his computer turns itself on, does something, and then shuts back down. This seems like it should lead to something, but it never really seems to.

A lot also tends to get made about the fan service from the Major. All I can say is that while, yes, her outfit is definitely more about that, in this case I can't help but take it in stride. While I really don’t mind fan service at all in most cases, when it comes to a series or movie that's trying to take itself seriously, I usually do start to mind, because I prefer my professionals to appear professional rather than to simply serve as eye candy. This is actually one of my complaints when it comes to other sci-fis, like Star Trek. In this case, though, I guess it just fits her character the same way the rest of Section 9 chooses to present itself. Togusa and Chief Aramaki are really the only ones to dress professionally, with all the others dressing very casually. Plus when it comes down to business, she actually does don a combat outfit that's more or less the same as the rest of them wear, albeit a bit more skin-tight. Plus, as an added bonus, it gave me something to laugh about when the Chief teased her about trying to grab his attention by wearing revealing clothing, when she's actually wearing something that's less revealing than what she normally wears.

Anyway, this is an excellent series, with great artwork, and a wonderful soundtrack to go with an interesting story and characters. I highly recommend that you see this series, even if anime isn't normally your thing. This is a really good sci-fi which just happens to be animated. 9/10.

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Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG

(26 episode series)

A great follow up to the first season (or series, technically), this is actually the first anime I ever actively got interested in and made a point of watching. And while I really didn't fully understand what was going on because I caught it toward the end of its first showing on Adult Swim, it is a testament to its quality that it still had me hooked from the first time I saw it. I found it so interesting that when Adult Swim re-ran it, I made sure to watch everything from the start of the first SAC series.

Once again the series kind of easies us into the plot. Theoretically we should already know everyone, but the first episode makes a kind of point to reintroduce everyone and briefly recap what happened in the first Stand Alone Complex series while it simultaneously introduces us into what will become a major plotline. That does weaken the first episode a little, but not a whole lot.

The major difference in this sequel series is that we are introduced to a major plotline up front, from the first episode. There's some kind of conspiratory group calling itself "The Individual Eleven" which has been carrying out terrorist attacks, and has gone on to threaten Japan's Prime Minister. There also seem to be some similarities with the Laughing Man incident in that some of the people involved seemed to have gotten their ghosts hacked. This gets Section 9 on the case and investigating. This leads comes to a head, with a lot of people ending up killing themselves due to a virus that makes them think that they are a member of the Individual Eleven. This in turn leads to even bigger things, and a conspiracy that at least attempts to make the one from the first season look small by comparison. In the end, though, this does seem to give us something of a false plotline, as that plot was only a lead-in to another plot, which in turn made what was initially a relatively minor character take on a much larger importance.

This series also carries on the first one's tradition of breaking things up with some stand alone episodes which allow us to explore the characters a bit more in depth, including Major Kusanagi herself. For 2nd GIG, these episodes focus a lot more on the character's backgrounds, which is how we learn about the circumstances that resulted in her getting a completely prosthetic body, as well as what turns out to be a connection to the main antagonist of the series. Of course they don’t really make it that hard to figure out, either.

Of course, everything seems to have a way of leading back to the main plotline, though there are still a few things left unresolved, like whatever ended up happening to a woman that Togusa saved at one point. Things like that seem to have been overlooked or forgotten in favor of putting the puzzle pieces in place for the main plot, which involves a revolution to establish an independent nation within Japan that's mad up of refugees from a recent war in Asia (I think that's where they're from anyway). The leader of this movement is one of the Individual Eleven who managed to overcome the virus and stop from killing himself. He apparently has some even loftier goals, which he sees as the next stage in human evolution. This is, of course, a very sci-fi idea, namely that humans could simply choose to evolve into something else. In this case he thinks humans could all exist on the net, without the need for physical bodies. His goal isn't quite as sympathetic as the Laughing Man's, but whatever.

Everything leading up to the conflict at the end of the series is pretty exciting, as is the final conflict itself. Everything was very fast-paced and action-packed, and I have to say that this is a big part of why I got excited about this series even though I didn't know what was going on when I first saw it. The nice thing about it, though, it that even with all the action, there was still an undercurrent of some very sci-fi themes, including the main Ghost in the Shell philosophical theme of existentialism. I actually ended up writing a short paper citing this series as an example just on how it treated artificial life alone, and as annoying as they could be at times, the Tachikomas played a big part in that. After all, they had developed sentience and in the end they chose to sacrifice themselves yet again to save Japan from another nuclear attack.

Speaking of, I can't help but note the undercurrent of anti-Americanism yet again. About the only difference this time is that instead of being complete buffoons, the "Imperial" Americans were just shady types willing to conspire with some Japanese attempting a coup of their own government. I won't get into it too far so as not to spoil anyone who hasn't seen it too much, but while it does take a while for all the details to be clear, it isn't all that hard to figure it out say an episode or two before hand. Apparently taking a shot at the United States was more important than not making their somewhat complex plot completely predictable.

Still, it's a good series, and it was pretty fun to watch. I'd say that this season/series was just as good as the first one, even with its flaws, and the complete series as a whole remains my favorite anime. It's also one of my favorite sci-fis, period. 9/10.

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Shiny. :cool:

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society

(2006 TV movie)

The end of the series did leave something of a sequel hook, if only in the form of making the audience wonder what Major Kusanagi would do following the death of her love interest and how Section 9 might turn out when the dust cleared. It wasn't all that surprising to find out the Major quit Section 9 and went off on her own, nor that Batou refused to take her place. Naturally, the first part of the movie pretty much revolved as much around getting her back on the team as it did setting up the plot of the movie.

Speaking of the plot, I can't say that it made all that much sense to me, and what parts of it did make sense were essentially a retread of what the first movie had explored. It seemed that there was some big conspiracy involving old folks somehow ghost-hacking people in order to kidnap children to adopt as their own. As with in the series, this first part is actually only a lead-in to another one that is a bit bigger. I won't say that any of it is bad exactly, but I'm somewhat disappointed with where this went.

There were a few good moments, and there were a few odd ones too that didn't make any sense, like Section 9's ace sniper giving his target warning instead of just taking him out.

Still, in the end it was all about getting the Major to confront this oddly Puppetmaster-like character so they can have a kind of philosophical discussion. It never is clear just who or what this hacker is, and it seems that the goal was to combine with the Major, just as in the first movie.

Overall, this movie just seemed to drag a bit. In some ways, the magic from the series was there, but it was like it was missing something. In some ways, I wish that they'd simply not done this movie. It's not that it was bad, exactly, it's just that it was kind of pointless, and it didn't really live up to the series, in my opinion. I can't even bring myself to say all that much about it, or even to recommend whether or not anyone might want to watch it. I guess if you were a fan of the series, you might want to watch this movie, just to see what happens to everyone, but other than that, all I can really say is "meh." You really wouldn't be missing much if you didn't see this movie. I kind of wished they'd kept the series going since the way things were set up, they really could have kept going for several more seasons if they'd wanted to. On the other hand, if this was all they could come up with in way of a story, maybe it's better that they didn't. 6/10.

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Gurren Lagann

(27 episode series)

Yet another post-apocalyptic offering, this series is definitely more in the "over-the-top" category, much like Desert Punk. Just as Desert Punk is set in a world that has been devastated and reduced to a desert due to some past cataclysm, depends heavily on over the top humor and action, and isn't really meant to be taken even a little bit seriously, so to is Gurren Lagann. It does have its serious moments, mostly dealing with death, but I never much got into that, I guess, but then that was kind of how I felt about the series at times.

There are actually a lot of things about Gurren Lagann that I normally hate about anime, and actually caused me to stop watching this when it first aired on the Sci Fi Channel (now SyFy). One is the heavy use of mechs. It’s a staple of a lot of anime, about as much as samurai swords and magic-based attacks that require the attacker to loudly announce their attacks in elaborate manners, which this show also does. So, like I said, I pretty much tuned out of this show when it first aired. Based on the advice of my friends, I gave it another try, and it did fair slightly better with me this time, mostly because I realized the things I mentioned above were being done to be funny. Part of me was still annoyed by it, but the other part was just laughing.

I'd have to say that the appeal of this show is pretty much summed up not long into the first episode: kicking logic to the curb and doing the impossible. That's pretty much what the show does, and we even got a catchy theme song out of it. With all the themes of fighting progressively impossible fights and coming out on top in the end, I can see why this show has caught on with quite a few people. It's my understanding that in the UK, there was a poll on the possibility of updating the Union Jack, and the version that won was the addition of the Team Gurren symbol from this show. I actually kind of like the idea myself, to the point of wanting my university to change its sporting name to Team Dai-Gurren, with the symbol as our new mascot.

Then, of course, there's the fan service. Yokko definitely has to be the show's other big draw, what with constantly running around in nothing but a bikini top and short-shorts for the majority of the show. She doesn't play as much of a role as I, personally, wish that she should have had. Mostly she was on a supporting role, and had an unfortunate tendency to have a thing for guys who wind up dead.

Speaking of, I was somewhat surprised when a main character actually died, and only about a third or so into the show. What made it surprising was that this character had been through a lot and lived earlier in the show. But I find I actually liked this aspect of the series, not so much because it was used to occasionally pull at our heartstrings, but because it meant that the show actually did evolve a little, adding new characters and in this case losing at least one of them.

That tended to get lost in how the show pretty much was just one progressively larger battle after the other. What started out as a battle against one and then a few mecha, here called "gunmen" pretty much just turned into fighting larger and larger versions of these things. At one point there were actually gunmen being used to pilot larger gunmen being used to pilot a gunmen that was literally the size of the moon. I personally found that kind of boring, because it was becoming basically the same thing over and over again. So really at its base, it's the humor driving this series.

Some people have complained about the ending, and I won't spoil it too much for you, but I can't say that I see it as a bad ending. I've seen much worse, whether it's that a show simply ends without resolving anything, or that it very quickly and sloppily tries to resolve everything at the last minute (see Blue Gender for an example of that), that's more what I consider to be a bad ending. In this case, the series ends on somewhat of a downer note, but only in the sense that the hero doesn't accept staying on as some great leader figure and seeks life as a wandering homeless man offering small bits of help to strangers while others rebuild the empire, so to speak. I'd actually argue that this makes sense, because this character had tried to be the great leader once, and that didn't work out so great.

Which brings me to the one thing that I really disagree with this show about. At one point there's what I would consider to be a major betrayal, with two of Team Dai-Gurren betraying their leader, conducting a coup, and going as far as sentencing their former friend and leader to death. The show and the betrayed character instantly forgave them, much in the same way Battlestar Galactica did when Commander Adama carried out a coup against his president. I never really understand when a show or the characters in it suggest that such betrayal should be forgiven, but then I don't take betrayal well.

Anyway, while I didn't like this show nearly as much as I did Desert Punk, it was still fairly good. There isn't a whole lot to it, but with shows like this, there doesn't have to be. The characters were likable, and it was funny. It's worth a watch, if nothing else so you can see it and decide for yourself if you like it. You might want to try sticking it out to at least episode 6. 6/10.

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Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Gurren-hen

(2008 movie)

&

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Lagann-hen

(2009 movie)

I'm grouping these two together, because really they're just one big compilation movie of the series. Which is basically its biggest fault. I have yet to see a compilation movie that does the series it's compressing into movie length much justice. These two movies come close, but that has mainly to do with the extensive bits of reanimation and how the story has actually been rewritten in a number of areas. However, it still suffers from the bane of compilation movies, and of just movies in general that try to shove a bunch of stuff into a small amount of time – montages. The first movie in particular was guilty of this, having more than one in just the first half-hour of the movie. I understand the motivation behind this – to speed things up – but here is where the rewrites do much better than montages. So much is skipped over that later scenes don't entirely make sense, and in the montages themselves, you have to be familiar with the series to know the significance of what's being seen.

I guess that only really becomes a problem if you see the purpose of a compilation movie as telling the story of a popular series for movie audiences, thus sparing them the time it takes to watch a large number of episodes. I guess it could also be seen as just an alternate take on the story, and given the large number of rewrites that happened to the basic Gurren Lagann story, there is definitely something to that viewpoint. But that kind of goes back to the montages and how they brought the quality of the movie down. Since there was already so much being changed to make everything fit into two movies, why not re-do the story a bit in the beginning to eliminate the need for montages?

As for the alternate take on the story of this series, I can't say that there was anything I either liked or disliked about how the story was changed. In Blue Gender, the redone parts introduced some things that might have improved the series, even if the movie itself sucked. In this case, there was nothing that really stood out that way to me. But then, I was never all that attached or drawn in to the series, either, so someone who is especially attached to the series might feel differently. I think of the two, though, I preferred the series, simply because while the series tended to have some filler, I just prefer the experience of the series making its way through the story to the experience of the movie rushing through it. 6/10.

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The Irresponsible Captain Tylor

(26 episode series)

This series is basically one big parody of space operas, though in the same kind of light-hearted way that Galaxy Quest is a parody of Star Trek. More than acknowledging the many clichés inherent in the genre, it insists on calling all of them out, always to humorous effect.

What we have here is the very same basic set-up one might see in literally any space opera. We have Earth's fleet of ships, usually flying under the banner of some kind of federation, fighting a conflict of some kind with an alien enemy. In this case the enemy is shown as a worthy foe, with a lead antagonist who is simply an honorable soldier of an empire led by a sympathetic empress, a teen-aged girl with the mantel of responsibility forced upon her by the assassination of her royal parents. We have the "real" enemy manipulating the young empress in a power play. We have our heroes, a band of misfits with the odds against them, including their own devious and power hungry superiors. Actually, considering the effort that was actually put in to the set-up, this might not have been a bad series if played seriously .... just like every other space opera. Oh, it might have been one of the better ones that managed to stand out, but I feel that this series true strength is in the fact that it rakes everything you would expect from a space opera and starts to play it straight, only to turn everything completely on its head.

For instance, we take our main protagonist, Justy Ueki Tylor, who for all appearances is a moron. He's the exact opposite of what is expected of a good soldier, let alone a good captain. He's impossible to upset or get down, even when members of his own crew try to kill him or his own superiors try to get his ship destroyed by sending it on impossible missions. His main strength seem to be dumb luck, though there are moments that he shows at least a certain kind of intelligence, even if otherwise he seems oblivious to anything going on around him. It's just enough to make one wonder at times if he really is just lucky, or if he ever actually plans anything out. In fact, this is lampshaded by other characters all the time.

As for the crew of the Soyokaze, an old, decrepit, run-down destroyer no one wants to be on, they are somewhat more typical of the cast of characters on most other space operas. There are the professional warriors and the bad-ass marines who make their own rules. Except to an extent they all pretty much suck compared to the rest of the fleet, making their assignment to Soyokaze more fitting than they would like to admit. Later, after they get over their depression and that whole trying to kill each other and the captain thing, this becomes a source of pride for them, and a way to kind of stick it to the rest of the fleet, which basically represents the typical space opera.

The "plot" of the series is almost exactly as one would expect from a space opera, with an ongoing war between the protagonists' United Planets Space Force against the Holy Raalgon Empire. They have battles, and we do see some characters we never really know die, but that's about where the "typical" aspect of the plot ends. Because really, nothing makes much actual sense. Aside from Tylor and his crew constantly escaping by pure luck in every absurd situation they find themselves in, even the war itself doesn't make much sense in light of the relationship developed between Raalgon Empress Azalyn and Captain Dom. Azalyn in particular doesn't really live up the supposed barbaric reputation of the Raalgan, even if most of her subordinates do. Later on, they actually manage to take a trip to Earth themselves and saw that humans weren't really the horrible enemy they imagined. This after a battle that both sides "won" by simply not firing on one another, making it pretty clear that neither side really wanted to fight each other all that badly.

But again, this pretty much just illustrates the purposeful ridiculousness of the series. If anything, the above is calling out the same kind of illogical plotlines that can develop in serious series. But Captain Tylor is not a serious series. If anything, I would categorize it as a comedy with some "drama relief" because when there is a dramatic moment involving a character death or say the capture and brainwashing of a main character, this is pretty much in leading up to a punch-line of some kind.

Naturally, the series calls out the obvious clichés like all the fan service, a possible relationship between the male captain and his female first officer, and the captain getting sexual offers from practically every woman he comes across, except the one he really wants, naturally. Actually that last on in particular is pretty good, because while Tylor can sweet talk even a female computer into letting him have what he wants, what he wants usually isn't actually sex, and he really doesn't ever have sex, at least that we can be sure of. So in a way, he's both like Captain Kirk's pop culture stereotype, and the exact opposite at the same time.

The series does start off a bit slow at first, even if it does quickly become apparent that this isn't a serious space opera thanks to Tylor, so you'll have to keep that in mind if you decide to give this series a watch. I would recommend that, by the way, and I'm rating this series an 8/10, mostly because of the aforementioned slow start and how at times things could get a bit repetitive. Otherwise, this series is well worth a watch by any sci-fi fan who doesn't take themselves too seriously. So if you liked Galaxy Quest, you'll probably like Captain Tylor.

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The Irresponsible Captain Tylor

(10 episode OVA)

Whelp, they did it – they done managed to ruin this comedic franchise. The ending of the series proper was perfect for the series itself, with the crew rejecting assignment to a brand-spanking new "cool" ship and sticking with their old Soyokaze, literally tearing their way out of the scrap dump and ramming the shiny new ship out of space dock to take its place. While there was something of a sequel hook, in a lot of ways I wished they'd just left well enough alone.

So is the OVA bad? Well, not really. Actually saying that they screwed up the series would probably be unnecessarily harsh. More, I'm just disappointed. Much like Desert Punk, Burn-Up W and Burn-Up Excess, what started out as a light series, heavy on comedy, turned into something more serious. What makes the Captain Tylor OVA a bit different is that this change was more gradual and didn't involve a lot of character deaths. Instead, things just got more dramatic and less comedic. So basically this fun parody of typical space opera became a typical space opera, and thus effectively ruined the very fitting ending that the series proper had.

What frustrates me more, though, is that the OVA actually starts out with pretty much more of the same as far as the series proper had been. The shooting war between the United Planets Space Force and the Holy Raalgon Empire has ended and both sides are kind of taking things easy. Naturally something new pops up, the Raalgon come up with some new weapon and the Soyokaze has to save the day in some audaciously unconventional way.

But here already there are some indications of the more serious change in tone, just for the simple fact that Tylor actually has a plan, even if it isn't readily apparent what it is. For a while things seem normal, the show actually teasing us a bit about whether or not Tylor actually has a plan, but then things take a more serious turn. Dom beats the crap out of Tylor because he made Azalyn cry for a reason that is explained a bit later, and a bit later on he nearly destroys the Soyokaze and kills Tylor despite orders from Alan to let them go unharmed. Then he abruptly decides to stop and everything seems okay again.

There isn't really much of a mood swing though, mostly because while there is still comedy relief, the OVA never really goes back to the same light tone the series proper had. Instead, things slowly built, with seemingly unrelated stories focusing on different supporting characters and some new threat that has made itself known. And that's pretty much how the show slides into becoming a more typical space opera. There's a lot of political maneuvering going on, betrayals happening, and it all plays out like a show that's taking itself seriously. This made me feel uneasy, and left me feeling disappointed.

The OVA does end on a somewhat light note, and yet at the same time manages to end on a serious one thanks to the drama of the political plotline that got added along the way. On top of that the OVA leaves things hanging, with a much larger sequel hook than before. As this OVA came out in the mid-'90s, I'm not seeing that happening because it probably would have been done already. Actually I have mixed feelings about that, because I actually am somewhat interested in seeing how things turn out. What can I say, I do tend to like space operas, and the OVA is pretty much a typical space opera in a lot of ways.. On the other hand, the much more serious tone the OVA took on doesn't fit with the series, or the point of what Captain Tylor was all about, really, which was to be a parody. So in some ways, I'm actually glad that nothing further has been added in order to continue that trend. But then I'm annoyed things were left hanging ... well, you get the idea. ;) In any case I'm afraid that I'm going to have to rank this lower than the series. 6/10.

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Last Exile

(26 episode series)

While in some aspects this series somewhat resembles a steampunk sci-fi because of the anachronistic technology it portrays alongside the otherwise Napoleonic era society living on what appears to be a kind of alternate history Earth. There are flying ships which otherwise seem like they'd be very early 20th century battleships, and soldiers who use steam-powered muskets and classic Napoleonic tactics in using them, while even later on there are hand-cranked machine guns. Everyone dresses like it's the 18th century, yet there are wingless flying craft that would look like something from the late 1920s if not for the fact they lacked real wings and a propulsion system that wasn't magic. Nothing is quite right about this world, as even the landscape seems artificial in some places and completely alien in others. It helps to build the mystery and ultimately makes this show both visually striking and very interesting to watch.

The series unfortunately gets off to something of a slow start, but this does allow us to be introduced to the teen-aged main characters, a pilot named Claus Valca and his navigator Lavie Head, as well as the strange world this all takes place on, Prester. We do get our first taste of the long-running war between the two nations of Prester, Anatoray and Disith, early on, but it takes a while for the series to get around to really explaining much of anything. We do get a few basics on what allows both the large warships and the small fighter-like craft called vanships to fly eventually, as well as a bit more of an explanation about Anatoray and Disith. Anatory is where our main characters are from, and it resembles a generic European country circa the 18th century. Disith seems to resemble more of an Eastern country, though to be frank this isn't a very strong resemblance. There is also a powerful third party, the Guild, which oversees their warfare and ensures that both parties follow a chivalric code in conducting their warfare, enforcing this through the use of fantastical technology which shows us early on that this is in fact a science fiction series and not a steampunk series. After all, nothing is really powered by steam aside from the muskets anyway.

Anatoray and Disith are separated by a massive, turbulent gulf called the Grand Steam. We actually get our first glimpse of this as the very first thing we see in the series. Once the plot finally gets going, the focus is very heavily on this Grand Stream. Claus and Lavie both lost their fathers to this area while they were on an important mission to deliver something to Disith, and there is a mysterious force there which both the Maestro Delphine and her Guild, as well as Captain Alex Row and his mysterious ship the Silvana are looking for and hope to control. The key to this is a young girl, Alvis Hamilton, whom Claus and Lavie rescue from a Guild attack which killed the pilot who was originally supposed to deliver her to the Silvana. What follows is an epic story which brings together the warring nations of Anatoray and Disith against the powerful Guild. I really feel bad because I can't really do the story much justice in my review – it's just something you have to watch for yourself.

When it comes to the characters, there are so many good ones, from the main characters of Claus and Lavie, to supporting ones like Alex Row and his executive officer Sophia Forrester, to the background characters, like the Silvana's deck crew. Claus is the young pilot determined to make something of himself and Lavie is his loyal friend and navigator (who wants to be something more to him), which somewhat mirrors Captain Row and his first officer. But whereas Row is driven by a thirst for revenge, Claus is driven by the need to know what happened to his father. Claus also has something of an odd relationship with someone who is essentially his enemy, Guild member (and royalty) Dio Eraclea, who brings along his servant and friend Lucciola for the ride. Dio is a piece of work by himself, and as it turns out, he has as much to fear from the Guild as Claus does, and his ultimate fate is quite tragic.

Tragedy abounds in this series. There really aren't any characters who don't suffer some tragedy in this series, whether they end up dying or not. I can't help but be captivated by the drama of this series and feel for the characters, especially once the series really gets going. This, along with its mystery, and in no small part wonderful appearance and soundtrack are major draws of this series. And while there are resemblances to other works, such as Star Wars, it doesn't really suffer that much for it.

I'd say that the main weakness of this series is its pacing. It gets off to a very slow start, and while it does give us a chance to get introduced to the many characters and the unique world this story takes place in, it moves far too slowly, and this might actually turn off some people from watching this otherwise excellent series. There is also something of a wasteful flashback episode exploring Lavie's past and her relationship to Claus that wasn't really needed and interrupted the nice pacing the series had begun to take on.

The other major weakness is how it treats two of its female characters. Lavie started out as basically a co-star to Claus, but once they get to the Silvana this changes, and she basically becomes something of a moody but supportive cheerleader. Then there's Tatiana Wisla, something of an ice queen with an attitude problem, but an outstanding pilot and a strong character. The problem is, the show tries to hook her up with Claus, and in doing so it's like she becomes not as competent, and she also loses the iron will that made her so good and interesting when we first met her. Even worse, nothing even comes of this, and while Lavie is jealous of Tatiana, it's all for nothing. Okay, this might be considered character development because she has a somewhat negative outlook on life which Claus makes her rethink, but in the end she seems like a worse pilot for it. So basically two of the female characters were brought down a peg because of Claus, which upsets me a little because I never like it when characters are made worse in order to make another look better by comparison.

Actually this show has something of a harem feel to it, because not only does Lavie have a romantic interest in Claus and something hinted at with Tatiana, he actually ends up losing his virginity to the Silvana's first officer, Sophia, so there are naturally some lingering feelings between them because of that. And literally right after that, she reveals herself to be the daughter of Anatoray's emperor. Of course this adds a pedophilic aspect to this series, which is made a little worse by the fact that it is made completely obvious that Sophia only went to Claus for sex after Alex, being obsessed the way he is, turned her down first for the goodbye sex she wanted.

But really, this is a really good series and I highly recommend it, even if I can't really explain all that well why. It does have a slow beginning, but if you stick through it, you'll be rewarded with a really great series which will leave an impression. 8/10.

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Thanks, I'm glad my reviews are helping some people. :cool:

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

(14 episode series)

And this is pretty much one of those shows that manages to both annoy and entertain me at the same time. That and be confusing as hell.

What I liked about this series is that its story was actually kind of interesting. It revolves entirely around an a-typical high school student, Haruhi Suzumiya, who apparently has the power to destroy and re-create the world. She is odd to say the least, and treats people like objects. She also seems to enjoy molesting people, or at least one person in particular. Still, I can't help but laugh at the idea that the world actually would revolve around such a self-centered individual. Then there's the other aspect of this series I like, which is the comedy. There is definitely plenty to laugh at, whether it was intentional or not. The antics of Mikuru Asahina in particular were both funny and annoying, although the whole moe-blob thing was intentional and even lampshaded early on. Her patheticness and cutesy little voice somehow managed to make me laugh and annoy the hell out of me at the same time, and that's something, I guess.

As for the story, as I mentioned, it was somewhat interesting. It wasn't hugely interesting, but it was interesting. I wasn't really interested by the thought exercise that revolved around Haruhi and her mysterious capabilities so much as what was going on as a result of it. I guess I just found the strangeness of it all to be appealing.

Then there were the characters. Kyon, the narrator, was pretty effective as someone the audience could relate to. He was pretty much an everyman, though he probably took all the weirdness that was going on around him and the expository explanation that was given to him by all the other members of Haruhi's SOS Brigade a lot more in stride then most people probably would. He also seems to be something of a ladies man, because it seems like every female member of the SOS Brigade seems to be attracted to him on some level, and the feeling seems to be mutual. I mean, he even seems to have something for the emotionless robot girl, Yuki, and right back at him, I guess. His attraction to Mikuru is kind of the obvious 'ship, being as she's the designated Ms. Fanservice and all. Hell, even the only other male character in the SOS Brigade, Itsuki, seems like he has a thing for Kyon. Then there's Haruhi herself, who also has a thing from him, although he doesn't seem to make up his mind about her until the last episode in a moment I'm sure everyone was supposed to think was cute. I just laughed, personally, the cliché of it all. I will say, though, that Haruhi really wasn't all that interesting herself in my opinion. Her appeal was mainly in her eccentricity. She actually seems like someone who could use some psychological help, but luckily she's a funny kind of crazy instead of a scary kind of crazy. Except of course that she can apparently destroy the world.

That does beg the question, though, why don't they just kill her? I know that she's not visibly a threat, and while she's amoral and likes to treat the moe-blob like she's a doll, it wouldn't really be the most humane thing to kill her, but it would be the pragmatic thing to do if she's really such a threat to humanity. Of course, this is a comedy, and I wasn't supposed to think of that, but I really am a horrible person. ;)

I guess this was an okay series, and while it's not a favorite by any means, it was okay to watch. Mostly it's just fluff with a bit of philosophizing and plenty of comedy. The series was apparently broadcast out of chronological order just to make things a bit more confusing I guess, and that's the order I watched it in. I know there's some argument among fans about whether it's better to show in broadcast order or chronological order, so if you watch this you'll pretty much have to decide for yourself. Either way there are guides online you can look up to help you watch it in whichever order you decide to. I think the main argument for watching it in broadcast order is that it presents everything the way the people who made it intended to have the information in it revealed. Things might make more sense in chronological order, though, so it's up to you which argument is better. 7/10.

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Murder Princess

(6 episode OVA)

There isn't a whole lot to say about this OVA, I'm afraid. It's kind of fun, but at the same time, there's no getting by the fact that it's pretty much just a typical medieval hack n' slash anime. There is a bit of a twist in that it's made abundantly clear that this is actually a post-apocalyptic setting, with humanity having reclaimed civilization only at the level of Western Europe's Middle Ages. So while there are knights and kings and the like, there are also scientists, androids, and cyborgs.

The plot is still fairly typical, though. Naturally there's some heavy-handed message about how humanity should just die already, since it's just in our nature to be destructive and fight each other, as explained by the big bad as to why he wants to end it all. Of course, one of the characters who ends up sacrificing themselves in the name of saving the world gives the optimistic view that maybe humanity will "get it right this time", not that it has a second chance. The end of the series doesn't really make it look like there's much hope of that, as it ends with warfare and the Murder Princess earning that name. Really this is a case of forgetting the message in favor of making the title character a badass, and I can't say that I much care in this case, probably because I never really took this OVA seriously.

The greatest strength of this OVA was that it was hard at times to tell if it was trying to be serious. At times it did, but at others it was like the OVA was playing up its own absurdness. That's the aspect of it I liked. Then again, even if this wasn't the case and the OVA was trying to be entirely serious, I still had fun laughing at the absurdity of everything. And by that I don't just mean the two main characters switching bodies, I mean everything from the insane hack 'n slash combat to the monocle-wearing scientist villain, not to mention the two cutesy little killer robot girls. The one with the meek little voice and the machine gun arm was particularly funny. Monica Rial also fits well as the voice of the title princess, though I have to admit part of that is the fact she's playing another ambiguously lesbian character, which she's done before.

Which does bring me to another thing I liked about the OVA – the growth of the relationship between Princess Alita and Falis, who have actually switched bodies. It is a little ambiguous as to whether they have romantic feelings for each other, but that's the way I interpreted it. The nice thing here is that it wasn't played up too much while actually being a bit sweet. At least I thought so. Of course there's the weirdness of them being in each others' bodies, so if they do it with each other, they'd actually be doing it with themselves, really. I'm sure that'd still be fetish fuel for some, though. ;)

In any case, the fun I derived from this OVA was mainly that I could just watch and laugh at its over the top nature. It has weird creatures and cute little robot girls fighting with each other or for or against a hot action girl, high pressure blood splatter, and pretty much everything that's fun to make fun of about anime, like it or hate it. That being said, this isn't really what I'd consider a good show, it just isn't really a bad one. It's worth watching once. 6/10.

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Neon Genesis Evangelion

(26 episode series)

I'm sure some people reading this review are going to be upset, because frankly, I didn't particularly like this series. Mostly it suffers from "too fraking long and drawn out" syndrome, but there's also the fact that there isn't really a single character who doesn't have some form of mental or emotional malfunction, and there's so much whining that I've pretty much decided to call this "Emo-gelion."

Now let's get something straight up front – I do like it when a work goes into some depth to explain things, to set them up, or to give me a sense of mystery. Evangelion does do this, and I liked those parts of it. The mystery about what exactly all the angels were trying to get at inside NERV headquarters is eventually revealed, leading to more mysteries about what exactly Lilith is and what will really happen if an angel gets there, as well as why it's being kept secret. After all, the characters are always complaining about their budget being too small for them to effectively protect this mysterious creature/thing/whatever, and how the world is going to end if an angel ever touches it, so why not just explain this to the bean-counters so they can get more money to do their jobs? Instead, everything is kept secret, even from most of the people working at NERV, including Misato Katsuragi, who is a major and the operations director of NERV. In a way, though, that makes things a little more interesting, because the nature and origin of the Eva units is slowly revealed to us, as well as just what "second impact" is, and why the world seems to be a lot warmer than what it is. There is a bit of a disconnect, though, in that while it's said that basically half of humanity has been wiped out and the above-ground city appears to be in ruins, there seem to be no shortage of people that we see, anyway, and nothing ever seems to disrupt or change the "normal high school" we see various characters attending.

Which bring me to my next area of discussion, the characters. Now most of them might have been somewhat interesting just because they had some rather complex backgrounds, and this usually makes for some complex characters. For instance it was somewhat interesting to learn that Gendo had changed his last name upon marrying rather than following the tradition of having the wife change her family name. Even though Gendo is a complete bastard, it still says something about his character and gives some indication about hoe he felt about his wife, which also goes to explain something about his relationship with Rei Ayanami. Well, sort of. Anyway, the real problem here is just the shear amount of characters who are completely messed up. I like ensemble casts, and this is one, and the series does try to pay each of them some service, but there's just too much malfunction. In the end, that's all that I really got out of this series. Finding out that Rei acts like a robot because she's basically a genetically engineered clone isn't much of a revelation, and to be frank I saw that one coming even without spoilers. Finding out Asuka is a bitch because she had a messed up childhood and a horrible mother doesn't really make her any more sympathetic. Finding out Misato is a slut because she had bad parents didn't really do a whole lot either. The fact that there is just so much of stuff like that kind of cheapens what it might otherwise do for a character. Misato was a somewhat interesting character, even if she was somewhat stereotypical and accounts for a lot of the fan service. The thing is, by the time the series gets to her background, I really wasn't in a mindset to much care anymore, because the series had already gone into so much with so many other characters. Hell, Asuka might have been a bit more sympathetic even if she'd been the only completely messed up one, though she also would've had to cut back on the whining. Then there's Sinji, who is pretty much just completely pathetic. He whines a lot, seems to have no will to stand up for himself, and when he finally gets a bit of development and starts to tell people off, he ends up going right back to being a whiny loser. There were even some indications that Sinji might swing for both teams at one point, but by then I just didn't care and could pretty much only laugh at it.

Actually, I have to admit that I was somewhat surprised at how character-oriented this series was. I was pretty much under the impression that this was just another giant mecha series, but while in some ways the series did revolve around the mecha, in others it really didn't. Which, ironically enough, makes it like a lot of other mecha series that I've seen, though to be fair they were probably influenced by Evangelion. There were plenty of aspects of this series I liked, which I described above in a bit more detail. I liked the build up of mystery, I liked the ensemble cast vibe, and I liked how complex the characters were, even though this turned out to be something of a double-edged sword.

Which brings me to the main reason I could barely stand to watch this series – the constant whining. I'm already pretty biased against anything that uses internal monologue. To me, having the character mentally explain everything to the audience is a cheat, because part of the fun of a good show is trying to guess what a character is thinking and/or feeling. That actually made Gendo somewhat interesting because he never really had any internal monologue to conveniently explain everything for us. Everyone else, though, had tons of it, especially the children. Whether it was to whine in voice only while we watched them curl into the fetal position, or to enter a strange mental world, pretty much all of it was purely exposition and it all really got on my nerves, in no small part just from the shear fact that 90% of it was to whine about something. Yes, I know that the creator of this series was off his meds and depressed at one point and he put a lot of that experience into making this series, but to be frank he went overboard with it. It would have been a lot better had only a few characters been messed up/depressed instead of basically everyone, but that isn't all. Sinji in particularly is a pathetic loser and I lost all sympathy for him because of it. Characters can be sympathetic because of something messed up happening to them, and Sinji does have a bastard father who basically robbed him of a childhood, but my god the whining. Not only did it seem somewhat disproportionate, but to be frank, I really didn't need to hear all that, and all the time given to have him whine using internal monologue was ridiculous. And making him a complete push-over didn't make things any better. I mean, it could have, maybe, if there had been some development from that point that actually stayed with him, but he pretty much was just always the whiney push-over and nothing else. Another way this could have been better would have been if Sinji had actually interacted with any of the other characters who could have maybe helped him to get over some of the issues he had, even if it was kind of in a messed up way, like they almost seemed to be doing with Misato but never really went anywhere with it. In any case, all the time given to have the characters whine to themselves is what killed my enjoyment of the series. There actually were times I shouted, "do something!" at the screen, and I got more than a few laughs from the rest of the people watching this with me.

Then there are the other aspects of this series that didn't make a lot of sense to me. Like why were children needed to pilot these giant mecha? I mean, they very briefly mentioned an excuse at one point, but I never really felt that it was explained. How is it that the mechas themselves were able to combat the invading alien "angels" when no conventional weapons could touch them? I get that it had some technological reason, but again, I never felt this was explained very well, sp all we really got were giant mecha beating each other up, played entirely straight. Occasionally they used guns, too, and I have to admit that this is just an area in general I've never gotten the whole mecha design, because to me any guns should be built into the machines rather than just making them giant guns they can use. In this instance it makes a little less sense because we watched all kinds of conventional military attack being thrown at these angels by the time NERV steps in, and they're shooting what amounts to conventional weaponry at them. The big laser gun was about the only thing that made much sense as a separate weapon that might do something to these extremely hard to beat invaders, though making it a giant sniper rifle made me laugh a little. Then there's the cause of all their problems, Lilith. It is apparently what touched down in Antarctica and caused "Second Impact" (on another note, was there a "First Impact?") and what is drawing all these alien "angels" to it. If they touch it, it is said all life on Earth will be destroyed. How and why? What is the nature of this threat? If they just shot it into space and away from the planet, would all life on Earth still be destroyed? Would shooting it into the Sun eliminate this threat? If not, why not do either of those and save everyone the trouble? You could still make an interesting show out of that, after all that's basically what Argento Soma was about, except the only reason all life on Earth was going to end had to do with the size of an approaching "angel" and not for any mystical, quasi-religious reason.

Oh, and what was the deal with Pen Pen? I mean, they mentioned he was a genetic experiment of some kind, and I realize he was basically only there for comedy relief, but did they ever mention what the reason for his creation was or why Misato was able to adopt him?

Which, I have to say, the comedy relief really helped keep this series watchable, and I will say that I think it was fairly well balanced. The show was depressing enough as it is, but the comedy relief made it so that it wasn't completely depressing, you know, like the Battlestar Galactica reboot, which is how this series easily could have been with all the depression that was being focused on as it was. It was also nice that they didn't go completely overboard with the comedy relief, much like the recent in name only reboot of Star Trek, or so many examples of it I've seen in other animes.

So to be fair, Evangelion does have many strong points which I hope I covered. The problem I have with it are the overwhelming negative aspects which I also described. You also might notice I haven't mentioned the original series ending up to this point either. While I'm going to be reviewing The End of Evangelion separately, I'm hoping that it at least does a better job than the last couple of episodes of the series, which made no sense at all, and frankly didn't even fit with the rest of the series aside from just the general weirdness factor. The only other thing I'll really say is that if the series hadn't wasted so much time with the whining exposition, and the flashback clip episode, they might have had a bit more time to give it a better ending. Having a some budget left over to animate it probably would have helped, too, but that's another matter.

I could see why this anime is liked by so many anime fans, I just don't share their feelings for it. I will say that I am somewhat interested in the storyline, to the point that I want to see The End of Evangelion and that I'm somewhat interested in seeing if the Rebuild of Evangelion movies are any better at telling it. But there were still a lot of times that almost made me want to stop watching, so much so that only the fact I was providing the speakers for my local anime club to watch this kept me there. That and the fact I had some friends there riffing it with me helped. I don't want to insult anyone who's a fan of this series, and please don’t be if you are, but I can't rate this series very high. I just wouldn't recommend this for someone who hasn't seen it unless they're just curious to see what the big deal is, and this comes with ample warning of the boring depression aspect of it. 6/10.

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The End of Evangelion

(1997 movie)

Right up front here I'm going to warn you that this will probably be the most spoiler heavy reviews I've written to this point, so if you don't want to be spoiled, just go right ahead and skip this review.

Now that that's out of the way, I have to admit that I really don't understand what this movie was about. I mean, I know it's an alternate ending to the series, and that they are essentially about the same thing. I get that while NERV and SEELE were both apparently working to destroy the attacking "angels" and keep them from reaching Lilith that they were apparently always planning to begin "Third Impact" all on their own, apparently. What I don't understand is why. It's obvious that the people speaking through the black monoliths in that weird conference room were keeping that bit of information to themselves, too, because while they told the Prime Minister that NERV was planning on ending the world in order to get the JSDF to attack it, they apparently left out the part that they were planning on doing the same thing. Actually the only reason they seemed to have it in for NERV, or more specifically Gendo, was because Gendo wanted to do it in a slightly different way so he could be reunited with his wife. And yet they had the JSDF kill everyone in sight. I don't understand that either, but since I was technically in the military at one point I know from experience that most of the people in it would probably pre resistant to the idea of killing fleeing and defenseless people and children, let alone acting so nonchalantly about it. Of course why Gendo didn't better prepare NERV headquarters when he knew an assault was coming is another thing that doesn't make sense. There was one guard at the entrance and that warship they had in the big lake underground ended up only being used as a big thing for Asuka to throw. Then there's the fact that the SEELE people had all the EVA pilots marked for death when they apparently needed Unit 01 to initiate Third Impact.

Of course, maybe I missed something. I still don’t get why any of them wanted to end all life on Earth and turn every living creature into Tang to begin with. In fact I was pretty much under the impression that they were trying to prevent that. There was a lot going on, though, so maybe I just missed something. Which, while I appreciate complex stories and all, I just didn't understand this one.

I also don’t get the characters. Shinji is a whiny bitch and I never sympathized with his character. During this movie, he basically curled up into a ball after he'd finished jerking off over Asuka (which the wiki article almost makes sound like it he had no choice in the matter). Misato, being awesome even if personally she's as fucked up as the rest of them, saves his ass, and apparently also has some kind of messed up feelings for him. Why she'd want such a pathetic loser is beyond me, but then he's also still a child technically, and that's a little messed up anyway. But I'm getting of track here. What I was getting at is that he's such a pathetic loser in this movie that I really wanted Misato to pistol whip him, because while she was risking everything and ended up dying to save his ass, he was pretty much just being a whiny emo bitch, crying about how no one understood him and how he didn't really want to live. Then there's Asuka, who's just a bitch, period. And she also apparently wants to die, because at the end of the movie, when Shinji is reliving his weird dream of choking her to death, not only does she not resist, but when he can't do it she calls him pathetic. And then there's pretty much everyone else. In fact, the only people with the will to live seem to be the random supporting characters who have always been there to provide us with whatever technobabble needed to be expositioned to us for the episode. Of course, we did get to see that Gendo was pretty much the same kind of whiny emo his son was, he just apparently held it in better. In the end, though, pretty much the only characters I cared much about as characters were the supporting characters who actually wanted to live. Well, there was that awesome fight scene Asuka had against the "production line" EVAs, that was pretty cool. Especially with as hurt as she was she was able to move her disemboweled and unpowered Unit 02 on hate alone. I couldn't help but think a bit of Khan's death scene at the end of The Wrath of Khan as she reached up into the sky, constantly repeating, "I'll kill you."

As far as the actual end, I can't say I much understand that, either. It apparently had something to do with Shinji's acid trip after he was absorbed by that huge Lilith/Rei ... thing. (Vera!? ;) ) As in the original ending that showed us just how much it sucks when a show's budget runs out, Shinji apparently spontaneously decides to live and whatever the hell was going on ends, and Lilith/Rei literally falls to pieces. Then Shinji, Asuka, and Rei spontaneously turn from Tang back into people, conveniently with clothes. Asuka seems to have gotten the short end of the stick, though, as she apparently has still lost her eye, and apparently her split arm is still split and only being held together why a bandage wrap. Apparently the implication here is supposed to be that anyone can turn back from Tang if they want to, but I'm still left wondering just what it is I watched and don't really understand the vast majority of it.

Actually, I don't really understand why people liked this show all that much. Most of the characters aren’t really what I'd consider likable, which would require being sympathetic or at least being somewhat badass. I know some people probably do find them likable and/or badass, but the only main character I really liked all that much was Misato, even as messed up as she was. Pretty much all the other main characters just grated on me, Shinji most of all. Asuka was pretty much only cool during that short period she was kicking ass before she was impaled and eaten. Otherwise she was a prima donna and a bitch, when she wasn't busy being a whiny loser like Shinji. While the movie thankfully didn't have any extra time to get too boring, most of the series was. I guess there were the fight scenes, but really that isn't enough to carry a show any more than fan service can. I am somewhat hopeful that the movies will be a but better, as the first one seemed to be somewhat of an improvement, but as for the original series and this alternate ending, I really didn't much care for it. The only thing The End of Evangelion has going for it is that it was better than the odd clip show was the original ending of the series. 5/10.

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Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone

(2007 movie)

So apparently the people who made Neon Genesis Evangelion agreed with me that the show could have been better, and not just in the ending. Fortunately they've been given a pretty good budget and new technology has become available which will help them toward that goal. Now the only obstacle is in the writing – can they do better with this reboot of the franchise?

This first installation already shows some promise in that it is very well done for what is essentially a compilation movie. I've seen a few compilation movies, and the thing about them is that they tend to suck. A lot in terms of story and character development tends to get lost, and continuity can become an issue because most compilation movies try to use as much of the series it was based on as possible, and only do a limited amount of new animation as required. But to be frank, Evangelion was extremely slow in pacing and could stand to have a lot of fat trimmed. Thankfully, this translates very well in this movie, which is basically a compilation of the first six episodes or so of the original series. Not only does it look great, what with all the newly redone animation, but the writers actually did a pretty good job of getting all the important stuff in without really losing anything, and in getting everything to slow smoothly while doing so. In fact, if I hadn't seen the series, I probably wouldn't even notice where the story basically jumps ahead, or where something new has been added the way someone might with say the Blue Gender or Gurren Lagann compilation movies.

As for what's different this time around, a lot of it has to do with pacing. For one thing, there is no mystery made out of the existence of Lilith being kept down in NERV's basement. Misato just takes Shinji on an elevator ride and opens the door right up to show him. Another more noticeable difference is that Misato is a lieutenant colonel rather than a freshly minted major, and she's a lot more involved in NERV's operations. She actually seems to be on more equal footing with Ritsuko Akagi compared to the series. Other than that, there isn't a whole lot that's different from the first episodes of the series.

Now, for anyone who hasn't seen the series and has no idea what I'm even talking about, the story revolves around a child protagonist, Shinji Ikari. He is the pilot of a giant, mostly organic robot called the Evangelion Unit 01. There are actually a few of these, all with different numbers and slightly different designs, and all of them have child pilots. They all seem to be in the 14-ish age range, which is why some of the fan service in this movie and in the series it was based on is actually one of the many disturbing things about this show. Others may feel differently, but the whole jailbait thing isn't really something I feel comfortable with. That goes hand in hand with the way it is more than hinted at that Misato Katsuragi, his commanding officer, legal guardian, and roommate, might have romantic feelings toward him, and Ritsuko also seems to think this is okay, apparently. There's a similar problem in regards to Rei Ayanami, the first child pilot, and NERV's commander, Gendo Ikari. There isn't a lot of that in this first movie, but I doubt that'll really change much since the way Gendo has planned out Shinji's life and his growing romantic interest in Rei has remained pretty much the same. Which is another thing that adds to the "ick" factor, but that also comes out later one. Anyway, the main plot is that this secretive organization called NERV has to prevent the end of humanity by destroying these giant alien "angels" which randomly appear to attack whatever happens to be in their way on their way to attack NERV headquarters. They are all apparently trying to reach and bond with the "Lilith" creature I mentioned earlier, which will apparently result in the death of all life on Earth. There is something of a secretive plan going on in the background which frankly doesn't make a lot of sense, but it's part of the larger story as everything progresses. I have to admit I'm kind of curious to see how this is done in the rest of these movies.

The story moves at a fairly good pace from the beginning through to the end. We're introduced to everyone, Shinji is put through the paces and fights a few monsters, a lot of important plot information is told or shown to us, and all without seeming all that rushed and without too much exposition. This is a definite improvement over the series and bodes well for this Rebuild of Evangelion project. The last battle in this movie is actually one of my favorites, as it involves a very powerful and very strange "angel", which is normally shaped like a giant diamond, but can take on complex geometric shapes to defend and attack. Which actually brings me to what is probably the biggest appeal of both this movie and the series it is based on – the eye candy. The series was okay, especially for the time and in light of the limited budget the animation studio had. The movie, however, does a really great job. I have to admit that this is something of a double-edged sword where I'm concerned, because when the eye candy overshadows the story, that's usually a sign of a bad writing. That isn't especially the case here, though. The main weak point of this movie is actually that it is simply the introduction to a much larger story, so there isn't a lot to go on just yet. But, the writing isn't bad in this movie, and as I mentioned it effectively introduced us to quite a few characters and concepts while throwing in some action to keep things interesting.

As for the characters, again, there isn't much of a difference from the series. Shinji is still a whiny loser, and he really makes me hate the way anime tends to let us hear a character's internal dialog. I was kind of hoping based on something I read that Shinji wouldn't be as bad in the Rebuild, but I can't see any difference in this movie. The same could be said of Rei being the meek little robot girl, which I guess is supposed to make her mysterious and interesting. I know the way Shinji notices that she isolates herself and ends up reaching out to her is supposed to be the highlight of all this, but I just can't get over the ick factor. The fact that the two of them are so young makes it disturbing enough, but add the fact that Rei shares some of Shinji's DNA, and now we have an incest angle to make thing that much more disturbing. Gendo is a bastard, as always, and nothing highlights that better than when Shinji is pressured into piloting Unit 01 for the first time. I'm glad that Misato has a greater role within NERV in this movie, though. While she's just as messed up as pretty much every other character in this franchise, at least on the job she's presented as being competent and able. She's also probably the only character I really much care for outside of all the random crew people in the control room at NERV headquarters.

So I'm sure some of you are wondering one of two things: 1) how much different is 1.11 from 1.01, and 2) if I haven't seen the series, should I bother? To answer the first question, there isn't a whole lot that's actually added. I think it amounts to maybe about 5 minutes total of added scenes, and most of that is toward the beginning of the movie when Misato picks up Shinji during the first angel attack we see. To answer the second question, that kind of depends. If you’re willing to sit through what's probably some of the most boring anime you'll ever see, it might be worth it just to see for yourself what's considered to be an influential series. If you do that, I recommend that you skip the last two episodes and watch End of Evangelion instead. Myself, I didn't like the series. It was boring, and while some of the eye candy was cool, that didn't make up for the other failings of the series. I don’t regret watching it, but in some ways I think I'd have rather just seen the movies if they actually do turn out to be better than the series. So far, things are looking up. 8/10.

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Thanks. :)

Outlaw Star

(26 episode series)

Yet another space western, this series has a lot in common with the likes of Cowboy Bebop and Firefly. In fact, as it came before Firefly, there are a few things I wouldn't be surprised Joss Whedon may have borrowed from Outlaw Star, such as the way the mysterious girl Melfina is introduced – huddled nude in a somewhat fetal position within a box-shaped cryo container. That being said, the resemblance is somewhat superficial, and this series takes itself much less seriously than either Firefly or Cowboy Bebop.

The series focuses on protagonist Gene Starwind, and his 11 year old genius business partner and friend, Jim Hawking. They run a business together on a backwater planet when they are basically hired into trouble by outlaw "Hot Ice" Hilda. Outlaws in this series are basically just mercenaries rather than criminals, the "outlaw" apparently just supposed to go toward reminding us that this is a space western since the way Gene dresses and his six-shooter-like gun apparently aren't enough. The thing about the Outlaw Star universe is that there isn't a lot of actual law enforcement due to humanity being somewhat spread out among the stars, rather than confined to just one system. This goes toward making the setting something like the frontier of the old west, or at least the fantasy many people have of it. So with limited law enforcement naturally come pirates to prey on the interstellar shipping. There are mercenary groups which will protect shipping lanes for a price, but these are different from the outlaws, who will do pretty much anything for a price. Gene is the kind of womanizer that everyone seems to think Captain Kirk is, and the business he and Jim are running isn't doing to well, in part because while he dreams of being an outlaw and cruising space in his own ship, he spends most of his money on booze and women.

Pirates actually form very powerful crime syndicates, and the helpful narrator (the voice of Jet Black as it turns out) explains to us that this is actually how the absurd notion of having large grappling arms on ships in order to engage in combat came about. Apparently in order to solve this problem they hire on some scientist types, including mad scientist Nguyen Khan to create the ultimate weapon for them – an advanced ship controlled by a bio-engineered android, which is the previously mentioned Melfina. Of course this XGP15A-II is also supposed to be the key to the mysterious "Galactic Leyline", which is what forms the basis of the background plot that holds the series together. Hilda is an outlaw who knows about all of this, and wants to prevent the pirates from getting a hold of the prototype ship and/or Melfina. Her ship ends up getting destroyed, but she is able to make her way to the same backwater planet Gene and Jim are on, and even manages to hire on the two as bodyguards while she gets her next move ready. Not to spoilt too much, but unfortunately Hilda, the not quite good, not quite bad, outlaw, ends up not making it, leaving the prototype ship and Melfina in Gene and Jim's care. They name it the Outlaw Star, give it a snazzy paint job, and fight their way out of the firs big fight with the pirates. But, as cool as the ship is and the fact Gene has finally gotten what he's always wanted, it turns out that it costs a lot of money to keep a ship running, let alone being able to put food on the table for themselves.

After the pilot plotline is done and until the final couple of episodes, the series becomes largely episodic as Gene and Jim try to find work so they can finish fixing up the Outlaw Star into top condition as well as keeping themselves fed. Along the way, the main plot of the Galactic Leyline serves as an excuse for the pirates to make attacks on them, as well as for the powerful alien Ctarl-Ctarl Empire to take an interest and make a few attacks of this own. This helps to add both drama and comedy, and also gives the perfect excuse to introduce a couple new crew members to the Outlaw Star. One is cat-girl Aisha Clanclan (who is one of the few I'd put aside the whole anti-furry thing for) of the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire, and the other is the deadly assassin "Twilight" Suzuka. And yes, Gene totally uses both his Kirk-like charm and fighting skill on both of them as a major part of the reason they end up joining the crew. Oh, and then there's the hot springs episode, which is definitely not to be missed if you like a good excuse for some fan service along with a healthy dose of perverted comedy. And speaking of fan service, did I mention that Melfina is basically the navigation computer of the ship and has to do her job in the buff? Yeah, it's kind of cool actually, because she jumps into the big tank that holds her fully clothed and somehow ends up nekkid when the tank comes up out of the floor with her inside of it. In any case, it's all the episodes are pretty fun, and lead up to both the main plotline involving finding the Galactic Leyline, as well as Gene being able to get his revenge on the MacDougall brothers, who are outlaws that were hired to kill his dad when he was still a child.

As for the characters, there are many, and most of them are fairly interesting. Gene and Jim naturally get the majority of the focus, though Jim falls somewhat by the wayside in order to develop Melfina's character a bit more. She is every bit as afraid and confused as one might expect her to be, basically being woken up and told she's just a machine who is programmed to find the Galactic Leyline, which could potentially bring doom to the entire galaxy. Of course they end up making her and Gene something of an item, but to be frank this could kind of get to me at times because he tended to be an asshole to her. One interesting difference from the norm though was that the Outlaw Star's computer, Gilliam II, is also a character all of his own, much in the same way Rommy was for Andromeda. He's something of the comedy relief along with Aisha Clan-clan, though while she tends to be a kind of silly funny, Gilliam is more of a dry, witty kind of funny, and he really adds to the cast of characters. There are quite a few others who could have used a bit more development but really didn't get it, though. Some of the pirates seemed like they could have been a bit more interesting, but instead ended up being just one-dimensional villains. The same could also be said for Professor Khan (*snicker*), as well as for assassin Suzuka, who tended to be a woman of few words. Hilda was probably one of the most interesting of all the characters (and it didn't hurt to be voiced by Major Kusanagi), but unfortunately she was killed almost right away. On the opposite end of the spectrum was Fred Luo, long time friend of Gene and stereotypical bad gay joke. He really only showed up from time to time to help Gene out, for a price, and to act like a stereotypical effeminate gay guy.

Overall, this was a very fun and interesting series to watch. It had a fairly good cast of characters and an interesting plotline that kept me hooked as I watched, along with some fun filler episodes along the way. The pacing was pretty good, and I never felt bored while I was watching this series. I would definitely recommend this series, especially if you liked Cowboy Bebop and/or Firefly. 9/10.

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Angel Links

(13 episode)

This series is supposed to be a spin-off of Outlaw Star, but it doesn't really seem like it. While they throw in a cameo appearance for Fred, the stereotypically gay guy in the first episode, and it does feature one of the types of aliens that showed up in Outlaw Star, but that's about all it has in common with Outlaw Star.

It follows the exploits of one of those mercenary security forces I mentioned in the Outlaw Star review. Basically they help to protect the shipping lanes from pirates for a fee. Well, I guess this series wants to be like Gene Roddenberry's revised idea of the Star Trek universe where there's no money, because this security company does its work for free, just because. So I guess either the company is endlessly rich in order to be able to maintain their ships and keep them in top fighting shape and pay all of its employees, or everyone just does it all for free, for no reason. This of course directly contrasts Outlaw Star, which made a point of reminding us that owning a space ship would actually be very expensive. But then, this company was apparently inherited by a busty 16 year old girl who apparently is just supposed to be competent at running this company and commanding the flagship of the company which goes out and fights pirates for free. Just remember, she's 16, and hugely busty. And a lot of characters make really crude remarks about that, especially in light of the fact she has a penchant for wearing a tight, revealing outfit. Japan, bringing us under-aged fan service since 1946. ;)

Really, though, this series seems much more interested in showing off than in any kind of actual story. Or at least nothing seemed readily apparent in the first couple of episodes, which is frankly all I cared to endure of this series. Most of the time is spend showing off the ship, using a lot of the same shots of the ship landing or taking off from the water on the planet it's based out of. The first couple of episodes consisted of Meifon Li, the busty jailbait protagonist, going out to help random people with her ship. It went from mind-numbingly boring to just bad. This is a horrible show and you shouldn't bother watching it. 0/10.

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Pale Cocoon

(single episode OVA)

At only 23 minutes long, this is a very short OVA, and while it looks good and has a decent story, I can understand why none of the US distributers have picked this OVA up and made a dub for it yet. I was actually introduced to this OVA by another reviewer in his first "Top 10 Unlicensed Anime" list, which he splits into two parts. here and here.

I have to say, though, that while I found it very visually appealing, and I found the concept somewhat interesting, it confused me somewhat and I don't really understand it. This being the case, I'm going to spoil the hell out of this OVA, so you've been warned.

The setting is basically underground in what was supposed to be an underground climate control infrastructure which once covered the planet. Apparently Earth has been ruined environmentally, and the implication is that things are getting worse as people are being forced to move further and further underground. This seems to be the typical environmental aesop, because everything we see points to humanity ruining the planet.

The story itself focuses mainly on two people, a young man named Ura and a young woman named Riko. The two of them work at the "Archive Excavation Department", and are among the last of what used to be a massive work effort. Basically, despite all the advanced technology humanity still possesses, somehow most of human history has been lost, and the job of this department is to dig up as much information out of the archives as they can and restore it. As one might expect, this turns out to be depressing to the vast majority of the people who had worked there as they learn about how Earth used to be and how humanity apparently ruined it through overpopulation and pollution. Ura is actually the only one left who's interested in learning for learning's sake, and everyone else has either already quit, or say that they're going to quit during the OVA. Riko is essentially the voice of the rest of humanity, voicing a very nihilistic view about their work and about the fate of humanity. She's basically stopped caring, and Ura tries to get her interested again by showing her a video file he is in the process of restoring, but she just stops coming into work, choosing instead to lay on a platform next to a glowing core of some kind, staring up at the blackness above. Ura sees something in this video file that changes his perspective along with ours, revealing the thing that confuses me about this OVA. While the video he was restoring is just a music video, apparently a shot of a spiral staircase upside down leading into the sky causes him to climb the staircase around the power core I mentioned up to an old elevator, which seems to take him even higher at a rapid speed, right before it seems to fall... right out into the sky.

As it turns out, they've been on the moon all along, humanity apparently having been evacuated there following an environmental disaster on Earth. Apparently everyone has been on a ship which is still sticking out of the lunar surface upside down, though with a cubic dome covering it. Why, I don't know. All I know is that gravity is apparently being generated artificially and Ura managed to work himself out into the weak lunar gravity after actually falling out of the ground. And that kind of confuses me somewhat because that is the best sense I can make out of it. Apparently this is supposed to double as a somewhat optimistic ending despite Ura's fate not looking all that great, because Earth looks like it might have restored itself, appearing to be blue and normal in contrast to one of the first lunar colonists' description of Earth as looking rusted.

Now, it's kind of obvious that out focus is supposed to be more on how the characters feel and all that, but I guess I'm too left-brained to see all that far beneath the surface. I say that because what was shown doesn't make all that much sense to me. Riko explained the very understandable depression that would come with seeing Earth all pretty and looking fine when they're all living in post-apocalyptic devastation. One of Ura and Riko's unseen co-workers even expresses some skepticism as to whether any of the stuff in the images and videos they've restored is even real. The thing is, it doesn't make sense to me that a humanity this advanced technologically has forgotten so much of its past that it's apparently forgotten that they aren't even on Earth anymore. At the very basic, wouldn't the original colonists/refuges have passed that little nugget of information onto their children and so on and so forth down the generations? So in a way, it would have made more sense for it to be aliens going through an extinct humanity's archives, but that has been done so many times that it's cliché, so I can understand this OVA wanting to do something a bit different. It also bothers me that no one seems to care what caused the apocalypse. I know some people argue that it doesn't matter, but this is something that tends to bother me even if nothing can be done about it. Another example would be The Road, which has much the same tone as this OVA anyway. I guess if nothing else, I would have thought it would be a goal of this "Archive Excavation Department" to find out what went wrong to put them all in their current predicament, but no one seems to care, not even Ura. But, I think this is supposed to be like one of those "art" films, and art doesn't always have to make sense.

I guess you could say that I was somewhat disappointed, because I was hoping that there would be more to it, somehow. It actually seems more like the pilot episode of a series than a one-off OVA. I would still say, though, that this OVA is worth a watch, despite not making all that much sense, at least not to me. It's barely over 20 minutes long, so it's not like you're out all that much even if you end up a bit frustrated like I did. 6/10.

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