snowymountain (Level 14)

One of my favorite series; this one was the one that sparked my interest in Japanese anime and manga. Rumiko Takahashi was one of my favorite authors. Rating: 4 Stars.

Mainly I read this 'cause I liked his other series; Love Hina and Negima?! I understand that this was his first major work and I can definitely see the influences of his future work in it. It's OK but lacks the sort of polish that he developed through experience. This series seemed to be heavily based upon Oh My Goddess! by Kosuke Fujishima but not quite as compelling. Rating: 2 Stars.

Overly cutesy and romantic comedy anime series that I watched. The female lead was uninspiring and unrealistic though in my opinion which caused the series to suffer. Rating: 1 Star.

I've read some of the manga and it's alright. There is a lot of crude humor and fan service, I haven't formed an opinion yet as I'm still on the early books and I have to wait to borrow them. The plot line is still developing so I'm withholding my opinion til later.

Saw the anime series. It reminded me of some of the really old samurai revenge flicks and was a bit corny here and there. Kill Bill did it better. Rating: 2 Stars.

I first started to read the manga cause I was bored and lacked anything else. Usually I don't go for this sort of thing but I actually liked it when I read it. The main female lead is cute and I thought the battles were interesting enough to keep my attention. Rating: 3 Stars.

Way back when, I read Appleseed cause it was one of the few manga options available and became a fan of Masamune Shirow's art. I got lost and found it overly complex at times with lots of philosophical stuff thrown in but he does make some neat mecha and cute girls which is why I read it. Rating: 2 and 1/2 Stars.

Up until recently, I never seen this series. I watched the live-action movie and wasn't overly awed with it, although out of curiosity I decided to watch the original animated version and I was definitely impressed. I think the American creators were clearly inspired by manga and anime because it embodies a lot of concepts of Eastern philosophy. Personally, I think the live-action movie was an abomination. The Director tried for too much, trying to compact as much as the storyline as he could into one movie which led to a very confusing and fast-moving story without any real character development or depth, which was the real heart of the Avatar saga. Rating: 4 and 1/2 Stars.

There's no dastardly villains, aliens, demonic beasts, ninjas, samurai, or anything else. It doesn't try for outrageous characters or complex storylines. It's just a bunch of comedy sketches depicting a group of ordinary high school girls. It's short and sweet and fairly simple, sort of like a collected version of your favorite comic strips from the newspaper like Garfield but that's what makes it work. Rating: 4 Stars.

I've seen a few episodes of the anime but I sort of lost interest in it. It didn't seem that great. Rating: 0 Stars.

I have little to no idea about this series as it was one of the few ones that I have a hard time finding any copies available so the few manga I picked up was telling a very detailed and complex story that I wasn't sure what was going on. It's like walking in on the last 30 minutes of the movie and frustratingly trying to piece together everything that happened. I can't rate this one honestly.

Seen the anime. It's halfway decent but a bit odd here and there. It's sort of like Space Olympics ... but only for women. Rating: 3 Stars.

Another series that I know very little about due the fact that I don't have access to most of it. From what little I have seen indicates that it relies more on pretty girls flashing their stuff over a plot line. Rating: 0 Stars.

A bit on the childish simplistic side, the series is more light hearted than other supernatural series with monsters who have taken over the world. It is a "Dark Age" where monstrous beings known as Vandels reign while the remnants of humanity struggle to survive in fortress cities and towns. Beet is an aspiring Buster who yearns to hunt down and destroy Vandels alongside his childhood heroes, the Zenon Warriors; the strongest and most powerful group of Busters alive. But his childish eagerness to see his heroes in action result in their doom when he is taken hostage by the Vandel Beltorze and Beet and Zenon Warriors are all badly wounded in exchange and are forced to impart their Saiga in Beet to save his life even as they sacrifice themselves to defeat Beltorze. Devastated at the loss of his heroes, Beet swears to end this "Dark Age" by destroying all of the Vandels. To aid him in his quest, he discovers that he possesses all of the powerful Saiga that each of the legendary Zenon Warriors wielded. The characters aren't bad and the interaction between them is fairly good as are the battles aren't bad either. Beet is a bit on the dim side, but over the course of the GNs, he seems to grow as he masters the various Saigas given to him. The art seems a bit crude and basic, but it's clean and able to easily follow the flow of the action. Probably the biggest downside however is that series seems stalled and in limbo just when it was starting to really get exciting due to the illness of one of the collaborators of this series for the past several years. Rating: 2 and 1/2 Stars.

Another series that I stumbled across recently. I personally liked the first Ben 10 series the best while the others felt a bit uninspired and forced to me. Ben Tennyson was very much a kid in the first series; an immature arrogant brat but a likeable one who every now and then, showed his inner qualities as a true hero. He grew up and grew kinda boring in the sequels in my opinion. I haven't seen the live action movies or comics so they're not included in my rating. Rating: 3 and 1/2 Stars (for the first series only)

Caught a few episodes, but I didn't find it interesting enough to try and keep looking. Rating: 1 Star.

This story takes place during late 19th Century England and a strange boy Ciel Phantomhive and the only competent member of his household, his butler Sebastian. It begins like a comedy but quickly descends into extreme creepiness. As it turns out, Sebastian is actually a demon and he is bound to serve Phantomhive. The gothic horror of this series might appeal to some, but I disliked it. I only read the first two GNs but I suspect that Phantomhive' bargain is that Sebastian will be able to take his soul in the end. While I am not particularly religious, I found it somewhat offensive that a child would be condemned in this manner. Phantomhive might be able to trick his way out of this bargain, but the fact that the fate of his soul hangs in the balance still overshadows the tone of this series, even during the brief moments of humorous comedy. Rating: 1 Star.

I read a few of the GN but I lost interest real quick. It's main selling factor seems to be lots of hot and insane girls along with lots of gun battles. I just couldn't bring myself to care about the characters; none of whom are all that heroic. Rating: 1 Star.

Eh. So-so was my opinion. It seems to be a sort of Japanese version of Highlander only with a revenge twist. I lost interest after a couple of issues of the manga. Rating: 1 and 1/2 Star.

I've read it but still find it a bit confusing. There seems to be quite a few plot holes that don't seem to make much sense to me; the Soul Society doesn't exactly seem to be all that "heavenly", how can a Soul Reaper get a permanent illness, why is a giant dog a Soul Reaper, and the Soul Society has several of these noble families, but exactly how does these noble families manage to propagate; are just some of the ones off the top of my head. But I find a lot of the characters compelling enough to keep an eye on the series. I have given up on the anime version though. Due to the fact that Japanese anime often catches up and surpasses the manga; the studios often come up with these "filler arcs" that are just freaking horrible in my opinion. Bleach is probably the prime example of this, although Naruto comes a close second too. One other thing I've noticed in the anime is that whenever Ichigo is about to perform some sort of heroic move, they have this jazzy song burst out. I grew it find it extremely annoying after a while. It's one of those aggravating tunes that get stuck in your head for days afterwards. Rating: 3 and 1/2 Stars.

I was a big fan of the original BGC anime series so I was thrilled when I heard that they were going to remake it. I found the 2040 series a joke however. It resembled the original but wasn't quite it either. The Grand Mal comic series was one of the best adaptations around; following in the footsteps of the original anime. I consider Adam Warren one of the best writers around! Rating: 4 and 1/2 Stars (for the original BGC!)

I've seen some of the anime and manga and didn't really care too much for either. For some reason though, neither the manga nor the anime resembled each other too much. Rating: 1 Star.

I tried to read the first GN of the manga but I found it boring and quit almost halfway. Rating: 1 Star.

This is one of the most realistic giant robot mangas I have ever read. In all of the other series I've seen, the enormous robot just runs around, ignoring whatever is around him during his battles. This one however doesn't and shows the effects of this robot stumbling around causing landslides and entire roadways to flex and shatter under it's tread. In addition, the alien invaders are pretty sneaky here in that they don't show up and invade with their superior technology but rather insinuate themselves economically into Earth and giving us their "technology" before staging their overthrow and humanity discovers that their technology is booby trapped and under their control. The hero was at first eager to fight with the robot and then appalled when he realized how dangerous his giant robo was. He went through some deep soul searching before reluctantly deciding to use it to fight. I am eagerly awaiting the Conclusion to this series and Dark Horse has to get on the ball and start printing it! Rating: 5 Stars!

Another TV series that I originally thought was too cutesy but despite myself, I found that I watched most of it. I prefer the original Japanese version as the English one was too "kid-ified". Rating: 4 Stars.

I didn't think too much of the premise after I caught a few episodes. However the manga is much more compelling and it's an interesting modern day detective mystery series. It's definitely worth a look. It gets a bit repetitive and the characters don't seem to deviate too much from their roles; Conan/Jimmy and Rachel will always dance around their relationship which is barely above childish affection, Richard is absolutely clueless yet somehow arrogantly believes himself to be a great detective ... even though he can't recall how he solved the case or why he always passes out during his deductions. The kids that Conan hangs around with will always get into trouble and disobey his orders getting them into worse trouble ... it's a bit predictable at times which is about the only real flaw in the series. I also have to give the author credit in churning out baffling mysteries one after another. Rating: 3 and 1/2 Stars.

I read the first manga GN and was hooked. I understand that this series is a spin-off to "A Certain Magical Index" because one of the supporting characters; Mikoto Misaki was so popular (which I can find understandable) that they made her the primary focus of this spin-off series. This is shaping up to be an interesting series and I'm keeping my eye on it and for the original series that this was spun off from. Rating: 4 Stars.

Another manga series that I wasn't too sure about when I first read the synopsis, but it turned out to be surprisingly decent. Boy wishes to be the "macho of men" but the evil genie twists it so that he becomes the "most womanly of women" and now spends her time trying to find a way to undo her "curse" as the most beautiful and attractive female on campus despite her obsession with martial arts, fighting, and her foul mouth. Rating: 3 and 1/2 Stars.

Read a few manga here and there. It's cute but not spectacular. Rating: 2 Stars.

Mainly I've watched the anime series. It gets a bit repetitive at times; Ryo Saeba getting involved with his beautiful clients and his assistant Kaori beating the crap outta him for his perverted behavior. But he still manages to pull off the cool and suave hero most of the time and I like him surprisingly and he makes me chuckle at his antics. He has an interesting supporting cast with a rival/enemy Umibozu and a sneaky female police detective who uses her feminine charms to trick Saeba into helping on her more difficult cases. Rating: 3 and 1/2 Stars.

An odd series involving a trio of kids who are part of an insanely wealthy school and have taken it upon themselves to aid and assist any females in distress. Strangely enough, it's funny enough to captivate my interest and was short enough that it doesn't grow repetitive. It also has a few spin-offs such as Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders and Man of Many Faces. Rating: 2 and a 1/2 Stars.

I've only started reading this series and it seems like it might be pretty good. There is a definite dark vibe to it, but not so much that it grosses you out. It takes place in an alternate world where female warriors known as "Claymores" hunt down fearsome beasts known as "yoma" who view humans as merely another food source. To equalize themselves with their prey, the Claymores are forced to undergo horrific surgery which literally implants yoma organs within them, granting them a measure of strength, speed, and other strange abilities. But it comes at a fearsome price as the more and more they use their powers to destroy these monsters, the stronger their own monstrous nature begins to take them over. Each Claymore lives with the knowledge that one day, their bodies will betray them and then, they too will have to be hunted down and destroyed for the good of humanity. Despite the tragic nature of these heroines, they continue to fight for the sake of the human race, struggling to maintain their humanity against the monsters within themselves. It's a fascinating idea and a solid concept, even more so as several Claymores are beginning to question the very nature of the "Organization" that hunts down these yomas and directs them and they begin to realize a very dark and sinister plot lurking in the background. The art is fairly good and the storyline seems to falter here and there but it continues to fascinate the reader with new twists and turns. It is definitely worth a read. Rating: 4 and 1/2 Stars.

Saw a few anime episodes. I didn't much care for it. Rating: 1 Star.

I've read most of the first GN and stopped as I found it a bit too bloody and graphic for my tastes. The idea of an innocent man being brainwashed into a ruthless and inhuman assassin for a criminal organization was a bit too much to take. Rating: 1/2 Star.

Mainly I played the video game a bunch of times. I have seen a cartoon based on it but after watching most of one episode, I found it too 'kid-ified' for my tastes. Rating: 3 and 1/2 Stars for the Video Game and 1 Star for the TV series.

A friend of mine tried to interest me in this but I didn't find it very compelling, it was a bit too dark and depressing for me. Rating: 1 Star.

Not that great an anime. It seemed a thinly veiled attempt to squeak by the censors by not being hentai or erotic enough to be labelled as adult, yet containing enough sexual themes to not be your regular cartoon either. It tries to titillate, but it doesn't manage to succeed. The designs of the girls are fairly cute, but it fails to contain a very compelling storyline or explicit sexual scenes either. If they tried to focus on one or the other, it might come off better but instead it comes off as confused and lacking. It feels like Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a slice of Sailor Moon or another magical girl on the side. Rating: 1 Star.

I caught most of the 01, 02 and 03 series respectively. I had to wake up to take my father to work and I usually dropped him off and then came back home before I went to school. As it so happened, Digimon was on between that brief break in my schedule and I started watching it despite myself. The first series wasn't bad and focuses on a group of young kids who are lost in another dimension where they befriend a bunch of "Digimon" who are their partners. It's a bit like that Pokemon series, but the kids seem to have a much stronger bond between their monstrous friends as they help them "evolve" into stronger forms during battles like a power booster--or so I assumed unlike the kids in the Pokemon cartoon which just seem to act as cheerleaders or providing strategic guidance. Digimon actually took itself much more seriously than Pokemon, the characters felt a lot more real with real personalities as they grew and faced ever increasing powerful opponents. The 02 series was a pale version of the first series, focusing on a new grouping of kids with the originals thrown in here and there to add in some tie-in to the originals. The 03 series however was a dramatic different universe entirely. After that, Digimon started repeating and then changed it's time slot and so I lost interest in it entirely. Rating: 3 Stars for the 01 and 03 series; 1 Star for the 02.

I have seen a couple of the animated videos but they weren't that spectacular in my opinion. Rating: 1 Star. However, a friend showed me a couple of comic books based on them by the American comic writer/artist Adam Warren that totally blew me away! He has since become one of my favorite writers and I try and pick up whatever I can find that he scribes (even if I'm not a fan of the series). I recommend "A Plague of Angels" which remains one of my favorite stories along with "Sim Hell", "Fatal But Not Serious", "Start the Violence", and "Run From the Future" which I unabashedly credit him with 4 and 1/2 Stars!

I've seen the first Dominion series and the anime, neither of which I particularly liked but this one actually grabbed my attention. It's got some real amusing characters such as the Puma Sisters and Leona Ozaki herself. I'm hoping that the title of Conflict 1 means that there will be a Conflict 2 in the works! Rating: 5 Stars!

I got briefly addicted to the Dragonball series. The anime seemed to draw things out far too much for my tastes and I tended to just fast forward through repetitive scenes to get to the action sequences. The original Dragonball series was so-so and lame in the early parts. The exception was the Piccolo Saga which I thought was of the best ones. I did think the DBZ series was pretty good right up until the Freeza Saga. I think they could have ended right there, in fact I wish they did because after that with the Cell Saga and the Buu storylines, it just seemed extremely repetitive and boring. It seemed that they were just retelling the same story with different characters and I couldn't muster enough interest to care about watching the Dragonball GT sequel. Rating: 3 Stars.

It wasn't that great. It seemed awfully derivative of the Power Rangers. About the one amusing thing is the Defenders' "mysterious" leader who appears every now and then is actually the head kid detective from the CLAMP School Detectives series, just wearing a pair of mirror sunglasses as a disguise. And you have to read the original series to get the joke. Rating: 1 Star.

I remember seeing a TV episode of "House M.D." where the belligerent doctor informed a black politician; "it's not just called the White House because of the paint job". Years before Barack Obama broke the race barrier, this manga showed an Asian-American politician Kenneth Yamaoka who ran and won the Presidential election. It's a tangled mess of political intrigue and in-fighting; where oftentimes, it's not the issues which define the success of a politician, but his image. It's a bit disturbing to see how this is how our political system works, but there is also a ring of authenticity in this series and there are a number of thinly veiled real-life politicians characters populating the series as well. The manga is told through the eyes of a young idealistic journalist Takashi Jo who brings to mind James Stewart as "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" who is given a close, behind-the-scenes view of the Yamaoka campaign. He comes to admire Yamaoka as a politician, even if he does not respect him as a man particularly after he discovers that Yamaoka is also his biological father who had a brief affair with his mother. Even more chillingly, Jo wonders if his father may or may not have had his mother killed and arranged her murder to appear as an accident to prevent a potential political scandal; even as he develops a passionate and intimate relationship with Yamaoka's adopted daughter. There are a myriad twists and turns throughout the series, it's a surprisingly interesting ride; even if you aren't one for political thrillers. Disappointingly, it wasn't that popular but it has superb storyline and interesting character-driven plots. I surprisingly liked it a lot. Rating: 4 and 1/2 Stars.

I read the manga which was alright. The main character has an interesting gimmick for a power that kept my interest. If it had gone on for too long, then I might have gotten bored or found it too repetitive. Rating: 2 Stars.

Made by the same company that does the Tenchi Muyo series, El-Hazard was an interesting shift from aliens and super-science to the more magical as well as time travel paradoxes. Personally, I think the original OAV series stand best on it's own. The other remakes don't quite match the original. A group of high school students and one of their teachers are transported, quite against their will to another dimension where they all become involved in a war between two races. One of the best things I think they had was that one of the students, Jinnai become involved with the evil "bugs". Generally a failure in high school, Jinnai finds himself elevated as the Bugs' General and quite enjoys his new position while the others are struggling to return to their own world. It just goes to show that some characters can succeed in the right setting or era. All of the characters get a chance to shine and evolve during the course of the OAVs and the conclusion was heartbreaking and resolved the various plot threads. Rating: 4 and 1/2 Stars. The other series, the Wanderers and the Alternate World I will not rate the other series as I didn't like them and stopped a few episodes in.

Usually I don't go for sports manga but this one got my attention and I actually liked it a lot; the anime was not quite as good though. The characters are interesting and unusual enough to keep me laughing at their comedic antics. Sena Kobayakawa has been bullied all his life and was made into an errand boy ever since elementary school. In high school however, he falls under the attention of an even bigger predator, Yoichi Hiruma who is the Captain and Co-Founder of the Devil Bats Football Team. He immediately realizes that Sena is a world class sprinter and recruits him by force as his team's star running back. In order to protect Sena's identity (and prevent the other school clubs from trying to co-opt his star player), Hiruma dubs him "Eyeshield 21". The devilish and manipulative Hiruma aside, Sena quickly falls in love with playing football and begins to grow into his role at first hiding behind his identity of Eyeshield, he finally unmasks himself to step onto the field as a hero in his own right. The football games are exciting and brilliantly crafted, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat as the Devil Bats struggle against opponent after opponent for come from behind victories using unexpected and unanticipated plays. If you're not a football fan when you first start reading this series ... you will be one after you're finished. Rating: 4 and 1/2 Stars (manga only).

A friend of a friend claimed that this series was hysterical but I didn't see it. I saw the first anime episode and found it so horrible that I couldn't bring myself to finish watching it. Rating: 0 Stars.

I will admit that Mai Shiranui is one of my favorite video game characters for her daring outfits which was why I watched the OAVs and the Movie. She doesn't get quite as much screen time as I hoped and in a surprisingly disappointing way, she often turns into the cute and helpless damsel in distress that needs rescuing. The first OAV "Legend of the Hungry Wolf" was almost distressingly predictable. It's a classic father gets killed by jealous rival in a dishonorable fashion and his son(s) swears revenge. The main character Terry Bogard is a bit of a cookie cutter hero; noble, stoic, handsome, and a bit shy around the ladies and his villain, Geese Howard was a carbon copy of a classic villain. In addition, the first movie lacks Mai! The second OAV "The New Battle" was in my opinion; a lot better. The main villain in this one, Wolfgang Krauser has charisma and gravitas that was noticeably lacking in Geese. Yeah, he was a bad guy, but there was a sense of nobility in him. Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture builds on the first two OAVs, it's a bit repetitive here and there but it has some good parts but I found it slightly inferior to "New Battle". Rating: 2 Stars (for Legend of the Hungry Wolf), 4 Stars (for New Battle) and 3 and 1/2 Stars (for the Motion Picture).