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Have you seen those videos of Metallica performing in Moscow in 1991, just after the oppressive Communist regime collapsed? A sea of human beings - hundreds of thousands - are going absolutely nuts to experience firsthand music that just a few years before had been banned. Harried-looking soldiers are desperately pushing back against the tidal wave of people, trying to maintain some sense of order. Imagine all of this but with rainbow-colored teenage girls flying through the sky and robots battling anti-entertainment forces and you have an idea of what AKB0048 is like at its best.

This should come as no surprise, since ... the show is directed by Mr. Macross himself, Shoji Kawamori. If anyone can turn a cash-grab promo for a musical group into something special, it's going to be the man who first combined transforming mecha action, idol music, and love triangles so many years ago. Under his veteran tutelage, whenever the girls are in action, the show is consistently entertaining.

Unfortunately, the show is considerably duller in the long stretches between concerts/battles. Mari Okada's script is typical of her output. The drama that forms the bulk of the show is competent but unsurprising, and as subtle as a hammer to the head. There is also some perfunctory, unimaginative fanservice (Yes Virginia, there is a swimsuit episode). But what truly threatens to sink the show are the attempts to justify practices of the real AKB48. The way the girls are forced to adopt the identities of previous members of the group, the exploitative photo shoots, the hate mail - whenever the show touches on these aspects of the lives of AKB48 members, it forces us to reconsider the house of cards that is our suspension of disbelief.

It is all good and well to tell a story about the importance of music, and to paint pop musicians as soldiers of freedom fighting against the forces of repression and conformity. But when the show tries to make weak excuses for real-life exploitation, it punches holes in the narrative and makes me question whether or not this is really a show I want to keep watching.

Despite these misgivings, I enjoyed AKB0048 overall. The action scenes succeeded in putting a dopey grin on my face often enough to justify all the times I wanted to bang my head against the wall. But I don't know if I'm really up for season 2.

Anthologies of animated shorts based on Western properties have become something a big deal. In the past two years we've seen both Batman and Halo get this treatment, as well as the videogame Dante's Inferno. However, the Animatrix is still the gold standard of such works, even going so far as to outshine some of its source material.

The secret for the Animatrix's success is the talent that was poured into it. Some of the creative minds that worked on it include Mahiro Maeda (Gankutsuou), Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll), and Shinichirō Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop), in addition to some up-and-coming talents as well.

While the ... Matrix sequels devolved into mysticism and spectacle, the different pieces of the Animatrix give us new spins on the ideas that first made this world so compelling. Each segment gives us something completely different while still remaining true to the thematic elements of reality and identity that are at the heart of the Matrix. And these differing visions are captured in a kaleidoscope of visual styles, making the experience an enriching one for the brain and the eyes.

Of course, in an anthology work such as this, everyone will be drawn to different parts. I certainly have my favorites, but I found that each segment had some to offer - with one exception. The first segment, The Final Flight of Osiris, made by Square (who you might know from Final Fantasy:Advent Children), features remarkably realistic CG but has such a poor story that any sense of wonder is lost, and the overall effect is rather one of boredom. Fortunately, this misstep is quickly forgotten as it is eclipsed by the equally pretty and much more interesting works that follow it.

Jyo Oh Sei is a good (maybe even great) 29 episode show squeezed into 11 episodes. The result isn't pretty.

The foundation of the plot is a big 'ole mess of second rate science fiction concepts, including The Plant Planet, The Prison Planet, The War Between the Sexes, and others that it would be spoilerish of me to reveal. Seriously, this story kept reminding me of the Golden Age SciFi I've read. The difference is, those stories (well, the good ones anyways) fully explored their concepts and were able make interesting situations out of them. And perhaps the Jyu-Oh-Sei manga manages to ... do this, but here none of the concepts are really given enough time to become interesting.

The setting and ideas have it easy, though. The characters are the ones who really suffer, as the creators push them through rushed plot twist after rushed plot twist. Perhaps the worst example comes in the first episode, when Thor whiplashes from protecting his brother, to trying to kill him, to protecting him again, in just a few minutes. What was supposed to be a brutal moral conundrum just comes off as silly (It doesn't help that his brother dies anyways in the same episode, essentially invalidating the whole moral struggle).

And this show is talky. Very talky. There just isn't time for the characters to exhibit their traits through their actions, so everything has to be explained. This leads to some pretty significant disparities between how character talk, and their actions on the screen.

No, this is not a character-driven anime. Rather, the plot is in control, cracking its whip and forcing the characters through one unnatural contortion after another.

Still, despite all this, it manages to maintain a modicum of interest - up until Ninja Chick is introduced, in a forced attempt at a love triangle. Their is no chemistry to the relationship, however, and it only serves to dry up whatever enthusiasm the viewer has for the finale. The bizarre death of a major character at the end didn't even provoke more than a puzzled 'huh?' from me.

Visually, the show is a mixed bag. The character designs and animation are pretty good, but they take place in incredibly uninspired locales. Big empty spaceships, big empty castles, big empty tundras, big empty valleys - there's just not much stuff on the planet of the Beast King, apparently.

Another complaint is the misogyny present. Despite the fact that the original work was written by a woman, the story is far from feminist. Oh sure, on the surface stuff like "Women have the absolute right to choose their mates!" sounds all pro-Grrl, but the truth is that all our supposedly strong female characters are completely dependent on men by the end of the show (or dead).

For all the vitriol, Jyu-Oh-Sei has redeeming qualities (it looks alright, the plot starts out somewhat intersting, etc), and people do like it. Nonetheless, this is simply not a very good show, and I recommend skipping it. Certainly don't blind buy it unless it's very cheap and you have a high tolerance for schlock.

Metropolis is one of the few anime titles fortunate enough to make it into the mainstream. Along with Ghost in the Shell and the works of Miyazaki, this is one of the films that it is cool for cultured people to like.

And like it they do. As of this writing, the movie has 60 critical review on Rottentomatoes.com, with a 91% approval rating. Roger Ebert gave it four out of four stars, and called it "One of the best animated films I have ever seen".

For all this acclaim, the movie nearly didn't get made at all. Osamu Tezuka felt that his ... original manga was deeply flawed and far from his best work, and only after his death could the film be made.

If Tezuka through some working of magic or science was given the opportunity to see this film made against his wishes, even he would have to admit that it does his art justice. The original character designs are given fluid animation and backed by impressive and well-integrated CGI. The movie is simply gorgeous, and a viewer watching only for the eyecandy certainly won't be disappointed.

However, simple spectacle is not enough to carry a film for many of us, and this is where nuanced characterization and good storytelling come in. The central story, about a boy and an android girl on the run from the antagonist, is one with potential. Unfortunately, the supposed 'main' characters are hardly fleshed out at all, and the audience is given little reason to care about their fate. The obligatory 'android learning how to become human' moments never happen, or any other development of the two leads for that matter.

The setting and supporting cast are considerably more interesting. Over the course of the movie, the city undergoes considerable change, as social forces and malevolent schemes ultimately lead to upheaval and chaos. And the antagonists have a decent amount of personal issues and character development - more than the leads, in fact. However, the simple truth is none of this is enough to carry the film in lieu of an interesting central story.

And then, in the final ten minutes, the stakes are suddenly raised, and attention is suddenly riveted to the screen. The final scenes are moving - even devastatingly so.

However, despite its excellent finale and interesting setting, this film's core is empty. The eyecandy makes it worth a watch, but it fails as a dramatic piece.

tl;dr - Good visuals, setting, and bad guys. Unfortunately, two incredibly boring lead characters waste almost all the potential the movie had. The ending is good, though.

Of course, this is very much a minority view, and you'll probably see the movie anyways. I'd just recommend that you rent before you splurge on the super-deluxe box set.