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Does Pokémon really need an introduction at this point? It's been around for over 20 years, it's a monolith in the world of marketing. But it was a huge hit in Japan when it first came out, and in 1999, it took the rest of the world by storm. So much so, that on November 10, 1999, the first film, “Mewtwo Strikes Back”, came out a year in America after its debut in Japan, with a second film having already been in Japanese theaters for months. But children outside of Japan didn't know about that, the Internet was still young at the time. All we ... knew was that Pokémon made it to the big screen, and it was going to be epic. And it was.

So naturally, to celebrate 20 years, OLM had been making plans to make this important milestone a big deal. The 20th anniversary already had a movie by the title “Pokémon: I Choose You” to a rather positive-to-mixed response. But Pokémon has multiple milestones in its history it wanted to celebrate, and therefore, it really wasn't out of the ordinary to give the first film its own anniversary celebration—but with a twist. Barring 2019's “Detective Pikachu”, this is the first time the Pokémon anime has become fully CGI. An announcement that made many people immediately skeptical and brush it off with an apathetic scoff.

Not this animation fan. Spoilers for a 20-year-old film.

I'll admit that when this was first announced, before the first teaser image was ever shown, I wasn't amused. I could still feel the scars of 2013 start to ache, and I cringed in my seat as I read about a new film with Mewtwo. What more could they do with him at this point? Why even bother? I wanted to reject this, to say I didn't want this. But the moment it was clear this would be a CGI film, albeit a shot-for-shot remake, suddenly I was excited. I wanted to see what OLM could do with technology that advanced in 20 years since the first film came out. Recall that they ended up dabbling in CGI for the first film because reasons, I suppose, and look how dated those clouds and that giant pair of doors have become. But now, with computers running faster than ever, the clouds and giant pair of doors in this film are gorgeous, and are only a small part of this 90-minute work of art.

This is a beautiful movie to look at, it's such eye-candy that so much is lost by reading subs. The environments alone are screensaver-worthy, a lot of shots should be framed and put on the wall. The detail on everything from the water to the clouds to the clothes to the fortress itself is oozing with detail. This alone is what will guarantee multiple viewings and a frame-by-frame analysis with fans, as well as a dub. Even the animation itself needs to be studied because of the body language of a lot of characters, Mewtwo especially. This is the most animated Mewtwo's ever been since “Detective Pikachu”, just every time he's on screen I loathed having to glance down to skim the subs because it meant missing out on some subtle touches to his expressions. I could literally stare at his model all day.

In fact, to go back to Mewtwo's fortress, this is exactly why I supported this going CGI. There's an insane amount of detail to the design that wasn't included in the original (and there's additions, too, such as a stained glass window to give it an appearance of a cathedral), and we almost have ourselves a tour of it down to the texture, pretty much, I literally want this model file to just study and scroll through. I love this castle, I always have, and that love deepened with this redesign down to the last paint-job. It's amazing that this is never touched upon again (especially in the 2000 TV sequel where guess all Mewtwo does is carve out a simple table and chairs), but we have ourselves an architect in the Pokémon world whose talents and precise attention to detail is going unnoticed. Like damn, Mewtwo, just throw on a human disguise and get out there to make your mark on the world. Design some really kick-ass theme parks or something.

The Pokémon do look really good (I've never wanted to hug a Pidgeot more, and one of my favorites, Wigglytuff, is so plush), but I have unfortunately been spoiled by “Detective Pikachu” and so it's kinda hard to distance myself from that. The human models are hit or miss, for sure, but I can appreciate the different touches to their designs like how you can tell Brock's a little slouched from his knapsacks, Misty's ponytail bobs, and Jessie and James must be going to some salon in between episodes or something, they should be supermodels instead of grunts. Some moments were weird because you can tell they were still trying to put on anime exaggerations, but it wasn't working with these models. If it was a bit more cartoony, particularly in the faces, I think they could've gotten it with no issues, but I suppose they didn't want to stray from them looking not Japanese. I know there were folks out there saying they couldn't take a leering Ash too seriously, but he's ten, he still has some baby fat on him. You could still feel the anger coming off of him.

In terms of if they improved upon the scenes... eh, I'm afraid nothing sticks out. Well, actually I chuckled over the Lapras boat scene (one of the few changes made when it was originally a Viking motif) because Team Rocket had a song and danced in the back row, and I really like the shot when they fly out of the water and saw the castle and the surrounding clouds for the first time. That was actually a cool shot, and that's why I'm kind of bummed by this camera. It needed to slow down, for one thing, take the time to take everything in. I know they're showing off the 3D space, but it also should've been shot in different angles or positions, too, like in the laboratory in the beginning, for example. It's not like I want it to be an exact shot-for-shot remake with the camera, but there were shots that needed more “oomph” in terms of the camera angles, or to get some much-needed close-up shots or quick edits. I'm not sure where people are getting at by saying there's "padding", though. Yeah, I suppose because of the CGI, things feel "slower", like there's actual weight to them, but if anything, I thought it moved too fast in some areas, the beginning especially. I just wanted to take in the Amazon, the fields, the underwater sequences, dammit. The extended scenes in some places, especially the clone battles, I honestly enjoyed because it just meant seeing them be animated more. Mew I think was my favorite to watch in that regard in how super floaty it is.

In terms of extending scenes, the battle with Mewtwo and his starter clones was one example where I can tell they were showing off, but it doesn't take away from the film. While I think the Pokémon being one-hit KO'd in the original hits home a lot harder, it's actually still nice to see them still get back up to fight back. Bruteroot—I mean, Bernard being slammed into the doorway and dropping like thirty feet or something (how tall's that entranceway, anyway?) was pretty brutal, actually. I was thinking about how unfortunate it is that they toned down the brutality from the original, but that one hurt.

Oh, and thank God Mewtwo and Mew didn't play bumper balls with each other. They still charged at each other and were psychically repelled, but they didn't look like they were about to play Super Monkey Ball rolling around in their glowy hamster balls.

When it comes to the soundtrack, most of it reprised from the original OST, it's just kinda there, and unfortunately has a muted organ, Mewtwo's leitmotif, that you can hear strongly in the original version. That said, "Inochi Aru Mono" was still beautiful to listen to, but the scene still played out too differently (another extended sequence) that the beats still kinda didn't hit. But when the stadium lights went out and Mewtwo and Mew flare up with psychic energy and hiss at each other (yes, Mew was hissing, let that sink in), and then Ash runs out and BOOM!... there's no music. There's no sound, just Pikachu calling out Ash's name and trying to shock him back to life, just to cry, and cry, and cry oh my God they drew that one out. This actually makes me curious about what the dub might do with the soundtrack in this instance. My biggest wish was for "Tears of Life" to be trumped, to see if this was something that could have more impact to it, but I guess nothing will. Oh well, not that I'm complaining because I adore the dub soundtrack.

Oh, since there still has been no word of a dub as of this review (which is unusual), I have to bring up the voice-acting briefly. I'm honestly not all that familiar with the Japanese voice actors and actresses in their famous roles in Pokémon, but I know them from elsewhere. So while it's honestly rather rough due to the actors' ages, they still did their best in returning to an old script. But for sure the real star was Mewtwo himself, Masachika Ichimura. He is still fantastic, it's really like he never stopped being his character and being his vicious, cold self. Special mention goes to Kenta Miyake as Giovanni, for as small as the character's role is, he did his best in still hitting the same beats his predecessor, Hirotaka Suzuoki, hit 20 years ago. The ending song is a reprise of the original “Kaze to Issho ni”, but includes a duet with Sachiko Kobayashi and Shoko Nakagawa. It's a lot quieter and softer than the original's celebratory orchestra performance, but it was accompanied by some beautiful pieces of artwork that makes you long to be a child again.

So with that said, why don't I think this is up there with the first film when it's still the same film? It's not because of nostalgia, I can promise you that, and it's not because I think the cel animation is too vintage to top. Is it a soulless cash-grab? Not really, they were really pushing how important it was that Pokémon was going fully CGI for the first time. They wanted to show just how far the series and technology has come that they could make these characters look more alive.

I think it still falls a little flat because the script should've been altered a bit to match this new style. The movie is still Mewtwo's story, it's still about him hogging the spotlight like the prima donna he is and it's still him showing his disdain toward mankind for bringing him into a world he didn't ask to be born in. Which is why I think it's still a damn shame they didn't bring in the entirety of Mewtwo's origins because his beginning questions to Dr. Fuji still echoed from his long-lost childhood memory. Yes, it was there from the very beginning in 1998, but that's still a context that's eerily lost and confusing to those who aren't aware of his story. He was just born, what does he know about a mother, a father, of a God? He didn't know who he was, even still seemed to question his own existence to the very end, but yet he knows about birth like that? It's still something to make one's head spin, which fits Mewtwo's confusion, but still.

But the script still could've benefited from tweaks to make it stand out differently from its original, even could be upgraded a bit or changed up some things, especially in Mewtwo's decision at the end to go "Meh, only I can learn this valuable lesson about one's life being as equal to another's. Humans can suck my dick." Perhaps it really should've followed the current AU set up with the 20th movie, so that while it still hit the same beats and still kept Mewtwo the same character, it still would've felt a bit more of a fresher take on the same tale whether with new characters or just a slightly different motivation. So even though I still liked how Mewtwo, Ash, Mew, and even Team Rocket were portrayed in this film, things should've gone differently.

Anyhoo, in closing, I honestly want to see more Pokémon movies go CGI. I think OLM collaborating with Sprite helped a lot in how it looks overall, and I hope Motonori Sakakibara sticks around for future projects or gave them some pointers. I think if they do some slight tweaking on the humans, it'll look much better, but I'll take what I can get. This was a good effort, but I fear this movie may not have done well enough to call for more CGI. And that's a shame.

However, I don't have regrets watching this, even if it was just for completion's sake. I'll still go back to the original take due to better availability and also admittedly some familiarity, but I'm glad this was a new way to reincarnate the film and show off how far Pokémon has come. Mewtwo continues to persevere as a character no matter what medium or format you show him in, and I think that says a lot about how much of an impact he's left on the fandom and name brand 20 years later.

“If you try to arouse me, you will fill me with lust.”

Let that set the tone for this review. Just really let that sink in, which shouldn't take long.

Based on the three versions that were broadcast, this had to have been some kind of experiment to see what they could do with adult anime. Clearly, the “all-ages” version is a joke from the way it was going to be butchered to hell and back, and the “15+” version has some laughable censorship this side of “Pupa” and “Okusama ga Seitokaichou”, albeit with the latter, it's more toward the cut-out puppet segments to cut away from ... the juicy bits. So does that make the “18+” version all the more superior?

Not even in the slightest. In fact, the censored version is actually sparing its audience from seeing how much of a mistake (and bore) it actually is simply by distracting them with silly puppetry.

STORY: What story? Each episode is three minutes long and it sometimes skips around like a scratched up DVD. What little story there IS is basically how every smutfic in existence can be summed up in one sentence: Girl meets boy/reunites with boy now all grown up and sexiness (well... “sexiness”) ensues. They make a failed attempt at making it interesting by having the man be a monk and he needs a “fiancé” to please his parents since he's taking over the temple, but nothing noteworthy comes from that.

Oh, and there's some relationship drama somewhere or another. Except I fail to see how this is a positive, let alone healthy relationship in the first place.

CHARACTERS: I haven't bothered to remember these characters' names, and not just because I was watching it raw majority of the time. But I need to briefly mention these characters, so for clarity, I'll call them Carrot Top, Not-Saitama, and Proto-Kaworu. The parents are pointless, not even going to bother with them.

Carrot Top is a well-endowed woman. That's it. She has no personality traits outside of being a submissive sex doll for Not-Saitama to grope and perform lewd acts on whenever he wants. This is because she's a blank slate for the viewer to insert herself into and pretend Not-Saitama is ravishing her. Because women and their fantasies, am I right?

Not-Saitama is a horn dog who really likes licking his pretend-fiancé's boobs and ears, and poking around in her orifices. He's probably also borderline (if not outright) rapey since he took advantage of her while she was drunk, and he always initiates the first move. Got to teach his pretend-fiancé how to be the perfect wife of a monk, am I right?

Right off the bat with his introduction, Proto-Kaworu does nothing but hit on Carrot Top every chance he gets—except for the one time Not-Saitama caught him, so he watched the two of them make out on the spot. He's only here to shoehorn in drama and an affair plot-line that's resolved in the second-to-last episode anyway because that's what all romances need, am I right, or AM I RIGHT.

Why am I getting some terrible “Twilight”/“The Host” vibes from this?

ART/ANIMATION: Going to start this off by saying I'm not surprised Seven, the studio behind this joke of an anime, was also the same one behind “Okusama”, but they shockingly also did “I Can't Understand What My Husband is Saying”. And apparently they also worked on quite a bit of hentai I have no interest in seeing whatsoever. So there really wasn't going to be much praise in this department. Their specialty lies in mainly short anime, so good for them that this works in their favor.

Too bad the animation looks like it was made by a lemon fanfic writer who tried replacing their shoddily-written sex scenes with Flash animation to make it look “better”. That's how embarrassing and amateurish it is; it's still easy on the eyes compared to some other cheap hentai out there, but the errors are sloppy and egregious, you would have to practically not be looking at the screen to not see them. They try to cover it up by making the art look “pretty” and using as many still-frames (minus the mouth flaps) as possible in the three-to-four-minute runtime they have, but even those still-frames can have off-model moments.

The only time this looked good and had some actual care put into it were in the first two episodes. But that was the entire point as those episodes were also the hottest. Have to give credit where credit is due, no matter how small.

SOUND: Absolutely forgettable and as amateurish as the animation, as to be expected from a voice actress who was in two other hentai prior to this. And what a surprise, the voice actors are all nobodies. The soundtrack itself is also dull, I'm pretty sure they just repeated the same two tracks over and over, I just can't be bothered to check. The ending theme's also pointless and doesn't sound all that great, there's nothing grabbing your attention other than letting you know the end credits are rolling.

I had to watch these episodes raw if I wanted the “full experience”, so I can't really judge dialogue. But I assume, based on the quote I gave above from the fansub of the first episode, all of the dialogue consists of being spouted out by Captain Obvious. And I just have to ask, “Who talks like that?” Seriously. That can't have just been a weird translation, the script must actually be THAT awkward and hokey.

OVERALL: Just watch the first two episodes only—raw (unless you're curious about what the “15+” version looks like). It's only like seven minutes of your time, I'm sure you can get off to it within that timeframe.

And ladies, don't give this a passing grade, or hell, even a passing glance just because it's animated porn for women. We deserve better quality smut to fantasize about.

Note: Given the nature of this series, this review will be split into two parts to cover both the Hoenn League and Battle Frontier.

Regardless of what we think of Pokémon, it's a successful franchise, and the original series was popular even with its ups and downs. However, its popularity began to decline during the Johto season, and the Pokémon phenomenon that rocked the world lost its luster. That didn't mean Pokémon was done with, as the Ruby and Sapphire versions rolled around for the fairly young Game Boy Advance on November 21 of 2002 in Japan, and then March 19, 2003 in North America (April ... 3rd in Australia and July 25th in Europe, can't forget you guys). The final Johto episode aired just weeks before the games' release in Japan, while in the U.S., it aired in late October of 2003, months after Ruby and Sapphire were released.

Statistics say the Ruby and Sapphire versions sold 16.22 million copies world-wide total as of March 2013. However, when compared to Red/Blue (31.38), and Gold/Silver (23.10), there's a plummet of sales. Why is that? It could be because of the new handheld, or it could be because the fans are moving on. Or it could be because the Hoenn region was different compared to Johto complete with new gameplay, and (gasp!) people don't like it when a formula that already works gets switched up. Who's really to say when there's millions of people with their own reasons for why they never bought the games. The anime was still on-going at this time, why didn't that help boost sales? Maybe it did, just not to the same extent as the original series.

Pokémon Advanced Generation is notable for being the first time the Pokémon anime tried something “new”, as in changing the location, changing companions (although Brock remained), changing battle strategies, and overall just better writing; and in America, there was a change in voice actors mid-series (more on that later). Saying there's “better writing” is a little weird to say since Pokémon's not the best story-driven anime in the world, not by a long shot. But when compared to the first three sagas, it's an improvement even without Takeshi Shudo's involvement (although it's sorely missed).

THE HOENN LEAGUE

STORY: Continuing on from where the original series left off, Ash Ketchum arrives in the Hoenn region with his partner, Pikachu, and shortly afterwards met the new trainer May from Petalburg City, who picked out a Torchic. Accompanying them are May's brother, Max, and Brock, who chose to return to traveling but still doesn't change in personality even with his new roster. Ash explores the new region and Pokémon in his quest to collect the badges to challenge the Hoenn League, and May discovers her love for Pokémon Coordination. Team Rocket is still adamant in catching Pikachu, but have convinced Giovanni they were setting the foundation for the rest of the organization to infiltrate the region. They develop a brief rivalry with two other teams, Team Aqua and Team Magma, who proved to be slightly more competent than the Rocket gang.

That's pretty much it. There's not a lot of difference outside of what's on the surface. Likewise with the previous seasons, fillers still abound, but they're not taking up half of the journey like in Johto, and it's still used to give the illusion the Hoenn region is huge—although Ash and company don't cross the ocean as much as the player does in the games, and it's all in a later season anyway.

There are improvements from the first season such as better gym battles, and the presence of Teams Aqua and Magma (mostly Magma), and the two teams do occasionally clash. The payoff, however, is disappointing to say the least. The Pokémon anime tends to do that. But even so, there's still some enjoyment to be had during the season, especially with a fresh Pokémon roster that aren't overshadowed by Ash's older Pokémon for once. The Pokémon Contests shakes up the formula a bit by giving May a character motivation of her own, as well as some different rules and performances, showing some impressive and uniques strategies in Pokémon moves both inside and outside of battle. Luckily, the journey to collect ribbons is given equal focus and importance as the journey to collect gym badges.

ART/ANIMATION: A continuation from the late Johto episodes, the digital art and animation is the same, and remains rather consistent throughout, though wonky art still slips through on occasion—this WAS still the awkward early-to-mid 2000s transition. The biggest upgrade are many Pokémon moves being done in CG to make them look flashier. Sadly, outside of the Pokémon Contest events, nothing of note sticks out in this department. The two-parter episodes involving Kyogre and Groudon could've had impressive animation with their battles, but they were reduced to painted (or colored pencil) stills. They could technically pass off as beautiful paintings, though.

I didn't know where to put this, but I figured I'd mention it here. One of Pokémon's well-known traits is its “Who's That Pokémon?” eye-catch halfway into each episode. While it's still on-going in Japan, in America, 4KIDS decided to go a different direction starting in episode 41 with Advanced Challenge. Up until their contract expired, “Who's That Pokémon?” was replaced with “Trainer's Choice”, kind of like a trivia question in which out of three choices, the viewer chooses basically the “best” choice for type advantages, or what Pokémon evolves into what. It's a pretty good idea—however, someone in charge of it apparently was not that knowledgable about his or her Pokémon facts, with some questions having either multiple possible answers or incorrect answers, and some Pokémon's names were misspelled. What most people remember is the most infamous moment of “Trainer's Choice”, episode 77's “Which of these Pokémon evolves into Seviper?”. Advanced Battle got better with it in asking actual trivia with match-ups, battle strategies, and callbacks to episodes, but the damage had been done.

SOUND: The soundtrack is honestly the best part of this section and it's not just because it's full of trumpets—well, in actuality, the brass section (the trombone was the most prominent). Well, the reason is because most of the score, like with the previous seasons, are covers of the game score, and they sound fantastic. Unfortunately, the dub noticeably got iffy with the music by this point unlike with the previous seasons. The original soundtrack does still remain (which, if YouTube is anything to go by, consists of less new scores than with Johto), but more often than not, you're hearing the 4KIDS-implemented score from the movies or albums, and it's a little more easier at this point to not catch the original score if you weren't already familiar with it.

Veronica Taylor, Rachael Lillis, Eric Stuart, Maddie Blaustein, and Dan Green still give good performances. However, by Advanced Battle, the vocal evolution of the cast becomes apparent, particularly with Team Rocket. Jessie had the least change to her voice, but James got noticeably whinier, and Meowth's Joisey accent had become almost slurred that he started sounding a little like Elmur Fudd.

CHARACTERS: This is a bit hard to truly gauge because the Hoenn saga's a continuation. Ash, Brock, and Team Rocket are the same as they were from before (sort of with Team Rocket, I'll explain shortly), although Ash has some character development in becoming a mentor to his new friend, May—I say some since this is mainly up until after Advanced Challenge when she becomes able to stand on her own two feet, then he seemingly regresses back to the same-old Ash, just mature. There's also no shortage of COTDs, though whether they stick with you or not depends on your tastes.

Judging the new main characters, they aren't bad. May is a rookie with some lack of self-confidence, and her brother is a know-it-all who gets annoying at times. What makes the two endearing, however, is their sibling relationship. They have their squabbles, but they truly care about each other. What also makes them a little bit different is they're the children of the Petalburg City gym leader Norman, and we do get to see them as a family on occasion. Sure, when it comes to Brock and Misty, we've seen them interact with their families, but not to the same extent. Still, the character development all went to May as she slowly became more confident and independent, who gained rivals in Drew, Jessie (in various disguises), and later Harley in Advanced Battle. Max was hinted at to have some gift with Pokémon bonding, but due to his young age, there wasn't much he could do about it, even though he once made a promise to a Ralts to be its trainer one day. He also later took up Misty's mantle of dragging Brock away by the ear whenever he got girl-crazy, but that's got nothing to do with his character in the slightest.

Team Rocket... ehhhhh, this is basically a continuation of their Johto personalities, except it got taken a step further depending on the writer. The Giovanni fantasies were a thing at that time, but they became ubiquitous by this saga that it began to get rather uncomfortably annoying rather quickly. Sure, it's a possibility we as children loved those segments, but the older we got, the more creepy and “ho yay” (although not necessarily in the same boat) it became. Maddie Blaustein enjoyed doing those parts, good for her, but when looking at it from a character perspective, it's like looking into the mind of a mad man, or in this case, a mad cat who may-or-may-not have a thing for his boss. This is similar to how Brock chases after every skirt he sees, except this is how Meowth sees his boss and believes this is how he's going to react for every rare Pokémon they bring to him. The ways the Pokémon are being used in these fantasies are rather reminiscent of servitude, and Giovanni doesn't look like the man who treats his Pokémon very well outside of his Persian (who is absent from all of these fantasies, funnily enough), but I personally doubt he'd use rare Pokémon for such mundane tasks as breaking open coconuts for him or be his personal alarm clock or workout partners.

THE BATTLE FRONTIER

STORY: Upon coming home from Hoenn, Ash stops by for a quick invited battle with Agatha, the temporary Viridian City gym leader and one of the Elite Four, accompanied by a man named Scott, who took interest in Ash because of his skills in the Hoenn League. Although Ash lost, Scott encouraged him to take the Battle Frontier challenge, and thus he travels the Kanto region once more, briefly visiting familiar places along the way, but there were more new places than there were old.

ART/ANIMATION: Outside of CG becoming steadily more abundant, there are no changes, although the battles get more clever. But there is a funny scene in the Deoxys two-parter of Meowth having one of his fantasies of Giovanni riding on the back of a Deoxys. You might've seen it around.

CHARACTERS: Everything still carries over, there are no changes to the main cast, not even to old faces who make appearances (since this is in the Kanto region). The Frontier Brains, however, fall under here. The problem(?) is, they don't all get the same amount of character development—well, screentime. The most notable Brains are Lucy of Battle Pike, Anabel of Battle Tower, and Brandon of Battle Pyramid, the former two because they had showed interest in either Ash or Brock (weirdly enough), though with Ash for the most part, it was mainly due to his skills.

SOUND: The voice cast is where this gets messy for the dub. From the beginning of the saga until “Pasta La Vista!”, it's still the classic 4KIDS cast. But thanks to the previous airing of “Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon”, the audience knew the voice cast was going to change at some point or another and were fearing the worst. This didn't come to fruition until the contract expired and there was a change of networks from Kids' WB to Cartoon Network (this was a problem personally, but by then I was turned away by the replacement of the voice actors, though I was disappointed to see it leave the network). Pokémon USA, wanting to find a cheaper company to produce the dub, went to TAJ Productions (when it still existed) where they cast newcomer (and actual Pokémon fan) Sarah Natochenny as Ash Ketchum, plus others—although a few such as James Carter Cathcart (Jimmy Zoppi) still remained, but were cast in new roles, or in the case of the narrator, Rodger Parsons returned.

Weirdly enough, the change wasn't AS jarring as people claim it to be. It's a gradual change in style in terms of the localization and script, but the quality wasn't any different. The theme and end credits songs are the only things I can say weren't as good as 4KIDS' themes, although they're both short and easy to brush off. On the plus side, the soundtrack from the original remained, so it's not a constant cacophony against your eardrums like it was before.

But needless to say, the Battle Frontier can be the roughest sit of the dub if you let it get to you. Although yes, some episodes and characters were better dubbed than others.

ENJOYMENT AS A WHOLE: Eleven years—that is how long it took to finish Advanced Generation. Hoenn was oddly enough not as memorable as the original series was despite being the “more recent” of my childhood. Upon my rewatch, I have no idea why that was the case, though it could be there was something different about it from the start. But there wasn't anything completely terrible about it, so I must've just had slowly lost interest. And even as an adult viewer, it was still a bit of a chore at times to watch even before the Battle Frontier saga, which had a noticeable change to the feel of the show. The season may not have had the 4KIDS touch, but it didn't really need to.

Still, there were good moments, good ideas, and memorable characters that helped make the Hoenn saga stand out from its predecessor. The transition from Johto to Hoenn was a bit of a whiplash, and again with Battle Frontier, but over time, it calmed and felt more natural. There were more places to see in Hoenn than in the past regions, because this time, it was an entire region getting coverage. It left almost no stone unturned, though in the process, it still skimmed over a bit in order to progress.

While not a personal favorite, Advanced Generation still left a good impression behind, generously rewarding those who stuck with it to the end. I'd dare say it was a better reward than the end of the Johto saga. But like they say, the journey continues, and so it does.

It's time to d-d-d-d—d-d-d-d-d-d-do a review! *checks that off the overdone memetic references list*

Every dubbing company has their golden goose: FUNimation has Dragon Ball Z. ADV Films had Evangelion. Animaze had Cowboy Bebop. 4KIDS had two: Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, although it was the latter that defined their dubs.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is most well-known for being about card games, although the series originally was just a dark shounen that used games in place of the typical shounen battles. Indeed, “Yu-Gi-Oh!” directly translates to “King of Games!”, and arguably it's kept that title, at least when it comes to game-related anime. The franchise as a whole had been in ... Japan for a few years before the second anime was brought over by 4KIDS, the first episode airing on Kids' WB just mere weeks after 9/11. What does this have to do with this show? Nothing, really, but I thought the timing was oddly interesting. Kids take comfort in their favorite things, cartoons being one of them, and it was a scary, confusing time for children; I know it was for nine-year-old me, and Kids' WB was one of my escapes. The voice actors had to have at least known of this, so perhaps this could explain the influx in performances, in how this was the best we've heard from them at the time. So tuning in that one Saturday morning and watching the premiere had to be mesmerizing to children from how over-the-top everything was next to the cool monster designs and the Egyptian themes (at least in the beginning), and big hair. Not to mention the friendship and “heart of the cards!” speeches, which had some actual meaning at that time in the anime.

And then, with a cry of “Yu-Gi-OHHHHHHHHHH!”, Dan Green climbed his way to stardom, and Yu-Gi-Oh! quickly became a smash hit—while not to the same worldwide phenomenon as it was with Pokémon, it was just as a big name on the playground, even more-so once the merchandise (e.g. the actual card game) was released. It enjoyed that luxury for a few years, but it made the rest of my elementary school years a little bit interesting.

STORY: The first episode begins with a narration about how 5,000 years ago (from the original 3,000), a pharaoh sealing away dangerous “shadow games” using Millennium Items, and how a boy named Yugi Muto (well, Moto in the dub) solved the Millennium Puzzle that houses a spirit that now shares his body. But outside of that, it's... hard to pinpoint a story for Duel Monsters as it goes through different changes in narrative with each new arc.

The anime picks up where Toei's anime leaves off—somewhat—meaning it completely ignores it ever happened, forcing Yugi's story to be shoved into condensed flashbacks throughout the Duelist Kingdom arc. It's also why Seto Kaiba has a bland brown mullet instead of his vibrant green in the original, though his psychotic nature carried over in the beginning because he still had a hate-boner for Yugi, but since the Death-T arc wasn't included, no one who hasn't read the manga noticed it. Besides, all everyone remembers from the first episode is “Exodia, OBLITERATE!” and Kaiba screaming as his three signature Blue-Eyes White Dragons explode and he gets a mind crush which allowed him to heal his heart over time—somehow, since the anime didn't bother explaining it.

But basically, the bare bones of the story is about Yugi Moto and his friends, the delinquents Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor, and his best friend and crush Téa Gardner, playing a card game called Duel Monsters in such seriousness against other duelists who range from just wanting to be the best duelist in the Duelist Kingdom or the entire world, to those who legit want to take over the world (or even destroy it in severe cases). They sometimes befriend these duelists such as Mai Valentine, Duke Devlin and Maximillion Pegasus (oops, “spoilers” I guess), or become enemies like with Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood, two characters who honestly don't have much importance after the Battle City arc, but the Waking the Dragons filler arc tried to give them something.

Anyhoo, moving on, the main catalyst for why these duels keep happening, however, is because of the Millennium Items, such as the Millennium Puzzle Yugi has. At first, he was unaware of the spirit, later to be known as Yami Yugi, possessing him in times of need, but eventually, Yugi and his friends come to terms with and get to know Yami more. Duelist Kingdom puts more emphasis on the Duel Monsters card game than with the Millennium Items, but it gradually brings them into the plot and sheds more light on their secrets, what happened in ancient Egypt, and Yami himself. It just takes a good 200 episodes and lots more characters and monsters (such as the Egyptian God cards) to get to that reveal.

Needless to say, as interesting as the plot can be, and some arcs are better than others, be prepared to go through some silly bullshit with some occasional good twists (if you call them that nowadays). Hope you like holographic card games and endless prattling on of how cards work in play, because there's enough to drive you mad.

CHARACTERS: For a show about card games that was an advertisement for merchandise, the large cast of characters are surprisingly diverse (mostly in design as this show practically popularized anime hair—intentional on the creator's part, funnily enough) and well-remembered, for better or for worse. The main cast seemingly have one-note personalities, but they show hidden sides of themselves through backstory or when they're pushed into a corner during a duel. Yugi, as the main character, has motives and developmental growth as the plot was essentially kicked off (via backstory) because he wanted to make friends, and also to become independent. Yami was essentially his “alter ego”, a way for Yugi to be someone he could never be, but could strive to be (once he stopped using the mind crush penalty game as a direct result from being influenced by Yugi's compassion). However, Kaiba is the one who changes the most. Compare from when he literally hospitalized Yugi's grandfather just to get revenge on Yugi to when he had to team up with Yugi to save the world from destruction (at least twice, but fillers “don't count”)—although this was the result of Yami's mind crush taking effect.

Joey gets his fair share of character development, particularly when it comes to being a duelist as he was one of the worst from the start. But with Yugi's help in learning how to make a good deck and strategies, he becomes one of the best duelists in the show, and his duels have the most emotional—to an extent—and meaningful impact as a character. This is due to his determination and eagerness to learn so he could climb to the top in Duelist Kingdom for the sole purpose of getting the prize money to pay for his little sister's eye surgery. As for Tristan and Téa, they can duel, but they're delegated to being cheerleaders instead and they don't get out of that role. Outside of Yugi's circle of friends, we get recurring characters such as Bakura Ryou, Duke, and Mai, though their roles are different depending on the arc.

The antagonists are some of the most popular of the series, starting with Maximillion Pegasus who has remained the most well-known to this day, even if it was only because of how charismatic and foppish he is. Each has their own motives for why they went after Yugi, but they all stem from wanting possession of the Millennium Items. Marik Ishtar was the first in which a villain was legitimately threatening (Yami Bakura would take his place later, though he was basically the driving antagonistic force throughout the series), although his presence also was what changed the tone of the series and foreshadowed what was to come.

(The Virtual World/Noah filler arc interrupted the dark tone—and the Battle City arc in general—to put space between the anime and manga, but did so by bringing back the Big Five, the executives of KaibaCorp who were defeated in a small anime-only arc called “Legendary Heroes”. At the end of it all, it just gave the other characters such as Téa and Tristan one last chance to show them in a duel before they were pushed to the sidelines for the rest of the series. The Waking the Dragons filler arc had a more interesting villain in Dartz and brought in the Orichalcos to keep things tense, but it was dragging itself through the mud at this point.)

But of all the characters in the show, the real stars (let's call them what they are: promoters) are the Duel Monsters themselves, even though they rarely talk. More and more selections are created as the series goes along that there's literally hundreds of monster designs to choose from, many of them unique, and some play actual roles in the plot. Characters have their own signature monsters such as Yugi's Dark Magician and Kuriboh, Kaiba's Blue-Eyes and Battle Ox, Joey's Flaming Swordsman and Red Eyes Black Dragon, and Mai's Harpy Ladies, while Pegasus has a one-of-a-kind deck of toons you don't see anywhere else. In a similar vein, some duelists have themed decks such as Weevil's bug deck, Rex Raptor's dinosaur deck, and one minor but recurring duelist named Mako Tsunami with a water-based deck. If the human characters don't do it for you, perhaps the monsters will, though some monsters do show up less overtime such as Summoned Skull.

ART/ANIMATION: Duel Monsters aired alongside shows like “Love Hina”, “Sakura Wars”, and “Ceres, Celestial Legend”, and it definitely looks like it came from the 2000s. The show became digitally-colored as the series went on without losing its style, even when the designs were updated to the creator's own evolved style where appropriate. Studio Gallop was fresh off of previous projects such as “Kodocha” and “Rurouni Kenshin”, which from a glance, makes sense as to why the style looked the way it did.

Even so, the 2000s was an awkward transition period from cel to digital, and Duel Monsters is a poster child for 2000s anime. Animation bumps did happen in later seasons, but there's honestly nothing special about it. The stilted, oft-times recycled animation and off-model moments have made it an easy target for mockery from just a single screencap, which isn't a positive by any means, but it can entertain the easily-amused. At the very least, I liked the attention to the hair and eyes; again, nothing special.

SOUND: I'm willing to bet you were thinking of the abridged series at this point—if not, you are now. LittleKuriboh may have done a fantastic job, but this isn't about the abridged series. Think back and remember the iconic 4KIDS dub. Where Ash defined Veronica Taylor's career, Yugi defined Dan Green's career, though Eric Stuart has the best of both worlds for having been cast as Kaiba, and he hits it out of the ballpark from the very beginning. The other voice actors can't be left out, either: Wayne Grayson as Joey, Amy Birnbaum as Téa, Frank Frankson as Tristan, Ted Lewis as both Bakuras, Tara Sands as Mokuba, Maddie Blaustein as Yugi's grandpa, Darren Dunstan as Pegasus, and Jonathan Todd Ross as Marik to name a few. Regardless of opinions, they grew into their roles and made them as iconic as they are in the States.

Dan Green in particular is pretty much the voice of the show, it's hard for English-speakers to envision Yugi without him. The magic of editing/different takes be damned, the way he could go from being a young, timid boy to having powerful vocals at the drop of a hat was like whiplash, but only because the deep voice can always turn heads. The first few episodes don't really prove this (this goes for most of the cast regardless), but as it went on, the more in control and iconic he then became. He is solely he reason why Yami Yugi was my first anime crush.

The music gets a brief mention at the end here because yes, the dub replaced the music—but this is where it manages to stand on its own, thanks to being composed by Joel Douek, and the unreleased scores can be heard on YouTube. The opening theme is as iconic to the dub as it gets, though the scores “Transformation”, “Kaiba Hacker” (which became Kaiba's theme music in the dub), “Arise! Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon!”, and the aptly-named “Orichalcos” are up there as well.

ENJOYMENT/OVERALL: Let's be honest here: this show has not aged well. In hindsight, with the rise of the Internet and forums and availability of original footage, 4KIDS' dub of Duel Monsters was what brought attention to their infamous editing before One Piece came to the States. It didn't hurt the popularity, however, and if anything, all the attention that was brought to it was what got people interested in it. At the very least, it was 4KIDS who made it the powerhouse it became in the States, and that can't be taken away from them—except by legal force.

It still doesn't make the show easier to watch, however. While I can't speak for the original Japanese, as the series went on, despite the voice-acting becoming more tolerable (with a few exceptions such as Weevil), the script got... wordy. As episodes dragged, the less fun the duels became, and explaining how the cards worked each and every time in between “You just activated my trap card!” or a “Not so fast, I activate this card to counteract your card!” took up too much time that could've been spent on just seeing the cards in action. This could just be the fault of the filler arcs, but character motives didn't have meaningful impact on who they were and why they had to duel—even with the main cast. Though I don't know why I'm complaining about the lack of proper character development in an anime about card games that was designed to sell merchandise. Probably because the characters are some of the more interesting characters in any merchandise-driven show and I hated seeing them going to waste at times.

The nostalgia might just be strong with this one, but even when it was about to crawl to a stop, Duel Monsters still found a way to pick things back up and make duels fun again. Sometimes, an entire episode would go by without a single duel, or at least not with Duel Monsters, and it was just about the characters being themselves. They have a life outside of games, and it's easy to forget Domino City is just a regular, bustling city that HAPPENS to have residents interested in seeing duels and partaking in it themselves for the fun of it. Although we see less and less of Domino High as the series went on, but when you're saving the world with the heart of the cards, school's just not high on the priority list.

It was a long time coming (even after knowing of the ending for a number of years before seeing it for myself), but I'm glad Yu-Gi-Oh! left an impact on me as a child, silly as it may be. The characters make me think of old friends, and I feel welcome in Yugi's own circle of friends, I do have a lot of fun watching them. The outcome of many of these duels are so obvious it's eye-rolling, yet I still like seeing how they turned out. The victories don't feel cheap, and the losses feel like a punishment for not taking the stakes seriously. Some of the monsters are cool, and some of the strategies are clever. Makes me wish I still had kept my deck so I could've learned how to better at being strategic and planning ahead.

It's easy to get into Yu-Gi-Oh! for sure, just like it's easy to fall out of it, but the journey is worth it if you're willingly determined to stick with it to the end, if only to get some closure. Or you can watch it for the memes, whichever works best for you.

April 29th, 2006, is the day that lives in infamy in the Pokémon fandom. Kids' WB's promo(s) and the official Pokémon website hyped the “Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon” special up for the 10th anniversary, showing fan favorites such as Misty, Mewtwo, Entei, and Mew, and it was specially created for the fans—so much so, it was first aired overseas months before Japan got to see it. It was the first of its kind. But they were careful not to have actual audio playing from the special itself.

Ten years may have passed since it was first released, however, the controversy is still felt among Pokémon fans ... to this very day, despite the fact the officially-available dub is what features the current cast, not the place-holders in the original. (The special was Sarah Natochenny's first time voicing Ash before she premiered in Battle Frontier, but she also got her share of negativity at the time.) Upon rewatch years after the scars have healed over, there's more to the special that deserves criticism than the voice actors who were just paid to read off the script.

STORY: Ash Ketchum and friends were invited via letters to get a first look at Dr. Yung's newest invention that would create Pokémon with unlimited strength through a mirage battle system. While marveling in awe at how “real” and strong the mirage Pokémon were during one such friendly battle, the machine went haywire and Dr. Yung was kidnapped by a masked man who went by the name “Mirage Master”, even kidnapping Professor Oak in the process to get him to have access to his research so he could create the perfect Pokémon resistant to all types and use it to—you guessed it—take over the world... maybe? But much to his annoyance, a Mew is there to foil his plans alongside Ash and Pikachu—and the others as they learn the secrets of the mirage system and the masked man. Or just the secret of the masked man, since the mirage system doesn't get touched on much outside of “It makes strong Pokémon!”

The special has a message that all life has purpose in the world, regardless if they're natural or mirage, and thus aren't “defects”. If this sounds familiar, that's because it is. The special takes cues from “Mewtwo Strikes Back”, which is funny because a mirage Mewtwo was exactly what the mastermind was looking for. But how'd he get this information? From Pikachu's memories.

But wait a minute, didn't Mewtwo erase those memories? He did, supposedly. Was there stock footage from the movie? Not the first one (because again, Mewtwo “erased” those memories), but from “Pokémon 2000” to “Heroes”, yes, and it's possible he saw memories up to the then-latest “Lucario and the Mystery of Mew”. Wasn't there stock footage of “Mewtwo Returns”, though? No, because TV specials don't count in a TV special. Maybe that's where he got the information from, but the special waves that away, so we don't get an explicit answer as to how he learned about Mewtwo. If it was to keep it a “plot twist”, unfortunately, that was its biggest selling point, so it probably would've been better to show “memory” footage of Mewtwo.

But that's just one of many problems in this 40-minute special when you start using your brain. Not surprising that a Pokémon special can't battle its way out of a narrative paper bag. This is fan-pandering at its finest, seven years before “Pokémon Origins” came to trump it (which was later then usurped by “Hoopa and the Clash of Ages”, but whatever).

CHARACTERS: What can be said that hasn't already been said? Ash is Ash. May is May. Brock is Brock (though he's missing from the majority of the special anyway). Team Rocket is Team Rocket. Even Misty is Misty, except it's like she didn't change from Johto minus Togepi and it was the last time she appeared in the anime—what a send off. I'd talk about Dr. Yung, except it's unfortunate he got kidnapped like five minutes after his introduction because there's not much to talk about. The trope “walking spoiler” perfectly describes his character, which is arguably the worst thing about this special next to... everything else since the special wasn't long enough to develop him. I'm sure you can figure out why I'm beating around the bush here, it was... kind of obvious from the beginning of the special.

I'm not even going to bother bringing up the “stars” Mewtwo and Mew because they're basically different characters from their first movie counterparts. Well... Mew is probably justifiable since there's multiple Mew anyway, and it's the cutest, maybe most sympathetic character of the special (if you can get past its squeaky Kirby-esque voice and weird-looking design), but it doesn't live up to its status as a Mew. Funny thing, though, that this Mewtwo is a better Mewtwo than the one in “Genesect and the Legend Awakened”. But that's not saying much.

ART/ANIMATION: It's standard animation from the TV series and Chronicles, there's nothing about it that really stands out from the norm even during the climatic battle (not even the Mewtwo v. Mew battle). But the CGI that was used is awkward and stilted even for the time, making it up-to-par with the CGI used in “Pokémon 4Ever”. This is where Mewtwo comes in. He channels his inner Vash the Stampede and forms mutant Pokémon heads from his arms for various attacks such as Hyper Beam being shot from a Rayquaza head. And this makes him the “ultimate Pokémon” simply because Mewtwo has the genes of a Mew and thus CAN theoretically use every single attack. But I doubt the masked man was aware of that, he just cared about making this abomination to flaunt around for some reason.

SOUND: This is all everyone remembers of this special, so there's no point in beating a dead horse longer than needed. But I might as well bring up that “Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon” is the only thing Pokémon-related that has two English dubs by PUSA: the infamous “testing ground” dub, and the newer dub that's available on the “Lucario and Mystery of Mew” DVD, and is the one I'm going off of. If I had dared to be stupid and risked killing my VCR, I'd have put in my decade-old VHS tape of the special to try and relive my ruined childhood. But I chose not to. Considering even the Internet wants to forget, I couldn't find the original dub for comparison, so it's my fault for chickening out. Not that it matters, as Kayzie Rogers' portrayal of Ash is the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard made of obsidian if memory serves correctly.

The soundtrack is from the anime, but it's not dub-created. One notable moment was the original Japanese soundtrack of “Mewtwo Strikes Back” being used to nice effect in the climax. So at the very least, for that reason, it's probably one of the better-handled musical scores for a Pokémon dub. They don't cram in music for every single second of the special, and they allowed at least one dramatic scene to be silent for effect, which is kind of a rarity. I can't say if this continued on for the TPCi dubs of the television series and movies, but here, I can give them credit where it's due.

ENJOYMENT/OVERALL: Even though I've been a fan since 1999, “Mastermind” is a hard sit more-often than not. It has little to do with the dub, nor the obvious fan-pandering (as it does feel like the special was made with international fans in mind), it's for the unoriginality. Pokémon isn't original, but it has a way to be entertaining and refreshing in ideas. It's not original to fall back on popular, nostalgic ideas for cheap views, it only hurts it even if it's not noticeable at first. Although before it could make its callbacks, the damage was done the moment Ash opened his mouth in the beginning scene of the television broadcast. But even if that wasn't the case, and Veronica Taylor, Eric Stuart, Rachael Lillis, Maddie Blaustein, Stuart Zagnit and even Amy Birnbaum as Max were still their characters, the problems would've slowly been made more prominent as the fans grew up. This is perhaps the only time in the history of dubbing that voice-acting killed a project before it even got out of the gate and forever soiled it for proper unbiased reviewing. I'm not sure if I should be impressed or disheartened by this, albeit I am embarrassed I had sent a letter to 4KIDS in response to the special, whether they read my terrible (and possibly ignorant) ramblings or not.

This special's more for the dedicated fan than the casual, but also is one of the ones where you need to let go of the bias of ten years ago. Newer fans luckily don't have to go through with this (count your lucky stars, young'uns), it's just the older ones who will need to in order to rewatch it. But it's not really worth it, not when all the worst of the writing incompetencies come crashing together into a single mess of a special.

There are some series that leaves an impact on the consumer, whether positive or negative, influencing or degrading, enjoyable or painful. They fall into a specific spectrum of very good or very bad. But then there are the in-betweeners, some which have good qualities but still missed their mark more times than acceptable, or are of the “so bad, it's good” due to managing to hold on to some charm that saves it from the trash bin. Others, however, manage to find comfort in the very middle by just “being there”, not picking a side and not making an impression good or bad enough to ... be properly labeled at a glance. These get glossed over easily enough that one would really have to be paying attention or actively looking to notice them.

Such is the case of “Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta?”, “And You Thought There is Never a Girl Online?”, simply shortened to “NetoYome”. It's your typical “high school ecchi romance comedy light novel” adaptation, fit for its particular audience that picks it up every season and manages to enjoy them despite the problems that plague the genre. And yet at the same time, it's one of the more tolerable ones. There is nothing infuriating about it while still not being special enough to fully stand out from its fellow ecchi light novel crowd. You could say it's the wallflower of ecchi light novel anime, the one you notice at the corner of your eye, yet aren't willing to ask for a dance. Well, maybe this time, you can make an exception to try just once, or at least give a wave to acknowledge its presence and make it feel more welcome.

STORY: Hideki Nishimura is a regular in the MMORPG called “Legendary Age” as a knight named in-game “Rusian”, and has been in a few guilds during his play-through. In one such guild, he came to like a particular player and confessed his love for that character in-game and asked to marry them. The player behind the character revealed she's actually a he in real life, and out of shock, he vowed to never trust another female character in-game again. But it doesn't stop him from meeting a new character, a cleric by the name of “Ako”, and after a bit of inner conflict with himself, they marry in-game. One day, as suggested by the guild leader, the Alley Cats decide to have a meet-up in real life, revealing much to his surprise—and near-disbelief—all three of his party members (two of which are male characters) are girls who go to the same high school. And as it turns out, Ako truly is Ako (full name Ako Tamaki), and she has fallen in love with him like she did in the game—if only because she can't differentiate between online fantasy and reality. Thus, Hideki, the tsundere Akane “Schwein” Segawa, and the student council president Kyou “Apricot” Goshouin work together to help her out by forming a club while the two in-game lovebirds find themselves growing just as close in real life.

It's a simple premise, there's nothing more to it than what is listed in the paragraph. You do get character interactions with each other both in the game and in real life (to show their online counterparts aren't too different from their actual personalities), but that's as deep as it goes, even when occurring characters come in-and-out as they please (and showing a strange male-to-female gamer ratio in-series, but whatever). It's a romance, and a sweet romance at that, which for an ecchi rom-com light novel adaptation, it's to be expected, and it knows it's nothing more than that. And yet because it's simple and sweet, there's a special charm to it that makes it refreshing for the genre. In fact, despite being an ecchi, it's not your standard ecchi fare of “main male protagonist and his harem get into sexual slapstick mishaps with cheesecake shots for the camera”. The closest it ever got to this was in the obligatory beach episode, but the roles were actually switched. It was just the characters having fun.

The only real conflict throughout the series is Ako's inability to tell apart online fantasy with the real world, but there was an episode dedicated to a hacker infiltrating Hideki's account that caused a temporary rift between him and Ako while also practically deleting his character and selling all of his inventory for a quick buck. The character of Rusian does get restored, but not with his items, so for the rest of the series afterwards, there's brief discussions about such-and-such item still being missing, Rusian and Ako remarry, and the hacker gets confronted in a strangely amusing but admittedly smart way, then that's about it for the hacker subplot.

If there had to be a problem with the story itself, it's that Hideki's trouble with trusting girls online, which is what kickstarted the anime, goes away pretty early on when he comes to terms that not everyone's what they seem to be behind the keyboard. So he doesn't show too many trust issues throughout the series as originally believed, which may or may not be a good sign depending on what you were expecting to happen. It's not like with “Girls Bravo” in which the main protagonist is allergic to girls, so there's no jokes at his dispense over it during and after. Akane more-or-less is the only one who really pushes his buttons, but that's because she developed a reputation as being the popular beauty who turns down every guy who asks her out despite being bit of an alpha bitch (more-or-less to hide the fact she's a gamer), so she has to keep that title in the school.

CHARACTERS: Personal opinion here, but Ako is one of the most precious, if not adorable characters this season, albeit in personality and design. Sure, there's always that possibility her naïveté will get on people's nerves (and given how moé she is, that's to be expected), but there's something innocent and a little sweet about the way she views her relationship with Hideki. She truly loves him even though she sees him as “Rusian” and calls him as such much to his chagrin, and the other characters are concerned enough about her lack of social life that they want to help her overcome it. And the odd thing is she's a very pretty girl, one would think she'd be popular with the boys in school. But she's not. No one gives her the time of day because she's painfully timid and probably doesn't take great care of herself at times. She's Tomoko's sweeter twin sister who's inexperienced with video games, if you want a comparison.

Hideki is your typical male protagonist in that he's the nice guy with no real distinct personality to call his own, especially since he's quite the otaku so his friends at school tease him about. He shows genuine care for his guild (which extends into real life the best they can), but especially for Ako since she's the newbie of the group. And yet, there's something charming about him. By himself, he's just there, but together with Ako, they form a nice dynamic that allows him to shine a little brighter than he could've. It's not the best way to write a character, however, the relationship is definitely there and cannot be overlooked without forsaking the lifeblood of the series.

Akane and Kyou are of their respective archetypes for the most part, but they work fine together with Hideki and Ako and thus that keeps them from being the “slightly more than a background character” characters. Kyou's the guild leader (reflecting her status as student council president as well as a rich girl), so she's the most level-headed of the group, but she has her moments as well. Akane's sharp attitude causes some bickering here and there between her and Hideki, but as the tsundere, it's to be expected, and since there's no romance between them, it's for good fun. She's pretty much their ace in the guild despite Hideki having some of the best items, and is usually the first to go into battle.

Other characters show up, but Nekohime and Sette are more-or-less the only recurring characters. There's honestly nothing more to these characters than what they're introduced as even after becoming regular members of the Alley Cat guild, but there's an actual funny punchline behind Nekohime's identity, at least if you're not paying attention.

ART/ANIMATION: Of all the shows I personally watched this season, “NetoYome” is one of those shows with a distinct art-style that makes characters pop in their beauty and attractiveness (even with the occasional bounciness of the girls not Akane, though she makes up for it with leg shots). Not entirely sure how much of Hisasi's influence there is in the anime, but Akane Yano knew what to do as the character designer. It's a very colorful, pretty show to look at, and I hadn't noticed too many quality dips during its run. Colors also have different palettes for the real world and the online world. There's more color to the real world than in-game where it's more gray and saturated, but that's probably because most of what we see in-game are the characters in the dungeon or in a pub where they hold their meetings. Not that the game itself doesn't have color, when the characters are out in a field or in the village, it is bright and there's like a rainbow filter in the backgrounds, but it's noticeably not the real world. The tone also changes much more in-game than in the real world, where everything's calm and normal, if only because other guilds tend to drop by and pick fights with Rusian when they're not battling a boss (which aren't of bad quality themselves).

I'm not one of those folks that goes around proclaiming “this cinnamon roll is too good for this earth” or “I want to protect that smile”, but I can make an exception for the latter because holy crap these characters have lips and they have adorable smiles that makes the eyes look sparklier than usual (which says something since they have rather sparkly eyes to begin with). Protect that smile at all costs, it's too precious for any other show but this one.

SOUND: Admittedly, I haven't paid too much attention to this, so this'll be short. There is a FUNimation dub currently streaming, but I haven't yet listened to it to really give thoughts on. The original is fine if you ask me, but there's nothing too special or note-worthy outside of Rina Hidaka as Ako. She knows how to make the soft-spoken character adorable, and thus her voice stands out the most in this show. Everyone else is fine, I have nothing against them. As for the music, the soundtrack doesn't really stick out to me that much outside of violins, bells/chimes, and electronic beeps, but it's not bad. The OP is sugary-sweet in setting the tone of the “1st Love Story”, and the ending has some nice, calming beeping effects in the music I actually like. I may never remember the name of the song, but I could most definitely pinpoint it to this series since those notes give off this “Internet” feel.

But I must point out that in the MMO world, swear words when spoken are censored with oinking sound-effects, which is pretty funny. I thought it was because of the “Schwein” character, but it affects all of the characters even though Akane swears the most.

ENJOYMENT: “[Don't] Judge a book by its cover” is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, but there's a lot of truth to it while there's plenty of exceptions. I don't know what exactly it was about “NetoYome” that I was interested in from the start, but most likely it was the attractive art, and I had no other expectations for it. I'm just as skeptical about the light novel adaptations as the next person, especially as I haven't had too many good times with a lot of them (the last ecchi rom-com light novel adaptation I had watched peeved me off, after all). This isn't even my favorite show of the season.

And yet somehow, it wormed its way into my heart and made itself comfortable. It's too endearing to bother asking it “Yo, why're you here?”, so I just let it be, and I've grown content with its company. It'll probably leave at some point down the road, but I see it sticking around for a little bit or going off to join the likes of “My Dear Marie”, “Gingitsune”, and “Denki-gai no Honya-san” in the “Somehow I Liked This Enough to Acknowledge Its Existence a Bit More Regularly Than I Technically Should've” corner. Either way, I definitely wouldn't mind a second season if they choose to do so. I'd like to see Ako become more socially active and further develop her relationship with Hideki, since it's not too often you get an anime couple willing to develop and grow together prior to the third act of a series.

But no, really, protect that smile. Go ask that darling Ako for a dance and make her feel loved and welcome. Wallflowers are beautiful when they finally open up.

Shounen has a long history in the manga industry—or hell, in just about the entire entertainment industry, mostly in marketing. Catering to young boys is guaranteed to be the big money-maker whether it's because of the robots, the fight scenes with whatever superpower they wield, the really cool designs for all sorts of outfits the heroes put on, the fact young male characters are off saving the world, it just pushes all the right buttons. Regardless of any saturation that may have happened over the years, it's one of, if not the most successful demographics (which may mostly be because of its periphery demographic), and ... many influential manga and anime come from here. It's also one of the more clichéd, although when they all share common ancestors/contributors, it's bound to happen.

So what makes "Ushio and Tora" stand out in that regard (besides that it probably really isn't as marketable for toys/spin-offs as other shounen series)? It wasn't published in Shounen Jump alongside the more popular titles, it was instead serialized in Shounen Sunday alongside "Ranma ½", "Magic Kaito" (where "Detective Conan" would later be spun-off from), and "Ghost Sweeper Mikami", where it ran from 1990 to 1996, won the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1991, and was compiled into 33 volumes. It was a good run for being up against other popular shounen of the time such as "Dragon Ball", "Yu Yu Hakusho", and "Rurouni Kenshin". And yet, outside of the 1992 OVA that was licensed by ADV, it remained an obscure series (at least in the West thanks to no localization of the manga—although it got a mention in Helen McCarthy's “500 Manga Heroes & Villains”) until 2015 when MAPPA announced an animated adaptation.

So how DOES it stand out? And how is it that it remained in such obscurity despite all that? Why does it sound like I'm complaining when I'm glad it was able to find its way out here after so long? Hell if I know why, I'd just lose interest in finding out like how Tora got bored of the bus within five minutes.

STORY: Ushio Aotsuki is a bit of a punk, typical of most brash teenagers his age. His father, Shigure, currently runs as head priest of the Aotsuki Shrine, and yet he's hardly ever around, which has resulted in a large rift between father and son. Ushio doesn't like nor believe in the old stories of yōkai (demons) and bakemono (monsters), and especially not about the legendary Beast Spear a samurai pinned a 2000-year-old demon within the basement of the temple. While airing out the warehouse, he accidentally falls through a sealed door and encounters the very demon indeed pinned to the wall by the Beast Spear. They don't get along at first sight, with the tiger demon claiming to be the most feared in all of Japan and desiring to eat him, and Ushio inflicting humorous bodily harm to him before storming off with a huff. However, he inadvertently put his best friends, Asako Nakamura and Mayuko Inoue, in danger when swarms of fish and insect monsters arrive, and he begins a pact with the demon to be rid of them, using the Beast Spear to kill them and keep the thunder beast he named Tora in line. What started off as an unpleasant encounter, however, slowly unveiled secrets about the whereabouts of his mother (whom he believed was dead) and the connections with the local demons and monsters all with a common single fear, all while the titular duo develop bonds with others and each other on their journey as the Beast Spear steadily consumes Ushio's soul.

Indeed, the recipe for your typical shounen manga is here, anywhere from “the young (idiot/determined) hero must save the world” to “the power of friendship overcomes all”, which isn't completely a bad thing. The first... arc, I guess if you want to call it that, is basically the introduction and allows the reader to get comfortable with the characters as they learn to interact with each other and encounter the monster/demon-of-the-week and other characters. Not long after that, Ushio and Tora go on a journey across Japan to Hokkaido to learn more about his mother, still encountering demons to defeat or befriend but under much harsher circumstances. Then the secrets of the Beast Spear begin to unfold, and things take a turn for the dark (although it never loses its humor). To go into more detail would mean spoiler territory, but let's just say the Beast Spear does crazy things to humans, and its origin story takes the plot in a whole different direction than previously believed.

The manga is split into (side)stories which at first don't seem to be connected with each other, but they all have their own beginning and end. Supposedly, the reader can pick and choose which ones to read as long as it doesn't affect the plot or the characters' characterizations (which, honestly, Ushio doesn't have much of, and Tora really starts getting his in the second half of the manga). But in all honesty, there's many good stories told throughout that range from bringing out many squees and/or laughter (personal favorites being “Fools Gather at a Party” and “Ushio Casts Aside the Beast Spear”) to squeezing your heart and threatening to pull it out of the ribcage to be devoured by that story's monster—if it so desires ("Chaotic Wind", “The Mist Comes”, “The Time-Reversing Bakemono”, “The Snow Does Not Vanish at Dawn”, “The Day I Swung the Swing”). Sometimes (...actually, more often than not), it's a combination of the above. Really, the soft-hearted are going to crumple easily, and the hard-hearted are going to be chipped away bit by bit as the manga builds to a satisfying and, quite frankly, cool climax. The heartless are just not going to care and will miss the entire point of the manga, in which case, this is clearly not for them and that's such a damn shame.

CHARACTERS: There's a reason the series has been described as “'Calvin and Hobbes' on acid”. I don't know where the acid part came from, although “Calvin and Hobbes goes demon-hunting” must not have sounded as catchy—but it's not wrong. The title characters have similar qualities in terms of their friendship with one-another, except it's Hobbes haunting Calvin for the sole desire of eating him and slapstick ensues because of his idiocy (Tora sticks his foot in his mouth a lot). For two very different personalities constantly clashing, Ushio and Tora have a strong bond and respect for one-another which shows in their fighting (other demons, but they snip and take swings at each other just as much). And indeed, most of the interactions revolve around their relationship, for while they CAN stand on their own (Tora especially, and he gets moments of his own where he encounters the quirks of the modern world), they're incomplete without the other. Insert Sting's “My Funny Friend and Me” here.

The supporting cast is large and while not necessarily well-rounded, they're strong and help to nicely fill in the gaps Ushio and Tora couldn't completely fill on their own. Asako and Mayuko bring femininity and slice-of-life to the story, and develop and even explore their own bonds with the titular characters, with the hot-blooded Asako always being there for Ushio, and the sweet Mayuko bringing out Tora's “dere” side more readily. (Yes, Tora is a tsundere, and it is amazing.) Shigure has a stronger role than what is initially believed in being set up as an “abusive” parent, and it becomes clear over time he truly cares for his son's wellbeing. Hyou is an exorcist who arrived to Japan to get revenge on the demon who ate his wife and daughter, and is one of the first allies Ushio meets even before he starts his journey. Other human allies include Reiko Hanyuu, Yuu Hiyama, Saya Takatori (the girls Ushio practically saved from themselves), the Beast Spear's successors such as Hinowa Sekimori and Nagare Akiba, and the tragic Kirio Inasa.

On the flip side of the coin are the demons they fight or befriend. The Kamaitachi siblings, Raishin and Kagari, are one of the first to show character development as they're introduced to the story coming up to Ushio and requesting he kill their brother whom went on a killing spree. They're unique in that they mainly remain in human form throughout the story, a result of having to learn to live among the humans. The other demons such as Izuna, the Osa of the West and East, and Hitotsuki are at first repulsed by or not willing to accept Tora and Ushio working together, but by sharing a common goal/fear, they come around eventually, if only temporarily. Most of the time, though, it's out of respect for Tora (or Nagatobimaru as they know him best as), as he is the strongest demon around—not that they don't point out how odd it is for him to form an alliance with a human boy.

There are smaller antagonists, but the big bad is Hakumen no Mono, the White-Faced One, the ancient nine-tailed fox sealed away at the bottom of the sea. Once the name is dropped, it maintains a constant presence throughout the rest of the manga. This is for a good reason, as Hakumen no Mono is most feared by all other demons, with a battle hundreds of years prior to the story that nearly caused the destruction of Japan and other countries such as China until it was weakened enough to hide away, where it was then immediately sealed—but not willingly for either side. Without giving much away, Hakumen no Mono has to be the scariest, creepiest, most manipulative bastard I've seen in manga in quite some time, and it was glorious watching it play out. It gives Freeza and even Emperor Palatine a run for their money.

ART: Kazuhiro Fujita knew how to switch between serious and comical in the art with precise timing. Serious involves shadows and hard lines with attention to detail in the action scenes and poses (even with quiet moments, there's a lot of beautiful panels). This alone is why the manga can't be entirely skimmed through, as the fights get more epic as the cast grows. Comical moments have no shadows and hard lines (if at all) and detail is simplified and characters made chibified with wackier poses. Tora in particular has some of the most facial expressions of the cast (with Ushio and Shigure tying for a close second) whether it's serious or comical, particularly with the eyes changing shape based on his attitude in that panel. It's the most unique aspect of the series next to the designs of the monsters, which may have taken some liberties in how they were originally portrayed in Japanese folklore (although I think a few might've been made up or a combination of other monsters? Like I couldn't find anything about the Fusuma from “The Guys Are Up in the Sky”, so I'm not sure about that one). The art-style develops as time goes on, with the most noticeable change being around volume 15 especially with Ushio, and Tora loses his ears for longer periods of time (probably, but there's a reason they don't exist in the 2015 anime).

ENJOYMENT/EXPERIENCE: By definition, if it was like any other shounen series, I shouldn't have enjoyed this that much. Yes, there's clichés (although "Ushio and Tora" may have set the standard for most of it when it comes to the supernatural), the main character Ushio is your typical shounen hero and thus doesn't really grow much as a character, there's running gags that are kind of predictable in timing, the pacing's a little weird at times and given it's 33 volumes it does tend to slow to a crawl—it's shounen. What else were you expecting?

But it's full of heart. It's fun, adventurous, surprisingly emotional and thematic, and doesn't try to be anything it's not. There was love and care put into the series, everything intricately woven together to connect all of the 313 chapters into creating a tapestry. It had an end goal in mind from the start, and it delivered.

I can give credit for planting the first tiny seed in my heart when I was sixteen to the “500 Manga Heroes & Villains” book for briefly talking about it in the chapter on teams, even though the picture of the first manga volume confused me as to what exactly I was looking at. Tora's design, however (despite thinking he was some kind of wild jungle man who would turn into a beast, going against what the description said otherwise), stuck with me since, so when the anime was announced in 2015, I recognized him on the poster, and then noticed there was an OVA. I watched it first, and somehow I liked it while being disappointed it just stopped. When the new anime was then released, it was refreshing despite being nothing new. And slowly but surely, as the weeks went on and it reached and continued where the OVA had left off, I fell in love.

As I couldn't wait any longer for the anime to finish, I went ahead to read the manga, and I'm very glad I did. There was a lot I was missing out on, things made even more sense (I'm not belittling the anime, though, it's done a very nice job), and the characters just popped because there were more moments for them to just be themselves. I could smile and giggle when the characters did something silly or stupid, be driven to tears out of sympathy by their actions as things just don't always go well for them despite their good intentions, be horrified by the violent outbursts and the consequences that came from it, be excited for the next story and where it might take me from there.

It took me some time to find the words to express my appreciation for "Ushio and Tora", and while I don't think it's exactly how I wanted to word it (kind of rare for me to be a little speechless on something I like, actually), I hope its positivity was enough to get it across. This was a special find, one where I'm very happy I gave it a chance while still sad that it finished. Or heck, just sad in general that the manga has never come out here, because it totally needs more love. But, unfortunately, it's probably destined to be overshadowed by the more popular shounen titles. It's fine, though. These kinds of stories tend to get overlooked when they're not being actively searched for, which makes it all the more rewarding and special for those who do pick it up.

Just saying, though, if the popularity polls are truly anything to go by, Tora haunts more folks than just Ushio. He grows on you that much, if it couldn't be gleaned from how much I mentioned him the entire time.

“I also cry a lot at school. But Ms. Ushizawa says that crying and laughing a lot shows that we're alive.”

When I was a child, there was a young man in my primary class at church who had cerebral palsy. I never sat next to him, I never talked to him or his family, but he was always there at the end of the front row in his wheelchair, smiling and attempting to sing along. I remember the day the teachers announced proudly he had gone on his first date (as he was sixteen at the time), and he tried to tell us through his ... smile how it went. But I at the time didn't appreciate what his presence meant to us, as I alongside a few other children didn't have too many nice thoughts about him. He was the only other person I knew with a disability until I was ten when my brother at the age of three suffered a brain injury, and then a couple of years later, my other younger brother (just before the youngest was born) was diagnosed with autism.

Society is not kind to those with disabilities—physical, mental, or a combination of both. It's better now than it was ten/twenty years ago, and sure as hell better than a century ago, but there's still a long ways to go as long as selfishness and hard hearts exist. Yes, it IS difficult to take care of those who need help 24/7, but that's an obstacle that can easily overshadow them who are still people, but trapped in a body that's barely functioning as-is. Learning this as children makes it easier to love and care for the unfortunate who continue to smile every day despite their handicap.

“My Sister Momoko” is a great example of what it means to love and smile, as told through the eyes of nine-year-old Riki whose twin sister, the titular Momoko, suffers from an unnamed disability that's rendered her physically and mentally underdeveloped. Despite the hardships he and his family go through every day, her smiles and innocent countenance bring just as much happiness to them. They are more blessed than others who go through similar ordeals as revealed in the circle of mothers with their own more-severely disabled children, and it's Riki who learns this as much as his parents.

It's not just Riki, it's also his peers who learn to care and even love Momoko when she graces their company with her smiles and encouragement to her big brother. The one who goes through more development is Ryuuji, whose strict father demands he study long and hard to become the best of the best, as “only the strong come out on top in today's world”. Hesitant as he is, he's the one who's the most cold toward Momoko joining the class though he takes it out mostly on Riki whose own struggles causes him to waver in his love toward his sister.

It's almost hard to believe this was animated in 2003, as the style is reminiscent of the 90s (well, maybe the 80s as it made me think of “Barefoot Gen”, honestly), and is a little cheap-looking to boot. There's some off-model moments here in there (mostly in the face), but I have to give them praise for how Momoko is portrayed. It's rare to see a physically-disabled character in animation, and her frail physique and the way she supports her head on a shoulder is unique in that aspect. So many things could've gone wrong in animating her and keeping her consistent, but she works well with her environment, limitations and all. She also stands out in that she's the only special needs child who is able to walk around and even talk, which also means she gets the most attention—justified, as she's the main character, and the other disabled children have their needed screentime whenever we see her school or them on a field trip.

When it comes to voice-acting, again, Momoko stands out the most, and Kurumi Mamiya did a wonderful job. I imagine recording this movie was emotionally draining for many people involved, to be on point with emotions where appropriate must have been some form of catharsis. I'm no voice actor in the slightest, so I can only guess what goes on in those sound booths for projects like this and the amount of time and numerous takes needed to get it just right. I secretly wish this had gotten a dub somehow, but who knows if that dub would've hit all the right notes in a movie that can't afford slip ups that would risk ruining the mood. I want to be optimistic in that whoever would've dubbed it would've given their all much like the original dub, but alas, it's just a pipe dream at this point. Given its obscurity and age, I doubt anyone will pick this up at this point despite its relevance. At the very least, the English fansub did a great job, and I thank them for bringing this to light at long last.

This little film was hard to watch sometimes as it brought back a lot of bittersweet memories, and my youngest brother (who's more severely-autistic than the other two) was constantly on my mind watching Momoko. I still think about that young man and wonder where he is today, if he's still alive, or if his work is done and he's finally passed on. I also still think about the other children I've met in my lifetime from middle school-on who had disabilities, and with some of them, I regret not being kind enough to become friends with them. My heart goes out to those families who struggle to raise their children in a world that looks down on them, who deep down wants to be rid of the burden, but love keeps them going. It may never get better on an outward appearance, but it's better to learn and grow to be caring and nurturing toward these poor, yet happy souls than not at all. Personal experience made sure of that.

It's been slowly picking up, but until the day comes when a children's show/movie is able to portray disabilities without being ham-fisted, prejudiced, biased, or anything that could be harmful or just "passable", "My Sister Momoko" will be that diamond in the rough that doesn't try to fix the world all at once as it knows its limits, but is still positive in its message. The experience is different for each person, so if it doesn't affect you on a personal level or make you tear up, it's fine since it's meant to raise awareness, but hopefully on a positive level than negative.

I apologize if I somehow don't use a lot of big words, or just a lot of words in general in this review. I lost enough braincells watching/half-watching this show that it's affected my vocabulary and my memory, and I've just stopped caring altogether to give this a proper review. I'll be mainly going off Wikipedia and TV Tropes for information simply because I can't be bothered enough to go off my own memory for this. I pity the poor bastards who watched this weekly when it first aired, because I bet they couldn't remember jack shit every week—thus why the main character clearly had ... to do a quick recap of what happened every single episode, and even SHE didn't seem invested in it.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is the pinnacle of the 90s when it comes to anime, and has become one of the most influential series of the decade (that continues to this day). So naturally, people wanted to bank on its success by wanting to make their own Evangelion, whether to prove they could do it better, or just for a quick buck. Likewise with all titles that followed the leader, success varied for each “Eva-clone” that was made. So, uh, you know how every director and every studio, no matter how critically/universally acclaimed they are, has that one bad movie/series they have in them that they have to get out somehow? I think I found the one for Sunrise, the studio that is basically the king of the mecha genre, and Yoshiyuki Tomino, the guy whose reputation amounts simply to “Kill them all”. (Oh, he kills them all, alright. Those braincells ain't coming back.)

STORY: Don't make me laugh, what story? Oh, there's a story, but don't ask me what it is because I'm a goldfish. But according to Wikipedia and TV Tropes, the story is, uh, let's see, about a futuristic Earth in which an alien spacecraft that's dubbed “Orphan” is resting at the bottom of the ocean where it's stirring from its dormancy and will kill off all living beings when it decides to leave the atmosphere. A group of people calling themselves “Reclaimers” believe they're the chosen ones Orphan chose to take them to the stars, and wants to aid it by hunting down plates to revive the spacecraft using mechas called “Antibodies”—or Gran Chers—to collect them. One of the residents, a boy named Yuu Isami, revolts against his parents and flees with a newborn “Brain Powerd” (which are basically infant Gran Chers) and runs into a group of rebellious Antibody pilots known as Novice Noah where he becomes attached/attracted to a girl named Hime Utsumiya, who is orphaned and had accidentally become an Antibody pilot to a newborn Brain Powerd, and together, they try to prevent Orphan from emerging and destroy all life.

Sounds simple, yes? Far from it. The introduction was too complex for my poor albeit-educated brain to grasp, and it became more convoluted as time goes on as characters are introduced with their own personal demons (and most of them are—what a shock—orphans or those who have parental issues) and yet don't have personalties to call their own. Then revelations of Orphan and the Reclaimers come to light, characters start fighting with each other and angsting/not angsting about their crappy lives, and then the United States gets involved at some point, and what the hell just happened? I'm not going to pretend I was the least bit interested in what was going on, because I wasn't. The beginning episodes-aside throwing us into the action without proper introduction (at least Evangelion was courteous enough to show what was going on), it tried to be interesting, but it was clear no one knew what the hell was going on. I don't know what it's like in the original Japanese, but the dub by Bandai sure was scrambling to find footing and giving up very quickly.

Apparently, this is Tomino's take on Evangelion, but I'm clearly not seeing why or how. In fact, I was actually a little surprised how much I was reminded more of Vision of Escaflowne than I was Evangelion, although it's kind of a hybrid of the two. It feels like story ideas that were canned from Escaflowne were used here, except then taken into a different direction right off the cliff à la the fate of the last graboid in the first “Tremors”.

CHARACTERS: I'm good with recognizing character designs, so I can see them all in my head. However, when it comes to their names, I can only think of three without looking them up: Yuu because “SHUT UP, YOU”, Hime for “Excuuuuuuse me, princess!”, and Jonathan because that's my brother's name even though the character doesn't act at all like my brother—unless my brother went rogue or something. The other names I didn't bother to remember because they're too exotic or too bland to think of anything to memorize them. Even then, I wouldn't be able to tell you their importance to the story because then that would mean trying to figure out what their personalities are.

Yuu is basically this anime's Shinji, except as a generic protagonist who apparently has issues with his family especially his sister, and they tried to make that the central point of his character yet it didn't stick. Hime is the redhead, thus she's the Asuka of this anime right down to the love interest, right? Not quite. She's actually the Anzu/Téa of this anime. So yes, that means friendship speeches. This is her character. Jonathan is like the rival/antagonist/Dilandau of this anime and has mommy issues up the wazoo. And people get on Shinji's back about his daddy issues, but that's because he's more engaging about it, and no one cares to remember this show enough to remember this brat who complained to his mother whom he was about to shoot that she never gave him Christmas presents.

The mechas themselves would count as characters if they were interesting enough. They're sentient enough that the pilots bond with them and talk to them and address them as “boy” (they all do it), and they all apparently have the likeness of a child which goes with the themes of childlike ideologies of the world and what it means to grow up. But they're boring. At least when it came to the EVAs, while they didn't talk, the way they bonded with their pilots had emotional connection to the characters, as well as distinctive looks (and in a way, “personalities”) from one-another. And with Escaflowne, while the mecha also didn't talk, it was the god of war in Fanelia, and thus there was importance to its presence in the series and the connection it had with the main characters, particularly with Van.

I can't tell you thing one about the Brain Powerds and why they're important to the series outside of the fact only children can pilot/befriend them (sort of, I guess) simply because they're children themselves. Even though wouldn't it make more sense for an ADULT to be the pilot to help nurture these Brain Powerds?

ART/ANIMATON: Sunrise as a whole typically produces some exquisite artwork, and had their own style that can be pointed out in a line-up. Sure, you can totally tell this is from them in the 90s, but this is not one of their best works. It was obvious they sent this off to the new people who weren't being paid enough to even give a rat's ass about it while all the experts worked on Cowboy Bebop, which aired at about the exact same time as “Brain Powerd”. The animation is so dated for the time that it's embarrassing because of all the shortcuts and post-production effects that were done, and there were a lot of clunkiness to be found in every episode. The only time it looked good and had that Sunrise touch was when it was admiring the female body in the opening credits.

Sunrise is also known for their mechas, as mentioned before, and they have made some creative and distinguishable mechas over the years even though it was all to sell toys in the end. The mechas designs in “Brain Powerd” are some of the most uninspired designs I've ever seen. There's apparently two different mechas used throughout the series, the Brain Powerds and Gran Chers (although they're the exact same mecha, just one's a child and the other's the adult), and I can't tell the two apart at all, which made it infuriating during the battle sequences against the Reclaimers' Antibody pilots. Doesn't help that the Brain Powerds tried to get different designs for each new pilot (especially the one pair that were twins), and I still couldn't tell them all apart.

Oh, and the cockpit is in the groin area, and whenever the hatch opened up, it looked like an erection. Make of that what you will (though it explains why everyone would call their mechas “boys”).

SOUND: I chose not to watch this in Japanese because I figured this was going to be a doozy to keep up with, and I'm sure I chose the lesser of two evils. My God did no one at Bandai care—which says something because a lot of these voice actors are actually well-known and have done other dubs before and after this (I want to say the Escaflowne dub was done prior to this one because Andrew Francis sounded like he had hit puberty prior to being cast in this anime). I don't know who the ADR director for this was, let alone who translated the scripts, but I bet you no one on that staff and in the recording booth knew what was written on those pages or what was going on on the screen. Everyone sounded confused when they're not stilted in delivery, it was really awkward.

The only person who seemed to have cared may have been Yoko Kanno, although if she half-assed it, it's not THAT noticeable. But her music for this show honestly isn't worth looking for despite the soundtrack being the best thing about the show (to the point I was more invested in the music than I was in the scene or the dialogue). And I hate saying that about her, but considering she was working on Cowboy Bebop's soundtrack at this time as well, her priorities were elsewhere alongside everyone else's.

Also, the opening song, “In My Dream”, is too good for this show and thus it's the only thing I'm taking away from this. And no, I don't get why it is there were naked women in the opening, which is the only opening I can think of outside of Elfen Lied where nudity was rampant.

ENJOYMENT/OVERALL: My brain puked. That's... that's all I can say. I've tried, people, but all I could do was ramble because I have no idea how to process this show. When you're reduced to a blabbering mess and you just go into a trance and wander around trying to acknowledge the surrounding world, your mind goes elsewhere. Well, that could just be me, but this is what this anime has done to me in a way very few anime has had the privilege of doing to me. I'm legitimately surprised I can even function right now, I thought the number of headaches I had developed from watching/half-watching this baloney would've given me an aneurysm.

In fact, just thinking about it makes my insides clench and my brain to throb and I want to puke, and I don't want to talk about this anymore. It probably should've stayed that way so it would've saved me and the rest of you the headache of trying to comprehend my thoughts.

Execution is important when telling a story. An idea may sound good on paper, but when implemented, many things can and will go wrong. Sometimes, this is the fault of the talent or lack there-of putting it together, as there was too much going on and they had to cut it down. Other times, it was too vague and it goes someplace the creator didn't originally want it to go, or wasn't open to experimentation. Or it was just all slapped together, and/or relied on too much ass pulling and so it just falls apart. But then there are ideas that simply just don't work, ... and nothing, not even good talent, will save it unless it doesn't take itself seriously from the start—but even that doesn't always work.

This is why “suspension of disbelief” exists. Creators rely on, perhaps even expect their audience to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show/book, because it's only for entertainment. In reality, it can only handle so much before it gets broken. For the most part, the story lays its rules out in such a manner that unless something very ridiculous happens that doesn't follow the rules as such, it's easy to roll with it. Universes are easy to create, they're just harder to keep it well-oiled and functioned without having to throw in a wrench to “find and fix” a problem.

“Ore ga Ojousama Gakkou ni 'Shomin Sample' Toshite Gets-Sareta Ken”, another light novel adaptation with such a ridiculously long title that it's shortened simply to “Shomin Sample”, tries too hard to get its audience to just “roll with it”. The synopsis already tells you what to expect, yet it just doesn't work because even in its own little universe, it doesn't work, and they acknowledge it's a failure. Newsflash: Being meta at the door is not enough to save your little harem from self-destruction.

STORY: Kimito Kagurazaka was just chilling in school one day when suddenly, militaristic muscle men nab him from the hallways, drag him into a limousine where they sexually fawn over him, and take him to a secluded prestige all-girls academy. The reason is because he was chosen to be a subject to help teach the girls more about the outside world, but he can only stay as a student if he was a raging homosexual with a muscle fetish. Since he wants to keep his penis intact, he has no choice but to roll with it, and he begins to develop a friendly relationship with the girls and correcting their misconceptions on the “commoner world”, as they call it. At the same time, he attracts a few socially inept girls who becomes his harem on the side, but he is not allowed to romance them. And even then, would he really want to?

Here's where my suspension of disbelief is thrown out the window from the first episode: the fact all of these girls don't know anything about the outside world, and they become shut-ins because of it. And here I thought I was a sheltered girl, but they all take the cake and eat it, too. Becoming shut-ins aside, how the hell do they even function in life? Are we to just assume that from the day of their birth they weren't allowed to leave their premises? I don't care that they're rich and they have maids waiting hand and foot to cater to their every little needs, they clearly are living in a messed up world where they don't know about other people—I'm sorry, “commoners”. Apparently, this was such a huge problem with their graduates that the administration had to bring in someone from the “outside world” to teach them. This is proof they are warped in the head, blinded by their own perfect little bubble where nothing bad happens to their perfect little angels, and the concept of boys and how they function as people are close to a thing of fiction. Just what the fuck were they expecting?

Idiots.

And there's really no way one “commoner” boy can tell all of these girls everything about the outside world unless he was to really go into politics and social cues (which he himself has to understand, but he's “normal”, so apparently he does), because that's how the outside world works, ladies and gentlemen. It's not just about the kind of phone you own, or what clothes you wear, or what food you eat, it's about interaction with the people around you. I don't expect these girls to go out and find work when they're probably just going to be married off to wealthy businessmen, but they should still at least be able to go out in public and be normal, and make friends. If they can't even do that, which is what the school and parents are supposed to prepare them for, then they are failures because they were set up to be failures. And since there's only one of him, they can't all personally interact with him, and many of them don't.

You know what this school is? A gilded cage, plain and simple, it's just that at least they're getting some kind of education. It's probably why they haven't gone mad yet, but maybe that'd make for a more interesting harem to have a cast of loons. And speaking of which...

CHARACTERS: One of the issues (albeit it's an attraction) with the harem genre are its character archetypes, which is believed to have been set in stone by “Love Hina”. “Shomin Sample” doesn't appear to have been inspired by it, but the female leads still show signs, just in a “different” light. The saying “Once you've seen X, you've seen them all” pretty much sums up the genre, and this is no exception to its characters. Character archetypes aren't bad on their own, mind you, it's when the characters are stagnant that it becomes a problem.

Kimito Kagurazaka has my sympathy for being forced into a school and become someone he's not. The raging homosexual with a muscle fetish they label him with? That was all a misinterpretation of his normal everyday life, because he was interacting more with his male peers than female peers—even though he has a female childhood friend they personally interviewed. The school believed her lies, but they refused to take responsibility for their mistakes, let alone listen to what Kimito had to say in his attempts to correct them, and pretty much threatened him to cover it up. So now, he has to put up with all of these loony bins who have attached themselves to him all while hoping he'll still get to keep it in his pants or it'll get snipped. But unlike with other harem protagonists, his penis is honest-to-goodness in real peril to the point I'm shocked it hasn't shrunken into him, he's constantly on his toes.

Penile peril and humiliation is grade-A comedy in romcoms, apparently.

But I'll have to give him some credit in that he's actually rather nice and helpful to the girls and doesn't ogle them—usually; this is because he has a thigh fetish, so most of his ogling is focused on the thighs and going on monologues about them. Although it's generalization to label every harem protagonist as a pervert, it hasn't always been the case since they're typically thrust into a harem they didn't want. It's pretty clear Kimito respects them, and that he's managed to stay sane despite being watched like a hawk, however, he still has his perverse moments that he still ends up getting into on accident—like every other harem protagonist. At the very least, he's not getting himself beat up for this, but his genitals still run for the hills each and every time.

And then there's the roll call of your classic one-dimensional harem girls obliviously trying to get him castrated in the process of getting in his pants, politely. From sane to the less sane:

In terms of personality, Reiko Arisugawa is the most normal of the harem girls, very ladylike and formal, but can't socially interact with a “commoner”. It's a form of anxiety for her, although there's nothing that proves she improved since Kimito basically is always there to hold her hand. Then episode four happened, in which she went very much out-of-character, and became borderline yandere, if not clingy. It was very jarring, and I don't know if this is out-of-line or not, but she only acts like this around Aika and not with the other girls for some reason.

Speaking of, Aika Tenkuubashi is introduced trying to force herself on Kimito because she was told by a classmate, and believed 100%, that kissing a commoner would make her dreams come true. Of course, she's also the odd one out, because she believes she doesn't fit in, even though she's not actively interacting with everyone despite others attempting to (or so they say). And yet, she wants to be popular when she won't talk to anyone, which is why she forced her Commoner Club upon Kimito. She's ditzy, loud-mouthed, and clingy, but not in a good way with her lack of social cues. Some girls do come forward wanting to be her friends, yet somehow, this gets reversed, so she remains stuck in square one.

Kujo Miyuki is Kimito's personal maid while he's a student, and although her mannerisms are as such, she clearly doesn't like him and is cold around him. She reminds him (more like calmly threatens with giant scissors) that if he puts so much as a toe out-of-line, he'll be castrated (or emasculated), and she'll most likely be the one doing the snipping. But of course, like all of the girls, she comes to love him, too, she's just more stoic about it.

Karen Jinryou is the supposedly-Yamato Nadeshiko girl with tsundere tendencies who neurotically pulled a katana on him in her introduction. As to be expected from wildly swinging an actual sharp weapon around, after exposing him, herself, and all the girls in the sidelines, she gives herself to Kimito—although nothing has come out of it. There's hidden depths of her wanting to be girly, but it goes nowhere. She immediately gave me bad “Love Hina” flashbacks, and she is the least-developed of the girls (which doesn't say much, since hardly anyone develops).

Lastly, there's the token loli character, Hakua Shiodome, except let's pull the rug out from under the feet of lolicons because—gasp!—she's actually fourteen. (So are loli-traps a thing, now?) Unless she just has really recessive genes or she was forced to stay a certain size for life (which is all sorts of messed up on its own especially because she can't even dress herself), I'm calling bullshit, because this character is clearly the size of an elementary school child, about six-to-seven years, maybe less. And apparently she's also a genius, even though she's in the exact same boat as every last one of these girls despite being locked away in a lab for most of her life. I can't tell if she's the metaphorical sultan of the group of students, or if the lab's a gilded cage in a gilded cage and she's just as cuckoo, if her stripping like a toddler every time she does equations is anything to go by.

ART/ANIMATION: Silver Link at least is talented in this department, but as with all productions, the quality has taken a steady dip after the first episode with occasional spurts of energy here and there, like the dance sequence in episode two, Hakua's epiphany in episode three, and the so-totally-not-DDR sequence in episode six. It doesn't automatically mean the animation has become stilted, though, there's still fluidity in parts when it calls for it, reflecting the grace of being a lady. The colors have a pastel look to draw your eye to them, particularly in the hair, eyes, and panties, complimenting with the moé style. However, the only thing that really pops in this category is the opening, but that's only because it's on a sugar rush and has a few different stylistic choices going on throughout. The ending also deserves a little bit of mention for looking like a sketchbook, but that's about it.

SOUND: It's rather generic, to be frank. No voices stand out (although Aika's is a bit bothersome when shrilly, and Miyuki sounds collective at the least), no piece of score has left an impression lasting longer than the scene it's played in, there is nothing to be said here. Far as I can tell, it probably does fit the elegance of being prestige, but it's all blended in together that there's no way to really pick them apart. Same goes for the opening and ending, although the opening at the very least has something to it in being cute and light-hearted, but not enough for me to care outside of wondering what the hell I'm looking at during the opening. But damn it, I can't say it's not an earworm, albeit one I don't want.

ENJOYMENT/OVERALL: If it couldn't be gleaned from this review, then I'll come out and say I had not enjoyed this show, let alone have any care for it outside of my snarky comments here and there. While I have run into a few pleasant surprises, the harem genre is not for me, but it unfortunately is part of the package in some romance anime. If the characters weren't so chiseled out from their respective archetypes and more was done with them, then maybe I wouldn't have too much of a problem, but it'd still be another generic anime series that'll end up being forgotten except among the fans—maybe. So it tries to at least stand out a bit from other harems by having a stupid, broken premise, but it became like every other harem anime almost immediately, it's just that Kimito is falsely accused of being gay. Clever. Bet that took the creator months to plan out rough drafts for.

If it hadn't been for the stupid premise and the fact it's animated by Silver Link, I'd have glossed over this one and not given it a second thought this season. It's clearly made for fans of the harem genre, and since they seem to come back to the same thing over and over again and don't bother caring about its story, I'm not going to take that enjoyment away from them. I'm just disappointed in how homogeneous the genre tends to be, in all honesty.