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I love jazz, so it's no surprise that I loved Kids on the Slope. I loved it enough to marathon it in one night.

Playing music makes a fantastic coming of age metaphor. Jazz is particularly apt for this, it's a style that says "jump in, make something up, it's okay to make mistakes." The soundtrack and the fantastic characterization of the two leads (Kaoru and Sentaro) saved this show from being another nerd-meets-rebel cliche.

Yet, as much as I enjoyed the show, there are some problems. The first few episodes are difficult to get through because they throw us immediately into the characters' inner struggles before ... we even know or care about these people. This is solved around episode five when there are more external conflicts for them to deal with. To be fair, this is probably a symptom of condensing a longer manga into 12 episodes. The story doesn't have a lot of room to breathe.

The drama can get overwrought at times. This is particularly bad because in several cases, issues felt resolved to the viewer but never really were on screen.

The romances are convoluted and problematic (at least three scenes verge on sexual assault though, of course, this is never even recognized much less mentioned or addressed). Only one couple seems believable. To the shows credit, this is the only couple we see work out.

However, the biggest problem with the show is how it treats its girls. Only three girls have names--Sachiko, Sentaro's elementary aged sister; Ritsuko, Sentaro's childhood friend and Kaoru's love interest; and Yurika, Sentaro's (and another character who will not be named because spoilers) love interest.

Just by reading that, it becomes apparent that these girls are only defined by their relationships with the boys around them. While Kaoru and Sentaro and the supporting cast around them--hip jazz trumpeter Jun, the dorky Marou, superstar wanna be Seiji, hell, even "Pops", Ritsuko's father, is more interesting than she is--are all rich, human, amazing characters. Ritsuko and Yurika are supposed to become really close friends (and kudos to the show for that because it would have been easy to cast them as catty rivals) but they NEVER once discuss anything but their romantic entanglements. We see the male characters argue about mundane things, get into fights, discuss musicians and records and their love of making music. Ritsuko and Yurika are allowed no such life. They function as plot devices to add more angst, to swoon and to be swooned over, and change this from a "Beck" style battle of the bands seinen show to a josei one. Even little Sachiko gets plot deviced.

All that being said, let's get to the good stuff.

The character's expressions were so perfectly animated that they could have been on human actors.

The voice acting in the sub was pitch perfect.

The setting and time period were interesting and beautiful. The story is set in a rural Kyushu, and the contrast between the people there and the new kid, city boy Koaru is perfect. I'm assuming (based on fashion, the fact that the Beatles were just getting popular and the Communist movement was taking off) that it was also set in the early 1960's, which really added a classic, nostalgic feel to the show. Perfect for casting it as memories of youth gone by.

One thing the show does really well is romanticize youth without calling it the best time of life. We see the characters grow up and they are happy and healthy in their adult lives.

And, of course, Yoko Kanno means the soundtrack is amazing. If you have any knowledge of jazz, get why the episode names are all so perfect (hint: it's not just because their all song names), know the lyrics to the melodies played in a few places, or understand why "Moanin'" is such a perfect song to be the true theme of the show, then you're in for a real treat.

I've seen criticism of Kids on the Slope for it's convoluted love...shapes. I think it's fair to say the show focuses too much on romance but in the end, the most important part of the show, the most endearing love, isn't a romance. It's the love between Kaoru and Sentaro expressed through music. As deftly expressed in the show, they have a special kind of "goofy" friendship that lasts longer than romantic love. It's the realization that the ending theme "Altair" is sung by Kaoru to Sentaro. It's what pulls our two boys and Ritsuko back together again at the very end after they've grown so much and so far apart.

Of course, while moving and heart warming, bromances have been the center of stories since ancient Greece. The boys' deep love isn't anything new or subversive.

Give Kids on the Slope a spin if you like things that are cool. Just beware that Ritsuko and Yuriko are unfairly more props than characters.

Vision of Escaflowne is a woefully underrated show. It comes from that time in the '90s when anime played hop-scotch over the line between shounen and shoujo. There is plenty of romance, and love triangles abound, but it's set in the middle of a war and there are giant robots, bloodbaths, and dragons.

A psychic high school girl named Hitomi gets pulled onto the mysterious planet of Gaia where the earth and moon are visible in the night sky and anthropomorphic animals exist. Gaia seems to be in it's Mideaval period with monarchy still in effect, but has very different technology than Earth. There ... are no computers, phones, or cars, but there are airships and giant mobile suits. The mechs, called Gymelofs, are amazingly designed. They look like a knight's suit of armor and move with gears and steam. They're completely believable in the swords and dragons setting. The "magic" in Escaflowne is really more "mysticism" and has definite rules.

Personally, I really like Escaflowne's art work. The style is very different than most anime with the characters having long, prominent noses, and round rather than spiky hair. The series is unique and the art reflects that, though it did take some getting used to. It's drawn very consistently, which usually seems to be a problem in 90's anime. The colors can sometimes feel a little murky, but mostly it works for that "Dark Ages" feel. The animation was above average for it's time.

The sound is FANTASTIC. Yoko Kanno did the music, so really, what else do you need to know? She beautifully blends Japanese lyrics and Olde Worlde European ballads that sound like they're played on harp and hammer dolcemer. The more modern sounding poppier songs are never out of place, and there are Gregorian monks chanting "Esca! flow! ne!" The original Japanese voice cast is very, very good, and the dub is surprisingly watchable with the standout roles being the villains. Dub!Hitomi's and Allan's voices may take some warming up to, but over all I recommend the sub and dub equally.

Escaflowne has a large cast of richly detailed characters and as more is revealed about their back stories, their actions become more understandable and relate-able. Even the villains are given this same treatment and care. Van, our main male hero, starts out brash and seemingly apathetic, but we learn that he is actually trying desperately and has an inordinate amount to prove. Hitomi is a real asset in battle. She's smart, an athlete, and rarely needs to be saved. She's a tough, interesting girl, and she will tell you what she thinks of things. Like any shoujo heroine, she's prone to the occasional romantic flights of fancy, but they fit the story and are endearing. Millerna is a princess studying to get a medical degree and doesn't mind leaving her castle to travel with our rag tag group of protagonist. The final standout is the utterly psychotic villain Dilandou.

Usually, character driven shows are my favorites, but where Escaflowne really shines is the plot. There are more twists than you would ever innitially imagine. The writers managed to weave in mythology like Atlantis and even include Isaac Newton while keeping things completely believable. The pacing is good (no filler!) and the storytelling really makes you think and figure things out. The ending is bittersweet in a really effecting way and all the story elements fit together like puzzle pieces--the proof of good plotting.

The world, Gaia, is also a fantastic part of the show. The world building is immense and immersive. Gaia has it's own histories, various races, political structures, belief systems and customs that are unique but logical.

Escaflowne is one of my favorite shows for it's sheer brilliance and originality. It really takes you inside the characters' heads and we are asked to deal with their experiences in this war as it brings more of their pasts back to confront them.

Watch Escaflowne if you like mechs. Watch Escaflowne if you like your shoujo romance with a healthy dose of action. Watch Escaflowne if you want an epic fantasy. Watch Escaflowne if you want a complex, intelligent plot.

Really, you should just watch Escaflowne.

I'm sure everyone has seen Madoka Magica by now, but if you haven't, why haven't you seen Madoka Magica?

I can't not write about it because the one thing I might possibly love more than magical girl shows are deconstructions of the genre. Bonus points if that deconstruction is dark and thought provoking. Madoka is.

It picks up on the darker moments of any good magical girl show and is probably most heavily influenced by Sailor Moon. In Sailor Moon, we see the girls die. We see Usagi break down and ask why she has to fight. There are times she wants to give up. Her final ... wish at the end of Season 1 is for her and her friends to return to being normal girls, and, in Season 2 when she gets her memories back of being a Sailor Senshi, her one request is that her friends don't have to remember and carry that burden again too.

However, the darkness in Sailor Moon is quickly drowned out in pink and love and friendship. Madoka Magica lives in the dark and even picks up on elements the creators of Sailor Moon never immagined even WERE dark. Notably, the housing of the girls' souls. The Sailor Senshi are Senshi because their souls are Star Seeds. They are something separate from their bodies (though inside them) and allow them to be reborn over and over when they die.

Madoka Magica recasts these as Soul Gems, things outside the body, but they essentially do the same thing, keep the girls from easily dying. The horror is explored here though, if your soul isn't natural any more, if your body is just a prop, what does that make you? A zombie? A monster?

I was skeptical about the art at first (I really, really don't dig moe), but it suits the story in the worst way possible, which makes it the best choice, and as the story gets darker and darker the style makes everything more effecting. Plus, we never get to forget just how young these girls are.

I'm not going to go into how amazing the story telling is or how beautiful the animation is, and all you need to know about the music is that Yuki Kaijira composed it and she is genius.

I'm going to talk about how Mahou Puella Madoka Magica is IMPORTANT. I accidentally stumbled across it, and marathoned all twelve episodes. Then I made my best friend watch it. It's an update on a classic story. What compels me to feel as strongly about it as I do?

Obviously, my love for it stems from my bottomless love for Sailor Moon (something I've loved since I was 6), but I embraced Madoka just as whole heartedly. What is it about magical girls that stick with us?

It clicked, today, and I think I’m stating the obvious here, when I say I didn’t get a whole hell of a lot of Female Coming of Age narratives in school, in the media, or otherwise. The word bildungsroman is practically synonymous with “story about a young boy who grows up”. It’s not that I can’t relate to those narratives - I can - it’s just that they’re not about me.

The Magical Girl genre is essentially a genre which explores the female Heroine’s arc, the female coming of age story, and the womanhood narrative with varying degrees of success or failure — but it gets explored.

Now look at Puella Magi. At only twelve episodes it packs a hard punch, and it’s so easy to claim that Kyubey represents the devil, with a contract waiting to be made to essentially use your soul to fight witches. This claim that the narrative is Faustian isn’t wholly wrong, but I’d argue it’s not all there is either.

Kyubey isn’t the devil. Kyubey is the society we live in, which takes up and preys on young girls at vulnerable times in their lives, and asks them to be perfect. Society asks girls to fight against evil, the icky, awful, and impure, and it keeps asking until we say yes. Yes to being beautiful, and perfect, and good, and pure, and sweet, yes to being a nice young lady, yes to fighting everything that is bad and evil and dangerous - to fighting the things that threaten us and our friends.

Except there’s a catch. We’re fighting ourselves. What they don’t tell you, society, or Kyubey in this metaphor, is that there is no way to prevent yourself from becoming what you started out fighting. You lose, in this scenario, every time. At some point, a young, “emotionally volatile” girl grows up and becomes a woman. One day, you hit puberty, or maybe you haven’t yet, and someone leers at you, or looks at you wrong, or calls after you and you are suddenly made aware of the fact that being a woman is dangerous. Growing up means something incredibly different for girls than it does boys.

And this is something Kyubey himself says, and the implications of it are astounding. Girls become women. Magical girls become witches. There’s no stopping it, the process happens whether you want it to or not. You grow up, sure, but there’s a reason for it. Sayaka Miki fights relentlessly against the evils she sees in the world, but she becomes obsessed with her imperfections and failures, she berates herself for falling short of her own standards, and for standards thrust upon her, and she literally can not win. The standards are always changing, they can’t be met, they’re meant to keep you fighting, but only in a certain way, only the way society wants you to. Sayaka loses her cool, she overhears some men say awful, horribly misogynistic and sexist things about their ‘girlfriends’ on a train, and she loses it. Sayaka reacts to the endless stream of hatred and misogyny set up in a patriarchal society that has been asking her to fight against women who failed to met society’s expectations and while we don’t see the results of her losing her cool on the train directly, we can all imagine that she could have beaten these men up, or she could have killed them. In the end, the result doesn’t matter. The losing her temper does.

You become a witch or a bitch the day you fight back. And even if you don’t fight back, you’re going to become a witch or a bitch eventually. That’s the unfortunate truth of growing up female — sooner or later, society will betray you. And while you might not become Walpurgisnacht, it can be as simple as a hiss in your ear, or a seething message in your inbox. You’re an emotionally out of control girl, you’re evil, you’re bad, you’re a slut, a whore, or a bitch, or hysterical, or over reacting. You become a woman in a society that hates women. And if and when you react, you get tossed straight into the bin of evil terrible things.

Puella Magi is a story about young teenager girls who, while exploring who they are as people, their sexualities, their lives, their desires, hopes, wants, wishes, and dreams — find out that society is going to see them as shitty monstrous plagues upon the world sooner or later. And you can try to stop it, or take it back, or hold out hope, or you can lose your unholy shit and hit back. You can say the idea of witches is complete and utter bullshit, and women and girls don’t deserve that fate. You can fight against it, you can be Madoka Kaname, or Usagi Tsukino and you can fight against people who prey on other girls and women for having anything special or bright about them and try to make it something terrible or wrong.

Magical Girl stories are stories about growing up and becoming a woman, and protecting other women, saving other women, following desires and dreams and wishes and then kicking the bad guys in the face with your high heeled boots. The weapon is womanhood and girlhood and your sexuality because that’s the weapon society gave you and told you you were going to hurt yourself with it. Except the thing is, you don’t have to hurt yourself. You can protect yourself, and your friends, and your ideas, and feelings, and some days, yes, you fall down on your knees and sob messily because you can’t defeat every bad guy on your own, or ever, or alone - but goddamnit you have the ability to take power in your agency and who you are. Society doesn’t OFTEN tell girls that. We don’t often get the message that who we are is okay, acceptable, powerful, or amazing, much less that it’s also okay if we don’t succeed every single time. We know the fight is a part of our lives, but survival is the minimum. Getting stories about winning beyond that is amazing.

This is why I cringe when people complain loudly that there aren’t “Magical Boy” series for them to watch. To start with, there are already several series that involve young boys transforming with magical powers and skirts/wands/sparkles/etc. There’s also an abundance of already available fantasy male heroes who start off on Hero’s journeys that describe the process of growing up and becoming a “man” in society. Magical Girls are a genre that rely on a female narrative, on becoming a woman, on relative experiences of love and sex and dreams and wishes that are influenced by the treatment of women in society.

That doesn’t mean men can enjoy these stories, or relate to them, or that people who don’t fall in the binary gender spectrum can’t relate to them (on the contrary, there’s a lot of reliability in not “fitting” gender roles or expectations in the series I’ve just mentioned), it just means that this genre is built on something very specific to a narrative that is not male dominated, that isn’t a male narrative. I'm not claiming there is no Male Gaze, or that men have no place in a magical girl story, just that it's not THEIR story. There’s a reason PMMM features one male love interest who ends up with someone else.

Magical Girls are important to real girls because they tell us stories about ourselves and our powers, and we need them, because girls need to see themselves as heroes and saviors too.

That's why Madoka can't end the cycle of magical girls. There will always be battles to fight, but Madoka--the every girl--ended having to become a witch.

The best word to describe Princess Jellyfish would be adorable, but that would be doing the show a disservice. Yes, it is very, very cute. Yes, it's sweet. Yes, it's shoujo, but it's not all pink and sparkly eyes. It's endearing and heartwarming without being cavity inducing.

When I first started the show, all I could think was it was Tumblr: The Anime. A group of socially awkward women (who met online!) live together in an apartment building they've nicknamed "The Nunnery". Our main character, Tsukimi, is the youngest of the Sisterhood and has moved to Tokyo to become an illustrator. She's the least bizarre of ... her roommates, but she's still completely and utterly obsessed with jellyfish and can't talk to "Stylish" people or boys. Eventually, she meets Kuranosuke who just happens to be a stylish boy. He pushes her to experience new things and champions saving the apartment building in which she lives.

Initially, after Kuranosuke came on to the scene, I was worried that the show would focus on changing Tsukimi into a "Stylish" person ala The Wallflower because "all girls want to be pretty! Right?!". This was particularly troubling because Tsukimi and the other members of the stisterhood, LIKE the way they are. There are some social anxieties they'd like to iron out, of course, but they know what makes them happy most of the time and they do it. My next concern (again, thanks Wallflower) was that this show would turn and focus on boys.

Thankfully, I was wrong on both accounts! Kuranosuke does give Tsukimi and her roommates (except Chieko, the kimono wearing Japanese clothing enthusiast, she's also the heaviest character so the fact that she gets to be beautiful just the way she is, in anime no less, is awesome) makeovers, but they are for very specific reasons--like going to a political meeting. The message wasn't to try to change them, but to teach them how to use social conventions to their advantage. If you show up to a formal meeting in sweats, no one is going to take you seriously. If you're trying to sell things in a trendy area like Harajuku, you have to look trendy. It was no different than you or I dressing professionally for a job interview. When the task was over, everyone went home and went back to doing what made them comfortable.

What Kuranosuke did was get them out of the house and--in Tsukimi's case--give them the tools to not be crippled by their anxieties and run away.

Eventually (and predictably) we see Kuranosuke fall for Tsukimi. Interestingly, though, he's not just interested in her when she's made up and beautiful. And of course she's beautiful in fancy clothes and make up, this is shoujo. But rather when she's talking about the things she loves. Jellyfish Princess subverts the old trope of "girls are more beautiful when their in love" and applies it to their interests. Kuranosuke stares longingly at Tsukimi even when she's in her braids and glasses, as long as she's talking about something she loves. Usually, she's talking about jellyfish.

The good:

I really liked the art. I don't know how impressive it is by usual modern standards, but it reminded me a little of Studio Ghibli (drawing wise, not animation) and the stylish women were drawn with these big amazing retro-shoujo curls and the fashion was very Ai Yazawa. The character designs weren't exactly inspired, only one of Tsukimi's roommates has a face to speak of, but they do have different body types, which is great. Visual gags were effective, funny, and not over used or grating. You will find yourself laughing aloud.

The sound was spectacular. Every voice actor was great, especially Mitsuki Saiga as Kuranosuke. The OP and ED were delightful, and the background music was jazzy and perfectly fit the eclectic, quirky feel of the show. I'm pretty sure Kuranosuke's theme even had lyrics!

It was great to have a cast that wasn't made up of high schoolers. Everyone is an adult, with most characters in their thirties. Tsukimi and Kuranosuke are the youngest at college age. There were a few extremely well developed characters, Tsukimi was a perfect portrayal of a geeky girl. If you're on this site, I'm sure you'll see some of yourself in her. Kuranosuke's brother Shu was fascinating. Kuranosuke himself was extremely complex and gives you A LOT to think about, and the portrayal of the Japanese prime minister as a ridiculous lunatic who can't get his approval ratings out of the single digits was unexpected and scathingly brilliant.

On most accounts, the show can be called progressive and even feminist at points as characters subvert some gender stereotypes, but certainly not all. There is a male transvestite (who is probably gender queer based on his back story) and this isn't played for laughs nor is he a stereotype. And a man who isn't the transvestite is sexually assaulted by a woman, something that is rarely depicted. Again, this isn't played for laughs and the man in question was shown to be very troubled by the incident.

The bad:

The ending leaves several plot lines dangling. In a way that's good because the final scenes focus on Tsukimi being more confident in herself and not on which boy she ended up with, but I still want to know what happens! There is a plot line that is relevant at first, then becomes irrelevant, BUT JUST KEEPS GOING FOR NO REASON. I'm not sure what it was trying to accomplish.

It's not vital or anything, but it is worth pointing out that Tsukimi's roommates don't get any more depth past their obsessions. Kuranosuke's chauffeur gets more characterization than this. That said, they do serve their purpose, so it's up to you whether this is a pro or con.

The Madonna/Whore Dichotomy is strong in this one. Obviously, Tsukimi and the Sisterhood are virgins. They're presented as funny or cute. They're "good" characters. The only other named woman in the show is the antagonist, a career mogul aptly named Inari, who gets what she wants by having sex as bribes or having sex for blackmail material. This isn't too bothersome because Inari isn't bad because she has sex. She's bad because she does it for ulterior motives, but the over sexualized female villain is a sad trope to play in a show that's so innovative in other places. It would have been nice if we had one more named female character who was sexually active and still got to be "good".

Actually, the show handles the whole topic of sex pretty poorly. It is automatically assumed that any character who is uncomfortable around the opposite sex is a virgin, and two characters who are *THOUGHT* to have had sex with each other are treated like they're in a relationship. Because, you know, that's the only time sex happens/the only out come of sex.

The cross dressing character declares that he is "normal" in a way that definitely means "not gay and not a pervert."

Ok, so that's a lot of talk about sex, but it's actually not a big deal in the show itself and, aforementioned assault aside (which isn't shown past something being slipped in a drink and then the guy waking up), the show is totally innocent. I don't even remember an on screen kiss. This isn't a con, I just want to point it out incase I scared some one away.

I love Kuranosuke to tiny little lip gloss covered pieces. He's my favorite character in the show, but he's also the most problematic. He has his own not socially acceptable obsessions that would make him just as much of an otaku as the Sisterhood, but this is never commented on, presumably because he presents himself to the world in a physically attractive manner. Also, at the END of the series, after spending significant amounts of time with the other characters, he sometimes shows little regard for their interests, going so far as to expect Chieko to sell the dolls she loves while saying he would never sell his clothes.

As I pointed out earlier, there is a scene where a character is sexually assaulted--he is drugged, brought to a stranger's house, undressed, touched (not sexually, but still spooning with an unconscious, unwilling person is not cool), and has photos taken which are used to blackmail him. The woman who did this is never punished. If that sort of thing bothers you, be warned. There are also a few instances where characters, both male and female, are slapped or kicked in a way intended to hurt them but adds nothing to the plot but some icky feelings.

Ultimately:

Princess Jellyfish is a wonderful little story that's original, interesting (I didn't mean to watch it all in two days!), and actually has some pretty great things to say.

It should appeal to people who like shoujo without all the focus on romance, slice of life (though it isn't this-- it has a definite plot and goal), and anyone that wants to see a good! new take on otaku culture, or if you just want to watch a really funny show.

I recommend it based on just how endearing it is, and the characters of Tsukimi and Kuranosuke alone.

Yu Yu Hakusho is my all time favorite shounen anime. Depending on the day, it's sometimes my all time favorite anime. It's definitely one of the best fighting anime out there.

It's a classic, so if you haven't seen it, you're missing out (especially if you like Jump titles!)

The story starts with the main character dying. Yusuke Urameshi is a juvenile delinquent, so he shocks the After Life when he saves a little kid from getting hit by a car and dies. The Spirit World doesn't know what to do with him, so he's offered a chance to come back to life. He floats around It's ... a Wonderful Life style for a while which is really sweet and packs a surprisingly emotional punch. Eventually he gets back in his body and with some abilities that come with being raised from the dead, he gets enlisted by the Spirit World to solve super natural crimes.

This would have been fun if it didn't last for exactly two short arcs. Yusuke is a fighter, not a thinker. He can be quick on his feet and creative, but figuring out mysteries isn't going to be a thing that happens. He gets a few detective gadgets that are used once then promptly never heard of again as the show becomes a tournament style fighting show.

The tournament thing is surprisingly well done, but it eventually gives way to something MUCH better.

About two thirds of the way through the show, we get the Chapter Black Saga, an arc that is very dark and philosophical and just ENGAGING in a way few things are. It would have been great to have a whole show like this, but since we've been with the characters so long by the time it comes, the very real danger and suspense packs a lot more punch. It's a good thing the characters are more grown up by the time the story gets to this arc because the plot gets a lot more grown up too. It's here that we learn exactly how perfectly how characters have been chosen for their role by the Spirit World.

Next, for the final arc, we get to go to Demon World, because it's only appropriate the show ends with a tournament.

Lets start with the bad, so I can get to how awesome this show is and how everyone should watch it:

The animation is nothing to write home about. There are sequences that look cool, but over all, it's low budget and has lots of "action line" frames. That's pretty standard for action anime at the time, though.The art is basic quality for a long run cable syndicated show 20 years ago, but I like how round it is. It looks like an older show, which for me is actually a plus. Character designs are really well done and everyone looks completely different (they even have various facial structures!) without having to resort to multicolored hair or weird facial markings to tell them apart.

The music is..uh...there. There's nothing remarkable about it, though it is memorable and conveys the emotion of a given scene. It IS cheezy '90s synths and guitars though, so be warned.

The AWESOME:

Characters, characters, characters. Every single character in this show, even one or two episode antagonists at tournaments, is completely developed and believable. Yoshihiro Togashi is a genius when it comes to inventing characters. Minor characters seem like real people, villains are understandable and sympathetic or utterly creepy, demons--even good demons--still come off as demonic.

The four main protagonists all bring something new to the story and have that whole shounen friendship thing going on, but they also rag on each other the way "mostly" teenage boys really do. They're admirable for the cool hero stuff they accomplish, but they also just seem like they'd be fun to hang out with (with the exception of Hiei, but hey, getting glared at might be your thing).

They have a great supporting cast that they wouldn't survive without that is mostly made up of kick-ass ladies. There is even an elderly martial arts master who could take just about anyone in the show and she's a woman! An elderly woman! As a hero in shounen anime! In the '90's!

Yusuke is exactly what every shounen main character should be. He grows with the story (14 at the beginning, 18 with a job at the end). He's interesting and funny and has very real pathos related to his very plausable lackluster life--no "every man" here--and he has a real NEED to be the hero. He's a delinquent without a purpose and he's pretty pissed about this until he gets to save the world. He might have to be bribed into protecting all of humanity in the beginning, but by the end of the show he's grown up and realized what he cares about and what his place in the world is. He doubts himself and angsts about his burden as hero exactly once for about five minutes (after a really traumatic event) but then he remembers he has shit to do and picks up and does it.

Every character has their own personal motivations beyond just "save the world", and that's what allows them to pull together so well and get the job done.

Fights are incredible. They're not overly long like DBZ, and they're not overly dramatic. The boys, most obviously Yusuke, become more powerful as they gain experience, but the enemies vary. There are some fiendishly strong bad guys at the beginning and some weaker ones down the road. To compensate for the ability differences, the boys have to strategist and figure out clever ways to win. Sometimes it's brilliant and sometimes it's dumb luck, but it's always inventive and rarely predictable. 9/10 things will not come down to who punched harder.

There is romance present, but it's never over done. There are no love triangles and plenty of characters are single and happy that way. No relationship, be it friendship, familial, or romantic, takes precedent over any other. Yusuke has the typical "From Childhood Love Interest" Keiko, but she's a strong, loveable character on her own and they don't have to moon over each other. They say they care about one another and that's enough.

The sub and dub are both good. I prefer the sub because Megumi Ogata and the script focuses more on the boys' feelings and tends to be a little more on the serious side. The dub has great voice acting, is true to the spirit of the original, but tells a lot more jokes and tends to be funnier. It just depends on what you're in the mood for.

Basically, if you want to watch a fighting anime you should pick this one. If you want to watch a show with great characters who have genuine relationships and grow you should watch this. You should watch this if you just have an afternoon to kill.

Way, way back in middle school, I read this manga. That was back when I snapped up every manga I could find, and adored phantom thieves (Kurama, and Tuxedo Kamen, and Saint Tail, oh my!). A friend gave me the box set of the anime for Christmas and I was so excited.

Until I watched it.

D.N.Angel can't decide if it wants to be an epic story of light vs. darkness or a show about a middle school love triangle. It starts out good enough with the phantom thief angle, but that turns into a completely different story about ancient magical rivals. Which would be fine except ... that the pacing is way off. Instead of the thief bit being the introduction to the magical rival bit, we get lots of episodes stretching out the first part and the latter being rushed and confusing.

For the sake of a middle school love triangle.

The story has it's original aspects, but it quickly gets derivative. Our lead, Daisuke Niwa, is utterly bland. He makes up for this by having a cute furry mascot and turning into the dashing thief Dark Mousy--via a strange genetic condition--that is so good at stealing things, he sends out calling cards to the police and still gets away with the prize. And, in the history of great shoujo tropes, Daisuke turns into Dark by getting flustered by his crush or thinking about her too hard. Romantic hijinks ensue!

Daisuke is in love with one Risa Harada, who predictably has the hots for Dark. (Super Man, anyone?) Risa is, of course, the school idol and moe princess with a tsundere twin who would love Daisuke's affections if only she could stop berating him long enough. Which twin will he choose!?

Meanwhile, sickly child prodigy super detective (WHO IS IN THE SAME CLASS AS ALL THE OTHER MAIN CHARACTERS) Satoshi Hiwatari is out to catch Dark, but oh no! His body is home to the phantom Krad...who is the opposite of Dark. You know. Because their names are reverse. It turns out that even though Krad is lighter (blond, light eyes, wears white, where as Dark dresses in black, black hair, violet eyes), he's the more dangerous of the two and his family has made or collected potentially threatening objects over the years that Dark must steal to neutralize.

Things that work:

Daisuke's mom, Emiko is a fantastic character. She's hilarious, involved in the story (she has agency! Even though she's a mother!), and a competent thief herself. Because of the "family secret/trade", she's been training Daisuke since birth and possibly before and guides him along.

Dark, for being a typical "cool bishounen" is actually interesting and can be really funny when he looses that cool.

Krad and Dark obviously hate each other, what with being exact opposite beings and all, but Daisuke and Satoshi manage to form a strained but genuine friendship. Not an easy task with Dark screaming inside Daisuke's head about it.

Daisuke can only stop turning into Dark if the person he loves returns those feelings, but as I said before, love triangle. Risa is the one that triggers the transformation into Dark, so Risa is the one he needs to end up with, but what of his developing feelings for Riku the twin that actually knows he exists? There is the implication that he could be trapped into a relationship with Risa, which is an interesting take on the situation. Things get more complicated when he wonders if he wants to get rid of Dark at all, since they become close.

The theme of dark does not equal evil never gets old.

In 1997, having the boy be the protagonist of a shoujo story and turn into someone else was a cool new idea. We get a lot of Daisuke's inner monologue, which while never being shocking, it's nice to hear a boy muse about his feelings.

The art is decent. I don't care for the character designs, but the colors are bright and crisp.

The music is surprisingly good.

What didn't work:

Besides all the cliches an utter predictability, the world wasn't clearly defined. There was a lot of use of German, European type spell books, references to fairy tales, and Dark and Krad having English names, but a clear mythology wasn't revealed. The city also looked very German, but the kids attended a Japanese style school and behaved very...err Japanese. I was perpetually confused over the setting and culture.

The romance wasn't all that engaging (to moe or tsundere! that is the question!) and ate up way to much of the time.

I wasn't a fan of the character designs, especially Daisuke's weird, out of place hair.

Pacing. Pacing was a problem.

Ultimately:

I guess watch this if you like the manga? Or pretty 1990's style bishounen? Or if you're REALLY into pre-teen romance?

Don't watch it for the magic or phantom thieves though. There are better anime out there for that.

I have a rule about reviewing series I haven't seen all of: I don't do it.

Breaking that rule for High School of the Dead because it is SO BAD that I have to type about how bad it is.

I love zombies. I have all of George A. Romero's movies on DVD, originals and remakes. I read the Walking Dead comics. I play lots of zombie video games. I read lots of zombie books.

Even zombies couldn't save this show for me. The premise is pretty cool. Students in a high school when the zombie apocalypse starts have to use the resources on their campus the survive. ... The zombies are pretty cool.

The characters are abysmal and the show is blatantly sexist. I get fanservice. I get that horror often exploits sex (uh, I read the Walking Dead, remember?), that doesn't excuse how EVERY SHOT in this show is fan service, the character designs are awful, no woman wears a bra (who needs one when your school uniform has boob socks! Seriously, show, boobs don't work that way), and all the female characters are unlikable or constantly needing to be saved.

And I seriously doubt zombies are into groping. This is like one degree away from hentai. Nothing against porn, but the porn needs to stay in the porn section and hentai is usually uncomfortably rape-y anyway.

There is exactly one competent female character and she's a yanki stereotype, which distances her from being a "normal" girl so those "normal" girls get to stay sexual objects that get saved because they are sexual. Good job, show.

Even if it gets better--I'm not going back in to find out--that doesn't excuse how awful it was to start out and how utterly alienating it was. All the "girl's are weak and dumb" subtext coupled with constant bouncing boobs and panty shots when these girls are in mortal danger was a neon sign saying "This is not for you, this is for teenage boys".

Seriously, if a woman is being attacked (even by zombies), we should be worried for her, concerned, rooting for her to win, interested in her as a character and her ability to get out of the situation. We should be feeling for her, not oggling her and seeing every attack as another opportunity to see some of her clothes get torn off.

This show is bad and the creators should feel bad.

Also, the music sucks.

Level E is like a hidden gem for me because I love Yoshihiro Togashi. This show seems like everything he wanted it to be. After creating two smash, semi-predictable shounen hits (Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter), he just checked out and made something utterly crazy and wonderful.

If I had to sum of Level E in one word, it would be: Trollin'.

This show trolls you constantly from every angle, and that is quintessential Togashi who shines when creating puzzles and convoluted situations. The premiss and first episode--a beautiful alien prince shows up in a baseball player's new apartment--are the set up for a shounen ... ai story, but that's just more trolling (sorry, no boy's love here). From there, we get light hearted and silly, black comedy, real emotion, and some genuinely frightening scenes. The show runs the gambit. It keeps you guessing and constantly surprised.

It is a little episodic, but there are definite arcs that include, the crazy alien prince getting established on earth, the captain of his guard coming to protect and/or retrieve him, Baka-Ouji (the prince) trapping a bunch of elementary school kids into becoming the Color Rangers a parody of the Power Rangers (he even made a theme song!), a planet set up like a video game, Baka-Ouji's jilted finacee coming for him, and several episodes that seem like one-offs, but ultimately tie back into the story.

I've read reviews that said the Color Rangers arc was weak and went on too long, but it was my favorite. Maybe you just had to have been a Power Rangers fan growing up to fully appreciate those episodes.

The characters are the best part. Togashi always makes amazing casts that are archetypes and completely subversive at the same time. The stand out for me is our human baseball player cum host to alien royalty, Tsusui's neighbor Miho. While Tsusui freaks out, she keeps him from getting killed or arrested for harboring an alien in total stride. This woman is smart and amazing. Everyone else is equally well rounded and despite all his trolling, you even get attached to Prince Baka.

This was the first "newer" (read: not made in 1990) anime that I've watched in a LONG TIME so I was blown away by the animation, but even if you aren't obsessed with vintage shows like me, the art, music, and production are really great. No complaints with voice actors either. Prince Baka's seiyuu is particularly commendable for being about to go from manic to completely serious in the same line and keep a from laughing in every take.

I whole heartedly recommend this show if your looking for something hilarious, surprising, and weird.

(Reviewing the dub because I cannot imagine watching this subbed)

Afro Samurai is one of those shows where the concept and production is so good that you want to love it, but the execution just doesn't live up to its promises.

It's still enjoyable for what it is. The sound track is amazing, the art work is gorgeous, the animation references classics like Ninja Scroll while still being fresh and fluid, but don't expect any deep character development or innovations in storytelling. Our protagonist is the strong silent type taken to the absolute extreme (like everything else) and all emotions and human elements come in the form ... of flashbacks.

Afro Samurai s basically a blacksploitation film, but without the social sensibilities of Spike Lee or Gordon Parks. It's what would happen if you gave Shaft a tragic revenge story, took away all his lines, and dropped him in distopian Meiji era-future Japan.

What I liked:

It was awesome to see black characters staring in anime, and I loved that it was pointed out they they were different than all the Japanese characters around them. With Samual L. Jackson playing Samurai and his loud companion Ninja Ninja, the blackspoitation angle worked without being racist. I could not imagine watching this subbed.

The world was really cool. It was like Seven Samurai and Rurouni Kenshin met Cowboy Bebop. The mix of Old Japan and cyber punk worked and there were definite rules to the technology.

A few really interesting villains. One even had a teddy bear head!

The voice acting was all around great. I've already mention Jackson, but the leader of an evil syndicate sounded like and evangelist preacher and it was PERFECT. And OH MY GOD RON PEARLMAN IS AN EVIL VAMPIRE GUNSLINGER.

The fight scenes were good. There were A LOT of them though and after a while it felt more like a video game than TV show.

What didn't work:

There were so many references (Kurosawa films, classic anime, 70's cinema, the Terminator) that it some times got in the way of what was actually happening on screen. There are only five episodes, not enough time for all that.

The lone named female character was woefully cliche and died right after sex in another terrible cliche. Not exactly a feminist show.

There are almost too many fights (and I love fight scenes).

Ultimately:

The show could have benefited from a few more episodes to help the pacing, but I'm not sure Samurai's character could have carried any more.

You should give it a watch if you like things like both Samurai Champloo and Pulp Fiction. Sit back, brace yourself for the blood and enjoy the ride. Just don't think too much about it.