Cyber Punk
1987

age 15+ is recommended due to slight nudity and a good amount of action violence not too bloody though. This incarnation of BGC only ran for 8 eps. If your a fan of the 1980's 90's looking style of anime then you'll be pleased with this ones looks. BGC seems to be aimed more at the female population. The story line is a little shrouded in mystery, nothing really coherent except that boomers (cyborgs) must be kept in check just like Genome (Cyborg Co.). This one gets marks for good style, good concept, and the fact that many eps were like two rolled in one. I'm just gonna say it..I didn't like it and there was no real ending

Downloaded Episodes: 8

Cyber Punk
1999

age 15+ is recommended due to nudity and action violence. This the second incarnation on BGC is a complete 26 ep season. 2040 is a remake of the original with newer graphics and animation styles. This like to original was probably aimed at the female population as it deals more with romance and pays more attention to the main characters trials and tribulations outside of their Knight Sabers duties. There is an ok story line here but it's not altogether clear and it tends to take sidesteps every now and again also tends to get boring once in a while. If you liked Tenchi in Tokyo you can expect something similar except with robots. More female drama than I like, and ok story line.

Downloaded Episodes: 26

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
Mecha, Drama, Alternate History
2007

Age 15+ for bits of nudity, action violence, and some suggestive content. When the writers began with this show they asked the question "To defeat evil would you become evil itself?". Cross tactics with Gundam Seed and say the British Empire won the revolutionary war and you’d have a show like this one. Basically the British Empire is on a conquest for world domination with the last holdouts being China and some other smaller nations. In Japan/ Area 11 the British have been in power for 7 years and the rights of the conquered Japanese taken away. An active terrorist organization holds out hope to spark a revolution and take back Japan but with the Brits having far superior technology there really is no hope. That is until Lelouch is given the power to command anyone. Lelouch disguised as Zero then rushes to aid the terrorists with his brilliant tactics and seething hatred for the emperor/ father who tossed him out and may have had a hand in killing his mother and crippling his sister. Suzaku an old friend of Lelouch and an ace mech pilot is also a key player here and true to Gundam form both are secretly pitted against one another with the fate of a nation in the balance. This show though resembling much in the way of Gundam’s tech races and friend vs. friend theme has a much more modern and realistic aspect to it.
Ok lets do the break down animation style is not extremely detailed but more of a nice average appearance. The mechs look like shiny new cars despite having appendages and the people are Mcjaggar skinny with the lanky arms and legs. This appearance gives elegance to most things and grandiosity to theatrical moments. Finally the battle animation is excellent when depicting strong vs. strong. There is a great deal of character development and quality of design. The main characters are all mostly school aged and actually attend school, they have funny quirks to them and are interconnected much in the same way most school friends would be. Through out the show every important character is put into a situation which is difficult and emotionally expensive resulting in a change. These characters evolve with the show or die. Kudos to Sunrise for making a mech show where people are actually people and not genetically or chemically enhanced some how. Music is not really a strong point in this show but they do a good job regardless, the openings and endings are pretty average of today’s shows but the situational music in the show is what catches you, it may not be fantastic but it is tasteful and well played. The plot of this show is probably the biggest draw of all the talking points. Some twists are expected and some ploys are common uses in mech shows but there are plenty of great surprises and on edge occurrences which keep this show both interesting and entertaining…it’s a mech show with a good story. Finally I was never really board with this show, the pacing was right on and though much action is used the writers have made sure that there is a light hearted element that is never abandoned yet easily not the focus of this show. 8, 9, 7, 9.5, 9…8.5/10…WTF Nina, seriously, you’re messed up.

Downloaded Episodes: 25

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2
Mech, Drama, Alternate History
2008

14+ for scantily clad women, action violence, and some suggestive content. The rebellion has been repelled and the dissenters captured. Lelouch has had his memories rewritten and a battalion of intelligence babysitting him incase he regains them while the rest of the Britanian empire searches for C.C. Immortals are crafty though and Lelouch a genius at tactics and theatrics. It doesn’t take long for Lelouch to once again don Zero’s façade and rescue his disenfranchised colleagues. The second rebellion begins with renewed vigor but not without some doubt and classic Zero surprises. The original cast returns for a second season and a new group is added to fill in this final season. Several twists and turns are thrown in and final ambitions revealed in this season.
This show is nearly a carbon copy of the original as far a quality goes that is if you don’t mind brilliantly connected plans and plots. Nearly all the unanswered questions are attended to in a direct way and if you look closely enough they are all answered. The ending is also a shock surprise that given the previous story line few could predict. The animation style this season is exactly the same as the previous season so no changes there. The music hasn’t changed aside from the openings and endings and they are better this season I think. Character development is an easy improvement given the number of added characters and a Gundam like plot. Even Nunnely gets a major role in this one. Any other information you might need about this show can be found in the notes I have on the original.

Downloaded Episodes: 25

FLCL -Initial Reveiw
2001
Sci-Fi, Action, Comedy

Let's go with 16+ purely for sexual situations and shamelss allusions toward them. I'm not complaining, this only goes towards the outrageousness of this 6 ep show.
Set in a modern day small Japanees city Nauta gets run over by Mo Ped driven by an alien woman wielding a guitar and a general disregard for life. Nauta later finds out that this woman not only is the new house keeper but has also caused his brain to become a gateway for machines made by Medical Mechanica. WARNING, DO NOT TAKE THIS SHOW SERIOUSLY, it's for your own good. It is in your best interest to just surrender your logical facilities and enjoy the ride.
Character development is centered around Nauta and he does develop but I don't think that it's fair to ask too much here given the length of the show. Animation is a blend of modern, free flow, South Park, and many other styles, it's a melting pot with a witches brew inside. Plot and story wise, digging is nearly pointless, as far as I can tell all the events are ment to bring about the release of Atomisk the Pirate King. For what perposes feel free to speculate. Musically this show stands apart. The songs are great and even featured in BECK, strange though that this show is not about music. Finally the entertainment section. This show is histerical in its randomness but doesn't flow too fast that you struggle to keep up.
Downloaded Episodes: 6

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Ride Back:
Mecha, Military, Racing
2009
12+ because of animated violence. Do not expect giant mecha battles and Gundam style machine upgrades, think recreation and being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and you get the idea of how the show flows for the main character. I think in the reality of RideBack everyone has forgotten how to ride a motor cycle and decided to put training wheel arms on the bikes. Anyway the show starts with Rin Ogata, main character, performing as an up and coming ballerina. On stage she gets injured and ends up giving up the practice. Few years later Rin is starting College and stumbles across the ride back club, this is destiny. Rin has everything it takes to become a top rider with her superb sense of balance and focus but there is more to ridebacks than just fun and games. The GGP has taken over the world and has put in place a military dictatorship, and as things like this happen there will be…that’s right terrorist/freedom fighter groups in opposition.
This show is 2009 and it shows, especially when it comes to the animation style. Usually I am not a fan of the computer animation they use to give more depth and realism to the anime, in fact I usually get pissed and toss the show because it looks like crap. Not so with this show, the machines are sleek and actually add to the quality of the animation. The animation without the help of the computer graphics is well done in its own right with plenty of detail. Story and plot wise I feel that the plot has been done before, several times. So, to change things up they throw in a story where the main character has no interest in combating the military force and whose only real interest is protecting her friends. This is where the wrong place at the wrong time comes in. Her attempts to evade capture and death have turned her into a legend among the youth of the nation. Musically the typical openings and endings apply here and some upbeat music is thrown in for riding music. Character wise the writing has them all changing to fit the scenario but I’m not sure I agree with the way they went with Rin, especially with her talent being as great as it is, they don’t even have her continue in the racing circuit. The enjoyment I got from this anime is somewhere between happy and frustrated at the direction. All in all not a bad show by any stretch, but not one that I’ll be keeping. 7.9/10.0…how can you put an incredible machine and an amazing talent together and then decide that they should be a minor factor in the outcome of the story.

Animation Style: 9.5
Character qualities: 7.5
Music: 8.0
Plot and story: 7
Enjoyment: 7.5

Downloaded Episodes: 12

Action, Adventure, Mecha, Fantasy
2004
Ok for children 14+ Action violence with minimal blood. This is a play on the original Samurai 7 by Akira Kurosawa where seven samurai band together to save a village from bandit attack. Problem is some one thought that wasn’t good enough for a series and added a bunch more to package and sell this thing. The anime is set in a fantasy future where the merchants rule the country and use mech’s implanted with souls as an army/ means of stealing rice from the peasants. The peasants don’t know this of course but shhh…that’s a secret. The rice is then bartered for energy cells, created by a third group, to keep the big cities afloat. Of course Kurosawa’s picture had nothing to do with the mechs, or the action after the raid on the village, or even the political ramifications the writers thought would add some weight to the show. In reality the only things that remain the same are the number of samurai and the over all plot to save the village. This is why I deny Samurai 7 as an animated adaptation of the movie.
Ok so you already know the setting but the plot is your standard samurai save the village from the bad guys. After that the writers spun the wheel and landed on political intrigue to set the tone of the rest of the show. Young man sets up his foster father (head of a merchant city) as the murderer of an imperial official. This allows him to usurp the throne and eventually draw the attention of the merchant emperor as a possible successor. The samurai are involved because…well they don’t like the kid and I really don’t blame them (oversimplification). In the end only 3 of the 7 survive and they aren’t even the interesting ones damn it. Then to further my disappointment the only real tale involving romance leads nowhere.
Animation styles is where this show tries to show off, I think I saw four or five completely different animation styles. Most times it was your typical animation flat and no real depth, only there to carry the story forth. In artistic scenes, for example, involving dancing of sort the characters were lanky and fluid. Character development really focused on two of the main characters who were still amateurs in the first place, but one of them dies in the end and doesn’t develop any further whilst the other doesn’t learn his lesson from the battles and seeks more conflict. Music is relegated to the background and only given thought when it comes to the opening and ending pieces. The pace was chaotic, started extremely slow at first then got busy then became slow as the tension built for the bandit attack and peaked during it. Then slowed way down as the story tried to develop the new threat.===6.6/10. I just wasn’t all that impressed by the show, claims that this is a masterpiece are from those on crack.

Downloaded Episodes: 26