Though the subgenre has been in a drought for several seasons, mecha anime is as prevalent as buddy cop films in the U.S. But very VERY few can walk up to Gundam and pull a Captain America. Patlabor is not just among the few, they lead the pack.
A real robot series that puts Tokyo police into the titular Patrol LABORs, this first of three film adaptations of the Patlabor series retains the signature humor despite a more serious plotline. Very crisp and detailed for an early 90s anime, it's one of the rare Oshii projects that isn't a meta philosophical drag.
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May 5, 2021
Blood: The Last Vampire
(Anime)
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Vampires don't sparkle.
Alright, got that out of the way. Blood the Last Vampire is a subtle vampire story, if such things exist. No ancient Dracula, no Victorian fashion, in fact other than being one we learn nothing about Saya or how she gained this curse. Our only hint is the line, "She is the only remaining original." Saya would have a greatly expanded backstory in later reboots but this classic keeps her mysterious. We know she is hunting people who are traditionally more monstrous vamps for the U.S. government. What agency is a guess, for what purpose ... 
May 5, 2021
Gunslinger Girl
(Anime)
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The anime Le Femme Nikita with very young girls armed to the teeth. If I could leave it at that I would.
Gunslinger Girl is one of those titles that you expect to be tongue in cheek humor, balls to the wall action and Michael Bay explosions with a lead heroine that looks like Pamela Anderson. It's actually more subdued in context and dead serious in tone. Instead of Pam and the girls, you have a group of school girls who would otherwise be dead if the state (in this case Italy) didn't adopt them and subject them to a touch of cyber ... 
Jan 16, 2021
Cowboy Bebop
(Anime)
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Every once in a while something with staying power comes along. That title that is spoken of with admiration for years afterwards because of how good it was. Metal Gear Solid, Lord of the Rings, any of the great sci-fis from Trek to Firefly. And among them, Bebop.
By some of you younger shithea--I mean fans, it's been called overrated. But it was a benchmark for the kind of story Anime could tell two decades ago, and of those that have tried since, only a fraction can even compare. The ex criminal, the ex cop, the femme fatale, the hacker and ... 
Jan 16, 2021
Armitage III: Dual-Matrix
(Anime)
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Like the review I just did on it's predecessor, it's biased but time has had an effect. After the first Armitage, Naomi and Ross are together. With their daughter. Yeah, Ross knocked up a robot, figure that one out.
This time there was another attempt at producing more like Naomi, on Earth. They are killed and the last one emails her dying memories to Naomi...on Mars... Okay, we got some WTFery here, not gonna lie. Naomi abandons her family to go kick some ass, some old guy sends Ross and their daughter to a big Earth conference in his place, ... 
Jan 16, 2021
Armitage III: Poly-Matrix
(Anime)
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Trying not to be biased here, because time has changed my tastes somewhat and other opinions have made me think about it harder than I originally did, so this is tainted. Probably not the right word, but we'll roll with that.
On the surface we have a standard cyberpunk cop story set on Mars, with Naomi Armitage meeting her new partner, Ross Syllabus. He's a cyborg with a deep disdain for electronic lifeforms, and it turns out she is secretly the next big step in that direction. And looking back this where it's issues lie. An android capable of human conception? ... 
Jan 9, 2021
Zombie Powder.
(Manga)
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You know, things happen in life. "Development Hell" is a thing, people only live for so long, businesses start up and shut down every day. And that's what happened to Zombie Powder, or so I understand. It never finished it's run because the publication folded, so it only got four collected volumes and a story left unresolved. Without much to go on, how did it do?
Actually, very well. It's a shonen, from the 2000s era shonens, but a bit outlandish in it's world building. Imagine a much darker tale of Goku's search for the Dragon Balls, with a Trigun-esque ... 
Jan 1, 2021
There are some things that describing is damn near impossible and even if you manage it you fall short in some aspect. FLCL is certainly one of those anime.
Naota is a kid who's biggest influence (his older brother) is off playing baseball in the U.S., leaving him with an eccentric dad and grandfather, his brother's closet arsonist ex girlfriend, his uninspiring school life, and the unknown machinations of some supercorp that built a giant steam iron looming over town. Then some chick on a Vespa cold cocks him with her bass guitar and robots start materializing from his head. With me so far? Studio Gainax ... 
Dec 23, 2020
As I said in my 0083 review, this entry from the 90s era Universal Century OVAs also did for the Gundam franchise what the X-Wing novels and later Rogue One would do for Star Wars: completely ignore the most entrenched dogma of the saga and just have normal characters driving the story. And it worked pretty damn well.
08th MS Team is set towards the end of the One Year War, primarily Earthside in the Southeast Asian theatre; comparisons to the Vietnam War are apparent but it also has a Romeo and Juliet subplot as well. The protagonist and rookie squad leader Shiro Amada ... 
Nov 23, 2020
Gun Gale Online has been sitting on my Netflix queue for a while, having enjoyed the original SAO and sequel which gave us this firearm friendly story arc. Some of the manga has been on my shelf as well, for little over a year now, and I started reading it the other day. Manga's going well but I just had to jump on and finally view this series. So what's my take on it? Loved it!
So I'm a gun lover myself and have played hundreds of hours in first and third person action shooters, so I'm more intrigued by GGO than ... |
