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Ah, the series that started the whole Yuusha franchise... Yuusha Exkaiser is the 1st installment of the 8 Yuusha (Brave) series that have been released.

For those who don't know about the Yuusha series, here's some brief information on it. GaoGaiGar, being arguably the most well known out of them all, Yuusha series all involve giant transformable mechas (robots) that basically fight evil and save the world. Although they all have "Yuusha" in the title, they are not connected to each other story wise. Here are all the series listed chronologically.

1. Yuusha Exkaiser (1990)
2. Taiyou no Yuusha Fighbird (1991)
3. Densetsu no Yuusha Da Garn (1992)
4. Yuusha ... Tokkyuu Might Gaine (1993)
5. Yuusha Keisatsu J-Decker (1994)
6. Ougon Yuusha Goldran (1995)
7. Yuusha Shirei Dagwon (1996)
8. Yuusha Ou GaoGaiGar (1997)

You could say that I basically grew up watching the Yuusha series! I decided to write a review on Exkaiser first as although it's not a popular one, it is the one that started it all.


STORY

This series is aimed towards children. The episodes are not related to one another for the most part. Most episodes follow a same formula. I will not get into the specifics of the story as I don't want to spoil anything here, but basically, you could skip a couple episodes here and there and you really wouldn't be lost until you get to the later part of the series when the storyline really starts to count. If you try to have a marathon of some sorts, you might get kind of tired of it as it does kind of get repetitive.


ART

This is an old school anime. The transformation/combination scenes are still quite impressive, bust just don't have a high expectations. When you look at the character designs, there's definitely that 80's~90's feel to them. The characters designs remind me of Hayao Miyazaki’s characters. The animation’s nothing too extraordinary, but it really isn’t too bad if you think about when it came out and how many episodes there are. Now, the highlight of the series: the mechas! Many of them transform from vehicles to robots (should remind you of Transformers) and they combine to form bigger and more powerful robots. I’ve always loved combination sequences... The animation and art quality is much better in those scenes as they are reused. The mechas are quite nicely designed and although I would be biased in saying this, I do like them better than the Transformers franchise.


SOUND

Voice actings are well done as they are done nicely to fit into the show smoothly (kind of cheesy as the intended audience is children, but it’s not too terrible). The soundtrack’s quite nice and they kind of have that nostalgic feel to them. Unfortunately, the OP and ED songs stay the same all the way through the series, but it really wasn’t a huge factor for me. Basically, the music tracks are quite good and they fit the "good vs. evil" theme of the series.


CHARACTERS

The main characters of the show are a boy called, Kouta and a transformable car called, Exkaiser, who actually is a space police (don’t worry this is revealed in the beginning of episode 1). Kouta is a typical boy with good nature and Exkaiser has that perfect trait as a hero – a dedicated and an unshaken will to fight evil and protect others. I’ve felt that Kouta could’ve had a little more distinct personality rather than being a typical boy. There are other transformable mechas, some good, and some bad. From what I remember, no personalities were extreme or really unique, which was a little downer for me.


ENJOYMENT & FINAL THOUGHTS

This is one of the series that you should watch without huge expectations. It was worth watching for me, because it is the first Yuusha series. I’ve actually watched many of the later Yuusha series before watching this series. People who have little or no experience with older anime might find it a little difficult to keep watching, which is understandable. Still, if you're fan of the Yuusha (Brave) series, or just a mecha fan in general, this series is certainly worth taking a look.

After watching the whole series in just two weeks or so, I will tell you how I felt about this series. I watched the orignal Japanese version, not the English dubbed version (although I've watched some on TV).

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX is a sequel of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series as most would know. The game of Duel Monsters has gotten so popular that there are pro leagues as well as specialized schools to mainly train and teach students to become great duelists. It's an interesting setting and did intrigue me.

The story follows after a young boy named Yuki Judai, who just starts to attend an elite Duel ... Monsters school called, "Duel Academia" The school is divided in three different classes, "Obelisk Blue", "Ra Yellow" and "Osiris Red" (the names should sound familiar for those who watched the original series). It is basically dividing students into their skill levels, Osiris Red being the lowest class, Ra Yellow in the middle and the Obelisk Blue, consisting of the school's best duelists.

The series starts off with a lighter tone, just following Judai and his life in school as he makes new friends. But as the story progresses, it does get deeper and more complex. I felt that there were quite a few story elements that seemed forced and didn't make sense, but it was watchable overall. Much like the original series, there's heavy emphasis on friendship. One thing that does get a little annoying is that duelists read their card effects every time they play it and it kind of gets tiresome, but I guess they can't help it since there will always be people who aren't familiar with the cards and their effects.

I wasn't super impressed with most of OP and ED songs, but soundtracks were quite good, although I would have liked a little more variety of music during duels. It's like when you hear a certain music starts to play, you know that our hero's pulling off an awesome combo to finish the duel!

Art wise, I felt that GX got a slight down grade from the original series. Not a big difference, but I never thought that GX had better animation or art quality. Not the worst, but not too impressive on most parts. However, I never expected it to be amazing since it is a 180 episode series afterall.

There are quite a bit of characters in GX and I felt that there were perhaps a little too many. Character developments are there, as it would be crazy to have a 180 episode series without character growths. Some character developments being more natural and subtle than others. The series inserts new characters here and there to keep it interesting, but it felt a bit crowded later on.

I mainly watched this because I play the card game myself. It will be much more enjoyable if you play the game. It does gets kind of repetitive, but that could be because I was having a marathon (almost). The TV series is very different from the manga, so give it a read! I personally like the overall feel of the manga more, because the manga has more mature feel to it.

Basically, this series is worth a watch for someone who:
- plays, or is interested in the card game
- wants to kill some time
- is looking for something to watch with his/her kid

In conclusion, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX was a decent series, but it was never at the level of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series.

Cyber Formula series has been keeping its position at the top of my favourite list for a long long time. Of course, I'm not just talking about the TV series, but also the sequel OVAs as well. It's created by Sunrise, a studio well known for mecha genre anime.

In a nut shell, Cyber Formula is about car racing (Grand Prix), but there's a catch. It takes place in a near future, where the technology is more advanced. All cars are equiped with a computer system that aids the racer in many ways such as giving advice and tips, detecting dangers ahead, and basically fulfilling drivers' ... wishes. The computers understand human languages and can somewhat intereact with people.

This TV series was first aired in 1991, so it's considered as an old school anime I guess.


SYNOPSIS

It is 2015. Kazami Hayato, a 14 year old boy gets involved in an unexpected event that eventually leads him to becoming a driver in Cyber Formula Grand Prix. Racing cars are equipped with advanced computer navigation system that can interact with its driver to aid and fulfil driver’s needs. With “Asurada” a racing machine that was created by his father, Hayato and his team take on the world’s best drivers in order to become the youngest champion in the history of Grand Prix.


STORY

In a sense, it has a story of typical sport anime. A main character tries to become the best at what he does, in this case it's car racing. You will definitely see a lot of car racings in this anime. What makes racing unique in this anime is that each round takes place in different parts of the world with many different and difficult obstacles that racers have to face. It’s not your typical “just go around in circle” car racing. This series also shows us what kind of hardships and challenges that racers face while striving forward to their goals. What makes Cyber Formula shine are all the intense dramas that take place, complimented by some timely humour and heart warming moments.


ART

Well, it's an old TV series and considering when it came out, it's not too bad. There are some inconsistencies in that some scenes are flat coloured (one tone) while some scenes have shadings (two tones), but it didn't bother me too much, maybe because I'm used to a lot of the old school anime series. Character designs are quite nice looking and I felt that the designs suit the personalities very well. The highlights of this anime are the racing machines, designed by one of my favourite artists, Shoji Kawamori. The racing machines look very unique, but believable, which is always important to me. Oh, did I mention they have boosters?


SOUND

I really loved the soundtracks in the anime. They do have that 90’s nostalgic feel to them, which I enjoy a lot. Intense moments, sad moments, heart warming moments… They are all complimented well by great music (rock music is quite prominent). OP and ED songs are great. I’ve been listening to them since over a decade ago and I still enjoy them to this date. Finally, voice acting isn't flawless, but it's very solid as expected like most other anime. I think they found right voices for all the characters.


CHARACTERS

No story is great without good characters and Cyber Formula has them all. There are some characters who are just like us, who we can relate to. Then there are characters with unique personalities, which strengthens the enjoyment of the show. Another charm to this anime is character developments, mostly the drivers who face obstacles and hardships that they've never faced before. I could personally feel for them and sometimes I found myself really rooting for someone who I didn't think I'd be rooting for before.


ENJOYMENT

I’m not a racing fan and I don’t watch racing. However, Cyber Formula really takes it to the next level not only because it is futuristic, but you can see all the dramas that take place during races (unlike TV broadcasts). I think this anime has great replay value.


OVERALL

I remember when I was a little kid, I'd come home from school and was hardly able to wait for Cyber Formula to play on TV. Not only can kids enjoy this, but I think many grown ups will still find this series quite entertaining. If you can get over the fact that this is an older anime, you will be hooked (especially for sports/mecha fans). There are OVAs, which are sequels to the TV series. They have more mature feel to it, along with skyrocketed art quality!

As I have a special nostalgic attachment to this series, I'd personally give this an overall score of 10. However I know I'm little biased and just objectively speaking, I'd give a solid 8. It's a fun, unique anime that's filled with excitement and heartwarming moments. So if you have some time, give this anime a shot!