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If you like feel good anime, you'll love this movie. It follows the adventure of a little kitten that wants to be human and the family that takes her in. Even though the viewers see her as a little girl, she is an average cat. The mother seems to have an extreme fear of cats, or the fear of allergies caused by cats. I don't know what it is, but she's deathly afraid of this kitten.

Story
The story seemed like one that you would see in an old cartoon from the 90's or 80's. It's not a riveting plot. It doesn't ... have any odd twists. It's just an average plot. but it didn't need anything big.

Art
You can tell that this movie is pure old school anime. it has the same style as Harlock and the rose of Versailles. Every one has 70's hair and wear a lot of sweat shirts. It's pure nostalgia. The animation was amazingly smooth. Simple things like the wind blowing through their hair looked great. The character designs for the cats were too cute, Raphael the Persian looked so fluffy and soft. it's a nostalgic joy.

Sound
since this movie was made in the 80's, it has synthesized music and even an engrish music bit in the middle. I enjoyed it.

Character
The characters were kind of bland, I have to admit. The father was silly, tokio was kind, the mother was old fashioned. There wasn't much to them. It's not terrible, it's just typical.

Enjoyment
I loved this movie to death. It had me going "awww" all through it. It's just a silly sweet little movie.

Over all, I would have loved to have seen this movie as a child and it's on the top of "shows I want to show my children" list.

Ah, Like the clouds, like the wind.
I've always wanted to see this anime. I don't know why I didn't until now. Something about it held me back. I don’t know what it was. I started watching it a few years ago and quit before it started. Maybe I wasn’t ready for this movie back then.

Lets start off with the story. It goes very quickly. I know that this is an OVA and they have to manage their time. It has an interesting beginning. However I don't think a girl In ancient china would be that spunky ... in the first place. Even in the dumps, girls were taught manners and roles. Women were thought to be useless. Anyway, the movie starts off as a comedy, which is one of the reasons I was so shocked at the ending. The story slows down about mid point. You think that the high point of the plot line is when Ginga makes top wife, but then a huge plot twist is thrown in. The story gets dramatic and exciting, and then plummets. Imagine watching a movie’s climax and it’s REALLY good, then suddenly a narrator jumps in and says "then every one died. The end." There are also many unsolved plot points in this movie. It’s almost like the bandits turned to each other and said “Hey, I know how we could mess up this movie!”
Much of the story was lead by "The difference between boys and girls." At first Ginga thinks that Kouyuu is a woman. This leads to an amusing moment after she is given the title "first wife." I know that they were trying to keep the rating down, but I feel as if they needed to “explore” a bit more, have Ginga figure out things slowly. Especially since they put so much focus on it. The stable scene was so vague. You kinda got the idea, but still didn’t feel satisfied. I wanted some real rolling in the hay! Nah, I’m kidding, but I wanted Kouryuu to at least take off his shirt and show her that he’s not a woman. Ah, I’ve said too much. Okay, I think a rolling in the hay scene would have made the movie. I wouldn’t have cared about the ending!
So for story I would have to give it a 6. It’s not a bad story; it just needs some one to go over it with a red pen and a good writing circle.

The animation was a lot smoother than I expected it to be. Some moments were so fluid that it hit uncanny valley. It was a joy to see. Even though the animation is mimicking gibli style, it had a different feeling. The backgrounds were colorful and nice to look at. They generally spent their time making it look good. There were some character designs that made me down right giddy. The girl from the north, (I think? ) with the cool hat and all. I loved her character design. A lot of the times though I was confused on who was who. There were three characters that looked a like. At first I thought the sister was the PE teacher and that they were all the emperor in disguise... I was seriously trying to solve it in the beginning. They needed a few more differences, unless they were aiming for that confusion.
I give art an 8! Way to go movie.

The sound wasn’t very memorable at all. In fact, if I did remember some of the music, it was because it was extremely out of place. The end song needed to be something mellow to bring you down. Instead, you get a spunky song. It’s almost like a slap in the face. Actually, the song made me angry after listening to it. I thought “How can you be so happy with an ending like THAT!?”
Sound gets a 4.

The characters were very nice and varied. I love when all the girls first meet in their rooms. I thought all of them were going to be stuck up and mean. I was delightfully surprised. Ginga grows from a child to a woman. It’s steady and believable. It’s not a sudden jump like “I’m a woman now, lets roll in the hay.” She really is a woman by the end of the movie. In the end, I guess that’s what the movie was really about; her growth from a child to a beautiful young woman. I generally cared for the characters. (Which is another reason why I want more to the ending, I wanted to SEE what happened to them all.)
Character gets an 8

I know I keep ragging on the story, but I really do love this movie. I enjoyed it; I just think it needed something more. I’ve noticed thought with most anime that it leaves off quickly like that. It’s just how it’s done there. I’m so use to American movies where the end HAS to be satisfying. Instant gratification. Once you think about it though, the quick endings leave you so unsatisfied that want to go out and do something about it. They keep you thinking about that movie which eventually brings you back to it. They make you think about how to change them which in the end involves the viewers more. The movie or show then belongs to everybody.
Enjoyment gets a 7.

Over all, I think that this movie is one that needs to be seen. Put it on your list, get it over with or enjoy it thoroughly… until the end, then boo and throw stuff at your screen. I liked this movie. I give it a 7. It just feels right. It has its charms and its flaws, but that’s what makes it interesting.
Now where’s that haystack?

Yugioh is an anime about card games, that’s what most people see when they watch it. I’ve heard it called the best worst series ever. What people fail to see is the intense character development that happens over a course of 224 episodes. The series started out with no card games at all. The story is about a kid named Yugi who is shorter than average, insecure, geeky and picked on most of the time. For 8 years he works on a puzzle that his grandfather found in Egypt. Upon finishing it, He is possessed with an ancient spirit ... who at first appears to have evil intentions. A main key to this story is that this spirit, “yugi’s other self” (yami in English) has no memory of his name or where he came from. Through these battles Yugi matures and becomes a strong, dependant person, gains friends and learns to stick up for himself. It’s amazing when you compare the very last episode yugi to the very first season 0 yugi. Because the series is 200 something episodes, this change is gradual and almost unnoticeable.
The characters are unique and easy to warm up to. You’ll end up liking a lot of them and hate to see them leave in the end.

The animation varies from episode to episode. While episodes directed by Takahiro Kagami (Death note’s lead animation director for most episodes) look smooth and beautifully drawn, others are complete crap. Also, each artist interprets the characters differently so they change style episode to episode.

The music is written by Shinkichi Mitsumune and is the thing I miss the most in the English version. Shinkichi uses a lot of violin in his songs giving the series a melancholic vibe. The soundtrack is memorable and I love listening to it by itself. Some songs are sad and forlorn while others are upbeat and jazzy. I could go on and on just talking about the music.

Even though I have a lot of good things to say about this show, it has its down-falls . The card game can get boring and over done and I end up skipping all of them. Sometimes that ends up being a whole episode. Sometimes it feels like it’s not worth it. There are a lot of filler episodes and two filler seasons.
The English adaption also leaves a LARGE gap between the uncut viewers and the ones that grew up on the 4kids edited version. I disliked the series when it was showing on TV but loved the Japanese. The changes are that drastic.
Some people view this series as childish and down right silly, but they are only looking on the outside. Yugioh has its deep and serious side about how the mind works, human nature and perhaps a bit of schizophrenia.

Over all, I never thought I would like yugioh and now it’s my favorite anime. Just look past the silly card game and you WILL love this series too.
And please oh please, I beg of you. If you still don't want to give this anime a chance, at least look up the sound duels. They are definitely worth your time.