Anyway, in-between studying for exams and writing things that no one will probably ever read I’ve somehow found the time to watch some anime. Review to follow.

Baccano!

13 Episodes, 23 minutes each.

First thing’s first, Baccano is confusing. Very confusing, intentionally confusing, especially at the beginning. The story weaves in and out through three different plotlines, which occur at different points in time but with overlapping characters. The weaving often happens without warning, so prepare to be a little lost at the outset (here’s a tip: watch the opening credits every time to get familiar with the characters). But, while it was bewildering in the extreme, I also found it entertaining as hell, a welcome change from the rather blasé reaction I’ve had to some of the more recent anime.
        Baccano, which apparently is Italian for noise, is set mostly in Chicago during the years of 1930, 31, and 32 and it has that wonderful prohibition/gangster aesthetic that goes with the period, kind of a gritty glamour (if you like that sort of thing check out Lackadaisy Cats). As I said the series has three plots, the first is about Alchemists searching for immortality, the second is about a train robbery, and the third focuses on a young girl searching for her brother who got caught up in a gang war. My personal favorite was the train robbery where four different groups of criminals try to rob the train at the same time, hilarious. While consequence of having 18 main characters in a 13 episode show is a certain lack of depth, most of them are likeable and all of them manage to be interesting.
        Just one warning to those of you who’re faint of stomach, much of the action and even some of the comedy is macabre in the extreme. There’s lots of blood in this series, it about monsters and mobsters for heavens’ sake. On the bright side the animation is really nice, so you can appreciate all those severed body parts in all their beautifully rendered glory. All in all, this is the best thing I’ve watched in a while, so if you’re up for a little, or a lot of, chaos, check out Baccano!

Last night I spent my evening watching the new Ghibli movie, Gedo Senki, which is apparently based on the 3^rd Earthsea book: The Farthest Shore.  Gedo Senki marks the first full-length movie directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki.  According to Wikipedia young Goro has been “reluctant to follow in his father’s footsteps”, you would not know it from watching this movie.  On its own Gedo Senki is a very good film but when compared to the works of Miyazaki Sr. it comes up short in many ways.   

Over and over again as I was watching the film I got the feeling that Goro was just ripping off images, characters, and plot elements from his father’s films.  The main henchman to the evil wizard looked exactly like the main henchman to the evil general in Nausicaa, the evil (but effeminate) wizard’s magic was strikingly similar to the magic of the Witch of the Waste in Howl’s Moving Castle, the initially unfriendly and acidic female lead Therru is a slightly tamer version of Sen from Mononoke Hime, the protaginist’s blue tunic looks exactly like that of Nausicaa’s, and finally Ged from the title has the same bearing, personality, and mission as Lord Yuppa from Nausicaa. 

Aside from the blatant recycling of characters (after all Ghibli has a reputation of being environmentalist) the much of the plot made no sense and the bits that did crawled along at a pace that would have been completely unacceptable had I not been distracted looking for all the familiar faces.  The action there was was very well done but there just wasn’t enough of it and it was in the wrong places, this was apparently made up for by adding lots of needlessly angsty, emo moments.  There were dragons in this movie but they were grossly underused despite their presence on just about all of the movie posters.  And finally the twist ending made for unsettling dues ex machina without making all that much sense within the greater context of the film.

            All that said, the film is pretty as pretty can be and in it’s defense, Miyazaki (Sr.) has wanted to do an earthsea movie since before Nausicaa which might explain the rather blatant similarities.  I didn’t like it very much, but perhaps my expectations were just too high.

Edit: It turns out that the original author of the Earthsea books wasn't very thrilled with the movie either, you can see her response here:  http://www.ursulakleguin.com/GedoSenkiResponse.html

            Another, longer,  post will come very soon, I just needed to get that off of my chest.

I know I haven’t posted for about a month but ever since I’ve come home my internet access has been severely limited.  That, coupled with my vigorous by seemingly futile efforts to locate employment have prevented me from posting as often as I’d like (or at all.)  Thankfully, due to what some might call an unhealthy pathological obsession for downloading and stockpiling anime into what has become a monstrous (and illegal) collection, I have had no shortage of anime to watch and review.  Now thanks to a rather long blackout I also have time to write, so this post will be a long one.

            Also, and sadly, due to scheduling conflicts I found myself unable to go to Anime North this year.  This really bummed me out not so much because I was unable to go to the con, but because several people from MA would have been there and we would have gotten to hang out.  As it happened I had to attend an utterly boring leadership course which is required for anyone who wants to work in a York Region summer camp.  In any case, because of my aforesaid unemployment I don’t really even have enough money to pay my rent, let alone attend a con.  I really must be more frugal next year.  Anyway if YOU went to AN and would like to share anything about it please do.  I’d especially be interested in what the Censorship and Gender panels had to say and what ended up being screened as the worst anime ever (Cosprayers? Amazing Nurse Nanako? Naruto?)

            But seriously is there no work around where I live!?  WTF it’s been a month and I’m still pounding the pavement every day looking for a job.  Next year I’m definitely staying in Waterloo where I can fill the void created by all the students who move home.  At this rate I won’t have enough money to even attend University next year let alone pay my rent.  ARGH!  Oh well I suppose I can just go further into debt and then leave the country… no seriously that is my plan at this point.  I’ll rack up the OSAP and then once I graduate I’ll go teach English in Japan to pay off my dept and save up for teacher’s collage.

I’m sure I’m boring you with my personal life so I’ll just go and review the damn anime.

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni  (When the Cicadas Cry)

First off I need to admit that I haven’t actually seen this show in it’s entirety, but for good reason.  I stopped half way through because what I did see was really really good, so good in fact that I want to suggest it for viewing next year at MA.  I stooped watching it because I want to keep it fresh and new for myself when and if we end up showing it.

The most interesting thing about this show was the way it was structured, with complete story arcs spanning only 4 or 5 episodes and then completely resetting and starting almost from scratch in the next story arc.  I personally really like this (extremely unique) method of storytelling because it allows for some really solid character development while keeping the drama and suspense cranked up high.  Also upon reflection, this method is also useful for DVD releases since a full story arc would fit on to a single DVD.  Clip shows (which everyone loathes) would also be rendered useless because there is no ongoing plot to summarize.  Unfortunately, me telling you this might really diminish the dramatic impact of the first few episodes.  I personally remember thinking “wow, things got weird pretty fast, but they can’t kill anyone off yet can they?  There’s still 22 episodes to go.”  Then BAM! By the time the credits were rolling in episode 4,  three out of five of the main characters had died horribly and graphically.  In episode 5 they were alive again and playing out a different scenario in which they would die in new and interesting ways. 

The thought of characters who’s only destiny is to constantly kill or be killed (or both) is disturbing enough by itself, but what will really creep you out is the art style.  Rather than the serious, detailed, and rather cliché style of most horror anime/manga the art in Hiugurashi no Naku Koro Ni is reminiscent of a mildly ecchi romantic comedy more than anything.  I’ve heard it described online as “Lolis that kill”  Indeed, all the girls are ridiculously cute with giant eyes, and limbs and necks which are ludicrously thin.  This just serves to heighten the effect when they go schizophrenically bugfuck on each other.  I don’t really want to go too deep into it but the story revolves around a boy (I can’t remember his name just now) who moves to the country and is befriended by four of his (female) classmates.  The town he moved to has a terrible secret however… like I said I don’t really want to go into it.  Suffice to say that it is a damn good series and if your in the mood for some good Horror in a compact little package this is definitely something you should check out.  In the past, it has been brought to my attention that I have been perhaps a trifle too critical when reviewing anime (as demonstrated by anime #2 in this post), even those I like.  This may be true I still feel that my criticisms are legitimate and well founded.  That said I honestly can’t find anything wrong with HNNKN: the plot and premise are original, the art nicely compliments the action, the music is solid.  Hopefully you’ll get the chance to watch it @ MA next year but if not be sure to watch it anyway.

 
    Remember when I was wondering what the organizers of AN chose as their “worst anime ever” well recently I watched Afro Samurai and believe you me it is a serious contender.  Produced exclusively for an English audience by SpikeTV, Afro Samurai nonetheless contains enough Japanese cultural references to make the voice acting awkward without adding much.  The series boasts Samuel L. Jackson as the lead voice actor but he said an average of four words per episode and none of them were “motherfuckin’” (although to be fair it was said frequently by other characters.)  The premise was somewhat cool and there were a couple of mildly funny moments but on the whole the five episode OVA was a plotless pile of crap.  Even the obviously expensive fight sequences, while stylish, lacked sizzle.  Every character was completely one-dimensional, and any attempts on the part of the writers to change this by adding back-story failed miserably.  Thank god this was only five episodes long, that’s all I have to say.  Good for a laugh I guess.  One final thing, you know that bit in every Samurai movie or anime where the two Samurai run past each other, about two seconds pass and then one collapses on the ground?  Well that wasn’t in there, this absence of such a simple staple of the samurai genre more than anything was to me and indicator of the poor quality of this program.

My review for this post is for… Princess Tutu, perhaps the most girly sounding anime ever created.  It may just be because I watched it right after Afro Samurai but I thought this series was absolutely superb.  As with Uninhabited Planet SURVIVE it is a children’s show that Adults can get enjoyment from.  Why?  Because the writers actually gave their audience credit…  well, that and ballet swordfights are just cool. So yes, it is about ballet and my sister laughed at me for watching it, BUT:  Unlike AS every character has wonderful depth, real personality, and conflicting motivations.  There are bad guys who become good guys and vise versa.  And say what you like, watching the characters move ballet-style was enchanting.  I suppose I should also add that you could see up all the girls’ skirts which was probably a big draw for those Japanese perverts, me, I could care less but it probably makes me less of a sissy for watching.  The soundtrack was almost completely made up of actual samples from such ballets and operas as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and  Siegfried, some of which were taken verbatim but others which were tweaked to make them situation specific.  The art was nice too, but nothing really all that special. 

    The story centers on Ahiru (meaning “duck”) who is um… a duck that is entranced by a handsome prince dancing by her pond, but remarks on how he seems so cold and lonely.  The mysterious Drosselmier (character from the Nutcracker) reveals that the prince (named Mute or Mytho depending on the translation) has lost his heart and grants Ahiru the power to transform into both a human girl and the magical Princess Tutu who deals with evil people by dancing with them.  Despite it’s silly premise the show was both heartwarming and action packed (ballet swordfights).  The clumsy Ahiru is great fun to watch and has some hilariously sadistic friends whose sole joy in life is watching her fail in cute ways.  I don’t normally like Magical Girl anime but I loved this one, give it a shot and you might too.  (note: there is also no annoying pet sidekick, besides maybe Ahiru herself who has the embarrassing tendency of turning back into a duck.)

Anime. That's just cartoon porn right?

I have heard this question asked several times and every time whatever Anime lover I'm standing next to sputters some kind of clumsy denial.   In order to prevent this in the future, this entry will give you more information and ways of looking at the question than you ever wanted to know.

So, "That’s just cartoon porn right?". Well yes, undeniably there is a thriving section of the Anime industry which produces pornography, and there is also no denying that the Japanese have some pretty kinky ideas when it comes to sex (tentacles, guro, etc.) But all things considered, it is a tiny section of the industry especially if you compare it to the American film industry (47% of American DVD releases in 2002 were pornographic vs. about %10 of anime). These cartoons are for grownups and nobody's saying they're intended for children, some people just don't understand that. To be fair, the Japanese didn't even invent Cartoon porn, Fritz the Cat (1972) claims that honour.

What about the anime which while not pornographic but still have high sexual content?

What about them? Adult themed content is inevitable in media intended for a adult audience, it's much the same with violence. I don't see how people complain about nudity in Evangelion but seem to have no qualms about copious amounts of "oil and coolant" coming from a "robot" that just got its arm ripped off. Speed Grapher was pretty sketchy too but that was what was great about it. Sex is something grownups have to deal with, it's part of human nature and you won't be able to tell a worthwhile story without it.  (Sidebar: If you want to watch a movie about the surpression of sexuality in American film through " Voluntary Censorship" I just watched a great documantary entitled This Film is Not Yet Rated which explored the MPAA ratings system)

What about harem comedies, many of which are based on eroge (pornographic computer game)?

Lots of them are stupid, and I won't defend the stupid ones. BUT just because an anime is a remake of an eroge doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile. Look at Air (the series not the movie), it was deeply moving.  I cried at the end, and I never cry at movies.  Not like my sister, she cried at the end of Lilo and Stich for God's sake.


Why the hell is anime so sexist?

I blame it on the Japanese being really sexually suppressed, anime has become like a big cultural outlet for the frustration of men who see women succeeding all around them and feel disempowered and sexually frustrated. Or it could just be that in Japan it is actually quite common for five or six women to be fighting over some loser with no real redeeming features.


So that's it, now you're informed and if for some reason some otherwise smart person makes some stupid comment about how hentai or doujinshi are ruining anime *coughFredGallaghercough* , you'll be prepared.   Remember censorship is only for Nazis, the CIA and creepy religious people who knock on your door at 9am on a Saturday (these catagories are not nessisarily mutually exclusive).

I've found the most wonderful little fantasy mini-series called The 10th Kingdom, it was apparently made a few years ago but I had never heard of it before last week when I was surfing Wikipedia (Lycanthropy->Big Bad Wolf->10th Kingdom).  It's not anime so I won't do a review but it is very very good.  It reminds me of the Fables comic books or prehaps Geil Gaiman's Neverwhere except done better, and less British.  It is actually giving me a couple of ideas to put into the book I'm currently failing to write.  For instance: when the Troll King breaks his children out of Snow White Memorial Penitentiary , he hears a voice coming from the maximum security wing that says: "Release me and everything you desire will be yours" , my character, unlike the Troll King, will do the practical thing and just say "no".   

My sleeping patterns are all messed up owing to the fact that I've been having naps in the afternoon, which is why I'm writing this in the early hours of the morning.  This has nothing to with anything but I just thought I'd mention it.  On to anime:

NANA :OST

OK, so this isn't really an actual anime review, more of a soundtrack review but : haven't watched anything recently what with studying for exams and all.  Too keep awake while studying I decided to download and listen to the OST for NANA, the latest Ai Yazawa manga inspired anime, which is outstanding by the way.  The thing is that NANA is the music anime that isn't, there's bands in it but it seems that not much music is ever played, the main story centers on Nana (the main singer of the band Blast) and Nana (referred to as Hachi [8] to prevent confusion) who meet on a Tokyo bound train and later become roommates.  The show is my second favorite ongoing series right now (Hell Girl being my  #1 favorite) despite it being quite the soap opera: double timing, interband politics, and mental instability abound.  The OP has switched three of times so far and the most recent one was what spurred me to download the soundtrack (not available in Canada). 

The actual OST was less than stellar, being composed of nothing but background music which was unable stand up without the emotionally charged atmosphere of the show.  But, there were also several singles, and "inspi" albums by Anna Tsuchiya (who does the singing voice of Nana in the show) which absolutely blew my mind.  She sounds like a very angry, punk, Avriel Levine (but in a good way, I swear) and her band is outstanding, very clean yet aggressive guitar and bass work.  Every track I've come across is great (except maybe two which I will get to later) and almost all are in English, not Engrish, making it very accessible for those unfamiliar with J-rock.  Another artist named OLIVIA (who does the voice of a rival singer in the show) has a few worthwhile tracks as well but these are more Pop-y and don't quite have the same bite.  OLIVIA is actually interesting because she isn't Japanese, she's one of those pop stars who couldn't break into the business here so moved overseas.  Despite her English speaking background she actually has more Japanese vocals than Tsuchiya (a native Japanese).

The only thing I had an issue with wouldn't even be an issue two years ago, but than again two years ago my music tastes were probably much different.  Let me explain:  My favorite teacher is my drugged up punk of a Cultural Studies Prof, he grew up in England throughout the 60's 70's and 80's so that's pretty much to be expected but a result of this is that both last year and this year we were made to watch the Sex Pistols Documentary: The Filth and the Fury.  I've also done research on their song and history, so I know what I'm talking about when I say that the Sex Pistols did not know how make music, they stole their instruments and were all badly self taught.  That said, I still really like them, since they were amateurs they could go against convention and break out of the, at the time, narrowly defined genre of Rock and Roll, they single handedly created punk music.  It was amazing how they Much of the NANA music sounds as if it has been inspired by the Sex Pistols, and indeed they are mentioned several times in the show, but there is an absolutely bizarre cover of Anarchy in the UK done by the aforesaid exceptionally talented Anna Yazawa which sounds more like the Partridge Family than the Sex Pistols.  I listened to it, listened to it again, listened to the Sex Pistols version, and baffled.  I wasn't bad, just too bizarre to properly comment on, I mean I swear, the F@#$'n Partridge Family.   After looking into it I found out that Michael Jackson owns the rights to the song, take that to mean what you will.  The other  problematic song was also a cover, this time of I Just Can't Get Enough by  Depeche Mode, again it wasn't bad, just not particularly good.

Still, besides my minor issues regarding the actual OST and the Partridge Pistols cover, the music was truly outstanding.  If you like Avriel Levine, PINK, Nelly Furtado (I probably spelled that wrong) or are a fan of good J-Rock I encourage you to check it out.  If you have bittorrent you can go to http://isohunt.com/download/18439784/inspi+nana and get everything that doesn't say: Movie, 707, or 7to8.

Today I went out and bought all the ingredients for the classic Philly and made myself one for dinner, it wasn’t outstanding but much better in comparison.  I can never cook the meat just right or slice it thin enough.  Tomorrow’s dinner will consist of testing my tomato sauce theory and making pasta a la Cheese-Steak, alright the name leaves something to be desired but hopefully it’ll taste good.  The whole experience has merely enforced my distrust of food prepared outside of my field of vision, if I don’t know what’s in it I’m suspicious.  For those of you who might want a good Philly Cheese-Steak but don’t feel like making it yourself: Eastside Mario’s makes the best in Waterloo in my opinion, most pubs will do you a decent one (except Wilf’s where it will take an hour and still taste crappy), and Quizno’s makes the absolute worst (a close second being Dominos).  And now on to anime:

 
Mr. Stain on Junk Ally
13 episodes 7 minutes each, 1 special 30 minutes

My offering for today is a quirky little selection called “Mr. Stain on Junk Alley”.  I suppose it isn’t really even an anime since it is technically done completely in CG but it was made in Japan so let’s not be picky.  Mr. Stain is a loveable hobo in colourful clothing who ends up getting into all manner of surreal and magical adventures in his pursuit of a merger subsistence which seems to entirely subsist of stale donuts.  His best friend is a yellow anthropomorphic cat which is taller than him and other similarly bizarre characters abound, bizarre is in fact a good word to describe everything in this series.  Each episode is named after whatever object Mr. Stain finds during his scrounging at the start of the episode: egg, seed, clay etc. and the episodes typically centre around said object. Nobody talks on Junk Alley but most of the plot is action oriented anyway so you don't really notice that much, anyway it would be pretty creepy if that cat started talking.  The soundtrack is energetic and the ED song made me want to get up and dance, which is a pretty big endorsement.

Because of the art style, At first glance it seems like a kids show, I sincerely hope it wasn’t intended to be, because it get dark, fast.  To demonstrate I will summarize episode 13: “Human”.  In “Human”, Mr. Stain discovers an abandoned baby, he gathers his courage and ventures outside the protection steals baby-formula to feed the infant, inviting unwanted scrutiny from a large, brutish police officer.  Mr. Stain is too late and the baby dies causing its soul in the shape of a butterfly to escape its body. Mr. Stain gives chase in hopes of re-inserting the wayward soul into the child but it is promptly trod upon by the police officer who then proceeds to brutally beat the poor defenseless hobo and then shoot him when he tries to flee (actually this is a rather uncharacteristic portrayal of a law officer in anime, I find the Japanese tend towards blind trust in authority figures far too often).  Dying, Mr. Stain pulls his own butterfly-soul from his body and uses it to bring the baby back to life.  He then falls off the rooftop he happens to be on, and lands on the police officer, killing him.  The giant yellow cat then happens by and takes the officer’s soul and gives it to Stain.  Satin awakens and everyone lives happily ever after, except presumably the police officer, his family, and any pets he had.

This was a fairly light and actually very funny show which I hope was aimed at at least a older-teen audience, but I can’t help being concerned about the way it seems to trivialize, or even glamorize the homeless.  I’ve worked in food banks before and living where I do I walk past at least two or three homeless people every day on my way to school, and let me tell you they are not happy people.  Many have severe mental problems that prevent them from being part of normal society, most are sick, and almost all of them drink.  I am sorry to end on such a depressing note but living on the streets is a sad and hard existence, and while I did enjoy “Mr. Stain on Junk Alley” I feel kind of guilty for doing so.

Well this was an interesting day.  For starters my roommate James went home on Thursday and came back this morning, upon opening the door to his room he discovered that our cat been trapped inside for the better part of three days.  Luckily for the cat (and unluckily for James) she was able to prevent starvation by eating some leftover chicken wings James had lying around.  The result: one room and one unhappy cat covered in whatever Buffalo Wings are normally covered in.  Thankfully the cat (she does actually have a name: BabyGirl, but it doesn't suit her so I just call her "Cat") seemed fairly well disposed to being bathed and didn’t try to claw me to death when I washed the gunk out.  I took care of that mess while James took care of the other.  The other interesting feature of my day was the fact that it seemed I was getting a phone call or IM every five minutes, nothing very important but consistent interruptions in whatever I was doing.  This might be not be strange for all you social butterflies but for me it was a rather odd change of pace.  Despite this, I somehow found the time to watch three and a half hours of anime, which brings up today's review:

Hataraki Man

11 episodes, about 22-23 minutes per episode, Slice of Life

Synopsis:  Matsukata Hiroko a woman is in her late twenties (with naturally big breasts) works as an editor for a major publisher.  Her life is full of so much work related stress that she is unable to find time in her life for either herself much less her boyfriend.  When deadlines loom, Hiroko is able to utilize the "Hataraki (working) Man" technique making her blood awash with testosterone and allowing her to work at thrice her normal speed.

Review:  Yeah, I was scared too.  To be honest, when I started watching this series I was more than a little worried about the whole "Hataraki Man" thing, which is ridiculously sexist in its assertion that men are somehow fundamentally better than women at doing office work, or focusing etc. Thankfully, even the Japanese, who are famously primeval when it comes to perceiving gender equality, seem to realize this and the "secret technique" almost completely vanishes after the first episode.  The manga was apparently awash with raunchy, Sex in the City-like, dialogue but the anime, for better or for worse, seems to focus on Hiroko's work-related struggles more than anything else and despite my initial misgivings I ended up really liking this series.  The characters were very good, they were all fleshed out (with the exception of the lazy new guy) and they all showed multiple layers of behavior. Hiroko in particular swings from indifferent to bitchy to depressed quite naturally.   The music was not particularly memorable but it was nice, kind of a crooning pop/rock, it didn't make me want to watch the opening or closing credits all the way through, but none of it bothered me and it complimented what was happening on screen nicely. 

    One last thing that didn't really bother me but sort of made me think was all the product placement, in this case for an energy drink called "in".  It strikes me that this is happening more and more often in recent shows, Advent Children for instance almost seemed like a two hour cell phone commercial.  I'm conflicted, so far none of it has really bothered me since: a) most of it that I've seen has been done tastefully and subtly. And 2) Anime directors seem to like to do it even when they're not getting paid, for instance CocaColo in Cowboy Bebop the Movie and Wos Burger in School Rumble are two examples just off the top of my head.  What I'm afraid of is that that it will get to the point where it is as disgustingly blatant as it is in American television, but that hasn't happened yet.  As it is Ms. Matsukata needs an energy drink, why not reach for in^tm and power her life.  I’ve gone onto a tangent. 

    The final verdict on Hataraki Man is good not great, it loses points because the premise was lame and sexist, watch it if you want a nice drama with very human characters all finding their own ways to deal with stress.  It may sound weird but the anime this show most reminded me of was Planet ES which is science fiction.  The art was similar and both shows shared a portrayal of the bureaucratic, politics laced office environment and the quirky personalities who inhabit it. 

Greetings to one and all,
Today marks the official launch of my livejournal, Hurrah!
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 OK so I'm not really that excited, but I'm not bitter or moody either which is something.  As you can see from my little mood-hamster, the two-week break before my two remaining exams has allowed me to achieve a zen-like state of calm.  I have studied, I may yet study, I may soon work on finding a job,  but on the whole apathy towards my scholastic and financial responsibilities has set in.  There are only two things which can replace the insomniac productivity of two weeks ago and they are as follows: Sleep & Anime.  However, as great as these wonderful pursuits may be, in order to maintain a veneer of productivity I have instead decided to start this journal which I will use to both to review and generally rant about anime as well as gab about each and every little thing that enters my head.  What this is not is a exhibitionistic replacement for my real journal which I still keep albeit inconsistently.  Anyway, without further adieu, here's my kick-off review (that was not intended to rhyme):

Uninhabited Planet SURVIVE!

52 episodes, about 22 minutes each, Science-fiction/Adventure/Children
Fansubbed by WeSuck

Synopsis:
I just came back and finished this one after watching about half of it late last year.   The plot centers around a group of seven children and a robotic cat whose field trip is interrupted by a gravity storm which sends them flying to the other side of the galaxy.  But before you get the theme to "Lost in Space" stuck in your head think "Gilligan’s Island" instead.  The Children land on a small island on a seemingly uninhabited planet, and are forced to overcome their fears and work together to stay alive, explore the mysterious island, and maybe even get home.

Review:
I liked this show, but I would have liked it even more five or ten years ago.  This show was definitely intended for an age group of maybe 10-15, the good news is that it seems that Japanese kids are given a lot more credit then North American ones.  The charcters, while fairly archetypal at first, are likable and grow over time instead of stagnating.  The dangers the kids face are real ones (starvation, exposure, giant alien monsters) and they give the situations they encounter real weight and depth.  Unlike many shows I watch, even in anime, I was constantly wondering weather or not the writers were actually going to kill off whatever character was in peril at the time.  I figured there were eight main characters, plus the various others encountered in the second half of the series, one or two could afford to be knocked off.  I won't actually tell you who dies, and people do die, but you probably won't see it coming (I mean I didn't, and I always see these things coming).  Don't get me wrong, the show had its lighter moments too but there was always a kind of uneasiness that was really intriguing.  Things that I didn't like about the series?  Well, being really soppy at heart I was kind of disappointed to see all the nice little romantic aspects of the show go unexplored, the alien weren't alien enough (but I guess that’s just the nerd in me talking), and while the ending was good, the second half of the show started to lag a bit.  On the whole though this was a really solid show, but you might enjoy it more if you can rope a younger relative into watching it with you.

First Look: Romeo x Juliet 
What I watched: Episode 1

First Impression:  "Neo Verona? Ok, so they're doing the Gankutsuou thing, cool."
Second Impression:  "Oh man, are the Shakespeare purists going to be mad."
Third Impression:  "Isn't that that Josh Groben song my sister likes so much?"

The first episode of this Shakeploitative (that right, I just made that word up) anime was interesting for many reasons, the first being that in the opening scene the writers decided to kill off both Lord and Lady Capulet.  Last time I checked, which was pretty lately seeing as I happen to be taking EN232: Shakespearian History and Tragedy this semester, these two characters were alive at the end of the play.  At this point I came to the conclusion that it would be in my best interests to look at the show not as a blatant capitalization on some of the best English drama of all time, but as a creative work unto itself.  That helped a little.  Actually once I got past the whole bastardization issue, the show turned out to be pretty good, the sword fights were cool and there were flying horse races.  All and all I'm going to wait and see for this one, I at least hope the creative team decides to keep the whole double suicide thing in at the end, y'know just for kicks.  Oh yeah, there really was that  Josh Groben "You Raise Me Up" song at the beginning, it blew my mind!