Synopsis
Every day life is harsh for high school student Kenichi Shirihama.  Known as the “Olympic Punching Bag” Kenichi has to sneak in and out of school every day to avoid being ejected from the planet by angry martial art thugs, and members of the schools most notorious gang Ragnarok.  While at school, he meets a new student named Miu Furinji, who offers to help him seek out the martial arts training he needs to take care of his ever growing problem of foes.

Weak Knees
The weakest kid is school also happens to be the most naïve in school.  Kenichi is a kid with many names, none of which are good for marketing value.  The story starts off in a somewhat typical Anime fashion that gives viewers a prequel type of buffer for the first few episodes.  The series itself doesn’t really have anything of special significance plot or action wise until around the 10^th episode.  However, Kenichi is also a comedy with plenty of ecchi that TMS Entertainment figures will keep people watching until the story picks-up some traction.

Kenichi takes a play from the popular 1984 Karate Kid movie where Mr. Miyagi offers to train Daniel Larusso after being beaten up by local high school bullies.  This sets the foundation for the first half of the 50 episode series.  After being bullied by the local karate club members, Kenichi gets the opportunity to train from six martial arts masters who all specialize in different styles ranging from Judo to Muay Thai boxing. (more…)

Do you like long walks on the beaches? Perhaps you relish the days when you can go skipping through town holding your partners hand?  Or possibly enjoying a fine evening while watching the sunset slowly descend across the horizon? Well, neither does professional assassin for hire Duke Togo a.k.a. Golgo 13.

A Living Weapon
What does the Mafia, FBI, CIA, MI6, British Intelligence, War Vets, Snipers, Paparazzi, and Professional Assassins all have in common with each other?  They ALL learned the hard way not to piss off Duke Togo.  If you have 3 million dollars and a problem that seems impossible to solve, then you’re in luck. Golgo 13 will take any job; from shooting out the violin strings on your arch nemesis during a solo ensemble, to snuffing out a human organ harvesting tycoon that lives in an impenetrable fortress.

Over The Top
Golgo 13 was created in 1969, with multiple movies (including two live-action films), Manga, OVA’s and series being produced over the decades.  In fact, Golgo 13 is the longest running Manga in publication to date.  The veteran’s anime club on the MAL website recommended this anime for me to watch.  I can’t say I’m disappointed either.  While this series isn’t recommended for younger audiences, adults may find it a bit more to their standards.  Golgo 13 is a world renowned assassin that is feared above all others due to the fact he has completed every single mission ever given to him.  Each episode is its own unique story that plays out like a 1980’s style TV series.  It almost reminds me of a more graphic and sinister version of the A-Team.  While some episodes of the series may seem a bit over the top to certain viewers; including one where Golgo has to break out of an island prison with a specific prisoner.  Other episodes have been described as “alarmingly accurate” by some of my fellow former military brethren.

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Taking a play from an old ad campaign that use to run here in the states to discourage parents drug habits from having a transitioning influence on their kids; I can only start off by saying that I can imagine some unsuspecting adolescent quietly watching Kingdom in the comforts of his own room until his father busts in on him:

Dad: What are you doing!?
Son: *Startled* jumps up to hide the screen.
Dad: ANIME!  Who taught you to watch ANIME!?  TELL ME!
Son: YOU DID! DAD! I LEARNED IT FROM YOU!
Dad:     

Kingdom Synopsis:

In the Warring States Period of ancient China (475-221 BCE), Shin and Hyou are war-orphans in the kingdom of Qin. They dream of one day proving themselves on the battlefield. One day, however, Hyou is taken to the palace by a minister. Winding up on the losing side of a power-struggle, Hyou manages to return to the village, barely alive. Shin then meets a boy who closely resembles Hyou, Ei Sei. For now he is the king of Qin; later he will become the emperor Shi Huangdi. (more…)

More Than Meets The Eye

Like a lot of people Ninja Scroll was one of the first anime movies I had the luxury of watching.  After observing how unique it was compared to other ‘cartoons’ I had seen over the previous years I began to do research to find similar productions.  Of course, back in the 90’s I didn’t realize a lot of shows I was currently watching were actually imported from Japan.  After learning the difference I understood the first genuine anime show I actually watched was the Original Transformers.

Since then I’ve watched everything from Princess Mononoke, Gungrave, Black Blood Brothers, to more recent stuff such as Kingdom.  I may take a little bit more of an old school approach to stuff I see today in large part due to the fact I believe Xenogears is the best game of all time in my opinion.  I previously played games along with watching anime prior to Xenogears, but it helped facilitate the foundation for my enthusiasm in all things anime/game related when ID tossed the Yggdrasil on Bart. (The graphics are cheesy compared to today’s standards I know.) (more…)