I resisted this one for a while, as the title initially put me off. “The World God Only Knows” sounded like one of those megalomaniac shows, where some power-hungry fiend wants to take over the world. No, it is a delightful romantic comedy that isn’t really all that romantic, but is quite funny, and a rarity that the second season is better than the first.

It tells the story of Keima Katsuragi. He is a caliber of NEET, in that he shuns all human interaction. Oh, he goes to school and gets amazing grades, but his entire focus is on conquering the hearts of ladies. He has, in fact, conquered 10,000 of them……..too bad they are all VIDEO GAME girls. He is so good, that he has a title, The God of Conquest. Everyone comes to him to ask for help in how to beat the latest dating Sims games. He has played them all, on all platforms and has almost every copy of them. (His room could be a caliber of museum, as he has every gaming system. I am sure there is an Atari 2600 in there).

One day, while going through his e-mail, he gets an oddly worded challenge, daring him to take on the task on wooing girls who have a void in their hearts. He takes the challenge, not knowing what it all means. The letter has come from the Demon World. It seems, owing to some bureaucratic bungle, souls have escaped from Hell and they need his help to recapture them. Demons, however, are not the sharpest bowling balls on the rack and they somehow thought he has conquered 10,000 REAL GIRLS. Also, he has to take on an assistant, the rather ditzy and clueless Elucia de Lute Ima, better known as Elsie (who has spent at least the last 300 years as a maid). (more…)

Short of vampire movies, it feels like “The Count of Monte Cristo” is one of those stories that has been made (and remade) a huge amount of times. I mean, it is a pretty resilient story of betrayal, revenge and redemption and this anime version is no different at the core than any other version. But how they approach it is very intriguing. Now, the official title is “Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo” and that part of the title is made clear as the series progresses. But what we have here is what I call Future Past. It feels like 19^th Century France in architecture and dress and those phony airs of tact, but we have a lot of the conveniences of the modern age: space travel, computers and hover vehicles, to name a few. It does help that this takes place in the year 5053.

Although we keep a lot of the story, we also tinker a lot with the story and that is not a bad thing. We focus in on Viscount Albert de Morcerf. A rather naïve 15-year-old lad, he and his friend, Baron Franz d’Epinay, are attending some grand and glorious festival on Luna (yes, we are on the moon; remember, this is the 51^st Century), where they are having a ripping good time. However, Albert falls afoul of some cutpurses and is kidnapped, only to be rescued by Le Compte-de Monte Cristo, a mysterious man of enormous wealth and magnificent charisma. (If you know the plot, this will not come as a great surprise as to the reason for the kidnapping, OK?)

Still, it is a good retelling of the story, in tandem with the surroundings, but the huge selling point is the look of the show. (more…)

Now, I know that this particular series veered over into a sub-genre I am tired of…vampires. It’s not that there aren’t good or interesting vampire animes out there, like “Black Blood Brothers” or “Hellsing”, but it is the sheer amount of them that gets overwhelming to the point where I run away. The other genre I am tired of is Giant Fighting Robots, so if they have a Giant Vampire Fighting Robot show, I can avoid it. (And if it is voiced by Chris Ayres, it’s everything I hate in one spot!)

The one under the microscope is “Rosario + Vampire”, which got a lot of positive spin in things I saw. Many girls liked it, as it was sooooooooooo romantic. Well, I was between shows and it came up, so I gave it a test run. I didn’t crash and burn, but it got really old really fast.

This is a shame, as it started out so good. Our hero, Tsukune Aono, is a ronin. This is a term used for a student who has left one school, but is not attached to another one. (It is a samurai term for a swordsman who has no master, but roams the countryside). He is a bit of a brick and is having a most difficult time getting accepted anywhere. His father magically finds an errant admission packet (dropped in an alley, after dark, by a strange hooded figure. Man, things have got to be rather weird and desperate if you are willing to grab an admission packet, dropped in an alley, after dark, by a strange hooded figure) and gloms it, scampering away. Hooray! Their son is not a total dweeb dork dingleberry dognice! Now, get to school! (more…)

Clocking in at a mere four episodes and an OVA, “Magical Play” is another in a long line of Magic Girl shows (like “Sasami” and “The Familiar of Zero”), but we have dual stories going on (actually, we have several story lines, but they are all kept nicely apart), although, as with much in life, they cross and intersect.

The main story involves Padudu (that’s the one wearing the fish. It is not a fish costume, it is a fish, Uokichi, kind of like her familiar). She wants to become a real Magical Girl on Earth (she comes from the land Sea Heaven) and to this end, she needs to gather 20 Flower Stars. These are earned by doing tournament battles with other magical girls. When you get the 20 stars (and have filled up your card), you may then proceed to the next level.

Sadly, when you wear a fish, you are subject to all kind of problems, such as being grabbed by a large hungry eagle who wishes to dine on you, which is how the show opens. Padudu manages to break free, but then plummets to the town below.

In the town, a tournament is being held and Pipin (that is the one on the far left) has just defeated another magical girl. However, before she can claim her prize, Padudu crashes upon her, knocks her out and Padudu gets awarded the Flower Star. Pipin spends the rest of her time trying to wrest the star back from Padudu. (more…)

I got in a bit of a tiff over this one. It bills itself as six episodes, but the episodes are about 45 minutes long, so, technically, it is a 12-run show. But there is no intermission and it’s not a movie, so it goes down as six parts, making it short run. (I get into odd arguments.)

This is a very good looking show for an alternate universe approach. It is a 2005 idea of a 1930s approach to the future (in this case, the year 2000), but you have funny little quirks. We have hover cars, but radio is still king. It’s futuristic, but with an Art Deco feel.  The maiden voyage of a new train brings out all the media, but none of them have video cameras. And, most importantly, science can overcome any and all of man’s ills.

The world is under attack by a strange alien race, bent on world domination (stop me if you’ve heard this before, OK?) But the human race is confused and perplexed, not knowing what any of this is all about or what it ultimately means.

From out of the mists of confusion steps Billy Kimura. Boy genius and heir to the Kimura Industries conglomerate, he thinks he has a grip on what is going down. But he has a rival. The equally smart, equally annoying, equally arrogant Penny Carter. He graduated from MIT at age 11 but is nowhere near as financially well off as Billy.

Aside from them playing a version of “Can You Top This?” all the time as to who is smarter, they are both in love with Lotta Brest (I am NOT kidding; that is her name. Too bad Emely, Lotta’s tutor, isn’t named that. Emely certain has what Lotta wants.)

Together, these three have to piece together the puzzle that will allow them to defeat the space aliens, who will stop at nothing to achieve their dreams at the demise of humans! (Insert organ sting here).

(more…)

Yeah, OK. I usually try to lull you in to reading my review, kind of disguising until the end as to whether I liked it or not. For this one, I’ll save you the time: I no longer like “Fairy Tail”. I have abandoned the show.

Now, I gave it a good damn run: 60 shows (“Case Closed” has taken me for longer at 130 and I still watch that. I would have watched “Inuyasha” and “Ranma ½” more, but foul circumstances took them away from me. And I am still working through “Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood” but that ends at 51). But I felt it treated me badly, like other long-format shows.

So, what got to me? It’s just that it took me that long to see the repetitive nature of the overall show. I had read the first five manga and really liked what I read (since I check them out of the library, someone borrowed Books Six through Eleven forever, so I had to give up. And I don’t read manga on the internet). When I heard they had done the show, I watched it with eager anticipation, but I started to notice a trend.

The Evil Folks show up. The Good Guys arrive on the scene, but are soon put to flight. The Good Guys regroup and through some personal effort, defeat the Bad Guys and send them packing. Then, we have beers all around for a Job Well Done. The next day, (more…)

There are several music animes out there (with “Nana” and “Beck” coming to mind first), but what about a musical anime, where the characters burst into song for no apparent reason. It may be that “Nerima Daikon Brothers” could be that first one. For your information:

Nerima – a ward inTokyo.
Daikon – the famous ‘white radish’.
Brothers – Well, brothers in arms.

It tells the story of Hideki (the big guy in the middle). Sure, he’s merely a daikon farmer, but he has dreams, big dreams and they do not involve farming implements. One day, he’ll build the world-famous Daikon Dome and his little entourage will play to packed houses of screaming, frenzied fans every night, rockin’ the house with some rockin’ music. But, until that time, he farms and rehearses every chance he gets, as they have a makeshift stage in the field. The neighbors do not take kindly to those musical intrusions, and hurl both bottles and epithets to get them to shut up.

The band consists of Hideki, his brother Ichiro and cousin Mako (plus some random pandas; don’t ask). Any resemblance to the “Blues Brothers” is strictly intentional. Alas and alackaday, big dreams cost big bucks and our little singing trio are badly skint in that area. In fact, Ichiro has a real job working at a host club, where not only is he a most popular draw, he also comes across a lot of help and information. Too bad they are spending most of their time fending off rapacious agents, devious psychics, duplicitous nurses and questionable auditions.

Adding to their woes, whatever money they are able to obtain is quickly siphoned off to repair for damages incurred during their latest escapades or balance off a massive debt imposed on them so they at least pull even. No one said being an overnight star was easy. (more…)

There are some show titles that are going to draw your interest immediately.
“Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt”. Yeah, I gotta check that one out.
“My Sensitive Pornograph”. Whoops! I backed the wrong pony on this one!
“Chu-Bra!!”. I wonder if it is about undergarments……

Well, yes, it is. It tells the story of Nayu Hayama (the bespectacled one), a middle school student who is having some problems with her undergarments to the point of it being a wardrobe malfunction. Since the underwear in question is rather adult in nature, two curious students, Yako Jingūji (the brunette) and Haruka Shiraishi (the pink one) wonder if there is ‘something more’ going on, especially when a much older man comes up to Nayu to ask her questions.

We come to learn that she is a caliber of ‘beta tester’ for underwear. In fact, she is so enamored with underwear, she has made it her life’s ambition to be the greatest undergarment designer in the world, following in the footsteps of her famous (but dead) grandmother. Her aim is to make undergarments that are both pretty and designed to do what they are meant to do. (more…)

Seldom does one see a show that is this perverted without really showing anything that perverted. Other shows that claim to be less perverted show a whole lot more than these folks. Now, I will admit that when I heard the title “Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt”, I had no real idea what it was all about, but it has genuinely NOTHING to do with underwear and garments as you might think they should.

Our two heroines are Panty (the blonde) and Stockings (the brunette), the Anarchy Sisters. They are fallen angels, kicked out of heaven for their very bad behaviors. They have been sent toDatenCity(and here is a joke; datenshi is Japanese for ‘fallen angel’) and they have to do battle with monsters (or ‘ghosts’) whom torment this city.

Depending on how hard or involved the fight with the ghosts is, this manifests itself in the amount of coins they get. They are literally trying to buy their way back into heaven. (more…)

Admittedly, I am a late arrival to anime, despite my background. I was just a wee sprite when I first saw Astro Boy on NBC in 1964 and I was not impressed. It took me another 40 years before I finally decided that I liked anime. Do keep in mind that I had numerous runs-in with it in the ensuing years, and treated badly most of the time.

Since 2004, I have been rather keen on it, watching almost everything I could lay my hands and eyes on. There have been some notable failures (“Fantastic Children”), total mistakes (“Gundam Seed Destiny”) and wonderful surprises (“Mahoromatic”), but with the latest crop of shows out there, I find myself playing the Frankenstein Game.

Two that really get to me are “C3” and “Maken-ki! Battling Venus”. On the surface, there is nothing wrong with the show, but I find myself seeing other shows in them. (more…)