Many years ago, I started compiling what I called “The First Rules”. This was a series of guidelines to cover a variety of issues in life and, as the first rule for whatever, is the most important to consider. For example, the First Rule of Coffee is “If you don’t drink it, don’t make it.” How many people have you seen try to make coffee that have zero experience with it? You end up with something that legally could not be called ‘coffee’.

The First Rule of Sex is “Don’t have sex with someone crazier than you.” (“Fatal Attraction” should have REALLY taught you that!)

I had a standing rule for anime. The First Rule? “At least see the first episode.” A lot of people complain that they do not like anime, but then you discover they have never really seen it, or caught it in a glancing manner. They need to sit down and what whatever show from the first episode and THEN they can make their pronouncement.  This brings us to the Second Rule: “Watch the series from Episode One”. There are really extremely few shows that you can pop in on late, even at Episode Two and you need to know the set-up or you are puzzled beyond belief. You can’t always hope that there will be a recap episode (and should it occur, is somewhere around 13 or 14 in a 26-run show) and playing catch-up never really works. I tried to watch “Boogiepop Phantom” at Episode Three and was completely at sea for it, so I walked away. Which is a nice segue to Rule Three.

“If you feel the show is not going to get better, leave it. It is NOT going to get better.” I violated this rule twice: “Peach Girl” and “Gundam Seed Destiny”. For “Peach”, I knew by Episode Three that it wasn’t working, but I did not leave. “GSD” took a bit longer, as they had a big Mid-Course Correction around Episode Six or so. I watched “Peach” to the end, but when “GSD” was removed from my TV line-up, I let it drift into space. (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…)

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I whine on about every little thing in anime that bothers and annoys me. Sure, there IS a lot out there that almost seems to be intentionally placed there to make viewing difficult, whether it is some kind of anime trope or convention, up to the new trends that seem to be moving away as to what anime is all about.

But one thing that has always set my teeth on edge is what I refer to as the Bob Dylan Syndrome (No Direction Home).

There are three aspects to this rather unsettling condition.

The first is the Mid-Course Correction. You are watching your anime and it seems pretty straight-forward. You think you have a handle on it; then, it completely shifts the focus and now you are headed in another direction and that is not always for the best.

I really noticed this during the show “Burst Angel”.

At first, I thought it was a show regarding Kyohei Tachibana, a student at a culinary arts school with dreams of someday becoming a pastry chef. He runs afoul of these mercenaries while on the streets ofTokyoand ends up working for them as a cook. The tales would be how he tries to follow his dreams while getting mixed up with this crop of crazy ladies in their running gun battles (and they have a gundam as well.) (more…)

I was having a discussion with one of my anime friends, complaining that shows don’t end anymore, they merely stop. He really didn’t understand what I was getting at, and the more I tried to explain, the less he grasped it, so we decided to have a beer and watch some of “B Kei”. (Lovely fan service, but more on that later.)

Still, it is a major concern for me, as I feel it cheats the viewer. Well, I feel cheated.

What is the difference between the two?

“Mahoromatic” is a show that ends. We reach a real conclusion. OK, one could argue that we could follow adult Suguru and maid Mahoro into their new life together, but not really. The show has ended with a happy (of sorts) ending and that is that. (more…)

One of the hallmarks of anime is fan service. Certainly, to reward long-time viewers of shows, the creators throw in a bit of eye candy to keep your interest. However, it seems as of late that fan service is taking over to the point that it may be damaging shows.

Please understand that I am not wholly against fan service, especially when it is used to meaningful ends. For example, the fan service in “Mahoromatic” is employed to not only play up the pulchritudinous charms of Saori Shikijo, but it endlessly infuriates Mahoro Ando, who reminds us that “Dirty thoughts are bad.” This is a good use of fan service.

Other shows lob in the fan service before you can determine if you are a fan or not. “UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie” starts up in a bathhouse and we haven’t even gotten to the opening credits! I feel it is a cheap ploy to draw viewers in by offering up a lot of bubble-bath coated boobies and an implication that more will follow, so stick around. (more…)

Welcome back to Anime Recommendations, today we are gonna talk and list all, or at least most of the Common Anime Genres that one would encounter watching anime or browsing the net. Also I will try to give examples of each to help clarify if needed as well as common combinations that one would find. Well, here goes with AniRecs Complete Anime Genre List (with descriptions).

Action – By far one of the most common genres out there and the name basically explains it all, normally anime based solely on this genre tends to be lacking in substance although exciting due to lack of character development or an underlying story, to resolve this creators of action based anime try to mix in other genres, usually comedy, Adventure or Fantasy. Typical Examples of this Genre are Bleach, One Piece and Freezing.

Adventure – Also another popular genre of Anime, as the same suggests it deals alot with characters moving around and exploring  new places, these anime tend to be very long and drawn out but the characters typically have a solid background. The anime itself usually has a well formed story-line but due to the nature of this genre viewers often get bored and annoyed at the slow progression. Overall its a pretty decent anime genre and allows pretty much every other genre to almost seamlessly integrate themselves into it. Common mixtures are: Adventure – Action, Adventure-Historical (due to its uncanny ability to tell a story) and Adventure – Slice of Life. Examples of this Genre are Kino no Tabi, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Pokemon. (more…)

Welcome back again, today i will attempt to list the Best of the Best anime (in my opinion at least). This list consists of what i call my personal ‘if-you-haven’t-watched-these-don’t-talk-to-me-about-anime’ set. Well in no particular order.. ah.. yes, in alphabetical order here we go.

• Death Note
• Code Geass: Hangyakyu no Lelouch R1 (and R2)
• Mushishi