This is not your father’s Gatchaman. I wasn’t even aware there was a caliber of precursor to this series, but that is not necessary to view at all for this one.

“Gatchaman Crowds” takes place kind of now (summer of 2015). For those who may not know, Gatchaman were originally a five-member superhero ninja team, assembled to combat the forces of an international terrorist organization of technologically advanced villains, known as Galactor, from trying to take control of the Earth’s natural resources. (And if this smells like “Captain Planet”, you can be forgiven).

However, almost nothing has been taken over from that series to this one. In our brave new world, the gatchaman are people with abilities who are assigned to protect this planet, initially from these odd creatures called MESS, who look like an assembly of squares and can change their shape within the squares. A new gatchaman is recruited, Hajime Ichinose (dead center), who lives in Tachikawa City, where these G-Men are based. (more…)

This is a different kind of spy series, in more that they are secret agents, but certainly act like spies. Also, it is set in an alternative universe, but you are not certain what the year should be. I mean, they have zeppelins and wide screen HDTVs. Also, they speak with an English accent, drive what appears to be an MG, have tea at 4 pm, but we are not in England. We are in Ishtar (no, not that horrid movie with Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty), but it might as well be Jolly Olde England.

Our two heroes up there, Rowe Rickenbacker and Jack Hofner are L/R. The running joke is “Which one of you is ‘L’ and which one is ‘R’?” (Personal opinion, most of the time we see them left to right with Jack as the left and Rowe as the right, so I feel that is the real designation. Not that it REALLY matters).

Some of their tasks include the protection of royal artifacts and treasures from greedy individuals and stopping crimes against the Crown, although the main thrust of the story is to find the 15-Year Princess. It seems that the previous rulers of Ishtar came to a bad end, and the very young princess went missing in the ensuing scandal. The Crown wishes to find her and let her be the true ruler of England Ishtar. I will also not draw any conclusions that with Ishtar representing England, then the land of Ivory is to be Ireland, but that is open for you to determine. Personally, I am not a fan of symbolism or political commentary in my shows; I prefer to let them tell a good story. (more…)

On the surface, this show, “Michiko e Hatchin” is just another ‘journey’ show, not much different than “Noir” or “El Cazador”, although potentially allied closer to “Samurai Champloo”, as least in attitude.

The tale takes place in ‘Alternative Brazil’; although it is never named, there is enough to imply that we are in South America. Michiko Malandro (that rather bounteous babe astride the scooter) is a felon, having run with Monstro Preto, a rather notorious gang, and has spent the last eight or so years in prison. Michiko is tormented endlessly, both physically and emotionally, by Atsuko Jackson, the police officer who arrested her. Here’s the odd thing: they grew up in the same orphanage, but obviously took different paths. By her telling Michiko that her daughter, Hana, is living with a foster family, Michiko breaks out of an ‘escape-proof’ prison to rescue Hana.

Hana (yes, that boy is really a girl; it’s just the presentation) is in a Cinderella-like situation, in that her foster family is those pretentious and insufferable religious types that we like making fun of. Dad is a priest who uses the position to feather his own nest, mom is a social climber and the kids are bratty beyond belief. Michiko steals the scooter, busts into the house, rescues Hana (whom she now calls Hatchin) and thus their journey begins to find dad, who Michiko knows is not dead, despite reports to the contrary. (more…)

It is hard to believe that this show is already at the two-year mark with little sign of slowing down. Nor has it encountered the malaise that sometimes beset long-format shows.

Now, we have the Main Story. This is Toriko’s special training, as he is eventually going to search for GOD (no, not the guy with the beard, but the ne plus ultra ingredient that is the cat’s meow). So, he does all this strenuous training that exercises both body and mind and promotes teamwork. And Torkio’s boss, Ichiryū (who looks like a reject from the Village People) has also managed to coerce the other Heavenly Kings (you see two others up there) to also do this specialized training. There is something more going on here than just being able to go into the Lost Forest, so one had best be prepared for it.

Then, there is a sub story that all the great chefs in the world are being kidnapped. For some odd reason, Komatsu (the REALLY wimpy one up there) has not yet cracked the Chef World Top 100 list. Odd; you would think the chef who brought back Century Soup would merit something, as EVERYONE comments about it, but it’s just not good enough and since he also works for a mere Six-Star restaurant, I might as well eat something at Barney’s Beanery. (more…)

So im finally up to date on Hunter x Hunter (2011), and while the series does not look like its anywhere close to an ending, I feel I’ve seen enough to give a fair review. As a remake of the 1999 original series, I knew it was going to be good and I was not disappointed. For the first 70ish episodes it followed the same arcs as the previous version (Hunter Examination arc and Greed Island Arc) and besides a few minor changes in character wordings and character expressions I’d say they were pretty much identical.

What completely caught me off-guard was that like its predecessor, I expected the show to come to a close at the end of the second arc. Instead of  doing so we see a third arc opening up! For those who have seen the original series if you are not the type to re-watch anime you are free to skip to episode 75 and simply think of it as a continuation…

There have been alot of mixed feelings around the internet saying that one version is superior to another and to be completely honest I do prefer the original version. Why? Simply because (more…)

Well, this is an interesting series about an Arms Dealer who is a genuine contradiction with a title that initially does not make any sense, “Jormungand”.

Let’s talk about her. The potential albino (or perhaps she doesn’t get enough sun; hard to tell), white on white, is Koko Hekmatyar, a young arms dealer who sells weapons under HCLI, an international shipping corporation that secretly deals in the arms trade. As one of the company’s unofficial weapon dealers, she carefully sells weapons in many countries while avoiding the local authorities and law enforcement agencies as most of her work is actually illegal under international law. But money is where you find it and she has no reluctance to sell to anyone, but has a caliber of conscience.

Most of the people up there are her bodyguards and have extensive military experience, so let’s run them down (it is a rather capacious cast, both on this side, plus those forces that wish to do her harm): (more…)

“Eureka Seven AO: Astral Ocean”, takes place about 14 or so years after the conclusion of the first part of it. Ao Fukai (our hero, dead center) is a 13-year-old boy living in the year 2025 in Okinawa, on the island of Iwato Jima with Dr. Toshio Fukai, ever since Ao’s mother disappeared 10 years ago. When a mysterious organization attacks the local Scub Coral, Ao somehow gets mixed up in the battle and manages to activate an enigmatic robot called the Nirvash while it is being transported by the Self-Defense Forces. Later, Ao finds out that the Nirvash belonged to Eureka, his mother, and embarks on a journey to find his mother and learn the truth about his origins.

Or so we hoped.

Because he is able to pilot this ship, he is conscripted by Generation Bleu, an organization dedicated to fighting Secrets, and joins Pied Piper. OK, let me explain. Every time there is a Scub Burst, these transforming robots/ships called ‘secrets’ come down to destroy the Scub. But they also take out the surrounding area, so there is a huge amount of collateral damage by them. Ao joins Bleu to get to the bottom of it all, but runs into more misconceptions and deceptions than ever before. A lifelong friend, Naru (the lovely lady in the upper right) suffers from a condition caused by the Scub but eventually has to turn against Ao. (more…)

I had a friend tell me that “Eureka Seven” (or, as it’s pronounced in the show, “Erika Seven”) is a really good sci-fi anime. I mean, even the Sci-Fi Channel (now known as Syfy) showed it, and it was really worth watching.

I decided to watch it with him and, quite frankly, I was disappointed with the effort.

The series focuses on Renton Thurston (that rather grumpy one dead center), the fourteen-year-old son of Adrock Thurston, a military researcher who died saving the world. He lives what he considers a boring life with his grandfather in a boring town. He loves lifting, a sport similar to surfing but with trapars, a substance abundant throughout the air, as the medium. He dreams of joining the renegade group Gekkostate. It is led by his idol Holland Novak (the jerk just off his left shoulder), a legendary lifter.

An opportunity to do so literally falls into his lap when a large mecha, called the Nirvash typeZERO, and Eureka (the smiling one off his right shoulder), its pilot and a member of Gekkostate, crash into Renton’s room. Renton’s grandfather orders him to deliver a special part to the Nirvash called the “Amita Drive”, which releases the immense power dormant within the typeZERO called the “Seven Swell Phenomenon”. Afterwards, Renton is invited to join Gekkostate, where he quickly discovers that the behind-the-scenes life of Gekkostate is hardly as glamorous or as interesting as printed in the glossy pages of their magazine, ray=out. Only one thing makes it all worthwhile for him: the presence of Eureka, the mysterious pilot of the Nirvash. Renton, Eureka, and the Gekkostate embark on an adventure that will shape their future as well as the world. (more…)

What one finds so interesting about this show is that it could tie into “Accel World”, so it may be recommended to see “Accel” first or at least the two of them together.

It is the future (it’s ALWAYS the future, don’t let the garb fool you). Now, it is the year 2022 and the Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPGLSMFTOMGTTYL), “Sword Art Online” (SAO), is released. With the Nerve Gear, a virtual reality Helmet that stimulates the user’s five senses via their brain, players can experience and control their in-game characters with their minds.

On November 6, 2022, all the players log in for the first time, but since only 10,000 copies of the game were distributed, this is all who can join on, and it’s one game per console (damn that Nintendo!) Our hero, Kirigaya Kazuto (known by his handle of Kirito) is not only a beta tester for the game, but is also known as a beater (beta tester and cheater). He shows the ropes to some of the newbies, but when it’s time for dinner, he, and others, subsequently discovers that they are unable to log out. They are then informed by Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of SAO, that if they wish to be free and log out of the game, they must reach the top floor of the game’s tower and defeat the final boss, a mere 100 levels away.

Some players are against this and try to forcibly eject. This causes microwaves in the helmet to cook the brain and they die. And if their avatars die in the game, their bodies will also die in the real world. You want out? Beat the game. (more…)

I had planned on doing this review some time back, when this show reached 52 episodes, but it is now another three months beyond that, but better late than never…although I bet all the tasty hors d’oeuvres have been devoured, as I came late. Again.

The only thing that I am not a big fan of, aside from giant fighting robot shows, is long-run shows. Rare is the show that can keep up both interest and plot over the course of a year, especially since you lurch from arc to arc. This show does not succeed all the time (there is a major lag in the middle) but it has kept my interest better than most.

Toriko is that criminal in the center (well, I call him that, as he wears that orange jumpsuit all the time; like Naruto, but with a far better personality). He is one of the four Gourmet Kings in this world that they live (the other two are shown up there: Coco is in black and Sunny has the rainbow hair). They specialize in the acquisition of rare ingredients and animals. Toriko’s dream: to find the most precious foods in the world and create the Ultimate Dinner Menu. As one of the most skilled hunters in the world, he is regularly hired by restaurants and the rich to seek out new ingredients and rare animals. A man with inhuman ability, he utilizes his incredible strength and knowledge of the animal kingdom to capture ferocious, evasive, and rare beasts to further his ultimate goal.

He is paired with a pretty decent chef, Komatsu, that weak looking guy under Sunny’s hair. Everything Toriko is, Komatsu is not. Komatsu is weak, timid, uncertain of himself and lacking confidence. But, in the kitchen, he is really good. Together, they go on a series of quests to make this world a better place for food and eating. (more…)