Aldnoah Zero

Captain Earth

Driveback

Aquerion Evol

(season 2/Spin Off)

Eureka 7: AO

(Spin Off)

Battle Angel Alita

Dragonaut: The Resonance

Aquarion

Guilty Crown

Samurai 7

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Type: Anime & Movie Version

Status:     Anime - Complete (26 episodes and a movie)     Movie - Ongoing

Premise: After a cataclysmic event known as 2nd impact melted Antarctica and shifted the worlds axis, flooding kills half of the earths population. Humanity has taken 15 years to reorganized and now have restored itself to the dominant species on the planet once more. But the truth is that 2nd impact was not a natural occurrence, it was in reality humanities first contact with another form of life; they were named Angels. Angels are titanic beings of unimaginable destructive power and threaten the remaining population with total extinction, the only way humanity has to fight back is the organisation known as N.E.R.V. and their weapons known as the E.V.A. which are gigantic fighting robots developed after 2nd impact. Shinji Ikari a 14 year old student is selected to pilot the first fully functional E.V.A. in the defense of Tokyo-3 one of the last strongholds of humanity and the headquarters of N.E.R.V.

Thoughts: Now my opinion varies dramatically depending on which version you ask me about; the anime was decent but suffered from enormous plot holes and completely ridiculous mentality to the writing. The movies were short and to the point, retelling the majority of what you received in the anime but removing many of the things that made little sense; they stressed different points in the movies which shifts the overall tone between the two versions and to me resulted in a better piece of storytelling.

Prose: Nice old school anime with the hand drawn animation and good voice acting. The movie contains more CG than the anime but in vary well chosen moments so as not to distract from the story. 

Cons: The anime had enormous plot holes and a truly crap-tastic ending originally which was somewhat fixed by "The End of Evangelion" which is an hour and a half movie made to replace the last 2 episodes. 

-Notes: Fully dubbed. 2 of the 4 movies planned have been released but the final 2 which were scheduled for a 2008 release were "slightly delayed" to a 2012 release instead. I watched the anime than the movie so it may be that I am filling in some blank areas of the movie with the good parts of the anime but in my opinion the movies are BY FAR better than the anime. While the movies are shorter than the anime they managed to cut most of the confusing/useless bits off of the anime and stream line it into a more functional version with the movies; they also stress some different plot devices in the movie which changes the tone and makes for a clearer series of events between the characters which also helps understanding. If given the option I would suggest watching the movies first before the anime, also when watching the anime I would recommend the alternate ending instead of the original episodes 25 and 26.

Anime - 7.5/10   Movies - 8.5/10   (Plot holes large enough to drive gigantic fighting robots through)

Jyuki Ningen Jumbor / Jumbor

Type: Manga

Status: Complete (well canceled)

Premise: It is 3002 and the world has developed were the words "construction company" is synonymous with "independent military faction". Human civilization has crumbled been rebuild countless times, and now the construction teams have become the driving force of civilization. Jumbor is a national hero in his country and personal servant to the cute 8 year old princess; along with his team of workers he strives to rebuild this world. Not everyone is of like mind to this however and during a project Jumbor and his company are ambushed by one of their rivals from the neighboring country and he is killed. He awakens 5 years later to discover that his memories have been placed into a clone (chronological age 5 years) and he has been partially mechanized in order to preserve his life. Now he must reclaim his homeland from those who have concurred it and find the princess who he left behind.

Thoughts: This manga was ODD. Not bad actually, but it was so far from the run of the mill mech anime that I have trouble describing it. While I did enjoy the completely over the top mechs cult to and ridiculous construction references it is difficult to figure out if this was a good idea cut short in its infancy or a mongrel child put out of its misery.

Prose: Completely over the top and hilarious. Also completely original in its setting and use of giant fighting robots composed and intended for construction. This one is quite the acquired taste.

Cons: The amount of serious consideration to realism in this anime could barely fill a thimble, they went for the RULE OF COOL and never relented.

-Notes: The manga is cut ridiculously short at the end and was almost setting up for a sequel than it wasn't. Basically it feels as though the writer had a grand overarching story line in mind and than was informed one day that his next issue would be his last so wrap it up. I don't know the reasoning behind this way of concluding things and am not entirely sure whether it was a bad thing.

7.5/10          (RULE OF COOL)

Strain

Type: Anime

Status: Complete (13 episodes)

Premise: Mankind is fighting a civil war against a group of rebels in the far reaches of space, among the weapons of the colonials is the Strain a mech using the harvested from the unborn fetus resulting in a kind of neural computer. Sara Weric is the younger sister to the legendary pilot Ralph Weric and is in training to become a strain pilot, but when the enemy attacks her school she begins to learn the truth about the beginning of this war.

Thoughts: This anime was relatively uninspired as far as plot goes, but the animation was beautiful and the characters are actually quite interesting if unbelievable. All in all I would not recommend it, but it was relatively well crafted considering it is only 13 episodes to build a world.

Prose: Lovely animation and decently interesting characters are the motivation for this anime, but not much else.

Cons: Not inspiring, and feels more than a little forced. I do give them credit for what they accomplished in 13 episodes but there is a limit at the same time.

-Notes: Fully dubbed.

6/10          (The doll Freaks me out....)

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn

Type: Anime

Status: Ongoing

Premise: 3 years after the terrorist attack that destroyed humanities first space based colony, Banagher Link a normal boy living in a space colony under construction with aspirations to do something with his life saves a young girl after she falls. Now on the run from both the military and terrorist groups he is forced to pilot a strange prototype mobile suit in hope that the mysterious information known as "Laplace's Box" hidden within it can stop the brewing conflict.

Thoughts: Filmed in the 50 minute mini movie format this is a treat to watch. As we have come to expect from the Gundam franchise this anime has stunning visual effects and music. The release schedule for this title is agonizingly slow and will only contain 6 episodes for the entire series, which makes me wonder as to how well this anime will be able to explore the world that they have created for the series.

Prose: Stunning visual effects and audio; we have come to expect a high level of quality from the Mobile Suit Gundam (Insert interesting tag word here) franchises and Unicorn does not disappoint.

Cons: The plot is rather uninspired and rushed at times making me wonder why they have decided to limit themselves to only 6 episodes. The Gundam franchise has been around for a long time so the plot lines are starting to become predictable.

-Notes: Dubbed. At the time of me writing this there are only 3 episodes released after starting in March 2010, with a new episode being released every 6 months. The release schedule is abhorrently slow so get comfy.

     
7.5/10          (Is it bad that the main machine is the one I like the least?)

Macross Frontier

Type: Anime

Status: Complete (25 episodes)

Premise: Earth has sent out numerous space fleets in order to find a new habitable planet to colonize, Macross Frontier consisting of civilians, military, even its own system of government to direct the entire fleet. Saotome Alto is inducted into the S.M.S. mercenary group after demonstrating his skills during an attack by a mysterious hostile enemy and continues to protect his friends as the crisis worsens.

Thoughts: This anime is styled to be a space opera of sorts, it has an amazing soundtrack that is used as a plot device on several occasions and along with some of the best and most fluid animations I have ever seen comes together to be quite a treat to watch. The plot is interesting if not its best feature, but it is solid non the less allowing for some good characters to develop over the coarse of the series.

Prose: Amazing soundtrack, wonderful animation with fluid movement and vary little stock footage makes this a pleasure to watch.

Cons: The plot is somewhat outlandish at times but for the most part it performs admirably, a weakness to the anime but not a crippling one. This anime is heavily influenced by the music that is played during the scenes, they are in Japanese so they are subbed BUT the conversations are also subbed and do often overlap with the music resulting in alot of reading and not enough time to do it in.

-Notes: Subbed only, and th viewing experience would be greatly helped by a dubbed version (I am not even sure that is in the works though).This anime is the 3rd set in the Macross universe, while the story does not specifically require previous knowledge of the other series I can't help but think that the experience would have been greatly aided by having seen the other series which would have provided a much better depth the story. 

8/10          (Ranka's cell phone is amazing IMO.)

Gurren Lagann

Type: Anime

Status: Complete (26 episodes)

Premise: Centuries ago humanity fled underground and now live in enormous underground caverns and have even forgotten that there is such a thing as "The Surface". Simon the digger is a shy kid who found a pretty glowing spiral thingy when excavating a tunnel and then his world turned upside down. The ceiling collapses, a giant robot falls into town, his brother Kamina decides this is the perfect opponent to test his manliness against and  a girl in a bikini carrying a rifle digger than he is lands on top of him. There are some things on the surface that just defy explanation.

Thoughts: This was an amusing anime because it was so freaking ludicrous. From the begging to the end things are over the top, hilarious and completely random to a point were you stop watching for any real intention of enjoying the story telling and instead just wanting to see what the hell is going to happen next.

Prose: The comedy is excellent, and the animation and dubbing is top notch. Those are the things you watch this program for because thats pretty well all its got going for it (Though it has it in spades).

Cons: Plot? What plot? WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE, WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING PLOT!!!!!

- Notes: Fully dubbed. To watch this anime you need to be in a certain frame of mind, if your serious about it you will be severly disappointed.

8/10          (The words that come out of Kamina's mouth still confuse me....)

Eureka 7

Type: Anime & Manga
Status: Complete ( 50 episodes + movie)

Premise: Renton Thurston a boy living a boring life in boring town with his boring grandfather is rather shocked when a LFO (a mech) lands on-top of his house completely destroying it. The Nirvage mk.0 is a machine belonging to the renegade group known as Gecostate, after a pitched firefight were Renton saves the young woman piloting the Nirvage he is "abducted" by them and joins the crew of ne'er-do-wells and anarchists. This story is about the life of Renton Thurston, a boy who was board of his life until a young woman destroyed his house and taught him that there are some things worth living for.
(Side Note: The girls name is "E-eu-de-ca" spelled Eureka, the pronunciation stemming from the original pronunciation in Greek)

Thoughts: This was a wonderful anime that had huge overtones to it, many themes that really hit home and brought you into the story. I really enjoyed it and might actually RE-watch this one (I watched it several years ago and just found out I missed a few side plots). *Just re-watched it and it was twice as good as I remembered!

Prose: Animation, voicing, acting (yes I go as far as to call this one acting), music, plot, characters, action, world...... It was stupendous.

Cons: The beginning is a tad slow (episodes 3~15 depending on how you look at it) due to the fact that is almost entirely character/world building the thing is the main plot starts going off at that point and doesn't stop till the end. I guess...... well the "puppy love" aspect kind of got monotonous at times but that was again part of its charm, rely not so much a complaint here as a style choice.

-Notes: Fully dubbed, movie as well. Apparently the movie was actually featured in the Montreal Foreign Film Festival in 2009 (Missed it by THAT MUCH!). It is a rather large departure from the anime and attempts to show an alternate version of events that still use Renton and Erueka as the main characters but in a drastically revised plot in the same setting, basically they made a movie for the masses that have not previously seen the anime while still giving their followers something new. Vary enjoyable and funny when things you thought would happen actually are completely wrong in the alternate version. Watch the anime first THEN the movie as there are some references that are hidden for previous viewers

9.5/10          (Surf culture never looked so cool)

Mobile Suit Gundam 00

Type: Anime
Status: Complete (50 episodes + movie)

Premise: A group of highly skilled pilots flying in advanced mobile suits known as Gundams are on a mission to eradicate all war through armed intervention. This group known simply as "Celestial Being" is composed of people who have lost all that they cherish to war and now fight to stop it. By making an enemy of every side and being victorious they intend to present a unifying enemy for their opposition and eventually a universal peace.

Thoughts: Though not to the same level as Gundam Seed this is also a relatively good mecha that shows again why this franchise holds the title of king of mecha.

Prose: Excellent action, interesting if somewhat screwed up main characters, and gloriously well animated and voiced.

Cons: The main plot is rather far fetched and no one appears to realize it. Code Geass had basically the same idea but executed many times better than here.

-Notes: Fully dubbed excluding the movie. Might want to skip that movie IMHO it was rather poor and kind of ruined a perfectly good ending to the anime.

7/10          (How many screwed up nut cases does it take to screw in a light bulb?)

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed

Type: Anime
Status: Complete (51 episodes, Destiny 50 episodes)

Premise: Humanity is now able to play with DNA to an extent were individual characteristics can be modified to create the perfect offspring, these "Coordinators" are superior physically and mentally to normal humans and excel beyond normal human limitation. Discrimination against these coordinators begins to turn violent and many decide to create a new home and turn to space creating enormous space colonies were they will be accepted for who they are. Eventually naming themselves as independent from earth the resentment towards those who forced them to leave grows and results in a war between the two groups, where the coordinators use their superior abilities along with latest weapons the mobile suits (mecha) to give themselves a distinct edge.

Thoughts: Probably the epitome of the mecha genre this anime uses great plot with a well established time line in order to deliver a truly engrossing experience. The difference about this anime is that this is a real physics environment using machines that can break and fall apart not giant machines that work because they say so. This is the mecha which all others are compared to.

Prose: Engrossing story, rich world, interesting characters, strong action. This anime is a real masterpiece.

Cons: This is a hardcore mecha storyline so critics of the genre will be disinclined to watch it (though this would be the one to change their mind if they did).

-Notes: Fully dubbed. Second season was a little bit weaker than the first but still a great watch.

9/10          (Choosing a side to root for has never been harder)

Infinite Stratos

Type: Anime & Manga
Status: Anime - Complete (12 episodes)     Manga - Ongoing

Premise: The IS exoskeleton is a piece of technology only usable by women. Developed by Japaneese scientist, due to its immense destructive power a treaty is signed to never use them in war. In this new era of peace insured by the theory of MAD (Mutuality Assured Destruction) it is now possible to train in the use of IS's for sports and other such activities; the academy is an institute located in Japan that accepts equal numbers of applicants from all around the world in order to insure balance. Now we follow Ichika Orimura, the first boy ever to display the ability to control an IS and what happens when a boy tries to attend an all girls school.

Thoughts: This anime is rather entertaining for the shear fact that its fun to watch Ichika scwerm. Imagine if you will a guy being chased by hoards of women all of whom have access to military hardware and are being trained to fight with it. A guilt pleasure,but a pleasure all the same.

Prose: Funny, with some action thrown in for good measure.

Cons: Not serious in the slightest, so don't watch it for the plot.

-Notes: Subbed only with a manga that is lagging behind the anime. Might be a good idea to let this one percolate for a while so as to build up a few more episodes before getting into it.

8/10          (Ahhhhh young love)