Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

Type: Movie

Status: 2 completed (1985 & 2000)

Premise: In a post apocalyptic world were humans and mythological creatures wander the wastes of civilization praying on one another, the life of a bounty hunter has never been so good. Among these rough and tumble groups of mercenaries, hunters, cut throtes and murderers one man stands above all other as the strongest among them; known simply as D he is a half vampire who will work for anyone... provided with appropriate compensation of course.

Thoughts: This is a rich setting that blends old west/classic horror/Lovecraftien horror/monster movies and fantasy settings together to create this dark and twisted view of the future that is not quite like anything I have ever seen before. 

Prose: Rich setting with great animation and voice acting. It is a great movie that is well paced and stresses the points that are impotent.

Cons: We are not told allot about the setting beyond what we can glean from the actions of the characters and what happens around them, this results in a discrepancy at times were you feel like you have missed a key plot nuance or the characters are rushing the plot. This may be due to a lack of experience on my part in this setting so take it as you will.

-Notes: Fully dubbed. There are 2 movies in the Vampire Hunter D franchise, one produced in 1985 was so poorly animated I was forced to abandon it and never completed more than half the movie. Bloodlust is the second movie produced in 2000 and benefited from the TREMENDOUS improvement to graphics.

7.5/10     (Talk to the hand. No really do it.)

Demon King Daimao

Type: Anime

Status: Complete (12 episodes)

Premise: Upon entrance into magic academy all students must perform an aptitude test to determine their future careers, this test just so happens to be magical by nature allowing it to accurately predict the job you will eventually receive. Akuto Sai is baffled when his future career is predicted to be the Demon King, the leader of darkness who attempted to destroy the world in a catastrophic war several years previous. Now Akuto must learn magic faster than his classmates in order to fight them off as they try to stop him from fulfilling his destiny. Along with him are a group of ridiculous girls all interested in him for different reasons and his pet dragon who belonged to the old Demon King.

Thoughts: This anime was rather hilarious, between the great characters and utterly ridiculous situations the main story worked slowly behind the scenes culminating in a huge 3 episode plot fest to wrap up the anime.

Prose: It was hilarious, plain and simple you will watch this show for the humor and vary little else. The interactions between main characters are hilarious to watch as distinct personalities clash together to disastrous (and funny) effect.

Cons: This series has the feeling of being a giant collection of filler episodes, but in the end it all comes together to make the final push to the finale. Allot of the plot development is so outlandish that you might initially discount it as filler but in the end it all comes back to make the final episodes one were the magic power is flying free and the plot which appears to have lagged up until this point is flying by faster than we can process it.

-Notes: Fully dubbed. There are scenes of animated nudity and ALLOT of sexual innuendo in this one; take that how you will.

7.5/10     (AAAAANNNNDD the naked girl is flying again...)

Vinland Saga

Type: Manga

Status: Ongoing

Premise: The vikings were a fearsome worrier people pillaging and conquering all who stood against them. Thornfin son of Thors has been seeking revenge against the man who killed his father since he was 6 years old, his skills are tremendous but he is not a true warrior without the heart that beats in every vikings chest. This is his story.

Thoughts: This story is interesting but lacked a compelling reason to continue reading it. Every time a new plot device is introduced seemingly screaming to be developed it is simply placed aside with only a passing glance. In shot this story lacks many of the story line aspects that make the Anime/Manga genre so compelling to most of us, we have a uni-dimensional main character and a linear plot without any interesting twists or turns.

Prose: Great action and a clean and uncomplicated plot that almost writes itself.

Cons: The entire series is one dimensional, it never really evolves from its first chapter and a canny reader will always be able to guess the next series of events making the plot bland and uninspiring.

-Notes: A lot of slavery and death in this one, we are dealing with vikings here so rapping and pillaging is the name of the game. Be mindful of the duality the writer uses when working with the idea of slavery, he demonstrates a remarkable skill here by showing us that not only the body can be a slave but also the mind and heart. I will no longer be following this manga due to lack of interest.

6.5/10          (THOOOOOOORRRRRRR!)

Blue Dragon Ral Grado

Type: Manga

Status: Complete (29 chapters)

Premise: Humanity is under attack from the realm of shadows. To survive in the world of light these two dimensional beings must inhabit living things from our world to use as vessels becoming one of three types of host; 1) a parasite who will use its masters shadow as a medium to manifest itself. 2) a mutagen who will confer some of the power of shadow onto its owner, corrupting them with evil intentions. 3) a cannibal who will devour the host body and soul. In all cases the evil shadows are solely interested in the slaughter of all humanity. Ral is a child who was inhabited by a shadow from the time of his birth and imprisoned within a sealed cage were no light could enter in order to seal the shadows power having only his tutor to talk with and a shadow whispering in his ear. After 15 years of captivity he is released  in the final stages of the war between the two realms, humanity is on the brink of annihilation and their sole hope is this child raised in the dark.

Thoughts: This is an amusing anime with an interesting set of rules regarding the shadows. The plot is both dark and twisted and completely hilarious at the same time mostly due to Ral and his "discovery" of the outside world. You will be able to enjoy this story from two different perspectives, the dark and vicious action packed horror that it slips into or the funny action adventure that it pulls of most of the time.

Prose: Action, comedy and world building is all top notch with good characters that you enjoy.

Cons: There are some rather bad characters as well, they just seam to lack the polish that the main group seams to have which detracts from the second half of the story line.

-Notes: Do not mistake this for the cartoon by the same name, this is a completely original work that appears only in the manga format. Nudity and suggestive scenes are common and even used as plot devices at times.... take that as you will.

7/10          (Not saving the world, just the part of it with the boobs.)

My-HiME

Type: Anime & Manga

Status: Complete (26 episodes)

Premise: 12 girls have been selected as inheritors of amazing powers to control a personal beast to fight for them, these "children" battle all who oppose their masters the HiME. Now 300 years after the last HiME was chosen this new generation must decide the fate of the world.

Thoughts: This anime has a good premise with excellent character interaction and well balanced action, romance and heartbreak. The thing is this show was hamstrung by the writers, it fails in several places throughout the plot were the logical thing is completely ignored and the entire series of events seems forced and contrived. We have a good outline here but it lacks a cohesive plot to string it all together.

Prose: Excellent characters; this story runs on human emotion and the writers managed to convey this exceptionable well, this is taken to scary highs at certain points with some VARY messed up characters near the end but sometimes its just plain fun to watch someone self destruct isn't it?

Cons: Contrived plot; plain and simple this anime makes a few to many leaps of logic during its plot developments along with the "god complex" of the HiME powers it becomes difficult to take this story seriously even though it was meant to be a serious drama.

-Notes: This one was difficult to find, it is on neither of the sites I usually use and required some searching in order to find. The anime is completely dubbed with good picture quality. There is a spin off series to this named My-Otome, it uses all of the same characters in a radically redesigned setting in a distant future. It is rather interesting to watch the old characters interact in a completely new environmental and it is worth a watch due to it being at least as good as My-Hime.

6.5/10          (Aww... A happy ending... HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN!)

Mother Keeper

Type: Manga

Status: Ongoing

Premise: After a worldwide Apocalypse humanity has encased themselves in an entirely self sufficient dome in order to ride out the disaster, but not everyone can live in this EDEN. Ricalna Forde is a resistance fighter trying to destroy the central CPU of Eden in order to cripple the city and force a compromise between those who live inside and those who don't, after a disastrous attack where he encountered a guardian of the CPU he was killed and the attack failed. 10 years later he wakes up not having aged a day, he has been enlisted as a Mother Keeper, a guardian of the CPU and now is forced to fight the same people he once fought alongside.

Thoughts: This manga has an interesting feel to it were our main character has absolutely no control over what happens to him, and the only way he can survive is to continue being useful while desperately looking for a way to escape. Along with a stark contrast of plot lines between inside of eden and outside (inside is political intrigue and shady dealings / outside is lawless and survival of the fittest) makes for an interesting reed.

Prose: Original plot (manga wise) that uses interesting character interactions as a way to propel the conflict without it becoming repetitive or forced. 

Cons: Atrocious translation really hurts the manga with words out of order/misspelled or even entirely missing and costs the entire story its fluidity, its hard to appreciate the characters when they sound like English as a second language students.

-Notes: It only has 23 chapters as I write this so enough to start reading and be introduced to the main plot devices but then you must settle in for the long haul as the new chapters are released.

7.5/10          (It's Brink! Who had the idea first I don't know...)

Beelzebub

Type: Anime & Manga

Status: Ongoing

Premise: Oga, king among delinquents and thugs gets himself in over his head after picking up an abandoned baby at the side of the river, who is afraid of a baby right? His child rearing skills as well as his fighting talents are put to the ultimate test once he is told that this is the lord of hell's sun Beelzebub, prince of hell and the one destined to destroy the world of man. Now he must fight off assassins, demons, hoodlums and rivals all without letting go of baby Beel.

Thoughts: I  found this one to be a good laugh that never took itself seriously, lots of fist fights and magic power enhanced melee's all geared to be over the top and hilarious.

Prose: Decent action, great sense of humor and a simple enough plot of steadily leveling enemies. This one is not overly complicated.

Cons: Complete lack of serious interaction and a predictable plot progression makes this one ill suited for serious readers interested only in plot.

-Notes: Subbed only. I read the manga for this one but the anime is coming along.

7/10     (Doomsday in diapers)