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?)

Strike Witches

Type: Anime

Status: Complete (12 episodes)

Premise: Hitler is dead; killed in one of the first attacks by the Neuroi. These mysterious aliens have come to earth and begun systematically annihilating the human race and the combined military might of the planet is pushed to the breaking point, this is the second world war. But all is not lost, scientists have perfected the magic engine which allowed people that poses magical ability to combat the Neuroi threat; these young girls from across the globe have formed the 501st Joint Fighter Wing an elite air command charged with the annihilation of the invading Neuroi. Together they are the first and best line of defense that humanity has to offer, they are The Strike Witches.

Thoughts: This was an odd one. Between the anthropomorphous teenage girls fighter planes and the rampant flashing of animated undergarments you end up thinking that the main plot is of secondary importance most of the time. I give this story great praise for its originality and interesting use of timeline but the plot leaves something to be desired.

Proes: Interesting ideas in this story, between the Neuroi, magic, fighter planes and many different themes you will enjoy the setting for its nostalgic yet original ideas.

Cons: The plot is..... unimportant. The writers wanted to show off their idea of anthropomorphous girls and the undergarments that followed, but had a hard time coordinating it with any meaningful plot development.

-Notes: Fully dubbed. Each of the main witches is actually representing one of their countries ace fighter pilots from WW2 along with their striker units design reflecting the fighter that they became legends in.

7.5/10          (And not one of the main characters wares pants....)

Corpse Princess

Type: Anime

Status: Complete ( 26 Episodes)

Premise: When a human dies filled with regret and strong obsession they may not remain dead. Shikabane are near immortal monster born from these negative emotions and are driven to murder an destroy to fill the void that these desires leave them with, but some Shikabane whose desires can be controlled fight against these monsters along with their bonded monks. These young women will fight for a chance at eternal peace one enemy at a time, they are Shikabane Hime.

Thoughts: This anime was compelling as it slowly developed its dark and twisted story-line, the characters loved and lost with equal measure as the plot twisted and turned. The action sequences are completely over the top and laugh in the face of physics but are a spectacle to behold. A dark drama dealing with obsession and desire. 

Pros: Deep character development really brings you into the twisted world of the Shikabane and tells a story that will have you in the palm of your hand from beginning to end.

Cons: This is a high violence, bloodshed and twisted piece of work so be prepared for a mature viewing experience.

-Notes: Fully dubbed.

8.5/10          (I can count the number of times she reloads on my fingers...)

Toradora!

Type: Anime

Status: Complete (25 episodes)

Premise: Jyuji Takasu is a brilliant student who is into cleaning, cooking and his studies; unfortunately he has the eyes of a murderer and strikes fear into the hearts of all who look at him. Taiga Aisaka is a tinny little girl with the disposition of a wild animal, she flies into rages at the slightest provocation and packs one hell of a punch despite her small size; she has become infamous around the school and has received the nick name "The Palm Top Tiger". Ryuji likes Taiga's best friend Minori and Taiga likes Ryuji's friend Kitamura but both are hopeless when it comes to the opposite sex being unable to even speak to their crushes, so enlisting each others help they devise a devilish scheme...

Thoughts: I normally don't go for these types of anime, but I absolutely loved this one. It was great, I loved the characters and the entire plot rolled seamlessly from one arc to another without any kind of forced plot development. One of the most natural anime I have ever watched.

Prose: Characters, plot, interactions among each other and the comedy are all perfect with absolutely no bad moments. The entire anime slowly shifts into a more serious drama the longer you watch and never feels jarring.

Cons: The entire anime is character driven with allot of talking about each others feelings, so not everyone will enjoy this one.

-Notes: Subbed only. There is only one fight scene in the anime and it was amazing, not super powers just old fashioned schoolyard brawl.

8.5/10          (Just let the bird die already.)

Sengoku Armours

Dance on the Vampire Bund

Type: Anime & Manga

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

Premise: Vampires are reel and they walk among us. Mina Tepes queen of the vampires reveals to the world the existence of vampires and by purchasing a small land development just off the shore of Japan for the cost of paying off the debt of the national government she will form the first colony of vampires as its own independent state within Japan. This "Bund" will welcome all vampires from around the world to live in freedom in accordance to their nature, but not all welcome this grand new vista of change. The story follows Mina Tepes and her body guard Akira as forces on both sides threaten to undo the grand dream that the Bund represents.

Thoughts: WARNING: VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED! This anime/manga may contain: Graphic depictions of violence/nudity/mature themes/pedofilia/blood/gore/racism/coarse language/gender confusion/bestiality. Trust me I warned you. 

Having said all that I will move on, after the initial shock of nude preteen vampire princess I was able to enjoy this anime (and the subsequent manga) for its interesting characters and classic monsters in an urban setting. This anime is a nice recreation of an already well laid out genre of the vampire story. It keeps enough elements of classic litrature to satisfy the old guard but tweekd certain elements to give it its own rout to follow. 

Prose: A truthful recreation of the classic vampire story. I enjoyed the monster movie feel along with the well established rules governing both the politics and powers of the series.

Cons: ...... This is the first time I have ever needed to put a WARNING label into my reviews..... take that as you will.

-Notes: Anime is completely dubbed and followed the manga faithfully until the final act at which point it starts to deviate away and the manga continue on after the anime finishes. You require a certain mind set to watch this anime, at a certain point you are able to filter out the nudity and violence and simply view it as plot and not something deviant.

8/10          (So it's not child pornography if its animated..... not even censored.)

Summer Wars

Type: Movie

Status:

Premise: After accidentally breaking the encryption code for OZ (an online mass networking program that has defectively taken over all functions of the internet) Kenji Koiso a prodigal math student and part time data processor inadvertently had his account hacked and used to take over the internet (yes the entire thing). Now Kenji must scramble to fix his mistake before the police arrest him or his "girl friends" parents figure it out and kill him for deceiving them.

Thoughts: I personally enjoyed this movie tremendously, it had many interwoven plots that all held significance to the overall story when held separately but came together to form a well rounded story arc. 

Prose: Well animated and voiced with an interesting interplay between 2 different art styles (real world/ internet). The visual style of OZ along with all of the avatars were exquisitely well done with some truly memorable characters.

Cons: This movie was shockingly similar in both plot and execution to the Digimon movie. Whether intentional or not the plot has so many similarities that you can actually match individual scenes almost point for point, I still enjoyed the movie (possibly even more than the Digimon one) but it is rather odd that copy write has not been enforced.

-Notes: Dubbed. A wonderful program that I highly recommend.

8.5/10          (Always clear your browsing history.)