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Those embarrassing moments are often the result of Yuu "accidentally" revealing her skin, which takes us back to the essence of Pastel: boobs. And panties, and towels, and sometimes nothing at all. Whether stripping down to a bikini, soaked in a wet tank top, or just coming out of the shower, Yuu's curves and doe-eyed looks are a textbook example of pin-up illustration, coming dangerously close to the boundaries of adult material. By comparison, Mugi and Kazuki look like 3-minute character designs doodled on a napkin out of necessity.

Apricot "Rico" Sakuraba and her friends are the bubbly, high-flying members of the Rune Angel Troupe, an intergalactic peacekeeping force. Defending space is all in a day's work, but so is keeping everyone on the team happy! Rico's looking for a good deal at a bargain sale, but she'll have to fight off the hardcore shoppers to get what she wants. Then space raider Anise wants to make a meal of "legendary hot pot," but she'll have to travel across the universe to collect the legendary ingredients. A visit from a galactic princess goes beyond interstellar diplomacy when she asks Rico to help her find the perfect cookie, and Troupe members Anise and Lily try to resolve their personality conflicts—with hilariously violent results.

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Unfortunately, if that romance ever develops, it'll probably be just as empty as their personalities. Mugi is, of course, the Average Loser Guy who somehow keeps getting into racy situations, and Yuu takes the role of the stunning beauty who could do so much better but keeps hanging around anyway. Whether this turns into a harem remains to be seen (Yuu's little sister only shows up briefly), and the characters' attitudes are thankfully not as annoying as those from other shounen romantic comedies. Indeed, this is a title that plays up romance over comedy—Mugi often lapses into saccharine reflections on how he's getting over his ex and falling for Yuu. When the two of them interact, it tends towards sweetness or shy embarrassment rather than being outrageously over-the-top.

After the packaging debacle that was the first Galaxy Angel Rune DVD (one episode and a 45-minute "bonus" concert recording), fans will be happy to know that the second volume reverts back to a more normal format. The four episodes on this disc feature more of the usual Angel antics, investing in all styles of comedy to see what sticks. Not surprisingly, the results are a hit-or-miss collection of attempted humor: some segments, like the over-the-top parodies in the hot pot episode, are close to brilliant; other parts like the bargain sale episode are a mind-numbing exercise in hyperactive behavior. Don't expect anything special or new in the visual department—heck, this one doesn't even have unlockable fanservice!—but get ready for another dose of silly space adventures.

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To understand Pastel, it's essential to look at the central theme of the series. And that theme is: boobs. From the first glossy color page, to Yuu's cheesecake poses, to Mugi's hormone-driven utterances, nothing is more important than the chest area of a woman's anatomy. Manga-ka Toshihiko Kobayashi occasionally explores other areas of the female form too, but ultimately, it's the concept of exposed cleavage that dominates. Oh, and there might be a storyline too. But who cares? Look! Boobs!

For those who like to get bad stuff out of the way first in order to enjoy the goodies later, you'll be happy to know that the worst episode on this disc is the first one. Rico's bargain-shopping adventure is screechy, inconsistent, and makes the mistake of trying to shoehorn a crime-fighting side plot into it. Sadly, idiotic behavior does not automatically equate to funny (not even with a Rocky parody), and nobody cares about space-police procedurals when everything else is geared towards comedy. On the other hand, the episode right after that is an example of how to get it right: Anise's quest for the perfect meal of hot pot takes something mundane and exaggerates it to epic levels. The Angel Troupe's path to dinnertime is loaded with fantastic spoofs, riffing on Indiana Jones, board-game competitions, school-punk brawls, old-time war films, and finishing with a classic shounen-tournament showdown against an Afro-clad villain.

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This manga adaptation of Voices of a Distant Star does not achieve the full dramatic power of the original anime, in part because it lacks the great musical score that was such an integral part of the production's appeal, and does tweak the ending in a way that may not be as satisfying despite the fact that it shows more. It is still a strong story with a good amount of emotional appeal, however, and should satisfy most fans of the anime.

Mugi Tadano, having just broken up with his girlfriend, is trying to pass away his troubles by working with best friend Kazuki at a summer resort. One day, Kazuki sets up Mugi on a date with a beautiful girl named Yuu. All is well for the two of them—until Mugi accidentally walks in on Yuu while she's showering in the public baths. By the time Mugi musters the courage to apologize to her, Yuu's already left the island, and he figures he'll never see her again. Imagine his surprise, then, when he comes home and finds her taking a shower in his bathroom. At the request of a family friend, beautiful Yuu and her equally cute sister are moving into the Tadano house!

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Tokyopop's translation does a good job of retaining the feel of Shinkai's original writing and invariably translates the crucial on-cell-screen text. Most sound effects are left untranslated, except for a couple of key places where contextual clues aren't sufficient for figuring out an important sound effect. The opening few pages are done in color, albeit color that looks like it was done with colored pencils. At the end is a one-page Afterward and three-panel strip by Ms. Sahara.

Whether Pastel even has a storyline will depend on your definition of a line. Mugi's exploits seem more like random coincidences than a logical narrative: the girl from the beach just happens to move into his house; a rainstorm just happens to soak his room so that they have to sleep together; his dad, conveniently enough, is at work all the time. While these setups lend themselves to delightfully embarrassing, fanservice-laden situations, Kobayashi strings them together ineptly, leading to a first volume that doesn't go anywhere, only hinting at future romance between Mugi and Yuu.

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But the horror of ordinary life, like the horror of war and abuse and madness, is not the worst horror in Panorama of Hell. I mentioned earlier that in Buddhism, hell and heaven, life and death are all part of a cycle. This is a comforting thought, and one which gives an odd note of optimism to several of Hino's manga. Zoroku's Strange Disease (in the collection Lullabies from Hell), Living Corpse and the untranslated Kaiki! Shinin Shojo are all variations on the same theme: a person decays while they're still alive (or at least undead), their mind trapped in filthy oozing flesh. But at the end of these stories, there is a strange happy ending: when the protagonists finally rot to pieces, their souls rejoin the natural world.

15-year-old Mikako and Noboru attended middle school together and worked towards attending high school together, too. Though they claimed only to be “friends,” their connection was stronger than that. Mikako was drafted to take part in an expedition to track down and investigate aliens who had left their presence on Mars, however, leaving Noboru behind on Earth. Though they try to maintain contact with each other through super-long-range text messaging, the time lag caused by the increasing astronomical distances between them results in messages that take first days, then months, then finally years to pass between them. Can a relationship survive under such circumstances? And how long is Noboru willing to wait before moving on?

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When the narrator talks to us, it feels like his soft voice is whispering in our ear. And in those rare moments when the narrator seems to feel some kindly human emotion, like the moment when he cries at the sadness of his brother's fate, it's a howl from the soul. One recurring theme inthe manga (as in many horror manga and anime) is that people's bodies change to match their mental state. Human flesh is a plaything of the soul; when someone becomes angry enough, or crazy enough, or sick enough, their form changes and mutates. In one way or another, this happens to several people in Hino's story.

One of the few post-2000 anime titles that can justifiably be called a classic, the OVA Voices of a Distant Star stands as one of anime's best and most-beloved romances. Its captivating blending of quality mecha action and melancholy longing has won over innumerable otaku, so it's only natural that it would eventually be adapted into manga form. Thanks to Tokyopop's production of an extra-length (240-page) volume, American fans can now read the manga the same way the anime was originally presented: all in one shot.

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Panorama of Hell is a fusion of every kind of suffering: personal, political, family. The political elements don't feel tacked on, they feel like a natural part of the story. Almost the only area Hino doesn't directly attack is romantic love, although when we watch the painter's father drag his half-naked wife across the floor by her hair and beat her as the children watch, or when we notice that the painter's wife looks exactly like the painter's mother, we can see the patterns forming there too. And although you don't have to know the story of Hino's life to enjoy the manga, it has a personal rawness, almost like an autobiographical comic.


Although Voices was the exclusive creation of Makoto Shinkai, manga-ka Mizu Sahara has been entrusted with penning this adaptation. Her plotting follows that of the OVA very closely, albeit with less emphasis on the battle scenes (the final one is almost entirely skipped) and even more emphasis on the characters. Her writing also fleshes out the story quite a bit more, adding several side characters and a few additional scenes into what was originally a bare-bones two-person character study. Here we actually get to meet the girl Noboru associates with when he gives up on waiting for Mikako's messages (she appeared in one very brief shot of the anime and only at a distance), while a couple of friends Mikako makes aboard the Lysithea are also introduced to us. Also included are additional message exchanges between Noboru and Mikako.

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You mustn't let it live! No one would blame you if you kill it now!" His parents cannot bring themselves to kill the child, although they never love him either. And as the hell painter grows up, we see that he is not merely obsessed with ordinary death and suffering: he is obsessed with the atomic bomb. Perhaps one day he will be reunited with his true father. Perhaps soon.


The extra scenes were written with an eye to maintaining the tone and spirit of original story, and do such an exceptional job at this that someone who's seen the anime and didn't know differently wouldn't recognize this as the work of a different writer. This fleshing-out does help clarify some things, such as Noboru's sense of aimlessness at being left behind, the purpose of the Tarsian expedition, and the fact that Mikako probably knew for a long time in advance that she was going on the mission. In fact, the writing's only significant flaw is that it muddles some issues of physics concerning high-speed long-distance travel and time dilation, which could easily be ignored if it wasn't actually a plot point.

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In the manga, the light flash from the nuclear blast travels all the way to Manchuria and strikes the painter's mother, and in that instant, the hell painter is conceived in his mother's womb. Evil omens surround his birth: he is born laughing, with bloodstained hands, and on the long road home from Manchuria, where the Japanese are dying like flies from starvation, the baby crawls over to a corpse and licks its blood. The old midwife is horrified. "All I see is a vast, terrifying hell in this child's future!


Whether or not the additional scenes and characters are actually necessary or desirable is another story. Part of the appeal of Voices was how tight, uncomplicated, and beautifully-paced the story was in telling a grand tale of long-distance love in only 25 minutes of time. The manga loses little of the emotion of the original, however, so it's doubtful that fans of Voices will mind. What may be more of an issue are some changes towards the end. Mikako's time on Agharta plays out a bit differently, and the ending extends beyond where the anime does. Those who really wanted to know What Happens Next may be satisfied, and it's not a bad ending evaluated independently, but it pales in comparison to the lump-in-your-throat power of the original ending.

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While this lack of hard-hitting action in the early episodes may strike some viewers as slow-paced, the idea of an anime taking time to develop its central characters before sending them off to battle is a refreshing one. There's actually a lot going on in each episode with Kyouta, his friends, and his girlfriend--it's just that none of it involves explosions and fighting.

Our protagonist the hell painter, it turns out, is the result of several generations of abuse. His grandfather, father and younger brother are all violent, abusive alcoholics; they are each introduced in the same shot of a hulking man crouched over a bottle of saké, distinguished only by their tattoos. His grandfather, a roving yakuza gambler with a snake tattoo, died a violent death. His father, a pig farmer with a bat tattoo, worked in a slaughterhouse, drank himself into a stupor every night. Like his father before him, he beats his son and wife mercilessly.

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Aquarian Age - Sign for Evolution is one of those rarities that's low in fandom, yet high in quality. Those who come to this series looking for white-hot apocalyptic battles from the outset will be disappointed, but those who want good storytelling and a likeable, well-developed core of characters will find it right here. It's pleasant to the ears and eyes, and the understated slice-of-life approach to the ultimate battle for Earth is a welcome surprise. Let's hope that this unique sensibility doesn't get overshadowed by the complex fantasy universe that will be central to the rest of the series.

Blast Books' savage English rewrite makes this abuse sound brutally realistic. ("Bitch, how many fucking times do I have to tell you to stay in the house?") His mother, when she was a young woman, returned the favor by torturing her son. His younger brother, the only person who showed some compassion for the protagonist, escaped his wretched home life by becoming a delinquent, and wound up a "fight freak," provoking bloody fistfights in the streets.

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Having a quality story and quality visuals, it should come as no surprise that the music for Aquarian Age was provided by Yuki Kajiura. When the warring factions get busy, you'll hear the urgent tribal-drums-and-choir sound that is Kajiura's trademark, and on the other end of the scale, those sweet Kyouta and Yoriko moments are punctuated by sensitive piano solos. In a clever touch, the ending song is also the signature song of Kyouta's band, a melodic power-pop number that complements the more peaceful opening ballad.

Here is the thing: some of this is real. Hino used the "crazy artist who paints with his own blood" thing in several other manga (Lullabies from Hell, The Collection, etc.)—in Lullabies from Hell the narrator actually straight-up says "I am Hideshi Hino"—but Panorama of Hell goes a little farther into personal territory. In a long interview in the print edition of the magazine The Comics Journal a few years back, Hino talked about the origin of Panorama of Hell. It was written when Hino was in a deep depression, and it is loosely based on Hino's own life. Hino's own grandfather had tattoos and mob ties. And Hino, like the hell painter, was born in the shadow of one of Japanese history's most horrible events.

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From an audio standpoint, this is one of the few anime dubs that can stand toe-to-toe with the voices on the original track. Chris Patton's performance as Kyouta creates quite a different character from the Japanese original, yet it's just as effective and adds appeal to the role. (The original Kyouta is somewhat monotone and sullen.) The English-language cast, as a whole, comes up with a more varied palette of voices than the Japanese cast, and while some of them are hit-and-miss, the choices made in the dub make this a very respectable voice acting job.

The hell painter's father, like Hino's father, emigrated overseas when he was young, in a vain attempt to live a better life than his father did. He moved to Manchuria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchukuo), which at the time was occupied by Japan. There, in a puppet state supported by the Japanese military, nearly a million Japanese settlers lived alongside a Chinese underclass. When the end of World War II put an end to Japan's colonial ambitions, the tables were turned, and the Japanese settlers in Manchuria and Korea were forced to flee to the mainland, an event depicted in a somewhat bowdlerized way in the 1993 anime Rail of the Star.

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A carefully crafted storyline demands carefully crafted visuals, and Studio Madhouse is up to the job. You'll never mistake the characters of Aquarian Age for one another (although figuring out who belongs to what faction is still going to take time, despite their flamboyant costumes). The colors are vivid yet realistic, and even incidental objects like cell phones are rendered faithfully. The main faults of the visuals are the occasional CGI that hampers the excellent 2-D work, and a tendency to avoid large, complex motions. When it happens, they do their best to make it convincing, but because Madhouse's animation style tends towards the detailed and realistic, there's an awful lot of reliance on pans and mouth-flapping conversations.

The shame of Japan's World War II atrocities, the pain of Japan's defeat, the "lost empire" of Manchukuo, all is part of the tragedy of the painter. The painter's father is drafted and forced to kill complete strangers at war, then goes home and abuses his wife and child. But the portrait of hell is still not complete.

"On August 6, 1945, a gigantic emperor from hell appeared in the sky over Hiroshima…with a flash and a tremendous roar, it sucked up the blood of hundreds of thousands." Born on April 19, 1946, a little more than eight months after the event, Hideshi Hino was too young to remember the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, but the roar of the bomb echoes through his childhood.

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While I was not quite enamored with the vocal opening and ending theme songs (the series is old, so you can't blame them), the instrumentals in the series are enjoyable. I especially like the sweet, heart-wrenching ensemble played near the end of the first episode. As is usual with all the Gundam series, the music in the series is comprised of lyrical ensembles, and sweeping battle music. Though I didn't feel the urge to rush out and buy the soundtrack, the music accompanied the scenes perfectly, and increased the emotional responses brought on by the actions.


Unlike some of Hino's works, Panorama of Hell is not for children. The title and subject matter summons up a classical theme: Japanese Buddhist Jigoku zoshi ("Hell scrolls") which depict the underworld. With their graphic depictions of sinners being tortured, Jigoku zoshi are a bit like the famous hell paintings of Heironymus Bosch and other Medieval painters, although a religious scholar might point out that in Christianity hell is permanent while in Buddhism hell is just a place you pass through temporarily when you've been too evil in your past life to just be reincarnated as a slug.

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Overall, this DVD is a great one to own, especially for mecha and Gundam fans. Continuing the legacy of the series that started it all, Mobile Suit Gundam is packed with energy and excitement, coupled with emotional interludes that make the DVD one that repeat watching couldn't mar. Even for dub-haters, the content of the series should make it reason enough to overcome all the prejudices necessary to check out this DVD. After all, despite how much dub-bashers preach the necessity of having "pure" anime, no one could ever be complete without watching Mobile Suit Gundam, one of the biggest foundations of anime history.


(Unless you believe Hell Girl.) But in Hino's universe, Hell is much more than a mere bad roll on the roulette wheel of karma. After all, one of the tenets of Buddhism is that existence is suffering; the difference between hell and your ordinary life is just a question of degree. In Panorama of Hell, the narrator's whole life is suffering. Life is hell.


The manga is told in the first person by the narrator, a painter who sits in a studio with boarded-up windows and paints hellish paintings by candlelight. We immediately realize that this is not going to be a conventional horror story about 'normal' people in 'abnormal' situations. The painter talks directly to us, the reader, welcoming us to his world. He takes off his clothes to reveal a body covered with scars from cutting himself and gathering blood to use in his paintings. He has even started drinking hydrochloric acid to vomit up blood clots for more paint. "Oh beautiful, glistening blood…" He needs paint for his masterpiece, his life's work, of which we only see a glimpse at first. "I call it 'The Panorama of Hell.' It depicts the end."

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Outside the painter's house is a nightmare landscape of smoke and trash. It's the kind of dark industrial world of factories and smokestacks that we see in the manga of Imiri Sakabashira and Yoshihiro Tatsumi, in the comics of John Bergin and the movies of David Lynch: the gray, dismal world of the modern era. But it's not a deserted wasteland; the neighborhood is busy. A guillotine next to the painter's house is running full steam, chopping deformed heads day and night. Afterwards, the heaps of bodies are cremated, and our hero conspires with the crematorium workers to sneak up to the furnace and get a look at the bodies as they burn. ("It's so exciting! The smell of burning flesh…blistered red skin! Dripping fat! Crumbling bones!")


This is not to say that the plotline of the first five episodes is confusing. If anything, it's a carefully crafted story arc. The problem is that there's an entire Aquarian Age universe behind it, consisting of five warring factions: the Arayashiki (users of Eastern magic), Wiz-Dom (users of Western magic), Darklore (ancient mythical creatures), E.G.O. (modern-day psychics), and Eraser (space aliens). While this has the makings of some second-rate fantasy sci-fi amalgam, it all takes a back seat to Kyouta himself. That's why the story itself is easy to follow--it's basically about a guy in a rock band, and his girlfriend--yet the background seems far more complex than it needs to be.

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Then we meet the painter's family. His son, Krazy Boy, likes to torture animals. His daughter, Krazy Girl, is an artist like our hero, with similar subject matter. Around the house wanders the hero's senile old mother, who—this is an important detail for the conclusion—can no longer recognize her own children, and instead lavishes her affection on an old rotten pig's head. The hero's wife, a beautiful woman, works at a pub in the town. At night, the headless corpses from the guillotine, those that escaped the crematorium, rise from their grave as zombies and eat in the pub. Since they have no heads to eat with, the hero's wife carves holes in their throats with her knife, and they stuff food down their rotting stumps, including pieces of themselves.

But for all his growing fame, Kyouta's world is unraveling. The visions get stronger and stronger, with some of the strangely dressed girls even addressing him directly. Then Yoriko starts acting like she's never going to see him again. She works at a shrine, but could it be that their mysticism reaches far deeper than just traditional customs? And what about that vision Kyouta had of the Cosmopop agent being some kind of alien? Kyouta may not realize it yet, but he's about to become the central point of an arcane celestial battle: the dawn of the Aquarian Age.

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There's a certain Addams Family vibe to all this, but Panorama of Hell isn't just a horror comedy. After the initial splatter, and some beautifully surreal imagery—red fruits sprouting from the blood splattered on the railway tracks by the execution yard—the painter begins to tell us the story of his life. In the process, the manga slowly becomes more realistic, and before we know it, we're not in the over-the-top nightmare world of the beginning: we're dangerously close to the real world.

Kyouta is a typical high school guy: he's got his girlfriend, Yoriko, and he's the lead vocalist in a rock band with his pals Shingu and Junichi. On a New Year's Eve in the near future, Kyouta's band is playing a gig outdoors when he sees a fleeting vision of strangely dressed girls fighting in the sky--and they seem to be fighting over him! He ignores it, though, and when the concert is over, a representative from the Cosmopop record company wants to sign his band to their label. It seems too good to be true, but
soon enough, he's sharing studio and stage with Japan's hottest idols.

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Even the translators are creepy: well, maybe not Yoko Umezawa, who I don't know anything about, but certainly co-translator Screaming Mad George (Johji), a Japanese special effects artist who worked on a lot of horror movies. It's been out of print for years, and if you find it, grab it, but be careful. Like the Necronomicon, it's the kind of book where you can almost imagine if you read it, they might find you dead the next day…glazed eyes staring, face covered in blood, your cold corpse lying on the floor of the manga section of Barnes & Noble for the employees to find when they open for the day.


If anyone ever wondered why the Gundam franchise was so popular, one quick view of the original series that started it all would give them the answers they were looking for. Mobile Suit Gundam, now being released by Bandai (in English-dubbed-only format), gives fans a chance to experience the phenomenon that swept Japan, and eventually the world. In the third DVD volume, the Principality of Zeon is bent on revenge for Admiral Garma's death, and their target is the White Base and the Federation Mobile Suit piloted by Amuro. Meanwhile, back on Zeon, the royal family is planning Garma's funeral, using it as war propaganda against the Federation. Even as the war rages on with them in the middle, the White Base manages to return to Earth where Amuro decides to go visit his mother.

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It's a strange little book, originally published in 1983 in Japan under the name Jigokuhen. It was translated in 1993 by Blast Books, a publisher that specializes in underground fiction and creepy art books: their other publications include titles like Suehiro Maruo's Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's Venus in Furs (from which the word "masochism" comes) and Dissection: Photographs of a Rite of Passage in American Medicine 1880-1930.


Containing four episodes on the disc, the third volume of Mobile Suit Gundam is an action-filled continuation of the series. Especially nice is the character development contained within these episodes. Previously, Amuro was seen as a stoic figure with hardly any emotions aside from self-assurance and protective love for his comrades. On this DVD, however, Amuro's character is taken for a spin, as he combats the effects of battle fatigue, and the dawning notion that others would want to kill him for the sake of vengeance against the Zeon soldiers he killed.

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One last thing: If you should happen to doubt the popularity of Fullmetal Alchemist, then check this out. Recently Square Enix announced they'd received a much higher than expected profit for the last fiscal year (3/2003 to 3/2004) and attributed this to three things: The popularity of Dragon Quest V in Japan, the popularity of Final Fantasy X-2 in the US and Europe, and the popularity of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga in Japan. So yes, it's that big.


Even as he is progressing into a more dynamic figure, he is also confronted with the emotions he feels in regards to his family and his past. Throughout the disc, in fact, many facets are revealed about the crewmembers, which makes this a particularly intriguing group of episodes to watch. Many of the White Base members are expanded on, which make them more endearing to the viewers, with the exception of the little children on board, whose frequent appearances and screeching voices make them evermore annoying brats.

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Anyone who's familiar with the quality of music that Square Enix includes in their games should know what to expect from Fullmetal Alchemist. Much of the background music is fully orchestrated, often relying on the use of woodwinds and percussions that are pleasing to the ear and in no way distract from any talking taking place.


Included with the episodes is a Mobile Suit Encyclopedia standard on most Gundam DVDs. It gives insight into a few of the fighters seen on the disc, which is enjoyable for mecha enthusiasts. Also included is a large sticker of the Federation Mobile Suit, which is a nice touch, as I had countless moments of fun admiring the shiny gloss coating. The only quibble to be had about the DVD itself was the dub-only format, which was due to a licensing dispute. For dub-haters like me, it meant that I had to choose between watching this classic Gundam series in English or shying away from the dub. I opted for the former choice, and it was worth it.

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Equally as impressive is the music. So far we've had opening and ending themes by such popular artists as Porno Graffitti, L'Arc en Ciel, YeLLOW Generation, and Crystal Kay to name a few. As of this writing there are still two more top names being added to the soundtrack, bringing the total to eight for this series' fifty-episode run. Thanks not only to the variety of artists, but also the different styles that each one brings to the table, the music is never boring and worth taking the couple of minutes to listen to every time.

Unfortunately, that meant that I had to deal with the problems associated with the majority of dubs: bad acting. Some of the actors did a good job, but many instances were nothing but long, drawn-out scenes of sheer monotony and yawn-inducing acting. Another negative downside is the fact that subtitles or close captioning cannot be turned on, which means that for the hearing impaired, maybe they should leave this title off their list.

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Panasonic VIERA TC-P55GT30 55-Inch 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV

The animation is squeaky clean. The colors are bright and vivid; even dull hues appear to glow. The animation is always flooded with colors--but never to the point that it becomes too busy or painful to watch. In some sequences they even use real photos of historical events like World War II. In other cases they use computer generated rooms and perfectly animate the characters within them, leaving a pleasant, uniform look to the animation.

Naturally, no matter how soothing such a world may be, it would be dead boring if pink were its only color and frothy fun its only tone. And so threads of other darker, more compelling colors are woven throughout. Ryuki initially has a guileless charm that belies his authority and reputation, but he has unknown depths that give him a sharp edge and make one wonder just how much of that guilelessness is genuine. Shurei may be a gentle romantic naïf, but she's a sharp customer otherwise, driven by a genuine passion springing from a vulnerability that offsets her vitality. And for how well everyone in the government seems to get along (Government officials who like and respect each other? No way.) not all is flower petals and sweet buns in the imperial palace, as at least one continuing and potentially deadly plot is afoot in the king's residence.

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Samsung LN32C450 32-Inch 720p 60 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)

We also witness some of anime's best character designs. You'll never confuse characters in Fullmetal Alchemist, as each character has a distinct appearance. Some very calculated care was taken to make sure that no two characters looked even remotely alike. It's especially important because most characters are part of the military and, thus, will be seen mainly in their uniforms. The one exception is Ed, who almost always wears variations on his familiar black suit and red coat.

Yet another victim of the art robbing from the animation, Saiunkoku's beautiful men, calibrated color schemes, and pleasing settings all come at the expense of clumsy body movements, diminished activity overall, lots of staid or static compositions, and emoting that is done almost solely with shimmery shoujo eyes. It hardly affects the series' entertainment factor though; the charms of Saiunkoku are hardly tied up in its animation.

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Axion AXN-8701 7-Inch Widescreen Handheld LCD TV with Built-In Tuner, Black


Fullmetal Alchemist has full of some of the most interesting and well-rounded characters you'll see in an anime. Thanks to the connections between past and present in the story, we learn much about the characters in a short length of time. We also get ample opportunity to watch the characters develop. In some cases it's as simple as a State Alchemist rising in military rank, but other times it's more personal, like a birthday. The characters mature, and as they reflect on their past lives, we often see changes in morals or ambitions.

More attentive viewers will recognize composer Kunihiko Ryo as the fellow responsible for the superb soundtrack in The Twelve Kingdoms. His work here bears some resemblance, especially in the use of older and more traditionally Chinese-sounding instruments. Where it differs is the same place where The Twelve Kingdoms and Saiunkoku differ, replacing the epic power and almost unbearable melancholy of the former with a lighter, happier touch in the latter. Both the opening and closing are slower, quieter tunes than is the norm. Pleasant without being the kind of thing that sells soundtracks.

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VIZIO M220VA 22-inch Full HD 1080p 720p LED LCD HDTV


Much of the earlier story is told as the real story of FA progresses. The current story actually takes place about 5 years after the events that set the brothers on their path. Learning about events that have taken place in the past helps promote interest in what is a long, complex story full of well rounded characters. Everyone has a past to explore. The past is just as important as the present, and viewers will want to understand both series of events well. It goes beyond the Elric brothers' search for answers as all chains of events become intertwined at one point or another.

Geneon's dub is exactly the kind of thing that dub detractors dislike and dub fans find thoroughly tolerable. There isn't any doubt that it's a slight step down from the original. The acting is a little flat, and it lacks the natural ease of a good dub. It is, however, fairly competent; the casting choices are good, the acting at least consistent, and the cringe-factor is pretty much nil. And you have to give them a little slack for going up against a Japanese cast that reads like a who's who of popular male voice talent. The script adaptation makes so few changes that its almost more of a direct translation than an adaptation, news that will be welcome to some and a disappointment to others. Kind of like everything in life.

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Philips PET741B/37 Portable DVD Player with 7-Inch LCD, Black


While recovering, the pair is offered a chance to be students at a special academy that will give them a shot at becoming State Alchemists (“government-issued” alchemists). Ed and Al see this as an opportunity not only to better their understanding of alchemy, but also to further research human transmutation, hopefully to regain their former bodies. To do this they find they'll need an item that will amplify their abilities, the Philosopher's Stone. It's with this that their biggest adventure begins.

Don't let the pink fixation or resolutely sunny outlook fool you, Saiunkoku is neither stupid nor vacuous. True, in retrospect there is much that is unrealistic (starting with Shurei's becoming the royal consort). But each episode contains continuous plot elements, and the clues dropped as to the bigger picture are relatively subtle yet clear in their intent. Its relationships, for all their innocence, are complex and quietly affecting; and it has one of the most convincingly constructed 100% nice girls since Fruits Basket. Not bad for a pink show.

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Well, for most people, the point is that this film is something to watch while stoned, created by artists who were also stoned. This conclusion is a little unfair; these days we have a tendency to attribute anything even slightly surreal or abstract to the abuse of narcotics, which undermines the entire concept of creativity. Tamala 2010, while certainly as tangential and nonsensical as your favorite addict's acid trip stories, seems to be the concentrated effort of a group of artists to create something more than just entertainment.

As with Bandai's recent release of the first movie under its Honneamise label, its production of Patlabor 2 has replaced the original Manga Entertainment dub with a completely new cast and script. The updated script is much more faithful than that of the original Manga Entertainment dub, while the English cast returns from Bandai's dub for the first movie. The English VAs have clearly settled into their roles better since the first movie, creating a dub that, this time, is about on par with the original Japanese. Performances in key roles are also about even with the ME dub, while a distinct improvement can be heard in minor supporting roles.

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Whether or not they were successful is another matter entirely; if this really was an attempt at sparking a worldwide phenomenon, then why did they produce a cultish, R-rated animated movie with which to promote their concept? Only t.o.L really knows what the purpose of this film was, and we, as viewers, are asked simply to consume and draw our own conclusions.


Improvements in audio and recording technology over the years have also eliminated the sometimes-shrill sound of the voices in the original English dub. The new version does suffer a bit from a lack of expressiveness, but that's a fault of the original writing, as the Japanese dub has the same issue. (According to some of the Extras, though, this was partly intentional.)

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Artistically, the film is unique. The characters are animated in a sort of Flash-like fashion, with smooth and simple movements. Vehicles and some backdrops are animated in 3-D; the result is a piece of pop art unlike anything else. The film is mostly in black and white, using color very sparingly. It's hard to tell if the visual style of this film is intended to put across any sort of message; you just never know with films like this one. The soundtrack is a surprisingly pleasant trance mix, perfectly suited for the visuals. As an art piece, Tamala 2010 does not disappoint.

Casual Patlabor fans can probably content themselves with the regular version of the movie, which includes trailers and TV commercials for the movie as its extras. It also retains the original Japanese closer, with the English credits only found in the DVD Credits menu. The true collector or Patlabor fanboy/girl who's willing to shell out triple the normal price can instead get the fully-loaded Limited Collector's Edition, which includes artwork and extras never before available for American release.

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Basically, if you're a film student, or an art student, you owe it to yourself to see this film at least once. It's one of those cult events that any serious underground culture junkie will have seen. The artist group that created it seems strangely cultish, and it's a wonder there isn't more information out there regarding them and their project. Whatever conclusion you come to, Tamala 2010 is a unique experience, totally different from anything else available on the market today (aside from, you know, Cat Soup and Yellow Submarine).

Patlabor 2 was originally intended to be the final chapter in the Patlabor franchise, an intention later proved false by the creation of a third movie and a later parody spin-off called “Mini Pato.”
Its franchise has always distinguished itself from other mecha titles by the real-world feel it gives to its content and its concentration on adults rather than teenagers, and in this the second movie certainly holds true to its origins. If you're looking for typical action-oriented mecha fare than this is the wrong place to be, but if you're looking for something wholly dramatic, insightful, and mature then you've come to the right place.

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Background music is used sparingly throughout the movie, but when it is present it favors heavy, pulsing techno beats backed by airy, haunting vocals for the intense scenes and soaring synthesized scores in other places. Though orchestrated, the opening and closing themes have much the same sound. The 5.1 audio tracks, which are present for both the English and Japanese dubs, beautifully bring out the crisp sound effects.

After the bridge bombing fiasco has settled, it's business as usual for the Social Welfare Agency, and the Rico-Jean fratello are off to Venice to take down a Mafioso and clean out a den of terrorists. After the dust settles, Guise arranges for a vacation to his family's old sea cottage, inviting Henrietta, Jean, and Rico to come along. The girls find respite in the exquisite grandeur of Sicily, but Jean only finds himself haunted by visions of the past. Meanwhile, Triela stays at the dorms and reminisces with Claes about what they've all gone through.

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Yen Press otherwise does an efficient and effective job, producing a translation devoid of the incongruous choices of idioms and slang phrases which too often populate these Japanese imports. It is also free of typos, another problem which commonly plagues translations. Extras are limited to the aforementioned Afterword and the standard color pictures at the beginning.


Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space follows the hyperactive, non-sequitur adventures of Tamala, a little kitty with a spaceship. On her way to Orion, her ship is diverted to Planet Q, a place where dogs rule. Chased by a degenerate cop while evading society with the help of love interest Michelangelo, Tamala uncovers not only the secrets behind ‘Catty & Company’, the huge megaconglomerate that rules the Feline Galaxy, but also her own identity. That, and a whole lot of really weird stuff happens.

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At 230 pages Spice and Wolf is not a heavy read, and its $10.99 price point puts it higher than most other fantasy novels of comparable length. The size of this paperback release and its color artwork balance that out a bit, though, and it is a good foundation novel for a series which skews a bit older than normal lite novel fare. It offers only a little more insight for those who have seen the TV series, while those who read the novel first will doubtless find themselves wanting to see it in animation.

The product of an artist group called Trees of Life (“t.o.L”), Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space is as strange a thing as you'll ever see. Doubtlessly produced under the influence of past animated ‘head trips’ like The Beatles' classic film Yellow Submarine, Tamala 2010 is, without a doubt, something that will only appeal to a very specific audience: art students and college kids strung out on illegal substances.

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Whereas the TV and OVA series centered on Noa, and Asuma was the star of the first movie, both are only supporting players this time around despite having several minutes of early scenes. Gotoh is the real star here, although the story actually centers more on Nagumo. Most of the classic supporting cast members make at least brief appearances, down even to the lowliest peon technician, with Kanuka Clancy being the only notable absentee. Because of that, the last third of the movie has the classic “bringing the old gang back together one last time” feel to it.


Tamala 2010 follows something of a storyline. Basically, we follow Tamala, a sort of Hello Kitty-alike who swears like a sailor and flies around in her retro spaceship. Engine trouble pops up, and she's mistakenly rerouted to Planet Q, a place inhabited almost enitely by dogs. There's a mild terrorism problem; dogs attack cats at random. Meeting up with a cat named Michelangelo, Tamala evades a perverted canine policeman and uncovers a whole load of mysteries and secrets surrounding Catty & Company, the gigantic corporation that controls nearly everything in the Feline Galaxy.

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The character designs, once again done primarily by Akemi Takeda, noticeably age many of the characters (especially Noa, who looks more masculine than ever), but given the three-year time lapse this isn't unusual or unexpected. Most favor realistic looks, with only Arakawa's wide-mouth, big-nosed, and appropriately reptilian visage qualifying as a caricature. The Labor designs, spider-like tank, and mobile gun platforms are all ordinary designs by mecha standards but are still drawn well.


That description, of course, makes the film sound fairly straightforward and simple, which is, unfortunately, not the case. The movie goes off on a series of hallucinogenic tangents that have almost nothing to do with the main storyline and will confuse anyone who isn't paying strict attention. The irony is that the film seems to have been designed to make the viewer tune out, so paying strict attention might be missing the point.

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In fact, nearly all of the cel artistry is drawn and integrated well with effectively-rendered backgrounds, and even the small amounts of CG used were designed to integrate seamlessly with the cel art. There's nothing bright or cheery about the color scheme, but this isn't a bright or cheery series to begin with, and the animation is very good when present. Visually and technically speaking, it's one of the better anime titles of the early '90s, and its heavy production emphasis on layouts vs. storyboards not only shows in its scene selections but had a distinct influence on the anime industry in the years that followed its release. Among those working on the layouts was prominent future director Satoshi Kon.

Deciphering Tamala 2010's message is fairly difficult. A single viewing of the film won't reveal much of anything, except a warped sort of anti-capitalist message that doesn't really assert itself due to the totally detached and apathetic main character. Catty & Company winds up being connected to a bizarre religious cult and supposedly has the ability to make and remake the universe in its own image; this all connects to Tamala, who doesn't seem to really care about anything that's happening around her. A visit to the t.o.L website reveals that the purpose of Tamala is to create a worldwide merchandising franchise, something that will basically do what Sanrio's wretched saccharine creations have already done. Great. So what's the point?

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It also speaks strongly to the nature of the peace Japan had experienced for decades since World War 2 and the effect Japan's insulation from warfare has had on the public mindset. Some of the problems which arise in the movie were later seen as foreshadowing of problems Japan faced in the mid-90s. Thus, moreso than most anime titles, Patlabor 2's content can be seen as indicative of the time of its creation.

Yes, the events in the story provide the framework, but the relationship which gradually forms here between the mercurial Holo and the more steadfast Lawrence is the novel's greatest strength. The byplay between them is clever and dynamic, constantly adjusting to circumstances and never losing its edge as Lawrence struggles to keep up with Holo in a playful battle of wits. Because of that, we get to follow along as Lawrence gradually realizes that Holo is far from the burden she initially seems to be; she does, in fact, become very important to him because she fills the big hole in his lonely life as a peddler: his lack of companionship.

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It's also important to note that Patlabor 2 was, for its time, a rare case of an anime tackling modern-day social issues in Japan. It very squarely looks at early-'90s Japanese discomfort with, and disdain for, the status of their Self-Defense Forces; the conflicts that arise between the SDF and police in the movie are partly an extrapolation of real-life tensions.


Although the story is told entirely from Lawrence's point of view, Holo's words and deeds also make it clear that the ache of loneliness a mortal could only barely comprehend underlies her words and deeds, so in a way Lawrence is just as valuable a find for her, too. Given where Hasekura shows both characters coming from, it is not at all hard to understand how they become so close and why Lawrence ultimately chooses Holo even over profit and his own safety.

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This time around his philosophy of choice is an ongoing debate between Gotoh and Arakawa about the nature and relationship of war and peace, a topic which has a direct bearing on the plot. His tendency to get carried away with such dialogues pops up several times, which heavily contributes to the movie's one significant flaw: it drags at times, especially in its first half. The general intensity and urgency begin to build when the wide-spread military deployment starts at the halfway point and kicks into high gear when the terrorists make their big move, but even when the major action scenes come the story never loses sight of being, first and foremost, a drama. The climax may not be the slam-bang affair otaku are used to, but it is consistent with the structure of the movie and feels both appropriate and satisfying.

The other advantage of Hasekura's style is that it adapts very easily to anime form. As a result, the first six episodes of the anime version very faithfully replicate the novel, down even to exactly duplicating lines of dialog in most places. In fact, the only substantive change in the anime version is the introduction of the character Cloe, who assumes and expands slightly upon the role of Yarei, Pasloe's wheat trader.

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That Mamoru Oshii, who directed the Patlabor OVAs and first movie and did screenplay work on the TV series, also directed this one should be obvious to anyone who's familiar with his work. The way he frames scenes and injects long-winded philosophizing into the story is very similar to what was seen a couple of years later in his iconic Ghost in the Shell.

In some senses this is an improvement, as the book never did establish a strong enough connection between Lawrence and the village of Pasloe to be satisfying in certain late scenes, although her presence leaves Lawrence seeming less isolated in the anime than he is in the novel. Beyond that, the differences are mostly just points of emphasis. The anime is better able to use Holo's body language to portray her personality, while the novel stresses the loneliness aspect, and how much Lawrence cherishes Holo, a bit more. The anime offers a more convincing conflict of interest for Lawrence in one late scene, while the novel is more effective at portraying the overwhelming nature of Holo's wolf form.

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First released in 1993 but set in the year 2002, Patlabor 2 is a direct sequel to the original Patlabor movie. Its composition marks a distinct departure for the franchise from its TV series content and that of the first movie, which were relatively balanced mixes of humor, action, and police drama. Mecha action takes a back seat and light-hearted moments are almost non-existent as the story develops a serious, complex, and philosophical drama borne of disillusionment, one where confusion and chaos are the expected outcomes rather than the tools of the enemy.

Ayakura's illustrations impress much less. The anime version remained faithful to the style of his character designs but improved on them, as his black-and-white pictures lack sharpness. His color pictures at the front do much better, with his best effort being a rather cute chibi picture of Holo. A great controversy erupted among fans when Yen Press opted to change Ayakura's original cover art (seen at right) with the far more mature and sexy look used on the actual American release cover (seen above).

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A wide-ranging music score gives Eureka 7 a feeling that's both classic and modern—rich orchestral sounds dominate dramatic scenes, but rock and dance tracks are the genres of choice when the Nirvash takes to the sky. Either way, the results are always tuneful and fitting. The same might be said of the lively opening and ending songs: Home Made Kazoku's "Shounen Heart" captures the adventurous coming-of-age spirit through hip-hop, and Asami Izawa's catchy "Fly Away" says more of the same but with a soul flavor.

In his Afterword, author Isuna Hasekura talks about aspiring to make a fortune from winning literary awards, and based on the writing seen here, it is obvious why he won one for this effort. His style is smooth and easy to read without coming up short on substance. He never gets bogged down in descriptiveness but still has a sufficient amount of it and never forgets that, in this story, the characters and their interactions matter far more than the events being portrayed; in that sense, his work stands in starkest possible contrast to Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D novels.

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The many emotional scenes in these episodes are handled confidently in the English dub, with Johnny Yong Bosch leading the way as Renton. For a character that goes through several moods in each episode, he gets all of them right, while still maintaining that youthful, high-pitched tone. Stephanie Sheh's Eureka is equally adept, although her rhythm could be more flowing. The supporting cast all turn in solid performances as well, and with a script that follows the subtitles closely (sometimes even matching word for word), this is one title that you could easily watch dubbed all the way through.


Its American release date actually came a week before its anime version release, and other aspects of its release (yes, the cover) also suggest that it is intended to appeal to a broader audience up front rather than depend on the anime. Either that, or it hopes to capitalize on the anime's popularity the moment it hits the market rather than years after the fact. Either way, if it was done intentionally then it is an interesting experiment in timing which bears watching and a further sign that publishing companies importing Japanese novels are doing so in a more timely fashion.

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The Japanese voice cast still deserves their share of credit, though, being the main source of extras on this disc. Look forward to a full audio commentary (subtitled, of course) for Episode 15, and a 30-minute interview with Yuko Sanpei (Renton) and Kaori Nazuka (Eureka) discussing their characters and the show. Occasionally they mention episodes that haven't shown up on DVD yet, so consider that your spoiler alert—but the segment is still worth watching for their insights and humor.

Typically when dealing with novels on which anime series are based, the release of the anime version in the United States far precedes the release of the original novel(s) and generally only happens if the anime was at least modestly successful; although those novel releases may hope to get broader exposure, they are really depending heavily on anime fans for their sales. That philosophy seems to be changing, though, and Spice and Wolf's case is evidence of that.

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Even as it winds down from the high intensity of the previous volume, Eureka 7 continues to be an engrossing series. These episodes turn to the inner world of the Gekkostate's crew, particularly Renton and Eureka's states of mind, and pose new challenges that can't be solved by simply piloting the Nirvash. In an underground cavern, history and technology are examined. In a surreal dreamworld, true feelings are discovered. In Eureka 7, a young boy's heart still has plenty of growing up to do.

Along the way she helps the enterprising Lawrence in business deals as repayment, though a complex scheme involving currency devaluation ultimately proves dangerous for them both. As their association grows, Lawrence starts to realize that there may, in fact, be something more important than profit. When a spice-transporting merchant and a wolf come together, things are never dull.

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For centuries Holo the Wisewolf has maintained a pact with village of Pasloe to insure good wheat harvests. As time passed and a new local noble developed more advanced farming techniques, lonely Holo came to feel that her commitment was no longer needed and she was being more used than respected. Taking human form as a teenage girl with wolf ears and tail, she hooks up with Lawrence, a peddler who regularly does business in Pasloe, and accompanies him on a journey as much about companionship for both as it is about providing a convenient means for her to return to her northern birthplace.

Three years have passed since the incident with the Babylon Project [as seen in the first movie], and many of the members of SV2 have gone their separate ways: Oota's a pilot trainer, Noa and Asuma test new Labors, and others have retired or been promoted. Gotoh still remains, though, as does Shinobu Nagumo as the acting section chief. New trouble arises when seeming terrorist strikes wreak havoc and confusion among the government, military, and public, and a former lover and commander of Nagumo, Yukihito Tsuge, seems to be at the center of it. With his superiors either compromised or unable to see the big picture it falls to Gotoh, with the help of regular police ally Matsui and new-found intelligence officer contact Shigeki Arakawa, to sort out what the apparent terrorists are up to and why. When the situation turns really ugly, the old team is reassembled to deal with the perpetrators.

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No matter where the story heads, though, one can always expect strong visuals from the creative minds of Studio BONES. The climactic scenes of Episodes 15 and 16 show great versatility by way of contrast: the Nirvash maneuvering gracefully through a sunset sky—a very traditional sort of beauty—and then, one episode later, an explosion of surreal imagery in Renton's dream. Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, an attempted apology to Eureka, LFO units drifting through the ceiling—it may not match the grand scope of the Coralian incident, but this scene still holds its own as a visual experiment.

When compared to the original, the animation and artwork take an evolutionary step forward. Instead of the dark and brooding dominance of the first film, Bloodlust presents things in a much brighter tone. Animation production was handled by MADHOUSE, known for their recent work on Trigun. The action sequences are crisp and clean, with a variety of camera angles being explored. The character designs show their roots in the original film, expanding with a variety of new and intriguing monster designs as well as mecha designs. Overall, Bloodlust retains the roots of the original film, but boldly steps forward in its own right.

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Teen angst is truly universal, isn't it? The episode after that goes even further, pushing Renton into a deeper slump when he discovers that cool old guys aren't always all that cool. Confused about his world, confused about his goals, and confused about love—what these episodes lack in action, they make up for with serious character development. The only problem is that ending the disc on such a downer can feel unsatisfying for some.

When taking in the English soundtrack for Vampire Hunter D it is important to remember that it was created first. All the actors are well cast to their roles and do a good job of adding to the overall feeling presented. Being a self-contained story, Bloodlust doesn't really leave any room for character development. That actors' move in stride with this, allowing their characters to come to life as the story unfolds. The soundtrack and accompanying music do a spectacular job of fueling the emotional ride the viewers take while watching this movie. The only disappointment with the soundtrack is the fact that the Japanese soundtrack is not included for comparison. The reasons for the lack of that track are still a bit unclear, serving to disappoint the sub-fans of the market.

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read Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol.
James Patterson


After such emotional hand-wringing, Episode 17 is a welcome relief as Renton and the crewmembers head out to meet a repairman and do some male bonding. Although repairing the Gekkostate is the most obvious plot theme, Renton and Eureka's strained relationship is the real substance throughout this arc: the men of the ship tease Renton about his progress, while Hilda helps Eureka work out her feelings by putting it in concrete terms.

The features and extras go a long way in trying to make up for the lack of the Japanese soundtrack. The big feature is a 20 minute featurette on the making of Bloodlust. This feature contains interviews with the production staff, both English and Japanese members as well as shots of various voice actors. Other extras run the gambit of standard releases including: Theatrical Trailers, TV spots, Urban Vision trailers and Motion menus. The more specialized features include: Fans' Favorite Picks, Dolby Digital 5.1, Closed Captioning and Anamorphic Widescreen.

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Yuki Midorikawa


But Episode 16 inverts everything and becomes pure introspection in visual form: Renton, lost in the cave and mentally drained, succumbs to a dream sequence that sums up his conflicted feelings for Eureka. Of course, he wants to fly and develop his skills—but is it worth Eureka getting jealous over "her" machine? The story continues to develop on multiple levels, becoming even more mysterious when Eureka "takes a nap" and somehow enters Renton's dream.

At the heart of any film is the story. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, being a sequel, has an already established world to work with. This allows the film to work more towards character development and conflict. Of course, there is worry that it being a sequel will make it difficult to follow, but Bloodlust stands well on its own, providing enough information to allow new viewers to keep up.

read eng Negima! vol 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37: Magister Negi Magi Ken Akamatsu

Negima! 30: Magister Negi Magi
Ken Akamatsu



Before things get all gloomy, however, there's still time for a little comedy and action. The health craze in Episode 15 brings its share of laughs: the entire crew performing Tai Chi, a sudden shortage of junk food, and misadventures in search of the nutritious puncha nut. (If that's not a pun, I don't know what is.) Even as the episode turns towards battle, the spirit of triumph still wins out—Renton piloting the Nirvash by himself and taking out the enemy is pure exhilaration in visual form.

The story works on a variety of levels, being something different for how the viewer watches the movie. At its heart it is an action film, with chase scenes, fighting scenes and lots of explosions. Next to that is the dramatic subplots of a man struggling with his inner demons and a couple locked in a forbidden romance. These various subplots and almost contradictory storylines meld together to produce a strong film with a stirring plot. The visuals and sound add to this to provide a very entertaining movie.