Review | Anime | Pokemon

Pokemon : Ash Ketchum (or "Satoshi" in the Japanese anime) is a ten-year-old boy who dreams of becoming the greatest Pokemon trainer in the world. Pokemon are a variety of creatures that inhabit the Pokemon world, and at age ten, anyone who wants to set out to become a trainer picks up their first Pokemon and "Pokedex", and journey across the land to capture Pokemon to train and use to earn badges that enable them to enter the Pokemon League. Ash's first Pokemon is an electric rodent called Pikachu, and with Pikachu, he'll make friends and fight enemies and work to become the greatest Pokemon master of all time.

Needless to say, Pokemon has caused quite a stir in the world of young boys. Even girls can't possibly resist the pull of the show. When it was first released in America, that's all you heard, and the only thing your young family members wanted for Christmas was Pokemon.

I can't say I blame them. Pokemon's quite the real success. The American remake has been kid-friendlied by removing simple scenes of over-the-top cleavage and skimpy outfits, among other things. From what I've heard, the manga is quite inappropriate, though. The beginning series, Pokemon: Gotta Catch Em All! gave Satoshi Tajiri and the production companies the boost they needed, and I guess they figured, "hey, let's give 'em what they really want," so of course they release 100 more Pokemon, sparking the era of a new Pokemon season with new friends for Ash and Pikachu. So all was well, the kids were excited, the companies made themselves some more money.

However, the hype makes them all too confident. They release 100 more along with a new season and new friends, then 100 more along with a new season and new friends, then 100 more....and the excitement dwindled from the veins of once energetic children. Even the originality of the plots by the infamous Team Rocket villains seeped from the show in the middle of the Johto Journeys. I couldn't even watch Master Quest, I just couldn't. It was unbearable. There is no more creativity in the episodes at all. Ash's friend base even grows as the series does. Who on Earth are these "May, Max and Dawn" characters?? I was accepting of Tracey when they brought him along, but after that it was downhill. Ash's original loveable Pokemon, such as that of Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander, begin to slowly disappear as well; they are left with friends or released to live their owns lives and never heard from again. They are replaced with new Pokemon. The producers are stretching it too far. Nobody cares anymore.

If you want to get into the series, watch the season with the first 150. Stop after that if you wish to use your time wisely.

Overall Rating:
/ 5 (first 150 Pokemon)

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Audio:

Original Pokemon Theme
Pokemon Battle Theme
Pokemon Johto Theme

Review | Anime | Chobits

CHOBITS : Hideki Motosuwa moves from the country into an apartment in the city to attend cram school. Hideki desperately wants a Persocon, a life-sized female robot super computer, to call his own, but they are too costly for him to consider one. One day while walking home, Hideki discovers a Persocon by the dumpsters, wrapped up and abandoned. Hideki takes the Persocon home and activates it. Completely unaware of everything around her, the Persocon only says "chii", so Hideki decides to name her "Chii". Hideki, excited to finally own a Persocon, raises and teaches Chii in his free time, and realizes the ups and downs of owning a super computer with too little "super".

Before watching this series, I'd be seeing countless pictures of Chii floating around, and finally said, "I've seen so much of this show, it HAS to be good. Let's check it out." The series only lasts 26 episodes (plus a special 27th episode), so I was a little more encouraged since it wasn't nightmarishly long like some anime series tend to get.

I liked this show, not bad. I don't think there's enough in it to have so many pictures of it, but I guess since Chii is so cute and beautiful, who can help themselves?

The good thing about the show is that it isn't slow, it's nice and clean without having to reserve 3 episodes for the same subject. However, the show is definitely NOT for children. There is a large amount of unsuitable material in the show, and I don't mean a couple of over-the-top cleavages here and there, at times it can get almost borderline hentai. Despite that, the actual scenes with the material in question don't last horribly long, so it's pretty much in and out of there quickly. I still really wouldn't let kids watch this show, even though Chii looks like a cutesy, friendly character. And she is, it's just Hideki I'm a little worried about.

This is a pretty good show, I'd recommend it, but I'd still make sure to warn them about any Hideki fantasy scenes.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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Audio:
Opening theme : Let Me Be With You
Ending theme : Ningyo Hime
Dark Chii

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Review | Anime | AIR TV

AIR : AIR is a heartwarming story about a boy named Yukito who travels from city to city looking for work. He arrives in a small oceanfront town where he meets a young girl named Misuzu, who offers him a place to stay and her friendship. For generations, Yukito's family had passed down a legend about winged beings, and Yukito searches for these beings on behalf of his mother, who searched for them before her death. As time goes by, Yukito begins to suspect that Misuzu is a descendant of the winged beings, and if his suspicions are correct, Misuzu's life may be in danger.

I stumbled across AIR in the randomest way. I was in the library, and on a table was a small magazine (very small, there were hardly 15 pages in it) with the characters of AIR on the cover. The illustrations were just beautiful, so I had to look into it. I found the episodes online and watched them. The theme song remains one of my favorite songs of all-time.

AIR is very deep. It's not stereotype, and there's not very much of anime's signature unnatural face-making and goofy posing, though you'll find some. Yukito's rather cold for Misuzu to think as much of him as she does, and definitely isn't your typical teenaged drama queen hormone circus. Misuzu, implied to be about 15, has a case of childlike dependency, and this is displayed by her big imagination and saying, "Gao" ("grr" or "growl") whenever something annoys or disappoints her. Potato the dog is to die for; it is so amazingly adorable, anyone with a heart would want to snatch it out of the screen and cuddle it. The relationship between Yukito and Misuzu is foggy, but you can tell the two are really concerned about each other.

But do remember, I mentioned deep, and I mean very deep. This one is a tearjerker. I never cry at TV, ever, but this one was getting to me. It's a concoction of heartwarming/tragic/meaningful. If you easily cry, you'll cry at this one. Misuzu's strained relationship with her mother begins to dwindle and the two spend more time together as the series nears its completion, and that's when the eyedrops start to flow. There are several scenes throughout the series that are very sad, so if you don't like sad animes, this one's probably not for you. I don't want to ruin the ending so I'll leave it at that.

I like this one a lot, it's a must-see for those of you who appreciate the art of anime, because the animation is gorgeous and very detailed. This series is relief from the comic or action-packed violent animes, giving off a more serene and dreamy feeling. Like walking on air.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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Audio
Opening theme : Tori no Uta
Farewell Song
Natsukage

Review | Anime | Death Note

DEATH NOTE : Light Yagami, a successful high school , finds a
mysterious notebook on the ground entitled "Death Note". Curious, he takes the
notebook home and reads it. The book's instructions state that anyone whose name
is written in the book will die within 40 seconds of a heart attack, or if the
owner wishes a different death upon the victim, the details of the death must be
wirtten within 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Light tests the Death Note by writing
the name of a gangster who boasts his name right before attacking a woman. The
gangster dies soon after. Realizing the book's power, Light concludes to use the
Death Note to rid the world of evil by killing every criminal he can. The police
begin to string the series of heart attacks together and soon find that a
detective known as "L", who has completed every single investigation he's ever
taken, is soon on the case. Light, nicknamed "Kira" by the public, is soon L's
suspect, and Light is determined to finish L before L finishes him.

So I started watching this about a week ago, and so far I think it's a pretty good anime. I'm gonna check out the manga soon to see how it is, and I watched the movie which I liked a lot. Ryuk makes me laugh.

Pretty soon the show's theme song really grew on me, but they changed songs when they got to episode 20, and the language in the lyrics are rather dirty, more than I would have imagined. I would not consider Death Note a children's anime, but I wouldn't really consider it the sort that would use the F-word in its theme song, either.

So anyway, it's a pretty good anime, I'd probably buy its products depending on what it was. I might buy a binder or a notebook (no joke intended) if it was in the area, but I wouldn't really be on the internet scavenging for any Death Note I could possibly purchase.

At times it can be slow, but when it's slow, most of the time it needs to be so it can give out important information, so it's not slow for no reason.

Kira's a slick one, but he's got some pretty stiff competition with L on his heels. I'd like to see where their chase goes from here. Perhaps maybe we'll even get an explanation for L's fixation on sweets, which he's always seen consuming. I don't recall him once eating something healthy.

I hope we see Ryuk again.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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Audio:

1st season opening theme : The World

1st season ending theme : Alumina

Wallpapers:

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