Review | Movie | Millennium Actress

An old movie studio is being torn down, and Genya Tachibana
finds the studio's most popular actress, Chiyoko Fujiwara, and arranges to interview her.
In the interview, details of Chiyoko's life and journeys as
an actress begin to
unravel, along with the story of a mysterious key that
belonged to a wounded
painter she offered shelter to as a teenager, which
was her motive to becoming an actress in order to find him and
return the key.

I believe I saw the trailer for Millennium Actress in the special features of a Miyazaki movie, and the art of this movie was quite beautiful to me, and I looked into seeing it. Being an actor myself, simply the title was enough to draw my attention. I did my research and looked at several plots for the movie, which definitely didn't capture me as much as the trailer did, because the plots seemed to make the movie sound quite stale, and I almost decided not to see it. I am extremely glad I reconsidered and rented the movie.

Millennium Actress is an amazing movie, the story is original and the art by itself can keep your attention. Details of Chiyoko's life are played out in the form of movies she made in her youth, and though you cannot distinguish reality from fiction right away, you begin to get accustomed to the feel of the movie as Chiyoko narrates her journeys as Japan's most treasured actress. Susumu Hirasawa's music creates a serene experience for viewers and binds you to the scenes in such a way that you are effortlessly connected to them and the stories they portray.

There is profanity in the movie but very little. I would say this movie would be fine to show a child, but I don't think it would hold a child's interest at all. Though the content of the movie is not objectionable, it is aimed at a much older audience simply because of the film's mature nature. Anyone who is looking for a creative and authentic anime movie experience will thoroughly enjoy this stunning Satoshii Kon production.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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Rotation (LOTUS-2)
Chiyoko's Theme
Run

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Review | Anime | Love Hina

LOVE HINA : As a little child, Keitaro Urashima makes a promise with a
little girl that the two will get into Tokyo University when they grow up and
they can be together. When the girl moves away, they renew that promise before
she leaves, and Keitaro remembers the promise all the way into his college
years, even though he does not remember the little girl's name or even what she
looks like. Keitaro moves into his Grandma Hina's Hinata Inn while she is away
to study to enter Tokyo University. However, he is unaware that Hinata has been
turned into a girls' dormitory. His aunt eventually saves him from being
clobbered by the female occupants for being in their dormitory, and much to
their dismay, Keitaro is made the manager of Hinata in order to have a place to
stay and to keep Hinata from shutting down. Keitaro must now convince the
occupants that he is a reliable person and earn their trust.

If I had to describe Love Hina in the fewest words, I would pretty much say Tenchi Muyo in reverse. A boy in a house full of girls that despise him rather than love him, and the boy tries to get along with them only to be pummeled in his attempts. Though this show isn't necessarily inappropriate for kids I wouldn't say you should let a kid watch it by themselves. Poor Keitaro can't win for losing as the girls' trust in him is consistently reset by the fact that he is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. His body reacts quicker than his brain does, and for that reason, he's barging into the girls' hot spring to share good news with fellow Tokyo U. hopeful Naru. Only after seeing the toweled female occupants and being literally kicked out of the building does he realize that he's made quite a mistake.

There is some profanity involved in the show, and some accidental groping coming from dim light bulb Keitaro when trying to apologize for a faulty action or to trying to lend a helping hand in some way. Nothing over-the-top ever happens in the show, however, even though Keitaro himself states that his fantasies about girls blur his mind. We see these fantasies occasionally but there are no inappropriate fantasies, simply visions of receiving simple praise from a girl or committing an act that makes him attractive towards girls in the daydreams.

I'm pleased with the outcome of this show very much. It's not an anime based around fantasy or sci-fi, it's down-to-earth, save on the signature anime expressions and the unrealistic beatings Keitaro receives from a female he literally rubs the wrong way. A good one for fans of romantic comedy.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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First Season Opening Theme : Sakura Saku

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Review | Anime | Tenchi Muyo

TENCHI MUYO : Tenchi Masaki lives a quiet life with his father and
grandfather in their large house on historic grounds. When Tenchi accidentally
releases a 5,000 year-old demon named Ryoko sealed away under a cave of
boulders, things begin to collapse. Space Pirate Ryoko attracts Space Police
officers Mihoshi and Kiyone, later attracting planet princesses Sasami and
Ayeka, and 12-year-old genius Washu. Out of pity he ends up housing the oddball
girls and ultimately becomes the subject of their affection, which becomes too
much for him to handle.

One of the many results of my days of movie store anime scavenging for anything that caught my eye, I first rented one of the Tenchi Muyo movies, Daughter Of Darkness, and I tried it on for size. My liking for the movie finally guided me to the series.

This series is very, very Sci-Fi. The girls that live under Tenchi's roof are all aliens, even though they take on the physical forms of humans, and some of them are actually a lot older than they appear. At one time or another there's always lots of Sci-Fi-stylized fighting going on, which includes but is not limited to Ryoko and Ayeka's consistent cat fights over the heart of Tenchi, which only drives him away rather than draws him close. The only one of the girls that does not show an almost demented obsession over him is young Sasami, who sees him merely as a brother figure rather than a possible boyfriend.

This used to air on an anime segment of a children's television channel, which I found extremely strange because this show is very seinen and definitely not for children. There is profanity in the show and a lot of the time some nudity. Even though nothing too detailed is shown, there are a few scenes of the older girls (ages from about 18-24) in the girls' bathhouse fully unclothed. Even though the episodes they showed on the network were the mild ones that did not feature any nudity, I was shocked to find that there were a couple of "go to hells" here and there. They removed a scene of a very mild slap in an episode of Sailor Moon, yet they allow the airing of episodes with that kind of language on a children's network. I found it a little odd.

There is a large amount of unsuitable content in this series and I really wouldn't recommend showing it to a child, even with supervision. Again, some of the episodes are mild with no such content, but when there is, you really don't know it's coming, it's pretty much there before you can react.

If we are, however, talking about those suited for seinen animes, I would check this one out, it's a good show, just not very child-appropriate.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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Season 1 Opening Theme : Ryo-Ohki's Theme
Season 2 Opening Theme : I'm A Pioneer
Season 1 Ending Theme : Talent For Love
Tenchi Universe Opening Theme

Review | Anime | AzuManga Daioh

AZUMANGA DAIOH : AzuManga Daioh is a simple story of the
lives of a group of high-school girls as they spend their summers, holidays and school days together. Chiyo, the 10-year-old child prodigy; Tomo, the immature ball of energy; Yomi, the most mature member of the group; Sakaki, the shy and quiet girl with a secret adoration for cute animals; Kagura, the athletic girl who loves to compete with Sakaki; and Osaka, the transfer student one sandwich short of a picnic. Together, sometimes with their two insane teachers Minamo and Yukari, they'll share their ups and downs as they survive school life until they can finally unite in the summertime.

I came across AzuManga Daioh in a bookstore where I saw a picture of one of their frequent cat characters which fans refer to as "Kamineko". The animators draw the cutest animals and I had to look itno the show. Judging from the plot summaries you get, you wouldn't think AzuManga Daioh would have very much to offer, might even be a little boring, but I'm extremely impressed with this show.

Despite claiming to be a Seinen anime (Seinen targets 18-20 year old males) this show is incredibly shojo, I really don't know that any male would have any interest in it. The only male character worth noting is Mr. Kimura, who also might be a warning for parents that are looking into this show for their children. Mr. Kimura is the Classical Japanese teacher at the school, who admits without shame that the only reason he became a teacher is for the high school girls. He's obviously got a few screws loose, as one can tell by observing his mouth almost always hanging open, and through the series he is usually seen around the female students observing them as they're swimming or being measured by the school nurse. His behavior is noticed by the girls and they find this extremely uncomforting, and usually react by running away. He's even mentioned in front of them that "he wishes he could watch them change [clothes]."

Other than Mr. Kimura and Yukari's occasional profanity whenever she's in pinches, this might be okay to show a child, but a parent should be standing by just in case they think they should skip through the parts I've mentioned.

This is one of the only animes I've seen that is down-to-earth, much different from most animes that are based around fantasy in some way. So if you're just getting started with anime and you don't want anything too unreal, this may be a good one to start out with.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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Ending Theme : Raspberry Heaven
Opening Theme : Soramimi Cake

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Review | Anime | InuYasha

INUYASHA : Kagome Higurashi's family owns an ancient shrine that dates back thousands of years, and as much as her grandfather boasts its history, she never pays it any mind. One day, while going to retrieve her cat in an old shed, she falls down a dried up well, and wakes up in feudal Japan. While still trying to recollect herself, she stumbles across a strange boy pinned to a tree by an arrow. When Kagome is attacked by a demon monster that bites a mysterious "Sacred Jewel" from out of her body, the boy awakens and tells Kagome to pull the arrow from his chest. The boy, a half-demon named InuYasha, quickly kills the demon, but now he wants this "Sacred Jewel" for himself. No sooner is the Jewel removed from Kagome does another demon steal it, and in an attempt to get the Jewel back, she shoots the creature with an arrow and accidentally shatters the Jewel into shards. Now Kagome and InuYasha must join forces to find every shard of the Jewel before other demons find them and use them to become all-powerful. But can the stubborn duo set aside their differences long enough?

After the response our dog demon friend InuYasha has gotten, who wouldn't want to check it out? I watched the first episode on YouTube to try it out, and upon becoming very interested in the story, to Netflix I did go.

I was finally able to catch up with this series, which had already ended (abruptly) before I began the series. Eventually I did find out that the episodes ceased production on a cliffhanger. I attended a guest panel with one of the producers of InuYasha at an anime cosplay convention. When asked if they would ever continue the series, they were left with merely a "maybe" (which, for producers, is just a polite version of "no".) So alas we may never find out if the Jewel Shards are all collected, and Naraku may never come out of hiding.

I had been hearing so much about InuYasha it was mind-boggling. It took me a while before I decided to give it a try. I really like this show a great deal, even though some of the drawing could use improvement. Different villagers Kagome and InuYasha encounter along the way are just bizzare-looking, like the animators wanted to hurry up and get them over with.

On occasion the episodes can be a little slow and stretched too far, but other than that I'm happy with them. I don't think I'd show this to a child right away, as there is profanity and frequent violence, and a few perverted moments, courtesy of a character that appears later in the show. There are also monsters in the show's episodes that are really not that scary, but a child might find them a little scary. Again, there is a lot of blood involved in this show, but not so much that you would get queazy, it doesn't look much like real blood.

This would be a good show to watch if you're trying to catch up on the popular animes. Just don't get too close to Miroku! You've been warned.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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First Season Opening Theme : Change The World

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Review | Anime | Ouran High School Host Club

OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB : The ultra-prestigious Ouran High School's popular Host Club is a group of boys who make profit through the charming and casual entertainment of girls who attend the school. When Haruhi Fujioka accidentally breaks an expensive auction piece owned by the Host Club, the Club president makes Haruhi join the Club and become a server to pay off her debt. Because of Haruhi's short hair and boyish clothing, they mistake her for a boy, and therefore finally make her a host after acknowledging her skills. When the other Club members finally do find out her secret, they allow her to remain a host under the condition that she never reveals her true gender to the girls they cater to.

Despite the main cast being mostly boys, this is very much a shojo anime. It's very dizty and glittery, and the cast's males are very clean and pretty and not very masculine at all. People who can get put off easily by things that are a little too perfect and prim may not enjoy this anime right away. My favorite part of the episodes are probably the different crazy faces the characters frequently put on. Any person that's familiar with the art of anime is aware that animes usually always include their characters making strangely unnatural facial expressions and bodily movements, and has come to expect it from any anime they look into. Ouran Host Club's characters are seen to make such expressions usually in response to something Haruhi does, or to something that they find "common" or generally repulsive to their status in society, since Ouran High School is where the children of very rich families are sent, while Haruhi comes from a lower middle-class family accepted through scholarship.

I would really say that this isn't a show for young kids to watch. There are some implications throughout the show of homosexuality, usually coming from the Host Club, however, so far nothing confirming this has happened, besides the members occasionally behaving flirtatiously towards each other. Twin brothers Hikaru and Kaoru may also be something to watch out for. The members of the Club each have their own charm tactics to add variety to their selection of hosts for customers to choose from. Those who request Hikaru and Kaoru as hosts are most likely doing it to be wooed by the twins' "Brotherly Love" manipulation, in which Hikaru and Kaoru react with each other in an incestuous manner though nothing extreme ever happens. The customers seem to find this tactic adorable. As a gesture to make the Club's president jealous, the twins also flirt with Haruhi on a daily basis.

I can't remember where exactly I found out about Ouran Host Club, but if the issues I've discussed above are things you're against, this would probably be a show to avoid, because some of the subjects listed are a huge involvement in the series. But if you enjoy anime's signature physical expressions, this may be one to check out.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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