DVD Re-release - The worst romance story with a naked girl

"This Ugly Yet Beautiful World" is one of the most horrible shoujo anime shows ever made, with mediocre dialogue and romantic situations that are bound to make you puke.

It actually starts pretty strong as a romantic comedy, even though there is a lot of fan service. Although this show is not the most perverted romantic comedy I've ever seen, it presents plenty of uncomfortable shots of completely naked girls. In the first half of the anime, you're bound to see at least a girl's breasts at least once in each episode.

At first, the story of the show holds up pretty well, for all that it's worth. The anime's story centers around a lazy high school boy named Takeru Takemoto, who works as a delivery boy for his uncle. One day, he and his friend, Ryou Niyomiya, find a mysterious naked girl in a tree. This girl, named Hikari, looks almost like the dream girl which Ryou drew for Takeru.

When a giant centipede monster attacks Takeru and Hikari with its tentacles, Takeru suddenly transforms into a powerful shonen fighter with big muscles and long hair. After beating up the monster, he swears that he will protect Hikari, no matter what.

This show would have worked well as a shonen battle anime, but that isn't what the remainder of the series is about. For some reason, all of Takeru's friends and family members gather around the alien girl to provide clothes and a room for her. You don't even know how his friends heard about the girl so quickly, or why his friends decided to come together to see the girl. The show eventually turns into a disturbing harem comedy, where even Takeru's sister fights to win back her brother's love.

Around episode three, the show introduces another alien girl, named Akari. She strikes up a close friendship with Takeru's friend, Ryou Ninomiya. Akari's character is much more relatable, because she isn't so obsessed with smothering her new boyfriend with love. However, the series wants us to focus on Hikari, the least interesting of the two characters.

And for some reason, all the characters seem interested in Hikari, who wastes time in every episode by talking about the air, the water and the crickets of the Earth. No joke. In every episode, Takeru's friends and family are always around to gaze at Hikari. They all comment on Hikari's awkward fascination with the world. I mean, you'd think that after episode eight, these kids would have better things to do than to pay attention to the happy-go-lucky alien girl.

Fortunately, there is a serious story, in which ancient insect-like monsters actually attempt to destroy the world. These humongous, violent monsters awaken when they sense elevated levels of ED in teenagers such as Takeru. However, when you consider that ED actually stands for "Extended Definition," you'll find that there really isn't a good reason for anything in this anime. Sure, there are hints in episode nine about the upcoming apocalypse, but nothing is ever explained thoroughly.

Believe it or not, the series actually turns into an apocalyptic thriller at the end of episode 10. The ending also makes for a touching climax to this show. But by then, most people will get tired of all the redundant sitcom jokes. It's hard to forgive a repititious series that can't even manage to teach people to appreciate the boredom of everyday life. Even the conclusion of this series is an underwhelming disappointment.

Unless someone forces you to watch this anime at gunpoint, absolutely stay away from this series. It is possibly one of the worst anime shows ever made. And it is guaranteed to bore you to death, unless you manage to stick with it after the first five hours.

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Re-release madness: Paradise Kiss

One of the series I really missed out on reviewing last year was "Paradise Kiss." The series was picked up and re-released by Funimation.

"Paradise Kiss" portrays the excitement and danger of the fashion industry in Japan with striking, and sometimes depressing, realism.

It begins with a spiky-haired rock band guy catching a glimpse of Yukari, a beautiful high school girl. Scared off by his "pick-up lines," the girl runs into a transvestite and faints. Next thing she knows, she wakes up to find herself in Paradise Kiss, the bar turned into a fashion studio. The employees include the transvestite, the punk rocker, a cute pink-haired girl and a tall, gray-haired man named George.

They are all interested in keeping Yukari around to model their new clothing brand, ParaKiss. However, Yukari is more interested in George, the elusive ladie's man who wants to keep Yukari around for more than just modeling. Her best friend in school, Hiroyuki Tokumori, soon worries about her absence from school. Only time will tell when Yukari truly finds her own sense of happiness.

This romance story is clearly intended for more mature audiences. Right from the bat in episode two, viewers will catch a glimpse of a hot make-out session between two employees at the fashion studio. This is just a foreshadowing of some of the steamier moments to come in the series.

"Paradise Kiss" isn't just about sex. It encompasses a tedious romantic entanglement in Yukari's life, in probably one of her most stressful moments in the school year. George is clearly using the schoolgirl, but at the same time, he opens up a new world of possibilities for Yukari. Although the manga tends to portray him more as a jerk, the anime is more even-handed in its portrayal of this handsome prince with an obsession for young romance.

The complexity of romance in "Paradise Kiss" is what makes it unforgettable. Sure, there are moments when the characters are obnoxious. However, all these unique voice actors give complicated performances, making "Paradise Kiss" one of the best anime I've ever seen. The two lead characters especially expose the unnerving possessiveness of rich men in Japan, while at the same time revealing the seductiveness of the Japanese fashion world.

Some critics are bound to disagree with me. Yet, the unsettling drama portrayed in "Paradise Kiss" is a powerful glimpse of all the problems and new possibilities of a post-modern Japan.

Image courtesy of funimation.com

Re-release madness - Rumbling Hearts

I noticed that I still didn't finish "Rumbling Hearts," so I figured I'd watch all the episodes.

"Rumbling Hearts" is a lousy, sexist romance anime, with women who are so dependent on their men and sex that it's just disgusting.

The plot revolves around Takayuki Narumi, some bumbling teenage guy who is a friend of Mitsuki Hayase, the top swimmer at the high school. One of Mitsuki's girl friends, Haruka Suzumiya, has a crush on Narumi, so Mitsuki hooks the two together. They become close friends, and they even have sex together. However, the love story ends tragically with a fatal car crash putting Haruka in a coma.

The second half of the story takes place three years later. Within this time period, Narumi has a romance with Mitsuki, who is now part of an insurance company. However, everything seems to change when Haruka finally wakes up from her coma.

Overall, the storyline is passable. However, "Rumbling Hearts" suffers from overplaying the drama. Mitsuki is a jerk, who really doesn't care much for her former friend who almost died in a car accident. In fact, Mitsuki spends half of the series worrying that Narumi will not love her anymore. She's so obsessed that she tries her best to keep Narumi's attention off of Haruka.

This story boils down to the voice actors and the story, which is extremely overrated on the Anime News Network and animenfo.com Web sites. Eventually, this anime revolves completely around Narumi's love relationships will all three girls in the story: even Haruka's sister. With so many girlfriends around, people will wonder why on Earth Narumi would want to focus on the selfish Mitsuki, who obsesses all the time about whether Narumi loves her.

Narumi claims that he doesn't want anyone to get hurt, but what he's really saying is that he wants to make sure Mitsuki doesn't kill herself looking for someone else to love her. The screenwriter is so self-centered in restraining Mitsuki to an overdependent relationship with Narumi. Honestly, women in Japan will never want to be this constrained to the servitude of other men.

In fact, the only likable character in this series is Haruka. Yet, even she keeps longing for a sexual relationship with Narumi after she awakens from her coma. Haruka is supposed to be the strong, independent girl who learns to fight to recover, but even she is restricted to relying on Narumi for all her support. Narumi is not trustable either: he always seems to be lying about his own relationship status constantly.

There's very little to appreciate about "Rumbling Hearts," which is based on an equally disgusting dating game. In fact, there should be no reason for it to gain so much popularity in America. However, the male audience of anime fans undoubtedly love this infantile orgy of adolescent sex and romantic overdependence. Honestly, they should know better than to watch this series, which is filled with a bunch of jerks fighting for selfish romance.

Image courtesy of funimation.com

Movie review: Eureka Seven movie soars to imaginative heights

The new "Eureka Seven" movie is filled with baffling transformations and provocative twists, but the ending is breathtaking.

For anyone who hasn't seen the series, the plot of "Eureka Seven" centers around two teenagers, Renton and Eureka, who team up with the rebel group Gekkostate to save the world from being destroyed. The movie, however, places these characters in an alternate universe, with most of them having completely different attitudes.

The film opens with the military capturing Eureka, an innocent alien girl and childhood friend of Renton. Fortunately, the military left Renton's cute larvae animal, Nirvash. The animal grows into a humongous robot, which Renton uses to fight as a corporal in the military. However, when Renton discovers Eureka in a gigantic alien Eizo, he discovers a boatload of military conspiracies.

Although it's a little difficult to follow all the plotlines in the film, "Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers" will definitely confound longtime fans of the original series. All the characters from the original series are so different in the film, thanks to some particularly shocking plot twists. For starters, all the old members of Gekkostate are actually 17-year-olds in the bodies of rapidly aging adults.

This is the most stunning transformation in the movie, turning the laidback Gekkostate members from laid-back surfers in the TV series to angry adults who want to stop all time permanantly with the help of Renton and Eureka.

People may have a tough time imagining the Gekkostate leader, Holland, as a snotty, bratty villain. However, considering how often he beat up Renton in the TV series, this change is completely understandable.

There are plenty of awkward dubs. Some parents may cringe when the teenage Eureka asks Renton if they could sleep together, just as they did when they were kids. Some of the script lines are just as strange. No one would even expect the world of Neverland to get mentioned in a film that has more to do with flashy visuals and science mumbo-jumbo.

Despite the oddity of the entire film, it all makes sense somehow. Renton and Eureka learn to love each other, no matter who tries to join them in their sadistic, violent plots. Best of all, Eureka learns to let go of her selfish attitude in order to help Renton live. "Eureka Seven" is a masterpiece in demonstrating how cooperative love can look so damned beautiful on the big screen.

Best of all, Johnny Yong Bosch gives possibly his best voice acting performance as Renton. Fans have sometimes cringed during the first few episodes of the English dub of "Eureka Seven," when he spoke in a horrible, over-feminine voice with no aggression. In "Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers," Bosch projects all his dramatic lines with breathtaking power and emotion.

The ending, to say the least, is a visual feast for the eyes. It's a heartwarming love tale, about a renewal of love over the reign of destruction and chaos. True, "Ponyo" was more refined than "Eureka Seven." However, no relationship is more compassionate than the one between Renton and Eureka.

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DVD Review: Geass and the apocalypse

"Code Geass: Part Three" is a brutally violent masterpiece, examining the brutality of Lelouch's demonic powers.

In episodes 18-21, the series turns into a strange beast in a league of its own--a harem romance anime.

That's right. Just when "Code Geass" couldn't get even more zany, director Goro Taniguchi decided to add in situations in which all of the Brittanians and (Japanese) Eleven soldiers came together for the student festival.

Admittedly, the series almost gets too carried away with all the relationships between characters. For starters, Lelouch had a deeply romantic relationship with his sister Princess Euphemia of the Brittanians in episode 19. One of the Black Knights, Ohgi, has a relationship with a Brittanian soldier, Villeta Nu. Suzaku also has some feelings for the female hotshot of the Black Knights, Kallen Kouzaki. Lastly, Shirley's regaining her memory of her previous crush on LeLouch.

Without revealing too much about the ending, Euphemia first declares that Brittanians shall treat the Japanese as equals. LeLouch in his Zero costume meets with Euphemia and gets very close to using his Geass power, until Milly reveals that she is resigning from her position as princess. She wants to live with LeLouch and his little sister, Nunnally, again. But LeLouch's Geass power is much stronger than even he realizes, and the massacre after he takes control is the final straw, leading to a murderous scene.

It's fitting that C.C. is the angel of death, to say the least. C.C.'s bond with LeLouch is a proper one, because of the pain she felt as a witch in the past. And the final battles in Code Geass are stunningly beautiful and epic. Even though the animators tend to repeat the same animation, the drama plays out marvelously. "Code Geass" is a guilty pleasure anime, fulfilling every anime fans' desire for the destruction of a country symbolizing Western European culture.

"Code Geass" is probably one of the most emotional breathtaking series, throwing violent and romance together in some hodgepodge mix that is surprisingly incredible. It shouldn't work this well, but the voice actors pull off stunning performances and the visuals are amazing. Any anime fan should look into watching this series as an alternative to Fullmetal Alchemist.

This is only season one. Be sure to catch Code Geass: R2 (season two) on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block at 2 a.m., starting on November 8.

Image courtesy of bandai-ent.com

DVD Review: Geass faces inevitable tragedy

I never thought "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion" could beat out other mech series in drama. Up until the end of part one, we had no doubt that Lelouche Lamperouge was an ambitious genius hell-bent on annihilating the Brittanican army.

But with part two of season one, "Code Geass" turns into an epic of heartbreaking tragedy.

In fact, I can't even mention what happens in the first disc, because it's that shocking and devastating. Let's just say that something horrible happens to Milly Ashford and Lelouch is left with a huge amount of guilt.

Despite all the tearjerking drama in the series, Lelouch is very compassionate. Although he still cannot fight in a Nightmare robot for the life of him, he has quite a few caring lady friends who help him out in this volume. The green-haired C.C. is the most loyal of them all, helping him in numerous ways.

For example, in episode 10, C.C. uses her body to shock a robot with the pilot's old heartbreaking memories, so that Lelouch can escape. Lelouch refuses to let her stand in one place, especially when Brittania Nightmares are headed their way. But when Lelouch puts his hand on her shoulders, he sees visions of C.C.'s own forlorn life, in which she was tortured in numerous ways. And for the first time, we witness romantic feelings between C.C. and Lelouch.

Anime fans will love this section of the series, revealing more emotional parts of the lives of Lelouch, C.C. and Milly. Somebody was bound to get their feelings hurt in this anime. We're also left wondering who C.C. really is.

Probably the real kicker in part two, however, is Lelouch's new rival, Mao. He has a Geass power that enables him to read the minds of other people. As one may imagine, the mind games between the two lead to some insane battles, and even a ridiculous episode where Mao returns in bandages.

Sure, it's hard to take "Code Geass" too seriously. After watching three episodes with Mao wielding extremely dangerous weapons, I couldn't help but laugh at all the crazy nonsensical violence. However, the drama in the series is very smartly played. And although most of the real emotional intensity comes from the shocking revelations in the series, the Japanese voice actors never overdo their parts.

So far, "Code Geass" is one of the best anime series this year. It's no surprise that "Anime Insider" named it the best of 2008. The emotional voice acting and complex plotline make it unforgettable.

Image courtesy of bandai-ent.com

The most depressingly beautiful airplane anime

Director Mamoru Oshii has pushed the envelope once again with his newest film, "The Sky Crawlers."

The movie is a complex, but stunning film about teenagers trapped in a world of aerial combat.

The movie opens up at a snail's pace, with isolated, depressed male pilots known as Kildren, with no other amusement other than eating at the meat pie diner and having sex in the mansion with other women.

In their planes, they fight enemy planes from a country known only as the Loutan. However, most of their existence is a boring world, in which they never grow old. All they know is that they are children, who could never possibly gain access into the adult world. The only threat to their existence is the unknown airplane above the clouds, known only as “The Teacher.”

Perhaps it’s a somewhat excessive visual representation of the life of Japanese otaku, young men who trap themselves in their home, fearful of the criticism from the adults in the faceless corporate world. The characters have the most depressing and nonchalant dialogue ever heard in an anime. However, director Mamoru Oshii makes it all work.

The film is a deadpan “Catch-22”-styled story, in which the main character, Yuichi, is trying to figure out exactly who he is. He's only heard rumors that his love interest, Suito Kusanagi, shot her previous boyfriend in the head. Although Yuichi has hardly any memory of his past, he offers his girlfriend a new hope for change in their depressing life as Kildren.

Admittedly, the aerial dogfight in the end of the film is an impossibly excessive and violent end. However, given that the concept of the film is out of this world in the first place, it all works beautifully. Although some anime fans might find the film boring at first, “The Sky Crawlers” has plenty of earth-shaking emotional sequences, in which Kusanagi desperately plays with a gun in her hand on a particularly depressing night out.

This is one of the best anime films I have ever seen, filled with some spectacular dogfights with surreal imagery. But although there is plenty of action, the dogfights pale in comparison to the heartbreaking emotions throughout the film. While American audiences may be easily turned off, this is a true masterpiece by Mamoru Oshii.

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