Georgie: "We're 5 year olds."
Shin: "We don't talk like it!"

When I reviewed the first Shin-Chan box set, I'd said that the show was about buttcrack, balls, honor, and a penis. After watching the second set, I would like to add that it is also about Ass. Booger butt poopy shit poop.

If you were hoping the second Shin-chan box might be a bit more kid-safe, you'll be sorely disappointed. Instead we have everything the first box offered and more. It feels like the writers have really hit their stride and the voice actors are really comfortable with the characters.

Check out the full review!

For someone who says they don’t watch much anime, I sure watch a lot of anime. Of course, compared to my wife, very few people “watch much anime.” There are a few shows I’m well into and expect to finish and a few that I’m just starting.

Shows I’m Well Into

One Outs

In the last few years there’s been this trend of manga, anime, and tv shows about gambling, con jobs, and manipulation coming out of Japan. On the anime side, they’re all from the same crew, same voice actors, same studio, etc. The latest is One Outs, about a pitcher named Tokuchi Toua. I’m really enjoying it.

Much like Mahjong Legend Akagi before it, it’s not about the game they’re playing so much as the exchanges that occur while they’re playing. You don’t have to like baseball to get into it, either. I loathe baseball. There is literally, in my opinion, nothing more boring. So if you like a good psychological show, give this one a look.

Michiko to Hatchin

This show has two things I like: A hot chick with big boobs, and subtle show-not-tell character development. Best sentence I’ve written all day, that.

Michiko and Hana pose for a picture against the picturesque desolate highway of Brazil.

Anyway, Michiko to Hatchin introduces us to convicted felon Michiko Malandro and abused foster child Hana. Michiko is busting out of prison (and her shirt, amirite?) to track down a long-lost lover. On the way she stops to rescue Hana from her miserable life. The original thing that attracted me to the show was word of involvement by Shinichiro Watanabe – the mind behind Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, two of my all-time favorites. Instead of directing/producing, though, he’s the music director. Despite that limited involvement, the show has a lot of what I liked about those others. Instead of just telling you that Michiko, for all her bravado and flourish, is fucking miserable, they just show you. There are a lot of nice shots of people just being people. The show also takes place in Brazil (roughly modern day), giving it not only a variety of backdrops but gorgeous ones as well. The art is as much as the characters are watchable.

Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger

I was a Huuuuge fan of the first Hajime no Ippo show, with its 74 episodes, movie, and 90 minute OVA. The mix of action and comedy and slow-growing characters gave it a long life and through all those episodes it rarely dragged.

Now the new series has started, and it feels like I never stopped watching. All my old friends are back, doing what they do. And once again, it’s a mix of great action, solid (if not very penis-centric) comedy, and really memorable characters.

If you watched and enjoyed the first series you’ll definitely like this. If you haven’t, dig around online and you can find the first series in English for something like $5 or $10 a disc for the legit release.

Kemonozume

This show had me by the end of the theme song.

The art is gorgeous and alive, the music is great. The show is definitely adult and not just because it has sex and nudity. Also there’s a funny monkey. If that doesn’t get you, what will?

Soul Eater

Soul Eater has the potential to be the ‘next big thing’ over here. Following in the footsteps of shows like Naruto and Bleach, Soul Eater is essentially a shounen anime. Considering that Naruto and Bleach bored the shit out of me, what keeps me coming back? Well, the show oozes style. Normally it’s not good when one thing oozes another thing, but here I’ll allow it. Constantly cool fight scenes, bright color, and fun characters keep me coming back, as does the occasional Excalibur episode.

After all, he’s from United Kingdom. I’m looking for him, I’m going to California. Excalibur!

 

Astro Fighter Sunred

Hearing a title like Astro Fighter Sunred, you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that it’s a show about this guy.

But, as you might know, I have a penchant for short-form gag anime. Yes, that is the main character, but when you’re so overpowered that the villains have to beg you for a battle, what happens?

Oh right. You turn into this asshole. AFS turns the sentai genre on its head, making the evil organization Florsheim the sympathetic faction. Vamp-sama and his cohort are polite, giving, and generally very Japanese about the way they interact with everyone (not to mention no one seems to notice they’re horrible monsters…). Sunred on the other hand is grumpy, lazy, and generally unpleasant to be around. Despite that, he has a cute girlfriend named Kayoko. She of course adores Vamp-sama and all his friends because they’re so helpful and nice. The show is also strangely food-centric. Almost every episode includes a video about how to make some simple snack. If you want to know how to make some easy Japanese dishes, that’s yet another reason to pick up this weird show.

Shows I’m Just Starting

Valkyria Chronicles

Valkyria Chronicles is the story of a soldier with a tiny sniper that rides on his should—oh wait, that’s not the story at all! No, Valkyria Chronicles is based on the PS3 strategy game of the same name. And it doesn’t suck. How often do you get to say THAT about a video-game anime? Of course, it could quickly slide downhill but signs are good so far. the show nails the look of the game for the most part (though it does manage to soften up some of the side characters’ looks), and brings the same feeling the game held throughout.

The story takes place in a fictional version of Europe, in a neutral nation that just so happens to be stuck between the Allied and Imperial forces and has the largest supply of the much-fought-over resource, Ragnite. Valkyria? Ragn-arock? Yay for random Norse words! Anyway, the main characters get swept up in the war effort and we get an interesting view of war from the point of view of citizens and career soldiers alike.

Guin Saga

Japan’s Conan. That’s the easy description. Guin Saga’s about an amnesiac warrior with a leopard mask fused to his face. So far, he’s protecting a young prince and princess from a nearby kingdom, and also punching dudes so hard that their helmets leaves divots in the trees and start fires.

Guin Saga has been going for years and years in Japan, with over 120 novels published so far. Obviously the anime isn’t going to cover nearly all of what’s out there. However, if it keeps with the low-fantasy style it’s unlikely to turn me away. The little prince on the left there is a total wiener, but his sister is badass. Anyone who likes sword-and-sorcery kind of stories ought to check this out.

 

Queen’s Blade

If playing Dead or Alive Extreme 2 was a guilty pleasure, what is this? Guilty, sure. Of mass murder, molestation, bank robbery, and being a nuisance.

There’s no reason I should like this show. It’s stupid, pandering, tripe. There’s no character development to be had, or even much of a plot. Why do I like this show?

Because it’s hilarious. Spoilers: The first episode ends with the main character hugging the Evil Liquid Bunny Girl until her Acid-Milk-Firing Breasts overload and explode. Watch at your own risk.

In 2001, I started Anime-Empire's fansub of Slam Dunk. Within a few episodes it became my favorite anime, a position it holds to this day. This was, of course, during the infancy of the digital fansub, when you learned about a new series through word of mouth or by poking around in a private FTP server (Torrents? What're those?). Those were tumultuous times indeed. Even an 8+ year-old anime like Slam Dunk could go months between episode releases.

Check out the full article.

When reviewing a long-running shounen series, it becomes difficult to keep saying new things. The characters don't change much from one volume to the next and the forward motion of the plot is often incremental. So without going through the plot point-by-point, what can you say about a story like this? Its simplicity is its strength. Lovable characters, fun art, and great dialogue keep something like this alive. Inoue provides plenty of that in Slam Dunk, and this volume is no different from the first two - in all the right ways.

Check out the full review.

There’s a moment in this volume of Eden when a character is killed. After flipping desperately through the book to see if they could’ve possibly made it out okay, I had to put down the book and choke back tears. I hardly realized it as it happened, but more than perhaps any character—anywhere, really—I’d grown attached.

Despite what the lines that make up the gorgeous art of Eden might suggest, nothing is black and white in the world Elijah Ballard lives in. There aren't many heroes, and very few people - hero or not - last long. Even with this seemingly blatant disregard for human life, death is not something taken lightly, either. Fortunately, for every time we have to say goodbye, there are a few new faces around the corner.

Check out the full review.

If you try to tell someone about Berserk, it’s easy to make it sounds like a mindlessly violent piece of popcorn-gore. This is not the story of a man with a giant sword slicing through everything in his path. It only looks that way at first. Watching the show, though, makes it quickly apparent that the violence is secondary—a result of the story and the characters—rather than the focus. Those characters are the real focus of the show, and they are what make Berserk stand the test of time.

Berserk brings us to the kingdom of Midland, a sort of pastiche European-like nation, stuck in a brutal war with neighboring kingdom Chuder. Between them stands the band of mercenaries known as the Band of the Hawk. Led by the charismatic Griffith, the Hawks (which include a single female soldier, Casca) have been hired on by king of Midland in hopes they’ll live up to their spotless reputation as efficient warriors and make a difference in the interminable war. Even more than being a historical war story, though, Berserk is at core a sort of three-man play, starring Guts, Griffith, and Casca.

Check out the full review.

One of the frustrations I frequently run into with the manga I enjoy is the long periods between releases. Books with as much detail as Vagabond, Blade of the Immortal and Eden aren’t exactly rushed out the door. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it's a bitch on the memory. So on coming back to Eden the characters are not strangers for the most part; I just have to get to know them again. What makes Eden so great is how satisfying that process really is.

The book opens with one of the exciting action scenes that help make Eden one of the best-looking books out there. Cool robots, big guns, and an unflinching eye to the violence of the world. Good cops are torn apart by .50-caliber rounds while a cyborg with a couple big knives is lopping off arms—left and right.

Check out the full review.

When talking about Slam Dunk it's hard not to turn into a blubbering fanboy. Because that's what I am--a complete, rambling fool for Slam Dunk. I've watched the anime twice. I own most of it on DVD, and untranslated to boot. More than almost anything else about the story, that red-head punk Sakuragi Hanamichi is what keeps me coming back, and this volume of the manga really cemented that for me back when I read it for the first time.

Check out the full review.