Overall Rating:

Publisher: ADV Films
Running Time: 100 min
MSRP: 29.98
Ratio: 1.33:1
Region: 1
Release Date: 10/18/2005

If you haven’t guessed from the title, Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok is (very loosely) based on Norse mythology. Odin has become so irritated with trickster god, Loki, he’s banished him to Earth (Midgard). Now trapped in the body of a small boy, he and companion, Yamino, open a detective agency and pursue cases involving the supernatural.

Episode one opens with Mayura, a high school student obsessed with mysteries and the supernatural. She’s heard the old clock tower is haunted and heads out in the middle of the night to investigate. Sure enough, she finds a freaky looking doll that can talk to her and takes it home with her. The next day, she calls up her friends to brag about her new find with visions of fame dancing through her head. Unfortunately, before she can show it to anyone, a cat grabs the doll and jumps out the window, leaving Mayura to hunt the entire day for her new toy.

As she combs through town, she comes across Loki’s detective agency and stops inside. While Loki and Yamino don’t actually agree to help, they do some investigating on their own, and the three are soon reunited at the clock tower where Mayura is in danger. Here, the formula for upcoming episodes begins – something or someone of a supernatural nature causes trouble. Mayura gets caught up in it and Loki and Yamino must save her.

In later episodes, we are introduced to Thor, who has also been banished to Midgard and although ordered to kill Loki, forms a loose alliance with him and Heimdall, another god from Asgard who’s out to kill Loki for taking his eye. Each has certain powers though they seem to be limited by their human bodies.

While the storylines are somewhat cliche, this anime has the cuteness factor going for it. I really enjoyed all the characters’ personalities and want to know more about Loki and Yamino. Mayura is extremely cute and, while she does border on annoying at times, she never quite crosses that line. Thanks to an in depth look into her past in episode 4, we get a great motivator for why she is so obsessed with being a detective. This episode really humanized her for me and gave me hope that the rest of the series will explore the motivations and emotions of other characters.

As mentioned previously, this anime is very loosely based on Norse mythology. Loki is nothing like how I’d expect the Norse character to act. He genuinely seems concerned about Mayura and sincere in questioning why after so long, Odin would come after him. I wonder if later episodes will present is more playful side.

Narugami as Thor is entertaining in the show, but again, nothing like how I picture Thor. It’s difficult to believe that the mighty warrior would be neurotic about keeping a part time job. I do, however, like that they threw in the Heimdall/Loki conflict in the first few episodes. According to Norse mythology, these two gods slay one another at Ragnarok so it will be interesting to see if this rivalry plays out in a similar fashion.

So far, the anime has a lot going for it. From these episodes, we still have no idea why Loki was banished and why Odin now wants him dead. We know that some time ago, Loki took Heimdall’s eye and now he wants revenge. And we know that Odin asked Thor to kill Loki but doesn’t feel he has a good enough reason to do so.

Still, just from watching these episodes, I still have no idea where this anime is going. I’d definitely continue watching this for the characters, but having watched four episodes, I’d like to have some type of story or at least an interesting hook introduced and I don’t feel I’m walking away with that.

Audio/Visual:

My Rating:
I watched this dvd primarily in English. There’s a lot of dialog to this show, but I thought the English cast did a wonderful job of capturing the emotions and personality of the characters. The music is moody and adds to the mysterious atmosphere of the anime.

Visually, this anime looks great, which a vibrant color palette and some interesting animation effects. In the first episode, for instance, whenever Loki senses spirit activity around Mayura, the screen goes grainy. They characters have a traditional yet detailed feel to them while other visuals in the show are striking. In one episode about a possessed doll, just looking at that doll would freak anyone out. She has a lifelike yet otherworldly characteristic to her face.

They do recycle a number of scenes, however. For instance, Loki calls his mythical crescent staff in virtually every episode and you get that magical boy transformation sequence every time. Is that really necessary?

Packaging:

My Rating:
The cover has a lovely illustration of Loki holding his crescent shaped staff and looking very sad. He is framed by golden leaves surrounding a green trimmed window. The logo appears prominently as a crest of arms in the bottom center. On the back, there are six screen shots adorning the right side. A brief summary, headed by the caption, Ah, how the mighty have fallen! fills the rest of the space.

The menu shows a silhouette of a boy with a large wing extending from his back. The background is a blood red and transparent feathers blow around him. There’s also a creepy animation of a half moon that jumps around. The menu options are clearly displayed at the bottom in a gold frame.

Extras:

My Rating:
Extras include a clean opening and closing, an interview with the voice actors who play Loki and Frey and a character design art gallery.

Overall Rating:

Publisher: ADV Films
Running Time: 80 min
MSRP: $29.98
Ratio: 1.85:1
Region: 1
Release Date: 7/5/2005

My Beautiful Girl Mari is a stunning animation from Korea that looks more like a Miyazaki film than Japanese anime or Disney animation. When the movie opens, Nam-woo is in an emotional slump and feels his life is missing something. Out of the blue, his childhood friend, Jun-Ho rings him up and the two spend the evening reminiscing. Jun-Ho is about to leave again, but before he goes, he wanted to return a childhood keepsake, a marble, to Nam-woo. The marble is significant because as children, it was the key to entering a fantastical world and spending time with Nam-woo’s first love, Mari.

A few years ago, Nam-woo and Jun-Ho were best of friends. The story takes place in a small fishing town during the weeks before Jun-Ho will leave to study in Seoul. With summer break creeping up on him, Jun-Ho is having doubts about leaving. There is a girl, Soog-Y, that he likes, and he fears leaving his friends and his current life behind to start fresh.

Meanwhile, Nam-woo is struggling with his own issues. His father died when he was younger and now his mom is seeing a guy, one who wants to spend time with him and take on a more fatherly role. To make matters worse, his grandmother is growing sicker and no one is sure how much time she has left. So Nam-woo spends the majority of his days as an introvert – dreaming in the field by the lighthouse, playing with a stray cat he picked up and hanging with Jun-Ho – to escape.

One day, Nam-woo returns home to find his cat missing so he goes to the nearby lighthouse looking for it. At the top, his marble causes a great spark of light and suddenly, Nam-woo finds himself in a fantasy world with fluffy white clouds, an amazing assortment of plant life, a large pink dog/elephant (I’m not exactly sure what this is – like an elephant but furry and I don’t think it had a trunk) and a strange pink girl named Mari who has the ability to fly.

Much of the story is about how through this fantastical interaction, Nam-woo is able to come to terms with his fear of abandonment and accept that the world cannot stay as it is forever. Eventually, Jun-Ho will leave, his mom might remarry, his grandmother will die, and his beloved lighthouse will be destroyed.

Mari remains very abstract throughout the film. She’s just a concept in Nam-woo’s mind – something for him to hold on to and turn to for guidance, even if it is only temporary. Her world is his escape, yet it is this magical journey that leads him to the inner peace he seeks.

Overall, this is a wonderful animation, worth watching if only for the eye candy. As much of the story is character reflection rather than fight scenes or gags, it probably won’t appeal to everyone, but for those that enjoy high quality animation, it is a must see.

Audio/Visual:

My Rating:
The dvd allows you the choice of Korean with subtitles or English. I switched back and forth but ended up watching the majority in English. Much of the music is instrumental, complementing the feel of the movie. At times, it felt as if the animation was choreographed to the music like in Fantasia, particularly in the water scenes.

Stylistically, this animation is incredible. It is completely 3D generated, yet designed to look like a traditionally animated film so the characters have a very plain appearance while the backgrounds are lush and meticulously detailed. But because it’s 3D, the animators had much greater flexibility to play with camera angles. The result is that the characters move realistically in environments that have a great sense of depth. One excellent example of this is Nam-woo’s cat, which moves like you’d expect a real cat to paw, play, and fidget.

Packaging:

My Rating:
The front cover is a scene out of Mari’s fantasy land with her floating horizontally while looking Nam-woo in the eyes. He’s a bit taken back, leaning away from her and unsure what to do. The back contains a summary in white over tall plant life. Inside, the back of the front cover shows through the clear plastic case, providing a few screenshots and another brief summary of the contents.

The menu is a beautiful illustration of Jun-Ho sleeping on the pink dog/elephant while Nam-woo floats upwards to hook up with Mari. The menu options are in white and displayed clearly.

Extras:

My Rating:
No extras other than the standard previews and credits.

Overall Rating:

Publisher: ADV Films
Running Time: 100 min
MSRP: $29.98
Ratio: 1.78:1
Region: 1
Release Date: 6/7/2005

In the first 4 episodes of Madlax, we were introduced to two main characters from different worlds. In these next episodes, Madlax and Margaret’s stories become intertwined through the mysterious picture book, which may be the key to Margaret’s forgotten past.

Twelve years ago, some grand event happened in Gazth-Sonika that sent the country spiraling into a civil war that hasn’t yet let up. In episode 5, we meet a boy named Chris whom Madlax is assigned to protect. A young idealist, Chris has come to Gazth-Sonika in search of a father he’s never met – one, he’s told, was the head of Galza, the rebel resistance in the civil war. Hot on his trail are Carrossea Doon, an independent contractor working for Enfant, and his hot sniper chic, Limelda Jorg, who has become obsessed with Madlax. Through this episode we learn that Galza isn’t quite what Chris expected but still don’t know what to make of this mystery organization.

Episodes 6-8 focus on the mystery surrounding Margaret’s picture book, dubbed Secondari by Enfant, which is written in a pre-Christian language that only a handful of people in the world can read. Margaret is strangely attracted to this book, which has a weird tendency to bring out the bad side in some of its readers. For instance, when Margaret’s classmate, Lopez, reads a page, his eyes glow and he aggressively demands he and Margaret should go out. Luckily, Elenore and Vanessa arrive just in time and we see Elenore’s super-protective streak shine through as she kicks Lopez’ butt and then breaks his wrist.

As Margaret grows increasingly obsessed with this book, she becomes more curious about the book’s missing pages and decides to hire book sleuth, Eric Gillian, to track down an identical copy. Sure enough, some answers may lie in Gazth-Sonika, so he hires Madlax to accompany him to a remote village where, it is rumored, someone who can read this ancient script resides. Enfant soon learns that he has scanned pages of this coveted book and sends minions after him, but Madlax is worth every cent he’s paying her so he arrives safe and sound.

Thus far, this series has presented a number of key players and mysteries to be unraveled but very few answers. We know 12 years ago, an event happened in Gazth-Sonika that sparked the civil war. Somehow both Margaret and Madlax had something to do with this event but neither can remember. There’s also the mystery of this picture book, Secondari, and the words running through the series – ‘Elda Taluda’ and ‘Sarks Sarks’ – which are obviously meaningful and seem to have the power to make people go berserk. Why is Enfant so interested in this? In addition, there’s the ghostly girl and boy from another dimension who mutters cryptic sayings about the truth but rarely interacts with our main characters. Finally, just how are Madlax and Margaret intertwined? Given the nature of the series, we know they must be, but why and how?

With so many unanswered questions, Madlax is both engaging and a bit frustrating. Trying to get a big picture of the story and the motivations of each of the characters just leaves you confused. But it is very pretty with lots of intensity and action, so on some level you have to take on faith that future episodes will shed some light on just what is going on.

Audio/Visual:

My Rating:
I watched this mostly in English, though I think Margaret comes off as slighly more clueless in the English dub. The dialog in both is clean with music from Yuki Kajiura cued in at appropriate times. Action scenes are animated to her classic techno style music, while other scenes get more somber melodies.

The animation is quite lovely – with some beautiful sunset action shots set to vivid pinks, purples, and oranges. Other scenes are darker, complementing the bizarre twists the story throws at you.

Packaging:

My Rating:
Madlax sits casually in the foreground of the front cover cradling a rifle and staring at a flower. She looks lost in her own world – a nice depiction of the conflicting roles Madlax plays within the series. Behind her, Limelda Jorg looms behind her with her hand on her pistol. A yellow flower offsets her dark appearance.

The menu options are overlaid over faded movie clips. A smaller clip of the opening sequence in brown plays below the episode choices.

Extras:

My Rating:
Along with the basic extras that have become fairly standard – the clean opening and closing sequence, dvd preview and credits – we get a number of design sketches, some unused opening animation footage, and Japanese promo spots. Also included is a section called Conversations with SSS, which takes various frames of animation and dubs alternative dialog, making for some humorous moments.

Overall Rating:

Publisher: ADV Films
Running Time: 100 min
MSRP: $29.98
Ratio: 1.78:1
Region: 1
Release Date: 4/12/2005

Even without the headlines that blatantly state that this anime was made by the creators of Noir, you’d have to be blind not to notice the similarities between the two. From cover art to character designs to the use of Yuki Kajiura’s trademark music, Madlax imitates much of the stuff that Noir got right.

Madlax is a sexy, blonde-haired assassin chic with a playful, laid back personality. Yet unlike Mireille, who exuded seriousness at all times, Madlax is flirtatious and seems to really enjoy interacting with others. Margaret, on the other hand, not only looks like Kirika, but has a dark past she can’t remember. An innocent high school girl lost in a dream she can’t quite wake from, Margaret comes off as an introvert who wants to befriend others if she could. Presumably, the two will meet up, but that doesn’t happen on this disc. Instead, the creators choose to introduce a number of story threads off the bat, leaving viewers wondering where this is all going.

The story takes place during a time of turmoil – a political battle is raging between militant groups and the government, so there’s much bloodshed. We get a taste of this conflict in the first episode, Gun Dance, when Madlax is asked to retrieve a disk containing data that has fallen into rebel hands. Throughout the episode, we never really know which side Madlax is working for, even as she befriends one of the rebels and shoots a number of soldiers, but it doesn’t really matter. This is Madlax’s grand introduction and she makes the most of it by sky diving out of a helicopter and shooting up the local army without chipping a nail. You know the equation: female + gun = invincible.

In the second episode, Red Moon, we’re introduced to Margaret, an orphan aristocrat living with her maid, Elenore and learn that something terrible happened to her in the past but she doesn’t remember what. Foreshadowing points to red shoes, rain, and a bloodstained picture book her father gave her. As she goes about her daily routine, she meets former neighbor, Vanessa, who not only knows about Margaret’s past but works for a large corporation that collects pricy artifacts.

In the third episode, Blue Moon, we learn more about the political situation when a high ranking officer orders his own assassination and Madlax takes on the job. Here, we learn more about Madlax’s personality as she scopes out her sniper point and then she goes to visit her target just to converse the night before the killing. What makes this interesting is how calm Madlax is – she’s genuinely interested in other people’s motivations and seems to detest pointless violence.

Episode four, Enticement, further shrouds us in mystery as we follow a detective who is investigating the mysterious murder/suicide of a young girl named Anne, who was a classmate of Margaret, and her father, who was involved in some shady government deals. This episode complicates our already complex storylines by introducing yet another thread – that of Enfant, a super secret crime organization that can hack into people’s brains using repeating computer code to completely brainwash them.

And finally, there’s the ongoing commentary throughout each of these episodes by an emotionless girl who sits in a post-apocalyptic world with her mute brother and says cryptic things about things that will supposedly come to pass.

So, after watching the first 4 episodes, I still have no idea what is going on, how anyone relates to one another, or where this is going. That said, these four have laid the foundation for what could become a complex and intriguing storyline. It will be interesting to see how future episodes place the pieces.

Audio/Visual:

My Rating:

I alternated between the English dub and the original Japanese, finding both to be very good quality. The dialog in both is clean with music from Yuki Kajiura cued in at appropriate times. Action scenes are animated to her classic techno style music, while other scenes get more somber melodies.

The animation is quite lovely – with some beautiful sunset action shots set to vivid pinks, purples, and oranges. Other scenes are darker, complementing the bizarre twists the story throws at you.

Packaging:

My Rating:
Heavily influenced by Noir, two girls resembling Kirika and Mireille stand against a white background, one with her gun pointed and ready to shoot, the other with her back to us and looking over her shoulder as a pages of a tattered book fly off in the distance. From the Creators of Noir is proudly written across the top.

The back has four strips in the shape of an s – 2 with brief character bios of the anime’s two main characters, Madlax and Margaret, and the other 2 with screenshots from the dvd. Again, the packaging makes clear that this is from the creative minds behind Noir.

The insert is a four page folded booklet with a mirror of the cover art on the front, two interviews from producer Shigeru Kitayama and screenplay writer Yosuke Kuroda inside, and the names of the four episodes on the back.

The menu options are overlaid over faded movie clips. A smaller clip of the opening sequence in brown plays below the episode choices.

Extras:

My Rating:
Along with the basic extras that have become fairly standard – the clean opening and closing sequence, dvd preview and credits – we get a number of design sketches, some unused opening animation footage, and Japanese promo spots. Also included is a section called Conversations with SSS, which takes various frames of animation and dubs alternative dialog, making for some humorous moments.

Overall Rating:

Publisher: Geneon
Running Time: 75 min
MSRP: $29.98
Ratio: 1.78:1
Region: 1
Release Date: 7/5/2005

Rumiko Takahashi is best known for Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha. What most people don’t know is that she does a number of other series that focus on horror and suspense. Mermaid Forest is one of them.

Mana, a 15 year old girl who lives in a village of women, dreams of leaving and seeing the world. Her caretaker, Nana, has other plans for her. When she was a small girl, Nana bound Mana’s feet together so she’d never be able to escape on her own. Now Nana keeps her a prisoner in her own house with no explanation for her actions.

One day, a mysterious young man named Yuta journeys towards the village in search of the legendary mermaids. About 500 years ago, he ate mermaid flesh – an elixir for eternal youth – and has sought to return to normal ever since.

When Yuta comes upon the village, the old women attack him with spears, fatally wound him, and toss him into a nearby cave full of monsters to die. But Yuta quickly recovers and confronts the women, finds and rescues Mana, and learns more about the secrets of the mermaids and their flesh – that only a lucky few can eat mermaid flesh and gain eternal life. Most die or turn into hideous monsters called Deformed Ones. But the mermaids have another secret – they must eat the flesh of a human to maintain their human form and live on land.

This short, 3 episode dvd tells the story of how Yuta meets and rescues Mana and thus begins their adventures together. During the 2-part 2nd and 3rd episodes, we learn some back story about Yuta including how he met the woman he loved, Rin, and how they were fated to part because of his eternal life. If only he can learn of a way to reverse his curse of eternal life, he can grow old with Rin.

Mermaid Forest is a departure from the comedy of Ranma ½ and the epic adventure of Inuyasha in that it focuses on darker themes like cannibalism, heart ache, and what some people will do for eternal youth. The character designs still fit into her classic drawing style, but they feel older, perhaps because they don’t play into the slapstick comedy of her other anime. Yuta, for instance, carries a somberness about him that if only he could re-attain a typical human life style, his life could be complete. His journey is a search for fulfillment.

If you’re a fan of Takahashi’s other stuff, Mermaid Forest is worth checking out. Those that aren’t big Ranma or Inuyasha fans may still find something here. Takahashi is a wonderfully talented storyteller and Mermaid Forest shows that she can step outside her typical genres and excel.

Audio/Visual:

My Rating:

I watched this primarily in English. The dialog is clean and the dub stays fairly accurate to its Japanese counterpart.

The character designs have many classically Takahashi elements – for instance, females have the characteristic triangular face, big eyes, and flowing hair. The colors palette sticks with darker tones – blues and grays – to add to the seriousness.

Packaging:

My Rating:
The front cover has a picture of Mana looking forward and a side profile of Yuta who stands behind her and holds a long sword. The backdrop is a watery surface with a golden mermaid tail profiling them. The back cover contains a brief synopsis and 8 screenshots.

The menu contains a picture of Yuta and Mana to the left. The menu options sit on the right, swaying with the ripples in the background water – which does make them difficult to read at points. The background contains a transparent profile of Mana over blue water, which also sways in time with the menu.

Extras:

My Rating:
There is only a production art gallery included on the disc.

Overall Rating:

Publisher: Media Blasters
Running Time: 37 min
MSRP: $19.95
Ratio: 1.85:1
Region: 1
Release Date: 5/10/2005

I’m not sure exactly what they were going for in Blame, but from these short six episodes, I can’t say I walked away with much. This is an experimental scifi piece that is more likely to leave you scratching your head than pondering any deep philosophical meaning.

Luckily, the summary on the back tells you virtually all you need to know about the plot. Sometime in the far future, silicon creatures have taken over the universe and thrown everything into your typical drab, post-apocalyptic setting of pipes, random technology, and broken things. To survive, humans went underground and now they are trying to find a way to take back their world.

It’s hard to pick out anything else from the jumbled dialog that plagues the animation. There seems to be a cryptic duplicating device called the Mega-Structure that is replicating out of control and could destroy the universe if not stopped in time. There’s also something of a warped internet called the Net-sphere, which humans with a certain genetic make up can tap into. These special genes may also be helpful in shutting off the Mega Structure’s continual growth.

The main character of the anime is Killy, a pale guy who wields a prototype gun that can actually kill Silicon Creatures, something that apparently is very difficult to do. He is seen randomly throughout the six episodes and by the last few starts interacting with a scientist chic named Cibo. There’s still no semblance of story but the two do go head to head with a mean looking insect bot.

If you’re looking for story or character development, this isn’t for you. If you don’t care about flow or scenes that feel out of sequence and can just watch an anime for its edgy artwork and industrial music, then give this a try. It’s almost like an anime music video with some really odd dialog mixed in. And if you still don’t get it, you’ve only wasted 37 minutes of your life.

Audio/Visual:

My Rating:
The only language track included is the Japanese with English subtitles. There’s not a lot of dialog throughout and that which is there is pretty confusing. The episodes consist of short vignettes, each prefaced with themed industrial/techno music accompanying the opening credits.

Stylistically, this piece is pretty choppy, feeling a lot like a manga with a few frames added to animate the parts in between. There’s not a lot of motion, with the animators choosing to cut quickly from still frame to still frame. A number of scenes choose to animate something in the background like a flowing tube rather than the characters, who often appear as silhouettes. In terms of colors, the pallet is limited to dark and dreary colors with splashes of reds thrown in for violence.

Packaging:

My Rating:
The front cover has a nice looking picture of main character, Killy, clad in a black suit with red trimmings. He stands in front of white broken beams and a blue sketched background.

The menu is not in English. Rather it lists a bunch of Japanese symbols to the left side of a computer screen. Clicking on most of the options takes you to an ‘escape’ screen with no content. If you feel so inclined to explore all possibilities, a task that takes forever due to the slow load times and impossible to read text, you will find an episode selection, a languages screen, and an extremely difficult to navigate art gallery

Extras:

My Rating:
This disc does include about 24 production stills, arranged in blocks of 2 so you can’t actually scroll through all of them at once.

Overall Rating:

Publisher: Geneon Entertainment
Running Time: 100 min
MSRP: $29.98
Ratio: 1.77:1
Region: 1
Release Date: 5/22/2007

Based on the manga by Rei Hiroe, Black Lagoon is a high profile, 24 episode anime series split into two seasons. I’ve never read the manga, so I knew nothing going into this anime, but was pleasantly surprised at the high quality animation and voice acting.

Rokuro Okajima lives the life of a typical Japanese business man. He writes reports, goes on business trips, and, in general, does whatever his superiors ask of him. Little does he know just how much his life would change when pirates hijack the ship he is on, steal top secret information from his company, and take him hostage.

The pirates that take Okajima hostage are members of an operation called Lagoon, based in Thailand and headed by a burly, black man named Dutch (aka Black Lagoon). Initially, Dutch has two crew members. Revy is a spunky, trash talking, young woman who had a difficult childhood. Now, she’s the crew’s gunman and is better than the Noir girls at killing without taking a scratch. Benny, on the other hand, is a laid back computer geek who left university life in Florida after causing issues with the FBI and other organizations. Together, the three make money running odd jobs for anyone who’s willing to pay them.

Okajima soon realizes that being taken hostage is a change at a second life, one far removed from his yuppie yet subservient lifestyle in Tokyo. When his boss asks him to sacrifice himself so that the data he’s carrying is never made public, Okajima quickly realizes he’s playing a game of survival where he’s the pawn. Tired of always taking orders from others, Okajima decides to regain control of his life once and for all and join up with the crew as Rock.

Rock soon learns how dangerous life can be on the open seas but the rush of adrenaline that adventure brings with it makes him feel more alive than he’s ever been. During the day, the crew spends their time in shady towns looking for work or doing jobs for their main client Balalaika, a powerful Russian mafia leader who pays well but isn’t well liked on the underground crime scene. Their work consists of anything from making deliveries to recovering lost antiques from the depths of the ocean floor.

After four episodes, I thought that the story had potential, but it didn’t pick up momentum as quickly as it could have. These initial episodes primarily introduce the characters and show us a snapshot of daily life as a Lagoon member – which so far consists of a major shoot ‘em up in each episode.

One of the most interesting thing to watch has been Rock’s gradual transformation from whiny business man to pirate. By episode four, he’s still wearing traditional business suits and ties, which annoys Revy to no end. She’s already purchased more laid back clothes for him, including a Hawaiian shirt he refuses to wear.

Madhouse has done a phenomenal job with the animation. The characters are drawn realistically. Backgrounds are highly detailed and characters in the background will occasionally move. Scenes vary widely from fast paced gun battles to open water and underground scenes to town life.

The voice acting is excellent as well. This is one anime where I think the English is just as good as the Japanese. As pirates, the crew doesn’t pull punches and Revy has quite a mouth on her. She makes insulting Rock a pastime throughout the anime – and yes, they do swear and use more adult language at points.

Finally, there are the theme songs. The industrial-techno opening theme is sung in English and the lyrics foreshadow the high paced action and in-your-face dialog that the anime delivers. Then, interestingly, the closing theme is a somber, instrumental tune that’s combined with footsteps in the sand to give you time to cool down after all the action as you might when exercising.

Overall, I felt the show was extremely well done, though extremely episodic and not very original – The story is about a group of rogue pirates who take on odd jobs for cash. I’m sure you’ve seen the premise before. But the characters are interesting and the animation and voice acting are quite good, so if you like action anime, you’ll probably find this isn’t bad.

Overall Rating:

Publisher: Geneon Entertainment
Running Time: 125 min
MSRP: $24.95
Ratio: 1.78:1
Region: 1
Release Date: 4/19/05

Kyo Kara Maoh is a zany mixture of comedy, fantasy, shonen-ai, and baseball that adds up to one of the funniest anime I’ve seen in awhile. 15 year old Yuri Shibuya has spent much of his younger years being teased about his feminine-sounding name. To cope, he developed quick defenses that eventually led him into trouble – he was kicked off the school baseball team for punching the coach during a game. Now in high school, he goes about his daily life trying to keep a low profile and longing for the day when he might redeem himself and rejoin the team.

One day, he sees a bunch of bullies ganging up on an old classmate and his sense of justice compels him to take action. Yuri stands up for the kid and ends up being dragged into the women’s bathroom and getting his head flushed down the toilet. Then, suddenly a strange thing happens. Things go dark and he is sucked down into the toilet hole. When he awakens, he’s in another world.

Yuri stumbles around this new world wondering why he’s now in a theme park where everyone dresses in medieval clothes and speaks a different language. Luckily, a man named Adelbert arrives, squeezes his head tightly, and magically, he is able to understand what people are saying. The villagers, however, aren’t sure what to make of this oddly dressed boy, and soon rumors spread that he’s the one they’ve been waiting for. Yes, it’s a tongue-in-cheek parody of cliché fantasy and ridiculously funny.

Not long after, a man named Conrart (aka Conrad) arrives and demands that Adelbert hand over Yuri, who is still clueless to what’s going on. After some negotiations between the two rivals, Yuri ends up with Conrad and is taken to a castle where he greeted as a king of the Demon Kingdom and its people, the demon tribe.

Soon, Yuri meets up with the cast of characters – Conrad, a human who has been Yuri’s unseen guardian on Earth, his two brothers, Wolfram, a bratty blonde kid who takes an immediate dislike to Yuri, and Gwendal, the one running the royalty’s affairs, and Gunter, an unrelated and very pretty man who gushes over Yuri and will become his guardian and biggest fan – and learns his fate: that he is to become the new Demon King.

1 – Flushed Into an Alternate World
This episode sets up the story with Yuri’s first appearance in the Demon Kingdom and how he learns of his fate.

2 – Duel! Hot Boy vs Baseball Boy
Because Yuri doesn’t know the customs of this foreign land, he makes a number of faux pas at dinner including slapping Wolfram across the face (the way to propose marriage to someone) and picking up a knife (the way to request a duel). Wolfram accepts angrily while Gwendal thinks this is a great opportunity to settle the dispute whether Yuri really is the chosen Demon King so the duel is on.

3 – Yuri Shibuya! I AM the Demon King!
Now that Yuri has transformed for the first time, he’s growing to accept that he may just be the Demon King. This is confirmed as he learns more about his family history.

4 – What’s Next? The Ultimate Weapon?
The animosity between the demon tribe and the humans has escalated to the brink of war. Yuri believes there must be another way. There is – to retrieve the ultimate weapon in a land far away.

5 – Sailors and a Spoiled Brat
Yuri, Wolfram and Conrad set off into enemy territories in search of the ultimate weapon by boat.

Overall, this is a great introduction to this 39 (?) episode series. We learn quite a bit about the customs of both worlds and how Yuri’s mind operates – that if he feels something is wrong, he will do everything in his power to make it right. Also, while there are shonen-ai elements, the references aren’t blatant. Yuri isn’t exactly thrilled to be engaged to a man, while Wolfram comes to accept his status as Yuri’s betrothed and takes the role quite serious. I’m looking forward to seeing how this one continues.

Audio/Visual:

My Rating:

I watched this primarily in Japanese, though I did not mind the English dub and occasionally switched between the two. Dialog is clear in both. The opening song is a pop song with male vocals accompanying a punk guitar riff and a catchy beat.

The visuals are crisp with vibrant colors and presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Landscapes are detailed and painted beautifully. The anime does an excellent job with character design, as each character has a distinct personality and attitude that comes through nicely in their actions. The transformation of Yuri into the Demon Lord is done well – his hair gets longer, his voice deeper, and his mannerisms become much more authoritative.

Packaging:

My Rating:
The front cover is a portrait of five of our main characters against a royal purple backdrop. Yuri Shibuya poses with his back to us and the Kyo Kara Maoh logo written over his butt. The rest of the bishonen men pose in character – with Conrad ready to draw his sword and strike. Wolfram broods in the background while Gunter has a look of awe on his face and Gwendal stands with crossed arms behind them. The back cover is also purple with a basic summary and a few screen shots. The insert is a replica of the front cover with a list of episode titles framed by a few screen shots on the back.

The menu is a washed out brownish portrait of a castle as if it were painted on an old scroll. In the center, is an 8 pointed star with portraits of each of the characters. It spins along with the fantastical, epic music with opera-like vocals and a marching beat. The menu is set up for easy navigation with clearly marked menu choices on either side of the center pinwheel.

Extras:

My Rating:
There aren’t many extras on this dvd. The highlight is the character data, which gives a quick biographical sketch of each of the main 9 characters that pop up throughout these 5 episodes. There is also a textless opening, Geneon previews, and DVD credits.

Overall Rating:

Publisher: Geneon Entertainment
Running Time: 125 min
MSRP: $29.98
Ratio: 1.78:1
Region: 1
Release Date: 5/31/2005

Staying true to its original premises, Koi Kaze continues its exploration into the blossoming romance between two siblings, Nanoka and Koshiro, at two totally different stages in their lives.

Newly single, Koshiro is an emotional mess. Ironically, he works as a relationship counselor, though he’s never connected emotionally with anyone in his life. That’s one of the reasons he sticks with his job – so that one day he might laugh and cry like everyone else. And, of course, there’s the fact that he’s attracted to his sister in a very un-brotherly way.

Nanoka, on the other hand has just transferred to a new high school where she’s trying to fit in and at that awkward age where she’s starting to notice boys. There’s a boy she seems to like but stumbles through conversations with and another that writes her a love letter but she questions just what hanging out with him might mean.

Episodes 5-9 explore these themes in an in-your-face way. As the story plays out, we get a very personal look at Koshiro’s inner dialog as he tries to rationalize what’s happening to him emotionally. On one hand, he is riddled with guilt because his sister turns him on. On the other, there’s no way this relationship could ever be consummated. So, what should he do?

Initially, he lashes out at Nanoka for what she perceives to be no reason. For instance, episode 5 picks up the morning after Nanoka walked in on Koshiro sniffing her bra. Later that night, he jerked off. Now, he learns that Nanoka emptied the waste basket where he left his used tissue. Embarrassed and suspicious that Nanoka may suspect something (she doesn’t), he angrily reprimands her for going into his room without permission.

Yes, at 27, Koshiro is virtually inept at relating to someone emotionally – so much so I have to wonder what made his ex stick around for so long. It seems that whenever Koshiro is uncomfortable, he becomes outraged and can only attack – even when he knows in his mind that he’s being unreasonable.

Yet, the outward anger only adds to his guilt. At one point, dad calls him at the office and asks if he can pick up Nanoka so he can finish getting stuff together for her birthday party. Suddenly, Koshiro thinks this is his golden opportunity to start fresh and make things right with his sister – and hopefully, to wash away his nagging guilt.

But even after Koshiro musters an apology – clearly a difficult task, given that he can’t even admit he bought the flowers he’s holding as Nanoka’s birthday present – he is unable to wipe the slate clean. This becomes more apparent when he sees Nanoka walking home from school with a boy. Jealousy wells up inside him and he loses control of his emotions. Aggressively, he pulls her away, picks a fight, and accidentally lets it slip that he thinks she’s cute.

Still, Nanoka isn’t sure what to think of Koshiro. Most of the time he is awkward, angry, or avoiding her, but occasionally he reveals a softer side. I think initially, she was completely oblivious that Koshiro thought more of her than just a cute little sister – the revelation that he finds her cute catches her completely off guard. She always wanted a brother, and now, as much as she tries to break his shell, he’s still as intimidating as he was before their parents divorced.

One of the more interesting subplots takes place when Koshiro visits his mother, whom he hasn’t seen in years, and must deal with family memories. Here, we see how he reacted to his new sister after being an only child for so long and his parents’ separation when he left with dad and Nanoka stayed with mom. Mom also reveals how excited Nanoka was to go live with him after all these years – something he finds discomforting.

I’m extremely impressed with how Koi Kaze handles this delicate situation, emphasizing the psychological elements and keeping the mood serious. Unlike most anime, it is completely character driven, focusing on the emotions and interactions of the two main characters, yet it never gets boring or goes too far. I watched these 5 episodes straight through, and by the time I was done, I could feel the heaviness hanging over me.

After 9 episodes, I still highly recommend this series. The anime tiptoes that line between intense and overwhelming that keeps you hooked and wanting to know how in the world they can possibly resolve this conflict. I’m looking forward to seeing the conclusion.

Audio/Visual:

My Rating:
I watched this primarily in Japanese, though I did switch to the English dub throughout the episodes. Both are good, though I preferred Nanoka’s voice in the Japanese to her younger sounding English equivalent, but I didn’t notice any problems with either.

While the anime is primarily dialog driven, the piano-driven instrumental score beautifully accentuates the developing tension between Koshiro and Nanoka.

The animation maintains the pastel color scheme and water color feel of the packaging. Unfortunately, it seems to suffer from budget constraints. A handful of key scenes are extremely well drawn, while other scenes suffer from simplistic character features and stiff walk cycles.

Packaging:

My Rating:
The front cover is an upwards shot of Nanoka, her back to us, with a worried look on her face and looking over her shoulders. Further into the classroom, two of Nanoka’s friends laugh. The back has a paragraph summary, a few character shots and an episode list. Inside, the insert provides the five episode titles with the cover art of Nanoka placed in the top right corner. The back lists the release dates for the other two volumes.

The menu is gorgeous with Nanoka painted in a similar style as the cover art. Cherry blossoms fly out of her hands and over several revolving scenes from the movie to her upper right. Below the scenes are easy to read menu selections, and playing in the background is a lovely instrumental piece with piano accompaniment.

Extras:

My Rating:
Extras include a promo trailer, commercial collections, a textless ending, and the usual previews and dvd credits.

Overall Rating:

Publisher: Geneon Entertainment
Running Time: 100 min
MSRP: 29.98
Ratio: 1.78:1
Region: 1
Release Date: 03/08/2005

When I first heard about the brother/sister love dynamic in Koi Kaze, I was skeptical (and a bit uncomfortable) with the premises but I decided to give this a try. I’m glad I did. Koi Kaze adds an interesting twist to the tired forbidden love genre of anime and is definitely worth watching.

Twenty-seven year old Koshiro has been living with his father since his parents’ divorce. While he occasionally sees his mother, it’s been years since he’s seen his fifteen year old sister, Nanoka, so his life is thrown into disarray when his father reveals that Nanoka will be coming to live with them when she starts high school.

To make matters worse, Koshiro’s girlfriend decides to end their relationship. Her departing words focus on how unemotional he is – as if nothing ever fazes him. She wonders if he’s ever truly loved someone with all his heart. The comment startles him – he’s never thought about it before – and this becomes a point of contemplation throughout the anime.

The first episode begins one morning on the commuter train when Koshiro spots a young high school girl drop her school ID as she exits the car. He picks it up and runs after her. The two share a moment on the train platform as they notice the blooming cherry blossoms before going their separate ways.

By chance, they meet again outside the office building of Koshiro’s client. After Nanoka again thanks Koshiro for returning her ID, the two decide to spend a few hours together at the amusement park across the street.

Here, the tension between them builds as the two share an innocent moment on the ferris wheel. Both have recently been dumped and are feeling pretty bad. Nanoka admits that she recently found the courage to tell a long time crush how she felt. The feelings were unrequited and now they’ll be going to different high schools so she won’t see him anymore. When she wishes she could just forget everything about him, Koshiro counters that she shouldn’t talk like that. Her feelings seem so pure, so innocent to him. She should treasure them.

Suddenly, tears form in Koshiro’s eyes and he can’t hold his emotions in any longer. Nanoka comforts him by placing her hand on his head – the way his mother did when he was younger – and this moment will haunt Koshiro through the rest of the anime.

As the two walk home, they bump into their father who introduces the two as siblings. Of course, they’re shocked, and the next three episodes focus on Koshiro’s attempt to come to terms with his new living situation.

In episode 2, Spring Blue, Nanoka is excited about the two growing closer as siblings. Koshiro immediately tries to distance himself while he tries to sort out his feelings and demands she not call him onii-chan.

By episode 3, Balmy Breeze, Koshiro allows Nanoka to call him onii-chan and begins playing the role of the concerned big brother. Here, he accompanies her on a late night walk when she’s feeling sick and even picks her up at the train station when he thinks she’s forgotten her umbrella.

Finally, in episode 4, Summer Shower, Koshiro takes Nanoka to the movies where he runs into his ex. After the movie, he ditches his little sis to explain his actions to his ex. Here, we get a sense of what their relationship was like and what his motivations were for staying in the relationship.

While nothing explicit happens in the first four episodes, there are elements that could blossom into more. The anime sets up a number of interesting dynamics that it could explore such as the brother/sister relationship, how each are at such different life stages, the age difference, and Koshiro’s mixed emotions for Nanoka.

On the other hand, Nanoka is struggling with fitting in – both at home and in school – rather than dealing with unwanted feelings of love for her brother. She wants a close sibling relationship and a normal high school experience, so it will be interesting to see how she reacts to her brother’s mixed emotions.

So far, the storytelling is superb, with excellent pacing and character development, and nothing about this complex ordeal has felt forced. The interactions are handled with maturity, rather than with over-the-top comedy or violence. There also is a fair share of tension-breaking comedy thrown in, including dad as the overprotective father and Koshiro’s coworker as a desperate man dying to date a teenage girl.

Audio/Visual:

My Rating:

I watched this primarily in Japanese, though I did switch to the English dub throughout the first two episodes. Both are good, though I preferred Nanoka’s voice in the Japanese to her younger sounding English equivalent, and I didn’t notice any problems with either.

While the anime is primarily dialog driven, the piano-driven instrumental score beautifully accentuates the developing tension between Koshiro and Nanoka.

The animation maintains the pastel color scheme and water color feel of the packaging. Unfortunately, it seems to suffer from budget constraints. A handful of key scenes are extremely well drawn, while other scenes suffer from simplistic character features and stiff walk cycles.

Packaging:

My Rating:
The cover image has a lovely image of Nanoka in her school uniform rushing towards us as cherry blossoms bud around her. Her expression, though vague, seems to be one of happy anticipation. The back has a few screen shots from the show, the four episode titles, and a brief synopsis. Both are done in pastel colors. Inside, the insert provides the four episode titles with the cover art of Nanoka placed in the top right corner. The back lists the release dates for the final two volumes in May and July, 2005.

The menu is gorgeous with Nanoka painted in a similar style as the cover art. Cherry blossoms fly out of her hands and over several revolving scenes from the movie to her upper right. Below the scenes are easy to read menu selections, and playing in the background is a lovely instrumental piece with piano accompaniment.

Extras:

My Rating:
There aren’t many extras on this dvd – a clean opening, the opening with Japanese text, dvd credits and upcoming previews.