Golgo 13: The Professional

As I mentioned before, in my review of Judge, there are certain anime series out there that walk the line between highbrow films and lowbrow trash. And Golgo 13: The Professional is another prime example. Sure there's gratuitous sex scenes, explicit violence, and just tons of trashy scenes, but the way it's all put together really shows some great style and sophistication. It is only when one glances at the director, that this starts to make sense. Golgo 13 was directed by none other then Osamu Dezaki. And he brings his personal style to this film, which really adds to the overall production. Dezaki often uses triple takes, dramatic pauses, and other innovative techniques in the movie. And while in the 10 episode OVA series of Black Jack this became a little annoying after awhile (although still very cool), in a feature film that clocks in at just under an hour and a half this works out perfectly. It never has the time to become tiresome or boring.


Well I guess I should get on to what the film is about. Golgo 13: The Professional is the first anime adoption of the long running manga series of the same name by Takao Saito (kind of...). It's a popular Seinen manga, well known in Japan that's been running for over 40 years now. The manga is entirely episodic, with no overarching storyline, and very few returning characters besides Golgo himself. Golgo (also known as Duke Togo ) is an assassin-for-hire, one of the best in the world, and the stories in the manga often depict him either killing someone for a client with his patented and personalized M16 sniper rifle, or staying one step ahead of someone who's trying to kill him. The movie combines both aspects of this into one. Golgo is hired to kill the son of a wealthy oil tycoon, and accomplishes this job with ease. But the oil tycoon, Leonard Dawson, devastated by watching his son die in front of him, vowes to get revenge. He will kill Duke Togo, the man who murdered his son, if it's the last thing he does. He hires thugs, goons, and other assassins to kill Duke. He even manages to use his power and influence to weasel the U.S. Army, the FBI, and the CIA into helping him kill Duke Togo. The most interesting person trying to kill Duke is the mutant named Snake. And it's no fun at all to describe him to you. As he is without a doubt the best part of the entire movie. So you're just going to have to watch this film and see why he is such a great (and truly insane) character. His fight with Duke in the elevator is one of my all time favorite fight scenes, PERIOD. It's just something everyone should see! For those paying attention, and not just watching for the excellent fight scenes (and/or the sex scenes) there is a great twist in the end, which helps explain a lot about Leonard Dawson's motives. The movie is a testosterone trip. In essence all this movie does is alternate between huge manly man duking it out with Golgo and Golgo screwing all the hot chicks (and he even keeps that same smug expression on his face while screwing them!). But it's not done in a way were the plot is completely horrible, and I respect that. I hate it when terrible writing works its way into these types of films. All of this fighting is completely over-the-top of course, but that's a good thing here. And although the story is decent, and the fight scenes amazing, it's the characters that make the film. We may learn very little about Golgo, but he still manages to be an interesting character. He's incredibly skilled with all types of weapons, and can kill people faster then you can say their name. He's completely unemotional, has no qualms about killing ANYONE, and is just down right cool. Not to mention just his character existing raises questions about why anyone would ever want to be an assassin in the first place. What type of life can you live when your job is killing people for cold hard cash? Leonard Dawson's need for revenge helps make the character even more fascinating then he otherwise would have been. He has almost unlimited resources, and an incredible amount of power, yet his failure to kill Duke time and time again only makes his will stronger. I have to have at least an ounce of respect for someone so determined. There is a great scene later in the movie that shows just how far he is willing to go to get his revenge, but I won't spoil this. And although it paints the character in terrible light, it makes him all the more interesting. Some of the other assassins like Gold and Silver are also quite intriguing. But as I said before, Snake is amazing! Watch the movie for Snake, and Snake alone and you will not be disappointed. He is easily one of my all time favorite villains. And the leaders of the CIA, FBI and US Army are also quite nuts, and interesting to watch. I like to watch the little bickering between each of them. As for the women, they are all immensely beautiful, and pretty cool people. I wouldn't call them all "likeable" but they are at the very least a little sympathetic.

TMS Entertainment, famouse for the Lupin III and Case Closed/Detective Conan series, animated Golgo 13: The Professional. The artwork in this movie is unique. Nothing else out there looks quite like this. It's cinematic, and yet looks like it's straight out of the pages of some gritty underground western comic book at the same time. The character designs are all very well done. Each person looks completely different from one another, and you can tell a lot of work went into each and every character. Again the style of character designs makes the movie seem cinematic, yet gritty and decrepit. And the characters look like they could easily have come from the original manga (well the better character designs from the manga at least. The Golgo 13 manga is known for having some poor art now and again depending on who is drawing it at the time). The girls are all smoking hot, the men real manly men, and Snake...is Snake. The backgrounds are incredibly detailed for such an old film, and everything looks wonderful together. It's just all very nice too look at. Sure everything is dirty, old, and dark, but it's done in a way that it looks great when it all comes together. It really helps build an atmosphere. Then you have all the different camera angles used, that really help the film ground the audience. We understand how we should feel during each scene. Dezaki is a master at making anything look dramatic, and this film was the perfect chance for him to showcase his talents. Just the way Dezaki and his team animate certain scenes, like an explosion, or a car chase, really can manage to get the audience excited. This is a well made action movie, from top to bottom. The animation is stunning for such an old film. The budget on this must have been through the roof. And let's not forget the CGI. Golgo 13: The Professional was one of the first anime movies to use 3-D CGI (Computer Generated Images). And although it's only used for one scene, it has to be mentioned. This film came out in 1983, and for that time period I can't believe that this was even possible. I can't even imagine how much money this one scene must have cost. It's comparable to (early) PlayStation 1 or Nintendo 64 graphics. Which is not to say it's very good. While years ahead of it's time, it looks very cheesy, and it's hard to believe that it ever looked very good. In fact I don't think this ever looked all that nice to whoever was watching the movie. As the CGI and traditional animation don't mix at all, and it looks like two completely different shows, just cutting back and forth between each other. But despite it looking cheesy, despite it not mixing at all, I think like it (and I'm not the only one who does). It gives the film it's own charm I guess.

The music here was done by Toshiyuki Omori. The opening theme is used throughout the movie (in different forms) and it's a very catchy theme. The song is called "Pray for You" and it's incredibly exciting. Words cannot express how much I enjoy this song. I just love it, and can listen to it over and over. Whenever you hear it, your heart beats faster, your eyes widen a bit, and it even stresses you out a little. To me, reacting to music is a sign that it's a good song. It's a very addictive tune, and it syncs perfectly with each scene it's used in. The English Dub was directed by the late, great Carl Macek, and it's quite well done for it's time. No one will ever claim the actors here are guilty of underacting, that's for sure. But this is an intense, high octane movie, and an intense, dramatic dub is the only type that would really fit it. Sure it shows it's age a bit, but I really enjoyed it. Gregory Snegoff handled the lead, Golgo 13 like a pro, as he should. Because Golgo is not a very complex character to grasp (although he is entirely awesome!). It would be really hard to mess up Golgo. But he also plays Snake. And he's just perfect as Snake. Snake is creepy, disturbing, strange, and evil, and each word out of Snegoff's mouth is just dripping with all of this. Michael McConnohie fit perfectly as Leonard Dawson, the oil tycoon. He seems like he's truly desperate, like he really is out there seeking revenge. It doesn't seem like McConnohie is acting, more like he just really sounds like that, which is fine with me. Leonard Dawson's son is played by a young Tony Oliver, and he did an admirable job for the short time his character lived. Some of the smaller roles are not perfect, but it's not fair to nit-pick such an old dub. And even these roles are not at all bad, just not as amazing as the main characters. On the large this is a very good dub for it's time, although it may bother some who hate overacting. But again this little bit of overacting is entirely fitting. In fact I wouldn't have it any other way.

All in all Golgo 13: The Professional is an intense movie. It's non stop action, with crazy characters, and some great directing. The plot isn't terrible (which is always nice in an action movie), and it even has a nice little twist at the end. The dub is a solid Macek-Streamline dub, with a little overacting, but you gotta love it anyway. This is one of the many anime movies Streamline Pictures helped to make famous in the early 1990's. They first put it out in movie theaters for a limited time, and then released it on VHS (dub-only). After their license expired, Urban Vision license-rescued the title, and re-released it on DVD (in 2000) which has both languages on it. The DVD has an art gallery, trailers for some of Urban vision's other stuff, and an interview with Mata Yamamato, a producer for the film. The interview while short, is very interesting. I just love it when a company puts an extra like this on the DVDs. It shows they care about the release, at least a little bit. In this interview Yamamato (in fluent english) goes over in detail how work on the manga gets done, since in addition to working on the movie as producer, he was one of the writers for the manga. He then compares the film to a "regular moviegoers movie" and explains how it's not exactly for Otaku. He says when they made it, that was the direction they choose to go in, and the art style helps to emphasize this. The interview ends with him commenting on how the CGI has aged quite a bit, but it was really top of the line stuff when it was made. He then notes that the film it's self is sort of ageless, and he's happy that people are still fans of it so long after it came out. It's nice when companies release older titles like this on DVD, as I hate to see classics go out of print, or worse never make it to DVD at all. The only real problem I can find with this release is the DVD cover leaves more to be desired. It's not horrible, and I'm sure Urban Vision didn't have much artwork available for such an old title, but I think it could have had a better cover then this. Since Sentai is releasing the new Golgo 13 TV series, this is the perfect time to (re)watch the classic film. I highly recommend it.

Prede's Raiting
4.5/5 Stars

DVD Look: Judge

Judge is a short, interesting little OVA from 1991 that really surprised me. There have been very few reviews of this OVA ,which CPM silently put out on DVD in 1998 and then again in 2000, but the ones I've read made me not think too highly of it at all. And you'd have to look far and wide to even find someone who's seen it. But I really enjoyed it. And I think there are others out there who would like this as well. Now it probably won't be your new favorite anime or anything, but it's a great way to kill 45 minutes.

Anyway, mine as well get to what it's about. Hoichiro Ohma is your standard Japanese salaryman, working for a bunch of corporate executive scum, and lives life quietly enough with his girlfriend, Nanase. However unknown to everyone else, underneath his quiet persona he is the "Judge Of Darkness". He is somewhat of a supernatural vigilante. The "Judge of Darkness" seems to be a set of powers and a title passed down along the generations, to people who want to crack down on criminals who escape judgement in the human world. The "Judge of Darkness" also seems to aim to get revenge for the dead, who he feels have been wronged (i.e. people who have been killed and their murderer has escaped or avoided justice in the human realm for whatever reasons). The Judge also uses a supernatural book, which reveals to certain people who could be guilty of crimes and avoiding justice. And Ohma has no qualms about taking justice into his own hand, and outright attacking the guilty people and killing them. Which leads to some of the great ol' ultraviolence. We then learn that one of Ohma's bosses who was recently sent to South America on business, ended up being killed by some guerrilla warfare. Ohma goes to the funeral with his co-workers, and other boss Kawamata, and thinks nothing of it. But later that day while using his book, and he discovers that Kawamata is probably the one responsible for the other boss's death. So Ohma as the Judge attempts to get revenge, but to his surprise ends up being thwarted by a Defense Lawyer. This lawyer also seems to have some supernatural powers. This sets us up for a battle between the two, that will last to the end of the film. And of course they do go to "court" as it were.


Now this film is entirely serious, and asks you to take it seriously as well. Which is going to be a problem for some, because when you really think about it the entire premise is just incredibly silly. And at times it can be cheesy and really corny. But this OVA is an example of what you can do with a silly premise. It doesn't have to turn into pure crap. This anime manages to be a great horror/thriller, that is in the same style as the American TV series Tales from the Crypt or the anime Petshop of Horrors . And the OVA it's self is often times quite smart. I was not at all expecting any intelligence in this anime, and to see some really surprised me. For one the dialogue is very well written, most of the time. It avoids lazy exposition, that's very tempting, and often happens in anime with short running times. This instead relies on great conversations between characters that never feel forced. They never stupidity talk about things they should automatically know, just to clue us in on something. They say enough that we can figure out what is going on, but it doesn't seem unnatural. Of coruse this leads to a few things never being truly explained, but that's for the better. That being said, there are some lines that are just plain laughable like for example "The Penal Code of Darkness". Ohhh spooky! Not! Feel free to roll your eyes at that one. But you have to take the good with the bad I suppose. I really enjoyed the cat and mouse game between the defense lawyer and the judge (who acts more like a prosecutor really. When they go to trial there are 10 "Supreme Court Judges" who rule over the case instead). While this thrilling psychological (and physical) fight between the two doesn't last long, it is very exciting. Another part of the OVA I enjoyed was the very realistic relationship between Ohma, and his girlfriend Nanase. I found they had a great relationship, and the romance between the two is cute. Of course no OVA from the early 90's would be complete without a sex scene, but it didn't seem too explicit, nor was it uncalled for. And I laughed at the parrot they had that would repeat their moaning and sex chatter aloud the next day.

There is some actual depth in here as well. While not exactly Kino's Journey or Haibane Renmei here, this anime has some profound things to say. While more often then not these ideas are thrown aside for some good supernatural fights, it does attempt to make some statements. There is a real attempt at philosophizing here, ideas of why we should or shouldn't defend criminals in court are tossed around (I admit lightly). And there is also some metathinking about mankinds need or desire to judge it's self. Which I found entirely interesting (Which may be because I'm a double major in Jurisprudence and Political Science and wish to go to Law School...but I'm sure someone else out there will like this too). There are some real good quotes here by the defense lawyer, "Who are we to decide what is right and what is wrong. What arrogance is this that allows us to pass judgement on another". and "Only God can be the judge of man's behavior". The show is quick to point out the flaws and dangers that go along with being a bit too eager to take justice into our own hands. But along with this comes the humanly need and desire to punish the truly guilty who avoid the law. I felt drawn in here, at one hand rooting for the Judge to rid us of criminals, but eager to make sure only the guilty get punished. I am reminded of Light's desire as Kira to rid the world of criminals in Death Note. And the OVA is incredibly smart here, keeping who is responsible for the death of Ohma's boss a mystery up until the end of the OVA. Is Kawamata the horrible excuse of a human being we think he is or not? Was he willing to have his best friend killed for his career? Or was it really just some bad luck and his friend really was just killed by the guerrillas? And when the dead guy himself takes the stand at this trial, he may surprise you with what he has to say. Now someone will surely go watch this now and then say to themselves I'm thinking way too much into this. And that may be true. But I believe that you'll get out of this, what you put into it. And I feel there is definitely at least an attempt at some philosophy here, although it's often thrown aside for other things. Now if this works or not, that is going to be entirely subjective.

The production values here are about average for 1991. The art is a little too simple for it's own good, but still has a cinematic and gritty style to it that I liked. The character designs are good, with realistic characters that all look distinct (even the minor characters). The guys look like real salarymen, and the women look attractive yet realistic. Kawamata is the odd man out here though. He is bug eyed, and kind of goofy looking, at yet somehow fitting. The monster and demon designs are actually incredibly well done. I was afraid we would have another Psychic Wars on our hands here (by which I mean poorly designed, and laughably bad looking monsters and demons). But thankfully it seems this anime had a decent budget, and it was spent on creating some really creepy and disturbing looking demons, monsters, and spirits. The backgrounds look alright, but they aren't detailed enough in my opinion. And the animation is about average for an OVA of this time, neither impressing nor disappointing. The music too, does not really standout, but does it's job well enough. The dub is another old Manga Video UK dub, which CPM and Manga UK split the cost of. It was dubbed in London, England by a British and Canadian cast, putting on American accents. And it was directed by one of my favorite ADR Directors, Michael Bakewell (see my reviews on A Wind Named Amnesia and Cyber City). In short the dub does not disappoint. While it shows it's age a little bit, I do suggest watching it. There's very few if any awkward lines here, and the acting is quite good overall. I also found it was incredibly well cast. Ian Tyler for example fits Ohma perfectly. He has a mousey voice, that's not really annoying, and sounds exactly like what I'd imagine this salaryman would sound like. My only problem here, is Tyler often talks way too fast, trying to get all the dialogue in. With a little re-working of the script, maybe this could have been avoided. But he's still really good. Sadly when he's talking as the Judge, he does this odd thing with his voice to try and disguise it, and it sounds really corny. This reminded me of the new Batman movies with Christian Bale doing that stupid thing with his voice when he's Batman. In both cases it's a vigilante trying to disguise their voice, and in both cases it just does not work. Luckily the Judge doesn't talk too much. Nanase is played by Barbara Barnes, who I just loved in this role. She's a very good actress, and really impressed me here. And I loved her voice! However she does have a high pitched voice, that will probably bother some people. I found it fitting, but then again I loved Elisa Wain in Patlabor and Maze, who's high pitched voice is akin to nails on a blackboard for most people. So my opinion on this kind of thing is very "out there" if you will. Peter Whitman plays Kawamata and he completely nailed it! He's perfect here! At times he sounds cowardly, at other times up to no good, and other times very businesslike. His voice sounds just like any professional businessman would sound, and he does a great job overall. Another thing I'd like to point out here is all the extras and small roles are very good. They all sound very natural, and this makes the anime feel like a live action movie.
Sure ok I'll admit it's kind of (ok very) silly, and yes sometimes things happen really fast for almost no reason once or twice. And yes it feels like something a bored Japanese Salaryman would dream up while making photocopies or something ("I wish I could be a Judge of humanity!! Punish criminals that get away , all while still working this job on the side! And bang the hot girl at the office too!" ). But sue me, I liked it a lot. It had a great cat and mouse aspect to it (that lasted way to short), and I liked the rather interesting statements it made. In the past while talking about anime I've casually mentioned that a show "walks the line between high and low brow". And what I mean by that is that the show is clearly not some elegant, sophisticated work of art. But on the other hand it's not a dumb, offensive piece of trash either. It does have things to say, and it's very smart at times. But along with the great insight, comes trashy (yet fun) ultraviolent scenes and some silly scenes. And as far as shows that walk this line between high and low brow go, Judge is the poster boy. At times incredibly silly, sometimes dumb, and features some fun ultrviolence, but at other times insightful and very smart. It's thrilling, has some great revenge scenes, and good ideas behind it. It's an odd OVA, no denying that. But one I recommend.

Prede's Raiting
4/5 Stars

Welcome to the NHK Review

Welcome to the NHK

Welcome to the review...

Welcome to the NHK is an anime TV Series that’s 24 episodes long and aired in Japan in 2006. The anime follows a college drop out-turn hikikomori, Tatsuhiro Sato as he lives his life, deals with depression and how he attempts to once again become a functioning person in society. A hikikomori is a practically a person living as a recluse, shut up in their home, who chooses to separate themselves from society. They are afraid to leave their houses, stay clear of social situations, and often spend long periods of the day sleeping. This is becoming somewhat of a problem in Japan (among other places) with many 20-something year olds, where it is possible for the parents of the person to fully support them. Sato spends his days watching TV, sleeping, and just wasting his life away. He’s even too afraid to step out of his apartment and go next door to complain to his neighbor who has been playing the same annoying anime theme, over and over again, for more then a month now. Sato also is a huge conspiracy nut, something he seems to have picked up from one of his friends from High School, Hitomi (who is seen in flashbacks and becomes an important character). He seems to blame “the NHK” (a Japanese TV cooperation) for all of his problems, including being a hikikomori.

One day out of the blue he meets a mysterious girl named Misaki, who claims to be able to cure him. This starts a chain of events that eventually leads to him getting help from her, taking “lessons” at the park outside his apartment building late at night, one of the few places he feels safe going to. The huge mystery of who Misaki really is, why she is doing this, and what exactly are her feeling toward Sato are a major theme of the anime. And they are slowly teased out throughout the show, but most of the answers are given toward the end. This mystery is very interesting, and makes the viewer care about the show. And the big reveal toward the end works perfectly, and answers everything we need to know. The last few episodes are incredibly dramatic. However the final episode does not end the show well at all. Some romance was hinted at early on, yet after the midpoint this seems to disappear, with hope that it will return to the surface by the end. Yet at the end, it doesn’t come back. Which is a huge letdown. But even besides that point, the ending is a just a bit of a disappointment. After the huge emotional roller coaster, especially of the last few episodes, this just feels like a cop out. It is just not a very satisfying ending. . If the series has one major flaw, it is the very poor ending, in comparison to the rest of the show, which is very well written.

This is a drama/slice of life anime, and although there is some dark humor mixed in there, it’s best to look at it as a drama. It can even become quite depressing; so don’t go into this looking for a fun time. But they use enough comedy relief (and at the perfect time) to prevent it from becoming unbearable. Still it is largely a realistic drama (minus Sato’s surreal hallucinations), and it’s very down to earth. Don’t be surprised if you shed a tear or two while watching it, it can be quite emotional at times. It’s a psychological anime, showing us how hikikomoris live, what they struggle with, and finally a possible way out. But it also deals heavily with Otaku Culture. Sato’s neighbor, turns out to be an old friend of his, Kaoru Yamazaki . Yamazaki is a huge Otaku, and eventually the two end up on a quest to developing a great hentai game, which runs along side Misaki’s attempts to cure Sato. Yamazaki also succeeds in turning Sato into a huge anime nerd, and NHK does not shy away from showing the more risqué and controversial parts of anime fandom. Which I admire in a show. This is a very honest series, and I for one would like to see more anime like this. This is a more mature anime, and so with that comes it’s tendency to get a little perverted on us. There is some fan service, but it’s usually limited to Sato’s imagination. But with this type of content also comes mature storytelling. This is the kind of anime that will hit anyone in their late teens or 20’s perfectly. It seems like a story told especially for them.

Welcome to the NHK has a more realistic art style then many anime series, and yet it still manages to look quite nice most of the time. The color palette is very lively; yet reflect the real world quite well. The character designs are very distinct and look great. I really like the style they are done in here. Characters look realistic, yet attractive. The backgrounds are very well detailed, and everything looks very nice. Sadly a few episodes do seem to look very odd, and there seems to be some small problems here or there, but on the large this is an attractive looking show. The animation is about average, but since there’s not much action, there’s not that much to animate. What action and movement there is all right, but nothing too impressive. Some of Sato’s dreams and hallucinations are very well done, however. The music on the other hand is very well put together. The background music drips with emotion, and the opening theme is very likeable. The background music commonly uses harmonicas and pianos and it sounds very unique. The first ending theme matches the sheer overwhelming craziness and surreal aspect of Sato’s hallucinations, while the second ending theme is more calming and fits the tone of the show better. On the large the soundtrack is a real winner.

The dub, produced by ADV’s studio Amusement Park Media, is without a doubt one of the best English Dubs ever produced. It is perfectly cast, with Chris Patton playing the lead incredibly well. Greg Ayres is very funny as Yamazki, and I cannot imagine anyone else every playing him. Stephanie Wittels plays Misaki, and she has a very genuine and fresh feeling to her voice, and her acting is very impressive. She’s also the perfect person to play Misaki. She has just enough mystery in her voice, and just enough youthfulness that everything comes together perfectly. Perhaps this is why she’s one of my new favorite voice actors. She has made a real impression on me, and I really hope to hear more from her in the future. Luci Christian has played a large number of roles over the years, but I think this is perhaps her best. She sounds a little different here, as Hitomi, then she usually does, but she does an amazing job. Monica Rial plays an important role later on in the series, and she too sounds very different then she normally does, but she also gives a great performance here. Even the many smaller roles impress, with everyone one from one-liners to minor characters do an incredible job. You can tell Amusement Park Media pored a lot of work into this dub and it shows.

The anime brings attention to an important social problem in Japan, the Hikikomori phenomenon, and it also becomes a psychological study. Focusing in on not just Sato, but also Yamazaki (the anime nerd) and Hitomi (the suicidal conspiracy nut). It also deals with Misaki later on. It is quite interesting to note that the characters who reject reality and live in their own little worlds (whatever that may be) only become depressed when faced with reality. Perhaps reality is not what it’s cracked up to be after all? Maybe we’d all be a little bit happier if we didn’t focus on reality as much as we do. The anime also deals with how life is ultimately meaningless, which is quite depressing. On the large this is one of the better dramas out there, despite the weak ending. It’s well written, has great music and it has some nice artwork. It’s an original concept, and although it seems a little contradictory to be dealing with and criticizing anime/anime culture, hentai games, otakus, and hikikomori actually in an anime, I think it fits. This would not work as well in live action; it needs to be an anime. If your looking for something unique, mature, and a little crazy, you can't go wrong with Welcome to the NHK. OK so it's not a masterpeice or anything, but this is worth seeing for sure. The bad ending is easy to overlook.

Prede's Raiting
4.5/5 Stars

Ergo Proxy Review

Ergo Proxy

I Think, Therefore I am Confused

Ergo Proxy is a sci-fi/drama anime TV series that aired on Japanese TV in late 2006. Geneon recently released it on DVD in North America, for our viewing pleasure. Created by the studio Manglobe, famous for the hit anime show "Samurai Champloo", this series was directed by Shukō Murase, the director of "Witch Hunter Robin". And that’s not the only component Ergo Proxy shares with its brethren. The style, tone, and atmosphere are all reminiscent of Witch Hunter Robin, which is, to say the least, a good thing. As a dark, gloomy, and gritty anime, this 23 episode series written by Dai Satō follows an inspector from the Civilian Intelligence Office in the city of Romdo. Our leading woman, R-el Mayer, starts off investigating a string of murders under the suspicion that they were committed by androids. During her investigation, Mayer is attacked by a monster. The anime follows her attempting to figure out just what a Proxy is, the mysteries of Romdo, and the secrets of planet they live on. The plot is very deep, delving into philosophy and psychology quite often. The attention to detail, character designs and background are all of high quality. This is nothing short of breathtaking artwork, it makes us feel like pausing the DVD just to admire how beautiful, yet horrendously dark each scene is.

Just about the coolest looking anime character out there, Mayer is the epitome of gothic style, rocking crazy blue eyeliner and dark clothes, she is destined to go up there with many other famous anime character icons. Yet this anime isn’t just about Mayer, it’s also about an immigrant named Vincent Law, and his journey with an android named Pino who discovers the truths of his past, and “open his eyes” to the world. Vincent is an immigrant who was accused of a crime he states he had nothing to do with, and was being chased down by the government of Ramdo, and also by a Proxy. He decides he has no choice but to leave the city, to discover the truth about his past, and the secrets of the Proxies that keep finding him. His journey ends up criss-crossing with Mayer a few times before they finally end up traveling together looking for the truth. And did we mention that Pino is just about the cutest thing ever drawn?

The plot is very complex, and occasionally goes a bit John Nash on us. Obviously this anime is about the many mysteries of their world, and not everything is going to be understood by the first few episodes, but the way this starts off may be a little too overwhelming for viewers, and might incite some confusion. Still by the middle of the anime, it all starts to make sense, as we put the pieces of the puzzle together. The plot is very slow paced at times, almost dragging the viewer by the ending, yet never crossing the line into boring. Radiohead's work also makes an appearance in the show, adding an extra layer of depth to the anime's complexity.

Ergo Proxy is a refreshing mature anime that does not pander to the kiddies, nor fill itself with so much gore, blood, and sex that it pretends to be mature. So chalk up another win for Dai Satō.

3/4 Stars

- Written by Mike (Prede)
-Edited by Elke

- Originally posted on April 4th, 2009
*Official Planetzot Review*

DVD Look: Animation Runner Kuromi

Today's anime is none-other then the hilarious Animation Runner Kuromi. This is straight out of the mind of Akitaro Daichi, so you just know it's going to own. Daichi is a director I've come to respect over the years. He's show his ability to do off the wall comedies like this, with a lot of heart and care towards it's characters, great comedy-dramas like Fruits Basket and Jubei Chan The Ninja Girl, and even dark (and some-what disturbing) dramas like Now and Then, Here and There (one of my all time favorite series). To be able to direct anime series that are such polar opposites, is a true sign of Daichi's great talent.

Animation Runner Kuromi is a 2001 OVA, about Mikiko Oguro (nicknamed "Kuromi"), who gets a job at a small animation studio in Japan, only to end up having the job of Production Desk Manager thrown on to her. While interviewing her for a job, the previous manager got sick and had to leave, and gave her the job out of desperation! It's pretty amusing to see a job like this falling onto someone as inexperienced as Kuromi. The studio has fallen drastically behind schedule (as usual) for the next episode of Time Journeys, and Kuromi must inspire the artists to work hard enough and fast enough to meet the deadline. The rest of the anime follows her around trying to do her job the best she can, and learning a little about anime studios, and the artists who work at this studio. In essence this is an anime, about making anime, and it's incredibly fun to watch! There are many downright funny scenes in this anime, and they all are fast paced. The characters are very interesting, and very well developed for such a short OVA. A testament to Diachi's skill no doubt. Of course Kuromi is the star of the show, and she's a very cool person. She's very active, sometimes talking incredibly fast, and running around like a chicken without a head. But she has many calmer moments, like when she's at home just thinking about her job, or worrying about finishing the episode in time (something Daichi admits to doing often as well). Her ambition comes from watching an anime while she was in high school Luis Monde III (a reference to Lupin III no doubt). She's a very understandable character and very likable. Many of the other characters she interacts are the key animators for the studio. They all have their own little quirks, habits, and interests and together make a very interesting and diverse group of people. And it's very interesting to learn (from Akitaro Daichi's commentary on the DVD) that most of these characters are based on a few people (combined together to make one person).

The animation in this is pretty good. There are some really fast paced scenes, and they are handled very well. This is an OVA and the animation really shows it. Although this isn't exactly mesmerizing, it's very good artwork. The music is all right too, with a cool ending theme that I enjoyed. There is also a certain background music song that keeps popping up, that's really catchy! I love listening to that! But as far as the rest of it goes, it's pretty standard background music. However the dub is nothing but standard! This is a really good dub. Lisa Ortiz manages to do an excellent job at capturing every essence that is Kuromi. And she's incredibly funny at times! Rachael Lillis and Eric Stuart play two of the key animators and do a wonderful job. They both impressed me a lot with this anime. The other actors are spot on in their roles as well. This is a dub to show to those sub-only guys!

The special features on this disk are amazing. Central Park Media really outdid themselves with this one. The interview with Akitaro Daichi is very informative, and interesting. We get to learn some of the ideas behind this OVA, and some interesting tidbits of facts. There is also an interview of Lisa Ortiz, which was a great extra as well, at least for any dub fan. And as if the interview with Daichi wasn't enough, CPM even got him to give a commentary of this show for the DVD. In the commentary he goes into detail about many of the scenes, and how anime is really created in the real world. There is also a "Director's Diary" which is a bunch of pictures and recordings of this OVA being created and the people behind it. Which is a fun watch. And there is also an interview with an "animation runner" (or someone who has a similar job to Kuromi's only in American Animation) that's pretty interesting to watch as well. This gives you some insight as to how realistic this anime is, and the differences between how anime is created and American Cartoons. There's also an alternate angle with the storyboard that I didn't check out, but is worth a watch if it's anything like the one on the Now and Then, Here and There DVD's. There's a bunch of other stuff here too, and as many trailers as possible. The menus are also pretty cool, just another bonus for this DVD. The only problem I can find with this release is it's rated 16 and up! That's insane, I'm not really sure what they were thinking. There's nothing objectionable at all in this anime! (Well one character smokes, but really I think even a 13 and up rating would be overdoing it for this one. I find it funny that Maze got a 13 and up rating with all the sex jokes and fanservice, but this is 16 and up and it’s all very clean). But this isn't really a big problem.

The humor in this anime is fast paced, and really had me laughing out loud multiple times. Yet it's not all about the comedy, because by the end of this anime you will look back and go "Wow did I just learn something about how they create anime in a small studio?" . So overall a fun plot, great characters, and an amazing dub. There's no reason not to buy this DVD right now. I highly suggest it to anyone looking for a good time.

For some more info about this great show, or some previews of the extras and trailers go to the official Central Park Media website (sorry the link is dead now) for this show.

The Weathering Continent

Some anime rely very heavily on creating an interesting atmosphere and mood, to tell their story. One could easily rattle off a list of series that do this well, and just as easily come up with more then a few that fall on their face attempting this. The Weathering Continent is the weird one out here. As it doesn't seem like it's trying very hard to create a mood or atmosphere, but it certainly has one, and it does add to the film. It's more like, atmosphere and mood come naturally to this little movie. At times spooky, at other times exciting, and other times just relaxing, this film has a great atmosphere. And it's a better film due to this. The Weathering Continent is quite an interesting movie, and it's what I'll be reviewing today if you hadn't already figured that out.

The Weathering Continent is an almost forgotten film from 1992, that was directed by Koichi Mashimo (known for directing Noir, Madlax, El Cazador de la Bruja, and Dominion Tank Police) and animated by Production I.G. . Media Blasters thankfully brought this stateside, and released it on DVD with a dub in 2003. I'm not really sure why such an odd and unknown title was even bothered with by them, but I'm thankful to have it. Then again this is Media Blasters, king of the odd stuff. This is an adventure/fantasy movie, with three interesting lead characters that pull a lot of the weight of the film. It starts out with our three travelers heading to some distant place across the desert. We never learn where they are going, but oh well. The opening crawl however, has revealed to us that this placed was not always a desert, it was once a rich, prospering, and fruitful continent. Yet over time it has slowly withered away, damaged by droughts and other natural disasters. The continent is hinted at being the lost continent of Atlantis, and the film takes place during it last years while it's in dire straights.

One of the travelers is a woman pretending to be a boy (although I think her friends know she's a girl, she tries to hide it from those she meets), Lakushi who seems caring and brash yet mysterious. Another traveler is a young preist named Tieh, and our last traveler is Bois the intelligent swordsman of the group. These three come across a destroyed encampment, and find one person left alive, although severely injured. It becomes clear their camp was attacked by bandits, and everyone was killed by them save this one survivor. The injured survivor pleads for some water, and Lakushi gives out the last of their water. Then the person dies, after saying how thankful they were. The question now becomes will Lakushi's move doom the trio to dieing of thirst in the desert? Because they are days away from the nearest source of water. Was it a worth it to give the survivor water, even though it looked like it would be a waste since the person would die anyway? Should they have made this person comfortable in their last moments alive, or save the water for themselves? The three travelers don't contemplate this much, since what's done is done, and instead continue on their journey. They eventually come across Azec Sistra, the legendary City of the Dead (tomb of the citizens a once very powerful and rich city). All those who died from the city were mummified and laid to rest within this city of the dead. Tieh believes there may be water inside, and so they figure it's best to enter this city and search for water, then to continue on to the next water source and possibly die on the way. The rest of the film deals takes place in this tomb city, and of course eventually the bandits who destroyed the camp searching for something come into the picture as well. And maybe, just maybe the ghosts of the people laid to rest in Azec Sistra will make an appearance here.

This movie is quite simple. It doesn't have a very complex or intricate plot. So those who dislike simplistic storytelling need not apply here. But for the rest of us, it's still a very enjoyable and interesting little story. Sometimes simple stories are very engaging. And again it handles the mood and atmosphere very naturally. The movie is a little slow paced, but I found it to be intriguing, never boring. It drew me to it like a moth to a flame, and I really can't tell you why. Much like Mashimo's El Cazador and Noir I was just instantly attracted to this. It drew me in and held me tightly, and I can't really pinpoint exactly how or why. The paceing and mood are definitely part of it though, that I'm sure of. The characters also helped to make this a very interesting watch. For such a short film, they are all very well fleshed out. Sure there's a lot of mystery left here to these people, but it's surprising that by the end we feel like we know these people quite well. I feel that it's actually better that we don't know everything about these characters though, the mystery helps keep us interested. In contrast the main villain, the head of the bandits who shows up later on, is quite generic. He's just "random generic bad guy leader #5", replace him with whoever you want really. He's not fleshed out at all. The film does a poor job of developing him. By the end we still know very little of his motives, and he feels like he's just there to cause conflict for the main characters. This is a small flaw however, and it's easily overlooked. It's also worth noting that the ending of the film has a bit of a twist to it, that you may see coming (I did). But I thought it ended the movie quite well. There is also a theme here that keeps coming up that has to do with hiding your gender, and although it's unclear what exactly they are trying to say, it's a very interesting theme that works well within the film.

There are some other small problems here and there with this anime. For example some things aren't quite explained fully, and other things seemed to only be hinted at, like this is just a small part of a much grander and longer story. For example we really don't know where these characters are heading to, nor do we get enough insight on any of their pasts (certain things are only hinted at). Other things leave you feeling a little confused, especially in regard to the issues of gender in the film. For example why do some people seem to think Tieh is a woman? What's the deal with Lakushi exactly? There are more gender issues left unclarified as well, but they are spoilers. These are small issues that do take away from the film. There's a reason for this however, this film was based on a light novel series by Sei Takekawa, so there's obviously much more to this story then what we get to see. But they do an admirable job adapting such a long novel series, into one movie that clocks in at less than 60 minutes in length. Perhaps with more time the confusion could have been be cleared up. But still they manage to tell a complete story, that's quite compelling, with great characters, and an endearing mood, without leaving any of us who have not read the novels out in the cold, in a very short time frame. And what more can you want from a little film? For this small fact alone I think this is sort of impressive. Sure it's not perfect, but it's very well done overall.

The Weathering Continent, being a movie from 1992 has some impressive artwork and animation. The animation is quite good for 1992, constantly showing the effects of the desert wind on the characters for example. Everything flows natural for the most part. The short fight scenes are also quite impressive for the year this was released. While nothing mind-blowing, this is quite well done. The artwork looks very unique and very attractive. The color palette is very earthly. It is subdued, yet not really faded. The color palette has a lot of light oranges and browns while they are still in the desert. Despite being a desert, you don't get the feeling the characters are dealing with sweltering heat. Because instead of traveling during midday or afternoon, these characters are traveling while it's cooling down, the evening and nighttime. So a lot of the shots show the sun going down, and everything looks bright orange and warm, yet not incredibly hot. It is very impressive that something so simple can deliver so much meaning. The color palette helps you feel what they feel, warm, but not dieing of heat. Later once the sunsets brown and blue seem to take over as the major color. Everything then seems to get a really vibrant blue tint to it, which looks very nice. You then get a real feeling of things have cooled off a bit. I find this fascinating. Once they enter the city of the dead, the color scheme changes to having lots of blacks, dark yellows, and dark browns, although there is some orange here and there. This change in color scheme really helps change the atmosphere around (very naturally and effortlessly), and helps make us feel like we are there with the characters. The sharp contrast between inside the city and outside is very appealing. These are small little things you sometimes miss out on with digitial paint. All in all the artwork is very beautiful, lush, and alluring. The character designs are another strong point, as not only is the style in which they are drawn attractive yet original looking, but all the characters look very distinct. Lakushi especially looks very pretty. The costumes are another strong point here, with the bandits wearing odd yet interesting clothing. And although the clothing style of the three main characters may be very standard "sword and sorcery" fantasy clothing, it looks quite good. None of the characters are cluttered, but they are drawn with a good amount of detail. Backgrounds are a little simple, not very detailed, but still very nice to look at.

The music is laid back and simple, but effective. While it doesn't exactly standout, it's still a good soundtrack, although often times silence is used rather then background themes. The dub on the other hand really does standout. It's an interesting New York City dub. Media Blasters gave this to NYAV Post to produce the dub, and I feel that was really the right way to go with this. NYAV did an impressive job, not only with the casting of the main characters, but even all the minor characters and one liners do a great job. There's not an awkward line throughout the entire film. Dan Green gives another incredible performance here, as he plays the head bandit, Gaten Rakumu. He uses a voice that sounds different then his usual one, but it really fits for the character. Dan Green almost always acts incredibly well, and yet again he lives up to the high standard I hold him to. But what would a dub be without the main cast? Jamie McGonnigal plays Tieh, the priest, and he makes the character feel very fragile, yet not weak. He doesn't seem like a physically powerful person, and he's not. But his sorcery is however powerful, and this is reflected upon with McGonnigal's performance here. It's subtle, but it's there. His acting is good, and he fits his character very well. He is my least favorite of the dub, but he's not bad by any stretch. Bois the tough swordman is played by Marc Diraison who fits incredibly well. This was perfect casting. Bois is a very strong guy, but there's much more to him then that. And Diraison understands this, instead of playing him up like a stupid yet tought guy, he handles it very naturally and it works. Sure he sounds strong, but also smart, which he is. His acting is great here too. But the star of the dub is without a doubt Veronica Taylor, who gives out another mesmerizing performance. She plays Lakushi, and dshe does an amazing job. She not only perfectly fits her character to a T, but her acting is perfect. You really feel for her, and understand what she's struggleing with and who she is. And a lot of that is due to Veronica Taylor. The dub was directed by Michael Sinterniklaas, who I'm really starting to respect as an ADR director. He really knows how to get out the subtle, but natural emotions needed for some anime. Piano and Domain of Murder are also very nuanced and subtle dubs, and they needed to be. In fact the common denominator of most of his dubs seems to be subtlety and sounding very natural. The Weathering Continent is no exception. It's a very natural sounding. The one dub he directed that is an exception of course is the indredbly funny and over the top Ninja Nonsense. Which I think is one of the funniest shows and dubs out there, period. Sinterniklaas also stared in the recently released Sky Crawlers, which was another r dub that relied on subtlety, oddly enough (I'm not sure if he directed it or not, since Sony never released the English Staff credits). Long story short, the dub on this is worth listening to.

All in all this is a very simple film, yet very atmosphere and engaging . It's almost completely unknown, and that's a real shame since it's worth watching at least once. The production values are impressive , and the dub is great. The characters are likeable and interesting, although the main villain is a bit generic. The first time I heard about this film was by watching Grumpy Jii-san's Youtube video review of the film. His review got me interesting in the movie and I was planning on buying it online one day. But I put it off, and never got around to it. A few months later I was in Media Blaster's store, Rare Flix, and the workers there suggested this film to me, since I told them how much I liked A Wind Named Amnesia. Since they seemed to think I'd like it, and Jii-san's review got me interested as well, I bought it. And I'm very glad that i did. Personally I don't really see the connection with A Wind Named Amnesia, but that doesn't bother me because I still enjoyed this very much. If you're itching to watch something a little different, a little off the beaten path and forgotten, I suggest this little film. It might not blow your mind, but it will leave you more then satisfied.

Prede's Raiting
4/5 Stars

DVD Look: Demon City Shinjuku

I have a sneaking suspicion that Yoshiaki Kawajiri really likes John Carpenter movies. Because Demon City Shinjuku could be summed up as an OVA that mixes both Escape from New York and Escape From L.A. (despite being made after this OVA) together, has a little bit of Halloween thrown in there, and some has supernatural elements added for good measure. Good thing I'm a Carpenter fan then, right? In Cyber City Kawajiri lifted the basic premise of criminals having to do complicated missions for the state, with the chance of being pardoned (and with the risk of being blown up if they failed), just like Escape from New York. Here Kawajiri instead takes the idea of having to rescue the President, deep within a city that has long been abandoned by decent people, and now overrun by crazy things, and turns that into an anime, with mixed results.

Demon City Shinjuku is and OVA from 1988, animated by Madhouse studios, and directed by none-other then Yoshiaki Kawajiri. Madhouse and Kawajiri have worked on countless other ultraviolent movies and OVAs over the years, and Urban Vision, CPM, and Manga Entertainment have released many of them here in the US, since he once had a huge following here. This movie-length OVA is very similar to his other works, perhaps too similar for it's own good. Anyway the OVA is about how the evil psychic Rebi Ra, deep within what's left of Shinjuku, Tokyo is attempting to complete a portal to hell. He is also a powerful swordsman, and seems to have sold his soul for all his powers. Once the portal to Hell is opened, demons will take over the entire planet. He must do this, because it is another price he has to pay for gaining all this power. The entire world seems to have become one single government, and it's hinted that the former countries have now become states or provinces, and that includes Japan. The World President is making a trip to Japan, when he ends up being captured by Rebi Ra in an attempt to destabilize the world, and send the world into chaos, and also prevent any counter measures against him. However he does not only kidnap the president, but his aid and spiritual adviser, Master Rai. Master Rai is well aware of who has kidnapped them and left them for dead, it is revealed that Rebi Ra is former student of his. Another student of his headed out to stop Rebi Ra many years earlier but failed and died in the process. Now all of mankind's hope rests with that man's son, a kid named Kyoya. Because only Kyoya and Master Rai have this hidden ability that could defeat Rebi Ra, and Rai must remain near the President's side or he will die and the world may fall into another dark age!

Kyoya gets contacted by Master Rai's spirit, and told he has to fight to save the earth. Kyoya explains that while it's true he learned some skills from his father, he only learned the basics before his father passed away. Master Rai pleads with him to try and save the president and defeat Rebi Ra anyway, because he doesn't, no one will. Kyoya's still not very eager to run off on some quest to save the world, and so he leaves his house and goes out for a walk. This is where he runs into the Presiden't daughter, Sayaka Rama, who tries to convince him to go with her to the city and save her father. He still refuses, and so she decides to try her luck on her own. When she gets there however she is attacked by some criminals hanging around the outskirts of the town, and Kyoya comes out of the shadows and saves her at the last second. Seems he can't let some innocent girl waltz right into the city of hell on her own. The rest of the OVA follows these two on their quest through the city, where they will meet some Escape from New York- esque allies and enemies, and finally save the day.

The main problem with this anime is it's very by-the-book, standard and unoriginal. It's even very predictable at times. It's not a bad story, but it feels like we've seen it before. Now you have to forgive it a little bit, as the OVA probably predates many other shows we've seen that have this kind of plot, but still it's nothing groundbreaking either. That's not to say that this is a bad movie by any stretch, because it's not. It's just the plot is not as strong as it should have been. The best part of the story is the initial premise of people from the outside trying to rescue to President deep within the city, and going through hell to do it. And you know what, I credit Carpenter more for that, then Kawajiri. Still it plays out decently, and many of the Escape from New York characters show up, like your token double crosser and insider who helps the main characters out a bit. And these characters are all quite interesting, although they don't get enough screen time sadly. The main character, Kyoya is actually not that interesting of a person. He's sort of boring and 2 dimensional. He's not a bad character, but probably better fit for a side character, as he's not interesting enough to carry the weight of an entire OVA. His struggle with becoming stronger, and awakening his potential is well done however. Sayaka, the President's daughter is instead a very interesting character, perhaps she should have been the lead. She's not too tough ina fight, but she's a strong willed person, eager to help if she can, and shows that she's scared, but willing to press on despite that. She feels helpless at times, but tries to do whatever she can. She's a very strong character. Her romance with Kyoya towards the end seemed forced, There was no development there, and felt like the only reason they kiss is because she's a girl, and he's a dude. The two have very little chemistry and really don't seem to be hitting it off, so why do they seem to become a couple? Because the movie needs a little romance I guess. Another interesting character is Chibi, a midget (I think?) who helps the two, and gives them pointers and hints about the city. He saves them while they're fighting a monster, and guides them to where they want to go. He's not eager to get invovled with a fight, but he won't leave anyone to die either. He's an intriguing character who probably should have been a more important character. Master Rai is another compelling who doesn't get nearly enough time to develop, but he's very likeable. The themes the movie deals with are nothing special, and sort of generic. While no one would ever go into this film looking for something very deep, it reall doesn't help that the themes of innocents, love, and inner strenght are very generic and tossed around very lightly. Perhaps if they were more explored the OVA would be a bit better.

The fights in Demon City Shinjuku are less frequent then I had imagined. But when they do come up they are very well choreographed, and very fun to watch. The main character has to fight a few demons and monsters as the show goes on, and many others get involved as well. The tone may be a little dark, but it is not at all depressing. While not a light or funny show, it's not overbearing either. Another problem with the show however is its tendency to use expository dialogue. By that I mean characters backstories, the history of the city, and even the plot are revealed through way too much dialogue. Instead of showing us what happened, the characters oddly explain things, and some of these explanations go on way too long. While I would have no problem with one or two of these, four or five in one movie is a bit much. At times when they could have used a flashback or something, they go for the easy way out and have the characters explain things. This, mixed with some sloppy writing at times really hurts the overall show. The final fight scene is also very anticlimactic. I hate to keep criticizing this OVA, as it is a fun watch and I did enjoy it. But I can't leave out these these things either. I guess what I'm saying is despite these problems it's still a good anime.

Production values for this OVA are all over the place. The animation is sometimes as choppy as a bad Yogi Bear episode, while other times everything on screen flows incredibly well. Most of the fight scenes are impressive for 1988 (very fluid motion), but other parts can either look ugly, or pretty depending on the scene. The artwork is a great style, with a very nice color palette. The color palette is dark, but not gloomy, and looks quite nice at times. The character designs are pretty original looking, and very attractive, especially the President's daughter who looks very pretty. However the opening scene, and some scenes deep within the city look very odd, with a dated looking color palette that's very different from the rest of the movie. Everything will have a blue or red tint, and it looks very ugly. This was obviously done to either emphasis how this scene is in the past, or emphasis how close the gateway to hell, is getting to earth, but they just don't work very well at all. The make the OVA look more dated then it otherwise would, since this is a pre-Akira anime after all. But other then that the visuals are quite impressive, and those scenes are quite short. The music is very electronic and unimpressive. While the soundtrack is not exactly bad, it's very generic and mostly forgettable.

The dub on this is pretty good for it's era. While I've heard better from this time, it's not at all bad. This is another one of the older Manga Video UK dubs, directed by Michael Bakewell and with mostly a British and Canadian cast. And most of the actors fit their roles very well. There is a tendency to use accents in this dub, and on the large this works quite well and gives the show a worldly sound. The President and his daughter have British accents, which is very fitting in my opinion as they seem to be Europeans, so this is a great way to emphasis that. Chibi (pronounced "Chippy" by the cast, although I'm not sure why? Perhaps that's a British thing?) has a Mexican accent which sounds a little stereotypical, but it does seem realistic and works for the character. Another character has a Spanish (Spain) accent, and this also comes off very well. Master Rai is played by George Little, and he gives the character a very authentic Indian accent, which fits since not only is his character from India, but very spiritual and he needs an accent to demonstrate this. The rest of the cast, including Brad Lavelle, who plays Kyoya, put on American accents and they seem real. The dub is mostly well acted, with all of the main cast doing a good job for the most part. Sadly it seems every major actor has an awkward line somewhere in this dub, but it's not that bad.

Brad Lavelle fits the lead very well, and has a great chemistry with George Little, specifically in the begining of the OVA. Sayaka, the President's Daughter is played by Teresa Gallagher, who gives the best performance of the dub. She has a very distinct voice, and her different sounding voice fits the character well. She puts on a British accents that some may find a little different then the norm, but she's a native Brit so you can be sure this is authentic, and personally I thought it sounded great. Chibi is played by Alan Sherman, who really fleshes out the character, with his Mexican accent, and adult way of talking. The Japanese dub made him seem more like a child, which I'm pretty sure he's not one. He plays off the two main characters very well. One problem with this however is some of Chibi's lines seem left out. Two or three times in the dub you will see his mouth move, but nothing come out. Switch the Japanese track for a second and you clearly hear dialogue (and it's tranlsated in the subtitles). I wonder what happened here? Some overlook or mistake perhaps? It's nothing major, but it's just very jarring to hear a character answer him when he doesn't say anything in the dub, or him answer someone with silence. Rebi Ra is played by Bob Sessions, and he is the weakest actor of the dub by far. Some of his lines in the opening scene are outright terrible, and really bring down the quality of the dub. By the ending of the anime he's much better, but still not good enough as he should be. While the casting of him as the character works because he fits Rebi Ra, the person casting should have thought about weather or not he could act, because from this my answer is "not really...". It's a good thing he doesn't have many lines. Some of the smaller roles are sort of bad, although no one sounds outright like an amateur. Other smaller roles sound really good, like the children who appear for a small scene, or the old short lady who wants money from the two leads. The script is the real problem of this dub though. At times it's very clumpy, cluttered and rough. At you can really hear the actors tripping over their lines. It's not that the actors are bad, most of them are at least decent, but you can tell the script needed some work. Cursing is frequently used in the dub as well. While I'm never against some good cursing in an anime, and in this OVA the content really does call for it, I must question the times and placement of the curses. Many times a curse just feels oddly placed here or there, and other times it feels like they could have used a curse word but didn't. The dub is sort of odd, and very different sounding. But I find it has more positives then negatives, and I like a lot of things about it. I just wish the script was a little better, then it would be more then enough. As it is it's quite all right, but Bakewell has done better.

Central Park Media has released this many times on VHS and later DVD. I have the 2004 DVD release, which was inlcuded with the Kawajiri Brick Pack which actually is quite nice to look at. The DVD includes an insert, which is a nice little postcard thing, although I like the ones inlcuded in the Birdy the Mighty and A Wind Named Amnesia DVDs a little more. But it's still very cool. I think I like the 2005 release cover artwork a little better then my DVD, but both are nice. The DVD menu however is very ugly, and looks quite cheap. I've made better DVD menus messing around with Media Center on my computer. Besides looking ugly it's also quite slow to load. This is quite a shame becuase it is my opinion that CPM has some of the best DVD menus out there, looking through my collection they have some of my favorites. The extras included are just "meet the cast" type extras. These are there to remind you who these characters are, by showing a small clip from the OVA focusing on them. Cool little extra, but no real content.

So far this is the weakest Kawajiri anime I've seen. But weak Kawajiri, is still pretty good in my book. This is worth seeing a few times, but there are better titles in the genre. I was thinking about my star ratings last night, and felt they were kind of pointless, since I kept giving things 4/4 stars. So now I've thought hard about this, and will be re-doing all the ratings on all my reviews, only this time out of 5 stars. 5 stars not only gives me more room to work with, but allows 5 stars for true masterpieces, and everything else that's really great, but not yet a masterpiece would be 4.5 stars, etc . I think I like 5 stars much more then 4. That being said I'd rate this about a 2.5 out of 5. It's worth watching, don't get me wrong. And if you can find it cheap go out and buy it. But it has a lot of problems. I really wanted to like this more then I did.

Prede's Raiting
2.5 /5 Stars