Anime Sweep

D.N.Angel Volume 1 of 7

Boma at 5:11 PM

Here is a fun series, D.N.Angel. The setting is in a vast european-esque town and the main character is Daisuke Niwa who has some special D.N.A. When he has feelings of unrequited love he turns into the Phantom Thief, Dark. This kinda thing is passed through his family, so Dark has been showing up for the past 300 years. Only when he "captures his sacred maiden" (find his true love) will Dark go away. But what is a kid to do when he likes the younger twin girl, she likes Dark, and the older twin starts to like Daisuke. It's one big triangle. In the meantime, Daisuke's mother and grandfather have been training him to be a thief since he was little. While Daisuke unravels his feelings about the girls, Dark has to steal various artifacts that have supernatural powers that need to be sealed. That's pretty much the gist of the story. The animation is also well done in this anime with the use of sweeping CG graphics that add depth the town and Dark's flying. The one thing people might not care for is the rabbit-thing, With. But the good news is that it doesn't talk! otherwise it's just there for cuteness and to magically become Dark's black wings. There are also a bunch of recognizable english voice actors in this series. Hilary Haag and Luci Christian are the twins Riku and Risa, Greg Ayres as Hiwatari, Ilich Guardiola is Krad, Jason Douglas is Detective Saehara and of course Vic Mignogna as Dark. Kevin Korn does the voice of Daisuke and he does it quite well. For not recognizing his voice in any of the other anime I have, thus him being a 'No-Name' voice actor to me, he is a perfect match to voice the young Daisuke Niwa. Honestly, I didn't care too much for Hilary Haag when I first heard her but now after watching what I have again, I have changed my mind. Hilary's and Luci's voices play off each other (even though the recording is done separately!) very well so that they actually sound like they could be sisters. I only have the first two volumes but have seen the whole series. There are currently four volumes released in the U.S. witht the fifth one coming in June (according to Amazon.com) .The ending I can tell you is good, it doesn't leave questions unanswered and it completes the character developement. There are also some very good extras on dvds. There's Clean Opening and Closing Animation, Voice actor commentary (Kevin Korn and Vic Mignogna on the first dvd, Luci Christian and Hilary Haag on the second dvd), Creation of the opening theme, promos and tvspots, ADV previews, Meet Miyu Irino (on Second dvd, seiyu for Daisuke) and DNAngel Unplugged - True Light (second DVD), and also reversable covers. The story is also good for young teen viewers with the comedy and more sentimental feelings in the story. Good story, good voices, good animation, again an anime with my seal of approval with a 6.5 out of 10.
Next on the Block is Darkside Blues

Boma at 4:00 PM

Cowboy Bebop: the Movie

Boma at 11:21 PM

Ok, it took longer than I planned to watch and write a review for Cowboy Bebop the Movie. Sorry! I've been distracted watching Tenjo Tenge and playing Star Ocean: 'til the end of time. Course I played that game before but now I have the official player's book, hee hee hee! I want the good ending this time! I highly recommend this game, great graphics, voice overs, story, and fighting system. Anywho to the review! This movie was highly anticipated because of how much of a hit the series was/is. I love the tag line for this "They're here to save the planet. But not for free." Basically you have the madman Vincent who wants to destroy Mars by unleashing a biological nanomachine virus (which he of course is immune to). With such a deadly terrorist at large there goes with it an equally large bounty which catches the eyes of our bounty hunters Spike, Faye, and Jet. They each go about their own way of discovering the culprit, the virus and apprehending the criminal in typical own ways. Here we see a lot of Spike action from his hand-to-hand combat to marksmanship to an aerial dogfight. As for the English voice acting it is the same as the series. Ok Ok Ok, there's a voice actor by the name of David Lucas who is credited as the voice of Spike in the series, but then in the movie he is credited as Steven Blum. Before the movie came out I was like "sure they could be different people" but then I read somewhere that the same actors were being used for the movie because of how well they did. So that is what convinced me that they are the same person. But that's me, if anyone can prove otherwise please let me know. David Lucas/Steve Blum is one of my favorite voice actors so I'd like to know. Now as for the time frame of the movie, this is another debatable topic. It is generally believed though that it takes place between the early 20 (as in between episodes 21, 22, 23, 24 etc.) episodes. Another highpoint for the movie, is how highly detailed the animation is. From the detail on Spike's gun to the Bebop to even the backgrounds are painstakingly done. The movie also features the exquisite music by Yoko Kanno. One last thing, the dvd features featurettes, interviews with the director, Shinichiro Watanabe, the voice actors both english and Japanese and comparisons of the series to the big screen. Also the special features include character biographies, art galleries, music videos, and trailers. In the end, I give this my seal of approval, and another must have for Cowboy Bebop and Anime fans alike to collect.
Next up on the block is D.N.Angel volume 1.
Happy Watching!

Boma at 10:43 PM

Ok, my friend convinced me to try writing some fiction. So I did! here is the link. It's pretty cool, though. At this site, under the "42 Days" post, you have to write your story based on certain conditions that are posted. Like in challenge 4, the one I started with, it is on viewpoints. You have to write the same scene from two characters viewpoints. I wrote mine based on the Inuyasha series and the viewpoints are Inuyasha and Kouga. Well it's voting time now for this challenge! Otaku_Princess wrote one based on Fruits Basket, and Cesmith wrote one based on Saiyuki. They're all good, so take a look, and leave comments on what you liked and what you think needs improvement in the story.

http://ffnetauthors.proboards29.com/index.cgi?board=42daysvotes

Boma at 12:36 PM

Cowboy Bebop: Best Sessions

Boma at 10:53 PM

I had gotten Cowboy Bebop: Best Sessions cheap at Wal-Mart since the only other Bebop I have is the movie. Yet again there really isn't anything special about this edition. The series itself is great but I suggest going out and just getting it especially since there will be a soopped up Remix of the entire series coming out this summer.

*REMIX will feature a completely remixed and remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS surround sound and remastered video under the direction/supervision of Shinchiro Watanabe. REMIX will include new extras such as interviews with the US voice actors and actresses, collections of trailers, promos, the Session 0 extras (Japanese Interviews witht he staff and cast, story digest of the second half of the series, Tank music videos) and more. *
- Anime News Network

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=6179

I highly recommend this series as it follows the bounty hunters Spike, Jet, Faye, and (not really a bounty hunter but still there) Ed and Ein. The heavier parts of the series follows Spike with his past of being a former hitman for the syndicate is catching up with him. Faye has a bit of a dramatic past as well which I will not go into so as not to spoil it. Ed and Ein are pretty much the comedic characters of the series. Now granted I've only watched this series all the way through when it was on Cartoon Network so it has been a while, but this is a must have for any anime collector (or as in my case, at least watch all the way through once). The characters are highly developed, no fluff with their personalities, they have 'em and they stick to 'em. If anything the music itself, composed by Yoko Kanno and performed by The Seat Belts, is worth watching the series for. This anime has one of the soundtracks out there. Now I've only watched this in English dub and it is also well done considering when it came out. David Lucus and Wendee Lee being two voice actors on my "favorites list". From what I hear and from what I read of other people's opinions of the dubbing is that overall it is considered one of the best. Most, MOST, people are pleased with it. I'll watch sub or dub, with the option of dub coming first. It has to be really, REALLY bad for me not to like the dub *cough* Zenki *cough*. Anyway, put this series on your 'To Watch' list, but don't bother with the Best Sessions edition. Basically it's a two disc edition that dictates the director's top three episodes, 1. Asteroid Blues (eps. 1), 2. Ballad of Fallen Angels (eps. 5), and 3. Wild Horses (eps. 19). On disc 2 it's the Fan Favorites episodes, 1. Waltz for Venus (eps. 8), 2. Mushroom Samba (eps. 17) and 3. Hard Luck Woman (eps. 24). There aren't any extras beyond trailers and the usual audio/subtitle options and a reversible cover. No commentaries or anything whcih is a bit of a downer, but with Remix coming out expect something in those extras. Any who that's it, next post won't be as long since it will be Bebop: the Movie and will probably say the same thing, heh heh heh.

Boma at 10:10 PM

Yea! My friends took me out for a belated birthday party and then yummy chocolate cake and anime presents!! heres some pics I took.

Boma at 12:15 AM