N to Q

In the year 2000, half the population of Earth died in a cataclysm called the Second Impact, an event of an undetermined nature. Five years later, the fortress city of Tokyo-3 is being attacked by mysterious creatures called Angels. A secret organization called NERV has constructed Evangelions, giant robots, to combat the Angels. Shinji Ikari, the abandoned son of the commander of NERV, arrives in town at the request of his father, but the reception is unexpected since he is asked to pilot an Evangelion and fight an Angel.

I have explained perhaps the first ten minutes of this extremely complex 26 episode TV series. Evangelion boasts one of the best scenarios around, in my opinion. Dark, deep, suspenseful, mysterious and thought provoking, it is easy to see where Evangelion gets its popularity from. Memorable, fleshed-out characters and good animation contribute to the series' success.

Plot: 5 out of 5. Clever, mysterious and complex enough to provoke a huge section of webpages explaining what the hell is going on. Some fans complain that the ending is very unsatisfactory and that it doesn't answer any questions, but I believe that with a bit of thinking it is possible to understand it. NGE gets another one of those very rare Ami awards for having a great plot.

Animation: 5 out of 5. Exceptionally good for a TV series.

Music: 4 out of 5. A great opening song, and scary music that sends shivers down your spine at the appropriate moment...

Cute factor: 1 out of 5, for Pen Pen.

Fun factor: 1 out of 5, for a few of those early comedic episodes.

Cool factor: Hmm... 4 out of 5, for Rei, Misato, Kaji and the complex plot.

Overall rating: 5 out of 5, and a Nakago award for being one of my favorite anime!

Please Save My Earth

Seven extraterrestrial scientists, who used to observe our planet from the Moon, are reincarnated on Earth as humans. But as they rediscover their ancient powers and personalities, the conflicts of their past cause an impact on their present.

Please Save My Earth suffers from the same thing as Gunnm: The OAVs are adapted from only a small part of a long manga series, meaning a lot of questions are left unanswered at the end. While Gunnm could still be viewed as a story on its own, there are too many mysteries in Please Save My Earth to be solved in the space of 6 30-minute OAVS. The story is very complex and has the potential to be so much more. I like almost all the characters except the female lead, who is a wuss that agrees to marry a seven year-old.

Plot: 3 out of 5. It would have gotten an Ami award for excellent plot if the ending was satisfactory.

Animation: 5 out of 5. Incredibly beautiful chara designs.

Music: 3 out of 5. Good stuff, again from Yoko Kanno.

Cute factor: 1 out of 5, though I don't even know why. I think Alice irritates me enough to merit a cute rating.

Cool factor: 3 out of 5. For the general character designs, and the characters of Mikuro and Rin.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5. Again, only loses points because of the ending.

Pokemon

Ash Ketchum's big dream is to be the world's best Pokemon trainer. Pokemon are creatures with special attacks that can be caught and trained by humans. With his friends Misty and Brock and his favorite Pokemon Pikachu, Ash sets out on a voyage to accomplish his dream.

I guess you'd have to be living under a rock to not have heard of Pokemon, which has rapidly become an amazing phenomenon in the US and elsewhere. Unbelievably popular among its target crowd, i.e. young children, Pokemon lacks an interesting plot, but it has plenty of cuddly creatures and slapstick humor to compensate. And you can't help but like the Rocket Team, who are IMO the funniest anime villains in existence!

Plot: 2 out of 5. It did start out as a Nintendo game, so you can't expect much.

Animation: 3 out of 5. OK stuff.

Cute factor: 5 out of 5. It is the Pikachu award... But I didn't get the urge to throw up as much as I thought I would.

Fun factor: 4 out of 5. Surprisingly, I really got a kick out of this. Psyduck alone gets two points.

Cool factor: 3 out of 5. For the Rocket Team.

Overall rating: 3 out of 5. Not bad at all.

Pokemon: The First Movie

A bunch of scientists create the strongest Pokemon on earth, Mewtwo, through genetic manipulation. But Mewtwo escapes, and it has sinister plans that don't bode well for humans. Of course, Ash and his friends become involved and triumph because of Pikachu and Ash's friendship for each other.

Ugh. I don't mind the series, but the movie played like a reeeally long episode with no plot and substandard animation. Mewtwo spouting existential stuff like "what's my reason for being?" was downright ridiculous. There is a short which precedes the movie, Pikachu's Vacation, which is so... so... cute, that it made me wanna throw up. This is a shame, considering I liked the series and was looking forward to this film.

Plot: 1 out of 5. No intrigue whatsoever, and it was corny to boot. I hate corny.

Animation: 2 out of 5. Worse than the TV series, when it's usually the other way around.

Cute factor: This didn's play up the cute factor like the series. Only 3 out of 5. Not counting Pikachu's Vacation, as I would rather not be reminded of that...

Fun factor: 1 out of 5. I liked the TV series because it was funny, this isn't.

Overall rating: 1 out of 5. A disappointment.

Porco Rosso

Marco Pagot, a pilot, returned from WWI with the appearence of a pig. Now he has to rid the Adriatic of the American pilot Curtis with the help of the charismatic Fio, while seductive Gina pines for him.

This movie is brought to you by Studio Ghibli, led by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, who also made other excellent movies like Totoro or Lupin-Castle Cagliostro. As always with their works, Porco Rosso boasts an excellent story and high quality animation, but the best thing about this film is its atmosphere. Miyazaki is a fan of aviation, and you can practically feel his love for the old planes of the inter-war period, which are painstakingly drawn in this movie. There is also something irresistably romantic about Italy, which is the setting of this movie.

Plot: 4 out of 5.

Animation: 5 out of 5. As I mentioned, Studio Ghibli is reputed for the quality of their works.

Music: 3 out of 5. Nicely compliments the movie, though nothing really sticks out in my mind.

Cute factor: 2 out of 5. All Ghibli films have some degree of cuteness.

Fun factor: 4 out of 5. Some wonderfully entertaining fist fights, and the pirates *grin*

Cool factor: Nothing much, really, but 1 out of 5 for Gina.

Overall rating: 5 out of 5. Excellent in all respects.

Queen Emereldas

Hiroshi, the classic Leiji Matsumoto orphan, i.e. obstinate but brave, escapes his homeworld to be free, and meets Emereldas the space pirate, who takes him under his protection.

If you like Leiji Matsumoto's very personal style, you will not be disappointed by these 2 OAVs. There's the aforementioned orphan, space ships, the cool female pirate with the scar and the cool male pirate with the scar. The OAVs also dwell a little bit into the pasts of Tochiro, Emereldas and Harlock. I liked it, but this series does have its faults, such as becoming somewhat predictable, being a work by Matsumoto.

Plot: 3 out of 5. Nothing exceptional, but nothing bad, either.

Animation: 3 out of 5. This would be higher if it wasn't for the bad use of digital effects. The spaceships are made by the computer, but they aren't well integrated with the rest of the animation and stick out like an eyesore.

Cool factor: 3 out of 5. Eyepatches, scars and pirates, doesn't get any cooler than that. It is great to see such self-assured characters as Emereldas.

Overall rating: 3 out of 5. A bit disappointing.