Five anime bargains

Anime companies are releasing some really inexpensive box sets this summer. Now is the perfect time to buy all the anime you ever wanted, at dirt cheap prices.

Loads of complete collections are available on amazon.com. These are some of the best deals I've found thus far.

1. Gurren Lagann, complete collection - $44
Keep an eye on this box set when it comes out on July 6. Gurren Lagann rose to the top of people's wish lists with its spectacular battles and comical robots that can transform into super-powerful intergalactic fighters. You have to see it to believe it. This is an incredible value for a single box set, about $20 cheaper than if you bought the release in two boxes.

2. Lucky Star, complete collection - $44
Years ago, Bandai released this cute series in four $20 DVDs. The entire series cost about $80. The new box set of the entire series is a big bargain that will save you $36. Watch out for the box when it comes out on June 28.

3. Eureka Seven, part one - $37, part two - $37
I love this show because it has stylish surfer robots that look even more colorful when they are bleeding in mid-air combat. Each box is usually at a horrible price of $60. Bandai reduced the price of both boxes to about $37, making this box a great buy.

4. Baccano - $34
This is one of my favorites, because each scene in the series is in a different time frame in the story. It's told like a Quentin Tarentino film, minus the references to other famous films. The price for this series gradually escalated during first half of this year. Now the price is in the economical $30-$40 price range. Get it now, while it's cheap.

5. Spice and Wolf, season one - $40
Although some people wouldn't care about a show on capitalism and financial economics, the dialogue is richer than many other shoujo romance shows. This box is an huge deal that is $20 less than the full price. If anyone loves to watch shoujo romance blended with intriguing financial drama, consider buying this series now.

Image courtesy of photobucket.com

Re-release: second wave

There's a ton of new anime releases that I've put on hold, because I'm playing through "Persona 3: FES." I swear, the "Persona" games are like an anime entity within itself. I'm almost finished with the main journey of "Persona 3." Once I finish, I'll be sure to write a review.

Like I said, 2010 is the year of anime re-releases. Probably the biggest release is the "Lucky Star: Complete Collection." I know that this series has plenty of flaws, but for the record, there were tons of gut-busting jokes that even Haruhi couldn't match up to. Kanata is an excellent character who spreads her cosplay love to everyone around her. She even pulls off parodies of rare anime shows, such as the pseudo-lesbian romance of "Maria Watches Over Us."

I've also cleverly avoided some of the hideous anime in the beginning of the year, such as the "Linebarrels of Iron," "Nabari" and the second part of "Dragonaut." I'm slipping behind the times though. Sometime I should get to watching these shows, just for kicks.

The first priority, however, is finishing my review of "Gurren Lagann," part three. The series just keeps getting better. I'll be sad when it's finally over.

Image courtesy of photobucket.com. Anime Epicuriosity reminds readers that the pictures is from a fictional game with weapons called Evokers. So do not shoot yourself in the head. It's not cool, yo.

DVD Review: "Soul Eater" ends on positive note

The final part of "Soul Eater" rehashes the anime theme of courage repetitiously, but the fights are unusually fun to watch.

While this finale tends to follow the conventional formula for a successful action series to the very end, the images and voice acting performances are more surprising than you'd expect. Sure, the protagonists mature like ordinary teenage superheroes. However, the last fights are worth watching for the visual symbolism.

If anyone hadn't seen the previous box set, the good guys' organization, the Death Weapon Meisters Academy, has been looking for the all-powerful device known as The Brew. The members are also trying to defeat Arachnophobia and kill off the elusive villain, Medusa. Most of all, they want to vanquish Asura, the demon god who wants to consume the world with his madness.

Admittedly, this is almost too much ground to cover in one box set. And by the final three episodes, it looks like the animators ran out of time to develop an epic ending to close out the series. Our main hero, Maka Albarn, literally fights the final battle in the simplest manner possible.

Considering that Maka is the ultimate witch hunter, you'd expect that she would use her super-powerful slash technique with her scythe. But without giving anything away, let's say that the final battle turned out even more silly than I expected.

While some people may find themselves disappointed that ending isn't as thrilling as "Gurren Lagann," I'm sure that enough fans will enjoy the final battles. The battle with Medusa was quite possibly the one of the best fights I've ever seen in a shonen series. Crona and Marie finally get the chance to give Medusa the punishment that she deserves.

Best of all, the story reached a satisfying ending that was better than many other shows can own up to.

Let's not forget that Maka takes center stage throughout most of the series. She manages to take many challenging roles throughout the story. She protects her friends like a caring mother. She carefully discerns whether villains are trying to deceive her. She lives up to the legacy of her mother as a witch hunter.

Most of all, she acknowledges even though she is afraid much of the time, she takes matters head-on, no matter how many times her friends are dying. "Soul Eater" is literally one of the most empowering series, with intentions that stay clear throughout its run.

Even if it is completely predictable as a shonen (guy's) action series, "Soul Eater" is an effective series with some of the best acrobatic fights. The battles symbolize the self-conscious anxiety within everyone, which people can overcome with courage. While the show feels like it was geared more for kids, it still packs quite a punch. Literally.

Image courtesy of photobucket.com

DVD Review: New villains and twists in "Soul Eater"

The third box set of "Soul Eater" brings in some more villains to twist the story into a visually exciting thriller.

This series has a bad habit of rehashing much of the same shonen formulas, by adding in more opponents. From the start, the new goth-dressing woman and her band of misfits seem to have nothing to do with the ultra-powerful demon god which was introduced in the previous story arc.

So the series struggles to tie the connection to these new villains, led by a woman in a black dress named Arachnophobia. However, the series has always maintained an spectacular collection of powerful fight sequences. Everything is packed in Episodes 27 to 39. There's a brawler who fights with chainsaws on his limbs and a midget who can transform into a rolling gorilla.

Among other things, Death the Kid takes center stage in an incredible battle on a flying train. That's right: he fights in an epic battle on a train which almost resembles the one in the old classic, "Galaxy Express 999." This sequence is one of the best in the entire series.


Although the plot seems to make almost no sense as it plods along, there are plenty of clear stories to tell. Arachnophobia is seeking to spread madness throughout the world so that everyone will be her slave. Crona, the purple-haired boy who once tried to kill Maka and Soul, is now their friend and classmate. However, the boy's mother, Medusa, uses him for other fiendish purposes in this show.

I still have issues with how the story is structured. The focus on "Soul Eater" tends to zero in more on the battles than on the actual story, which wasn't that interesting to begin with. Thankfully, "Soul Eater" characterizes its run with some of the most impressive battles to ever grace a shonen series. And if anyone needs their fix of wanton violence and humongous fights, this show packs it all.

Image courtesy of photobucket.com

Video game anime classics: "Ranma 1/2: Hard Battle"

"Ranma 1/2: Hard Battle" is one of the weirdest anime-to-video game releases, nearly forgotten because of its poor production.

For anyone who doesn't know "Ranma 1/2," this series was pretty much about a boy who turns into a girl when he gets hit by cold water. She can only turn into a guy if he comes in contact with hot water. The rest of the story focused mostly on his love triangles with the other girls, and even guys, of his high school.

Technically, the plot of this fighting game doesn't make too much sense, but it works to bring all these characters together to fight. The principal of Ranma's high school is setting up a tournament. He's promised each participant the prize that that person wants the most.

Each person has a reason to fight. Ranma wants to be excused from attending high school classes. Akane wants boys to stop following her. Shampoo wants to prove to Ranma that she's strong enough for him. There's even a few minor characters in the video game as well, such as the Gambling King, who uses a cane and stacks of cards to fight. His dream is to start up a casino in Nerima with the principal's help. You'll pretty much figure out the story in a short time.

On paper, it seems like a fun and goofy concept for a fighting game. However, "Ranma 1/2: Hard Battle" plays as slowly as the old "Clay Fighter" games. The characters move as slow as slugs and the special moves are almost too easy to use. The game quickly becomes a boring rock, paper, scissors game, where each player takes the time to see what the other player does, so that she/he can counter it.

So why should anyone buy this game? Well, this game is actually more memorable for its stupefyingly voice actors. The United States publisher, DTMC, decided to use American voice actors. The voices sound funny and horribly overdone at the same time. It's pretty much worth playing just to hear a girl mumbling loudly, "HYUUYOUSOUKENHA!" Half the time, you couldn't even hear what the other character was saying. It was like an unintentional parody of "Street Fighter II," where the voice actors were making fun of every bad special move cliche.

Better yet, these fighters were duking it out in some of the most bizarre backdrops that you will probably never see in any other fighting game. There's nothing more fun than fighting on Ukyo Kuonji's stage, which is literally a wrestling ring smothered with a Japanese okonomiyaki pancake.

The funniest gameplay visuals involved the characters' actual moves. You'd have typical "Street Fighter" style characters, such as Ranma, Akane and Shampoo. Then you'd have the bizarre characters, such as Genma in his panda form. You could play as Mousse, who uses swords, a ball-and-chain, a swan and a yo-yo. The weirdest one, though, was Hikaru Gosunkugi. He wears a headband with candles on his ears. He can hit people with a big hammer and he can twirl around a straw man for his special move.

You'll probably never laugh at a fighting game as much as you will laugh at "Ranma 1/2: Hard Battle" for the Super Nintendo. This game is a little hard to come by nowadays, but there are still plenty of copies available on eBay for as low as $6. So if you still have your Super Nintendo, you could at least enjoy this game for some quick laughs.

Images courtesy of expixeblogdepedja.com and vgmuseum.com