DVD Re-release: Now and Then, Here and There

"Now and Then, Here and There" grips anime viewers with an illogical, emotional story revolving around adolescent warfare.

For a post-apocalyptic drama, this OVA is a shocker. The series takes young teenagers through a wide variety of heartbreaking situations. In fact, there aren't any other shows that depict children in violent warfare and under sexual subservience. I'm glad that someone decided to re-release this series in a cheap box set in 2009, after all these years.

It opens as an innocent slice-of-life about Shuzo "Shu" Matsutani, a young kendo student. He meets a mysterious blue-haired girl sitting on top of an abandoned refinery building.

After a short conversation, their environment suddenly transforms into an alternate dimension, where the world has turned into a desolate wasteland. Shu is taken into the army of Hellywood, a humongous industrial fortress.

There's nothing inviting about this world at all. Men force children to kill innocent people in indigenous villages. The soldiers must execute anyone who disobeys commands. In short, the new universe is almost as ruthless as the Holocaust camps.

The world's only hope is the blue-haired girl, Lalaru. Her pendant has the power to release floods of water at her command. However, she is tired of being used as a tool to provide water for bloodthirsty emperors. Shu brainstorms a plan to save Lalaru, no matter how difficult the task is.

Technically, this is one of the most illogical anime shows ever made. Think about it.

There's more than a couple situations where someone could have shot the evil dictator of Hellywood, Hamdo. He's terribly vulnerable to gunshots and knives. No one really takes the opportunity because they're supposedly afraid of him.

It makes little to no sense at all. With all that said, this is still an immensely emotional show. As far as I know, there's only one other anime that focuses on sexual slavery and soldier children. That film, "Kite," is still hard to watch because it is filled with so much disturbing sexual imagery.

"Now and Then, Here and There" makes for a welcome alternative. The second half of the series also offers plenty of insight on the ethical problems of warfare. Plenty of characters must make some heart-wrenching decisions about who lives and who dies.

Without giving anything away, the final scenes are shocking and frightening to watch. If the teenage characters weren't compassionate, this series could have easily ended in a bloody apocalypse of chaos. Thankfully, the series carries a final message of hope for peaceful resolutions.

By all means, this isn't the best series ever made. However, it is worth a rental. These children are easy to empathize with, so it's hard to not feel sorry for them as they endure unbearable torture. Just keep in mind that it probably wouldn't make that much sense as a whole.

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DVD Re-release - The worst romance story with a naked girl

"This Ugly Yet Beautiful World" is one of the most horrible shoujo anime shows ever made, with mediocre dialogue and romantic situations that are bound to make you puke.

It actually starts pretty strong as a romantic comedy, even though there is a lot of fan service. Although this show is not the most perverted romantic comedy I've ever seen, it presents plenty of uncomfortable shots of completely naked girls. In the first half of the anime, you're bound to see at least a girl's breasts at least once in each episode.

At first, the story of the show holds up pretty well, for all that it's worth. The anime's story centers around a lazy high school boy named Takeru Takemoto, who works as a delivery boy for his uncle. One day, he and his friend, Ryou Niyomiya, find a mysterious naked girl in a tree. This girl, named Hikari, looks almost like the dream girl which Ryou drew for Takeru.

When a giant centipede monster attacks Takeru and Hikari with its tentacles, Takeru suddenly transforms into a powerful shonen fighter with big muscles and long hair. After beating up the monster, he swears that he will protect Hikari, no matter what.

This show would have worked well as a shonen battle anime, but that isn't what the remainder of the series is about. For some reason, all of Takeru's friends and family members gather around the alien girl to provide clothes and a room for her. You don't even know how his friends heard about the girl so quickly, or why his friends decided to come together to see the girl. The show eventually turns into a disturbing harem comedy, where even Takeru's sister fights to win back her brother's love.

Around episode three, the show introduces another alien girl, named Akari. She strikes up a close friendship with Takeru's friend, Ryou Ninomiya. Akari's character is much more relatable, because she isn't so obsessed with smothering her new boyfriend with love. However, the series wants us to focus on Hikari, the least interesting of the two characters.

And for some reason, all the characters seem interested in Hikari, who wastes time in every episode by talking about the air, the water and the crickets of the Earth. No joke. In every episode, Takeru's friends and family are always around to gaze at Hikari. They all comment on Hikari's awkward fascination with the world. I mean, you'd think that after episode eight, these kids would have better things to do than to pay attention to the happy-go-lucky alien girl.

Fortunately, there is a serious story, in which ancient insect-like monsters actually attempt to destroy the world. These humongous, violent monsters awaken when they sense elevated levels of ED in teenagers such as Takeru. However, when you consider that ED actually stands for "Extended Definition," you'll find that there really isn't a good reason for anything in this anime. Sure, there are hints in episode nine about the upcoming apocalypse, but nothing is ever explained thoroughly.

Believe it or not, the series actually turns into an apocalyptic thriller at the end of episode 10. The ending also makes for a touching climax to this show. But by then, most people will get tired of all the redundant sitcom jokes. It's hard to forgive a repititious series that can't even manage to teach people to appreciate the boredom of everyday life. Even the conclusion of this series is an underwhelming disappointment.

Unless someone forces you to watch this anime at gunpoint, absolutely stay away from this series. It is possibly one of the worst anime shows ever made. And it is guaranteed to bore you to death, unless you manage to stick with it after the first five hours.

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Anime streaming review: Fighting demons and living dangerously

Most of the supernatural anime shows focus on the same characters and the same stories of destroying unwanted undead creatures and spirits. A new show on crunchyroll.com throws some clever twists to the tried-and-true formula.

"Occult Academy" is not just an anime comedy that pokes fun at Hollywood horror--it turns into an adrenaline-pumping show about the frightening dangers of paranormal phenomena.

The show opens as a parody of the horror anime, involving a school which specializes in teaching students about occult spirits and unexplainable spectacles such as UFOs. In a freakish scene that could have been taken out of an old horror film, the school superintendent rises from the dead during a school funeral.

Despite the initial shock, the superintendent's daughter, Maya Kumashiro, insists that all these spiritual beings do not exist. Kumashiro is a ghost hunter who has a fascination for occult spirits, even though she was neglected by her father as a child. She is an unusually violent protagonist, on a mission to kill the zombies and ghouls who are haunting the Occult Academy.

The show manages to present a wide range of slapstick comedy. In fact, the first episode is a jovial parody of ghost mystery shows. Kumashiro's friends assemble the classic team of "expert" spiritual mediums, consisting of a fat "dowser" medium with flimsy metal prongs and a janitor who was just invited because he knows how to kick peoples' asses.

Yet, this show is not a comedy at all. It is a dark series where characters almost die, where the deadly secrets of Kumashiro's father come to life. When Kumashiro was a child, her father became obsessed with his occult studies. He became so obsessed that he refused to speak to his family. Episode two reveals that her father was actually researching an artifact with incredible power, known as the key of Nostradamus. The key is the one thing that will save the world from destruction in 2012.

Despite the looming devastation of the future apocalypse, the show manages to pull off a pretty humorous sex comedy routine involving a time traveler named Fumiaki Uchida. He was apparently sent to find the key of Nostradamus. However, he doesn't win any points with Kumashiro when he first appears in front of her, bare naked.

This anime series is an incredible mind trip, involving invisible ghost murderers, doppledangers and the end of the world. It works amazingly well as a blood-curdling thriller and a humorous, romantic school comedy. There's something for everyone in this hair-raising comedy that pokes fun at the flaws of the horror anime and uncovers the most intriguing, hidden secrets of the undead.

Watch the series for free at crunchyroll.com.

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Streaming video review: Sexy bishonen saviors of the incoming apocalypse

Beautiful bishonen action returns to its pre-eminent level of excellence with Kadokawa Pictures' newest action show, "Uragiri wa boku no namae wo shitteiru." This review covers the first four episodes.

Although we've seen the same visual images of sexy guys with big eyes in series such as "Angel Sanctuary" and "Ayashi no Ceres," this is actually one of the best bishonen action series I've seen in a long time. For once in anime history, the pacing of the bishonen (beautiful boys) show isn't sped up to a frightening pace. The Christian symbolism isn't set up in a horrific manner. And the characters develop like a touching romantic couple in a badass, post-apocalyptic world.

The only thing that may bother first-time watchers is the Japanese name, which was shortened to "Uraboku" in the crunchyroll.com library. The English translation of the full name literally means, "Betrayal Know My Name." I really think Crunchyroll could have translated the entire name of the series. They could have drawn in a horde of new fans with a more westernized name.

The first episodes beautifully set the stage for this unusual fantasy action show. The main character, Yuki Giou, is a high school boy with no relatives, who lives in an orphanage. He is a top student in his class, aiming to head to college. However, he keeps receiving strange death threats in the mail.

For quite some time, Yuki's best friend has been plotting to kill him. Yuki nearly gets murdered one day, when his feet freeze up in the middle of an intersection. Fortunately, a handsome, bare-chested stranger in a black trenchcoat saves his life. The man's name is Zess. Oddly enough, Yuki keeps dreaming that he once was the girlfriend of that man long ago.

Then his long-lost relatives visit him at the orphanage. They present him with an invitation to head to Tokyo to use his superpowers to fight dark monsters, known as Duras. At first, Yuki thinks that he would rather live a normal high school life. However, he has a change of heart on one especially fatal night, on the night of the full red moon.


This anime's visuals are incredible. The post-apocalyptic action sequences look top-notch for a bishonen fantasy series. The story of the series involves the frightening apocalypse in the future. So the dark, blackened imagery and the Christian symbolism in the battles look especially poignant in these fight sequences.

Beyond all the doom and gloom though, it's hard not to love the sexy characters of this series, whether you're a girl or a guy. Sure, there's plenty of romantic tension between Yuki and Zess. However, I especially love the beautiful figures of Yuki in the past as a woman. Toko Murasame is even more adorable, whether she's fighting or acting cute for Yuki.

Although some people will obviously object to the potentially homosexual relationship between Yuki and Zess, it's fairly obvious that Yuki was once a woman in an earlier time, long ago. And certainly the series will fill viewers in on how Yuki changed his form years ago. So the series is probably not going to turn out as borderline offensive as it may seem.

Bishonen fans will get more than their fill of boy's love with this awesome action series. With guns, swords, Christian overtones and beautiful characters, this series looks like it has everything that the bishonen fan will ever want and need.

Watch the series for free at crunchyroll.com.

Image courtesy of photobucket.com

DVD Review - Vexille brings technological apocalypse to Japan

Although one computer-generated robot film was already released this year, "Vexille" is more thoughtful and exciting than "Appleseed: Ex Machina." Despite the slow pace of the film, I loved watching this new prediction of an apocalyptic future of Japan.

At first, the film seems to go in the same direction as "Appleseed: Ex Machina," with intense robot battles and fast action. However, this movie decides to take a much different approach--this time, the robot force is investigating the use of cyborg technology in Japan.

According to the film, Japan isolated itself from the world in the year 2067. The entire island was secluded, and no foreigners could come in or out of the area. In fact, the movie shows that there is a flashing electronic security network called R.A.C.E. between Japan and the rest of the world.

The film centers around Vexille, a member of S.W.O.R.D., which is a military group that specializes in fighting in robot suits. Ten years later, her husband, Leon, found a messenger in San Pedro, California, who said that Maria needed him, and that Daiwa Industries is meeting at Mt. Fila on Christmas Day to discuss admission of their cyborg technology. Saito of Daiwa Industries escaped on an airplane. Although Vexille hung on to his leg, Saito chopped the leg off!

Later, some scientists explained that this was actually a cyborg leg, which is illegal under the United Nations restrictions. Eventually, the head of S.W.O.R.D. operations decides to act without United States authorization to investigate the nation of Japan.

Unfortunately, the mission doesn't go well. Leon's robot suit gets hit by a rocket, and Vexille's other members are killed. Vexille wakes up in a shocking new world of Japan. Tokyo has turned into a shantytown.

Vexille also meets Maria, who was Leon's ex-girlfriend in Japan. Maria was a U.N. investigator in Japan, but after regulations by Daiwa, Maria could not move out of Japan. Leon left for the United States, but Maria explains that Daiwa also did something else to Japan--they turned all the people into cyborgs.

According to Maria, after Daiwa Industries took governmental control over Japan, they gave all the people vaccinations. Unfortunately, these vaccinations were special chemicals that turned all their genes into robotic parts. While they are all human, when their eyes turn black, they will all turn into empty cyborgs who are forced to work for Daiwa.

And Japan is a wasteland. That's right, after Daiwa took over, they used up its natural resources. Now it has no mountains or rivers or greenery--it is all flat. This is sure one heck of a message to convert to environment-friendly energy sources, but it works very well. The depiction is incredible--I really loved the desolate world of Japan, with desert expanses and huge robotic worms made of scrap metal.

Vexille is a brilliant film from start to finish. The Japanese voices are incredibly compelling, and the computer-generated graphics are just as awesome. I saw many complaints that the graphics are not as good as, say, "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within." However, the director chose a style that used more cell-shaded graphics, to make it somewhat more cartoony. The images were probably rendered in this way to offer a sense of comic relief from the dark apocalyptic story.

But it's clear that "Vexille" offers excellent images and a brilliant story that paints a desolate future for Japan. Let's just hope that Japan doesn't get this messed up 60 or 70 years from now.

Images courtesy of seaslugteam.com