Gravitation

Original Author: Maki Murakami
Japanese Title: Gravitation
Episodes: 13 +OVA
Rating: 16+
Release Studio: The Right Stuff International
Release Year: 2004
Main Voice Actors:

Shuichi Shindou ~ Rich McNanna
Eiri Yuki (Eiri Uesugi) ~ Rome Elliot
Hiroshi Nakano ~ Daniel Kevin Harrison
Suguru Fujisaki ~ Luke Novak
Seguchi Tohma ~ Bill Rogers
Ryuichi Sakuma ~ Robert Kenneth Marlo
Noriko Ukai ~ Megan Hollingshead
K (Claude) ~ Brian Maillard
Mika Seguchi ~ Debora Rabbai
Tatsuha Uesugi ~ Jason Griffith
Ayako Usami ~ Rachael Lillis
Sakano ~ Bill Timoney
Taki Aizawa ~ Tim Breese
Maa-kun ~ John Carey
Ken ~ Joe DiGiorgi

Shuichi Shindou is a pretty normal teenager. He has no talent, no experience, and no band, yet he wants to be a rock start anyway. With his friend and guitarist, Hiroshi he plays a gig and is ready to show the world is awesome lyrics! However, a random stranger, Eiri Yuki, sees his lyrics and puts the singer in his place. Unable to stop thinking about Yuki, Shuichi forces himself into Yuki's life. Whether they like it or not, the force that brings the unlikely pair together is like gravity and they can't do anything to stop it.

If you read the manga first, you may be a bit disappointed with the English voices. I thought Shuichi sounded weird.... Anyway, I adore this yaoi manga. The anime was okay to me but seemed rushed amd I rarely had the times where I'd crack up in laughter. Some people say the manga dragged on too long but those are the people who liked the anime. Personally, I'm siding with the manga. Although, I found it weird how different the art looks in the later volumes than the earlier volumes, I loved the manga. The storyline was well thought out and always grabbed and kept my interest (not like Fushigi Yugi which I found out later). Oh yeah, I almost forgot, now there's an OVA, titled Gravitation: Lyrics of Love. I haven't seen it yet, but I'll get my hands on it sooner or later and I'll spill all the details. (If you haven't noticed yet, my other blog Harajuku is dedicated to this series. Therefore, you know it's one of my favorites.) I have to say, I was skeptical when I first saw this manga but boy was I wrong. Gravitation will appeal more to female fans than male, but any yaoi fan should pick this one up. And don't get me wrong by avoiding the anime. I never had the chance of watching the Japanese voices but the English voices aren't bad. They probably could have been better but they were okay all the same. I liked how they kept the original Japanese when Shuichi or Ryuichi were singing. The English for that would probably have been horrible. I also really like the ending song "Glaring Dream". You also probably want to give the opening "Super Drive" a look. If you want to see this, watch the anime first and then the manga. Then you won't be so disappointed when it ends. Or at least, that's what I think.

"I'm stuck on you like gravity. You're the Earth and I'm the moon. I won't leave you."

Paranoia Agent

Japanese Title: Mousou Dairinin
Episodes: 13
Rating: 16+
Release Studio: Geneon Animation
Release Year: 2004
Main Voice Actors:

Tsukiko Sagi ~ Michelle Ruff
Maromi ~ Carrie Savage
Little Slugger ~ Jaime Gallardo
Yuichi Taira ~ Kevin Hatcher
Harumi Chrono ~ Erica Schaffer
Akio Kawazu ~ Doug Stone
Shunsuke Makabe ~ Sparky Roberts
Hatomura Shinsuke ~ Sam Regal
Keiichi Ikari ~ Michael McConnohie
Mitsuhiro Maniwa ~ William Markham
Shogo Ushiyama ~ Steven Bendik

In a city, a woman is attacked by a mysterious person on roller skates and with a golden bat. The police think she is merely faking it but after the next attacks.... Unrelated victims describe the same attacker... The same attacker now known as "Lil' Slugger"...

I don't like this anime... It's not the voice actors. In fact, they sound fine. They all match. The music is just plain weird. Watch the opening. There's a mushroom in the sky.... Yada, yada, yada... It's the way they set this up. The first four episodes they switch to different victims and what happened. After that, everything goes wrong. There are plenty of filler episodes which are just boring and unappealing. I would have stopped watching this anime earlier, but I had to watch something until Scryed came on. One episode is only about these ladies who are sharing tales of Lil' Slugger. Pointless... They could have cut the episode out. You don't have to hit the 13 episode mark. Another episode is about these three people who want to die. Another episode that could have been cut out. The last episode is where everything is alright again. There's another episode where there's that police chief's wife and she's waiting for him. There are so many episodes that are so dull and unappealing. If I were you, I'd probably watch the first four episodes and skip to the last two episodes. Forget about everything in between. Better yet, go watch something else. Like Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, or FLCL. They are much more entertaining....

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (Minor Spoilers!)

Director: Tetsuya Nomura
Producer: Yoshinori Kitase
Co-Producer: Shinji Hashimoto
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu
Script/Scenario Writer: Kazushige Nojima
Art Director: Yusuke Naora
Episodes: Movie
Rating: PG-13
Release Year: 2005
Japanese Cast:

Cloud Strife ~ Takahiro Sakurai
Tifa Lockhart ~ Ayumi Itou
Aerith Gainsborough ~ Maaya Sakamoto
Barret Wallace ~ Masahiro Kobayashi
Child (Girl) ~ Rina Mogami
Cid Highwind ~ Kazuyuki Yama
Denzel ~ Kyousuke Ikeda
Kadaj ~ Shoutarou Morikubo
Loz ~ Kenji Nomura
Marlene Wallace ~ Miyuu Tsuzurahara
Reno ~ Keiji Fujiwara
Rude ~ Taiten Kusunoki
Rufus Shinra ~ Toru Okawa
Sephiroth ~ Toshiyuki Morikawa
Vincent Valentine ~ Shougo Suzuki
Yazoo ~ Yuuji Kishi
Yuffie Kisaragi ~ Yumi Kakazu
Zack ~ Kenichi Suzumura

I decided I'm not going to do a summary. I'm not going to spoil the whole movie for people who haven't seen it or read about it on the Film Festival websites. If you want to be spoiled, go there not here. I'm going to mention scenes so you may be spoiled on little bits of the movie so.... BEWARE! And as a note, I've never played the original FFVII, I've only seen AC so there were a couple of things I had to look up on. And as you can tell by the cast, I watched the Japanese version (with subtitles), not the English.

Okay, for everyone who's reading this, I presume you've all seen at least one screen of Advent Children. If so, you know what I mean when I say I love the new look of the FFVII characters. (Just because I've never okayed FFVII, doesn't mean I haven't seen FFVII.) And the fan boys and girls out there are absolutely going to kill me for saying this but... I didn't like the graphics of the characters of FFVII. I don't have anything against old game graphics, I liked all the other FF art, it's just VII. The new art is amazing though. I particularly like how Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Marlene, Denzel, and Vincent look, to name a few. I also noticed that everyone has "perfect hair". Everyone's hair never gets tangled or messed up when in the water or when there's a huge wind or something... It's not like it doesn't move, it's just perfect. Then again, in FFX it was the same way... Oh well, no biggie.

Three of my more favorite scenes of the movie were one, the fighting scene between Tifa and Loz. Two, the motorcycle chase scene (not really "motorcycles" but oh well) with Cloud, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz. And three, the fight scene between Cloud and Sephiroth. The fighting scene between Tifa and Loz was amazing because how they slowed the action down and sped it right back up was great. I just loved the camera angles for this. For the motorcycle chase scene, the way the characters moved and everything and on the motorcycles no less. And obviously the big fight scene between Cloud and Sephiroth cannot be forgotten. It's what the movie builds up to, it's the "big moment" we've been waiting for. I really loved the song they played throughout, the Latin one. Actually, I loved the music they played throughout the entire movie.... As always Nobuo Uematsu's compositions fit along with the movie. Now I have to go buy the soundtrack... His music is always the best.

I really liked how the movie came out. It didn't disappoint although 90 minutes is pretty short for a movie. However, if it went on too long, it'd drag on and that's no good either. Since I never played FFVII, I can't really compare but I loved the movie nonetheless. You may have to do some research (for example what a Materia is) if you never played VII but you'll understand it. It's just the small details. It's good for both to watch. But since I haven't played VII I have to go get Last Order. Oh one more thing, watch the Japanese version. I highly doubt the English Voice Actors will compare.

Devil May Cry 3 (Manga)

Author: Suguro Chayamachi
Publisher: Tokyopop
Release Date: October 2005
Cast:

~Dante
~Enzo
~Vergil
~Arkham
~Lady
~Alice

Okay, so it's not an anime. Hey, I had to review this since I absolutely loved the game. Anyway, now, in addition to the DMC3: Special Edition, DMC3 has it's own manga. According to a source, there are only three volumes or "codes" as they call 'em. Compared to other manga, DMC3 is short. Other manga, for example, Saiyuki and InuYasha reach about 188 pages, Fruits Basket reached about 200, are longer. DMC3 reached 149. This isn't a good thing. I was engaged in the story but it seemed so short. The art isn't as good as the game, I have to admit, but it ain't bad. I just think Vergil looks a little weird. The actions great in the storyline. I don't really care for Enzo as much and Dante seems to be a little short-tempered opposed to more laid-back. These aren't complaints; I am just noting slight differences. I'm looking for Volume er... Code 2: Vergil.

Samurai Champloo

Original Plan: Manglobe
Directed by: Shinichiro Watanabe
Japanese Title: Samurai Champloo
Episodes: 26
Rating: 16 & Up
Release Studio: Geneon Animation
Release Year: 2005
Main Voice Actors*:

Mugen ~ Daniel Andrews
Jin ~ Kirk Thornton
Fuu ~ Kari Wahlgren

*The reason why there are only three characters listed above is because the trio are travelling and there are new characters per episode or two (due to two-parter episodes).

Mugen is an undisciplined warrior, wild and violent, also womanizing. Jin is a ronin, well-mannered and traditional. These two are so different you'd never imagine them travelling together. However, their paths cross when Fuu, a ditzy waitress, saves them from execution. Fuu made the two samurai promise her one favor. Now the three must travel to help Fuu find a "samurai who smells of sunflowers". Thus, their journey begins...

Since the trio are travelling, new characters pop up pretty much every episode which provides plenty of variety of characters. In addition, our main characters are so different from one another so conflict almost always occurs. There's always some sort of problem per episode so you'll never be bored. Whether it's the action or the humor, this anime is very fun and entertaining. The voices fit the characters except for one time but it's only a minor character and her voice isn't supposed to fit. The opening theme is very neat but I have to admit, I prefer the ending theme. (Note: if you watch the anime on Adult Swim, they speed up the credits so you don't hear the full ending theme.) Some of people I talked to compare this anime to Cowboy Bebop. The director in Cowboy Bebop also directs this show. Cowboy Bebop is the future with jazz music. Samurai Champloo is the feudal Japan era with rap music. Some may see some similarities, the voice actor for Mugen also does Spike. Anyway, this is an interesting anime chocked full of action and humor. Not high on romance, but you'll see occasionally Mugen hitting on a women and there's even a romantic episode with Jin. I suppose if you're a fan of Cowboy Bebop, you may also like this one.