Love Hina is another Anime that I’ve been looking for for years. It’s one of my first Anime series I was serious about that wasn’t on Toonami, meaning more DVDs to buy with building my collection of Gundam Wing DVDs.

However, I’ve never brought the individual DVDs of the series, instead brought the Love Hina Spring and Christmas specials, and the Love Hina Again OVA. Love Hina is also the first Anime series that I’ve watched fansubbed. After finishing Gundam Wing, this would have been the next series to collect, but eventually, they were to be out of print.

There was the Love Hina box set-that included the specials and OVA that I already have. The only option left was to find the single volumes else where-for more than they were worth at retail stores. That changed when FUNimation got the distribution rights to Love Hina.

After years of searching, I have finally completed my Love Hina collection with the recent addition of the Complete Collection set! It also brings sense to my Anime at Large posts, searching for titles that I loved, but have somehow forgotten. That brings the totally collection of complete Anime series on DVD to 13.

The story of Love Hina is one of my favorites when it comes to a loner living in a house with more than one of the opposite sex. (In before Moe Anime a few years later.) The main character Keitaro is seen at a younger age playing with a girl who would eventually move away from the neighborhood.

Before moving, the girl promises that the both of them should attend Tokyo University. Fast forward to his teenage years, Keitaro prepares to enter Tokyo University-meeting a girl who looks a lot like his childhood friend by the name of Naru Narusegawa.

In addition to Tenchi Universe and Tenchi in Tokyo in my collection, Love Hina proudly sits in my DVD case. It feels very rewarding to finish collecting a series, all thanks to a very good used bookstore suggested by a few people in the area… that I’d like to keep to myself, for now. [/greedy]

On a side note: since it’s a store where everything is not wrapped in plastic… it was a bit funny to see the cashier open the DVD case (Mild NSFW Warning).

The Guyver is one of those Anime series that’s been on my mind for several years (like the rest of the Anime at Large posts, of course)… Back in 2004, I’ve ran into a lot of fans (many with “Guyver” in the name) of the show on a few message boards, and it struck me curious as to what the show was about.

At first, it looks like another Power Rangers show, but simply a Sentai show. It cross my mind again after reading about it in the February 2009 issue of Otaku USA, written by Mike Dent (of the R5 Central Podcast).

There no cheery “It’s Morphin’ Time!” catch, but it’s much deeper than that. From Anime News Network’s Encyclopedia:

Sho Fukamachi, a normal teenager accidentally found an alien object called Unit and thus, changed his life forever. The Unit bonded with Sho, resulting a powerful fighting lifeform called Guyver.

With this great power, Sho battled the mysterious Chronos and it’s Zoanoids, in order to protect his friends and his world. Unknown to Sho, the battle against Chronos will lead to the discovery of the origins of human, their destiny, and the Creators….

There is also 2 live action movies based on the same story that was (wait for it) made and released in the US in the early 1990s. The first Guyver movie features Star Wars vet Mark Hamill. But being a Star Wars actor didn’t fool the fans: the movie received bad reviews, and even to this day it constantly gets bashed by fans. (Plus the fact that Sho was renamed to Sean Baker).

That changed when Guyver 2: Dark Hero was released in 1994. While the sequel made improvements of the first movie, Dark Hero also made Voice/Actor, Screenwriter for X-Men 1 & 2 and Watchmen-to-be and Director of “Slaughter’s Road”-to-be, David Hayter a star (well, in the Metal Gear community).

Dark Hero is the first time watching anything of Guyver, keeping in mind that I haven’t watch the first Guyver movie, and probably never will due to obvious reasons… I didn’t get a chance to write a review of Dark Hero, but I’d recommend checking it out right this minute. On the other hand, I’ll have to check out the Anime version soon…

Judau, Puru, Haman, and Glemy (?) of ZZ Gundam

According to Dynasty Warriors: Gundam (so far the most accessible “database” of Gundam characters for me), the story starts off with a teenager by the name of Judau Ashta. He’s about the same age as Amuro Ray and Kamille Bidan when they started out. He finds the Zeta Gundam in a A.E.U.G. warehouse and steals it in order to sell it for quick cash. Of course, A.E.U.G. captures him, but when things get ugly between the Titans and Axis, he cooperates with A.E.U.G. and pilots the Zeta. He also does this to save a girl very close to him by the name of, Leina.

With ZZ Gundam taking place right after Z Gundam, the original characters from 0079 and a few from Z return, including Bright Noa and Char Aznable. *Tsk, tsk, tsk* – Why Bandai is neglecting the release of the remaining UC Gundam series is beyond me. I say: “stop worrying about the new Gundam series, and start saving the old ones!”

The only way I can see this is to find it online via P2P–but as a huge (UC) Gundam maniac, I really like to own it on DVD with my hard earned money. I guess I better start brushing up on my Japanese so I can buy the R2 DVDs.

The reason I held off EVA was because I have other series to catch up on. Plus, there’s the bad habit of procrastination whenever I have the time to actually watch something. The thought of watching NGE came back to me when I heard the theme song; once on a local J-Pop radio program, and again when someone sang a Karaoke version at JAMPcon. The song: Cruel Angel’s Thesis (残酷な天使のテーゼ). It has that “WATCH ME” feeling to it…

Also, I think that if I start watching this, the way I watch anime will change, as it seems that everyone who is a mega fan of NGE has different opinions of every anime they see (Not to mention the Rei and Asuka worship). Since EVA is a world favorite, it’s not going anywhere any time soon; especially with the new Evangelion movies. Since ADV isn’t doing very with their inventory, it won’t be long before it gets picked up by someone else: namely FUNimation. It could air someday on the SciFi channel. It did before…at least I think so.

School Rumble is one of the best anime for those who are looking for romantic school comedies. This show is actually easy to watch, especially since it readily available in the US, thanks to FUNimation. I started watching School Rumble when it was available as a Fansub. Even then it was hard to find due to the crack down of shows from Media Factory, the Japanese licensor for School Rumble and other notable series, such as Genshiken. I quit watching it after it was licensed by FUNi and simply because I didn’t have the time to watch it, thanks to Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Bleach.

The name School Rumble says it all about the story line (no, it’s nothing like Dragonball Z, for the most part). The story follows two characters: Tenma Tsukumoto and Kenji Harima. Tenma is just your ordinary school girl, with a huge crush on another student who does not seem to notice her. Kenji is a juvenile delinquent with a crush on Tenma-chan, but she also does not notice thanks to her crush on Karasuma Oji. To get Tenma to notice him, Kenji goes to great lengths to get rid of Karasuma and have her all to himself, but his schemes seems to backfire—with hilarious results! Tenma-chan’s friends also have their own stories with the male classmates, which keeps the show fresh and funny when Kenji runs out of ways to get through Tenma-chan. One of the funniest things I like about the series is the characters getting beaten up for saying something perverted or something that doesn’t make sense (and when Kenji fights his way to Tenma).

School Rumble also has good Opening and Ending themes: SCRAMBLE (Yui Horie feat. UNSCANDAL) and Onna no Ko, Otoko no Ko (Yuko Ogura). The song, “Koi no Jumon wa Papa-PiPu-Pa” (Yuko Ogura), actually got me into the series. I thought this song was the second ending theme for the first season, but it’s part of the single featuring the first opening theme. I could be wrong…So far, I have watched School Rumble up to Episode 11. Now that School Rumble is on DVD, I can get it anytime I have the funds, but I think it would be wise until it’s released as a complete set. There’s also the second season (“Ni-Gakku – Second Semester”) to look forward to, and the OVAs, including the recently announced “Third Term”.

The story of The Big O follows a negotiator by the name of Roger Smith, (who looks like he could be Phoenix Wright’s father!) and his android companion, R. Dorothy. Roger used to work for the police department before he went out on his own. Whenever a building is suddenly leveled by a giant mechanical hand, he calls upon The Big O to put an end to the destruction. It’s been a long time since I watched the first season–and the second season, if it weren’t for Adult Swim messing up the final episode of Season 2 by not airing it as some sort of joke. After complaints from fans, they rescheduled the series finale the next week. I have the second half of Season 2 recorded on VHS, somewhere…So, yeah. I never finished watching it. Luckily, Bandai (Namco) Entertainment released the complete collections of Season 1 & 2. However, they are sold separately, so you will need to shell out at least $80, which is not bad than hunting the individual DVDs of both seasons on eBay. I already have the first season of Big O. I just need to get the second season collection before it vanishes–again.

Gintama

Gintama is the first on my list of manga to read–and an anime of it to watch. I said that this was going to be a manga edition of the series (Anime at Large, the very post in the series you’re reading right now), but I had to bring this up. I was interested in the anime at first, but finding fansubs of the series is hard to find, unless I search for one of those free anime download sites. The English translation of the Gintama manga has been in the US for sometime now. Hopefully, someone will license the anime soon, especially since convention season will start soon…Anyway, Gintama is about bounty hunters in a feudal, futuristic Edo period Japan. The main character, Gin, likes to slack off and read manga and eat sweets. The first episode of the anime, which originally aired as an hour long two-part premier special, was really hilarious and starts the series off with a bang. Since I can’t seem to find the anime, I guess I’ll start the on manga for the time being.

Tenshi Ja Nai!: I’m no Angel!

This manga is a Shounen-ai title. Basically, it’s about a boy who dresses up as a girl so he could transfer to a school with the classes he needs. This manga screams “Kill Me, Kiss Me” (Manhwa) and “Hanazakari no Kimitachi he”–or better known as “Hana-Kimi”. It’s cute to see someone of the opposite sex get into trouble for being for (s)he’s not, then fall in-love (straight) with him/her. I took interest in this manga after reading a brief review in the now defunct NewType USA. It took me a while to find it, as it is not in the section with the other manga–it’s in the Romance section, along with Berserk and Battle Royale. They’re not Romance titles, but once you see them in the dimmed out section, wrapped in plastic, you’ll get the idea. I manage to find volume one a few months ago at Books-A-Million. They had a few copies out of the way from the first couple of volumes. The last time I went to Books-A-Million, a week ago, they had one copy left. Whew! Good thing I got the first volume it. Shounen-ai is [getting] that popular…

Chobits

Finally, there’s Chobits. A fan favorite. I read two–and a half–volumes of Chobits, before I suddenly lost interest. I should buy all of them so I can have it there when I’m ready to read it. I did this for Dragonball, when Waldenbooks when out of business…Well, Chobits is probably the first Moé-ish manga involving an artificial intelligence. I really love the story, but it’s a shame I couldn’t finish it. It’s just one of those bad habits I have for stopping something I started-hence “Anime Manga at Large”. Speaking of “at large”, I should save up on getting Geneon’s DVD boxset before someone else picks up the license for the series…

Another anime I need to watch is Excel Saga. Arguably the best anime next to FLCL, with its irrelevant and obscene scenarios. I got into Excel Saga at Anime Central in 2004 after seeing so many Nabeshin cosplayers, and since Nabeshin (Shinichi Watanabe—not to be confused with Shinichiro Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop) himself was the Guest of Honor at ACEN ‘04—though I didn’t get a chance to meet him since we were there for one day.

I do own a few DVD of the series—Volumes 1, 4, and 5. I found DVDs 4 and 5 on clearance at a comic book store I used to frequent in Calumet City, IL before I moved to Tennessee. So far I have watched three episodes, but I refuse to watch more of it until I get volume two, or the whole series. ADV released a Thinpak of the whole series a while back, but I don’t want to buy it right now. Amazon.com has very few of the individual DVDs left—for $25 a pop. ADV…What did we do to you? That’s too high for a series like this! Sure, hardcore anime enthusiasts are willing to spend top dollar for some anime series, but I think Excel Saga—at least the original DVDs—need to come down in price, especially those who haven’t been able to watch the series.

Anyway…Excel Saga is about…Well, it’s self explanatory if you’re familiar with FLCL. Only a few things come to mind: Two girls; one is annoying, the other coughs up blood. Three guys; One is annoying, one is a mute…I forget what the other guy’s story is. Finally, there’s the Japanese guy with an Afro (Nabeshin). I haven’t watch this show since 2004, so I don’t remember much of what happened. If I saw the whole series now, it would still be hard to explain the plot. I guess I’ll have to buy the Thinpak. So much for getting the DVDs I got on clearance for $8 each…

Interstella 5555 featuring the music of Daft Punk's 2001 'Discovery' Album

Interstella 5555 is the anime, directed by Leiji Matsumoto, based on the music videos of Daft Punk’s “One More Time”, “Aerodynamic”, “Digital Love, and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” (which was later used in Kanye West’s “Stronger”). It’s the same music videos–including pretty much the whole album as “One More Time”, “Discovery”, into a feature length anime. Judging from the events in the initial music videos, the female member of the blue alien band who is performing “One More Time” is kidnapped, the chase is on in “Aerodymanic”, The fanboy of the kidnapped girl risks his life to save her in “Digital Love”, and…I do not remember what happens in “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”.

If I recall correctly, some robots were being manufactured, en masse. It’s been so long since I’ve seen the music videos. I was excited about getting the DVD for Christmas back in 2003, but it was no where to be found under my tree (maybe Santa couldn’t find it in the Anime section of the video store?). Eventually, I forgot about it and moved on. Luckily, it’s still available online on Amazon.com for $15! Perhaps I’ll grab it from Amazon, or I’ll pick it up in a few months if there’s any available at the next anime convention I’ll be attending.

Great Teacher Onizuka is one of my favorite anime that I have been neglecting to watch–and collect–for a few years. GTO is a story of a bad boy biker turned high school teacher, which spawned in various formats. There is the manga, (currently available at your nearest bookstore), then the live action J-Drama, and finally the animated masterpiece which we see before us. GTO is the first “slice of life” anime I watched that did not have the stereotypical fantasy elements; giant mecha, magical girls, and/or intergalactic super heroes.

The stunts Eikichi Onizuka performs leaves positive effects, while some find it just plain wrong. In the end, it delivers a hard hitting message, just like an ABC After School Special. For example, in an episode shows one of Onizuka’s female students with the shy, simple minded, big breast complex we see in just about every anime (a’la Orihime Inoue of “Bleach”). Everyone at school makes fun of her appearance, including a long time friend. It’s Onizuka to the rescue! He enters her in a school pageant (wearing a skimpy bunny outfit, different than what the other participants were wearing) to make her feel better about herself, and to tell her so-called “friends” the truth about how she feels about them.

GTO is on the top of my list of anime I must (resume) watch(ing), even if it will take me a few more years to finish. Originally, Tokyopop distributed the DVDs, but FUNimation has taken over the distribution rights. They re-released the DVD Boxsets that TP previously released, which makes it a little easier to buy. Unfortunately, I am stuck with three volumes of the Tokyopop release. How am I going to pick up where I left off without owning the first several episodes twice? Oh, well. I’ll manage somehow…

Impressions: 9/10
This is the movie poster for the second Bleach movie, “The Diamond Dust Rebellion”. It will be in theaters in Winter 2007, and soon on DVD in September 2008.

I wonder what the movie will be about…I assume it has something to do with Toshiro Hitsugaya “rebelling” against Soul Society, and it’s up to Ichigo to stop him from whatever he is plotting. I hope so…we need to see more of Toshiro and less of Ichigo. Actually, every character in the series, especially one of my favorite characters, Byakuya Kuchiki. It will be a year before we can see a decent quality version of the movie–or, perhaps, finding a free plane ticket to Japan!

The newest anime in the Gundam franchise is now available on your favorite fansub distribution site! I am very optimistic about Mobile Suit Gundam 00. At first glance, it looks like the artists from Gundam Seed returned for a “seed”-less sequel of the anime. Not a chance! The director of Gundam 00 is Seiji Mizushima, who directed the Fullmetal Alchemist anime. Possibly a good reason to check it out. That is, if you’re a huge fan of FMA. Why should you check out Mobile Suit Gundam 00? If you’re done with Gundam Seed (whether you loved it or hated it), and have watched every single episode of Fullmetal Alchemist, including the “Conquerer of Shambala” movie, then checking this out could be worth it. ^_^

I have not seen many episodes to know what is really going on. With the show being licensed, it is hard to find older episodes. The only alternative is to look on one those -Tube websites, provided the episodes are still there.