Anime Revue Archives ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7/22/01: Ranma 1/2 Author: Rumiko Takahashi Genre: Romantic Comedy Length: Thirty-something graphic novels Also By Author: Rumic World, Rumic Theatre, Lum*Uresei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, One-Pound Gospel, Inu-Yasha Plot: Ranma Saotome, the title character, finds himself in an arranged marraige with Akane Tendo, youngest daughter of the Tendo clan and apparent heir to the Tendo School of Indiscriminate Grappling (AKA Anything-Goes Martial Arts). He and his father have been training in China, despite the fact that his father Genma speaks not a word of Chinese, and consequently both have picked up their very own curses, courtesy of the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo in China. Now, splash Genma with cold water and he becomes a panda; splash Ranma with cold water and he becomes a (very cute) girl. Hot water reverses the effect, but only until the next time! Complicating matters further is that: a)Akane is the most sought-after girl in school, particularly for the school psycho, Tatewaki Kuno, who is also in love with Ranma's girl form, b)due to the fact that Genma is as greedy as a goat and Ranma's almost as stubborn, there is a constant outpouring of faces from Ranma's past, all either wanting to kill him or marry him, or sometimes both, c)despite their frequent fights and assertions to the contrary, Akane and Ranma are finding themselves falling in love with each other. All this doesn't even scratch the surface of all the crazy subplots Takahashi-sama comes up with, much less the general insanity that is Ranma 1/2. It's not for nothing they call her "Queen of Romantic Comedy." Rating: Excellent Links: http://ranma.muck.com/ http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~andersor/fanfic/fanfic.html http://www.sterman.org/ http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seifertv/kagami/ http://www.mindspring.com/~databank/fanfics.html 8/12/01: Dragonball Z Author: Akira Toriyama Genre: Action Adventure/Comedy Length: Twenty-something graphic novels, six-season television show Also By Author: The Island of Dr. Slump, Akira Toriyama's Fill-In-the- Blank Theatre (both sadly not available in the US) Plot: Dragonball Z is a continuation of the Dragonball series, outlining the adventures of a young monkey-tailed martial artist named Son Goku. The series begins with the revelation that the ultra-strong, ultra-nice Goku is actually a member of a savage race of real estate marketers (social commentary maybe?) known as Saiyans, of whom there are only four survivors including Goku and his suddenly-appearing-out- of-nowhere brother, named Radditz. I won't give away the plot on account of the possibility of there being somebody in the universe who hasn't heard of Toriyama-sensei's masterpiece (however slim that chance may be), but suffice to say that there's a lot of martial arts action, gripping drama and well-developed characters. Not to mention plenty of running gags mostly revolving around Goku's legendary appetite. The name refers to seven ancient artifacts called Dragonballs (and you can get that thought right out of your head, Mr. Hentai in the back row...) which when brought together summons Shen Long, the Dragon God, who grants one wish to the lucky stiff who finds them all. Dragonball Z differs from Dragonball only in overall tone - there's a lot more focus on comedy in Dragonball than in its sister series. Overall the only thing Dragonball Z suffers from is the lack of a good strong female role model. With the exception of Android 18, who is borderline evil and scary beyond all reason, all the fighters are male. One of the characters actually utters the words 'This is no place for a girl' during the fourth season. Baka! Rating: Excellent Links: http://queenofswords.com/scrawlings.htm http://www.angelfire.com/dbz/GreatSaiyaman http://www.stormpages.com/dragonballst/index.html http://www.angelfire.com/dbz/saiyagirls/index.html http://www.vegetalovesbulma.homestead.com/frontpage.html 9/23/01: Inu-Yasha Author: Rumiko Takahashi Genre: Adventure/Romantic Comedy Length: 8 or 9 graphic novels released in the US Also By Author: Rumic World, Rumic Theatre, Lum*Uresei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, One-Pound Gospel, Ranma 1/2 Plot: Kagome Higurashi was always just a normal junior high kid (actually high school age, but Japan has a different schooling system and... oh, never mind), until the day that an old well on her family's property abruptly transports her into feudal-age Japan - where demons roam the land and legends are as real as the damage they inflict. There she inadverdantly awakens a half-dog-demon, half-human named Inu-Yasha, who was sealed to a tree fifty years ago by a village priestess called Kikyo - Kagome's previous incarnation, as it turns out. Thanks to some quick thinking by Kaede, the current village priestess and Kikyo's little sister, Kagome escapes Inu-Yasha's claws and gains control over him by one word: "Sit." Typical Takahashi humor, right? Well, it's a good thing, because Inu-Yasha's sole desire is to become a full demon, a wish that can only be granted by the mysterious 'Jewel of Four Souls' currently in Kagome's possession. But when the Jewel is accidentally shattered, Kagome and Inu-Yasha must join forces in order to find the scattered shards before the legions of demons who inhabit the land get their mitts on them. And Kagome has to pull all this off while still juggling school and a social life! But as Takahashi fans have cause to know, anything's possible when you're falling in love... Rating: Excellent Links: http://bluestargirl.tripod.com/inuyasha/fanclub.html http://www.queenofswords.com/inufics.htm http://kitsunesakura.20m.com/home.htm http://www.akane.org/inuyasha/ http://gurlpages.com/demonsaya/index.html 10/17/01: No Need for Tenchi! (That's the manga series) Author: Hitoshi Okuda Genre: Sci-fi/Comedy/Romance Length: Ongoing Also By Author: Nothing released in the US as far as I know Plot: This graphic novel series picks up where the Tenchi Muyo! OAV series left off. The main character, Tenchi Masaki, is a mild-mannered high-school student who also happens to be a prince of the Empire of the faraway planet Jurai. His first knowledge of this came when he accidentally released the demoness Ryoko from her prison at his grandfather's shrine (the same grandfather from whom Tenchi gets his J urian royal blood) and since then the Masaki household has been home to six - count 'em, six beautiful alien women, mostly out to snag Tenchi as a husband. Had Tenchi been any normal male teenager, this situation would naturally degenerate into a porno manga, but luckily for all us pure-minded folks Tenchi is too much of a gentleman (not to mention romantically inept) to take advantage of any of the girls. The rivalries, friendships, humor, and heart-wrenching drama are all blended perfectly by the (horrendously talented) author to create the masterpiece that is No Need for Tenchi. (I'm sorry, I know that was sappy.) Rating: Excellent Links: http://www.loknaroforion.org http://www.tenchi.250x.com http://www.geocities.com/aleen634 http://www.capcorphq.com/SAS.html http://www.tmffa.com That's all for now! Come back later!