Selected from the random anime list is Super Gals
Ran Kotobuki is a prominent Shibuya gyaru gal in the early 2000s, she has an iron clad code of honor that means she won't ever use extortion or handle dirty money to fund her lifestyle, her being from a Police family, despite not wanting to follow that path, her strong sense of justice actually makes her the perfect police officer.
Super Gals offers so much more than just a wacky comedy about gaudy stylish gyaru teens, it covers hard hitting subjects like exploitation, parental abandonment, gang violence and sexual harassment, while on the surface it plays to it's over the top energy but when it has to be serious it can really hit the heart, it's got a better understanding of teenage issues than the most melodramatic teen anime, it's a refreshingly relatable anime that can exist in any era and a must watch for millennial anime fans, even if the language used can be stuck in that era as some words used back then wouldn't stick today, it's schlocky advfilms dubbing at it's finest, however season two remains a black mark against it as the wacky Shibuya hijinks take a backseat for more fantastic scenarios that derail the foundations the series stood on, a shame really as you only have half a series worth watching.
Final Verdict: A great comedy mixed with perfectly executed drama, the language is a little dated but that's more a dub problem, season two isn't worth your time as the pure Super Gals experience is best left with season one.
This anime is the best example of an enigma, you'll see why shortly.
Reiko Mikami is an exorcist or Ghost Sweeper as she calls herself, aged 31 (start counting the Christmas Cake Jokes) With her ragtag team of misfits which includes yokai, easy to possess teens, a pastor and a Werewolf among other rival exorcists most prominently a princess with a yokai team. Mikami is all about profit and getting rich, although she's more tolerable than Inaho of Mosquiton fame.
The film's plot revolves around Nosferatu taking on the form of Oda Nobunaga and leaving modern Japan in a zombie apocalypse after an accidental awakening with Mikami's blood.
Ghost Sweeper Mikami is rare for many reasons, it's a comedy released in quite a quiet period circa 1993, for context Sailor Moon was in it's second season, Dragonballz was finishing the Cell Saga, Victory Gundam was Gundam's lowest point, Belldandy was anime's best girl and Slam Dunk was awakening a new era of fans to the concepts of Shounen Ai.
Mikami did well to remain relevant helped by a successful game run and is a staple of 90s comedy anime, it's one movie appearance brought to the west well certainly in the UK was a poor reflection of what Mikami is about, it looked way too dark and grizzly with the humour feeling forced at times although it's dub despite the early era was pretty good.
Final Verdict: Tracking down the TV series is the way to go with this franchise, the movie just sucks.
One of the problems of being from the UK is that the early wave of anime distribution often gave us films or ovas of popular anime of the time so I'm in a difficult position of reviewing the anime based on it's film rather than it's tv series, this has happened with Rayearth, Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Knights Ramune, Master of Mosquiton and Detective Conan although to give Conan some credit at least there's a recap of the premise at the start of each film, then you have today's subject Space Adventure Cobra.
Just a quick recap because I at least have two tv episodes experience of this going into the movie, Cobra is a bounty hunter who was completely remodeled after faking his death and along with his android partner sets out to reclaim his former glory, a very much plays up like James Bond in space meets Lupin the 3rd, with Cobra himself possessing the iconic Psychogun, a powerful arm cannon that would later inspire Megaman.
In this movie, Cobra has a run in with arch nemesis Crystal Bowie after pursuing a female bounty hunter of whom she falls in love with Cobra which mentally connects with her other sisters, however Crystal Bowie has one of them in mind control which sets up a plot that could decide a galaxy's fate.
It's 80s artistry at it's finest mixed with a story that asks more questions than it answers, I found with this movie I got a sense of what I could expect from the TV series as it falls into the Conan category rather than the Rayearth category so I find that I'm able to at least fairly judge the franchise, it's a good time but don't expect anything to immediately make sense, with a dub that for the time is exceptional.
Final Verdict: Cobra quite rightly is up there with other legendary anime heroes and I don't believe for a minute that you could do worse for an introduction than watching the movie before the TV series, in fact it covers Cobra's backstory quite well so if anything it gives you a heads-up before diving into the series proper
Gratuitous Italian awaits.
In the Italianish town of Regalo, the Arcana Famiglia runs everything as a good natured mafia ring with each of it's members possessing a power aligned with the Arcana Tarot cards. Felicita daughter of leader Mondo has come of age and it's put to her that the other family members will fight for leadership as well as Felicita's hand in marriage, not willing to do so, Felicita decides to forge her own path to becoming head of the family, along the way, the more unique members of the family showcase their back stories and powers with much centered on Liberta and Nova as well as Jolly who passes for an antagonist in this.
Based on a video game and it shows, but it's baffling premise cannot disguise the fact that very little attention was made in making the characters good, the group of Pace, Luca and Debito stand out as the worst of the bunch as they really didn't need to exist as they have zero chemistry with Felicita, this isn't helped by a dub that feels really flat in delivery but needlessly hammy especially with Jolly, Dante and Mondo, and there is no excuses for making Nova sound like a fem boy. It's a bad mishmash of baffling story telling, a confusing power system and lame duck characters voiced poorly in the dub, led by a supposedly strong female character who looks as lost as the audience.
Final Verdict: I wish this was better as the premise made it sound much more palatable than what we actually got, leaving this dish cold and disappointing
Chivalry of a Failed Anime more like.
Blazers are knights with special powerful abilities, due to his notoriously low magical ability ranked a lowly F-Rank, Ikki Kurogane is subjected to conditions that directly hinder his progress through school from his family, dubbed the "Worst One" however he's given the condition of being allowed to graduate should he succeed in the Seven Star festival, using some clever techniques to compensate his lack of magical ability along with a trusted friend group with new girlfriend Stella Vermillion, sister Shizuku and the sassy Alice, Ikki aims to prove his family wrong.
Yet another school for heroes with an Op main character and a fiery red headed love interest, were made to believe this is going to turn into a harem series or go heavy on the fan service but it quickly becomes apparent that the focus is fully on Ikki, and every other character is a side character or just another opponent, what's strange is that Stella Vermillion is given top billing on all the covers including the physical copy on Blu-ray, yet she does practically nothing of importance; apart from some impressive fight scenes, the story is incredibly mean spirited to the point of absurdity, it's the Food Wars problem of threatening expulsion every episode, the stakes lose their impact.
Dub is fine if predictable casting.
Final Verdict: Absurd plot only barely saved by decent fight scenes with a side cast that barely does anything, leading to a very unfulfilled anime you were likely tricked into buying because you saw a pretty red headed girl on the front.
