Well, I'm on call this weekend.  Which means I can't go nowhere and
can't have no fun.  Bummer.  Fortunately, soon after I moved here,
Travis Butler showed me this way-cool video store that has *tons* of
anime to rent.  Just about everything you could ask for.  So I thought
I'd have myself a mini-anime marathon.  I rented four tapes.  I'll be
reviewing what I rented in this post.

First up:

EL HAZARD:  THE FIRST NIGHT

I've never seen this before, but many people have mentioned it as one of
their favorites.  The animation style is much like that of Tenchi Muyo. 
The protagonist, Makoto, is a lot like Tenchi, too.

There was a lot of set-up in this part.  We get to meet Makoto, his
drunken principal, the evil student body president and the president's
earnest and well-meaning sister.  They all get transported by some
10,000 year old but young-looking woman to various parts of this other
world, El Hazard (note:  Accent on the second syllable of "Hazard").  It
looks like war between the good guys (humans) and the bad guys (bugs led
by an Urd-clone) is imminent, and a princess that is a key to winning
the war is missing.

At first I thought our hero would have to go rescue the princess.  Turns
out I was wrong.  Makoto happens to be the spitting image of the
princess.  So he gets to dress in drag and pose as the missing princess,
while his "sister", the older princess, tries to wrangle cooperation out
of different factions so that the war against the bugs can proceed. 
He's none too happy about it.

The plot seems somewhat interesting.  The animation is average.  There
were things I didn't like.  While the English talent was pretty good,
the voice actor for the hero, Makoto, was quite wooden.  The principal's
alcoholism is used as a humorous point.  Everyone reacts *far* too
calmly to being transported to another, mystical world.  And Makoto's
initial objections to posing as the princess are overdone.  Also, the
plot leans heavily on a lot of old cliches.

I may rent the other volumes of this series; then again, I may not. 
We'll see what happens the next time I'm on call.

OVERALL RATING:  <waggles hand>  Eh.  Maybe later volumes will raise my
opinion of this series.


MAISON IKKOKU :  SPRING WASABI

This tape contains two episodes.  The first is about Godai's last
attempt to get into college.  This significant turning point in Godai's
life is buried in an inane plot involving Godai's attempt to get a clean
pair of underwear and a visit by his slightly revolting grandmother.  I
hold a Gaffneyesque view of the Loon Squad myself, so I didn't care much
for their intervention as well.  This episode contains all that I hate
most about Maison Ikkoku.

The second episode is the one where Kyoko's secret is revealed.  This is
a moving episode, with some touching moments.  It contains all the parts
I like best about Maison Ikkoku.

OVERALL RATING:  Fast forward to the second episode.   Worth watching.


FIRST LOVES

A mini-essay on lemons:  I'm not a big fan of lemons.  They're mostly
vulgar, all action, no emotion.  There's a fine line between erotica and
smut.  Actually, it's not so fine; most stuff falls into the latter
category.  I have never enjoyed reading Playboy or watching X-rated
films.  Never.  However, there is good erotic stuff.  I particularly
liked the 'almost' scene in "Nullifier Part 3".  *That* was erotic; it
suggested, had strong emotions, and didn't go too far.

So I thought I'd try Japanese Erotica.  The back cover of this tape
suggested a good story line to go along with the sex, so I put it in
with mild interest.  Alas, it immediately fell into a sexist trap I
really hate:  girls who have had sex are 'unpure' and not worth
pursuing, while young, virginal girls are the ultimate in desire.  Ugh. 
There is also a *lot* of gratuitous nudity.  There is one nice scene
where a girl throws herself at our hero (takes off her clothes and
climbs into bed, for reasons that defy logic), and he actually refuses
to have sex with her.  Our hero spends most of the story pursuing an
underclassman, who fits every sterotype of the young virgin.

Then, it happens:  the girl comes over to study with our hero's sister.
Wouldn't you know it?  Everyone else is gone for the evening.  Wouldn't
you know it?  A storm gathers, stranding the rest of the family
elsewhere for the night, leaving our hero alone with the object of his
desires.  Wouldn't you know it?  She likes our hero, and admits her
love, fulfilling another stereotype that virgins are really
nymphomaniacs waiting to emerge.

A twist, though, is that the first attempt is a complete disaster.  It's
immediately followed by a second attempt that works to the mutual
satisfaction of both parties.

There wasn't much to recommend this story.  There was no emotional
buildup, a lot of sexism, and the sex was not at all erotic.  I
regretted renting this.  At least I know that the Japanese aren't any
better at erotica than Americans.

OVERALL RATING:  Read a Kun-chan fanfic instead.


Side note:  There is a mouse running around my kitchen.


KIMAGURE ORANGE ROAD:  I WANT TO RETURN TO THAT DAY

Having never seen KOR, and knowing nothing about it, I decided to go
right to the climax of the whole story.  :)  The plot described on the
back of the box sounded interesting.

Evidently this guy, Kyosuke, has two girlfriends, Madoka (who looks a
lot like Kyoko in MI; in fact, all of the characters have a very
Takahashi-esque look about them) and Hikaru.  Hikaru is bubbly and
flaky, and Madoka is serious and studied.  My initial preference is
Madoka.

Hikaru gets the initial upper hand.  There's a great scene of Madoka in
her room, trying to work out her feelings for Kyosuke.  There's no
dialogue, just Madoka doing various things that convey the depths of her
feelings.  It's very effective.

Kyosuke makes his choice.  There are some *very* powerful scenes.  The
whole situation is done realistically.  The rejected suitor doesn't take
it well, and the one chosen still doesn't completely trust Kyosuke's
feelings.  The tension oozed from the screen and settled in the pit of
my stomach; I've been there before, and can feel their pain.

This is very well animated; there's a cool dancing scene.

The story ends somewhat unsatisfactorily, but the best stories often do.
:)  There's a scene at the very, very end which I don't understand,
probably because I've never seen any of the other anime (if someone has
seen the whole series and would care to explain it to me, I would be
greatly appreciative).

OVERALL RATING:  Wonderful!  I unknowningly saved the best for last.  I
would highly recommend this anime to everyone and anyone, even someone
who has never seen anime before.  There were no martial arts, no aliens,
no mecha, no super-powered beings, just relationships and emotions, done
realistically and well.  Makes me wonder what the "hook" is; how did a
story about simple people and their problems become popular?  If all the
stories are like this, I can understand.  :)  I haven't felt this moved
by an anime piece since "Wings of Honnemaise" (sp?).  I think this is
the best anime story I have ever seen.  


That's it for the festival.  I plan to come back from AWA with lots o'
stuff; maybe I'll write another review on that.

Thanks for listening.  If you have any comments, I'd love to hear them.


-Richard
sterman@sprynet.com

My fanfics are at   
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/sterman/fanfic.htm