shards of the Shikon Jewel and discover more allies and enemies. This show is more for people who are into the whole love triangle thing as well as for people who love to see demons go at it in some unpredictable battles.
pilots down to Earth. After that the battles between Oz and the Gundam Pilots began. The animation on this show is pretty good considering the year it was made. There’s good character development too. The movie has the best graphics in this Gundam series.
Best Characters Blood +: The way the characters are drawn in Blood + is tremendous. The fight scenes were well done. It made you feel like you were right in the middle of the battle. When the chiropterans turned into monsters it was scary theatrics. The animation was so good that sometimes you would think the monster would come out of the TV and get you. The way the chiropterans’ eyes would glow red made me want to hide under the covers. Zatch Bell: Zatch Bell is filled with colorful characters. When you first look at it, you think it’s the cute anime. You know the type of anime, babies watch in between Telly Tubbies and Barney. Those cute little kids pack a punch. The power they hold can create mass destruction. Zatch Bell is a good show and it draws you in to each character’s back-story. It goes to show you that you can’t judge a book by its cover.
Animation Bleach: This action fantasy fully entertains the anime geek within us. It’s about Ichigo who used to be an average high school student living a pretty average life. That is until he meets Rukia, a soul reaper (grim reaper) who protects souls, hunts and destroys Hollows. During a battle with a Hollow; Rukia gives her powers to Ichigo who becomes a substitute soul reaper. Ichigo continues to fight Hollows until other soul reapers capture Rukia to execute her for the crime of giving Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo. Now Ichigo will not rest until he has saved Rukia. Gundam Wing: Organizaton of the Zodic (OZ) has joined an ongoing struggle between Earth and the five colony clusters. The year is After Colony 195 (AC). In an attempt to stop the war and bring peace to the Earth, scientists have sent 5 gundam
Overall Best Anime Full Metal Alchemist: See review under Best Plot. Ghost In the Shell: This is a beautiful looking anime that airs too late for the littluns to know about. This story is basically a futuristic-crime series revolving around a special anti-crime force known as “Section 9” as they crack down on “copycat” murderers and criminals whose originators seem to have never existed. Blood +: This is a great Anime show that will grab your attention. It’s about the war between humans and Chiropterans (vampires) that has been going on for over a century. The heroine, Saya appears to be a young high school girl. But looks can be deceiving. In reality, Saya is a 173-yearold vampire-slaying machine and the present day fighters are called the Red Shield. Details of Saya’s past lead to a sibling rivalry between Saya and her little sister Diva. The season finale made me cry. It was that good. The way it all came to an end was brilliant. Hopefully it left room for a spin-off or another season.
Honorable Mention Cased Closed: Jimmy Kudo is the best detective in town, but investigating strange people in black coats leads to his new predicament. Jimmy is trapped in his eight year-old body and is now trying to the find the organization that gave him the drug that caused it. Things don’t go as planned and Jimmy becomes Conan Edgawa. He stays with Detective Richard Moor and his daughter Rachel solving cases using the latest in spy gear. This show is very interesting and had new cases to solve nearly every episode, yet it wasn’t meant to be and was cancelled too soon.
Ouran High Host Club: The rights to this show were just given to Funimation. Ouran Host Club is about a group of rich Japanese teens with too much time on their hands. What better way to spend that time than by getting more money hosting for the equally rich girls of Ouran Academy? The main character, Haruhi Fujioka is a middle-class commoner and now the newest Host working to pay off her debt. The show follows the wacky lives of the Host Club as Haruhi uncovers more about her new friends. It’s a pretty good manga. The show is new in America and will be released by Funimation in October 2008. Pokemon: Pikachu, I choose you! Yes, Pokemon! Pokemon!! POKEMON!!! Ah yes Pokemon. In a world where Pokemon and humans coexist, a boy named Ash Ketchem from Pallet Town turns 10…or 11. Was it 12? Whatever. Ash, who dreams of becoming a Pokemon master, is finally old enough to get his first Pokemon and become a Pokemon trainer. And this begins his adventure! I never understood why he didn’t just go get a Pokemon himself. That’s like putting a bunch of money in somebody’s face and saying,“Wait till you’re older.” But anyhow, Ash oversleeps! What a twist! So now he has to pick the lame Pokemon, because all the good ones are gone, and the only lame one left is Pikachu! So Ash and Pikachu leave Pallet Town to achieve Ash’s dream of becoming a Pokemon master. Now it’s been 9 seasons or so, and Pokemon is still alive and kicking. Love it or hate it, Pokemon isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Yu Yu Hakashio: Yusuke Urameshi is the normal delinquent teen in Japan. He’s arrogant, has no problem beating a guy up or skipping classes. However Yusuke’s life takes a turn when he saves a little kid from getting hit by a car and ends up dying. The problem is that Yusuke wasn’t supposed to die and the friendly grim reaper, Botan, doesn’t know what do with his soul—at least not until he agrees to become a spirit detective working for Prince Koenma to rid the world of high class demons sneaking past the barrier separating the three worlds of: Spirits (Raiki), Demons (Makai) and Humans. The show is really good and it is one of my recommend shows! (continued on page 78)
Fall 2008 RATED-T 33