Anime Review Roundup

Another week, another set of anime reviews, beginning with Kiss Him, Not Me. It’s a reverse harem show with a difference; the twist being that the protagonist is a girl who secretly has a geek fetish for boys love relationships, so when the ‘ugly duckling’ blossoms into a beautiful swan and she has four of the hottest boys in school vying for her attention, she’s more interested in them pairing off with each other than with her. Despite this slight twist in her personality, the boys continue to pursue her (there wouldn’t be a show otherwise). This neat twist on a well-trodden anime genre makes for quite the memorable show.

So Batman and his vigilante allies, are sent along with the inmates of Arkham Asylum, back in time to the warring states period of Japan, where the entire roster of villainy displace the historical warlords and vie for control of the country. It’s up to Batman, shorn of his gadgetry and gizmos, to set history back to rights again. That’s the plot to Batman Ninja. It sells itself really. This is one of the coolest, action packed superhero cartoons in recent years, and it keeps upping itself as the story unfolds. It ups itself a little too much at one point, but you can’t win them all. Click on the review to read more

And my mind goes blank... It’s another Naruto review, this time Naruto Shippuden Box Set 32, which contains 12 episodes of filler, and almost 2 episodes of canon material. The filler is watchable in terms of story and character, if not exactly production value, as the New Chunin Exam arc comes to a close, while the canon material is hard to enjoy when it’s doled out in such small doses. I used to be enthusiastic about Naruto; now I’m just counting down the releases until the conclusion. But I will watch it through sheer force of habit.

Harems again; indeed this is one of the first, most prominent anime harems, that of Tenchi Masaki and his otherworldly guests. I come full circle with my anime fandom, as one of the first shows that I reviewed for this site gets a high definition upgrade. It’s an upgrade worthy of the name as the original Tenchi Muyo was animated on cel and paint, traditional style, so it looks fantastic in 1080p format. An unlikely teenager awakens an alien pirate demon in his back yard, attracts the attention of a couple of alien princesses, a galaxy police officer, and winds up rescuing a 40,000 year old alien scientist in the body of a little girl. That’s without forgetting the cabbit! Click on the review for the Tenchi Muyo! Blu-ray to see why the classics are still the best.

CSI: New York. I am actually stepping away from the anime this week, as CSI: NY graces my DVD player once more. I reviewed the first 2 and half seasons of this show when it made its UK debut, and I still enjoy its forensic police procedural. I’m always tempted to buy the rest of the series, all 9 seasons worth, before I remind myself that there isn’t actually a lot to it. There is a whole variety of murders and other crimes to be solved, but that is really it. At less than 40 minutes per episode PAL runtime, and with an average of 2 crimes per episode, there isn’t a lot of room for character development and growth. But it is chewing gum for the mind, it’s the kind of show that I can always watch and enjoy, without investing too much in it. And Baba O’Riley sounds really weird at the correct pitch and speed now.