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kivandopulus

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  1. kivandopulus
    Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi is not as spectacular as Sangokushi movies, but I was interested in learning the roots of the story so much that I enjoyed it substantially nevertheless.    1. Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken (TV) ドラゴンクエスト・ダイの大冒険  [Toei Animation] (Finished 3/46) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts, Mythology Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy After the defeat of the demon lord Hadlar all of the monsters were unleashed from his evil will and moved to the island of Delmurin to live in peace. Dai is the only human living on the island. Having been raised by the kindly monster Brass, Dai's dream is to grow up to be a hero. He gets to become one when Hadlar is resurrected and the previous hero, Avan, comes to train Dai to help in the battle. But Hadlar, announcing that he now works for an even more powerful demon lord, comes to kill Avan. To save his students Avan uses a Self-Sacrifice spell to attack, but is unable to defeat Hadlar. When it seems that Dai and Avan's other student Pop are doomed a mark appears on Dai's forehead and he suddenly gains super powers and is able to fend off Hadlar. The two students then go off on a journey to avenge Avan and bring peace back to the world. Actually, a decent shounen. Logical and easy to watch. In the end it still equals to a kid fighting monsters, so not exactly for me, but it has quite some charm. But there's a remake now, so I'd rather watch remake tbh.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi 横山光輝 三国志 [Enoki Films, Dai Nippon Printing] (Finished 47/47) Tags: Historical Action, Adventure Around 1800 years ago in China, the ruling power of the Han dynasty became weakened and the flames of war spread throughout the land. Liu Bei was a young, poor straw-mat seller from the countryside of Hebai Hsing. After pledging eternal brotherhood with the two heroes, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Liu began building his idea of a righteous kingdom that would aid citizens who suffered from persecution. After first two movies I had to watch this prequel in full. It starts when there is one empire and with some small Yellow Turban rebellion of riffraff. We get to know initial positions and development of everyone, even the red mare, lol. In 35 episode timeline synchs with the first movie as in this episode Liu Bei comes to Liang Kongming and asks to be his advisor. Last 47 episode finishes with naval battle that is the end of first Sangokushi movie. So I do not recommend watching it beyond 34 episode as movies are more beautiful and spectacular in every way. I still enjoyed it somewhat and it was nice to know everyone's story.   Overall Rating: 7/10   3. Moero! Top Striker Top Striker 燃えろ! トップストライカー [Nippon Animation] (Finished 1/49) Tags: Shounen Action, Sports Hikaru Kicker is a 13-year-old boy who loves football. He has grown up playing with a football at all times ever since his father's friend gave him one when he was still only a baby. Hikaru goes to Italy to learn the sport. He first joins a strong team at Genova, but soon quits this team to join an extremely weak team named "Columbus" with his female friend Anna. Experiencing many hardships and difficulties, their team gradually becomes stronger and stronger, and finally they defeat Margerita, one of the strongest soccer teams in Genova. Soon Hikaru hears that Genova will stage its first soccer tournament. Throughout the tournament, Hikaru and his teammates confront many rivals and develop increasing maturity. Can Hikaru score a goal and which team will win the championship? Only one episode seems to be translated. Captain Tsubasa was 11 years old, and Hukaru is 13 years old, but looks younger than the first one. I'm not the one to judge spokons, but this one looks quite generic with the distinguishing feature being initial start in Italy. Everyone is kinda normal and kind, and only grandmother opposes chosen career... for like 2 minutes, lol. Totally average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Kinnikuman: Kinnikusei Oui Soudatsu-hen キン肉マン キン肉星王位争奪編  [Toei Animation] (Finished 3/46) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Sports Kinnikuman has proven himself worthy to be crowned the next king of Planet Kinniku. But at the ceremony, five other Kinnikuman's arrive, all claiming to be the true prince of Planet Kinniku. Now, a Royal Survivor Tournament is being held to decide the true successor to the throne, and with the help and support of his friends and with his recently acquired knowledge of the Ultimate Technique (The Muscle Spark), Kinnikuman fights for what is rightfully his. It's a sequel rather than some alteration, so you know everything already. Those who finished original series won't need  feedback, those who did not should not expect anything different, maybe only slightly better humor.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Mahou no Princess Minky Momo: Yume wo Dakishimete Magical Princess Minky Momo: Hold on to Your Dreams 魔法のプリンセス ミンキーモモ(夢を抱きしめて) [Production Reed] (Finished 3/62) Tags: Mahou Shoujo After the events of the 1st series, Fenarinarsa continues to drift from Earth, so the King asks for help from the kingdom, Marinarsa, to send their daughter, Momo (Who is identical to the 1st one) to Earth to regain humanity's faith in their dreams. Not translated. Momo is one of the youngest magical girls, so it's for younger girls as well. All kinds of cute plushies and animals accompany her. I just can't take her seriously.   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Genji Tsuushin Agedama ゲンジ通信あげだま [Gallop] (Finished 3/51) Tags: Parody Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi Agedama is a small boy going to elementary school and having the usual problems for a boy of his age. He is also secretly a superhero-in-training (called "Agedaman"). Along with Wapuro, his floating computer companion, he fights against a criminal organization who can turn humans into monsters of various types. Not translated. Such plot is a commonplace since 1960s. Young protagonist and elementary comedy make it instantly forgettable.   Overall Rating: 5/10   7. Reporter Blues レポーターブルース [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 3/52) Tags: Comedy, Mystery  The intelligent Antoinette, known to her friends as Tony, moves to Paris where she takes a job as a reporter for the newspaper ""La Voix de Paris." Together with the photographer Alain and the artist Bricolage she solves unsolved crimes and often crosses the path of the crook Madame Lapin. Not translated (if not counting French). Reporter witnesses different crimes, sometimes helps somewhat. Plots are linked to Paris places of interest a lot, so this title can be considered promo material for France.   Overall Rating: 4/10   8. Chie-chan Funsenki: Jarinko Chie チエちゃん奮戦記 じゃりン子チエ [Tokyo Movie Shinsha] (Finished 3/39) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Drama An adaptation of the first series, with different characters and an alternate setting. Not translated. It's actually a normal second season, only some voice actors have changed which is natural with 10 years pause. Very nice as usual, but I'm not sure I'll live up to the moment it gets a translation.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. Marude Dameo 丸出だめ夫 [Pierrot] (Finished 2/47) Tags: Shounen Comedy, Sci-Fi The series stars an elementary school boy named Dameo Marude, who has little success with anything he tries, and a robot named Borot, which is good with housekeeping. Not translated. Yet another Doraemon clone, this time with some cute small robot as mascott. Another kids anime not marked properly.   Overall Rating: 4/10   10. Koko wa Green Wood Here is Greenwood ここはグリーン・ウッド [Pierrot, Ajia-Do] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Shoujo Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life, Supernatural Hasukawa Kazuya is in a terrible bind. His brother's new wife is also the woman that Kazuya secretly loves. Determined to avoid them both, Kazuya leaves home to live in the student dorm called Greenwood. There, he hopes to find peace of mind. Unfortunately for Kazuya, stability and peace are the last things one might find at Greenwood - home of the weirdest characters on campus. Boys school dormitory SOL comedy with a solid manga source. Above average overall with ok humor including references to RPG, but demographic is Shoujo, so probably just not for me as I don't get why would I want to watch a boys school dormitory SOL with cross-dressing.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Kyoushoku Soukou Guyver II The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor 強殖装甲ガイバー II [Visual 80] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Action, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi Sho and his friend Tetsurou stumble upon an odd alien artifact while walking through the woods. Then, the alien artifact breaks free of its metallic bonds and enters Sho's body, turning him into the Guyver. With this new power, Sho must do battle with the evil Chronos corporation and their genetically enhanced Zoanoids, who seek to get the Guyver back into their labs. No one close to Sho is safe from Chronos. He must fight. Original had freshness effect, Moreover, only final two episodes bear plot value, the first ones are just enemies thrown at protagonists to fight. But I can't argue that action and thrill are on above average level.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Dark Cat ダークキャット [Agent 21] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mythology, Super Power Action, Horror, Supernatural Hyoi and Ryoi, two brothers with the power to take the form of cats, must unravel the mystery of a creeping, tentacled, demon plague before it consumes them and their classmates. Ultimately, they must confront their old Dark Cat master Jukokubo, though whether they can put an end to the evil he has released remains a mystery. Well, another infamously bad anime. Three weird stories developing aimlessly and ending randomly.   Overall Rating: 3/10   13. Ninja Ryuukenden 忍者龍剣伝 [Studio Junio] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mythology Action, Sci-Fi, Supernatural, Suspense On a dark, late night in New York City, Ryu is chased and attacked by assassins. After disposing of them, he finds an I.D. card for the Friedman Company. The next day, it is announced that Dr. Ned Friedman has discovered a cure for cancer. But after providing no information at his press conference, a reporter named Sarah decides to investigate with the help of her friends Robert and Jeff. When passing by Dr. Friedman's house one day, Ryu hears the voice of a young girl calling for help. When Sarah and her entourage investigate the house as well, they run into their colleague, Ryu. Upon that, they discover Dr. Friedman has been conducting experiments on live humans using biotechnology, and that it may have something to do with the power of the Evil Gods, whom Ryu had defeated in the past. But when Ryu's friend, Irene, is kidnapped, he must dawn his role as a Dragon Ninja once again to defeat this new enemy and save her. Game themed anime could be a lot worse, but it manages to stay a trashy average action that even has some charm.   Overall Rating: 5/10   14. Gall Force: New Era ガルフォース新世紀編 [AIC] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Action, Sci-Fi The year is 2291, and the citizens live a peaceful existence after the catastrophic war between the humans and the Yuman. This quiet life is about to be shattered, the leader of the Yuman is not convinced the war is over, and now plans to renew hostilities! Gall Force series was always about survival on the brink of destruction. This one starts in a peaceful environment and continues as chasing a hacker. I'm not impressed, lackluster ending is another downer.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Monkey Punch no Sekai: Alice モンキー・パンチの世界 アリス [Takahashi Studio] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Comedy, Ecchi Released in 1991, this OVA revolves around a mad scientist and the woman that betrayed him. Her unfaithfulness causes the scientist to turn her into a bionic sex machine that desires to please her man completely. However, she still remains unfaithful, and it is up to the scientist`s son to track her down and exact revenge. Trashy, but more funny than Lupin for sure.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Kyuukyoku Choujin R The Ultimate Esper "R" 究極超人あ~る [Studio Coa] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Sci-Fi  The plot featured R and the Camera Club going on a stamp tour throughout Japan, with the threat of their club being closed down unless they can collect all the stamps by 6:00 PM. The whole travel part leaves me indifferent, but humor saves it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Eiyuu Gaiden Mozaicka 英雄凱伝モザイカ [Studio Deen] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Fantasy  From Ryosuke Takahashi and Norio Shioyama, the creative minds behind great animes such as Armored Trooper VOTOMs and Panzer World Galient, comes an epic tale of swords and sorcery! On the eternal planet of Mozaika, the formerly benevolent King Sazara has been possessed by an evil priest and has begun a bloody path of conquest all across the world! Mozaika's only hope is the young warrior U-Taruma, son of U-Dante, one of Sazara's victims. If you like fantasy, or classic Norio Shioyama character designs, you can't miss this 4-episode OVA! Never thought fantasy could be so boring... like Votoms, really. Even protagonist is a total douchebag. Everything is horrible here, but mostly poor drawing, dark colors, monotonous pace, uninspiring characters.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. 1-gatsu ni wa Christmas Christmas in January 1月にはChristmas [Magic Bus] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Romance Nobumasa is a boy who works part-time in a shoe store, where he meets Mizuki, a girl whose abusive family life has left her unable to trust other people. Meanwhile, Nobumasa is unaware that another girl, Seiko, has a crush on him but is unable to express her feelings. I never encountered a really funny or interesting Christmas story. Boredom as usual.   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. Fuuma no Kojirou: Fuuma Hanran-hen 風魔の小次郎~風魔反乱篇~ [animate Film] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts Action, Fantasy After the Chaos war, Kojiro and Ryouma return to earth only to find their clan members killing off each other. I never rated prequels high, don't see it regaining senses in this OVA either - same pretentious ninja anime.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Tomoe ga Yuku! 巴がゆく! [animate Film] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shoujo Action, Drama, Romance, Suspense The title character of Tomoe ga Yuku! (Tomoe Will Go!) is gutsy enough to roller skate down freeways for thrills. After losing a friend in a roller skating accident, Tomoe joins a stunt group called Green Ship. Although still mourning her friend's death, Tomoe has no reservations about embracing a relationship with the group's leader, Kazusa. Soon she discovers Green Ship is a front for an assassin training camp. She must flee her new life and love and rekindle her fiery spirit in order to fight against the organization which wants her dead. Skater vs assassins epic battle! Synopsis is too ridiculous already, scene of skater getting away from cars while being showered by hundreds of bullets can only irritate me. All the shoujo suspense thing does not help, either. If you are ok with that, it can be a good action with some mystery. If not, it remains one more trashy average action.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Tsuki ga Noboru made ni 月がのぼるまでに [OB Planning, Grouper Productions] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Drama A father and daughter in Japan climb to the top of a ridge to watch the moonrise. As they wail, an old man tells them his story. An adaptation of Tetsuya Takeda's story about the relationship between a Japanese child and an American soldier. Wonder why it's a story about telling a story? Because length is slightly over 40 minutes, and it would be even less without. I struggle to remember a single war-themed anime with Americans are portrayed normally, so such anime is helpful in this regard. It's especially funny how all Americans have demon faces as if wearing oni masks from the start, but it changes overtime. There's not enough material or complexity to be treated seriously, but it's enough to be called a decent one.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Otohime Connection Princess Connection 乙姫CONNECTION [Production I.G, animate Film] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Drama, Mystery, Romance, Slice of Life Special based on the manga by Ooya Kazumi, published in Betsukomi Flower Comics. An all-male pop group doubles as a detective agency. The cute girl member of the agency is kidnapped when one of the men's past returns to trouble them all in the present. Cute boys from pop group fight over one girl with bad guys... cute boys win, the end. This is the very essence of averageness in my view.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Gekkou no Pierce: Yumemi to Gin no Bara no Kishidan Moonlight Pierce 月光のピアス―ユメミと銀のバラ騎士団 [Pierrot] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Fantasy, Mystery, Romance Because of a mysterious earring, Yumemi a young japanese student, becomes involved in a mysterious story. She must go to Germany, where she learns that the spirit of an evil prince is haunting her earring... Another kind girl with loose hair interacts with a lot of cute guys and deals with their problems and opposes evil prince spirit in a castle. So many banalities in one place that I might explode. A new challenger for the title of the most average shoujo ever.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Inferious Wakusei Senshi Gaiden Condition Green インフェリウス惑星戦史外伝 CONDITION GREEN [Hero Communication] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi  Keith, George, Edward, Yang and Shaw are Platoon #801, the five-man team formed to protect their homeworld in the Inferious galaxy from alien invasion. Gazaria's evil emperor Vince conquers the neighbor worlds of Kal and Granad, and suddenly only Platoon #801, also known as Condition Green, stands between him and the conquest of Emerald Earth. Military defending from spacecrafts is a rare sight in anime, but there has been rather similar in concept Gall Force: Earth Chapter. Its main problem is that is starts down to Earth and progresses as more and more space chaotic random weird stuff .   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Ore no Sora Keiji-hen 俺の空 刑事篇 [APPP] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Detective Action, Drama Yasuda Ippei (Shonozaki Ken) is the son of Yasuda Seijiro (Osugi Ren), the head of Yasuda Group, Japan's biggest business conglomerate. Although he is the son of a distinguished family, he has absolutely no disagreeable areas and is liked by everyone. His academic achievements are exceptional. He completed his entire high school programme in 2 years and qualified for Tokyo University's Faculty of Law without studying for the exams. In order to establish his own concept of justice, Yasuda leaves his position as the heir to the Yasuda Group to attend the police academy. He becomes a detective at Kyobashi Police Precinct and bravely faces great evil. Not translated. Looked like a pretty ordinary detective to me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   26. Nyuuin Bokki Monogatari: Odaijini! 入院ボッキ物語 おだいじに! [Tokyo Kids] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Ecchi Yamashita and Negishi end up in the hospital with broken legs and arms. It's summer vacation and they are very bored, so they start picking on the cute nurse Miyuki. Ecchi (even hentai) is the focus , so story does not have individual value.   Overall Rating: 4/10   27. Ucchare Goshogawara うっちゃれ五所瓦 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts, School Sports Musashi Mountain High School third grade Goshogawara is the only member of his school's sumo club. In order to take part in competitions, he tries to attract more members, and thanks to his enthusiasm and sincerity four more people join the club: judo team captain Kaoru Kiyokawa; pro wrestler Takayuki Kannai; skinny thug wannabe Nanno Ippei; and Raiden Goro, a giant guy but a very shy person who also happens to be an expert Go player. The five train together and later take part in a competition against a professional sumo club. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   28. Jingi 仁義 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Detective, Organized Crime Adventure, Drama In a case of mistaken identity, a low-level gangster shoots an innocent man, thinking he's a rival crime boss. Realizing his mistake, he nurses the man to health. When he learns his victim is a former banker who lost his job and is disillusioned with "the system", they decide to partner up and get rich running a stock investment scam. The rival boss is still around, however, and the pair's sudden success attracts his attention. Not translated. Second anime related to stock exchange, it must have enjoyed a real boom back then. There's a big focus on H, women and children, so it's not just violence or detective. Resembles former yakuza shows, but with proper suits instead of flashy loose yakuza outfits. Don't know what to say - only average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Choubakumatsu Shounen Seiki Takamaru 超幕末少年世紀タカマル [J.C.Staff] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Action, Comedy, Fantasy This is a tale of friendship and courage set in the world of the Champion Kingdom, an imaginary island whose inhabitants follow a traditional samurai lifestyle. Not translated. Another Dragon Ball imitator, but surprisingly funny and absurdist comedy with fighting.    Overall Rating: 6/10   30. Miracle Psychicer Seizan ミラクル・サイキッカーセイザン [Pierrot] (Finished 0/5) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   31. Ranma ½: Chuugoku Nekonron Daikessen! Okite Yaburi no Gekitou-hen!! Ranma ½: Big Trouble in Nekonron, China らんま 1/2 中国寝崑崙大決戦! 掟やぶりの激闘編!! [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Magical Sex Shift Adventure, Comedy All is well at the Tendo residence when from out of nowhere, a Chinese girl named Lychee appears, seeking revenge on Happosai for a broken promise made since her birth. Things get worse when Kirin and the Seven Lucky Gods appear and abduct Akane to take as his wife. Ranma and the gang must travel to Nekonron, China, and save Akane from getting married to Kirin. I felt like I was watching Urusei Yatsura Movie 7, really, due to the constant spree of running and fighting. Moreover, Ranma usually plays as male and there is a sort of tomboy heroine resembling Lum . It looks like smaller episode can focus on humor and transformation , but when it comes to longer stories it does not go that far from Urusei Yatsura, feels tiresome .   Overall Rating: 5/10   32. Adachi-ga Hara 安達が原 [Tezuka Productions] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Sci-Fi  This is a story of an astronaut who is sent to a penal colony planet, and there meets an old woman who shows him the truth of life and love. Originally a short Manga in "The Lion Books," it was made into an animated series. The chief character, Jess, fights to bring down the dictator of the federation of the Earth and other planets, but is arrested by the federal authorities and sent to a penal colony planet. The story focuses on him, using Japanese Noh drama "Kurozuka" as a motif. A nice little story with space tyranny and cannibalism, but it's only 30 minutes, so there's a top score it can't surpass.   Overall Rating: 6/10   33. Bakabon Osomatsu no Karee wo Tazunete Sansenri バカボン・おそ松のカレーをたずねて三千里 [Pierrot] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy - It's a crossover of normal genius Bakabon with Heisei Bakabon in Heisei era... Well, it's one loosely connected story, but first two 10-minute parts can be treated as separate ones. Everything is well known and expected here, lot of absurd gags with some mythology characters like Son Goku.   Overall Rating: 6/10
  2. kivandopulus

    Anime of the Year
    The first masterpiece in 1991 is Roujin Z   1. Oniisama e... Dear Brother おにいさまへ…  [Tezuka Productions] (Finished 39/39) Tags: Shoujo Psychological, School Drama, Girls Love When 16-year-old Nanako Misonoo enters the prestigious all-girls Seiran Academy, she believes a bright future awaits her. Instead, the unlucky girl finds herself dragged into a web of deceit, misery, and jealousy. On top of that, she is chosen as the newest inductee of the Sorority, an elite group whose members are the envy of the entire school. Having none of the grace, wealth, or talent of the other members, Nanako quickly draws the ire of her jealous classmates—especially the fierce Aya Misaki. To cope with her increasingly difficult school life, Nanako recalls her days through letters to her former teacher, Takehiko Henmi, whom she affectionately calls "onii-sama" (big brother). She also finds comfort with her four closest friends: her childhood friend Tomoko Arikura, the sociable but erratic Mariko Shinobu, the troubled musician Rei Asaka, and the athletic tomboy Kaoru Orihara. An impassioned drama about the hardships of bullying, Oniisama e... chronicles a young girl's harsh life at her new school, as she endures cruel rumours, heartless classmates, and countless social trials. Tezuka Productions is the first great anime studio, and this is its first work that's not a remake after creator passing, so I'm approaching it with heavy heart. I had to watch the series in full in order to be able to criticize it. First of all, I understand that there was still lack of ideas in early 1990s, so manga from 1970s is used here, and manga seems to be paired up with Attack o Nerae since first episode reminds it so bad, especially with the similar designs used in both anime for protagonist, Ms. Butterfly and main rival girl who did not get accepted. This manga was top notch in the 1970 and it is still a rather complex and emotional one. Moreover, Tezuka Productions handled it perfectly with great graphics, character designs and still manga shots - it's aesthetic pleasure. I tried to associate myself with the girl who plays male functions Kaoru Orihara, but she got severe chest pains, so I felt like she's going to fall out eventually. Then I tried to treat the whole snake pit of a high school as battle royale due to so many psycho and physically ill characters, but even halfway through no one got out - after all, there are only like five main characters with the need to last for 39 episodes. My main grudge about the anime is that it's emotional, but not intellectual . Protagonist is a kind simpleton who is unable to act. As a result we get totally convenient resolutions out of the blue, like the one with Mariko girl. Appeal to emotions in prejudice of reason is a dangerous way to go as it can be used for malice like revisionist neonazi movements do. Anyway, I felt bored after first ten episodes and almost to the end, so I definitely could not enjoy it .   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Otaku no Video おたくのビデオ [Gainax] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Historical, Mecha, Otaku Culture Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi Somewhat based on the real story of how Gainax was founded, Otaku no Video addresses all aspects of an otaku lifestyle. Ken Kubo is a young man living an average life until he is dragged into a group of otaku. Slowly, he becomes more like them until he decides to abandon his former life to become king of otaku—the otaking! Mixed in are live-action interviews with real otaku, addressing every aspect of hardcore otaku life. Not only are anime and manga fans included, but also sci-fi fans, military fans, and other groups of Japanese geeks. It's done as anime with several live action interviews and statistic splits which are obsolete now, of course. A nice nostalgic anime explaining Gainax spirit, but there's no value in it besides the funny interviews.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. 3x3 Eyes  [Toei Animation] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Gore, Mythology Action, Fantasy, Horror, Romance 3X3 Eyes is the story of a young man named Yakumo Fuuji, who through a strange series of events becomes the immortal slave of the last of a race of 3 Eyed demons. The demon absorbs his soul to save his life, making him immortal in the process. Now, he begins a journey with the female demon in an attempt to find a way of becoming human. Of course, there are many complications along the way, not the least of which being that the demon is a female with a split personality, one achingly cute and the other being no-nonsense destructive power, and the romances that develop between. Video quality is too bad to enjoy it visually or as action. Plot-wise it's so-so, but it's the first example of protagonist constantly getting killed and revived.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Arslan Senki The Heroic Legend of Arslan アルスラーン戦記 [animate Film, Aubec] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Historical Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy In the medieval kingdom of Pars, young Prince Arslan confronts the hostility of his father and the disinterest of his mother, and yearns to learn more about the world. Despite being surrounded by poverty and slavery, Arslan persists in seeing the possibility of a nobler world. Everything changes when the neighboring nation of Lusitania invades Pars, and Arslan is forced to grow up in an instant. Arslan Senki follows Prince Arslan to war, where he struggles to save his nation and family with the help of a small but devoted circle of advisers. Along the way the young prince finds secrets around every corner and faces enemies who hate him because of what he is, but also finds friends where he least expects them. The story of nations at war, Arslan Senki is also the story of one boy's quest to stay himself in the most trying of circumstances. Never found remake exciting, especially compared to Kingdom. This OVA looks even more disjointed, best comparison is probably Legend of Galactic heroes as there is a complex world with many factions and some likeable characters, but overall it's monotonous dialogues with rare action spikes, and of course ending is open in best traditions. Above average, but still lacking.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Teito Monogatari Doomed Megalopolis 帝都物語  [Madhouse] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Historical Horror, Supernatural When an evil sorcerer bent on crushing the "greatest city on earth" uses dark powers to awaken the destructive spirit of Tokyo's historic "guardian," Taira no Masakado, occultists, children, and scientists become embroiled in a ruinous struggle spanning two decades. Long things short, it's disgusting. Black liquid covering whole body and filling mouth and nose is just the start, soon after a huge caterpillar is crawling from girl's mouth... things like that and more. It tests tolerance to abominable on so many levels. I'd not recommend this anime for anyone who can not stand Maggot Baits or the like, especially because story is not impressive and remains incomplete.   Overall Rating: 4/10   6. Ningyo no Mori 人魚の森 [Pastel] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery  It is said that consuming the flesh of a mermaid confers immortality. This certainly proved to be the case for the 500-year-old Yuta and his friend Mana. However, most people who try to become immortal either die or transform into monsters. Fifty-five years ago, Towa Kannagi was given mermaid blood by her sister, Sawa, in order to cure a fatal illness. Now, Towa maintains her youthful appearance, save her white hair and beastly arm. For years she has dreamed of restoring her body, resorting to blood transfusions from youthful corpses aided by the local doctor, Shiina. Mana, mistaken for dead by Shiina, is brought in to have her blood used by Towa. When she discovers that Mana is alive, what lengths will Towa go to in order to restore herself? Will Yuta be able to save Mana in time? Felt pretty average to me, even among horrors. What's the point in seeing hunt for mermaid flesh without good characters or well told story. Also disgusted me as there's a lot of blood and cutting limbs while alive in here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   7. Detonator Orgun デトネイター・オーガン  [AIC, Artmic] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi Fleeing from his own race, Orgun—an alien being with superhuman abilities and unearthly weapons—travels to Earth to find an answer to his origin. There, he bonds with a young man named Tomoru to defend Earth against the Evoluders, who seek nothing but destruction of other civilizations. I bit unusual setting, but in the end it's just one episode for introduction, one episode for hesitation and one episode for repelling aliens, nothing more.   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. Kekkou Kamen けっこう仮面  [Bee Media, Studio Signal] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Comedy, Ecchi At the academy Miami Takashi attends, higher education has sunk to the lowest levels of depravity, with armed hall monitors, teachers who wear masks to hide their identities and special detention sessions in a torture chamber beneath the gym! It's a curriculum designed to chew up sweet young things, and poor Miami's been voted "Least Likely to Survive" in her class! Is there no hope? Can no one save her? Enter Kekko Kamen, the most outrageous superheroine ever! Clad in a red mask, red boots and nothing else, she is the supreme protector of innocents like Miami. Armed with her trusty nunchaku and a body that just won't quit, she'll make chopped pork out of the swine who run this school from hell! But who is she really? The only one who knows for sure is creator Go Nagai and he's not giving anything away... except lots of free peeks at Kekko Kamen's magnificent physique! Comedy that aims to provoke viewer with as much shocking stuff as possible, including swastika, fully naked battles, s/m focus , homosexuality and just weird moves like fighting by jumping only at students heads. Humor is really great whether it's spikes of embarrassment in the middle of heroic speech or battles won without a single hit only by bodybuilding showcase. Still, each episode contains two 10-minute stories of episodic nature, so it lacks actual story and properly developed characters to aim for a masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. Ozanari Dungeon: Kaze no Tou おざなりダンジョン 風の塔 [Telecom Animation Film] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy  The king of the Tower of Wind seeks the power of the legendary Dragon's Head, and employs the fighter Moka, the thief Buruman, and the magic user Kiriman to steal it for him. But the Dragon's Head is sealed in the Temple of Fire, and to capture it Moka will have to face the sect that has protected it generation after generation! Story is simple and with Dragon Quest/Wataru feel, but characters and humor make it above average even though ending is lackluster.   Overall Rating: 0/10   10. Tenkuu Senki Shurato: Sousei e no Anto 天空戦記シュラト 創世への暗闘 [Tatsunoko Production] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Shounen Action, Fantasy This is the continuation of the TV series. The battle for the celestial sphere is over. Gai and Shurato have been erased from history. However, another danger is coming ahead, and the eight guardians are sent back to Earth to investigate. As Shurato tries to win back his friends in a world that has forgotten him, a new villain has a mysterious plan for them. For those who liked original, naturally.   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Exper Zenon エクスパー ゼノン [Studio Fantasia] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi  Hiroshi Zenno is an average high school student whose only talent lies in arcade games. One day, after setting a new high score of over nine hundred million in his favorite game, he happens upon an advertisement for a new game called "Expers." The game promises both amazing gameplay and a chance of winning the affection of the beautiful Princess Atover, so Hiroshi signs up to play. The next day, Hiroshi is at school when a mysterious capsule crashes into his classroom, within it containing Princess Atover herself! She gives Hiroshi a powered suit that grants enhanced abilities and tells him that he is the main character of a video game, naming him "Zenon." Unfortunately, in order to win, Hiroshi must defeat all of his opponents—other players with a desire to become the "main character" of the game. Will Hiroshi be able to survive this deadly game and uncover its true nature? The originator of the girl suddenly show up at boy's room is Majo demo Steady, but Exper Zenon seems to be the first one who linked that to granting superpowers. So, girl comes to nerd and grants superpowers , some fighting , the end. Waste of time, as expected.   Overall Rating: 4/10   12. Asatte Dance Dance Till Tomorrow あさってDance [Knack Productions] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Drama, Romance, Ecchi Suekichi goes to university and has, as any Japanese university student, time for hobbies. Things change when he attends his great grandfather's funeral and wakes the next morning in his room with a very sexy girl besides him. His great grandfather has left him a *little* inheritance but there are some conditions. Meanwhile, sexy Aya keeps hanging around and refuses to go away. The beginning of a strange relationship which revolves around suspicions and desire. Not translated. Woman first plays as constantly H hungry nuisance and becomes more and more like a helper/contributor. Not good enough.   Overall Rating: 4/10   13. Choujin Locke: Shinsekai Sentai 超人ロック 新世界戦隊 [Nippon Animation] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Super Power Action, Sci-Fi Azalea has been residing on the Colony-Planet of Dinahl, and she can't recall anything about herself until she hears a voice calling her name. Then there is another voice summoning her to go to a park on top of a skyscraper. Once she arrives there, she meets up with other people who also have no recollection of who they are or what they were doing before arriving at this destination as instructed by the voice. All the people assembled there possess superhuman powers, such as Eno's psychic power, Umoth's x-ray vision, Neia's teleportation powers, Azalea's telepathy, and Locke's electrical wizardry. Who has summoned them, and what will the five super-psychics confront? Even all the former seriousness is gone now. Five espers are now under hypnosis and need to rob a casino or something to get their memories back. Just laughable where it all came to. Now can't recommend it.   Overall Rating: 4/10   14. NG Knight Ramune & 40 EX: Biku Biku Triangle Ai no Arashi Daisakusen NG騎士ラムネ&40EX ビクビクトライアングル愛の嵐大作戦  [Production Reed] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Shounen Mecha Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy Lamune has returned to Earth with no memory of his adventures on Hara-Hara world and Doki-Doki space. The remains of Gobuhriki find their way to Earth, and awaken the spirit of Don Harumage. While Cocoa builds a fighting vehicle with stuff she finds around Tokyo, Milk and Leska set off to find Lamune and Da Cider to save the day before the new Gobuhriki is revived and destroys the Earth. Silly continuation, sometimes fun.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Izumo [イズモ] [Studio Hibari, Grouper Productions] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Historical Adventure, Fantasy A historical fantasy set in third century (i.e., mythical) Japan. It tells the story of Izumo, the young prince of Nakatsukuni. He's not very interested in studying, unlike his cousin Dekiru; instead, he wants to see the wider world. One day, a mysterious girl named Sanae shows up as a stowaway on an airship. Although nominally from Yamataikoku, she is actually from the Naga, a shadowy people possessing magical powers. Sanae is kidnapped by Takeru, a warrior from the rival kingdom of Akusa, and placed at the mercy of the evil witch Yomihime. Izumo, helped by an orphaned glider pilot named Navi, must now take up the sacred sword of his country, master its powers, and rescue Sanae. However, before that, he must defeat the reawakened eight-headed snake of legend, Yamata-no-Orochi. It does not go far from generic fantasy stories, but adds Japanese mythology. Another distinguishing feature is that it does not try to imitate Dragon Ball and play in parody or gag comedy - it's mostly serious. As for story itself, felt boring.   Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Yuukan Club 有閑倶楽部 [Madhouse] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shoujo School Comedy, Mystery St. President school is one of the most wealthy schools around. Everybody in that school respects the Yukan club, the most popular and richest group in the school. This includes Shouchikubai Miroku, Kenbishi Yuuri, Kikumasamune Seishirou, Hakushika Noriko and Kizakura Karen. They go through dangerous adventures to save their school, and of course, just to kill their spare time. Light comedy with trashy silly humor. With under 70 minutes total length it just throws in gags without trying to keep things integral, thus average .   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Licca-chan Fushigi na Mahou no Ring Licca: Mysterious Magical Ring リカちゃん ふしぎな魔法のリング [Ajia-Do] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy Second part in the OVA series that was later adapted into a TV show in 1998. I have not heard of its prequel. Know why? Because prequel is correctly marked as for kids... while sequel is not. Watching it only affirms the statement.   Overall Rating: 4/10   18. Hoshikuzu Paradise 星くずパラダイス [Pastel] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Romance  After his mother passed away, high school student Hiroshi Houshou's long lost father suddenly reappears, along with two new family members: a new mother who is also a famous actress, and her daughter, the popular and beautiful idol singer Rina Yuuki. There have been a lot of idol stories from girl point of view, changing perspective is a nice variation. I hope it does not need to be said that a huge part of 40 minutes is wasted on fanservice and jokes around it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. Meisou-Ou Border 迷走王 ボーダー [Artland] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adventure Featuring a modern-day odd couple, the naive virgin Kubota and the handsome charmer Hachisuka, who meet up by accident in a Middle Eastern desert and return to Japan to hustle their way through life. They start by getting involved in shady TV dealings, where they get jobs making fake docmentaries. A bit more than half is shady job of being yakuza victims in fake documentary, the rest is getting back to Tokyo after bailing out of this dangerous job, ending is literally after meeting new character and words that their adventures continue. Without continuation it's not recommended.   Overall Rating: 4/10   20. Kyoufu Shinbun 恐怖新聞 [Pierrot] (Finished 0/2) Tags: Shounen Horror For reasons unknown to him, Rei receives the Kyoufu Shinbun every morning, a newspaper which foresees deaths and catastrophes... Based on Tsunoda Jirou's classic horror manga "Kyoufu Shinbun", serialized in Weekly Shounen Champion. Not translated. There's not much sense in watching horror without translation if there a remake that came in 2014, evaluation should wait till then.   Overall Rating: 0/10   21. Yokohama Meibutsu: Otoko Katayama-gumi! 横浜名物:男片山組!  [-] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shounen Delinquents, School Action The city of Yokohama has become a lawless district for biker gangs. One particular gang, the "Crazy Babies", have a 17 year old leader called Hiromi Katayama that is famous throughout the entire Kanagawa alliance as being a strong fighter with a devout sense of morality. However, when a young rookie by the name of Toshi Ikeda wants in, he swears to Katayama that he will uphold the ideals of the Crazy Babies and vows to not fight with anybody for his first probationary month within the gang or else forfeit his chance to join the gang. Ikeda being the fiery young man he is, soon finds himself caught in the middle of a fight and unintentionally sparks off a feud between the gangs of Kanagawa and the dangerous Nagoya based group, The Dragon Star Crew, who have their eye on taking the whole of Kanto. Can Katayama defend Yokohama from the encroaching hoodlums? First half is protagonist initiation into a biker gang with principles and having a biker war an anarchic gang. Second half is about a well planned ambush gang war with a new faction. Can't say it's bad, but without humor it loses to Shounan Bakusouzoku.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Money Wars: Nerawareta Waterfront Keikaku マネーウォーズ 狙われたウォーターフロント計画 [Gainax] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen A new waterfront area is being built in Tokyo, and Chinese mafia man Lin Haifeng wants to gain control of it by owning the majority stock of the company in charge of construction. Lin's plan is to use the waterfront as a gateway for the Chinese mafia in an attempt to turn Tokyo into a "New Hong Kong". After his friend Kurihara commits suicide after unknowingly helping Lin get a hold of some stocks, his friend Tsuyoshi Aiba aims to avenge his friend by keeping Lin from taking over the waterfront. Not translated. Protagonist's friend is forced into bankruptcy and committing suicide, so protagonist devises a payback scheme with stock exchange. At least it's logical and half-decent.   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Ushiro no Hyakutarou 心霊恐怖レポート うしろの百太郎 [-] (Finished 0/2) Tags: School Horror, Supernatural Horror OVA based on the manga by Jirou Tsunoda. The title roughly means "Hyakutarou behind". A boy named Ichitarou Ushiro deals with various horrifying phenomena with the help of his guardian spirit Hyakutarou. 2 episodes: "Kokkuri Satsujin Jiken", "Yuutai Ridatsu". Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   24. Naki no Ryuu: Hiryuu no Shou (1991) 哭きの竜 飛竜之章 [Gainax, Toshiba EMI] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Seinen Organized Crime, Strategy Game Drama An OVA released in 1991. Unlike the previous OVA series, this episode was produced separately by Toshiba. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   25. Ishii Hisaichi no Dai Seikai いしいひさいちの大政界  [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Parody Comedy Based the same name gag manga by Hisaichi Ishii. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   26. Omoide Poroporo Only Yesterday おもひでぽろぽろ [Studio Ghibli] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Romance, Slice of Life Taeko Okajima is a 27-year-old, independent woman who spent her entire life in Tokyo. Looking to unwind from the rush of the big city, she decides to visit her family in the country to help out during the harvest. On the train there, Taeko vividly recalls her memories as a schoolgirl in the initial stages of puberty, as if she is on a trip with her childhood self. A young farmer named Toshio picks her up at the station, and they quickly develop a friendship. During her stay, Taeko forms strong bonds with family and friends, learning the contrasts between urban and rural life, as well as the struggles and joys of farming. Nostalgic and bittersweet, Omoide Poroporo takes on Taeko's journey as an adult woman coming to terms with her childhood dreams compared to the person she is today. Watched it so long ago that nothing but countryside left in memory. Truth be told, there are better anime about countryside romanticism - Silver Spoon comes to mind. There are enough of grim moments like dad constantly grumble and occasionally hit his daughter. The best scenes are actually those that break from reality, like running turning into flying. As I see it , movie failed to tell a normal story, so it just pushed with nostalgy and only bothered making one last scene memorable and tearjerker. Not cool, at all. And of course I won't be able to recall much of it in half a year. It's my evaluation, and I could not enjoy it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   27. Roujin Z 老人Z [APPP] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi The Z Project was intended to give the new generation a break from caring for the old. The original intenion was to create a machine to care for them without any intervention. At first glance, it looked like an excellent plan, and many of the younger generation approved of its application. But when old Mr. Takazawa become the test subject for the Z-001 machine, Haruko questioned both the tactics of the hospital and the moral implications of the machine. This is just the beginning, as Haruko has not just the hospital, but the odds against her. But then, she discovers an odd quirk about the machine: it uses a biochip, and it eventually acquires a mind of its own! Wow, it's super lively and well done, at times it reminded me of Akira so much, especially in recollection of his mechanical arm from metal scrap. The story itself is not something breakthrough and characters are rather simple, but nursery bed transformer mecha is really memorable. I recommend to watch this movie if you liked Akira.   Overall Rating: 7/10   28. Urusei Yatsura Movie 6: Itsudatte My Darling Urusei Yatsura Movie 6: Always My Darling うる星やつら いつだって・マイ・ダーリン [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi Lupica, another one of the legion of space princesses that all seem to have found out about Earth in some tour book, appears and abducts Ataru! But Lupica isn't after Ataru for his great looks or charming personality (because he doesn't have either). Lupica's goal is the greatest love potion in the galaxy, which she intends to use to induce her sweetheart to tie the knot. To get it, she needs the possessor of the greatest lust in the universe... All the usual stuff, half of the movie is getting love potion, second half is getting rid of love potion effects. And issuing a new movie after Finale is a ripoff.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Silent Möbius: The Motion Picture サイレントメビウス/THE MOTION PICTURE [AIC] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Sci-Fi, Supernatural  In a futuristic Tokyo, several policewomen fight a monster. One of them, Katsumi Liqueur, remembers where she saw it before... Katsumi Liqueur, an American-born woman of Japanese descent, travels to Tokyo to visit her mother, Fuyuka, who is sick in the hospital. She takes a shortcut through an alley after her taxi gets stuck in traffic, only to encounter a monster and two policewomen fighting it. Later, she meets their chief, Rally Cheyenne, who, it seems, has been expecting her, though Katsumi has never met her before. The policewomen want Katsumi to help them fight the monster, but Katsumi, who does not want to believe in magic, resists. This movie feels like introduction as city with monsters and protagonist who acquires power are introduced, and that's it - atmospheric, but lacks substance.   Overall Rating: 6/10   30. Ziggy: Soreyuke! R&R Band ZIGGY それゆけ!R&R BAND [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Music Adventure, Mystery Japanese rock band Ziggy comes to London and gets attacked upon arrival at the hotel after a recording session. The musicians barely escape the attack; however, soon they learn that their producer has been murdered, and they are the suspects! Chased by police and some mysterious organization, they find shelter at a local rockers' place and even give a performance there; but it is not too long before their pursuers appear again. Armless rock-n-rollers from 80s against armed to teeth law enforcement and intelligence. Sooo cringy. . Just imagine - after battle action scene suddenly rock songs begins. And know why band was pursued ? To play brainwashing rock... Argh, so bad. Overall Rating: 4/10   31. Huckleberry no Bouken (Movie) ハックルベリィの冒険 [Group TAC] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama Movie version of the TV series Huckleberry no Bouken. Just reedit of old series, even same dated quality. Good to know the ending, but it was not impressive.   Overall Rating: 5/10
  3. kivandopulus
    I managed to criticize everything again too much, but among decent works I'd highlight Honoo no Tenkousei as both memorable and amusing   1. City Hunter '91 シティーハンター'91 [Sunrise] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Mystery Ryo Saeba is back as the City Hunter, a "sweeper" (private detective) working on the streets of Tokyo. He and sidekick Kaori Makimura are hired to solve the problems of desperate people. When Ryo is not using his sharp shooting skills against bad guys, he's aiming his sites on pretty ladies. Kaori uses a giant anti-ecchi hammer to make sure he behaves. It does not really get better. The only thing that stands out is many beautiful women which is a rarity in anime due to abundance of girls. Concept is same poor, and action elements aren't fascinating.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Future GPX Cyber Formula 新世紀GPXサイバーフォーミュラ [Sunrise] (Finished 3/37) Tags: Shounen Racing Adventure, Sci-Fi 14-year-old Kazami Hayato is the youngest driver of Cyber Formula, a Grand Prix in which each vehicle is equipped with computers to aid in racing. With the help of Asurada, the most advanced cybernavigation system, and team Sugo, Hayato races to become the winner of the 10th Cyber Formula Grand Prix. Along the way, Hayato will have to learn what it truly means to be a racer and that victory cannot be achieved simply by driving the best machine. In addition, Kazami will have to gain the respect of the veteran racers, thwart those who attempt to steal Asurada, and participate in races outside of Cyber Formula. Sunrise is producing at least five anime series simultaneously, so seriously, don't expect a breakthrough. A total bore only suiting kids. The fact that series gets somewhat high scores is because racing anime used to be head on dumb by this moment, and Sunrise just dragged it to minimal level of acceptable quality. Also it aired in the West so spawns some nostalgy feelings. With flat characters like this it's pure averageness .   Overall Rating: 5/10   3. Zettai Muteki Raijin-Oh Matchless Raijin-Oh 絶対無敵ライジンオー [Sunrise] (Finished 3/51) Tags: Mecha, School Adventure, Sci-Fi Suddenly, an evil empire, Jaaku, raids the Earth. But the light appears from the Earth, and fights against Jaaku. It is Raijin Oh operated by Eldran. Eldran has protected the earth since the ancient ages. But he was injured during the fight, and Raijin-Oh falls to the ground. On the other hand, Jaaku scatters their weapons, Aku-Darmer, all over the world. Meanwhile, in Youshou elementary school, they have extra lessons in the 3rd class of the 5th grade. Eldran leaves Raijin Medal to them and asks them to save the Earth for him, and then he disappeared. In this way, the Earth Defense Agency consisted of elementary students is founded. Sunrise is totally lost in self-repeats. As usual, there's some humor, but the level of nonsense is pitch high.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Chiisana Obake: Acchi, Kocchi, Socchi 小さなおばけ アッチ・ソッチ・コッチ [Pierrot] (Finished 0/50) Tags: Comedy, Supernatural  This is a heart-warming story with three little ghost called There, Here and Where. They are not scary like usual ghosts but pretty and mischievous like human children. Of course they sometimes surprise people by disappearing or flying, but they are loved as children's friends. Each episode consists of two stories. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   5. High School Mystery: Gakuen Nanafushigi ハイスクールミステリー 学園七不思議 [Studio Comet] (Finished 2/41) Tags: Horror, Mystery - Only two episodes are translated. As expected, just horror stories taking place at school. But within the genre it's above average.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Kikou Keisatsu Metal Jack 機甲警察 メタルジャック [Sunrise] (Finished 3/37) Tags: Detective, Mecha Action, Sci-Fi Twenty years into the future, a city now called "Tokyo" has developed into one of the few world-class high-tech centers, "Tokyo City." The main character, Ken Kanzaki, is a young investigator assigned to the criminal investigation section of the Metropolital Police. He is one of the finest sharp shooters in the Police.One day, Ken is ordered to provide security for a party held by for "Zaizen Konzern," a world-class plutocracy. All of a sudden, spector robots appear and distrupt the party. Zaizen, a commander-in-chief, is killed and both Ken and Jun. Zaizen's son,are fatally injured by the robots. Two of the party's guests, an auto-racer, Ryo Aguri,and a wresler, Go Goda, also receive serious injuries. Three severely injured young men are operated upon by scientists from the Metropolitan Police. Several days later, a robot corp led by a mysterious organization called "Ido" appears in the floating-town of the Tokyo Bay. But the Police and the Army have no effective strategies to contain them. At that moment, three young men attired in mechanical suits enter. They are the very three young men, Ken, Ryo and Go, who have been turned into the cyborg investigators through the operation. They call themselves "Armored Police Metal Jacks". "Metal Jacks," dazzlingly switching from "Jack Suits" to "Jack Armors," completely demolish the robot corp and achieve victory, thus signals the beginning of the battle between the high-tech criminals and "Metal Jacks" with a futuristic "Tokyo City" in the background. Sunrise hits a new low. Low quality animation, standard sentai+mecha, absolutely silly enemies. Traditional not funny Sunrise humor only irritates. Painful to watch.   Overall Rating: 4/10   7. 21 Emon 21エモン [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 3/39) Tags: Space Comedy, Sci-Fi In 2018 a young boy named 21 Emon dreams of becoming a space pilot and exploring space in general. He is the heir to a long line of hotel owners, which dates back to the founder of during the Tokugawa shogunate. Since the Earth has become a planet visited by tourists from all over the space, 21 Emon has to help out his family's business or they'll go bankrupt. Not translated. Same as old 21 Emon movie, humor is mostly based on differences of aliens culture. It's an easy source for additional episodes, but it does not make it interesting.   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. Jankenman ジャンケンマン [TV Tokyo] (Finished 1/51) Tags: Super Power Adventure There is a small village called Janken Town. The hero Jankenman protects the village and defeats his adversaries by playing games of rock-paper-scissors with them. Meanwhile, the villain Osodashi Mask always tries to deceive others. Not translated. One episode is enough to understand that it's a show for kids.   Overall Rating: 4/10   9. Shounen Ashibe (TV) 少年アシベ [Life Work] (Finished 0/37) Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life  The anime is based on the 4-panel comic strip drawn by Morishita Hiromi and published in Young Jump. The story describes the daily life of Ashibe (an elementary school boy) and his family and friends, including a pet white sea lion. Not translated. Gag series can hardly be enjoyed without subs. There's remake of the series in the future.   Overall Rating: 0/10   10. Oh! My Konbu OH!MYコンブ [TBS] (Finished 3/22) Tags: Shounen Comedy, Gourmet, Slice of Life Fifth-grader Nabeyama Konbu is the son of a cook in a slice-of-life gourmet comedy that tries to add an element of adventure to slaving in the kitchen. Konbu helps his father solve problems in the world through the judicious use of seasonings, the right choice of menu, and the pleasing of fickle customers. Not translated. Third culinary show. This time with distinctive Dragon Ball feel for humor and character designs. Mister Ajikko at least felt serious, this one is a mere parody.   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory 機動戦士ガンダム0083 STARDUST MEMORY [Sunrise] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Adventure, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi It is the year 0083 of the Universal Century. The rebellious Principality of Zeon has been defeated in the One Year War by the Earth Federation. However, a faction of Zeon remnants led by Aguille Delaz fled from the final battle, hiding themselves away. After three long years, they attempt to rise up once more, sending Delaz's ace pilot, Anavel Gato, to infiltrate a Federation research base to steal one of two secretly developed prototype Gundams along with its deadly nuclear warhead. Threatened by the rogue Gundam suit and seeking to retain peace, the Earth Federation mobilizes the newly developed Albion carrier to recover the stolen unit. Manned by the remaining test pilots, with rookie pilot Kou Uraki piloting the remaining prototype Gundam, the Albion and her crew are determined to stop Gato, retake the stolen Gundam, and prevent the Zeon remnants from starting another war. Gundam needs some serious focus on characters. Every time if feels inferior to Macross that came ten years ago.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Bubblegum Crash バブルガムクラッシュ [Artmic, Darts] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Shounen Adult Cast, Mecha Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi The saga of the Knight Sabers continues as the group tries to find out who or what is behind the recent string of robberies, murders, and Boomer malfunctions which are somehow related to the creation of an advanced artificial intelligence. Furthermore, it seems that the Knight Sabers may be breaking up. Wow, first use of 3D graphics spotted by me. Anyway, stories are similar to Bubblegum Crisis, but without recollections of events happened in supposed prequel. If watched as part of the franchise, it's confusing. But if watched as a separate work, can be rated higher.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. RG Veda 聖伝  [animate Film] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy The fearsome warrior Taishaku-ten rebelled against the world-ruling gods three hundred years ago and began his own oppressive reign. His dominion remained unchecked for years—until one day, the blind prophet Kuyou prophesied that warriors known as the Six Stars and a child of the vanished race called Ashura would defeat Taishaku-ten. Ashura, marked by his pointed ears and golden eyes; Yasha-ou, a robust warrior; and four other Stars prepare to challenge Taishaku-ten. In order to do so, they must journey across tarnished landscapes and battle monstrous demons that have plagued the land. But as the wheels of fate turn, Ashura and Yasha-ou must find the sixth Star before it is too late. Never heard of manga or anything, but setting of corrupted world has a lot of potency. Just as with Madara, it's seen that a lot of effort is put into worldbuilding and characters, but all that is used poorly by rushing action events and skipping everything else on the way.   Overall Rating: 4/10   14. Honoo no Tenkousei 炎の転校生 [Gainax] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shounen Combat Sports, Martial Arts, Parody, School Action, Comedy, Sports Transfer student Takisawa Noboru quickly learns that all disputes at his new school are settled in the boxing ring. Now he finds himself in a series of showdowns with the local top dog, Ibuki Saburo, for the love and respect of the beautiful Yukari. It's so satisfying to watch all those delinquents and boxing anime ridiculed. Still, with overall length of 40 minutes and no character investment can't give it a masterpiece based on humor alone as it does not feel integral this way, but a great gust of fresh air still.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Sukeban Deka Delinquent Detective スケバン刑事 [SIDO LIMITED] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shoujo Delinquents, Detective, School Action, Drama Having spent time at a juvenile corrections facility, teenage delinquent Saki Asamiya is given a chance to redeem herself and delay her mother's possible death sentence by working as an undercover cop. Armed with nothing but a special yo-yo, Saki's assignment is to return to her high school and investigate on the corruption and mysterious deaths among the students. But in order to find the answers to the condition of her school, she must confront the wealthy and powerful Mizuchi sisters, who moved in and have taken control after her previous expulsion. Concept is popular, because it's easy to stage as live action. Anime shine because of unreal plots, but usually can't complete with properly staged dorama. I don't see how this anime can contribute with this concept of school and around school battles. It becomes rather average action with strangely placed humor spikes.   Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Maison Ikkoku: Bangai-hen - Ikkokujima Nanpa Shimatsuki めぞん一刻番外編 一刻島ナンパ始末記 [Magic Bus] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Comedy, Drama, Romance Yotsuya and Ichinose are enjoying a hot afternoon when they recall the time that the tenants of Ikkoku-kan and Mitaka go off on a cruise to party hard aboard Mitaka's new boat; however, the boat falls apart, and everyone is shipwrecked on a deserted island. With everyone up to their usual antics and shenanigans, what can happen in such a desolate place? There was already fanservice OVA series. Just one more fanservice episode, as expected. Complete waste of time.   Overall Rating: 4/10   17. Abashiri Ikka あばしり一家 [Pierrot] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy For decades, the Abashiri family has been one of the most powerful and feared crime families in the world. Led by the frightening Daemon Abashiri, the family prepares to perform their final, greatest heist. As the family makes their assault on a large bank, Daemon reveals that his youngest child, Kikunosuke Abashiri, is actually the first daughter born to the family in 18 generations—which is why he wants to end their life of crime. Much to Kikunosuke's displeasure, her father has arranged for her to study at the elite Paradise Academy, hoping that the school will shape her into a proper lady. However, when she arrives, she finds that the place is even more brutal than the life of crime she just left! How does Kikunosuke intend to survive in a school full of teachers who are hell-bent on killing their students? Absurdist battle action trash comedy. Even when limbs are torn apart, a merry music is still playing - this kind of comedy. I'd add Ecchi tag here, because all its elements are present. Watchable average action comedy if you can turn off brain and just observe it all.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Yami no Shihosha Judge Judge 闇の司法官ジャッジ [J.C.Staff, animate] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Horror, Supernatural Hoichiro Ohma works in an office. Everybody knows him as a silent, humble man. Even his girlfriend, Nanase, doesn't suspect that he could be something more, but he is. When a person dies as a victim of murder; when someone kills himself with a curse on his lips; when someone's death needs to be judged, he is there, for he is a Judge Of Darkness. Following the Laws Of Darkness, with a book made of human skin and an unusual parrot, he pronounces judgement over living criminals that would otherwise go free. Weird below average horror.   Overall Rating: 4/10   19. Slow Step スローステップ [Pastel] (Finished 5/5) Tags: Shoujo School Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life, Sports Based on the Adachi manga of the same name. The story revolves around a romantic triangle formed by the girl Minatsu Nakazato, a young student and softball player; Shu Akiba, a schoolmate; and Naoto Kadomatsu, an up-and-coming boxer. In reality the three-way relationship is more like three-and-a-half, considering that Naoto is in love with Maria... actually Minatsu herself, who'd once disguised herself to escape some evildoers. Are you kidding me... first Nine, then Touch, Hiatari Ryoukou and now this one with same character designs and same love triangles and freaking baseball/similar sport each time. Characters feel even more immature and old-fashioned than ever. It's irritating on so many levels.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Souryuuden Legend of the Dragon Kings 創竜伝 [Kitty Film Mitaka Studio] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Super Power Drama, Mystery, Supernatural  The four Ryudo brothers hold an ancient secret - they are descended from the dragons. They have the speed, strength and power of their legendary ancestors - and they're getting stronger. But when pushed to the limit, they become the terrifying, uncontrollable dragons of mythology. These powers have attracted the attention of some powerful enemies - shadowy organizations with unlimited resources and weapons who will stop at nothing to control the brothers. Well, I seriously dislike Chinese mythology with all its laughable focus on same symbols, sacral numbers and presumably epic creatures. We observe another epic battle of Dragon entity versus Bull entity. There are four elements and four cardinal points, so of course we need four protagonists. But we need as much symbolism as possible, so there should be four antagonists. Protagonists are all brothers, so antagonists must be all sisters. Because yin and yang - WAKARU? Freaking stupid and ridiculous, thus can't be treated seriously. The main problem is that true colors only are shown at the end. During the main course of event it's just some clashes of different brothers with monsters and bad guys with occasional shifts into dragons. When things are broken down to personal level there is a semblance of substance and mystery behind it all while in reality it's one huge fake that only feels energetic due to a large number of characters, our usual horizontal extension with no actual depth.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Capricorn カプリコン [Aubec] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi In the blink of an eye, high school student Taku Shimamura finds himself transported to the bizarre world of Slaffleaze, where intelligent creatures govern and the ruling class, led by the villainous Zolba, is plotting the invasion of the world they know as Capricorn, the Earth. Joining together with the oppressed Slaffleaze peasants, Taku must find a way to stop Zolba`s dark forces before the way to the unsuspecting Earth is opened. In order to do so, he must first gain the love and trust of the last of the Yappie, the ancestral guardians of Slaffeaze. This is a task that will take more than a little courage and daring, for the last Yappie is not just a cute young female, she`s also a dragon. Isekai with animal races. It's rather short, so there's only enough time for characters to bump into each other, learn the wicked plans, conveniently discover superpower out of the blue and win, of course.   Overall Rating: 4/10   22. Akai Hayate 紅いハヤテ [Pierrot] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Martial Arts, Super Power Action Japan is secretly controlled by a tyrannical group of ninjas called the Shinogara. Their finest assassin is a man named Hayate Kanuma, whose father leads the Shinogara. Hayate, however, knows that the secret society's control over Japan is wrong. Sacrificing his own safety, Hayate kills his father. Now he's on the run, safe almost nowhere from his vengeful former comrades except perhaps for the one hiding place he decides upon: his sister. After possibly being fatally wounded, Hayate is able to transfer his soul into his sister's body, temporarily sharing it with her. His sister, Shiori, can awaken Hayate and call upon his ninja abilities when the Shinogara are close at hand but each time she does so, a little more of her true self is lost. This arrangement can't possibly go on forever, so how will Hayate finally defeat the Shinogara? An ok action. Nothing of it is memorable though, so average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. The Gakuen Choujo-tai The Chohjotai ザ・学園超女隊 [Magic Bus] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Mythology, Super Power Action Anime based on a 1986 novel. Yumi, a new student at the school, has four supernatural powers: prediction ability, telekinesis, levitation, and teleportation, but she is unable to use any of them at will. She organizes Chohjotai to uncover the true identity of school psychic research club. You can call me prejudiced against espers, but this this anime has no really outstanding traits.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Okama Hakusho Okama Report  おカマ白書 [-] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Seinen Crossdressing Comedy Okama is a man who has some problems. First off, his name means 'gay' in Japanese. Next, he has the hots for himself dressed as a girl. Finally, he ends up working at a transvestite bar where he has befriended a girl named Miki. This is not an easy matter to solve, because she only knows him as his female counterpart named Catherine. So how is a guy dressed as a girl supposed to come out to a girl as a heterosexual male? To make matters worse, she has a boyfriend who is trying everything in the book to get with her. Enter the exciting world of Okama Hakusho where love comes in many different flavors! Trap comedy. Everything is as usual - partying with girls with a boner, being molested by guys - very expected things like that. I never found anything fun in trap plots.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Sweet Spot スイートスポット [Group TAC] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy  These "amusing" adventures of a golf-crazy Office Lady were based on a manga from Weekly Spa! magazine by Yutsuko Chudoji. I usually dig corporate OL stuff, but this was rather tasteless.   Overall Rating: 5/10   26. Ippon Bouchou Mantarou 一本包丁満太郎 [J.C.Staff, animate Film] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Gourmet Based on the manga by Big Joe (ビッグ錠). Wow, fourth culinary show already. Compared to predecessors it's not childish and not comedy-focused. But seriously - the first hamburger steak challenge is to cut 20 onions in 5 minutes and we waste like 10 minutes on it? Why is the whole focus in hamburger steak on onions? Baka-bakashi... So will real competition begin now? Nope, it's again speed challenge to prepare fish super fast... Is it formula 1 or something? Why two same dishes taste differently? You would not believe, but because one is more neatly shaped and looks better ... this is SO stupid. Ever tried eating petals? Too bad, because some raw fish covered with just petals wins over first class dish. Ever boiled noodles? I hope not , because there just one person in Osaka who can boil noodles just right. 10 more minutes are wasted to boil dozens of noodles each with one second step from each other... This is not a show about cooking. This is a show about weird entertainment, mythology and irrational psychology around cooking, worst "culinary" show I ever seen which is just unforgivable so many years after decent Mister Ajikko that raised the quality plank high enough.   Overall Rating: 4/10   27. Shizukanaru Don: Yakuza Side Story 静かなるドン Yakuza Side Story [Tokyo Movie Shinsha] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Organized Crime Action, Comedy, Drama This manga depicts the life of Shizuya Kondou, a man who designs underwear by day and is "don" of a gang at night. Basically, it's all in the synopsis. Comedy with weird underwear designs and goofing around during daytime - black glasses coolness and bossing around at night. Comedy part is hardly outstanding, so...   Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Koha Ginjiro Trusty Ginjiro 硬派銀次郎 [Visual 80] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Shounen School Action, Drama After the death of his elder brother, Ginjiro Yamazaki appoints himself his parents' protector. After transferring to a new school, he gets into a lot of fights. Not translated. Parents and elder brother die in an accident, chibi Gen as he is called because of 142 cm height decides to become protector of his one year old nephew. He has his hands full with sports, studies, earning money by delivering newspapers and taking care of nephew, but a big hooligan threat won't wait till he has time for it. That's basically it. The only bright spot in this anime is female transfer student who takes care of Gen after seeing him in school carrying a nephew. Gen is cheerful, but can't say there is real humor. First episode is introductory, other two have some delinquents fights in the center. Can't call it all particularly interesting.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Dr. Typhoon Dr.(ドク)タイフーン  [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Drama, Sports Based on a seinen manga written by Takahashi Michitsuna and illustrated by Kazama Eiji, serialised in Weekly Manga Action. Izumi Typhoon, the eponymous Dr. Typhoon, is a highly skilled golfer based in New-York. Being a perverted sleazebag who does not back off from receiving shady money, his life tends to be more messy than it should... Not translated. Slightly more funny golf due to harassments , but nothing big.   Overall Rating: 4/10   30. Asuka: Nihon no Rekishi ASUKA -日本の歴史- [-] (Finished 0/20) Tags: - - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   31. Fushigi no Umi no Nadia: Original Movie Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water - The Motion Picture ふしぎの海のナディア 劇場用オリジナル版 [Gainax, Group TAC] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Action, Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi Three years after the defeat of Gargoyle and Neo-Atlantis, a new threat has surfaced bent on bringing the world under his control. Geiger, using advanced robot technology, is attempting to begin a world war, and take control of the devastated world after the destruction has stopped. Once again, Nadia and Jean must fight to save the world, only this time from itself. I hoped it to be a recap movie... but not this kind of 25 minutes poorly justified recap with one hour of new half-assed adventure and only flat new characters introduced.   Overall Rating: 4/10   32. Michitekuru Toki no Mukou ni 満ちてくる 時のむこうに [Pierrot] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance Based on Suzuki Kouji's novel Paradise, which won the Japan Fantasy Novel Award in 1991. Prehistoric Mongolia. Bogd and his daughter Fayau, who love each other, live happily, but Fayau is abducted by the invaders, the northern tribes. Bogd, who has won the patronage of the best guardian spirit "Red Deer", tries to cross the ocean to regain his lover, but it does not come true. However, the spirits of the red deer promise that their love will meet again after a long time. During the Age of Discovery, as sailor Jones and island daughter Lyre, and as composer Leslie and editor Flora in modern Arizona, they feel the bond of love that has passed 10,000 years ... This anime is so full of all kind of superstitions that it makes me really sick. It turns out that Mongolians came because boy drew a girl's image bringing a curse. The way the sea created a pass for Mongolians to cross and flooded right before Bogd approached is such a huge Bible driven bs that I sincerely wanted to drop. Retelling the synopsis takes all the movie time with what's left only the way two spirits meet through time. A total disappointment.   Overall Rating: 4/10
  4. kivandopulus

    Anime of the Year
    Wow, I rated everything pretty low this season. Good opportunity to promote my beloved franchise with Wizardry   1. Trapp Ikka Monogatari The Trapp Family Story トラップ 一家 物語  [Nippon Animation] (Finished 3/40) Tags: Childcare, Historical, Music Drama, Romance Based on the same story that produced the classic musical 'The Sound of Music', this is the story of Maria, who leaves her life in a convent to take up the responsibility of taking care of Captain Trapp's children. World masterpiece theater. If you can tolerate a series built around a musical... I could not for long.   Overall Rating: 5/10   2. Taiyou no Yuusha Fighbird Brave of the Sun Fighbird 太陽の勇者ファイバード [Sunrise] (Finished 3/48) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi An evil alien life form, Dryus, assaulted the Earth. The leader of Space Patrol, Fighbird, pursed Dryus to the Earth. Fighbird combined with an android that Dr. Amano was developing. Fighbird named Hidori Ryutaro and fight against Dryus to protect the peace of the Earth. At first look, he was a normal person, but because he was an alien, Fibird, his acts were a bit away from the normal persons'. Usually, he worked for Dr. Amano as an assistant. He looked uncouth always wearing while coat and glasses. However, once enemy appears, his personality changed dramatically. Hardly anyone but Sunrise continues to release shounen mecha, so Sunrise mecha with dips into humor has become the average inside the genre. No breakthrough, as expected.   Overall Rating: 5/10   3. Getter Robo Go ゲッターロボ號 [Toei Animation] (Finished 3/50) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Military Action, Adventure A new Getter robot is piloted by three youth as they combat the evil terrors that plague the world. Reinstallment of series from 1970s and not done by Sunrise brings a lot of limitations... to the point that only a few episodes have subtitles. It can't be even considered average in 1990s.  Overall Rating: 4/10   4. Kinkyuu Hasshin Saver Kids Emergency Departure Rescue Kids 緊急発進セイバーキッズ [Tokyo Movie Shinsha] (Finished 0/50) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi Matsugorou is a vile doctor who plots out a plan to take over the world by commanding his own robotic army. The only chance the world has is a group of three brothers that make up a team called the Emergency Departure Saver Kids. Not translated. I can get the series with some effort, but there's zero chance I could like it, so I'd prefer to skip it entirely.   Overall Rating: 0/10   5. Ore wa Chokkaku おれは直角 [Pierrot] (Finished 3/36) Tags: Comedy  Chokkaku Ishigaki leeds a cheerful student life at the prestigious Hagi Meirinkan institution and at home in the late Tokugawa period. Not translated. Just Edo period SOL about about a boy with comedy. Resembles Akadou Suzunosuke anime the most. Above average, but without translation is doomed.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Burn Up! バーンナップ [AIC] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Detective Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Ecchi To the unsuspecting eye Maki, Reimi and Yuka may not look like ace crime fighters, which might explain why they're stuck on traffic patrol instead of more "exciting" police duties. All that changes when Yuka gets herself kidnapped by a white slave organization run by a politically connected businessman who's got the rest of the police cowed. Now it's up to Maki and Reimi to don skin-tight battle armor, liberate a tank, and make sure that a certain slaver learns that when you play with fire, you're going to get your ass burned! Pretty average action. Guess this franchise is chosen for serialization just because there's freedom of actions with a new runner while Dirty Pair needs some standards and some stamp of quality to maintain. Feels like a below average Dirty Pair movie with cut humor.     Overall Rating: 5/10   7. Soujuu Senshi Psychic Wars Psychic Wars 捜獣戦士サイキック・ウォーズ [] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Mythology, Super Power, Time Travel Action Ukyo Rettsu, a surgeon, treats a mysterous old woman for a mysterious "cancer." The growth turns out to be a messenger from the ancient past of Japan heralding a demonic invasion of the Earth. Ukyo must go back in time and fight the race of ancient demons. Esper wars is never a good choice, adding time slip usually makes things confusing. As a result we have a trashy action, one of the lowest rated anime ever.   Overall Rating: 3/10   8. Wizardry ウィザードリィ [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy  Based on the first Wizardry game "The Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord", a group of characters enter a dungeon to confront the ultimate wizard to prevent him from reaching an unstoppable power. On their way they meet up with a few new friends who have their own battles to settle, but their paths lay together. Watched it twice in the past already and loved it immensely, but I was playing Wizardry Online then, so might be subjective. Rewatching it now with a more critical outlook, and it looks more like a well done showcase of lore that old Wizardry games could provide, and it's not much, only enough for one OVA. Actually, can't give it a masterpiece status now. Basically, all difficult fights are won after spell of elven magician girl with some backstab move or something afterwards. Aesthetics is great, but substance is lacking, especially since I knew all lore about Verdna and world history beforehand.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. Mouryou Senki Madara Madara 魍魎戦記 MADARA[摩陀羅] [Studio Fantasia, animate Film] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shounen Mythology Adventure, Supernatural Born of legendary origins, the young Madara has grown up in obscurity as an apprentice blacksmith. An encounter with the demonic Mouki reveals his destiny, and catapults him into the middle of a mystic quest. Madara fights for revenge with the help of freedom fighters, magical swords and Kirin, the master of the Majin. His goal is to defeat his brother and then overthrow his father, the despotic Miroku. It looks like the first attempt to create an epic action manga and story after Dororo, must have had an influence on Berserk as this manga started publishing two years before Berserk. Overall this OVA feels rushed as there are a lot of great looking unique side-characters who should have some story behind them, but there's no time to tell it, so they are thrown as is. First part properly gives roots of story and provides a love interest, two friends and a rival. But second part brings quite a lot confusion things start to be shown without explanation. In the end I could not enjoy this anime because of half-fantasy/half-futuristic setting with artificial bodies and magic. It still could work if not the horrible ending that wasted all the accumulated epic potential. It's only natural as manga ended only in 1997, so showrunners just hastily mashed things up. This story deserved a better treatment, also at a later time.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Majuu Senshi Luna Varga 魔獣戦士ルナ・ヴァルガー [AIC, Studio Hakk] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Ecchi The Dunbas Empire tries to conquer the peaceful land of Rimbell. The three princesses are determined to resist the invaders, expecially the middle one, the tomboyish, sword-wielding Luna. After a magical escapade in the cellars of the castle, she finds herself embedded up to the hips in the head of a huge green reptile, the legendary Varga, and acting as its "brain." Even when in human form she has a reptilian tail. She has to fend off a very persistent giant invader and rescue her sister who has been kidnapped by a pterodactyl. So ridiculous that any story can be neglected right away, and only comedy needs to be evaluated, and it does not impress at all.   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Shakotan★Boogie シャコタン★ブギ [Pierrot] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Seinen Racing, School Action, Comedy It's girls, gangs, and cars in this adaptation of the 1985 manga in Young Magazine, by Lullaby for Wednesday's Cinderella-creator Michiharu Kusunoki. Local punks steal cars, switch the plates, and sell them, but not without racing them for a while against rival gangs. The anime continues the story where the 1987 live-action movie starring Kazuya Kimura left off. With such huge amount of sexist humor, it can hardy go over  average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Dragon Fist ドラゴンフィスト [Agent 21] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Martial Arts Drama, Fantasy The story follows Ling Fei-long, a Chinese transfer student living in Japan. Ling is the son of the leader of the White Dragon clan, one of four clans who live in the mountains of China and are descended from mythical beasts. After killing an ordinary human, Ling is banished to Japan so that he might learn about humanity and how to control his powers around them. Pathetic melodrama about clones which rivals some of the worst anime ever made.   Overall Rating: 3/10   13. Ariel Deluxe DELUXE ARIEL (エリアル) [J.C.Staff] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Mecha Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi Those incompetent aliens are still plotting to conquer the Earth! The only obstacle in their path is the giant, feminine robot ARIEL! But the young pilots have lives of their own... When Kazumi receives a mysterious love letter from a secret admirer, should she cancel her first date just to save the Earth? Giant girl mecha is fighting giant dinosaur mecha,... that's all I need to know about this anime. Oh, and there's fanservice. Now definitely all.   Overall Rating: 5/10   14. Makyuu Senjou Dark Warrior 魔宮戦場 [Daiei] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi  When computer genius Joe Takami hacks into a top secret computer system in search of information on a mysterious girl, he gets much more than he bargained for. Now, after uncovering evidence of a secret government experiment, he's running for his life, and everyone, including his best friend and his personal computer, has turned against him. As a ruthless team of high-tech ninja follows his trail, Joe must depend upon the unpredictable powers that lie within him in order to survive. Can he find a way to evade the government assassins before they terminate the human genetic experiment named Joe Takami. Cyborg is an ok guy , but after shock becomes a muscular berserk, pretty much everything else is trashy fighting and gore .   Overall Rating: 4/10   15. Be-Bop Kaizokuban Be-Bop 海賊版 [Toei Animation] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Seinen Delinquents, School Comedy Based on a parody manga of Be-Bop Highschool. I found it disgusting in so many ways. With only couple minutes per sketch it does not even feel integral.   Overall Rating: 4/10   16. Phantom Yuusha Densetsu ファントム勇者伝説 [Magic Bus] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Military Action, Drama Yazawa, a Japanese pilot, suffers a crash in his Phantom jetfighter. After a six month recovery, his old friend from an airplane magazine wants him to investigate the appearance of a Phantom in an armed conflict in El Salvador. Yazawa's investigations makes him wind up in an international arms conspiracy. Based on a series of military fiction novels. I tried to find any elements that could justify it even a little, and passable visuals is the only thing I found not appalling here.   Overall Rating: 2/10   17. Samuraider: Nazo no Tenkousei サムライダー 謎の転校生  [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Samurai Action, Drama In a combination of samurai movies and Bomber Bikers of Shonan, Tokyo street punk Masao buys a treasured FZR "katana" motorcycle and becomes a knight of the road, attacking criminals with a genuine katana sword. Biker with katana, even two if we also take the neighboring guy the protagonist imitated. Overall, very silly, aimless and chaotic, can't even call it humor, to be honest.   Overall Rating: 4/10   18. Bousou Sengokushi 暴走戦國史 [-] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Action  Modern-day bikers make and break alliances with neighboring gangs, fight over the right to use a local petrol station, and are eventually united under a powerful leader. It's a replay of the events of Japan's 16th-century civil war, but with bikes instead of horses and knives instead of swords. Based on the manga by Jiro Ueno in Weekly Playboy. Not translated. No humor. Why should I be interested in biker parody of medieval civil war... Let's assume I am. Characters are ugly. There's a huge number of them. Both OVA take less than 90 minutes. The whole point of civil war is in complexity. What's the point of biker parody is beyond my understanding. There's a huge number of much better done Sengoku parodies later on.   Overall Rating: 4/10   19. Kumo ni Noru 雲にのる [J.C.Staff] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Action In a Buddhist heaven where saints fight over turf in the clouds, Nio-maru searches for the younger sister torn from him in an aircraft accident back in the human world. Not translated. Another weird OVA about giants, gods and oni and protagonist who does not care who to make love to. Ecchi tag is a must have here, if there was no semblance of plot I'd even call it hentai for the sheer amount of H events and nudity. Plot is silly to the point that it's amusing to watch, but it's one huge nonsense, so I'd say don't bother. .   Overall Rating: 4/10   20. Judo-bu Monogatari 柔道部物語 [Studio Deen, Daume] (Finished 2/2) Tags: School Sports Based on the same name manga by Kobayashi Makoto. Not translated. Protagonist gets a harsh welcome at judo club when he applies, but he keeps practicing, eventually mastering a deadly throw that allows him to protect himself from hooligans. As you can see, it's super simple and with only faint smell of humor, so zero point in watching it.   Overall Rating: 4/10   21. Shounen Ashibe 少年アシベ [Pony Canyon] (Finished 0/6) Tags: Comedy  After moving to a new town, a young boy comes across a lone baby seal. They become fast friends and enjoy everyday life together. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   22. Mobile Suit Gundam F91 機動戦士ガンダムF91 [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Drama, Sci-Fi In the year 123 of the Universal Century, skirmishes between the Federation government and the rebel group Crossbones Vanguard echo across Earth's space colonies. One of these small battles breaks in the hometown of young Seabook Arno, forcing him and his friends to flee and ensnaring them in the political turmoil that is quickly evolving into an all-out war. Seabook meets Cecily Fairchild, granddaughter of the aristocrat Meitzer Ronah, who seeks to create a new political power called "Cosmo Babylonia." Using the Crossbone Vanguard as its muscle, the Ronah family schemes to restore aristocratic rule and establish an economic system that will benefit the nobility, thus devastating the quality of life for the common people of the Earth Sphere. Seabook is tasked with piloting the Gundam F91, a mobile suit created by his mother, and must choose between protecting the status Federation's status quo or cooperating with Cecily to find a better way of life for all. A bit of fresh air, and a lot of stale everything else. Jumps in narration and underdeveloped characters disappoint the most.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Ushiro no Shoumen Daare Who's Left Behind? うしろの正面だあれ [Mushi Production] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Drama Kayoko is a young girl in 1940, just starting first grade. She's a bit of a crybaby, which is no secret to those around her. She loves playing with friends and singing cute schoolyard chants, and occasionally having fun with her three older brothers. Her mother is pregnant, and so she looks forward to being a big sister, only partially understanding the responsibility that might bring. Meanwhile, the war effort is growing, and it`s only the natural thing to do to be patriotic and support the country... Kayoko goes so far as to contribute her favorite dolly, whose materials could help build explosives. Time passes, and as she grows older, Kayoko sees how the war has affected her life and those around her. Nothing can prepare her for 1945, however, and the bleak times that are soon to come. Based on original creator Kayoko Ebina's real life experience during World War 2 on Showa era. Dream scene must have influenced Spirited Away by Miyazaki. As for the rest... children sing a lot of songs and play. I don't like this anime as both kids and adults know that their country is allied with Nazi Germany in Axis , everyone lives miserably and still doll is sacrificed for this cannibalistic regime to create explosives and kill more good people. Idiocy should not equal patriotism .   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Dorami-chan: Wow, The Kid Gang of Bandits ドラミちゃん アララ・少年山賊団! [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Fantasy - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10
  5. kivandopulus

    Anime of the Season
    I can highlight two borderline masterpieces - Osu!! Karate-bu and Chibi Maruko-chan Movie with original work always taking precedence over recurring one of equal score.   1. Magical★Taruruuto-kun まじかる☆タルるートくん [Toei Animation] (Finished 3/87) Tags: Gag Humor, School Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Ecchi Magical Taruruto-kun is a magical boy, fighting, and comedy TV show based on the manga of the same name by Tatsuya Egawa which ran in Weekly Shounen Jump. Not translated. Reminds Dash! Kappei by energy, so should be quite popular if translated, but yeah, 87 episodes. So perverted elementary school student accidentally summons a witch chibi and first tries to attract his favorite girl attention and does some pranks with the help of witch magic, then protects school from outer forces. Nothing super fancy, just a genki anime.   Overall Rating: 5/10   2. Pygmalio ピグマリオ  [Nippon Animation] (Finished 3/39) Tags: Shoujo Adventure, Fantasy  Coult, the prince of the kingdom of Loon, is living a happy life with his father King Stephan and many retainers. He is cheerful, bright, tender-hearted, and gifted by the god Aganade. Coult’s mother Galatea (the daughter of Aganade) married King Stephan. However, Medusa, the daughter of the evil spirit, was envious of her happiness and turned her into a statue together with many villagers when Coult was still a baby. In order to save the other villagers, Stephan pledged allegiance to Medusa, and was forced to promise to make Coult do the same on his 8th birthday. When the day arrives, Coult declares that he will defeat Medusa and revive the people who were turned into statues. He sets out on a long journey to search for the daughter of the evil spirit. Not translated. Boy since early childhood could lift a carriage with one hand, and it is the distinguishing feature of anime alongside Greek mythology. Looks really plain  and slow, to be honest. No outstanding characters are spotted either.   Overall Rating: 5/10   3. Mitsume ga Tooru 三つ目がとおる  [Tezuka Productions] (Finished 3/48) Tags: Adventure He is a little boy who has a terrible power. On his forehead is a third eye that, if open, releases extremely dangerous mystical energy that turns him into an evil sorcerer, bent on conquering mankind, and able to summon demons and wielding a red harpoon wand called Red Condor. To protect mankind from his terrible power, Sharaku is made to wear a bandage which seals his third eye. While his eye is sealed, Sharaku knows nothing of his true nature or his power, and does not remember his evil half's sinister attempts to conquer the world. Only ten episodes are translated, others are MTL'ed. It's true that initial movie was butchered pretty bad by Toei animation or whatever that made it into constant hitting against things silly comedy. I believe that Tezuka Productions even without Osamu made things right this time just like with Kimba White Lion, but the problem is that series repeat movie , and I have no desire to watch the similar story another time, it just lacks interest to me trying to overcome random traps and enemies while exploring tombs or whatever. Good thing that there are warnings for humanity this time and it's not silly anymore, but concept does not cut it for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. RPG Densetsu Hepoi RPG伝説ヘポイ [Gallop] (Finished 3/50) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy The adventure of Hepoi, a hero of heporis, Ryuuto, the prince of Dragonia, Miiya Miiya a fairy looks like a cat, and Bunzaemon, a merchant, to defeat Dracunes, the King of dark side castles. Only six episodes are translated. Basically, another Dragon Ball imitator with chibi characters and silly funny enemies. That kills any possible seriousness in an instant, but there's also lack of conceptual comedy to attract anyone else but kids. Just another anime not tagged for kids as needed.    Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Karakuri Kengou Den Musashi Lord Musashi, the Samurai Lord からくり剣豪伝ムサシロード [Pierrot] (Finished 3/50) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure It is the time of civil war. Zipangu is a country where people live together with gimmick warriors, a kind of super human robot. There, people and gimmick warriors struggle to seize power. Musashi, a Samurai gimmick warrior, departs to on a quest to become the best Samurai warrior. Musashi thrives in the series of battles, encountering with many heroes and villains including his lifelong rival, Kojiro, an expert swordsman. Later, Mushashi and Kojiro are sent by their General to escort the Princess, a granddaughter of the general. The princess is spoiled and difficult, so their journey becomes series of misadventures. Soon, they are caught up in a battle to seize control of the Country. Fantasy is the new mecha, but the two are still getting mixed for bizarre results. Too simple, as for me, in all regards.   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Happyakuyachou Hyouri Kewaishi 八百八町表裏 化粧師 [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 3/16) Tags: Historical Drama Set in early 1900s Tokyo, its story is about a makeup artist named Kosannba. All the women desire to have their make up done by Kosannba because he is the best. He also manages to get intertwined into the lives of many women and proceeds to work out their various problems. Not translated. Sigh. I'm trying to find any reasons to watch this anime. First of all, it shows late Edo pretty well. Secondly, it's ecchi. Lastly, protagonist is kind of goofy and falls in all sorts of situations, usually linked to some girl somehow. One average story only takes 10 minutes. Concept might work, but not without translation for sure .   Overall Rating: 5/10   7. Edokko Boy: Gatten Tasuke 江戸っ子ボーイ がってん太助 [Pierrot] (Finished 3/22) Tags: Detective, Martial Arts Comedy, Sports Tasuke, a student in a police academy, wanted to be the manager of the academy and arrest all criminals in Edo city. Tasuke is still eleven years old, but, he really wanted to get rid of criminals so the world will be a better place to stay in. Tasuke have three other friends; Omon and the other two. With them, they work together and that is the start of a funny and sometimes serious adventure. Not translated. I call such shows time fillers as concept is abstract and aimless, can't figure why should I even want to watch it in first place - those stale concepts are remnants of long past time. Anyway, lots of childish characters and chibi designs, lots of mediocre humor. Again, hello, Dragon Ball. I found no outstanding element that would catch my attention, so average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. Sanchoume no Yuuhi 三丁目の夕日 [Group TAC] (Finished 3/27) Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life Based on the same name slice of life manga by Saigan Ryouhei. Not translated. And SOL comedies are really difficult to perceive without translation. Basically, only half episodes are available in full. Characters aren't cute at all. Anime tries to target the same group of kids for first three episodes, but it lacks comedy. Afterward, just as in original, absolutely different citizens are targeted, which makes it very weird and confusing.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Peach Command Shin Momotarou Densetsu PEACH COMMAND 新桃太郎伝説 [Knack Productions] (Finished 0/24) Tags: Adventure, Comedy A continuation of Momotarou Densetsu. I have no desire to continue with Momotarou adventures, so won't bother.   Overall Rating: 0/10   10. Mamono Hunter Youko Devil Hunter Yohko 魔物ハンター妖子 [Madhouse] (Finished 5/5) Tags: Comedy, Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural Yohko Mono is a regular girl making her way through high school--until she learns that she is the 108th successor to a line of warriors charged with defending the earth against demons. Eventually she must fight her ultimate battle against the demon who started it all. Series is mostly known for softcore fanservice, even in PCE games. Anime deserves at least Ecchi tag. Some mediocre action, lots of torn clothes and absence of coherent plot is what you can expect from this anime.   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Mad★Bull 34 Mad Bull 34 マッド★ブル34  [Magic Bus] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Detective Action Daizaburo Edi-Ban, a Japanese-American, joins New York City's toughest precinct, the 34th. On his first day he is partnered up with John Estes, called Sleepy by his friends and Mad Bull by his enemies, a cop who stops crime with his own violent brand of justice. Mad Bull makes no qualms about executing common thieves with shotgun blasts if they even pose a minor threat to him or anyone around them. Mad Bull also often steals from prostitutes and does incredible amounts of property damage while fighting crime. Mad Bull's unpoliceman-like behavior often puts him in hot water with his partner Daizaburo and the 34th precinct. However, despite how reckless or illegal these acts are, a good cause is always revealed (For example, Sleepy uses the money he steals from the prostitutes to fund a venereal disease clinic and a home for battered and raped women). Perrine Valley, a police lieutenant, joins Daizaburo and Sleepy later on to help them tackle more difficult cases involving the mafia and drug-running. Mad Bull 34 is inspired by the high-action buddy cop films of the '70s and '80s. This anime is often cited as one of the best from the trashy ones... well, I watched it with interest, but there's hardly any conclusion than can be made. Lots of gore, H, violence, humor and there's actual logic behind it. I liked it , but not to the level of masterpiece, of course.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor: New OVA 機動警察パトレイバー NEW OVA  [Sunrise] (Finished 3/16) Tags: Detective, Mecha Comedy, Sci-Fi Special Vehicles Division 2 is back on duty, along with their Ingram Patrol Labor (Patlabor) robots. Using their courage as well as the Ingrams, Captain Goto's motley crew of officers battle crime in Tokyo city. They also deal with their personal lives, as well as the supernatural. I'm not into Patlabor as I don't consider characters interesting enough here, and without it all the interaction between them lacks interest as well. Without interesting characters there should at least be  interesting stories, but those are reserved for movies... It's definitely not Black Lagoon or GitS series, but nevertheless above average.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. The Hakkenden The Hakkenden: Legend of the Dog Warriors THE 八犬伝 [Artmic] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Shounen Historical, Martial Arts, Mythology, Samurai Action, Adventure "During the blood-soaked feudal wars of Japan, the Awa clan faced certain extinction from a rival clan backed by demonic forces. Their clan's salvation becomes a curse when the family dog brings back the head of the enemy warlord but insists upon marrying the lord's daughter! This unnatural union bears fruit, but they are killed; and their eight unborn pups reincarnate as the eight Dog Warriors - The Hakkenden. The eight reincarnated souls travel their separate paths of violence and retribution, but slowly they come together as a formidable group representing the eight virtues of the bushido to slay the demons and redeem their clan!" After great opening episode show falls into averageness with very shallow logic behind actions. Would not call it historical with so many demons around. Story leaves much to be desired.   Overall Rating: 5/10   14. Violence Jack: Hell's Wind-hen バイオレンス ジャック 〜ヘルスウインド編〜 [Studio 88] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Gore Action, Drama, Horror The survivors of Kanto's Hell Earthquake built a new city and christened it "Hope Town". However, this peaceful town becomes a nightmare when it's raided by the motorcycle gang, "Hell's Wind". They abduct the women while the remaining townsfolk are left helpless against them. Meanwhile, a boy, Subaro, meets Jun. Jun's lover was previously murdered, and the duo help one another to fight against Hell's Wind. The battles are getting more and more difficult, but with the appearance of Violence Jack, the citizens seem to gain the upper hand against Hell's Wind. Third Violence Jack movie, which means a lot of trashy gore and H. Only if you liked previous parts.   Overall Rating: 4/10   15. Ranma ½: Nettou Uta Gassen らんま1/2 熱闘歌合戦  [Kitty Film Mitaka Studio] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Music Comedy A two-part music OVA series never released outside of Japan featuring the main Ranma 1/2 characters. They appear to be having a music contest at a local TV station. As everybody knows, these characters can't get along for more than three minutes and hilarity and hijinks ensue. Just ten songs sung by different characters. Nice.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Shuranosuke Zanmaken: Shikamamon no Otoko Sword for Truth 修羅之介斬魔劍 死鎌紋の男 [Magic Bus] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Action, Supernatural, Suspense Shurannosuke Sakaki is a masterless samurai with a razor-sharp katana and a cold-hearted personality. Whenever you see the mark of two crossed scythes on his back, death is sure to follow. Because of his exceptional swordsmanship, Shurannosuke is hired by the Nakura Clan to rescue Princess Mayu from the Seki Ninja. In this mission, he must use his full potential to survive the Seki Ninja's notorious henchmen. Climax of the thought that action is everything, and coherent plot is not needed with good action.   Overall Rating: 4/10   17. Vampire Sensou Vampire Wars ヴァンパイヤー戦争 [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Super Power, Vampire Supernatural The rural American west is the setting for this OVA, in which a bizarre and brutal attack on a NASA base in Arizona attracts the attention of a French secret service agent, Monsieur Lassar, when a dead CIA agent is found floating on the Seine in Paris. Lassar is convinced that these two events are related, and sets out to prove it. His investigation leads him to film star Lamia Vindaw and a vampire cult that may be far more vicious and dangerous than its eccentric exterior makes it seem. Movie is very trashy, vampires bring a whole new level of nonsense here. Rather painful to watch.   Overall Rating: 3/10   18. New Dream Hunter Rem: Yume no Kishitachi NEW DREAM HUNTER 麗夢 夢の騎士達 [] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Ecchi Rem is an ordinary woman in our world but, in the world of dreams, she becomes a dream warrior, defending humanity from the evils there. When dream demons reach the waking world, she fights them with the help of her pets which transform into a tiger and wolf. It has not become better since 1985, still see zero point in watching it .   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. Osu!! Karate-bu Go!! Karate Club 押忍!!空手部 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts, School Tadashi Matsushita has recently entered the Kansai Fifth Technical High School and joined its notorious karate club. There he meets his captain, Yoshiyuki Takagi, an incredibly strong individual. Feared and respected throughout Osaka, Takagi is deep down an honorable and compassionate guy despite his violent endeavors. This is very close to Sakigake. Humor is good enough, so the main question for me is whether it falls into violence and survival completely like Sakigake or retains sanity and humor till the end. It ended with violence spike, but normal one, not exaggerated overcoming of absolutely murderous moves by superhumans. In the end I was able to enjoy it to some extent, so see no reason to deny it masterpiece status.   Overall Rating: 7/10   20. Majuu Sensen 魔獣戦線 [animate Film] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Action, Fantasy  13 scientists seek to tap genetic powers by creating a hybrid of man and beast. Years later, 13 of their children are embroiled in a battle to undo their handiwork, while Shinichi, the son of one of the scientists, teams up with Christian super-beings to save the world. I hate genetics and religion. Add to that gory trashy action, and things should become obvious.   Overall Rating: 2/10   21. Utsunomiko: Heaven Chapter 宇宙皇子 天上篇 [Toei Animation] (Finished 5/13) Tags: Mythology Adventure, Fantasy Delving into the humans' spiritual journey to the Celestial Realm of Buddha, UTSU NO MIKO follows five friends on their quest to bring peace to a corrupt and chaotic Earth. Born with a horn, Utsu no Miko found refuge on Mt. Kongo where he studies to become a God. But when the ruling imperial government seems to bring only devastation to the people, Miko and his friends venture on a 33-year quest to reach the Celestial Realm and meet the almighty Father of the North Star. Yet, the way is filled with danger, for the five humans intrude upon the world of immortals where the gods reign supreme. And, in order to reach their goal, Miko must first challenge them to battle. However, they soon realize that the gods too are not without flaws and earthly desires. And for Miko, the hope of rescuing his love (Kagami) leads to the realization that the world cannot exist without the balance of gods' tumultuous soul, and the humans' will to survive and to love. For, as one life ceases, another takes its place. And only when there is true peace can people finally see the face of God. I seriously don't see any value in this concept and its realization. People are getting oppressed... (by other people?), so let's go pester divines, and if they are linked to people oppression somehow or if they deliver harm to any of companions, let's take revenge on them... for some reason I'm not longing to see divines' asses kicked. I really did not like pace, development , absence of backgrounds at many moments, eternal dialogues of divines and companions. I've seen a much better execution of similar concept in Tezuka Osamu Gokuu no Daibouken.   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. Circuit no Ookami II: Modena no Ken  サーキットの狼II モデナの剣 [Gainax] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Racing The adventures of Ken Ferrari, a former racer and motor journalist with an appetite for women. Based on the manga by Satoshi Ikezawa. Not translated. Drawing is so horrible as if from 1970s. Some races, pantsushots and love hotels is all this anime can boast.   Overall Rating: 4/10   23. Notari Matsutarou のたり松太郎 [Mushi Production] (Finished 0/10) Tags: Combat Sports A teenage school dropout finds new meaning in life when he discovers sumo wrestling, heading off to Tokyo for the bright lights and training with an aging master of the sport. Not translated. Let's say honestly, this series is pretty much obsolete with Matsutarou anime released in 2014, so why even bother.   Overall Rating: 0/10   24. Super Real Mahjong: Mahjong Battle Scramble - Konran-teki Sento Mahjong 麻雀バトルスクランブル 混乱的戦斗麻雀 (スーパーリアル麻雀/麻雀バトルスクランブル)  [Datam Polystar] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Strategy Game Comedy, Fantasy, Ecchi Sequel of Super Real Mahjong. Mahjong-playing sisters Kasumi, Miki, and Shouko are sent to a world where mahjong tiles are currency. In order to return to their world, they must defeat a mahjong-playing rabbit who rules the land. Senseless running and fighting at ancient China, as expected. Ending has all the torn clothes and transformation scene into sentai.   Overall Rating: 4/10   25. Shin Karate Jigoku-hen 新・カラテ地獄変 [Studio Hibari, Deck] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Martial Arts Action A returning veteran and karateka from WW2 starts working for the yakuza, looking for a man strong enough to kill him. After becoming karate champion, he joins an Italian woman who is looking for revenge against the nazis who killed her family. Bitter anime that I consider to be so to show the post-war traumatic syndrome danger. No other value whatsoever.   Overall Rating: 3/10   26. Aries: Shinwa no Seizakyuu アリーズ -神話の星座宮- [Studio Zain] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural Based on the shoujo manga by Fuyuki Rurika. Not translated. Setting looks as pseudo-romantic worthless thing to me as normal school students get reincarnated into evil Greek gods and have to fight Zeus together with other reincarnated gods while waiting for girl's memory to come back ... and afterwards memory comes back and students become students again... seriously, what the hell. Such pretentious stupidity is possible only in shoujo.   Overall Rating: 3/10   27. Shiawase no Katachi Figures of Happiness しあわせのかたち [Production I.G] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Comedy A gag anime based on the manga of the same name. Not translated. Main characters are side-characters from Dragon Quest II, other characters are also usually insignificant characters belonging to some game franchise, overall from 26 games. But time is usually our days. Manga had 2 pages at first, 4 pages next, so only some short event can develop over those limits. Stages can be absolutely anything from space to beach , situations can be anything from confrontation against some baddie to just meeting some weirdos and fooling around. Translation could help, without it it's not recommended as gags are too absurd.   Overall Rating: 4/10   28. Oyone to Mattsan: Ai no Uta オヨネと松っっぁん愛の唄 [Victor Entertainment] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Music Romance A story set in the countryside of Japan. Two teens meet and slowly fall in love. Their relationship has difficulties developing as her father doesn't approve of the boy's request for her hand in marriage. Part of the OVA features a karaoke-style songs with lyrics present on-screen. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   29. Kaze no Na wa Amnesia A Wind Named Amnesia 風の名はアムネジア [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Avant Garde, Drama, Sci-Fi Two years ago, a mysterious wind swept over the Earth without warning, taking everyone's memories with it. Not knowing their names or even how to speak, cars crashed, planes dropped from the sky, and society crumbled in an instant. One young man happens to wander into a military testing facility, where he meets Johnny, a young boy who underwent experimental memory enhancement treatment and could, therefore, still remember who he was. Johnny names the young man Wataru and teaches him everything that he can before his frail body fails him. Wataru sets out on a journey to see if he can find other people like him, and in San Francisco, he meets a mysterious silver-haired woman named Sophia, who refuses to speak about her past. Sophia says that she is heading to New York, and decides to travel together with Wataru. As the pair make their way across America, they learn about what has happened to the rest of society, and what the essence of humanity really is. A visually pleasant anime that - sadly - is just a mashed up travel anime like Kino no Tabi/Blue Blink in apocalyptic world. Very weak resolution and no even some thought behind it all.   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Chibi Maruko-chan Movie ちびまる子ちゃん (1990) [Nippon Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo School Comedy Chibi Maruko chan is the nickname of a sweetly obnoxious 9-year-old girl. She tricks her grandfather, ponders for hours over how to spend her allowance, and hates sitting next to ugly boys. She talks, feels and lives just as real kids do. As the second term commences, Maruko and her classmates return to their small groups. Maruko’s group includes two naughty boys and Maruko is forced to be one of their subordinates. She seems to face a lot of pressure at school. As the school’s athletic meet approaches, all the classmates are busy exercising. Maruko is no exception, although her laziness means that she is late sometimes. Maruko realizes that the two boys rival each other in everything they do, and that their friendship is deep and strong. I value comedy episodes of Maruko-chan more than lyrical ones. This is one lyrical one about bonding of two boys Oono-kun and Sugiyama-kun. Concentration was less than in the series, and there were only couple half-decent comedy commentaries, but ending more or less made it to the borderline masterpiece. Sadly, not higher.   Overall Rating: 7/10   31. Ajin Senshi 亜人戦士 [Magic Bus] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Fantasy, Sci-Fi In the year 2200 an interstellar war is held where the weapons most frequently used are the psychic capacities. The hero, Zero, son of an earthling and an extraterrestrial, the prince and last survivor of a clan of magicians. He will fight against the army of the Manjidara empire, whose forces are such as its head ambition to control the whole universe. Not translated. Esper in space... where have we seen that? Locke the Superman , including recent movie Lord Leon. Come on, protagonists look so much alike - both have short green hair. Personalities are also similar, but it's right for half of anime. Then how about pirate aesthetics and pirate sea ships ... in space? I saw here nothing but averageness.   Overall Rating: 5/10   32. Sensou ga Owatta Natsu ni 1945 Karafuto 戦争が終わった夏に 1945・樺太 [からふと] [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Historical Drama - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10
  6. kivandopulus
    The only borderline masterpiece I can call in Summer 1990 is Mainichi ga Nichiyoubi    1. Robin Hood no Daibouken The Great Adventures of Robin Hood ロビンフッドの大冒険 [Tatsunoko Production] (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Historical Adventure, Romance A variant of Robin Hood in which all the principal characters are teenagers. Several centuries ago in Nottingham County, a cruel and greedy baron by the name of Alwine ordered the destruction of the Huntingtons' castle—from the fire of which Robin and his cousins, Will, Winifred and Barbara, miraculously escaped. The youngsters sought shelter in Sherwood Forest, where, thanks to the wise guidance of the hermit better known as "Friar Tuck," they managed to face the difficulties of a life in the wilderness as as well as they could; however, in the forest there lived a fearless group of young bandits, led by Little John. Their first encounter with Robin and his cousins was at first rather stormy, as the two groups fought for the destiny of a young, noble maiden named Marian who had fallen into the hands of the bandits during an ambush. Their bitterness, however, rapidly lead the way to friendship, and Robin and John later realized they were all victims of the same fate. The youngsters thus mutually decided to help one another. Baron Alwine was not merely enemy of the Huntingtons—in fact, a couple years earlier he had forced Little John and his gang to seek protection in the forest to avoid forced labour. He would later seek Marian Lancaster for the secret carved on a cross the girl wore as symbol of her family line. The girl was to be adopted by the shady Bishop Herfort—Alwine's accomplice—who sought to attain the Lancaster's wealth. With all their strength, Robin and his friends were then compelled to fight against the baron's troops, led by Gilbert—a dangerous and fearless knight. When Winifred and Marian were then imprisoned in the castle's dungeons, our heroes tried in every way possible to enter until their ardour was finally rewarded with success. Thanks to his noble heart and heed for danger, Robin became rapidly known as the protector of the poor and oppressed. Beloved and highly esteemed not only by the villagers, but also and especially by the sweet and beautiful Marian he was. The boy who never parted from his loyal, magical bow, endlessly engaged in dangerous and unthinkable missions. First Huckleberry , then Sawyer, then Peter Pan , and now finally Robin Hood adventures - I see them as links of one chain. Robin Hood has more recognizable characters and overall more interesting setting than Peter Pan , so it's a bit more enjoyable... not for me though. For me it's just a childish fantasy on famous story with zero interest in the plot.   Overall Rating: 5/10   2. Karasu Tengu Kabuto カラス天狗カブト [KSS] (Dropped 3/39) Tags: Historical Action, Adventure, Drama 500 years ago in the Tensho Era of Japan, a man was born who defied the will of a demon; a man who had gods of good on his side; a man destined to battle evil....his name was Kabuto. Somehow, Kuroyasya Douki, the vile Black Night Demon, escaped his prison in hell and returned to the earthly plane to wreak vengeance on the family-line of Kabuto. None can escape his deadly magic and masterful skills with the blade; however, the gods of the North, West, East, and South band together to help Kabuto stand for Justice. With the questionable help of a diabolical talking sword that his own father forged, Kabuto may live another day to see his own sons born.... The first bell rings when no Studio and only producer is known. Story suffers from constant change of place and perspective until the band gathers up and most of lack of explanation. As action pretty average, as for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   3. A-Ko The Versus Project A-ko: Uncivil Wars -Ko The VS [ヴァーサス] [Studio Fantasia] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Super Power Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi A-ko and B-ko are bounty hunters in an untamed world. When a young heiress, C-ko, falls out of the sky and into their hair, they find themselves battling space pirates and galactic police. Turns out the high-pitched, hungry C-ko holds a secret—the spirit of an ancient evil—and is the center of a plot to destroy the universe! I was so happy when A-Ko tetralogy finished with Finale OVA, and here we go again. This alternative setting when C-Ko goes from everyone's beloved into some heir and eternal rivals A-Ko and B-Ko becoming partner bounty-hunters does not add credibility. Grey side and Blue side confuses even worse. I can't find anything good in this spin-off.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Nineteen 19  [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Romance 19-year-old Kubota is ready to find a girlfriend. The perfect chance arises when he meets Masana Fujisaka, his first love, in a club. She's just broken up with her longtime boyfriend and is surprised to run into Kubota, who sees that the perfect opportunity has just arisen. Not bad romantic anime with some strange homo moves and cool music, yet very straightforward due to short 40-minutes length.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Bouken! Iczer 3 Iczer Reborn 冒険!イクサー3 [AIC, Darts] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi In deep space a battle wages between the forces of good and evil and the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance. The evil Neos Gold dispatches her invading forces towards Earth with only one aim: the total destruction of all mankind. Now it's up to Iczer 3 (the younger sister of Iczer 1) to defend the Earth from the deadly armada of Neos Gold, with only the Earth's single remaining battle cruiser on her side. But don't count her out; what Iczer 3 lacks in experience she makes up for in all-out enthusiasm. The most memorable thing about Iczer-1 was yuri and ecchi, and now both these elements and toned down. Good job making another somewhat unique franchise totally unremarkable.   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Riki-Oh 2: Horobi no Ko Riki-Oh 2: Child of Destruction 力王2 「滅びの子」 [Magic Bus] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Martial Arts, Super Power Action Child of Destruction is the sequel to the RIKI-OH OVA Wall of Hell. Child of Destruction tells us more of Riki's past, as we flash back to his childhood to learn the terrible fate of his mother and how he himself was taken away from his twin brother Nachi during a game of hide-and-seek, with Nachi's plaintive cry of "Are you ready yet?" haunting him through the years. Riki has a six-pointed star emblazoned on his hand, while Nachi has a swastika on his, the significance of which go unexplained. Riki finds himself in the town of Misaki, dotted with illegal nuclear power plants and run by a religious fanatic military organization called "God's Judgment." He is taken prisoner and made to fight in gladiatorial matches in a sprawling arena. He finds his brother, whose special powers have given him the name of "Savior," but his reunion with his resentful sibling turns sour rather quickly. Part 2 is much gorier than Part 1, with Riki smashing his fists into numerous soldier opponents with far less restraint. Just another story resembling the first movie. But all those exploding body parts and evil aniki make it look more and more like Hokuto no Ken, and that's a very bad comparison in my understanding.   Overall Rating: 4/10   7. Mainichi ga Nichiyoubi 毎日が日曜日 [Production I.G, Group TAC] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Detective Comedy, Romance Yumi Takeshita is a cheerful lady who recently joined the police force of the Tawagoto precinct. When she was still a middle school student, she was saved from being hit by a truck thanks to a stranger. Several years later, she meets her savior once again while performing her first arrest attempt. He is a magician named Tohru Ichidaiji and Yumi is charmed to finally meet him. As a police officer who is assigned to several odd tasks, she will keep asking for the help of the handy Tohru. Quite nice comedy with lots of clever parody. I could enjoy it only a little, but it's just what borderline masterpiece score is for.   Overall Rating: 7/10   8. Fuuma no Kojirou: Seiken Sensou-hen 風魔の小次郎 聖剣戦争篇  [animate Film] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts Action, Fantasy Hakuo Gakuin used to be a prestigious high school, and famous for martial arts. However, because its rival school; Seishikan, has been cowardly luring it's superior students, Hakuo was going to decline. In order to recover from the situation, the acting principal of Hakuo; Hojo Himeko, sends Yagyu Ranko to the Fuma Village in search of the famous Fuma ninja clan for assistance. The leader of the Fuma sent Kojiro to Hakuo, there he faces the notorious Yasha clan who fights for Seishikan lead by Asuka Musashi. Soon Kojiro's comrades arrive and an all-out ninja war postponed for 500 years begins between the 2 clans.  The plot is a mere excuse for two factions to clash. Lots of repetitive sword fights with obligatory special skill. This anime looks like writer tried to describe an average shounen action anime and just put it to the screen .   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Hengen Taima Yakou Karura Mau! Sendai Kokeshi Enka 変幻退魔夜行 カルラ舞う! 仙台小芥子怨歌 [-] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Shoujo Horror Shoko and Maiko Ougi are apparently two ordinary schoolgirls in pursuit of graduating and having fun. Shii-chan is the more serious while Mai-chan is more fun-loving. In reality, the two sisters are powerful exorcists from the Karura temple. Each wields half the power... Shii-chan can "see" the spirits, and Mai-chan can banish them. This is a spooky series with heavy emphasis on traditionally Japanese occult themes. Had a prequel in 1989, so everyone should have made an opinion about this horror exorcist anime already.   Overall Rating: 5/10   10. 100% A Hundred Percents  [Nippon Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama  A pretty 22-year-old girl leaves university and gets her dream job as a TV newscaster, only to discover that life is tough at the top. Adaptation of the "Young Action" manga by Michio Yanagisawa. Not translated. An OK newscaster SOL. Some rivalry, sex harassment and fooling around. There's no global aim except just gaining success at work, and with 50 minutes it's hard to flesh out characters, so can't say it was super interesting for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Ai to Ken no Camelot: Mangaka Marina Time Slip Jiken 愛と剣のキャメロット まんが家マリナ タイムスリップ事件  [Ashi Productions] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy Marina meets beautiful boys in a SF Fantasy based in Medieval England. It's either shoujo or josei for sure since it's a reverse harem with bishounens of different kinds of nudity (ever wanted to see a scene of a boy washing in a shower? you will anyway in this OVA). Don't expect a good story here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Lemon Angel YJ-ban レモンエンジェル(YJ版) [MI] (Finished 2/2) Tags: School Romance Adaptation of the Lemon Angel manga serialized in Young Jump magazine. Not translated. I was surprised not to see even Ecchi tag, but as expected it should be here as corresponding situations with nudity happen from the very start. There's hardly anything good in both stories.   Overall Rating: 4/10   13. OL Kaizou Kouza OL改造講座 [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life Inspired by Drop Dead! Stupid Office Ladies, a column in Monthly Gendai magazine. Old fart version saw light in 1989, and this office lady variant follows same structure - many sketches. Again, looks good, but in dare need of translation.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Tengai Makyou: Jiraiya Oboro-hen 天外魔境 自来也おぼろ変  [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy Based on the first Tengai Makyou game, that initially came out in 1989 as one of the first titles for NEC's PC Engine CD-ROM. Zipang country is enjoying peace nowadays after ancient sealing of demon destroyer Masakado by three fire clan heroes. Nowadays a foreign sect tries to revive Masakado and establish military dominance over Zipang. Protagonist Jiraiya is a descendant of almost vanished fire clan. He needs to find two fire clan heroes to prevent Masakado awakening.  Not translated. Unlike previous horrible anime made to pair with the game super real mahjong, this time anime is based on a game that came out a year before, so it's an absolutely normal anime with 96 minutes length. Anime has good character design and directorship. It's funny enough , but development is absolutely serious without usual shounen dips. Very decent movie, with translation it would sure be a success.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. City Hunter: Bay City Wars シティーハンター ベイシティウォーズ [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Mystery A new island resort has been built in Tokyo bay, and it is run by one of the world's most powerful super computers. The City Hunter gang has been invited to the grand opening party, but only Miki & Kaori have gotten there. Soon, they and the rest of the party goers are taken hostage by an exiled South American dictator called General Gillium. Now it's up to Ryo and Umibozu to free the hostages, and prevent Gillium's daughter from using the super computer to launch a nuclear attack on the USA. 42 minutes means it's just a paired episode. Still, with jokes placed right and fast-paced action it's still one of the best representatives of the series.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. City Hunter: Hyakuman Dollar no Inbou シティーハンター 百万ドルの陰謀  [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Mystery Beautiful American Emily O'Hara offers the City Hunter (Ryo Saeba & Kaori Makimura) one million dollars to protect her from a man named Douglas. Ryo & Kaori take the job, but things are not quite what they seem. The real target just might be Ryo, but it's unclear who wants Saeba dead. Can only compare it with Bay City Wars OVA, and this comparison is not in current title favor, so lower score.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. "Eiji" 「エイジ」 [Production I.G, animate Film] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Drama, Sports  Legendary boxer Keijiro Akagi's second son, Eiji, is a high school dropout and the world's worst rock guitarist. Though his father and elder brother are both boxers, he hates the sport but suddenly takes an interest in it when he meets the local champion's little sister. I like a lot of elements of this anime - aesthetics, humor, usage of music (cuz music itself is just slightly better than noise), conversations, so it's definitely above average. With boxing kicking in humor mostly disappears , but there's enough momentum in the story to finish on a decent note.   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Pink Mizu Dorobou Ame Dorobou Pink: Water Thieves Rain Thieves ピンク みずドロボウあめドロボウ [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Fantasy The plot is about a young girl named Pink who is a bandit in the desert who steals water from the Silver Company. A lot of humor and action is packed in 32 minutes. Not suitable for me, but I acknowledge it's above average.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Tenjouhen: Utsunomiko 天上編・宇宙皇子 [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mythology Adventure, Fantasy Prequel of Utsunomiko. Not translated. I rated Utsunomiko as average, and this one does change initial impression.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Kimu no Juujika キムの十字架 [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Historical Drama Based on the novel by Noboru Wada. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   21. Fujiko Fujio A no Mumako 藤子不二雄Aの夢魔子 [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Horror, Supernatural Based on the horror novel by Fujio (A) Fujiko. I was misleaded by 30 minutes length and one episode, but it's rather three episodes each 10 minutes long . Concept is similar to Laughing Salesman, but done worse, with strange comedy that's hardly appropriate here. Very messy .   Overall Rating: 4/10
  7. kivandopulus
    Ended up choosing only Lodoss-tou Senki as borderline masterpiece.   1. Fushigi no Umi no Nadia Nadia: Secret of Blue Water ふしぎの海のナディア  [Gainax] (Dropped 3/39) Tags: Historical Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi In 1889, the world is on the pinnacle of great discoveries in technology. In mankind's grasp for the future, a sinister foe known only as Gargoyle, obsessed with restoring the former Atlantean empire to the glory it once held, begins his plans to take over the world. Nadia, with the help of a young inventor, Jean Roque Lartigue, and Captain Nemo of the submarine Nautilus, must fight to save the world from Gargoyle and Neo-Atlantis. Based on the Novel '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' by Jules Verne. This anime loses a big time against Boy Conan and even against Flying Castle Laputa. Rather uninspiring and childish overall - can't see its value for adults. It's still above average.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. NG Knight Ramune & 40 NG 騎士ラムネ&40  [Production Reed] (Dropped 3/38) Tags: Shounen Mecha Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy Lamune is an ordinary 4th grade boy who loves playing video games. He buys one from a peddler girl and helps her sell the rest. At home, he plays the game called "King Sccasher" & beats it. The peddler girl then comes out of the TV screen and asks for his help, calling him "The Blood Relative of the Chosen Hero Lamuness". She is Princess Milk and takes him to Hara-Hara World where his role is to revive the Guardian Knights. To do this, he had to find an unlock the shrine which held Tama-Q, a robot who became Lamuness' Advisor Robot, and key to freeing the Guardian Knights. All of the Knights are free-thinking mechas except for King Sccasher which is piloted by Lamuness. Opposing Lamuness is Don Harumage and his minions Da Cider and Lesuka. SD Mecha with elementary school boy is already pretty much doomed for me. No good humor spotted either.   Overall Rating: 5/10   3. Mahou no Angel Sweet Mint 魔法のエンジェル スイートミント  [Production Reed] (Dropped 3/47) Tags: Shoujo Mint is a girl who happens to be the princess of the world of dreams and magic. The natural environment of her world is a reflection of the dreams of the people on Earth. It is now in danger as people lose faith in their dreams and let darkness enter their hearts. The environment of Mint's world is starting to wither and die. On her 12th birthday, after a gala celebration with her father the King and her mother, she agrees to go to the world of humans to try to preserve people's hopes and dreams, and to prove that she has the qualities necessary to be a wise ruler. Her father arranges for her to stay with his sister, Mint's aunt Herb, who runs a gift shop on Earth called "Happiness Shop". Sweet Mint continues to use magical girl attributes introduced in Creamy Mami and provides an optimistic outlook as she helps people around. At the same time I can't find anything in it that stands out above the average level...   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Idol Tenshi Youkoso Youko Idol Angel Welcome Yoko アイドル天使ようこそようこ [Ashi Productions] (Dropped 1/43) Tags: Shoujo Comedy, Drama A young girl and her flying squirrel goes to Tokyo in hopes of becoming an idol singer. On the way, she meets another girl who wants to become an actress, and together they work to achieve their dreams.  Just one episode seems to be translated. It provides super naïve outlook, probably indeed only for young girls.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru 2 Spirit Hero Wataru 2 魔神英雄伝ワタル2 [Sunrise] (Dropped 3/46) Tags: Mecha Adventure, Comedy Wataru has been lived happily on earth after he defeated Doakudar. When he plays around with his friend, Ryujinmaru appears and ask him to fight again. It appears that the 7 Stars Mountain, the source of Mt. Soukai's rainbow, have been taken over by Doakadar (Doakudar's brother). If all the stars mountain loses their brightness, Mt. Soukai's rainbow will fade and everyone will live in the darkness for eternity. Once again, Wataru has to go through all the 7 stars system and destroy this new stronger enemy. Only for fans of first season...   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Lodoss-tou Senki Record of Lodoss War ロードス島戦記 [Madhouse] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Shounen Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Supernatural Created from the aftermath of the last great battle of the gods, Lodoss and its kingdoms have been plagued by war for thousands of years. As a quiet peace and unity finally become foreseeable over the land, an unknown evil begins to stir. An ancient witch has awakened, bent on preserving the island of Lodoss by creating political unbalance throughout the many kingdoms and keeping any one from maintaining central control. Only a mixed-race party of six young champions, led by the young warrior Parn, stand between this new threat and Lodoss' descent back into the darkness of war and destruction. I remember that it impressed me greatly the first time I watched it. I still enjoy it, especially when full adventurer party is in action .   Overall Rating: 7/10   7. Cyber City Oedo 808 Cyber City CYBER CITY OEDO 808 (サイバーシティ オーエド ハチマルハチ) [Madhouse] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Detective Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi It is the year 2808. Three convicts are recruited as members of the Cyber Police to keep major criminal activity in Oedo (formerly Tokyo) in check. In return, their life sentences will be reduced by a few years for every mission accomplished. However, to ensure that these convicts are doing their job, the police have secured special collars around their necks. If they attempt to remove their collars or fail to meet the time limit of their mission, the collars will self-destruct. Can be considered ancestor of Psychopass - even pistols have similar fingerprint locks. Each of three episodes focuses on one of three protagonists with some others also often participating. Well, I could not enjoy Cyber City. It's mostly gory action with a bit of intrigue beforehand. Not enough complexity or development for me .   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. AD Police AD Police Files ADポリス [AIC, Artmic] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Adult Cast, Detective, Gore, Mecha, Psychological Adventure, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Suspense The year is 2027 in MegaTokyo, six years before the Knight Sabers will make their debut. Boomers (artificial humans) are still a relatively new advancement, and the implementation and integration of boomers into society is still a bit buggy -- sometimes fatally so. Whenever a boomer incident occurs, though, there is the Advanced Police, a special force trained to deal with boomer crimes. Leon McNichol is a rookie in the AD Police, and is just starting to become exposed to the horrors and tragedies one finds every day in MegaTokyo. He and his veteran partner, Gina Marceau, slowly learn about the ever-fading line that separates man from machine. Very messy android action stories. Characters aren't introduced properly. Poor direction, hasty development, absolutely horrible endings. Maybe full-scale series make things right, but in this state can't recommend it to anyone.   Overall Rating: 4/10   9. Goddamn ガッデム [Studio Signal] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Racing Action Car racing anime, based on the manga by Kaoru Shintani that serialised in Big Comic Superior from 1988 to 1990. I've yet to see an interesting serious racing anime. But Venus wars was about racing partially too, and it was great. I blame scenarios - this is another super bland one with unremarkable characters.   Overall Rating: 4/10   10. Yagami-kun no Katei no Jijou 八神くんの家庭の事情 [Production I.G, Kitty Film Mitaka Studio] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Comedy Well, in short, the mother looks like she's 14, and the kid is "openly" in love with her—loli x motha-con. His teacher, too, is in love with her mother, and so the love rivals duke it out in classroom, as well as plotting the downfall of their common enemy, his father. The father has a secretary who is in love with him. But once she discovered that he has such a "young" wife she turned her attention to his son, who is now torn between his own mother and a naive, motorbike riding girlfriend. Wha? I mean... wha? In first episode son imagines wife of his father naked as he does not believe in their blood ties, but at the end of 1st episode she provides joint baby photos that are very persuasive. As I understand the concept, it would work only with borderline jokes while keeping things civil, and it indeed develops this way. In the end only curiosity urges to watch such silly, shocking comedy, but  it is very soon satisfied with only repetition or stakes rising possible, and we already know it goes the repetitions way, so no real point in watching it.   Overall Rating: 4/10   11. Burning Blood [Magic Bus] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Shounen Combat Sports Ryo Takagi is a trumpet player on the verge of hitting it big with his band, but he's also a natural fighter whose blood starts burning when he fights seriously; this gave him the nickname B.B ("Burning Blood"). After suffering absolute defeat at the hands of a young man named Jin Moriyama, though, Ryo decides to trade in his trumpet for a pair of boxing gloves in order to have a rematch the way Moriyama wants it: In the boxing ring. It's above average boxing spokon as characters have their own motivations and problems and because there's pretty much zero boxing in the first episode. But it's physically impossible for me to enjoy a serious spokon, so genre fans should deal with it themselves, really.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Milky Passion: Dougenzaka - Ai no Shiro ミルキィパッション 道玄坂 愛の城 [Animation 501] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Josei Romance Based on the Milky Passion manga by Morizono Milk. “Milky Passion” follows Hiromi, a 20-year-old woman working as a stereotypical office lady at a large Japanese company, who is whisked away into a car after work by two suspicious men and taken to a love hotel, where she’s told by the manager there that they want her to become the hotel’s new president. Before she can decline the offer, made to her because her late estranged father was the hotel’s founder, she’s given a fancy apartment near the hotel with designer clothes and accessories, which impress all of the people at her workplace, so she agrees to it. Qualifications? Experience? Who cares about those things when looking for your next president. OVA is just 28 minutes, so it only has time to show prologue, several silly situations at love hotel and worry about rival. No sense in watching it.   Overall Rating: 4/10   13. Ikenai Boy イケナイBOY [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Harem Comedy, Erotica An anime adaptation of the erotic manga "Ikenai Boy" by Yoshihiro Suma, serialized in Business Jump. Our hero is the typical young energetic college boy, but he got a special gift. He has "magic hands" that puts all women in ecstasy. Obviously he is taking advantage of this gift by meeting one bishoujo after the other! Second part of Ikenai Boy is marked as hentai, this one is mostly about nude massage. It's still closer to hentai as massage is in the focus and there's nothing else notable in this anime.   Overall Rating: 0/10   14. Shiratori Reiko de Gozaimasu! I am THE Shiratori Reiko! 白鳥麗子でございます!  [Ajia-Do] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Romance  19-year old Reiko is a rich, arrogant, material girl, who refuses to admit her feelings for classmate Tetsuya Akimoto before it's almost too late. Reiko pursues him to Tokyo and enrolls at his university in an attempt to win him back. Guess this concept got so many TV adaptations because of combination of reasons : 1) girl is fashionable and from rich family 2) girl is proactive and willful 3) lots of youth craziness with rules of morals not applying. I'm sure it can be a funny dorama, but to show it all within 45 minutes with rather poorly designed character sprites... was mission impossible from the start.   Overall Rating: 4/10   15. Taiman Blues: Ladies-hen - Mayumi たいまんぶるうず レディース編 真由美  [Tokuma Japan] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shounen Delinquents Mayumi runs away from home from to escape her predatory stepfather only to be abducted by members of a delinquent motorcycle gang. She's taken under the wing by Noriko, who invites her to move into her apartment, finds her a job in a service station and introduces her to the world of motorcycling. The two set up their own all-female gang - Eight Angels - but soon discover that local male-dominated gangs are hostile to this intrusion on their turf. Just when I said there was just one anime series about female gangs, here it is second one. It's better than male previous version Shimizu Naoto-hen in every single way, mostly because it does not limit itself to just tale about gangs. Nice coming of age story, definitely above average, though nothing special.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Onimaru: Senjou ni Kakeru Itsutsu no Seishun 鬼丸 戦場に駆ける五つの青春 [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure  During the Onin wars in Japan's medieval Muromachi era, five powerful warriors hire out their services to the highest bidder. Onimaru is the leader; Bo handles demolitions; Saru is as agile as a monkey; Osamu is a cool tactician; and Kiri is the sexy swordswoman. The group gains an extra member when Onimaru rescues Princess Aya who naturally falls in love with him and refuses to go away. Not translated. It's mostly protagonist ninja with non-fighting girl princess defending against atacking ninja and some other warriors on several occasions. The company is colorful, there's some comedy and some explicit content, so overall rather average, but without translation not worth watching.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Otokogi 男樹 [-] (Dropped 2/3) Tags: Seinen Organized Crime After his father leaves when he is very young, Kyosuke Murata grows up under the thumb of his overprotective mother, Shizuko. When he reaches adulthood, he is thrown into the harsh, violent world of Japanese gangland when his mother becomes involved in a gang-related crime. He goes up against the Murata-gumi organization, only to find that his estranged father is its head. Rising up through the ranks, Kyosuke eventually unites half the gangs in Japan beneath his own leadership, only to find that the other half have also combined to resist his new power, starting the greatest gang war in Japanese history. Not translated. There have been several serious yakuza OVAs so far, and none of them were nice. I blame lack of scale. This one has an alright scale of the whole country, so might be Japanese Godfather or something, but third episode is not found, so the resolution is unknown. Overall, a serious anime with a lot of characters and gore, above average yakuza anime for sure.   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Tonari no Tokoro となりのトコロ [Pastel] (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Comedy  Based on the original story by famous Japanese comedian George Tokoro. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   19. Furiten-kun (1990) フリテンくん [Knack Productions] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Slice of Life Continuation of the everyday life adventures of the avid mahjong player Furiten-kun. Not translated. I quite dig kinky corporate parody humor. Would be a lot better translated.   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Versailles no Bara: Seimei Aru Kagiri Aishite ベルサイユのばら 生命あるかぎり愛して [Tokyo Movie Shinsha] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Historical Drama, Romance A theatrical re-edit/summary of the TV series. Some of the voice actors were changed (eg. Oscar is played by Keiko Toda instead of re-using the original audio by Reiko Tajima). Not translated (except in Spanish) and very poor video quality. Fine for those who does not want to watch this whole series.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Onna Senshi Efe & Jira: Gude no Monshou Gude Crest: The Emblem of Gude 女戦士エフェ&ジーラ グーデの紋章 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy Two partners Effera and Jiliora escape from a slave boat with the aid of their friend Orlin and a young boy named Kilian. When Kilian is killed in the escape Effera and Jiliora take it upon themselves to return Kilian's pendant to his two siblings who are being held captive by Baron Celdion, who is plotting to take over all of the neighboring countries. Again, not bad small fantasy OVA does not go further than that and remains just not bad to the end.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Hashire! Shiroi Ookami White Fang 走れ! 白いオオカミ [Group TAC, Toho] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama A boy named Lasset who lives on a farm in the rural northern US makes a perilous trek through the wilderness to a sanctuary 300 miles to the north to save the life of a gray wolf that he had raised from a puppy after an incident in which the wolf kills the family dog. I've come to conclusion that all anime about normal non-speaking animals is made for kids and it tries to show morals and teach as first priority, and story is second priority and not that important or interesting usually. I think there were at least three similar anime about Silver Fang already, it stops to be funny on the second run let alone the fourth.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Kuro ga Ita Natsu クロがいた夏 [GEN Productions] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical, Pets Drama Hiroshima, summer of 1945. A young girl named Nobuko saves a starving kitten from crows. She wants to keep the kitten, but her parents dismiss the idea. Nobuko eventually convinces them to let her keep it. She and her brother Makoto name the cat Kuro. Kuro quickly brings joy and laughter to the family. As World War II takes its toll on Japan, it becomes harder for Nobuko and her family to care for Kuro. One August morning, Kuro begins acting strangely... This anime is stupid not because kitten saves protagonists two times and then dies heroically, but the way American fighter pilot flies low and with a smirk aims with machine gun scope at a small girl running with a kitten in the center of the street and launches a barrage. If you make movie like this, best not make any, really.   Overall Rating: 4/10   24. Heavy ヘヴィ [Artland, Nippon Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Drama, Sports Gai, a karate expert in the New York slum, is trained to be a boxing champion by a cancer-strucken doctor and a transvestite suffering from AIDS. Based on the manga by Motoka Murakami. Not translated. Another above the average boxing movie, but by how above is for spokons fans to decide.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. Perrine Monogatari Movie 劇場版 ペリーヌ物語 [Nippon Animation] (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Shoujo Historical Drama, Slice of Life Movie version of the TV series Perrine Monogatari. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   26. Makkuro na Obentou まっ黒なおべんとう [Kyodo Eiga] (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Historical Drama n the 6th of August, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. A young boy, Shigeru, left home for his job as a building excavator that morning, carrying a bento made by his mother, only to never return home again. Before long, his mother managed to find Shigeru's remains, and she noticed the completely black and carbonized bento box next to them. This is an anime adaptation of the original book, "Makkuro na Obentou (The Charred Lunchbox)" written by Kodama Tatsuharu and illustrated by Kitajima Shinpei. The bento box that becomes the focus of the story is actually on display in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   27. Obatalian オバタリアン [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy The pejorative word obatalian is a pun between the Japanese word obaasan (old lady) and the English word battalion. Obatalian are known to always enter a train running as fast as they can, bumping others people in order to catch a free seat before the others. They haggle things that aren't normally haggled like grocery store produce. They are fearless and pitiless, just like a battalion of barbarians. This anime is follows 6 stories of one such Obatalian and her wake of destruction. Not translated. But hilarious battle grannies, as expected.   Overall Rating: 6/10
  8. kivandopulus
    Chibi Maruko-chan is the first anime that gets a flawless masterpiece score from me.   1. Watashi no Ashinaga Ojisan My Daddy Long Legs 私のあしながおじさん  [Nippon Animation] (Dropped 3/40) Tags: Shoujo Historical, School Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life Daddy Long Legs is based on the novel of the same name by Jean Webster. It chronicles the adventures of Judy Abbott, an orphan in New York. During a meeting for the superintendent, with other important and rich people in attendance, a scholarship is offered to Judy by a mysterious benefactor. Catching only a glimpse of his tall shadow as he leaves, Judy calls him "Daddy Long Legs" and writes him letters every month as per his request. While studying at the Lincoln Memorial school, she makes many friends and learns about a world she never knew about before. World Masterpiece Theatre part, probably the best of the series. Still I can't enjoy it no matter what.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Kyattou Ninden Teyandee Samurai Pizza Cats キャッ党忍伝てやんでえ  [Tatsunoko Production] (Dropped 3/54) Tags: Shounen Anthropomorphic, Mecha, Super Power Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi In the city of Edoropolis, hundreds of mechanical animals live in harmony alongside each other. However, when Lord Wanko discovers that the shogun's chief advisor, Lord Korn, is plotting to take over the government, he knows that something must be done to preserve the peace. In order to thwart Korn's plans, Wanko forms the Nyankees—an elite ninja team led by the fearless Yattarou, who wields the mystic sword Masamasa. With all this power, the Nyankees seem unstoppable! But Korn's schemes are not the only thing the team has to worry about. Secretly based out of the popular Pizza Cats restaurant, the Nyankees must keep their operations hidden while delivering piping-hot plates of pizza and justice. It is a series for kids. As such, I'm absolutely incompatible.   Overall Rating: 5/10   3. Chibi Maruko-chan ちびまる子ちゃん [Nippon Animation] (Dropped 50/142) Tags: Shoujo Comedy, Slice of Life  Momoko Sakura is an elementary school student who likes popular idol Momoe Yamaguchi and mangas. She is often called "Chibi Maruko-chan" due to her young age and small size. She lives together with her parents, her grandparents and her elder sister in a little town. In school, she has many friends with whom she studies and plays together everyday, including her close pal, Tama-chan; the student committee members, Maruo-kun and Migiwa-san; and the B-class trio: 'little master' Hanawa-kun, Hamaji-Bu Taro and Sekiguchi-kun. This is a fun-loving and enjoyable anime that portrays the simple things in life. This is the only anime that I check translation status every few years. Can't give genius masterpiece score because because concept itself is far from breakthrough. But I can give flawless masterpiece , because all elements fit perfectly here and nothing similar to this experience can repeat anymore - the best SOL anime about elementary school possible.   Overall Rating: 9/10   4. Dragon Quest: Yuusha Abel Densetsu ドラゴンクエスト~勇者アベル伝説~ [Pierrot, Studio Comet] (Finished 43/43) Tags: Shounen Action, Adventure, Fantasy Dragon Quest is loosely based on Dragon Quest III. The names and some of the characters are familar, but the world map is smaller and a very different shape. The two main characters are Abel and Tialah. Tialah receives the legendary Red Stone from the Aliahan Village sage Master Yogi. Soon after, Tialah is kidnapped by the evil Baramos who wants to use the Red Stone to resurrect The Great Dragon and be granted eternal life. Abel swore to rescue Tialah and he is given the Blue Stone, which can only seal the Dragon once it has been released. Several years ago I really wanted to see the plot of Dragon Quest without playing the games, and series fit nice for it. It was partly amusing, but rather childish and with a lot of repetitions that would make sense for a game and not so much for a story driven anime, like find 6 pillars of different elements. Felt pretty average to me, would be better with more concentration and smaller length.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Yuusha Exkaiser 勇者エクスカイザー [Sunrise] (Dropped 3/48) Tags: Shounen Mecha Action, Sci-Fi When aliens plan to invade earth, the young Kouta along with a giant robot from outspace named Exkaiser must team up to save the world and his friends. Sunrise was a boon for mecha as it guaranteed a certain level of quality, but at the same time it's like their 30th long mecha series or so - and it's hardly possible to make a breakthrough while having such busy production schedules. What we have is yet another simple children oriented mecha with enough personality and humor, but I can't see it anywhere higher than average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Heisei Tensai Bakabon 平成天才バカボン [Pierrot] (Dropped 3/46) Tags: Gag Humor Comedy, Slice of Life A comedy about a former genius who has now become very eccentric and senile. His family deals with all the crazy problems he and his old friends cause around the neighborhood. Not translated. It's not much different from two previous Bakabon anime, gags are generally too absurd.   Overall Rating: 5/10   7. Devilman: Yochou Sirene-hen Devilman: The Demon Bird デビルマン 妖鳥シレーヌ編  [Oh! Production] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mythology Horror, Sci-Fi, Supernatural Demons exist and their power is beyond what humans can fathom. In fact they are so strong that humans do not stand a chance against them in a fight. The only thing strong enough to defeat a demon is another demon and it is trough this logic that Ryo Asuka hatches the plan to have his good-hearted friend Akira Fudo possessed by a demon. If a person is of pure of heart then he might be able to control the demon that posses him and thereby acquire power equal to a demon. After raising some hell in a club the plan works and Akira is possessed by the powerful demon known as Amon. Now Akira is humanities sole champion of justice against the hidden demon menace that has plagued humanity since the dawn of time. First movie was retelling of the birth of devilman, this is the first plot development after franchise reboot. It's the last time I'm bringing up Devilman movies as my score can't change and contents remain more or less the same.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. 1+2=Paradise 1+2=パラダイス  [J.C.Staff] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Harem, Love Polygon Comedy, Romance, Ecchi Yuusuke Yamamoto has a crippling phobia of women, and understandably so—the twin girls living next door tried to cut off his penis as a child. Unfortunately, Yuusuke's father is a gynecologist and needs him to overcome his fear so he can inherit the family business. To accomplish this, Yuusuke's father offers sanctuary to sisters Rika and Yuka Nakamura in their home while the girls are studying at the nearby college. In a terrible twist of fate, when Yuusuke realizes that their guest room is too small for two people, he is forced to choose which of the sisters is allowed to stay. Desperate to win his favor, the brazen Yuka and the more reserved Rika are willing to do whatever it takes to impress and eventually sway Yuusuke—even if it means making things physical and personal. Looks like it's the originator and trendsetter for all the ecchi harem comedy. There's literally nothing else here except fooling around.   Overall Rating: 4/10   9. Be-Bop Highschool ビー・バップ・ハイスクール [Toei Animation] (Finished 7/7) Tags: Seinen Delinquents, School Comedy For the invincible and basically happy punk lads Hiroshi and Toru, what they care about every day is to get a lot of attention from girls and to win the fights against the lads from other schools. Whenever provoked, they just go out fighting and settle the situation no matter what it costs. A well-done delinquents anime with enough episodical comedy. At the same time there's not much interesting in the genre for me unless it goes full-scale comedy route like Cromartie High School or adds complexity like GTO. It loses even in comparison with Shounan Bakusouzoku that had a lot more variety with different kinds of episodes, while Be-Bop Highschool always has violence in the center and something else that might come up is always episodic. I'm not enjoying it at all.  Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Umezu Kazuo no Noroi The Curse of Kazuo Umezu 楳図かずおの呪い  [Takahashi Studio] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Horror "Do not toy with the supernatural." Two stories of the consequences that descend upon humans who venture beyond the safe confines of their ordinary worlds. When a gorgeous girl named Rima transfers into Masami's class, she's not only jealous, but also deathly frightened of her. While the boys in class are tripping all over themselves to get to Rima, Masami's having nightmares of a ghastly visitor and finding scars on her body come morning. She asks a friend to help her get evidence to confirm her suspicions about the new girl. But if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth far more. The truth can set you free, but it can also be more terrifying than anything you can imagine. Shy Miko and her more outgoing friend Nanako are enjoying their summer vacation, trying to make the most of their youth. But when horror-movie marathons just aren't thrilling enough, Nanako sets her eyes on a new target: an abandoned mansion at the edge of town, said to be haunted. With two other friends in tow, a reluctant Miko and a gung-ho Nanako enter the mansion. Soon, everything that can go wrong starts going wrong. Only luck or a miracle will allow them manage to escape the mansion with their lives, their sanity, and even their sense of reality. There's no reason to watch it if you don't like horror, as there's nothing besides it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Sol Bianca SOL BIANCA (ソル·ビアンカ) [AIC] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi  Five female pirates pilot the Sol Bianca, a starship with a higher level of technology than any other known. With it, they seek out riches, such as the Gnosis, an legendary item of power, and pasha, the most valuable mineral in the galaxy. Along the way, they must consider a stowaway's quest to save the one he loves, and seek revenge against those that have wronged them. A nice small amusing Sci-Fi OVA. Far from masterpiece though.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Dirty Pair: Bouryaku no 005-bin Original Dirty Pair: Flight 005 Conspiracy ダーティペア 謀略の005便 [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Detective Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi It's Chief Gooley's worst nightmare come true. The Lovely Angels are back on the job, but this time the 3WA's Central Computer has assigned them two cases at the same time: investigate a space liner explosion in which three hundred people died, but no one`s come forward to claim any insurance money; and find a missing scientist and his family. Could the two cases be connected? Only the Central Computer knows and it's not talking. So it's up the Dirty Pair to get down and dirty and solve the puzzle before time runs out for a grieving grandfather, his family and the universe! Just action/detective with a lot of convenience. Since there's very little humor or funny conversations, 5 is all it can hope for. It does not feel like a plot made for Dirty Pair, more like a plot for *insert any sci-fi franchise with 2+ protagonists*.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Ankoku Shinwa 暗黒神話 [Ajia-Do] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mythology, Psychological Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural Long ago there were fierce gods of legends who shook the earth to its foundation with their power. There are now prehistoric rivals from the primitive times in Japan, that fought to protect their secrets in the present day. The God of Darkness Susanoah-oh is now sleeping in the shadows of the underworld waiting for his rebirth. However his coming hasn't gone unoticed. There are agents from the Kikuchi Clan (descendants of Japans first inhabitants) who have seen the warning signs of the spreading of darkness's bringing. These investigators are armed with ancient knowledge and artifacts who are willingly prepared to face the God of Darkness. Now they must fight the assembled spirits of hell to find the one young boy who is chosen by fate to grasp the chaotic might of the deadly Gods. Below average horror, thus not recommended even within the genre.   Overall Rating: 4/10   14. Ankoku Shindenshou Takegami Guardian of Darkness 暗黒神伝承 武神 (Takegami) [J.C.Staff] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Supernatural A trio of diabolical dragons stirs from eons of slumber deep within the earth. Charging to the surface, they launch a bloody rampage against humanity, feasting on the weak and gaining strength from their hapless victims' souls. It will take the power of ancient god Takegami, the Guardian of Darkness, to vanquish the evil serpent forces. But alas, the mortal body Takegami inhabits belongs to a host reluctant to fight. Another example of average gory horror with a chosen warrior, but now this averageness lasts for two full hours...   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoka Narudesho! 江口寿史のNANTOKA [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Parody Comedy, Horror, Supernatural Part anime, part live action, and part puppet show. This MAL entry duration will reflect the anime segment only. Nantoka Narudesho is a series of seemingly unrelated sketches. Viewer-be-warned, some sketches have not aged well and would be found extremely offensive due to racism, sexual depravity, and homophobia. Offensive disgusting gags.   Overall Rating: 3/10   16. Carol  [animate Film, Magic Bus] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Fantasy Carol is the tale of a teenage girl whose life seems normal enough until she notices music disappearing from all around her, such as the sound of Big Ben, her father`s cello-playing, and the concert of her favorite band, Gaball Screen. After hearing some mysterious voices, Carol is transported to a fantastic world where she must fight against the evil monsters who are stealing the music from Earth. She meets and is assisted by three dashing heroes: Clark, Tico, and Flash. A crazy immature variant of Alice in the wonderland.   Overall Rating: 4/10   17. Gdleen ガデュリン [Ashi Productions] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Fantasy, Sci-Fi  Due to spacecraft failure earthlings Ryu with computer robot "MOS" landed on self-navigated planet Gdleen. There Ryu meets a cute Euradonian fairy Fana. At that time, the planet was in the midst of a dispute over a Gavana temple. Self proclaimed God Gavana captured Fana for a sacrifice. Would they be able to escape? And what the identity of Gavana?! A short OVA that tells no decent story and just leaves viewer confused.   Overall Rating: 4/10   18. Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro 殺人切符はハート色 [Deck] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Mystery A detective story about a murder on a train based on a series of young-adult novels for women by Yamaura Hiroyasu. Seiko, while suspended from school (she has been bullied) goes to Nagasaki, where she finds herself involved in a murder mystery. Romance detective mystery in just 50 mins? Its one of my hated genres, but from what I see they failed at everything here.   Overall Rating: 4/10   19. Hana no Asukagumi! 2: Lonely Cats Battle Royale 花のあすか組! 2 ロンリーキャッツ・バトルロイヤル [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Delinquents Adventure, Drama Second OVA of "Hana no Asukagumi!". Asuka is a delinquent school girl. Her parents one day decide to give her a gold coin to use just case anything bad happened. Asuka decides to use this coin as a weapon to fight, for no actual reason. One day a club forms that starts a battle royale between a bunch of different gangs or individuals. Asuka is put in to the battle without her knowledge. First part was really violent and featured dozens of characters. It is indeed battle royale, so naturally there's plenty of action. I see no reason in watching this series, maybe just because it's the only female delinquents anime I know.   Overall Rating: 4/10   20. Super Real Mahjong: Kasumi Miki Shouko no Hajimemashite スーパーリアル麻雀 ミキ・カスミ・ショーコのはじめまして (スーパーリアル麻雀/かすみ・ミキ・ショー子のはじめまして)  [Datam Polystar] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Strategy Game Comedy, Ecchi An anime based on characters from the strip mahjong arcade game "Super Real Mahjong 2". Just introduction of characters, some fanservice, some music, some cuteness. One big advertisement for the game.   Overall Rating: 4/10   21. Kimama ni Idol 気ままにアイドル [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Idols (Female), Music, Showbiz Three pretty girls want to make it big as pop stars, but it's tough on their way to the top. Based on a manga in Comic Burger by Kenichi Koya, it was distinguished by a marketing gimmick that had the three lead voice actresses taking to the stage for real in an early attempt at multimedia promotion. Not translated. Seiyu to idol is a lucrative female career path. Lots of stamps, music and just silliness. Conclusion is so horrible that it nullifies all previous positive efforts .   Overall Rating: 4/10   22. Hidari no O'Clock!! 左のオクロック!! [Toei Animation] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Drama  Yuu Shinozaki is fed up with living according to the clock, the clock that always turns right. His liberal thinking gets him in bad terms with his parents, teachers and childhood friend Aoi, with only his biker sister Moe to understand him. One day, after an exceptionally upsetting day at school, Yuu jumps on his motorbike and - with some help from Moe's friend Tetsuo - leaves home to have a taste of a different way of life, like making the clock turn left for a change. Not translated. Translation would be welcome, because it's a high quality OVA about coming of age and breaking stereotypes of life according to timetable.   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Kizu darake no Tenshi-tachi Heartbroken Angels 傷だらけの天使たち [-] (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Seinen Parody Comedy, Ecchi Thirty-one stories based on the fourpanel manga strips drawn by Masahiko Kikuni for Young Sunday magazine make up this anime that mixes animation and live action (18 animated stories, 13 live-action stories). Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   24. Kentoushi 拳闘士  [Miyuki Production] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Seinen Sports Anime adaptation of the same name sports manga by Kurashina Ryou. The above average boxer story, but my hate for spokons is too big to really like it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. Maji 本気(マジ)! [Nippon Animation] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Shounen Organized Crime Drama Maji is a young hood in the Nagisa criminal organization whose name is synonymous with loyalty and truth. While driving away thugs, he meets and falls for local high school girl, Kumiko; however, complications ensue when he and his group run into the rival Kikuchi gang looking for trouble. Based on the first four volumes of the gang chivalry manga by Ayumi Tachihara. Not translated. Yakuza advancement story. Believable, but violent and offensive, so can't find a reason to recommend it.   Overall Rating: 4/10   26. Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru: Soukaizan Eiyuu Densetsu 魔神英雄伝ワタル 創界山英雄伝説 [Sunrise] (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Shounen Mecha Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Compilation of the Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru series. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   27. Dragon Ball Z Movie 02: Kono Yo de Ichiban Tsuyoi Yatsu Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest ドラゴンボールZ この世で一番強いヤツ  [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi In his laboratory, biotechnology expert Dr. Kochin gathers the dragon balls intending to free his master Dr. Uirou, a mad scientist hellbent on ruling the world, forever frozen in the never-melting ice of the Tsurumai-Tsuburi Mountains. Attempting to locate the dragon balls, Gohan Son and Oolong arrive at the scene and are ambushed by several creatures known as "Bio-Men." Training nearby, Piccolo attempts to save them but is then attacked by three mysterious warriors. When the ice beneath them breaks, it cuts their altercation short, burying Gohan and Oolong within. After regaining consciousness, they return home to Kame House only to encounter Bio-Men, demanding Muten-Roushi to follow them. Refusing, he easily defeats the creatures, piquing Dr. Kochin's interest. Under the impression of Muten-Roushi being the strongest man in the world, Dr. Kochin takes Bulma hostage, forcing Roushi's agreement to accompany him in mysterious plans involving his master. Who are Dr. Kochin and Dr. Uirou? What even is their purpose? Movie is so aimless and senseless that it puts a question why to watch Dragon Ball Z movies at all, so won't be listing any more movies from this franchise to not waste time on it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Maroko MAROKO 麿子 [Pierrot] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Psychological Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi  Summary for the Gosenzosama Banbanzai! OVA. Well, finally this thing is watchable now, six if you can stand all the absurdist gags.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. Mahoutsukai Sally (Movie) 魔法使いサリー  [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Comedy  This short movie tells the story of Sally, a teenage witch that came to Earth from the Magical Kingdom. For some mysterious reason, spring has not started yet. Sally and her friends have to find the cause and fix the problem. I'd rather see remake of the first 1966 series... this one is more childish.   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Tistou Midori no Oyayubi Tistou the Green Thumb チスト みどりのおやゆび  [Production I.G] (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Historical When eight-year-old Tistou is sent home from school after being unable to stop falling asleep at lessons, his father decides that he will continue his education by learning from observation of real life, and where better to start than in the garden! With the gardener Mr. Moustache, Tistou discovers he has a remarkable gift—the green thumbs: everything he touches grows into beautiful plants. His next lesson is with the stern Mr. Turnbull, manager of his father's armament factory who takes Tistou to visit the town to learn about "order." Over the course of the next few days Tistou learns many new things as he visits the town prison, the slums, and the hospital, and everywhere he tries to change the world into a better place with his new extraordinary power. Finally, he learns about war, and upon visiting his father's factory, he finds out that they supply the two countries at war with their weapons... Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   31. Ojisan Kaizou Kouza おじさん改造講座  [Pony Canyon] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy Adapted from Shimizu Chinami and Furuya Yoshi's popular manga in Weekly Bunshun. Not translated. Basically, a parody on old male workers that make up majority of workers. It would be really great to have this translated, at least for the opening remade song from Alps not shoujo Heidi, but sung by jeezers in ballet clothes. Some parts have female narrator, as females suffer from narrow-minded sexist jeezers at work the most.   Overall Rating: 6/10   32. Umi Da! Funade Da! Nikoniko, Pun 海だ! 船出だ! にこにこ, ぷん  [Oh! Production] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Fantasy  Animation movie by Hirata Toshio. This is Smiley Island, a planet very similar to Earth, located beyond the universe. One day, a letter from his mother arrives to Porori, a mouse boy. It is about the birth of his younger brother. Porori takes Jajamaru, a wildcat boy and Piccolo, a penguin girl, to visit his brother. However, the sailing ship carrying the party comes across a whale, and as a result is swept away to there Pirate Island. There, three fearsome pirates have been fighting over treasure for years... Not translated. It is definitely work for kids. Thus not recommended.   Overall Rating: 4/10   33. Kumo no You ni Kaze no You ni 雲のように風のように  [Pierrot] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama, Romance  Ginga, a small town girl sets out to become the Emperors Seihi, highest ranked wife, undaunted by the many other women who seek the same title. Her energetic and eccentric ways aid in her in meeting new people, training to be a Lady of the Emperor and dealing with the drama that ensues. Tried to play in Ghibli with a distant and dim history piece. And it might be fine without history references, but those make the story rather unattractive. Nice overall, but I absolutely don't see it as a masterpiece .   Overall Rating: 6/10   34. Warau Salesman Dai SP-banashi 笑ゥせぇるすまん 第SP話 [Shin-Ei Animation] (Dropped 2/8) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Psychological Comedy, Drama, Supernatural Specials of Warau Salesman broadcasted intermittently during the main show not included in the episode count of the main show. They are 3 times the length of a normal episode and fill a half hour time-slot. I blocked series for formal reasons as episodes were just 10 minutes length. There seem to be only two translated episodes of specials that are each 30 minutes. Laughing Salesman is basically Mephisto who provides means to achieve one's heart desire with some condition and huge payback on violation. During this course usually worst character traits are revealed. Such concept is not close to me as well as realization, but it may be toyed with. Guess will see in the remake version that has normal length episodes.   Overall Rating: 5/10
  9. kivandopulus

    Anime of the Year
    First of all, with 100 titles after filtering this is getting totally unreadable, so from 1990 I'm moving to coverage per season rather than per year. In 1989 there were quite a few surprises for me as I could call as many as five titles borderline masterpieces Venus Senki , Hoshi Neko Fullhouse , Majo no Takkyuubin , Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: Boku wa Son Gokuu , Assemble Insert with first one turning my personal favorite from this list.    1. Peter Pan no Bouken Peter Pan & Wendy ピーターパンの冒険 [1989-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/41) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy Wendy and her two little brothers are brought to the land of adventures, Neverland, by Peter pan, a boy who will never grow up. In Neverland they encounter exciting events and meet with little fairies, mermaids, Indians, and pirates. Required to act as a mother, Wendy never has a moments peace with all that is happening around her, including breath-taking fights with pirates. Later in the series, they set off to find a buried treasure with a map that they obtain from the pirates. Just kids stuff , really.   Overall Rating: 5/10   2. Chinpui チンプイ [1989-I] Shin-Ei Animation (Dropped 3/56) Tags: Comedy TV anime show based on the manga by F. Fujio Fujiko. Chinpui is a mouse-shaped alien, and it's basically Doraemon imitator with girl protagonist and this mascot. Just as in Doraemon, themes are too childish for me already.   Overall Rating: 5/10   3. Obocchama-kun おぼっちゃまくん [1989-I] Shin-Ei Animation (Finished 3/164) Tags: Parody Comedy Based on the children's award winning manga by Kobayashi Yoshinori, serialized in Shogakukan's CoroCoro Comic. Not translated. And one more Doraemon imitator with small boy protagonist and a new classmate as if from another planet as he does not follow any social norms of behavior. As you can understand, children manga award is given for kids material, although I like to see social norms transgressed, so I'd gladly watch more episodes if they were translated.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket 機動戦士ガンダム 0080 ポケットの中の戦争 [1989-I] Sunrise (Finished 6/6) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Drama, Sci-Fi Alfred Izuruha is a 10-year-old who lives in the neutral colony cluster of Side 6 and, like most boys his age, is obsessed with the war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. Unbeknownst to him, Al's next-door neighbor, Christina, is the test pilot of a prototype Gundam being developed in secret by the Earth Federation in the colony. A Zeon Special Forces team is assembled and tasked with infiltrating the colony in order to either steal or destroy it. When a skirmish breaks out between the Federation and infiltrating Zeon forces, the fascinated Alfred stumbles upon a Zaku mobile suit that has been shot down, piloted by Zeon rookie Bernard "Bernie" Wiseman. After this encounter, the two start a mutual friendship, so Alfred can learn more about the war that interests him so much, and Bernie can acquire inside information about the colony to aid his team's mission. For some reason everything Gundam franchise touches gets worse than it would be without it. It's a good thing that franchise tries to introduce some human emotions even if done through spectator kid, but it's still done in the most conservative, rigid and boring way. I did not give masterpiece even to Gunbuster that is a much better example of human emotional drama in mecha.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Riding Bean ライディング・ビーン [1989-I] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Detective, Racing Action Bean Bandit and his partner Rally Vincent are couriers for hire - transporting clients and delivering goods in his custom sports car "Roadbuster" for a hefty price. But when they are hired to escort a kidnapped girl named Chelsea to her home, they don't realize they're being framed for kidnapping as their former clients Semmerling and Carrie plan their escape with Chelsea's father and the ransom money. Better action and humor than expected, but not masterpiece material.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Cipher [1989-I] Magic Bus (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Drama Two brothers are in the spotlight: one a movie star making a football movie, the other a musician who occasionally goes to school (to cover for his sibling). What will destiny bring them? It starts as a music clip with some one-line dialogues rarely showing up on the black screen, continues as animated ad, then as interview, then as movie trailer with dialogues on top of music, then again as a music clip, again an inerview, street poll and so on imitating a TV table ... if you think that a good story can be told this way, go ahead and give this a try. Let my score convey my opinion.   Overall Rating: 4/10   7. Midnight Eye: Gokuu MIDNIGHT EYE ゴクウ [1989-I] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi Furinji Goku is a detective who has an "eye of god". While he was investigating the murder case of his colleague when he had been an officer, he was pressured to stop it by the police executives. However, he continue investigating, and he lost his left eye. When he was about to be killed, a mysterious group helped him and transplant an artificial eye. The eye was a super technological device that connected to the whole computer network in the world, and enabled him to control any computers. Not bad, and I liked many enemy designs and abilities. If Cobra is an epitome of average in the genre, this feels like a better version of it, thus above average.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. Kimagure Orange☆Road OVA きまぐれオレンジ☆ロード [1989-I] Pierrot (Finished 8/8) Tags: School Comedy, Drama, Romance Shiroi Koibito-tachi Kyousuke Kasuga and his friends are staying at his grandparent's house over winter break on a skiing trip. Everyone is excited until they hear about a curse that spells doom for couples who go down the mountain together. With a net of relationships and crushes on the line, the group's plans are suddenly upended. Hawaiian Suspense Kyousuke and Madoka Ayukawa's trip to Hawaii takes an abrupt turn for the worse when Hikaru Hiyama gets kidnapped! Kyousuke has to find a way to rescue her without revealing his paranormal powers to Madoka. Wagahai wa Neko de Attari Osakana de Attari While studying for exams, Kyousuke wishes that he could switch places with his pet cat or fish so he could have an easier life. But when his grandfather arrives with a magic rope that can be used to swap bodies, Kyousuke finds out he might have gotten himself in too deep. Hurricane! Henshin Shoujo Akane When Kyousuke's cousin, Akane, comes to visit, she stirs up antics with her ability to cast illusions. Things get even crazier when Akane falls for Madoka and becomes Kyousuke's rival in love. Koi no Stage=Heart on Fire! As Kyousuke helps to prepare for a local music festival, a popular idol crashes into him and they switch bodies! Now, Kyousuke must get his body back and prevent his secret from getting out before the show begins. Omoi Gakenai Situation Kyousuke has a foreboding dream where Akane attempts to seduce him. Disgusted after having inappropriate thoughts about his cousin, Kyousuke is shocked when she actually asks him to pose as her boyfriend in front of her friends. Rouge no Dengon Madoka's father is in Japan for a performance, and she is excited for the rare opportunity to see him. When she sees her father with a strange woman, however, her emotions are thrown into disarray. Wow, probably first official fan-service spin-off. It has such high level of magic and nonsense that  absolutely can't be taken seriously.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Crusher Joe OVA クラッシャージョウ [1989-I] Sunrise (Finished 2/2) Tags: Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi The galaxy is a strange and dangerous place, and there are times when even the United Space Force can`t help. That`s where the Crushers come in - skilled troubleshooters who will deal with any problem, large or small, for a fee (large only!) And there is no better Crusher than Crusher Joe! Again an above average show, but lacks humor, so loses to Dirty Pair with similar plots and better humor in this regard. Also can't say I enjoyed it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Rhea Gall Force レア・ガルフォース [1989-I] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military Action, Sci-Fi The Solnoid race is long dead, annihilated along with their enemies in the final battle at Sigma Narse. But their descendants survive on Earth, and have now inherited the sad destiny predicted so many years before. The year is 2085. The third world war between East and West has reduced the cities of Earth to mountains of rubble. The mechanical killing machines created by both sides now ruthlessly hunt down the remnants of humanity. Old hatreds between human factions prevent an effective resistance, and the only hope for survival rests in a desperate plan: evacuate the survivors to Mars Base. There they can rebuild and plan the liberation of the home world. Among them, one young woman carries the guilt of her father`s hand in the destruction of civilization. Unknown to her, she also carries the key to a possible salvation. As destiny draws new friends and allies to her, a new Gall Force is born to rise up against the coming destruction... A lively action due to a great ground battle happening during the whole episode, but next ones are supposed to be in space again.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Kasei Yakyoku Nightsong of Splendor 華星夜曲 [1989-I] Magic Bus (Finished 4/4) Tags: Historical Drama, Romance The story takes place in old Tokyo, the Tokyo of August-September 1923 (Showa 12). At this moment in time, the city is a mixture of extremes... past and present, rich and poor, good and bad. This is a city where we see both horsecarts and motorcars, swords and pistols, lords and businessmen. A wealthy woman from an upper-class family finds herself attracted to a handsome young man, Taka. He and his younger brother seem to be allied, perhaps not entirely willingly, with some of the city's criminal underground (Yakuza). The lady's lovely young maidservant, Sara, meets him too, and a conflict ensues which can only lead to tragedy, passion, and dishonor. But, as events move on, and the days pass, the viewer sees a terrible date coming closer... that unforgettable day of September 1, 1923, at 11:58, when the Great Kanto Earthquake and tidal wave struck Tokyo, causing the death of almost 100,000 people, one of the greatest disasters in human history. The first josei ? Anyway, it's a pretty boring story about rich noble ladies in trouble and a defender gangster all in white fighting typical gangsters ... Of course every episode represents vivid example of cliche on notorious woman logic which means absolutely stupid actions because she loves a gangster - like attempt to kill the same gangster or immediately getting married to another man. Await all kinds of romance stamps. There's just nothing for me to like here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Kyomu Senshi Miroku 虚無戦史MIROKU [1989-I] J.C.Staff (Finished 6/6) Tags: Historical, Mythology, Samurai Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Supernatural A psychic ninja fantasy suggesting that the assassins did not die out during the Sengoku era but burrowed under Japan, where they fought a new war against the alien occupants of a crashed spaceship that has lain undisturbed for several millennia. Just a normal youkai action with more gore than usual. Nothing stands out here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Yankee Reppuu-tai ヤンキー烈風隊 [1989-I] Toei Animation (Finished 6/6) Tags: Shounen Delinquents Adventure, Drama Impossibly tough and hairsprayed biker boys and girls fight turf wars in the streets, with much revving of motors and "you killed my buddy, prepare to die" dialogue. Based on the Shonen Magazine manga by Masahide Hashimoto, whose hero was so tough that he transferred schools 20 times. Only a Japanese tough guy would continue to go at all! Not translated. Biker wars on their own aren't particularly interesting without a heavy focus on humor and characters.   Overall Rating: 5/10   14. Bakusou Circuit Roman Twin 爆走サーキット·ロマン TWIN [1989-I] Japan Home Video (Finished 1/1) Tags: Racing This OVA centers on a boy named Hyou, who is constantly trying to kill himself for the first half of the show, and Hibiki, a rich, lonely girl who initially wants to commit suicide just because she saw a guy she likes kiss another girl. She ends up running into Hyou, falls in love at first sight, and makes it her mission to basically stalk him and prevent him from killing himself. Not translated. Mentally unstable people do stupid things. The End.   Overall Rating: 3/10   15. Venus Senki Venus Wars ヴィナス戦記 [1989-I] Triangle Staff (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi In the 21st century, mankind lives on two worlds. Following the collision of an ice asteroid, massive terraforming has made Venus a planet now capable of supporting life. Colonists from Earth tamed the hostile world and have thrived for four generations. But they also brought the darker side of humanity. Venus is about to get hostile again. Hiro Seno, a hotshot motorcycle jockey, witnesses the first strike against his country Aphrodia, by the rival nation of Ishtar. Huge battletanks and warplanes quickly lay waste to the city. The Aphrodian army is quick to mobilize and retaliate... and despite his opposition to warfare, Hiro finds himself fighting for his life on the front lines. I don't like racing, real life footage and opening endings. This anime has it all, and I still enjoyed it a lot to the point that I absolutely want to highlight it. It was not clear where it was going at all, so I was anxious what's going on. Great setting and views, great battles great visuals, very nice characters. Just great.   Overall Rating: 7/10   16. Five Star Stories ファイブスター物語 [1989-I] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Action, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Amaterasu is the god of light, the future emperor of the Joker Star System. Under the guise of young mecha conceptor Ladios Sopp, he is compelled by an old friend, Dr Ballanche, to save his two latest Fatimas Lachesis and Clotho. And so began the stories of the Joker System, as well as Amaterasu's love for Lachesis. For mecha standards it's better than average one, but I kept forgetting that it's mecha at all as it's basically not needed here. Protagonist dresses as a girl, so subtle boys love hints are inevitable. Synopsis is overly complicated for the story that develops rather straightforwardly. This mix of elements was not particularly interesting to me, so could not enjoy it, but it had nice action moments with laser swords, thus...   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Utsunomiko 宇宙皇子 [1989-I] Nippon Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mythology  Adventure, Fantasy  In the chaos of the Jinshin-no-Ran civil war of 762, a child with a small horn in his forehead was born. The child's mother condemned him as an oni and cast him away. An elderly shūgenja woman claimed the child and named him Utsunomiko, or 'Divine Child of the Heavens', telling Miko that his horn smybolizes the union of heaven and earth. Miko matured in the wilderness learning the ways of Shugendō, and soon started venturing into villages out of curiosity. He found that the common people of the villages live in poverty and suffering, and began using his spiritual powers to help them. But his anger at the self-serving rulers and their petty power-struggles grew until he came into open conflict with the Imperial Court, setting Miko down a long path as a champion of the oppressed. Not translated, because who seriously cares about some ancient yokai mythology adventures. Becomes very chaotic as more flying fire breathing magicians show up.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Dragon Ball Z ドラゴンボールZ [1989-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 4/291) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts, Super Power Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy Five years after winning the World Martial Arts tournament, Gokuu is now living a peaceful life with his wife and son. This changes, however, with the arrival of a mysterious enemy named Raditz who presents himself as Gokuu's long-lost brother. He reveals that Gokuu is a warrior from the once powerful but now virtually extinct Saiyan race, whose homeworld was completely annihilated. When he was sent to Earth as a baby, Gokuu's sole purpose was to conquer and destroy the planet; but after suffering amnesia from a head injury, his violent and savage nature changed, and instead was raised as a kind and well-mannered boy, now fighting to protect others. With his failed attempt at forcibly recruiting Gokuu as an ally, Raditz warns Gokuu's friends of a new threat that's rapidly approaching Earth—one that could plunge Earth into an intergalactic conflict and cause the heavens themselves to shake. A war will be fought over the seven mystical dragon balls, and only the strongest will survive in Dragon Ball Z. Sequel loses in humor a bit, but seems to be more integral with the plot and base for fighting arcs. No desire to watch it further, as cliffhangers after each episode make the most of motivation to continue.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Ranma ½ らんま1/2 [1989-II] Studio Deen (Dropped 3/161) Tags: Shounen Magical Sex Shift, Martial Arts Comedy, Fantasy, Slice of Life Ranma Saotome is a top-class martial artist and prodigy at the Saotome "Anything-Goes" school of martial arts. While training in China, he and his father meet a terrible fate when they accidentally fall into a cursed spring. Now, Ranma is cursed to turn into a girl when splashed with cold water, and only hot water can turn him back into a boy. Things are only complicated further when Ranma discovers that his father has arranged for him to marry one of Soun Tendo's three daughters in order to secure the future of the Tendo dojo. Though Soun learns of Ranma's predicament, he is still determined to go ahead with the engagement, and chooses his youngest daughter Akane, who happens to be a skilled martial artist herself and is notorious for hating men. Ranma ½ follows the hilarious adventures of Ranma and Akane as they encounter various opponents, meet new love interests, and find different ways to make each other angry, all while their engagement hangs over their head. Actually, I watched at least a dozen of episodes in the past, but it gets repetitive with episodic format. Nice comedy show, but never considered it a masterpiece, only a temporary amusement.   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Tenkuu Senki Shurato 天空戦記シュラト [1989-II] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/38) Tags: Shounen Action, Fantasy  A 16-year-old boy named Shurato and his friend Gai happen to be drawn into a gigantic ball of light while competing in the final match of a martial arts tournament. When they regain their senses, they find themselves transferred to a mystic heavenly sphere with a divine atmosphere. It's soon discovered that Shurato used to be the governing king of this world and that he has only been brought to his original state. Shurato is shocked as Gai suddenly turns hostile. After this unfortunate incident, a spectacular yet fantastic drama develops involving the two. Looks a lot like Saint Seiya with gods fighting with melee weapons. Super boring, but at least there is a female companion for at least some comedy relief.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Idol Densetsu Eriko Legendary Idol Eriko アイドル伝説えり子 [1989-II] Production Reed (Dropped 3/51) Tags: Idols (Female), Music Eriko Tamura is Kousuke Tamura, the chairman of Tamura Productions (reknown music company) and Minako Tamura's (former famous idol singer) only daughter. Having talent for singing since birth, she has always loved her parent's media world. Then one day tragedy strikes when her parents get into a horrible car accident, which kills her father and leaves her mother in coma. She is left in her father's best friend, Mr. Uchida's care. Now Eriko must take the path of singing, a path her parents did not want her to pursue. Then her uncle is out to destroy her career. But in spite of all the hardship, she becomes an idol and wins hearts all over Japan. I try to finish musical anime, but not with this many episodes... there have been at least two idol anime before, but they had only competition and attempt to work/study alongside. Here the study is cast off as a hindrance, and the focus is on exploiting idol by different people. It's curious enough for that reason, but not a masterpiece material .   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Tatakae! Chou Robot Seimeitai Transformers Victory Transformers Victory 戦え! 超ロボット生命体トランスフォーマーV[ビクトリー] [1989-II] (Dropped 3/38) Tags: Shounen Mecha Adventure, Sci-Fi Set in 2025 A.D., Transformers Victory introduces Star Saber, the mightiest Autobot warrior and the greatest swordsman in the galaxy. Following the defeat of the Decepticons on Earth in the Masterforce War, the villains have begun aggressively attacking other planets in the universe. To counter this threat, the Autobots joined with many other civilizations and lifeforms (including Humanity) to form the Galactic Peace Alliance, with Star Saber as its leader. Seeking the energy necessary to free his massive Planet-Destroying Fortress from imprisonment in the Dark Nebula where Star Saber sealed it years ago, the Decepticons' new Emperor of Destruction, Deathsaurus (Dezarus), attacks Earth with his Dinoforce, prompting Star Saber and his team to set up residence on the planet. Guess what - transformers have not become better by now.   Overall Rating: 2/10   23. Madou King Granzort Mado King Granzort 魔動王グランゾート [1989-II] Sunrise (Dropped 3/41) Tags: Shounen Mecha Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi In the future, the moon is a habitable place with atmosphere and gravity and also a famous tourist attraction. There are also stories about a "long ears" creature like rabbits on the moon who can use magic. Haruka Daichi heads off to the moon during a summer holiday alone because he likes to see the long ears creature by himself. However, he get himself dragged into an ancient conflict between two ancient moon races: the "long ears" race and Jado race. Jado race wanted to conquer the universe and resurrect ancient evil powers to seize control of the Earth. Now the "long ears" race and Daichi must seek three warriors who could use magic to release Mado King to fight Jado race and to release "long ears" race's kingdom, Rabiluna, from Jado race. Another crazy mecha which looks absolutely needless as magic is used for fighting. Anyway, thanks to Sunrise big experience, humor is nice, and SD characters are cute. Personally, as soon as evil empreror appeared before three generals and gave orders, anime was already dead for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Juushin Liger Bio Armor Ryger 獣神ライガー [1989-II] Sunrise (Dropped 3/43) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi It is 199X A.D. In Kushiro, Hokkaido, three bodies of Dragonite appear. Possessing overwhelming destructive force, they attack the city. They also awaken the evil Jashin Drago from the holy seal he was trapped in. 200 years ago, Drago was trapped in the seal by a holy warrior with the tattooed mark of the Liger. Assuming that the warrior is dead, Drago and Empress Zara are free to conquer the Earth using their army of biomechanical beasts. Even the Japan Self-Defense Forces are no match for the Dragonites' awesome power. One of the people fleeing is the protagonist, a milquetoast 16 year old boy named Ken Taiga. Unbeknownst to the Dragonites, Ken realizes that he is the descendant of the Liger warrior! In a burst of anger, Ken's Liger birthmark appears, and he rises his palm into the air, shouting the henshin command, "LIGER!!!", which then covers him in demonic long-haired biomechanical armor. Ken transforms into Jushin Liger to fight the evil forces of the Dragonite! Mecha with monster of the week... nuff said.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Aoi Blink Blue Blink 青いブリンク [1989-II] Tezuka Productions (Dropped 3/39) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  Story of a young boy named Kakeru and his adventures together with a magical blue pony named Blink. Wow, first TV series of Tezuka Productions, also it's the year when Osamu Tezuka dies, so company becomes a more or less normal anime company after it. So, first of a ll Aoi Blink is a child anime in the genre of fantasy travel, this this regard it's just like Kino no Tabi, just with a pony instead of a bike. Visited towns are truly unique and fun. This anime definitely deserves a masterpiece, but I can't lie to myself - I don't like children anime and travel genre. Absolutely great anime to show to children, though.   Overall Rating: 6/10   26. Miracle Giants Doumu-kun ミラクル・ジャイアンツ童夢くん  [1989-II] Gallop (Finished 0/49) Tags: Sports  Dome Shinjo, a 10-year-old boy who is son of a deceased legendary player of the Yomiuri Giants. From his father he inherited the love for baseball and his great abilities for such sport, although his mother and his older sister try to avoid that he practices it. In fact, his father, before dying, had time to teach him a magical shoot. Dome, after his mother gave him the glove his father used, he makes that shot in a training session of the Giants and is contracted immediately. With the support of the veteran players of the team, this young player will, from this very moment, make the Giants become unbeatable at home and none of the main batters of the Japanese professional league manages to end with his magical shot. Although that does not apply to the games played away, as Dome is just allowed to play at home, in the Tokyo Dome in which his father was consacrated (and the place by which he did chose such name for his son). When the veteran captain of the Dragons manages to bat his shot, it seems that the young boy is finally and definitely defeated, but then he invents another magical shot. New rivals, but also friends (such as Melody Norman, an American girl who disguises herself as a boy because women can't play baseball), will appear in scene, until the arrival of the mysterious Don Carlos, a Spanish ex-bullfighter who plays for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp and seems to have something pending with his father. Will Dome succeed in giving the league to the Giants? Not translated. Not going to watch non-translated anime of the genres I don't like.   Overall Rating: 0/10   27. Akuma-kun 悪魔くん [1989-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/42) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural  The age of the demons has begun. Dr Faust has foreseen this rise of evil. Unfortunately, he is near death and is unable to personally battle this upcoming threat. Faust entrusts a young boy, Shingo Yamada, to take the responsibility of ridding the Earth of this new evil presence. Faust finds a birthmark on Shingo's forehead that signifies that he is the chosen demon fighter. Faust summons from hell what may be humanity's only hope of surviving: a less than enthusiastic devil named Mephisto rises. After signing a pact in blood to save humankind, Shingo and Mephisto set out to battle the supernatural world. Not translated. I don't like youkai and I'm fed up with Gegege no Kitaro to such an extent that I don't want to watch its movies. Akuma-kun feels a lot like Kitaro, so I can't enjoy it. Movies of Akura-kun seem to have translation, so will try to like it then.   Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Shin Bikkuriman 新ビックリマン [1989-II] Toei Animation (Finished 3/72) Tags: Comedy, Fantasy Shin Bikkuriman depicts the journey of Pia Marco and his group who travel together until they finally build a truly peaceful world "Shinkawa system".  Not translated. Show fully depends on gags, so it's kind of useless to discuss it without translation. As for me, characters are way too childish to enjoy.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Youma Blood Reign: Curse of the Yoma 妖魔 [1989-II] J.C.Staff (Finished 2/2) Tags: Mythology Action, Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural  A terrible war has ravaged the land, and now, fueled by the blood of numerous fallen warriors the Yoma, demons from hell, emerge once more. A skilled ninja seeks to end the bloodshed these demons inflict upon humanity, but to do this he must fight against his undead former best friend and fellow ninja who was killed in battle and has been resurrected to serve the Yoma. Your usual ninja vs youkai, hard to make something serious with 37 minutes length.   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Riki-Oh: Toukatsu Jigoku 力王 等括地獄 [1989-II] Magic Bus (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Martial Arts, Super Power Action A Retelling of the prison arc of the manga RIKI-OH! The story follows Saiga Riki-Oh, a young man blessed with inhuman strength. After taking revenge against a yakuza boss who was responsible for the death of his girlfriend, he ends up in a maximum security prison owned by a private organization. The prison is divided into four blocks, each run by a member of prisoners known as the Gang of Four. The first member is a tattooed knife wielder known as Hai that runs his block in a mafia style family system. The second member is a giant man (known as Tarzan in the live action) with incredible strength. The third member is a effeminate fighter named Huang Chaun that is growing Opium in the prison. The final member is a small man that use sewing needles as his weapons. A super strong prison convict is constantly assaulted , often with dirty methods, but in the end he manages to overcome all difficulties. Nothing of interest to me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   31. Cleopatra D.C. クレオパトラD.C [1989-II] J.C.Staff (Finished 3/3) Tags: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi The Cleopatra Corns Group, aka Cleopatra DC, is a powerful financial conglomerate controlling most of the United States economy, almost as powerful as the US government itself. At the top of the organization is the beautiful, smart and brave Ms. Cleo, the Group's young, talented Chairman. This is good--it means she can handle the repair bill when that airplane crashes into her bedroom. With stolen artifacts, corporate kidnappings, and top-secret cyborg projects gone awry, her luck only gets worse from there. Three rather disjointed stories with not enough charm added to make it viable.   Overall Rating: 4/10   32. Fuuma no Kojirou: Yasha-hen 風魔の小次郎 夜叉篇 [1989-II] animate Film (Finished 6/6) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts Action, Fantasy Hakuo Academy was once a respected school where many students dreamed of being admitted. Now, its rival academy Seishikan is on a mission to assimilate all other schools, and Hakuo Academy is its next target. Supported by the fearsome Yasha clan, Seishikan students frequently visit Hakuo's campus to assault and forcibly convince their best students and athletes to transfer to Seishikan. Desperate to preserve their legacy, Hakuo Academy enlists the help of Kojirou Fuuma—the only member of the once-legendary Fuuma clan still living in their ancestral village. Kojirou will stop at nothing to defend Hakuo against the Yasha clan, whom the family has feuded with for generations. But will that be enough to stop Seishikan's aggression? Just battle royale between schools, nothing complex or particularly interesting.   Overall Rating: 4/10   33. Explorer Woman Ray EXPLORER WOMAN RAY (エクスプローラーウーマン・レイ) [1989-II] AIC (Finished 2/2) Tags: Action, Adventure  She's an archeologist AND a black belt and Ray Kazuki will need her brains and her brawn as she plunges into a thrill-filled adventure. Ray's examining an exciting new archeological discovery: a legendary temple located in an isolated area of the world. As always, she has with her a strange mirror that belonged to her father; a mirror that may provide access to a vanished civilization. On the excavation, Ray meets Mai and Mami Tachibana, freewheeling pubescent girls who heedlessly court danger. And danger they find, in the form of Rig Veda. Veda's after a big prize: Ray's mirror. But she will have to stop him at all costs, because if Veda gets his hands on the powerful object, he will possess secrets that could lead to disaster. Basically, treasure hunter adventures like Lara Croft or Indiana Jones... super boring for me.   Overall Rating: 4/10   34. Hoshi Neko Fullhouse Star Cat Fullhouse 星猫フルハウス [1989-II] Artland (Finished 4/4) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi  This slapstick comedy is about three pretty girls struggling to earn a living as pilots of the Iron Goblin delivery vessel. The computer answers back, the space pirates are on their tail, and romantic entanglements with their clients cause friction in the trio. The final episode throws the alien Eterna race in to the mix. Pervy robot, good humor, intrigue of humankind captured by robots from the start, no clear structure from the start - I definitely enjoyed these OVA more than expected ! One little hilarious space harem comedy with right enough length of two hours to not get intrusive.   Overall Rating: 7/10   35. Toki-iro Kaima 朱鷺色怪魔 [1989-II] Mushi Production (Finished 4/4) Tags: Shounen Horror Each episode of the "Toki-iro Kaima" OVA was bundled with a corresponding manga volume and CD single. The idea was that you first read the manga, then watch the OVA, and then conclude your "experience" by listening to the CD. This set of 3 mediums of entertainment was branded as an "Original Comic Video," and "Toki-iro Kaima" appears to be the only "Original Comic Video" that was ever made. Not translated. As OVAs correspond to just one third of experience, it's hard to recommend. Main theme is fight with youkai. Overall, lots of cringe.   Overall Rating: 4/10   36. Shougeki Shinsengumi 笑劇 新選組 [1989-II] (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Historical Comedy A slapstick OVA featuring super deformed members of the Shinsengumi members Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   37. City Hunter: Ai to Shukumei no Magnum City Hunter: .357 Magnum シティーハンター 愛と宿命のマグナム  [1989-II] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Mystery A beautiful pianist comes to Tokyo for a charity concert, and City Hunter is there. But music isn`t his forte; he wants lessons in the language of love. Desperation becomes the word of the day as the bodies start dropping. A foreign dignitary is assassinated in cold blood. Secret agents scour the streets for a missing microchip. Diplomatic infighting swirls around the upcoming concert, and City Hunter is the only hope! Traits of characters are showed in exaggerated manner, so it was more interesting to watch than the series. Overall still just above average.   Overall Rating: 6/10   38. Sengoku Kitan Youtouden Movie Wrath of the Ninja 戦国奇譚 妖刀伝 劇場版 [1989-II] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Martial Arts, Samurai Action The year a comet races across the sky, splitting the heavens, from the depths of the Earth the dark god shall arise once again. Then, the dark evil lurking in the shadows shall come out of the depths of Hell and show itself in the present world. The emotions of the blade of the wind shall collect at the source of the blue light. And the three blades shall become one, vanquishing evil. The year is 1580, and the unholy armies of Lord Nobunaga Oda steadily spread across Japan. Narrowly escaping the slaughter of her clan, a young ninja steals into the shadows. She is Ayame, the last of the Kasumi clan, and the dagger she wields is one of three, mystical blades. She is joined by Sakon and Ryoma, renegade ninja and the possessors of the sacred sword and spear. Now, these shadow warriors must unite their weapons and skills to fulfill `The Prophesy of the Enchanted Swords` or die trying.. My main problem is that I already saw the three OVAs. Even then I considered that it would look better as a movie. There are probably some improvements now, but I can't evaluate the plot I had already seen, differently.   Overall Rating: 5/10   39. Hengen Taima Yakou Karura Mau! Nara Onryou Emaki Karura Mau Movie 変幻退魔夜行 カルラ舞う! 奈良怨霊絵巻 [1989-II] Toshiba Entertainment (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Mythology Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural Shoko and Maiko Ougi are apparently two ordinary schoolgirls in pursuit of graduating and having fun. Shii-chan is the more serious while Mai-chan is more fun-loving. In reality, the two sisters are powerful exorcists from the Karura temple. Each wields half the power...Shii-chan can "see" the spirits, and Mai-chan can banish them. This is the movie adaptation of a spooky series with heavy emphasis on traditionally Japanese occult themes. So let's see - I don't like youkai, exorcism, occultism and horror. Would I like this movie? To my surprise it also got some sunny scenes with merry music and even humor. And then usual gorefest begins.   Overall Rating: 5/10   40. Ultraman USA ウルトラマンUSA  [1989-II] Tsuburaya Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi  The lives of three stunt pilots (Scott, Chuck, and Beth) are changed when they gain the ability to transform into three new Ultra-beings, and form the Ultra Force, to battle four giant Sorkin Monsters. As far as I can see the problem with this show is in... everything? .   Overall Rating: 3/10   41. Lupin III: Bye Bye Liberty - Kiki Ippatsu! Lupin III: Goodbye Lady Liberty ルパン三世『バイバイ・リバティー危機一発! [1989-II] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Action, Adventure, Comedy, Mystery In this adventure, Lupin III tries to erase the files about him in the world police network. He finds out about the Ultravirus, a computer virus that controls all others and its location is only known by a little kid. Meanwhile, he steals the Statue of Liberty to look for a diamond the size of a football that is said to be hidden somewhere in it. Apparently, the diamond and the ultravirus are somehow related... A bit unusual due to initial retirement, but moderately interesting part.   Overall Rating: 5/10   42. Konchuu Monogatari Minashigo Hutch (1989) 昆虫物語みなしごハッチ [1989-III] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/55) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Drama A remake of the 1970's version. Remake it all you want - it's not getting better story-wise.   Overall Rating: 5/10   43. Angel Cop エンジェルコップ [1989-III] D.A.S.T. (Finished 6/6) Tags: Detective Action, Sci-Fi Sometime in the future, terrorism in Japan has become commonplace, and the police have become almost as brutal as criminals. A member of the Special Security Force known as Angel, is the best of the best, stopping at nothing in her fight for justice. Things get interesting for Angel and her partner, Raiden, when they begin investigating a series of murders in which the victims were known criminals, killed in very unpleasant ways. This trio of killers known as Hunters, is a group of psychics that have banded together to hunt down the lowest scum in the city and bring them to justice. After a couple of encounters between the cops and the psychics, two of the psychics begin to think that maybe they're not the good guys after all; but the third prefers killing to morality. Augmented by cybernetics from a mysterious source, this third hunter heads out on a killing spree, with the Special Security Force as the first target. Even with help from the other two psychics and her newly cyborged partner (after an unfortunate accident), Angel is going to have her work cut out trying to find the rogue psychic and the organization behind the Hunters. It's terribly horrible, or maybe horribly terrible. Boring beyond redemption.   Overall Rating: 3/10   44. Baoh Raihousha Baoh the Visitor バオー来訪者 [1989-III] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Gore, Martial Arts, Super Power Action, Sci-Fi An innocent young man, Ikuroo, has a parasite known as Baoh implanted in his brain by an evil organization, Doress. The parasite makes him nearly immortal and gives him the ability to transform into a really powerful beastie when he's in trouble. Doress intends to use him in some sort of ploy for financial success, world domination, or something along those lines, but when they're transporting him on a train, a young psychic girl, Sumire (who's being held by the organization due to her abilities), sets him free and the two escape together. Of course, Dr. Kasuminome is the mad scientist behind the whole Baoh thing, and he isn't about to let his test subject get away and he has considerable resources (including some superpowered lackeys, as well as a small army) at his disposal. Generic story and execution. I like graphical style, and maybe someone can like gore, but that's it.   Overall Rating: 4/10   45. Kyoushoku Soukou Guyver (1989) The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor 強殖装甲ガイバー [1989-III] Visual 80 (Finished 6/6) Tags: Super Power Action, Horror, Sci-Fi Shou and his friend, Tetsurou, stumble upon a strange orb-like mechanism, the Guyver Unit, in the woods. It physically bonds with Shou and turns him into the alien soldier, Guyver. His mission is to protect the Guyver Unit from the Japanese corporation known as Chronos. They are after it and two other units just like it. To retrieve the object, they send out vicious monsters known as Zoanoids. So no one is safe in Shou's life; not even himself. Very few mecha can receive 6 from me. This is half biomecha, half superhero, but I treat it the same. I can't deny that directorship and graphics are good. It lacks complexity and interesting characters to masterpiece level, but it's a high quality action series.   Overall Rating: 6/10   46. Shin Captain Tsubasa 新・キャプテン翼 [1989-III] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/13) Tags: Shounen Action, Sports Shin Captain Tsubasa takes place at the International Jr. Youth tournament (U-16) in Paris, France. After defeating the Argentina Jr. Youth, Italy Jr. Youth and France Jr. Youth teams, Japan Jr. Youth reaches the final against the powerful West Germany Jr. Youth team. The giant goal keeper Müller, the ace Kaltz and Europe's best player Schneider offer the Japan Jr. Youth team an extremely hard final match. I did not notice anything new apart from that it's almost pure sports now with initial humor seeming to be gone, plus team kinda starts anew as it has not won European cups or even Japanese cup yet.   Overall Rating: 5/10   47. Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai! Long Life To The Ancestors 御先祖様万々歳! [1989-III] Pierrot (Finished 6/6) Tags: Psychological Avant Garde, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi The Yomota family is small and typical: father Kinekuni (42), mother Tamiko (38), and son Inumaru (17). One day, a beautiful girl appears at their front door, calling herself "Maroko Yomota," granddaughter of Inumaru who travels back in time with a time machine to visit her ancestors. Even with Tamiko's strong objection, Kinekuni and Inumaru welcome her to stay with them, and the structure of a happy family has begun to collapse. Absurdist gag comedy that probably inspired such titles as Zetsubou sensei. As with most absurdist gag sketches, majority is bad, but some are nice, single ones are great. There may be many opinions on it, so in the matter the score depends on whether I could enjoy it or not. And I could not. A lot of attention is required, a lot of irritation builds up, but without a proper reward for the viewer.   Overall Rating: 6/10   48. Legend of Lemnear: Kyokuguro no Tsubasa Valkisas Legend of Lemnear Legend of Lemnear 極黒の翼 バルキサス [1989-III] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy  The young and beautiful Lemnear's home village is destroyed and her brother is taken away. Lemnear swears to kill the evil wizard Gardin who is responsible for the disaster. With her allies Lemnear goes on a journey to take her revenge. She doesn't know, though, that there is someone above Gardin... A beautiful small fanservice fantasy anime. Ecchi tag is must have here. Nothing much, but enjoyable enough.   Overall Rating: 6/10   49. Akai Kiba: Blue Sonnet 紅い牙 ブルー・ソネット [1989-III] Tatsunoko Production (Finished 5/5) Tags: Shoujo Super Power Action, Drama, Sci-Fi Sonnet is a cyborg/esper from a harsh background and now trained to be the ultimate warrior and most powerful weapon in the world. She is sent to Japan to watch Komatsuzaki Lan, who is thought to be controlled by the rage of the esper Akai Kiba (Crimson Fang). Lan is a quiet girl who knows she's different from everybody else and starts to show signs of Crimson Fang after coming into contact with Sonnet. In the course of fighting with Lan, Sonnet starts to rediscover her humanity. At the same time Lan has to fight to retain her humanity and control the Crimson Fang. Average in everything and not particularly interesting action.   Overall Rating: 5/10   50. Ariel Visual ARIEL (エリアル) VISUAL [1989-III] J.C.Staff (Finished 2/2) Tags: Mecha Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi To save the Earth from alien invaders and their giant monsters, Dr. Kishida does what any other red-blooded mad scientist would do: he builds a giant robot—the ultimate feminine fighting robot! Unfortunately, his grand-daughters refuse to pilot it! Apparently, they've got more important things to do than becoming teenage super-heroes. Besides, how are you supposed to study for your college entrance exams while getting beaten-up in battle? Fortunately for Dr. Kishida, things aren't too well for the invaders, either. According to their reports, the Earth was the perfect target: lush, peaceful, and relatively defenseless. Theoretically, the planet should've surrendered long ago. Now, the war is at a standstill, the dreaded Accounting Department is warning about the serious cost overruns, and the head of the home office has arrived from Galactic Headquarters to personally oversee operations. Has Headquarters decided to unleash, The Audit—or do they have something even more evil in mind? The fate of the world rests upon two people: Aya Kishida, one of the doctor's granddaughters, who may have to give up prep school to pilot the mighty (and lovely) ARIEL; and a mysterious alien named Saber Starblast, who may have the power to defeat the invaders once and for all... Another mecha opposes another alien invasion, nothing to see here, really.   Overall Rating: 5/10   51. Midori no Neko The Green Cat 緑の猫 [1989-III] Tezuka Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mystery  The story is a mystery about a green cat and a private detective who investigates where it came from. The cat was thought to be good luck, but eventually brought misfortune to all those who come in contact. The story was taken directly from the 5th subtitle of the 1950s Lion Books manga. It does not look like it has touch of Osamu Tezuka as it's a rather tasteless short movie without  intrigue.   Overall Rating: 4/10   52. Hi-Speed Jecy High Speed Jessie ハイスピード・ジェシー [1989-III] Pierrot (Dropped 3/12) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi  Jecy is a young man on a quest for revenge; he lost his parents to the hands of the organized crime syndicate called the Bismark House - a group on a hunt to acquire a product called ‘lyzorium' at any cost. With incredible abilities such as increased speed and agility, Jecy travels through space with a girl named Tiana; Fork Green, a priest of the Heartland religion who kills criminals slowly to send them to heaven; and a living ship called Paolon. However, Jecy's revenge won't come easily - a woman named Jera, her bloodthirsty little brother Cross and a number of other adversaries stand in their way! Surprisingly bland action with nonsensical development.   Overall Rating: 5/10   53. Yajikita Gakuen Douchuuki やじきた学園道中記 [1989-III] J.C.Staff (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shoujo Martial Arts, School Adventure Shinokita Reiko and Yajima Junko are second-year high school students who travel from school to school fighting bad guys, ninjas, yakuza and corruption. At this high school they encounter a secret ninja order and a corrupt administrator, as well as a tragic death in the distant past. With the help of Kotetsu, a skilled ninja, they set the school to rights, but not before leaving several broken hearts behind. Undercover kunoichi defend school from real ninja. It does not get much more complex than that, so...   Overall Rating: 5/10   54. Cinderella Express シンデレラ エクスプレス [1989-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Romance, Ecchi Everyday salary man Shimano Yuji meets and beds a pretty young girl at his bachelor party. Meeting her again at his wedding, he realizes that he has just began an affair with his sister-in-law. Not translated. Nothing really to remember, bland movie focusing on a loli.   Overall Rating: 4/10   55. The Borgman: Last Battle Sonic Soldier Borgman: Last Battle THE·BORGMAN LAST BATTLE (ザ・ボーグマン ラストバトル) [1989-III] Production Reed (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mythology Action, Sci-Fi It has been three years since the end of the series. Ryo works for NASA as an engineer on a large rocket project. Anise, fellow Borgman and lover, has been reduced to flipping burgers in a restaurant. So naturally, when she gets a letter offering her a professional job in a big, Japanese, high-tech project, she jumps at the chance. Ryo, however, is as indecisive as ever and so she leaves for Japan without him. Chuck Sweager, the third Borgman, is a police officer, as is his girlfriend Miki. When she witnesses a fight amongst several cyborgs she tells Chuck, who says flatly that it cannot be possible, since the only living cyborgs are Ryo, Anise, and himself. But she convinces him and they investigate. Anise arrives for her new job, and when they meet for dinner they explain the situation to her. Anise volunteers to sneak around the Heaven's Gate project, which they believe to be the source of these new cyborgs. Ryo, meanwhile, is en route to Japan to go after his girlfriend. Accompanying him is Hussan, one of the two surviving researchers on the Borgman Project, who has been asked to appear before the Tokyo Police to help investigate. Once the entire cast is in Japan, things begin to get complicated. Much more serious than the series, so can give it a boost above which it can never elevate though.   Overall Rating: 6/10   56. Shin Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru Majinzan  真魔神英雄伝ワタル 魔神山編 [1989-III] Sunrise (Finished 2/2) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Set a few months after the original series, Wataru is called into action once again! Dragon Ball Z presents characters as juveniles rather than kids as earlier, so niche of similar anime with kids kinda gets free. And Wataru with SD characters and almost exact copy of Bruma is the most close imitator. But its target audience is children, so despite all the flashy action and gags I just can't find it interesting for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   57. Seishun Fuufu Monogatari: Koiko no Mainichi 青春夫婦物語 恋子の毎日  [1989-III] Nippon Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Organized Crime Comedy, Drama, Romance, Ecchi In a story that flits between serious drama and comedic farce, Shinjuku gangster Sabu and his young wife Koiko try to live a normal life, despite the interferences of gang politics and criminal deals. After she saves his life, Sabu's gang-boss, Tominaga, falls in love with Koiko, and sends Sabu into increasingly more dangerous situations, hoping to cause his arrest, and thus obligate himself to "take care" of Koiko while Sabu is in prison. Not translated. Rather unpleasant OVAs to watch as protagonist yakuza Sabu constantly nitpicking about everything to his wife, wife being cheerful and dressing a bit bright and yakuza boss Tominaga speaking only about Sabu wife all the time. I doubt that anyone would watch this anime, so in the end boss learns to treat Koiko as a person and stops thinking about her as an object, Sabu checks out from  clinic because of wounding just in time to save Koiko from another gang. The only existing quality of video is very bad.   Overall Rating: 4/10   58. Midoriyama Koukou Koushien-hen 緑山高校 甲子園編 [1989-III] Animaruya (Dropped 0/10) Tags: School, Team Sports Comedy, Sports The story of students of a baseball team from Midoriyama High School, who will participate in the 66th National Championship Tournament of Senior High School Baseball in Japan. Not translated. And do not watch untranslated anime of genres I don't like.   Overall Rating: 0/10   59. Moeru! Oniisan (OVA) 燃える!お兄さん (1989) [1989-III] Pierrot (Finished 2/2) Tags: Comedy Kenichi Kokuho continues his life in the big city. Each OVA contains 2 stories, so there are 4 stories overall. I don't consider it fun when people get constantly hit or a mansion gets destroyed to the stones room by room.   Overall Rating: 5/10   60. Mandalaya no Ryouta: Kukidani Onsen Enshou Soudou Tan まんだら屋の良太 丸鬼谷温泉艶笑騒動譚 [1989-III] Takahashi Studio (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Ecchi Ryouta is the son of the hot spring inn Mandaraya. He is in love with his female childhood friend and classmate Tsukiko who he likes to tease. But youth demands having an affair with some relaxed lady staying at hot springs inn here and now. Basically, Ryouta with constant boner does all kinds of obscenities like flipping skirts, peeking in hot springs, flirting with clients, and eventually scores first unwillingly with some granny, then after witnessing a lot more kinky situations around has more luck. That's it...   Overall Rating: 4/10   61. Meikyoku to Dai Sakkyokka Monogatari 名曲と大作曲家物語  [1989-III] Walkers Company (Dropped 0/8) Tags: Historical, Music  Brief lives of some composers, including Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, Chopin, Vivaldi, Johann Strauss, and Tchaikovsky. Bizarrely, the obscure Stephen Foster, composer of "Beautiful Dreamer" and Jeanie with the Light-Brown Hair, gets a whole episode to himself, probably thanks to being top of the hit parade when Commodore Perry's gunboat diplomacy opened Japan in 1853, while Bach and Handel are forced to share. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   62. Ishii Hisaichi no Nanda Kanda Gekijou いしいひさいちのナンダカンダ劇場 [1989-III] (Dropped 0/2) Tags: Martial Arts, Space Comedy, Sci-Fi The Underground People desire to leave their overcrowded cavern and seize control of the surface world, but they never quite succeed. A second episode, Christmas Aid, soon followed, in which the brainless Undergrounders' second futile escape attempt is set to music by the popular group Yukadan. The first volume also included two unrelated stories by Ishii: 101 Ninja and Ken-chan's Space Exploration Adventure. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   63. Majo no Takkyuubin Kiki's Delivery Service 魔女の宅急便 [1989-III] Studio Ghibli (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy  Kiki, a 13-year-old witch-in-training, must spend a year living on her own in a distant town in order to become a full-fledged witch. Leaving her family and friends, Kiki undertakes this tradition when she flies out into the open world atop her broomstick with her black cat Jiji. As she settles down in the coastal town of Koriko, Kiki struggles to adapt and ends up wandering the streets with no place to stay—until she encounters Osono, who offers Kiki boarding in exchange for making deliveries for her small bakery. Before long, Kiki decides to open her own courier service by broomstick, beginning her journey to independence. In attempting to find her place among the townsfolk, Kiki brings with her exciting new experiences and comes to understand the true meaning of responsibility. Watching it for the first time. As expected, only good for children and newbies in anime. Makes another borderline masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 7/10   64. Dragon Ball Z Movie 01: Ora no Gohan wo Kaese!! Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone ドラゴンボールZ オラの悟飯をかえせッ!! [1989-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Piccolo is training at a barren cliff when a handful of mysterious enemies attacks and defeats him. These same enemies then go to Mount Paozu to steal Gohan Son's "Dragon Ball." Upon arrival, not only do they defeat Gokuu Son's spouse and father-in-law—Chi-Chi and Gyumao, respectively—but they also kidnap Gohan in the process. Feeling something isn't right, Gokuu rushes home, only to find Chi-Chi lying on the ground as she explains the situation. He then goes to Kame House and borrows the Dragon Radar in order to locate the Dragon Balls and, with them, the enemies and Gohan. First movie is surprisingly amusing and integral, but I heard that it's the best of the Dragon Ball Z movies.   Overall Rating: 6/10   65. Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor the Movie Patlabor: The Movie 機動警察パトレイバー the Movie [1989-III] Studio Deen (Finished 1/1) Tags: Detective, Mecha, Military Drama The Babylon Project is a massive renovation of Tokyo's neighborhoods, including the creation of artificial islands in the Bay. Utilizing "Labors," or robots created for the express purpose of doing work, architects and construction crews are able to more efficiently progress development of the overhaul. When a key figure in the Project's conception is found dead after committing suicide under mysterious circumstances, Captain Kiichi Gotou's Patlabor police unit is tasked with getting to the bottom of the bizarre situation. As several Labors begin to go haywire and a hacked AI program endangers the people of Tokyo, young pilot Noa Izumi and her Patlabor Alphonse work under Gotou's orders to save the city and the entire nation from a massive biblical conspiracy. It's definitely better than spineless OVA series, but in the end it all comes to the feeling whether I could enjoy it or not. Or not.   Overall Rating: 6/10   66. Little Nemo Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland リトル・ニモ [1989-III] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy Based on the classic Nemo comic strips by Winsor McCay. A pioneer of animation, McCay created the first Little Nemo animated movie in 1911.Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata were attached to this project at first, but left due to "creative differences." Ray Bradbury is also thought to have left the project in its earlier stages.Little Nemo - Adventures in Slumberland is the first Japanese anime to receive a national (wide) U.S. theatrical release. The film opens with the young boy Nemo experiencing a nightmare in which he is pursued by a locomotive. Upon awakening the next day, he goes with his pet flying squirrel, Icarus to see a parade welcoming a traveling circus. However, Nemo is unable to see the circus since his parents are too busy to take him. Later that night, Nemo imitates sleepwalking in an attempt to sneak some pie away, which acts against a promise he had made earlier to his mother, who catches him in the act and makes him run back to his room empty-handed. Upon actually falling asleep later that night, Nemo is approached by figures from the circus parade. The circus organist introduces himself as Professor Genius and claims that they had been sent on a mission by King Morpheus, the king of a realm named Slumberland. The mission involves Nemo becoming the playmate of the princess, Camille. Although Nemo initially has reservations about interacting with a girl, he and Icarus decide to set off to fulfill his mission after being persuaded with a gift box of cookies from the princess. Long things short - everyone left so studio just made an ordinary movie for kids and even showed it in USA, which for me equals a black stamp for being an absolutely toothless work. Reminded me the earliest Toei movies like Gulliver's Space Travels, and - believe me - it's not a praise.   Overall Rating: 5/10   67. Kankara Sanshin かんからさんしん [1989-III] Tokyo Animation Film (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Historical Drama A film about the Battle of Okinawa during the last days of World War II. During the World War II island hopping campaign there was a fierce battle on Okinawa that devastated the population and ravaged the land and left a mark on the populace of the Okinawan people forever. After the war Okinawa was under the control of the United Stated Military. Without any goods and extreme scarcity of Natural resources the Okinawans were in a desperate day to day survival for the basic needs of life. The Okinawans however, despite their dire situation used song and dance to lighten their spirit and make the best of the situation. But with the loss of almost everything of value on island due to constant shelling bombing and fighting between the Japanese and American all the regular sanshin (an Okinawan musical instrument and precursor of the Japanese shamisen) had become very scarce and hard to find. The American were supplying the Okinawans with powdered milk among other items to help keep starvation low. And from those cans of food they would find a way to bring music back to the people again. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   68. Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: Boku wa Son Gokuu 手塚治虫物語 ぼくは孫悟空  [1989-III] Tezuka Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure  A semi autobiography of Tezuka Osamu. Son-Gokuu is a monkey who was born from a stone and is endowed with magical powers. He gets carried away and goes on a rampage until at last Buddha confines him within Mt. Gogyo. Saved by Sanzohoshi, Son-Gokuu accompanies him on a journey to India. But on their way, monsters lie in wait for them. A touching autobiography tale with a new look on Son Gokuu and a new reference for phoenix. I don't see how people familiar with Tezuka Osamu work can stay indifferent.   Overall Rating: 7/10   69. Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor: On Television Patlabor: The Mobile Police - The TV Series 機動警察パトレイバー ON TELEVISION [1989-IV] Sunrise (Dropped 3/47) Tags: Detective, Mecha Comedy, Sci-Fi In the future, advanced robotics has created heavy robots ("labors") for use in a variety of functions: construction, fire-fighting, military, and more. However, though the robots are only machines, their operators are also only human—and humans sometimes turn to crime. Since a heavy labor unit can be a dangerous weapon, the police of the future are set to fight fire with fire, using advanced patrol labor units, "patlabors." This is the story of the Second Special Vehicles Division, a motley crew of patlabor policemen and women doing their best to fight crime and live a normal life. Series bring Patlabor back from Movie level to initial OVAs level as it benefits from longer serious stories much more than from comedy SOL with short stories.   Overall Rating: 5/10   70. City Hunter 3 シティーハンター3 [1989-IV] Sunrise (Finished 13/13) Tags: Shounen  Action, Comedy, Mystery Ryo Saeba is a "sweeper" know as the City Hunter. He and his sidekick Kaori Makimura are hired to solve problems that the police can't (or won't) handle. When he's not keeping the streets of Tokyo clean, Ryo is chasing the ladies, and Kaori chases after him with a giant anti-ecchi hammer. I liked that in this season traits are like in previous Movie, or exaggerated. Also it is probably one of the first anime that has 13 episodes in the season not out of necessity, but out of choice. This way it's much easier to have a central theme and not fall into episodic hell. Still show is episodic in nature and is on self-repeat, nowhere close to a mastepiece.   Overall Rating: 6/10   71. Yawara!  [1989-IV] Madhouse (Dropped 3/124) Tags: Combat Sports, Martial Arts Action, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life, Sports High school student Yawara Inokuma lives a completely happy and ordinary life. She aspires to an average lifestyle as a delicate young lady with a handsome boyfriend in the near future. Unfortunately for Yawara, she has an undesirable prodigious talent in Judo, a modern martial art that is neither feminine nor fashionable. Moreover, Yawara is the only granddaughter of the seventh dan Judo master Jigorou Inokuma, who expects her to become a Japanese Judoka superstar of the '90s. Yawara cautiously hides her strength from everyone to maintain a normal reputation but is often pushed to situations when she must exercise her Judo skills. Observing Yawara's immense potential from the shadows, Kousaku Matsuda, a sports reporter from a substandard paper, is willing to do everything he can to bring her into the limelight. Always hated Yawara , both the game and the anime. Absolutely tasteless senseless shoujo SOL with antics instead of comedy.   Overall Rating: 4/10   72. Jungle Book Shounen Mowgli The Jungle Book ジャングルブック・少年モーグリ [1989-IV] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/53) Tags: Adventure, Drama  After his parents died, Mowgli is raised by the Wolf Pack of the Seeonee Forest led by Akela and other wild animals such as Bagheera and Baloo. The young boy goes through several heartwarming, bittersweet, and life-threatening adventures as he seeks after his true purpose in life. And one of many dangers he has to face is the man-eating tiger, Shere Khan... Only has official dub which means it's a spineless toothless maximally boring show for kids. Can't recommend it for adults for sure.   Overall Rating: 4/10   73. Jungle Taitei (1989) ジャングル大帝 [1989-IV] Tezuka Productions (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Adventure, Drama Leo (a.k.a. Kimba in the U.S.) is a young ambitious lion cub who takes his father's place as emperor of the jungle when is father is killed by poachers. Even though his father's fate was met by the hands of humans, Leo is one of the few animals in the Jungle that doesn't fear or feel hatred toward humans. He is not alone either, he is guided by friends of his father to help create the best animal kingdom there can be. How come it's not marked as for kids, seriously? What on Earth can interest an adult here...   Overall Rating: 4/10   74. Teki wa Kaizoku: Neko-tachi no Kyouen The Enemy's the Pirates!: The Cats' Banquet 敵は海賊 ~猫たちの饗宴~ [1989-IV] Production I.G, Madhouse (Finished 6/6) Tags: Comedy, Sci-Fi  Apulo (a cat-like space alien with the ability to lock a human's emotions) and Latell work for the Division of Space Piracy (or DSP for short). The two of them are extremely destructive in their solving of DSP cases. They are attempting to stop Youmei the space pirate from exploiting Computer Aided Thinking for his own nefarious plans. Why is it so bad, seriously? Only absurd and no meaning till half 5th and final episode. Not recommended.   Overall Rating: 4/10   75. Mahoutsukai Sally 2 魔法使いサリー2 [1989-IV] Toei Animation (Finished 3/88) Tags: Shoujo Comedy During Sally's coronation ceremony in the magic world, she hears her human friends back on Earth are in trouble. Despite the warnings from her parents, she escapes to Earth to help her friends. Because she was caught using magic in front of humans, she had to erase her friends' memories. Now Sally will remain on Earth so she can regain Sumire and Yoshiko's friendship while helping other humans in trouble. Original was surprisingly interesting and memorable. This one is totally wrecked and made for kids only. A shame.   Overall Rating: 4/10   76. Seton Doubutsuki Seton Animal Chronicles シートン動物記 [1989-IV] Eiken (Dropped 3/45) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy Documentary in which the achievement of Ernest "Black Wolf" Thompson is settled in different Episodes. Every single episode is a documentary in which one sort of Animal is described. I remember reading Seton Thompson books as a kid - of course all of them were about animals. Actually, some of these 45 animal stories were already shown as movies in 60s-70s. I consider it to be show only for kids. It usually has some restrained animal undergoing hardships.   Overall Rating: 4/10   77. Momotarou Densetsu 桃太郎伝説  [1989-IV] Knack Productions (Dropped1/51) Tags: Adventure, Comedy  Momotaro travels with companions Kaguya-hime and Kintaro and aims to defeat demon king.   Just one episode is translated. It's a parody on pretty much everything folklore and what not. Humor is ok.   Overall Rating: 5/10   78. Kariage-kun かりあげクン [1989-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/59) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Slice of Life From putting his head of department to embarrasment by announcing to everyone that he has haemmorrhoids through the PA system in a public park to making a whole district dissapointed by putting a notice that there will be a fireworks display, and apparently the only "display" is him holding one small fireworks, Kariage-kun tells the amusing everyday life of, well, Kariage-kun. His typical victim is his head of department, although anyone (or anything) can become a prey to his irony or sarcasm. The story began and ended with no special beginning or endings, but it is arranged chronologically (in the sense that it follows seasonal changes). Not translated. Comedy SOL is one genre the Japanese excel at, and this is one of the most prominent examples, sadly, not translated.   Overall Rating: 6/10   79. Ys Ys イース [1989-IV] Tokyo Kids (Finished 7/7) Tags: Mythology Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy Mythical beasts lay siege on the people of Esteria, who have raised an army to fight back. The beasts are relentless and seemingly have no end to their numbers, while the population of defenders dwindle in every skirmish. Even in the town of Minea, where the people are safely nestled behind castle walls, the constant attacks have left them hopeless. It is then that a prophecy is made, proclaiming the arrival of a brave young soul that could be the one who will bring their salvation. Ys follows Adol Christin, an adventurer driven by wanderlust towards the island of Esteria, who washes up on shore after a shipwreck. Following the guidance of the fortuneteller Sarah Tovah, he and his allies will travel the island in search of the legendary tomes known as the Books of Ys. It will be a long and perilous journey, but if fate is truly at work then Adol will certainly be the hero who returns peace to Esteria. I absolutely hate game series, because I always play at hardest available difficulty, and Ys at hardest becomes an unforgiving crazy piano with exact timings. Anime is not responsible for that, but it inherits some giant enemies (giant centipede in anime revoked a lot of horrible memories) and simple concept of chosen hero and the need to save princess by gathering 6 Ys books. Story and personalities are too simple to aim at high scores.   Overall Rating: 5/10   80. Midnight Eye: Gokuu II Goku II: Midnight Eye MIDNIGHT EYE ゴクウII [1989-IV] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Super Power Action, Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi Goku, the lone wolf private detective is back, contracted by Yoshiko, a mysterious, beautiful and very afraid woman, to find and save her brother, Ryu. Will Goku be able to protect Yoshiko from her step father's soldiers long enough to find her brother? Meanwhile Ryu, the unfortunate subject of a military experiment gone bad, leaves a trail of bodies behind him and has no intention of being found or saved by anyone. Will Goku have to kill the man he is supposed to save? Will even his omniscient cybernetic eye and sceptre be enough to help him defeat this indestructible killing machine? Even better impression than first Gukuu, again above average, but still far from masterpiee material.   Overall Rating: 6/10   81. Project A-Ko 4: Final Project A-ko: Love & Robots プロジェクトA子 -FINAL- [1989-IV] Studio Fantasia (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Super Power Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi In Iraq, a group of archaeologists discover ancient relics that prophecize the coming of a superior race and the end of all civilization. Meanwhile, back in Graviton City, as A-Ko and B-Ko's rivalry over Kei intensifies, Mr. Daitokuji sets up an arranged marriage between Miss Ayumi and Kei. Furious over the engagement, both A-Ko and B-Ko do whatever it takes to prevent the wedding from going through. Little do they know that another alien fleet is on its way towards Earth. Only first original movie was memorable, and I consider Finale to be return to the roots - enough fanservice, humor, personal relations and especially global city destruction. It makes finale watchable, but not above average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   82. Seijuuki Cyguard Cybernetics Guardian 聖獣機サイガード [1989-IV] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Sci-Fi, Supernatural A freak accident unleashes a demonic spirit within researcher John Stalker - transforming him into Saldo, a mythical cyber-beast fueled by hate and evil. A chaotic mix of mutants, mecha and gore. 40 minutes is not enough for anything but action here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   83. Assemble Insert アッセンブル・インサート [1989-IV] Studio Core (Finished 2/2) Tags: Detective Comedy, Sci-Fi A criminal group known as Demon Seed terrorizes Tokyo with its vast armies of mecha. The local police is afraid to confront them, but one person stands in their way: Maron Namikaze, a 13-year-old idol singer with a catchy voice and unbelievable superhuman strength. A hilarious parody on all the anime of 80s, a great decade finale. Enjoyment is what matters, and it delivers indeed.   Overall Rating: 7/10   84. Aoki Honoo 青き炎 [1989-IV] Artland (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Drama, Romance  Ryuuichi Kaizu, intelligent, ambitious, and dedicated, but at the same time cunning and immoral young student receives present from girl Emi Naito, who comes from wealthy family. Realizing that being in relationship with her can help him reach his goals, he decides to make her his, without her even being aware she is just another woman he is using. Story is simple to emphasize as much H as possible.   Overall Rating: 4/10   85. Shuten Douji Shuten Doji - The Star Hand Kid 手天童子 [1989-IV] AIC (Finished 4/4) Tags: Mecha, Military Action, Sci-Fi As a baby Jiro was delivered to his foster parents by a massive oni, who said he would return for Jiro in 15 years. When the time comes Jiro must contend with enemy oni, dark cultists, and their minions while attempting to protect both his parents and girlfriend from their depredations. Ultimately he must embark on a journey through the past, future, and other dimensions to embrace his destiny as Shuten Doji reborn. There is enough originality, but in the end just could not enjoy it with all the ecchi, oni and time shifts.   Overall Rating: 6/10   86. Gall Force: Chikyuu Shou Gall Force: Earth Chapter ガルフォース地球章 [1989-IV] AIC (Finished 3/3) Tags: Mecha, Military Action, Sci-Fi  The year 2085 and the only winners of the last war were the machines. Years previously the human race discovered the ruins of an ancient ship beneath the moon's surface and used the knowledge gained to create weapons of war. Eventually these weapons turned against mankind, seeing them as a threat and deciding the only way to stop these war loving humans was to destroy them. Heavily influenced by the 1988 Terminator movie, this new series focuses upon Sandy Newman as she leads a band of warriors in an attempt to reclaim the earth from the machines. If they can reach a group of unlaunched nuclear missiles, they can take out the machine`s headquarters located in Australia. Can be called the best part so far, but suffers from poor directorship and ends in an absolutely enragingly nonsensical way.   Overall Rating: 6/10   87. Makaryuudo Demon Hunter 魔狩人  [1989-IV] Studio Fantasia (Finished 1/1) Tags: Gore, Mythology Supernatural Yama Rikudo is not your average teenage girl. With her trademark duo horn-like tufted hair, she’s really a kind of demon policewoman, charged with the duty of protecting Japan from demonic monsters that’ve gone AWOL. Even when her demon superiors try and pull her off the job, because demon-human relations are getting too hot for her to handle, she will stay and fight with her giant scythe, because, while disguised as a high school student, she has fallen for fellow student Sho Kurogane. Now she must save Sho, and his friends, from the evil plotting of the school’s eternal youth seeking, soul sucking, Headmistress. Very chaotic and weak youkai OVA.   Overall Rating: 4/10   88. Dog Soldier ドッグソルジャー [1989-IV] animate Film (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Military Action When an American scientist carrying a cure for the AIDS virus is kidnapped by an arms merchant, John Kyosuke is forced back from retirement. He accepts the challenge to regain possession of the anti-serum. He finds out that some of the people he is after are closely related, which gives his conquest a whole new meaning. Too short, hasty, unremarkable.   Overall Rating: 4/10   89. Umi no Yami, Tsuki no Kage Darkness of the Sea, Shadow of the Moon 海の闇、月の影 [1989-IV] Visual 80 (Finished 3/3) Tags: Shoujo Super Power Drama, Horror, Romance Ruka and Rumi Kobayakawa are twin sisters in love with the same man, athletic upperclassman Katsuyuki Touma. Rumi seems supportive of Ruka's fledgling romance with Katsuyuki, until the twins are infected with a strange bacterium that transforms Rumi's personality and gifts the twins with terrifying psychic powers. Now Rumi will stop at nothing - or no one, that gets between her and Katsuyuki, including her own twin sister... Combine  shoujo, esper powers, horror and poor execution, and you'll get the result score.   Overall Rating: 4/10   90. Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou 独身アパートどくだみ荘 [1989-IV] Takahashi Studio (Finished 3/3) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Slice of Life, Ecchi Based on the manga by Takashi Fukutani. It's five perverted, disgusting, ecchi heavy, but not ecchi focused stories. Since focus is on the story and stories are varied and unusual, there's not telling how each ends. In the end I kinda liked it, especially tanuki.   Overall Rating: 6/10   91. Bouken Shite mo Ii Koro 冒険してもいい頃  [1989-IV] Knack Productions (Finished 3/3)
    Tags: Seinen Comedy Follow a cast that makes pornographic movies. The loves and loyalty it creates and the friction it causes. The focus of the OVAs is H, and that makes it hentai by definition. Comedy is mostly antics. And since it's hentai, I'm not rating those.   Overall Rating: 0/10   92. Choujin Locke: Lord Leon Locke the Superman: Lord Leon 超人ロック ロードレオン [1989-IV] Nippon Animation (Finished 3/3) Tags: Super Power Action, Sci-Fi It is the year 336 of the Space Century on the planet of Sieren, and in the state of Innex, Flora Rain-who is blind-is employed at an elementary school. Flora is adored by her students, the principal of the school, and all the town’s people, and enjoys a peaceful life in the town. By chance, she meets a strange youth named Locke. Locke has numerous superpowers, although he is very discreet about them and gives the impression of being an ordinary youth. One day, Locke is visited by a Military man, Major Caliann, who requests Locke’s assistance in their investigation of Lordleon. Lordleon and his space pirates have attacked the enterprise Astoria Concern, but the chairman, Great Georg, didn’t report the incident to the Union. The Union (aware of the attacks) thought this was very strange, and decided to investigate Lordleon with Locke's help. Locke the Superman was a horrible anime Movie about espers in 1984. This one is only slightly better, which does not make it break from the mediocrity either.    Overall Rating: 5/10   93. Bucchigiri ぶっちぎり [1989-IV] Nippon Animation (Finished 4/4) Tags: Delinquents, Team Sports To all his schoolmates, Jin comes across as a hot-headed class clown from typically barging in late and sleeping the whole way through to always responding to any situation with reckless stupidity. The fact that he used to be the charismatic leader of a legendary biker gang has turned into an urban legend; however, after starting a rivalry with the captain of the school baseball team, he and two former members, become their star players. But it's not long before his past catches up to him... Not translated. Some yakuza and romance, lots of delinquents and sports... nothing out of the ordinary, just winning some cups.   Overall Rating: 4/10   94. Ogami Matsugorou おがみ松吾郎 [1989-I] Kodansha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts, School Action, Romance Based on the same name manga by Itou Minoru, serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shounen Magazine. Matsugorou Ogami is clumsy man who can only fight and express his kindness with force. But he falls in love with Koume who is a high school girl... Not translated. Very bland. As expected, girl tries to civilize the hooligan, but in the end his strength is required to protect her.   Overall Rating: 4/10   95. Kangetsu Ittou: Akuryou Kiri 寒月一凍 悪霊斬り [1989-IV] Magic Bus (Finished 2/2) Tags: Martial Arts, Samurai Action Popular Edo illustrator Ichiro Kanzuki rescues a woman who is being attacked by several ronin. The woman is the servant of the Satake clan who is given a mysterious tarot card having a link to the secret of the Satake clan. At the same time, in Edo, the daughters of merchants who are purveyors of the Satake clan are being spirited away one after another, and there is a murder of Jinnai Takeda, a senior vassal of the Satake clan. Kanzuki at the request of Jinnai's daughter Kaori decides to search for the killer and in the process gets involved into feud for the Satake clan leadership.  Not translated. Actually, very similar to Shinshuu Sudama-hen - same yoshiwara, same killings - a mix of gore and nakedness. The main change from that is bigger tilt into comedy and better plot. Overall, just a gory historical detective action without anything outstanding to watch it for.   Overall Rating: 4/10   96. Time-Patrol Bon: Fujiko F. Fujio Anime Special - SF Adventure 藤子·F·不二雄アニメスペシャル SFアドベンチャー T·P[タイムパトロール]ぼん [1989-IV] Gallop (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure  A Japanese schoolboy, Heibon, is enlisted in the efforts of the time patrol to keep the past out of trouble. It must be marked as anime for kids as protagonists and their acquaintances are kids, they easily fly through time breaking all possible physics laws and enemies are caricaturish and defeated in comedy manner.   Overall Rating: 4/10   97. Isewan Taifuu Monogatari 伊勢湾台風物語 [1989-IV] Mushi Production (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Historical Drama On September 26, 1959, Super Typhoon #15 (also known as "T5915", "Vera", or "Isewan Typhoon"), struck the coast of Japan with the maximum wind speed of 305 km/h, causing over 5,000 dead or missing plus over 30,000 injured, the heaviest casualty caused by a single typhoon in Japan in 20th century. This animated movie was produced on the 30th anniversary of the tragedy in order to commemorate the dead and survivors. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   98. Hyper-Psychic Geo Garaga Garaga ギャラガ HYPER-PSYCHIC-GEO GARAGA [1989-IV] Aubec (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi  The year is 2755. As a result of a system malfunction, the cargo ship XeBeC goes off-course in a warp gate and ends up within the orbit of the distant planet Garaga. After crashing on Garaga's surface, the crew must find ways to survive from hideous monsters, rabid ape soldiers, and a race of mysterious psychics. A lot of unmemorable characters, total craziness with esper generals, rushed ending don't leave this anime a chance.   Overall Rating: 4/10
  10. kivandopulus

    VN of the Month 2022
    From two summer works that qualify for the race, my choice is Natsu no Owari   1. beat refle [220801] qureate 1 Atsushi Yubihara meets the talking cat Momiji while cleaning the massage parlor formerly run by his late grandfather. Moments after he attempts to uncover her true identity in spite of his confusion, a loan collector appears to reclaim what his grandfather owes. Fed unreasonable repayment terms, he starts to shrink into himself until Momiji shares with him a most mysterious power... He has but a single month to make enough money to return what was loaned, marking the start of his troubled everyday life as a masseuse! There's no time to question his power, or why there's a talking cat, or anything else! Atsushi must focus on his somewhat to very quirky customers and relieving the stress that ails them, all in time for the impending loan repayment! Gameplay title   2. Apathy: Narugami Gakuen Nana Fushigi アパシー 鳴神学園七不思議 [220804] Mebius Shuichi Sakagami, a first-year student and member of the newspaper club, decides to listen to scary stories told by seven storytellers assembled by his upperclassmen to produce a feature on the school’s seven wonders for the school paper. However, when he opened the door to the club room, there were only six people. He went ahead and started the meeting on the school’s seven wonders without waiting on the seventh, unseen person, but a disturbing atmosphere filled the room. The thought that he shouldn’t hold this meeting crossed his mind, but it was too late to turn back. What kinds of stories will the six people share? And what awaits him at the end…? A massive-scale story and Takiya Iijima’s largest yet. Console exclusive     3. Mayonaka Gakuen Sanpo 真夜中学園さんぽ [220811] Hautecouture Inc. 1 In the summer of third year of high school the movie club is in danger of shutting down! Make a movie with girls as actors till Cultural festival so that it could survive. All age just for some cuteness    4. HAPPY SAIN† SHEOL -HAPPY SAIN† SHEOL- ハッピーセイント・シェオル [220813] Hankei 122px no Meido, Seiniku Jousai This is a story about a group of very ordinary girls. Two thousand years ago, the Pestis Disaster swept through the land, corrupting all living things and making it to difficult to live on the land. For those that still wish to live on this dead land, a temple was established. It was known as Saint Sheol of the Underworld. With the help of a distant relative, I moved to the capital that I had longed to live in, and began work as a trainee priest at Saint Sheol. Every day I endured pain and suffering in this unfamiliar land. On one particular day, when I was in truly dire straits, an angel appeared before me in my dreams. “Don’t worry,” she gently whispered. It was truly a vision that seemed impossible. I knew the face of that angel. Before the looming disaster stood 6 girls. Within the deepest corner of the temple was fear, miracles, love… and lust. Having touched the darkest darkness the world has seen, one must now face the dazzling light. Thus I pose this question. Whose wings did I see that day? Amateur group as developer, but it's picked for localization, so will probably get better coverage in a year   5. Amanatsu アマナツ [220826] Azarashi Soft Surrounded by the blue sea and green mountains, the protagonist moved there. For him, who has been struggling with the competitive society of the city, this is not a place to retreat, but a new battlefield. ――It was supposed to be. But, there was no such thing. From the first day at his new school, he is taken out by his classmates, enjoying what they do, and being inspired by them. Meanwhile, the three girls that the protagonist met also changed him again: a bright and lively kouhai who has a shocking encounter, Amahara Kogane; a shrine maiden senpai who looks out of this world but is surprisingly mischievous, Kaminashi Yashiro; a tsundere girl and daughter of the landlord who takes care of the protagonist, Ainokura Kazuha. In the vividness of summer, the love that is born between them will eventually turns into a deep love. Friendship and love are interwoven. A love story that only students can tell begins. Hayase Yuu is a quite known writer by SMEE games. No masterpiece for sure, but at least fun enough.    6. Natsu no Owari 夏ノ終熄 [220826] CUBE Summer in the countryside, rich in nature. The end of the world for two people. After graduating from college, Yuuji found a job, but had to retired after less than a year due to physical problems he got from his workplace. After much consideration, he decided to move to his grandparents' house in the countryside, which was vacant. During his recuperation, he spent his days making videos of his rural life and uploading them on video websites. The videos he uploaded gained a lot of attention, and when he was finally able to make a living from the income he earned from his videos, a global pandemic broke out. People all over the world were dying. Fortunately, Yuuji was not infected. One by one, people in his village fell ill, and after he saw the last person in his village off; "I wonder if I will die someday, too." Yuuji thought to himself, and lived in apathy. Then he meets a girl named Mio, who casually comes to his village, and he remembers the joy of living once again. Single heroine usually means more emphasis, more complex story and better atmosphere overall. Execution is good enough to live up to expectations.   7. Muyuu Senkyou Romanesque: Chronicles of Refugia 夢游仙境ロマネスク:Chronicles of Refugia [220729] medium 1 In the year 23XX, the world as we know it has come to an end. Global warming has caused the sea levels to rise, submerging coastal cities in every nation—a mass extinction event that forever changed life on what remains of the surface. This extreme climate change sparked violent conflicts in which android soldiers and drone strikes destroyed even more of the land. Now that the last dregs of humanity live within the confines of designated shelters, for the first time, they are forced to accept outsiders in order to secure their own safety. You see, not everyone who looks normal on the outside is human on the inside. And while the rest of the world sleeps, these non-humans are slowly taking over… Game is localized and has English reviews
  11. kivandopulus

    Anime of the Year
    Akira and Hotaru no Haka are firm masterpieces for me with the first one as personal favorite. Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu and Tonari no Totoro are borderline masterpieces.   1. Sakigake!! Otokojuku Charge!! Men's Private School 魁!!男塾 [1988-I] Lantis (Dropped 8/34) Tags: Shounen Delinquents, Martial Arts, School Action, Comedy Otokojuku: a private school for juvenile delinquents that were previously expelled from normal schools. At this school, Japanese chivalry is taught through feudal and military fundamentals. Similar to an action film, the classes are overwhelmed by violence. Only those who survive it become true men. First comedy episodes are perfect, but as violence kicks in, it starts to get overboard. In the 80s it was still fine, but today... not so sure. Midway it suddenly stopped to be funny. And I don't want to recommend this anime for others either, so 6 is the right score for it .   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Osomatsu-kun (1988) おそ松くん [1988-I] Pierrot (Dropped 3/86) Tags: Gag Humor Comedy  Meet the Osomatsu boys—sextuplets who look, speak, dress and talk like the same. They only add to the hyper eccentric residents of the town who easily break any boundaries defined by common sense. Check your logical thinking and reason at the door and immerse yourself in everyday lives of unique characters who are wild both in appearance and temperament! Humor is good, but absurd and episodical, so it's difficult to watch more than one episode in a row considered that each episode consists of two stories.  .   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. Shoukoushi Cedie Little Lord Fauntleroy 小公子セディ [1988-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/43) Tags: Drama, Slice of Life After his father's sudden death, Ceddie moves to England as an heir to his grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt. The Earl is a stubborn and selfish old man. Gradually, however, Ceddie's innocent love opens the Earl's heart and changes him into a caring and generous person. This is based on "Little Lord Fauntleroy" by F.H.Burnett. World masterpiece series, so only for those who like old literature-like SOL.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Tatakae!! Ramenman 闘将!!拉麺男 [1988-I] Toei Animation (Finished 3/35) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts  Action, Adventure Set in a land where several martial arts styles collide, including (but not limited to) Chinese Kung Fu, Japanese Karate, and South Korean Taekwondo. Yet amongst these Shaolin-trained fighters and men powerful enough to cut the face of a mountain, Victory Ramenman is said to be the strongest of them all. At a young age, he witnessed his father Somenman being murdered by members of the Cobra Gang (who are still running rampant to this day). Found and taken in by the wise old Chen Sou-Mei, Ramenman trains for 12 years under his master and learns the great Essential Battle Dragon (闘龍極意書, To Ryuu Gokui Sho) style of Choujin Martial arts. Now, with his young sidekick Shao-Mai, Ramenman travels the land seeking vengeance for his father, fighting several villains along the way. There were much more cool heroes in Kinnikuman, but I guess in popularity poll can't compete with Chinese population. Anyway, martial arts action trying to compete with Fist of the North Star is a very low starting position. Absolutely needless, as for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu 銀河英雄伝説 [1988-I] Kitty Film Mitaka Studio (Finished 110/110) Tags: Adult Cast, Military, Space  Drama, Sci-Fi The 150-year-long stalemate between the two interstellar superpowers, the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance, comes to an end when a new generation of leaders arises: the idealistic military genius Reinhard von Lohengramm, and the FPA's reserved historian, Yang Wenli. While Reinhard climbs the ranks of the Empire with the aid of his childhood friend, Siegfried Kircheis, he must fight not only the war, but also the remnants of the crumbling Goldenbaum Dynasty in order to free his sister from the Kaiser and unify humanity under one genuine ruler. Meanwhile, on the other side of the galaxy, Yang—a strong supporter of democratic ideals—has to stand firm in his beliefs, despite the struggles of the FPA, and show his pupil, Julian Mintz, that autocracy is not the solution. As ideologies clash amidst the war's many casualties, the two strategic masterminds must ask themselves what the real reason behind their battle is. With all the facepalms and rolled eyes on my side this show was still aiming for a firm masterpiece from me. But the horrible open ending killed even that intention. I actually do not recommend watching this show to the end, because the reward will be only frustration. Now for the facepalms. Half of space battles are either "We're twice as numerous, why use tactics at all" or "Let's pierce through their center with all the forces! Why are we surrounded after we pierced through their center with all the forces?". But it can't be repeated more than twice, so there are a lot of stupid moves of other kinds. Like "Damn the whole new fleet appeared from the dead angle and now we're surrounded" or "Enemy steamrolls through left flank , but our genius commander does not know how to counter that and just watches. And then enemy commander gets ill and fight stops". Just what the hell is that, seriously. Lots and lots of loopholes , illogical decisions , unexplained coincidences and profanities of all kinds of guards. I'm pretty mad. But still it's the most epic, vast and complex anime space opera created. There are still a lot of personalities in development and unexpected losses on the way. My advice would be to watch recent remake of beginning of this series and be done with it. I dropped this series somewhere at tenth episode last time I tried to watch it 10+ years ago, and it was an absolutely right decision, surprisingly. Those who puts 10/10 scores are just sorry for the wasted time or have not seen anything more complex in anime. And all the people who drop this series can't put the score, because to evaluate they'd need to watch 100+ rather boring episodes.   Overall Rating: 7/10   6. Dragon's Heaven ドラゴンズヘブン [1988-I] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  In the year 3195, there was a war between an army of robots and the humans. When Shaian, a sentient combat armor, lost his companion in battle, he shut down until his internal systems spotted a new human. It's now almost a 1000 years later, and Shaian's greatest enemy is still alive and doing battle in Brazil. With a new friend`s help, Shaian may be able to stop this evil force before another war rages over the continent. Not bad, but super short, like one anime episode long, can't recommend that because of the length.   Overall Rating: 4/10   7. Soukou Kihei Votoms: Red Shoulder Document - Yabou no Roots Armored Trooper Votoms: Red Shoulder Document - Roots of Treachery 装甲騎兵ボトムズ レッドショルダードキュメント野望のルーツ [1988-I] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military Drama, Sci-Fi After armored trooper pilot Chirico Cuvie is given orders to transfer to Planet Odon, he and all of the other new recruits are sent into a simulated battle to test their abilities. However, this 'simulated battle' turns out to be a serious fight to eliminate those without the necessary skills. Chirico survives along with just three others, despite the fact that he fought while injured. It soon becomes apparent that this is not the first time he has survived against incredible odds, a fact that Colonel Peruzen wishes to exploit. But is Chirico truly immortal? The best Kihei Votoms seen so far. Finally story is logical and about protagonist instead of messy action about everything at once.   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. Kyoufu no Bio Ningen Saishuu Kyoushi Ultimate Teacher 恐怖のバイオ人間 最終教師 [1988-I] J.C.Staff (Finished 1/1) Tags: School Action, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural At a run down school the "Ultimate Teacher" Ganpachi is sent to get things back on track and prepare the delinquent students for the real world. But the students don't want Ganpachi ruining the gang they got going so their boss, Hinako, fights back Ganpachi aided by her secret power...her lucky kitty underwear. Things get more interesting when we findout Ganpachi is the result of genetic experiments. Bakage action about bloomers and pantsu. You won't miss anything by not watching this OVA.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Seisenshi Dunbine OVA 聖戦士ダンバイン [1988-I] Sunrise (Finished 3/3) Tags: Mecha Adventure, Sci-Fi Taking place 700 years after the Dunbine TV Series, "The Tale of Neo Byston Well" revolves around Shion Zaba, the reincarnation of series protagonist Sho Zama. Together with Silkie Mau, Reml Jilfried (the reincarnation of Remile Luft), and the Aura Battler Silbine, Shion must stop a twisted Shot Weapon from launching a custom-made nuclear ICBM missile that's poised to wipe out the realm. "The Tale of Neo Byston Well" gained praise not only for its upgraded animation but also for using B-CLUB Magazine's popular AURA FANTASM series as the basis for the new Aura Battler designs. Reincarnation of Dunbine did not impress either.   Overall Rating: 5/10   10. Harbor Light Monogatari: Fashion Lala yori Fashion Lala: The Story of the Harbour Light ハーバーライト物語 ファッションララより [1988-I] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo A Cinderella story of sorts, Fashion Lala stars a little girl named Miho who doesn't get along with her family. Miho loves to design clothing, but her aunt and three cousins don't believe that such a young girl is capable and mock her designs. Meanwhile, a contest for the new "Disco Queen" is coming up, and Miho wants nothing more than to be able to design a dress for someone to wear to the competition, since she's too young to enter herself. With determination and a little bit of magic, Miho's dreams just might come true! So some girls dance... nothing comes out of it.   Overall Rating: 4/10   11. Madonna マドンナ [1988-I] Toei Animation (Finished 2/2) Tags: Delinquents, School, Team Sports, Workplace Comedy, Sports Mako, a sexy young teacher, comes to Gyunabe high school to enlighten young minds. What she wasn't counting on was a class full of misfits lead by the delinquent Obayashi. If their never ending quest to see her underwear and embarrass her in front of the whole school doesn't force her to quit, then her principal's brilliant idea of making her the new rugby coach will. First episode is teacher being molested by delinquents, second is after miraculous shift of attitude coaching them in rugby. Imho, more harm than anything else.   Overall Rating: 4/10   12. Xanadu Dragonslayer Densetsu ザナドウ・ドラゴンスレイヤー伝説  [1988-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy  Based on the role-playing game "Legend of Xanadu". The evil magician Reichswar has killed the King to gain possession of a magic crystal; now he means to use its power to rule the whole of Xanadu. Then the widowed Queen Rieru is kidnapped. One brave young warrior, wielding the magic blade Dragonslayer, goes to her rescue. Was a surprise for me that beginning is in mechanized future, but in couple minutes shifts to fantasy and hero kinda loses memory. As just the second fantasy title, concept is simple and straightforward - search for legendary sword together with a princess who gets soon kidnapped, and rescuing her is all the 50 mins length is enough for.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack 機動戦士ガンダム 逆襲のシャア [1988-I] Sunrise  (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Drama, Sci-Fi The year is Universal Century 0093. Char Aznable has taken command of Neo Zeon, the rebels of outer space. He firmly believes that humankind can only achieve peace by relocating to space. Thus, he plans to crash the giant asteroid Axis into Earth and plunge the planet into an uninhabitable winter. Char also eagerly anticipates this opportunity to settle a 14-year rivalry with Amuro Ray. The two have been reluctant allies at times, but Char has never forgiven Amuro for causing the death of one of his comrades during the One Year War. Only the Earth Federation's Londo Bell Unit has the power to stop Char from fulfilling his dangerous goal. Leading the defense of Earth is veteran captain Bright Noa and Amuro Ray with the latest Nu Gundam mobile suit. In this thrilling conclusion to the original Gundam series, Londo Bell engages in a final conflict with Neo Zeon that will decide the fate of Earth and end this long-standing rivalry—once and for all. Well, I tried.   Overall Rating: 5/10   14. Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Waga Yuku wa Hoshi no Taikai Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest is the Sea of Stars 銀河英雄伝説: わが征くは星の大海 [1988-I] Kitty Film Mitaka Studio (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adult Cast, Military, Space Action, Sci-Fi Four months before Count von Lohengramm of the Galactic Empire faced Yang Wen-li of the Free Planets Alliance at the Battle of Astarte, he was still just Reinhard von Müsel. The youngest admiral in the Empire's history, Reinhard was disdained and dismissed by his peers as the brother of the Kaiser's concubine. Upon arriving at Iserlohn Fortress with his expeditionary fleet, Reinhard immediately receives an order from the ambitious and cunning Fleet Admiral Gregor von Mückenberger: to intercept an Alliance fleet in a neighboring starzone. Despite recognizing this as a veiled attempt to get him killed in combat, Reinhard nevertheless orders his tired and weary men to engage the enemy in the atmosphere of the gas giant Legnica. But unbeknownst to him, this will mark the first of his many historic encounters with the Hero of El Facil. Nothing really new. With recent remake of the beginning, this movie is obsolete.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Maison Ikkoku: Kanketsu-hen めぞん一刻 完結篇 [1988-I] Ajia-Do (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Comedy, Drama, Romance The Maison Ikkoku tennants throw a party to celebrate the marriage of Yuusaku and Kyouko. However, during the party Yuusaku hears that Kyouko is waiting for a letter. He becomes jealous and begins to doubt Kyouko, worrying that she still loves someone else. When the morning arrives, the answer to his worries is revealed... I value the show mostly for comedy, but as the last episode it has to tackle more with serious things wrapping up some loose ends. Very nice, as expected.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Urusei Yatsura Movie 5: Kanketsu-hen うる星やつら 完結篇 [1988-I] Magic Bus (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi  The Urusei Yatsura story comes to a climax in this animated retelling of the final Manga story (although not the final movie). Lupa, yet another one of Lum's fiancés, arrives on the scene, and Lum and Ataru have to repeat their game of tag in order to prevent the Earth from being destroyed. All Ataru has to do to win is say "I love you" the three words he has steadfastly refused to say to Lum. Will he admit his true feelings and save the Earth? Or will his pride doom it to destruction? What a mess. Let's make a twin and repeat the confusion over and over and over and over and over again. Horrible end of the series.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Lady Lady!! (1988) レディレディ!! (1988) [1988-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Drama When Rin's mother dies, she makes the promise that some day she will become a Lady, and travels to England to meet the rest of the family. She is not very welcomed (specially at the start by her stepsister Sara), but after some time they are all a happy family. Rin (Lynn) is also very interested in horses and racing, and she wins a nice share of contests. This series is divided into two parts, first with Rin being really a child, and the second with her being around 13. The whole recap of kid Lynn only takes some 25 mins... fulfils its role as recap and confirms that there was not much substantial content in first season.    Overall Rating: 5/10   18. City Hunter 2 シティーハンター2 [1988-II] Sunrise (Dropped 5/63) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Mystery Ryo Saeba is a "sweeper" know as the City Hunter. He and his sidekick Kaori Makimura are hired to solve problems that the police can't (or won't) handle. When he's not keeping the streets of Tokyo clean, Ryo is chasing the ladies, and Kaori chases after him with a giant anti-ecchi hammer. It's become a bit better, and it seems to be coming a bit close to EVE Burst Error concept, but not sure it will ever be there . So far, still no desire to watch it further.   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. Yoroiden Samurai Troopers Ronin Warriors 鎧伝サムライトルーパー [1988-II] Sunrise (Dropped 3/39) Tags: Shounen Samurai Adventure, Sci-Fi Thousands of years ago, the evil emperor Talpa attempted to conquer the Earth. Defeated, he was banished to the Nether Realm and his armor was divided into 9 separate suits. Now, he has returned to conquer Earth, having reclaimed 4 of the suits. The other 5 are in the possesion of those who are the only hope of stopping him: The Ronin Warriors. Concept is pretty close to that of power rangers. Add to that that five heroes are very young, probably just entered middle school, and the score would become evident.   Overall Rating: 4/10   20. Hello! Lady Lynn ハロー! レディリン [1988-I] Toei Animation (Dropped 0/36) Tags: Shoujo Drama This is the second series of Lady Lady. Every year at Lynn's school, an honorable “Lady Quest” is given to the most sophisticated lady. Lynn strives to receive this honor. Not translated, and I'm not going to watch untranslated Shoujo.   Overall Rating: 0/10   21. F F-エフ [1988-II] Studio Deen (Dropped 3/31) Tags: Shounen Racing  Gunma Akagi, a teenager from the countryside, frequently causes a ruckus with his turbocharged tractor, much to the chagrin of his father, aspiring politician Souichirou Akagi, who urges the family to set a good example to ensure his success. One night, while Gunma is driving his tractor on the highway with his best friend Tamotsu Oishi, the two are suddenly overtaken by a speeding car. Gunma interprets this as a challenge and tries to outpace his opponent, only to fail in a spectacular fashion. The defeat sparks a fire within him, and Gunma becomes determined to win against this mysterious foe at all costs. Soon after, he leaves the peaceful countryside behind and moves to the bustling city, aiming to become the next Formula One star! I'm not sure what kind of racing I can liked. This one is pretty straightforward F1 racing with a mouthful redneck as protagonist, and no quantity of comedy can mend an anime with a poor protagonist and weak concept.   Overall Rating: 4/10   22. Transformers: Choujin Master Force Transformers Super-God Masterforce トランスフォーマー・超神マスターフォース [1988-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/43) Tags: Shounen Mecha Adventure, Sci-Fi Even though the Decepticons have been driven off Earth, a small team of Autobot Pretenders have remained behind, just in case. Led by Metalhawk ("Hawk" in his human identity), the Pretenders live among the humans, using their Pretender shells to assume human size and appearance. The Autobots' caution is rewarded: Decepticon Pretenders soon appear, led by a mysterious force called Devil Z. The Autobots and Decepticons soon build up their forces, recruiting humans to become Junior Headmasters and Godmasters (Powermasters). Of course I sampled it, but it has not become better since my childhood.   Overall Rating: 4/10   23. Chouon Senshi Borgman 超音戦士ボーグマン [1988-II] Production Reed (Dropped 3/35) Tags: Mythology Action, Sci-Fi Sonic Soldier Borgman is a science fiction that combines super sentai with non-gattai. It features a sentai-like three members team that fight an organization known as Youma. Features three characters with three basic ranger colors: Pink, Blue and Green. Featuring three main characters: Chuck, Ryo and Anise, Ryo is the leader, Chuck and Anise are teachers at a public school. Sometimes, the students help or make troubles to the Borgman somehow, some even know the Borgman secret identities. Ryo has a talking "modern" blue motorcycle that can upgrade itself. The transformation code is "Borg. Get On". Each member has a personal cannon that matches his/her armor color that appears only to finish the monster they fight. Adult cast is the only advantage of this sentai anime. Otherwise pretty standard and simple with evil emperor ec.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru 魔神英雄伝ワタル [1988-II] Sunrise (Dropped 3/43) Tags: Shounen Mecha Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi A 9-year-old boy named Wataru Ikusabe is magically transported to a magical realm of the gods called Soukaizan which he is supposed to save. In his quest to save the realm, he manages to transform a clay sculpture into a somewhat autonomous (small) Super Robot. Mecha positions are still strong, but fantasy advances... so it's another weird example of mecha in fantasy world of swordfights. The distinguishing feature of anime is chibi SD designs of almost everything including enemies and robots. It looked a lot like Dragon Ball copycat to me, but with appearance of Himiko that looks almost exactly like Bluma, it became evident. Even round pearl is used as weapon. Basically, Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru is Dragon Ball like experience with more parody and antics as Sunrise signature. Personally, I like Dragon Ball humor more.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Moeru! Oniisan The Burning Wild Man 燃える!お兄さん [1988-II] Pierrot (Dropped 3/24) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy When Kenichi Kokuho was a small boy, he was lost in the mountains and never found. However, unknown to anyone, Kenichi has been brought up by his foster father in the wild. When Kenichi becomes 15 years old, his foster father tells him the truth about his background. As he finds out, Kenichi decides to go to a civilized society where his parents live. Everything Kenichi experiences in the town is a series of surprise and wonder. His family is delighted to see their son alive, but shocked at the fact that he has become wild and different from other children. And now, his new life is about to begin. His wild attitude and physical toughness cause various problems in the town. Kenichi has his own way to handle things, but it is too different for the most people to understand what he is up to. Can he get used to life in the town? There was already a more charismatic old anime about a wild boy coming to town. I see this anime as comedy slot filler as without normal story there's yet another episodic setting to exploit. Comedy is ok.   Overall Rating: 5/10   26. What's Michael? (TV) ホワッツマイケル? [1988-II] Daume (Finished 0/45) Tags: Pets Comedy Michael is a fat orange cat who lives with a pair of well-meaning but very stupid humans who fondly imagine he is their pet. But Michael's own daily life is rich in all kinds of little incidents and upheavals-avoiding local bad cat Nyazilla, a monster against whom Michael knows he'll always come out worse, scrounging food from local stores, meeting up with his animal friends, and keeping the humans amused as best he can. And Michael also has a fantasy life even his fellow feline Garfield would envy, with cat corporations, cat nightclubs, and his own imitation of a dancing American megastar also called Michael. Not translated, so why would I suffer. By OVA  we all know what it is about.   Overall Rating: 0/10   27. Doctor Chichibuyama ドクター秩父山 [1988-II] Production Reed (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Parody Comedy, Ecchi Dr. Chichibuyama is the perverse head of a hospital way out in the mountains and terrorizes patients with the help of his lover and a sexy young nurse. Not translated it seems, a least to English. Ecchi gag comedy about doctor describes it pretty well. Each episode is about a dozen of short sketches as if just jumped from manga strip. OK'ish.   Overall Rating: 4/10   28. Ikinari Dagon いきなりダゴン [1988-II] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/12) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy Dagon's little rocket crashes into a beautiful, blue planet and lands on a bed of green weeds. He quickly becomes friends with all kinds of creatures: Zipzap Mantis, General Ant Garibaldi, Andy Ant, Doctor Marilyn Wasp, and many more. Needless to say they are all insects. Insects? Yes, Dagon is only one centimetre tall! The tiny residents of the land of weeds become curious about the identity of this stranger from another planet. But when Dagon saves them from the danger posed by their ferocious enemies, Gulpo Toad and Godzi Lizard, everyone thinks Dagon is a SUPER-BUG! This planet is also home to a number of creatures that are very terrifying to these little fellows. They are called the Sapiens, or the human beings. Dagon must confront these massive creatures in order to get his rocket back from them! So begins Dagon's funny and thrilling adventure on Earth... Not translated. It feels very similar to the previous series about bees as it's all about insects and toads, and there's constant need to save some insects like bees from toads... can't call it fun at all.   Overall Rating: 4/10   29. Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor Patlabor: The Mobile Police 機動警察パトレイバー [1988-II] Studio Deen (Finished 7/7) Tags: Detective, Mecha Comedy, Sci-Fi As the human race evolves, so does its technology. Engineers have successfully created robots dubbed "Labors" for mass distribution, utilized by society for a number of everyday tasks. However, there are criminals who manage to get their hands on these Labors, using them for their own nefarious means. To combat this new form of delinquency, police around the world begin using "Patrol Labors" or "Patlabors" to put a stop to Labor-related crimes. Rookie police officer Noa Izumi is drafted into a special Patlabor unit, getting her own mechanical suit to fight crime. Naming this machine Alphonse, Izumi works tirelessly alongside her peers to keep civilization safe from those who would use this advanced technology to harm others. As Izumi becomes further ingrained within her unit, she must also learn how to navigate both her social and professional spheres with grace and wit. She befriends the aloof Asuma Shinohara, fellow pilot Isao Oota, and the other members of her brigade as she helps them to combat conspiratorial plots, workplace revolts, and supernatural beings. What a mess. Why mecha police action is mostly about genetics and ghost incidents. First four episodes are absolutely horrible chaotic comedy stories with open endings, by 5th episode they remember that the ending is close, so introduce serious episodes suddenly to fix impression. Bigger half of episodes is a mess, try better in a movie.   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Appleseed アップル・シード [1988-II] Gainax (Finished 1/1) Tags: Detective, Mecha Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Appleseed takes place in the aftermath of World War III, where the General Management Control Office has constructed the experimental city known as Olympus. Built to be a paradise on Earth, Olympus is inhabited by humans, cyborgs, and bioroids (genetically engineered humans designed for increased physical capabilities and decreased emotional capabilities). Bioroids run and control all of the administrative functions of Olympus, ensuring that the city remains the utopian society it was meant to be for all of its citizens. But for some people living in Utopia, the city has become less of a home and more of a cage. Police officer Calon Mautholos has grown to despise Olympus following his wife's suicide, blaming her death on the lack of creative freedom caused by the rules binding the citizens of the city. As his hatred for the city grows, Calon conspires with the terrorist A.J. Sebastian to destroy the Legislature of the Central Management Bureau to send the rules of Olympus that killed his wife tumbling down. But when Calon discovers it is not political malcontent, but rather hatred for bioroids that motives Sebastian, Calon turns renegade and gains the attention of city officials. Deunan Knute and her partner Briareos of the ESWAT counter-terrorism unit are dispatched to hunt down and stop Calon and Sebastian... by any means necessary! Good setting setter, but as a story... too little.   Overall Rating: 6/10   31. Dominion ドミニオン [1988-II] Agent 21 (Finished 4/4) Tags: Detective, Mecha Comedy, Sci-Fi Leona Ozaki joins Newport City's infamous Tank Police division. With aid of Al and her newly built mini-tank, Bonaparte, she wages war on Buaku and his cohorts, the Puma Sisters. Wow, third anime about mechanized police in a row. Not bad overall, but the fact that police  tries to catch same three bandits (plus a new one from the 3rd ep) blowing everything around each time makes all leftover seriousness obsolete. Oh, and torture is not fun. In any way .   Overall Rating: 4/10   32. Project A-Ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody プロジェクトA子3 シンデレララプソディ [1988-II] Studio Fantasia (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Super Power Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi In the middle of another break from school, A-Ko dreams of finding the perfect boyfriend. Because of this, she and C-Ko get into an argument that leads to C-Ko running away and nearly getting hit by a motorcyclist named Kei. While working part-time at a fast-food restaurant to raise money for a party dress, A-Ko meets Kei and immediately falls in love with him. B-Ko happens to like him as well; however, both A-Ko and B-Ko are unaware that C-Ko is the apple of Kei's eyes. Don't know how they manage to do it, but with every new movie it gets only worse.   Overall Rating: 4/10   33. Kujakuou Spirit Warrior 孔雀王 [1988-II] AIC (Finished 3/3) Tags: Mythology Action, Horror A young mystic without a past, Kujaku was born under a dark omen possessed of incredible supernatural powers. Raised by priests, he has learned to use these powers for good. But the evil Siegfried von Mittgard seeks to steal his birthright, and rule the world as the Regent of Darkness. He has dispatched bloodthirsty minions to destroy Kujaku before he can awaken to his destiny. Now, Kujaku must unravel the riddle of his past, before the power within consumes him! Just action about magical martial artists. Definitely not for everyone.   Overall Rating: 5/10   34. Tokyo Vice The Tokyo Project トウキョウ・バイス [1988-II] J.C.Staff (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi One night at a rock concert, a mysterious man dies while leaving a floppy disc with a member of the Rutz Detective Agency. Soon they realize the disk contains information about a deadly new weapon under development. The heroes become involved in a game of political subterfuge and military espionage, hot on the trail of the killer! Super boring detective action...   Overall Rating: 5/10   35. Antique Heart アンティーク ハート [1988-II] J.C.Staff (Finished 1/1) Tags: School Mystery There's an old decrepit building at the edge of the school grounds that hasn't been used for years, and it falls apart a little bit more each day. But the little house holds a secret, as Takahiro and his friends are soon to find out...they wind up making contact with a mysterious entity known as Saki. Can Takahiro save Saki's world from destruction. Not translated. There's not much more than saving the old school building where ghost lives.   Overall Rating: 4/10   36. Akai Koudan Zillion: Utahime Yakyoku Zillion: Burning Nigh 赤い光弾ジリオン 歌姫夜曲  [1988-II] Production I.G (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Sci-Fi  In the peaceful aftermath of the Nozsa wars, the charismatic heroes known as "The White Knights" have changed career paths to becoming music making rockstars. J.J., Dave, Champ and Apple have formed a rock band called, "The White Nuts". Their music career would soon be interrupted by a new threat of colonial settlers. Apple is kidnapped by the sadistic ODAMA Clan - a family of ruthless killers. Located in a heavily-fortified mountain retreat, J.J. and company attempt a rescue mission with their laser weapon Zillion. But the former Knights only have a limited supply of Zillium for the Zillion guns. A mysterious stranger named Rick turns out to be an old lover of Apple. My recollections of the first three episodes fit poorly with the inner conflict of this OVA, guess only for franchise fans.   Overall Rating: 5/10   37. Mahjong Hishouden: Naki no Ryuu 麻雀飛翔伝 哭きの竜 [1988-II]  Gainax, Magic Bus (Finished 3/3) Tags: Seinen Organized Crime, Strategy Game Action, Drama The protagonist, Ryuu or Crying Dragon, is a mysterious man who often plays games with the gang members. He only wins by "ron," a move in which one needs to wait for the opponent's tile to complete the win. *"Ron" is also called "naki" in mahjong, which has the same pronunciation as "crying" in Japanese Not translated. Given that I don't understand a thing in Mahjong, watching Ryuu finishing with Ron and yakuza getting killed afterwards was not a fun thing at all..   Overall Rating: 4/10   38. Rokushin Gattai GodMars: Juunana-sai no Densetsu 六神合体ゴッドマーズ 十七歳の伝説 [1988-II] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Sci-Fi Marg was deprived his little brother, Mars, by Zure, and lost his parents. Therefore, he was living alone on the planet, Gishin. He became a member of guerrilla to riot against the dictator Zure, and he fell in love with Ruru, the daughter of the leader, Ura. However, the organization was destroyed. He was trapped by Zure, and he was brainwashed to become a soldier. Then, his long cherished wish that he would meet his brother again was realized… as a duel with him. Gaia, God Mars, and the Gishin robot Zeron receive redesigns although the OVA mostly focuses on an alternate telling of Marg's life on Gishin up until the events of episode 19. Since it focuses on alternative ending there's nothing to do here without finishing TV series.  Overall Rating: 4/10   39. Abe George Kattobi Seishun Ki: Shibuya Honky Tonk 安部譲二かっとび青春記 渋谷ホンキィトンク [1988-II] Tokuma Japan (Finished 4/4) Tags: Drama, Ecchi This story is based on one of the famous Japanese writers "George Abe"'s troubled boyhood. Although he was born in wealthy family, he starts keeping company with yakuza... Protagonist is participating in risky yakuza activities and having fun with a lot of women in between. Nothing original here .   Overall Rating: 4/10   40. Zukkoke Sannin-gumi: Zukkoke Jikuu Bouken ズッコケ三人組 ズッコケ時空冒険 [1988-II] Tama Production (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Comedy, Sci-Fi Three reporters from the school paper get transported back to the Edo period. Not translated. There seems to also untranslated series later on. 40% is school life before time travel, and all that's there to do in the remaining time is get to past, get some adventures and get back while getting explanation from time patrol member. Not great.   Overall Rating: 4/10   41. Tonari no Totoro My Neighbor Totoro となりのトトロ [1988-II] Studio Ghibli (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Supernatural In 1950s Japan, Tatsuo Kusakabe relocates himself and his two daughters, Satsuki and Mei, to the countryside to be closer to their mother, who is hospitalized due to long-term illness. As the girls grow acquainted with rural life, Mei encounters a small, bunny-like creature in the yard one day. Chasing it into the forest, she finds "Totoro"—a giant, mystical forest spirit whom she soon befriends. Before long, Satsuki too meets Totoro, and the two girls suddenly find their lives filled with magical adventures in nature and fantastical creatures of the wood Watched it for the second time now and got a clear impression that it's only for kids. I can acknowledge music, impact and visualization of myths, but can't say I enjoyed it now after a lot of years.   Overall Rating: 7/10   42. Hotaru no Haka Grave of the Fireflies 火垂るの墓 [1988-II] Studio Ghibli (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Drama As World War II reaches its conclusion in 1945, Japan faces widespread destruction in the form of American bombings, devastating city after city. Hotaru no Haka, also known as Grave of the Fireflies, is the story of Seita and his sister Setsuko, two Japanese children whose lives are ravaged by the brutal war. They have lost their mother, their father, their home, and the prospect of a bright future—all tragic consequences of the war. Now orphaned and homeless, Seita and Setsuko have no choice but to drift across the countryside, beset by starvation and disease. Met with the apathy of adults along the way, they find that desperate circumstances can turn even the kindest of people cruel yet their youthful hope shines brightly in the face of unrelenting hardship, preventing the siblings from swiftly succumbing to an inevitable fate. Gen did a lot of things right, but the impact was still on detonation, although detonation counted mere percentage of victims. Also we as viewers never got to like the people who die, even Gen family members. Grave of the Fireflies basically uses a more psychological approach to hit in the most painful pressure points of viewers. Painful, but important and meaningful.   Overall Rating: 8/10   43. Tekken Chinmi Iron Fist Chinmi 鉄拳チンミ [1988-III] Production Reed (Dropped 3/20) Tags: Shounen Historical, Martial Arts Chinmi is a young Chinese boy devoted to martial arts training. Word of his skill reaches the kung-fu masters at the famous Dailin temple who invite him to study with them. Through his own dedication and the guidance of his teachers, Chinmi becomes one of the top students at the temple. Eventually, the time comes for him to leave Dailin and make a pilgrimage. On his journey he faces a number of dangers that test his skills, but he also meets many people who inspire him in different ways. A chastened but determined Chinmi returns to Dailin for advanced training. But soon his skills are needed again—the Mongol hordes are nearing the temple. Not translated. Another wanna be Dragon ball as there is a super strong martial artist, companions including a girl and significant tilt into comedy. Another imitator Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru looked better than this one.    Overall Rating: 5/10   44. Kyuuketsuhime Miyu Vampire Princess Miyu 吸血姫美夕 [1988-III] AIC (Finished 4/4) Tags: Shoujo Mythology, Vampire Action, Drama, Horror A quiet gothic horror story about a vampire girl, Miyu, whose destiny it is to hunt down murderous demons known as Shinma and return them to their land of origin, the Dark. Miyu is pursued by the Spiritualist Himiko, determined to find out who Miyu is and to stop her from sucking the life blood from helpless humans. Each of the four episodes chronicle one of Miyu's encounters with a Shinma and the humans that it is affecting, from the perspective of Himiko's pursuit of Miyu. I don't like horrors and vampires in general as a thing. There's a spiritualist who never faced anything supernatural, a good mysterious vampire princess Miyu and different baddie each time, usually vampire, but not only vampires. All the dark colors , malicious intents and violence make it almost unwatchable for me.   Overall Rating: 4/10   45. Deimos no Hanayome: Ran no Kumikyoku 悪魔の花嫁 蘭の組曲 [1988-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Mythology, Psychological Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural Two siblings were happy on Mt. Olympus, until they fell in love. Deimo's sister Venus got imprisoned in the Swamp of Death. To save Venus's life, he must find a human reincarnation so that they can continue their love. Another horror mystery shoujo with dominating red and black colors. It feels very bad for me .   Overall Rating: 4/10   46. Ace wo Nerae! 2 エースをねらえ!2 [1988-III] TMS Entertainment (Dropped 3/13) Tags: Shoujo Drama, Sports Three years has passed since the events of the first series. Hiromi continued training with her coach and became Japan's junior champion. Their common profits have also contributed to the coach being chosen as the first trainer of the Japanese Selection of Tennis and is arranged to head a trip with the youngest members of the team to USA. The relation between Hiromi and its trainer is narrower at personal level but it exceeds the teacher-student bond with great difficulty. Good to see sequel of the first real shoujo, Oba is a junior champion, but still can't beat Miss Butterfly and still can't find common language with coach, so show tries to exploit old paths. Guess only for those who did not have enough of Ace wo Nerae.   Overall Rating: 5/10   47. Kosuke-sama Rikimaru-sama: Konpeitou no Ryuu 小助さま力丸さま-コンペイ島の竜- [1988-III] J.C.Staff (Finished 1/1) Tags: Super Power Action, Adventure Kosukesama Rikimarusama: Konpeito no Ryu was a 45 minute long anime TV special produced by J.C. Staff and broadcast on Japanese television in 1988. Similar to Dragon Ball, it was a martial arts adventure story featuring villains that could have stepped out of the Red Ribbon Army, typical Toriyama mecha, and a clone of Son Gohan's Haiya Dragon. This is indeed a clone up to small details. Not as good as original, but humor is good and characters are nice, so why not.   Overall Rating: 5/10   48. Watt Poe to Bokura no Ohanashi Watt Poe ワット・ボーとぼくらのお話 [1988-III] Kaname Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Sci-Fi Jam lives in a small coastal village that lives off fish that men bring home every day. One day his grandfather tells him that in recent year the fishing has been scarce. The steel hawks who live nearby on the mountain have kidnapped Watt Poe, a narwhal who is said to be the great protector of the sea, thus depriving the fishermen of his blessing. The boy decides to climb the mountain with the intention of bringing Watt Poe back to the sea... Story gets seriously more complicated than just climbing a mountain, but it's still rather average action adventure.   Overall Rating: 5/10   49. Gensei Shugoshin P-hyoro Ikka OVA 現世守護神ぴーひょろ一家 OVA [1988-III] Bandai Visual (Finished 3/3) Tags: Shoujo Adventure, Fantasy Based on Kaori Kimeki's fantasy manga serialized in "Princess" magazine. Main quiestion for me was why it is called shoujo at all. The reason is that protagonists are pictured in shoujo style, 4th sibling is actually a brow-haired girl, and problems arising are shoujo-themed if I can say so. Overall, just some youkai cases.   Overall Rating: 5/10   50. Touyama Sakura Uchuu Chou: Yatsu no Na wa Gold Samurai Gold 遠山桜宇宙帖・奴の名はゴールド  [1988-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi This science-fiction anime was inspired somewhat by the life of Kinshiro Toyama (1793-1855), who was first popularized in the 1893 kabuki play "Toyama no Kinsan." Protagonist is a samurai with a laser sword. Assassins are being sent after him, and through that he unmasks a big conspiracy. But with current super blurry hardsubs anime is almost unwatchable due to eye pain.   Overall Rating: 5/10   51. Namakemono ga Miteta ナマケモノが見てた [1988-III] Agent 21 (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Comedy Based off a manga by Murakami Takashi that was serialized in Weekly Young Jump. Not translated. This is a rapid-fire series of gags and comedic skits with an all-animal cast. It's really not fun to watch gag comedy without translation, but among this genre representatives current anime is rather average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   52. Akira AKIRA(アキラ) [1988-III] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Gore, Military Japan, 1988. An explosion caused by a young boy with psychic powers tears through the city of Tokyo and ignites the fuse that leads to World War III. In order to prevent any further destruction, he is captured and taken into custody, never to be heard from again. Now, in the year 2019, a restored version of the city known as Neo-Tokyo—an area rife with gang violence and terrorism against the current government—stands in its place. Here, Shoutarou Kaneda leads "the Capsules," a group of misfits known for riding large, custom motorcycles and being in constant conflict with their rivals "the Clowns." During one of these battles, Shoutarou's best friend Tetsuo Shima is caught up in an accident with an esper who finds himself in the streets of Tokyo after escaping confinement from a government institution. Through this encounter, Tetsuo begins to develop his own mysterious abilities, as the government seeks to quarantine this latest psychic in a desperate attempt to prevent him from unleashing the destructive power that could once again bring the city to its knees. I can be subjective towards Cyberpunk, but yeah, this is a firm masterpiece for me. I watched it just couple years ago, but I managed to forget how many characters and lines there are here. Akira is wonderfully done visually, very rich animation that is probably not possible today already. It has genius visual moves. Despite Tetsuo having not the most stable personality, there are a lot of absolutely serious , rational and and intelligent characters here. The pace of this anime is twice higher than the average one. It's also a very bitter story about revolution and corruption. Most importantly, Akira is the first representative of half sane, half crazy settings of 1990s in contrast to just avangardist insanity seen before already , e.g. Neo Tokyo . The only remaining question is why not higher score - the answer is because it should deliver real intellectual pleasure for it. Great experience nonetheless - and that's what matters .   Overall Rating: 8/10   53. Dragon Ball Movie 3: Makafushigi Daibouken ドラゴンボール 摩訶不思議大冒険 [1988-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Super Power Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Emperor Chiaotzu's wife has gone missing, and he is told by Master Shen that if he collects the seven dragon balls he can call upon the eternal dragon and wish for her return. Meanwhile, Goku and Krillin attend the World Martial Arts Tournament, which is hosted by the Emperor; Bora and his son Upa attempt to hide the dragon ball they found from the emperor's forces, which are under the control of the evil Shen and General Tao; and Bulma conducts her own search for the dragon balls with the help of Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong. Another 40 minutes with mostly parodies. It's all very weird and unintegral.   Overall Rating: 5/10   54. Sakigake!! Otokojuku Movie Charge!! Men's Private School 魁!!男塾 [1988-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Delinquents, Martial Arts, School Action, Comedy Otokojuku, a private school for juvenile delinquents that were previously expelled from normal schools. At this school, Japanese chivalry is taught through the feudal and military fundamentals. Similar to an action film, the classes are overwhelmed by violence. Only those who survive it become true men. I like only humor in Sakigake and hoped for humorous movie. Instead, it's one competition arc with lots of fights, survival, action and really little humor. The result is evident.   Overall Rating: 5/10   55. Hi no Ame ga Furu 火の雨がふる [1988-III] Mushi Production  (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Drama An anti-war anime based on a book containing contemporary accounts of the fire-bombing of the city of Fukuoka on the evening of June 19, 1945. Not translated. Style is very similar to Gen. Fukuoka had only conventional bombing, so anime tries to go the way of Graveyard of Fireflies by presenting a friendship in development and finishes with the bombing that causes very few casualties in the aime. A lot less impact than both previous titles.   Overall Rating: 5/10   56. Shirahata no Shoujo Ryuuko 白旗の少女 琉子 [1988-III] Magic Bus (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Historical Drama In 1945, American troops land on the island of Okinawa. The Japanese fight a guerrilla war against the invaders, and little Ryuko is forced to leave her grandparents behind and flee with her mother and younger sister, who are eventually killed. Ryuko heads on alone across the war-torn island. Eventually she reaches safety in Japanese-occupied caves, only to witness the Japanese troops committing suicide with hand grenades. Based on a children's book by Akira Aratagawa and Hikuji Norima, itself inspired by real American footage of an Okinawan girl, Tomiko Higa, waving a white flag at the island's surrender. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   57. Natsufuku no Shoujo-tachi 夏服の少女たち [1988-III] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Drama In 1945, the second and third-year students of a Hiroshima girls' school are taken away to work in war factories. The remaining 220 girls of the first year try to make the best of their new-found status as the only teenagers in an almost deserted town, even amid the deprivations of wartime. On the 7th of August, an American bomber changes their lives forever. Broadcast on the 43rd anniversary of Hiroshima in memory of "the girls who lost their lives to the atom bomb." Not translated. First minutes of anime is live action with explanation right away that girls died while clearing debris when building demolished above them. During the course of 34 minutes animated strips of girls life is interrupted by live action even with interview several more times. Too short and unintegral to recomend.   Overall Rating: 5/10   58. Oishinbo 美味しんぼ [1988-IV] Shin-Ei Animation (Dropped 3/136) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Gourmet, Slice of Life Oishinbo is a drama about newspaper reporters. The main character is a cynical food critic named Yamaoka. Oishinbo is a popular mainstream comic for adults in Japan. It is even mentioned in an episode of "Iron Chef." Ajikko had a success last year, so why not to shoot another culinary show. Oishinbo is only food for the goofy unfocused protagonist, but Ajikko is better in all other fields .   Overall Rating: 5/10   59. 3 Choume no Tama: Uchi no Tama Shirimasen ka? Tama of Third Street: Have You Seen My Tama? 3丁目のタマ うちのタマ知りませんか? [1988-IV] Group TAC (Dropped 3/36) Tags: Pets Adventure The characters are Tama, Momo, Wocket, Tiggle, Rockney, Pimmy, Bupkus, Bengpu, and Chopin. There is no consistent plot. Tama and his friends just have little, family friendly, adventures every episode. The only consistency is when a new friend is made one episode and flash backs. The only question I have is why it is not marked as kids show... I guess, it's because there are also kids who even go to school with pets, but pets are still main characters, and it's still a kids show.   Overall Rating: 5/10   60. Himitsu no Akko-chan 2 ひみつのアッコちゃん2  [1988-IV] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo School Akko-chan is a bright and energetic 5th grader in elementary school whose father is a newscaster and mother is a picture-book writer. Akko always cherishes the palm-sized mirror that was given to her by her father and treats it with care. However, the mirror was accidentally broken by her absent-minded mother. On a night where a beautiful full-moon hangs in the sky, Akko-chan buries the mirror pieces in the garden and goes to sleep. She is awakened by a soft and kind voice which belongs to the Queen of the Mirror Kingdom. She sends her gratitiude to Akko-chan for cherishing the mirror with care and offers her a magical compact mirror. Whenever she sings the magical words, Akko-chan will be able to transform into anything she wants. 1960s had so many nice magical girl series, but Himitsu no Akko-chan was not one of them even then, so why this one gets a sequel... just heavy exploitation of magical mirror to change image constantly to create supposed to be funny situations.   Overall Rating: 4/10   61. Hai! Akko Desu ハーイあっこです [1988-IV] Eiken (Finished 0/164) Tags: Romance, Slice of Life  The story follows the daily life of a Akko-chan who is a new young wife. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   62. Meimon! Daisan Yakyuubu Meimon! The Third Baseball Club 名門!第三野球部 [1988-IV] Fuji TV (Dropped 1/40) Tags: Shounen Action, Sports  Asunaro is a new student at a school with three baseball teams; the first is renowned as being one of the best in the prefecture, but the third, Asunaro’s team, is filled with the rejects and unskilled of the baseball world. As the baseball instructor deems them to be nothing but trash, he informs the team that they will be disbanded in one month – that is, until one of the players begs him to let them play a single game. They’ll be up against the first team, and if they win, they’ll get to take over the title and even work their way towards playing at Koshien Stadium. With the help of Kaido, an ex-member of the first team, Asunaro and his friends will do whatever it takes to show they’re more than meets the eye! Just one episode seems to be translated. Another story of losers trying hard to beat the ace team.   Overall Rating: 5/10   63. Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster Gunbuster トップをねらえ! GunBuster [1988-IV] Gainax (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Military, Space Action, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi In the near future, humanity has taken its first steps towards journeying into the far reaches of the galaxy. Upon doing so they discover a huge race of insectoid aliens known as "Space Monsters." These aliens seem dedicated to the eradication of mankind as they near closer and closer to discovering Earth. In response, humanity develops giant fighting robots piloted by hand-picked youth from around the world. Shortly after the discovery of the aliens, Noriko Takaya, the daughter of a famous deceased space captain, enters a training school despite her questionable talents as a pilot. There, she meets her polar opposite, the beautiful and talented Kazumi Amano, and is unexpectedly made to work together with her as they attempt to overcome the trauma of war as well as their own emotions. Gainax are great experimentators. Could you ever imagine a shounen with all-girl cast with a coach? And it's definitely closer to shounen than shoujo even with the inner female protagonist. For a long time I thought that I could not enjoy mecha because of all the seriousness, e.g. lack of non-antics comedy and fan-service. This is finally mecha with human face, enough nice humor, drama and fan-service. Thanks to this show we got Evangelion and Gurren Lagann and not thanks to two decades of tasteless bland mecha. I was able to enjoy Gunbuster to an extent, but not as a masterpiece .   Overall Rating: 6/10   64. Makai Toshi Shinjuku Demon City Shinjuku 魔界都市〈新宿〉 [1988-IV] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Gore Adventure, Horror, Romance, Supernatural Kyoya's father was a great warrior, killed at the hands of the diabolical psychic, Rebi Ra, who has now opened a portal to hell in the city of Shinjuku. It falls to Kyoya to finish what his father started and battle his way through demons, while protecting a young woman from harm. The only problem is that he's not exactly your classic hero type, and his powers are still latent. I expected a lot more from Madhouse OVA. Lots of one tone backgrounds, reddish colors , enemies showing up right from walls or from the ground, not impressive plot. Just can't recommend this.   Overall Rating: 4/10   65. Crying Freeman Cryingフリーマン [1988-IV] Toei Animation (Finished 6/6) Tags: Seinen Detective, Martial Arts, Organized Crime Action, Drama, Romance Yo Hinomura was an ordinary Japanese potter when a run-in with a Chinese mafia changed his life forever. Now an assassin for the 108 Dragons, Yo is the perfect killing machine. As a sign for remorse over his victims, he sheds tears after eliminating his targets. Because of this, he is infamously known by the Dragons and every crime syndicate in the world as "Crying Freeman." If there is one thing needed to know about this anime is that it's Ecchi, no idea why it's not covered in tags. Too much nonsense and contradictions. Reminded me Wounded Man/Kizuoibito in a lot of ways.   Overall Rating: 4/10   66. Violence Jack: Jigoku Gai-hen Violence Jack: Evil Town バイオレンス ジャック 〜地獄街編〜 [1988-IV] Studio 88 (Finished 1/1) Tags: Gore Action, Drama, Horror  The World as we know it has been torn apart shattered by a series of natural disasters that have turned civilization into a brutish nightmare of survival and has left whole cities buried beneath the Earth. It's now a lethal and chaotic place, a place where only the strongest and most savage remain alive. The strongest of them all is a giant warrior known as Violence Jack… Violence Jack tries to avert a civil war brewing among the wretched inhabitants of a subterranean metropolis called Evil Town. Based on a character created by manga horror specialist, Go Nagai. Second part of the trilogy. And another forgotten use of Ecchi tag that is everywhere in this series. Jack starts to talk in this one, but setting is much less believable now. Basically, it starts to look a lot like Hokuto no Ken spinoff with masculine giants fighting and pawns exploding like watermelons. Not recommended.   Overall Rating: 4/10   67. Kikou Ryohei Mellowlink 機甲猟兵メロウリンク [1988-IV] Sunrise (Dropped 3/12) Tags: Mecha, Military Action, Sci-Fi As the sole survivor from a squad that was sacrificed and hung out as scapegoats for embezzlement of military resources at the end of the 100 years war, Mellowlink Arity is out for revenge. Carrying the dogtags of his deceased comrades and armed with a dated anti AT rifle, he swears to hunt down and exact revenge on the corrupt officers that betrayed his squad, and maybe even uncover the truth behind the plot as well. If you liked Armored Trooper Votoms, you'll probably like this one. If you did not like that, there's basically no chance. I did not like that.   Overall Rating: 5/10   68. Uchuu no Senshi Starship Troopers 宇宙の戦士 [1988-IV] Sunrise (Finished 6/6) Tags: Shounen Sci-Fi Mecha, Military, Space Johnny Rico is a high school student living in Buenos Aires, who doesn't know what to do with his future life. When his friend Carl and his love Carmen, whom he grew up with, join the Federal Military, he does too enlist in the hope to chase after his love into space. However, a war is brewing on the outer planets with a strange bug-like alien enemy and Johnny is thrust into conflict. I'm a fan of Starship Troopers movie, but - to tell the truth - mostly because of majestic Denise Richards and great action visuals ... two things anime would not have. I'm shocked that half of the show is wasted on prologue and training. In episode 4 there was still no clash, just one-sided attack on the base while troopers were away. Episode 5 - nothing but cliffhanger. So actual action takes half of an episode - enjoy ! Cuz I could not .   Overall Rating: 5/10   69. Meiou Project Zeorymer Hades Project Zeorymer 冥王計画ゼオライマー [1988-IV] AIC (Finished 4/4) Tags: Mecha, Psychological Action, Drama, Sci-Fi A young man named Akitsu Masato is captured by a secret govt. project known as "Last Guardian". He is told that his life as a normal student was all a lie, and that his real destiny is to be the pilot of a great robot called "Zeorymer of the Heavens". The truth of this is hammered in when Masato sees his parents accept payment for raising him. The Last Guardian is preparing for the resurrection of "Hau Dragon", an organization bent on world conquest. 15 years ago, Hau Dragon built 8 great robots. Each of the mecha represents a force of nature. However, before any of the robots could be used, their creater Kihara Masaki destroyed the robots except for the leader: Zeorymer. He took Zeorymer and an embryo to the government. The embryo became the boy Masato. Now, Hau Dragon has rebuilt the other 7 mecha and wants the 8th. It will be up to Masato and Himuro to pilot Zeorymer and fight against the Hau Dragon, but neither Masato or Himuro are all that they seem. Basically, an incredibly boring mecha without any clever intrigue going underneath.   Overall Rating: 4/10   70. One Pound Gospel 1ポンドの福音  [1988-IV] Gallop (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Romance, Sports  Hatanaka Kosaku, a hopeful boxer, has a mean KO punch. Unfortunately, his dietary willpower is weak, and he eats even greasy hamburgers right before a bout. As a result, he has to compete in higher weight classes, and as soon as he takes an abdominal punch, he vomits, which causes him to lose the match in shame. As he tries to grapple with his weak will, he meets Sister Angela, a novitiate at a local convent. While Sister Angela strives to help Hatanaka in his endeavor, he seems to make her training to be a nun more difficult. Boxing and religion... I seriously hate both. Absolutely spineless moron for protagonist, no real humor, no lesson ever learned, pure waste of time.   Overall Rating: 4/10   71. Maison Ikkoku: Shiki Utsuriyuku Kisetsu no Naka de めぞん一刻~移りゆく季節の中で~  [1988-IV] Studio Deen (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Comedy, Drama, Romance A recap of the Maison Ikkoku series that focuses on the relationship between Godai and Kyoko. The entire special is taken from footage of the TV series. Good for me who did not finish the series. I still like comedy part of the show more, but I'm glad this recap exists.   Overall Rating: 6/10   72. Gall Force 3: Stardust War ガルフォース3 スターダスト・ウォー [1988-IV] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Military, Space Action, Sci-Fi The girls are saved ... by none other than Catty Nebulart herself! Now, the race is on as Catty struggles to complete her crowning achievement: a huge machine that will bring life to a lifeless world! Yay, at least some kind of conclusion somewhere. Overall same level of confusion as previous parts.   Overall Rating: 5/10   73. Uchuu Kazoku Carlvinson 宇宙家族カールビンソン [1988-IV] Doga Kobo (Finished 1/1) Tags: Childcare Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi When a motley band of traveling performers has a deep-space collision with another spacecraft, they find that the sole survivor of the other craft is a humanoid infant. They decide to raise the child as their own on the nearest planet as they wait for other members of the girl's race to come and find her. In one phrase - kids material. All kinds of aliens eat sweets, organize kindergarten, that kind of stuff.   Overall Rating: 4/10   74. Ryuu Seiki Dragon Century 竜世紀 [1988-IV] AIC (Finished 2/2) Tags: Mythology  Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi The story of a young girl and a young dragon. Naturally, they are the best of friends, and naturally the rest of the world is against them both. However, when demons decide to trash their world, they side with those who have always been against them. First episode is basically just befriending a dragon, second has some fights, but nothing to remember.   Overall Rating: 5/10   75. Yousei Ou Fairy King 妖精王 [1988-IV] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Fantasy Jack has moved to Hokkaido to get treatment for an illness, but he's lonely and unhappy. One night a man on a horse rides through his window to help him. For a reason he doesn't understand, Jack instantly knows the man's name and feels they've met somewhere before. The man, Cu Chulainn, tells Jack to open the moonlight shadow window, which leads him to Nymphidia, the world of Midsummer Night's Dream, whose inhabitants are waiting for a new Fairy King Art style is very irritating for me, as well as subtle shounen-ai hints. Basially, all main characters are males, so can hardly call it a shoujo at all. As for me, very uncool to watch at fragile crying at any trifle protagonist.   Overall Rating: 4/10   76. Kimagure Orange☆Road: Ano Hi ni Kaeritai きまぐれオレンジ★ロード あの日にかえりたい [1988-IV] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life Years have passed since Kyousuke Kasuga became entangled in a love triangle with the childish Hikaru Hiyama and the elegant Madoka Ayukawa. Now in their final year of high school, Madoka and Kyousuke are thoroughly occupied preparing for their college entrance exams. Hikaru, not yet close to graduation, struggles with the realization that her two closest friends are leaving her. With the threat of separation looming over the horizon, Kyousuke is finally forced to decide who he loves—no matter how painful it may be. Pretty painful movie because of psycho Hikaru, so hate this situation of winning back at all cost.   Overall Rating: 5/10   77. Hiatari Ryoukou! Yume no Naka ni Kimi ga Ita 陽あたり良好! KA・SU・MI 夢の中に君がいた [1988-IV] Group TAC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Drama, Romance  The movie starts out with Katsuhiko going to the US, with Kasumi and Yusaku seeing him off at Narita. Two years later, Katsuhiko is a professional racer, and comes back to Japan to race (and to marry Kasumi). Yusaku's hobby is photography. The worst epilogue compared to Maison Ikkoku and Orange road, but still nice to see where it all was going to.   Overall Rating: 5/10   78. Shinshuu Sudama-hen 神州魑魅変 [1988-IV] Magic Bus (Finished 4/4) Tags: Seinen Historical, Martial Arts, Samurai Action “Shinshuu Sudama-hen” is a 4-episode OVA about a vein of gold ore called the “Golden Dragon,” whose location can only be discovered by “joining” (read: having intercourse) with a particular woman who has inherited the blood of the gods. In the beginning, a man is assassinated, but in his dying breath, he tells Kageshichiro, the hero, that his daughter, Kageshichiro’s childhood friend Orie, holds the key to the Golden Dragon. Not translated. Again ecchi tag is missing for some reason. Again very similar to Wounded man and Smiling freeman for the amount of gore, deaths, H events and also format of at least 4 OVA .   Overall Rating: 3/10
  12. kivandopulus
    Ouritsu Uchuugun: Honneamise no Tsubasa is the only borderline masterpiece I noted in 1987.    1. Ai no Wakakusa Monogatari Tales of Little Women 愛の若草物語 [1987-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/48) Tags: Historical Drama, Slice of Life  Meg, faithful and gentle, Jo, independent and energetic, Beth, quiet and shy, Amy, amiable and precocious–the four sisters live vigorously and happily at home with their gentle mother while waiting for their father to return from the Civil War. Helping each other, they challenge their fates and grow up to become wonderful women. There were two movies before, so I get the concept. There will be another series with a lot of humor. This series is pretty serious and not to my liking, loses in comparison a lot. Only good if you really want to know characters better or follow Civil War.   Overall Rating: 5/10   2. Kikou Senki Dragonar Metal Armor Dragonar 機甲戦記ドラグナー [1987-I] Sunrise (Dropped 3/48) Tags: Mecha, Space Adventure, Sci-Fi A.D. 2087 - the United Lunar Empire Giganos wages war on the Earth Federation Military to take control of the planet and establish a "rebirth" of the human race. During an invasion of a colony by Giganos' forces, three civilian men stumble upon a trio of top-secret Metal Armor units called "Dragonars" and pilot them to combat the enemy forces. Sunrise manages to make this mecha watchable, but it's rather bland, generic and just a Gundam copycat with three protagonists instead of one .   Overall Rating: 5/10   3. Shin Maple Town Monogatari: Palm Town-hen 新メイプルタウン物語 パームタウン編 [1987-I] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/44) Tags: Fantasy, Slice of Life  The story take place in new town called "Palm Town" which it is the new town that Patty and her Aunt Jane moved to since Jane's husband George run a medical center there. However, Patty faces some troubles because she doesn't get used to the new town and misses her hometown and also her friends. Nevertheless, she mets up with Alice and gets along with her. Soon they become best friends and are hanging out together everyday experience new things and enjoying their time. They meet a lot of different people in order to make many friends and unforgettable memories full of fun. This is a kids show, so can't be to my liking. All those values of friendship and morals can't be enjoyed in older age.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Bubblegum Crisis バブルガムクライシス [1987-I] AIC (Finished 8/8) Tags: Shounen Adult Cast, Mecha Adventure, Sci-Fi  The year is 2032, seven years after the Second Great Kanto Earthquake decimated Tokyo. Now, the city is reborn as MegaTokyo, built from the labors of mechanical beasts known as "Boomers." Originally created to benefit humanity, the mysterious corporation known as Genom now produces Boomers with incredible destructive power as a new type of advanced weaponry, capable of disguising themselves as humans. The AD Police is a new special unit to counter the ever-increasing Boomer-related crimes. Overwhelmed by the sheer amount of crimes and disparity in strength, the AD Police poses little opposition to the Boomers. A mysterious vigilante force known as the Knight Sabers, wearing powersuits more advanced than the military, is the citizens' only hope for protection. Led by Sylia Stingray, Priscilla "Priss" Asagiri, Nene Romanova, and Linna Yamazaki, these beautiful girls take out any Boomer that steps out of line. I remember some more recent representatives of franchise, and recollections are quiet good. But this series is basically some cases usually linked to androids and done by a team of several girls in battle suits. Given that personalities aren't developed well and cases being not really interesting, as well as very little humor, I consider this series to be inferior to Dirty Pair. Another reason is that I could not enjoy it at all apart of some enemy designs. Last episode released in 1991 tried to bring some diversity to the concept, but too little too late.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei デジタル・デビル物語〈ストーリ〉 女神転生 [1987-I] animate Film (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mythology, Psychological, School Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural Akemi Nakajima, is a high school student with a genius talent for computer programming. One day, Yumiko Shirasagi is transferred to the same class as him. She feels she knows Nakajima from somewhere, but doesn't try to deal with it. After school, Nakajima and a couple of classmates held a ceremony to summon the devil. Nakajima summons the devil Loki on the computer display while presenting a female offering. What will happen to Yumiko, who witnessed the scene? Never played Megami Tensei games. What I can say about the movie is that it's a visually shocking horror with a dip into mythology, computers and occult stuff. A wild mix, indeed, but I rather see it as appeal to unconsciousness and obscure stuff to get an image of something meaningful, which it is not.   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Twilight Q トワイライトQ [1987-I] Studio Deen (Finished 2/2) Tags: Psychological Mystery, Sci-Fi  A Knot in Time High school students Mayumi and Kiwako are relishing their summer vacation at the beach; however, when Mayumi discovers a presumably lost camera while scuba diving, she cannot help but feel an insatiable curiosity. Upon developing the camera's film, she is shocked to find herself photographed alongside an unknown man. Enlisting the help of Kiwako's older brother, the three find out something even more troubling: the camera model has yet to be released. In turn, Mayumi becomes obsessed with discovering the origin of the peculiar camera and its mysterious photograph. File 538 Airplanes have been vanishing from the sky! Even stranger, rumor has it that the disappearing aircraft have been turning into giant carp. Meanwhile, a freelance detective investigates a run-down apartment on the outskirts of town, where he finds a middle-aged man and a young girl with a penchant for fish. Unable to identify the two, the investigator enters their room, only to find it empty save for a document that reads, "This story has been prepared for you, my successor... who should be visiting this room in due time. First episode is rather bland. Only second can be called psychological, but it alone can not apply for masterpiece status due to length and experimental visuals.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Dirty Pair: Lovely Angels yori Ai wo Komete ダーティペア ラブリーエンジェルより愛をこめて [1987-I] Sunrise (Finished 2/2) Tags: Detective Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi Released direct to video in Japan after the original TV series was canceled, this OVA is actually the final two episodes of the TV series. Length of two episodes roughly amounts to 40 minutes, and that's the only thing that prevents it getting a masterpiece score from me. Humor, conversations and plot are nice as usual.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. Warau Hyouteki 笑う標的 [1987-I] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Horror, Mystery  Yuzuru was an average teenager who had almost forgotten that he was betrothed to Azusa when he was only six! Now arriving to claim what she feels is rightfully hers, only Satomi (Yuzuru's current girlfriend) stands in her way... and with the mysterious and frightening powers that Azusa brings, Satomi won't stand in her way for long! Just a horror with little sense behind it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Maryuu Senki 魔龍戦紀 [1987-I] AIC (Finished 3/3) Tags: Fantasy, Horror  Once upon a time, there was a certain family having strong influence on the rule of the Imperial Court. They had their own might called "Kidou" and yet got hated because of the might itself. At last, the patriarch of the family was entrapped to his death, and all the family was doomed to ruin... The present day — the survived descendants of this family, now calling themselves "Kidousyuu" schemed to resurrect their murdered patriarch once again, and the ferocious evil spell went into action. The amount of gore in this anime is truly unsettling. Even nudity in this anime is linked with gore and thus feels different. Anyway, all other elements are lacking, so it remains just a bloody B-action movie.   Overall Rating: 5/10   10. Body Jack: Tanoshii Yutai Ridatsu ボディジャック 楽しい幽体離脱 [1987-I] Bandai (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Ecchi Dr. Toyama takes control of the body of a beautiful girl with his strange invention. He lets the young Asagedani "slip into" her body so he can see how it real feels to be a girl. Then Komaba's classmate, the equally beautiful Nakano, surprises "him" and mistakes his activities for a sexual advance from her friend. Why is an evident hentai disguised as ecchi... no idea. It has no value apart of hentai, so can't give it a score.   Overall Rating: 0/10   11. Gakuen Tokusou Hikaruon 学園特捜ヒカルオン [1987-I] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Martial Arts, School, Super Power Action Hikaru is at first sight a student like others but actually it is a super hero defending the Earth of the demons. He has a powerful super bike and a combat suit. Inspired by the classic Space Sheriff (Uchuu Keiji) trilogy of the Metal Heroes Tokusatsu franchise, namely Space Sheriff's Gavan and Sharivan. I should have blocked it for its 30 min length. With ridiculous synopsis like this nothing good was possible. Graphics and enemies were ok... that's all.   Overall Rating: 2/10   12. Minna Agechau♡ みんなあげちゃう♡ [1987-I] J.C.Staff (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Ecchi  A beautiful day Rokurou, a student, was to masturbate when a beautiful girl knocks on his door: You need a virgin? And so begins the story. Rokurou did not know what it was that this beautiful girl was a millionaire family. I don't know what to say. Title could easily be quest for orgasm to explain all the stupidity. The whole super rich and super perverted family sets up trainings and obstacles to reach this ultimate goal. How funny does it sound?   Overall Rating: 4/10   13. Hell Target ヘルターゲット [1987-I] Nakamura Production (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Horror, Sci-Fi A spaceship is lost near the forbidden planet of Inferno II. Some years later, a second ship with a crew of nine gets there and encounters a monster that rapidly makes mince meat of most of them. The sole survivor, Makurou Kitazato, must destroy the monster before it can surprise a third ship that is already en route. Another variation of Ridley Scott's alien concept, and it does not even get to a clear ending, so not impressive .   Overall Rating: 4/10   14. Elf 17 エルフ・17 [1987-I] Agent 21 (Finished 1/1) Tags: Martial Arts, Mecha Adventure, Comedy Muscat Tyler is the 108th prince of the Galaxy Empire and is known as an eccentric person. He travels around the universe accompanying a Walking Arsenal, K.K, and Lu of the Light Wing Race, the strongest creature in the universe. Wherever they go, there is trouble. I don't understand the need for this anime. Super strong elf first wins tournament then defeats some baddies. The end. Total waste of time.   Overall Rating: 4/10   15. Yume kara, Samenai 夢から、さめない [1987-I] Shaft (Finished 1/1) Tags: School Romance Student Takao is inexorably drawn toward Sao despite class rumors that she has appeared in a porno movie. Very short boring SOL that only has sighs, looks and couple phrases in-between. If just some emotions is enough for you, it may be enjoyable. Without real plot or developed characters it has zero value for me.   Overall Rating: 4/10   16. Salamander 沙羅曼蛇 [1987-I] Pierrot (Finished 3/3) Tags: Adventure, Sci-Fi  Three tales based on the Gradius video game series by Konami. The planet Latis is under attack by the Space Dragon Salamander and it's war planet, the Bacterian horde destroying everything in sight, their defenses ineffective and losing all hope, three heroes from the planet Gradius join Lord British in defense of his beloved planet. Then in a prequel, a girl from a distant planet brings an ominous warning to the planet Gradius, the Bacterians and how three people become heroes of the galaxy. Then we jump to the future, after the signing of a peace treaty, one of our heroes gets captured by the Bacterians, can the military might of Gradius and our remaining heroes save the prisoner from a fate worse than death. I actually don't remember good examples of game story getting transferred to the screen. Without game experience I value the story and composition very poorly here .   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Mugen Shinshi: Bouken Katsugeki-hen Dream Dimension Gentleman 夢幻紳士 冒険活劇編 [1987-I] Gallop (Finished 1/1) Tags: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery  When a strange group of men attempt to kidnap Atsuko Fukune, a dancer at a club, she seeks the help of Mamiya Mugen, a famous detective - who also happens to be a child. When it turns out that other girls have gone missing, Mamiya, with the help of his butler Alucard, springs into action to solve the mystery. I can't stand detectives with a genius detective protagonist. After I saw flying crocodiles the only remaining thought was for this stupidity to end sooner.   Overall Rating: 4/10   18. Ouritsu Uchuugun: Honneamise no Tsubasa 王立宇宙軍 オネアミスの翼 [1987-I] Gainax (Finished 1/1) Tags: Military, Space Action, Drama, Sci-Fi Shirotsugh "Shiro" Lhadatt may be a cadet in the Kingdom of Honneamise's Royal Space Force (RSF), but he has never been in space before—in fact, nobody has. The RSF is often regarded as a failure both by the country's citizens and a government more interested in precipitating a war with a neighboring country than scientific achievement. Following the funeral of a fellow cadet, an unmotivated Shiro is walking in the city one night, when he bumps into Riquinni Nonderaiko, a young, pious woman, genuinely enthusiastic about the significance of space exploration. As the two gradually bond, Riquinni's encouragement inspires Shiro to volunteer as a pilot for a prospective rocket ship, potentially becoming Honneamise's first man in space. Shiro and the RSF are soon joined by a team of elderly but eager scientists and engineers, and together, they embark on a mission to mold their nation's space program into a success. However, their efforts soon catch the attention of the government, which seems to have a different plan for the RSF in mind. Even as the odds are stacked against them, these men and women continue to stubbornly look to the sky, because somewhere among the frontiers of space may lie humanity's last chance at redemption. I have zero piety towards space, and I have rather strict standards for story. Wings of Honneamise has a rather poor story and even worse conclusion. However, passion of Gainax made every second of the movie meaningful and developing. Sometimes it was perspective, sometimes background, sometimes panorama - a lot of situational or locational humor. Ending is pretentious crap, to be honest. I absolutely have not understood the meaning of rape attempt scene and why actually made kid smile, basically, both times were release of some emotion, and that's it. In the end movie presents a nice setting, genius directorship and lack of any sense or conclusion, thus can't rate it high, sadly. I hope it's not Angel Egg influence as citations from holy book are the only keys to any sense.   Overall Rating: 7/10   19. Dirty Pair: The Movie Dirty Pair: Project Eden ダーティペア the Movie [1987-I] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Detective Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi Agerna is a planet rich in Vizorium, the one mineral necessary to space travel. So when a series of mysterious attacks on mining operations has the governments of the world pointing fingers and blaming each other, the World Welfare & Works Association naturally sends in their top agents to investigate. But are the lovely angels up to the task of stopping a mad scientist bent on taking a long dormant alien race to its final evolutionary form? Throw in a thief who's hunting a bottle of World War II-vintage wine and it's a safe bet that nobody on the planet is safe. It's more chaos, more mayhem and even more destruction than ever before as the Dirty Pair take on their wildest case yet! I really dislike genetics that is the main theme here. Also, there's not enough humor here - even specials had more. I had big hopes, but in this state it's more of a disappointment..   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori グリム童話 金の鳥 [1987-I] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  "Kin No Tori" is an adaptation of the homonymous fairy tale "The Golden Bird" by Brothers Grimm. A golden apple is stolen from the King's garden. The King orders his three sons to guard the apples in turn and to find out who is the thief. When the youngest son, Hansu, presents a feather that he got from the golden bird that stole the apple the king sends his three sons to bring this bird to him and so Hansu journey begins. Completed in 1984, this film was shelved for three years before being theatrically released. 1984 and 1987 are very different due to rapid animation technology jump. Sadly, kid content.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Batsu & Terry バツ&テリー  [1987-I] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen School, Team Sports Comedy, Drama, Sports Bats & Terry are the two tough guys in the school. They don't take crap from anyone, not even teachers. They will fight anyone necessary, and will defend strangers (especially pretty girls) from danger. They're good at it too. Some people are in terror of them, and some love them. When they rescue one especially pretty girl from a gang they fight over her, but it's all friendly and they both recognize that she has some scars. The police hassle them and yet admire them when they break up the gang. Oh, and they're the star pitcher and catcher for the high school baseball team! Baseball, motorcycle and hooligans - what can go wrong? Sunrise directorship makes it barely watchable, but not enjoyable nonetheless.   Overall Rating: 4/10   22. City Hunter シティーハンター [1987-II] Sunrise (Dropped 4/51) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Mystery "City Hunter" is a notorious contractor group with the call sign "XYZ." No matter the job, they will take it, cleaning up the scum on the streets of Tokyo. The key member of City Hunter is Ryou Saeba; armed with his trusty Colt Python and pinpoint accuracy, he works alongside willful tomboy Kaori Makimura. Together they solve tough cases and tackle the numerous dangers that accompany their trade head-on. However, when he's not out hunting crooks and villains, Ryou finds pleasure in chasing beautiful ladies with only Kaori and her one hundred-ton hammer to keep him in check. From pickpockets and arms dealers to crime syndicates, nothing can stand in the way of Ryou Saeba when he takes aim at his next mission. Detective plus action plus jigolo. Nothing unique in this mix, closest show is probably Lupin III. I seriously don't understand its merit. Maybe it becomes evident later with more sci-fi stuff involved. Having sampled first season, no desire to watch it further, to be honest.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Kimagure Orange☆Road きまぐれオレンジ☆ロード [1987-II] Pierrot (Dropped 3/48) Tags: Shounen School, Super Power Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life Kyousuke Kasuga is no stranger to being the new kid at school. Despite only being a third-year middle schooler, he has spent his entire childhood avoiding those who discover his family's paranormal powers, and he has had to change schools seven times as a result. Upon catching a beautiful girl's hat, he becomes optimistic and hopes that he and his family have finally moved for the last time. When Kyousuke gets to school, however, he learns a different story. The elegant girl he just met turns out to be none other than Madoka Ayukawa—also known as "Madoka the Pick"—a delinquent known to smoke, drink, and get into fights. Her best friend is first-year Hikaru Hiyama, a childish and energetic girl who quickly falls in love with Kyousuke. Enamored with both girls, Kyousuke tries to balance a delicate triangle of emotions, all while dealing with the antics brought about by a family with paranormal powers. Last time I sampled it I got an impression of a super ordinary classical SOL. This time I get the appeal and if feels better than Touch. At the same time there's a lot less comedy than in Maison Ikkoku which I rate higher. I see no luring concept behind this show. It's easy to watch, but it does not mean it's enjoyable for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Hokuto no Ken 2 Fist of the North Star 2 北斗の拳2 [1987-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/43) Tags: Martial Arts, Super Power Action, Drama In the second series after Raoh has been defeated by Kenshiro a new rival appears. The Gentou Kouken warriors. Falco the successor of the Gentou Kouken takes orders from an evil ruler by the name of Jacko. He claims to be the man chosen by the Tentei and issues orders to his subordinates to capture anyone living in order to build up his Imperial Capital. Kenshiro once again rises out of the shadows and puts an end to his tyrannical ways. Amidst the mayhem Lynn gets captured and gets taken to the land of the Shura where only ruthless fighters exist. Now Kenshiro must pursue the captor and defeat the 3 Rasho of the land in order to escape with his life and with Lynn. All the memes were shown in first season. Have not seen new ones in first three episodes of this one. And this show is so bad - it's only for the memes, sadly.   Overall Rating: 4/10   25. Akai Koudan Zillion  赤い光弾ジリオン [1987-II] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/31) Tags: Military Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi The story takes place on the planet Maris in the year 2387. Around this time, the Nozas started to genocidally kill all humans in order to lay eggs and reproduce on the planet. Three mysterious guns dubbed the "Zillion Weapon System" appear and three teens (JJ, Champ, and Apple) are chosen to wield them as the White Knights in order to fight back against the Nozas. A slightly better than average mecha with a compulsory evil emperor and three battle suit super heroes.   Overall Rating: 5/10   26. Hiatari Ryoukou! Sunny Ryoko 陽あたり良好! [1987-II] Group TAC (Dropped 3/48) Tags: Shoujo School Comedy, Romance, Sports Kishimoto Kasumi, a 15-year-old girl, was supposed to live at her auntie's house in order to go to high school since April. However, when she moved to the house she was surprised with the fact that there were already four new male students living in the same house. To make the matter worse, that day while she was taking a bath, Takasugi Yusaku, one of those boys, came into the bath and saw her naked. This is how Kasumi's troublesome high school days started. Imitation of Maison Ikkoku which still remains the top concept for episodical SOL comedy for me. Hiatari Ryoukou goes slightly behind. Then Orange Road, and, finally, Touch .   Overall Rating: 6/10   27. Esper Mami Mami the Psychic エスパー魔美 [1987-II] Shin-Ei Animation (Dropped 4/119) Tags: School, Super Power Comedy, Supernatural, Ecchi Mami Sakura used to be a normal junior high school student, but she happened to acquire supernatural powers. Using her powers and with the help of her best friend, Mr. Takahata, she solves mysterious occurrences. When she senses someone needs help, she uses the "Teleportation Gun" and transports herself there. She then saves the world in trouble with her psychic powers, such as telekinesis and telepathy. Esper is basically a limited mage, so it's just a usual magical girl. The unusual part is how ecchi can be incorporated here. And the truth is ... it's not. The whole ecchi tag is based on one nude picture displayed in first episode, and then nothing similar happens, not even pantsu flash .   Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Black Magic M-66 ブラックマジックM(マリオ)-66 [1987-II] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military Action, Sci-Fi When Sybel, a freelance reporter, discovers a military plane crash, she is thrilled by the prospect of getting her hands on the latest inside scoop. However, she is unaware that the plane was carrying two top-secret prototype android assassins who will stop at nothing to destroy their target. As the military frantically tries to clean up its mess, Sybel races against time to find and protect the robots' targeted victim—all while documenting the military's misconduct—before it is too late. A mix of Blade runner and Terminator movies as rogue assassin android pursues the target, and reporter girl basically becomes a bodyguard. Nothing big.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Project A-Ko 2: Daitokuji Zaibatsu no Inbou プロジェクトA子2 大徳寺財閥の陰謀 [1987-II] APPP (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Super Power Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi Three weeks after the incident that left Captain Napolipolita's ship balancing on top of Graviton City, A-Ko and the gang go on summer vacation. While A-Ko ponders losing some weight and B-Ko devises another plan to defeat her redheaded rival to win C-Ko, Napolipolita and Spy-D experience severe homesickness - begging for a way to return to their home planet. Meanwhile, Hikari Daitokuji - B-Ko's father and the CEO of the Daitokuji Financial Group - arms the local military with new mecha to attack Napolipolita's ship and obtain its advanced technology. It managed to get even worse than original with only poor humor left. With humor all fanservice is gone too. So what's left is only stupidity.   Overall Rating: 4/10   30. Space Fantasia 2001 Nights スペース ファンタジア 2001夜物語 [1987-II] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Space Drama, Sci-Fi Based on Yukinobu Hoshino's 1984 manga in "Action Comics; shot in "Super Perspective Technique". It is the 21st century, and two young people were chosen. Adam was sent off into a space ship and was sent off into outer space... All that generalistic space romance - Earth nostalgy crap mashed up. Without decent story it tries to affect emotions, but does it poorly as well .   Overall Rating: 5/10   31. Sengoku Kitan Youtouden Yotoden: Chronicle of the Warlord Period 戦国奇譚妖刀伝 [1987-II] J.C.Staff (Finished 3/3) Tags: Action Martial Arts, Mythology In the year 1580, a man named Lord Nobunaga Oda sends hoards of unholy armies across Japan, slaying all who stand in their way. A young ninja escapes her villages' destruction with a short sword, one of the three mystical weapons that can end Oda's rule. During her quest, she is joined by two other ninjas who wield the other two weapons of legend, the sacred sword and spear. Know why Oda was called half-demon? Because he summoned demons! Nice battles, but overall not impressive.   Overall Rating: 5/10   32. Choujuu Kishin Dancougar: God Bless Dancougar God Bless Dancougar 超獣機神ダンクーガ ゴッド・ブレス・ダンクーガ [1987-II] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi After destroying the Zorbados Empire, the Jyusenki-tai/Cyber Beast Force has expanded and are training new recruits. But after failing to stop a monster that seems to be a remnant of the Zorbados Empire from destroying a city, the CBF is thrown in jail. Now the CBF have to escape from jail and find out what was behind the monster they fought. Original had too banal plot. This one is a bit more varied.   Overall Rating: 5/10   33. Pants no Ana: Mambo de Ganbo!  パンツの穴 まんぼでGANBO! [1987-II] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: School Comedy, Ecchi A collection of short stories, all of which are perverted to various degrees. Not translated. Lots of strange ecchi-related stories, nothing special or good.   Overall Rating: 4/10   34. Circuit Angel: Ketsui no Starting Grid サーキットエンジェル 決意のスターティング・グリッド [1987-II] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Racing Action Mariko is tough yet kind girl who is really into motorcycles. She ends up in a race to settle things between the rich son of bike maker and herself. Yay, serious racing. I tried to focus attention, but it's really hard to do when everything is so bland.   Overall Rating: 2/10   35. Shin Kabukichou Story Hana no Asukagumi! 新歌舞伎町ストーリー 花のあすか組! [1987-II] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Delinquents Adventure, Drama Based on the popular girl's manga Hana no Asukagumi! (The Glorious Asuka Gang!) by Takaguchi Satosumi. Animation of manga about women gang wars, so it introduced a large number of members from boys and girls gangs. There are quite some fights and enough violence. Don't see the need for such anime.   Overall Rating: 5/10   36. Youjuu Toshi Wicked City 妖獣都市 [1987-II] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Gore, Mythology, Super Power Action, Adventure, Drama, Horror There is Earth, our familiar world, and then there is the Black World, a parallel dimension that very few people are aware of. For centuries, a pact between the two worlds has been observed to maintain peace, and terms must be negotiated and renewed soon to continue relative harmony. This time around, there is a militant faction that will stop at nothing to prevent the signing of a new treaty for inter-dimensional peace. Two agents of the elite organization known as the Black guards—defenders of the balance between the two worlds—are charged with ensuring the success of the treaty. Director Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll) blends stylish eroticism, graphic horror and pulse-pounding action as these two race to consummate the peace treaty in time. Story was unexpected , atmospheric and fresh, but to call it a masterpiece would be an overkill.   Overall Rating: 6/10   37. Touch 3: Kimi ga Toorisugita Ato ni - Don't Pass Me By タッチ3 君が通り過ぎたあとに -DON`T PASS ME BY-  [1987-II] Group TAC (Finished 1/1) Tags: School, Team Sports  Drama, Sports Compilation movie of the third year of the Touch timeline. Contain many important plot differences, added scenes and the complete removal of an important character. Baseball exclusive movie, and thus the worst of all Touch movies.   Overall Rating: 5/10   38. Takarajima (Movie) 宝島 劇場版  [1987-II] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Supernatural A 88-minute theatrical recut of the original Takarajima TV series. Not translated. Series was nice, but developed really slowly, so I'm really grateful for movie form. Very nice in every aspect, but score decision is easy as there is a limit to the score an untranslated work can get.   Overall Rating: 6/10   39. Machine Robo: Butchigiri Battle Hackers マシンロボ ぶっちぎりバトルハッカーズ [1987-III] Ashi Productions (Dropped 3/31) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi A ship crewed by earthlings crashes on Chronos. Believing themselves stranded, the crew volunteers to fight along the Machine Robos. Not translated. I gave original a 3, but that might be too generous this time.   Overall Rating: 2/10   40. Transformers: The☆Headmasters トランスフォーマー ザ☆ヘッドマスターズ [1987-III] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/35) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Space Headmasters starts with Galvatron leading a new batch of Destrons to wage war on Cybertron, the Destron Headmasters. The Cybertrons are rescued by the arrival of the Cybertron Headmasters, led by Fortress (Cerebros, the head of Fortress Maximus). It is revealed that Fortress Maximus left Cybertron millions of years ago in search of energy, and have finally managed to come home. He explains that the Headmasters are from a planet called Master; the human-sized robots who live there built themselves Transformers-sized bodies. They can then transform themselves into the heads of the robots, and have now joined the Cybertron-Destron war. Some transformers seasons were shown on TV in my childhood... and that's the only conditions when it's possible to watch shows like that. It pains me that I still remember what different transformers turned into...   Overall Rating: 2/10   41. Lily C.A.T.  [1987-III] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Horror, Sci-Fi  The Deep Sleep Capsules, technology that has allowed man to reach out to the stars. These chambers slow the aging process by 95%. A 20-year trip passes, and the traveler has only aged 1 year. It definitely has its advantages, but after you've been on a few trips, it sure gets very lonely. Right now, however, that's not the big issue. The year is 2264. The Syncam Corporation has sent the Saldes and its crew of 13 (and 1 cat) out into deep space to explore the potential of a newfound planet 20 years away. Soon after they awaken from their stasis, however, things are happening one after another. First, the crew learns that two of the crew are not who they claim to be. Then, one by one, crewmembers die suddenly. Then, the ship begins to turn against them. And as if it couldn't get any worse, they find another mess on their hands and it is ugly. What was supposed to be a simple exploratory mission has become a struggle for survival in the depths of space. 20 years from home, they're all alone and no one can hear them scream. Ridley Scott's alien is such a popular concept. It's more psychological due to the mystery of enemy and the fact that more than half of the team decided to oppose together rather than die one by one. Still can't recommend it with open heart as it's just survival action in the end.   Overall Rating: 5/10   42. Haja Taisei Dangaiou Great Planet Evil-Destroyer Dangaio 破邪大星弾劾凰 [ダンガイオー]  [1987-III] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Four psychic teenagers—Mia Alice, Roll Kran, Lamba Nom and Pai Thunder—are brainwashed by the scientist Dr. Tarsan as pilots of his greatest experiment—the giant robot Dangaioh. But as their memories slowly return, these pilots use their abilities and Dangaioh to combat the tyranny of Captain Galimos and the Bunker Space Pirates. Esper mecha... for the third time already. Ridiculously bad .   Overall Rating: 3/10   43. Hi no Tori: Yamato-hen The Phoenix: Chapter of Yamato 火の鳥・ヤマト編 [1986-III] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Drama At his father's command, Oguna, the youngest prince of Yamato, sets out to kill Takeru Kawakami, the leader of Kumaso. However, upon arriving in Kumaso territory, he is injured by the stray arrow of a young local woman named Kajika who is hunting game. Eager to compensate for the terrible mistake, she escorts Oguna to her village to treat his wound. But as the two rapidly fall in love, the prince makes a disturbing discovery: Kajika is Takeru's younger sister! Conflicted between his newfound love and family duty, Oguna seeks advice from the Phoenix, a legendary immortal bird that serves as Kumaso's guardian. Compelled to make a decision, will the Yamato prince betray his own for the woman he loves, or will he murder Kajika's brother as commissioned? Inspired by the Yamato Takeru Japanese legend, Hi no Tori: Yamato-hen chronicles the tragic story of an ill-fated couple, showing how true love can conquer hate and adversity even among the greatest of uncertainties. Somehow, ancient history phoenix episodes fail to impress me so far. Rather average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   44. Robot Carnival ロボット・カーニバル [1987-III] Streamline pictures (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Fantasy, Sci-Fi 9 of Japan's leading animators were asked to create a short segment that followed the theme of "Robots," for their inclusion in this film. Essentially, this "movie" is 9 short films, all independant of one another. The common element is human interaction with robots, namely the consequences of creating life with one's own hands, played in nine very different ways. 1: Opening (Atsuko Fukushima and Katsuhiro Otomo) 2: Franken's Gears (Koji Morimoto) 3: Deprive (Hidetoshi Omori) 4: Presence (Yasuomi Umetsu) 5: Star Light Angel (Hiroyuki Kitazume) 6: Cloud (Mao Lamdo) 7: A Tale of Two Robots (Hiroyuki Kitakubo) 8: Nightmare (Takashi Nakamura) 9: Ending (Atsuko Fukushima and Katsuhiro Otomo) There are a lot of stories and just 90 minutes length. And most of these stories are without dialogues at all. I seriously don't like omnibus format.   Overall Rating: 5/10   45. Kindan no Mokushiroku: Crystal Triangle Crystal Triangle 禁断の黙示録 クリスタルトライアングル [1987-III] animate Film (Finished 1/1) Tags: Military, Mythology Adventure, Mystery In times of old, God gave mankind the ten commandments, and a message that has been lost to the centuries. In the present, Koichiro Kamishiro is a modern day Indiana Jones who scours (and often destroys) ruins for hints of the past, until one day he runs across a box filled with two crystal triangles. Having inadvertently run across the key to God's lost message, Kamishiro suddenly has a lot to deal with including assassination attempts by the KGB and the CIA, aliens hell-bent on destroying the Earth and the love of several women! James Bond is not the greatest concept to follow, surprise-surprise. Realization is lacking. I see nothing to watch this movie for.   Overall Rating: 4/10   46. Puttsun Make Love  ぷッつんメイクLOVE [1987-III] Agent 21 (Finished 6/6) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Ecchi Based on the manga by Amamiya Jun. At times it looked like a weak hentai, but there's enough comedy here, and some episodes aren't that much H tilt. There's still no plot and only desire of the youth to know each other better, so can't recommend it.   Overall Rating: 4/10   47. Mahou no Yousei Persia: Kaiten Mokuba 魔法の妖精ペルシャ 回転木馬 [1987-III] Pierrot (Dropped 1/1) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Comedy A recap of the TV series with six and a half minutes of new footage. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   48. Dragon Ball Movie 2: Majinjou no Nemurihime ドラゴンボール 魔神城のねむり姫 [1987-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Super Power Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Goku and Kuririn are given an assignment by Kame-Sen'nin: "Retrieve the sleeping princess from Lucifer and I will take you as my students." But the mission proves to be more perilous than originally thought. Humor is actually still good, but with mediocre story and more and more weird characters this is hardly enjoyable.   Overall Rating: 6/10   49. Manie-Manie: Meikyuu Monogatari Manie-Manie 迷宮物語 [1986-III]  Madhouse (Finished 3/3) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi, Supernatural  Manie-Manie: Meikyuu Monogatari is an anthology film composed of three short films by acclaimed directors Rintaro, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, and Katsuhiro Otomo. Labyrinth Labyrinthos While Sachi is searching for her cat, Cicerone, they both fall through a mirror and become trapped in a mysterious, mind-bending labyrinth. They follow a clown's shadow into the distance, not knowing where it will lead them. Running Man Bob Stone is a reporter working on an article about racer Zack Hugh, the ten-year reigning champion of an extremely popular and deadly automobile race. By the time the two meet, Zack's body and mind are shells of what they used to be. When the next race starts, Bob observes what happens when both man and machine are pushed to their breaking point, and what it takes to be an enduring champion. The Order to Stop Construction Salaryman Tsutomo Sugioka is dispatched into the heart of a dangerous jungle in order to halt a construction project after the foreman's mysterious disappearance. There, he discovers the deadly and uncontrollable world created by the automated construction robots. When the chief robot is resistant to his orders, Tsutomo must figure out another way to stop the project before his company's financial losses become too great. Anthology with under 50 minutes means 15 minutes per story. No such brief psychodelic experience can ever get anything good from me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   50. Saint Seiya: Jashin Eris Saint Seiya: Evil Goddess Eris 聖闘士星矢 邪神エリス  [1987-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Adventure, Sci-Fi Eris is the goddess of chaos and uses the body of Elien, who is a friend of Hyoga, to revive herself. She obtains the golden apple to drain Athena's life energy to make her ressurection complete and to be able to turn the world in a place filled with chaos. But to be able to attack Eris, Seiya and his friends will first have to defeat the Ghost Knights. Under 50 minutes and and same horrible zodiac warriors mess as the series.   Overall Rating: 4/10   51. Bari Bari Densetsu (1987) バリバリ伝説 [1987-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Racing Action, Drama The film is about 4 high-schoolers who are bike racers and illegally partake in races at night on public roads. I blamed the previous release of Bari Bari Densetsu as one big Honda advertisement. They tried to make ads smaller this time, but the second time they showed Honda in big letters everything got evident again.   Overall Rating: 4/10   52. MAPS: Densetsu no Samayoeru Seijin-tachi マップス 伝説のさまよえる星人たち [1987-III] Gallop (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi  While looking for the ledgendary Mapman, the last surviving member of the Nomad Star tribe, Lipumira finds him in Tokyo. His name is Gen Tokishima and he is the only one able to get one part of the starmap hidden within the Earth. After retrieving the piece, Gen must make a decision to follow Lipumira in her foolhardy search to find the remaining pieces of the starmap or stay on Earth. He makes his decision, only to find his girlfriend has beaten him to the spaceship as she wants to come as well. Unfortunately, as Gen learns the secret of the starmap, Lipumira's sisters have plans to stop her and will stop her at any cost. Huge alien ship kidnaps a school boy at broad daylight just because his body is supposed to keep a part of the map... even huger alien ship appears to defeat first ship and get kidnapper with kidnapped kids to that second ship ! And both ship captains are espers! And the kid! There's so much stupidity in store that it's overwhelming .   Overall Rating: 3/10   53. Chironup no Kitsune チロヌップのきつね [1987-III] Group TAC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama  Foxes Ken and Chin become the proud parents of cubs, Koro and Kan, who enjoy a carefree life on the northern Japanese island of Chironup. They befriend a fisherman and his wife but are forced to run for their lives when soldiers on a military exercise decide to take home some fox pelts as souvenirs. A sweet little film that obliquely symbolizes the plight of Japan's aboriginal Ainu people and the northern islands that have been contested with Russia since they were occupied by Stalin's soldiers in 1945. Average in every way.   Overall Rating: 5/10   54. Aitsu to Lullaby: Suiyobi no Cinderella あいつとララバイ 水曜日のシンデレラ [1987-III] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Drama, Romance Based on a shounen manga by Kusunoki Michiharu serialised in Weekly Shounen Magazine.
    On a Wednesday morning, Kenji goes touring to Hakone pass with his girlfriend Tomomi. There, he sees other riders waiting for something and stops his bike. One of the riders, Hayase Junichi, explains to him that a legendary female driver nicknamed Wednesday Cinderella passes this place every Wednesday in her white Porsche. Kenji becomes interested in this mysterious driver; however, racing with her proves more dangerous than it first seems to be. Not translated. Brand of this anime is Kawasaki ! How did I know? By large letters on the bike, of course ! Anyway, this anime is pretty weird , because bike is competing with a car most of the time... which is freaking weird considered that car follows super close causing crashes. This ad is a bit better than previous bike ads, but it's still an ad.   Overall Rating: 4/10   55. TWD Express Rolling Takeoff  TWD EXPRESS ローリングテイクオフ [1987-III] Gallop (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Sci-Fi  Based on a manga by Hijiri Yuki, serialised in Comic Nora. Note: Shown in theaters as a double bill with the anime feature MAPS: Densetsu no Samayoeru Seijin-tachi. Anything shown alongside MAPS would look great.  TWD Express is a space logistics company in grave debts. A girl with self-regeneration first gets rescued, then kidnapped. And in every pinch situation the same trump card of captain rage is used. Pathetic overall .   Overall Rating: 4/10   56. Bug tte Honey: Megarom Shoujo Mai 4622 Bugってハニー メガロム少女舞4622 [1987-III] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Comedy  Movie of the Bug tte Honey. Not translated. First movie left a poor impression on me. This one is also very random. Buildings look like toys... huge toys in space... cute enemies... bridges made of cards... and the biggest enemy is an ally who was experimented on. It's all so stupid that pains me physically to watch .   Overall Rating: 2/10   57. Dead Heat デッドヒート [1987-III] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi, Sports Failed driver Makoto is ready to quit the business until he is approached by Hayami Go, who offers him a hyper-engine to change his fortunes. Claiming to be "Japan's first 3D anime," this curio using the VHD-3D system features 21st-century youngsters racing "FX" machines - predictable crosses between motorcycles and mechas. Yay, chopped down to first episode racing mecha that I can't find a reason to recommend.   Overall Rating: 4/10   58. Lady Lady!! レディレディ!! [1987-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/21) Tags: Shoujo Historical Drama Lynn lost her mother at the age of five and lives in with her father in England. Lynn's father is not able to be by her side all the time because of his busy schedule and Lynn is often left on her own. Despite having to endure the harsh loneliness, Lynn strives to protect her promise with her mother to become a strong and elegant lady. Not translated. This series is about a girl five years old... not cool, but at least some continuation should be with her getting older and older. Let's just say it's definitely not Heidi from Alps, plus luxury environment does not add charm . For a five-year-old Lynn communicates with any adults and controls her body like a pro with occasional artificially looking slips. All I saw were endless new relatives for Lynn to deal with - hardly engaging or enternaining.   Overall Rating: 5/10   59. Anime Sanjuushi アニメ三銃士 [1987-IV] Gallop (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama, Romance In 1625, the young D'Artagnan leaves his village in Gascony to embark for Paris with his grandparents' blessings, taking only his father's sword and a letter of introduction. Seeking audience with Tréville, Captain of the Musketeers of the Guard and his late father's comrade, the poor nobleman aims to become a great hero in the service of King Louis XIII. The young adventurer is astonished by the massive size of Paris, but also overwhelmed. He wanders the city streets, befriending a young orphan named Jean. However, he also ends up offending three of the Musketeers of the Guard: Porthos, Aramis, and Athos. Confronted by the Parisian guards over their illegal dueling, D'Artagnan and the Musketeers fend off five of Cardinal Richelieu's soldiers, and the four of them quickly become friends. The four new comrades set off to stop the Cardinal from starting war between England and France, and protect the image of Queen Anne d'Autriche, the wife of Louis XIII. But what will be the cost of their efforts? Better than dog musketeers, but still only for those who don't know the plot.   Overall Rating: 5/10   60. Mister Ajikko ミスター味っ子 [1987-IV] Sunrise (Dropped 3/99) Tags: Shounen Comedy, Gourmet Ajiyoshi Yoichi is a culinary prodigy who manages the eating house together with his mother. One day, Murata Genjiro appears in the eating house and is surprised at the delicious taste and delicate culinary skills of the katsu-don prepared by Youichi. Subsequently, Youichi is being invited to the Aji-oh Building in which he is involved in a spaghetti match with the in-house Italian chef, Marui. Youichi's novel culinary ideas, coupled with his enthusiasm of serving the best for his guests, allow him to defeat Marui in the match. From then on, Youichi begins to compete with other rivals in the race for the best tastes and dishes. Oh, so Shokugeki no Soma had such source. No torn clothes on tasting (but flying in space between planes on tasting), yet very similar otherwise. Of course there are less characters and side-plots here. I don't have a faintest desire to watch it to the end.   Overall Rating: 5/10   61. Kamen no Ninja Akakage 仮面の忍者赤影 [1987-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/23) Tags: Action, Fantasy Red Shadow, created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, is a ninja who wears a red-and-black costume and a stylized red mask. His adventures take place in Feudal Japan, and he and his ninja sidekicks Aokage and Shirokage fight evil warlords, wizards and daikaiju using modern high-tech gadgetry (a blatant oddity in a period setting). Only a few episodes are translated. Basically, Japanese version of Zorro with some magic or elements out of the setting used. Action is ok, but there's hardly anything besides that.   Overall Rating: 5/10   62. Bikkuriman ビックリマン [1987-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/75) Tags: Comedy, Fantasy In a world divided between angels and evil creatures, only the young hero Yamato Shintei has the power to defeat the demons... Not translated. It's a chibi parody on folk tales and probably even on Dragon Ball, as protagonist is a samurai kid, he has a female angel companion, pervy old man as companion, some shounen mage as companion and what not! Title is supposed to surprise/amaze, so it has bold moves, like cutting down lower half of ogre body and having upper half fly with the lower half away...   Overall Rating: 6/10   63. Tsuideni Tonchinkan Anyway, It Doesn't Matter ついでにとんちんかん [1987-IV] Studio Comet (Dropped 3/43) Tags: Gag Humor Comedy A gang decides to play at burglary without the knowledge of their schoolmates, each masquerading at different times as the master thief Tonchinkan. Not translated. Gag comedy where three pupils with some super skills dress as thieves and try to steal something, but their fourth accomplice is a kindergarten kid who always acts maximally irrationally showing naked ass everywhere, siding with enemies or just taking the hits in most hilarious forms. Might be a thing with translation.   Overall Rating: 5/10   64. Norakuro-kun のらくろクン [1987-IV] Pierrot (Dropped 3/50) Tags:  Comedy, Mystery October, 1987, Autumn. In Suganami, Tokyo, there lives the Kinoshita family whereby the father draws very little pay out of his job as an ordinary salaryman. In order to cover expenses, he decides to let out the second floor of their apartment to earn additional rental income. One day, an obstinate-looking eldery dog, accompanied by a younger boy-dog, came knocking on their doors. The eldery dog addresses himself as Norayama Kuroyoshi and introduces his grandson as Norakuro. The former wants to open a detective agency and intends to rent the unit for their office. He will be the president of the investigative bureau while Norakuro-kun will be the director. He will also recruit one of the Kinoshita's sons, Keita-kun, as his employee and their advisor will be the girl-next-door, a high school student by the name of Rika Sawaguchi. On the third day since the official opening of the office, the telephone rang, a signal of a new case. Not translated. Kids stuff, only a bit more complex that Doraemon. And since Norakuro was an old anti-war series, it still holds some ties to military vehicles and stuff.    Overall Rating: 5/10   65. Manga Nihon Keizai Nyuumon マンガ日本経済入門 [1987-IV] Knack Productions (Dropped 1/25) Tags: Seinen Educational, Historical Drama, Slice of Life Depiction of Japan's economy, based on Shoutarou Ishinomori's epynomous manga. Wow, someone translated first episode. Only cringe with some real life video cuts , as expected.   Overall Rating: 2/10   66. Devilman: Tanjou-hen Devilman: The Birth デビルマン 誕生編 [1987-IV] Oh! Production (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mythology Horror, Sci-Fi, Supernatural  Akira Fudou leads the life of a typical high school student. After a chance encounter with school bullies, he is rescued by his childhood friend Ryou Asuka. Ryou and Akira catch up over the course of an afternoon that ends with them crashing a party at a nightclub. Initially uncomfortable with the environment, Akira is shocked when violence provokes some of the club's partygoers to transform into demonic monsters. He and Ryou are only saved from the encounter thanks to the intervention of a great demon known as Amon. Amon possesses Akira, and the two together form the powerful Devilman⁠—a being that, due to the influence of Akira's strong empathy for his fellow man, is resolved to keep the human race safe from the threats of demonkind. It's true that first two prologue episodes of old devilman series were impressive, but they were not that good to have own remake, lol ! It's more advanced now, but still a secondary product that I can't rate high.   Overall Rating: 5/10   67. Junk Boy ジャンクボーイ [1987-IV] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Ecchi 23-year-old Ryohei Yamazaki has just one thing on his mind: sex. And with his sweet-talking, honey-voiced ways, Ryohei has no trouble finding interested ladies. But none of them is just what he wants... none of them is PERFECT. Then he charms the beautiful editor of a hot magazine into hiring him. Journalism will never be the same again... I've definitely seen worse, but it does not cancel the fact that there's no depth in this piece .   Overall Rating: 5/10   68. Battle Royal High School 真魔神伝 バトルロイヤルハイスクール [1987-IV] D.A.S.T. (Finished 1/1) Tags: Martial Arts, Mythology, Super Power Action, Horror, Supernatural Hyoudo Riki is just an ordinary guy who likes to wear a tiger mask while Kung-Fu fighting, which means he fits in real well at BATTLE ROYAL HIGH SCHOOL! Unfortunately for Riki, he's the doppleganger in our world of Byoudo, Master of the Dark Realm, and when a dimensional gate opens between the two worlds, the evil Fairy Master tricks Byoudo into making an attempt to conquer our beautiful, and better lit, world. Now poor Riki is semi-possessed by his opposite number, and the minions of the Fairy Master are mutating his classmates into hideous lustful monsters. To make matters worse, all the inter-dimensional commotion has attracted the attention of a sword-happy exorcist and the heroic Zankan of the Space-Time Police! Which all means that Riki is about to take one bitch of a mid-term. The course is survival, and forget "Pass/Fail". The test is graded "Live/Die". Action was quite ok for me. But there's nothing but action, so .   Overall Rating: 6/10   69. Dirty Pair OVA ダーティペア (1987) [1987-IV] Sunrise (Finished 10/10) Tags: Detective Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi Set in the future Kei and Yuri are Trouble Consultants for The 3WA. Code Named "Lovely Angels", but, they are known throughout the galaxy as The Dirty Pair. They always solve their case, but, not without causing collateral damage and mayhem. First half of episodes looked really bad for me as there was always mission given by 3WA without prologue, and mission got conducted without humor or conversations. In the second half of the episodes all those issues were adressed at least couple times each. In the end I feel that OVA episodes are on the same level as originals or worse. With the novelty inevitably lost with the second season, it's only 6 for me .   Overall Rating: 6/10   70. Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 メタルスキンパニックMADOX-01 [1987-IV]  AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi In the first test of a revolutionary personal battle-suit, the MADOX-01, Ace female test-pilot Elle Kusomoto smashes an attacking tank force and humiliates Lt. Kilgore, Japan's most-macho tank-jockey, in the process. Kilgore swears he'll get even, and he gets his chance when the prototype MADOX literally falls off the back of a truck in the middle of Tokyo. Meanwhile, the MADOX, which fell off the back of one truck, off a bridge, and into the back of another truck, has found its way into the hands of college student Koji Sujimoto. Intruiged by the MADOX, Koji makes the big mistake of fooling with it without reading the manual first, and soon finds himself locked in the suit and zooming around downtown Tokyo. Just Action. Waste of time.   Overall Rating: 3/10   71. X Densha de Ikou X電車で行こう [1987-IV] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Avant Garde, Mystery, Supernatural  Ishihara Toru is an everyday guy with an on-and-off girlfriend and a position working for a train buff. Things become complicated when a ghostly vehicle dubbed the X Train begins to ride the rails, destroying everything in its path. Somehow, it seems that Toru is connected with the X Train by a strange power, which draws the attention of some very dangerous and power hungry people who would wield it for their own... Dark monotonous horror with ugly faces and no real aim. I see zero merit in it. Appreciating it for being experimental and comparing it to FLCL is incompetence beyond understanding.   Overall Rating: 4/10   72. TO-Y トーイ  [1987-IV] Gallop (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Music Drama Two weeks before a concert at Yaon Hibiya auditorium (1987.8.26), while playing at the club Shinjuku Loft, lead vocalist To-Y (pron: to-o-i) of the band GASP is jumped by a rival, Aikawa Yoji. GASP is a upcoming band known for its violence, struggling to be noticed against the popularity of hotshot Aikawa, who's #1 on the charts and beloved by his fans. The Yaon Hibiya concert represents GASP's mainstream debut to break out of the small-time club scene, which is threatened by the schemes of Aikawa's manager, Ms. Kato of Koyama Productions. Kato wants To-Y to leave that "bunch of hoodlums," and sing independently for a major label. Adding to the confusion is an unexplained character who manifests feline traits, named Niya. Niya presents herself as "To-Y's aijin" ("Niya, To-Y no aijin da yo!") to the consternation of Koishikawa Hiderou, who has interest in To-Y. Koishikawa, also known as "Sonoko-chan," is typed as a "okama" by Niya. A running motif is GASP, it's fans, and associates regarded as unusual by the mainstream public, as exemplified by their musical taste, dress, and Classic Coke-drinking, which only contributes to more difficulty in their struggle to be accepted. Some songs, some singers with ever sour faces and zero emotions, one tomboy full of emotions who constantly picks on singers. If it sounds enticing, go ahead, but I'm past the time I could enjoy aimless animation just for the mood.   Overall Rating: 5/10   73. Gall Force 2: Destruction ガルフォース2 ディストラクション [1987-IV] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi Military, Space Lufy, discovered floating lifeless in space, is brought on board a Solnoid cruiser and given another chance at life. Once the hardened warrior, she is shown events that shake her faith (one's own death seems to have a way of changing one's philosophy) and lessening her power as a fighter just as that power is most needed! First part had at least some drama and action, this one is pretty even and bland.   Overall Rating: 5/10   74. Hi no Tori: Uchuu-hen The Phoenix -Space- 火の鳥 宇宙編 [1987-IV] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi In deep space, four astronauts discover that their colleague Makimura has mysteriously died shortly following a cryptic note about his imminent murder. Though horrified by the news, the inoperable state of their spaceship leaves the crew no time to grieve, and they evacuate via escape pods. Determined to identify the culprit, the survivors begin to suspect fellow crewmate Kizaki, on account of a rivalry between himself and Makimura regarding the only female team member, Nana Ichinomiya. However, to their bewilderment, they notice Makimura's pod following them, yet failing to respond to attempts at contact. As the astronauts try to interpret their perplexing circumstances, they learn there are more inconceivable stories about their lost teammate, one involving the Phoenix, a mysterious bird said to have the ability to grant immortality. It is not until they crash into a seemingly deserted planet that the crew will finally uncover the sinister truth behind Makimura and his suspicious pod. Set in a distant future, Hi no Tori: Uchuu-hen illustrates the cruelty of human beings passionately in pursuit of their own desires without any regard to the consequences. Story itself is nice as usual, but it's story for story's sake, not integral piece. No good personalities to back it properly.   Overall Rating: 6/10   75. Daimajuu Gekitou: Hagane no Oni 大魔獣激闘 鋼の鬼 [1987-IV] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Horror, Sci-Fi In the year 1999, a team of UN scientists in an attempt to tap into a new energy resource on a deserted island called Sansara, unknownigly open a portal to another universe, unleashing dormant biomechanical entities. Three years later, Takuya Goroza returns to the island of Sansara urged by a mysterious request by college chum Haruka Alford. Little does he know, his old friend isn't what he appears to be... The whole film is a buildup for opening a portal followed by mecha battle. Not cool.   Overall Rating: 5/10   76. The Samurai ザ・サムライ [1987-IV] TBS (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen School Comedy, Romance Sixteen-year-old high school student Takeshi Chimatsuri has devoted his life to being a master samurai like his father was. Then one day, the Toki twins, two ninja sisters he's known since childhood, transfer to his school and issue him a challenge to take back their family dagger from him. Unfortunately for him, they have discovered his one weakness: the fear of the naked female body. Now, Takeshi must undergo special training from his classmates Atsuko and Torai, and his teacher Miss Ayatsugi to resist the combined brute strength of Akari and the temptation of her sex-crazed twin Kagiri. Class will never be in order with these three constantly fighting each other. It could be funnier and have some kind of ending. But it did not. It will be forgotten in a day.   Overall Rating: 5/10   77. Makyou Gaiden Le Deus Ladius 魔境外伝レ・ディウス [1987-IV] Production Reed (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi  In a post-apocalyptic world, the treasure hunter Riot and his pretty sidekicks are searching for Eyes of Zalem, which they hope will guide them to Rido, the treasure of a long-lost Quall civilization. A limitless energy source, the Rido has the power to even restore life; but unfortunately for Riot, the evil Demsters are after it too.  An absolutely unmemorable adventure that turns into same unremarkable mecha by the end.   Overall Rating: 4/10   78. Relic Armor Legaciam  レリック・アーマー レガシアム [1987-IV] Kadokawa Shoten (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi The planet Libertia was once known as “the planet of death”, until humanity built three giant mirrors and created what seemed like an ideal land. It is on this planet that Professor Grace and his granddaughter Alcia live peacefully… until their home is attacked by Guild soldiers looking for the professor and for Legaciam – a special Armor that can resist extreme heat, allowing it to go to areas where humans would not survive normally. Alcia, who was at the time piloting Legaciam in order to help her grandfather with the testing, manages to get away… barely. But the Guild is determined to get Legaciam by any means necessary… Setting is portrayed vividly, so it's a bit better than usual mecha. Not much due to other elements failure.   Overall Rating: 5/10   79. Good Morning Althea グッドモーニング・アルテア [1987-IV] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Sci-Fi The story revolves around Nikolai, apparently a part-cyborg; Galory, a young boy who apparently is part human/part Crest person, and Althea, who is entirely a Crest person. Seems the Earth and the Crest people were at war for 300 years so there's still a lot of bad feelings present. The ship Galory, Nikolai and others are on is ambushed and almost everyone killed by some kind of automated attack ships from a huge Crest ship that has been taken over by an automaton. Galory, Nikolai and Althea go to the ship to try and see if there are any survivors of an advanced party from Galory's ship that can be saved, and to see if they can destroy the Type 38 automaton in the ship's core. Another variation of evil hiding in an abandoned space ship. Not sure I can call anything good out of it all .   Overall Rating: 4/10   80. Flying Luna Clipper フライング・ルナクリッパー [1987-IV] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Music, Parody, Psychological Avant Garde, Comedy, Ecchi A trip on a chartered plane with a number of other thrill-seekers (most of whom are anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables) and hop from island to island, each of which offer their own unique visual delights. Anime is done in the form of pixelated DOS game... that'd actually be enough unless I wanted to sample ecchi of the vegetable people... I wish I did not. It's not even done by any professional company. It's not anime. The end .   Overall Rating: 2/10   81. Scoopers スクーパーズ [1987-IV] ACC Production (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi  It's 2016 and Shambhala city reporter Yoko and her android boyfriend/bodyguard/cameraman Vito are hunting the enigmatic criminal Mr. X. Their search leads them to the Rainbow Tower, were Yoko is taken hostage and Vito must battle to save her by destroying the program of the Tower's central computer to prevent X's escape. Reporter stack her nose everywhere and got attacked often, but was saved by her cyborg companion. They they got separated. Then they got reunited and reported got saved again. The end.   Overall Rating: 4/10   82. Kentauros no Densetsu The Legend of Kentauros ケンタウロスの伝説 [1987-IV] Wako Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Drama  The Centaurs are a racing team of 93 bikers from the port city of Yokohama who are named after the legendary Greek horsemen. Arthur and Ken fall for the same lady deciding to settle their competition with a race. You know how I like serious racing. Not. For some reason showing real brands on bikes is considered ok in the 80s. There is numerous times Yamaha is shown on bikes and uniform which makes me think it's one big Yamaha ad to settle things with threee previous Honda movies. But why in the anime, damn it?   Overall Rating: 5/10   83. Taiman Blues: Shimizu Naoto-hen たいまんぶるうす 清水直人編 [1987-IV] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Shounen Delinquents A tale of rivalry between two gangs, MND and Laku, and the personal vendetta between MND's Naoto and Laku's Yota. Serious biker gang wars anime. Not without flashing HONDA on the bikes ofc. Lots of simplifications and stupidity, as expected.   Overall Rating: 5/10   84. Boku no Oldies wa All Color 僕のオールディーズはオールカラー [1987-IV] (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Seinen  Music Romance A minimalist adaptation of Seizo Watase's manga of the same name. It contains 5 stories of slow paced vignettes of romance whose only dialogue lies within the "oldies" being played as background music. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   85. Lupin III: Fuuma Ichizoku no Inbou Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy  ルパン三世 風魔一族の陰謀 [1987-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Action, Adventure, Comedy, Mystery Goemon's wedding to Murasaki Inabe, daughter of a samurai clan's leader, is interrupted when the Fuma ninjas attack, kidnapping the bride-to-be and demanding her family's ancient treasure as ransom. Lupin, Jigen, Goemon and Fujiko work together once again to try to save Murasaki and get to the treasure before the Fuma can steal it. Probably the best Lupin III I've seen so far. A bit of everything - chases , dungeon with traps, kidnapping, local corruption, treasure. Still could not enjoy it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   86. Genji Monogatari 源氏物語 [1987-IV] Group TAC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Drama, Romance At the height of the Heian period, Hikaru Genji—the illegitimate son of the emperor—leads a life of luxury as a government official. He spends his time at court sipping tea, dancing, and coming up with elegant excuses to visit his somewhat scandalous lovers. With such a complicated life, it is only a matter of time before this amorous man's affairs spiral out of control. Boring like hell. Only ok if you can tolerate one and a half hour of emotionless talks about neutral things like succession, retainer, favorites or music.   Overall Rating: 3/10   87. Gokiburi-tachi no Tasogare Twilight of the Cockroaches ゴキブリたちの黄昏  [1987-IV] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Anthropomorphic, Military Drama Hybrid film with animated cockroaches interacting with live-action actors. In a trashy bachelor pad lived a colony of roaches who were able to roam freely for food or for games. Because of the homeowner being gentle with the roaches, they have no fear of traps, spray, or being stepped on. However when the homeowner starts bringing over a woman over, life starts to change for the roaches who are already living an easy life. What the hell? I was close to throwing up. There should be no toying with cockroachcide.   Overall Rating: 1/10   88. Shouri Toushu 勝利投手 [1987-IV] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Team Sports  Baseball coach Hoshiyama offers a chance to turn professional to Katsumi Kunimasa, a star member of the student squad that won the summer tournament. The young girl becomes a star pitcher for the Chunchi Dragons (conveniently, the team her father owns), and, after a year of triumphs, she leads them to victory in the national championships at the legendary Koshien Stadium. Based on the manga by Noriko Umeda, this anime may be compared to the other girl-playing baseball story "Song of the Baseball Enthusiasts". The Dragons team members are all based on the real-life team, though their opponents are fictional. At the time, the real-life Hoshiyama was a commentator, but fact was eventually true to fiction and he became the manager for the real-life Dragons. Not translated. I'm not sure why I keep watching baseball spokons with zero chance for me to like it. Girl in baseball was already covered in Yakyuukyou no Uta, but both are much better than average baseball spokons. It is so mostly because scenes from everyday life addition. Anyway, not great, but watchable.   Overall Rating: 5/10   89. Hitomi no Naka no Shounen: Juugo Shounen Hyouryuuki The Story of Fifteen Boys 瞳のなかの少年 十五少年漂流記 [1987-IV] Nippon Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Adventure  A two-week summer vacation has turned out to be a long struggle for survival. The Story of 15 Boys is based on "Deux Ans de Vacances," a unique masterpiece and the only novel that Jules Verne wrote especially for children. Now this story has been animated through the use of leading-edge techniques. A drifting sailboat carrying 15 boys is overtaken by a storm and cast ashore on a desert island, where the fifteen boys begin their struggle. Their tough days-full of danger, thrills and fear-drive the boys to distress at times, but also shape them into strong independent people. The boys' extraordinary experiences on the island will bring to all young viewers the excitement that they always dream of experiencing themselves. But there has already been older animation on the same book, just about a third was taken by voyage and gathering there. This time arrival takes mere minutes to give more time for "adventures" - super boring ones at that since target audience is kids.   Overall Rating: 4/10   90. Saint Elmo: Hikari no Raihousha Saint Elmo: Apostle of Light セントエルモ・光の来訪者 [1987-IV] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Sci-Fi  Inside Mercury, Japan builds a large-sized solar space power plant. The plant supports Earth with its large solar energy supply but suddenly there is an abnormality at the Saint Elmo plant. To pinpoint the problem, Earth sends several technicians to fix it. Not translated. Technicians fix the problem. Good for them, but why should I watch it really?   Overall Rating: 5/10
  13. kivandopulus

    Anime of the Year
    No clear favorite this year, but a lot of masterpieces with 7 - Hadashi no Gen 2 , Shounan Bakusouzoku , Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa , Sangokushi II: Amakakeru Otoko-tachi . I don't want to choose, so the winner will be the only series in the list which is Shounan Bakusouzoku .   1. Dragon Ball ドラゴンボール [1986-I] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/153) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts, Super Power Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy Gokuu Son is a young boy who lives in the woods all alone—that is, until a girl named Bulma runs into him in her search for a set of magical objects called the "Dragon Balls." Since the artifacts are said to grant one wish to whoever collects all seven, Bulma hopes to gather them and wish for a perfect boyfriend. Gokuu happens to be in possession of a dragon ball, but unfortunately for Bulma, he refuses to part ways with it, so she makes him a deal: he can tag along on her journey if he lets her borrow the dragon ball's power. With that, the two set off on the journey of a lifetime. They don't go on the journey alone. On the way, they meet the old Muten-Roshi and wannabe disciple Kuririn, with whom Gokuu trains to become a stronger martial artist for the upcoming World Martial Arts Tournament. However, it's not all fun and games; the ability to make any wish come true is a powerful one, and there are others who would do much worse than just wishing for a boyfriend. To stop those who would try to abuse the legendary power, they train to become stronger fighters, using their newfound strength to help the people around them along the way. Watching Dragon Ball for the first time. Actually, first episodes are masterfully crafted. I don't like the concept and won't watch the episodes, but there will be a lot of movies that I might evaluate higher, we'll see.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Ai Shoujo Pollyanna Story 愛少女ポリアンナ物語 [1986-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/51) Tags: Historical Drama, Slice of Life  Motherless since birth, Pollyanna was an ordinary happy-go-lucky girl, leaving peacefully with her father, the vicar. Then one day her life changes completely when her father dies and she has to live with her aunt whom she has never met before. In the beginning, she seems to be detested by her but as time passes, they develop a very strong bond. Another world masterpiece series that I'm not going to finish due to lack of tempo and no goal.   Overall Rating: 5/10   3. Maple Town Monogatari メイプルタウン物語 [1986-I] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Fantasy, Slice of Life  Maple Town Stories is about friendship, adventure and the troubles the children (Patty Rabbit, Bobby Bear and Fanny Fox) who are the main characters of the show, fall into. Wild Wolfe is a homeless thief who lives in the forest and usually steals from the town and does other mischief, but the kids are always there to stop him and set things right slowly making him understand the wrongs of his ways. It's kids show if not for form, then surely for morality answers it provides. Too childish. It also does not look Japanese at all as if made for export.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Uchuusen Sagittarius 宇宙船サジタリウス [1986-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/77) Tags: Adventure, Sci-Fi  Working for a multi-purpose space agency, Toppy and Rana make friends with Giraffe, a scientist, and go through various adventures in space. The three encounter danger at times, but their friendship always saves them just in the nick of time. Changing humans into sagittarius is a distinctive move towards kid audience. It is also partly musical. Maybe it's not for kids, but for younger children for sure.   Overall Rating: 4/10   5. Kenritsu Chikyuu Boueigun Prefectural Earth Defense Force 県立地球防衛軍 [1986-I] Gallop (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi Telegraph Pole Society, a mysterious group, is planning to conquer the world. The principal of the local high school forms a Defense Force by recruiting students from school: Shogi Morita, Kuho Tasuke, and Akiko Ifukube. Meanwhile the high school crazy scientist, Dr. Inogami, has turned a local boy, Kami Sanchin, into a cyborg. They might just defeat the Telegraph Pole Society with the help of the cyborg, or maybe not... I liked setting, characters and art. As for humor , liked about one third of it, still enough for a six.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. The Humanoid: Ai no Wakusei Lezeria ザ・ヒューマノイド 哀の惑星レザリア [1986-I] Kaname Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Space Drama, Sci-Fi Dr. Watson has created his masterpiece – a beautiful woman made of metal. A wonder of science, Antoinette is a childlike innocent who holds the key to an ancient civilization that could save the world, or destroy it. And when a mad tyrant kidnaps the man she loves, Antoinette finally discovers the courage – and the amazing fighting skills – that are her true calling. Story is average at best.   Overall Rating: 5/10   7. Cool Cool Bye クール・クール・バイ [1986-I] Studio Bogey (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy  Two brothers are riding around on their hover bikes, when suddenly a giant metal fortress gets in their way. After a brief battle, the duo manages to gravely wound the fortress. It retreats and dumps our heroic pair in a wasteland. But this wasteland is inhabited by nomads that indicate that the fortress was hidden inside a mountain. The nomads plead for the duo to finish the job. Two of the natives go with them as guides, and somewhere along the way the gain the help of a fairy that can transform into a mech-warrior woman. I should have blocked an OVA like this with just 30 minutes length, but of course I needed to see how metal fortress gets wounded. Priceless.   Overall Rating: 4/10   8. Kikou Kai Galient OVA 機甲界ガリアン [1986-I] Sunrise (Finished 3/3) Tags: Mecha Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi The first two episodes are summaries of the TV series, the third one (Crest of Iron) takes place in an alternate universe. I counted nine stupid moves in first two OVAs, that alone dropped evaluation to 5. But third OVA is a very weird alternative story that's probably retelling of some samurai clan story transferred to this world. Stunningly bad and different from what original story is. It's one of the first mecha that has a logical normal development, but that is buried under horrible logic of events and poor characters actions .   Overall Rating: 4/10   9. Soukou Kihei Votoms Recaps Armored Trooper Votoms Recaps 装甲騎兵ボトムズ [1986-I] Sunrise (Finished 4/4) Tags: Mecha, Military Action, Drama, Sci-Fi A summarized version of the TV series in 4 parts. Not translated. Finally saw its end, absolutely horrible open ending.   Overall Rating: 4/10   10. Karuizawa Syndrome 軽井沢シンドローム [1986-I] Kitty Film Mitaka Studio (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life It is an action comedy about a young man's persistent sexual fantasies. It has 4 distinct art styles: a manga style, a SD style, a realistic style, and a art-graphic pencil style. Some prety random romance stuff with talks about pregnancy/marriage/love... there's not big concept behind it all and even no good humor.   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Honoo no Alpenrose ドラマチックメモリー 炎のアルペンローゼ [1986-I] Tatsunoko Production (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shoujo Historical Drama, Romance Two-part OVA that summarises the entire Honoo no Alpenrose TV series featuring a new dubbing and reworked scenes. The story about an amnesiac girl who runs from nazis and finds all kinds of her relatives. So stretched, so boring .   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Butten Monogatari 仏典物語 [1986-I] (Dropped 0/10) Tags: Historical An animated telling of famous Buddhist scriptures, the OVA series focuses on the early days of Buddhism surrounding Gautama Buddha/Siddhartha. Not found (so grateful for that).   Overall Rating: 0/10   13. Hokuto no Ken Movie Fist of the North Star: The Movie 北斗の拳 [1986-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Adventure, Sci-Fi Following a cataclysmic nuclear war, the world teeters on the brink of complete destruction. Civilization is polarized into a degenerate society where opposing packs of marauding scavengers prey on helpless, homeless nomads. For those who are lucky enough to survive the constant brutality and danger, it is a bleak existence. Life an death blur into abstractions. The only hope left for mankind is to find a hero worthy of becoming the next "Fist of the North Star" - an enlightened warrior - who is capable of leading those with the will to survive out of this barrenness into a new world. But in this savage no-man's land of shifting loyalties and power-hungry demi-gods, heroes are in short supply. Epic! More epic! Squared! The whole anime looks like author stormbrained answers from geeks on what they considered cool. Bursting heads? Hits with timer that burst head in exactly 30 seconds? Exchanging hits while the whole city is crashing around this small circle? Of course it has it all. It only makes it unrealistic and laughable for me. Hokuto no Ken is Fast & Furious of anime - the more it tries to look cooler, the more laughable it becomes.   Overall Rating: 5/10   14. Urusei Yatsura Movie 4: Lum The Forever うる星やつら ラム・ザ・フォーエバー [1986-I] Studio Deen (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi  Strange things begin happening in Tomobiki Town... When a great cherry tree, "Tarozakura" is cut down while Lum & Co. are making a movie, Lum loses her horns-and her powers! Thus begins the strangest and most lyrical of the Urusei Yatsura movies... I'd say it's a bit better than other franchise movies, but there is still nothing exceptional, and concept is still shallow. At least it's able to set a lyrical mood.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Arion ネオ・ヒロイック・ファンタジア アリオン [1986-I] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy In Thrace, Arion is taken from his mother Demeter by the god Hades. In the Underworld, Arion is trained to be a warrior. His training is driven by revenge: Arion was told that his mother's blindness was caused by Zeus and Zeus' death will remove the curse. Finally, Arion and Geedo (a huge ape-like creature who had become Arion's friend and companion) left the Underworld to find Zeus. Seneca, a small thief, makes off with Arion's sword and this leads Arion to his first encounter with the forces of Zeus, commanded by his daughter Athena. Arion is captured but is later set free by Lesfeena, Athena's mute serving girl. As Arion rejoins Geedo and Seneca (and worries about Lesfeena), the forces of Zeus and Poseidon face each other in battle. In the background sits the scheming Hades, and the calm Apollon who seems to have plans of his own. I remember watching this movie prior to playing Arion visual novel to understand what was going on there. The whole idea of mortal combat between gods and titans with pretty much everyone dying is very viable, but realization could be a lot better. With an unsatisfactory ending like that it can't become a masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Kinnikuman: New York Kiki Ippatsu! キン肉マン ニューヨーク危機一髪! [1986-I] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Sports Terryman, Robin Mask, and the other Justice Choujins are participating in a tournament in New York. Suddenly, Akuma Shogun (not the same as the guy from the series) arrives and defeats all of the Justice Choujins and absorbs their power... all except Kinnikuman (who was late for the tournament because he was busy eating gyuudon). Now Kinnikuman must defeat Akuma Shogun, whom now posseses the combined strength of all the Justice Choujins. Another kinnikuman movie with length of just two episodes. Sadly, it reuses all the usual for show trops and humor yet again. I seriously have seen most its moves presented here already, that substracts a score point.   Overall Rating: 4/10   17. Seito Shokun! Kokoro ni Midori no Neckerchief wo 生徒諸君! 心に緑のネッカチーフを [1986-I] Ashi Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo School Comedy Students who do not trust teachers, teachers who give up faith in education, parents who blame schools for their children's misbehavior... Naoko was at a loss when she was assigned as a new high school teacher. Times have changed and students are no longer easy to control, but she chose not to look away. Instead, Naoko reaches out to try and discover the various issues hidden in the modern education system. Not translated. Synopsis is for later manga, but not for this work. Naoko is still a student here. She fools around with her classmates and participates in green bandana event. Comedy is shallow, drama artificial.     Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Maison Ikkoku めぞん一刻 [1986-II] Studio Deen (Dropped 4/96) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life  In the town of Clock Hill, there is an old boarding house called Maison Ikkoku. While the residence itself is fairly normal, most of its occupants are not. Yuusaku Godai, its most quiet tenant, has finally reached his limit with his neighbors' constant disruptions and boisterous partying. Wanting a calmer place to call home so that he can study in peace, he prepares to move away. However, his plans to leave are suddenly interrupted when he meets the new boarding house manager, Kyoko Otonashi. Falling madly in love with her, he decides that the boarding house may not be such a bad place to live after all. Unfortunately for him, Kyoko has her own romantic troubles: she is a widow whose husband died six months into their marriage. And despite her blossoming feelings for Godai, Kyoko still cherishes her dearly departed husband, and she believes that no other man could possibly fill the void in her heart. But with Godai's persistence and some help of the other eccentric tenants, she may experience true love once again. Same as Touch, very nice, but episodic and 100 episodes long. It's my policy not to give masterpiece scores if I have not watched series to the end, but watching 100 episodes of any episodic show is a waste of time for me. Story is much more important than setting, characters and humor combined.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ 機動戦士ガンダムZZ [1986-II] Sunrise (Dropped 3/47) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi In Universal Century 0088, the Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG) has emerged victorious in its war with the Earth Federation's Titans at the cost of devastating losses. Neo-Zeon, the third faction in the war formerly known as Axis Zeon, remains as powerful as ever. Led by Newtype Haman Karn, Neo-Zeon has been implementing plans to take over both Earth and the space colonies. The AEUG flagship Argama heads to the Side 1 colony Shangri-La for repairs. Living in the colony is Judau Ashta, a 14-year-old junk dealer who is struggling to make enough money to put his younger sister through school. Upon the discovery of an escape pod containing a former Titans pilot, Judau and his friends are quickly led to the Argama in hopes of stealing a mobile suit which they can sell for a fortune. However, with the arrival of a Neo-Zeon ship seeking to defeat the Argama, Judau and his friends are dragged into to a conflict that will bring them across space and Earth. I'm still open-minded towards the series, but this one has some very bad elements in first episodes. Frustratingly bad ones.   Overall Rating: 4/10   20. Ginga Nagareboshi Gin 銀牙 流れ星銀 [1986-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/21) Tags: Shounen Anthropomorphic Action, Adventure, Drama Gin is a silver Tora-ge named after his coat color. Shortly after being born, he watches his father, Riki, get killed by Akakabuto, a bear that terrorizes everything in his path. Being the third-generation of bear-dogs to try to stand up against Akakabuto, he ventures out to find dogs to join him in his fight. There have been many movies about dogs already, but this series is basically copycat of one of them - Daisetsusan no Yuusha Kibaou. If you've seen that, watching this series is a total waste of time.   Overall Rating: 4/10   21. Hikari no Densetsu 光の伝説 [1986-II] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/19) Tags: Shoujo Music Romance, Sports Hikari is a young school girl who dreams of becoming a great champion in the sport of rhythmic gymnastics like her idol, Diliana Gueorguiva. Despite all her setbacks while performing, she works hard and with the help and support of Takaaki Oiishi (the best male gymnast of her school) soon becomes a member of the rhythmic gymnastics team in her school. She develops feelings for Oiishi, but she is not the only one—Hazuki Shiina, the best gymnast in the entire school, also has feelings for Oiishi. Soon a friendship between Hikari and Shiina develops, but also a rivalry as well in the sport and for the love of Oiishi. Hikari is also torn between her feelings for Oiishi and her conflicting feelings for Mao Natsukawa, an old childhood friend, who is also the lead singer of the band called Mr. D. He composes the music she uses while performing, and has been developing feelings for her since childhood. Another shoujo that's too simple to matter, gymnastics spokon only makes it worse.   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. Seishun Anime Zenshuu Animated Classics of Japanese Literature 青春アニメ全集 [1986-II] Nippon Animation (Finished 32/32) Tags: Historical Drama, Romance A brilliant collection of beautifully animated episodes based on selected masterpieces of Japanese modern literature. The aim of this series is to appeal to the viewer at large and to give him or her some idea of the variety and individuality which Japanese literature has developed over the last hundred years. Watched it all, because I like Dazai and I remember a great Bunka anime watched in the past. Well, this series is not Dazai. At all. First half of the series are lyrical romance stories, and pretty simple since there's a strict time limit. The second half is a weird mashup of everything - judo, detective, even freaking animal story. And I definitely have seen judo and animal story in earlier anime series, so it's very disappointing. I did not find anything of use to me at all. Only good to set up lyrical mood, something that I don't need .   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Wonder Beat Scramble ワンダービート S(スクランブル) [1986-II] Mushi Production (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Space Action, Sci-Fi In 2119, the spaceship Green Sleeves found 3 planets attacked by X23, a moving planet heading Earth. The Earth government ordered Green Sleeves to attack X23, but Dr. Sugita, the captain of Green Sleeves, refused because he believed they could co-exist. Then, the communication with Green Sleeves was cut abruptly... In 2121, Susumu, the son of Dr. Sugita, is visited by strangers. The take him to Dr. Miya, one of the few supporters to Dr. Sugita's decision, while most blamed him as a traitor. Dr. Miya recommends Susumu to join White Pegasus, a team of special medical recuers. Their Micronizer System can shrink human so that they can cure from the inside of the body. Shortly afterwards, X23 has come in visual range at last. Hues - the aliens of X23 - choose Susumu's friend as their first target. Susumu and the other members of White Pegasus manage to defeat Hues inside of his body. But Susumu finds the signals emitted from the chips within Hues are the music composed by himself and his mother, as a gift to Dr. Sugita... Team gets miniscule and travels inside body looking for source of sickness. I'm ashamed to admit that either this show or a very similar one was shown at my school labor lessons couple times... so weird.   Overall Rating: 4/10   24. Go-Q-Choji Ikkiman Battle Ball 剛Q超児イッキマン [1986-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 1/32) Tags: Sci-Fi, Sports  Ikkiman is super human alien, but he doesn't know it. He was raised in a farm by an old couple. When his girlfriend dumps him to become a star, Ikkiman swears to himself that he will become a super star even more famous then her so they can get back together, and so he leaves the farm for the city. There, he interrupts the match of the Battle-ball team "Blue Planets," the battle-ball champions of the earth, and decides to join them with his superhuman discovered abilities. With the Blue planets, Ikkiman will play against alien enemy's for the title of champion and for the sake of the planet Earth. A single episode is translated. A modified baseball that encourages to use dirty moves. Protagonist is a superhuman who overcomes all those dirty moves. Comedy is shallow .   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Soukihei MD Geist M.D. Geist 装鬼兵MDガイスト [1986-II] Zero-G Room (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military Action, Sci-Fi In the distant future, mankind has colonized other planets in the universe. While many planets lived in peace, the planet Jerra has been ravaged by decades of war. Geist is an M.D.S. (Most Dangerous Soldier), an enhanced human with unsurpassed combat capabilities and an insatiable lust for battle. Because of his uncontrollable nature, Geist is cryogenically frozen and locked in a satellite. Several years later, the satellite crashes and Geist wakes up from his sleep to engage in another war. This time, to help the army stop the planet's central computer from activating a doomsday device that will lead to total annihilation of all life on Jerra. It can be called evil Hokuto no Ken with real coolness and less showing off. Maybe second movie would be really meaningful, but first movie is more of a prologue, and I can't rate it as a masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 6/10   26. Violence Jack: Harlem Bomber-hen Violence Jack: Slumking バイオレンス ジャック 〜ハーレム・ボンバー編〜 [1986-II] Production Reed (Finished 1/1) Tags: Gore Action, Drama, Horror Kanto Hell Earthquake has demolished the metropolitan completely. After the earthquake, Slum King is kidnapping girls and sell them as sex slaves. Mari is wandering on the devastated field looking for her lover, Ken. But she is also kidnapped by them. While she is tortured and trained as a sex slave, Ken saves her. Ken has become the member of Slum King. The king offers condition to him; in return for releasing her, he has to kill Violence Jack. Hasty, chaotic story about some action and nothing memorable. There seem to be a lot of Violence Jack franchise series.   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. The Choujo Maris the Chojo ザ・超女[ザ・スーパーギャル] [1986-II] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Super Power Comedy, Sci-Fi Despite being a refugee from an extinct planet, having an alcoholic as a father and an airhead for a mother, Maris' biggest problem is that she's a Thanatosian. Considering that Thanatosians are six times stronger than the average Earthling it shouldn't be such a curse, especially in a galaxy where violence is rife. But the accidental destruction she wreaks on everything she touches —even with the exotic alloy restraints she wears— means she's constantly in debt. Every mission she's assigned to by the Inter-Galactic Space Patrol becomes a cash-drain when all the damages are docked from her wage. But when she's selected to rescue the rich and sexy Kogane Maru it's like a dream come true. After setting him free from the terror of his ruthless kidnapper his eternal gratitude will surely guarantee marriage —and an end to all her financial headaches. It feels like a fight between members of Dirty Pair with a lot of comedy. Nothing big, nothing memorable.   Overall Rating: 6/10   28. Choujuu Kishin Dancougar: Ushinawareta Mono-tachi e no Requiem Dancougar: Requiem for Victims 超獣機神ダンクーガ 失われた者たちへの鎮魂歌(レクイエム) [1986-II] Production Reed (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Action, Drama The Dancouga team prepares for its final showdown with their arch-enemy Zorbados. The team has to travel to the strange dimension of the alien invaders to once and for all save the earth. Fighting on the home-grounds of the enemy will take all their strength and cunning. The Dancouga will have to fight its way to the strange alien red dimension before it can start its final assault and assure the safety of mankind forever. Every time I see a space emperor sending another general to conquer the Earth and it's showed in a serious manner, anime gets doomed for me. This one is exactly such case of old-school mecha that's revitalized a bit with visuals, but the core remains morally old.   Overall Rating: 4/10   29. Bari Bari Densetsu バリバリ伝説 [1986-II] Pierrot (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shounen Racing Action, Drama The main character, Gun, rides a customized Honda CB750F cafe racer and eventually evolves into a pro road racer. Not translated. Serious racing is always boring, but this one even includes some live action shots. Looks like one big Honda advertising to me.   Overall Rating: 2/10   30. Pelican Road Club Caroucha ペリカンロード クラブ・カルーチャ [1986-II] Studio World (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Drama, Romance High School boy Kenichi Watanabe is crazy about his MBX50 motorcycle. He and his buddies organize a motorcycle club, which they call Culture. Damn, the second racing anime, and again one big Honda advertising. Disgusting.   Overall Rating: 2/10   31. Project A-Ko プロジェクトA子 [1986-II] APPP (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Super Power Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi Sixteen years after its destruction by a meteor, Graviton City has been rebuilt into a futuristic metropolis. However, this is of little concern to superpowered high school student Eiko Magami, who only cares about her best friend Shiiko Kotobuki and arriving at school on time. Unfortunately, the incredibly intelligent Biko Daitokuji intends to befriend Shiiko, taking Eiko's place as the Shiiko's best friend using any means she can. Biko decides that, to accomplish this, she must defeat Eiko in combat. In order to overcome her super strength and speed, Biko creates a mecha and challenges Eiko in front of their school gate. As the two commence their battle, an extremely large spaceship hovers over Earth, searching for something left behind. Fanservice baka comedy action. In that order. Basically, first superwpower A-Ko and B-Ko fight for a usual cute crybaby C-Ko, then aliens start aiming for C-Ko and whole cities get destroyed. Wild stuff like that. Still , a bit memorable due to several crazy things happening in succession.   Overall Rating: 5/10   32. Hadashi no Gen 2 Barefoot Gen 2 はだしのゲン 2 [1986-II] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Historical Drama Three years have passed since the bombing of Hiroshima and Gen is now a fourth-grader. Hiroshima is still a ruin, and Gen must scrounge for scrap metal to help keep himself and his remaining family fed, but at least commerce has returned to the land. As his mother gradually grows ill from radiation sickness, Gen and Ryuta befriend a group of orphans led by a tough-nosed older child and including a girl who still bears ugly burn scars from the day of the bomb. An old man suffering from depression is also drawn into the group as they come together to support each other and form a makeshift family. Reality is still harsh, however, as many orphans still die lonely deaths and the grim reminders of what happened linger everywhere. I gave original an eight, so now I'm in a pinch. Events take place three years after the bombings, so of course it can't be same level of anxiety. Not much is happening as kids are still learning to survive, this time alongside homeless street children. But it's same well done, I enjoyed it anyway, so I can still give it a masterpiece status.   Overall Rating: 7/10   33. Touch: Sebangou no Nai Ace タッチ 背番号のないエース [1986-II] Group TAC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Team Sports Drama, Romance, Sports Compilation movie of the first year of Touch timeline. Contains plot differences, added scenes and an alternate ending. I remember series to have had substantial comedy. This movie is third sports, third romance, third drama. Not something I could appreciate.   Overall Rating: 6/10   34. Sango Shou Densetsu: Aoi Umi no Elfie サンゴ礁伝説 青い海のエルフィ [1986-II] Nippon Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Sci-Fi  In the future, the oceans have risen to flood all the continents due to humanity's negligence of the environment. Only a few bits of land have been spared, and one of those is the city-island where Elfie lives with her grandfather. One day, due to an underwater incident, she discovers that she can breathe underwater. Her grandfather reveals that in truth she is one of the mythical sea-people. Using the city-folk's xenophobia, local politicians spark a war with this hidden people to distract people from their current resource problems, and Elfie is caught in the middle of it. Pretty much everything is wrong in this anime. Moralistic environmentalism, poor drawing, simple characters, clear black and white sides. People comparing it to masterpiece Nausicaa are misguided by plot and travel vehicle similarities. The complexity difference of these titles are Heaven and Earth. If compare it to something, should pick up something older like Soratobu Yuureisen or Kaitei Sanman Mile, but people who only heard of Nausicaa do these comparisons out of ignorance.   Overall Rating: 4/10   35. Tabidachi: Ami Shuushou Departure: Ami, the Last Chapter 旅立ち -亜美・終章- [1986-II] APPP (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Romance  Movie based on the Ami series of the Cream Lemon franchise. This movie was co-aired with Project A-Ko movie. Imagine the most basic idol story with a bit of everything and nothing focused. Now add fanservice. Bam ! You've got Ami. Waste of time.   Overall Rating: 4/10   36. Niji no Kanata e! Shoujo Diana Monogatari 虹のかなたへ! 少女ダイアナ物語 [1986-II] Aubec (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Historical  The rare anime biography of Princess Diana from her birth to her early teen years. I should have blocked it due to only 25 minute length, but I was a bit curious. The whole "story" is based on a handful of facts - parents are divorced, Diana taking care about animals during study, winning pet competition with guinea pig, getting to know strict stepmother. Not something I could recommend.   Overall Rating: 4/10   37. Machine Robo: Cronos no Dai Gyakushuu Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos マシンロボ クロノスの大逆襲 [1986-III] Production Reed (Dropped 3/47) Tags: Martial Arts, Mecha, Space Action, Sci-Fi The journey of a robot prince begins! The planet Cronos is a world of super-robotic lifeforms, ruled by the wise Master Kirai. But their peaceful existence is shattered by the conquering armies of the Gandora robots. Now, machine combats machine in an epic battle for the planet. Master Kurai's son, Rom, must lead a company of transformable mecha warriors into the fray! Nothing can beat esper mecha, but robot mecha is rather close to it with a whole new world of cringe. Robots piloting transformer mecha while protecting civilian robots and fighting evil robots? Why is it so bad...   Overall Rating: 3/10   38. Call Me Tonight コール・ミー・トゥナイト [1986-III] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Gore Comedy, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi Rumi's met a lot of guys through her job, and it's probably fair to assume that most of them could be said to have some sort of problem, but a man who literally turns into a beast when he gets turned on may be outside of this perky call girl's field of expertise. Still, a little challenge every now and again stimulates the mind and makes life so much more interesting, so she's willing to give it a shot. It's more like ecchi. Don't know how to describe it, but it's not impressive and not memorable. It's hardly a comedy at all. Just a monster transformation case where curse gets cured as spontaneously as it gets attached.   Overall Rating: 5/10   39. California Crisis: Tsuigeki no Juuka California Crisis: Gun Salvo カリフォルニア・クライシス 追撃の銃火 [1986-III] Studio Unicorn, Hiro Media (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi  One hundred miles south of Los Angeles, a reckless biker named Marcia and her newfound acquaintance Noera crash their vehicles after getting caught in the explosion of a semi truck. In the resulting confusion, Marcia manages to sneak off with a briefcase containing a mysterious dark orb. When Marcia and Noera touch it, they experience a vision of Death Valley. Taking this as a sign that the ball needs to be brought to Death Valley, the pair set out on the road, chasing their version of the American Dream, all while evading those who seek to take the elusive object back from them. Whole anime is pursuit after seeing the vision. First strange men follow  on foot, then on cars, finally on aircrafts. Absolutely sudden and horrible ending crowns the miserable impression.   Overall Rating: 4/10   40. Amon Saga アモン・サーガ [1986-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy  Set in a world of fantasy and adventure, Amon is a young warrior embarking on a quest to avenge the death of his mother. When the hunt leads him ultimately to the kingdom of Valhiss, Amon enlists in the ranks of the Emperor's army in order to gain an opportunity to exact his revenge. However, a chance encounter with the Princess Lichia, being held captive by the Emperor in an effort to ransom a map away from his main rival, King Darai-Sem, Amon must decide whether to follow his path of revenge or to help rescue the Princess in an effort to save a lost kingdom. Finally a true originator of classic fantasy genre. I tried to find roots of genre in Dragon ball, Arion, Genmu Senki Leda and even in two seasons of anime about gnomes, but they had only tiny elements incorporated. All elements are so familiar that if I was told that story is in DnD setting, I would just assume companions are of different classes  and totally believe that. It's pretty good as action, but to get a masterpiece status anime needs to be more complex than that.   Overall Rating: 6/10   41. Soukou Kihei Votoms: Big Battle Armored Trooper Votoms: Big Battle 装甲騎兵ボトムズ ビッグバトル [1986-III] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military Action, Drama, Sci-Fi Big Battle is a one-shot OVA set after the climax of the original Votoms storyline, but before the epilogue at the end of the series itself. With the Gilgamesh and Balarant forces still trying to advance their PS programs, Chirico and his old friends are forced into one last gladiatorial battle against a special PS and a formidable land battleship. Finally the best part is made as a separate movie so I can see its appeal in full bloom. It's finally watchable, but not enjoyable, sadly .   Overall Rating: 5/10   42. Roots Search: Shokushin Buttai X Roots Search ルーツ・サーチ 食心物体X [1986-III] Hiro Media (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Horror, Sci-Fi When a research crew in deep space discovers the desolate ship "Green Planet" that warps into their area, they encounter Buzz, the commander and sole survivor of the ship. Being too incapacitated to make them aware of the situation of his ship, the research team will soon discover that they have found something far, far worse... Ridly Scott Alien movie was released in 1979 and had quite some impact, so appearance of similar works was just a matter of time. I'm not fond of concept itself without flawless execution, but this particular anime also toys with Esper powers like telepathy, so my negative reaction should be obvious.   Overall Rating: 5/10   43. Shounan Bakusouzoku 湘南爆走族 [1986-III] Toei Animation (Finished 12/12) Tags: Shounen Delinquents Action, Comedy In Japan, the country that inspired the slogan "Born to be Mild," the blood of young men still runs hot. In the old days they'd go off into the country and hack each other up with swords, but these days, what with school, that isn't very practical. So some of them do something very un-Japanese. They strap on a big bike, roar around annoying people, and pound anyone they consider dishonorable. Now meet Eguchi Yousuke, leader of a high-school Biker gang AND the school's handicrafts club. Which means he divides his time between fistfights and fancy needlework. And if you think he's weird, wait until you meet the rest of his gang... I was so glad to see the 12 episode format... until realized that each episode lasts over 50 minutes. The quality is superb, but just one episode was released each year, so it only finished in 1999. Anyway, from synopsis and comedy tag I expected predecessor of Onizuka. To my surprise what I got  was drastically different. First two episodes are about biker gangs wars, third is about boxing club, fourth is about surfing. Fifth marks conflict with a new gang. Sixth is a personal story of one of four bomber gang members. Seventh is about saving sewing club. Eight is called "Legend of the red star" - which is the emblem of bombers - is mostly flashbacks about the past. 9th is yet another big gang war, but protagonists mostly wear everyday clothes and it's said that it's 10 years later and bombers have broken up. 10th episode is told from non-Japanese speaker Samantha, and it might be supposed to be epilogue as it showed everyone's lives 10 years later. 11th episode is flashback of school Tokyo trip and covering romance loose ends. 12th episode is finalizing romance line and farewell.  Main problem for me is that humor here is scarce or subtle and romance is determined from mutual sympathy from the start. Events are mostly serious, even though often done with funny faces. I enjoyed only episodes 7 and 10 substantially, but that's enough for a masterpiece score considered the level of complexity and character development.    Overall Rating: 7/10   44. Kizuoibito Wounded Man 傷追い人 [1986-III] Magic Bus (Finished 5/5) Tags: Seinen Action, Adventure, Suspense Yuko Kusaka is a Japanese journalist sent to Brazil to do a report on the gold rush phenomenon that seems to be making many people rich from night to day. Rumors say that among the many "garimpeiros" (gold diggers) currently on the Amazon forest, there is a Japanese known as Rio Baraki. Reaching their destination, her crew member is promptly attacked and she is raped as a warning to stop their work and return immediately to their home country. Determined to do her job, she stays and finds out from the attacker that he is none other than Baraki, a white haired muscular man with a large scar on his back. Later she discovers that his real name is Keisuke Ibaraki. Once a promising quarterback, he ended up falsely incriminated by a powerful organization known as GPX. This anime has distinctive hentai scenes in every episode, just without parts to censor, it's absolutely not mild nudity. Basically, main character is a survivor as gold digger in a very aggressive environment, and he also calls himself avenger. From the second episode at least one girl he already has had H with dies, because show demands fresh flesh and blood each time for him to avenge. Very specific gory and nudity-filled action.   Overall Rating: 4/10   45. Aoki Ryuusei SPT Layzner OVA Blue Comet SPT Layzner 蒼き流星SPTレイズナー [1986-III] Sunrise (Finished 3/3) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Military, Space Action, Sci-Fi  The Layzner OVA serves as an alternative version of the TV series. The first episode, titled "Eiji 1996", recaps the first part of the series (episodes 01-24). The second episode ("Le Caine 1999") takes place after a time skip, and contains episodes 26 through 37 (episode 25 of the TV series, being a recap itself, is skipped here). The final episode, "Seal 2000", is an expanded version of the final episode of the TV series (38) and features new animation and a longer epilogue. It's nice to see the story to the end. The series was plain horrible from the start, but it evolved into something at least watchable .   Overall Rating: 5/10   46. Majo demo Steady 魔女でもステディ [1986-III] Tokyo Media Connections (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Ecchi  Hisashi Seki, ordinary working guy, wakes up one morning to find a naked, and very amorous, girl in his bed. He's happy to take advantage of the situation, to their mutual satisfaction. However, the girl's appearance leads to all sorts of increasingly strange phenomenon. The cause lies, sort of, in Jungian psychology. The girl, whom he has named Asami, is from a parallel dimension where people's ideal partners - the anima to their animus, or vice versa - reside. Asami's longing has allowed her to cross dimensions to be with Seki, but her presence in his world upsets the natural order. She goes back, and Seki must venture to her world to save her. The lovers are reunited. However, matters don't turn out quite as they hoped. I don't remember previous titles with girl suddenly appearing in boy room as setting, so it might be originator. Short, weird, not memorable.   Overall Rating: 5/10   47. Nayuta 那由他 [1986-III] OB Planning (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Action, Sci-Fi Scifi tale of a young girl who acquires ESP powers. Based on the manga by Sasaki Junko, published in three volumes by Shougakukan under the Flower Comics label. Esper shoujo is on comparable level with esper mecha... below the bottom.   Overall Rating: 2/10   48. Choujikuu Romanesque Samy: Missing 99 Superdimensional Romanesque Samy: Missing 99 超時空ロマネスク サミー MISSING・99 [1986-III] Aubec (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi Getting caught up in a gang fight would be a bad day in anybody's life. But for high school student Sami Yoshino, things go from bad to worse as she finds herself thrown across time and space to unknown worlds. Now she's caught up in a gang fight of biblical proportions, between the divine masters of the universe and the demons who seek to destroy it. As it turns out, Samy hides phenomenal cosmic powers within her, and the demons will stop at nothing to suppress it. Can Samy ever escape the conflict and return to being a normal girl, or is the whole universe going to die? This anime is a mess about a girl who runs away from all kinds of baddies via most strange means. Execution is also lacking. To get a mixed rating, anime must have at least something done good. I can't find strong points of this anime unless you like random stuff happening.   Overall Rating: 4/10   49. Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa Castle in the Sky 天空の城ラピュタ [1986-III] Studio Ghibli (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi  In a world filled with planes and airships, Sheeta is a young girl who has been kidnapped by government agents who seek her mysterious crystal amulet. While trapped aboard an airship, she finds herself without hope—that is, until the ship is raided by pirates. Taking advantage of the ensuing confusion, Sheeta manages to flee from her captors. Upon her escape, she meets Pazu, a boy who dreams of reaching the fabled flying castle, Laputa. The two decide to embark on a journey together to discover this castle in the sky. However, they soon find the government agents back on their trail, as they too are trying to reach Laputa for their own greedy purposes. Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa follows the soaring adventures of Sheeta and Pazu, all while they learn how dreams and dire circumstances can bring two people closer together. I have not seen Laputa before. Watching it after Mirai Shounen Conan brings so many recollections due to a huge number similarities. Main difference is that Conan was a one man army. Here Pazu is only good at running, but is weak at actual collisions. Laputa could only be a thing if it was launched before Conan. Without it and without having as many nice characters (Laputa has few characters), Laputa can only be called a so-so masterpiece if not lower.   Overall Rating: 7/10   50. Windaria Once Upon A Time ウインダリア, 童話めいた戦史ウインダリア [1986-III] Kaname Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi Two pairs of young lovers become embroiled in a war between two rival kingdoms, the primitive but resplendent Isa and the militaristic but undisciplined Paro. Izu and his young wife, Marin, are simple farmers who live in the unassuming village of Saki, which lies directly between Isa and Paro. While Saki does not have the beauty of Isa nor the war machines of Paro, they do possess a magnificent tree known as "Windaria," to which the villagers give their prayers in return for "good memories." When the war erupts, Izu decides to join Paro's army, enthralled by the fantastic motorbike "given" to him as a bribe. Before he departs, they each take a vow: He will definitely return to her, and until he does, she will wait for him. The other two lovers are Jill, the prince of Paro, and Ahanas, Princess of Isa. They initially want nothing to do with the rapidly escalating conflict, but after Jill's father, Paro's king, dies by his son's hand in an altercation over the war, Jill has little choice but to realize his father's final wish: the taking of Isa. The only problem is that he had promised his beloved, Ahanas, that he would not become involved. Windaria is a war parable set in a fantasy land of unicorns and ghost ships. A nice story showing how stupid moral of "let's fight at different sides , then fool everyone and run away together" is. War brings so much evil under false pretext of nations pressure that no side remains untainted. Corruption, manipulation and treachery becomes a commonplace. There can be no justification for warmongers. I liked the message of the film, but the execution, the characters and the despair concept put a big enough dent on evaluation .   Overall Rating: 5/10   51. Gall Force 1: Eternal Story ガルフォース  [1986-III] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Two advanced civilizations, the Paranoids (a race of alien humanoids) and the Solenoids (who are all women) are waging a war that has gone on for centuries. When the Solenoid fleet leaves a battle to defend an experimentally terraformed world from the Paranoids, one damaged Solenoid ship, the Star Leaf, is separated from the fleet. Only seven women remain alive on the ship: Eluza, the captain, Rabby, the solid more or less main character, Lufy, the brash pilot, Catty, the mysterious science officer, Pony, the pink-haired ditzy tech, Patty, a solid crew member, and Remy, the cute one. After narrowly escaping the battle, the crew of the Star Leaf decides to continue with their orders and rendezvous at planet Chaos to defend it. It turns out, however, that their ship is the subject of a Paranoid experiment. In the end, it is up to the remaining crew Star Leaf to defend the artificial paradise of Chaos from the Paranoid fleet and the plans of the Solenoid leaders. Characters are ok, but not developed much. Plot is ok, but not impressive. I'd definitely watchable, but can hardly find anything to recommend it for .   Overall Rating: 6/10   52. Ai City Love City アイ・シティ [1986-III] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Super Power  Action, Sci-Fi It's sometime in the future and the story starts off with Kei and Ai running for their lives. Ai is a little girl who holds a terrible secret which could destroy the current world. The world is now populated by Headmeters, people who have psychic powers and their strength is shown on their forehead when they fight. However, Kei was an experimental subject and his strength never went above level 5 while other surpasses his ability effortlessly. While escaping, when in desperate moments, Kei could increase his ability to infinity when Ai is in trouble. The one who's after her have a deep secret, aided by a small dwarflike man living in a robotic suit. Eventually Ai is captured and Kei, a sherlock holmes detective and another Headmeter who was converted to the good side when Kei unleashed his horrible powers through Ai must go and rescue her. Together they must save Ai and the secret which she holds. What is the secret of Ai? Who is she? It's above average for esper themed works, but on a grand scale.   Overall Rating: 4/10   53. Super Mario Brothers: Peach-hime Kyuushutsu Daisakusen! Super Mario Brothers: Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach スーパーマリオブラザーズ ピーチ姫救出大作戦! [1986-III] Grouper Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Adventure, Comedy In the film, Mario and Luigi are the owners of a grocery store. One night, Mario was engrossed in his Famicom game. Suddenly, the picture goes out and Princess Peach appears on the TV screen crying for help from the enemies attacking her and jumps out of the TV. Mario falls in love with her and vows to protect her. Soon after, Koopa appears on the TV screen and starts to come out of the TV. He grabs Princess Peach and takes her into the TV. Mario then discovers a small brooch that Peach left on the floor. The next day, the brooch that Peach dropped becomes a matter of concern for Mario. Luigi immediately notices the brooch and regards it as the "Visionary Jewel from the Country of Treasure". Soon, Kibidango, a small dog-like being, wanders into the store and notices that Mario has Peach's brooch. He takes it away from Mario, enraging him, thus beginning his (and Luigi's) chase with Kibidango into the Mushroom Kingdom. I hope you did not have high expectations of this, because it's childish, nonsensical and bad looking animation.   Overall Rating: 4/10   54. High School! Kimengumi (Movie) ハイスクール!奇面組 劇場版 [1986-III] Tsuchida Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, Parody, School Comedy, Romance Three additional adventures for the Kimengumi and friends. In the first episode, the boys fail their exams right before summer vacation and have to take supplementary lessons. The second episode is a mandatory school trip to the beach during summer vacation for a swimming competition. In the third episode school is back in session, the karate club is in danger when a new opponent appears. Three stories of average humor quality compared to TV series, going to rate it lower than series.   Overall Rating: 5/10   55. Itoshi no Betty Mamonogatari 愛しのベティ 魔物語 [1986-III] Big Bang (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Fantasy, Romance A devil-girl with the face of an angel and a heart of gold, blond Betty falls in love with an earthbound gangster, Danpei Kimogawa, when they meet in a rainstorm. They end up living together in a Tokyo highrise apartment, though Danpei has trouble coping with his new witch and demon in-laws dropping in at inopportune moments. Betty has actually been sent to the human world on a mission to defeat the demon Lutan. While Betty continues her task, her skeletal grandmother sends nubile nymphs to tempt Danpei and see if he is suitable husband material. A really weird witch ecchi that lacks both concept and humor, so I just don't understand what to like here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   56. Running Boy: Star Soldier no Himitsu RUNNING Boy スターソルジャーの秘密 [1986-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Sci-Fi This anime was made by Hudson Soft, which created the "Star Soldier" game. Its designer, Yoichi Takahashi, appeared in a cameo and sang the theme songs. Not translated. Anime features a game, but does it a lot better than Mario anime. Nothing special, but not being a total failure for a game-related anime means something.   Overall Rating: 5/10   57. Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet Galaxy Investigation 2100: Border Planet 銀河探査2100年 ボーダープラネット [1986-III] Tezuka Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi This work was produced as the ninth special animated piece for the 24-hour television program by Tezuka Production, which took full charge of the original story, screenplay and director. Tezuka Osamu crafts a love story in the time when humans are expanding into space at the end of the 21st century, employing an omnibus form similar to Bradbury's "Martian Chronicle." The story line is similar to "Phoenix: Nostalgia." Leaving the earth after marriage, a woman is left behind in space when her husband suddenly dies of a cosmic disease. These background details were used in "The Phoenix" as well. This time, her friends on the Earth head for space to save the woman who was once everyone's ideal lady. In this special animated piece, Tezuka Osamu emphasizes his basic concepts that "love can save the earth" and "only love can save humans." Yay, Tezuka. Basically, another variant of Ridly Scott's Alien. First contagion with virus on an abandoned spaceship, then looking for virus cure inside an abandoned colony. This movie consists of three parts - first realistic with toned down colors , second bright with cartoonish alien characters, third is bright with normal characters and alien monsters. These three interloping stories erode the concept, and ending is sudden and not that impressive. All that does not allow to call movie a masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 6/10   58. Sangokushi II: Amakakeru Otoko-tachi 三国志II 天翔ける英雄たち [1986-III] Shin-Ei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Action The sequel to Sangokushi (1985). As expected, a continuation worthy of original. There's more irrational behavior this time, but overall I have no problem calling it a masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 7/10   59. Saint Seiya Knights of the Zodiac 聖闘士星矢(セイントセイヤ) [1986-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/114) Tags: Shounen Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi In ancient times, a group of young men devoted their lives to protecting Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and War. These men were capable of fighting without weapons—a swing of their fist alone was powerful enough to rip the very sky apart and shatter the earth beneath them. These brave heroes became known as Saints, as they could summon up the power of the Cosmos from within themselves. Now, in present day, a new generation of Saints is about to come forth. The young and spirited Seiya is fighting a tough battle for the Sacred Armor of Pegasus, and he isn't about to let anyone get in the way of him and his prize. Six years of hard work and training pay off with his victory and new title as one of Athena's Saints. But Seiya's endeavor doesn't end there. In fact, plenty of perils and dangerous enemies face him and the rest of the Saints throughout the series. What new quests await the heroes of the epic Saint Seiya saga? Mythology zodiac superpower shounen already sounds pretty bad to me. Add wrestling matches here, and you'll understand why I strongly dislike this anime.   Overall Rating: 5/10   60. Oh! Family Oh!ファミリー [1986-IV] Knack Productions (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Shoujo Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life This story takes place in Florida, USA. The main characters are the lovable members of the Andersons; each one has his or her own different characterstics which conflict and support the others'. By going through many events (meaningful ones as well as weird ones) together, the bond between them grows stronger and tighter. Show is only watchable thanks to dog with semi-human behavior. All this fixation on family looks rather weird as if no one has their own lives.   Overall Rating: 5/10   61. Anmitsu Hime Princess Anmitsu あんみつ姫 [1986-IV] Pierrot (Dropped 3/51) Tags: Shoujo Historical Comedy  Anmitsu is a tomboy princess living happily at the Amakara Castle. Our story begins when she turns ten years old and gets a home tutor Castella from the Pudding Kingdom as a present from her parents. But they were very wrong when they thought that Anmitsu will finally start studying seriously, because she will frequently escape from the castle looking for some fun, and in the process she will learn a lot about the outside world, make numerous friends and cause endless trouble for the inhabitants of the castle who are supposed to take care of her. Mischievous Kaguya-hime and her British nanny are protagonist, and castle staff usually tries to catch up with them. Not bad comedy, but a bit childish.   Overall Rating: 5/10   62. Bug tte Honey Bugってハニー [1986-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 1/51) Tags: Adventure, Comedy  A unique program which adopts the toycom games which are loved by children all over the world into animation. The story starts off by the kidnapping of Genjin Takahashi, a superstar in the world of toycom games. He is kidnapped by Kyura-the-Great, who plots evil in order to rule this game world and become the star himself. Honey Bee, living in this game world and also the girlfriend of Genjin, learns of this and sets out to save him. She goes to the actual world to seek the help of three game geniuses and brings these three toycom buddies to the game world. With their help and desperate struggles, they try to overthrow Kyura-the-Great and rescue Genjin. Can they overcome the numerous roadblocks of hidden tricks and riddles? Only one translated episode found... and that's enough. Some action mess put up together for advertising.   Overall Rating: 4/10   63. Doteraman ドテラマン [1986-IV] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/20) Tags: Comedy, Sci-Fi  In a small town of Tokyo there lives a middle-aged man, Suzuki, who spends commonplace days conducting a small business. He is ambitious to become such a celebrity as to appear on the cover page of a popular magazine. One day he happens to discover a mysterious entrance that leads to an alien space. Through it he reaches the world of goblins and attaches control devices to goblins there to make them act at his free command. Capitalizing on those zombies, he grows outrageous and notoriously sets his hand to evil things. Meanwhile two witty pupils, Hajime and his girl friend Mariko, come across a strange alien detective who presents them with Doteraman garments. Wearing those garments, they transform themselves into Doteraman and Doterapink with supernatural strength. Then they challenge the wicked ruler and successfully liberate the poor goblins. They continue to fight in the cause of justice creating excitement and entertainment full of pleasure. Not translated. A lot of chaos with two elementary school looking kids in super suits. It resembles old gag comedy about genie family the most.   Overall Rating: 5/10   64. Outlanders アウトランダーズ [1986-IV] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Ecchi In the midst of a violent invasion of Earth by unknown alien forces, photojournalist Wakatsuki Tetsuya comes across a scantily-clad alien woman, cutting a swath of death through the Terran ranks with her sword. After a chaotic struggle, Tetsuya is knocked unconscious, only to awaken aboard her starship. To his surprise, she turns out to be Kahm, the invaders' princess - and she has picked Tetsuya for a starring role in her upcoming wedding. As the groom... Rather enjoyable action ecchi, but too short and not memorable.   Overall Rating: 6/10   65. Wanna-Be's ウォナビーズ [1986-IV] AIC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Comedy, Sports  This OVA begins with a tag-team battle between the elegant girls of Dream Team and the heavy-face-painted women of Foxy Ladies. Naturally, the Dream Team gets the crap kicked out of them, but not before one of them makes one strong attempt at lifting the 250-pound Foxy lady over her head. The ones to take their place are Eri and Miki of the Wanna-Be's team. Miki and Eri are both just fun girls who want to have fun, but once they begin their new training with the mysterious Kidou Corporation, the same corporation that trained the Dream Team, they discover that there is something deeper behind their training. Female power wrestling with dirty moves and really short form.   Overall Rating: 4/10   66. Urban Square: Kohaku no Tsuigeki アーバンスクウェア 琥珀の追撃 [1986-IV] Network Kouenji Studio (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Action, Mystery Ryou Matsumoto is a screenplay writer that runs into a man and witnesses his murder. Unknown to him, he gets caught up in an illegal antique ring along with a girl he meets named Yuki. In order to survive, he ends up acting out the "action hero" role that he writes in his screenplays. A bit of detective, a bit of action, a bit of humor, but nothing in the result.   Overall Rating: 5/10   67. Delpower X Bakuhatsu Miracle Genki! デルパワーX爆発みらくる元気! [1986-IV] Big Bang  (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Parody, School Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi Manami is your typical schoolgirl, despite the odd machines her grandfather is always building. One day, though, an odd evil robot comes to attack Minami's school, and commits the ultimate offense of threatening her friends... and ruining her lunch. Now, she will stop at nothing to return order to the world in her grandpa's newest creation: the mecha Del Power X. Battle suits fight each other with whole school cheering on... it's too stupid even for a parody.   Overall Rating: 4/10   68. Twinkle Heart: Gingakei made Todokanai トゥインクルハート 銀河系までとどかない [1986-IV] Anime R (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Adventure, Comedy Love, Heaven's greatest treasure went missing and to get it back, the Great God decides to send his two daughters Lemon and Cherry, as well as their governess Berry to find it. However, their search doesn't go so well, mainly because they decide they like it at planet Earth and prefer to work in a hamburger shop (Sic!). In the one-episode OVA, the girls end up searching for the Love treasure on an exotic planet, however they find magical living plushies instead, having to fight their way through them to recover "Essence of Life," which an evil organisation wants to use for nefarious purposes. Another super weird shoujo action with no clear aim whatsoever.   Overall Rating: 4/10   69. Juusenki L-Gaim I: Pentagona Window + Lady Gavlet 重戦機エルガイムI ペンタゴナ ウインドゥ+レディ ギャブレー [1986-IV] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi A recap OVA that portrays the first half of the series Heavy Metal L-Gaim. After the credits, there is a short clip animated for the OVA entitled "Lady Gavlet", which is intended to be comic relief. A bit of additional humor helps, but don't think L-Gaim can be fixed that easily.   Overall Rating: 5/10   70. Dragon Ball Movie 1: Shen Long no Densetsu Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies ドラゴンボール 神龍の伝説 [1986-IV] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Super Power Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy A retelling of Dragon Ball's origins, this is a different version of the meeting of Goku, Bulma, Oolong, and Yamucha. They are all looking for the dragon balls for different reasons when they cross paths with an evil king named Gourmeth, who is also looking for the dragon balls. After three series episodes I was going to give movie a masterpiece, but movie cut majority of humor and focused on new enemies and characters... and that just does not cut if for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   71. 11-nin Iru! They Were Eleven 11人いる! [1986-IV] Magic Bus (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi After the Interstellar Alliance established peace among most of the planets in the universe, they created the Cosmo Academy. The academy is renowned as the most elite school in existence, with its graduates guaranteed virtually any job they desire. However, one can only become a student if they pass the entrance examinations held every three years, making the competition for admission extremely fierce. Lane Tadatos is a Terran who has managed to reach the final stage of examinations. Placed in a group of 10, he is sent to the Esperanza—a ship stranded in orbit. Their final test is to survive 53 days on the ship, without any means of communication with the outside other than an emergency forfeit button. But a serious problem emerges for the examinees when they perform a headcount. There are 11 people aboard the Esperanza, meaning that one of them is an impostor. Only official dub... which guarantees a world of boredoom. Putting 11 people with different outlooks together hardly matters without real uncovering of personalities .   Overall Rating: 4/10   72. Kyoushoku Soukou Guyver Guyver: Out of Control 強殖装甲ガイバー [1986-IV] Movic (Finished 1/1) Tags: Super Power Action, Horror, Sci-Fi The plot of this OVA is a rough adaptation of the first four chapters of the Guyver manga. It covers the same basic elements of these chapters; Genesis of the guyver, Fight with Vamore, Fight with Guyver 2 and the introduction of Guyver 3. Main differences are the exclusion of Tetsuro and his replacement by Mizuki, The replacement of Lisker with a female Agent "Valcuria", and thus a female Guyver 2. There is also a look at Sho's psychology of how he deals with his situation including a very harsh moment where his friends are assassinated in cold blood. One night, high school student Sho Fukamachi discovers a mysterious metal object. Then in a blinding flash of light, Sho finds that he has accidentally fused with the Guyver, a mecha of mysterious alien design. Now, to save his girlfriend, Mizuki Segawa, along with the entire world, Sho must become the Guyver to fight the Chronos Corporation and their biocreatures, called Zoanoids, who are hell-bent on world domination. The beginning of Guyver franchise. Sorry, I was not inspired by this mecha at all.   Overall Rating: 5/10   73. Toki no Tabibito: Time Stranger 時空[とき]の旅人 Time Stranger [1986-IV] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Time Travel Action, Adventure, Romance, Sci-Fi Based on the novel trilogy of the same name by MAYUMURA Taku (眉村 卓), Time Stranger is the story of a bunch of teenagers getting transported back in time through Japan's history, and getting mixed up with samurai shenanigans. A group of students getting into past is not that impressive on its own without character development. Adding a secret order that protects time travel does not make it a lot better. A good start, but needs more complexity.   Overall Rating: 6/10   74. Hi no Tori: Houou-hen Phoenix: Karma Chapter 火の鳥 鳳凰編 [1986-IV] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Drama, Fantasy  Akanemaru, a skilled sculptor, sets out to find the muse for his masterpiece, the legendary immortal bird Phoenix. However, on his journey, he encounters unexpected trouble when he runs into Gaou, a one-eyed, one-armed bandit. Despite Akanemaru's friendly demeanor, Gaou, who harbors animosity toward the world as a ruthless man, attacks and robs him. As they go their separate ways, the unfortunate incident fades into oblivion. Years later, Akanemaru is forced to accept a new assignment and abandon his dream, while Gaou is stricken with sudden misfortune—a twist of fate that will change both their lives forever. But little do they know that these new circumstances will eventually lead them to cross paths once more: this time as rivals. Set in Japan's Nara period, Hi no Tori: Houou-hen explores the fragile balance between action and consequence as it follows the lives of two men who must inevitably confront the responsibilities of their choices. Story promised a lot till the very end with moralistic Buddhism crap, so no high score possible.   Overall Rating: 6/10   75. Grey: Digital Target GREY デジタル・ターゲット [1986-IV] Magic Bus (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Military Action, Drama, Sci-Fi Grey is a laconic trooper in a rough, futuristic military system which rewards success in battle with high pay and promotions, but only three precent of troopers live long enough for the final goal - citizenship and the chance for a life above the misery of most of the populace. Grey has managed to keep coming back alive, even earning the nickname Grey Death. But is the society he's fought for worth it? Poor world exposition, just some fights and turnover moment. Average, I expected more.   Overall Rating: 5/10   76. Tobira wo Akete 扉を開けて [1986-IV] Magic Bus (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  In modern day Tokyo, three university students, Negishi Miyako (Neko-chan), Saiki Haruka, and Yamagishi Keiichiro, have magical powers that make them feel like outcasts. They come together one night and are transported to another world. They open a massive door and Neko finds that she is the Princess Neryulla, who must defeat the evil Duran III to free her people. The third case of time travel isekai already. Lots of weird magic, some ok battles, absolutely stupid ending. Oh, my.   Overall Rating: 5/10   77. Touch 2: Sayonara no Okurimono タッチ2 さよならの贈り物 [1986-IV] Group TAC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Romance, Sports  Compilation movie of the second year of the Touch timeline. Plotwise, the movie doesn't have much to do with the series second year. Due to turning point happening at end end of last movie the show becomes more and more like "Nine" with soft romance , sport and less and less comedy. As if one sport of baseball is not enough, another one of gymnastics starts to get heavily focused. It gets only worse for me because of these reasons. It' becomes a very sad sight of eternal losers cheering up each other.   Overall Rating: 5/10   78. Kinnikuman: Seigi Choujin vs. Senshi Choujin キン肉マン 正義超人VS戦士超人 [1986-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Sports Meat-kun has been kidnapped by Iron Mask. In order to save Meat-kun, the treasure of Inmora Island is needed. Furthermore, the treasure is hidden in the Seven Story Tower, which is guarded by the brutal Senshi Choujins. When Kinnikuman asks Terryman and the Seigi Choujins to help him, for some reason they all refuse. Alone, Kinnikuman heads to Inmora Island to fight the Senshi Chōjin and is overwhelmed by their great numbers. First non-translated Kinnikuman movie. I am not going to watch it untranslated either given my bad history with the series.   Overall Rating: 0/10
  14. kivandopulus

    Anime of the Year
    Megazone 23 got a firm masterpiece score from me. Other masterpieces for me include Dirty Pair and Sangokushi (1985) . Great times begin from 1985 !    1. Shoukoujo Sara 小公女セーラ [1985-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/46) Tags: Shoujo Historical Drama, Slice of Life Sent to an all-girls boarding school due to her father's overseas job, Sarah Crewe is a promising young girl who excels both academically and socially in her new life in London. However, her world is turned upside down when she is called into the headmistress' office and informed of news that no child wants to hear: her father has passed away. Now an orphan, Sarah is stripped of her status as a student and is forced to work in the boarding school as a maid in order to support herself. To make matters worse, her once friendly peers suddenly turn against her upon hearing about her fall from wealth. Coming to terms with the unfortunate situation she faces, Sarah must learn to persevere and form new friendships in order to regain her dignity as well as her identity. I need shoujo to have decent comedy or psychological drama to enjoy it. This one is just a boring observational coming of age SOL.   Overall Rating: 4/10   2. Megazone 23 メガゾーン23 [1985-I] AIC (Finished 3/3) Tags: Mecha, Music Action, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi Shougo Yahagi is a young motorcycle enthusiast living in a world of hot bikes, hard rock, and J-pop idols. The general populace go about their lives in peace, under the watchful eyes of a computer program in the guise of pop idol sensation Eve, unbeknownst to them. Shougo himself is mostly concerned with riding his motorcycle and picking up beautiful women like Yui Takanaka, who aspires to be a dancer. Shougo's life suddenly changes when his friend, Shinji Nakagawa, shows him a top-secret project: the "Garland," an advanced motorcycle that can transform into a robot. Ambushed by the military, Shougo hijacks the Garland and escapes into the city. Evading the military with the help of Yui and her friends, he gradually discovers that their idyllic society is only an illusion. First anime with a distinctive 80s look and feeling, including violence. First of three stories looked to me like Macross copycat, similar irrationally behaving characters and plot, stupid open ending. Second story was much more interesting with adult cast, absolutely innovative 80s adult visual style, lots of violence and a cool cyberpunk plot. Third story is the main one as uses some elements from previous parts, namely, Eve machine intellect and gives it all a conclusion. 3rd story holds so much potential that I see its traces in future Akira, luv wave and even C'sWare's Desire. I enjoyed it immensely, definitely much more than expected. Can't call it a perfect masterpiece due to structure of multiple loosely connected stories and first one being so-so, but it's a firm masterpiece for me.   Overall Rating: 8/10   3. Area 88 エリア88 [1985-I] Pierrot (Finished 3/3) Tags: Military Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance Shin Kazama, tricked and forced into flying for the remote country of Aslan, can only escape the hell of war by earning money for shooting down enemy planes or die trying. Through the course of the series, Shin must deal with the consequences of killing and friends dying around him as tries to keep his mind on freeing himself from this nightmare. Three hours of whining that pilot is tricked into signing a contract, side-story of his fiance efforts to help him out and a bit of planes action with one very stupid moment where like 10 best pilots each costing 3 billion yen to train compete against each other with majority of them dying. It's so boring and stupid that I can't even give it a 6, as there's nothing interesting for me in here at all.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Genmu Senki Leda Fantastic Adventure Of Yohko: Leda 幻夢戦記レダ [1985-I] Kaname Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi For a year and a half, Youko Asagiri has fostered an unrequited love for one of her classmates. To express her affection, she composes a piano solo that she plans to show him when she confesses. When the moment of truth comes, however, Youko is not brave enough to speak to her classmate, and the ground suddenly swallows her up! In an instant, Youko finds herself in the mysterious realm of "Ashanti." She quickly makes friends with a talking dog named Lingam, who explains that Ashanti is a sister realm of "Noa," the realm that Youko came from. The two worlds were once connected, but they were separated long ago by the warrior Leda in order to protect the people of Noa. Now, Youko's arrival has temporarily opened a path between the realms, which the evil forces of Zell intend to make permanent. The forces of Zell steal Youko's cassette player under the belief that it is the mythical "Heart of Leda," a necessary artifact for their nefarious plans. However, Youko manages to evade their capture by transforming into Leda's warrior. With these new powers, will she be able to protect the people of Noa and return to her own world? I thought it might be first isekai, but it's another representative of weird mecha isekai subgenre. Movie itselfhas nice action and overall can't say anything really bad about it apart of hasty and chaotic development. It's just unmemorable and insignificant.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Greed グリード [1985-I] Filmlink International (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  To succeed to his father, Lid Kail sets out a journey to defeat the incarnation of the evil that seems to dominate the world. Longn and Mimau also began to journey to achieve his father’s will. On their way, Key and Bagda join them. They overcome some difficulties, and finally they met Vaii, the evil. They managed to beat Vaii, but it still doesn't solve their problem... It might become the first traditional pure fantasy title, but it added robots , lasers and techno city with flying platforms anyway just because of supposed sci-fi and mecha popularity. Anyway, a group of adventurers moves towards the wall to defeat source of giants while fighting some giants with means of flight on the way ... sounds familiar?! I'm almost sure Attack on Titan creator watched this OVA. In the end, experiments and jumping through conceptions , as well as Deus Ex Machina resolution made this Greed anime a waste of time.   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Ginga Hyouryuu Vifam: Kieta 12-nin 銀河漂流バイファム 消えた12人 [1985-I] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Space Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi This episode is a sidestory and can be inserted somewhere between episodes #18 and #21. This is a "mystery" and so the present writer does not tell the whole story. The Janus is sailing towards Taut when something unexpected happens. This horny magazines stash story was hastily covered even in recap, so that goes as start and covers several ghost incidents. As with the whole series, I consider it to be good, but I can't emphasize with the characters or get real enjoyment from it, so for me it comes short of masterpiece status .   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Choujikuu Seiki Orguss Memorial 超時空世紀オーガス MEMORIAL [1985-I] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Action, Adventure, Romance, Sci-Fi Summary of The Super Dimension Century Orguss TV series. Why another recap is not translated while original 50 series are. Oh, now I get it. It's so horrible as majority of time is taken by relations with three girls. And the last 10% is literally previews given in the end of each episode one by one... absolutely stupid.   Overall Rating: 4/10   8. Urusei Yatsura Movie 3: Remember My Love うる星やつら リメンバー・マイ・ラヴ [1985-I] Studio Deen (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi It seems that when Lum was born, a postal screwup resulted in a witchy friend of the family not getting an invitation to the celebration. The witch put a curse on Lum, that she would never be happy with her True Love. In the present, a new Amusement Park has been built in Tomobiki, and opening day finds the whole gang sampling its pleasures. At a magic show, however, Ataru gets turned into a large pink hippo-potamus, FOR REAL! When Lum attempts to track down the magician that transformed her Darling, things start to get very weird, very fast! Last OVA was rather decent, so I hoped that when show gets enough of everything else it would spawn at least some high quality stories. But instead it's again romance-related problem with yet another alien relative or whatever.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Kamui no Ken カムイの剣 [1985-I] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Historical Adventure, Drama, Fantasy  SA young boy named Jiro finds his mother and sister murdered in his home. Falsely accused of the crime, he flees from his village and meets a priest named Tenkai, who has him kill a rogue ninja named Tarouza. After fulfilling that task, Jiro undergoes training to become a master assassin. Many years later, Jiro finds out that he was an orphan and his real father was Tarouza, who had worked for Tenkai until he aborted his mission when he fell in love with an Ainu woman. The young ninja discovers that the Shogunate was to retrieve the lost treasure of Captain Kidd and use it to once again isolate Japan from the rest of the world. Using the clues that Tarouza had kept secret, Jiro—along with the female ninja Oyuki and a slave named Sam—travels to Russia and America to search for the treasure in hopes of using it to extract revenge from Tenkai. I'm impressed that it's just not revenge story with a twist, but also adventure. It's decent and well done - I can give it that. But there's enough of loopholes/inconsistencies and rough directorship. I could not enjoy it fully. Can't recommend what I could not enjoy. Make a better scenario, not this fake.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Bobby ni Kubittake ボビーに首ったけ [1985-I] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Romance, Slice of Life "Bobby really does little else but work on his bike. He cleans his bike. He tunes up his bike. He rides his bike. One would call him a motorcycle otaku. His most recent achievement seems to have been getting photos of himself on a road trip printed in a motorcyclist hobby magazine. This leads to an unexpected result: a girl his age, who picked up that issue on a whim, decides to write him a letter. A long, rambling letter, but dreamily romantic just the same. Bobby admits to his sister that he's never gotten a letter from a girl before. He writes back, "I got your letter. I'm happy cause it was from a girl." The "Bobby" referred to in the title is actually 17-year-old Akihiko Nomura, an underachieving high school kid with a deep love for motorcycles. His grades are failing, and his father – traditional and strict (but who must have also at some point gave in and allowed him to have a motorcycle) is trying everything he can think of to get the kid to apply for college. His mother is so silent, she might as well not even exist. Really, his support system lies entirely in his twinkle-toed little sister, who's nosy but cheers him on in her own way." Now I know that MadHouse can be utter crap! Sleazy romance without events , without normal ending and with lots of cheap and scrooge animation, plus live action etc.   Overall Rating: 1/10   11. Arei no Kagami: Way to the Virgin Space Arei's Mirror ~ Way to the Virgin Space アレイの鏡 ~ Way to the Virgin Space [1985-I] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi The story follows Daichi Meguru and Mayu, a young boy and a pilot, as they flee their war torn planet and into space. Upon their ship a stowaway android named Zero joins their quest as they travel through Halley's Mirror. It looked like original story, so I decided to keep it even with this minuscule length of 26 minutes. As you can see, both protagonists are again reused from Space Express with only hair change. What can fit into 26 minutes? Right, one episode of Space Express, and this is basically it and could easily fit inside the series.   Overall Rating: 4/10   12. Kinnikuman: Seigi Choujin vs. Kodai Choujin キン肉マン 正義超人VS古代超人 [1985-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Sports While Kinnikuman is on vacation with Mari-san's kindergarten class at Easter Island, the young wheelchair-bound Kouichi-kun laments being with an idiot like Kinnikuman, preferring to instead be with his favorite Seigi Choujin Buffaloman. Meanwhile, the other Seigi Choujins are also vacationing at ancient landmarks. For the first time it's not the stupid wrestling with some prologue again. So I thought when side-heroes had their fight, but Kinnikuman spoilt it all with the wrestling ring, so the usual score.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Gu-Gu Ganmo (Movie) GU-GU ガンモ [1985-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy  Movie version that lampooned several Japanese Folklore Tales, including that of Princess Kaguya. Not translated. I'd prefer a coherent story to this constant running while featuring different stories.   Overall Rating: 5/10   14. Sangokushi (1985) 三国志 [1985-I] Shin-Ei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical An anime special based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel. Aired on NTV. I'm a big fan of Kingdom anime, so I can't but compare every Chinese War anime to it taken that Kingdom is 10/10 . Surprisingly, Sangokushi stood firm, and I enjoyed it and its complexity more than I expected .   Overall Rating: 7/10   15. Nora ノーラ  [1985-I] Filmlink International (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Adventure, Sci-Fi  Nora is on vacation in a "Holiday Inn" space station. When the artificial gravity fails, the whole space resort becomes chaotic but she helps solve the problem. Another artificial intelligence fantasy. Don't see the need for it at all.   Overall Rating: 4/10   16. Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam 機動戦士Ζガンダム [1985-II] Sunrise (Dropped 5/50) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space  It is Universal Century 0087, and the One Year War between the Earth Federation and Principality of Zeon is over. The Earth Federation has created an elite task force, known as the Titans, who are responsible for hunting the remaining Zeon forces. However, the power-hungry Titans have shown themselves to be no better than Zeon, spurring the creation of a rebellious faction called the Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG). 17-year-old Kamille Bidan lives in the colony Green Noa, home to a Titan base. Kamille gets in trouble after assaulting a Titan officer, an event that coincides with an attack led by former Zeon ace Char Aznable, now known as AEUG pilot Quattro Bajeena. When Kamille steals a Titan's prototype Gundam, he soon finds himself in the middle of the dangerous conflict. Old psycho protagonist is gone, but new unstable one is on. Why it feels same boring as before... Very little happens plot-wise while same looking skirmishes take more and more time.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Touch タッチ [1985-II] Group TAC (Dropped 3/101) Tags: Shounen Love Polygon, School, Team Sports Drama, Romance, Slice of Life, Sports The story centers around three characters—Uesugi Kazuya, his twin older brother Tatsuya, and Asakura Minami. Kazuya is the darling of his town as he's talented, hardworking, and the ace pitcher for his middle school baseball team. Tatsuya is a hopeless slacker who's been living the life of giving up the spotlight to Kazuya, despite the fact that he may be more gifted than him. Minami is the beautiful childhood girlfriend and for all intents, sister from next door who treats both of them as equals. Society largely assumes Kazuya and Minami will become the perfect couple, including Tatsuya. Yet as time progresses, Tatsuya grows to realize that he's willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of his brother, except at the expense of giving up Minami to Kazuya. And thus the story is told of Tatsuya trying to prove himself over his established younger brother, how it affects the relationship between the three, and both brothers' attempts to make Minami's lifelong dreams come true. Since I watched all the Nine trilogy, I have a serious cognitive dissonance with same looks and change of characters. Comedy and background filling have become much better, but apart from that it's the same Nine that focuses on SOL rather than on evens and forced development. It's rather pleasant to watch from time to time, but I don't see anything that I could get by watching a hundred episodes now as I don't need soothing or relaxation.   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Choujuu Kishin Dancougar Super Bestial Machine God Dancougar 超獣機神ダンクーガ [1985-II] Production Reed (Dropped 3/38) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi  Emperor Muge Zarbados and his Empire of Death decide that their next conquest will be the faraway planet of Earth. Muge becomes even more fearsome because of Shapiro Keats, a power-hungry Earthling-turned-traitor. It's up to Shinobu, Sara (Shapiro's old girldfriend), Masato, and Ryo of the Jyusenkitai/Cyber Beast Force to pilot the four Jyusenki/Beast Mecha (Eagle Fighter, Land Cougar, Land Liger, and Big Moth [a mammoth mecha]), which can combine into the giant mech Dancougar. Realization is better than expected with varying protagonists personalities, but seriously, with cliché  synopsis like that it was doomed even at pre-production, even if done Sunrise.   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. Honoo no Alpenrose: Judy & Randy Alpenrose 炎のアルペンローゼ・ジュディ&ランディ [1985-II] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/20) Tags: Shoujo Historical Drama, Romance While Randy was walking through the Swiss countryside he finds a small girl, who seemed to be the only survived person from an airplane crash. The little girl didn’t remember anything, and Randy decided to take care of her and he called her Judy. The both go their childhood together. A few years later, Judy, now 16 years old, wants to find her past. With the help of Randy, she leaves to research her origins. Her single clue is a song that she keeps hearing in her head, the song is called Alpine Rose. At a time of world war, these two young people will have to overcome many obstacles to arrive at their goal in this time of war, with having only each other to comfort and support. the depth of their love. I need comedy or psychological complexity from Shoujo. This one got none.   Overall Rating: 4/10   20. Musashi no Ken 六三四の剣  [1985-II] Eiken (Dropped 3/72) Tags: Shounen Combat Sports  Musashi no Ken is the story of a boy named Musashi who aims to be the Kendo champion. Part of the anime is him as a child, and part is of him as an adult. I don't like shounens and sports, so what will happen if two are mixed? Kendo spokon with comedy, both of which I did not enjoy.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Haai Step Jun はーいステップジュン [1985-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/45) Tags: School Action, Romance, Sci-Fi  Jun is a very intelligent little girl who spends her time arranging all kinds of inventions. It goes until creating two small robots, Kichinosuke and Yukinojo, who become her best friends. Because of her intelligence, Jun gets into college at a young age and she meets and falls in love with a boy from her class who's called Zero. Zero is interested in motorbikes and not in school and is accustomed to not attending the courses. He got delayed in his schooling and thus is found much older than the other students and is there for humiliated for it. On the other hand Jun is way too young and little to be in college and is made fun of. Thanks to their common passion for mechanics, Zero will sympathize with Jun and will agree to dine with her in Harbor, the restaurant where Jun's parents live. This is long series of fun adventures and arguments that little Jun will make to allure her charming prince, who's twice older than her. Not translated. An ok episodic comedy with ok characters. Remember Dr.Slump ? It's rather close, just with a silly strong protector boy .   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. Mahou no Tenshi Creamy Mami: Long Goodbye 魔法の天使クリィミーマミ ロング・グッドバイ [1985-II] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Idols (Female), Mahou Shoujo Comedy, Fantasy, Romance  Shingo is planning the film "A Story of Two Worlds" starring Megumi. Yuu's transformation into Creamy Mami is happening without her wanting it. She is asked to star in the film too. But the magic doesn't last... Spontaneous turning into Mami and back does not make this OVA more interesting than usual.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Dallos Special ダロス Special [1985-II] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Sci-Fi An edited compendium of the four OVAs were spliced together to create a movie which aired in theaters. Included within the was also a prologue, which used 50 extra shots that introduced the world of Dallos before the opening credits. Just recap of the OVAs.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Soukou Kihei Votoms Vol.I: Stories of the "A.T.Votoms" 装甲騎兵ボトムズVOL.I STORIES OF THE "A.T.VOTOMS" [1985-II] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military Action, Drama, Sci-Fi Recap special. Not translated. There is one side story telling history of one character, nothing much.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Penguin's Memory: Shiawase Monogatari  ペンギンズ・メモリー幸福物語 [1985-II] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Anthropomorphic, Military  Mike is a penguin soldier who returns home after being injured during combat. Estranged from his family and friends, he leaves his hometown and starts to roam adrift through the country. Super weird, because all penguins look the same, and I can could only understand who's protagonist till he wore hand bandage... overall pretty normal post-Vietnam syndrome search of happiness after losing all direction in life. Very stupid as no good story is told .   Overall Rating: 5/10   26. Sengoku Majin Goushougun: Toki no Etranger Time Stranger 戦国魔人ゴーショーグン 時の異邦人[ÉTRANGER[エトランゼ]] [1985-II] Production Reed (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi  Remy Shimoda is in a hurry. She's on her way to a reunion with the other members of the Go Shogun team, and she's late. A police action with some robbers gets in her way, so she runs the robbers off the road. Her vision blurs and she gets into an accident. The movie splits into two with one plot following Remy's slow decline at the hospital with the Go Shogun members and former enemies at her side, and her experience in a strange city where she, and the rest of the team have their deaths foretold. Remy, herself, is plagued by visions of her death, and visitations from a threatening girl and her panther-like cat. The temple at the center of the city is the key, so the team sets out to battle their way into it. Based on the giant robot series "Go Shogun", this is a story focusing on Remy, the female member of the team. It's pretty funny how a rather bland mecha Goushogun spawns a more serious time paradox side story. The worst thing is that characters are from Goushogun which means super bland.   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. Dirty Pair ダーティペア [1985-III] Sunrise (Finished 24/24) Tags: Detective Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi If you're in a big trouble, call the World Welfare Work Association or WWWA. They will send out a team of highly trained capable agents called Trouble Consultants who can solve your problems. But if the team they send you is the Dirty Pair, there will be a lot of collateral damage aside from solving your problems. It was the oldest TV series that I watched in full back in the days. It's still episodic which I usually don't like, but entertainment here is refined so well that it does not get boring. While anime is not perfect, it's is a perfect mix of comedy and adventure which is hard to beat inside this small niche.   Overall Rating: 7/10   28. Mahou no Star Magical Emi 魔法のスター マジカルエミ [1985-III] (Dropped 3/38) Tags: Shoujo Mahou Shoujo, Performing Arts Comedy, Slice of Life Kozuki Mai is an elementary student who wants to be a magician and perform in her family's "Magicarat" magical act; however, she is too young, and her magic skills are not very good. Then one day, she encounters a ball of light that was put into a stuffed doll of flying squirrel, bringing it to life and somehow giving her the power to turn in to the 18-year-old magician "Magical Emi." As Emi, Mai was able to join the magic act. But she must keep her identity a secret from her family and from her crush. As usual, I'm expecting a decent comedy or a complex psychological story from shoujo. Emi has only comedy, and heroine from elementary school is too young to provide a decent comedy, so it gets too childish.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Urusei Yatsura OVA うる星やつら [1985-III] Madhouse, Studio Deen (Dropped 3/11) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi  The adventures of Lum, Ataru, Ten, and all the gang from Tomobiki continue in an assortment of new – but no less weird – stories. Watch as Lum, Ataru, and Shinobu encounter a rabbit-clad youth, enter the Room of Destiny, and get a glimpse into their futures in "Inaba the Dreammaker," or see Ran's plans to use a sherbet cone-producing bird to open a sherbet shop one hot Tokyo summer go terribly awry in “Raging Sherbet.” Ataru has yet another bad experience with Lum's cooking in "I Howl at the Moon". We've already seen three Urusei Yatsura movies, but looks like there are a lot of leftover longer stories around 55 minutes, so they are mashed together under OVAs. Seriously, by this point everyone must have formed an opinion on the franchise as it's not going to change already.   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Soukou Kihei Votoms: The Last Red Shoulder Armored Trooper Votoms: The Last Red Shoulder 装甲騎兵ボトムズ ザ・ラストレッドショルダー  [1985-III] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military Action, Drama, Sci-Fi Released in 1985, this OVA tells a critical part of the story between the TV show's Uoodo and Kummen arcs. Although the TV series covered the Red Shoulders in some detail, we didn't get to see much of Chirico's time there or the people involved, and we get both of those here. Main series was more coherent. Very messy.   Overall Rating: 4/10   31. The Chocolate Panic Picture Show The Chocolate Picture Panic Show ザ・チョコレートパニック・ピクチャーショー [1985-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Psychological Avant Garde The Chocolate Panic Picture Show is a wacky musical OVA based on a manga by Fujiwara Kamui, serialised in Monthly Super Action and partly inspired by Jamie Uys's The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980). Follow Manbo, Chinbo and Chonbo as they are flung into a strange, psychedelic world of madness they don't understand. See them cause chaos through their zany, unpredictable antics in this comical take on cultural imperialism. I usually don't include OVAs under 50 mins length, but this 25 min piece looked original. And it definitely is, but no one said it would be any good. Utter waste of time on antics.   Overall Rating: 1/10   32. Mujigen Hunter Fandora Dream Dimension Hunter Fandora 夢次元ハンターファンドラ [1985-III] Kaname Productions (Finished 3/3) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  Space princess Fandora and her sidekick Que are bounty hunters in an age where warp travel has become a reality, along with space criminals. Fandora possesses the red, magic, "Jewel of Lupia" which she uses to fight with when conventional weapons are ineffective. In pursuit of space criminal Red Eye Geran, they encounter in the kingdom of Lemia a mysterious evil religious leader who has taken control from its legitimate rulers. This individual possesses a blue jewel which will unify the dimensions of the universe and start an age of peace or terror if it is conjoined with the "Jewel of Lupia." And so Fandora and he are fated to meet. Fandora mostly fights with swords and uses magic from tiara. Que can transform into any creatures, but is here mostly for comical relief. And for some reason there are again spaceships etc. Overall, not bad, but definitely not good.   Overall Rating: 5/10   33. Cosmo Police Justy COSMO POLICE ジャスティ [1985-III] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Space, Super Power Action, Sci-Fi, Supernatural In the future humanity is spread throughout the galaxy. In their efforts to combat criminal espers the Cosmo Police are fortunate to have Justy on their side. However the esper criminals also know this and some of them are making plans for Cosmo Policeman Justy. As their leader says "There's only one way to kill the most powerful esper in the galaxy". Another stupid space esper story.   Overall Rating: 5/10   34. Mahou no Princess Minky Momo: Yume no Naka no Rondo Magical Princess Minky Momo: La Ronde in my Dream 魔法のプリンセス ミンキーモモ夢の中の輪舞 [1985-III] Production Reed (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mahou Shoujo  Minky Momo travels to an island where she finds a land of children and gets tangled up in an absurd, no-holds-barred standoff against the world's nations. Has "Dr. Strangelove" references. Minky Momo is one of the youngest shoujo characters, so I'm plain incompatible.   Overall Rating: 5/10   35. Genesis Climber Mospeada: Love, Live, Alive 機甲創世記モスピーダ Love, Live, Alive [1985-III] Tatsunoko Production (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Music Action After the original run of the television series, an OAV music video titled Genesis Climber Mospeada: Love Live Alive was specially (mostly due to demands of hardcore Mospeada fans) released in Japan in September 1985. The music video consisted of both old and new footage. The story of Love Live Alive chronicled the events after the ending of the original Mospeada, featuring Yellow Belmont as the main character. The music video focused on Yellow's concert and also on his flashback of past events. Just release audio when you want to release music.   Overall Rating: 4/10   36. Soukou Kihei Votoms Vol.II: Highlights from the "A.T.Votoms" 装甲騎兵ボトムズVOL.II HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE "A.T.VOTOMS" [1985-III] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military Action, Drama, Sci-Fi Highlight special. Absolutely shameless mashup of previews in the end of each episode.   Overall Rating: 1/10   37. Ginga Hyouryuu Vifam: Keito no Kioku - Namida no Dakkai Sakusen 銀河漂流バイファム ケイトの記憶 涙の奪回作戦!! [1985-III] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha  Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi The story takes place in Kukto in D.C. 2060 - a year after VIFAM. Ypserlon has been restored to peace, though there still remains occasional skirmishes. The Thirteen are invited there for a ceremony by the new Kukto government (its members are formerly the rebels). As two unexpected people appear, they develop a new story. It is a quest for memory. Epilogue with some miraculous revival bs.   Overall Rating: 5/10   38. Lupin III: Babylon no Ougon Densetsu ルパン三世 バビロンの黄金伝説 [1985-III]  Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Action, Adventure, Comedy, Mystery Mysterious Babylonian Tablets unearthed in Manhattan provide tantilizing clues about the location of the Tower of Babel - not the biblical one, but the original one, built out of solid gold! The Mob is out to get the gold, but so is Lupin III. It's Thugs vs. Thieves when Lupin & Co. go up against a fearsome flyswatting Polish Mafia boss, a bevy of beauty-contest policewomen, Zenigata, the hard-luck Interpol Inspector, a mysterious bag-lady AND his own girl-friend in a trans-continental trust-nobody trek after a treasure of biblical proportions! Lupin has different plots, but concept never changes, so don't expect scores to change as well.   Overall Rating: 5/10   39. Odin: Koushi Hansen Starlight Odin: Starlight Mutiny オーディーン・光子帆船スターライト [1985-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags:  Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi In the year 2099, mankind has colonized parts of the Solar System thanks to the evolution of space travel. To venture further beyond what man has accomplished, the space vessel Starlight is launched. After rescuing a mysterious girl from a wreckage near the asteroid fields, the crew of the Starlight plot a perilous journey towards the Canopus system in search of the planet known only as "Odin" - the possible key to all forms of life. Officially dubbed version is the only one around, which means one thing - sterile boring adventure for boys. Let's just say my worst expectations came true.   Overall Rating: 1/10   40. Area 88 Movie エリア88 劇場版 [1985-III] (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Military Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance Kazama Shin, tricked and forced into fighting for the remote country of Arslan, can only escape the hell of war by earning money for shooting down enemy planes or die trying. As the war rages on, Shin has to deal with the consequences of killing and friends dying around him as he tries to keep his mind on freeing himself from this nightmare. Not going to watch it as it's just a shortened version of three OVAs.   Overall Rating: 0/10   41. Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru 悪魔島のプリンス 三つ目がとおる [1985-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mythology Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural  The popular Manga "The Three-Eyed Boy Comes Here" was produced as the eighth in an animated series for a special 24-hour broadcast. This time, the movie was produced by Toei Animation Co., Ltd. instead of by Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd. Here, Tezuka Osamu was in charge of only the original story and a synopsis for animation. Based on the original Manga, "Easter Island: Sea voyage," Sharaku and Wato investigate a mysterious old ship, only to find themselves getting involved in a sea voyage around strange islands. More emphasis was placed on entertainment factors than on theme, and this change in the concept line resulted in the withdrawal of Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd. from this series. Well, Tezuka could make it into a great story. In this state of characters constantly getting hit by something... can only feel sorry.   Overall Rating: 5/10   42. Aoki Ryuusei SPT Layzner Blue Comet SPT Layzner 蒼き流星SPTレイズナー [1985-IV] Sunrise (Dropped 4/38) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Sci-Fi The story takes place in an alternate reality based in the year 1996, where humanity is advanced enough to develop long-range space travel, as well as bases on both the Moon and Mars. However, the Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union have not ended; rather, they've escalated as both sides build military facilities in space, and the shadow of nuclear conflict looms over humanity, both on and off Earth. Meanwhile, on the Red Planet, an exchange program created by the United Nations to promote peace and understanding is about to begin; the "Cosmic Culture Club," consisting of 16 boys and girls, as well as their instructor Elizabeth, arrives at the UN Mars base. Among the passengers is Anna a 14-year-old girl who serves as the narrator for the story. Suddenly, four unidentified humanoid robots classified as Super Powered Tracers are detected, engaged in fierce combat with each other. The UN base is caught in the crossfire and quickly destroyed, killing all but six members of the "Cosmic Culture Club"—Elizabeth, Arthur, Roan, David, Simone and Anna, and leaving them stranded on an inhospitable planet that has suddenly become a battlefield. As the battle ends, the lone SPT standing lands next to the terrified group and opens up revealing a pilot, who simply announces to them, "Earth is at stake." Sunrise really tried to save it, and girl protagonist helps substantially, but it's still an ugly mess of action and random emotions developing in a painfully slow pace.   Overall Rating: 5/10   43. Ninja Senshi Tobikage Ninja Robots 忍者戦士飛影 [1985-IV] Pierrot (Dropped 3/43) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Space  Adventure, Sci-Fi Ninja Senshi Tobikage tells the story of a boy named Joe Maya. One day, Joe, who lives on Mars, witnesses a battle between aliens. Those from Planet Zaboom are attacking the princess of Planet Radorio, she has escaped from the emperor of Zaboom who is scheming to conquer the universe and has crash landed on mars. Joe stumbles aboard the princesses ship, this starts a chain reaction of events that will alter their lives. Joe and his friends wield three powerful mecha beasts against the emperor of Zaboom and his forces, but the odds are stacked heavily against them. When all hope seems to be lost a mysterious ninja robot named Tobikage appears as if from nowhere to provide assitance, able to combine with the 3 mechanical beasts provides Tobikage with unmatched power, with his aide Joe fights the forces of Zaboom... There is enough comedy and some simple relations, so it's slightly better than the average mecha.   Overall Rating: 5/10   44. High School! Kimengumi Funny Faces in High School ハイスクール!奇面組 [1985-IV] Gallop, Studio Comet (Dropped 3/86) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, Parody, School Comedy, Romance A group of 5 male high school students that call themselves the funny-face group cause trouble at school with their crazy antics. There are currently 16 episodes translated. I don't know what to say. I'm usually ok with absurd humor, but everything has its limits. There's a lot of courage to build a series around funny faces and several other funny teams of schoolmates, there is definitely a lot of potential. First episode introduced Kimengumi. Second episode introduced other four funny school teams. Third episode is about baseball that I refuse to understand and enjoy. So had to take another episode about summer school cleaning and nursing a sick person, and that one was finally rather fun.   Overall Rating: 6/10   45. Gegege no Kitarou (1985) ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 [1985-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 0/108) Tags: Comedy, Supernatural As civilization advances, people are beginning to lose the consideration and kindliness for Nature. This has incurred the wrath of the ghosts who are becoming increasingly unhappy with the selfishness of the human kind. However, there is a conflict of interests within the ghosts in which one extreme opposes the humans completely while another extreme desires the co-existence of humans and ghosts. Kitaro and his family belongs to the latter category and yearns to seek mutual understanding between the humans and ghosts. Kitaro's fight for love and hope continues. I've watched so many Kirarou versions already that my score can hardly change.   Overall Rating: 0/10   46. Shouwa Ahozoushi Akanuke Ichiban! 昭和アホ草紙あかぬけ一番! [1985-IV] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/22) Tags:  Shoujo Comedy Koujirou moves to Tokyo from Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido and insists on bringing his favorite horse, Hikarikin, with him. The alien king Rel arrives from planet Wedelun and gives him a belt that will allow him to transform into a Miracle Hero and to protect the world from alien menaces. He is more interested, however, in impressing the pretty Yuka, though his rival, Michinari, wants her for himself. There are 12 episodes translated. Wow, this anime is strange in so many ways. First of all, I can't really call it Shoujo as protagonist is a boy and 90% of the time is devoted to him. There is a girl he competes for with a rival, but that does not mean it's Shoujo. It's an absurdist comedy with horse, alien boy and protagonist in superhero suit contributing to the majority of humor situations. Humor is totally fine, but need a certain mood to watch absurdist comedy .   Overall Rating: 6/10   47. Tenshi no Tamago Angel's Egg 天使のたまご [1985-IV] Studio Deen (Finished 1/1) Tags: Avant Garde, Drama, Fantasy The surrealist world of Tenshi no Tamago is desolate and devoid of the bustle of traditional everyday life. Instead, the world is filled with ominous phenomena, including floating orbs populated with statues of goddesses, gargantuan army tanks that seem to move unmanned, armies of fishermen who chase after the shadows of nonexistent fish, and caverns solely decorated with glass vessels of water. In this run-down world, a young girl takes care of a large egg and scavenges for food and drink. She encounters a mysterious man with a cross over his shoulder, who soon becomes curious about who she is and what her egg contains. They decide to explore the lost and broken landscape together, questioning each other about the nature of faith, the purpose of the world, and the origins of their lives. Girl finds a petrified bird and takes a stone egg from it deciding to hatch it. Travelling warrior cites Bible about Noah , then takes the egg while girl sleeps and breaks the egg with a weapon. Girl realizes it and jumps down to the water. Then petrified girl with petrified egg as long as dozens of other petrified figures fly on some platform up to the air. That's all there is to it, everything else is nonsense  surreal meta crap. A waste of time, as for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   48. Tatakae!! Iczer-1 Fight!! Iczer-1 戦え!! イクサー1 [1985-IV] AIC (Finished 3/3) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi, Ecchi Nagisa is a schoolgirl with schoolgirl tendencies, waking up late, rushing off to school and meeting up with friends upon the way. One morning Nagisa comes across a woman dressed in a strange uniform who seems to stare at her, unnerving Nagisa. Later that day, whilst staring out the window, Nagisa becomes aware of a ball bouncing by itself which flings itself towards her window seat, shattering the glass yet not harming her... Turning back to the front she finds a gaping mouth bristling with teeth inches from her face and no-one else about. She screams and the world returns to normal with her standing and the centre of curiosity of her class... why did she scream? Visuals are good, but it's just another story of the chosen won assisted by good alien versus evil aliens. Also did not like two Deus Ex Machina happening out of blue. There's nothing special about it at all.   Overall Rating: 6/10   49. Dream Hunter Rem DREAM HUNTER 麗夢 [1985-IV] Anime R (Finished 4/4) Tags: Mystery, Ecchi  Rem is an ordinary woman in our world but, in the world of dreams, she becomes a dream warrior, defending humanity from the evils there. When dream demons reach the waking world, she fights them with the help of her pets which transform into a tiger and wolf. Solving problems by intervening in nightmares and occasionally getting clothes torn is all you can expect from this anime. Detectives and ESP powers have never been of interest to me, so you should understand my disappointment.   Overall Rating: 5/10   50. Fire Tripper 炎トリッパー [1985-IV] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Time Travel Fantasy, Sci-Fi On a day like any other, Suzuko meets one of her neighbor's children, Shu, in a park on her way back from school and decides to walk home with him. Tragically, they never make it home. Suzuko and the young boy are caught in a giant gas explosion, though instead of dying instantly, Suzuko wakes up in the middle of a battlefield full of corpses in the Sengoku period. A group of marauding bandits attacks Suzuko, but Shukumaru—a boy who had come to loot the corpses to feed his starving village—saves her. Though they both return to the village, Suzuko refuses to give up searching for Shu and returns to the battlefield every day with Shukumaru trailing behind. Though Shukumaru lacks anything resembling modern manners, she gradually finds herself drawn towards him. Just what fate awaits this young girl in this bloody period in Japan's history? Guess I'm not seeing pure fantasy in 1985 yet, but time travel isekai is also fresh. The twists were unexpected, so I can safely give it a six, not higher though as there are a lot of stupid things as well.   Overall Rating: 6/10   51. Dirty Pair no Ooshoubu: Nolandia no Nazo Dirty Pair: Affair of Nolandia  ダーティペアの大勝負 ノーランディアの謎 [1985-IV] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Detective Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi The Dirty Pair are traveling to the planet of Ookbar in search of a missing girl. Kei and Yuri have traced Missinie to the forest of Nolandia, but their investigations have stalled thanks to the less-than-helpful Chief of Security. But the Dirty Pair have never let a little bureaucracy stand in their way. Detective with a bit of drama and a bit of comedy. Ok, but not outstanding.   Overall Rating: 6/10   52. Twinkle Nora Rock Me! トゥインクル NORA(ノーラ) ロック・ミー! [1985-IV] Filmlink International (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi  Based on a 1980 manga by Mikuriya Satomi, this adaptation differs considerably from the original. The story started in its prequel was completed with this second OVA. Very cheap animation, in many of scenes there are spit screens changing only once per second. Absolutely horrible impression.   Overall Rating: 1/10   53. Love Position: Halley Densetsu ラブ・ポジション ハレー伝説 [1985-IV] Tezuka Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Fantasy, Sci-Fi The very first original animated video produced by Tezuka Productions about an agent who was sent riding on Halley's comet to the Earth. He was actually, though, given the order to destroy the Earth. Captivated by planet's beauty, however, he is no longer able to destroy the planet. Seventy-six years later, another agent from Halley's comet is sent to the earth to liquidate this traitor, who is now disguised as a girl named Lamina in Vietnam. Tezuka Osamu oversaw only the original story. Lol, Tezuka makes another crazy thing - parody on Terminator. Kinda sad that Tezuka supervised only story as there's a lot of room for improvement in this story, e.g. total seriousness harms more than aids. If such story appeared before Terminator, it would be an absolutely different story.   Overall Rating: 5/10   54. What's Michael? ホワッツ マイケル? [1985-IV] Kitty Film Mitaka Studio (Finished 1/1) Tags: Pets Comedy  A series of adventures featuring the one cat apparently everyone in the world owns... Michael. If I'm not mistaken, it was initially yonkoma manga, so anime is a collection of some 3-minute sketches corresponding one piece of manga. Good only as a meme.   Overall Rating: 5/10   55. Bavi Stock バビ・ストック [1985-IV] Kaname Productions (Finished 2/2) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  The universe has fallen under the cruel military rule of the despotic Ventika empire. However, a rebel police state planet known as G.P.P has discovered the existence of a little girl called Muma, that could well hold the key to bringing down the Ventika empire once and for all. Despite her frightening potential, Muma is suffering from memory loss and is incarcerated in a maximum security prison. Charged with the assignment of busting Muma out and protecting her, the G.P.P send one of their most hardened elite, Agent Kate. Upon completing her mission successfully, Agent Kate is assigned yet another mission immediately after. This time, she must rescue another person that will prove instrumental in overthrowing the empire. His name is Bavi Stock, a young man of incredible talent but the problem is he that he too is currently incarcerated on the Ventika's purpose built prison planet. Can Agent Kate break him out? And just what can this Bavi Stock do? Bavi Stock is a 2 part OAV series. The first movie is called "Bavi Stock 1: Endless Target" and the sequel was called "Bavi Stock 2: The Revenge of Eyesman". Not a masterpiece for sure, but still a nice story, maybe even for a six.   Overall Rating: 6/10   56. Chuuhai Lemon: Love 30s - Ame ni Nurete mo 酎ハイれもんLOVE30S 雨にぬれても [1986-IV] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Detective Comedy, Drama, Romance Bug-eyed Katsumi (known as Chuhai to his friends) is a muscle-bound detective determined to use his strength and pig-headed stupidity to rescue his teenage girlfriend from a succession of embarrassing situations. Based on a manga by Sho Fumimura and heavily seeded with background music from the 1960s U.S. hit parade. Too short and lacking integrity to stay in memory. I'd say average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   57. Vampire Hunter D 吸血鬼〈バンパイア〉ハンターD [1985-IV] Production Reed (Finished 1/1) Tags: Vampire Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Supernatural 10,000 years in the future, the world has become a very different place; monsters roam the land freely, and people, although equipped with high tech weapons and cybernetic horses, live a humble life more suited to centuries past. The story focuses on a small hamlet plagued by monster attacks and living under the shadow of rule by Count Magnus Lee, a powerful vampire lord who has ruled the land for thousands of years. When a young girl is bitten by the Count and chosen as his current plaything, she seeks out help of a quiet wandering stranger, D. It so happens that D is one of the world's best vampire hunters, and he takes it upon himself to cut through Magnus Lee's many minions, and put an end to the Count's rule. Higher than average quality vampire action, but I was not really impressed.   Overall Rating: 6/10   58. Yousei Florence A Journey Through Fairyland 妖精フローレンス [1985-IV] Sanrio (Finished 1/1) Tags: Music Adventure, Fantasy A gentle and talented boy named Michael played beautiful music on his oboe, and his greatest love was to play for and tend to the flowers in the greenhouse at the school of music where he attended. Unfortunately, his gardening made him constantly late for orchestra practice and resulted in his dismissal from the school. When Michael fell asleep that same night, he was awakened by a dainty Flower Fairy named Florence, who would take him on an enchanted journey to a land where flowers came alive, treble notes were mischievous, and adventure beckoned. There, he would soon come to realize that his love of flowers and desire to become a great musician could go hand-in-hand and help him to become focused in life and discover himself. Is this Disney or something? Boy can handle his gardening problems in the kids section.   Overall Rating: 4/10   59. Gegege no Kitarou (1985 Movie) Spooky Kitaro ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 [1985-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural  Movie based on the 1985 TV anime with an original plot. I've watched too much Kitarou already, not going to give it different scores anyway.   Overall Rating: 0/10   60. Kinnikuman: Haresugata! Seigi Choujin キン肉マン 晴れ姿!正義超人 [1985-IV] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Sports While performing in a movie at Toei Eigamura, Kinnikuman suddenly disappears. Somehow, he has been sent to Edo Period Japan. In Edo Japan, a villain called Shuten Douji (朱天童子) is threatening to destroy the Earth if he is not given Princess Mari. Always willing to impress a pretty girl, Kinnikuman immediately vows to destroy Shuten Doji. He disguises himself as Princess Mari and goes to meet Shuten Doji, but Shuten Doji and his Big Four (四天王, Shitennou) see through Kinnikuman's disguise and beat him up. Aware of Kinnikuman's situation, Terryman, Robin Mask, and the other Seigi Choujins travel to Edo Japan (via Kinkotsu-obaba's powers). Freaking wrestling ring remains, so is my score.   Overall Rating: 5/10   61. Yukiguni no Oujisama The Snow Country Prince 雪国の王子さま [1985-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Slice of Life  Koichi and his sister Yuki befriend Hanaguro, a swan who has flown to Japan from Siberia. Hanaguro is attacked by a dog, and the cowardly Koichi flees, but that night he has a dream in which he is whisked away to the Kingdom of Snow Prince, where he finds the bravery to help the other swans. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10
  15. kivandopulus
    Only Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä gets a masterpiece score from me in 1984   1. Juusenki L-Gaim 重戦機エルガイム [1984-I] Sunrise (Dropped 5/54) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Space In the year 3990, the immortal Oldna Poseidal rules Pentagona, a war-torn solar system of five planets. Daba Myroad is a survivor of the Yaman Clan, just one of numerous native societies nearly wiped out by the tyrant. Living on the remote planet Koam with his friend Mirao Kyao, Daba possesses L-Gaim, a humanoid mecha known commonly as a "Heavy Metal" and the last known relic of the Yaman Clan. The pair befriend Fanneria Amu, an aspiring actress, and Lilith Fau, the last surviving fairy in Pentagona while on the run from a band of thieves attempting to steal L-Gaim. Daba promises to fulfill the dying wish of one of the thieves hunting him—an honorable act that leads him to the powerful merchant Amandara Kamandara. With their mission in sight, the ragtag group will face powerful adversaries and become entangled in a rebellion against Poseidal's reign. All these mecha look alike as resistance steals a mecha and starts boring action fights. There is some humor and even fairy added to stand out, but it just does not. Tried to watch it for five episodes, but it does not get better than average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   2. Makiba no Shoujo Katri Katri, Girl of the Meadows 牧場の少女カトリ [1984-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/49) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama, Slice of Life This series tells the story of 9 year-old Katri, a girl who lives on a farm in Finland with her grandparents. Katri's mother has been away in Germany for three years. The farm is not doing well, so to help support her family, she goes to work on a neighboring farm. Katri faces many struggles and challenges. Yay, more of world masterpiece theater. Optimistic concept is a big bonus for this anime, but in the end it all crashes again against lack of desire to watch it further.   Overall Rating: 5/10   3. Yume Senshi Wingman Wingman 夢戦士ウイングマン [1984-I] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/47) Tags: School, Super Power Action, Comedy, Romance Hirono Kenta is your average geeky junior high school student. His childhood obsession has always been Tokusatsu and anime. In fact, he fancies himself as a "Hero of Justice" and often is seen running around in a makeshift costume of his own design called "Wing Man." Most of his fellow classmates thinks he's just a crazy otaku, but his childhood friend Ogawa Miku thinks he's a noble spirit. One day as Hirono is walking to school, a beautiful and voluptuous girlliterally drops out of the sky and into his life. Hirono, bewildered by the event, none-the-less takes the girl to his home to recuperate (this is his duty as a "Hero of Justice"). He also keeps the "Dream Note" so that he can transpose his favorite "Wing Man" costume designs into it. Later, Hirono is confronted by the girl who reveals herself to be Yume Aoi, Princess of the Dreamscape called Botoreem. Her domain has been conquered by the power mad despot, Rimeru and his armies of monstrous "Seed Men." She barely escaped her domain with the power artifact known as the "Dream Note." The "Dream Note" enables its possessor to create anything they desire by merely drawing or writing information within its pages. Rimeru seeks to steal it to become Master of the Universe. She demands that Hirono give her back the book, but Hirono had already begun drawing into the book (mystically linking himself to it). Hirono soon discovers that his designs and notes on Wing Man become reality and he in turn becomes his own creation. Using these powers and abilities, he and Aoi begin their strange and amazing adventure. Along the way, Hirono inadvertently involves all of his friends, especially Miku in his quest to help Aoi free her people and save her father. Rimeru sends his various minions to Earth's dimension to retrieve the book. One his henchmen is the noble yet devious Kitakura who goes as far as infiltrating Hirono's junior high school masquerading as a teacher. So this is how Death Note appeared... anyway, with two competing girls felt a lot like Urusei Yatsura, maybe only slightly better.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Chou Kousoku Galvion Super High Speed Galvion 超攻速ガルビオン [1984-I] Kokusai Eigasha (Dropped 3/22) Tags: Detective, Mecha Action, Sci-Fi Super High Speed Galvion features mecha designs by Ohata Koichi (of Gunbuster fame). In the 23rd century billionaire Midoriyama Rei creates a secret organization called Circus to combat a hidden group called Shadow that is taking over the world. When she can't find qualified pilots for Circus' main mecha, the Galvion, she cuts a deal with two convicts, Mu and Maya, to lead the fight against Shadow. I doubt good anime about racing exist ... this is definitely not the one. And mecha feels absolutely not needed here as if introduced just because of general mecha craze.   Overall Rating: 3/10   5. Okawari-Boy Starzan-S OKAWARI-BOY スターザンS [1984-I] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/34) Tags: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi On planet Kirakira live two tribes: Senobi and Robot. Senobi, quiet and peacefully set, settle down in the forest. Robot comes from the desert and starts war to take control of afforested grounds. A young hero coming from Senobi tries to appease the whole situation. Not translated. This anime plays very skillfully with contrasts. Starzan is a combination of star and Tarzan, and everything is this way, really. Slavery vs dominance, big vs small, feared vs funny, self-confident vs shy, nature vs robot. It's a very nice comedy, but in the end it's just cartoonish confrontation of two parties. It's absolutely worth watching, but I need something more complex.   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Souya Monogatari 宗谷物語 [1984-I] Kokusai Eigasha (Dropped 3/21) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama The Souya is a Japanese museum ship that previously served as an icebreaker and patrol boat, and was the first Japanese ship to take part in an Antarctic research expedition. The anime tells the adventures of the ship and its crew. Untranslated. Both adventures and poor animation quality make it super boring.   Overall Rating: 4/10   7. Lolita Anime ロリータアニメ [1984-I] Wonder Kids (Finished 6/6) Tags: Hentai The first ever hentai OVA, Lolita Anime was released in early 1984. Some of the episodes featured parodies of other famous anime characters (i.e. Lum). The series' main focus was bondage. A rather chaotic mashup with first two episodes split into two stories, third and sixth being mostly compilations and episodes four and five being longer stories. Title lolita theme is more courtesy to hentai manga that showed up since the end of the 70s than. What actually surprised is usage of censorship already both as blur and as color transformation. I had to include first hentai, but dropping all future hentai .   Overall Rating: 0/10   8. Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 風の谷のナウシカ [1984-I] Topcraft (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy A millennium has passed since the catastrophic nuclear war named the "Seven Days of Fire," which destroyed nearly all life on Earth. Humanity now lives in a constant struggle against the treacherous jungle that has evolved in response to the destruction caused by mankind. Filled with poisonous spores and enormous insects, the jungle spreads rapidly across the Earth and threatens to swallow the remnants of the human race. Away from the jungle exists a peaceful farming kingdom known as the "Valley of the Wind," whose placement by the sea frees it from the spread of the jungle's deadly toxins. The Valley's charismatic young princess, Nausicaä, finds her tranquil kingdom disturbed when an airship from the kingdom of Tolmekia crashes violently in the Valley. After Nausicaä and the citizens of the Valley find a sinister pulsating object in the wreckage, the Valley is suddenly invaded by the Tolmekian military, who intend to revive a dangerous weapon from the Seven Days of Fire. Now Nausicaä must fight to stop the Tolmekians from plunging the Earth into a cataclysm which humanity could never survive, while also protecting the Valley from the encroaching forces of the toxic jungle. Yay, first Ghibli anime, joint with Topcraft this time. To my shame, have not seen it before. Post-apocalyptical toxic jungle setting is very appealing. Three different factions are complex enough to investigate. Characters are intelligent and behave logically. There are a lot of unexpected twists and impressive creatures. I enjoyed it more than I hoped to, but to get a perfect masterpiece score I should not have questions left. I feel like two rivaling kingdoms aren't given proper attention to explain motivation. Also, general impression is comparable to that of Magical Boy Conan, two works have a lot in common.    Overall Rating: 8/10   9. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer うる星やつら2 ビューティフル・ドリーマー [1984-I] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi Not all is normal in Tomobiki, even by its standards. The students have been preparing feverishly for the first day of the student fair, which is scheduled to go on the next day. However, problems arise when some begin to notice that the next day simply will not come. As the students begin to try to find the reason for the problem, their beliefs about reality and the world of dreams are challenged. Story driven time anomaly feels a lot better than previous romance movie. Sadly, eventually it goes back to flashbacks about Lum, so not cool. Ending is really bad.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Wata no Kuni Hoshi Fantasy of a Kitten 綿の国星 [1984-I] Mushi Production (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Pets, Psychological Drama, Fantasy, Romance After two-month-old kitten Chibi-neko is abandoned by her former owners, she is found by 18-year-old Tokio. Although his mother is allergic to cats and has a great fear of them, she agrees to let him keep the kitten because she fears he is becoming too withdrawn after failing his university entrance exams. Chibi-neko soon falls in love with Tokio. In her own mind, Chibi-neko is a small human who speaks in human words, although people only ever seem to hear her meow, and she believes that all humans were once kittens like her. A stray cat tells Chibi-neko of a paradise called Cottonland, where dreams can come true. Wow, even Chobits seem to have their spiritual predecessors. So, I knew I was missing something in amine of 60s-80s, and that something is kawai of which Fantasy of a Kitten is the first representative . Really cute, but story-wise sure weak.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Choujin Locke Locke the Superman 超人ロック [1984-I] Nippon Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi Super Power A quiet, polite, lonely immortal esper about which little is known, he is called "Locke the Superman", but often denies being so. It is not known where or when he was born, and if asked, Locke will say he does not remember. It is entirely possible this is true. However, when asked by Cornelia Prim in "Millennium of the Witch" which star he was from, Locke replied "Toa." He has appeared at various times throughout the history of the galaxy, either as a direct influence, an indirect influence, or a simple observer. Using his esper abilities, Locke can learn and do most things more quickly than a normal human. His power also allows him to remain eternally young, or even turn himself into a child again to be adopted by kind-hearted families. It is speculated he remains youthful as an excuse not to take responsibility for whatever cause he is approached for, since no one expects youths to have such responsibilities. Lots of espers are doing something! I can not find login in such shows and not going to look for connection between glowing eyes and all kinds of mayhem happening. Another chaotic mashup.   Overall Rating: 4/10   12. Shounen Kenya Kenya Boy 少年ケニヤ [1984-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure It is the year 1941. 11-year-old Murakami Wataru lives with his family, Japanese textile traders operating in British Kenya, when war breaks out between Japan and the Allies. Fleeing into the bush, young Wataru falls headlong into a series of fantastic adventures. A normal looking boy defeats giant beasts and dozens of armed men on multiple occasions... feels very weird.   Overall Rating: 3/10   13. Mirai Shounen Conan: Kyodaiki Gigant no Fukkatsu 未来少年コナン特別篇 巨大機ギガントの復活 [1984-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi An edited version of the last few episodes of the 1978 series into a 47 min short movie. I absolutely did not like the second arc of the TV series, so no sense in trying to search for it deeper.   Overall Rating: 0/10   14. Meitantei Holmes: Aoi Ruby no Maki / Kaitei no Zaihou no Maki Sherlock Hound: The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle / Treasure Under the Sea 名探偵ホームズ 青い紅玉の巻/海底の財宝の巻 [1984-I] TMS Entertainment (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Mystery The famous blue ruby is stolen in such an elaborate way, that only one villain can be suspected - Professor Moriarty. It is up to Sherlock Holmes to return it and, in the process, to turn a young pick-pocket on the right path. In the second part, Moriarty sets his sights even higher, stealing a top-secret submarine from the Navy. What does he need it for? Holmes is once again on the trail. The dominant emotion experienced was cringe. Humor is pretty bad. Have trouble determining target audience - probably youngsters.   Overall Rating: 4/10   15. Oshin おしん [1984-I] Historical Drama (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Drama Oshin comes from a family of poor rice farmers. Her father and brother must work in the fields and her grandmother and mother, who is expecting another child, barely have enough to eat. In order to make ends meet for her family, 7-year-old Oshin gives up school and decides to become a servant in the household of a wealthy family, where she faces trials and tribulation beyond her worst fears. Not translated. Barefoot Gen opened Pandora box. Anime starts with mother suicide attempt, so you already can guess what awaits. Movie is basically about parting, both temporary and final, with different people who are kind to Oshin. Child labor is heavily exploited without right for education, enough rest or proper nutrition. I don't understand the point of tearjerker movies without some bigger goal. I found none here, although can't deny that it's made well. The only thought I can get out of it is that Japanese women are so strong that in the direst situations when men give up, women keep being proactive in any conditions to form a decent life with their own hands.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Ninja Hattori-kun Plus Perman: Chounouryoku Wars 忍者ハットリくん+パーマン 超能力ウォーズ [1984-I] Shin-Ei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Martial Arts, Super Power Adventure Crossover film featuring both of Motoo Abiko's work. Both casts gets wrapped up in an ESP war helping a psychic girl named Yuri whose homeland was destroyed by an evil psychic man who is trying to capture all the psychics in the world and use them for world domination. It was screened as a double feature with Doraemon: Nobita no Makai Daibouken. Obviously a kid movie, just wanted to see ninja Hattori-kun as I missed its initial series that were blocked as kids material.   Overall Rating: 3/10   17. Chiisana Koi no Monogatari: Chichi to Sally Hatsukoi no Shiki 小さな恋のものがたり チッチとサリー初恋の四季 [1984-I] TBS (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Romance, Slice of Life Tiny schoolgirl Chiiko develops a crush on older boy Sally and believes herself to be his girlfriend, although Sally is already involved in a love triangle with a girl called Tonko. Rather light consensual romance that's only blackened by unmanageable jealousy of Chiiko. Don't see the need for this piece at all.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Lupin III: Part III ルパン三世 - Part III [1984-II] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/50) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Action, Adventure, Comedy Lupin III chronicles the adventures of Arsene Lupin III, the world's greatest thief, and his partners in crime: master marksman Daisuke Jigen, beautiful and scheming Fujiko Mine and stoic samurai Goemon Ishikawa XIII. Lupin and his gang travel around the globe in search of the world's greatest treasures and riches and always keeping one step ahead of the tireless Inspector Zenigata, who has vowed to bring Lupin to justice. Familiar company, several new enemies, better humor and more complex plots. It's the most enjoyable part so far, but not to an extent that I'd want to watch it all.   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. Glass no Kamen ガラスの仮面 [1984-II] Eiken (Dropped 3/23) Tags: Shoujo Performing Arts Drama, Romance Kitajima Maya, a 13-year old girl with a talent for acting, was discovered by the reclusive actress Tsukikage. The story follows Maya's growing up, intense training, overcoming challenges, and evolving into the foremost actress of her generation (she is about 20 so far). Maya's greatest rival is Himekawa Ayumi, the beautiful daughter of a famous movie couple. They ultimately vied for the most sought-after role - the "Crimson Goddess". An equally important subplot Maya's relationship with the handsome and ruthless entertainment mogul Hayami Masumi, who secretly became her number one fan, but misunderstandings and bad-timing obstructed their romance... I can describe it as Attack on Ace, just inside theater instead of tennis court. Another competition shojo without real complexity applied.   Overall Rating: 3/10   20. Choujikuu Kidan Southern Cross Robotech Masters 超時空騎団サザンクロス [1984-II] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/23) Tags: Mecha Action, Drama, Sci-Fi By the year 2120, humans have successfully colonized other planets following the near devestation of Earth from the last great world war. However, on Gloire, one such colony are surprised and unprepared at the arrival of The Zor, a group of beings whom were the original inhabitants of the planet and left following similar near fatal events. Coming to reclaim their former home world, a relentless war erupts between both races that ultimately leads to a cataclysmic showdown and into a no-win scenario for either. Did not like previous Robotech series, and this one is not better in any way. A huge number of bland characters, chaotic mecha action battles. Team gathers only by 3rd episode, and two episodes are stretched just for prologue. All these shows don't even try to capture watcher's attention. Learn directorship from Sunrise at least! Just plastic action with plastic characters and no sense behind it all.   Overall Rating: 4/10   21. Attacker You! アタッカーYOU! [1984-II] Knack Productions (Dropped 3/58) Tags: Shoujo Action, Romance, Sports Attacker You! is the story of ambitious and energetic 13-year-old junior high schoolgirl You Hazuki (variously known as "Mila," "Jeanne" or "Juana" in Western dubbed versions of the anime), who moves to Tokyo from Osaka to live with her father Toshihiko, a cameraman recently returned from Peru, and attend school. You's mother is not in the picture, having left when You was very young. Also living with You and her father is her younger brother Sunny, who is very attached to his older sister and tends to follow her everywhere she goes, including to school and to her volleyball matches. You is also curious about Kyushi Tajima, the pretty blonde woman whom she sees covering volleyball games on television, and about why her father becomes very angry whenever You mentions her. You is passionate about volleyball and dreams of one day being a part of Japan's national women's volleyball team in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She joins her school's girls' volleyball team and quickly becomes one of the top players, although her coach (who is also her homeroom teacher) is brutal and literally slaps his players around when they don't live up to his expectations. You begins a tumultuous friendship with former school volleyball champ and former arch-rival Nami Hayase (French name: "Peggy"), which comes to a head when the two girls join opposing professional teams. She also develops a crush on So Takiki, the captain of the Hikawa boys' volleyball team (known as "Shiro," "Serge" or "Sergio" in various Western versions), and puts as much effort into trying to win his heart as she does into her game. For me it's a clear homage to volleyball shoujo of 1970 Attack No.1 . This time there's more comedy and overall quality, so I can rate it higher, but shoujo spokon must have much more complexity to get a decent score from me .   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. Giant Gorg 巨神ゴーグ〈ジャイアントゴーグ〉 [1984-II] Sunrise (Dropped 4/26) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Austral Island is located 2,000 km south from Samoa islands. The existence of the island was removed from the official records, and Tagami Yuu made a journey to search for the reason. He sailed for the island with Dr. Waive who was his father's friend, Doris who is the daughter of Dr. Waive, and Captain who is the friend of Dr. Waive. On their way to the island, GAIL, the international conglomerate, and gangster, Cougar Connection lead by Lady Lynx attacked them. They managed to arrive at the island, but suddenly a mysterious monster began to attack them. When they became ready for death, a blue giant robot appeared. It destroyed the monster and saved them. Although it was an existence far beyond human knowledge, it reminded Yuu of something warm and familiar. It was Giant Gorg which is called "Messenger of the God" by the inhabitants of the island. Escaping from the attack of GAIL's assault team, Gorg guided Yuu into the underworld. There, he found alien's relic and an alien who woke up after 30,000 years' sleep. It starts pretty strong with comedy and SOL he quality is high and I liked the humor when it spawned. At the same time it's the story of meeting a mecha and defending against attackers. Because of Dr.Waive and island mystery I was able to watch the series to the end, thanks to the fact that seasons have mostly gone from 50 episodes to just 26. As expected, it was awful and by the end heroes just meet Dr. Waive with a bit of explanation. Can't say I got enjoyment out of it in the end, for sure can't call it a masterpiece. Mecha that has own will and acts voluntarily is one huge bs.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Tongari Boushi no Memole とんがり帽子のメモル [1984-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/50) Tags: Shoujo Fantasy Memoru is one of 245 people who came to earth from the Riruru Star when their ship had an emergency crash-landing on earth. Memoru's people have such tiny bodies that they could stand on a human's palm. One day she hears lovely music, and she follows its source and comes upon a huge house she hasn't seen before to find a girl taller than her playing on the piano. Memoru visited her again secretly with her friends Popitu, Rupangu, and Pi, but the human girl, Marielle, seemed sick and likely to die any moment. Feeling sad for the girl, Memoru's tear drops on the girl's lips. The girl gets better and a strong friendship starts between them. There was already anime about gnomes Mori no Youki na Kobito-tachi: Belfy to Lillibit, though untranslated. That series was cute and centered around life in the forest. Here focus is shifted on adventures, and in the very first episode gnomes already encounter a cat and a girl in a human house, and this theme is getting developed further on. Drawing has become simpler and less cute. For me previous gnome series definitely win.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. God Mazinger ゴッドマジンガー [1984-II] TMS Entertainment (Dropped 3/23) Tags: Mecha, Time Travel Action, Fantasy The story is set in modern times, but the twist to the story is that Mazinger is an ancient weapon of the gods, left on earth to battle the evil space gods who have returned to take over the universe. Marzinger never boasted sophisticated plots. This time there is an attempt to introduce humor and even a bit of isekai as school boy gets to a different world kingdom inhabited by dinosaurs. But of course it soon becomes mecha against evil invaders and controlled dinosaurs.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Video Senshi Lezarion Video Warrior Laserion ビデオ戦士レザリオン [1984-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/45) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi Takashi Katori is a big fan of online games, and so is his American friend Sarah. However, one of their RPGs goes too far, as their virtual world and the Lezarion robot that Takashi created for the game somehow mix with reality. Takashi is caught, but later the Earth Governement discovers that an evil scientist from the Moon (now a sort of abandoned colony with restricted access) is hacking into virtual worlds and security, so they force Takashi to pilot the Lezarion and, with Sarah's help, fight evil and protect the Earth. Officially dubbed anime, so you can already understand that it's very simple. Adding computer games, hacking and virtual reality alone does not mean anything without a decent scenario.   Overall Rating: 4/10   26. Gu-Gu Ganmo Gu-Guガンモ [1984-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/50) Tags: Shounen School Comedy, Slice of Life The series follows in the footsteps of manga such as Doraemon and Obake no Q-Taro in that the alien Ganmo (who resembles a chicken wearing sneakers) sets out to help his adopted human friend Hanpeita. The series follows the antics of the duo as they find themselves in the middle of much comedic mischief. One morning Tsukune Tsukuda, out of spite, lets her brother’s pet bird go. But later she has misgivings, and comes home with an egg she has found to give to her brother, Hapeita. Hanpeita isn't all too pleased with the big, odd-looking egg. However, in the meantime it swells up, breaks its shell, and out comes a strange bird-like creature named Ganmo. It speaks like a human being, and comes to live with the Tsukudas. Not wanting to be a mere freeloader, Ganmo takes the initiative to run errands, clean the house, etc…yet he blunders at everything he does. Ganmo the tries to clear his reputation, but his efforts only ends causing more and more confusion. One day a charming girl comes moving in the house next to the Tsukudas. Her pet is a stange mina, named Deja-vu. It is foppish but has a poisonous tongue. And it always teases Ganmo because of its odd-looking. Thus, the world around Ganmo gets into a mess more and more. Only two episodes seem to be translated. Ganmo and humor are nice, but some side-characters are not so nice. Anyway, it's a traditional SOL comedy with two stories per episode, so it's closer to 6 overall.   Overall Rating: 6/10   27. Koala Boy Kokki The Adventures of the Little Koala コアラボーイコッキィ [1984-II] Topcraft (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Comedy Adventures of the Little Koala focused on the adventures of Roo Bear, and his family, who were Koalas, and his friends, Nick, Pamie (penguins), Floppy, Mimi (rabbits), Betty (koala), the bully Walter (kangaroo) and countless others. There was also an old character named Weather, who could forcast the weather, and his gliding friend Mingle, a young animal who was apparently an orphan. Official dub... definitely kid material .   Overall Rating: 4/10   28. Chikkun Takkun チックン タックン [1984-II] Pierrot, Gallop (Dropped 3/23) Tags: Comedy, Sci-Fi  The "Waruchin Ceremony" has been stolen from All Star, a planet that exists in the outskirts of space. The computer that is built into it is programmed to make anything possible. The thief is actually the villain, Doctor Bell. Doctor Bell schemes to invade the other planets through the use of Waruchin. The prince of All Star, Prince Chikkun, together with his trusty advisor, the intellectual Takkun, decides to head towards Earth in pursuit of Doctor Bell. Only 14 or so episodes are translated. It's a comedy about rivaling good alien living at a girl's place and an evil Dr.Bell alien. Comedy is ok, but not great, as for me .   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Ranpou らんぽう [1984-II] Tsuchida Productions (Dropped 3/21) Tags: Parody, School Comedy TV anime adaptation of Masatoshi Uchizaki's gag comedy manga "Ranpou". Mild-mannered Japanese kid Rampou is kidnapped by aliens whose UFO-based experiments turn him into a warp boy who truly believes that he can do anything. Not translated. Each episode contains two stories. Gags are very chaotic and mostly violence-based. Did not find it amusing.   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Mahou no Yousei Persia 魔法の妖精 ペルシャ [1984-III] Pierrot (Dropped 3/48) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Comedy  11-year-old Persia has grown up alongside the animals on the Serengeti plains of Africa. Twins Riki and Gaku Muroi and their grandfather, Gouken, bring Persia to Japan with them, where she will live with a couple (who Persia calls Mama and Papa) that own a grocery store. During the flight to Japan, Persia finds herself in the "Lovely Dream" where she meets the Fairy Queen, who explains that the Lovely Dream is in danger and requests Persia's help. Giving Persia a magical headband (which can also summon a magical baton) that allows her to transform into a teenage girl, connecting her to the Lovely Dream and allowing her to use magic. She is sent with three kappa back into the regular world with the mission of collecting love energy to thaw the frozen Lovely Dream. If Persia fails her task of collecting love energy or if someone catches her using magic, Riki and Gaku will be transformed into women. Only half or so episodes seem to be translated. Another simple shoujo that I did not find interesting.   Overall Rating: 4/10   31. Birth バース [1984-III] Kaname Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi Aqualoid was a prosperous planet, but an attack from a mysterious life force, the Inorganics, transforms it into a post-apocalyptic shell of its former self. When Nam finds a mysterious sword, he is suddenly the object of a planet-wide chase. With the Inorganics closing in, will Nam and his friends discover the secret of the sword and save their world? Or will they destroy Aqualoid in favor of a new Birth? Wow, the whole movie is built around... jiggly butt, plus some action. Animation is rather advanced, especially in special parts. Jokes aside, some moments reminded me of Akira a lot, so Birth might serve as source of inspiration. Can't call it a masterpiece for sure, but it impresses visually.   Overall Rating: 5/10   32. Machikado no Märchen Radio City Fantasy 街角のメルヘン [1984-III] Kitty Films (Finished 1/1) Tags: Music Romance A boy with a drawing book meets a mysterious girl in the streets of Tokyo. They become friends and enjoy each other's fantasies. Again chaotic visual fantasies are nice for experimental movie. But on a grand scale it has little value.   Overall Rating: 5/10   33. Macross: Do You Remember Love? 超時空要塞マクロス -愛・おぼえていますか- [1984-III] Tatsunoko Production (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military, Music, Space Action, Romance, Sci-Fi After warping light-years away from Earth, the spacecraft Macross carries a city of civilians and soldiers back home. They continuously fight off the threat of the Zentradi and Meltrandi, giant alien races with whom humanity wages war. During a battle, the Macross transforms into a mecha operated by fighter pilot Hikaru Ichijou. Thrust into a number of hardships, Hikaru grows close to the city's idol Minmay Lynn. As their relationship develops, however, it is viewed unfavorably by others due to Minmay's status and popularity. With war raging on and the state of Earth unknown, Hikaru and his fellow soldiers fight on against their mysterious enemies. Throughout the bloodshed, Hikaru and Minmay attempt to keep hold of their feelings for one another. Minmay pours her heart into her music, which may just turn out to be the key to finding peace. This fake parody killed all the series atmosphere, barbarously butchered heroes background' and cut out everything but sleazy romance and songs. Absolutely horrible, at least should be for those who saw the series.   Overall Rating: 5/10   34. SF Shinseiki Lensman SF新世紀 レンズマン [1984-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Kim is living a peaceful life with his father as a farmer on their planet until one day when a runaway spaceship is detected moving at a high speed towards his father's farm. To rescue his father Kim jumps on board the ship and manages to land it safely before it crashes. On board the ship he finds a severely Injured lone survivor whom with his dying words begs Kim to take something of his to the Galactic Fleet. He then transfers something that was attached to his arm onto Kim's arm. The thing was a Lens and its transferring should have been impossible and having it has turned Kim into a Lensman. Other than giving Kim unknown powers it also contains vital information for the victory of the Galactic Fleet over the evil Boskone Empire. Kim must now using the spaceship Britannia bring the Lense to the Galactic Fleet. But this is not an easy task when Lord Helmet of the Boskone Empire is willing to use everything in his power to stop him. Wonder waffle in form of lens meets Star Wars. Scenario is too weak .   Overall Rating: 4/10   35. Daishizen no Majuu: Bagi Baggy 大自然の魔獣 バギ [1984-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Romance, Sci-Fi Ryo is sent out by the people of a village to kill the monster which has been attacking the villagers. It is rumored that this monster is a cat-woman named Bagi. As Ryo waits for the monster to come to its watering hole, he thinks back to how he first met Bagi as a kitten who learned how to write, and later reenters his life on a quest to discover who and what she really is. But now she has gone wild, and as the time of her arrival approaches, he strengthens his resolve to kill her. By graphical style alone I could say it's Tezuka. I have a serious aversion against genetic matters. For this reason I could enjoy Prima Rose, and for the same reason I can't turn to like this purely genetic craze. Moreover, it seriously displeased me with predictable and irrational plot.   Overall Rating: 5/10   36. Kinnikuman (Movie) キン肉マン (キン肉マン 奪われたチャンピオンベルト) [1984-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Sports Mari and Kinnikuman's Championship Belt are stolen by the Octopus Dragon and his minions. Now Kinnikuman and the other Justice Choujins must travel to Planet Metro and compete in a tournament in order to win them back. Length is exactly of two paired episodes. I usually like superhero anime, including parodies, but just can't understand Kinnikuman's appeal as he's too repulsive and his power too inconsistent. Strangely, even other superheroes and humor are rather poor. It's ok as the first superhero parody, but there's a lot of room for imporvement.   Overall Rating: 5/10   37. Chikyuu Monogatari Telepath 2500 Earth Story Telepath 2500 地球物語 テレパス2500 [1984-III] Tatsunoko Production (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi On the fifth world of the Tolphan system in the year 2500, a supercomputer chooses marriage partners to find the best matches. Not translated. You already understand that I don't value telepathy and esper powers highly. This one does not have much to do with telepathy, but it's anyway super boring.   Overall Rating: 4/10   38. Kuroi Ame ni Utarete 黒い雨に打たれて [1984-III] Tsuchida Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Historical Drama, Slice of Life Anime adaptation of the manga Kuroi Ame ni Utarete by Nakazawa Keiji. Anime focuses on radiation poisoning consequences, both physical and psychological. And survivors are in different stages - some are full of self-pity, others are ready to sacrifice themselves to harm as many Americans as possible. And that recreates the vicious cycle of resentment and violence. I can't say that absolutely all Americans are portrayed here as pigs. Coincidentally, the survivor prostitute with syphilis infects normal looking young enthusiastic Americans. The disgusting ending scene shows how an American and a Japanese kill each other while shouting out their grudges. It would be oversimplification to say that Keiji was just vengeful and that's why portrayed Americans badly. It's just difficult to invent a situation of conflict out of nothing after 30 years , there should be an aggressive side, and, with the Japanese shown as an aggressive side, work would not even probably get a license. You still can't deny even in this state that both sides are portrayed vengeful and rigid. One must have a really twisted logic to consider this movie to be about racism. The message is given in the most clear way possible in text before credits - one such vicious act as nuclear bombing poisons lives of everyone in hundreds of kilometers radius for many decades. Everyone who has any influence on decision makers should do everything to prevent any such bombing happening again. Anyone who threatens with such act and his regime should be for his lifetime banned from using any civilized states family benefits.   Overall Rating: 6/10   39. The Kabocha Wine: Nita no Aijou Monogatari Theかぼちゃワイン ニタの愛情物語 [1984-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: School Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life Epilogue Untranslated. I tend to block specials and OVA that are less than 50 minutes, and this one is just a normal episode length of 24m, but I was kinda curious about Kabocha Wine epilogue. Basically, it's about getting a puppy are taking care of him together. As if it's not enough, Shunsuke gets into a buggy to catch a milk thief dog and even gets a kiss in this state, with another kiss in the final. So a nice small episode full of romance and  highlights of future joint life.   Overall Rating: 5/10   40. Kakkun Cafe カッくんカフェ [1984-III] (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Parody Comedy, Slice of Life  Kakuei Kakkun Tanaka is a superhero who hangs out with his friends. In his misadventures, he becomes prime minister of Japan, visits New York and prevents a nuclear war. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   41. Kinnikuman: Kessen! Shichinin no Choujin tai Uchuu Nobushi キン肉マン 決戦!7人の超人vs宇宙野武士 [1984-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Sports A TV Special first aired in 1984. It covers the Planet Rakka story arc and takes place after the 21st Choujin Olympics Arc. A young boy from Planet Rakka named Beansman asks Kinnikuman and the others to help save his planet from the Space Samurais led by Black King. The story was a parody of The Seven Samurai. Choujin Olympics was plain awful, but I had hopes for this history fantasy arc. And I could indeed finally enjoy this anime a bit. Sadly, it ended with the same Choujin Olympics, so definitely can't call it a masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 6/10   42. Nine: Kanketsu-hen ナイン 完結編 [1984-III] Group TAC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen School, Team Sports Romance Last part of the Nine TV movies. Realization is too schematic and plain to get it to masterpiece, but as a romance it still excels. Plus, there is baseball Koushien participation, so baseball enthusiasts might get more out of it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   43. Hokuto no Ken Fist of the North Star 北斗の拳 [1984-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/109) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts Action, Drama, Sci-Fi In the year 19XX, after being betrayed and left for dead, bravehearted warrior Kenshirou wanders a post-apocalyptic wasteland on a quest to track down his rival, Shin, who has kidnapped his beloved fiancée Yuria. During his journey, Kenshirou makes use of his deadly fighting form, Hokuto Shinken, to defend the helpless from bloodthirsty ravagers. It isn't long before his exploits begin to attract the attention of greater enemies, like warlords and rival martial artists, and Keshirou finds himself involved with more than he originally bargained for. Faced with ever-increasing odds, the successor of Hokuto Shinken is forced to put his skills to the test in an effort to take back what he cares for most. And as these new challenges present themselves and the battle against injustice intensifies, namely his conflict with Shin and the rest of the Nanto Seiken school of martial arts, Kenshirou is gradually transformed into the savior of an irradiated and violent world. I see it as remaking  Dororo in a different setting. As any shounen this show is too simple for me with same looking enemies, very little development between arcs, episodic form and some repeating patterns. Can't give series a 6 if I've not even a faint desire to watch the series to the end .   Overall Rating: 5/10   44. Meitantei Holmes Sherlock Hound 名探偵ホームズ [1984-IV] TMS Entertainment (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Detective Action, Adventure, Comedy, Mystery Loosely based on the "Sherlock Holmes" series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Hound turns all the classic characters into dogs. The canine Sherlock Holmes, his assistant Watson, and housemaid Mrs. Hudson work together to solve mysteries. The culprit is usually Professor Moriarty and his gang, who use all kinds of wacky contraptions to steal what they want. I did not like the movie which was of better quality and with a better story, so don't expect me to like the series .   Overall Rating: 5/10   45. Sei Juushi Bismarck Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs 星銃士 ビスマルク [1984-IV] (Dropped 3/51) Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi In the distant future, humanity has explored beyond Earth and colonized both the inner and outer planets of the Solar System. In order to protect the colonies and maintain law and order in the solar system, the Earth Federation Government (EFG) was created. Soon, many settlers started to resent the EFG's and its sphere of influence, straining the relationship between the central government and the colonies. While a strained peace was being forged between Earth and the colonies, a race of non-human creatures known as Deathcula invaded the System. Without provocation, they attacked the colonies and killed many of the colonists. The EFG quickly realized that the Deathcula were technologically superior and their forces were hopelessly matched. In order to have a chance at survival, Dr. Charles Louvre developed a transformable starship known as the Bismarck. Knowing that an advanced team of specialists were required to operate the Bismarck, four individuals came together and were charged with keeping the outer colonies safe from further Deathcula attacks. Official dub is a bad sign. The series itself felt endlessly boring is stuck forever in the 1970s while everyone else evolved .   Overall Rating: 4/10   46. Kikou Kai Galient 機甲界ガリアン [1984-IV] Sunrise (Dropped 10/25) Tags: Mecha Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  Set in a far flung medieval-looking world of Arst, Prince Jordy Volder takes up the fight against the ambitions of the conqueror Marder. Jordy uses the legendary giant robot "panzer" Galient, which is one of many panzers that have been preserved underground for thousands of years. Using an army of advanced robot panzers, Marder is conquering all of Arst in preparation of his plan for dominance of the Crescent Galaxy. Previous fantasy mecha attempts felt a bit better than their rivals, so it's not the worst idea to develop the concept. And because it's from Sunrise, it's guaranteed to have a proper composition with prologue and introduction to characters, as well as at least some humor alongside decent visual quality. But of course they can't do miracles and mend a bad scenario. I actually quite liked first two episodes that felt like fantasy till the big mecha appearance. Then it was repeating mecha with some attacks and some defence with nothing much happening, more like big filler, really. Not a bad story, just not a story for 25 episodes.   Overall Rating: 6/10   47. Yoroshiku Mechadock Leave it to Mecha-Doc よろしくメカドック [1984-IV] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/30) Tags: Detective, Racing Action, Comedy Mechadock is a powerful race car obtained from a simple economy car, which is able to race on any ground. The basic idea is guys on a plain looking car see something wrong happening and pursue it, occasionally handing over criminals to police. All that racing stuff is really immature.   Overall Rating: 3/10   48. Galactic Patrol Lensman GALACTIC PATROL レンズマン [1984-IV] Madhouse (Dropped 3/25) Tags: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi  The young Kimball Kinnison is leaving home for a wider education when a Galactic Patrol ship crashes on his family's land and the dying pilot gives him a mysterious Lens. Half-sentient, the Lens now implanted in his hand becomes the focus of changes in Kim's life including his father's death, a space battle, and an encounter with Galactic Patrol nursing officer Chris. Impelled by the Lens, he discovers a new world of experiences opening before him and he risks his life to save Chris and the Universe. Movie was released just recently. Nothing is cardinally different here, so what's the point of it at all. Just time slot filler.   Overall Rating: 4/10   49. Futari Daka ふたり鷹 [1986-IV] Kokusai Eigasha (Dropped 3/36) Tags: Shounen Racing  Two motor-bike crazy young men meet on a track one day. One almost kills the other and after a while, they discover that they have the same first name. Since they are both excellent at racing, they very quickly become rivals ... but their passion and firstname is not the only thing they have in common. Not translated (unless you consider French dub). I can't understand how it's possible to watch a serious shounen racing series.   Overall Rating: 1/10   50. Ashita Tenki ni Naare あした天気になあれ [1984-IV] Tsuchida Productions (Dropped 3/47) Tags: Shounen Sports The adventures of a young golf player. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   51. Mighty Orbots マイティ・オーボッツ [1984-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/13) Tags: Mecha Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi Set in the twenty-third century, Mighty Orbots relates the adventures of Rob Simmons, a scientist, and his robots (called Orbots)—Tur, Bort, Beau, Crunch, and Ono—all members of the Galactic Patrol, the Earth-based futuristic police force. The focal point of the program is their battle against Shadow, a sinister planet of evil whose leader, Umbra, seeks to control the universe. Official dub... childish simplistic crap.   Overall Rating: 1/10   52. Chouriki Robo Galatt 超力ロボ ガラット  [1984-IV] Sunrise (Dropped 3/13) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi In a peaceful, disarmed world where small robots are utilized as housekeepers, villains act with huge robots instead of weapons. Dr. Keewee converts Michael’s robot into a transformable one in order to teach them a lesson. This is the birth of Galatt, the town hero. I expected a lot from Sunrise comedy, but basically it's just self-parody with deliberately childish characters and designs, exaggerated facial features. Even enemy mechas look like funny enlarged toys. Even comedy revolves around childish mecha, so is not fun at all. Target audience is kids, no use complaining about it.   Overall Rating: 4/10   53. Mahou no Tenshi Creamy Mami: Eien no Once More 魔法の天使クリィミーマミ 永遠のワンスモア  [1984-IV] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Comedy, Fantasy, Romance The first 45 minutes is a recap of the original series and the remaining 40 minutes has a new story. Two months after Creamy Mami's final concert, rumors began to spread that Mami was making a come back, and if that wasn't surprising enough, Tachibana starts a "Project M" and that seems to have something to do with Mami's come back. As word of Mami's concert reaches the public, Yuu dosen't belive it. Yuu, Megumi, Toshio, Midori, Kidokoro make a plan to get to the bottom of it. I'm unpleasantly surprised that series ended just on a concert. New story is hardly of notice.   Overall Rating: 5/10   54. Ginga Hyouryuu Vifam Recaps [1984-IV] Sunrise (Finished 2/2) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Summaries of the first (A Letter From Katue) and second (13 Meet Again) halves of the Galactic Drifter Vifam series. Not translated, so there is a cap score I can give. Overall, recap of the best Sunrise anime up to this point.   Overall Rating: 6/10   55. Kinnikuman: Ooabare! Seigi Choujin キン肉マン 大暴れ!正義超人 [1984-IV] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Sports It was the first movie to feature the character Buffaloman and was the first of only two films to feature the Announcer (the other being Crisis in New York!). It is the first anime appearance of Bibinba, who appears as Kinnikuman's fiancee in the original manga. Another movie that equals two episodes in length. Sadly, it all goes about wrestling yet again losing most of humor along the way, so pretty ordinary.   Overall Rating: 5/10
  16. kivandopulus
    Jewelry Hearts Academia -We will wing wonder world- is automatically the winner.   1. Digimon Survive デジモンサヴァイブ [220727] HYDE, Inc. Takuma Momotsuka is a middle school student who attends a historical studies extracurricular activities camp during spring break. On the second day of camp, Takuma and other camp kids visit a shrine where a festival surrounding the local “Beast Gods” will be held. While exploring the shrine, he encounters a mysterious monster named Koromon. Immediately following, they hear a scream and find more of their friends being attacked by monsters. Upon realizing he has to save everyone, Koromon evolves into Agumon to fight. With the help of Agumon, Takuma managed to repel the monsters, but he soon realized that the surrounding area was covered in fog and he had gotten lost in an unknown world… Gameplay title   2. ANONYMOUS;CODE [220728] MAGES. GAME "The fact that you've arrived here―rather, to this save point―at this moment in your life is nothing short of a miracle. It delights me to no end. Step through the stage's curtain; rip off the mask of the wizard who pulls the strings. Close the loop. Hack into God." The game takes place in 2037. The story starts on February 6, 2036, when an accident involving computers going berserk destroys many large cities around the world. The massive disaster is named the "2036 Problem", but there's a prediction that there will be a similar incident in 2038. So a group of scientists use the Gaia Supercomputer to create an "Earth Simulator" to prevent it from happening, but fail because human birth potential has dropped dramatically. The scientists then introduce the "Arecibo Message" formula to the Earth Simulator, successfully bringing mankind into another world. They are excited at first, until they realize that human beings in the Earth Simulator themselves created another Earth Simulator. The scientists begin to suspect that they are actually only the product of an Earth Simulator from creatures whose position is above them. The story centers around Takaoka Pollon, a hacker who has the ability to "Save and Load" like in a video game. Using his Hacking Trigger System, he can intervene with the worldline around him. Console exclusive     3. Sentou Kanojo -Koi mo Ofuro mo Atsuatsu de- 銭湯カノジョ-恋もお風呂もアツアツで- [220728] Rosetta This is an adventure game that depicts the slapstick mishaps of a crossdressing boy. He decided to dress up as a girl as part of running his grandma’s traditional Japanese bathhouse (Sento). Is it really possible to run the Sento without his crossdressing being exposed? ★Story "Why do I have to dress up as a woman!?" Asahi Kirisaki, who was just taking it easy during his summer vacation, finds out that his grandmother has been hospitalized. And his grandma's hospitalization put the Sento she ran in danger of having to close permanently. Wanting to do something about it, he talked to his sister, Jun Kirisaki, about it. She asked him if he was really serious about it. After Asahi replied "of course I'm serious!”, Jun handed him a paper bag. Inside there was a wig and girls' clothes. Jun explained the basic rule of Himenoyu which Asahi had totally forgotten: that it has to be a woman sitting behind the attendant’s booth. Asahi had to figure out how to wear girls’ clothes. In addition, because Asahi had accidentally walked in on the part-time worker, Chika Kirie, while she was taking a shower, he also has to dress up as a girl to hide his identity from her. In this way, Asahi reopened his grandma’s Sento business while dressing as a girl. What will happen to Sento in the future? Can Asahi pull off his crossdressing without being exposed? Console exclusive       4. Jewelry Hearts Academia -We will wing wonder world- ジュエリー・ハーツ・アカデミア -We will wing wonder world- [220729] Cabbage Soft "Shine, our Will." Phrygia Royal, Academy of Jewelry, is a place where mysterious gem stone called "The Will (意志 Ishi)" are researched. The main character, Souma Jace, attempts to infiltrate "Diamond Class" as an agent to search for the "Philosopher's Gem Stone" that lies dormant in the academy. But he is assigned to a mysterious new class that called "Pegasus Class". - Souma, a foreign agent who hides his true identity. - Berka, a girl who is only interested in swordship. - Veo, a solitary and loner delinquent who doesn't hang out with anyone. - Mare, a kemonomimi beast who has a rare talent. - Markus, a foreign prince with the worst grades and attitude. - Arianna, the only decent conscience member in the class. The Pegasus Class group is made up of six boys and girls with different purposes and nationalities. They often rebel against each other, but soon find themselves facing a crisis that threatens the world. "The Stone Eaters", a mysterious disaster that threatens to petrify the entire Nova continent. Located on the front lines, they become embroiled in a struggle against the "Medusa," the organization responsible for the disaster. "Let's go, everyone - let's give it everything what we've got!" Will Soma be able to accomplish his mission and able to overcome the threat of petrification that threatens to destroy the continent? An adventure tale of The Wills and bonds that fly across the world - here it shines. Good balanced work with a bit of everything and nice twists.     5. Shin Koihime † Eiyuutan 4 ~Otome Enran ☆ Sangokushi Engi [Go]~ 真・恋姫†英雄譚4~乙女艶乱☆三国志演義[呉]~ [220729] BaseSon 1 ――This is a "Mansion of the Stopped Time". While you are here, The outside world―― The time in the world where everyone was originally, will Never go on. So, You don't have to worry anything about outside. When everyone returns, the world will start moving again. More importantly... Now that you came to a place like this, I want you to take your time and relax. You won't be able to get out of here for a while after all. Let me tell you, This Mansion is very Mysterious! When you thought the corridor would continue forever, a door suddenly appear, When you take your eyes off the door for a little while, the door disappears before you know it... Even inside the rooms, there's something strange. There are a Lot of unusual rooms too! Sun that is dazzling, the Winds blowing, it's just like a room outside! ...I'm sure there are many rooms I haven't entered yet. Of course, there is an Exit! But the current you, Won't be able to find it. ...You can't get out of here right away. The time is stopped outside, You don't have to rush. That's why―― Let's all play together! There is an English review in process
  17. kivandopulus

    Anime of the Year
    Did not expect to see Hadashi no Gen so early, but yeah, it's definitely a firm masterpiece and the winner, also only the second anime I rated as 8. However, I can call another anime within a year a masterpiece for the first time - and it's Time Slip Ichimannen: Prime Rose . Good times seem to be finally coming for anime !   1. Seisenshi Dunbine Aura Battler Dunbine 聖戦士ダンバイン [1983-I] Sunrise (Dropped 7/49) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Shou Zama is an ordinary 18-year-old from Tokyo who finds himself summoned to the medieval fantasy world of Byston Well. Upon arrival, he is put into service under the ambitious lord Drake Luft, who seeks to greatly expand his power. Those like Shou who come from "Upper Earth" possess strong aura power and are ordered to pilot "Aura Battlers," insectoid mecha designed by a man named Shot Weapon, who also came from Upper Earth. However, Shou's alliances quickly change when he meets Marvel Frozen, a young woman who has decided to rebel against Drake's political agenda. As he realizes the lord's true intentions, the boy chooses to join the fight against Drake and team up with Neal Given, who leads the resistance movement. The resistance isn't alone—Riml, daughter of their enemy and Neal's secret love, aids their efforts, hoping to escape from her father's clutches. As Shou finds himself fighting alongside his new comrades, they put their lives on the line to prevent the villainous Drake from taking over Byston Well before it's too late. Wow, fantasy mecha... fantasy makes everything better, even mecha, although there aren't many fantasy elements here, just fairies, aesthetics of castles and knights, plus some abilities through meditation and some fantastic beasts. I survived for seven episodes, but could not enjoy it at all. In the end it's just another Gundam civil war reincarnation .    Overall Rating: 5/10   2. Alps Monogatari: Watashi no Annette アルプス物語 わたしのアンネット [1983-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/48) Tags: Historical Drama, Slice of Life 12-year-old Annette was born into a poor family in Switzerland. Together with her family she lives in a small village in the Alps. She is a sweet girl and dearly loves her little 5-year-old brother Dani, at whose birth their mother died. She also has a best friend, Lucien. Her wonderful friendship with him comes to a crisis when one day Dani gets injured in a terrible accident. You should have already a formed opinion on world masterpiece theater series, so there's hardly much to say. In my opinion, hardly anything worth mentioning has happened during three episodes, can't find a reason to watch it further at all.   Overall Rating: 4/10   3. Mirai Keisatsu Urashiman Future Police Urashiman 未来警察ウラシマン [1983-I] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/50) Tags: Detective Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi  By chance, Ryo has slipped from the 1980s into the future, and is trying to get back. In the interim, he's working for the police force of the future, solving cases by applying his unique and often comical approach. Humor is poor to my taste, and action does not cut it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Akuu Daisakusen Srungle Macron One 亜空大作戦 スラングル [1983-I] Kokusai Eigasha (Dropped 3/53) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi In the year 2545, an experiment gone wrong puts test pilot David Jance through the center of the galaxy and into another universe, which ends up in the middle of life and death struggle against the armies of GRIP, led by Dark Star. The original season was pretty bad, recap movie only slightly better, so expecting something good from second season was not wise.   Overall Rating: 4/10   5. Captain (TV) キャプテン [1983-I] Eiken (Dropped 0/26) Tags: Shounen Team Sports The original is an impressive sports manga featuring not heroes, but common boys, and the story depicts the growth of Sumiya 2 junior high school baseball team (the successive captains and players) in downtown Tokyo. Takao Taniguchi, who was a substitute player of the second team of Aoba Gakuin, a prestigious junior high school in the baseball world, but he transferred to Sumiya 2 and he became the captain of the baseball club. After steady training, the team try to do a final game in the regional preliminaries, against Aoba Gakui Not translated, so after its horrible movies won't even try.   Overall Rating: 0/10   6. Urusei Yatsura Movie 1: Only You うる星やつら オンリーユー [1983-I] Pierrot (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi Lum doesn't need much assistance going ballistic when everyone in Tomobiki gets an invitation to Ataru's wedding -- and she's not listed as the bride! It seems that some 11 years ago, Ataru played "Shadow Tag" with a young girl named Elle and won. Unfortunately, Elle was yet another Alien Princess; and on her planet, if a boy steps on a girl's shadow, they have to marry. When Elle's emissary comes to make arrangements, Lum redefines the term "the atmosphere was electric," but to no avail: a force-field now protects Ataru from her high voltage love-zaps. Lum's friend Benten suggests a pre-emptive wedding, and they proceed to abduct Ataru and all of the wedding guests, and the stage is set for the shotgun wedding of all time Need to like the original and care about resolution of constant teasing. I don't fit.   Overall Rating: 5/10   7. Crusher Joe Crusher Joe: The Movie クラッシャージョウ [1983-I] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Crushers: intergalactic Jacks-of-All-Trades who will take on any assignment for the right price. Crusher Joe heads a small team of these outer space troubleshooters that includes the cyborg Talos, the beautiful Alfin, and the obligatory kid sidekick Ricky. A routine assignment escorting a cryogenically frozen heiress to a medical facility goes awry when the girl goes missing and Joe and his team are left holding the bag. It seems space pirates are trying to play the Crushers for patsies, but Joe doesn’t take kindly to the setup and tracks the pirates to their home world. The four heroes not only have to rescue their human cargo but take down the pirates in the process, which involves a heck of a lot of space dogfights, explosions, and good old-fashioned hand-to-hand combat. Characters are rather good, both protagonists and villains. Story left a dubious impression, but at least a memorable one. Can't rate it as masterpiece as I enjoyed it only slightly, but it's a firm 6.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. Genma Taisen Harmagedon 幻魔大戦 [1983-I] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Mecha Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi From the depths of space he is coming... Ancient beyond understanding, his power is immeasurable. He has destroyed half the universe and is on his way here. He is... Genma. Only two people are aware of the imminent catastrophe: Princess Luna, a modern day prophetess and Vega, a cybernetic crusader from a world long since ravaged by Genma. Determined to spare the Earth from a similar fate, Luna and Vega must try to mobilize the most potent psychics in the world. Together, this army of fledging psychic warriors must succeed where billions have tried... and failed. But will they be able to gather their champions in time? Genma's agents are already on Earth to ensure that their master meets with no opposition! With each new esper anime, I tend to hate the genre even more. If everyone can do pretty much everything, it loses all the sense for me. Totally chaotic development.    Overall Rating: 4/10   9. Uchuu Senkan Yamato: Kanketsu-hen Space Battleship Yamato - Final Chapter 宇宙戦艦ヤマト・完結編 [1983-I] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adult Cast, Military, Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi The year is 2203, not long after the Bolar Federation was defeated by Desslok's Galman-Gamilon Empire. A subspace dimensional dislocation has caused a distant Red Galaxy to be relocated in a collision course with the Milky Way. Stars and planets collide, making a wreck of the Galman-Gamilon homeworld. The Star Force is dispatched to investigate. They reach Galmania to find Desslok's palace in ruins. As they pay their respects, tossing white roses down to the surface of the planet, a huge red planet crashes into Galmania, forcing to StarForce to escape with an immediate and uncalculated warp. Nothing unexpected, even story is just the very ordinary aliens try to conquer the Earth. Nothing really good discovered here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   10. Wagahai wa Inu de Aru: Don Matsugorou no Seikatsu 吾輩は犬である ドン松五郎の生活 [1983-I] Toei Animation (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Comedy Mr. Matsuzawa is a novelist who lives in Chiba Prefecture. Only his daughter Kazuko knows that the family dog, Don Matsugorou, can talk. Don is wounded in a fight with the neighbors' dog, King, a nouveau-riche mongrel with ideas above his station. At the vet, however, he falls in love with a little patchwork puppy called Chotaro. Talking dogs helping each other. Not bad, but totally forgettable.   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Soukou Kihei Votoms Armored Trooper Votoms 装甲騎兵ボトムズ [1983-II] Sunrise (Dropped 6/52) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Action, Drama, Sci-Fi A century of bloodshed between warring star systems has plunged nearly 200 worlds into the flames of war. Now, an uneasy truce has settled across the Astragius Galaxy... Chirico Cuvie, a special forces powered-armor pilot is suddenly transferred into a unit engaged in a secret and highly illegal mission to steal military secrets—from their own military! Now he's on the run...from his own army! Unsure of his loyalties and to cover their own tracks, Chirico is left behind to die in space. Surviving by luck, the renegade is now hunted by both the conspirators and military intelligence. He is driven by the haunting image of a mysterious and beautiful woman—the objective of their mission, and his sole clue to unraveling their treacherous scheme. But the conspirators will do anything to preserve their mysterious agenda... Again, can't say the story is bad, but it's stretched too wide with those 52 episodes. Even after six episodes it feels like nothing has really happened yet with all the filler scenes and the big plot structure is not evident yet. The focus is still on longer ~50 episodes anime just to fill the time slot. It's the main reason that anime from 70s and 80s did not gain a wide spread and is difficult to enjoy nowadays.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Kinnikuman キン肉マン [1983-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/137) Tags: Shounen Adventure, Comedy, Sports Kinnikuman is a superhero... a bad one. The one day a person named Meat tells Kinnikuman that he is the prince of an alien planet. Kinnikuman must save the day numerous times fighting evil chiyojins and competing in tournaments to prove himself to his family and to gain respect and money. Absolutely chaotic and senseless superhero parody.   Overall Rating: 4/10   13. Lady Georgie レディジョージィ [1983-II] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/45) Tags: Shoujo Historical Drama, Romance An Australian farmer returns home from the woods with a baby named Georgie. The girl lives ignoring the terrible secret hidden in the golden bracelet on her hand. Her "Father" and Her "brothers", Abel and Arthur, love her dearly, but her "mother" considers her an intruder and doesn't manage to open her heart to the girl. Georgie grows up into a beautiful young girl, and both her "brothers" are deeply in love with her. Not knowing the truth, Georgie eventually falls in love with the handsome grandson of the British Governor. When Mother finally reveals the truth to her and condemns the girl for being an exile's daughter, Georgie leaves for Britain in search of her real parents - and for her love, who has also left Australia. Abel and Arthur follow her and the three are thrown into the cruel world of London aristocracy, lies and intrigues. Another boring rural slice where nothing ever happens... for three episodes for sure.   Overall Rating: 4/10   14. Stop!! Hibari-kun! ストップ!!ひばりくん! [1983-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 4/35) Tags: Shounen Crossdressing, Gag Humor Comedy A teenage boy has now moved in the home of his mother's friend, because she had died a while back. It just so happens that the Yakuza family has four beautiful daughters, but one daughter, Hibari, who is more beautiful then the rest of the daughters, is actually a boy. Hibari just can't keep his hands off our hero and so their crazy yet happy lives go on. Yay, first trap anime. Can't say it's bad, just don't want to watch to the end.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Aishite Knight Rock'n Roll Kids 愛してナイト [1983-II] (Dropped 3/42) Tags: Shoujo Childcare Comedy, Romance Yaeko Mitamura is an 18 year old girl working in her father's Okonomiyaki restaurant. One day Yakko casually meets a little boy, Hashizo and his odd cat Juliano. Hashizo has lost both parents when still a baby and has been brought up by his elder brother. Hashizo's brother Go Kato is the lead singer of the emerging rock band "Bee Hive". When Yakko meets Go and his friend and "Bee Hive" member Satomi Okawa an unexpected series of events unfolds. Love, jealousy, rock'n roll and the sparkle of newly borned stars is what makes this anime so lovable. A normal rather simple romance shoujo. Without added complexity it's really just for little girls.   Overall Rating: 3/10   16. Miyuki みゆき [1983-II] Kitty Film Mitaka Studio (Dropped 3/37) Tags: Shounen School Romance Wakamatsu Masato lives with his step-sister, Miyuki, whom he does not have blood relationship with. Their father is always working oversea and left the two of them living by themselves in Toukyou. Miyuki is cute, nice, sensitive and very popular among guys around Masato. Masato has a girlfriend at school whose name is Kajima Miyuki, who is pretty and gentle, the ideal dream of every highschool boy. Love triangle romance with a bit of comedy. Again, can't say it's bad... just for younger demographics. Still, I don't remember this serious romance focused anime before which is non-shoujo.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Nanako SOS ななこSOS [1983-II] Kokusai Eigasha (Dropped 3/39) Tags: Parody, Super Power Comedy, Romance Nanako is a young girl who unexpectedly acquires supernatural powers and at the same time loses her past memory. By accident, a scientific genius called Marlow, is present when she acquires her powers. Marlow is an industrious high school boy with extraordinary ambitions. He talks to Nanako into joining his detective agency by promising to help her regain her memory. Nanako innocently believes him, but Marlow's real intent is to use her powers to benefit his agency and himself. The story unfolds as Nanako encounters a variety of dangerous missions and mysterious events, but her natural sunny disposition helps her through all the incidents as she solves each mystery one after the other. Superpower schooler that is exploited for trifles by classmates, rather boring tbh.   Overall Rating: 4/10   18. Kousoku Denjin Albegus 光速電神アルベガス [1983-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 2/45) Tags: Mecha  Three talented students of a technical high school, Daisaku, Tetsuya and Hotaru create award-winning robots as part of a school competition. At this time, the evil Derinja race that plans control of all space extends its ambitions to Earth. To combat this threat, Hotaru's father, Professor Mizuki, takes the three robots and modifies them for battle. Albegas, a super robot, is born. Only two translated episodes, because it's rather basic. Three kids pilot three mechas. There is action and humor, but it offers nothing new, and we've seen it all before, so compared to breakthrough mecha anime like Macross it loses a lot in comparison.   Overall Rating: 4/10   19. Ginga Shippuu Sasuraiger Galactic Gale Sasuraiger 銀河疾風サスライガー [1983-II] (Dropped 1/43) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure It is 2911 and the solar system is made up of of 50 planets. I.C Blues, a gambler, makes a bet with the boss of a criminal syndicate known as Bloody God that it is possible to navigate the whole solar system in one year. Helping out Blues is J9-III, made up of Rock, Beat, and Birdy. To clear any obstcles, they have the transforming train-robot Sasuraiger. But the Bloody Syndicate will do anything to ensure the Blues loses the bet. Just one translated episode, and the reason is the same. Basically, simplistic reincarnation of around the Earth in 365 days, just in space.   Overall Rating: 3/10   20. Time Bokan Series: Itadakiman タイムボカンシリーズ イタダキマン  [1983-II] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 1/20) Tags: Mecha The story begins in the year of 20XX. Oshaka School in Kamakuland is a prestige school of the world where only those who are pure and clearheaded descendants of Priest Sanzo's clan may be admitted. As for the familiar villain trio, they are in firm belief that they are genuine descendants of Priest Sanzo's clan although actually they are of uncertain lineage. They study hard to enter the school in spite of their repeated failure. One day three intelligent children are called in by the principal and asked by Shakyamuni dwelling in his body to find missing puzzle copperplates scattered all over the world and complete the puzzle board to heighten honor of Oshaka School. The conversation, however, is overheard by the villain trio and they decide to forestall those selected youngsters. Then they happen to meet with a brilliant boy named koochan who appears handy and so they take him with them and attempt to take away puzzle copperplates from a goblin. At the same time they try to win the goblin over to their side and attack our heroes together. Being aware of the evil scheme, Koochan transforms himself into Itadakiman and fights bravely to drive the wicked trio away. Just one translated episode. Finally the horrible villain heroine changed haircut and became a bit better, still way to go till original heroine. As usual, protagonists are new, and they are three now with being nice fattie. Competition between two teams and traditional humor and same as usual, so you know what to expect.   Overall Rating: 4/10   21. Manga Nihonshi まんが日本史 [1983-II] Tsuchida Productions (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Historical Animated History of Japan. Not translated. Finally a good combination of technique , education and entertainment. I'd gladly watch it all with translation .   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Eagle Sam イーグルサム [1983-II] DAX Production (Dropped 0/51) Tags: Comedy, Sports  An anime made in the runup to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, featuring Olympic mascot Sam the Olympic Eagle. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   23. Bemubemu Hunter Kotengu Tenmaru べムべムハンター・こてんぐテン丸 [1983-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 1/19) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  Adventures of a demon slayer Tenmaru. Found just one untranslated episode. Humor and action are ok'ish, but too "shounen" for me.   Overall Rating: 4/10   24. Golgo 13 Golgo 13: The Professional ゴルゴ13 [1983-II] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Military Action, Adventure, Drama After assassinating the son of business tycoon Leonard Dawson, Golgo 13 finds himself prey to the CIA and the U.S. Army, whom Dawson has personally hired to kill the assassin. As days pass by, Dawson slowly loses his sanity as he continues to plot every attempt to kill Golgo 13 even without caring about who hired the assassin to kill his son. A great action movie, something that might inspire Kill Bill. Second part of the movie is multiple duels of super killers. Art is gorgeous. But for 6 I need some substantial material, not just looks.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Noel no Fushigi na Bouken Noel's Fantastic Trip ノエルの不思議な冒険 [1983-II] (Finished 1/1) Tags:  Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy The film is centered around Noel, a young girl and her dog, Pup, who both live on the Planet Noel. While relaxing, Noel comes up with the idea to deliver ice cream to the sun. The two fly off and make their way toward the sun. On their way, the two of them make a stop at the Planet Gaudy. Upon their arrival, the President steps out to welcome the two. The President invites them to a special party, in which the Emcees show off the planet's most beautiful designs. This does not impress Noel, who states that it doesn't matter what clothes one is wearing, they will still be beautiful and loved. This coaxes the President and the citizens of the planet to take their clothes off, as does Noel. Pup gently reminds Noel of their trip to the sun, and the two take off to find him. When they find him, the sun warns of foul smog emanating from some unknown planet. The two leave the sun to find the source of the smog, but it quickly surrounds them. They escape underwater on another nearby planet. They appreciate the fine scenery underwater, but as they traverse further they notice the fish are ill. I naturally facepalmed during it. Kindergarten material, not older.   Overall Rating: 2/10   26. Pro Yakyuu wo 10-bai Tanoshiku Miru Houhou プロ野球を10倍楽しく見る方法 [1983-II] Filmlink International (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Comedy, Sports Based on the two books of career reminiscences by real-life Hanshin Tigers baseball star Takenori Emoto. Mix of live action and animation to tell humorous anecdotes from professional baseball (nine short tales in nine "innings"). Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   27. Nine ナイン [1983-II] Group TAC (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Shounen Action School, Team Sports Just before entering Seishuu High School, track star Katsuya Niimi and judo champion Susumu Karasawa see a girl crying as the school loses a baseball game. The boys decide to join the team and improve it in order to make her smile. The girl turns out to be Yuri Nakao, daughter of the baseball coach, and they learn the baseball team will be shut down if it doesn't start winning. The series follows the three, as well as pitcher Eiji Kurahashi, as Niimi and Karasawa learn about baseball and what it means to be one of nine players on a team, as they work together through high school make it to Koushien. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   28. Cat's Eye キャッツ・アイ [1983-III] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/73) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Mystery, Romance  The three Kisugi sisters—Rui, Hitomi and Ai—during the day run a small cafe called "Cat's Eye." To discover the whereabouts of their father, the artist Michael Heintz, who has disappeared, Hitomi and her sisters rob art galleries as the smart and mysterious thief "Cat's Eye" in the hope that his works can give them clues about his vanishing. The crucial point is that Hitomi has a relationship with Toshi, a police inspector who has sworn to catch "Cat's Eye"—and of course he has no idea about Hitomi's double life. I can't grow to like Lupin, but it got nice characters, setting and comedy. This one in comparisons has none, really. And great thieves don't even wear masks here... so weird. Basically, it's eternal ninja cosplay, plus some cafe scenes. The most surprising thing in this show is how it survived for 73 episodes.   Overall Rating: 4/10   29. Mahou no Tenshi Creamy Mami Magical Angel Creamy Mami 魔法の天使 クリィミーマミ [1983-III] Pierrot (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Shoujo Idols (Female), Mahou Shoujo, School Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi Creamy Mami is about a young girl, Yuu, who after seeing a spaceship is given the power to use magic for one year. She is also given 2 cats, Poji and Nega, to watch over and guide her. Using her magic powers to transform into the idol Creamy Mami, Yuu must work hard at acting, singing, helping her parents at their crepe shop, fighting aliens and bad guys, going to school, plus try to get the affections of her childhood friend Toshio. Wow, it seems to be predecessor of Sailor Moon due to a large number of common traits. Ordinary girl learns to transform into a magical girl, two magical talking cats, sitting on a crescent in the opening, fighting aliens, magical want with a heart topping. There's enough comedy and development to keep going, but it's jut not my cup of tea.   Overall Rating: 6/10   30. Choujikuu Seiki Orguss The Super Dimension Century Orguss 超時空世紀オーガス [1983-III] Artland (Dropped 8/35) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Romance, Sci-Fi In the year 2062, the world's two superpowers are fighting a long and brutal war. In a desperate attempt to win, pilot Kei Katsuragi is given the mission to detonate a super weapon called the Space/Time Oscillation Bomb. The bomb explodes but the results are completely unexpected: a multitude of dimensions, times, and realities are unleashed into the world. Can Kei reverse the effects and bring life back to normal? I was totally fine with Macross till the power of love uber alles craze began, so I had high hopes for Orguss. First impression is that drawing quality is quite low, especially after Golgo 13. Prologue ends after first five episodes or so and then nothing interesting happens in each episode - empty talks and same looking mecha fights. Plain boring.   Overall Rating: 5/10   31. Plawres Sanshirou Plastic Model Wrestling Sanshiro プラレス3四郎 [1983-III] Kaname Productions (Dropped 3/37) Tags: Shounen Mecha, School Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Plawres is a wrestling game that the players make their robots, which are about 30 cm tall, fight in the ring. The main character, Sugata Sanshirou, is a plawres player. Using his plawrestler, Juohmaru, he beats strong rivals. Why it was even supposed to be interesting... there is some humor and a female semi-protagonist, but overall it's horrible.   Overall Rating: 4/10   32. Psychoarmor Govarian サイコアーマー ゴーバリアン [1983-III] Knack Productions (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Mecha, Super Power Action, Sci-Fi The Garadain Empire has exhausted the primary resources of their native planet, so they send different space expeditions to find a new world where to live. One of their main objectives is planet Earth. However, Zeku Alba, an alien scientist, decides to rebel against the imperial rule and flees towards the Earth, where he gathers a group of youngs gifted with the power of "psychogenesis", an ability that consists in creating solid matter from mental energy. The most gifted of the squadron is Isamu, a young orphan whose family was killed in the first attack of the Garadain Empire. He is able to generate the powerful robot Govarian, an armor with which he can battle the alien monsters and is able to regenerate thanks to the psychic energy of the pilot. Helped by two other robots created by his team-mates, Isamu, aboard the robot Govarian, defends the Earth in the long war against the alien invaders. What can be worse than espers? Only mecha espers. I'm so mad.   Overall Rating: 4/10   33. Hadashi no Gen Barefoot Gen はだしのゲン [1983-III] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Drama It's the summer of 1945. 3 years have elapsed since the war between Japan and USA began. Gen is a young boy living a struggling yet satisfying life in the city of Hiroshima, that has been strangely spared by the bombing taken in almost every other Japanese City. Food is scarce, and Gen's family is suffering from severe malnutrition, which endangers his pregnant mother. There isn't much spare time as Gen and his little brother Shinji help their father and mother at work and try to make sure their family survives the tough times. Little do they know, what the Americans have in store for the city of Hiroshima and as of the 6th of August 1945, their lives are about to change dramatically. Finally something familiar that I actually watched before. I want everyone to see it, so I'm giving it an eight. It might be the strongest ani-war and anti-nuclear statement ever created. Cry, scream, but don't forget. Never again.   Overall Rating: 8/10   34. Xabungle Graffiti ザブングルグラフィティ [1983-III] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha A movie recapping the events of the Xabungle TV series. Series was 50 episodes and recap movie is less than length of four episodes with just 1h 23m which demonstrates how artificially stretched these shows were on initial airing. It turned out to be even more boring than I expected - chasing the same enemy , fighting the same mecha enemies, seeing the same antics humor. Average - not more, not less.   Overall Rating: 5/10   35. Nine: Original-ban  [1983-III] Group TAC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen School, Team Sports Romance, Sports Cinema adaption of the manga by Mitsuru Adachi. Another baseball spokon, this time with enough human emotions and zero humor. Not my genre at all.   Overall Rating: 5/10   36. Document Taiyou no Kiba Dagram ドキュメント 太陽の牙ダグラム [1983-III] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Military Drama, Sci-Fi In the planet Deloyer, a colony of the Earth federation, Colonel Von Stein stages a coup d'etat on behalf of the Federation chairman Donan Cashim. The ending of the first Sunrise guerilla anime. It's only a bit more interesting that Xabungle Graffiti, but nothing to write home about.   Overall Rating: 5/10   37. Aoi Umi to Shounen The Boy and the Blue Sea 青い海と少年 [1983-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Slice of Life The friendship between Hiroshi from Japan and Adel from the South Pacific island the two live on is severely tested when Adel finds out that his grandfather was killed in a battle with the Japanese army. Will Adel forget their quarrel when Hiroshi's life is in danger? A short simple friendship story for kids, nothing fancy.   Overall Rating: 4/10   38. Time Slip Ichimannen: Prime Rose Prime Rose タイムスリップ10000年 プライム・ローズ [1983-III] Tezuka Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi  A devil sends two cities; Kujukuri City in Chiba Prefecture and Dallas in the U.S., to ten thousand years ahead in the future, makes them fight each other, and enjoys watching over the fight. The devil's name is Bazusu. So Tanbara Gai, a member of Time Patrol, fights this devil to stop the atrocity. A new Tezuka craze! And he seems to have understood that social lessons can't be delivered on its own without an interesting story. So this time heroes are thrown in distant future that's a desert with abandoned buildings - that's social and interesting enough. Plus, story takes unexpected turns , and protagonist even turns out to be not a real protagonist. I found movie mildly amusing and I don't see reasons to pessimize it. Can only laugh at critics.   Overall Rating: 7/10   39. Captain Tsubasa キャプテン翼 [1983-IV] Tsuchida Productions (Dropped 3/128) Tags: Shounen Team Sports Action, Sports Captain Tsubasa is the passionate story of an elementary school student whose thoughts and dreams revolve almost entirely around the love of soccer. 11-year-old Tsubasa Oozora started playing soccer at a very young age, and while it was mostly just a recreational sport for his friends, for him, it developed into something of an obsession. In order to pursue his dream to the best of his elementary school abilities, Tsubasa moves with his mother to Nankatsu city, which is well-known for its excellent elementary school soccer teams. But although he was easily the best in his old town, Nankatsu has a lot more competition, and he will need all of his skill and talent in order to stand out from this new crowd. He encounters not only rivals, but also new friends like the pretty girl Sanae Nakazawa and the talented goalkeeper, Genzo Wakabayashi, who shares the same passion as Tsubasa, and will prove to be a treasured friend in helping him push towards his dreams. Representing Japan in the FIFA World Cup is Tsubasa’s ultimate dream, but it will take a lot more than talent to reach it. Football is much better and more understandable compared to baseball, but spokons have little chance with me. It's good that there is not just sport, but also a bit of SOL, a bit of comedy. Still it's too simple.   Overall Rating: 4/10   40. Igano Kabamaru 伊賀野カバ丸 [1983-IV] Group TAC (Dropped 3/24) Tags: Shoujo School Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance After the death of Saizou, Kabamaru's horribly strict grandfather and Iga ninja teacher (sensei), an old lady, Ran Ookubo, claims that she received a letter from him asking her to take care of his grandson. So Kabamaru runs off with Lady Ookubo to the big city Tokyo to gorge on yakisoba, ramen, chow mein, and attend a regular school—which turns out to have weird quirks of its own. Comedy at the start is quite good yet repetitive. Characters aren't repulsive, yet not attractive either. As usual, when I hesitate between 5 and 6, I ask myself whether I enjoyed it even a little and whether I got a slight desire to watch it to the end. And I definitely answer no to both these questions, can't do anything about it .   Overall Rating: 5/10   41. Kikou Souseiki Mospeada Genesis Climber Mospeada 機甲創世記モスピーダ [1983-IV] Studio World (Dropped 4/25) Tags: Mecha, Military Action Without warning in the year 2050, an alien race known only as the Inbit arrive, invade and successfully conquer the Earth. Years later and despite brutal past failures, the inhabitants of Mars Colony send out yet another desperate Liberation Force to try and reclaim their lost home world. The fleet is all but destroyed. However, a lone survivor, Stig Bernard, finds himself on Earth. Gathering a mere handful of resistance fighters, Stig journeys on towards the Inbit's headquarters at Reflex Point in an attempt to gather intelligence and, possibly, discover a way to beat them. Macross had an appealing world and story with developing characters, that's why it spawned so many additional pieces of anime. Orguss had a nice setting with a lot of potential, that's why it spawned so many side stories. Mospeada is a boring piece of media telling a mostly straightforward heroic mecha story under unserious merry music, that's why it spawned only one movie. But it alone does not mean anything as even a setting without future potential can tell a great story here and now. And I can't say that I liked Mospeada less than Orguss, they are on comparable levels, probably Orguss is even a bit worse. In Mospeada my big complaint is about main female kid heroine who is here for comedy relief, but I totally hate this psycho with senseless talk and mood changing every second. Unserious atmosphere is another factor - it's basically half comedy now which makes it easier to watch, but in the long run impression weakens. Can't give it a higher score as I don't want to watch it further.   Overall Rating: 5/10   42. Ginga Hyouryuu Vifam 銀河漂流バイファム [1983-IV] Sunrise (Dropped 7/46) Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi AD. 2058, on the Clayad which was the 3rd planet of the Ypserlon system, which was 43 light years away from Earth, suddently aliens raided the planet.The emigrants on the Clayad had to escape from the planet. Because of the confusion during the escape, the children were strayed from their parents and got in the training space ship, Janous. With a lot of sacrifices, they managed to arrive at 4th planet Belwick. However, the Belwick had been already in the war. Therefore, the 13 children had to go to the Earth by themselves. English opening with kids and mecha almost made me believe this is official dub. Sunrise does not make simple stories for kindergarten kids to be dubbed officially at that time, but it looks like they really wanted to sell internationally a serious story disguised under a normal kid action. Well, characters are what makes most of shows shine, and this one has pretty solid cast. If there was no recap movie in 1984, I'd watch the series to the end. But all those insignificant distractions like kid getting lost somewhere overshadow the story itself, so I find myself constantly asking what this or that episode is for and where the hell it all is going to. I still have high hopes for OVA, and series seems to have quite some returnings. A masterpiece within mecha genre - sure, but a masterpiece in broader sense - definitely not.   Overall Rating: 6/10   43. Tokusou Kihei Dorvack Special Powered Armor Troop Dorvack 特装機兵ドルバック [1983-IV] Ashi Production (Dropped 4/36) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi When aliens invade Earth, Triple Command, led by fearless Masato Mugen, is placed in charge of defense. Masato is aided by Frenchman Pierre Bonaparte and Japanese-American girl Loui Oberon. Invaders are sort of cliché with generals sent against earthlings one by one. Everything is too simplistic. I really hoped that all those fake pre-Macross mecha are done with already .   Overall Rating: 4/10   44. Kojika Monogatari Story of a Fawn 子鹿物語 THE YEARLING [1983-IV] Visual 80 (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Drama  Set in Hokkaido, Japan's outback, a young boy discovers a fawn whose mother has been hit by a car and attempts to raise it himself. Official dub... so you already get know that you get a simple kid story about animals. Realization is also poor. Really boring.   Overall Rating: 3/10   45. Dallos ダロス [1983-IV] Pierrot (Finished 4/4) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi There was a time when life on Earth ran out of resources due to overpopulation. As a result, colonists were sent to the Moon, where they had to do dangerous and challenging mining jobs. Their efforts paid well, as the people of Earth now prosper from the Moon's bounty—but the colonists' lives are still riddled with terror. When an extremist group kidnaps Melinda Hearst, the girlfriend of a government official, tensions on the Moon reach a critical point. Third-generation colonist Shun Nonomura struggles to decide whether to lay low or join the rebellion. However, in the distance looms Dallos, a mysterious structure that could change the course of Lunar history. Setting and characters are nice, but not much happens the first three episodes and what happens in fourth is hardly what's expected. Anyway, due to open ending it's too unmemorable to be called something big .   Overall Rating: 6/10   46. Nine 2: Koibito Sengen ナイン2 恋人宣言 [1983-IV] Group TAC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen School, Team Sports Romance, Sports Second part of the Nine TV movies. This part is love themed, so it was natural that love triangle became a love square, even a star. Psychology and romance-wise it's deep enough, but rushed. With all the white backgrounds it feels sketchy and not real. Can't call it a masterpiece, but it's somewhere close.   Overall Rating: 6/10
  18. kivandopulus
    Could not call anything a masterpiece in 1982, sadly. The anime I enjoyed the most is Sasuga no Sarutobi . Hopefully, highlighting it advances its translation .   1. Sentou Mecha Xabungle 戦闘メカザブングル [1982-I] Sunrise (Dropped 6/50) Tags: Shounen  Mecha, Military Sci-Fi On the planet Zora exist two societies: the Innocent, an advanced culture that lives in domed cities, and the Civilians, who are forced to live in the harsh desert wilderness. As dictated by the Innocent, any Civilian that commits a crime is forgiven if they are not brought to justice within three days. Civilian Jiron Amos seeks revenge on the villainous outlaw Timp Sharon who murdered his parents, despite the fact the three-day period has long since passed. Hoping to get his revenge by stealing the mecha Xabungle from the merchant Carrying Cargo, Jiron teams up with a group of bandits known as the Sandrats and kidnaps Cargo's daughter Elchi, who ends up being sympathetic to his cause. Jiron's quest for revenge soon grows into a conflict much bigger—one that will eventually see the Civilians rise up against the Innocents' rule. Well, it looks so close to previous Sunrise work Taiyou no Kiba Dagram that it's startling. Again peaceful community is challenged by guerilla, and again mecha plays a crucial part in it. Again there are dozens of characters without a clear protagonist as there are multiple mecha pilots. Can't say it's bad that Sunrise wants to feast on former success, but things need to be changed more radically than adding some jokes and more light motives atop violence and drama. I could not enjoy this show at all, and there's still not a slightest desire to watch it to the end, so score is average .   Overall Rating: 5/10   2. Minami no Niji no Lucy Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow 南の虹のルーシー [1982-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/50) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Slice of Life Lucy's family moves from England to Australia planning to run a big farm. Starting a new life proves to be full of frustrations. Their agonizing days of despair continue until they finally obtain their farmland. However, Lucy and her sisters enjoy a range of new experiences such as discovering exotic animals and meeting with aborigines and other new people. But there was already anime about British coming to Australia in relatively the same time period... and I guess it seems not interesting in general as there are just 3 translated episodes. This inarticulate historical SOL feels like a huge time sink to fill time slots till industry actually invigorates.   Overall Rating: 4/10   3. Time Bokan Series: Gyakuten Ippatsuman 逆転!イッパツマン [1982-I] (Dropped 1/58) Tags: Mecha Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi Gyakuten! Ippatsuman is the sixth in the Time Bokan series. In the 1990s-era Osteandel City is the headquarters of Time Lease, a business that leases almost everything you could ask for including powerful robots. They are proud of themselves for being number one in the international ranking of billionaires, for the past ten consecutive years. Meanwhile there is another lease company in the same city called Skull Lease where the notorious villain trio work as top executives. Their ostensible object is to disgrace the credit of Time Lease and replace them as the leading enterprise. In fact, however, they have a scheme to secure a footing for world conquest. One day a transport robot of Time Lease is assaulted by the villain trio and it is time for Ippatsuman to get on the move to fight for justice. Last installation had zero translated episodes, and this one has a full single one, so you can feel the enthusiasm. Villains remain the same for at least three last installations, as for goodies... they look new to me each time, so bland that no one cares. The reason for time travel changes from series to series, but the concept remains relatively the same - unsatisfactory.   Overall Rating: 4/10   4. Asari-chan あさりちゃん [1982-I] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/54) Tags: Shoujo Comedy, Slice of Life Produced by Toei Animation and directed by Kazumi Fukushima after the manga series by Muroyama Mayumi, this anime follows Asari, a normal fourth-grade girl. One day, while bargain shopping, she wins the lucky ticket at a lottery for a one-person trip to Hawaii. Chaos reigns as her family, the Beach's, fight over who should go. The ticket is lost in a bonfire, ironically. Other circumstances follow when the family finds out that the travel agency offered to "give the equal amount of half the travel expenses in cash for the ticket" from an employee of the supermarket Asahi had shopped at. What will happen to the unlucky Beach family as more elements of despair pelt them? First things first - it's untranslated. Each episode contains two stories, all all the fuss around Hawaii takes only half of episode. Family members are pretty usual and unremarkable, but humor-wise it's decent and is probably the closest spiritual predecessor of one of the best anime created - Chibi Maruko Chan. If I wanted funny untranslated SOL, I'd rather watch that instead.    Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space 機動戦士ガンダムⅢ めぐりあい宇宙編 [1982-I] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi The One Year War comes to a close, as the Zeon forces now retreat back into space. Amuro learns much more of his Newtype abilities and tries to use them the best way he can. He's pushed to his limit as he encounters the infamous Char Aznable once again. He also falls in love with a mysterious woman named Lalah Sune, who knows the full potential of the Newtype abilities. The greatest battle is about to begin, as many loved ones fall to the power of war. Can the Earth Federation defeat the Principality of Zeon? Or will they fail? Can Char prove that he's the better Newtype than Amuro? They all will be answered now... Gundam finally moves to space and starts to look familiar. But with the same psycho murderer protagonist it just can't be mended for me .   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. 1000-nen Joou: Queen Millennia 1000年女王 Queen Millennia [1982-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  AD 1999, the Earth was in a critical situation; a planet Lar Metal was approaching to the Earth. Meanwhile, Yukino Yayoi was heard about Lar Metal from Dr. Amamori of Tokyo Observatory. She was a junior high school teacher, but she also worked for Dr. Amamori who appreciated her astronomical knowledge. Actually Yukino Yayoi was Queen Millennia who had come from Lar Metal 1000 years before, and she had been watching human beings since then. Soon, numerous meteors fell on the Earth, and people were in panic. In this catastrophe, Hajime, who was a student of Yayoi, came to help Yayoi. Yayoi invited him into a big cave under the ground. Well... I can't understand this series. Even in movie half of the time is occupied by explanation of synopsis, and another third of the time is taken just to show nature outrage and attack of aliens with counterattack against them. The real plot and meaningful actions take very little time. And they stretched that to a huge season previously. Can't live on worldbuilding alone.   Overall Rating: 5/10   7. Sekai Meisaku Douwa: Aladdin to Mahou no Lamp Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp [1982-I] Toei Animation アラジンと魔法のランプ (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  This film stays very faithful to the original down to the smallest details, save for the kangaroo-rat that suddenly appears twenty minutes into the movie and subsequently follows Aladdin around, serving no purpose in the story but fulfilling the role of token animal mascot. The screenwriter needs no introduction; Akira Miyazaki single-handedly wrote five of the classic WMT series, including Perrine and Rascal, and participated in two others. The only other name among the staff that rings a bell, though, is Yukihide Takekawa, who was responsible for the music in the magnificent and unknown Unico pilot film. The story takes some illogical and confusing jumps at the point where Aladdin begins to court the princess, and the extravagant animation that had characterised Toei films of the 60s, when Toei had the best animators around, had become a thing of the past long before this point; but this is still an above-average film, in large part because of the screenplay that stays so faithful to the original. The character designs are slightly more western-looking than one is accustomed to seeing in anime. For those who know the story already there's hardly anything of interest here.   Overall Rating: 4/10   8. Asari-chan: Ai no Marchen Shoujo Super Gal Asari: The Dreaming Girl in Fairy World あさりちゃん 愛のメルヘン少女 [1982-I] (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Shoujo Adventure, Slice of Life Movie produced by Toei Animation after the anime series, Super Gal Asari and by the original manga by Mayumi Muroyama. Asari and her family go through more unlucky happenings. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   9. Ohayou! Spank (Movie) おはよう! スパンク [1982-I] TMS Entertainment (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life  Based on the shoujo manga by Yukimuro Shun'ichi and Takanashi Shizue serialised in Nakayoshi. Not translated. Romance themed movie. Basically, Spank falls in love with a cute female dog, and through dogs and many encounters protagonist girl and female dog's boy host also get closer little by little. Main problem of the concept is that dogs play main roles, but can't communicate even with other dogs, so it becomes a mimic fest.   Overall Rating: 4/10   10. Zou no Inai Doubutsuen 象のいない動物園 [1982-I] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama After the war, concerned brother Hide promises his critically ill sister Miyoko that he will arrange for her to see a real elephant. But when he goes to the zoo to find one, an old man tells him of the tragic day when the zoo animals were slaughtered. The story is based on true historical events of the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, where dangerous animals during WW2 were slaughtered in order to prevent them from wreaking havoc in case Allied bombings would let the animals escape. Various methods were used such as starvation, poisoning, death by firing squad, and decapitation. Tokyo was bombed over a year later after the animals' slaughter and Ueno Zoo was never hit. No translation... ofc. I hardly understand the need for this anime at all. Elephant got ill, children took care of the place together with zoo guard and eventually elephant recovered, the end. Music and art are nice, but that's all.   Overall Rating: 4/10   11. Wagahai wa Neko de Aru 吾輩は猫である [1982-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Comedy, Slice of Life "I" is a cat without a name who lives with an English teacher, Mr. Kushami (Mr. Sneeze). "I" can't believe how stupid human beings are and chronicles some of their most incredible foibles. In particular, he is fascinated by Kushami's student Mizushima who falls in love with Haruko, the only daughter of businessman Kaneda. Based on Natsume Souseki's comical novel. Not translated. Universe is the same as in Jarinko Chie, so cats walk on two paws and communicate between themselves just alright. It's a very intelligent story with twists, so hardly predictable and keeping intrigue till the end, also with a lot of funny moments. I enjoyed it a lot, ofc there's a limit an untranslated work can hit.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Taiyou no Ko Esteban The Mysterious Cities of Gold 太陽の子エステバン [1982-II] Pierrot (Dropped 3/39) Tags: Historical Adventure, Sci-Fi 1532. Esteban, age 12 is a foundling from Barcelona, with a mysterious power of ordering the Sun to appear, for which he is called "Child of the Sun." Upon the death of his adoptive father, Esteban learns he was rescued as a baby from a sinking ship in the ocean. The mysterious medallion that Esteban wears since ever has a trace somewhere in the New World, probably coming from the Mysterious Cities of Gold. Esteban leaves Spain to find his parents and find out who he is. On the way he meets Zia, an Inca girl who was kidnapped from her people years back and has exactly the same medallion as him. Later on, they are joined by Tao, a young Galapagos robinson, the last descendant of the Empire of Heva, an Empire said to have built the Cities of Gold. Following Coyolite, the shining star represented on their medallions, the three children travel through the unexplored New World, searching for the Cities of Gold, believing that this way is leading them to their lost parents. Hello, official dub. No matter how I look at it, it's pure adventure for kids. I'm sure I'd enjoy it a lot as a kid without expectations, but I definitely can't recommend it for adults.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Mahou no Princess Minky Momo Magical Princess Minky Momo 魔法のプリンセス ミンキーモモ [1982-II] Production Reed (Dropped 3/63) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Momo is the princess of Fenarinarsa, a land of dreams that is getting further and further from Earth. She is sent to help the Earth regain faith in its dreams. To assist her are her friends Sindbook, Mocha, and Pipiru and her magic wand that transforms her into an adult. She's ready and willing to help anyone she can in order to make their dream come true, no matter what happens. A genki cliché magical girl who needs to gather 12 spheres to fulfil her mission, so another time filler show with no sense behind it.   Overall Rating: 4/10   14. Patalliro! パタリロ! [1982-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/49) Tags: Shoujo Adventure, Boys Love, Comedy Patarillo! is set in a society much like ours in most ways, with one decided twist. The manga on which it is based is one of the much-read works produced for adolescent Japanese girls that features a healthy proportion of gay men and beautiful teenagers aka bishounen (beautiful boys). Most of the action takes place in Marinera, the land of eternal spring, located somewhere in the South Seas. The country is a major producer of diamonds; they provide much of the basis of conflict in the anime series. They come from one of the most prolific mines in the world, owned by the king of Marinera, the vertically challenged but horizontally endowed boy-king Patarillo himself. The International Diamond Syndicate - a huge semi- criminal organization/ secret society dedicated to taking over the world's entire diamond supply- wants that mine and will stop at nothing to get it. In the early episodes they send off a number of bishounen assassins to do in Patarillo, which necessitates his having a bodyguard, the English MI6 agent, Major Jack ('Bishounen-Killer') Bancoran. Bancoran's nickname doesn't mean he shoots bishounen in cold blood. The soubriquet comes from the fact that no male under the age of 17 can resist his sexual fascination. This, to Bancoran's eternal disgust, includes Patarillo himself. The action switches often from Marinera to MI6 headquarters in London (London seems to be an easy two hour's flight from the South Seas) or Bancoran's palatial condo in the suburbs of same. (MI6, be it noted, looks a lot like Fritz Lang's Metropolis, while Jack's 'apartment' bears a passing resemblance to Randolph Hearst's spread.) The action also goes into the past and future and out into space. Patarillo evidently gets around. Wow, that was awkward. Each tine Patarillo with bodyguard from MI6 Bancoran meet same looking girlish boy who plots to kill Patarillo and during the course of the episode plot gets revealed. There's some humor and a lot of graphical novelty in all that, but it's another episodic time filler on a big scale, plus all the sudden romance scenes between Bancoran and girlish boy feel out of place for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Ochamegami Monogatari: Korokoro Pollon Little Pollon おちゃめ神物語コロコロポロン [1982-II] Kokusai Eigasha (Dropped 3/46) Tags: Parody Comedy Anime about the funny lives of the Greek gods up on Mount Olympus. Polon is the naughty daughter of Apollo. With her little cherub friend Eros, she interferes in various comical ways as she tries to show that she is fit to be a goddess. Her activities often misfire, getting her in trouble with some deity or other and causing chaos for gods and humans. Feeling neglected by her godly parent, she often assists him in his woman-chasing in the hopes of getting a new mommy. Did not find it amusing, frankly. Childish pranks, childish themes.   Overall Rating: 4/10   16. Tezuka Osamu no Don Dracula 手塚治虫のドン・ドラキュラ [1982-II] Tezuka Productions (Finished 8/8) Tags: Vampire Comedy, Horror, Supernatural After living in Transylvania for several years, "Earl Dracula" (as Osamu Tezuka's official website calls him in English) has moved to Japan. In the Nerima Ward of Tokyo, he and his daughter, Chocola, and faithful servant Igor have taken up residence in an old-Western style house. While Chocola attends Junior High School, Earl Dracula is desperate to drink the blood of beautiful virgin women; an appropriate meal for a vampire of his stature. However, each night that Earl Dracula goes out on the prowl he finds himself getting involved in some kind of disturbance which leads to him causing various trouble for the local residents. With nobody in Japan believing in vampires, his very presence causes trouble amongst the people in town. Tezuka Osamu did not let down again. Humor is varied and partially crazy, and there aren't too many episodes to get tired of the show. I still enjoyed it only slightly, so can't call it a masterpiece and universally recommend.   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV Armored Fleet Dairugger XV 機甲艦隊ダイラガーXV [1982-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi In the original storyline as aired in Japan, Dairugger XV was simply an exploration robot, as well as an intended peace-keeping force. The Earth is in a time of prosperity. The president of the Terran League (the "Galaxy Alliance" in Voltron) launches a mission to explore beyond the galaxy. After commencing its mission of exploration, the starship Rugger-Guard is attacked by a ship of the Galbeston Empire. Dairugger, the super robot, is deployed in order to defend the Earth. It is somewhat by fate that they must help the people of Galbeston find a new planet before it explodes, and liberate it from its despotic Emperor. In the Japanese version, it does not have anything to do with King of the Beasts GoLion, as opposed to the U.S. version, Voltron: Defender of the Universe. There are three assault team units: Land, Air, and Sea. There are a total of 15 parts referred to as "Rugger," which can combine together to form the super-robot Dairugger. The design of the 15 separate Rugger units came from the sport of rugby, since 15 players are required to form a rugby union. The U.S. version would rename the "Galbeston Empire" to "Drule Empire," along with editing a fair amount of violence and sexual content to keep the show safe for general audience broadcast. Hi again, official dub. As usual, super boring heroic mecha show with zero interesting characters or anything at all to catch the eye.   Overall Rating: 3/10   18. Tondera House no Daibouken The Flying House トンデラハウスの大冒険 [1982-II] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Historical Adventure, Sci-Fi The series began in the middle of a game of hide and seek, as a young boy named Justin Casey (Gen) finishes counting and begins searching for his friends Angela (usually called "Angie") and Corkey Roberts (Kanna and Tsukubo Natsuyama). As he searched for the brother and sister in the wooded area, a storm occurred all of a sudden. Justin managed to sneak up on the two before the rain started pouring, forcing them to run for cover. They would eventually find a house in the wooded area, previously unseen according to Justin. At first glance it appeared nobody was home after entering the house, until they discovered a robot named Solar Ion Robot (Kadenchin), or the acronym SIR. They would soon meet the owner of the house, Professor Humphrey Bumble (Dr. Tokio Taimu), who introduced the children to his greatest creation, a time machine. Professor Bumble's attempt at recreating Benjamin Franklin's famous lightning experiment with the use of a kite flying outside the house to get the machine working only led up to SIR's temporary change in personality before sending the entire house on course for the past. The children never realized how long the journey back home would be due to Professor Bumble's misguidance and errors in time travel, but in the meantime they witnessed and participated (with little or no consequences) in numerous events in the Bible's New Testament, from John the Baptist's birth to the rise of the Apostle Paul." Yay, another official dub. And to my surprise I definitely have watched it in the childhood as I remember these characters including robot, the house and the opening. Super childish anime about time travel and some bible stories, so I've serious questions why it's not blocked by MAL as anime for kids.   Overall Rating: 3/10   19. Makyou Densetsu Acrobunch 魔境伝説アクロバンチ [1982-II] Kokusai Eigasha (Dropped 3/13) Tags: Shounen Mecha Sci-Fi Led by scientist Tatsuya Randou, the Randou family undertakes a journey around the globe in order to search out ancient ruins to uncover the legend of Quetzalcoatl, which unlocks the key to a fabulous treasure. However, tailing the Randou family is Gopurin, an evil organisation that covets the legendary treasure for itself. The Randou family has the secret weapon of super robot Acrobunch. It becomes a race around the world of who finds the treasure first. Treasure hunt travel with rivals... it sounds super boring already. Good drawing, non-repulsive characters and some humor mend things a bit, but in the end it remains an average mecha focused on aimless adventure and some action.   Overall Rating: 4/10   20. Kagaku Kyuujo-tai TechnoVoyager Thunderbirds 2086 科学救助隊テクノボイジャー [1982-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/24) Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Thunderbirds 2086 takes place roughly twenty years after the original series (generally accepted as taking place around 2065, though other dates are seen on screen) and chronicles the adventures of the Thunderbirds, a rescue team working for the International Rescue Organisation. Unlike the original International Rescue, which was small-scale and family-oriented, the IRO is a vast organisation comprising numerous branches and overseen by the Federation, the 2086 equivalent of the United Nations. No direct historical connections are identified between the two series, but it can be assumed that the original International Rescue evolved into its 2086 incarnation over those thirty years. The Tracy family are not mentioned in the animated series. In the animated series, the actual team is known as the Thunderbirds, whilst in the original series the name merely referred to their vehicles. The animated series is otherwise very similar to the original, with most episodes revolving around a natural or man-made disaster which the Thunderbirds team must investigate and help resolve. Unlike the original series, Thunderbirds 2086 also has an on-going story arc revolving around a breakaway independence group known as the Shadow Axis, led by the mysterious Star Crusher. There is a heavy intimation in the series that Star Crusher is not human and may be some kind of alien entity. Official dub... I've never seen original British series, so for me it's just an episodic show about mending things after some disasters... and a really boring one. Neither bland characters, nor five different models of thunderbirds excite me even to the slightest extent.   Overall Rating: 4/10   21. Anime Yasei no Sakebi Call of the wild アニメ野性のさけび [1982-II] Wako Productions (Dropped 0/22) Tags: Adventure, Drama Based on the novel by Hatojuu Muku Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   22. Haguregumo 浮浪雲 [1982-II] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Historical, Samurai Comedy The year is 1866, the twilight of the Tokugawa era. As Japan boldly moves into a new age, one man couldn't possibly care less. That man is Kumosuke Haguregumo, a retired samurai who has since become the town fool. Though he still carries his twin-bladed katana, Kumosuke spends his days smoking, drinking, and womanizing, rarely coming home before dawn. At home, however, wait his wife and two children, Shinnosuke and Ohana, who are constantly troubled by Kumosuke's antics. As Shinnosuke grows older, he begins to understand the world around him. Troubled by his father's reputation, Shinnosuke attempts to live a life of honor, though finding what honor means in a turbulent era is difficult. As Shinnosuke navigates his relationship with his father, countless other warriors struggle to find their place in the ever-changing world. That's what I call an intelligent story. Many lines go in synch. I happened to watch dorama about Sakamoto Ryouma in the past, so could emphasize quite alright. I enjoyed quite like a masterpiece, but for a masterpiece there should be some resolution at least. Basically, there is none in the anime, and no even leftover thought. In this state can't universally recommend it for sure .   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Sengoku Majin Goushougun (Movie) 戦国魔神ゴーショーグン [1982-II] Production Reed (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Parody Sci-Fi Compilation movie composed of scenes from episodes 17 and 20 of the Sengoku Majin Goushougun TV series mixed with some movie-original scenes and faux commercial breaks featuring the characters selling fictional products. Wow, it's not even recap of the season, just a joined journalist story and a new enemy appearance mashed in together with some fillers to barely reach one hour length... pathetic. At the very least I saw some more notices of parody genre like answer of protagonists in in interview what they fight for - and they answer just by inertia, no particular reason. With adult cast and additional humor it's still way better than majority of mecha, yet it does not belong to those few mecha that I can rate as 6.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Shiroi Kiba White Fang Monogatari 白い牙ホワイトファング物語 [1982-II] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama White Fang is born on the planes of Alaska to a wolf father and a half-wolf, half-dog mother. One day he and his mother run into an Alaskan inuit boy Mit-sah, who has long dreamed of a dog of his own, and by a marvellous twist of fate, the wolves are taken in by him and his father. But life in Alaska is harsh for humans and wolves alike, and as winter comes, hardships lie in waiting for White Fang and Mit-sah. Facing the extreme coldness of their habitat and that of humans' greedy hearts, the two journey towards what they hope to be a happier environment. Another wolf story, but thanks to Sunrise directorship, quite good. As usual, it revolves around beating animals and having animals fight each other to death, so a rather doubtful pleasure to put it mildly.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Son Gokuu Silk Road wo Tobu!! 孫悟空シルクロードをとぶ!! [1982-II] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  A TV special that aired as a part of "Nissei Family Special" series on Fuji TV in 1982. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   26. The Kabocha Wine The Pumpkin Wine Theかぼちゃワイン [1982-III] Toei Animation (Dropped 5/95) Tags: School Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life Transfer student, Aoba Shunsuke, arrived at Sunshine School only to find the premises empty. He was secretly gleeful to be the first to reach the school, oblivious to the fact that it was Foundation Day and a rest day for the institution. At that moment, a big-sized "L"(Eru) beauty by the name of Natsumi appeared before him and the two of them hit off together even though Shunsuke was so much smaller than her. Shunsuke's mother runs a women's apparel busines but the shop is in need of manpower. Shunsuke offers to help out at the shop but fumbles a lot because he does not know how to interact with the ladies. Eru decides to step in and help out around the shop and this pleases Shunsuke's mother. This is a romance story that shares the joys and woes of the "SL" combi between Shunsuke and Eru. I remember several anime with S-L romance, so this is their originator. And I think it's the first anime case of a girl hitting on a boy if we don't consider Urusei Yatsura that was ambiguous and not SOL. Show itself is good, but not super interesting, especially considered 95 episode format, so there are only seven translated episodes.   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. Ginga Reppuu Baxingar Galactic Gale Baxingar 銀河烈風バクシンガー [1982-III] Kokusai Eigasha (Dropped 3/39) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure 600 years after Ginga Senpuu Braiger, Jupiter has been destroyed, and many planets have come from it, bringing about more colonization. To combat the increasing lawless activity, Don Diego Condor gathers Billy the Shot, Samanosuke Dodi, Layla Minesato, and Shuteken Radcliffe, a.k.a. J9-II. They pilot Cosmo Bikes, which combine into the robot Baxingar. Yay, new crew of law enforcers gather in slightly changed conditions. But it's same horrible, why even try to continue this dead end universe .   Overall Rating: 4/10   28. Waga Seishun no Arcadia わが青春のアルカディア [1982-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adult Cast, Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi Earth has been conquered by the evil Illumidus Empire, with parallels drawn to the U.S. post World War II occupation of Japan. Captain Harlock with a group that will become his life long friends begin their fight against this tyranny visited upon the planet Earth, with no regard to the costs the struggle will have on them, caring only for the ideal of restoring freedom to the people of Earth. First things first - images of woman and boy from space express are reused again. Story is basically prequel of Harlock as it shows how he lost his eye and basically leads him from nation defender to pirate. Execution quality is good, but my score mostly depends on my enjoyment. And I hardly found it enjoyable at all. Can't do anything about it. Just average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Space Adventure Cobra Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie SPACE ADVENTURE コブラ [1982-III] TMS Entertainment (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adult Cast, Space  Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Cobra, a notorious space pirate, is enlisted by bounty hunter Jane to rescue her sister from the strange being known as Crystal Boy, but then finds himself drawn into a complex struggle over the fate of a mysterious wandering planet. Cobra is basically James Bond of anime, but in much more favorable conditions of sci-fi future with unlimited technological progress. It entails similar benefits and shortcomings. Despite focus on female cast and action I constantly feel that story and complexity suffer, and that happening events aren't serious, due to how easy everything turns out even despite the facts that girls die one after another to pave the way for the next one. In the end it all depends on the story for me, and in this movie it just did not impress .   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Densetsu Kyojin Ideon: Hatsudou-hen The Ideon: Be Invoked 伝説巨神イデオン 発動篇 [1982-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Space Drama, Sci-Fi Pushed out to the far reaches of the galaxy, the crew of the Solo Ship faces impossible odds of survival. With the Earth destroyed and the remnants of the Buff Clan pushing them to their limit, the Ideon shows as the last line of defense for the battered remains of humanity. As the tensions of their last stand rack up on their minds, Captain Bes Jordan and pilot Cosmo Yuuki race against the clock to protect their final opportunity of survival, even as desperation eats away at the minds of their loved ones. Using any weapons left at their disposal, the crew desperately fight on to protect themselves in the cold clutches of space, punished with a final duel against Harulu Ajiba, who is now desperate to reclaim the honor lost in her father's eyes. It's the second movie. Joint comments are after first movie..   Overall Rating: 5/10   31. Densetsu Kyojin Ideon: Sesshoku-hen The Ideon: A Contact 伝説巨神イデオン 接触篇 [1982-III] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Space Drama, Sci-Fi Scouring the universe in pursuit of knowledge, mankind has discovered three large trucks and a giant spaceship belonging to an extinct alien civilization on the planet Solo. During their excavation, a humanoid alien race known as the Buff Clan arrives at Solo, and Karala Ajiba—daughter of the Buff Clan's military leader—flies down to the planet against orders. In hunting for Karala, the Buff Clan attacks and destroys the Earth settlement to bring her back. Desperate to stave off their assaulters, earthlings Cosmo Yuuki, Kasha Imhof, and Bes Jordan board the trucks, which form into the powerful giant robot Ideon when combined. As they fight back against their enemies, the remaining survivors board the spacecraft Solo Ship and flee, while the Buff Clan relentlessly seeks Ideon and the mysterious power source contained within it. I'm starting to have second thoughts about putting score 6 to TV series. I was probably sorry for so much wasted time, so the score tried to justify that time was not totally wasted. Movies cut so many filler scenes and in some cases substituted them with transformed shortcut scenes. Yes, there is a varied cast (mostly irritating). Yes , there are some intrigues (mostly very simple). But to get a 6 series should give at least something to me - enjoyment/appreciation/experience/emotions/story - like anything I can value or remember it by. I feel nothing. Absolutely lazy resolution and tearjerkers.   Overall Rating: 5/10   32. Techno Police 21C テクノポリス21C [1982-III] Studio Nue (Finished 1/1) Tags: Detective, Mecha Action, Sci-Fi The plot consists of a chase of a hijacked MBT-99A tank, designed by the United States Air Force (which is odd, but will become the saviour of Eleanor, as she can be ejected before the tank explodes, like a fighter jet). The audience is expected to be enamored with this vehicle. At one scene when it looks like the tank is sure to get away, the background music turns into cocktail-lounge jazz and sparkly lights swirl around the tank. The tank carries six ATGM launchers (which Ken is somehow able to dislodge with minimal trouble, along with a piece of the turret, towards the end of the movie), three to each side of the turret, and a laser-based machine-gun-esque installment, in addition to its rifled main gun. The tank's treads are dual-mounted (the tread is split in half, making four sets of treads for the tank). The employment of the laser, however, seems counter-productive to a machine-gun's mission, as it can only fire once every few seconds. If it can fire at higher rates, it does not do so, and tries to acquire a lock on its pursuer (Blader, in this case). This suggests a low ammunition capacity, unlike thousand-round-and-up machine-guns routinely mounted on modern tanks. It does not appear to have any effect on the road, either, which does not say much about its power. Another tank involved is the MBT-90D, which are dispatched by the Army (or Air Force—the movie never makes it clear if it is a joint effort, although the general who arrives midway into the movie is shown riding in something resembling an ADATS) to take out the tank. Despite having at least a platoon of these, the MBT-99 still evades capture. The M-90Ds are armed with a three-barreled autocannon, the calibre of which may be around fifteen to twenty millimeters. The MBT-90D is equipped with three ATGM missile launchers, on the left side of the turret, and its main cannon is mounted on the front, instead of on a turret. After the MBT-99's hijackers (who appear inside the tank after getting away from a recently-committed bank robbery), hired by a shadowy group, backed by a foreign nation seeking an edge in their military (the M-99 is presumably on its way to be tested at a separate base), are forced out by Ken and his team, Eleanor enters to study the tank, and it starts up on its own, having been programmed by the hijackers to head for a pier and drive off its end so as to rendezvous with an enemy submarine. The rest of the movie is made up of the chase through the city, resulting in the destruction of another bank (owned by the same corporation that built the first bank in the movie), and various collateral damage. Waste of time no matter how I look at it.   Overall Rating: 4/10   33. Andromeda Stories アンドロメダ・ストーリーズ [1982-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Action, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi In the Andromeda galaxy there's a planet of a highly developed human civilisation. The gentle Prince Itaka and another kingdom's beautiful Princess Lilia are about to enter a love-marriage and take over the throne, when they discover a strange object on the nightsky. Later it lands on the planet, and an alien, mechanic civilization invades King Itaka's peaceful country making nearly everybody their slave. On a fateful night Queen Lilia gives birth to twins, and to avoid misfortune, the nanny Tarama takes one of the babies away, and entrusts it to the gladiator Balga. They still don't know, that the children were born with strong powers, and hold the key to the fight against the enemy that's searching to destroy every human civilisation on the planet... A very nice conceptual and interesting story.  But it's not of masterpiece level, not something that would stay in memory forever.   Overall Rating: 5/10   34. Juugo Shounen Hyouryuuki Adrift in the Pacific 十五少年漂流記 [1982-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama  Fifteen young students embark on the boat that should lead them to their families on the coasts of New Zealand. Unfortunately the boat loses its anchor and heads to the open sea in the middle of the night without sailors on it. In the morning, a violent storm prevents the children from sailing back to the harbor. A few days later boat grounds on a deserted island in the Pacific ocean. During 20 months the fifteen children will be left alone and will have to get organized in order to survive. They manage to store up food for the cold winter that will be soon there. Briant, Doniphan, and Gordon lead the group of children who find out that a sailor has lived and died on the island 20 years before. Pretty much everything was obvious from the start. No surprises here.   Overall Rating: 4/10   35. Macross 超時空要塞マクロス [1982-IV] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 12/36) Tags: Mecha, Military, Music, Space Action, Romance, Sci-Fi After a mysterious spaceship crashes into Earth, humanity realizes that they are not alone. Fearing a potential threat from space, the world pushes aside their nationalism, conflicting interests, and cultural differences, unifying under the banner of the United Nations. The newly formed UN forces decide to repurpose the alien spacecraft, naming it SDF-1 Macross. Unfortunately, on the day of its maiden voyage, a fleet of spaceships belonging to a race of aliens known as the Zentradi descend upon Earth, and the SDF-1 Macross, acting of its own accord, shoots down the incoming squadron, sparking an intergalactic war. In an attempt to escape, the Macross tries to launch itself into the Moon's orbit, but the ship—as well as the city it was in—is teleported to the far reaches of space. Caught up in this mess are Hikaru Ichijou, a free-spirited acrobatic pilot, and Minmay Lynn, an aspiring singer. These two, alongside Macross' crew, experience an epic journey rife with grief and drama, coming face-to-face with the cruelties of war along the way. I knew from the start that this anime eventually comes to the power of love and singing, so I wanted to watch up to the moment when normal sci-fi transforms into something else. What I want to notice is that show really takes its time pretending to be a normal sci-fi and turns to viewer from its best sides from the start - great action scenes, logical and easy to follow development, focus on developing characters. Crazy stuff starts around episode 11 as we learn that the biggest danger for aliens is expressions of love... it's a good enough place to stop. It would be an excellent anime without this weird shift, so I can give it a high score, but it can't be a masterpiece for me. .   Overall Rating: 6/10   36. Space Cobra Space Adventure Cobra スペースコブラ [1982-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/31) Tags: Adult Cast, Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Lonely salaryman Johnson laments his meager life, longing for a world of travel and excitement. But after engaging in a hallucinatory experience, he recalls vivid memories of a legendary space pirate named Cobra. WIth the Psychogun attached to his left arm, Cobra had travelled across space with his partner Lady Armaroid. The two formed an infamous team feared by authorities and loathed by the Pirate Guild—a conglomerate of the most powerful pirates in the galaxy, Back on Earth, an encounter at a casino changes Johnson’s life, as his winnings bring him face-to-face with the manager—Pirate Guild boss Vaiken, whom he’d seen defeated by Cobra in his dream. Recognizing Johnson as the disguised Cobra, Vaiken attempts to exact revenge—but instead activates the Psychogun hidden under Johnson’s left arm, triggering his repressed memories and alerting Lady Armaroid. Now after besting Vaiken once again and with his memories restored, Cobra leaves hiding and sets out to stop the Pirate Guild’s interstellar mafia. He and Lady Armaroid traverse space, continuing their life of high-stakes adventure while aiding those wronged by the Guild’s members. Good action, but to get a six it has to offer something substantial to remember it by.   Overall Rating: 5/10   37. Tokimeki Tonight ときめきトゥナイト [1982-IV] Group TAC (Dropped 3/34) Tags: Shoujo Vampire Comedy, Fantasy, Romance The main character, Ranze, is a junior high girl with troubles: her father is a vampire and her mother is a werewolf. Ranze has yet to manifest her supernatural powers, and her parents are beginning to get worried she might be normal. So begins the fantasy romantic comedy story. Well, I never liked Adams family. This one is on par or even worse.   Overall Rating: 4/10   38. Waga Seishun no Arcadia: Mugen Kidou SSX Endless Orbit SSX わが青春のアルカディア・無限軌道SSX [1982-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/22) Tags: Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi At the end of Arcadia of My Youth Capitain Harlock and the crew of the space ship Arcadia had been banished from Earth. The Earth, as well as many other planets in the universe had been taken over by the Illumidus, a race of destructive humanoids who ruin, enslave or destroy almost any inhabitable planet they come across. In "Endless Orbit SSX" Harlock battles the Illumidus while searching for a mythical "Planet of Peace" where all the peoples of the universe can live freely and without war. I rated original movie rather low, and this series is worse pretty much on every level.   Overall Rating: 4/10   39. Shin Mitsubachi Maya no Bouken 新みつばちマーヤの冒険 [1982-IV] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Adventure, Comedy  The sequel to Mitsubachi Maya no Bouken. Children anime. First season is tagged on MAL appropriately, and no one cared about second season at all, apparently.   Overall Rating: 4/10   40. Sasuga no Sarutobi Amazing Sarutobi さすがの猿飛 [1982-IV] Tsuchida Productions (Dropped 3/69) Tags: Martial Arts Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Sports Nikumaru, meaning "meatball" in Japanese, is a seventeen-year-old student at Ninja High School, a special school for the training of ninja. He is short and chubby, but he possesses a super technique known as the "kamikaze", where he stirs up a whirlwind with his feet. The series introduces his many adventures and pranks as Nikumaru meets with his rivals both in and out of school. Not translated. And that's sad , cause it's the first gang anime from the 1980s and a rather fun one. Theoretically, it might have a similar impact with Great Teacher Onizuka, but one is super obscure and the other one super popular. The maximum score I can give to untranslated anime is 6.   Overall Rating: 6/10   41. Ai no Senshi Rainbowman 愛の戦士レインボーマン [1982-IV] Tsuchida Productions (Dropped 0/22) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi In the mountains of India, a man named Takeshi Yamato gains the abilities of the legendary Rainbow Warrior, allowing him to transform into Rainbowman. With this power, he has to stop aliens from invading the earth. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   42. Cybot Robocchi Robby the Rascal サイボットロボッチ [1982-IV] Knack Productions (Dropped 3/39) Tags: Comedy, Sci-Fi  Apparently inspired largely by Akira Toriyama's popular Dr. Slump, Cybot Robocchi is the story of Robocchi, a fun-loving, mischievous robot with a TV set in his stomach. Robocchi lives in a peaceful village with various other robots, all created by the eccentric and somewhat lecherous Dr. Art Deko. Although he is an android, Robocchi has a warm, kind heart and is always willing to help out a friend in need. With his human girlfriend Kurumi, he gets into a variety of wacky adventures. Lots of chaotic and random humor, plus some perversion..   Overall Rating: 4/10   43. Hitotsuboshi-ke no Ultra Baasan 一ツ星家のウルトラ婆さん [1982-IV] Knack Productions (Dropped 0/13) Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life  None Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   44. Ninjaman Ippei 忍者マン 一平 [1982-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/13) Tags: School Action, Comedy, Slice of Life Way out in the sticks, the fourth-graders of the local school in Tokio village all have their own superpowers of doubtful merit, including flying eyeballs and missile-hair. Ippei and his friends study hard to be ninjas, but they are constantly under treat from the arrogant cheats from the neighbouring village of Techno. A strange mix of ninjas and school comedy, based on a children's manga by Kawai Kazuyoshi. Not translated. If Sasuga no Sarutobi is the right way of how to make a ninja comedy, Ninjaman Ippei is the opposite. Primitivism in everything - characters, humor, story.   Overall Rating: 3/10   45. Future War 198X-nen Future War Year 198X Future War 198X年  [1982-IV] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Military Drama An American scientist constructs a laser–satellite with hope to prevent any nuclear conflicts. However, after a fatal error from both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. government, war breaks, and humanity faces a new bloodshed. Very stupid social lesson or whatever this crap is.   Overall Rating: 1/10   46. Rokushin Gattai GodMars (1982) Six God Combination GodMars: The Movie 六神合体ゴッドマーズ (1982) [1982-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Sci-Fi The movie is just a recap of the first 25 episodes of the TV series. A.D. 1982, the planet alignment brought the human beings ordeal we should overcome, and it caused a convulsion on the Earth. During the conflict, a light fell on to the Myojinsho reef, and five lights scattered around the Earth as if they followed it. 17 years had passed since then. A.D. 1999, human beings had developed all of the solar system, and began to embark for outer space. The Earth Defense Army organized an elite squad, Crasher, to provide for various happening in space. Myojin Takeru was the member of the team. He was found in the light fell on to the Myojinsho reef. Actually he was Mars who was born on the planet Gishin. When he grew up, he heard unearthly voice, “Mars, stop the Earthians’ advancement to the space. Explode the Earth” He was a living triggering device that had been sent by Emperor Zure, who plotted to conquer the universe. However, Mars, who had been raised as an Earthian, rejected the order, and made up his mind to face the severe fate. ESP is not the genre I can enjoy, and mecha ESP is even worse.   Overall Rating: 3/10   47. Tsushima Maru: Sayounara Okinawa 対馬丸 -さようなら沖縄- [1982-IV] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Based on the same-named book by Ooshiro Tatsuhiro. A documentary anime retelling the shipwreck of the freight boat Tsushima Maru, which was carrying a class of schoolchildren home in July 1944 when it was attacked and sunk by an American submarine. Produced by the surviving family members of the Tsushima Maru. A highly realistic and carefully crafted film in which the realism is thrown into contrast by the deformed character designs by Kiyomizu Kazutoshi. Not translated. Basically, the story of the crash with premise taking most of the time. The crash happens a the end when there is only a quarter of screen time left, and leftover part is just surviving in the ocean.   Overall Rating: 5/10
  19. kivandopulus

    Anime of the Year
    I ended up with choosing just one title as masterpiece - Jarinko Chie - even though there were quite many titles close to that and also some titles without translation that could also fit my criteria otherwise   1. Kazoku Robinson Hyouryuuki: Fushigi na Shima no Flone The Swiss Family Robinson: Flone of the Mysterious Island 家族ロビンソン漂流記ふしぎな島のフローネ [1981-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/50) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama, Slice of Life 10-year-old Flone is a very active, tomboyish sort of a girl. One day, her father receives a letter from his English friend who is now in Australia. In the letter, the friend asks her father to come down to Australia because of a serious shortage of doctors. The family decides to leave their old house in Bern. Now their drifting voyage has begun! Flone's fantastic adventures will teach children about the importance of family and the joys of living amidst nature's beauty. Another world masterpiece theater series. A long slow-paced SOL about getting to Australia, and it was not particularly interesting for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   2. Time Bokan Series: Yattodetaman Firebird タイムボカンシリーズ ヤットデタマン [1981-I] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 0/52) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy Throughout history, the quest for power infected mankind. In the future..nothing much changes. The setting for this exciting, funny and intriguing series is the Kingdom of Fir antic, where two royal houses are locked in combat to determine who will become the future ruler of the Kingdom. To secure the throne, one of two must travel through the aeons of time to find the Firebird. Whoever brings it back to Fir antic will rule from the throne of this mysterious country. The story starts in the present.... Here, in the desolate office of the Ace Detective Agency, Detectives Paul Tuck and Tracy Headly are whiling away the time reading magazines, for want of something better to do. Suddenly, a girl appears before them. From her strange dress the pair can just deduce that the girl couldn't possibly be from their time. She begins to speak..."You are quite right. I am from another era. In time, you two will be married, and I will be born from your bloodline many generations hence". The girl's name is Princess Sara of the Kingdom of Fir antic. Paul and Tracy are amazed by the girl's telepathic powers, and even more amazed to be told that they are to be married. But there is more to come. Princess Sara is looking for the Firebird with the use of a Time Tunnel. Paul and Tracy decide that it is their duty to protect their descendent's future. They offer to help Sara on her quest for the Firebird, but Sara has no idea where it is to be found. The only clue she has is that Princess Miranda and her party have come to this time as well. Sara telepathically discovers the whereabouts of their time machine, and our heroes chase after Miranda, who possesses any and all information concerning the Firebird.... There's no English translation, so won't even bother. All those Time Bokan series look so much alike that they start to confuse.   Overall Rating: 0/10   3. Saikyou Robot Daiouja 最強ロボ ダイオージャ [1981-I] Sunrise (Dropped 3/50) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi This is the story of Mito Mitsukuni in mecha style. Prince of the Edon Star, Edward Mito begins a trip to the galaxy with his servant Baron Kalkus, Duke Skead and the ninja girl Shinobu. Under the false identity of Bocchan, Suke and Kaku they help the oppressed people and fight with the super robot Daioja. Mecha with a prince, his funny guards and ninja girl. As you see, made by Sunrise, and it's a stamp of quality for older anime. Comedy is really nice and guards help a lot. Just as in previous such Sunrise anime, Still lacks serious goal, not a masterpiece material still.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Mobile Suit Gundam I 劇場版 機動戦士ガンダム I 特別編 [1981-I] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi In the future, with Earth's population rapidly increasing, humanity has developed giant orbiting space colonies gathered in clusters known as "Sides." As the elites on Earth force most of the populace into space, rebellion begins to brew. In the year Universal Century 0079, one of the colony clusters known as Side 3 declares itself the Principality of Zeon and launches a war of independence against the Earth Federation. Despite having only a fraction of the resources of the Federation, Zeon quickly gains the upper hand in the conflict through the use of giant humanoid robots called mobile suits. Chief among Zeon's mobile suit ace pilots is Char Aznable, a mysterious masked man known as the "Red Comet." When Char's squadron comes across the Federation developing its own prototype mobile suit called Gundam in the colony Side 7, his men launch a brutal attack. Amuro Ray, the son of the prototype's developer, gets in the Gundam and is able to fend off the Zeon attack. As Amuro soon finds himself directly in conflict with Char, he is forced to flee the colony on a Federation ship. Wow, what a horrible movie, liked it even less than series. It's depressing , without an ending and with an absolutely irritating cheeky brat murderer protagonist. Just wow.   Overall Rating: 4/10   5. Sayonara Ginga Tetsudou 999: Andromeda Shuuchakueki Adieu Galaxy Express 999 さよなら銀河鉄道999 -アンドロメダ終着駅- [1981-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi Despite the destruction of the mechanization home world Andromeda, the machine empire is still swept across the galaxy and Earth has become a battleground. Having returned from his journey aboard the train Galaxy Express 999, Tetsurou Hoshino joins the resistance and fights alongside others who have retained their humanity. When the 999 returns to Earth, Tetsurou receives an enigmatic recorded message from his former traveling companion Maetel, telling him to board the train once more. Fighting his way to Megalopolis station, he makes it onto the train just as it departs. This time, however, Tetsurou is met with several mysteries: Maetel is nowhere to be seen, an ominous "Ghost Train" has appeared, and the ultimate destination of the 999 is unknown. Amid all this, Tetsurou finds himself confronted by the mysterious black knight Faust and soon discovers the machine empire's darkest secret. It's an epilogue to the series. Can't say I'm impressed. Train itself is barely seen, and with it the leftover humor is gone. Protagonist becomes a tough guerilla rather than a young boy. Nothing really touched me here, so the rating is corresponding.   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Natsu e no Tobira 夏への扉 [1981-I] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Boys Love, Drama, Romance Marion is a young schoolboy who prides himself on his adherence to a philosophy he calls "rationalism". Because of his disdain for emotional display, he ignores anything remotely akin to affection. But when he's entangled in a romantic affair with an older courtesan, his rationalism is revealed to be little more than a cover for his own emotional immaturity. Learning to love, Marion blossoms under his older lover's care but unfortunately, Marion has yet to learn the true price of the affair. Sleazy weird shoujo-like romance though from the outlook of refined boy. It's not that I don't see value here... I see negative value here.   Overall Rating: 0/10   7. Sekai Meisaku Douwa: Hakuchou no Mizuumi 世界名作童話 白鳥の湖 [1981-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Fantasy, Romance When Prince Siegfried spots a beautiful swan with a crown on its head, for some reason he feels compelled to follow it. He discovers that the swan is, in fact, a princess named Odette, who is under a wizard's curse that causes her to become a swan by day. The wizard, Rothbart, wants to keep Odette to himself, and the only thing that can break the spell on Odette is a man who truly loves her, with all his heart and soul... As an anniversary work, rather well animated, but at the same time pretty safe. Just a fairy tale with a bit of improvisation in the mids.   Overall Rating: 4/10   8. Ojamanga Yamada-kun (Movie) おじゃまんが山田くん [1981-I] Kadokawa Shoten (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life None. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   9. Arano no Sakebi Koe: Hoero, Buck The Call of the Wild 荒野の呼び声 吠えろバック [1981-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Drama Based on the novel by Jack London. Buck, a half German Shepherd half Saint Bernard who's life is pretty peaceful and happy living with the Millers’ in California. However, one day he is tricked and sold off. He ends up in the snowy North where he has become a sled dog during the Gold Rush. His story takes many twists and turns and he has to fight for his own survival. Don't watch this anime unless you like dogs beaten to death constantly.   Overall Rating: 1/10   10. Hashire Melos (1981) Run Melos 走れメロス [1981-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adult Cast, Historical Drama Melos, a Greek country man gets arrested accused of conspiracy against the king. The king gives him three days to travel to his sister's wedding while Selinentius the sculptor and friend of Melos stays as a hostage. Will he get back in time before the king executes Selinentius instead of him? Well, it's horrible. The premise is pretty evident, but I hoped for at least some smart move by the end and got nothing. Happy ends just jumps out in contrast to everything happening before. I'm so pissed off.   Overall Rating: 3/10   11. Kaitei Daisensou: Ai no 20,000 Miles 海底大戦争 愛の20,000マイル [1981-I] Tatsunoko Production (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure All the nations of Earth are crumbling before the might of Darius, ruler of the Gabia Empire. Meanwhile, childhood friends Ben and Ricky are sailing on the oceans is search of the lost city of Atlantis. When their ship is sunk they are saved by Captain Nemo in his submarine Nautilus Anime tries to develop Verne's concept of captain Nemo with traditional opposition to despot and some musical. Resolution is too fast, nothing really special spotted.   Overall Rating: 4/10   12. Dr. Slump: Arale-chan Dr.スランプ・アラレちゃん [1981-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/243) Tags: Shounen Comedy, Sci-Fi, Slice of Life Dr. Slump creates a little android girl, Arale, who is very stong, happy, and totally common senseless. They live in Penguin Village where the strangest things happen (e.g., the dawn is announced by a little pig wearing a basquee). Nice situational comedy with gags and fine characters. Humor quality is above average, actually, so it's at least easy to watch. Nothing revolutionary concept-wise, and themes are rather mild, so can not be of masterpiece level for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Hyakujuu-Ou GoLion Voltron: Defender of the Universe 百獣王ゴライオン [1981-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Shounen Mecha Adventure, Sci-Fi Golion, a powerful sentient robot, abuses his great powers by attacking and killing creatures known as Deathblack Beastmen, boasting that no one could defeat him. A divine space being punishes Golion for his arrogance and abuse by seperating him into 5 different lion robots. In the year 1999, a group of 5 young men return to Earth after a space voyage, only to find it ravaged by nuclear war. After encountering the alien race known as the Galra, the 5 youths end up on the planet Altea, and learn that the 5 lion robots that Golion was split into are in hibernation in various parts of Altea. Somehow, they must reunite the lions and form Golion, the only hope for the human race. Official dub of old anime is a good enough indicator for simplistic kid titles, and it's exactly such case. Not a single element stands out. The distinguishing feature for me is an additional layer of esper-ish battles.   Overall Rating: 2/10   14. Tiger Mask Nisei タイガーマスク二世 [1981-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/33) Tags: Combat Sports Action, Drama, Sports Second season to the original Tiger Mask, with a different cast of characters. First season left a very bad impression. A glance at second season only proved that it's only a tiny bit better due to some additional characters introduction .   Overall Rating: 3/10   15. Hello! Sandybell ハロー!サンディベル [1981-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 1/47) Tags: Shoujo Adventure, Romance Sandybell is a playful girl from Scotland. She is happy even if her mum died when she was little. Past secrets begin to reveal after Sandybell gets a white lily from a rich lady. After a tragic act Sandybell moves to London where she is trying to find clues to her past. Just one episode is translated, and no desire to go on, really. Story tries to look like world theater masterpiece series, but in fact it's just a rather simple shoujo with normal visuals. All the usual themes or rivalry and jealousy are present. Main heroine is a lot less charismatic than pretty much any child character of the forementioned series.   Overall Rating: 4/10   16. Shin Taketori Monogatari: 1000-nen Joou Queen Millennia 新竹取物語1000年女王 [19-I] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/42) Tags: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi The year is 1999. Amamori Hajime is just a normal, everyday elementary school student, trying to study and hanging out with his crazy pals. But then one day as his father is testing a piece of equipment he has been working on, something causes it to blow up, taking the house with it! Now orphaned, Hajime is taken in by his uncle, who is an astronomer. There at his uncle's observatory, he meets a girl he's seen before and developed somewhat of a crush on. He finds out her name is Yukino Yayoi, and her parents run a ramen shop in town. But even better than that, she's his uncle's assistant! What luck! But Yayoi isn't exactly what she seems. There is a reason she helps out Amamori-san at the observatory. She is the Millennial Queen (Sen-Nen Joou), specially chosen by her home planet, LaMetal, to go to Earth and help prepare for the possible annihilation of the planet. What will cause this disaster? LaMetal has an extremely elliptical orbit, which sends it very, very near Earth every 1000 years. When it gets close enough, the earth reacts, causing all sorts of natural disasters. Although she was chosen with the idea of protecting LaMetal in mind, her personal plan is to evacuate as many humans as she can to LaMetal, so if their planet is destroyed, they will survive. However, there is one person who strives to stop her plan, the head of the Millennial Theives. Why does he want to stop Yayoi? And how does he know about the Millennial Queen, anyway? Reusing the same boy and woman image from space express series over and over again seriously irritates. It's fresh to see these characters in ordinary life conditions, plus it's a plot focused story rather than episodic one like space express. At the same time the level of epicism drops significantly , and story moves very slowly with three episodes aren't enough even to retell synopsis. Even without humor series are easy to watch, but I hardly gain anything from separate episodes, so I'd prefer to watch the movie version later on .   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Meiken Jolie Belle and Sebastian 名犬ジョリィ [1981-II] Visual 80 (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Historical, Pets Adventure After befriending a white Pyrenees dog he names Belle, Sebastian sets out on a journey to find the mother he knows is still alive. I remember at least three previously running anime about kid travelling with a dog, and usually looking for a parent as well. There's an English official dub, so from that alone you can tell that it's rather simple. Adventures and meeting different people are rather expected and nothing special to mention.   Overall Rating: 4/10   18. Ai no Gakkou Cuore Monogatari 愛の学校 クオレ物語 [1981-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Historical, School Drama, Slice of Life Enrico Pocchini is a kind-hearted schoolboy with a strong sense of justice who lives in the Italian town of Torino. As a new term starts, he loses his beloved teacher, Miss Delacci, who is replaced by the stern Sr. Pelboni. Eventually, the boys in Enrico's class come to respect Sr. Pelboni, and learn about love, life and human kindness. Those weird noses... anyway, it's a very slow and boring slice with weird drawing Without humor I seriously can't know what's the targed audience of this show.   Overall Rating: 4/10   19. Ohayou! Spank おはよう!スパンク [1981-II] TMS Entertainment (Dropped 1/63) Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life Morimura Aiko is a junior high school student who is short for her age. Her father went on a yacht ten years ago and his whereabouts remained in obscurity. Her mother, a designer for hats, left for Paris, leaving Aiko in the care of her uncle, Mr Fujinami. Aiko had a pet dog, Papi, but it died in a car accident. Around the same time, another dog, Spank, appears before her. Having gone through so many unfortunate events in her life, Spank's presence begins to brighten up Aiko's life and put a smile on her face. Only pilot is translated. Spank is hardly a dog as he walks on two legs most of the time, often dresses clothes etc. It's more like Doraemon who can't talk and thus needs to express emotions vigorously. Comedy part is ok, but nothing special.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Wakakusa no Yon Shimai 若草の四姉妹 [1981-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 1/26) Tags: Historical Drama, Slice of Life In the United States, the Civil War has just broken out and Mr March, a physician and father of four daughters, went to the front. Madam March remains alone with her four daughters: the eldest Margaret (Meg), Josephine (Jo) budding writer, a real boy failed, Elisabeth (Beth), the timid passionate piano, and the latest addition, Amy, who loves to draw. The four girls will quickly get to know their neighbor Mr. Lawrence, which they had a little scared at first, but also to his grandson Laurie who at the age of Jo. Together, they go through many hardships, more or less happy, the furies of Aunt March, jealousies, the joys and the war in fabric background, hoping that their father will come back safe and sound.. There seems to be just one episode translated. And the reason is probably that the same story got a much better remake in 1987. This series has worse drawing even compared to full movie that came previously, and plot is mere retelling of the movie with more fillers. I'll wait for the real thing in 1987.   Overall Rating: 4/10   21. Ougon Senshi Gold Lightan Golden Warrior: The Gold Lightan 黄金戦士ゴールド・ライタン [1981-II] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Mecha When a young boy called Hiro finds what appears to be a broken lighter in an empty field, it changes his life forever. This lighter is actually the Gold Lightan, a robot that fell to Earth from the Robot Dimension. When called upon to defend the Earth from Ivalda the Great's evil robots, Gold Lightan transforms into a giant super robot, known as the Golden Warrior. Gold Lightan joins forces with Hiro's and his gang, the One Pack Rangers to protect the Earth from the evil schemes of Ivalda the Great and his armored forces. Wow, mecha in the form of golden lighter... anyway. There are quite many funny yet shallow characters, but humor is totally inferior to similar older title Muteki Robo Trider G7 from Sunrise .   Overall Rating: 4/10   22. Mechakko Dotakon Mechanical Boy Dotakon めちゃっこドタコン [1981-II] Kokusai Eigasha (Dropped 3/28) Tags: Comedy, Sci-Fi Geeky genius Michiru has already got her Ph.D. in atomic physics (from California university) by the age of 11. But she still longs for a little brother, so she builds her own. Robot boy Dotakon is soon joined by their little robot sister, Chopiko, and the trio embarks on a series of fantastic adventures fueled by Michiru's inventions. Too much chaos happening, so really difficult to experience the raw version as no English translation exists. Most of so called humor here relies on weird antics and same weird inventions .   Overall Rating: 4/10   23. Jarinko Chie じゃりン子チエ [1981-II] Toho (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Drama Jarinko Chie is a movie directed by Takahata in 1981. Based on the very popular manga by Etsumi HARUKI, it is about ten year old Chie, "the most unfortunate girl in Japan", who manages her family diner while her unemployed yakuza father and her mother are separated. This sounds really depressing, but it's actually a very funny comedy. The story is set in Osaka, which has a totally different culture from Tokyo. After the success of the movie, a TV series was made, and Takahata worked as the chief director. Story has great characters and nice humor, thus it's really memorable. I enjoyed it partially, thus a masterpiece score. But all the themes and personalities are still rather simple (only Chie and her mother are more complex), so I can't enjoy it fully and can't give a higher score. But compared to its contemporaries, it's really great and a huge step forward for slice genre with some comedy relief.   Overall Rating: 7/10   24. Helen Keller Monogatari: Ai to Hikari no Tenshi The Story of Hellen Keller: Angel of Love and Light ヘレン・ケラー物語 愛と光の天使 [1981-II] TV Asahi (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama Based on Hellen Keller's (1880-1968) autobiography. Just a biography of a person heavily deprived of senses. With 70 minutes it takes its time to tell the story, but in the end it's really just autobiography with a clear aim of being a tearjerker, not something I could enjoy .   Overall Rating: 4/10   25. Furiten-kun フリテンくん [1981-II] Knack Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Slice of Life Based on the yonkoma manga by Ueda Masashi. It's just many sketches mashed together in a very loose manner. Without coherent story and translation it's just entertaining at best even with the tilt on adult humor.   Overall Rating: 5/10   26. Lupin tai Holmes ルパン対ホームズ [1981-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Mystery Based on a story by Maurice Leblanc. Not found (9 minute excert does not count).   Overall Rating: 0/10   27. Sugata Sanshirou Judo Story 姿三四郎 [1981-II] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Martial Arts Action, Sports In the year 1882, Sanshirou comes to Tokyo seeking for a worthy martial arts teacher. There, he meets Yano - a judo master who single-handedly defeats 39 jujitsu practitioners. Extremely impressed by his skill, Sanshirou decides to become his disciple. Later, Sanshirou falls for Sayo Murai - a girl whose father is a martial arts instructor at the local police department; and he also has to face Higaki Gennosuke, a skilled jujitsu fighter and his greatest rival. Based on a novel by Tsuneo Tomita, which was adapted into a 1943 movie by young Akira Kurosawa. Another boring judo uber alles serious anime. The only good point for me here is that period is apparently very early  20th century with rickshaws still around.   Overall Rating: 4/10   28. Sengoku Majin Goushougun Macron 1 戦国魔神ゴーショーグン [1981-III] Production Reed (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi Mecha, Parody A meteor strikes the Earth and is found to emanate a powerful new energy called Beamler, which is used to power a battle robot, GoShogun, and a teleporting fortress, Good Thunder. The Docougar Crime Syndicate, lead by crime lord Neo Neros, try to steal the secret of the energy from the inventor of GoShogun, but he kills himself rather than let them acquire it. His son is targeted by Neo Neros next, but he is taken in by the crew aboard Good Thunder, who travel the world fighting NeoNeros's forces with GoShogun. There's a more or less adult cast, but it hardly matters with same as usual mecha themes. Did not spot parody tbh apart of the fact that one of enemy generals is a blonde bishounen with a red rose. Pretty average overall.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Manga Mitokoumon まんが水戸黄門 [1981-III] Knack Animation (Dropped 3/46) Tags: Historical Mitokomon is the emperor's trusted man with a high sense of justice. He is sent to travel around the country in order to observe the quality of life in each province and run a check on the official's performances and report back to the empror. Along with him are sent two bodyguards, Kaiko (known for his extraordinary power) and Tsuke (known for his amazing swordsmanship). The three men, traveling unknown, face lots of adventure on their journey to bring justice to the citizens and eliminate corruption from the governing system. No translation, but it's not essential as anime is about travel and action. Just aimless adventures, really.   Overall Rating: 4/10   30. Mobile Suit Gundam II: Soldiers of Sorrow 機動戦士ガンダムⅡ 哀・戦士編 [1981-III] Sunrise  (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Action, Drama, Sci-Fi As the War continues, Amuro and the White Base crew must make their way toward the Earth Federation Headquarters, Jaburo. On their way they meet several new enemies and face off against impossible odds. They fight in Operation Odessa to relieve the Earth from the clutches of the Zeon forces. Lives are lost, new friendships are made, and discoveries at every corner. Amuro soon learns that he possesses the powers of the mysterious Newtypes. Direct continuation of first movie that I evaluated very low. Nothing has really changed now.   Overall Rating: 4/10   31. Sirius no Densetsu The Sea Prince and the Fire Child シリウスの伝説 [1981-III] Sanrio (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Fantasy, Romance Gods once lived on earth, and two siblings, Oceanus - God of Water, and Hyperia - Goddess of Fire, lived in peace and dearly loved each other. However, the God of Wind, Algaroc, become jealous of the pair's happiness, and spread lies and deceit between them until their hatred for each other brought about war. Finally, Algaroc was imprisoned by the King of Gods, but after that time, the brother and sister still despised each other, so the Children of Fire and Water forever remained apart. But, then Prince Syrius of the Water and Princess Malta of the Fire meet and fall in love. The love of Syrius and Malta may not be enough to surpass their parents' hatred. Whether they can stay together forever may be impossible Disney imitation with rival parties love and some action, feels really weak.   Overall Rating: 4/10   32. Ashita no Joe 2 (Movie) あしたのジョー2 [1981-III] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Combat Sports Drama It has been six months since the tragic accident in Joe and Rikiishi's fight. Joe believes he has overcomed Rikiishi's death and decides to make a comeback. Joe does make a successful comeback by scoring 5 KO's by body blows. Joe is then given a shot at the national title as a means by the boxing commission to put him down. The champion, Tiger Ozaki makes use of Joe's habits and ends up making Joe's corner throw in the towel. Joe is afraid to throw punches at the face because of what happened to Rikiishi. Youko, Joe's love interest and the owner of the gym where Rikiishi trained at recruits a world ranked boxer from Venezuela, Carlos Rivera, to get Joe back on his feet and pursue his boxing career to the regional and world rank Well, hooligan romance is gone, and second movie is mostly about sport. I'd say it's loses quite some charm in comparison. Also, more drama lingers.   Overall Rating: 5/10   33. Dr. Slump Movie 01: Arale-chan Hello! Fushigi Shima Dr. Slump and Arale-chan: Hello! Wonder Island Dr.スランプ アラレちゃん ハロー!不思議島 [1981-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Comedy, Sci-Fi Professor Senbei finds a videotape of his deceased father providing instructions on how to create a love potion. The main ingredient is a tear of the evil Gyaasuka Daimao who lives at the Wonder Island. To retrieve it, Senbei takes Arale and Gatchan on a wacky adventure. Basically, just a longer than usual episode in the same direction as the series.   Overall Rating: 5/10   34. Yuki Yuki: Snow Fairy ゆき [1981-III] Mushi Production (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mythology Adventure, Fantasy Up in Heaven, Yuki’s grandparents decide that, having turned thirteen years old, she must go down to Earth to a village that is torn by bandits and intervene to save its people. However, if she does not succeed within one year, she will become as insubstantial as the wind. Down in the village, Yuki is befriended by a group of orphans whose parents have been killed by the bandits and who now subsist by begging. Yuki amazes them by taming the wild horse Blizzard. She is instrumental in getting the orphans and farmers to stand up to first the warring bandits and then Goemon, the greedy lord that owns the region. Yuki must then face her greatest challenge when the displeased Demon God that lives in the volcano emerges to destroy those who live beneath. It reminded me the best anime of 60s in my opinion Taiyou no Ouji as it's again newcomer helping villagers and facing divine providence, but it does not live up to the predecessor's level, so can't rate it as high.   Overall Rating: 6/10   35. 21 Emon Uchuu e Irasshai! 21エモン 宇宙へいらっしゃい! [1981-III] Shin-Ei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Comedy, Sci-Fi The story tells the adventures of the boy, 21 emon, engaged in the management of a hotel belonging to his family for years. In his problems, 21 emons is helped by the robot Gonsuke and the little alien Monga. Not translation. As I understood , Emon is 21st Emon in the dynasty of hotel keepers. Anime has mild humor, so it's primarily for kids. No surprise that Emon did cross-overs with Doraemon. The setting provides all kinds of possible alien guests, so humor is mostly based on encounters and cultural differences with them. Can't say I could enjoy it.   Overall Rating: 4/10   36. Captain Movie キャプテン 劇場版 [1981-III] Eiken (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Team Sports The movie focuses on a game between Sumiya 2 and Aoba Gakuin. No translation. Watched it for some reason... probably just because could find it. But first Captain movie was so plain that there was not a single chance for success from the start.   Overall Rating: 4/10   37. Kyoufu Densetsu Kaiki! Frankenstein The Monster Of Frankenstein 恐怖伝説 怪奇!フランケンシュタイン [1981-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi Airing on TV Asahi in 1981, with a running time of 111 minutes, Frankenstein is a reasonably standard retelling of the classic book by Mary Shelley. In a foreboding castle scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein performs a hideous experiment which he hopes will bring the dead back to life. With the help of his assistant he is successful in reanimating a man recreated from parts gathered from corpses but the creature is unpredictable and horrifying. The doctor flees back to his home in Switzerland leaving his assistant in charge of destroying the monster. But Dr. Frankenstein soon finds that he cannot hide from his shameful secret forever as mysterious murders are committed around him forcing him to question if his creation really is dead and gone... As usual, anime does not stop at retelling the book, but tries to develop on it like the fact that Frankenstein befriends some people eventually which is hard to imagine in the book. All that is pretty stupid, as for me.   Overall Rating: 3/10   38. Anime-ban Toukaidou Yotsuya Kaidan アニメ版 東海道・四谷怪談  [1981-III] Kansai Telecasting (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Historical Horror, Supernatural An adaptation of Yotsuya Kaidan, a classic Japanese horror story about a ghost getting revenge. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   39. Urusei Yatsura うる星やつら [1981-IV] Pierrot, Studio Deen (Dropped 5/195) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi Not much is notable about the lecherous Ataru Moroboshi, but his extraordinary bad luck sticks out like the horns in an alien's head. When Earth is threatened by a fleet of alien invaders known as the Oni, Ataru is selected to represent humanity in a duel against one of them. It's a stroke of rare luck for Ataru that the duel is in fact a game of tag, and that his opponent is Lum, daughter of the Oni's leader, who places her personal dignity above victory—as Ataru finds out by seizing Lum's bikini top and with it, victory. However, misfortune kicks in again when Lum mistakes Ataru's promise to marry his girlfriend, Shinobu Miyake, as the desire to wed Lum herself, and decides she rather likes the idea. Wielding her influence as an alien princess, she moves in with him. Forced to deal with the consequences of his womanizing ways, Ataru must balance his crumbling relationship with Shinobu while keeping Lum happy, all the while flirting with every woman he meets. RomCom with elements of ecchi , love triangle squared as many new characters show up - that's definitely first of its kind! It's super easy to watch - good animation, warm colors, super easy to follow because of great directorship. On the grand scale I realize it's of episodic nature with almost 200 episodes in, there's nothing really to pursue or follow. I could rate it a bit higher, but the longer it goes, the less exciting it becomes.   Overall Rating: 5/10   40. Uchuu Densetsu Ulysses 31 Ulysses 31 宇宙伝説ユリシーズ31 [1981-IV] Shin-Ei Animation (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts Comedy, Slice of Life It is the thirty-first century. Ulysses killed the giant Cyclops when he rescued the children and his son, Telemachus. But the ancient gods of Olympus are angry and threaten a terrible revenge: Ulysses is sentenced to travel through the universe of Olympus with a frozen crew on a quest to find the Kingdom of Hades. Only when he has found the Kingdom of Hades will his crew be free of their curse and he will be able to return to Earth and to his beloved Penelope. You know that I always have doubts about officially dubbed old anime. And I definitely have questions when I see Greek mythology heroes flying in space on a space ship... as it puts a dent in the credibility and tries to teach something instead. Well, maybe this anime is not primitive as many dubbed contemporaries , but it's still really simplistic and childish. There are only three protagonists and a generic episode presents adventure on a new planet. I don't find it interesting at all, can't put even average score.   Overall Rating: 4/10   41. Dash! Kappei ダッシュ勝平 [1981-IV] Tatsunoko Production, Tama Production (Dropped 20/65) Tags: Shounen Comedy, Sports, Ecchi Kappei is a dramatically short guy but he is a master in every sport. He lives as a guest in sweet Akane's house, and he's in love with her, but there's a strange rival, her dog Salomone (Italian name) who plans evil traps to encumber Kappei. But the dog has also another function: he explains all sport rules when a new sport is depicted. Kappei is fond of white female underwear, always trying to lift girl's skirts up. Wow, the moment I said that Urusei Yatsura is the first ecchi rom-com there's another genre representative at the very same time! It always fascinated me how the same thought often comes to different people at relatively the same time. Damn, it's so hilarious. Competing for a girl ... with a dog who wants to marry her! Unlike Yatsura, there are no restraints here, so it's pantsu-fest with all kind of crazy funny twists. Don't expect a development or something serious, but for entertainment it's just right. I try to measure my attitude at different episodes, and after first 12 episodes it was a firm 7. Then there was a micro tournament, then some sci-fi episodes, then it finally returned to SOL with some sci-fi elements. After 20 episodes decided to drop it as it stopped to please me - after all , it's really hard to keep going with dozens of episodes of episodic nature without loss of saturation. Sadly, can't keep the score of 7 as I could not even finish it myself.   Overall Rating: 6/10   42. Taiyou no Kiba Dagram 太陽の牙ダグラム  [1981-IV] Sunrise (Dropped 6/75) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Military Drama, Sci-Fi The story is centered around a small group of guerilla freedom fighters on a colonial planet named Deployer, who are known as the "Deployer 7", or "Sun Fang" team. In an unexpected coup, the elected Governor of Deployer becomes dictator and rules Deployer under martial law with the support of Earth's Federation. Fighting for independence from Earth's Federation influence, the freedom fighters begin a rebellion against the Federation's Combat Armors using a Combat Armor of their own: the Dougram. This is what Gundam should have been from the start. Also civil war with the use of battle suits, but now it has structure , team play and no irritating characters. And it's from my favorite studio of the 80s Sunrise. At the same time I'm not ready to watch it to the end and call it a masterpiece. There are many small reasons for it. Story is very slow to unfold. There are a lot of characters , but none of them really stand out as special. There are a lot of events happening in different  places , and shifts between these events are rather harsh. Series needs higher quality resolution and normal softsubs to shine. In the end , I just don't feel involved enough to go further, but I'd gladly watch both movie versions that come in 1983.   Overall Rating: 6/10   43. Maicching Machiko-sensei Miss Machiko まいっちんぐマチコ先生 [1981-IV] Pierrot (Dropped 20/95) Tags: School Comedy, Ecchi Machiko Mai is the newest teacher at Asama Elementary; she's young, beautiful, and has the perfect proportions—traits that attract the attention of not only her students, but the rest of the perverted faculty as well. Whether it's luring her in and spraying up her skirt with a hose or leaps and bounds to grab her breasts, there's nothing that Machiko's first year students won't try to do. Regardless of her embarrassing plight, Machiko is always a good sport and tries her best to help out her students—at any cost to her dignity! Lol, just after perverted Kappei there's something even more flashy. Anyway, Kappei had more interesting characters and more ingenuity in it. At the same time Kappei had to focus on sports a lot and lost perversity as it went on. Machiko-sensei did not bother with complex concepts from the start, so it remains lighter and more pervy in comparison. It allows to watch it for a longer time, but makes it less memorable. After 10th episode it also starts to go astray with sci-fi and heartful episodes. I enjoyed both anime on comparable level, so the same score .   Overall Rating: 6/10   44. Wanwan Sanjuushi Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds ワンワン三銃士 [1981-IV] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Historical Adventure The story begins with the arrival of a brave young boy in Paris. His ambition is to join the glorious Imperial Guards, but fierce competition and the minimum age requirement hinder him from joining. The boy then challenges the well-known Three Musketeers in order to demonstrate his excellent skills with the sword. However, at the very moment the fight begins, a power-hungry group cuts in. Realizing their wicked intention, the boy D'artagnan and the Three Musketeers quickly cooperate and defeat them. This is the beginning of their friendship and commitment to fight conspiracy. Another officially dubbed old anime. I found it endlessly boring, probably because I know the story from so many sources already, and all the antics introduced for comedy relief irritate instead.   Overall Rating: 5/10   45. Rokushin Gattai GodMars God Mars 六神合体ゴッドマーズ [1981-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/64) Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Sci-Fi In the year 1999, humanity begins to advance beyond the solar system. The planet Gishin, led by the Emperor Zule, which aims to conquer the galaxy, runs into conflict with Earth. He targets Earth for elimination and to do this, he sends a baby called Mars to live among humanity. Accompanying the baby is a giant robot named Gaia, which utilizes a new power source strong enough to destroy an entire planet. As planned, Mars is expected to grow up, where he will activate the bomb within Gaia to fulfill the mission of destroying the Earth. However, when Mars arrives on Earth his is adopted into a Japanese family and given the name Takeru. Seventeen years later, Takeru would grow up with a love for humanity and refuses to detonate the bomb as ordered by Zule. However, if Takeru was to die, the bomb within Gaia would explode destroying the earth. Takeru possesses psychic powers ( ESP ) and decides to join the Earth defense forces and becomes a member of the Crasher Squad (an elite space defense force) where he and his friends take a last stand against the Gishin's attack. The relationship of Takeru with his brother Maag, which fate would have it, pitted the two against each other in the war. Unknown to the Gishin five other robots were created in secrecy along side Gaia by Takeru's father and sent with Gaia to protect Takeru. Whenever Earth is in danger, Takeru is able to summon the five other robots to combine with Gaia form the giant robot Godmars. The five other robots are Sphinx, Uranus, Titan, Shin and Ra. ESP plus mecha is one of my most hated genre combination. Super simplistic, as usual .   Overall Rating: 3/10   46. Ginga Senpuu Braiger Galactic Whirlwind Braiger 銀河旋風ブライガー  [1981-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 4/39) Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi In the year 2111, the solar system has been colonized. The colonized moons and planets are lawless and the police are helpless. In order to battle the evil within the solar system, Isaac Godonov creates J9, made up of himself, Blaster Kid, Stephen Bowie, and Angel Omachi. They are a team that will handle any missions the police will not with their robot Braiger... for a price. Meanwhile, the Nubia section of Earth has a plan to destroy Jupiter to create 30 more planets for human colonization. But this plan will result in the destruction of Earth. Space crew travels around , takes up missions and fulfils it with the help of mecha. Since protagonists aren't developed well and story is of episodic nature, it fells more like half-baked reincarnation of Captain Harlock than something new.   Overall Rating: 4/10   47. Honey Honey no Suteki na Bouken Honey Honey's Wonderful Adventures ハニーハニーのすてきな冒険 [1981-IV] Kokusai Eigasha (Dropped 2/29) Tags: Shoujo Historical Adventure Glamorous Paris, entrancing Venice, romantic Rome and irresistible Vienna... These alluring cities of enchantment invite you to witness the story of a young girl who unexpectedly becomes entangled in daring adventures and rollicking romance. Vienna, 1907. Princess Flora, the one and only idol of the entire nation, is celebrating her birthday. Flora is young, beautiful, single and the object of all the men`s desire. A classical shoujo that even got an official dub... which for me equals deadly boring. Princess, castles, bishounens, villains, cute animal and a lot of sparks - all the cliché elements are present.   Overall Rating: 3/10   48. Jarinko Chie (TV) じゃりン子チエ [1981-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 7/64) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Drama Jarinko Chie is a movie directed by Takahata in 1981. Based on the very popular manga by Etsumi HARUKI, it is about ten year old Chie, "the most unfortunate girl in Japan," who manages her family diner while her unemployed yakuza father and her mother are separated. This sounds really depressing, but it's actually a very funny comedy. The story is set in Osaka, which has a totally different culture from Tokyo. After the success of the movie, a TV series was made, and Takahata worked as the chief director. There's no translation, so it can't beat movie already. A lot of first episodes, like six at least, mostly retell the movie with some additional unneeded scenes like most of those scenes were cool while unfinished , and now everything is developed to contain a logical resolution or source, so it's more of a slice and less of a cool gig. I guess it's closer to manga now this way and I'd sure watch it to the end if there was translation.   Overall Rating: 6/10   49. Shin Dokonjou Gaeru 新・ど根性ガエル [1981-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/30) Tags: Shounen Comedy, Slice of Life Continuation of Dokonjougaeru series. Original had only some 20 translated episodes, and sequel has zero which determines the top score it can get from me. Feels a bit old-school now with two stories in each episode, but it still got its grip.   Overall Rating: 6/10   50. Uchuu Senshi Baldios (Movie) 宇宙戦士バルディオス [1981-IV] Kokusai Eigasha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Sci-Fi This film supplied the ending to the cancelled Space Warrior Baldios television series. So TV series got cancelled and it was not just me who did not like the anime. Great anime if you want to see the Earth contaminated by a hundred of nuclear bombs. I tried to find something positive in the anime, and it's just horrible.   Overall Rating: 4/10   51. Rennyo to Sono Haha Rennyo and His Mother 蓮如とその母 [1981-IV] (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Historical Rennyo was the key figure responsible for the restoration of Shin Buddhism in Japan, in particular the Honganji lineage, during a slump in its fortunes during the Middle Ages. According to legend, his motivation was a pivotal childhood incident at the age of just six when his mother summoned him and informed him of his destiny to revive the fortunes of the Honganji school to which he was the next in line. She then mysteriously disappeared from the temple. Taking her words to heart, from a background of great poverty and hardship, at the age of 16 he set out to spread the word across the land. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   52. Manga Hana no Kakarichou まんが花の係長 [1981-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Slice of Life Based on the comedy manga by Sonoyama Shunji. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   53. Manzai Taikouki マンザイ太閤記 [1981-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Seinen  Historical Comedy None Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   54. Bokura Mangaka: Tokiwasou Monogatari  ぼくらマンガ家 トキワ荘物語 [1981-IV] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life Tokiwa was the apartment complex where a group of stellar artists lived in 1953. Hiro Terada, Motoo Abiko and Hiroshi Fujimoto, Shotaro Ishinomori, and Fujio Akatsuka shared the trials and tribulations of being struggling young artists and writers with no money and no luck with editors or girls, with a spirit of insane youthful enthusiasm that enabled them to survive the lean years and emerge as stars of the manga firmament. There's no translation and the only quality available is 160x120 pixels which makes it physically painful to watch. It's pretty nice humor-wise, but not outstanding.   Overall Rating: 5/10   55. Chiisana Love Letter: Mariko to Nemunoki no Kodomo-tachi 小さなラブレター まり子とねむの木の子供たち [1981-IV] TV Asahi (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Music, School Drama A follow-up to the same studio's Helen Keller anime, A Little Love Letter kept the handicapped theme but focused on a wholly Japanese story. During the 1970s, actress Mariko Miyagi became heavily involved in the Silk Tree Academy (Nemunoki Gakuen), a rehabilitation center for disabled children. She appeared in several live-action films to promote the project, including The Silk Tree Ballad, Mariko-Mother, and Children Drawing Rainbows. This anime charts the 14-year period of Miyagi's stewardship of the academy and her relationships with several of the children. Divided into four seasonal chapters, the film uses highly realistic character designs based on the actual people involved and features storyboarding from the versatile Star Blazers-director Noboru Ishiguro. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10
  20. kivandopulus
    AI: Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative and Yumahorome ~Toki o Tometa Yakata de Asu o Sagasu Maigo-tachi~ can be safely called masterpieces this month.   1. Eiga Go-toubun no Hanayome ~Kimi to Sugoshita Itsutsu no Omoide~ 映画 五等分の花嫁 ~君と過ごした五つの思い出~ [220602] MAGES. GAME The Quintessential Quintuplets the Movie: Five Memories of My Time with You features a multi-ending story that changes depending on which sister you confess your feelings to. It is every The Quintessential Quintuplets fan’s dream situation: "Uesugi Fuutarou confesses his feelings to each of the five sisters." The player can craft Uesugi Fuutarou’s future with their own hands. There are 15 possible endings. Plus, there is a hidden route that can be unlocked after watching the ending for each of the five sisters, allowing you to enjoy the game many times over. The game also features an original story set during a graduation trip to Okinawa. The player, Uesugi Fuutarou, goes sightseeing in Okinawa with the five sisters. It even features live-action sightseeing movies, so you can feel as if you are really on a trip to Okinawa with the five sisters. During the trip, Fuutarou strives to kiss the one he confesses to and secure a future for his long-distance relationship. Will he get his kiss? That depends on the player. Console exclusive   2. AI: Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative AI: ソムニウムファイル ニルヴァーナイニシアチブ [220623] Spike Chunsoft 1 Six years ago, the right half of a corpse was discovered. The left half was never found…until six years later, completely fresh with no signs of decay. Now, Special Agents Mizuki and Ryuki, along with their AI partners Aiba and Tama, are tasked to solve the bizarre Half Body serial killings while unveiling the mysterious plot known only as the Nirvana Initiative… Game is released in English and has English reviews.     3. Amaemi-longing for you- アマエミ-longing for you- [220624] Azarashi Soft The protagonist, Nabeshima Tatsuya, was a world-renowned painter. However, after a certain incident, he disappeared from the public eye. Now as a social studies teacher, he spends his days away from the art world. He lives in seclusion with his cat in his social studies preparation room, which is his own residence, away from the public eye. However, with the arrival of the new school semester, a new wind begins to blow. Kusunoki Iroha, an attractive girl who adores Tatsuya. Kurusu Sakuya, the most talented girl in the school, who is mysteriously attracted to Tatsuya; and Akebi Saki, the daughter of Tatsuya's former teacher. A life of dullness, like being dead inside while living. Now it is being colored in gorgeous and vibrant colors by the three girls. Rich visuals and thin content. Heroines like protagonist and compete for him from the start. Game is advertised as "Human drama", but it mostly concerns protagonist who can't draw anymore because of it  .     4. Sora no Ao to Shiro to / Mabataki no Natsu  空の青と白と/瞬きの夏 [220624] Barista Lab Main character is about to abandon his school club when he meets an unfamiliar girl in his club room. The girl turns out to be fan of his novel and is anxious to read the continuation. This summer a new page of creation, youth and love is turned. Another single heroine vanilla nukige.     5. Yumahorome ~Toki o Tometa Yakata de Asu o Sagasu Maigo-tachi~ ゆまほろめ ~時を停めた館で明日を探す迷子たち~ [220624] Lump of Sugar ――This is a "Mansion of the Stopped Time". While you are here, The outside world―― The time in the world where everyone was originally, will Never go on. So, You don't have to worry anything about outside. When everyone returns, the world will start moving again. More importantly... Now that you came to a place like this, I want you to take your time and relax. You won't be able to get out of here for a while after all. Let me tell you, This Mansion is very Mysterious! When you thought the corridor would continue forever, a door suddenly appear, When you take your eyes off the door for a little while, the door disappears before you know it... Even inside the rooms, there's something strange. There are a Lot of unusual rooms too! Sun that is dazzling, the Winds blowing, it's just like a room outside! ...I'm sure there are many rooms I haven't entered yet. Of course, there is an Exit! But the current you, Won't be able to find it. ...You can't get out of here right away. The time is stopped outside, You don't have to rush. That's why―― Let's all play together! Lump of Sugar provides a stamp of quality, but scenario is schematic. Frozen time, girls with problems, and there's nothing behind it, and Grand route also provides no development or revelation, so only nice if you don't expect a big mystery.   6. EVE ghost enemies  [220630] El Dia Kojiroh Amagi’s Story A mysterious incident occurs at a countryside mansion involving the death of a influential man from the village. There were rumors that his death was brought by a curse passed on as a village legend… Bored and bored and bored… All Kojiroh had to do was to brew coffee everyday, until his rival Yayoi Katsuragi brought in a job. It was a request specifically placed for Genzaburo Katsuragi. Kojiroh heads to Sawashirodo Village as a substitute for Yayoi. Awaiting him there was Kougen Sawashiro, a powerful man in the economic world and Genzaburo’s old friend, nearly 100 years-old and unable to leave his bed. “I want you to investigate the cause of my son’s death.” There were rumors that his death was brought by a curse passed on as a village legend. “He was killed by ‘Gururi.'” The incident occurred at a mansion overlooking the water known as “Mizumorikan.” The strange death of the village’s influential man. Will Kojiroh be able to reach the truth? Marina Houjou’s Story A super-technology weapon that was smuggled to Japan. A joint investigation with the CIA unveils surprising truths… Marina Houjou is a first-class investigator who has returned to Japan after a long time overseas. Although the Japanese Cabinet Information Research Office (CIRO) is currently seeking intelligence sharing cooperation with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), she is being kept far out of focus due to her being a troublemaker. During that time, she encounters an runaway car explosion in the city. The explosion was caused by “Ever3,” an unknown inhumane weapon that was brought into Japan to stop the cooperation between the CIRO and CIA. This incident caused Marina to investigate “Ever3” with the CIA, and reunited her with Sherry Mea, an old friend who has become a CIA investigator. Surprising truths come to surface as the investigation of the super-technology carries on. Will Marina be able to find the true enemy and realize the future she desires? Console exclusive.  
  21. kivandopulus
    Marked just one title as masterpiece in 1980 - Hi no Tori 2772: Ai no CosmoZone   1. Tom Sawyer no Bouken The Adventures of Tom Sawyer トム・ソーヤーの冒険 [1980-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/49) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama, Slice of Life Tom Sawyer is a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River in the mid 1800s. Along with his best friend Huckleberry Finn, he spends his days ditching school, fishing, climbing trees and having adventures. We've seen Huck adventures anime and not it's Tom's. Quite good, but for those who read Mark Twain's books already nothing really new.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Mahou Shoujo Lalabel 魔法少女ララベル [1980-I] (Dropped 3/49) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Comedy, Slice of Life Lalabel is a magical girl who arrives in the Human world to stop an evil wizard from stealing various magical objects or items. As a magical girl, she has a kitty for a companion and a magic wand. Coincidentally, she lands on the doorstep of the Tachibana couple and lives in with them during her stay in the human world. She attends the local school and begins to learn about the different things in the human world. Having a very strong deja vu here. I guess the closest one was Majokko Megu-chan. Everything is secondary here and no unique features spotted.   Overall Rating: 3/10   3. Mori no Youki na Kobito-tachi: Belfy to Lillibit The Littl' Bits 森の陽気な小人たち ベルフィーとリビット [1980-I] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy This family-friendly series features a community of tiny forest pixies living in a quaint, old fashioned village. Kind-hearted Belfy, adventurous Lillibit, mischievous Napoleon and tiny Chuchuna have adventures with their friends and help out those around them. With the guidance of wise village elder Ronji, competent (but not always sober) Doctor Dokkorin, authoritative Mayor Maymond and Lillibit's hardworking parents Rock and Marla, the children learn lessons about kindness, friendship, courage, hard work, perseverance, following your dreams, standing up for what's right and rising up to face life's unexpected challenges. Gnomes are cute and funny. I'd gladly watch more episodes, but, alas, there's no translation to go further.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Muteki Robo Trider G7 Invincible Robo Trider G7 無敵ロボトライダーG7 [1980-I] Sunrise (Dropped 3/50) Tags: Mecha, Space Comedy, Sci-Fi Takeo Watta inherits a company upon his father's death. The company focuses on space travel, and the transformable robot Trider-G7 is their greatest creation. When an evil space organization lead by Lord Zakuron starts attacking Earth, Watta has to use Trider in a more combat-oriented way. Number in mecha anime titles usually means the number of team members, so the only intrigue for me was what G7 meant, and it's more or less true for this anime. However, Sunrise managed to surprise me as it made a totally cliche mecha into a really nice situation comedy with alive feeling characters. Sadly, second half is same transformation scene and rather boring fight each time. Also concept is clear and bears no plot intrigue. Still this anime for me marks the era when animation studios begin to matter as they can make even horrible concepts fun. The best mecha anime I've seen so far.  Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Time Bokan Series: Time Patroltai Otasukeman タイムボカンシリーズ タイムパトロール隊 オタスケマン [1980-I] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 2/53) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi  Burning with ambitions to become the most beautiful woman, the most renowned scientist, and the greatest hero the world has ever known, three villains, Atasha, Sekobitchi and Duwarusuki, unite. The trio are Time Patrollers, the keepers and protectors of the annals of history. But, this is only a cover for the trio, as the villains are league with a nefarious leader, who is trying to alter the course of history to suit his desires, and, under his instructions, the trio travel in time with the aim of tampering with recorded history. Only Hikaru and Nana, disguised as the Otasukemen, stand between the villains and their goals. Villains and saviors teams are now rivals starting from the same point. Saviors are now red-haired, and main antagonist girl bearing most of fan-service has gone from cool blonde in black leather to rather plain-looking green haired girl. And since this show always was based on humor around antagonists, due to new antagonist girl a third of it just looks worse now. For this reason it's arguably the worst part in the series for this reason as concept remains the same more or less even though humor improves each time.   Overall Rating: 4/10   6. Maeterlinck no Aoi Tori: Tyltyl Mytyl no Bouken Ryokou メーテルリングの青い鳥 チルチルミチルの冒険旅行 [1980-I] Toei Animation (Dropped 1/26) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  On a snowy Christmas Eve, Tyltyl and Mytyl sit in their home. Normally, they would be caught up in the Christmas spirit, but their mother has taken ill. So that evening, they lie awake, unable to sleep, when through the window crashes a strange, mercurial magical spirit named Berylune, who reveals that the world we live in isn't the only one there is. And so Tyltyl and Mytyl, accompanied by various spirits, as well as their now-humanoid pets, are led on a journey to find the blue bird of happiness and save their mother, and along the way they visit some strange and wondrous places, and finally, must face the spirit of darkness to attain their elusive goal. From the only translated episode it's evident that protagonists are simpleton and target audience is kids.   Overall Rating: 3/10   7. Doraemon Movie 01: Nobita no Kyouryuu Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Dinosaur 映画 ドラえもん のび太の恐竜 [1980-I] Shin-Ei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Time Travel Adventure, Comedy Nobita finds a fossilized dinosaur egg by accident, and with the help of Doraemon's tools, they hatched the egg and began raising the dinosaur. Knowing that they can't keep the dinosaur forever, Nobita was forced to send it back to prehistoric times where a group of hunters from the future threatens to endanger the dinosaurs. Determined to save the dinosaurs from the claws of the hunters, Doraemon and the gang returns to the past and sets out in a prehistoric adventure. MAL again did not mark a kid anime properly even though it blocked series all right as kid content. Anyway, Doraemon first aired in 1973 and inherited classical Japanese family from anime of the 1960s like Perman etc . Humor is indeed ok here, but too mild, as expected.   Overall Rating: 4/10   8. Ashita no Joe (Movie) あしたのジョー (1980) [1980-I] Mushi Production (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Drama, Sports An abridged remake of the first Ashita no Joe TV series, released in 1980 to provide back-story for the second TV series to new fans who were not familiar with the first TV series or the manga. It's nice to finally see the whole story, but even I have to admit that all the humanly and humorous pieces got cut, like most of interaction with homeless children. I'm no spokon fan to watch this series in full, but for anime researcher it's important to know where Hajime no Ippo comes from.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Hi no Tori 2772: Ai no CosmoZone 火の鳥 2772 愛のコスモゾーン [1980-I] Tezuka Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi In the distant future, on a dying Earth, human beings are synthetically produced and raised by artificial intelligence to hold specific roles in society. Among them lives Godo Shingo, a candid young cadet who demonstrates uncommon kindness toward living creatures and robots alike. Although Godo's superiors ridicule him for showing attachment to his nursemaid robot, Olga, he makes quite an impression as a sharpshooter and is entrusted with a special task—to capture the legendary immortal bird Phoenix, which has destroyed countless spaceships. However, his life changes dramatically after falling in love with Rena, the president's daughter who is also the fiancée of Rock Holmes—the Chief of the Science Department. After the pair fails to elope, they are separated, and Godo is sentenced to prison camp labor. Luckily for him, their companions Olga and Pincho—Rena's alien pet—escape unnoticed and come to his rescue. Hi no Tori 2772: Ai no CosmoZone follows an engaging adventure in outer space, exploring the idea of selfless love as an unparalleled power. Tezuka works are pieces of art, and I'm getting surprised each time. With sound decisions, directorship and even animation moves. And for those who watched previous Tezuka movies, there are quite a few easter eggs laid around. It's real classic, and I'm ashamed I had not known about it at all. It was difficult for me to recommend previous works as they had nudity in it which is not universally welcome. In Hi no Tori 2772 there are same playful adult themes played out, but without depiction. The big question for me was whether it's a 7 or an 8, and I could not decide till the end, and ending is not the thing that would stay in memory forever, so let it be a 7.   Overall Rating: 7/10   10. Ie Naki Ko (Movie) 家なき子 [1980-I] TMS Entertainment (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Slice of Life Remi, an orphan kid gets hired out to a traveling street entertainer Vitalis when her foster parents fall on hard times. MAL kinda set me up again as series got disabled as for kids, and recap movie was not. I would not want to watch 51 episode of slow old-school slice-of-life anyway. Well, as for me, this anime tries to squeeze a tear excessively. Overall , liked it less than other world masterpiece theater series. Aimless slow adventure that ends with nothing as well - a disappointment.   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Nodoka Mori no Doubutsu Daisakusen Peter of Placid Forest のどか森の動物大作戦 [1980-I] Nippon Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Fantasy With Peter the fairy as chairman, the animals of Placid Forest gather in a meeting to discuss the villagers' plan to cut down all the trees in the forest. They decide to stage a protest in the hope of preserving the woods, but the greedy men will not listen to their warning. The animals are forced to carry out one final operation. Haha, I remember a newer Miyazaki story Pom Poko about tanuki revenge with plot almost exactly like that - good to know where the roots of that come from. As for this anime, can't say it has anything I had not expected of it beforehand - as soon as gnome Peter nature got revealed .   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Densetsu Kyojin Ideon Space Runaway Ideon 伝説巨神イデオン [1980-II] Sunrise (Finished 39/39) Tags: Mecha, Space Drama, Sci-Fi Mankind has traveled to the stars and come across various alien civilizations, now long dead. Upon discovering the archaeological remains of such a civilization on the planet Solo, humanity finally has its first encounter with a living alien species: the Buff Clan. When Karala Ajiba, the daughter of the Buff Clan's military leader, sets foot on the surface of Solo, the Buff Clan launches a brutal assault on the colony to retrieve her. In order to escape, Cosmo Yuki, Kasha Imhof, and Bes Jordan climb aboard three trucks, which soon transform into the giant humanoid robot Ideon. When the settlement on Solo is destroyed, the survivors board a recently discovered spaceship—the Solo Ship—and flee, endeavoring to get away from the aliens and finally find peace. The relentless Buff Clan, however, is still in hot pursuit and will not give up so easily. Anime tries to be serious and realistic and at the same time be about giant transforming mecha. It's better than traditional heroic mecha, but with rather bland characters and insignificant humor fails to impress right away. Story is slow-paced, but rather dark somewhat close to forthcoming Evangelion, so I had to watch it all. What I can say is that story might be nice if it was not artificially extended so much - a lot of episodes feel like fillers that don't advance the story anywhere. There are a lot of council scenes, but the matters discussed there often feel trivial. All the samurai way and honor constant references while barely surviving also look surreal. There's no global aim, just seeking refuge at new planet each time and fighting back. So despite complexity of relations, seriousness and some twists, it's still far from masterpiece, maybe movies manage to make story more integral .   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Tsurikichi Sanpei 釣りキチ三平 [1980-II] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/13) Tags: Adventure, Sports Mihira Sanpei talks with a Tohou accent and is a down-to-earth boy with a cheerful and optimistic personality. However, when it comes to fishing, he becomes very serious and is a youth who enjoys fishing more than anything else. The village where he lives in is a natural environment which provides different kinds of fishing challenges. Despite his lack of experience, Sanpei has a first-rate sense with regards to fishing and decides to maxmise his potential by entering into different fishing contests. As he faces various challenges, he learns to solve difficult problems and learn from his mistakes to the extent that he is able to fish anything out of the waters. Along the way, he encounters all kinds of rivals and companions who increase his experience points and help him in his growth. Wow, enthusiastic old shounen anime about fishing... found no surprises here - hit zero spots.   Overall Rating: 3/10   14. Muu no Hakugei The White Whale of Mu ムーの白鯨 [1980-II] Yomiuri Telecasting (Dropped 5/26) Tags: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi In ancient times, the continents of Atlantis and Mu fought a war, and Atlantis lost. After losing the war, Atlantis transformed itself into a small planet and timeslipped to the present-day to try to take over the world again. But five warriors from Mu assemble on Easter Island, and together with giant cyborg white whale that houses the brain of the ancient queen of Mu, fight Atlantis off at various famous ruins around the world. Took me five episodes to figure out how five chosen are going to fight, and it seems to be plane fights , plus using esper powers .   Overall Rating: 4/10   15. Uchuu Taitei God Sigma Space Emperor God Sigma 宇宙大帝ゴッドシグマ [1980-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 2/50) Tags: Mecha, Space Action The story is set in the year 2050 AD, and mankind has been steadily advancing its space technology. However, the planet is suddenly set upon by a mysterious enemy: the forces of Eldar, who came from 250 years in the future. In their time, 2300 AD, their planet Eldar was invaded by Earth, and soundly defeated by Earth's Trinity Energy, a mysterious energy used in their weaponry that possesses power many times that of a hydrogen bomb. The Eldar people's objective is to steal this Trinity Energy before it can be used against them. The Eldar forces begin by taking over Jupiter's moon Io, one of the places humanity has immigrated to by then. After that, they begin to attack Trinity City with their legions of Cosmosauruses in order to steal the Trinity Energy. Toshiya and his friends use God Sigma to protect the planet and the Trinity Energy, and the battle evolves into a long war to retake Io. A standard set of mecha cliche, nothing really to discuss.   Overall Rating: 3/10   16. Moero Arthur: Hakuba no Ouji 燃えろアーサー・白馬の王子 [1980-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/22) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama, Romance Moero Arthur Hakuba no Oji is an anime based on the Arthurian legend and it is a sequel to the earlier series Entaku no Kishi Monogatari: Moero Arthur. This time Arthur conceals his true identity in order to defeat Ziking as he and his four new companions begin a journey of adventures. I liked sequel better as it has a lot more comedy relied thanks to new goofy companions, plus there's much more freedom in travelling knight concept. In the end it's just adventures, nothing deep, but at least not repulsive ones.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Zukkoke Knight: Don De La Mancha Don Quixote ずっこけナイト ドンデラマンチャ [1980-II] Kokusai Eigasha (Dropped 0/23) Tags: Historical Adventure, Comedy, Romance Don Quixote, that infinitely popular character, travels the countryside battling windmills and attempting to win the love of his Dulcinea. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   18. Terra e... Toward the Terra 地球へ... [1980-II] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Space Action, Drama, Sci-Fi In the five hundred years since Earth's environment was destroyed and the planet came to be known as Terra, humans have created a society in space that is entirely logical. Supercomputers control the government, babies are grown in artificial wombs and assigned parents randomly, and at age 14, children take an "Adulthood Exam." Humanity's greatest enemy is the "Mu"—humans who have developed into espers. When Jomy Marquis Shin's birthday arrives and the time comes for him to take his Adulthood Exam, he is shocked to learn that all of his childhood memories are going to be erased. Suddenly, he hears the voice of Soldier Blue, the leader of the Mu, calling out to him to hold onto his memories. Jomy makes his escape on a Mu ship and is shocked to learn that he himself is an esper and that the government has sentenced him to death. Nearing the end of his life, Soldier Blue transfers his memories to Jomy and names him the next leader of the Mu. Now, Jomy has a choice: keep the Mu in hiding, or declare war on humanity to realize their dream of returning to Terra. A nice emotional story that rightfully spawned many remakes, but can't call it a masterpiece no matter what.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Ganbare!! Tabuchi-kun!! Gekitou Pennant Race がんばれ!!タブチくん!! 激闘ペナントレース  [1980-II] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Comedy, Sports Based on Ishii Hisaichi's 1979 manga Ganbare!! Tabuchi-kun!!, serialized in weekly Manga Action magazine. The Seibu Lions baseball team makes it to the next round of a baseball tournament thanks to the heroic efforts of its star player, Tabuchi, but the next stage will involve hard work and cooperation. In a sports anime that pitches caricatures of real-life players against cartoon characters, the Lions (whose real-life mascot is the grown-up Kimba the White Lion), keep losing games due to Tabuchi's poor condition-his shadow is getting paler. A group of fellow players turns up at the stadium, accompanied by Dokaben, and they encourage Tabuchi to pull through. They organize a Tabuchi Day to show him how appreciated he is, but it is a miserable failure. Eventually, he is brought out of his depression by the arrival of a girl called Miyoko, who obliges by dressing up as a cheerleader. Note: Real-life members of the Seibu Lions baseball team are caricatured There's no translation, so not much sense in watching a comedy without it, continuation of the prequel.   Overall Rating: 0/10   20. Ginga Tetsudou 999: Eien no Tabibito Emeraldas Galaxy Express 999: Eternal Traveller Emeraldas 銀河鉄道999 永遠の旅人エメラルダス [1980-II] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space  Sci-Fi  A remake of episode 22 of the TV version. There were space pirate episodes already, but this time it's a new female space pirate Emeraldas, so it's memorable at least. Liked it less than previous OVA, so can't rate high.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Bocchan 坊っちゃん [1980-II] TMS Entertainment (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Comedy This is a different version of the story than the one included in the Seishun Anime Zenshu TV series. Bocchan, a recent graduate, sets out for his first teaching assignment… never anticipating what awaits him. He must contend with students who spy on him and pull nasty stunts and with a landlord who constantly tries to sell him worthless antiques. While on a fishing trip to boost his spirits, Bocchan suspects Hotta, his one friend in the village, as the cause of all of his misery. But this is just beginning of his problems…During a meeting to discuss the students' disrespectful behavior towards Bocchan, the proposed punishment is surprisingly mild despite the severity of the acts. Yet, Bocchan's suspected adversary defends him! Were the other faculty members lying about Hotta? Bocchan may soon discover the truth, for when evidence of the dean’s activities surface, Bocchan and Hotta must team up to corner the dean in his own scandalous game! Good slice comedy about older times, but it's way too short to be taken seriously. Feels like a pilot episode with that speedy development.   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. Wakakusa Monogatari Little Women 若草物語 [1980-II] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Slice of Life This is a TV special based on the novel, Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. It covers a year in the lives of four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy as their father is away fighting in the American Civil War. Another world masterpiece theater series title, and again about Civil War with blonde girl just as in Kinpatsu no Jeanie. But what world masterpiece theater series always lacked for me is pace and saturation. If it is romance centered around one hero, it's bound to many shortcomings. Here we have four heroines to fill the gaps. Anyway, this hour long version is not nearly enough to even show characters or throw in any humor , so should wait till serialization in 1987.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Captain キャプテン [1980-II] Eiken (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Team Sports Before Captain became a TV series it was a one-shot TV special that garnered the highest ratings of any anime that month. For its re-run on August 20th, 30 minutes of new content was added in which brought in more ratings that trumped the previous statistic. A rather simplistic baseball comedy , as for me. Face features and characters are rather bland compared to competitors. And it's all about baseball and zero about SOL, so hardly entertaining for me. Moreover, it's not integral movie as there are five chapters each focusing on a different episode.   Overall Rating: 4/10   24. Ganbare Genki がんばれ元気 [1980-III] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/35) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Sports Horiguchi Genki was 5 years old boy. His mother died when he was born, and he was raised only by his father. His father, Shark Horiguchi, was a professional boxer, but he was ruined and become an itinerant boxer. However, Genki believed his father was strong and he would become a champion, and he had a dream to become a strong boxer as his father. After his father’s death, he was adopted by his grandparents. Although they opposed Genki boxing, Genki made up his mind to become a boxer, and he continued training secretly. Meeting with various people, for example, Teacher Ashikiwa who resembles his mother, Mishima who is a high school boxing champion, he made his way to be a boxer. Wow, five-year-old boxer... so cringy. Another youth growing up story without good composition just to fill in time slot .   Overall Rating: 3/10   25. Uchuu Senshi Baldios Space Warrior Baldios 宇宙戦士 バルディオス [1980-III] Production Reed (Dropped 4/34) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Space Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi After polluting their own planet beyond repair, a race of evil aliens target earth as their next home. Now it is up to a lone outcast and his robotic spacecraft, Baldios, to defend earth. But, first he must convince the distrusting human population of the impending danger. A normal mecha action with the exception that gaining trust of earthlings and patching up a team takes as much as three first episodes. No good characters spotted, so it remains average for me.   Overall Rating: 4/10   26. Sue Cat スーキャット [1980-III] Knack Productions (Dropped 3/40) Tags: Shoujo Music Adventure After an accident, the amnesiac Sue was taken in to live with Torao's family. She always had the urge to become a singer, but didn't know why. As it turns out, Sue is actually part of a band formed with her two twin sisters. But Sue's climb to the top of the charts is a long and hard way. It's 13 minutes with opening and ending, so actual episode is less than 10 minutes. Singer cat sue is becoming an idol. Some everyday events change with past flashbacks and some musical gigs like auditions or concerts. I don't see any value in the series.   Overall Rating: 3/10   27. Yamato yo Towa ni Be Forever Yamato ヤマトよ永遠に [1980-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adult Cast, Military, Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi The Black Nebula Empire attacks Earth and threatens to blow up the planet with a bomb they placed on Earth if counter attacked. Earths hopes rest on the Yamato crew as they go to the Black Nebula Planet and try to find a way to difuse the bomb before it's too late. Yamato concept has become rather stale and repetitive with time. So this movie tries to bring in several new things. First one is that there's pressure again as Earth is invaded and there's nowhere to return to. Second one is our only female character gets turned down and new one joins. Action scenes have definitely improved, but all the sudden romance alienates me here, and there's no really great story, just some story to connect all the battles and meetings.   Overall Rating: 6/10   28. Juuippiki no Neko Eleven Cats 11ぴきのねこ [1980-III] Group TAC (Finished 1/1) Tags: Fantasy A gang of eleven stray cats wreak havoc in a small town, costing them much trouble. They defend themselves by stating they were just 'hungry'. The cats hear of an urban legend about a scary, giant fish. They decide to take on the challenge to find and catch that fish, proving the citizens of the town that they're not all useless after all. The task is pretty tricky and the path they have to cross is stony and danger lurks everywhere. Will our little furry heroes be brave, confident and strong enough to master the challenge of challenges? Movie is a musical, so it's mostly random actions of running and doing something under music with the very vague theme of catching a giant fish. Music is nice, but there's hardly any sense in all that.   Overall Rating: 4/10   29. Makoto-chan まことちゃん [1980-III] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy Follows the odd life of kindergartener Makoto Sawada and his family. Makoto gets into all sorts of toilet and adult humor. He sometimes dresses in his mother's and sister's clothing, and often has a long strand of mucus dangling from his nose. I'd call it a disgusting comedy with constant focus on snot, drool, unko, licking the same candy by many people, irritating voices, bitter personalities, fighting and biting, a fair amound of nudity - things like that. Humor based on controversy feels bold and fresh, like constant repeat that it's dangerous to cross the street at green light as crazy cars always run on it, but at red light it's ok and cool to cross. Basically, it feels a lot like modern mocumentary akin to Borat as I'm both very uncomfortable and ashamed of what's going on with characters. But if Borat has a bigger clear mocking idea behind that, Makoto-chan aim is more vague, at least without social context. Well, absurdist comedy may be of liking for some already.    Overall Rating: 4/10   30. Yami no Teio: Kyuuketsuki Dracula Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned 闇の帝王 吸血鬼ドラキュラ [1980-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Vampire  On a seemingly normal night in Boston, a satanic ritual is taking place: a bride is to be offered up as a sacrifice. However, Dracula, the King of Vampires, swoops in and steals her, with the intent of depriving the woman of both her blood and her life. And yet, despite his earlier motives for abducting the bride, Dracula is astonished by her beauty and decides to keep the woman as his wife. He and Domini, his spouse, lead a fruitful life together, bearing a healthy son by the name of Janus, with Dracula's crime against Satan fading from memory. On the other hand, Satan hasn't forgiven him for stealing his rightful bride and is plotting to ruin his happiness when the time is right. Another group, the Vampire Hunters, similarly wish to destroy Dracula as vengeance for the souls he has taken to feed himself. Now carrying the burden of a family, Dracula must protect himself from Satan's plots as well as from the vengeful Vampire Hunters in a desperate fight for survival and forbidden love. Pretty serious vampire hunter movie with many kinds of otherworldly beings. A lot of action with very little sense behind it.   Overall Rating: 4/10   31. Fumoon フウムーン [1980-III] Tezuka Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Sci-Fi Nuclear testing has resulted in the abrupt evolution of the Fumoon, a tiny but highly intelligent humanoid race on a small island, who are detected by Dr. Yamadano. Except for a few witnesses including the detective Shinsaku Ban, and the young men Rock and Kenichi and Kenichi’s sister Pichi (Pinoko), no one believes him. The Fumoon are kidnapping animals from around the world to bring with them as they use their space ships to evacuate the earth, because they know Earth is shortly to be destroyed by an enveloping cloud of black gas created by a stellar explosion. The Fumoon intend to abandon mankind, but one Fumoon, Rokoko, who becomes good friends with Kenichi, tries to help Dr. Yamadano and the others to develop a space ship to allow a few humans to escape, with the help of Dr. Ochanomizu and Dr. Frankenstein. Yay, new Tezuka movie. The omnipresent idea of transformation/mutation is taken to absolute here. At the same time it strongly promotes environmentalism, and that puts limits on story development. In the end it becomes a social story rather than an interesting story - have no problem with that choice, but don't ask for high scores then.   Overall Rating: 5/10   32. Marine Snow no Densetsu The Legend of Marine Snow マリンスノーの伝説 [1980-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Sci-Fi This little-known and poorly documented Leiji Matsumoto TV movie, tells the story of the revolution of the people of the ocean which are being invaded by the humans from the surface. Both protagonists look just as ones from Ginga Tetsudou 999, but there's no space express itself, so it's really confusing. Story is somewhat like Fumoon with aliens/humans reversed. Again, don't see the value here, this time also no translation which alone substracts a whole score point.   Overall Rating: 5/10   33. Ashita no Joe 2 Tomorrow's Joe 2 あしたのジョー2 [1980-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/47) Tags: Shounen Action, Drama, Slice of Life, Sports Yabuki Joe is left downhearted and hopeless after a certain tragic event. In attempt to put the past behind him, Joe leaves the gym behind and begins wandering. On his travels he comes across the likes of Wolf Kanagushi and Goromaki Gondo, men who unintentionally fan the dying embers inside him, leading him to putting his wanderings to an end. His return home puts Joe back on the path to boxing, but unknown to himself and his trainer, he now suffers deep-set issues holding him back from fighting. In attempt to quell those issues, Carlos Rivera, a world renowned boxer is invited from Venezuela to help Joe recover. The main thought of first season was that hooligan becomes an organized sportsman who follows his trainer's regulations. So main intrigue for me was whether it becomes a normal spokon or retains individuality further on, and it definitely does not fall into normal spokon category. As for the story, I'll watch the movie later on rather than watch almost 50 episodes now.   Overall Rating: 5/10   34. Tetsuwan Atom (1980) Astro Boy (1980) 鉄腕アトム [1980-IV] Tezuka Productions (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Shounen Mecha Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Set in a future where machines have advanced to the point of autonomy and become a point of major contention in the political and social realms, Astro Boy (1980) chronicles the struggles of a crime-fighting young robot named Atom. Created in the image of his enigmatic inventor's deceased son, Atom survives rough beginnings, getting saved and adopted by the benevolent Dr. Ochanomizu. In his pursuit of justice, Atom finds himself in the midst of numerous clashes with various factions, and is often faced with the harsh realities of the world. It's definitely not repeating, even though it begins anew from robot creation. Beginning is rather slow, but great storytelling from 60s kicks in eventually, so it becomes more about adventure and less about overcoming robot shortcomings. As for me, not enough merit to watch for adults, as themes are rather simple.   Overall Rating: 5/10   35. Uchuu Senkan Yamato III Star Blazers: The Bolar Wars 宇宙戦艦ヤマトⅢ [1980-IV] Academy Productions (Dropped 3/25) Tags: Adult Cast, Military, Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi A stray missile from a confrontation between the Galman empire and the Bolar Federation crashes into the sun, turning it into a time bomb of radiation. The Star Force once again sets off into space, this time on a quest to look for a new world for the human race. Finally a new story and not the one outlaid in OVA already. There's enough material to compare to already, and it's probably the weakest season of the series. After fresh feeling Be Forever Yamato this season goes back to conservative roots and tells a new slow-paced loosely connected story.   Overall Rating: 5/10   36. Tetsujin 28-gou (1980) The New Adventures of Gigantor 鉄人28号 (1980) [1980-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/51) Tags: Mecha Action Shotaro had become an Interpol agent, working with Branch Robo, the antirobot crime unit of that organization. He still employs Tetsujin. Another revival of the ancient series. Of course, it has improved, but there is still same average action with little humor, so can't rate it much higher.   Overall Rating: 4/10   37. Hoero! Bun Bun ほえろブンブン [1980-IV] Wako Productions (Dropped 0/39) Tags: Adventure, Slice of Life Bunbun, an abandoned puppy meets the old Big, also a stray dog. Bunbun will learn to survive in an hostile and strange world. Not found. Or rather found only random episodes and would better wait for the movie.   Overall Rating: 0/10   38. Tondemo Senshi Muteking とんでも戦士ムテキング [1980-IV] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 1/56) Tags: Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi  Twelve-year-old Linn Youki loyally supported his father when the world laughed at the scientist for saying that Earth was about to be invaded from outer space. But Linn did not expect to become personally involved--until he met Takoro, the strange young "deputy sheriff" from another world who was on the trail of notorious space criminals. There were only four Kurodako Brothers, but they plotted to use their alien science and natural shape-changing powers to become the secret masters of Earth. With Takoro's help, Linn became the mighty super-hero, Muteking, to foil their schemes. There is plenty of action and laughs in this light-hearted comedy-drama about a roller-skating costumed hero, his friendly but bumbling alien partner, a gang of klutzy would-be world conquerors, a beautiful police chief, an obsessed scientist, a sarcastic dog, an officious flying saucer, and others. This unusual but appealing cast of characters will charm viewers' hearts while it amuses them. Nice that superhero parodies start to show up already. But it's rather simplistic and very similar to Time Bokan series, probably even part of it. Plus there's just one episode translated, so can't take it seriously.   Overall Rating: 5/10   39. Ojamanga Yamada-kun おじゃまんが山田くん [1980-IV] Tsuchida Productions (Dropped 0/103) Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life TV anime adaptation of Hisaichi Ishii's comedy manga "Ojamanga Yamada-kun". Have not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   40. Cyborg 009: Chou Ginga Densetsu サイボーグ009・超銀河伝説 [1980-IV] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Action, Sci-Fi The cyborgs are no longer on duty, they live normal lives until a mysterious space ship lands on earth. The only survivor on the ship warns about an evil conqueror called Zoa that wants to conquer the universe, which means the cyborgs are back in action... To tell the truth, this series should go out of its way to get a masterpiece score. And it just does not. Adventures in space are fresh for the series, but just fresh is not enough.   Overall Rating: 6/10   41. Manga Kotowaja Jiten まんがことわざ事典 [1980-IV] Tsuchida Productions (Dropped 0/88) Tags: Historical Comedy An educational anime, each episode contains three short stories. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   42. Ganbare!! Tabuchi-kun!! Aa Tsuppari Jinsei がんばれ!! タブチくん!! あゝツッパリ人生 [1980-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Comedy, Sports No synopsis information has been added to this title. I wont endure another Tabuchi-kun movie without translation.   Overall Rating: 0/10   43. Ginga Tetsudou 999: Kimi wa Haha no You ni Aiseru ka!! Galaxy Express 999: Can You Love Like a Mother?!! 銀河鉄道999 君は母のように愛せるか!! [1980-IV] Discotek Media (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Sci-Fi A remake of episodes 51-52 of the TV version. Another unusual yet not special story from Ginga 999.   Overall Rating: 5/10   44. Nijuushi no Hitomi 二十四の瞳 [1980-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 1/1) Tags: Historical Drama Based on the book by Tsuboi Sakae, which drew on her involvement in Japan's anarchist counterculture and opposition to Korean War rearmament. Combined live action (handled by Akio Jissoji) and animation (handled by Shigetsugu Yoshida). Released as a TV special. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10
  22. kivandopulus
    Alps no Shoujo Heidi (1979) is the only work I could rate as a borderline masterpiece in 1979 .   1. Akage no Anne Anne of Green Gables 赤毛のアン [1997-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/50) Tags: Historical, Iyashikei Drama, Slice of Life Life isn't easy for Anne Shirley, an 11-year-old orphan with a vast imagination and a short temper. In a twist of fate, she gets taken into the Cuthbert house in Avonlea. The elderly occupants Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert were looking for a young boy to help in the fields, but they're in for quite a shock when they realize Anne is a girl. Adapted from the acclaimed classic by L. M. Montgomery, Akage no Anne portrays Anne's upbringing from 11 to 17 years of age and her encounters and separations with various people. Only time will tell what major decision Anne has to make that will change her life forever. World masterpiece theater series are back with another classic adaptation. It's probably the best one in the series, but it's really just coming of age story in the 19th century, so should be prepared for slow pace, observational nature and absence of twists. Well, I don't like main heroine with her overreaction to everything, so I'd rather watch Candy Candy instead.   Overall Rating: 5/10   2. Hana no Ko Lunlun Flower Angel 花の子ルンルン [1979-I] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/50) Tags: Shoujo Adventure, Drama The King of the Flower Planet is dying, but his heir can't take up the throne until the legendary Seven Color Flower, symbol of the King's power, is found. The Angels, Cateau and Noveau are sent to Earth to find the Flower Girl, a young female who descends from both humans and Flower Angels (who once inhabited Earth a long time ago) - and they find Lunlun in France. They convince her to go in a long journey to find the Flower - she'll know the good and bad sides of humans and Flower Angels (incarnated in the ambitious Togenishia and her sidekick Boris), and will fall in love with Serge Flora, a man who holds a great secret. Can't tolerate this kind of shoujo as it focuses on romance, magic and flowers right from the start without providing anything to enjoy for non-shoujo audience, not even some humor.   Overall Rating: 4/10   3. Time Bokan Series: Zenderman タイムボカンシリーズ ゼンダマン [1979-I] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 1/52) Tags: Mecha, Super Power Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi Dr Monja is a scientist who is curious about the nature of the legendary Elixir of Life which grants the drink eternal lifetimes and forever youth. He built a device called the "Time Tunnel" in order to let a team of youngsters to start a quest down the timeline and various spaces to find an exact answer. A trio of villains, however, is also seemingly after the exact same thing. If Yatterman pretty much abandoned all the time travel concept , Zenderman is the same Yatterman with advanced older heroes , but with the return to the roots - time travel . It's the best of the three due to major focus on humor and adult heroes, also some of adult humor as a result.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Nobara no Julie Julie the Wild Rose 野ばらのジュリー [1979-I] DAX Production (Dropped 3/13) Tags: Historical, Music Adventure, Drama Eleven-year-old Julie Braun lives in the lush green mountain pastures of Austria's Southern Tyrol. Her parents are killed by Italian soldiers, and she is sent to Vienna to live with her relatives, the Clementes. She befriends cousins Johan and Tanya but has trouble adjusting to life with Uncle Karl and Aunt Klara. As Austria is plunged into World War I, Karl is fired from his job at a glass factory, and Julie's new family is forced into a life of hardship. Another world masterpiece theater work. This time narration takes place in Europe of beginning of XXth century, so more dramatic events are involved. But the gist is same observational as ever - moreover , majority of notable monuments and sceneries are showed in the form of real life footage, so it also becomes a tourist tour of a sort. And main heroine here is rather bland, so loses even to Akage no Anne. Overall, a disappointment.   Overall Rating: 4/10   5. Alps no Shoujo Heidi (1979) The Story of Heidi アルプスの少女ハイジ (1979) [1979-I] Nippon Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Drama, Slice of Life Condensed version of the entire TV series where all the voice actors, except for Heidi and the grandfather, were replaced. Finally it's just 1h 47m and not 52 episodes. Touching as it is, still can't bear so many episodes of nothing much happening, so OVA is perfect for me, and I can finally rate it as masterpiece, because it's an important pre-Ghibli work .   Overall Rating: 7/10   6. Tatsu no Ko Tarou Taro the Dragon Boy 龍の子太郎 [1979-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical, Mythology Adventure, Fantasy, Supernatural Patterned after Japanese art and silk screens, Taro, The Dragon Boy is an animated feature about Japanese mythology and cultures, focusing on Taro, a young boy who has to make a voyage to a distant lake to save his mother, who has been turned into a dragon. Can't see any value in this anime. Superstrong boy lives and competes with oni demons, protects the neighboring girl and starts to help people eventually meeting with dragon mother. The point of it all is unclear to me.   Overall Rating: 4/10   7. Kurumiwari Ningyou Nutcracker Fantasy くるみ割り人形 [1979-I] Sanrio (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Fantasy, Romance The young girl Clara visits her Aunt Gerda and Uncle Drosselmeyer. Her aunt tells her scary stories about the Ragman, a creepy and mysterious man who turns children into mice if they don't go to bed on time. The Ragman is always spying on sleeping children searching for more victims. Just before Clara goes to bed her eccentric uncle gives her a wooden nutcracker doll. He's a bit embarrassed because the only part on the doll that's perfect is the heart, but Clara loves her new doll. She falls asleep but wakes up hearing mice squeaking... It's not animation, just doll play about nutcracker toy with some real life ballet scenes added. And since it's not animation, I could not care about it less.   Overall Rating: 4/10   8. Ashita no Eleven-tachi あしたの勇者(イレブン)たち [1979-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Sports  A boy from the farm with amazing running speed is asked to join a newly formed national soccer team and discovers a natural talent for the game. The movie is inspired by Japan's hosting of the world soccer championships that year. Just your average spokon ova centered around one newbie soccer player.   Overall Rating: 3/10   9. Ganbare! Bokura no Hit and Run Hit and Run がんばれ!ぼくらのヒットエンドラン [1979-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 0/1) Tags: School, Team Sports Inaba Junior High School's baseball team has been defeated miserably since the senior members left. Because of their poor results, the players are suspended from games and are almost forced to break up. Ironically, however, this hardship makes them band tighter together and intensifies their desire to play. They practice hard in the hope of regaining the respect of the other students and teachers. Soon, their will-power leads them to unbelievable victories. This story portrays the boys' dreams and friendship through baseball. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   10. Mobile Suit Gundam 機動戦士ガンダム [1979-II] Sunrise (Dropped 3/43) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Sci-Fi It is year 0079 of the Universal Century. Mankind has moved to space, living in colony clusters known as "Sides." One of these Sides declares itself the "Principality of Zeon" and declares war on the Earth Federation, the governmental body currently ruling Earth. Using powerful humanoid robots known as "mobile suits," Zeon quickly gains the upper hand. Nine months into the conflict, the Earth Federation has developed its own powerful mobile suit called the Gundam. When Zeon launches an attack on the colony holding the Gundam, a 15-year-old civilian named Amuro Ray suddenly finds himself thrown into a conflict that will take him all across Earth and space, pitting him against the enemy's ace pilot, Char Aznable. 70s is the bloom of mecha, and Gundam marks its climax for me. It's nice to finally see realistic mecha fights in the civil war rather than usual giant mecha fights vs androids or giant beasts. Still to get a 6 I need to appreciate at least some of main characters and get a faint desire to watch series to the end - I got none.   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Cyborg 009 (1979) Cyborg 009 サイボーグ009 [1979-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/50) Tags: Shounen Mecha Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Joe Shimamura and his companions may seem like regular men, but they are anything but. Joe is actually Cyborg 009, member of a team of cyborgs who fight for the greater good. Each cyborg is outfitted with a special power, from the ability to melt any material, to underwater breathing and flight. He and the other eight cyborgs were modified against their will by the Neo-Black Ghosts organization in order to further their own interests. But instead, they decided to band together and use their powers to fight against their former captors, and all forces of evil. We've seen different versions of Cyborg 009 many times already. While it's always a decent entertainment, never got anxious to watch any of of its series to the end.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. The☆Ultraman ザ☆ウルトラマン [1979-II] Sunrise (Dropped 3/50) Tags: Space, Super Power Action, Sci-Fi The first animated Ultraman series. Ultraman tries to bring human relations in the superhero mecha. Don't remember this much emphasis in similar shows before it. But characters are too bland and similar looking for that. There is some potential, but I'd rather see it in some remake.   Overall Rating: 3/10   13. Mirai Robo Daltanias Future Robo Daltanius 未来ロボ ダルタニアス [1979-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/47) Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Sci-Fi It is the year 1995. Earth has been conquered by an alien army from the Saar cluster known as the Akron. The cities of Earth have been destroyed, and the remaining survivors live in harsh shanty towns and villages. Kento, a war orphan, hides within a cave along with his companions in order to escape some bandits. In the cave, they find the secret base of Dr. Earl, who was an inhabitant of the planet Helios, a planet conquered by the Akron. Dr. Earl then fled to Earth, bringing with him the greatest achievement in Helian technology: the super robot Daltanius, whose power is increased when combined with the intelligent lion robot, Beralios. Dr. Earl entrusts the fight for Earth to Kenta, who happens to be a descendant from the long disappeared Helian royal line. In contrast to Ultraman, all characters have distinctive appearance, because there are like 10 of them and it would be a mess otherwise. But in the center is the usual cheeky protagonist brat who pilots a plane that transfroms into giant mecha when in pinch . But apart from already conquered humanity and orphan council instead of usual genius professor it's usual giant machines action in the end .   Overall Rating: 4/10   14. Paris no Isabelle 巴里のイザベル [1979-II] DAX Production (Dropped 3/13) Tags: Historical Drama The principal character is 15-year-old Isabelle Laustin, other characters being her parents Leon and Marie, Isabelle's friends Jean and his sister Marie, and Isabelle's suitor, Captain Victor. When Paris is besieged and Napoleon III's army is defeated, Isabelle escapes to London, disguised as a boy, and engages in secret agent stuff. The main problem of this anime is that it's not the first tomboy shoujo already. Haikara-san ga Tooru aired in 1978 beats Isabelle in every single way unless someone likes Napoleon era or Chopin too much. It's all mostly surface-scratching .   Overall Rating: 4/10   15. Animation Kikou: Marco Polo no Bouken Marco Polo's Adventures アニメーション紀行 マルコ・ポーロの冒険 [1979-II] Madhouse (Dropped 2/43) Tags: Historical Adventure Seventeen-year-old Marco Polo leaves his home in Venice on a trip to the little-known country of "Yuan", in the company of his father Nicolo and his uncle Matteo. Their mission is to deliver the sacred oil from the Tomb of Christ and a letter from the Pope to the Kublai. What I got from the two found episodes is that it's mostly a travel-show with real life footage, and in that sense it's hardly anime at all.   Overall Rating: 3/10   16. Kujira no Josephina くじらのホセフィーナ [1979-II] Ashi Production (Dropped 1/23) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  Santi is a shy Spanish boy who keeps a tiny whale in a bowl, invisible to everyone but him. The whale, named Josephina, is able to alter her size and fly; she takes Santi on many dreamlike adventures and helps him confront the challenges during his childhood; however, things change as Santi starts taking interest in the outside world and gets to know his distant father. From the only found episode it looks very much like classical tale of Karlsson-on-the-Roof, just with a flying whale. Humor is nice, so I can rate it relatively high.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Shin Kyojin no Hoshi II 新巨人の星II  [1979-II] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 0/23) Tags: Team Sports A continuation of the popular baseball saga about the star pitcher of a professional baseball team. Not even going to start as it's continuation of remake of serious and boring spokon.   Overall Rating: 0/10   18. Umi no Triton (1979) Triton of the Sea (1979) 海のトリトン (1979) [1979-II] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shounen Adventure, Fantasy A recap of the TV series. While two parts were made, only the first one was shown in theaters during the Uchuu Senkan Yamato Festival. The second part was released half a decade later direct to home-video by Nippon Columbia. Later releases on DVD in 1999 and 2002 put both halves of the recap together for sale. I never understood the meaning of this series. Boy is threatened by ocean king, and thus boy starts to travel while defending from various attackers. Plot is not going anywhere, plus series were super slow. OVA recap at least makes plot coherent with length cut tenfold. Now it's finally watchable. Despite rash boy and tsundere girl triton Bibi tandem there is at least some humor and action. Still average at best.   Overall Rating: 4/10   19. Kaitou Lupin: 813 no Nazo 怪盗ルパン 813の謎 [1979-II] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Mystery  Based on the novel "813" by Maurice Leblanc. Not found. No regrets.   Overall Rating: 0/10   20. Tondemo Nezumi Daikatsuyaku The Legend of Manxmouse トンデモネズミ大活躍 [1979-II] Nippon Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure This animated story features Manxmouse, the mouse that looks like a rabbit, and all because of his ears. Join in the adventures in this delightful story. Story is pretty bad as we just observe this manx mouse life , working in circus , then suddenly by the end we're told the story of origins of manx mice and cats and dogs which in turn is instantly resolved. It is very messy.   Overall Rating: 4/10   21. Maegami Tarou まえがみ太郎  [1979-II] Nippon Animation (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Adventure This is a folk-tale-like adventure story of an active boy on a quest for the Water of Life. The boy sets out on this quest after learning that the Water of Life is needed to make his village happy. On the way, he meets gods, demons... Soon, he discovers that the evil snake has stolen the Water, and he heads for the snake`s palace. Defeating the snake is not easy since it has the Water of Life to revive itself. This boy - Maegami Tarou - continues his courageous quest in cooperation with various creatures and the gods. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   22. Pink Lady Monogatari: Eikou no Tenshi-tachi Recaps ピンク・レディー物語 栄光の天使たち総集編 [1979-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 0/2) Tags: Music Drama, Slice of Life Omnibus/compilation episodes of the main series that aired on TV right after the main series finished broadcasting sometimes known as episode 34 & 35. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   23. Kinpatsu no Jeanie 金髪のジェニー [1979-III] DAX Production (Dropped 3/13) Tags: Historical Drama During the civil war a girl living in Virginia, named Jeanie, waits for her old boyfriend Robert to marry him, according to a childish promise, but the war makes the things complicated and, Robert comes back as northerner soldier. Only with the conflict's end, and many misadventures, their dream will become true. Depiction of black people in inferior positions and simplicity of characters are my biggest concerns. Average.   Overall Rating: 4/10   24. Kagaku Bouken-tai Tansar 5 科学冒険隊タンサー5 [1979-III] Sunrise (Dropped 1/34) Tags: Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Supernatural  In 1999, a special mystery/paranormal investigative unit consisting of five youths is formed. The series uses a mix of real tokusatsu footage (vehicle scenes) and animation (character drama). All these half toy staged movies feel fake to me, also always too childish to matter.   Overall Rating: 2/10   25. Ginga Tetsudou 999 (Movie) Galaxy Express 999 [1979-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Tetsurou Hoshino is a boy bent on obtaining an immortal mechanical body in order to take revenge against his mother's murderer, the machine man Count Mecha. However, due to the incredible cost of obtaining what he seeks, his only hope is to steal a boarding pass for the Galaxy Express 999, a space train that travels across the galaxy and whose final stop is a planet where the metal replacements are provided for free. After swiping a pass, Tetsurou is pursued by the police and ends up collapsing into the arms of a mysterious woman named Maetel, who closely resembles his mother. Once he awakens, she tells the boy that she will provide him entry onto the 999 as long as he agrees to travel with her. Accepting her proposition, Tetsurou boards the cosmic railway with Maetel and begins a journey across the galaxy. Better quality, more integral story, so it's definitely more pleasurable than the series, yet not really interesting still.   Overall Rating: 6/10   26. Ace wo Nerae! (1979) Aim for the Ace! (1979) エースをねらえ! [1979-III] Madhouse (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo School Drama, Romance, Sports High school freshman Hiromi joins the tennis club because of her admiration for Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki is a senior, who's the best tennis player on the team and also nicknamed "Ochoufujin", ("Madame Butterfly"), because of her elegance on the tennis court. However, the new coach, Jin Munakata, wants the inexperienced Hiromi to play in a forthcoming tournament. Due to this, Hiromi considers quitting tennis for good but, in the depth of her soul, she soon realizes that she loves tennis after all. She returns to the club and, under Munakata's coaching, her talent starts to bloom. In the end, Hiromi develops a strong emotional bond with her coach, not knowing that Munakata is risking his life because of a chronic illness. Can't say that anything after start was as good. Rather expected development and ending, so can't say I got anything new after watching the story to the end for once.   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. Mirai Shounen Conan (Movie) Future Boy Conan Movie 未来少年コナン (1979) [1979-III] Nippon Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi In the aftermath of a war fought by magnetic weapons which caused massive earthquakes, a young and spunky boy named Conan gets involved in a grand adventure. Conan lives in a world that is mostly oceans; the major land masses having been destroyed by the weapons of the great war. He meets a young girl named Lana, and they eventually foil the plans of the city-state of Industria which wants to regain the lethal weapons. I don't like the pace here. 26 episodes is not that big of an issue to cut it in four. Only if you're out of time at all.   Overall Rating: 6/10   28. Daikyouryuu Jidai 大恐竜時代 [1979-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Sci-Fi  Jun, his female companion, Remi, and her little brother, Chobi, are taken to the Cretaceous Period by a flying saucer. Very simple, just as in the synopsis. No sense it it, nothing to catch the eye. Just encountering dinosaurs and then a tribe while saving a child.   Overall Rating: 3/10   29. Hokkyoku no Muushika Miishika Adventures of the Polar Cubs 北極のムーシカ・ミーシカ [1979-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure Adventures of the polar cubs is a delightful story of Mushka and Mishka, two polar bear cubs who set out on a series of adventures in the North Pole. Mushka is thoughtful; Mishka is daring. While out on their own Mishka befriends Aura, A prank-playing seal and Mushka stumbles over swan eggs, breaks them and creates havoc in the bird village. The cub's father is Scholar Mu (voice of Joseph Campanella), who is the wise leader of the Great Northern animal kingdom and is in charge of their annual Summer Festival. When Mu is injured by man, the cubs must take on the responsibilities of their father and save the other animals from the hunters. Another wild life observation with very basic stuff in it. Child stuff.   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Yakyuukyou no Uta: Kita no Ookami Minami no Tora 野球狂の詩 北の狼南の虎 [1979-III] Nippon Animation (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Action, Drama, Sports A re-edited version of episodes 13 and 14 of the TV series. Double billed with Mirai Shounen Conan movie in the cinemas. Not found, but I would not want to watch just recap of two episodes.   Overall Rating: 0/10   31. Uchuu Senkan Yamato: Aratanaru Tabidachi 宇宙戦艦ヤマト 新たなる旅立ち [1979-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adult Cast, Military, Space Action, Drama, Sci-Fi It is the year 2201. The Yamato has returned from the devastating battle with Emperor Zordar and the Comet Empire. Sanada, Aihara, and Shima are released from the hospital, and go to pay their respects to the fallen crew members at Okita's memorial. They meet Tokugawa's son Tasuke, who says that he will be joining the crew once he graduates from cadet school. The next day at his graduation, he ends up capsizing a boat full of new cadets because they are all too busy staring at the Yamato to watch where they are going. After some problems during launch due to the new engine crew hitting the wrong switches and stalling the ship, the Yamato departs on what should be a simple training mission. Another useless OVA that's more of a senseless teaser of 3rd season. And of course half of it is another epic launching the ship. Very similar to previous OVA in composition.   Overall Rating: 4/10   32. Kaitei Choutokkyuu: Marine Express Undersea Super Train: Marine Express 海底超特急 マリン・エクスプレス [1979-III] Tezuka Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi The year is 2002, and the Marine Express, the first underwater train between America and Japan, is ready for its maiden voyage. The chief engineer suspects that the train's test run will be used for illicit purposes and hires private detective Ban Shunsaku. He arrives to his client's mansion only to find that he has just been murdered. Armed with just a glimpse of the murderer's face, Shunsaku boards the Marine Express to get to the bottom of this mystery. This job, however, is much more than what he bargained for, as the train holds secrets beyond anyone's imagination. It's actually a crossover between Astro boy and 100-man-nen Chikyuu no Tabi with adventure and robot vs human theme that fits Astro Boy just fine. Nothing deep at all.   Overall Rating: 4/10   33. Anne no Nikki: Anne Frank Monogatari アンネの日記 アンネ・フランク物語 [1979-III] Nippon Animation (Dropped 0/1) Tags: Historical Drama This is the true story of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl living in Amsterdam during WW2. Anne's father realizes on time the danger the Jews face and hides his family (his wife Edith and his two daughters Margo (16) and Anne (13), along with four more people, in "the house behind". For two years the 8 people live in darkness and whispers, in fear to be discovered and sent to the German crematories. During that time young Anne writes a diary, describing day by day life in the cellar, her complicated realtionship with her mother and the story of her first love - Peter, the young boy in the hiding place. Anne writes down her wishes to run out free and breath the air and flowers, her dreams to be free at last. Then they are discovered and are all sent to death. Not found. I guess I'll wait till 1995 as that version is available all right.   Overall Rating: 0/10   34. Jean Valjean Monogatari ジャン・バルジャン物語 [1979-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama  Animated adaptation of Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables". A faithful to text story about Jean Valjean from Miserables. Nothing fancy though.   Overall Rating: 4/10   35. Versailles no Bara The Rose of Versailles ベルサイユのばら [1979-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/40) Tags: Shoujo Historical, Military Drama, Romance In a time of class stratification and rising tensions amongst the impoverished population, the Austrian Empire sends Princess Marie Antoinette to France to be wed to Crown Prince Louis XVI. The political marriage is arranged to strengthen the alliance between both countries, but the future queen is deeply unsatisfied with her fate being decided for her. Upon arrival in the country, Marie Antoinette is acquainted with Oscar Fançois de Jarjayes—Commander of the Royal Guard. Due to her father's desire for a son, Oscar is raised as a boy with an expectation to inherit his title as The Commander. Though she is revered by both men and women alike, Oscar cannot help but desire to live life as a woman instead of masquerading as a man. As Oscar reluctantly serves the young, spoiled queen, the growing resentment and suffering of the poor become harder for her to ignore—especially when Marie Antoinette frivolously spends her wealth. There was already anime about princess brought up as a prince, but it was with a bit younger heroine and more about adventures. This one is more about court life and romance. And it's probably the most serious and advanced shoujo so far.   Overall Rating: 5/10   36. Kagaku Ninja-tai Gatchaman F Eagle Riders (2) 科学忍者隊ガッチャマンF [1979-IV] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 0/48) Tags: Shounen Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi After Leader X is seemingly destroyed for good at the end of Gatchaman II, a fragment of him that survived grows and mutates into Z. With the head of the Egobossler family, Count Egobossler (and his two subordinates Mechandol and Kempler), Z is bent on destroying the Earth, and the Science Ninja Team, once more. In the wake of Anderson's death, Dr.Nambu has become the new head of the ISO, while the team is now confined to the Gallatown (aka "G-Town") underwater base. Engineer Kamo is introduced, and after the New GodPhoenix is destroyed early on, the team receives the new Gatchaspartan as their mecha. The Gatchaspartan has a special mode as well, called Hypershoot, that can only be utilized by Ken (with his new "Gatchafencer" sword). As the series progresses, it is learned that the radiation exposure from constant use of the Hypershoot is slowly killing Ken, and that continued use would mean death. Meanwhile, Z plans to destroy the earth with an antimatter asteroid, codenamed "Poison Apple". I don't think I can bear any more of Gatchaman seasons, they move too slow and little changes on grand scale. From now on can only bear its OVA.   Overall Rating: 0/10   37. Uchuu Kuubo Blue Noah Space Carrier Blue Noah 宇宙空母ブルーノア [1979-IV] (Dropped 4/24) Tags: Military, Space Action, Drama, Sci-Fi Set in the year 2052, Earth has managed to find peace until the arrival of the Death Force - ruthless aliens from a dying solar system - who are desperately searching for a new home. Attacking the Earth with a massive satellite ship called Terror Star, the aliens proceed to terraform the planet to make it their own. For mankind there is one hope: it's up to Colin Collins and a small band of his fellow surviving students to crew a top-secret submersible vessel that can fight the invaders at sea or in space. It's basically bound to Earth spaceship Yamato. Things take place in Solar system and move slowly. There's more emphasis on realism and overcoming difficulties (what shocked me in Yamato is how often it was hit and how miraculously fast it repaired). Bigger team and more focus on communication between the team members. But there's no spice, just slow expected development.   Overall Rating: 5/10   38. Entaku no Kishi Monogatari: Moero Arthur 円卓の騎士物語 燃えろアーサ [1979-IV] (Dropped 3/30) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama, Romance After his parents are killed by the Evil Lavic, Arthur is a contender to become King of all Britain. Arthur and his brave knights embark on a quest for the Holy Shield – the only hope to beat Lavic and unify the kingdom. There's no translation. It starts pretty slow and first episodes are meeting companions/future knights. Spirit-wise it feels very old, somewhat akin to Record of Lodoss War anime that I used to like, but now consider extremely boring.  Overall Rating: 5/10   39. Sasurai no Shoujo Nell Nell the Wandering Girl さすらいの少女ネル [1979-IV] (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Historical Adventure Nell is a young girl living with her grandfather, Mr Trent, the owner of a shop in London. As he couldn't payback a loan he made, he has to flee with Nell. They decide to search for Nell's mother, who is living somewhere in Great Britain... Why even bother with a story, when you can just call it a wandering kid and let it flow. But Charles Dickens original material and not too young protagonist actually make it shine more than the predecessors. But the core is still travelling and meeting different people, so it just does not appeal to me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   40. Manga Sarutobi Sasuke Ninja the Wonder Boy まんが猿飛佐助 [1979-IV] (Dropped 0/24) Tags: Historical Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural Sasuke is the story of a ninja child that starts right after the battle of Sekigahara where Tokugawa Ieyasu becomes shogun of Japan. Sarutobi Sasuke (Jump Like Monkey Sasuke) was a famous ninja in the employ of Sanada Daisuke who fought for the losing side against Ieyasu. He was believed to have committed suicide when he was trapped in a castle, but the story takes off that he really escaped and that Sarutobi is not a name of a ninja but a whole ninja clan. There's no translation, so I'd rather watch full movie that comes in the 1980s.   Overall Rating: 0/10   41. Toushi Gordian Gordian Warrior 闘士ゴーディアン [1979-IV] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/73) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi The Earth had become a wasteland of deserts as the survivors work to rebuild communities. Daigo Otaki is a young orphan raised by his uncle. Becoming an adult, Daigo discovers that Victor City was in fact planned by his father who was a genius scientist. Daigo's sister Saori had been managing it. She plead Daigo to take on the inheritance that Daigo's father left him, a super robot system known as Gordian. Daigo would join the Mechacon mechanic combat 18th regiment unit, an organization of law enforcers that defend Victor City against attacks from the Madokuta organization. Did not find anything worth mentioning in this mecha, very stale and irritating taste.   Overall Rating: 3/10   42. Lupin III: Cagliostro no Shiro Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro ルパン三世 カリオストロの城 [1979-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Action, Adventure, Comedy, Mystery Arsene Lupin III discovers that the spoils from his latest casino robbery are actually "Gothic Bills," legendary counterfeits that are nigh impossible to distinguish from genuine bills. Together with colleague Daisuke Jigen, he heads to the small nation of Cagliostro to investigate the origin of these counterfeits. Upon arrival, they save a girl from a high-speed chase who turns out to be Clarisse d' Cagliostro, the daughter of the late Duke d' Cagliostro. She is running from a sinister plot by Count Cagliostro to steal her family's treasure through a forced marriage. Natural flirt Lupin dislikes seeing a girl in distress and seeks to remedy the situation. Goemon Ishikawa XIII, Fujiko Mine, and Kouichi Zenigata also join the fray, each with their own motivations. As everyone converges at Cagliostro Castle, Lupin reminisces about his visit there 10 years ago, and the castle's secrets emerge from the depths. Canonical story for Lupin. It's definitely much better than previous OVA about immortality, but I guess it's as high as this series can get for me - still not deep , not entertaining, just shallow twists and intrigues in memorable entourage.   Overall Rating: 6/10   43. Ganbare!! Tabuchi-kun!! がんばれ!! タブチくん!! [1979-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Sports The Seibu Lions baseball team makes it to the next round of a baseball tournament thanks to the heroic efforts of its star player, Tabuchi, but the next stage will involve hard work and cooperation. Slice comedy about sports, yet untranslated one, so there's a roof it can hit.   Overall Rating: 6/10   44. Ashinaga Ojisan Daddy Long-Legs あしながおじさん [1979-IV] Tatsunoko Production (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Comedy, Drama An orphan girl receives a scholarship for a prestigious school from an anonymous benefactor who she refers to as Daddy Long Legs. Anime is one hour long and is all about waiting to meet uncle, reminded me of visual novel from the 90s My Dear Arenaga Oji-san a lot.   Overall Rating: 4/10
  23. kivandopulus
    Mirai Shounen Conan is the first anime that I'm rating as 8 - definite masterpiece.    1. Perrine Monogatari ペリーヌ物語 [1978-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/53) Tags: Shoujo Historical Drama, Slice of Life Perrine travels across Europe with her mother, a photographer, in a cabin drawn by a donkey. They are heading to a small village in northern France, the home of Perrine's dead father. Perrine doesn't know that they are unwanted in the village; Perrine's father left the village after having quarrelled with his father (Perrine's grandfather) and married in India against his father's will. After her mother falls ill, Perrine has to sell everything, including her beloved donkey Palikare, to pay for medicine. Mother dies in Paris and before dying tells the girl that she has to make her grandfather love her before he knows who she really is. After a journey full of hardships, Perrine finally arrives in the village where she learns that her grandfather is the rich owner of the factory that feeds all the villagers. Presenting herself under a false name, Perrine gets a job on the factory, searching for a way to the heart of her grandfather. It's the beginning of the year, so , yeah, kids travel again. Now the what if Alps no Heidi was older edition. Another family drama yet zero humor spotted. That and rather unattractive drawing kills any intrigue left.   Overall Rating: 5/10   2. Joou Heika no Petite Angie Angie Girl 女王陛下のプティアンジェ [1978-I] (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Shoujo Historical Mystery 19th century London. Angie is a 12-year-old girl, descended from nobility. She once helped to solve the Queen’s jewel robbery case and since then, the Queen has appointed her to work on particularly difficult cases. Her brilliance and courage overwhelm many grownups. She is assisted by other children and Detective Michael of Scotland Yard. This series is full of fun, suspense and pathos, showing how Angie uses her wits to solve case after case. Just a child Sherlock. Girl just makes it a bit brighter with laughter, but that's it .   Overall Rating: 4/10   3. Yakyuukyou no Uta 野球狂の詩 [1978-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 2/25) Tags: Action, Drama, Sports Against her insistence, Yuuki is drafted by the Tokyo Mets as the first woman player in the baseball league. Basically it's similar to Dokaben in case of humor. Girl does not change much, to be honest, it just add individuality and recognition to the title .   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Chirin no Suzu Ringing Bell チリンの鈴 [1978-I] Sunrise (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy  Chirin, a newborn lamb, and his mother live a peaceful life in a meadow. As long as they stay inside the fence that protects them and the rest of the flock, they are free to frolic and graze on the delicious clover leaves. However, their idyllic life is shattered when a wolf named Wor attacks them in the dead of night, killing Chirin's mother. Struggling to process his mother's death, Chirin swears to become a wolf himself in order to avenge his mother, unaware of what this transformation would cost him. There has already been Wan Wan Chushingura, why would we need another animal revenge story. Actually, this one is different because antagonist wolf is not just evil, he's also trainer in a way and a mentor. It's still is nice that it provokes thoughts like that devoting life to something loses meaning with that something gone, so maybe it's not worth devoting life to one thing.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Mirai Shounen Conan Future Boy Conan 未来少年コナン [1978-II] Nippon Animation (Finished 26/26) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi Conan was the only child born on Remnant Island, a place settled by a group of refugees while they fled a terrifying wave of magnetic bombs that wiped out most of humanity. After 20 years, most of the castaways have died, save for Conan and the wise old man that raised him. Believing Remnant Island to be the last inhabited place on Earth, Conan is shocked when he discovers a young girl named Lana washed up on the beach one day. Though he is thrilled to learn that humanity has survived, Lana tells him the nation of Industria wants her as a hostage to force her grandfather, Dr. Lao, to power their machinery. Their conversation is cut short when Industria's top pilot, Monsley, suddenly appears and seizes Lana. Determined to save her, Conan immediately sets off from Remnant Island and begins a journey that will ultimately determine the fate of the world. I remember this island and house made from the aircraft from some newer anime, so this one is important even to set legacy. Secondly, it's kind of post-apocalypse. Thirdly, there's a strong aim given from the start with potential bigger mystery foreshadowed. Lastly, it's just very high quality animation and beautiful drawing. I spent a lot of time hesitating between 8 and 9 and in that time determined that 8 is definite masterpiece with serious flaw, yet not genius work and 9 is a definite masterpiece without flaws, yet not a genius work. In the end settled with 8 due to artificial extension, notably, first 30 seconds of new episode are 30 seconds of last episode, moreover last epilogue episode added nothing new and was not needed at all. Oh, and did not expect it to be Miyazaki directorship .   Overall Rating: 8/10   6. Uchuu Kaizoku Captain Herlock Space Pirate Captain Harlock 宇宙海賊・キャプテンハーロック [1978-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 6/42) Tags: Seinen Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi It is 2977 AD and mankind has become stagnant. Robots do all the work, the masses are kept tranquil by subliminal messages, and government officials are lazy, caring only about recreational activities like golf and horse racing. Captain Herlock has defied this insipid mentality, leading a group of like-minded rebels to a more adventurous life aboard the spaceship Arcadia. A mysterious force known as the Mazone has invaded the Earth, taking the form of mysterious cloaked women that kill anyone who suspect their nefarious doings, such as Tadashi Daiba who is now on their hit-list. After his scientist father is ignored by the government and killed by the Mazone, he joins Captain Herlock and his ragtag group of pirates to assist them as they try to save humanity from the impending alien threat. Well, I tried! First four episodes are a pure horror as it's torn narration with several characters tracked and several flashbacks - during those first four episodes there is no character introduction at all. Unlike Yamato, Harlock has a vague aim and occasional appearance of invaders. I like integral stuff, not mashup of 42 episodes with random stuff. Somehow characters in Yamato hooked from the start as well as very pressed situations at all moments. Here's no tension at all, and all characters behave kinda neutrally from the start. This series needs a better pacing and directorship, so I'd gladly watch a Movie, but for now, alas  .   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Toushou Daimos Daimos 闘将ダイモス [1978-II] Sunrise, Toei Animation (Dropped 3/44) Tags: Shounen Mecha Adventure, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi The third of Tadao Nagahama's Romance Super Robot Trilogy. (#1: Chou Denji Robo Combattler V, #2: Chou Denji Machine Voltes V) After the destruction of their home world, the survivors of the planet Barm head toward Earth with the goal of negotiating the purchase of land to emigrate to. Unfortunately, during the negotiations, the Barmian's leader, Leon, is assassinated by his second in command, Olban, and the delegation from Earth is framed for the murder. In the ensuing chaos, Doctor Isamu Ryuuzaki of the Earth delegation is shot and killed. Shortly after the disastrous end of the talks, the Barmians (called "Valerians" in Starbirds) begin a campaign of terror against Earth, lead by Leon's son, Admiral Richter, who deploys a variety of "Mecha Soldiers" against the planet's defenses. The only thing standing between the Earthlings and annihilation is the transforming, karate-using super robot, Daimos, and its pilot, Kazuya Ryuuzaki. But that changes when he meets and falls in love with a mysterious girl named Erika, who turns out to be Richter's sister. Over the course of their struggles to reunite, Kazuya and Erika each learn that the other's people are not all evil... and that their own people are not all good. Part of same looking, same average feeling trilogy.   Overall Rating: 4/10   8. SF Saiyuuki Starzinger Spaceketeers SF西遊記 スタージンガー [1978-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/13) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Space Adventure, Sci-Fi The Great Planet is dying, since its Queen is old and powerless... and the universe will perish along with it. Princess Aurora of the Moon volunteers to become the new Queen, so she must set out in a dangerous travel... along with her friends and escorts: the powerful Cyborgs Jan Kogo, Sa Jogo and Don Hakka. Plot is a mix of Yamato and Harlock (in regard of guarding VIP in space), so it bites more than it can chew from the start. Poor drawing, simpleton characters and playing into unrealistic mecha does not leave it a single chance even with some primitive humor involved .   Overall Rating: 3/10   9. Majokko Tickle 魔女っ子チックル [1978-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/45) Tags: Shoujo Comedy On Chiiko's 11th birthday, her father gives her a special book. Inside the book is a trapped witch, Majokko Tickle. When Chiiko frees Tickle from the book, she uses her magic to pass off as Chiiko's twin sister. Poor drawing and simple characters actually make this anime worse than pretty much any magical girl anime that had comedy in it. Feels like done in hurry just to fill TV slot.   Overall Rating: 3/10   10. Ikkyuu-san (1978) 一球さん [1978-II] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/26) Tags: School, Team Sports Action High-school student Ikkyuu knows nothing about baseball, but his talents are recognized by the manager of the baseball club, and he takes up this enchanting sport. While his ignorance of the game leads him to make many mistakes, Ikkyuu - who is in fact a descendant of ninja - displays his superhuman abilities and leads the team to the High School Baseball Championships. Can only say that humor is not as good as in Dokaben, can hardly evaluate the rest.   Overall Rating: 4/10   11. Manga Hajimete Monogatari まんがはじめて物語 [1978-II] Studio Jack (Dropped 0/305) Tags: Educational, Historical Adventure, Comedy An educational program for children featuring various historical events, showing both animation and live action footage. A reoccurring "older sister" and the pink mole Mogutan, will take you on a journey through time. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   12. Haikara-san ga Tooru Smart-san はいからさんが通る [1978-III] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/42) Tags: Shoujo Historical Drama, Romance, Slice of Life Set in the 1920s, Haikara-san ga Tooru is the story of the high-spirited tomboy Benio and her relationship with a handsome half-German soldier named Shinobu. Benio is a very outgoing and athletic girl with firm ideas about being able to live her life as she wants to. When she first meets Shinobu, she dislikes him intensely, even though he manages to help her out of a series of embarrassing mishaps. She is therefore surprised when she finds out that she has been forced into an arranged marriage and that her husband-to-be is none other than Shinobu! The story then has many twists and turns, as Shinobu has to fight in the war, Benio has to wrangle with the idea of getting married, and getting along with her future in-laws and employer. Meanwhile, the great Kanto earthquake looms in the future... It's a very nice shoujo and I'm sure it caused a lasting impression on a lot of future works like game Sakura Wars and even Sailor Moon . It might be the first appearance of tomboy heroine as well. Males are still depicted almost normally, so it's not painful to watch. There's a lot of situational humor as well. There's hardly any appeal for me, though, as main there is mostly girl romance hesitations and Shinobu is not a complex character either .   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Muteki Koujin Daitarn 3 無敵鋼人ダイターン3 [1978-III] Sunrise (Dropped 3/40) Tags: Mecha Sci-Fi Souzou Haran was a brilliant scientist that was conducting research on Mars. He created a form of cyborg life with the ability to think for itself. These cyborgs, dubbed the Meganoids, soon ran out of control and killed Dr. Haran along with his whole family, save his youngest son, the 16-year-old Banjou Haran. Banjou escapes from Mars on a rocket with a solar-powered super robot called Daitarn 3, which was built with the special metals of Mars. Now eighteen years old and living on Earth in a luxurious mansion, Banjou fights against the Meganoids with the aid of his faithful butler Garrison and his two gorgeous companions Reika and Beauty. Together they must stop the evil Meganoids which aspire to turn all humans into cyborgs and thus "improve" the human race. James Boтd style action mixed with mecha. Even two fanservice female companions can't help it.   Overall Rating: 3/10   14. Hoshi no Oujisama Petit Prince The Prince of the Stars: Le Petit Prince 星の王子さま プチ・プランス [1978-III] Knack Productions (Dropped 4/35) Tags: Adventure The Little Prince lives on Asteroid B612, a tiny rock floating in space. He spends his days cleaning out the three small volcanoes on the asteroid (which he also uses to cook his breakfast) weeding out the baobob trees that threaten to take over, and caring for his friend the Rose Girl. When he gets lonely for company he catches a comet in his butterfly net and flies off to Earth for all sorts of adventures. Kid travels. First episode is introductory , further ones are travelling on the Earth and talking to animals or humans and thus making friends. Again, it's nice , but too naïve and exploration-focused to have real value for adults  .   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Uchuu Majin Daikengou 宇宙魔神ダイケンゴー [1978-III] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Giant robot Daikengo flies through space to re-establish galactic peace; on-board prince Ryger, who ran away from his planet Emperius to defeat the menace out of his reign borders, in order to save his people; Cleo, corrupted prime minister's daughter, help him along with two nice little robots, Anike and Otoke. They fight evil Lady Baracross, leading invasion forces, with her assistant Roboleon, wearing a Napoleon style hat. Daikengo is the first robot with scuttles on his mouth. When he opens them, his vampire style teeth are shown and he can spit fire. The concept of transformer mecha fighting robots is old and beaten. So this time the spice is that protagonist team is a rogue exile in contrast to usual headquarters with omnipotent scientist. This also adds some intrigue as unit has to defend from motherland vehicles as well. Some service robots even try to humor. But overall nothing special - long transformation scenes, constant fighting different enemies with dull protagonist and bland girl companion .   Overall Rating: 4/10   16. Saraba Uchuu Senkan Yamato: Ai no Senshi-tachi Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love さらば宇宙戦艦ヤマト・愛の戦士たち [1978-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adult Cast, Military, Space Action, Drama, Sci-Fi In the year 2201, one year after the Yamato saved Earth from radioactive contamination, a new threat emerges. The Yamato makes its final journey to save the Earth from this new threat. Earth has almost recovered from the battle against Gamilus, and reconstruction has expanded to the other planets. When former Yamato crew-mates discover a strange, garbled message that seems to be coming from a white comet headed towards Earth, they hijack their old space fortress and begin a new battle. Series was good, but OVA compilation scrapped most of character development and was rather hasty. So this first original OVA tries to avoid those shortcomings. The whole comet flight scene takes several painful minutes where nothing happens on the screen, the Yamato departure takes at least several minutes too. Show definitely takes its time lasting 2:32 . Romance is approached just from the start, plus there's more focus on ship team and even companion , scouts captain. In the series there were several memorable episodes about boarding the planets, so here there are a lot of such scenes. New plot , sadly , also tries to imitate originator closely . Same sudden enemy , sudden help request and travel while fighting this new enemy on the way . The novelty and thrill under constant threat is gone. Some cheap-looking drama and advanced directorship try to substitute it. My main complaint is that things are going in expected fashion. If it managed to surprise, I'd give it a masterpiece. But can't do that as original wins in most aspects. I don't see the need for it as a filler between 1st and 2nd season, best skip this OVA.     Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Kagaku Ninja-tai Gatchaman (Movie) 科学忍者隊 ガッチャマン [1978-III] Tatsunoko Production (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi This is the condensed theatrical adaptation of the original TV series' first season. Science ninja team started as another superhero team fighting. But team personalities stand out all right, there's protagonist's older brother who gets into troubles, enemies behave funny, there are some unexpected action scenes like racing or interrogation. So there is enough human-like development in what seemed to be absolutely boring story. It's still not even remotely interesting for me, but I appreciate the novelty to the genre when I see one.   Overall Rating: 4/10   18. 100-man-nen Chikyuu no Tabi: Bander Book One-Million Year Trip: Bander Book 100万年地球の旅 バンダーブック [1978-III] Tezuka Productions (Finished 1/1) Tags: Sci-Fi  To escape the explosion of their ship caused by a terrorist attack, the parents of a young baby put him inside an escape pod and send him out before dying. The pod ends up on a planet inhabited by beings able to transform themselves into animals by using a special ring. The young baby is rescued by the royal family, and grows up to become the prince. When the planet is attacked by pirates, he will be brought by force to Earth and discover everything about his own origins, and forgotten brother. The signature of Osamu Tezuka is seen instantly here just like in Arabian Nights and Cleopatra. And I liked this work the most of the three. Can I recommend it as a masterpiece ? Not sure. I like Tezuka style, chaos and innovation. Moreover, I see roots of Akira here. At the same time there's a lot of expression and curiosity, but still not enough depth to be recommended universally .   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Daisetsusan no Yuusha Kibaou King Fang 大雪山の勇者 牙王 [1978-III] Nippon Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Drama The conflicting fates of human beings and wild animals are depicted in a naturalistic setting. The main character of the story is Fang, who was born to a hunting dog and a circus-runaway European wolf. Although Fang was raised by a human family, he is a wild animal after all, and is destined to live amongst nature. The story reaches its climax when Fang returns from the circus and faces his foe, a giant brown bear which killed his family. To tell the truth, I don't understand why this story is needed or exists. It's surface-scratching and has no thought or purpose behind it, just observation. Another mindless revenge story.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Ginga Tetsudou 999 銀河鉄道999 [1978-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 9/113) Tags: Space Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi In the distant future, humanity has found a way to live forever by purchasing mechanical bodies, but this way to immortality is extraordinarily expensive. An impoverished boy, Tetsurou Hoshino, desires to purchase a pass on the Galaxy Express 999—a train that travels throughout the universe—because it is said that at the end of the line, those aboard can obtain a mechanical body for free. When Tetsurou's mother is gunned down by the villainous machine-man hybrid Count Mecha, however, all seems lost. Tetsurou is then saved from certain death by the mysterious Maetel, a tall woman with blonde hair and a striking resemblance to his mother. She gives him a pass to the Galaxy Express under one condition: that they travel together. Thus, Tetsurou begins his journey across the universe to many unique planets and thrilling adventures, in hopes of being able to attain that which he most desires. Kid travels, now in space! Episodic in nature. It's nice how center question of the anime is about mechanical body parts. Still most episodes I saw weren't great. There are many OVA on certain episodes of Express 999, probably those are really great ones , I'll see .   Overall Rating: 6/10   21. Takarajima Treasure Island 宝島 [1978-IV] Madhouse (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama, Mystery Jim Hawkins is a young boy lead by progressive events to embark on a search journey for the legendary treasure of the once dreaded pirate, Captain Flint. On their way to Treasure Island, John Silver, Jim's best friend, take over command of the ship revealing his true self as the ruthless pirate who once was the right hand of Flint himself. Feeling betrayed, Jim now has to deal with his mixed feelings and face Silver who still consider himself and Jim as friends. A more fleshed out and exciting version compared to the book. Narration is very slow and occasionally filler-filled. It may easily interest if story is not read or seen some other way. I can't find a reason to watch the story anew.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2 Star Blazers: The Comet Empire 宇宙戦艦ヤマト2 [1978-IV] Group TAC (Finished 26/26) Tags: Adult Cast, Military, Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi A year has passed since the Star Force returned to save the Earth but another danger now approaches from deep space. A gigantic White Comet hurtles toward our galaxy, obliterating everything in its path. But it is no ordinary comet—it is the deadly Comet Empire, conqueror of worlds... and Earth is the next target! Against orders, the Star Force blasts off to investigate, but even if they can get past the flagship Andromeda, they don't yet know the true nature of their new enemy! As expected, second season makes intermediate OVA not just obsolete, but also harmful and misleading. Second season marks comeback of logical integral storytelling while telling the same events of OVA in a proper manner and going further instead of stopping midway like OVA did. I don't remember a sequel that would surpass the original (well, maybe Haruhi) , so question is usually whether the score of original is retained or sequel is rated lower. There is more variety this time, four enemy generals have different weapons to attack with, lots of ground battles, new scout captain companion fits the spot well. And despite sequel faithfully developing themes of original, impact is gone and I can no longer recommend it universally, because characters are remaining rather simple , and there is less tension , nothing really new is added. Also sudden love theme coming out of nowhere only irritates. Can only recommend to those who did not have enough of first season .     Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Captain Future キャプテンフューチャー  [1978-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Shounen Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Curtis Newton, aka Captain Future, is an orphan. His parents died in their artificial satellite while he was an infant. His father was a scientist, who has abandoned earth for the satellite to dedicate his life for science along with his aging friend the genius Dr Simon Wright. Wright senses his death, and decides to implant his brain in a mechanical container. They both manufactured a superior robot and an android. Captain future dedicated his life to fight evil along with his three men, the brain, android, and robot. Why each episode almost 29 minutes... apart from that anime reminds Cyborg 009 a lot - same colorful agents party, same fighting with dark cyborgs organization, lots of action. The main difference is that most of Captain Future heroes are cyborgs and mostly use more conventional means of attack. There is some humor linked to mascots . Still see now way to rate it higher than 5 .   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Shin Ace wo Nerae! New Aim for the Ace! 新・エースをねらえ! [1978-IV] Tohokushinsha Film Corporation (Dropped 3/25) Tags: Shoujo School Drama, Romance, Sports Heroine, Hiromi Oka, has just entered a high school famous for its tennis club. She has started playing tennis yearning after Madam Butterfly. She was expecting to enjoy playing tennis with her best friend, Maki, but the situation changes when the new coach, Mr. Munakata, suddenly picks out Hiromi to be one of the players for the upcoming tournament and starts giving Hiromi tough lessons. She strives under any circumstance. The more the new coach gives her training, the better she seems to get. Finally she becomes the representative in the junior match tournament. For me original was better as this remake becomes too girlified shoujo if I can say that. Inner monologues, constant caprice and gimmicks, instant focus on romance and sweet shots , spontaneous crying - stuff like that. It outlines the future shoujo and otome genre better, but I prefer hybrids to pure shoujo/otome .  Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Kagaku Ninja-tai Gatchaman II Eagle Riders 科学忍者隊ガッチャマンII [1978-IV] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Shounen Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Two years after the defeat of Galactor and the apparent death of Condor Joe, a cruise ship is attacked by Leader X, killing nearly everyone on board. One of the survivors, a young girl, is captured by X and rapidly aged into the bizarre, masculine-voiced villainess Gel Sadra. Though she has the appearance of an adult, Gel Sadra is not immune to throwing childish tantrums and behaving immaturely. In the midst of the revival of Galactor, the Science Ninja Team is called back into action, with a shady man known as Hawk Getz acting as the replacement for Joe. Getz is quickly revealed to be a Galactor agent in disguise (and had killed the actual Getz who was to join), and winds up killed by a mysterious feather shuriken. After hints spread in the first three episodes, Joe reappears in the fourth episode, having somehow survived his fatal injuries at the end of the first series, and rejoins the team. It is later revealed that he was rescued by an ex-Galactor scientist at the brink of his death, and was the subject of various cybernetic augmentations. Later in the series, a female scientist known as Dr.Pandora is introduced, who had lost her husband and daughter in the cruise ship disaster. Unbeknown to her, her daughter Sammie survived and is in fact Gel Sadra. First season of Gatchaman was memorable because of unique bird-like costumes, somewhat memorable heroes and dramatic twists-filled story that actually moves somewhere. Season two continues this tradition with one companion dropping and one new arriving. Still zero value for me.   Overall Rating: 4/10   26. Pink Lady Monogatari: Eikou no Tenshi-tachi ピンク・レディー物語 栄光の天使たち  [1978-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 0/33) Tags: Music Drama, Slice of Life Based on the real life-story of Pink Lady, a female pop duo that rose to superstardom in the mid-1970's. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   27. Lupin III: Lupin vs. Fukusei-ningen Lupin III: The Secret of Mamo ルパンvs複製人間 [1978-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Action, Adventure, Comedy, Mystery Lupin, the master thief/spy/Jack of all Trades, has been executed, but he is still alive, and not even Lupin himself knows how that is possible. While trying to figure out, however, he and his gang are thrust into a conspiracy involving clones, Lupin's un-trustworthy rival Fujiko, and a miniature madman's plot to take over the world. This Lupin movie is about pharaoh mystery of immortality... did not like it . I believe this franchise can do better than that.   Overall Rating: 4/10   28. Captain Future: Kareinaru Taiyokei Race キャプテンフューチャー・華麗なる太陽系レース [1978-IV] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Sequel of Captain Future. Nothing different noticed from the usual Captain future.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Machi Ichiban no Kechinbou The Stingiest Man in Town 町一番のけちんぼう [1978-IV] Topcraft (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical, Music Drama, Supernatural Based on the novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The whole story is not big, so OVA is primarily a musical. Not worth the time.   Overall Rating: 5/10
  24. kivandopulus

    Anime of the Year
    There are no masterpieces in 1977 for me. Among the 6s, Araiguma Rascal is my choice.   1. Time Bokan Series: Yatterman タイムボカンシリーズ ヤッターマン [1977-I] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/22) Tags: Mecha Adventure, Comedy A mysterious gem called the "Skull Stone" is said to be able to reveal the location of the largest vein of gold in the world. This legend has entranced many people who wanted to get their hands on fame, power and wealth, including the trio of villains in this show: the "Dorombo Gang." However, their hunt for the Skull Stone is not as easy as they imagined, mainly due to the faulty information they receive from their leader, and most of all, by a justical duo of pursuers called the "Yatterman"! Time travel series without time travel - that's awkward ! Anyway, all the gang and concept is taken from the time travel series, but to show different locations time travel is not really needed. This time the gang takes most of screen time, so they are probably the protagonists. The goodies duo, plus robot dog yatterman are older than they were in original Time Bokan , but rather boring just as then. Also need to note that level of comedy and craziness is higher as robot dog Yatterman has weird method of attack - usually summoning mechanical insects or animals. Overall, I don't see conceptual difference with original Time Bokan, thus the same score.   Overall Rating: 5/10   2. Araiguma Rascal Raccoon Rascal あらいぐまラスカル [1977-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Historical, Pets Drama, Slice of Life Life in Brailsford Junction, Wisconsin, is simple and quiet for Sterling North, who spends most of his free time caring for animals. With his mother in the hospital and his brother fighting on the Western Front, the boy lives only with his father and his dog Hauser. One weekend, cutting away from his usual chores, Sterling, his friend Oscar, and Hauser head off on a fishing trip. On their way to the river, his dog catches a scent at the base of a tree. Unearthing a raccoon's nest, the two boys find an orphaned kit. A passing hunter has killed the kit's mother to make a fur hat, leaving Sterling to adopt and care for the orphaned raccoon. Torn by his fracturing family, a brother in the trenches, along with the ailing health of his mother, Sterling's bonds with life and the world around him are kept together and strengthened by life with his new friend, the "ring-tailed wonder" and scoundrel, whom he names Rascal. Close to Durrell books about animals. Good for children, but I can't find a reason to continue watching it as an adult.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. Jetter Mars ジェッターマルス [1977-I] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/27) Tags: Mecha Action, Drama, Sci-Fi In 2015 A.D., Dr. Yamanoue, the Secretary of the Science Ministry, who devotes himself assembles the Android robot on an artificial island. He intends to live together with him as his own son. But the robot has a deficiency in his electric brain. He comes to the conclusion that Dr. Kawashimo's help is essential to correct his defective rain. Although they are friends, they are rivals not only in private life but also in scientific study. Dr. Yamanoue is very jingoistic and only thinks of the robot as one of his strategic arms. On the contrary, Dr. Kawashimo is a pacifist and devotes his affection to robots. Dr. Kawashimo hurries to the island on request of Dr. Yamanoue, taking his pretty young daughter Miri with him. Arriving on the island, Dr. Kawashimo sets the electric brain into Jet Mars, a robot boy. Thus Mars comes into the world. Everything is new to Mars and he doesn't know what is good or bad. On the next day he lifts Dr. Kawashimo and Miri up onto the building. When he sees a glint of moisture in Miri's eyes, he has a mysterious feeling in his mind. Then he asks Dr. Yamanoue what it is. He is taught that it is a tear a weak girl sheds, but, a strong man never does. One day, the electric brain of Fainton, another robot, is put out of order. So Fainton goes-on a wild rampage and the island is plunged into a crisis. When the seawater runs into the facilities from the big hole made by Fainton, only Mars stands in amazement and is quite at a loss what to do just then Miri exhibits her ultra ability and covers the big hole. Led by her, Mars also carries a sheet of iron and makes repairs. At last they rescue Dr. Yamanoue and Dr. Kawashimo from being washed by seawater. Miri is the robot made by Dr. Kawashimo. Mars learns how to cry and learns how to perform a kind deed. I've no idea why not just call it Astroboy 2 , the similarities are striking. Maybe legal rights or something. Anyway, just one girl partner, very simplistic in most areas.   Overall Rating: 4/10   4. Sekai Meisaku Douwa: Hakuchou no Ouji The Wild Swans 世界名作童話 白鳥の王子 [1977-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Fantasy When a widower king loses his way in a dangerous forest, he is forced to take a witch's daughter as a second wife in order to escape. However, the newly crowned queen Greta quickly becomes jealous of the time the king spends with his children and vows her revenge. In the middle of the night, Greta sneaks to where the children are sleeping and turns six of the king's sons into swans, leaving the only daughter, Elisa, to fend for herself. Elisa travels far and wide in the search for her brothers and finds them living in a remote cave. While she rejoices at their reunion, she sees how terribly the curse has affected her brothers and promises to set them free at any cost. Just an adaptation of Andersen fairy-tale, a pretty faithful one, so don't know what to discuss here.   Overall Rating: 4/10   5. Ashita e Attack! Attack on Tomorrow あしたへアタック! [1977-II] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/23) Tags: School, Team Sports  This drama tells the story of girls in high school. Girls who love to play volleyball form a team in their school. Although the team starts out as a weak and unorganized sport club, over time the girls’ extraordinary passion and endeavor enables their team to become one of the best organized and highly recognized teams at the school. Now they aim to win the championship in the National High School Volleyball League. Although it is painful and hard to achieve such a goal, it is nice to have friends to share the feeling, especially the joy. Through volleyball, the girls learn and experience many lessons in life as they grow up. Let’s share their laughter. It seems to be some unofficial spinoff of Attack No.1 that I never cared about. This one is very similar, just with more humor.   Overall Rating: 4/10   6. Wakusei Robo Danguard Ace Dangard Ace 惑星ロボ ダンガードA[エース] [1977-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/56) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Military, Space Sci-Fi In order to explore the newly discovered planet, Promethe, there are many projects are running all over the world. Here in Japan, under the direction of Dr. Oedo, "Space Carrier Jasdum" and "Planet Robot Dangard A" are being built. Ichimonji Takuma is a candidate for the pilot of Dangard A. His father, Ichimonji Dantetsu, was a famous space pilot. However, Dantetsu went missing after a mysterious accident, and the people blamed him for the accident. In order to clear his name, Takuma is trying to become a space pilot and succeed in the project. Will Takuma become the pilot? Of course he will, but would want to watch it. What we get is pilot action alongside solving mystery and gradually getting into space as playground. Very little humor and no real partners, so expected rating.   Overall Rating: 3/10   7. Chogattai Majutsu Robot Ginguiser  超合体魔術ロボ ギンガイザー [1977-II] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Shounen Mecha Adventure, Sci-Fi Twenty thousand years before the creation of mankind, two tribes-Plazmans and Sazorions-came to the earth. The bellicose Sazorions tried to conquer the peaceful Plazmans using the dreadful power of the Scorpio in outer space. Twenty thousand years later-at some time in the future-Dr. Godo, the only survivor of the Plazmans, secretly prepares Ginguiser, the combined magic robot troop, to defend peace in the event that the Sazorions are revived. Dr. Godo commands four brave young men to acquire occult super powers. Each episode of this series features a sequence of fabulous and fantastic battles. These scenes cannot fail to arouse the interest and excitement of the audience, and will be certain to catch every eye. Mecha , characters and humor all looks very similar to Blocker Gundan IV Machine Blaster to the extent that I seriously consider it to be a spinoff or something. Anyway, same kind of trash.   Overall Rating: 3/10   8. Gasshin Sentai Mechander Robo Combining Squadron Mechander Robo 合身戦隊メカンダーロボ [1977-II] Wako Productions (Dropped 2/35) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Mystery, Sci-Fi The Doron Empire from the Ganymede System discovered Earth as an ideal world for them to conquer. The interest of expanding the empire came as a result of the power-hungry General Ozmel who overthrew the current reigning Queen Medusa of the Ganymede System as a start of their universal conquest. Almost completely succumbed to the empire, Earth is at its last days, and one scientist, Dr. Shikishima, had only one hope in restoring Earth from its alien conquerors--- a massive mecha known as the Mechander Robo, specially programmed and designed to battle these invading aliens from complete takeover of Earth. Along with this awesome fighter machine, Dr. Shikishima also recruited three pilots to be placed behind the Mechander Robo's controls--- the mysterious Jimmy Orion, the scientist's son Ryosuke Shikishima, and Kojiro Hachijima. Although the primary storyline is Earth battling the Doron Empire, there is something within lead pliot Jimmy Orion's past that was somewhat connected towards the entire storyline. Another pilot ace action turning into mecha and with mystery of protagonist's past. Good job running roughly the same concept as Wakusei Robo Danguard Ace the same season. This one is a more straightforward and more team-oriented though. Could they all at least stop making mecha red and white or roughly the same form? Anyway, trash .   Overall Rating: 3/10   9. Hyouga Senshi Gaislugger 氷河戦士ガイスラッガー [1977-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 2/20) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi A cyborg warrior from an ancient Antarctic kingdom awakes 30000 years later from an accidental hibernation to find the Earth changed and an old alien enemy on the verge of invasion. It's up to Guyslugger to use his ancient technology to defeat the aliens. Now a direct Cyborg 009 imitation with younger and much less cooler team. I see an attempt to add more primitive humor. It's still better than average mecha, so a four.   Overall Rating: 4/10   10. Chou Denji Machine Voltes V 超電磁マシーン ボルテスV [1977-III] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/40) Tags: Shounen Mecha Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi From out of nowhere, a mysterious alien race known as the Boazan Forces has invaded the Earth. A group of individuals specially trained to handle this kind of situation has been unleashed. Kenichi, Ippei, Daijirou, Hiyoshi & Megumi are the pilots of the Choudenji Machine Voltes V (5), Earth's defense against the Boazan and their terrible Beast Warriors. The plot thickens as the Go Brothers discover their true heritage and the truth behind their father's disappearance. Conflicts and mixed emotions hinder the Go Brothers at times but due to their unwavering desire to find their dad, they must go to the place where it all started. With the help of the rebels based on Earth and on the aliens' homeworld, the Voltes Team has another mission, remove the tyrant Zu Zanbajil and liberate the people of Boazan. It comes in trilogy with Chou Denji Robo Combattler V, and they look almost identical to me characters-wise and concept-wise. Characters have different specializations this time, but it's a bad excuse to make another same looking anime. Quality is still better than rivals due to varied team and some humor.   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Seton Doubutsuki: Kuma no Ko Jacky Monarch: The Big Bear of Tallac シートン動物記 くまの子ジャッキー [1977-III] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama One day a native American boy named Lan meets two little bears at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, where he lives with his father. Lan names the brother bear ‘Jacky’ and the sister bear ‘Jill’. As Lan plays with the two bears, they become good friends. However their happiness doesn’t last for long. Lan’s father accidentally shoots the two little bears’ mother to death. Feeling sorry for them, Lan decides to take Jackie and Jill back home to live with him. We've seen girl of the prairie Laura, but we have not seen a boy protagonist in these circumstances yet. As usual, can't say it's bad - it's just for children. And I have serious questions about structure as first episode is devoted exclusively to the dog, second to the bears and third to children, and all those episodes have zero shared characters.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Choujin Sentai Baratack 超人戦隊バラタック [1977-III] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/31) Tags: Mecha Adventure, Sci-Fi Late at night, at a lake surrounded by a peaceful forest, a mysterious spaceship landed on the water. The group that emerged from that ship kidnapped the head of space engineering, Professor Katou, and his family. The Professor's second son, American football player Yuuji, who had run away from home was in the middle of a game and knew nothing of what had happened. The four young people watching him were Mark, Dickey, Franco, and Yuri. They were a team of four psychics who had been training in a secret base. They had seen the previous night's events and believed them to be an alien attack. Believing their only option to be the transforming robot Baratack, they used their psychic powers to kidnap Yuuji. Baratack could only move by combining the powers of Yuuji and the other four acting as one. When all five, including the astonished Yuuji, cried "Pentagoras Unite!” Baratack emerged. Yuuji was overcome with a violent rage, his fighting spirit burning to defeat the Golteus reptile army. Bland immature characters, primitive humor, another reshuffling of all elements used before numerous times.   Overall Rating: 3/10   13. Uchuu Senkan Yamato (Movie) Space Battleship Yamato 宇宙戦艦ヤマト [1977-III] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adult Cast, Military, Space Drama, Sci-Fi In the year 2199, the Gamilon race declares war on humans, intent on taking Earth for themselves. The fighters on Earth do everything in their might to keep the planet stable, but alien technology proves to be far too advanced, and the resulting destruction renders the surface of planet Earth completely uninhabitable. The underground shelters are also becoming weak, and if nothing changes, humans will become extinct in less than a year. But just when all seems lost, Queen Starsha from the planet Iscandar offers a helping hand. The key to victory lies in the Cosmo-Cleaner D, which can eliminate the radiation that Earth is suffering from. However, the only way to get a hold of this life-saving device is if someone from Earth goes to Iscandar―148,000 light years away―to retrieve it. The problem is, they have less than a year before time runs out. The fate of the entire human race lies in the hands of the crew of a salvaged WWII craft, the Space Battleship Yamato. As expected, a lot of things were cut from the recap, especially relations (even pervy robot) and non-essential episodes not dealing with three Gamilon bases on Mars, Neptun and Pluto. Surprisingly, some scenes are added to make departure feel more organized and planned and at the same time more pressed with a new threat bomb. As for me, main series is not that long with 26 episodes, so this recap should be used only to get general idea before watching new seasons of Space Battleship Yamato.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Lupin III: Part II 新・ルパン三世 [1977-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/155) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Action, Adventure, Comedy, Mystery Lupin III chronicles the adventures of Arsene Lupin III, the world's greatest thief, and his partners in crime: master marksman Daisuke Jigen, beautiful and scheming Fujiko Mine and stoic samurai Goemon Ishikawa XIII. Lupin and his gang travel around the globe in search of the world's greatest treasures and riches and always keeping one step ahead of the tireless Inspector Zenigata, who has vowed to bring Lupin to justice. Main difference is that Lupin now acts with three allies as a team from the start. That's definitely more enjoyable, yet it's same random action adventures with inventive solutions.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Muteki Choujin Zanbot 3 Invincible Superman Zanbot 3 無敵超人サンボット3 [1977-IV] Sunrise (Dropped 3/23) Tags: Shounen Mecha Action, Drama, Sci-Fi There once existed a planet named Beal, until it was wiped out by the mysterious entity known as Gaizok. The few remaining survivors escaped to Earth and split into three families, named Jin, Kamie, and Kamikita respectively. While attempting to start a new life, the collectively known "Jin Family" prepared for the inevitable Gaizok invasion on Earth and its giant mechanical beasts known as "Mecha Boosts". In order to defend their new home, they have built three vehicles which when combined form the mighty Zambot 3. The Jin Family must not only defend against Gaizok attacks, but also harsh criticisms from the very people they protect, who blame the Jin Family for the invasion in the first place. As usual, number in the title means the number of protagonist pilots. Drawing and animation quality are high, but main characters are too young, pretty much recently from kindergarten. It adds a lot of trial and error, but overall complexity suffers. Sunrise animation technology is much better than oldschool studios. It feels like some fresh air in the stale genre.   Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Arrow Emblem Grand Prix no Taka Super Grand Prix アローエンブレム グランプリの鷹 [1977-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/44) Tags: Racing Drama An anime with much of wheel actions ... Takaya Todoroki, a young man who wants to become a famous driver and built a car to be able to participate in a race with a big prize. In the race, because of the poor quality of building, Takaya has a serious accident in which he wrecked his car but he doesn`t hurt himself. That`s when a mysterious driver contact Takaya to enter onto some famous racing team...This mysterious man is a former driver .. a very famous one who appears every now and then to help Takaya fight his own destiny, to set him on the right track and most of all prove himself, unlike him. Usual racing action, even without battle cars. One protagonist and one teacher, one sidekick heroine. It's hard to imagine anything more boring.   Overall Rating: 2/10   17. Ore wa Teppei My Name Is Teppei おれは鉄兵 [1977-IV] Nippon Animation (Dropped 4/28) Tags: Shounen Action, Sports Teppei, brought up by his father in the mountains, is an energetic boy who is as tough as weeds and acts as free as a bird. His life changes completely when he enrolls in high school, the first school he has ever attended. Despite his eccentric behavior and being a constant source of troubles, he is soon recognized for his talent in sports—especially in Kendo (the Japanese swordplay art)—and becomes the school's hero. Protagonist is strong, but too young and immature. There is enough humor, but it's mostly about a wilderness boy ignorance. Again, no faint desire to watch it to the end.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Kyouryuu Daisensou Izenborg 恐竜大戦争アイゼンボーグ [1977-IV] (Dropped 3/39) Tags: Mecha Action Japan is being besieged by evil Dinosaurs that humanity have long thought extinct, they are back and are creating disaster. To counter the threat, a special team of expert warriors called Izenborg were created. Lamees and Kamal use their special powers to combine into Super Izenborg to battle the evil Satola and his Dinosaur army. This anime... is not anime, part three. It's basically the same Kyouryuu Tankentai Born Free , just with fighting dinosaurs instead saving dinosaurs. Also there seems to be a bit more animation here. Anyway, same repelling fake with same boring characters.   Overall Rating: 3/10   19. Chou Supercar Gattiger 超スーパーカー ガッタイガー  [1977-IV] Nihon Keizai Koukokusha (Dropped 1/25) Tags: Racing Action, Sci-Fi A scientist invents 5 special solar powered cars that can be joined into one supercar. The cars are given to the scientists son and his friends to compete in the racing circuit, but they are pursued by an evil organization that wants the secret of solar power. Another species in cheap fake anime series. It's actually mostly animation, but zoomed plans of toy cars are used. Simplistic development and straightforward characters confirmed.   Overall Rating: 0/10   20. Shin Kyojin no Hoshi 新巨人の星 [1977-IV] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Team Sports A continuation of the popular baseball saga about the star pitcher of a professional baseball team. Only for fans of the original, thus not for me. Dead serious and solo-focused and thus inferior to Dokaben, in my opinion.   Overall Rating: 4/10   21. Gekisou! Rubenkaiser 激走! ルーベンカイザー [1977-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 0/17) Tags: Shounen Racing  A race car driver competes around the world in a race car left to him by his father. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   22. Manga Nihon Emaki まんが日本絵巻 [1977-IV] (Dropped 3/46) Tags: Historical Animated adaptations of traditional and historical Japanese stories. Each episode features 2 different stories. It's a bit more amusing than fairy-tales, but this is not strictly a history show, more like a collection of mythology stories involving samurai with all kinds of demons and monsters present, so of little real value to me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Manga Ijin Monogatari まんが偉人物語 [1977-IV] Group TAC (Dropped 0/46) Tags: Historical From Genghis Khan to Thomas Edison, each episode in this series focuses on the life and achievement of two of history's greatest and most important persons. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   24. Tobidase! Machine Hiryuu とびだせ! マシーン飛竜 [1977-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/13) Tags: Shounen Parody, Racing Comedy The bosses of rival car companies decide to fight each other in the sporting arena by backing different race car teams. Chairman Gapporin hires Okkanabichi the supreme racer, while Chairman Misaki hires Riki Kazama, a relatively untried driver for the flying car known as Machine Hiryu. Mixing elements of Speed Racer with Time Bokan, this Tatsunoko production ticks the same boxes, with Riki's cute girlfriend Nana, mini-mechanic Chuta, the cute ape and pooch, and the comic and glamorous villains lurking in the background. Early work from many big names, including Yoshitaka Amano and Kunio Okawara, is strictly in the studio mould. Manga versions of the story ran in several magazines, such as Terebi Magazine and Terebi Land. Racing fever seemed to have struck the Japanese animation business at this time: compare to the same year's Arrow Emblem. Basically, it feels like Time Bokan prequel as two antagonists are the same, just before greedy professor assistant joined them. Just races on battle cars of the good team resembling that of Yatterman and the gangster team. Same parody gimmicks are present.   Overall Rating: 4/10
  25. kivandopulus
    No masterpieces for me, but I'd like to highlight another slice-of-life old comedy Hana no Kakarichou .     1. Haha wo Tazunete Sanzenri 母をたずねて三千里 [1976-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama, Slice of Life Based on a short section of the novel Cuore by the Italian Edmondo de Amicis, Marco is a young boy living in Genoa, Italy, together with his father Pietro. But the family is not complete, for Marco`s mother left for Argentina around a year earlier in order to find work. Letters from her arrive regularly until one day they suddenly stop. Worry for his mother and what might have happened to her overcomes the young boy. Marco thus decides to embark upon a journey to Argentina in the hope of being reunited with his mother. At first, Pietro is opposed to Marco`s plan, but moved by his son's enthusiasm, he eventually allows the boy to go. So begins Marco`s long journey of the heart. Marco encounters many people throughout his travels, and finds maturity and self-acceptance as a result of his experiences. It comes from the same director as Alps no Shoujo Heidi and it shows. On one hand, story is more coherent in comparison and protagonist is more mature . On the other hand, protagonist is not as cute and there is less situational humor . Overall, it's nice enough, but definitely not for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Huckleberry no Bouken ハックルベリィの冒険 [1976-I] Group TAC (Dropped 5/26) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama Based on Mark Twain's well known masterpiece about Huckleberry Finn, the bright and merry orphan, this film is full of life, laughter, and will be loved by children around the world. When Huckleberry runs away from his orphanage, he teams up with an escaped slave. Together, they travel the Mississippi on a raft, encountering all kinds of people and adventures. I've lost count cow many "kids travel" anime suddenly appeared since 1974. There is some humor, plus both Huck, Tom and little Jim are quite nice, so I can rate it higher than usual, but not too high since there is no integral idea or something special about it.     Overall Rating: 6/10   3. Manga Nippon Mukashibanashi (1976) まんが日本昔ばなし(第2期) [1976-I] Group TAC (Dropped 3/1471) Tags: Historical Fantasy An omnibus-format TV series consisting of anime adaptations of Japanese folk tales, this is one of Japan's longest-running TV series, and Group Tac's second TV series (the first was The Road to Munich, a documentary anime about the 1972 Olympics). The governing rule of the series was that the creative staff change from episode to episode. While later other anime series like Nippon Animation's Famous Works of Japanese Literature would attempt the same, none would be as long-lived or successful. The rotation idea was that of director Sugii Gisaburo, a visual visionary unequaled in Japanese film history who has revolutionized anime several times in his career, be it in the 1967 TV series Goku's Big Adventure, in which he sought to shake anime free from the dominance of story development by yanking it back to a more cartoonish form, or The Belladonna of Sadness, where he broke the Disney full-animation mold, creating a full-length animated film in a completely new style that was a hybrid of still drawings and animation. The reason for rotating the staff each episode was so that each episode would have a completely different look and feel from its predecessor, and in this it was eminently successful. This is a series that is genuinely rewarding to watch, and is visually one of the richest in anime history. While this system also meant that quality varied, there were also occasionally superb episodes, as on the staff were many veterans like Group Tac founder SUGII Gisaburo himself, SHIBAYAMA Tsutomu, FURUZAWA Hideo, RIN Taro, and HIKONE Norio. Old episodes started being repeated more and more frequently as the years went on, and production of new episodes finally ceased completely in late 1995, but the series is still widely broadcast. Omnibus format can never attain a masterpiece level from me, but this poorly animated series at least has a lot of stories I never heard of, nothing unexpected or must have though.    Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Fengshen Bang The Story of Chinese Gods 封神榜 [1976-I] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Martial Arts Action, Fantasy Based on a traditional Chinese novel of the same name. Bewitched by his concubine Daji, who is actually a vixen spirit in disguise as a beautiful woman, King Zhou of Shang oppresses his people and persecutes those who oppose him, including his own subjects who dare to speak up to him. Ji Fa (King Wu of Zhou), assisted by his strategist Jiang Ziya, rallies an army to overthrow the tyrant and restore peace and order. Throughout the story, battles are waged between the kingdoms of Shang and Zhou, with both sides calling upon various supernatural beings – deities, immortals, demons, spirits, and humans with magical abilities – to aid them in the war. Yuanshi Tianzun bestows upon Jiang Ziya the Fengshen Bang, a list that empowers him to invest the gods of Heaven. The heroes of Zhou and some of their fallen enemies from Shang are eventually endowed with heavenly ranking and essentially elevated to their roles as gods, hence the title of the novel. Story itself is bs with torn hearts, heads and the number of demons surpassing that of humans. Making Bruce Lee come and defeat all unbeatable enemies is the cringe squared.   Overall Rating: 3/10   5. Chou Denji Robo Combattler V 超電磁ロボ コンバトラーV  [1976-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/54) Tags: Shounen Mecha Adventure, Sci-Fi The first of Tadao Nagahama's Romance Super Robot Trilogy. (#2: Chou Denji Machine Voltes V, #3: Toushou Daimos) Thousands of years ago, the people of the planet Campbell decided to leave their planet and seek out new worlds to inhabit. One group, lead by the scientist Oreana, landed on Earth, but was delayed from their mission. In the early 21st century, Oreana's group reawakens and begins their plan to conquer the Earth. The only effective defense against the Campbellians' giant biomechanical slave beasts is the super-electromagnetic robot, Combattler V and its pilots. Five kids have distinguished personalities, some humor is present, enemies ae varied. These elements make it on par with the best genre representatives so far, but the core is same dumb as ever, can't rate it higher.   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Daikuu Maryuu Gaiking Dino Mech Gaiking 大空魔竜ガイキング [1976-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/44) Tags: Shounen Mecha Adventure, Sci-Fi Earth is still in danger: aliens from planet Zeraz are willing to invade our planet because theirs is being swallowed by a Black Hole. Led by Great Darius and his four generals, they begin seeding death and destruction. When an ESP warrior is killed by aliens, professor Hi-Tech understands the danger and builds the huge Space Dragon (Daiku Maryuu) piloted by Pete, and the gint robot Gaiking whose pilot is Sanshiro Shiwobuki, an ex-baseball player. Daiku Maryuu is a big dragon shaped spaceship and his head is the Gaiking torso. When the Gaiking enters the action, Daiku Maryuu launches other Gaiking's components and then it re-unite neck with tail, becoming unbreakable. The story chronicled the battle between the crew of the semi-transformable carrier Daikuu Maryuu and the Super Mecha Gaiking against an invading race of aliens from the planet Zela, whose home planet is facing destruction by a black hole. The robot Gaiking was piloted by a baseball star named Sanshiro Tsuwabuki (Sanshiro's name was changed to Aries Astonopolis for the English version of the show with the carrier being called the "Great Space Dragon", a literal translation of "Daikuu Maryuu". Gaiking was notable for being one of the few super robot series to take place in real places outside of Japan, and for being the first Super Robot series to have a mobile carrier for the chief robots. Personalities are less varied, so it feels more like great Tsuwabuki and the sidekicks. Did not spot humor. Apart of that, the usual mecha, nothing special.  Overall Rating: 3/10   7. UFO Senshi Dai Apolon UFO戦士ダイアポロン [1976-II] Eiken (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi  The story is about 16 years old boy Takeshi who recently formed an American football team at the BlueSky orphanage. One day the game is interuppted by a light in the sky. Takeshi discovers he is the son of the king of the planet Apolon, spirited away to Earth by his father's retainer Rabi to avoid death at the hands of General Dazaan. He turns out to have special energy abilities which can control UFO saucers from under the ocean floor, which in turn can become robots that are synchronized to their movements. I've seen all its elements elsewhere already. Unremarkable character cast and no humor spotted, so the usual just above the ground rating.  Overall Rating: 3/10   8. Machine Hayabusa マシンハヤブサ [1976-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/21) Tags: Shounen Racing Action Because of the appearance of a villain team, Black Shadow, the international racing was ruined. To compete with Black Shadow, Saionji Racing Team was founded. They developed a racing car, Hayabusa. It was a super racing machine that carries hyper power engine, Cavalier Engine. The main driver of the team was Hayabusa Ken whose big brother was killed by Black Shadow. Side-characters hardly show up at all, so it's just protagonist racing on armed cars, It has action all right, but that's it.   Overall Rating: 3/10   9. Youkaiden Nekome Kozou Cat Eyed Boy 妖怪伝 猫目小僧 [1976-II] Wako Productions (Dropped 3/25) Tags: Seinen Psychological Adventure, Horror, Supernatural he story is told by the cat-eyed boy, hated by humans and demons, who engages in tales of terror, including monsters and children. The problem with this anime is that... it's not anime. It's drawings cut and screened on the real backgrounds and other tricks like that with real animation taking mere seconds of screen time. Apart of that it's just two old horror stories per episode, nothing fancy.   Overall Rating: 3/10   10. Gowapper 5 Gordam Goliath the Super Fighter ゴワッパー5ゴーダム [1976-II] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/36) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Five youths from Edo City explore a strange rocky island and discover the mecha that Doctor Hoarai had been creating in order to resist the impending attack by a race of subterranean rock people. Doctor Hoarai was ridiculed by the scientific community for his predictions that such an attack would take place. The youths decide to join the doctor (who was dead but had transferred his mind into a computer) in piloting the vehicles and protecting Earth. The Gowapper 5 Gordam team is born! With the aid of the giant fighting robot Gordam, the Gowapper team under the leadership of Youko Misaki must face the hordes of the inhuman subterranean people. Cartoonish clumsy characters and girl protagonist are what strikes the eye. In addition to usual mecha characters also often pilot drill machines and fights sometimes take place below sufrace. Varied episodes, partially memorable protagonists and significant focus on humor make it a 5, but not higher.  Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Blocker Gundan IV Machine Blaster ブロッカー軍団Ⅳマシーンブラスター [1976-III] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/38) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi The peace of the world is suddenly threatened by Mogool, which is located on the bottom of the sea. Helqeen, tyrannical master of the Mogoolian Empire, attempts to conquer the earth with her faithful companions Goroskie and Zan-gack. In order to frustrate their ambition, Dr. Yuri, who predicted this horrible occasion, organizes four powerful robots to form the Blocker Corps! He also gathers four members who have the super ability known as "elepath" - a talent for maneuvering gigantic robots. A fierce battle begins between our Blocker Corps and Mogool at the risk of their lives! A series of fantastic and fabulous battles unfolds. The usual four mecha becoming giant one. A bit of light humor, rather bland character. The single distinguishing feature is that protagonist has a weaker younger brother as partner. Robot mascot Pico can also be of notice. Overall Rating: 3/10   12. Groizer X Gloizer X グロイザーX [1976-III] Knack Productions (Dropped 3/36) Tags: Mecha Sci-Fi The Gaira aliens, hidden in the Arctic, plan to conquer Earth. Captured and forced to work for the aliens, Dr. Yan creates the ultimate weapon, a transformable aerial robot called Groizer X. Entrusted to his daughter Rita, Groizer X escapes the clutches of the Gaira and lands in Japan, where pilot Jo Kaisaka meets a wounded Rita. Taking up the controls of Groizer X, Jo and Rita fight against the Gaira invasion. It's unusual that boy and girl make a duo of protagonists, but I failed to find anything special about this anime, usual trash mecha action.   Overall Rating: 3/10   13. Candy Candy キャンディ・キャンディ  [1976-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/115) Tags: Shoujo Drama, Slice of Life This story is about a girl, Candy, who is an orphan. She is a nice and optimistic girl and she has a warm heart. When she was a child, she lived in an orphanage called Pony's Home. She had a good friend called Annie. And she met the "Prince of the Hill" who is a important person in her life, on the hill behind the orphanage. She was adopted by the Leagan's family. What's awaiting her are the bad-hearted Neil and his sister, Eliza. One day, in the rose garden, she met a boy, who is identical to the "Prince of the Hill" who she had met in her childhood. The boy is called Anthony. Thereafter, a fantastic story that she has never expected begins. It's a long series, so things are taken very very slowly, by the end of 3rd episode it was still in orphanage. So it's closest to women novels, yet with contemporary time. Can't say I got a faint desire to watch it to the end, so 5 it is.   Overall Rating: 5/10   14. Manga Sekai Mukashibanashi Manga Fairy Tales of the World まんが世界昔ばなし [1976-IV] Madhouse (Dropped 3/127) Tags: Historical Adventure, Drama, Fantasy Each episode of this series tells the story of a famous fairy tale from all around the world. Some of them are adapted from famous books such as "The Iliad". This must have been marked as anime for kids. Won't have much sense if you're not a kid.    Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Magnerobo Ga-Keen マグネロボ・ガ・キーン [1976-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/39) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi Dr. Kazuki, who perceived of an invasion of Earth by the Izaru people builds a robot based on the science of magnetism and sphere joint theory. Undergoing a dangerous augmentation process, Dr. Kazuki's daughter Mai becomes the pilot of "Mighty" or "Magnetman Minus". Takeshi Houjou becomes the pilot of "Puraiza" or "Magnetman Plus". The pilots would hold each other and then physically trasform their joint bodies in a metallic plate locking itself on the Gakeen (Short for "Gathering Keen") robot's frame thus enabling the super robot to move and fight. This sequence was notable, to an adult's eye, for its almost-sexual connotation. Protagonist is an adult hooligan much like in Ashita no Joe. Overall drawing quality level is surprisingly high. Unlike Groizer X, both protagonists have enough individuality for empathy. Side-characters and humor are nice. Even though it's among the best representatives of the genre up to this moment, still no incentive to watch to the end as it's just new monster each time and a different way of dealing with him.    Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Dokaben ドカベン [1976-IV] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/163) Tags: Shounen School, Team Sports Action, Sports Tarou "Dokaben" Yamada, who was a judoist while at junior high, enters Meikun High School and is talked into joining the baseball club. He displays his superb athletic abilities in baseball and becomes well-known as a hard hitter. He and his unique teammates establish Meikun a solid position as No.1 in the High School Baseball Championship games. Dokaben is mostly known as thorough spokon manga that was in development for nine years. I like both characters and humor here, but would not want to watch it fully as pretty much almost any spokon.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Kyouryuu Tankentai Born Free 恐竜探検隊ボーンフリー [1976-IV] Sunrise (Dropped 3/25) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi When a meteor crashes to Earth, it briefly changes the climate and dinosaurs once again roam the planet. It's up to a newly formed expedition team to relocate the dinosaurs to a safe environment. This anime... is not really an anime... again. Because roughly half of scenes are screened in real life environment or on real life backgrounds. Because... seriously... who would sponsor anime about saving dinosaurs by dinosaur rescue squad. Team is bland, no humor spotted, so watchin all those toy decorations and plasticine dinosaurs is beyond me.  Overall Rating: 3/10   18. UFO Senshi Dai Apolon 2 UFO戦士ダイアポロンII [1976-IV] Eiken (Dropped 3/21) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi Sequel to Dai Apolon consisting of a mix of new and reaired episodes. One of the worst representative of the genre. Same trash as original.   Overall Rating: 3/10   19. Hana no Kakarichou 花の係長 [1976-IV]  Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/25) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Slice of Life A wacky comedy about a man from a noble ancestry of long ago, but who in modern times is just a lowly salary man that is constantly being humiliated by his family and co-workers. Concept is similar to Dame Oyaji, if it was realistic. Males now are only a bit weird and no one really hates dad, all specter of feelings is used. Anime tackles with as many problems of an adult salaryman as possible - like high libido and hot wife under circumstances of occasionally impossible intimacy, not respectful subordinates, molesters and tight spaces in train, worry about kid not being smart enough - very mundane things like that. Spirit is very frivolous with what could be called ecchi today. There is next to zero situational humor, but conceptual humor is good. I'd give it a masterpiece score if it was translated .   Overall Rating: 6/10
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