And now, a bunch of descriptions. First, our regular series: > Infinite Ryvius In a future where mankind has (finally) colonized the solar system - despite the effects of a sort of permenant solar flare called the Gedoult - there is a space station called the Liebe Delta that acts as a sort of space vocational school for teenagers. Despite the SF setting, everyday life is rather routine - until terrorists attack the station and the students are forced to take shelter in a mysterious spaceship called the Ryvius, at which point things really start to head downhill. Infinite Ryvius is a sort of Lord of the Flies in space, where a group of teenagers are abandoned to survive as best they can, doing terrible things to each other in the process. The SF setting is detailed, the ensamble cast is fully developed, the action scenes are reminiscent of submarine warfare, and the drama is very, very intense. I can't recommend thsi highly enough. > Future Boy Conan From the opening credits: "July, 2008 A.D. Mankind was facing the fires of annihilation. Super electromagnetic weapons, far more destructive than atomic weapons, caused half the world to be wiped out in an instant. The Earth was seized by great tectonic upheavals. Its axis was tilted. The five continents were ripped completely apart and sank into the sea." A space ship attempting to escape the upheavel fails, but manages to land on a small island and escape destruction. 20 years later, one of the original crewmen and a young boy named Conan live peacefully on their island - until the day a mysterious girl arrives. Future Boy Conan (1978) was Hayao "I'm The Man" Miyazaki's first TV series and, quite simply, kicks a lot of ass. Action, adventure, characters to care about, great animation - it's got it all. 'Nuff said. > Macross 7 "ORE NO UTA O KIKE!" That is to say, "Listen to my song!" Get used to this phrase - you'll be hearing it a lot. Five years after the events of Macross Plus, huge colony ships are travelling away from Earth and exploring the galaxy. Life in these ships is a lot like life on earth - people live in a small enclosed city with all the features of home...including garage bands. Cue Nekki Basara, surly front man for Fire Bomber, keyboardist and manager Ray, the mysterious drummer Viffildes, and the latest member of the band: Mylene Jenius, daughter of city leaders Max and Miria - yes, Macross fans, that Max and Miria. Their first live show is going great until the inevtiable alien menace shows up to start attacking the ship...at which point Basara jumps in his transformable giant robot, flies out to meet the enemy and starts singing at them. Much to his chagrin it doesn't do much, but this doesn't stop him from giving it another go each time the aliens attack and he's not too busy being a member of a struggling band. Let's get something straight right off the bat. Macross 7 is stupid. The concept revolves around our hero piloting his mecha with a guitar and singing songs at the bad guys. The mecha look goofy and frankly the series takes a while to really get going. That said, once you get past the fact that, yes, the setup is pretty dumb, Macross 7 is a blast. The songs are fun, the characters are lovable, the plot eventually pulls itself together, and before long you realize that Mac7 is one hell of a show. At 49 episodes, it's a lot longer than our average series. And, early on when things are a bit slow, you're going to wonder why we're watching it at all. The reason is that Macross 7 has one of the best pay-offs of any anime series I've ever seen. So, kick back, embrace the cheese, sing along with "Tokimeki Love Heart" and join me in the cry: "LISTEN TO MY SONG! IT WILL SET YOUR HEART ON FIRE!" And our features: > Aug 27 - Metropolis Directed by Rin "I'm sorry about X, remember me for Galaxy Express instead" Taro, with a screenplay by Mamoru "Ghost in the Shell kicked your ass, fanboy" Oshii and based on a manga by Osamu "God of Comics" Tezuka, Metropolis really can't help but be great. Very loosely based on Fritz Lang's classic, Metropolis positively drips retro SF style, has an amazing jazz soundtrack, is wall to wall stunning animation and features the best use ever of the Ray Charles song "I Can't Stop Loving You". > Sept 3 - Voices from a Distant Star, Alien 009 1, Aim for the Ace! 1 When two teenagers are seperated by the draft, they promise to stay in touch - a promise that becomes difficult to keep when they're seperated by light years during an interstellar war. Voices From A Distant Star would be a special piece of work under any circumstances. In 30 minutes it manages to create a beautifully realized world, emotional attachment to the two main characters, and tell wonderful story. The real kicker is that it's homebrewed - all the animation is done by one guy, with he and his girlfriend playing the two roles. Voices From A Distant Star is, quite simply, amazing and a definate must see. Alien 9 features a world where bizzare alien critters are an everyday part of life, an annoyance to be dealt with like vermin. Our unfortunate heroine finds herself being volunteered to be on her middle school's Alien control team, where she's sent off to dispatch the things that show up with the aid of a symbiotic helmet and her trusty rollerblades. Alien 9 alternates between being rather cute, deeply weird and occasionally a bit disturbin. If it weren't for Voices From A Distant Star, this would be the best OVA series of the past year. Aim for the Ace! takes the sports anime concept (the main character struggles valiantly to become the Best In Japan) and livens it up with shoujo drama, lovely character designs, and psychadelic visuals. This early work by the team that would go on to do Rose of Versailles, Brother Dear Brother and Black Jack is tremendous fun, in a particularly 70s sort of way. Hiromi is a newbie in her high school women's tennis team, content to not take things too seriously and oggle the hunks on the men's team - until the Coach suddenly promotes her to the Varsity teams. Chock full of blood, sweat, tears, flowers, evil tennis bitches, and a cat named Goemon, Ace! is an anime classic. Besides, you get to yell "SERVE! SMASH! VOLLEY!" along with the opening theme. > Sept 10 - Hellsing 1, Alien 009 2, Aim for the Ace! 2 Hellsing is, simply put, all about bad ass vampire hunters. In particular, it's about the grandaughter of Van Helsing (yes, that Van Helsing) defending London against all manner of undead threats with the help of the vampire Alucard. If you're looking for over the top violent action, red trenchcoats and big ass guns, but don't want to watch Trigun, well, here you go. > Oct 1 - Tokimeki Tonight 1, Figure 17 1 Tokimeki Tonight is the anime equivalent of the Addams Family. Our heroine is a cute high school girl whose father is a vampire and whose mother is a werewolf. Much to her parents' chagrin, she doesn't seem to show any signs of being a monster herself...at least, not yet. Wacky monster hijinx combine with wacky shoujo romance in this obscure 80s OVA series. Figure 17 starts out as a very quiet, atmospheric show. The main character is a little girl whose father quit his high-pressure job in the city in order to become a baker out in the boonies of Hokkaido. Her life is very mellow and a bit lonely - until a bishounen alien bounty hunter in hot pursuit of a nasty critter crash lands in the woods near her house. Yeah, that livens things up a bit, especially when the little girl winds up with a doppleganger. Figure 17 is unusual, since it's a 45 minute TV series that airs once a month, with higher production values than your average TV anime. Lovely and laid back, at least until the shit hits the fan. > Oct 15 - Abenobashi 1, Hakaima Sadamitsu 1, Azumanga Daioh 1 Magical Shopping District Abenobashi is the latest series by those wacky guys at GAINAX (probably best known for Evangelion which, despite the claims fo the marketing folks at ADV, is not the Greatest Anime Series Every Made, not by a long shot). Their latest effort starts out being a lot more subtle than usual, with a somewhat melancholy setting and somewhat subdued weirdness. Then at the end of the first episode they can't take it any more and the series becomes a wacky genre parody of the week setup. The idea is that our hero and heroine are middle school friends living in a run down shopping district of Tokyo. The girl's family is moving away...or would if she and the guy hadn't found themselves trapped in a series of alternate dimensions based on pop culture genres. Whoops. We'll be watching the first episode, which sets things up, then skipping ahead to the fourth episode, the kung fu movie parody. The star of Hakaida Sadamitsu is a high school thug, in a well meaning sort of way. He leads his good guy gang to victory against rival punks in his fighting clothes: white hakama pants, no shirt, and a flowing white coat with the name of his gang in golden kanji on the back. Cue plenty fo swift bokken justice. Then, an alien in pursuit of a nasty critter (what can I say - it's a popular theme) shows up and Sadamitsu is drafted to help defend the earth with the help of alien power armor - which he wears along with his white hakama pants, no shirt, and a flowing white coat with the name of his gang in golden kanji on the back. Cue plenty of swift cyber bokken justice. Did I mention that mariachi music plays in the background as the soundtrack? Two episodes of sheer ass kicking; expect to see the UNC Kendo Club members rioting as we show this. I'm no expert on Azumanga Daioh, but I'll do my best to provide a quick synopsis. It's based on a 4-panel gag manga, so the episodes are divided into short segments built around a punch line. It's set at a girls school and features plenty of wacky high school antics. We're showing the first episode and, based on the Alchemist's highest recommendation, the fourth episode. Kevin, care to jump in and add anything? > Oct 29 - Saishu Heiki Kanojo 1, Witch Hunter Robin 1, Animation Runer > Kuromi Saishu Heiki Kanojo (which translates very loosely as She, the Incredible Badass...well, not quite, but you get the idea) follows a traditional anime formula: Boy loves girl, girl volunteers to be transformed into a combat cyborg, and they somehow manage to have a relationship. This is the latest series by the ever popular and increasingly busy Studio Gonzo. Fortunatly, Gonzo has managed to tone down it's usual ultra-shiny look to create a show with solid animation and a rather pretty look to it as well. One of the latest shows, and almost certainly one that'll be a big hit domestically sometime next year - be the first on your block to watch it! I know almost nothing about Witch Hunter Robin, except that the title is entirely accurate and that it's by the Sunrise team that did Cowboy Bebop. The previews I've seen for this show feature a tremendous amount of style; if you're looking for a dark atmosphere and plenty of action, this is the show for you. I'll have a more coherant description for ya'll as soon as I've actually seen an episode. Animation Runner Kuromi is Otaku no Video Lite, in that it's all about the depraved souls who slave away to produce the Japanese cartoons we all love so very much. This short OVA one-shot features a brand new intern at a typically slack and hectic animation studio: cue wacky hijinx. > Nov 5 - Saishu Heiki Kanojo 2, Witch Hunter Robin 2, Minipato Minipato is super deformed Patlabor. Those of who you know what Patlabor is will no doubt be freaking out right now - the rest of you are probably confused. Don't worry - just show up to watch everyone's favorite mecha cop show transformed into a cute vehicle for silly gags and bizzare parodies in the grand SD Gundam tradition. This may or may not be subtitled, but rest assured - it doesn't matter one bit. > Nov 12 - Saishu Heiki Kanojo 3, Witch Hunter Robin 3, random Super GALS Super GALS is the saga of Kotobuki Ran and her fellow ko-gals (hyper trendy schoolgirls) and their adventures in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. The spastic animation, vivid colors, and plenty of over-the-top teen adventure alone would make GALS a cult favorite - but on top of that they do the monkey in the opening credits. Bow down before it's might. > Nov 19 - Lupin Night - either the new Lupin Return of Pike movie, or some > Lupin Miyazaki episodes Once a semester we simply have to watch some Lupin - COUP just isn't the same without an occasional visit from everyone's favorite master thief (not to mention his shifty friends and a particularly inept Interpol agent). Our current schedule is up in the air, however. If we can find a subtitled copy we'll watch the latest Lupin movie, The Return of Pike. Otherwise we'll watch a couple of Lupin TV episodes by Hayao "Who's Your Daddy" Miyazaki. Either way, you win. > Nov 26 - Shoujo night - Blazing Alpenrose movie, other stuff TBA Since this meeting is right before Thanksgiving, we'll be taking a break from our regular series showings to feature a full three hours of really girly shoujo. Okay, "girly shoujo" is a bit rendundant, but you'll know what I mean when you see our feature for the evening - The Blazing Alpenrose, yet another example of the Homeless European Waif genre, this time loaded down with tragic romance and set during WWII. The rest of Shoujo Night has yet to be decided - as soon as I figure something out, I'll let ya'll know. Rest assured - it's certain to be something obscure and girly to the hilt. > Dec 3 - Spirited Away (or if we can't get that, then Patlabor movie 3) Finally, our last meeting of the semester will feature a movie of some sort. The latest Miyazaki film, Spirited Away, should be coming to theatres this fall. If not, we'll dig up a copy and watch it ourselves. And, if we do have a group expedition to see Spirited Away on the big screen, we'll find another movie to watch instead. If it's subtitled, we'll watch the latest Patlabor movie; otherwise, who knows. And there you have it.