Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040

Here we are at the second title from Bubblegum Crisis universe. This release is quite different from the first OVAs. It was created for a wider audiences, younger teens and with some really funny jokes. We can say it is not close to the first original anime, but it's our favorite girl heroes fighting boomers. Enjoyable science fiction to our eyes. Can anyone complain?

These 26 episode series were directed by Hiroki Hayashi, with a lot of people from the previous release. Animation production by AIC and JVC. AIC produced a lot of work for many popular sci-fi anime titles. Look them up to find more.

The story is retold in these series, with its own twists and side stories. It may not be so similar to the original, but it adds new great possibilities. We start with a young country girl Linna who moves to MegaTokyo to live life away from her parents, she only finds it is completely different from what she has seen on TV. The city is still recovering from a massive earthquake that almost destroyed everyone. New corporation GENOM have created "Boomers" androids that helped build the city and helped humans to survive. For some unknown reason some boomers can go berserk and the A.D. Police can't stay in control. There are also rumors about a group of hardsuited heroes that destroy the berserk boomers. This is the simple part of the story, how will things twist and turn see yourself.

Character designs done by awesome artists who worked on or designed cool mecha characters for a anime movies you really know. The characters of the girls are unique to each other. They posses different personalities, different backgrounds and goals in life. Of course, Priss gets the most attention and airtime, other girls get enough background story to keep you interested. The boomer designs are one of the best mecha designs out there.

Animation still looks good, after ten years from the release of the Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040. A lot of work was placed into the animation. Two huge companies, with lots of staff and experience, brought you more Bubblegum Crisis. Even if the animation varies, the hardsuite design is a bit different, we still loved watching them.

Of course, the soundtrack adds a big peace to these cool series, in almost every episode you can see Priss singing. Sound effects were really good. Intense action themes through out the series - it is worth getting a separate OST.

In a little summary, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 may not be so dark and mind blowing as the predecessor OVAs. It still retells the whole story of Saber Knights for a wider and younger audiences. We loved to see more action from the girls, we just hope the movie will be based on the original. We recommend this movie to anyone over 12 years old, in to science fiction anime. Buy it, rent it, love it a lot.

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Serial Experiment Lain

What kind of science fiction anime blog would it be without Lain. We feel somewhat sad not to have seen it when the series came out. There is a lot of science fiction here, a lot of cyberpunk stuff. Don't get turned off by the innocent, cute looking little girl. The thirteen episode series will blow your mind up until the last minute.

Directed by Ryutaro Nakamura, animated by Geneon. Written by Chiaki J. Konaka, with help of Yoshitoshi ABe on character designs. A very successful collaboration between very talented people. They have many great titles to show off, just look them up. It is a perfect time to say that they all are gathering together again, to bring us some very unique science fiction anime. The project is called Despera, wait for it with us.

There is no story at all. Nothing happens through out the entire anime. You just have to see it yourself, we can only say this much... There is a cute little girl, she has these weird hallucinations. The story is connected to computers and reality. The episodes are presented as layers, each bringing many mind blowing concepts. We loved the way they start exactly the same.

Characters in the story are designed very well, considering there are quite a lot of them. The main characters are very well though out. Bulk action is everywhere, which makes you really believe their world. Serial Experiment Lain came out in 1998 - we will love to see how these guys have developed over this time.

Animation was good in 1998, perhaps now it may look different, but this way it only adds more cyberpunk effect. The movement of the characters, their reactions are very well drawn. Even their eye pupils move in some situations. The hallucinations are wonderful to look at, horrifying at some points. We can't say a bad thing about this unique style of drawing. This anime is meant to look like the way it does.

The sound effects are pretty good, the noises of the crowded streets, the bubbling and walking on water are pretty believable. Not to mention the great music themes and intro track by Boa, they are pleasant to listen to every time.

There is now way of describing this anime in a few sentences. It is a must-have for science fiction anime fans. With lots of philosophical and psychological twists it will make you want to watch it again straight away. It is made by very well known artists, animated in one big studio. This is a mind twister, with killings straight from the very first minutes. We recommend it to 16 and over.

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Dead Space: Downfall

Welcome to sci-fi anime blog, we just got a great new anime movie Dead Space Downfall. If you are into space horror, gore and gallons of blood, then this movie is unmissable to you. Even though this is a cartoon, most viewers will be overwhelmed with the violence in it. Just saying it is not for the weak.

The movie was based on a game Dead Space, by Electronic Arts. It is actually a prequel to the game's story. They show a lot of the stuff from the game, but also misses out on some. Directed by Chuck Patton who was behind Spawn series, G.I. Joe cartoons. Animated in Anchor Bay - ITN studios, where a lot of good action and horror movies come to life.

The story is not something you haven't seen before, so you won't see some deep messages or twisted plot-lines. It pretty straight forward.

In the 26th century, a deep space excavation colony discovers what is supposed to be a divine ancient artifact. Which they cut out from the planet along with a huge rock. As they are taking it back to earth for analysis, the crew members become extremely violent towards themselves and other crew members. Most of them say it is all to do with this artifact. See what happens further by yourself.

Characters aren't that good and don't have much depth to them. They do act tough and aggressive by using the F word extensively. We thought that monsters look better than our main characters. Even though there only few types of monsters shown, they are pretty grouse. A lot of scenes with corpses and scenes of many monsters attacking groups of people. It does feel like a real alien movie.

The animation is nothing special, simple use of CG environments with 2D drawn characters. The backgrounds look fine for a space ship covered in organic tissue and blood. We noticed a few unnecessary flips, unnecessary movement and images. This is all just to present a game, so there is no way to complain about anything here.

We didn't notice the sound track until our main character started to sing "Twinkle twinkle little star", that seemed a little cheap to us. Why did she sing that song is unknown to us. The sound effects were believable, the intense background music kept us interested in watching this film.

In short, the movie hits many spots for both science fiction anime fans and space horror fans. It is a prequel to a game of the same name. It doesn't bring anything new, but if you love third person shooters or know this game, you must watch it. It may not satisfy those who are looking for some deep story lines, but it is worth at least to rent. It does contain extreme violence, we recommend it to viewers over 18 only, and not with weak guts.

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Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

More than a decade has passed since we saw the original Ghost in the Shell movie. We were introduced to Stand Alone complex and Section 9 more closely. Finally in 2004 we have the second movie Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. After so long of waiting for a trill of a lifetime the fans they got what they wanted.

Mamoru Oshii has done it again, Innocence was directed almost in a perfect manner. Of course it may be different from the manga, but you can't have all at once. We think this movie is better than first Gits movie, we like it more.

The events in the movie follow after first SAC series, Major Kusanagi has disappeared, Batou and Togusa are investigating serial killings. While they follow stories of their own, they are searching for clues that may lead to Major. The plot gets more and more interesting as the film progresses so you will just have to sit right through it.

The animation is better than anything you have seen and the character details are too much to notice all of them. With the amazing surroundings Batou's dog, you just forget that you are watching anime and that your mouth is open. The animation will satisfy any sci-fi anime fans thirst.

The soundtrack is as mind blowing as the movie itself, it adds more to these amazing drawings and action scenes. Sound effects are very cool, at points they can make you feel sick, but that's part of the plan.

This movie is worth to have in your collection as much as any other Ghost in the Shell film. We rate it very high, it is unmissable. The plot, the visualizations, the soundtrack will make you hold your seat and hold your breath. This movie is simply amazing we recommend it to everyone above 16 years old. Since it is cyberpunk stuff it will be always hard to understand even to adults, so watch it again and enjoy it even more.

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A Girl Who Leaped Through Time

Great anime as it really should be. We can easily place this movie in our sci-fi collection. The title is alluring, but really you still don't know what to expect from it. You can watch it with the whole family, everyone will enjoy it. We wanted to add it here, so make sure you rent or buy it.

Somehow we gathered quite a few reviews of anime created in MADHOUSE studios. These guys have unbeatable skill with mecha and futuristic anime, just search for them. This movie is based on a novel of the same name by an author named Yasutaka Tsutsu. Directed by Mamoru Hosoda, who is mainly known for directing Digimon movies.

The story starts out simple, but with every minute gets deeper and deeper. This movie is about a girl who gains the ability to jump back through time, just as it says in the title. It is a movie about time traveling, with very realistic ideas and situations. The story will make you want to watch it again.

Main characters may seem like the usual friends, but there is more going on behind the scenes. They may not be that detailed, but sure are animated very well. Very lovable from the start of the movie.

You will like this great masterpiece not only for the story and the easily relating characters. You will love it for the animation and stunning backgrounds. There is even a very cool painting, about which little is explained in this film. That will make want to watch it again too.

Soundtrack fits in very well, but most of the beautiful music is covered with lots of dialog. We watched it with original voices and enjoyed it a lot.

In short, just get it! Any age person will enjoy this film. Filled with lots of drama, romance, daily teenage life. All that with complicated time traveling ideas. Cool characters, as they seem most of the time. This movie is without explosions and guns, but with same intensity. We can only recommend it to everyone.

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Texhnolyze

Texhnolyze is just one of those anime that will stay in your mind after you have watched it. Everyone who has, recommends it to everyone they know. It is pure sci-fi anime, with realistic elements that should be followed. We must have a review of this great anime.

Great work from MADHOUSE Studios, it's one of their darker animes. Directed by Hirotsugu Hamazaki, who has directed just a few, but really successful OVAs and TV series for older generations. Also, work by very well known people in the anime industry, look them up.

Starting out, Texhnolyze is pretty confusing, with just a few dialogs in the first episodes. Only shocking images of what happens to a underground fighter Ichise. He upsets a girlfriend of some mafia boss, after their attack he barely survives, gets some parts of his body replaced. The story starts out kind of slow and simple, but after some five episodes of introduction of this futuristic underground world you will want to watch more. We did not want to spoil any of it, so enjoy.

There are lots of characters in this anime. There are biker gangs, mafia, rebels and something like government, even a girl who can see into the future. A mystery person who looks and acts like a traveler. You just wait and see how good this anime really is.

Do you think you can compare the animation of Texhnolyze to Ghost in the Shell? Yes you can, because it includes work by a person who worked on both of these cool titles. We can only say you won't be disappointed by it.

The sounds effects are very believable, we loved the gun sounds. Filled with lots of cool music themes by know artists. The soundtrack fits Texhnolyze perfectly.

In a quick summary, Texhnolyze is a very satisfying piece of science fiction anime. with lots of cool mecha and action. Concepts that will break your head. It may start out a bit confusing in at first, but just hold tight. We loved it many times, it is worth 50 bucks. Aimed at older audiences, really over 16+ because of extreme violence. Don't forget to watch it in the dark, the anime will shine before you.

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Appleseed: Ex-Machina

We have finally arrived to our third Appleseed movie, perhaps the most popular one too. This third movie was made completely out of computer generated images. With lots of very fast action, coolest ever mecha and big guns. This is a squeal to the movie released in 2004. We think new and old Appleseed fans, will enjoy the action, there is enough of it to keep everyone happy.

Ex-Machina was created with wider audiences in mind. It doesn't follow the original manga by Masamune Shirow. Directed by Shinji Aramaki, with a lot of influence from producer John Woo, the movie becomes more of a cyborg ass-kicking movie made in CG, than everyone's loved Appleseed.

The story takes place after the events of the first movie. These have different stories, but don't worry if you haven't seen the other two, you can go back and enjoy them after. In between all the bullets and jumps we can see some type of story, although pretty predictable and seen many times before.

Ex-Machina starts with a cool scene in a real world cathedral in Germany, where very cute cyborgs are keeping a hostage. Deunan and Briareos steal the action from the beginning, without waiting for anyone. At the end of the scene, Briareos covers Deunan from explosion, they take him away to hospital because of the damaged he received from that last explosion. There is a new type of bioroid soldier, Tereus. Based on Briareos's DNA, looking and acting just like Briareos who is going to be Deunan's new partner for a while - she is not happy about it.

We would love to write more about the story, but since it isn't so deep we would not want to spoil it for you. It is probably the only thing that cloud have been done a differently, but that's what you get when John Woo is involved.

There were lots of artists involved in creating and designing characters, backgrounds, animation, effects, lighting, even Prada was invited to design character costumes. We can only say very well done to character and mecha designs. The detailed textures were from another level of CG animation. Mass scenes with lots of boiroids and technology around. We loved the red flying bombs at the end of the movie, very well done.

We can't really compare the animation to any other CG movie or anime. It does not fit in. It is too good or kinda bad. It is amazing to look at, an eye candy, the detailed action can be watched again and again, to only see more and more details. They had really good animation actors for this movie. This is the part were this film scores the most points. The cool CG was something different than the previous Appleseed. It may look like your watching a FMV sequence of some game but it doesn't stop for a long time and won't disappoint. Some may think the animation changed for better some say it changed for worse, we are just thankful to see more Appleseed so soon after release of 2004 movie.

The soundtrack is not that noticeable while your eyes are trying to follow the action, but it does make a bigger impact, especially in the slow motion scenes. It is a kick-ass soundtrack for a kick-ass movie. We really loved the ending track with Lina Ohta.

In summary Appleseed: Ex-Machina is a pretty good squeal to the Appleseed movie from 2004. Filled with enough action to make you want to watch it again. It can be placed in your collection as a classic kick-ass cyborg movie made in CG. The story is way too much predictable and with lots of holes, but again, we gathered here for the mecha and the bullet action. It scores low in story and character depth, you may feel like there is something missing, but it scores over the ranks with detail of characters and background scenes. We recommend this movie to almost everyone, it does not have many scary scenes, since it was created with Hollywood and money making in mind. We loved it over all and are proud to have the DVD in our collection. We can't wait until the fourth movie is out, until then we just have to be satisfied with Deunan and Briareos in amazing action, here in Ex-Machina.

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Kurau: Phantom Memory

Sometimes it may seem that there are no good "light" science fiction anime out there. Most are hard to understand, if you can understand anything at all. Heavy mecha and angry boys trying to destroy everything around them. The point is, you can only watch them alone or with someone who you know enjoys that type of anime. Not many might enjoy them as much as you do. Of course, it's not always like that. Some may actually prefer dark anime over something like this. Kurau: Phantom Memory is anime filled with drama, action and surprises, but it won't get too complicated to understand.

Kurau: Phantom Memory was created from a novel - track it down if you will. Yasuhiro Irie direction brought this wonderful story to your screens. This person has been working on many successful anime, including Cowboy Bebop and the latest Full Metal Alchemist series. This anime was produced in BONES studios, by people too skilled for their jobs. If you don't know BONES or can't recall any of their works, you should be very ashamed of yourself.

The story takes place in far future from now. In 2100, Dr. Amami Hajime has been researching new types of alternative energy. In the first episode, Dr. Amami has a major test scheduled for his experiments, it happens to be on her daughter's Kurau twelfth birthday. She comes to the lab to see her father's experiment, hoping to have a little celebration there, after it's completed. Unfortunately the test goes very wrong, two little energy bolts come flying out of test container and one of them hits Kurau. In a few seconds she becomes particles of energy, completely disappears and appears after a few seconds, shinning in yellow energy.

All of this happens only in first 10 minutes of the first episode, watch rest yourselves. The story is a good doze of sci-fi and drama. It may look like its for mainly men audiences, but that is not very true. Women might enjoy watching these anime series filled with action, drama and kick-ass girl trying to escape and live peacefully, away from everyone.

Kurau and Christmas are always on the run, the sceneries change from cities and countries to the moon and back to earth chases. There are lots of bulk movement scenes, the detailed scenes are way to good, the characters are very well designed.

Animation was done by professionals who have a lot to show off with. We hope you remembered BONES by now and know how good their animation is. Kurau: Phantom Memory is a very successful project that should be at least rented, because it is by BONES. We never get bored from watching their amazing animated work.

Music adds a lot to the dramatic script of this anime. It's very enjoyable, you may find yourself watching openings and endings more than usually, because they have great music to them. Through out, the series filled with lots and lots of cool sci-fi sound effects.

Kurau: Phantom Memory may not appeal to someone looking for a deep story with mind twisting scenarios. It is filled with lots of drama, great action and two girls running away from the world that wants to capture and destroy them. Created by fathers of cool anime, BONES, these cool light sci-fi series should not be missed.

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Vexille

We love futuristic anime, with cool technology and lots of detailed action scenes. This movie is full of that, also it stands out from the rest with its unique alternative reality story. It stands out with its animation and sound track. It stands out a lot and is appealing to wide audiences, not only science fiction anime fans. We can't agree with anyone who says bad things about this cool movie.

This movie was directed by Fumihiko Sori who produced Appleseed 2004 movie, so expect some similarities. Animated by Oxybot, maybe not so know yet, but they will grow big in the future.

The stetting is quite unique. The story takes place in 2077, ten years after Japan isolates itself from the rest of the world. A team of American special forces called SWORD are sent on a mission to infiltrate Japan, see what they have been doing for the past ten years. What they will find will shock the world...

Although a really promising script, it sometimes becomes quite dull, with too much unnecessary dialog that could have been used elsewhere. Maybe it could have been better if it was made in to two or more parts with more depth to the characters and the story. As always we can't have everything at once, so just enjoy this movie as it is and don't say a bad word about it.

Characters look really good, the use of cell shading does really fit this movie in our opinion. Although they might not have real depth and backgrounds to them, they look alive and move accordingly. We also have cool mecha in this anime, from tiny egg shaped robots to "Jags", large scale sand worms absorbing metal to grow bigger.

The animation is the best part of this anime, if you can get the Blu-ray version, you will be amazed by the detailed characters and animation of Vexille. It is that good that you have to watch it many times to see just how good it is. People should understand that they are watching computer generated images not hand drawn or even live-action film. The movie is so good, you tend to forget about the animation and concentrate on how the story doesn't connect. Just look at “Jags”, how hard is it to animate something like that, do you think, crashing over the sand? It takes a lot of high skill to create stuff like this, look at many other scenes. For all this, this movie is compared even to FF:AC by some, but don't forget how many releases FF had, to how many CG releases did Oxybot or Sori had.

The director of Vexille made sure to have a great soundtrack. Great music similar to Appleseed movie. All mixed by Paul Oakenfold, the soundtrack does make the action more intense, we would love to hear more. Sound effects are nothing less than the music tracks tr, we can only thank the creators for this cool movie.

In a quick recap, Vexille is great entertnaiment, it was made with wide audiences in mind, many will find something they like about this movie and find something that they don't like, mostly it will be flaws in the story. Characters animated using cell shading techniques, the rest is pure and very detailed CGI. We recommend it to everyone, if you liked Appleseed, you will enjoy watching this.


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IGPX - Immortal Grand Prix

Here we have a unique anime, created by most known animation production companies in Japan and America. This cool anime might remind you of Zoids, Initial D or even Wipeout from Playstaion. It brings some awesome CG integrated very well with classic anime drawing, all in a futuristic sports setting.

The series were directed by Hongo Mitsuru, animated by Production I.G. and Cartoon Network. When two or more big companies collaborate, great things happen. Immortal Grand Prix is a very successful anime that should not be missed. It is based on the original 5-five minute episodes IGPX, there was no racing though, mechas only battled. We recommend watching that too.

The story is somewhat similar to most other sports anime, but with added cool futuristic mecha effect. The year is 2048, the most popular motor sport on earth is IGPX. The sport consists of racing through a track in two teams of three people, each person inside a humanoid mecha that reach speeds over 400km/h. But they aren't only racing here, they have to battle with the opposing team - that means breaking their beautiful IG so it can't keep up with theirs anymore. IGPX has become so popular that they had to build a whole town around the huge 60km track, just for IGPX racing industry.

This anime contains enough characters to keep everyone happy, they are well designed and thought out. Team Satomi, which we follow throughout the series, has many different personalities. Our main four pilots are always having arguments and conflicts between each other, most of the time they are in their own little worlds, which seems more interesting. The IGs do more amazing moves with every episode. We think not only this anime was one of the first to have sports with CG mecha armor concept in mind, but it also was the most original. We did feel a lack of real audiences and a bit of outside world, but we're all here mostly for the IGPX racing.

Not many can say a bad thing about animation by Production I.G. or their divisions, they create perfect animations, show ways of animating so the rest of the animating studios can only follow. The animation here is very good. 3D and 2D animations combined perfectly, with help of Bee Train, Studio, Xebec, CN with planing the story. We are proud to have this great piece of animation, we give very high scores for this animation.

Loved the great futuristic sound effects and music. It fits IGPX so well that you might forget it is there. The live race commentator might seem a bit irritating at times, we got over him after a while, so you will too. The soundtrack is worth a separate release, it is intense, fast, futuristic music.

In summary, IGPX is a series worth watching even for older audiences. This is a work of many great artists, collaborations between many animation studios. Made with care, many messages and lessons to be learned. The story is full of characters, all with their own unique personalities that are in conflict all the time. The superb animation brings you great entertainment. We recommend it to everyone, at least rent it or watch it on CN, because this work is not just another sports anime. Read more...

The Guyver: Out of Control

We promised a small review of all Guyver releases, here is the first ever Guyver, released in 1987. A great original, only available in VHS format. Every Guyver fan and most real science fiction anime fans should get this while it is still available.

Directed by Hiroshi Watanabe who has worked on anime such as Star Ocean EX. This movie was created in Bandai Studios, everyone knows Bandai, we don't have to mention anything about them.

The story is based on manga of the Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor. Although in this movie, it's Sho's sweetheart Mizuki, in the scene where Sho acquires Guyver Unit. In manga it's his best friend and Mizuki's brother Tetsuro. Also in original manga and other anime, Guyver Unit II are males. In this movie the Unit II is acquired by a female. The story is really short pretty short, so we won't spoil any of it for you.

There are only a few characters in this movie, but even those are extremely well designed. Mizuki could have had more work done on her character, like the female Guyver. She shows off enough nudity to make this movie erotic at times.

Think back 20 years ago, if you were born and old enough to see Guyver: Out of Control, you would have been blown away by it. Even know the animation looks pretty good and detailed. With lots of slashing and ripping off arms, the fight scenes may repeat somewhat, but in never devalues the animation. The lighting on the Guyver armor, the thunder effects – they look pretty cool. It is a must-watch legendary action for any Guyver fan.

We love themes of old anime. The way they sing about characters in the story. This one is no different, great theme. The voices of pain were a bit off, but we can't have everything in one short one hour film.

So there you have it, a little Guyver: Out of Control review. This great classic is a must-have or watch for any super hero anime fan, science fiction fan, monster fighting and gore fan, not to mention Guyver fan. This film is not for kiddies it contains nudity and extreme violence. Good old Guyver, it made us wonder, would Casshern defeat Gigantic Guyver?

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Cowboy Bebop Movie

What kind of review blog would it be, if we didn't include Spike Spiegel and the rest of the crew in our list. This movie appeals to people who don't have any anime or even like it. It is watchable like any kind of movie would be, you will forget that its just an animation. The movie feels like a good extended episode of the series, but you don't have to watch them to be consumed by this great animation.

Cowboy Bebop franchise had many great artists working on the movies and series. This movie was directed by Shinichiro Watanabe. It's one of his most know work, just shows how good he is at what he does. Animation production was made by Sunrise, Bones and Bandai Visual, made by professionals and leads in anime industry, just check their work.

The story is made up in a way so that you don't have to know anything about Cowboy Bebop. Everything is explained about the characters efficiently and simply, so you can jump straight to the main plot of the movie. The timeline of this movie do link to the original series, the events take place between episodes 22 and 23. If possible, it is recommended to watch 22nd episode before watching the movie to get the most out of it. The movie follows a interesting and a deep plot line, maybe not so much like in the series, but interesting enough and with lots of good action included.

We follow a crew of four bounty hunters on a spaceship called Bebop. As they hunt, what seem to be a simple bounty turns out to be a chemical weapon terrorist attack. The government issues a very high reward, the crew wants that reward money and tries to get it, but finds that they have yet again got themselves into very deep and deadly situations. We won't spoil more of of the story, get it, watch it, loooove it like everyone else does.

All cast characters, with very unique personalities on board of Bebop. The character designs were made to look as much live-like as possible. They wanted to have more quality than the series, but keeping all the features. The city on mars looks very believable, with lot of people and bulk daily traffic. They have animated amazing looking Arabic market, with lots of interesting items to purchase, like beans. They even show a bit of a old western movie, they used different type of animation for it. Great stuff, like in a real movie.

Animation style of this anime is unique, it deserves big scores. Very detailed backgrounds and animations. The movie is full of action sequences with unique style of Spike's fighting, especially the final fight with Vincent looks good. The project was done by three great animation studios, they can only be praised for their work, their work always are up for awards and prizes. This is one of their most popular work, famous for many elements, animation is just one of them.

The soundtrack has been released separately, because it was so good. It really sounds very believable, that this type of music would be popular in the future. It of course, includes the classic jazz and blues sounds, just the way Cowboy Bebop series do. We recommend getting it separately if you have spare cash.

Cowboy Bebop is a unique animation that should be sitting in any science fiction fan's movie collection. It has been watched by lots of people who aren't even into animation. It was produced and directed by very famous people, gifted animators and designers. It is worth every single penny and should satisfy both series fans and anyone who hasn't seen Spike and the crew in action before. The plot is quite complicated and the scenes do contain violence, so it is rated for over 16. We also found little good or maybe bad news for Cowboy Bebop fans. The more we watch it, the more we like this movie.


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Ergo Proxy

Some sci-fi anime fans have this hunger for new content, they have to see some new cool mecha or some mind-twisting story to keep them satisfied for some time. If you are one of those people, this is the place to be for you. If you love dark complicated anime, Ergo Proxy is for you. It is not much comparable to any other anime, because it is so unique in both animation and story.

The series were directed by Shukou Murase, who had worked on quite a few popular anime titles like Samurai Champloo and Aegis of Uruk. Produced by Manglobe Inc., while they don't have many titles to show off like some other animation studios, all of their work is loved from bottom to top by many many many anime fans.

Ergo Proxy's script is really complex, in every episode there are so many philosophical and psychological ideas presented to the viewers, it is hard to grasp them. So many references to big great people in human history, Greek mythology and legends. This is enough science fiction to keep anyone's mind twisted for a while.

The story is very good, the start has so much it's hard to describe it properly. After sudden catastrophic changes in earth's environment most of human population has been wiped out. What has left of them live in a domed city known as Romdeau. The city is full of androids called AutoReivs, they are mostly created for a purpose of serving and helping human survival. Recently there has been a few mysterious murders in the city by AutoReivs infected by a virus know as Cogito. Our main character Real Mayer and her partner AutoReiv Iggy are top detectives who are sent to investigate these murders. But what Real finds is more than just a berserk AutoReiv. We hope you will enjoy this very dark and very twisting story.

Main characters in the story are going through their own psychological journeys. One is looking to be accepted into a normal society. Second is looking for something real to this existence. The third, perhaps wants to become more human. There are a lot of references to the real world people that lived some time in history. All the backgrounds and outside of the city look pretty convincing, the technology concepts are very believable. Names and actions of characters have very deep links to them. The anime concentrates more on character development and story than on the animation.

Animation is pretty dark, just how we like it. Detailed and realistic scenes take you straight in to the depths of the story, only at times you have time to realize just how good everything looks. Of course, you will watch it again and again. These series are a work of a lot of people who created Samurai Champloo, this is their development over a few years. This time the setting is in future, with guns and androids, not swords and samurai.

Soundtrack delivers from the opening until the ending sequences, with excellent sound effects that fit every bit of the cool technology. Music tracks so good that this anime has two OST releases. Voice actors have worked very hard to produce such high results.

In the end, Ergo Proxy hits all the right spots, it is worth 40 bucks all the way. With work of Dai Sato, Shukou Murase, you have to love this dose of science fiction. We recommend it to anyone over 16, but we can't promise you will understand everything, unless you do more research. With characters completely different to one another, traveling on their own different journeys, this is dark science fiction anime in its best form.

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Review List

A

Akira
Appleseed (1988)
Appleseed (2004)
Appleseed: Ex-Machina

B

Bubblegum Crisis
Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040
Battle Fairy Yukikaze
Blassreiter

C

Casshern SINS
Cowboy Bebop Movie


D

Dead Space: Downfall

E


Ergo Proxy

F

Freedom

G

A Girl Who Leaped Through Time
Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Guyver: Out of Control
Guyver OVA

I

IGPX – Immortal Grand Prix

H

Heroic Age

K

Kurau: Phantom Memory

M

Macross Zero

N

Neo-Tokyo The Movie

P

Pale Cocoon

R

RideBack

S

Serial Experiment Lain

T

Texhnolyze

V

Vexille
Voices of a Distant Star Read more...

Bubblegum Crisis

Where to in the world did anime like this disappear? Why don't we ever get to see such great concept sci-fi anime, like Bubblegum Crisis anymore? What we see is boys controlling big robots, boys touching girl's breasts to summon big robots and hey, more boys with robots beating each other up... There is more need for stuff like Bubblegum Crisis. Saber Knights, not many can complain about these girls. Another great anime from the 80s. It has been influential to many animes of today, it also was a big part of cyberpunk scene. In other words, it is a must-have classic for any hard-core anime fan.

This anime might have been a lot better if the creating animation studios didn't split up. This great anime features many well known artists, directors, producers and musicians. Bubblegum Crisis has quite a few related animes, some related in a way, while others have just similar names. We will review some of them, so stay tuned-in.

Bubblegum Crisis is really an unfinished series or maybe it was left for everyone to stick the missing pieces together. It will leave you wandering and wanting more. Although the episodes have different plot lines, they still stick together pretty well.

MegaTokyo a city in 2030s which is still recovering from a big earthquake. Humans live along side Boomers. These are cyborgs who think, look, act just like humans and do human work. Some go crazy or berserk, start to destroy everything that's around them, even the police is losing control. Four girls only known as the Saber Knights, equipped with very powerful advanced armor suits, fight these Boomers and the evil company GENOM that produces them.

The character designs were mind blowing in the 80s and they are even today. The Saber Knights and Boomers were really well designed. The city of MegaTokyo looks pretty convincing. Not all is explained about our character backgrounds, too much concentration on one of them.

Bubblegum Crisis became famous not for its deep plots, not so much because voice actor for Priss was a real-life singer. It was for the concept designs of Saber Knights and mind blowing animation. Of course, it may not be so impressive now. These OVAs were produced by many different people, the animation and designs look different. Look at these OVAs now and imagine back then in late 80s, VHS players or recorders were a luxury in some parts of the world, people were still using black & white TVs, there were no computers with Windows in every house... You will appreciate the animation much more, hopefully forget that it was made in late 80s and just enjoy it.

The music for Bubblegum crisis is legendary in a way, these movies showed how intros and outros should be done. There are separate soundtracks available, fans have them and are very proud. Priss was voiced by a popular singer at that time Kinuko Oomori, in a way that made Priss most popular character from these OVAs.

Over all Bubblegum Crisis the eight original OVAs are anime that every sci-fi fan should know. It has made a big impact on a lot of anime that are out today. Has unique work by legendary artists. We recommend it to all science fiction fans over 12 years. We hope you will enjoy it as much as we did.

One more little thing, there is said to be live-action movie of Bubblegum Crisis in early production. Maybe we will see Saber Knights in 2012 again, but this time to stay.

We hope you enjoyed reading this review, thanks for visiting us.
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The Guyver OVA

The good old Guyver is one golden anime, which of course, will stay in our top all-time favorites. We are sometimes surprised that people can't recall seeing it. Perhaps, because it has mostly scenes of gore, monster mutants slashing each other and destroying school buildings... This is the original Guyver twelve part series.

The first anime series were directed by Koichi Ishiguro, we only know of few other works of this director , not much info there. Bandai is well known for many anime series, OVAs, franchises, Guyver is one of them. Work from early 90's.

The original story starts out pretty much the same as it does in the new remake series. This has 12 episodes the remake has 26 episodes. The story differs quite a bit from the orginal mangas, which were written by Yoshiki Takaya. Be patient and you will see more Guyver.

The main characters are still in their school years, each going through their own development. From the beginning to the very end of the series they are learning from mistakes. Some could learn a few things form watchting them. There is nothing in the world that can match the Guyver Units One and Three, some of the best creature and mecha designs of all times.


We always love watching Guyver fighting another Guyver or the five Hyper Zoanoids. The blades, the eyes the megasmasher, we love it every time. Watching it today makes you feel like you should better watch the remake, to us this cannot be missed even though the story is almost 100% the same. We can only say yes, when someone mentions this great anime.

The soundtrack may not be anything special, but it adds a lot to this great anime. Sound effects add a lot to the whole experience. Don't forget the first of the twelve episodes come in 1989.

The Guyver is worth watching even today, many enjoyed it when it was released in Japan and US on VHS and DVD versions. Although the story doesn't follow manga volumes so much it still is good, we recommend it to everyone over 16. Guyver is our very favorite super-hero, if you can call him that. So if you don't want to buy it at least rent it. We will be covering other two Guyver releases soon, so don't go anywhere too far.

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Appleseed 2004

We return to Appleseed for the second time. Based on very popular manga of the same name. This movie, same as the first, received a lot of mixed views. Some are really blown away by the whole animation. Others of course, disappointed in, lack of depth in the story. We say, you should add it to your Appleseed collection.

This Appleseed movie was directed by Shinji Aramaki. He is known very well for his mecha designs in many popular anime titles. To us, this movie could not have used any other type of animation. The first Appleseed was really amazing to watch, this movie does not disappoint in that at all. We can't wait for more great work from this artist.

The story starts with our main character Deunan, inside a warzone, battling with badass cyborgs, even tanks. She eventually gets caught by a group of armored troops. When she wakes up, she finds out the war is over and that her partner and lover Briareos has lost most of is human body which is replaced with cybernetic parts. The last human city Olympus, with half of the population of robots that are almost like humans. They can do human work and help humans to survive. Bioroids have a flaw they can't reproduce feel anger or love. Deunan holds the key to solving this mystery. Some people want to stop this from happening, some want rid of humans and start a new world only with Bioroids. The plot line isn't deep at all and you can see right through it. Some things in the story don't really make sense, they don't stick at all, but we gather here today for coolest animated mecha around.

This movie has many characters, some mass scenes - all in great shaded computer graphics. Briareos looks very good. Deunan although is the main character, she may seem lacking accuracy in her movement. Looking at her in a ES.W.A.T. suite is jaw-dropping. Hitomi, Yoshitsune, the elders look very good.

Appleseed OVA from 1988 presented many concepts, ideas and standards for many future sci-fi anime titles. Appleseed 2004 presented pretty much perfect cell shaded animation, they maybe were not the first to do this, but it appealed to lots of audiences. Maybe in ten years, people will look back and say. "First time I've seen this type of animation was in Appleseed". Some may not like it and prefer the drawn anime, but this opens many new doors, many new possible animation of things.

Back to the movie... This is one of those anime movies that you will have to watch more than twice not for the story, but for its amazing animation, fast action scenes. Mechanical robots just like most of us like to see, big guns and explosions, all thanks to legendary warrior goddess Deunan. We still enjoy watching it every time. There is one little thing that bothers our minds... Hitomi's car is the only one that can fly, the rest are normal cars on wheels.

The sound track has been picked out well, with modern artists and songs know to some of us already. Beautiful orchestra added and very tight sound effects, they bring out the best in this movie.

This movie is recommended to everyone after advising and getting permission of someone over 18. There aren't many scenes with with blood or killing, but when they are there, they make impact to anyone's mind, we will place it with over 16 or older. Recommended to anyone who enjoyed first Appleseed, Bubblegum crisis, Ghost in the Shell, but without all mind twisting, but mostly coolest mecha around. Anime that will influence many others to come, so at least rent it!

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Battle Fairy Yukikaze

There are many sci-fi anime titles that are not so much known to everyone, like let's say Gundam. In a way it makes you feel somewhat proud of yourself, when you find something good that others haven't. We would like to share one of these super-cool anime that is not so widely known. This is Yukikaze, pure brain twister with very beautiful animation and very real sound effects.

Yukikaze was directed by Masahiko Okura who has worked on many popular titles like, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Blue Submarine No 6. The OVAs were created in GONZO animation studios an based on a novel by Chohei Kanbayashi. There isn't much to say about these people, their portfolios and various awards say more than enough, they are respected all over the place.

The story begins with a novel writer telling a story about the present times. The book is about events that took place over years.

A dimensional portal appeared in Antarctica a few decades ago with alien life only known a JAM. Although United-Nation forces managed to defend earth and push these beings back into the portal to a place humans called "Fairy". For the public, war was long over, but the battle on the Fairy caries on to this day. Lieutenant Rei Fukai is the pilot of a unique fighter jet Super Slyph B-503. It is equipped with state technology and a near sentinent AI referred to as Yukikaze. The rest you will have to find out for yourselves, the pleasure of watching Yukikaze never fades.


This anime doesn't have a big cast, just a few characters and lots of fighter jets. You may feel a lack of female character, but once your over that, the OVAs are very enjoyable to watch. The main character, Rei Fukai is very relaxed character and unresponsive while James Bukhar, Rei's superior is very tense and stressed character.

Being a sci-fi anime fan, cyberpunk steampunk fan you really can't complain about this dark anime. The scenarios are not less than amazing. Yukikaze and other fighters which are just amazing to watch, especially when they are testing a new engine, that episode is our favorite. GONZO have once again produced very high quality work that can only be praised.

We liked the music soundtrack very much, it fits Yukikaze just perfectly. They were closely collaborating with Japanese Air Force, Youkikaze's sound effects are eardrum blowing. They have been working very hard to produce these results. We can only give a big score for this soundtrack.

In a quick recap, we recommend Battle Fairy Yukikaze to anyone who is looking for not only a pretty anime with lots and lots of explosions, but also for a mind twisting scenario. Five episodes with first and last lasting for over 40 minutes, the only reason you shouldn't get this cool sci-fi anime would be, because you have no extra cash.

Thank you for reading, we hope you enjoyed reading our reviews.
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Hello to everyone, welcome to Sci-fi Anime Blog!

Hello to everyone, welcome to Sci-fi Anime Blog!

We haven't been posting in a while, but we will update every month from now on, with at least 6 or more science fiction anime titles, until we have all the best anime reviewed here!

Here are some cool news we found, we would like to share the excitement with everyone. The everyone's lovable Saber Knights are coming back to us again. Bubblegum Crisis the original eight episode series are being remade into... get ready.... a live-action movie!!! It is planned to be released in early 2012, featuring collaborations of many companies, actors and countries. We know it is still far off, but we could not help sharing these great news with you. Read more...

The Sky Crawlers DVD is out!

This amazing movie doesn't really fit into category of sci-fi, but it is very good, very high quality work. We have been waiting for this one for a long time and now we can't contain our happiness, so we share the news with everyone.

The movie falls into drama, it is about teenage pilots, caught up in a war. Very deep thoughts throughout the movie, they do twist your brain. Many sci-fi fans will find this movie very appealing from many points.

It was created by Production I.G, directed by Hiroshi Mori – the same people that brought you Ghost in the Shell movies. This work is was one of the hardest yet for these guys, it really shows how powerful their imaginations are. This movie is really worth getting, we might just review it after all.

26.03.09 Read more...

Freedom

Science fiction anime usually contains a lot violence, scary scenes of slashing and huge explosions, right? Well, no... There are some very cool sci-fi anime that don't rely on flashy explosions and unreal fight scenes, but are as much entertaining as the anime that care only about that. Can you name one title from top of your head that is like this? Well done if you do, share your findings with others. Also called Freedom Seven, these amazing OVAs are worth a lot of praise. They are suitable to watch for all type of audiences and won't disappoint anyone.

Freedom or Freedom Project was created by Sunrise studios to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Nissen Cup Noodle. The movies were directed by Shuhei Morita and have people who worked on very popular anime titles also includes designs by Katsuhiro Otomo.

The story starts out innocently enough, with a very important start of a race in "The Tube" between two rivals. You won't see much of the race at first, the first episode introduces the characters, their daily lives and the events that lead to this big race. Things are meant to be boring in the world of Eden which is basically six huge domes connected in to one large are. Only in the later episodes there is some explanation of the present times and settings of the story. Don't be turned off by this innocent start of an amazing anime. A story about connecting different worlds together and desires to be a free human being.

Character variety is big and they all are in 3D. A lot of mass crowd scenes and these cool robots that run around trying to catch the good guys. The main character Tekeru is a guy who would go to far lengths for a pretty girl. His two main sidekicks Kazuma and Bismark are very different and complete characters, you will see just how much thought was placed in them. As the story progresses more and more cool characters come in to the story, most of us will find someone they can relate to very easily.

This movie uses CG made characters, things they interact with. This style of anime will soon be everywhere, great CG movement in artistic backgrounds. Hopefully we will see more awesome animation like we have here.

The sound track is so good, you may want to get it separately. The intro and outro songs are very likable. Great music used through out these movies. The only thing that could have been better is the bike engine sound, every time it sounded differently. Apart from that, rest of the effects sounded very good to our optimized ears.

It's quite hard to summarize such a wonderful anime in just a few sentences. It is great to see sci-fi anime that don't have people dieing and places destroyed to dust. Have amazing story with a lot to learn for everyone. Is an eye candy to watch and listen too. Get this DVD when ever you will want to watch some new cool sci-fi anime. You shouldn't be disappointed.


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Heroic Age

Science fiction anime come in different shapes and sizes. Some will make you think about the future, might make you aware of your surroundings and may effect the choices you make, change the way you see things. Many sci-fi anime contain battles of some type of giants and destruction throughout the series. Not often we get to see two of those things combined in a way that you can say, very well done for pulling this off.

Heroic Age was produced by Xebec, directed by Toshimasa Suzuki. Xebec is known for anime like Love Hina. These guys are a part of Production I.G., they are professionals at their work. So is Toshimasa Suzuki, produced excellent professional work that is worth a lot of praises.

The story begins with a tale about five tribes. The Golden Tribe, who have the ability to create stars and see into the future, ruled over all other tribes. Silver tribe who have obtained four out of five Nodos, which are a group of chosen characters who can transform into one of the Heroic Tribe's beings. The fifth Nodos has been placed into a teen boy named Age. He was raised by the Golden Tribe themselves and joins the youngest race, human race, known as the Iron Tribe to complete the 12 labors and get to where Golden Tribe is. There is also the Bronze Tribe these are monster looking creatures controlled by the Silver Tribe, they mindlessly obey them and attack the Iron Tribe throughout the series.

The story somewhat relates to Greek mythology, the Age of Heroes. The five Nodos also relate to characters in Greek mythology and act similar roles. The anime is quite unique, adapted from mangas of the same name, worth a check.

The characters are well designed, there are plenty of different character personalities, everyone will find something relating. What mass scenes of bulk characters are you talking about? The monsters blowing up or the people on the Argounaut, a ship that carries Iron Tribe, with the princess Diadhniea and Nodos Age. It's Production I.G., they won't disappoint you with low quality mass scenes or poor character design.

The whole series are connected to fighting and destruction. In most episodes you will see Age transforming into Heroic Tribe's Belcross and fighting the masses of Bronze Tribe or another Nodos. The scenes are well done, you probably won't get bored of watching these transformations, battles and really cool environment settings. Heroic Age is good, if you won't watch it for it's unique story and characters, the soundtrack that has become loved by many, then you should watch it for its high quality animation.

You may not like the orchestra or the opening song in the beginning, but you will get used to it and you may start to like it after a while. Of course, you may love the soundtrack of Heroic Age first time you will hear it. The unique soundtrack and the choice of songs fits this anime really well, makes it feel really big. But it did make us wonder what would happen if the music in Heroic Age was similar to Gits:SAC...

Overall Heroic Age is a great anime to own, it may not hit the top for older audiences, but it is worth every penny. Great work by professionals that most of us are familiar with. With a unique story, massive space battles and different soundtrack. With cool and unique characters related to Greek mythology. We recommend Heroic Age to everyone, we hope will enjoy it as much as we did.
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Neo-Tokyo The Movie

There is one more legendary anime, one more science fictional anime from late 80's, that many people recall when reminded about anime. One that's in every real anime fans collection.

These three short movies were directed by three very well known people in anime industry, especially to hard-core fans. Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Katsuhiro Otomo and Rin Taro are very well known for their amazing and unique work. Their unique styles has captured audiences for decades and still will do so for many more years to come. Animated in MADHOUSE Studios, what else could you possibly want?

The less than an hour long movie is made out of three movies, which are completely different from all angles. They all should be watched with respect, not only to animation and drawings but also storywise.

The first movie which also is used like a intro and outro to Neo-Tokyo. The movie is about a little girl and her pet cat, who plays in a super unreal hallucinogenic maze chasing after a clown. The movie has very little words, but they aren't needed here,

The second movie Running Man is about a undefeated deadly race champion. It's more like a report by a journalist about this mysterious racer's background and success. This one has some disturbing scenes, may a bit too much from first time viewing, but there is so much more than, brutal scenes. Running Man is the one recalled by many as their first anime they saw back in 90s.

The third story is about a company man coming out into remote jungle island, to shutdown a fully automated construction site, run completely by robots. He finds things there are getting out off control. This last part is most enjoyable to watch to most fans, because of the amazing animation which is hard to compare to even in 2009, the very realistic ideas that are presented here.

Character designs and every story's animation are unique as the directors themselves. To this day their work is unmatchable their characters look real and a lot of us can relate to them at some point. Not one title released by these guys will disappoint you. All three stories are very well animated, they are beautiful to watch even after so long.

Marvellous music and effects were used in all three movies. Even without the cool piano, the race effects on the track and amazing water and jungle sound effects, this anime would blow away your mind just as much. The music does have it's part of course, but it is more about the animations and the story they tell.

Neo-Tokyo is not for everyone, some may not even like or understand these movies. They are legendary work of three anime geniuses, work that started new anime fan generation. It deserves a place in everyone's movie collection, just like Matrix or Rambo. We always enjoy watching the DVD, in both subbed and dubbed versions, we recommend it to everyone with squash or twist resistant brain.

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News: Ghost in the Shell 2.0

All brand new Ghost in the Shell 2.0



Something of old news, but you may not know this so we posted this little post, that has to be in the news.



Production I.G. have re-released the original Ghost in the Shell which was released in 1995. It is the same movie, but so differenet from the original one. Ghost in the Shell 2.0 is completely remastered animation, using the technologies, skills and experience Production I.G have now - it's nothing more than a fest for your eyes and mind.



It includes new remade CG scenes, much more GITS style, clearer sound effects. Ghost in the Shell never looked more mind blowing than this. You will be watching this movie again and again and again.



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Pale Cocoon

One episode OVA that everyone should watch and get into their heads. These types of films just prove how you can bring out a clear message to people about earth's environment. This amazing anime is nice and chilled, no fighting and not so much action, but it is so much more about the drawings, animation and the music.

Pale Cocoon was created and directed by Yasuhiro Yoshiura. Amazing work by Studio Rikka with a very high quality animation and very unique style. It just shows very well how hard they work to bring an eye candy like this one to everyone. Support them by buying their DVDs and you will get even more amazing work.

The story may be short, but it is really sweat. It sets hundreds of years in future, where humans abandoned the earth's surface to live in huge multi-level underground facilities. The history as they know it has been lost, only fragments left which are in a form of binary code. A special excavation department was created to work on these fragments and recover this data, recover facts about human history. Story tells of Ura, most enthusiastic excavator of the department as he uncovers a very important part of human history.

There are only a few characters in the story and just two main. Ura and Riko the two members from the excavation department. There are a few scenes with lots of people, scenes of the environment that they live in. This anime is more about the story told and how beautifully it is presented.

The animation is pretty unique, has its own style. the way light is used is amazing. The technology Ura uses to excavate these archives looks very cool. You can only praise Yasuhiro Yoshiura, Studio Rikka and DIRECTIONS for their hard work.

A unique anime has to have a unique soundtrack. Pale Cocoon's music was directed by Tohru Okada. It does make this unique anime more intense and whole experience more jaw-dropping. We like it a lot, it could not have been better.

In short we think this anime has to be in every self respected sci-fi anime fan's collection, because there are no other like this story. This unique anime brings a message, important to everyone. Has very cool sci-fi effects and music. It will make you want to watch it again and again. If you choose to get the DVD you will get bonus short animation by Yasuhiro Yoshiura which is no less amazing than Pale Cocoon. We recommend this DVD to everyone, get it today.

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Ghost in the Shell (1995)

One of the most beloved sci-fi anime of all times, not only by anime fans but also many others. Most of us know or have heard of the name Ghost in the Shell and many of have seen the movie at sometime in our lives. First ever Ghost in the Shell is a classic sci-fi anime that sits proud in everyone's collection. It will blow away your mind with the ideas and messages that it presents. It was ground breaking in 1988 and it still amazes people who watch it for the first time in 2009.

Ghost in the Shell the movie was based on manga by Masamune Shirow and directed by Mamoru Oshii. Although manga is more rich in story and character. The movie kinda has a lot of the things cramped in to one place. Putting that fact aside, the creators have created one anime that have inspired movies for 20 years and will do for another 20 years. It is a masterpiece, a work of art and no one can say otherwise.

Section 9 is a special anti-terrorist unit that investigates all types of cases in the future Hong Kong. While the team is trying to catch a evil hacker, who hacks cyberbrains of others, only know as the PuppetMaster. Characters also have stories and complexities of their own. As they collect clues that may lead to this hacker, they find there is more to this hacker than meets the eye.

The characters are very well detailed and look like very realistic cyborgs. The detail of the characters can only be compared with the detail of environment of futuristic China. Every last animated movement was carefully crafted to make the whole movie what it is. The animation can only be praised, so that's what we are doing here.

The music soundtrack is also a masterpiece of work directed by Kazuhiro Wakabayashi it really makes the movie come alive, there is not a single bad thing you can say about the soundtrack.

We love Ghost in the Shell very much. Now Ghost in the Shell 2.0 is even more mind blowing than before. We recommend it to everyone. Yet again since the story line is very complicated and hard to follow, it may be too much to understand from first time viewing. That is what sci-fi anime is all about the complicated future.

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Akira

In 1988 when a science fiction animated movie Akira came out, it changed the way anime was viewed. Akira was already known to some in manga, which already had a lot of fans. The movie did not disappoint fans and to this day is watchable with enjoyment and amusement.

Movie was directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, only good things may be said about his works. Every work is a unique masterpiece that should be in every science fiction fans collection, even if they aren't anime junkies.

The story is set in not far away future. Neo-Tokyo is a has a lot of color and light, but a lot of cruel grey and darkness too. The main characters Tetsuo and Kaneda are involved with bike gangs, when things start become too much. In an accident Tetsuo encounters a weird looking child who changes him and awakens weird psychic abilities. The plot is very complicated, but still enjoyable to watch, you may have to watch it a few times to understand it.

Akira changed science fiction, not only anime, the movie presented so many ideas and views. The detailed dark animation has created cyberpunk scene and inspired many other future manga and anime. The animation has been drawn to the nearest possible detail. Even though the movie is 20 years old it is a fest for the eyes even now.

The music is somewhat outdated for todays world but if you imagine yourself 20 years back all those sound effects would be mind blowing. So we can't say a bad word about it, we enjoyed it to the last bit in both English and Japanese versions.

If you still haven't seen Akira, go order the DVD today, the movie will blow your mind, you will be proud to have it your collection. We recommend it to everyone over 16, because it has a lot of blood and very weird scenes. Even if you are over 40 you may not understand the messages Akira brings. We loved it and still do, it is one of the very best sci-fi anime ever created, we hope you do to. Read more...

Appleseed (1988)

The first Appleseed movie created from the very popular mangas by Masamune Shirow. It is a must-see film for every fan of Appleseed comics and movies. This film has mixed responses from fans and most are disappointed in this movie. To us this is a must have in every sci-fi collection even if it's not so perfect.

This first movie was co-produced by a few big companies that have many many great titles right now. These animation studios weren't so popular as they are today. Here is their work in early stages.

The plot line is based on second manga but it lacks big details. Can't even say anything about the American version apart from don't buy it!!! Most of us know that American translations make most anime really bad and unwatchable sometimes, get the Japanese version instead.

The story is about two ESWAT officers Deunan and Briareos. ESWAT is a special police force that were created to protect the city of Olympus, the last human utopia. More than half of the population of Olympus are Bio-roids who assist humans in every day life. There are bad guys who think humans are losing control over their lives and want to shutdown Gaia, one big computer that controls most things in Olympus.

The characters of this movie are lacking a lot of detail and are presented in a somewhat wrong way. There are many things that characters miss and a lot of fans will be disappointed in animation, but don't worry just enjoy some very cool oldschool Appleseed.

Considering the year it was made the animation it self is pretty awesome, all mecha look very cool. Looking at the technology they use is pretty funny in todays world, but think back 20 years, would the animation seem funny then.

Same goes about the film's soundtrack it does not sound any special at all listening to it today. The sound effects seem outdated as everything else, but it still a must-see
Appleseed movie.

Over all this movie is wonderful to watch if you like Masamune Shirow's work, Appleseed or just sci-fi anime in general. It may be rated only for 16 and above because the translated version is so bad and has too much unnecessary swearing. Don't miss it if you are a real Appleseed fan! Read more...