Before proceeding any further, it is best for you to familiarize yourself with the

Laws of Anime

The Anime Club of The University of Texas at Austin...if you're in town, come to the free screenings every Friday night.

Don't be fooled...Tenchi Muyo is not just another "boy meets sexy female demon" story. Well, not entirely, anyway. And also visit The Sasami Shrine and Ryo-ohki's Carrot Dreamland.

Here's just a sampling of my other favorite Japanese Anime shows and series. For starters, check out the adventures of Ataru, Shinobu and Lum the space-babe, all starring in Urusei Yatsura ("Those Obnoxious Aliens").

Maison Ikkoku...from Rumiko Takahashi, who also created Urusei Yatsura, comes a less frenetic, more romantic (but still hilariously funny) comedy series about an apartment house with more than its share of eccentric occupants.

Serial Experiments: Lain...If William Gibson wrote anime, well, frankly, it wouldn't be nearly this good. Lain is one of the most haunting and provocative series to come out of Japan in the past couple of years. Beginning with a mysterious email message from a dead girl, the show takes Lain (and us) into the interstices between physical reality and cyberspace, and ultimately poses many more questions than it answers. Highly recommended for the adventurous viewer. Oh, and I love the theme song, so the critics can just stuff it. ;-)

Rurouni Kenshin...semi-historical tale of the early days of the Meiji government, and an ex-assassin sword master who renounces killing and just wants to live in peace, if only he could! Action, adventure, history and humor combine to make a brilliant series.

Fushigi Yuugi...A shoujo series, but with a much more serious atmosphere than most. Two girls discover a mysterious book that transports them into the story. Alternate reality paradoxes begin to multiply as the tale progresses. The well-crafted mixture of humor, drama, and potentially doomed romance may cause mental whiplash, but it's worth the effort.

Shamanic Princess...A female magician named Tiara comes from the Guardian World in search of the missing Throne of Yorudo. She's not alone. A 6-part OVA series that is mysterious, powerful, and beautifully drawn & animated. Adding to the strangeness is that the last two episodes are the prequel to the first four. But don't worry, you'll figure it out.

Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water...a Jules Verne-ish tale of a mysterious African girl, a boy-prodigy inventor, and their adventures when they come face-to-face with advanced technology in the year 1889. It plays much better than it sounds. Trust me...this is one of the best series ever made!!!

Neon Genesis Evangelion...a later series from the creators of Nadia. It may look at first glance like another giant mecha (robot) story, but it's much deeper than that. A unique and complex plotline that takes a lonnnnng time to unravel, but patience is a virtue (g). Two follow-up movies have been released as well.

Irresponsible Captain Tylor...Justi Ueki Tylor is either the luckiest ne'er-do-well to ever find himself a captain in the United Planets Space Force, or an avatar of "Bob" Dobbs Himself. One of the all-time funniest series in all of anime. Unique and innovative design, great characters, and a plotline to keep you hooked through all 26 episodes.

Gunsmith Cats...Rally Vincent and Minnie May are well-armed (perhaps TOO well-armed) bounty hunters, and Chicago will never be the same!

Sailor Moon...the classic "magical girl" shoujo series. Must be experienced to be believed. Note: The syndicated English-language US version is hopelessly lame. Try to find clubs or fans with access to the original.
If you have access to Usenet, click here for the alt.fan.sailor-moon newsgroup.

Akazukin Chacha...another shoujo (girls') series, featuring a young apprentice witch, whose spells go awry when she mispronounces words, leading to hilarious results (and good lessons in Japanese-language puns). Extreme silliness quotient.

Child's Toy (Kodomo no Omocha)...Junior high school madness. I'm not even gonna try to explain the plot (you can find out by clicking the link). Silly, surreal, infantile, hilarious, irritating, touching. Often all at the same time.

Brother, Dear Brother...the dark side of shoujo. If you thought your adolescence was angst-ridden and traumatic, this incredibly overwrought series will put your life back in perspective. Lots of people really hate this one, but I love it for its emotional train-wreck atmosphere (in other words, you want to look away, but you just can't).

Magic Knight Rayearth...if you've ever imagined yourself trapped in Ultima or a similar computer RPG, you'll understand this one. Three color-coordinated girls have to save an alternate universe...you get the drill by now. Nice touches make this series stand out for me, though; great opening sequence/theme music, clever dialogue, characters super-deforming at the drop of a hat, and these girls have, proportionately, the biggest eyes in all anime. Try it...you may get hooked too.

Miracle Girls...By now, you've figured out that I'm a sucker for shoujo anime. Here's another with all the elements...twin sisters who have more in common than meets the eye, adolescent romance, and mysterious happenings lurking beneath the plot's surface.

Nurse Angel Ririka SOS...OK, it's silly as hell. I like it anyway. So sue me.

Devil Hunter Yohko...Well, Yohko just found out that she's descended from a longgggg line of Devil Hunters, and now it's her turn! Will she fulfill her destiny? Oh, probably.

Combustible Campus Guardress...High schoolers defend the earth against the demon world, while still having to take their exams on time. This is part of a subgenre I call "gonzo anime," where every possible element is thrown in (sometimes including actual kitchen sinks), with hilarious results. Lots of satirical references to other anime subgenres. If this sounds good to you, also look for Blazing Transfer Student and Fairy Princess Ren.

Anime, of course, is not just robo-babes with magickal powers, laser weapons, and school uniforms. (Not that there's anything wrong with THAT!!) For a complete change of pace, may I recommend the disturbing and hauntingly beautiful Vampire Princess Miyu.

HONG KONG FILMS

Lots of anime fans (myself included) also like HK movies. I don't have too many links handy yet, but there is a Hong Kong Movie Database if you already have a clue what you're looking for, and if you're local to Texas, you can find out what's playing around the state.

Go to rec.arts.anime.misc

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This page last updated 16-August-2001