Category: Reviews

Contest + Riding Bean, The original transporter.

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hisuiconRiding Bean has an fascinating back story. Although it might seem that Riding Bean is a spin off of Gunsmith Cats it turns out that Riding Bean was the original concept and Gunsmith Cats is the continuation of the project. But when various problems that I have never seen clearly stated occurred everything was canceled and Kenichi Sonoda took Bean’s side kick Irene Vincent and altered her a bit to create the Gunsmith Cats manga. Bean Bandit would later show up in Gunsmith Cats as a reoccurring guest star but sadly this is the only piece of animation showing off the Road Buster himself. But what a ride this one OAV is.

narutaki I remember vividly from my youth trying to rent this from the video store on multiple occasions. When I did finally get my hands on it, I was overwhelmed with joy at its lovely 80’s OVA-ness. I didn’t really have access to much information at the time, so I was in denial that there wasn’t anymore of the adventures of Bean and Rally. Much to my joy years later I learned of Bean’s appearance in the Gunsmith Cats manga, but still there is a little hole in my heart that Bean was relegated to just a side character.

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Legend of the Galactic Heroes Part 2: Unification

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WARNING: We assume that you have watched the first season of Legend of the Galactic Heroes (the first 26 episodes) before reading this. We will not spoil anything major in the second season but everything and anything in first season is fair game.

With the first season over it is clear that the story of the Legend of the Galactic Heroes has just started. Both protagonists have faced numerous challenges from within and without. Reinhard and Yang are now both famous and infamous with everyone in the galaxy and have become key figures in their respective sides. Both men have made great gains but have lost someone they cared for. Both sides have been irrecoverably transformed and the winds of change still blow strongly in this troubled galaxy.  So we continue with part 2 of our review of Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

After a “season” of Legend of the Galactic Heroes there is just no way to really slow down or take a break. The idea that it is broken into parts is really for discussion only and not as an indicator of stopping points. The politics, relationships, and battles only become more complex and grandiose as the series flows ever forward; add on top of that the kinship you start to feel with the characters and it should be obvious why it becomes an addiction. Thus we started episodes 27-54 with both fervent curiosity and heavy hearts.

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NYICFF 2010: Mai Mai Miracle, I am the great pretender!

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The New York International Children’s Film Festival is a place I like to experiment and quite often go into movies without much knowledge of them. I guess it comes down to the fact that for many of these films, this may be the only chance to see them, especially on the big screen. With a number of films this year being anime, I was feeling even more of an itch to squeeze in as many screenings as I could. Something about that big screen adds a lot to the experience, at least for me. So with that in mind I went to see Mai Mai Miracle where literally the only thing I knew about it was that it was from Japan.

Mai Mai Miracle follows the ever-imaginative young Shinko in a small, somewhat rural town, of a post-WWII Japan. Thanks to Shinko’s grandfather she has become fascinated with the town’s 1000-year-old history so much so that she often has wild daydreams about it. When shy Kiiko moves to town, Shinko’s curious nature leads her to befriend the quiet girl and the two become fast and inseparable friends. Through the make-believe world that Shinko shares with her, Kiiko starts to come out of her shell, and soon the little town is a place of joy where each day is spent in laughter and adventure. But, as many stories about coming of age do, some sad and very real problems invade their little piece of paradise. Mai Mai Miracle is a story of friendship, history, dreams, and growing up which really and truly feels like the perspective of the young.

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