Heroman is an interesting anime for many reasons including the fact that Stan (The Man) Lee had a lot to do with it. It was his big jump from comics to the manga world (Along with Ultimo) and it’s interesting to see his take on anime. Stan even makes a few appearences in the show and he can usually be seen at the coffee shop. That being said, will this be the next Spider Man or the next Spider Ham?

Well, the series has quite a few different story arcs even though its only 26 episodes. Joey Jones is your average school kid who gets bullied by the brother of one of his friends. His other friend is the tough guy who tries to protect him and that’s the inner cast for the first episode. The plot begins right away so the bullies are taken out of the picture pretty quickly. The brother (aka Will) gets a big role, but his friends fade into obscurity except for Nick. Joey finds a pretty neat toy and as he starts to fix it, a lightning bolt strikes the toy and grants it unimaginable power! He decides to call the toy Heroman and he gets an electronic glove which lets him give orders to Heroman and also comes with other perks that make Joey a true fighter.

Joey doesn’t have a lot of time to celebrate about this because Earth is attacked by an alien race known as the Skrugg. The Skrugg don’t have a great defense, but there is strength in numbers and they are able to fire compressed air which can rip a hole through a building. It’ll be hard to resist as you watch Heroman take them all down, but you should not underestimate these opponents. The government is basically overwhelmed in a short amount of time and it becomes painfully evident that Heroman is humanity’s last hope. Can he defeat Kogorr and the alien race or is he doomed to die? Meanwhile, Will believes that he can take down the Skrugg without any help!

The next arc deals with the government as they hire Agent Hughes to find out exactly what Heroman is and to take him down! That’s essentially what he is aiming to do at any rate as he puts Joey, Psi, and the Professor on the run. Did I mention Psi yet? He’s the tough guy who helps Joey, but an unfortunate accident put him on crutches and now things are dicey for him, but at least he has a hovering skateboard. This arc had a lot more tension than the previous one and while the action died down and essentially vanished, it was a pretty fun arc.

We had some mini adventures after that like an island arc and Will returning. It all led up to the ultimate showdown where the Skrugg decide to take down the planet…starting with The President. This time Heroman may not be enough to stop the Skrugg, but if he cannot….then who can!? Joey and friends will be there to back him up and that’ll just have to be enough this time.

Let’s talk about Joey Jones. He’s the main character of the show and he’s a pretty likable character. From the start of the show, you can already tell that he’s a pretty nice kid. He quickly makes a play for the toy robot once its discarded and it ends up paying off big time! He always looks out for his friends and he tries to save the world and help people whenever possible. There’s really nothing wrong with Joey and that’s why he’s a really solid character. He doesn’t really have any character flaws, but he’s still not perfect. It’s not that he does something wrong, but it’s what he hasn’t done. I could have used a little more rebellion against the government when they tried to frame him. With his super speed at the ready, Joey is more than a match for any government lackey that opposes him. Still, it’ll be tough to find a main character as heroic as Joey in a modern anime. Joey can’t fight for the beginning of the series as he uses his glove to give Heroman commands, but he finds out that it also grants him super speed and the ability to make powerful barriers. Joey quickly becomes a dangerous force with this weapon at his side.

We’ve also got Psy who is definitely one of the main characters, but he’s not very likable. He has a bit of a tragic back story and things didn’t always go his way, but it’s still hard to root for him. He looks really bad when the team went to find the Professor and he tends to get in Joey’s way during the fights. Professor Denton is also a pretty underwhelming character as he’s just there to get Joey into trouble. He doesn’t show his intelligence off that often and half of the time you can’t even take him seriously. He gets captured more than once and usually it ends up being his fault. He even ditched Joey and Psy once because they wouldn’t go with him on a crazy adventure!

Lina is Joey’s childhood friend and they go to the same school which is convenient for them. Will and her father don’t want Lina to hang out with Joey, but she realizes that he’s a true hero. Unfortunately, she can be a little gullible and has a fight with Joey because Will told her “his side” of the story that Joey neglected to tell her. That part was a little annoying and made you take a step back, but aside from that, Lina was a perfectly reasonable character. I dare say that she is one of the better main heroines, but that is largely up for debate as I’ve definitely seen better. (Rukia, Tokiko, Akiza are some examples of cool heroines.)

I should probably mention HerrrrrroMan! In the show they tend to really drag out the pronunciation of the word so I felt that I should do the same when I type his name. On the other hand, that would get old fast so I’ll go back to normal for now. Heroman’s origin is really sketchy and will stretch your imagination a little bit. I don’t mind that electricity turned him alive somehow, but how did that also materialize an electronic glove on Joey? How did it give Heroman super forms and a personality as well as the ability to become pure lightning? That must have been a really powerful bolt of lightning! Well, we shouldn’t dwell on it, but it will definitely give you something to think about. Heroman isn’t an incredibly likable character because his personality isn’t easy to cheer on. He doesn’t talk and he always has a really blank/mean expression on his face. He can fight to an extent, but his hand to hand skills are really sloppy and Joey has to bail him out with some quick commands. Heroman’s design is also pretty off putting which isn’t his fault, but it limits his abilities. In a hand to hand fight, he lacks the speed to finish off the smaller foes and he’s not good at long range for most of the series. He is pretty tough since he can use Burst Mode and a number of other techniques, but he’s not very likable. He also likes to brag and make an O shape sometimes for the thrills. He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he always gives it his all and that’s what counts. (Heroman did have one rage moment when Joey got injured so I’ll give him props for that)

Will is one of the antagonists of the series. He may have good intentions at times, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that he’s your average bully. He also gives way to the dark power for a while and he becomes completely unreasonable during the later half of the show. He only backs down when he’s captured and is in no position to really do anything anymore. He is decently quick and the show gives him a lot of props since he’s constantly able to outfight Heroman, but I never really bought that. It just made Heroman look weak as opposed to making Will look tough. He is a lot cooler in the second half of the show design wise, but overall he’s not a character that will really get better through the course of this show. Perhaps Will will become a better character in a sequel show if this series ever gets one.

Will had a friend by the name of Nick, but he was even worse than Will. This guy had no strength of heart and his willpower is just sad. One could argue that he was already inherently evil and I wouldn’t really be able to disagree. He doesn’t get to appear for long which is a good thing, but at least he got some backstory. Joey had a sister by the name of Holly, but she didn’t really add anything to the show either. We got a very last minute history for the family as we got to see Joey’s parents and some character development but it wasn’t needed. Holly likes to mess with Joey a lot, but in the end it’s just playful fun. (Although Joey and Psy really overdo it with the acting sometimes) Joey’s grandma is also around a lot, but she never really realizes when anything is happening.

The government is definitely around and even the President gets involved! He was a decent character and he stayed firm as the White House started to be destroyed. With the aliens at his doorstep, he was still ordering his underlings to inform him on what was happening. For the most part, all of the government duties are actually carried out by Agent Hughes. Agent Hughes goes undercover at Joey’s Coffee Shop (It’s not his, but he does all of the serving) and digs up some info on Heroman. After that, he does a 180 and proceeds to try and annihilate Joey and friends for the betterment of society. Officially, he was just trying to take them alive, but bombs usually end up destroying the target! He’s supposed to be a pretty likable character by the end, but he looks so bad for the most of it. He caused Joey and the others a lot of trouble so it was hard to let him off the leash. (He was a lot like Rossiu although not quite that bad) I liked him a lot at first, but he went steadily downhill from there and the ending couldn’t really save him.

I barely even want to take about Dr Minami. He was really annoying and I couldn’t take him seriously at all. He was one of the end arc bosses in the show, but he’s just a human with a machine. Does he really believe that he could actually defeat someone as powerful as Heroman? The series actually ends on an epic note with an after type of scene, but because it involves Minami, I really can’t take it seriously. The President should have known that he was fishy.

Finally, Gogorr is the leader of the Skrugg. His abilities are in a league of their own and they can’t be compared to the average Skrugg. His speed is what makes Gogorr so deadly and he was completely destroying Heroman when they fought originally. Not even Joey’s barrier was a match for his power and Gogorr proved to be an intriguing opponent. He looked his best during his first big fight against the heroes and it’s the way that you should probably remember him. He was a little on the generic side as far as master villains go, but he had a cool design and he was a threat. In the end, I can’t really ask for any more from a villain. (We do have to ignore that he begs for his life towards the end of the first climax) An honorable mention for cool villain will go to the plant monster that was kind of alive through artificial intelligence.

The show had a pretty decent soundtrack. The music score is pretty limited so you will be listening to the same music themes a lot over the course of the series, but they’re decently fun. I found a handful of themes that I liked and they did introduce one new theme during the final few episodes of the series. It may not be 5 star material as far as soundtracks go, but it’ll definitely be enough to satisfy me in this area. The animation for the show is also pretty good and I’d say that it’s around average. Considering that it’s a modern anime, it doesn’t look spectacular, but it does have its moments. Whenever there is a scene with lightning, then it’ll typically look pretty good. I believe that the animation would look even better, but they seemed to have a bit of trouble animating fight scenes. It may be due to the character designs of the Skrugg and Heroman, but they didn’t really mesh well with the art. The humans looked pretty good which is why I think this. Again, the animation is definitely not bad, but it’s not great either. This isn’t exactly Bleach or Index, but it’s good enough.

Overall, Heroman is a pretty fun series to watch. It’s pretty lighthearted and it feels like more of a day to day adventure than most other shows. They manage to squeeze in a lot of things during this series and it has a good amount of replay value considering its size. It’s basically the definition of how a good anime should be as it’s about average in all categories, but more towards the positive side than the negative side. This won’t become one of your favorite anime, but you won’t dislike it either as you’ll either remember it as a good anime or just forget it because of its averageness. You should like this anime if you’re a fan of robot action, like alien invasions, or just want a cheery story about a kid and his adventures. There really isn’t much of a reason to dislike this show unless you go in with very high expectations or expecting the wrong thing. I definitely recommend this anime! (Oh yeah, Stan (The Man) Lee also gets to appear. He’s a reoccurring character as he’s always at the coffee shop asking for more coffee and acting a little loopy. He’s not a very likable character, but he’s Stan Lee so he’s still pretty awesome. It’s cool to see him in an anime!)

Overall 7/10

Accel World is an anime that had a great premise and an epic title as well. The fact that it was from the creator of Sword Art Online was another positive. With everything in its favor from the start, how could it not succeed? The posters for the anime have always looked really intense and the purple color scheme is definitely something that will hook you in. Time to see if the show could live up to all of the awesomeness that surrounded it.

Well lets get into the plot to start things off. Haruyuki is not a very popular kid and he is not very fond of the real world. He is excellent at online games and since this takes place in the future, the games are very intense. I wont get very technical but basically you can throw your consciousness into the game that you pick and live out the game. Its what every serious gamer has considered in the past. Haruyuki is great at video games and he even holds the record in one of them. Unfortunately, his life is about to change!

Kuroyukihime is basically the most popular girl at school and she decides to crush all of his dreams and aspirations by breaking his record in the reflex game online. She admits that she had to defy reality to do it and offers him a chance to learn the ability as well. With Brain Burst at his side, Haruyuki is now ready to enter the next level of gaming. Is there more to Kuroyukihime then she is letting on?

Haruyuki goes on to join Kuroyukihime’s group; The Nega Nebulous along with a few other members. She wants to defeat the 5 Kings which will enable her to become a level 10 and find out the true reason behind Brain Burst’s existence. Haruyuki agrees to help her and this begins their journey to defeat them all and discover the truth!

I should mention that this seems to be the plot for the entire franchise and not just this anime. (Since the anime ends very early on, this plot is nowhere near close to being completed) The last part of the anime is mainly about Haruyuki and his battle against Seiji. The clock is ticking and if Haruyuki doesn’t defeat him very quickly…his life will essentially be over.

That’s enough about the plot. It may not have been very clear, but the plot is excellent and you’ll completely understand it once you start to watch the series. The soundtrack is top notch for the show and nearly all of the themes are very memorable. This is one series where you will walk away whistling the tunes and keeping a lot of it in your memory. I particularly like the theme named Silvery Wings but there are many other spectacular ones as well.

The animation is some of the best out there, but only when they are in Accel World. How can that be? Well, in the human world, the animation uses an effect that I really do not like. All of the characters appear to be blushing fiercely for no reason throughout the whole series. It makes them look like they have a constant fever or are in awkward scenarios which isn’t the case. When was the last time someone was blushing while walking or thinking about battle strategies? I’m sure that the animation company was going for some sort of “realistic” look with this, but it failed miserably.

Luckily, the animation in Accel World cancels this out. All of the Accel World character designs are mecha warriors so there is no reason to make them blush, which takes away the only negative factor in the animation. The designs for 99% of the fighters are excellent and the fight scenes are where you really get to see the animation shine. At its best, Accel World can easily keep up with any anime that I’ve ever seen in animation. Aside from the awesome fights, the flying effects are also amazing. Silver Crow always looks awe-inspiring and especially in his final flight scene of the series. If it’s one thing that makes Accel World stand apart from Sword Art Online, it would definitely be the animation. The animation in the human world may be regrettable, but the animation in Accel World is so great that it easily cancels that part out.

Now, let’s talk about the characters! Haruyuki is a pretty bad main character. I actually did not mind him at first, but he quickly got worse as the series went on. At first you may feel a little bad for him since things aren’t going very well for him in the real world. He retreats into video games and that’s definitely not a bad thing, but that’s when things start to go downhill. After he meets Kuroyukihime, Haruyuki starts to have some pretty sad fantasies and loses his grip on reality as he slowly starts to lose all of his morals. He makes a lot of bad decisions during the later half of the series and I can’t say that he ever became likable after his descent.

I do like Silver Crow if we decide to count him as a separate character than Haruyuki. Hard yuk is controlling him but their personalities are completely different and aside from a few scenes, Silver Crow is a pretty solid character. He may not be great, but he is a big step up from Haruyuki. His attacks are always very flashy and his design is great. He is a pretty good fighter towards the end of the series. He has a bad habit of giving up hope early on, but a lot of main characters make that mistake.

Kuroyukihime is a pretty solid character. She is definitely a lot better than Haruyuki, she can be a little dramatic. Her romance with Haruyuki can definitely go a little over the top and I have to question her choice of friends. Her (filler) episode was probably the worst episode of the series or at least one of the worst thanks to a variety of reasons including: her friend, the insane amount of plot hax, and more reasons.

Black Lotus is a very good character and she is essentially the strongest character in the series. Her fight against the Yellow king was pretty intense and that has really been he only time that we have seen her true power. She did have a bit of a fight in the finale, but she wasn’t really focusing on the fight. Her avatar has one of the best designs in the show and I look forward to seeing her get some more fights. I was a little sad that she didn’t really get any action in this series, but I’m sure that she will get more as the sequels start to come out.

Chiyu was one of Haruyuki’s only friends for a long time and she’s a main character in the series. She gets a smaller role than the other characters since she did not get the Brain Burst program like the others. She wants to stay close to Haruyuki and Taku, but that becomes difficult when the three of them start to split up. I definitely did not care for Chiyu as she definitely made things hard for Haruyuki and kept trying to get him to go over to the wrong side. She was a good character during the very beginning of the series, but she quickly dropped after that.

Lime Bell isn’t a very likable character either as she may have had a good plan in the end, but it just wasn’t worth it. There were much better plans that could have been executed and this one was way too risky. She’s not very good in a fight either which can be a bad weakness.

Taku is Haruyuki’s other friend and he makes sure to get a lot of character development during the series. He starts out as a character who’s more unlikable than half of the villains. He’s evil in every sense of the word and while he may think that he’s on the side of justice…just look at Light! He does have some pretty intense scenes during his first big fight, but I still couldn’t take him seriously in the end. As the series progresses, he gets better. He’s a much different person than at the beginning, but I still couldn’t consider myself to become a fan. He was just too far gone by that time. His avatar is Cyan Pile and I do like the design. The problem is his choice of weapon for the majority of the series. He uses a spear which isn’t good for long range or close range and that means that he’s a liability in a fight. Hand to hand combat skills would have been an improvement for him and that’s saying something! I’m not sure how he got to his current level with his lack of ability, but he’s a decent character. He’s definitely not the strongest character out there, but he’s good as a blocker.

There were some fighters who weren’t a part of any group at the moment like Sky Raker and Aqua Current. I didn’t care for Aqua Current, but Sky Raker is a decent character. Sky Raker may have given up on fighting, but maybe she’ll change that in the future. Either way, it’s just a game I suppose….Aqua Current nearly had a great plot twist at the end, but it didn’t happen so her character couldn’t be saved.

Scarlet Rain is the current Red King and she gets the most action from the Kings…which is a bad thing for her. It’s common that the first of the “Super” villains will look really good, but will ultimately be the weakest or at least one of the weakest. She has a very large arsenal of long range weapons at her disposal, but her critical weakness is that she cannot fight in close combat situations. She does have her Incarnate abilities, but she hasn’t used them in actual combat yet. She’s a decent character for the most part, but she can definitely get on your nerves after a while. Blood Leopard is another member from the Red group and while she doesn’t appear for very long, we get to see her fight in one of the episodes. Her abilities aren’t very impressive, but she’s a decent fighter and a decent character as well. I will need her to have more scenes before I can really gauge how cool she is.

Yellow Radio is the Yellow King and he’s easily the strongest of the 5 Kings that we’ve seen in action. (This means that we are not counting the Blue King and Kuroyukihime is in a league of her own anyway) His fight scene is very impressive and he can move at speeds that are basically unheard of. His special ability isn’t offensive in its nature, but it can be very useful in combat although it seems easy to escape. I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing a lot more of this guy since he seems to be the most antagonistic of the 5 Kings.

There isn’t much to say about the Blue King except that he’s pretty awesome. He hasn’t really done anything yet and he’s already one of my favorite characters in the franchise. Mark my words, this guy is definitely going to be one of the strongest enemies that the heroes face and only Kuroyukihime really has a chance against him at their current level. I’m hyped for his fights and I hope that they happen soon. His design is incredible and his power level is likely off the charts. His two lieutenants are also pretty good and highly skilled, but we have not gotten to see them that much yet either. They won their battle, but it was against a pretty weak opponent.

Black Vise is one of the final villains to appear in the series yet he definitely makes a bold entrance. He was able to hold off Kuroyukihime for a while before making a retreat which is pretty rare. Kuroyukhime wasn’t fully concentrating on the battle, but it’s still an impressive feat. He seems like a higher up in the organization and he could prove to be trouble for the 5 Kings.

Dusk Taker is the final villain of the series so you can probably guess that he’s pretty skilled. His abilities may not be on the level of the 5 Kings, (Although he could possibly take on Scarlet Rain) but he is definitely a threat. His abilities enable him to permanently steal the ability of another fighter and add it to his collection. He’s limited in how many abilities he can keep at once, but that’s definitely not going to stop him from assembling an all star roster of powers. He’s very skilled in both hand to hand combat and long range abilities. His speed is definitely up there with the strongest fighters in the game thanks to his flying ability. His battle with Silver Crow is pretty spectacular and it would have been over sooner if not for the real life drama. Dusk Taker lasts for a very long time, but it is not due to his own level of ability and more due to Haruyuki’s failures.

Ash Roller is a pretty cool character and while he doesn’t get to appear very much, he’s a good guy to have around. Unlike most of the other characters who take this way too seriously, he realizes that this is just a computer game so he has a lot of fun. He’s easily one of the weaker characters, but that doesn’t stop him from giving it his all!

Chrome Disaster is one of the tougher opponents of the series and he’s a very solid villain. Chrome Disaster is a mantle that is passed on when a user dons the dreaded Disaster Armor. He was able to stand up to an opponent as skilled as Black Lotus and his speed is pretty good as Silver Crow had a tough time catching up to him. While I doubt that he could really defeat them in the end, he’s still a villain who should be taken seriously.

The character roster is definitely pretty solid for the most part, but we do have some characters who are unlikable as with all shows. Kuroyukihime’s friend, Megumi, can be particularly annoying and I didn’t care for Sulfur Pot either. We also did have a few throwaway villains throughout the series, but at least the designs tend to be pretty cool.

With most of the characters talked about already, I should also discuss the ending…or lack of ending. The series ends without adapting most of the material since the series was just too long. Even Naruto had to be split up into different anime to cover it all so that’s understandable and the ending is satisfying. None of the Kings have been defeated and at this rate, I’m starting to wonder if they will be defeated. There are many ways that they can still lose, but it’s hard to picture the good guys defeating them since they’re starting to get friendly. I’m guessing that the 5 Kings will have to team up with the heroes to fight the new organization which I would be fine with. I just want the Blue King to fight soon! For now we just have to wait for the sequel, but until then, this series ends on a solid note with a big fight resolved and several plot lines being wrapped up. (With dozens of others looming in the air)

One thing that can be hard to remember at times is that it’s all a game. Even if you destroy someone in the game, they keep their life in the real world, the game data is just deleted and they forget about it. The characters take everything a little too seriously at times and they act like it’s all real. This is why Accel World is one of the few exceptions where I’m okay with the heroes destroying their opponents. The opponents are okay in the real world so there’s no damage being done. I could go into the moral implications more if needed, but I don’t see anything wrong with that.

Accel World does have its negatives as well. There is a lot of romance in the series and they also add in some fan service. It’s not as excessive as other shows, (Index) but it can still be a bit much. It’s too bad that shows have to resort to this thing nowadays. Back in my day, things were different! (Justice League, Megaman NT Warrior, etc) There is also one episode in particular that was pretty bad and ironically enough, it was Kuroyukihime’s episode. They tried to make it relevant by adding villains and organization references, but it was really just filler and it was poorly done. It was the only episode that I could say was pretty bad. It’s too bad since an episode about Kuroyukihime should really be pretty awesome, but all anime make mistakes at some point I guess.

All right, time to compare this show to Sword Art Online for a little bit. I will compare them a lot more once I review Sword Art Online, but I may as well give you guys a little background before that time and we’ll see if I’ve changed my views on some things. Accel World definitely has the stronger fighters at this point and I believe that Kuroyukihime could effortlessly destroy everyone in SAO. Accel World also has the better villains although Sword Art Online has some pretty great monsters. Sword Art Online counters this with the fact that Kirito is infinitely better than Haruyuki as a main character. I would give Accel World the edge in animation as well although SAO doesn’t suffer from the faults of the human animation in Accel World. Both anime have a very solid 5 Star soundtrack but Accel World has the slight edge in this area as well. Accel World is also more engaging and has a better cast overall, but Sword Art Online has a lot more stakes. In SAO, if you lose…then you die. In Accel World, you just get your memories of the game deleted. That’s enough comparisons for now, but I’d say that Accel World seems to have the edge overall. There may be less stakes but it’s still more fun.

Overall, I would definitely recommend checking this anime out. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives and it’s pretty fun. The stakes may be pretty low compared to most of the other anime, but sometimes that just makes things more exciting. We don’t have to worry about the extra drama and we can just focus on the intense battles! The animation is definitely top notch and I haven’t seen such a great array of character designs in a long time. The anime isn’t very long and you’ll be able to blast through it pretty quickly. You don’t have to worry about a lot of violence as this show is actually decently tame. It’s not Pokemon, but neither is it something like Bleach or even Naruto. You can expect a few Accel World characters to make their debuts on the blog sometime during the week. Until then, go check out the anime and let me know how you enjoyed it!

Overall 7/10

IGPX is an interesting anime because the premise if unique. In the future, people race with robots of immense speed and power instead of with cars. When you’re inside of the robot, you are able to do things that would be impossible if you were outside. Communication between animals and humans is made possible among many other things. Can a racing series really be a lot of fun, or will it get old after a while?

Well that’s the premise and that’s basically the plot as well. I’ll elaborate a little more since there is some more plot in the show. Team Satomi consists of Takeshi, Liz, Amy, and River. Their team has finally made it to the IG 1. This is essentially the equivalent of going from a College Football Team to the National Football League level. They’re excited, but also terrified at the same time….can they win? The show revolves around them as they test their mettle against many different teams. There is deception, betrayal, and epicness as the season goes underway.

Season 2’s plot is essentially the same as season one’s, but with a few new wrinkles. This time, Team Satomi has proven that they are seasoned veterans, but a new team has jumped into the mix. These rookies really look up to Team Satomi, but there seems to be something shady about them. Are they really on the level? Team Satomi starts to have a lot of trouble with their mechs and they’re put into a very dangerous position. Friendships start to go awry and the team may fall apart at the seams!

The plot is very basic, which can be a good or bad thing. This means that their is more pressure on the animation, pacing, and characters than usual. The soundtrack is pretty good and there are a couple of catchy themes. This may not be 5 star material, but it’s still an above average array of songs.

How about the animation and the pacing? Well, the animation is good, although it’s nothing special. The robot fight scenes are fun to watch, but the human parts look really low budget for the most part. It could be that most of the other shows that I’ve been watching have far superior animation (Digimon, Soul Eater, One Piece, etc) but I think that the show could have done a little better in that regard. Some scenes just feel very dated. That being said, the robot fight scenes do hold up pretty well for the big battles. The pacing can be a little off at times, but it’s decent. The only times where it hurts are when we go for a long time without a fight.

The problem with the characters is that their social lives aren’t interesting. Whenever the characters are not in their mechs, they become uninteresting. There are some exceptions to this, mainly thanks to Takeshi and Cunningham. Still, the exceptions are few and far apart, while the other human scenes can get very dramatic.

Takeshi is the main character of the series and he’s very unique. It’s hard to get a read on the character as he’s constantly changing. He’s different from the average main character as he’ll hype up his teammates a lot and give speeches when they win battles. He also acts like a hothead once in a while and also loses his cool quite a few times. He gets into more than one romance through the series and all of them were very forced. One episode he would be awesome and then he would look awful in the next one. By the end of the series, I would say that he’s a decent main character, but he isn’t higher than that because of all of his missteps. His robot skills are pretty good and he can fight in hand to hand combat which is always a plus.

Liz is also good at hand to hand and she’s one of the main three pilots for Team Satomi. She was my least favorite character from the three and her character development was never that interesting. We learn things about her past and she enters a contest at one point, but they all felt like filler in the end. She always talked a really good game, but then she would be a non factor in the actual races.

Amy is a much better character and she battles alongside her cat. Her cat is the brains of the group and helps them out of many tight jams. Amy is a decent racer and she showed a lot of potential, but the show never really got to give her the spotlight. She gets a smaller role than Takeshi and Liz, but she still wins when it counts. What she lacks in skill, she makes up for in heart and determination.

We have the supporting cast as well and I’ll go into several of those character. We have the Coach, who gets a pretty big plot twist towards the second half of the series. It’s a cool twist, but his back story is fairly uninteresting and could have been handled better. Needless to say, he does know what he’s talking about and he has a good grasp of the sport. We’ve also got the technicians and the head of the team. There are troubles getting sponsors for a while, but it’s hard to sympathize with them.

Fantine is the leader of Skylark and she’s a bit of a main character for a while. She ends up dating one of the main characters, (Gee, I wonder who…) but it’s a very forced romance. I won’t say if it continues for long, but those scenes could have definitely been left out. As far as racing goes, I never found her that impressive. We’ve also got River, who is one of Takeshi’s rivals. He’s all right, but not very impressive either. All he wants is to play IGPX and defeat Takeshi, but that’s just not enough. Unless he develops some news skills, that will basically be an impossible dream. The Rocket is also a racer who is legendary. He’s not currently in the league anymore, but back in his day…he was the very best! He’s a pretty impressive racer and he proves that you can take on superior technology if you have a decent plan. His methods for victory can be a little questionable.

Let’s go into the other teams a little bit. Team Velshtein is Satomi’s mortal enemy and it’s all because of Cunningham. Cunningham is an elite racer and I’d say that he’s easily the best character in the series. He’s better than Takeshi in hand to hand combat and no one is a better pilot. He battles with Takeshi many times and I’d say that it’s clear who the better pilot is. His mecha also looks really cool and his speed is leagues ahead of the other racers.

We’ve also got Team Sledge Mamma. They’re a bit of a joke to put it mildly. The show actually takes them seriously, but I would say that they’re easily one of the weaker teams. Their roster is beefed up when they get a new member, but they never really looked good. Their mecha designs are all right, but their gimmicks aren’t that cool.

Finally, we also have Team White Snow. (Yes, there are other teams, but they’re pretty much non existent. These were the main teams in the long run.) They debut in season 2 and they’re the new rookies that everyone is talking about. Their team members all look pretty suspicious and they can be annoying. That being said, it’s nice to have an actual villain in the series right? These guys have some powerful mechas and nearly defy the rules of the IGPX. They’re decently good at hand to hand combat and they’re tougher than they appear. (They also fight dirty)

All in all, IGPX was a pretty fun series. It’s not going to go down as one of the all time greats, but it’s a solid watch. There isn’t too much emotional baggage or complicated plots so it’s an easy anime to just pop in the dvd player and just watch a few episodes. The fights are solid and while the human interactions may not be that great, Cunningham’s scenes are pretty awesome. I’d recommend watching this anime if you like racing or mecha battles since it has both. The final episodes even feature an aerial battle that’s pretty intense and not even of this world!

Overall 7/10

Tsubasa is a pretty well known anime/manga. It’s created by Clamp which is an instant plus for many people. To think that Clamp would make a shounen series that featured a lot of intense action was a little out there right? Angelic Layer had some amazing fights as well, but this time the stakes were real. This anime doesn’t play out like an average shounen, so can it stand the test of time?

Well, the main plot stays for the entire series, but the subplots change according to each world. I’m getting a little ahead here so let’s go back. The series starts out with Cardcaptor Sakura and Li Syaoran as they’re in a desert world. Sakura seems to get possessed and ancient symbols of magic appear. Sakura floats into the air and then loses her wings as Syaoran saves her. Out of portals that seem to lead to another dimension, mecha guards with claws attack them. Good thing that we have a magician and a swordsman to back them up. The magician tells Syaoran to leave the planet and help Sakura. They do the only natural thing that could be done in this situation and escape the entire dimension.

One thing that I’ve got to mention is the fact that episode 1 was extremely good. It’s still one of the best episodes in the series and was a great way to start off the series. Not only was the episode fast paced, but a lot of things happened. The villains appeared (With an Awesome theme!) and acted pretty tough. They’ve got a nice plan that they won’t actually reveal for the entire series, but everyone likes a little mystery right? We also get to see glimpses of two other dimensions as Fai and Kurogane also leave their dimensions. Kurogane was forced out while Fai went willingly.

Again, I must stress that this is only the first episode! While things do slow down from this point, that was the perfect way to start off the series and must be one of the best series premieres out there. I really can’t think of many that could top this one. (Yugioh Zexal II (If you count it) could stack up against this one) Syaoran, Sakura, Kurogane, and Fai are the main characters of the series so let’s go into some detail about them.

The four of them meet the Space Witch who agrees to let them travel the dimensions, but at a cost. Syaoran wants to find all of Sakura’s memories that have turned into feathers and scattered across the dimensions. His price is the fact that Sakura can never remember the good ole times they had in the past, so Syaoran will be permanently cut out of her memories. Syaoran pays the price so he’s all set on that end.

Fai’s price is the seal on his back because it means a lot to him. Without the seal, Fai has decided not to use magic anymore. Kurogane is forced to give up his legendary sword and with that, all three prices have been paid. Sakura is unconscious, so she doesn’t have to actually pay a toll. The four of them head off with Mokona (A being who can travel across dimensions, sense emotions, and has around 107 techniques) to other dimensions. Mokona can sense if a feather (memory) is nearby and once they have found all of the feathers in the dimension, then they will head off to another dimension.

All right, now we’ve got our formula for the series! At first, Kurogane is really just tagging along because he can’t really do anything about it, but he comes around eventually. Fai is always extra cheerful, but it seems to be an act part of the time. Syaoran is really all business and he’ll do anything to get the feathers back. Sakura starts the series as a pretty weak character for a while, but whenever she gets a feather, more of her strength returns to her.

I can’t get into every dimension that they travel to, but I’ll mention some of the big ones. In one dimension, they head to a world where people can use the powers of Kudan! It’s essentially a way to summon animals and use elemental powers. Syaoran meets a guy named Shogo and they have some battles. This is the first dimension that they travel too, so they’re still a little rusty. Syaoran is definitely the best character at this point and he definitely intends to get all of the feathers back.

One scene that may be notable is the fact that Syaoran says that he’ll get the feather back no matter what. The feather is stuck inside one of the monsters, but Syaoran rips it out. He didn’t seem to care if the guy died, since the feather was the only thing that mattered. Perhaps, he cared a little bit, but not enough that he would pause in his quest. This was a pretty good dimension and a nice place to start things off.

Next up, they go to a dimension where evil dictators have harnessed the powers of the feather. (Did I mention that Sakura’s feathers are immensely powerful objects that have nearly unlimited power?) Syaoran and his friends go to stop these fiends and the battles commence. This arc possibly had even more action than the Kudan part and I’d say that it was more interesting. While Syaoran takes on the dictator and his son, Fai and Kurogane battle Kiishimu. Kiishimu is a witch whose abilities have never been seen in their entirety. Needless to say, she’s a pretty powerful opponent. Fai could possibly have defeated her with ease, but he has vowed never to use magic.

Oto Country is one of the next dimensions that they travel too and it’s pretty exciting for several reasons. One of these reasons is the fact that the plot seems to finally advance. This dimension has demons and the stakes enter their highest at the time. Kurogane teaches Syaoran how to fight with a sword and they take on many demons. Syaoran wields a fire sword while Kurogane wields a blue sword. A mysterious figure shows up and the plot really starts to thicken.

The man seems to know Syaoran and he’s also after the feathers. He manages to grab one and we find out that he can cross dimensions at will. This makes it virtually impossible to trap him and finding him could definitely be tough. He fights with Fai, Syaoran, and Kurogane in three separate battles. Let’s just say that one character may not have completely made it through that part. This guy definitely makes for a compelling villain and he was a pretty solid character. His sword has a very cool design and he’s possibly the strongest character at this point in the series.

Season one ends with a decent episode that wasn’t great, but it did have a nice battle at the end. For those who don’t read the manga, it may seem like a really important episode since Fei Wang sends his army in to take Syaoran and friends down. Fai and Kurogane stay back to stop the minions while Syaoran and Sakura make it to the top floor of the temple. Can Syaoran defeat the leader of the assassins? It definitely makes for a pretty epic fight and the episode was a nice way to end the season.

One of the dimensions that they visit in season two is a place where there’s a huge library. We finally see Kurogane’s origin and learn more about his reason for fighting. He has a debt to settle and he intends to settle it soon. This planet is pretty important since Fai also makes a crucial decision. Syaoran also starts to feel the influence of the other Syaoran a little more.

Quickly, I should talk about that part. Part of Fei Wang’s ultimate plan seems to involve Syaoran as he has a (Clone?) Syaoran locked away in a water tube. This Syaoran is able to take control of the other Syaoran from time to time and he seems to be a little…meaner! Beyond that, Fei Wang and his partner never reveal what their true plan is so I hope you like mysteries. We never learn why they want the feathers or why they just want to wreck Syaoran’s life.

Finally, the series ends with a dimension that involves royalty. Chaos is the King and he believes that Sakura should travel with him instead of Syaoran and friends. He has dozens of feathers and he can travel across dimensions. Obviously, he’s more qualified to help her on the quest right? Syaoran and friends don’t think so, but he is able to defeat all three of them. They put up a decent fight, but this is the final boss of the series! He’s immensely powerful and he seems to outrank them all in everything. With everything on the line, can Syaoran defeat this guy!?

Those are just some of the dimensions that Syaoran and friends visit during their travels so I recommend watching the series to see the rest. The animation is very good for the series and it holds up well. The soundtrack is dynamite and it has some really good themes in there. There are 3-4 different opera type music that I like a lot and we even get a battle theme. The villain theme is certainly the best in the series and you’ll find yourself looking to Youtube so that you can continue to listen to it.

Syaoran is a solid character and definitely someone that you can root for. He has several plot twists (As with everyone else) but none of them take away from the fact that he’s a good character. His fighting skills are pretty good and they keep on improving as the series goes on. The fact that there is another Syaoran is definitely an interesting plot point that may have been left hanging, but it was still epic.

Fai has a very high degree of magical ability, but since he decided not to use it anymore so we don’t really get to see his abilities in action. Even without them, Fai has shown that he’s very proficient at hand to hand combat. He tends to give Kurogane a hard time, but he’s pretty nice to everyone. He jokes around the most and Mokona always helps him. He seems to have a dicey past, since he has sealed someone away and had to hide by escaping the dimension. Unfortunately, the plot doesn’t return, but it’s a good concept.

Kurogane is the tough guy who has a lot of battle experience. He’s been wielding a blade for a while and he really just wants to go back home. The Princess of the land banished him from the dimension since he was hurting too many people and also cursed him. Whenever Kurogane destroys someone, he loses a bit of his power, which can definitely be distressing. Kurogane is definitely a solid character and he gets more friendly with the others as the series goes on.

There are several other characters who are pretty solid, but they’re scattered through the dimensions. Chaos and the other guy who could cross dimensions definitely made for some solid villains. The mysterious figure vanished and we never saw him again, so that plot should be interesting.

So, the only negative to the series would probably be the fact that most of the plots don’t end. The series ends with nothing being resolved and feels like it was cancelled. There is a sequel in the form of an OVA, and you can see the rest by checking out the manga, but it’s sad for those who were stuck with the anime. Even so, the anime is definitely solid and having an open ending could be a nice change of pace.

I wouldn’t really say that there are any other negatives. The soundtrack is great, the animation is superb, the characters are fun, and the series is over 50 episodes. Some of the characters may have some mild romance, but it’s really mild so you can ignore it for the most part. I highly recommend checking the series out. Since I own the series, I’ll likely be watching it again in the future. It’s the perfect anime for those who want fights, but a deep plot to go along with it.

Overall 8/10

Trigun is one of those anime that is very well received. It’s rare to find someone who dislikes the show and it has become a classic. Shows about a gunman can be pretty bad, (Name generic live action cop/mafia show) but they do have a lot of potential as well. (Black Cat, one of the greatest manga series ever and also a pretty good anime)

The first half of the show may take you by surprise. Vash The Stampede is wanted for 60 Billion Double Dollars. 60 Billion is already a lot and that’s not counting the Double Dollars! (Well, that’s just what they call the currency, but it’s still intense!) Vash is rumored to have destroyed an entire city (While sparing everyone) and he’s one of the meanest folks around! Millie Thompson and Merril of the Insurance Corporation are tasked with finding him. The (Really flawed) plan is that they will stay by his side and keep him out of trouble. If Vash really is this deadly, that may not be the best move.

Vash may surprise you as well. He’s a happy fellow who never draws his gun unless he needs to do so. He’s nothing like the rumors paint him to be. He manages to dodge gunfire all the time, but to the unsuspecting passerby, it looks like it’s all just an accident. Vash’s abilities have been honed over time and he’s mostly just looking to live a life of peace. Unfortunately he seems to be cursed, but more on that later.

The first half of the show is pretty episodic and pits Vash against a lot of bounty hunters and authority figures. Along the way, the gang meets up with Nicholas D. Wolfwood. Woldwood is a travelling Priest or so he claims. His cross is actually a large weapon that can fire bullets and rockets. Wolfwood is definitely less merciful than Vash and this sometimes leads to delicate situations.

The plot really begins once the Gung Ho Guns start to attack. They are a group of highly skilled villains who want to make Vash’s life as miserable as they can. They try their best and definitely start to increase the body count. Once they are introduced, the plot finally starts. Knives wants to destroy the human race and he’ll stop at nothing to succeed.

The villains are able to wipe out the population an entire city in a pretty short amount of time. Time is definitely not on Vash’s side as he’s thrown from one tragedy into another without any time to rest. The series definitely picked up during the 2nd half, but it’s certainly not as cheerful as the beginning of the series. Prepare for the stakes to get high!

Vash The Stampede is the main character of the show. For the first half, he comes across as being pretty annoying. He’s a very skilled gunman, but he never takes anything seriously. Later on, we find out about his back story. Let’s just say that having a gun turn into a giant alien arm is not normal. Is Vash really human? Well, the answer to that may surprise you. Vash made a solemn oath that he will never take the life of another living being.

The oath applies to animals and creatures as well, which definitely helped Vash rise in my books. Lately, we’re always seeing “Heroes” make the “tough” choice and cross the line. They always try to justify it, but it doesn’t make it right. After all, Light Yagami was doing it for the “right” reasons wasn’t he? Vash is put into a lot of tough spots and is forced to make difficult calls. He’d rather die than destroy anyone, but his friends are put in danger and things get really dicey for him.

Vash has to make the ultimate choice. If he doesn’t pull the trigger, his friends will die, but if he does, then he’ll be no different than Knives and the other villains. The 2nd to last episode explores it all and has a nice moral. Vash realizes that there is always a chance for redemption and the difference between making a mistake and being a villain, is that he knows that he’s sinned. Vash tries to make up for it and continues to abide by his beliefs. The series actually has some Christian themes towards the end, such as forgiveness and redemption. One character in particular is changed by it and Vash definitely puts up an effort to act in the right. The series ended on a high note for me, because of the good messages at the end. It’s what turned Vash from an unlikable character to a pretty cool one.

Nicholas Wolfswood is another character who went through some drastic changes. He started out as a Priest, but the Church that he represents is pretty different than most. It can hardly be called a Church from what I can gather. Nicholas believes that sometimes you must destroy the enemy if you are to win. It’s a belief that most Marvel/DC characters seem to believe. Nicholas continues to believe this, but one day he destroys an enemy, but he starts to have doubts. It may not have been necessary to destroy him and he finally begins to realize it.

Nicholas enters his big battle against a Gung Ho Gunman. Nicholas is winning, but can he win without destroying his opponent. Nicholas does pretty good and he ends up making the tough choice. Sometimes, it’s better to lose a battle, than to win by losing your morals. Nicholas ends up going to a church and confesses his sins for the first time. He may have been a Priest in name only, but by the end he seems to finally convert. His ending can be seen as tragic or happy depending on how you view it. Personally, I’d say that it is emotional, but still positive. Things could have been much worse for him, if things had played out differently.

Millie and Merril are supporting characters, but they’re not quite as good as the first two characters. They don’t really have much of a point in the show and only serve to keep the show cheerful. Or at least, as cheerful as the show can get towards the end. Knives is the big villain at the end, but he misses out on most of the series. He appears at the end, but is it too late to become a likable character? I can’t say that I’m a fan and he was actually pretty underwhelming at the end. Sure, he was decently tough, but Legato seemed to be more impressive. Knives basically stands for everything that Vash is against.

Legato is an intriguing villain and you would think that he was the leader for most of the series. He is easily the strongest villain in the series and his telekinesis is very dangerous. He was a decently cool character, but towards the end, he wasn’t as good. He was just another pawn in Knives’ game after all.

Those were pretty much all of the notable characters. There were others of course, but they weren’t so great. I can’t say that I really liked any of the other characters, but some of them made for tough opponents. One of the things that I never got over, was how different Vash looked with and without his glasses. It was like he was a whole different person. I never got used to how he looked with them on, but it’s not a very frequent occurrence.

Towards the middle, we get an origin episode, which is completely different from the rest of the series. We find out a lot of crucial facts, but it wasn’t one of my favorite episodes. It was a change of pace, but it’s mostly a tragic episode that makes things even worse for Vash. The crew is really awful and their scenes are pretty cringe worthy. Vash also looks pretty bad and my favorite part of the episode was the last 10 seconds, where Vash makes his decision.

The soundtrack is pretty catchy for the show. I liked the ost and while it may not be legendary like Naruto or Bleach, it was pretty good. In the end, that’s what counts after all. I recommend this anime. A lot of people will enjoy that it can be emotional and action packed. The villains do tend to run their mouths with some language, but as long as you focus on the pwnage and action scenes, you’ll be all right. The show never gets too violent as well and if you don’t mind Naruto and Bleach, you’ll be okay as well. There are a lot of similarities to Black Cat, even the main characters are pretty similar with their attributes, choice of weapon, and ultimate attack. This show’s no Black Cat, but it definitely gave its all!

Overall 6/10

Transformers is a huge franchise and has spawned many films, shows, and games. Most of the animated shows for Transformers have been hand drawn in the past, but Prime still isn’t the first CGI show (Beast Wars) in the franchise. I’m always more of a traditional animation fan myself, but I’m always open to new methods. After TF Animated, I was ready for just about anything!

Transformers Prime is a lot grimmer than the other shows in the franchise and has a War For Cybertron feel to it. Prime modernized the designs for a lot of the characters and completely switched Soundwave’s. This show actually managed to make it past the dreaded “2 Season curse” and ended with three seasons. A movie is coming out soon to finish up the franchise, so let’s take a look at the series as a whole.

Season 1’s plot is what you would expect from the franchise. The Autobots are badly outnumbered and outgunned. The Decepticons, (Lead by Megatron of course) have amassed a large army and they are ready to conquer Earth. The heroes never seem to have a chance for the 1st season and while they can hold their own, they couldn’t defeat all of the Decepticons in a straight out battle. Luckily, the Autbots aren’t alone since Agent Fowler, Jack, Miko, and Ralph are here to provide backup support. They may be mere mortals, but they have seen their share of action. (Basically, they are here so that we can have the generic human characters on the team) The climax involves the Mighty Unicron, (Who is a lot smaller than his G1 counterpart) who is pretty unimpressive. Prime and Megatron can both take on his avatars when they need too.

The best part of Season 1 was the final battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron. The music was pretty epic and it was a long battle. It was basically the whole episode, which is rare for many (non anime) shows. Even by the end of season 3, this ranks as my favorite battle. Another solid episode was when Ratchet injected himself with Synthetic Energon and decided to storm the Decepticon’s base. It was good to see Ratchet actually fight and it shows that he does have some latent fighting ability.

Season 2 is the start of the Sword battles and both teams struggle to to collect the ancient relics. They manage to obtain a lot of useful items, like the Battle Armor and a device that lets you phase through walls. They also obtained the forge that only a Prime can wield. With it, the Autobots build the Star Saber, while Megatron (Who isn’t a Prime, but obtains a Prime hand) builds the Dark Star Saber. The Autobots get some new firepower when Smokescreen joins the ranks, but the Decepticons match the new addition with Dreadwing. (Who could defeat Smokescreen, meaning that the gap actually got wider) Season 2 was definitely more exciting than the first season, (Barring the final episodes of Season 1) but watching them try to get the relics can get old. Starscream isn’t with the Decepticons for the most part and is a loner for a while. Things don’t really work out for him. M.E.C.H. is also around and they build their own robot so that they can finally defeat the dreaded Autobots/Decepticons. The final episode of the season was pretty epic and ends the season on a good note. The Decepticons make things even tougher for the heroes and manage to deal a lot of damage. Not to mention that the Decepticons get two new warriors to add to their ranks.

Season 3 feels like the final season of the show from the beginning. The Autobots are in hiding and one of their own appears to be reaching the end of his road. The Decepticons have all, but conquered the planet and Earth may be doomed. The Autobots really have no shot, but things get brighter once Ultra Magnus appears. He may be the Autobots’ last hope, but can he fit in? The Decepticons unleash the mighty Predaking and he quickly proves to be a formidable opponent. Optimus Prime undergoes an upgrade and he’s ready for battle. About halfway through the season, things go back to the status quo, as both teams are back to square one. Megatron decides to revive Cybertron so that he can rule the planet, which leads into the climax of the season. There’s a lot of action in the final battle, although a certain Decepticon misses out on actually fighting.

Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots in the show and he’s about what you would expect. He’s always been a solid leader and that doesn’t change in this show. He’s stronger than the other Autobots and he’s the only one who can go up against Megatron in a fair fight. His upgrade in Season 3 is good, although I miss his original look. (I’ll never like Machine Guns) At one point, Prime reverts back to his Orion Pax form, but I’m glad that he didn’t stay that way.

Bumblebee is pretty similar to his movie counterpart and he can’t talk in the show. His voice box was…damaged a long time ago and now he can only make robotic noises. Ralph can understand him for some reason, but it’s one of those things that you just need to take in stride. I can’t say that I’m a fan of Bumblebee, but he’s not a bad character. I just never found him that interesting.

Arcee is vastly different from her G1 counterpart (Well, a little similar to her G1 comic counterpart) and she’s more of a fighter. This is definitely her best incarnation and she’s a quick fighter. She’s managed to take on high ranking Decepticons like Shockwave and Starscream and is a pretty good shot. She’s easily one of the better Autobots on the team and even has a rival in Airachnid. In a fight, I would still go with Arcee, thanks to her speed, but Airachnid is definitely tough.

Ratchet is the team medic and gets a pretty small role for the entire show. He mildly fights in Season 1 when he is injected with the energon and when he helped Prime fight the zombies in one of the earlier episodes. Ratchet is a decent fighter, but he’s not that quick and his attacks are lethal, but very short range. He wasn’t the best character, but he was all right.

Bulkhead is also on the team, but half of the time you can forget that he’s there. He doesn’t really bring much to the table. He’s pretty tough, but Prime is tougher. Bulkhead is not really that useful in combat and while he can fight, I’d probably take Ratchet over him. Wheeljack is a part time member, and he’s pretty tough. While his G1 counterpart may have been more of a thinker, Wheeljack is a close combat fighter. He has twin blades that can deal a lot of damage and he’s always got an explosive up his sleeve. He doesn’t always follow orders which is definitely a plus.

Jack is arguably the lead human and he gets a lot of screentime. I can’t say that I ever became a fan, and his scenes are usually a little wince worthy. His best feat was when he caused a Decepticon to back up in fear. (Or shock) Miko is the head strong one of the group, but she can’t fight as well as most head strong characters. (Ichigo, Yusuke, Ash Ketchum) Mostly, she ends up getting in the way. She does manage to deal some damage when she’s in a ship or in armor, but it’s a little hard to take seriously. Ralph’s pretty smart and he’s able to understand Cybertronian, but I never cared for the character.

Smokescreen joined up with the Autobots later on. He’s less experienced than the other bots, but he tries to make up for it by being an optimist. Unfortunately, he’s not that powerful and usually gets knocked around. Ultra Magnus joins up with the team as well, but he didn’t really impress me. Supposedly he’s pretty tough, but he was getting knocked around by Predaking just like the others.

I would mention Agent Fowler and Jack’s rival, but they’re mostly irrelevant so let’s talk about the Decepticons. Megatron is their fearless leader and he is pretty untouchable for the series. Only Prime can give him a decent fight for the most part, but Megatron is always a step ahead of him. Predaking is a good match against Megatron, but only until he possesses the Dark Star Saber. Megatron is easily the strongest fighter in the series and isn’t the type to lose in a head to head battle. I’d say that he was the coolest character in the series. This was definitely a solid incarnation of the character.

Starsceam is pretty similar to his G1 counterpart in terms of personality, but his design is pretty bland. He’s basically a generic robot with no defining colors to make him unique. I’d say that he was pretty underpowered for most of the series, but he did temporarily get a speed boost which made him a high tier threat. When he possessed the speed, he was basically unstoppable. Nobody could take him down in a fair fight, but unfortunately, Starscream failed to capitalize on this lucky break.

Soundwave is one of Megatron’s most trusted Decepticons and he tends to get the job done. Soundwave seems to be pretty powerful and never really gets to engage in a serious battle. he has brief skirmishes against Airachnid and Wheeljack, but I would have liked to see the scope of his abilities. After his battle against Wheeljack, he tends to just use his Space Bridges to avoid battles. His character design is pretty intense and I’m hoping that we will get to see him fight at some point in the future.

Shockwave is possibly the smartest Decepticon and he’s pretty strong physically. He’s definitely built for power and one energy blast can deal some massive damage. His eye is a glaring weak spot since he only has one and he makes for a big target. He was a good addition to the Decepticon ranks, but he can be easy to deceive. Knockout and Breakdown were pretty awful Decepticons. Not much more to say about that, but they were the weak links of the team. Knockout was decently tough with a weapon he stole from Soundwave, but he’s definitely someone who should be taken lightly.

Airachnid was a decently cool villain who mainly appeared in the first season. Her webs are deadly since they can paralyze whoever is hit by one of them. She’s also pretty quick and is at home in the forest. She doesn’t get that much screen time, but she proves her skills by taking on Arcee in a good battle. She commands the Insecticons who can be pretty skilled. At their strongest, one of them gave Megatron a pretty good fight. At their weakest, they go down in a single hit, so their durability definitely varies.

Dreadwing joined up with the Decepticons to avenge his brother, but he may not know the full story. He’s pretty powerful and nearly took down Optimus Prime himself. He didn’t appear for very long, but he was a strong fighter. I didn’t care for his voice that much, but the voice is definitely not the most important thing for a character. Predaking was also a pretty cool character whose voice I didn’t care for. Predaking was another character who could match up against Prime and Megatron. As a dragon, he’s pretty tough, but as a Predacon, he’s even stronger. His strength easily exceeds that of Ultra Magnus and Bulkhead and his firepower is pretty high.

Silas is the leader of M.E.C.H and he talks a good game. Unfortunately for him, Autobots/Decepticons are far too powerful for mere mortals. He builds his own robot, but in the end he just isn’t a match. Things get pretty tragic for his character and things don’t go the way that he had planned. Unicron acts very high and mighty, but he wasn’t as epic as his G1 counterpart. Maybe it was the voice or the design, but either way, I wasn’t a huge fan. Maybe I will like him more in the upcoming film.

Transformers Prime was definitely a solid show. The CGI held up quite nicely for the fight scenes and there were a good amount of battles. The show cracked 60 episodes which is pretty impressive. While the show may not be as good as the classics, (G1, Victory) it does defeat some of the others. (Beast Wars, Animated) Transformers Prime is definitely a show that I would recommend watching. It has a nice blend of action and set up. It’s a good way to become a Transformers fan and the soundtrack can be pretty good for the action scenes. If I had to name a negative, it would be that some episodes didn’t really have much in the way of stakes. (Scraplets and random Decepticons) Their was some very mild romance, but it was brief enough that it didn’t hurt the series. The show ended on an epic note and didn’t crash and burn like Cliff Jumper. You really need to watch the series if you like robot battles, or just enjoy a good story.

Overall 7/10

Sym Bionic Titan is a pretty intriguing show. It mixes robots and aliens/giant monsters (Remember, this came out Before Pacific Rim!) The animation could be a turn off for some people, but the animation can be good when it wants too. The animation is actually bad on purpose for the designs so that everyone looks really ugly. It helps create the atmosphere and the facial expressions can be pretty funny. The fight scenes can be pretty good as well.

The plot of the series is that 3 beings crashland on earth. Lance, llana, and Octis are the three main characters. Octis is an android, while Lance and llana are both Galalunians who resemble earthlings in just about every way. Their planet was taken over by the Muttradi and they are now in hiding at Earth. llana wants to go back and free her civilization, but Lance and Octis decide that keeping her safe is the top priority. One day they will go back and save the world, but not for a while. The leader of the villains is General Modula. His hat can shoot energy blasts and he’s not an opponent to be taken lightly.

Lance and friends decide to go to school and keep a low profile. This way they can save the world when they need to do so, but they can also hide from the Muttradi. When the three of them fuse, they form Sym Bionic Titan, which is a large energy robot that is pretty powerful. This attracts the attention of the Government and G3. Both groups want Sym Bionic Titan to be defeated since he’s probably evil.

The series definitely changes as it goes on and while it starts out as a happy school parody with action, it turns into more of a drama with the stakes getting higher and higher. The music is pretty solid for the first half, but during the second half the music definitely starts to vanish.

Lance is a pretty solid protagonist and he’s the best character of the series. Not only is he an expert combatant, but he’s also a quick thinker. When they are captured by G3, it all rides on Lance to save the day. He was part of the army so he’s definitely the most experience. He’s good with many weapons and his robot form is pretty tough.

llana is the princess of Galaluna and she never grew up as a fighter. She quickly adapts on earth and can emit barriers as well as shoot lasers in her robot form. She’s more of an optimist than Lance and always tries to become friends with the locals. Being trusting can definitely be deadly with all of the aliens running around, but she’s still a good character. She’s definitely the nicest member of the three.

Octis is an android, but he acts pretty human. Like most androids, he develops human emotions thanks to his travels on earth. He has some pretty impressive super speed and his strength is also pretty formidable. It’s thanks to him that the main characters can form Sym Bionic Titan and if anything were to happen to him, their fighting capabilities would be drastically reduced.

The leader of G3 is known as Solomon and he’s a pretty good character. He’s not afraid to take on the main characters in a fight and he’s pretty athletic. His abilities are at peak human to slightly superhuman. Since his division is in charge of aliens, they have some pretty sophisticated equipment on their side. General Steel is the leader of the Army and he’s a big rival of Solomon’s. They are always getting in each other’s way and General Steel doesn’t trust Solomon. General Steel doesn’t get much of a role until he builds the Hammer! With the Hammer, he can take on powerful opponents and even overpower Lance and llana. His best battle is against the Orga looking monster and it’s a solid fight.

Kimmy and Jason are humans who introduce romance plots for llana and Octis. They definitely weren’t needed for the story and the romance didn’t add anything to the plot. They were basically filler, but no show can totally get rid of it I guess. I was glad that the show didn’t go the obvious route, so Lance and llana ended up staying as friends. Nothing more and nothing less! That’s how the main characters should always end up.

Edwin is a pretty solid character, but he’s not the smartest character on the block. His nickname is meat and it makes you feel bad for him sometimes. llana’s dad is the King, but he doesn’t appear much. He never really gets to fight, but perhaps in a sequel show he would. The main villain also doesn’t get a chance to appear that often, since the show ended before he could really get going.

Sym Bionic Titan is a pretty fun show. There are plenty of giant monsters and creatures that fight the main characters, (The best one being the monster from the final episode) and we even get a humanoid fight during the flashback part of the series. The monster violence can get a bit intense and the first episode with Kimmy was cringeworthy, but for the most part, the show was solid. The best episode involved underground racing and Lance always shows that he’s the best. It’s too bad that the series was cancelled, since things were definitely still solid. Hopefully, the series gets a sequel at some point. I’d definitely recommend the series if you want to see robots and explosions, or kaiju battles, or even if you just wanted to see the government infiltrate the high school to gather intel. This could be the series for you!

Overall 7/10

Serial Experiments Lain is a very intriguing anime and it’s one that will make you think a lot more than the average show. I am one of those viewers who believes that you should always form your own opinion after finishing something. So, there are probably a lot of theories about what really happened throughout the show, and I’ll try to shed some light on it. The series is pretty short and only contains 13 episodes, but it’s enough to set the tone of the show. You know that this won’t be your average anime when the narrator doesn’t sound like a good guy. The theme song also isn’t that cheerful and it’s a hint of what’s in store.

Chisa jumps off of a building, but instead of dying, her soul goes into the “Wired”. Without a body, she has complete freedom to do whatever she wants and be wherever she wants. Or so she claims. Chisa doesn’t actually appear much, but it sets the seeds for the real protagonist of the show. Lain is gifted with special powers that help her in the “Wired”. The ability has some pretty good perks like teleportion and granting the user a genius level intellect, but the downsides are pretty lethal. The wired rapidly spreading and people are beginning to mysteriously die around the world. Lain could care less about the strangers, but will she be able to protect her friends and stop the “Knights”?

Lain isn’t a bad main character, but I can’t say that I ever got around to really rooting for her. For the first three episodes, she’s extremely quiet. (Reminded me of Peter Parker from The Amazing Spiderman movie) She got better when she began to talk more and started utilizing her powers in more effective ways. Of course, Lain’s abilities seem to have a mind of their own and there are other Lains running around….or so it seems.

Lain has three friends, but the only one to really get a large role in the series would be Alice. For the most part, she attempts to help Lain through her school life and even tries to make Lain have some fun. She’s a good character until we get a pretty big plot twist that made her into an unlikable character. I never really cared for the character before then either. She was constantly thinking that Lain may have been responsible for various things and then changing her mind abruptly. (Of course Lain usually was behind those things….)

“god” also appears and he’s in charge of the wired. He admits that he’s not the real God, but he’s the god of the wired world. He is everywhere at once and his power knows no limits. Unfortunately for him, one can only be a god if others worship him. Lain gets an idea and takes him on. This “god” character was pretty underwhelming and he’s definitely not much of a fighter. There are also two government agents who spy on Lain for most of the series, but in the end they are just pawns in a bigger game. The humans are extremely weak in this show. A little girl armed with a teddy bear succeeds in completely terrorizing a grown man and he runs all the way home. Unfortunately he’s unable to get the lock to open and things don’t go very well for him.

Alright, let’s talk more about the show as a whole and what really happened for most of it. My guess is that Lain was created a little before the wired so that she could control it. Or that she was an all powerful, cosmic entity who wanted to experience life and adopted a human form. Were her parents really her parents? I’d say that foster parents may be a better term and it would explain why they act pretty fake/off for most of the time.

After Chisa jumped and left the school a message, it slowly started to reawaken Lain’s latent powers. At first she couldn’t control her abilities at all and developed split personalities. “Wired Lain” was a lot meaner than the normal one and had a much better perception of her powers. She was basically the total opposite of the regular Lain and probably would have made for a more interesting main character. Lain’s other personalities started exerting their influence on the wired a lot more actively as they went out of their way to knock off some civilians and even mess up Alice’s social life. Lain’s other personality may have deleted her sister as well, but it’s possible that the Knights had something to do with it. The sister’s scene was pretty intense and she put up a decent effort, but nobody can escape the Wired.

The border between the real world and the wired continues to weaken throughout the show. Eventually, humans in the real world can even see Lain up in the sky as a messiah type being. They take it pretty well and nobody ever asks Lain about it. That should probably be the first hint that something’s off….

Lain has unlimited power on the wired and since the real world is almost completely connected to it, her abilities are enhanced in both worlds. She seems to have some telekinesis (Shown in her battle against “god”) and she’s a very advanced reality warper. Not only can she alter people’s memories, but she can also completely rewind time to whatever point that she feels like. It would seem that Lain could have become “god” at anytime, but she didn’t want to give up being a normal person. She liked having a body and not live her immortal life as one with everything. Based on the ending, it would seem that she has made her choice on whether to stay as an immortal humanoid being, or an abstract entity.

There are also some mild hinting that Lain could in fact be an alien. I wouldn’t be surprised, since the government found the alien ship near the end of the show. There are definitely a lot of theories that can be had here, but the important thing is that you know the basics.
1.Lain is All Powerful
2.Lain is “god”
3.Lain can do anything.

Everything else is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things when you think about it. Lain could have just created the entire planet with her abilities, which would explain why things always went badly for the victims. When the sister was trying to escape, people would flicker in and out, not to mention that reality seemed to be against her. In a way, Lain is just toying with everyone as she watched from above. Most of the time, she’s not doing it consciously, but eventually she begins to understand.

One negative of the show would be the lack of fight scenes, but you’re not really supposed to expect those in this show. None of the characters ever really get to be likable characters and there is some really unneeded romance scenes during the show. I liked the theme for the night club that the kids would go too, aside from that, the kids were pretty awful characters.

This anime is a very unique experience to watch and I’d recommend checking it out. There are a lot of really weird and random moments that increase the spookiness factor of the series. It may be the closest that you’ll get to a horror show about the cyber world. It contains some elements from The Ring, The Matrix, and a whole bunch of other things. It’s a good way to learn some fun facts as well. While most of the show can be considered “trippy” with all of the assorted lights and crazy camera angles, the final episode takes a break from that for the most part. The Red light from the first 12 episodes finally turns green for the final one. Knowing this show, it was probably symbolic for something. Anyway, this definitely makes for a great anime to watch during the dead of night!

Overall 5/10

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