Alan Takahashi's
ANIME POCKET GUIDE
Fight! Iczer-1!
Title: Fight! Iczer-1! (OAVs)
Cast:
Iczer-1 ................................. Yuriko Yamamoto
Iczer-2 ...................................... Keiko Toda
Nagisa Kano ................................. Mayumi Shoo
Big Gold ................................ Kaneto Shiozawa
Sir Violet .............................. Kaneto Shiozawa
Description:
Another alien invasion is underway, with the Bedem taking over
human bodies. The only thing standing in their way is Iczer-1
and her partner, Nagisa. Iczer-1 doesn't know why she's
fighting and Nagisa doesn't understand how she can be important.
In this series, both find the answers to their questions, but
at great cost.
US Release by: US Renditions (dubbed)
Rating: RECOMMENDED
Index...
Iczer-3
Title: Iczer-3 (OAVs)
Cast:
Iczer-1 ................................. Yuriko Yamamoto
Iczer-2 ...................................... Keiko Toda
Iczer-3 .................................... Cutey Suzuki
Sister Grey .............................. Sumi Shimamoto
Nagisa Kasumi ............................ Yuri Shiratori
Atlas ................................... Minami Takayama
Kawaii Shizuka ............................... Yuri Amano
Fiber .......................................... Mika Doi
Golem .................................... Rihoko Yoshida
Description:
In deep space, a battle between Iczer-1 and Neos Gold is fought
to a standstill. Both are injured and out of action, but Neos
Gold sends her minions to Earth as the next battleground.
Iczer-1 can't go, so she sends the inexperienced Iczer-3 to
defend the Earth. A sequel to Iczer-1.
Note: Not much from the "Iczer-1" series was preserved in this
one. Instead we got many fighting scenes, an overacted
character conflict (Atlas), and the overly cute Iczer-3. None
of the tension, character exploration, or even humor of the
original was present.
Rating: NOT RECOMMENDED
Index...
Crusher Joe
Title: Crusher Joe (FILM,OAVs)
Cast:
Crusher Joe ............................. Hiraku Takemura
Alfin ........................................ Run Sasaki
Rikki ...................................... Noriko Ohara
Talos ................................. Kiyoshi Kobayashi
Dongo .................................... Issei Futamata
Captain Kowalski ............................. Goroo Naya
Description:
In space, there are many dangerous jobs to be done. If you want
the job done right, you can call on the Crusher Conference. For
a fee, a Crusher team will be dispatched to your site for
assignments ranging from transportation to terraforming and
everything in between. Among the various worlds, the Crusher
Conference has a great reputation, and among the Crushers, the
best team is the one led by Crusher Joe. Despite links to the
"Dirty Pair", this series is a serious & exciting adventure...
Rating: RECOMMENDED
Index...
Karura Mau
Title: Karura Mau (FILM,OAVs)
Cast:
Shoko Ougi (Shii-chan) ..................... Hiromi Tsuru
Kenmochi ................................ Kaneto Shiozawa
Description:
Shoko and Maiko Ougi are apparently two ordinary schoolgirls in
pursuit of graduating and having fun. Shii-chan is the more
serious while Mai-chan is more fun-loving. In reality, the two
sisters are powerful exorcists from the Karura temple. Each
wields half the power...Shii-chan can 'see' the spirits, and
Mai-chan can banish them. This is a spooky series with heavy
emphasis on traditionally Japanese occult themes.
Rating: RECOMMENDED
Index...
Kiki's Delivery Service
Title: Kiki's Delivery Service (FILM)
aka: Majou no Takkyuubin
Cast:
Kiki .................................... Minami Takayama
Ursula .................................. Minami Takayama
Jiji ......................................... Rei Sakuma
"Osono" ...................................... Keiko Toda
Tombo .................................. Kappei Yamaguchi
Description:
On her 13th birthday, a young witch named Kiki leaves her home
to find her place in the world. She eventually ends up in a
small town where she finds a room with a local baker and his
wife. She meets a boy with a fascination with flight and an
artist among others. A coming of age story from the hand of
Hayao Miyazaki. The ending is a bit abrupt, though.
Rating: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Index...
KO Century Beast: 3 Beast Warriors
Title: KO Century Beast: 3 Beast Warriors (OAVs)
aka: KO Seiki Beast Sanjuushi
Cast:
Wan Dabada ............................. Kappei Yamaguchi
Bud Mint ..................................Takendo Koyasu
Mei Mah ...................................... Mika Kanai
Mekka Mannen .............................. Kousan Shioya
V-Darn ............................... Yasunori Matsumoto
V-Sion .................................... Yuko Mizutani
Akumako .................................... Naoko Matsui
Uni Charm Password ........................ Rumi Shishido
Description: (by Avi Melman)
Due to human folly, the Earth was split apart into its Northern
and Southern hemispheres. The Southern hemisphere drifted off
into deep space. On the remaining Northern hemisphere, the
surviving humans evolved into creatures that could 'morph' into
half human/animal forms. These 'Beasts' worshipped animal-like
god-statues called 'Jinn'. When the 'real' humans returned,
they starting capturing the Jinn (the Jinn are really human-
created mecha animals of great power inside the statues). This
series follows a group of 3 young Beasts from very different
tribes. All were captured, but escaped with the help of a human
and his granddaughter. This is a very funny comedy series with
an odd cast of characters. Bud, in particular, speaks a great
deal of English and thinks he's a hit with the girls...
NOTE: Rating is by contributor.
Rating: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Index...
Kimagure Orange Road
Title: Kimagure Orange Road (FILM,OAV,TV)
Cast:
Kyosuke Kasuga ............................. Tohru Furuya
Madoka Ayukawa ............................. Hiromi Tsuru
Hikaru Hiyama ................................ Eriko Hara
Manami Kasuga ........................... Michie Tomizawa
Kurumi Kasuga .............................. Chieko Honda
Akane ...................................... Naoko Matsui
Shiori ("Heart On Fire" OAV) .............. Yuko Mizutani
Mitsuru Hayakawa ..................... Yasunori Matsumoto
Description:
Kyosuke is a new student looking about town. While counting the
no. of stairs on a hill, he sees a UFO...uhh..hat and the girl
it belongs to. He later finds out that the girl is Madoka, a
local tough girl who can throw a mean guitar pick. Despite that,
he tries to win her affections...but Hikaru-chan has latched on
HIM. To make things worse, Hikaru-chan is Madoka's best friend.
Kyosuke tries to pursue Madoka without hurting Hikaru-chan, and
is *very* indecisive about everything. Adding to the confusion
is his, and his family's secret psychic powers...though Kurumi
isn't too serious about keeping the secret. A romantic comedy
with a dose of nostalgia for your junior high school days.
US Release by: AnimEigo (subtitled) -- FILM/OAV only
Rating: RECOMMENDED
Index...
NG Knight Lamune & 40
Title: NG Knight Lamune & 40 (TV,OAVs)
Cast:
Lamuness (Baba Lamune) .................... Takeshi Kusao
Princess Milk ............................ Chisa Yokoyama
Princess Cocoa .......................... Sakiko Tamagawa
Lesuka/Cafe au lait ........................ Naoko Matsui
Da Cider ..................................... Kazuki Yao
Tama-Q ..................................... Chie Koojiro
Heavy Metal-ko (Hebi Metako) ..................... TARAKO
Don Harumage ............................. Shoozoo Iizuka
Mountain Dew Gold .................... Megumi Hayashibara
Mountain Dew Silver .................... Kotono Mitsuishi
Description: (by Avi Melman)
Lamune is an ordinary 4th grade boy who loves playing video
games. He buys one from a peddler girl (and helps her sell the
rest :-)). At home, he plays the game called 'King Sccasher' &
beats it. The peddler girl then comes out of the TV screen and
asks for his help, calling him "The Blood Relative of the Chosen
Hero Lamuness" or Lamuness for short. She is Princess Milk and
takes him to Hara-Hara World where his role is to revive the
Guardian Knights...starting with King Sccasher. To do this, he
had to find an unlock the shrine which held Tama-Q...a robot who
became Lamuness' Advisor Robot. Normally worn on Lamuness'
shoulder, Tama-Q, when fed a coin of a Guardian Knight, coughs
up a capsule which releases that Knight. All of the Knights are
free-thinking mechas except for King Sccasher which is piloted
by Lamuness. Opposing Lamuness is Don Harumage and his minions
Da Cider and Lesuka. Later, Lesuka and Da Cider sort of defect
to the good guys. Da Cider also tells really bad puns (DAJARE).
A fun giant-robot series. Note that "Lamune & 40 EX" and
"Lamune & 40 DX" are OAV series following the TV series...
Rating: RECOMMENDED
Index...
Laputa: The Castle in the Sky
Title: Laputa: The Castle in the Sky (FILM)
aka: Tenku no Shiro Laputa
Cast:
Sheeta ................................... Keiko Yokozawa
Pazu ...................................... Mayumi Tanaka
The General ............................... Ichiroo Nagai
Madge ............................................ TARAKO
(unknown character) .................. Megumi Hayashibara
Description:
Sheeta is a young girl with a very special stone. The stone
makes her the objective of government agents and pirates who
the power that the stone will give them. Sheeta escapes and is
befriended by Pazu, a boy from a mining town who is aware of
Sheeta's Levistone only as a jewel with mysterious powers, and
not as a key to the treasures held in the legendary Laputa. A
great advanture movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki. (It's been
rumored that "Nadia: Secret of Blue Water" was based partially
on "Laputa").
Rating: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Index...
Fantastic Adventures of Yohko: Leda
Title: Fantastic Adventures of Yohko: Leda (OAV)
Cast:
Yohko ...................................... Hiromi Tsuru
Zell ...................................... Shuichi Ikeda
Description:
A young girl, Yohko, is composing and playing a piece on her
piano. She is too shy to say that she likes a boy, so she
writes this music to express her feelings toward him. The music
to supposed to give her courage, but when the time comes, she
still fails to talk to him. As she ponders what to do, the
landscape melts around her and Yohko is transported to an
oppressed land where Zell reigns supreme. After encountering a
talking dog, Yohko finds that her music is the key between the
worlds...and that she is also the one chosen by the goddess Leda
to be her warrior against Zell. Yohko must stop Zell before he
can use her music to come into our Earth. The story is very
straightforward, and has an aura of wonder around it. Yohko is
a girl wih unexpected gifts, but her feelings will prove to be
the most important thing of all. A touching, if ordinary story.
Rating: RECOMMENDED
Index...
Legend of Lemnear (Varukisas)
Title: Legend of Lemnear (OAV)
aka: Varukisas
Cast:
Rian ..................................... Keiko Yokozawa
Description:
A young girl runs back to her village to find it destroyed, and
her brother taken by a sorceror. To fight back, Lemnear trains
herself to become a warrior. One day, she wanders into another
village and her beauty catches the eye of the local ruler. She
defeats the thugs sent to take her, but falls before the magic
of the sorceror whom she wants to kill. Fighting on, she will
eventually face the sorceror's master in a final battle. This
was a pretty standard "girl seeks revenge on ultimate evil"
story, but was presented well. An enjoyable action story.
Rating: RECOMMENDED
Index...
Locke the Superman
Title: Locke the Superman (FILM,OAVs)
Cast:
Description: (by Tom Jewell)
A "retired" super-psychic from wars long ago is sought by the
government to stop an evil cabal of psychics with galactic
domination on their minds. Locke's main opponent in the film is
Jessica, a super-psychic herself who has been brainwashed into
believing that Locke was responsible for her parents' death.
The battle takes Locke and a government agent, Commander Yamaki
into a Red Giant star, where the cabal has its secret base.
Editor's Note: A recent OAV series on "Locke" pits an unwilling
Locke against Lord Leon, a powerful psychic who is seeking
revenge against those responsible for his family's death. The
names are changed, but the plot's the same... :-)
Rating: RECOMMENDED
Index...
Record of Lodoss War
Title: Record of Lodoss War (OAVs)
aka: Lodoss-tou Senki
Cast:
Pern (the warrior) ..................... Takeshi Kusao
Deedlit (the elf) ............................ Yumi Tohma
Eto (the cleric) ................... Kappei Yamaguchi
Lord Kashew ............................... Shuichi Ikeda
Ashram ..................................... Akira Kamiya
Karla ................................ Yoshiko Sakakibara
Seeris .................................. Minami Takayama
Pirotase ................................ Sakiko Tamagawa
Description:
Long ago, a titanic war ended between 2 gods which split the
land into two islands. One of them is the island of Lodoss. The
peace on Lodoss is being disrupted, and Pern decides to find out
why. Almost by accident, he forms a band to help on his quest.
The band consists of: an elf, a dwarf, a cleric, a wizard, a
thief, and a warrior (Pern). The OAV series follows their
adventures. This series has a very heavy Role-Playing-Game(RPG)
influence to it. Note that there seems to be a break in the
story between parts 8 and 9.
Rating: RECOMMENDED - especially if you're into RPGs
Index...
Demon Warrior Luna Varuga
Title: Demon Warrior Luna Varuga (OAVs)
aka: Majuu Senshi Luna Varuga
Cast:
Princess Luna ........................... Michie Tomizawa
Rapier ..................................... Hiromi Tsuru
Ril .......................................... Eriko Hara
Princess Zena ............................. Kikuko Inouye
Description:
The Kingdom of Rimzubel is being invaded by the Dambos Kingdom.
2nd Princess Luna de Rimzubel finds her injured grandfather in a
secret passage. He thought that the chamber below held a secret
that could save the kingdom. Luna goes into the chamber and is
asked if she wants the 'power'. To save her kingdom, Luna says
'Yes'. Outside, the Dambos soldiers are knocking at the front
gate...with a battering ram. The sudden appearance of a giant
monster (think of Gojira :-)) in the middle of their camp stops
the invasion. On the monster's head is a naked Luna. We find
that this is the demon Varuga who, according to legend, defeated
a demon lord. Luna is now his brain. Vina, Luna's little sister,
is abducted to revive that demon lord and it's all-of-a-sudden
up to Luna and Varuga (and Luna's faithful servant Roco) to save
Vina and stop the demon lord. This is a fun fantasy adventure
series with lots of slapstick comedy. Even if Luna has a
distressing habit of losing her clothes... :-)
Rating: RECOMMENDED
Index...
Richard Murdey : rmurdey.cs.mun.ca