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This month: Exploring the Turnpike, Part 2
Thanks goes to Anne "Anne-chan" Packrat for saving my ass this month, when I'd once again dawdled in choosing a topic. She suggested I resume exploring the anime with small numbers of sites from where I left off in June. Good idea, because I simply have to browse until I find enough good stuff, as opposed to browsing everything in a given category. Of course, that assumes there is good stuff out there to find; the pickin's can be rather slim. Nonetheless, I kept at it, and found some worthwhile browsing material.Picking up from where we left off in June...
Burn Up W
This anime is what I call a "guilty pleasure". I like it because it makes no bones about the source of its appeal: girls with big guns and even bigger breasts. Now, I tend to lean toward the more intellectual anime (I'm obsessed with Lain for example), but sometimes it's nice to take your mind of the hook for thirty minutes, and Burn Up W was a good way to do that.Of the twelve sites that were listed on the Turnpike, I found only one I felt worthy of mention: . I appreciated that the site author took the time to write a one-paragraph profile for each character. There are complete synopses for all but the last episode of the series. Easy to navigate and looks nice too; all the basics of a good info site.
Cain 11
is an interesting idea: a manga that you read online with Macromedia Shockwave. Certainly worth a look, though there's another site listed further down that a does more with the concept. This manga has only a few pages. Some background info pages would do wonders here.Campus Cop Duklyon
Here's a site with a different name: . Not. But it is the better of the two sites devoted to this lesser-known CLAMP manga. All the basics are there, character profiles and an overview of the (very short) series, along with bonuses like manga translations, a fan art gallery, and even a section of original doujinshi. One thing you won't find is any actual CLAMP artwork. CLAMP doesn't want their artwork reproduced on fan websites, because you might like it and buy their manga. Actually, I think they had a real reason, but I've chosen to forget it because it was stupid. The other site, called simply does reproduce two images from the series, the cads. How dare they offer CLAMP free advertising!(This is great. As I write this, GeoCities is acting up and becoming hard to connect to. If there is any site this reviewer doesn't need causing him problems while he's trying to recheck his notes...)
Candy Candy
Anyone who's read this column for any length of time know how I feel about shojo. There have been several shojo series that I enjoy, among them Rayearth, Utena, and Child's Toy. But in general, shojo gives me hives. It would take a team of horses to pull me into the video room when Marmalade Boy is on.That being said, and it being understood that Candy Candy is really shojo-y shojo series, I nevertheless have to admit it: is a (grumble) really cool site. You should (grumble) visit it. The entry button isn't obvious (click the flowers). The centerpiece of the site are the manga translations, done in a way I've never seen before. The author has created a synopsis of the manga which has been broken into many short pages and illustrated with manga scans. The end result is a lot like an illustrated children's book. The effect is quite charming, almost enough to make me lose my shojo allergy. Almost.
Captain Harlock
This classic Leiji Matsumoto series (It really is Matsumoto this time, right? I'm not getting flamed again, right?) has a good "shovel" site devoted to it, . The term "shovel" is meant as a compliment, referring to the abundance of content shoveled into the site. Besides the usual overview, we're offered a look at the French version of the program, a look at the short-lived original American comic, a page of MP3s to download, and even a complete episode available in streaming RealVideo. My only major complaint about this site is that some of the pages are a bit long. If you need to page down that much, you should think about splitting the page.was another page to catch my attention. It doesn't offer the goodies of the other site, but it does offer plenty of information, including song lyrics, and sections devoted to My Youth in Arcadia and Galaxy Express 999
Caravan Kidd
Next to Outlanders, this is my favorite Johji Manabe manga so far. It's memorable to me because my comic shop's initial refusal to stock it is what started me ordering comics rather than just buying them off the rack.is more of a general Caravan Kidd site than simply a shrine to the main character. It's a simple site, a basic introduction to the story and characters. It's the type of site you don't spend more than a minute or two at. Not the type of site I usually highlight, but darn it, there are only two sites devoted to one of my favorite manga, and this is the better looking of the two, so I'm gonna mention it!
The other site, really has nothing but a character page. It says little about each character, but unlike the previously mentioned site, it lists many secondary characters, not just the four primary.
Cat's Eye
This was an anime I "just missed", you could say. When I started getting into anime in 1991, the fan following of Cat's Eye, what there was of it, was already on the wane. Fansubs were difficult to come by, but what I did see looked intriguing. For those unfamiliar with the series, like me, it's the story of three female cat burglars. The artwork is from a different era, back when the female leads of an anime series could all be adults and people would still watch it.. has a lot more content than you'd expect from looking at the home page, which has very few links. For example, the "background" link takes you to a page that goes on and on, detailing not just the manga and animated versions of the story, but also the live-action movies, including shots of the hot-looking actresses cast in the roles of the main characters. The Episode Guide contains a plot capsule and screen capture for all 73 episodes. I do wish there had been profiles of the individual characters, though.
Cat Shit One
... This has to be read to be believed. It's an online manga, presented using Macromedia Shockwave. This is the plot, as best as I can figure it out: The two-man crew of a mission to Mars disappears as it makes its landing approach. When leader of the mission comes to, he finds himself in southeast Asia in 1966, in the middle of the Vietnam War. Except the Americans are rabbits and the Vietnamese are cats. The main character himself is transformed into a bunny. For some unknown reason, he is allowed to join the American forces. This is not a comedy. I figure the author is trying to make some allegory here, but damned if I can figure it out.The manga is presented well, in full-color (painted?), with sound effects that can be turned off if desired. As each page "plays", the speech balloons flash one at a time, and sound effects are presented at the appropriate time. You can tell the page is done playing when the light in the lower left-hand corner changes from violet to blue. Be warned: the manga took forever to load. There were 31 pages last time I checked, each of which had sound effects. For some reason, my browser insisted on downloading one item at a time, perhaps confused by Shockwave.
Cherry Project
is a cute shojo site for another cute shojo manga. I don't know why, but I'm a sucker for these sites laid out in white and pastels, with sparse graphics. It looks simple and classy. As for the content, the best part is, of course, the translation of the first fifteen chapters of the manga, another work by Sailor Moon creator Naoko Takeuchi. Besides that, there are character descriptions and a picture gallery.City Hunter
This is another anime for which I wish there were more quality sites. was the best of those I browsed, which unfortunately, isn't saying much considering the quality of its competition. (To be honest, I'm getting a bit annoyed with the practice of submitting a one-page review "site" to the Turnpike as a site for a given anime. They generally contain so little information about the anime that they're not even worth the energy to click the mouse.) There's not much on this site, but it does have a character information section, covering six of the most important characters, in broken English. It also has a section profiling the author, Tsukasa Hojo.Cowboy Bebop
Here's a title I'm greatly anticipating. Actually, its out in the States now on VHS, but I'm holding out for a DVD release, so I'm going to anticipate it for awhile longer. Character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto of Golden Boy and music by Yoko Kanno, what's not to like?was definitely my favorite of the handful of pages devoted to this show. I love the way Emily designed the site to emulate, in a sense, the packaging of the videos. The layout on the character page is especially nice, using the same "faded typewriter" font that is the series' trademark. The page for each character features a detailed profile, in alternating black-on-white and red-on-black paragraphs. The music section features a cover scan and track listing for five Bebop CDs, with lyrics for several of the songs. The "Misc" section has some Winamp skins. Visit the "Random Bebop Terms and Info" page, off the "Misc" page, for info on the manga.
is a bit light on the character information, since the site author doesn't speak Japanese and has only seen the series without the benefit of subtitles. Nevertheless, the design is interesting, again incorporating Bebop's blurry typewriter font. Of special interest is the "Mechanical Details" page, off the "Secrets" page. Here are examined the various weaponry used by the characters, through the use of art-book scans.
is a silly look at the leading lady of Cowboy Bebop, Faye Valentine. The site author describes her as "Nabiki with PMS", referring to the similarly greedy and conniving character from Ranma ½. Comparisons are drawn between the two women's haircuts to prove they were separated from birth. There's also a page devoted to the workings of Faye's hotpants, and a page devoted to Faye eating dog food. I can't figure out whether the site author loves or hates this woman...
Crayon Shin-chan
If there are any readers who don't know, Crayon Shin-chan, for lack of a better description, is Japan's answer to Dennis the Menace, except that he makes Dennis look like a saint. This series is currently a favorite with my friends, who fell over laughing after having seen Shin-chan's "shadow elephant" trick.A site with the straightforward name of is another good "shovel" site, with more content on it than I could possibly go into here. Click on the "English" link at top-left to get to the English page. As is usually the case with sites like these, not everything is actually available in English. However, click on "Eng/Epis" to see some translated manga. Unfortunately, not all the translations are complete yet. You can download icons and Winamp skins. There was a section marked "Java", so I got curious. I enabled Java and JavaScript and took a look. There's a Shin-chan graphic whose eyes follow the mouse cursor and a dancing, mooning Shin-chan who moves all over the page.
Cyber City OEDO 808
I liked this series when I first saw it, maybe seven years ago, but never got to see the whole thing until I bought the DVD this year. The dark, cyberpunk vision of a world that fits its worst criminals with explosive collars and sends them to fight crime, stuck with me. I thought the OAV series had some of the better tragic characters I'd seen to that date.As for sites? There aren't any. The Turnpike listed four sites when I browsed. The first site was dead, the link pointing to a different site. Same went for the second, third, and fourth. It dawned on me that I was experiencing the "web-death" of an anime's fandom, right before my eyes. Kind of depressing, in a way. But perhaps appropriate. Cyber City Oedo never did have a happy ending.
And on that note, let's call it a column.
After reading the mail, of course.
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Last Update: 10/18/99