Angel's Anime Rating Guide

In the aftermath of the Ultimate Otaku Fall Cleanup , a number of gems of classic TV were unceremoniously placed in trash bags and set out by the curb or given away. Among the dearly departed was an episode of Disney's Gummi Bears cartoon called " Girl's Knight Out ".

Some time ago, I was wandering around the dial and came across an episode of Piki and Poko: Adventures in StarLand . It's a silly, but, utterly adorable show. According to a flyer that's been circulating for some time... Piki and Poko: Adventures in StarLand is a flash-based animation produced by Mondo Media circa 2000. The heroines of this anime-inspired series, Piki and Poko, are two cute teens from Tokyo who battle the forces of chaos. Next to this girl power epic, with its saturated colors, exaggerated 3-D perspectives, and ass-kicking action, many other web animation productions looks crude, stilted and flat.

Many years ago, I saw a cartoon about aliens that come to Earth looking for the meaning of Christmas. But, for many years, I couldn't remember the title. In 2005, just before Rock and Rule came out on DVD, I came across an entry on a  Rock and Rule  forum regarding other Nelvana releases -- among the titles mentioned was " A Cosmic Christmas ". I saved that forum entry for future reference...

After a bit of poking around on the web, I came across the Apple commercial -- " 1984 ". According to Wikipedia ... "1984" is an American television commercial that introduced the Apple Macintosh personal computer. It was conceived by Steve Hayden, Brent Thomas and Lee Clow at Chiat\Day, produced by New York production company Fairbanks Films, and directed by Ridley Scott. English athlete Anya Major performed as the unnamed heroine and David Graham as Big Brother... Originally a subject of contention within Apple, it has subsequently been called a watershed event and a masterpiece in advertising.

I picked up Rental Magica recently. I've heard good things about the series and as it happens, it also bears some similarity to another series that I enjoyed -- Phantom Quest Corp. (You-Gen-Kai-Sya) . Destroying supernatural monsters... Dispelling dark magic... It's all in a day's work for the mages of Astral! However, after the mysterious disappearance of the company president, they're left in a lurch. His son, Itsuki Iba, begrudgingly fills in, but Itsuki's unfamiliarity with magic could spell bad news for Astral - especially with their rival Goetia vying for the very same contracts. As the jobs grow ever more dangerous, they soon find that staying in business is the least of their worries.