Angel's Anime Rating Guide

At some time in the 1950's, Mom happened to see Rapunzel on TV. After some searching, I came across an animated feature by Ray Harryhausen that seemed to fit the parameters of Mom's vague recollection... According to Wikipedia .... A childless couple that wanted a child lived next to a walled garden which belonged to an enchantress. The wife, as a result of her long-awaited pregnancy, noticed a Rapunzel plant (or, in some versions of the story, rampion radishes or lamb's lettuce), planted in the garden and longed for it to the point of death. For two nights, the husband went out and broke into the garden to gather some for her; on the third night, as he was scaling the wall to return home, the enchantress, whose name is said to be "Dame Gothel", caught him and accused him of theft. He begged for mercy, and the old woman agreed to be lenient, on condition that the then-unborn child be surrendered to her at birth. Desperate, the man agreed. When the gir

During this year's Oscar ceremony, I happened to notice an nominee for an animated short called The Lady and the Reaper ... The Lady and the Reaper (La dama y la muerte) is a 3D imaging animated short film created by Javier Recio Gracia and produced by Kandoor Moon. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and won the Goya Award for Best Animated Short of 2009. An old lady, who lives alone in the countryside, is looking forward to death so that she can meet her dead husband. When the Reaper arrives and she is about to reach afterlife, she is pulled away from the Reaper by a smug doctor. The Reaper and the doctor fight fiercely, and eventually medicine wins. The Reaper leaves, but the lady is not willing to postpone the encounter with her husband. I was very fond of this short, so, went to the official site and eventually added it to the archive.

Late in December of last year, I happened to wander into one of my favorite anime hangouts and came across a post for Alma , by award-winning animation director, Rodrigo Blaas ... According to Wikipedia ... Alma is Rodrigo Blaas' first short film as a director. Originally from Spain, Rodrigo Blaas has worked in animation for more than ten years, in Spain and in the United States. Seizing the possibility of directing his first independent short film, Rodrigo Blaas asked some of the best artists in their field to take part in this independent project: French animator Bolhem Bouchiba, character designer Carlos Grangel and Sergio Pablos, art director Alfonso Blaas, music composer Mastretta and sound designer Tom Myers. I've seen Alma several times already and although it's not scary, Alma does exude an aura of creepiness. I like the animation and the story. I'd certainly purchase this title on DVD, but, it remains to be seen if it will be released on archival m

In 1996, I saw the infamous Nissan "Dream Garage" commercial and immediately afterwards, I made an effort to add it to the archive. But, eleven years later, in the aftermath of the Ultimate Otaku Fall Cleanup , try as I might, I couldn't remember which one of the 2000+ VHS tapes had the commercial on it. So, sadly, the commercial went away. According to Wikipedia ... Mr. Nissan - Mysterious man with the terrier dog, glasses, baseball cap and a big grin featured on a series of Nissan automobile TV commercials in 1996. The mystic Mr. Nissan character was loosely based on the former Nissan Motor Corporation U.S.A. founder Yutaka Katayama who reportedly represented "honor, integrity and fun." Nissan North America launched its "Life is a journey. Enjoy the Ride." advertising campaign with a two minute television commercial at the 1996 Super Bowl. The spot featured a "Dream Garage" filled with vintage Nissan vehicles most notably a silver

I just picked up the revised relaunch of  Neon Genesis Evangelion ... Tokyo-3 still stands after most of civilization was decimated in the Second Impact. Now the city endures the ceaseless onslaught of the deadly Angels, bizarre creatures bent on eradicating the human race. To combat this strange and ruthless enemy, the government agency NERV constructs a fleet of towering humanoid machines - the Evas - and Shinji Ikari is called into action, reluctantly taking his place at the controls of Eva Unit 01. Living a life of loneliness and questioning his existence, Shinji struggles to accept responsibility for mankind's battle for survival. Shinji will fight the Angels alongside the only person who might understand his plight: Rei Ayanami, the elusive and frail pilot of Eva Unit 00. Shinji and Rei will struggle to learn a simple truth: when carrying the burden of humanity's survival on your shoulders, you are not alone. According to Reichu , a contributor to the EvaGe

Some time ago, I happened to see a music video on Cartoon Network featuring Betty Boop and music by Soul Coughing called " Rolling " from their " El Oso " album. I had meant to add this item to the archive, but, I waited too long and it disappeared from Cartoon Network before I could catch it. Once again YouTube  came to the rescue... I've always had a soft spot for Betty Boop and the music and animation fit nicely together. My first foray into the depths of the internet for this item had some issues, but, since then, the issues have been resolved. I liked this music video enough to add it to the archive. I would give Groovies: Rolling a 4 out of 5.

During this year's Oscar ceremony, I happened to notice a nominee for an animated short called Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty ... According to Wikipedia ... Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty is a six-minute-long CG/flash animated socially satirical black comedy short film, directed by Nicky Phelan and produced by Darragh O'Connell of Brown Bag Films in 2008. It was written by Kathleen O'Rourke. The plot centres on Granny O'Grimm, a seemingly sweet old lady, who loses the plotline as she tells her own version of Sleeping Beauty to her terrified granddaughter. I felt sorry for Granny O'Grimm's poor granddaughter, but, Granny O'Grimm is so deliciously wicked fun to watch. I played the video many times and even Mom liked the video. I had some issues adding this particular item to the archive, but, in the end Granny O'Grimm smacked me in the back of the head and shoved me in the right direction. I gave  Granny O'Grimm's Sle

After recent trips to YouTube  yielded a Cosmic Christmas and other animated gems from the past, I developed an interest in some other animation from the early days of Nelvana. Intergalactic Thanksgiving aka Please Don't Eat the Planet seemed like an interesting story, so, I gave it a try. With a new twist on an old holiday, Intergalatic Thanksgiving or Please Don't Eat the Planet is a delightful animated special combining space age fantasy with the old and revered traditions that make Thanksgiving a great festive holiday. I also looked into Take Me Up To The Ballgame and despite its age (almost thirty years), I enjoyed it even more than Intergalactic Thanksgiving . In this interplanetary baseball story, a group of friends are playing a sandlot game on Earth that is noticed by Irwin, an outer space promoter of baseball. The haphazard team consists of an eagle, a beaver, a bear, a kangaroo, and a mole. Irwin invites the Earth team to play against the Outer Space All-

Several years ago, Cartoon Network aired a series called Megas XLR . I saw some of the series, but, it was gone before I had the opportunity to preserve any episodes for the archive. In the distant future of 3037, humanity is fighting a doomed war against an alien race known as the Glorft. In order to save the Earth and their species from total annihilation, the human resistance steals a prototype giant robot from the Glorft and modifies it, renaming it "Megas" (Mechanized Earth Guard Attack System). The plan was to send Megas back in time to the Battle of the Last Stand in 3035, which was the last major offensive fought by humanity against the Glorft. Humanity lost that battle, and the war moved more and more in the Glorfts' favor ever since, but the members of the resistance believe that Megas can tip the scales and hand the Glorft a decisive defeat. Before the plan can be executed, an attack by the Glorft forces the human resistance to send Megas back in time ahea