Angel's Anime Rating Guide

I picked up Antique Bakery recently... In food and in life, one must taste what is bitter to appreciate what is sweet... Troubled by memories of the past that continue to invade his dreams of the present, Keiichiro Tachibana stuns everyone who knows him by abruptly quitting his ordinary office job to open a bakery. He envisions a predominantly feminine clientele and a wait staff of cute girls - but instead, his employees include a playboy patissier who's been fired from every job he's ever had, an ex-boxer with an insatiable sweet tooth, and an absent-minded childhood friend and old family servant. Can this unlikely quartet overcome personal tragedies, learn to work together, and discover a recipe for culinary success? I'm a bit underwhelmed by the series. Basically, it's a slice-of-life drama about the lives of four young men who work at a bakery. Right Stuf is generally noted for bringing obscure titles to the U.S. that might not otherwise be given an opportunit

Over the weekend, I picked up the second installment of the relaunch of Evangelion ... In the earliest battles against the monstrous Angels, young Eva pilots Shinji and Rei were forced to carry humanity's hopes on their shoulders. Now, with the deadly onslaught of the Angels escalating and the apocalyptic Third Impact looming, Shinji and Rei find their burden shared by two new Eva pilots, the fiery Asuka and the mysterious Mari. Maneuvering their enormous Eva machines into combat, the four young souls fight desperately to save mankind from the heavens - but will they be able to save themselves? Wow. Just when I thought I couldn't fall in love with Evangelion again, the second installment of the relaunch just blew me away. After seeing the original series with its controversial ending and the two movies with a different, but no less controversial ending, the initial relaunch was certainly more highly polished than the original production, but, felt very familiar as it told es

I picked up Tales From Earthsea recently... Based on the classic "Earthsea" fantasy book series by Ursula K. Le Guin, Tales From Earthsea is set in a mythical world filled with magic and bewitchment. In the land of Earthsea, crops are dwindling, dragons have reappeared and humanity is giving way to chaos. Journey with Lord Archmage Sparrowhawk, a masterwizard, and Arren, a troubled young prince, on a tale of redemption and self-discovery as they search for the force behind the mysterious imbalance that threatens to destroy their world. The animation quality is quite high and very consistent with other Studio Ghibli productions. The story, however, is a bit weak. While there is plenty of material in the world of Earthsea to work with, a large part of the movie is spent looking at pretty scenery. And, the dragons, although beautifully and stunningly rendered, make all too brief appearances at the start and end of the feature -- I really, really wanted to see more of the dra

Recently, I ordered Our Home's Fox Deity . At first, I wasn't sure why my local video store didn't feel a compelling need to carry this set of DVDs, but then, when the DVDs arrived, their logic suddenly became clear. Each of the DVD sets were packaged in oversized cases, each with two thin DVD cases placed side-by-side in the container along with hard-cover art books. Clearly this type of packaging, while being very nice for collectors, will not fit in the space allowed in most brick-and-mortar store shelves (or for that matter, the shelves of a humble anime collector such as yours truly). Volume 1 The Takagami brothers are protected by a mischievous, supernatural fox named Kugen. Together with absent-minded shrine maiden Ko, their adventures are full of action and comedy in this mysterious story. Extraordinary things happen in their ordinary lives. Volume 2 Kugen meets its sibling, Gyokuyo, for the first time in centuries during the joyful clamor of the Culture Festi