Angel's Anime Rating Guide

I picked up Squid Girl aka Shinryaku! Ika Musume ... Foolish land-born air breathers! Behold the terror from the depths, the tentacled conqueror of humanity: Squid Girl! With your pollution and stuff you really deserve it, so prepare for menacing, inky doom! Squid Girl has come from the depths of the sea to conquer humanity for its pollution of the ocean. Within moments of arriving on the surface world, our easily distracted little invertebrate is promptly bullied into working for the Aizawa sisters as a waitress, supplying their restaurant with squid ink. If poor Squid Girl can't handle two pushy Japanese girls, how will she ever subjugate the human race? Squid Girl is, as one would expect, a fairly silly series. There's nothing truly extraordinary about the series, but, it is still very enjoyable. Squid Girl is superbly stupid, but, I still had a lot of fun watching the series. I'm not sure, at this point, that I would want to watch both volumes of the series. Alt

One of Dark Image's releases from a while back was the VHS version of Kabuto ... Raven Tengu Kabuto is the story of the mystic samurai Kabuto. He travels to a village which has fallen under the spell of the evil sorceress, Tamamushi. Aided by his mystic sword, "Hiryu," Kabuto must save his former love, the Princess Ran, before she falls victim to Tamamushi's evil curse. A fast-paced and sexy fusion of traditional Japanese mythology and cyberpunk action from Buichi Terasawa (Space Adventure Cobra, Midnight Eye, Goku). Kabuto is a classic tale of a lone samurai warrior with mystical powers who stands against the forces of evil. This title emerged years before Ninja Scroll came to the U.S. and despite its age, it still manages to hold up fairly well. There is some action, but, not really much in the way of gore or bloodshed. While, there are no naughty bits, there are a couple of bare breasts. The story is a bit slow and the effects are somewhat weak. There are

With Go Nagai's name on the box, of course, I picked up the VHS version of Kekko Kamen ... Volume 1 At the academy Miami Takashi attends, higher education has sunk to the lowest levels of depravity, with armed hall monitors, teachers who wear masks to hide their identities and special detention sessions in a torture chamber beneath the gym! It's a curriculum designed to chew up sweet young things, and poor Miami's been voted "Least Likely to Survive" in her class! Is there no hope? Can no one save her? Enter Kekko Kamen, the most outrageous superheroine ever! Clad in a red mask, red boots and nothing else, she is the supreme protector of innocents like Miami. Armed with her trusty nunchaku and a body that just won't quit, she'll make chopped pork out of the swine who run this school from hell! But who is she really? The only one who knows for sure is creator Go Nagai and he's not giving anything away... except lots of free peeks at Kekko Kamen's

Key: The Metal Idol  is the dramatic story of a robot's search for her humanity... A cold, emotionless, but fragile girl is on a journey to the big city -- Tokyo. Only Key knows that she is a perfectly lifelike robot, created by Murao Mima, who took the secrets of his technology to the grave. The last words of her scientist "grandfather" were, to become human she needs to make 30,000 new friends -- and becoming human is Key's only dream. But how can a girl with no emotions (or even the ability to smile) make 30,000 new friends? Key has an idea how -- as an idol singer, a pop star. Volume 1 When her scientist "grandfather" dies, Key has to learn to face life on her own in the big city, especially if she wants to win enough friends to become a true human. But the city isn't always a friendly place, at least not for young girls on their own, and the 'help" they promise isn't always the best kind... Volume 2 Awakening After running in

Years ago, I picked up the subtitled and dubbed VHS versions of  Kiki's Delivery Service . Yes, way back in the misty dawn of time, you actually had to get both versions separately... A young witch named Kiki and her chatty black cat, Jiji, befriend a bakery owner who helps Kiki start her own business: a high-flying delivery service. The job opens up a world of fun-filled escapades and new friendships. Rarely has the animator's art been so brilliantly rendered as in this delightfully imaginative film that will entertain boys and girls everywhere. According to the Anime Movie Guide by Helen McCarthy (page 101). ISBN# 0-87951-781-6... KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE (Eng. title for MAJO NO TAKKYUBIN, lit. Witch's Special Delivery) The term "takkyubin" (special or express delivery) had been trademarked by Yamamoto Transport and Isao Takahata had to do some strenuous negotiation to get permission for its use in the title of the movie. So successfully did he handle

I've rarely met a vampire, I didn't like, so,  Kimera  was an obvious choice. A while back, I picked up the VHS version of Kimera ... A love not human... A love to die for... For centuries, there have been legends of "devils" walking the Earth, feeding off the blood of humans. However, the truth behind these vampiric legends has remained a mystery... until now. Strange "pods" have crashed in the western mountains, bringing with them supernatural beings previously found only in the realm of folk-lore and fantasy. Vampires walk the Earth, at war with Humanity and each other, driven by the most terrifying of genetic imperatives! Like wasps seeking a spider, they have come to this planet for only one purpose: to perpetuate their species. To save Mankind, Kimera must die. Kimera is a tale of vampires and forbidden love, featuring the androgynous vampire, Kimera . There are a few nice visuals, but, that's about it. The story had so much potential and I re

At a time when Pioneer was new to the anime distribution business, I picked up the VHS version of Kishin Corps ... Kishin Corps is a tale of international espionage, alien invaders and robots as they were meant to be. The story, which unfolds in WW II-era China, follows the struggle between Nazi forces, the Manchurian wing of the Japanese army and an elite force known only as the Kishin Corps for possession of a handful of extra-terrestrial control modules which make possible the construction and operation of immense machines. As much as the story however, it is the style of art and character design which makes Kishin Corps special. The mechanical beasts of Kishin were created with a retro-realistic style and the dark, brooding backgrounds give it a drama uncommon in animation and reminiscent of Disney's Sleeping Beauty or Ralph Bakshi's Lord Of The Rings. The overall effect is what Animerca magazine's Julie Davis described as, ...that very special kind of awe and wonde

Sometime ago, I picked up the VHS version of Kite ... Anime She may be cute, she may be young. She may seem innocent and naive, but don't be fooled. She's a cold-blooded killer, and if you're on the wrong side of the law, you may be her next target. After being orphaned at a young age, her parents victims of a brutal double murder, Sawa was taken in by the detective assigned to her case. Not content to just watch as the imperfect justice system lets more and more criminals go loose every day, he's decided to train her to be his instrument of justice. After all, who'd suspect a pretty college student of being a deadly vigilante! Now she must decide between her allegiance to her guardian and her loyalty to her one and only friend, a fellow sword of justice. Watch as this brutal story unfolds with stunning animation from the lethal mind of Yasuomi Umetsu, the character designer of such anime classics as MegaZone 23 Part 2, Robot Carnival (Presence) and the New

One of the more unexpected releases to come out of AD Vision was  Kotetsu ... Let yourself be charmed by classy Linn Suzuki, the feisty but lovable young warrior known as "Kotetsu!" Fleeing Kyoto one step ahead of her 100-year-old master, she stumbles onto the doorstep of the lovely detective Miho Kuon and into an underground web of intrigue. Ever the innocent, all she wants is a place to stay; but instead she's attacked by zombie street punks, a famous statue, a hot-tempered tree nymph and a geeky magician, who's actually kind of cute. Through it all, Linn never loses her sense of humor, her signature katana or her towel, which somehow clings to her diminutive frame throughout this masterpiece of martial arts mayhem! In Kotetsu , we meet Linn Suzuki, sword-swinger extraordinaire with a habit for exaggeration and somewhat naive when she's not swinging a sword. Kotetsu was surprisingly fast-paced and entertaining. There is no bloodshed or gore and no naughty bi