Najica Blitz Tactics

Najica is interesting to say the least. As I started into the episode, I was convinced that I would hate it, but that's not how it ended up. There is, be warned, a great focus on the lead female's panties though (the reason I thought I would hate it).

In the first episode, we encounter the lead female, Najica. She is a secret agent, and she gets assigned missions by the appearance of a red rose. The ep starts out with her training (and kicking butt at it) then the rose appears. She has to sneak into a castle and save this chick, but they actually refer to it as retrival. She goes into the castle-house where she fights off a legion of gun wielding maids, a sexed up villian, and saves the girl. Then she hands her over to the good guys and flies back to her office the next day. And telling more would ruin the story.

So the plot seems kind of lacking and generally rediculous, which to a point it is, but I still happen to like it. The panty shots, of which there are many, are fairly obnoxious, but if you can block them out, you might be able to appreciate the awesomeness that is NBT.

Paradise Kiss

First off, I completely fell in love with this anime about halfway through the first episode. Isabella and Miwako and George are my heroes. I highly recommend this anime to anyone, but that doesn't mean it's perfect. Now to the summeries.

The story revolves around the lead girl Yukari. She's essentially a brat. She's a goody-too-shoes who thinks she's all that. No, no, don't let that discourage you. The ParaKiss gang ground her. Anyway, Arashi- a guy with safety pins pierced into his face- basically accosts Yukari because he thinks she the perfect model for their clothing brand, Paradise Kiss, or ParaKiss for short. She essentially runs away from him (I would have too : ) and runs into Isabelle, whom for some reason makes her faint. She wakes up in the Atelier, their studio. It used to be a bar....and not it's not. To make a long story short, she meets the whole gang (Isabelle, Arashi, George (short haired bishounen like-woah), and Miwako) and they ask her to be their model. That goes over like a lead balloon. For some reason, Miwako ends up calling Yukari 'Caroline' and it sticks for the rest of the ep. But it works. I like it. I won't spoil the ending, but let's say that's not the last time Yukari ends up in the Atelier, especially when George has a hand in it!

Now, there are some things that some people might not like about it. The art style is pretty different. I love it, but it's very different from most anime. Yukari and Miwako's faces for instance are fairly realistic and that makes them look kind of strange. The outfits and the Atelier are very artsy (go fig, artsy art students) almost punk, but with a touch of sophistication. There sre some themes that some people might not be able to handle, like sexuality. George, for instance, is bi-sexual. and there's more on that vein. But if you can be liberal and trust in Parakiss, I think you'll find it's just as amazing as I did.

Kare Kano / His and Her Circumstances

This is an anime I'm still undecided about. It's based off the manga, which is now published in the USA by Tokyo Pop. I have a feeling that it would be better as a manga, and that I would love it as a manga, but until I have money, it's only a theory.

But here's what I know. The anime is about a girl whom everyone adores. She's sweet, smart, athletic, ect. At least on the outside. She's really the complete opposite. She's lazy, means, and selfish. She's been putting on this act since kindergarten. That's how much she loves and needs to be adored by other people. One day, her first day of Freshman year actually, she gets a rival. He's an attractive guy that is everything she pretends to be and he steals, unintentionally, the limelight. Now the main girl is RAGING. She is doing everything in her power to show this guy up and still not getting any where. She essentially wages war and swears to get revenge!

Now, the characters are great in this, but becuase it so closely follows manga art (including the distortions and such) it is almost difficult to watch. There's also several scenes in which someone is speaking while mulitiple people are talking in the background, and all the translation appears on the screen at once. Granted, I'm a fast reader, but I can only read on line at a time. It's this reason that I think I'd like it as a manga, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on the anime, just putting it aside. Overall, the show has good characters, a good plot, and (so far) no ecchi. So I approve.

Grenadier

This anime is pretty amusing. It has an interesting combination of elements. There are two differnt kind of people in this anime: those that use guns and are good with them (senshi) or those who use swords- and I'm refering to Katanas, not Medieval swords. Two main characters were espablished: one of each of these, a female senshi with massive breasts and a mercenary with a sword.

The show is one of those that has both a serious side and a slightly ecchi(meaning pervert) side. This, is course, is exihibited most in the main female who has big breasts. She has a serious ass kicking side in battle, but always out of battle and before battle has a naive cheery side that gets annoying. The action in the ep was great. There was a huge battle between the gun guys and the sword guys in which the sword wielding samurai guys inevitably...get shot. But this little blonde chick can shot men with her pistol from...well....very far away. The best part about her, aside from her being very awesome, is that she reloads her six shot pistol by basically launching 6 bullets out of her non-existant bra and forcibly (by her great skill) loading them into her gun without touching them. She them proceeds to wound, but not kill, some....oooh...20 men? The episode ends in glory, the main characters and their morals are revealed, and the story is set up to continue.

Now as much as it amuses me that she can load her gun with her breasts and a spin, this particular anime lets me down. I rarely like it when the heroine is both ditzy and kick butt. It conflicts too much on my character personality meter, so I think the first episode is where I'll leave it. But it's not so horrible that I would never watch another episode, i just won't go out of my way to do so!