Memorable Character: Tetsuo Shima

Name: Tetsuo Shima
Seen In: Akira
His Story: Tetsuo and his best friend Kaneda are memebers of the motorcycle gang The Clowns.  After he almost hits a child with his motorcycle he is captured by government soldiers, and it is discovered that he has similar mental frequencies as another child, Akira. However, upon discovery of his powers he also experiences intense physical pain, resulting in the destruction of Neo Tokyo.
Why Is He So Memorable? Tetsuo is memorable for many reasons.  In the beginning of the film, Tetsuo is a member of the Clowns, but isn't the most respected member.  Once he's captured by the government and discovers his abilities, he becomes Kaneda's nemesis.  Eventually, his own power overwhelms him.
Trivia: A live action version of the film is still in the works.  Actually, two films -- Volumes 1-3 of the mnaga will be the focus of the first film, volumes 4-6 will be the focus of the second film.

Tomorrow -- a cool character with a mysterious past fights on the side of money.

Review: Cat Shit One, Episode 1

For the next two weeks, you'll get a chance to sample this show yourself online before the show goes into full production.  In an attempt to drum up support, IDA is streaming the first episode online so people cahn check it out  It's already won an award for Best Short, and after having seen it myself, it's worth checking out.

For those unfamiliar with the manga it's based on, "Cat Shit One" was set in Vietnam and involved a recon team and their various missions. In the story, the characters are portrayed as animals depending on what side they fought for -- bunnies were Americans (a play on the Japanese name for rabbits, "usagi" -- USA G.I.), cats were the Vietnamese, etc. (The American title for the manga was, in fact, "Apocalypse Meow.") For the anime, they've set it sometime after 1991 (possibly around Desert Storm, although it could be today), and the US is fighting an unknown Middle Eastern country.

In this first episode, it was clear that they paid attention to detail to make sure that they got this story right.  They didn't focus so much on the CGI animation that they put out a story that would be total crap. Amazingly, this whole thing works.  Seargent "Packy" Perkins and his partner Botasky are in the process of rescuing hostages.  After seeing one of them get killed when trying to escape, Packy determines that they don't have much time and need to go in soon.  As he goes in, Botasky tries to pick the guys off one by one, but gets spotted and attacked himself.  So it becomes a race against time to get the hostages out of harms way and at the same time get out in one piece.

I would have to watch more episodes to determine whether this show has a future or not, but if the other episodes have the same quality as this first one then anime fans are in for a treat.

Memorable Anime Character: Roronoa Zoro

Name: "Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro
Where You've Seen Him: One Piece
His Story: Before he joined the crew of the Straw Hat Pirates, he was a famed Pirate Hunter who was chasing a dream to be the best swordsman in the world.  He fights with a three sword fighting technique, where one sword is in his mouth during the fight.
Why Is He Memorable? His character is a series of complexities.  He's a great fighter, but strives to be more.  On the other hand, he has absolutely no sense of direction and seems to nap as much as he trains. He's loyal to Luffy, at one point saying that he can't fulfull his own dream if he can't help his captain fulfill his.
Trivia: Zoro has ranked second in four Shonen Jump popularity polls, and fourth in an Orison poll on a character most people would like to see get a spinoff.

Tomorrow -- An experiment goes terribly wrong in Neo Tokyo.

Memorable Anime Characters: G-Force

Character: Ninja Science Team Gatchaman

Where You've Seen Them: They've had different shows over the years. In Japan, they were Gatchaman.  When they transferred the show to the United States they heavily edited the show and called it Battle of the Planets. They've also appeared in G-Force and Eagle Riders as well as an OVA.

Their Story: These five superhero ninja teenagers were under the employ of Dr. Kozaburu Nabu and were charged to protect the Earth's natural resources from Galactor and his minions.
So What Are Their Names? Ken Washio was the leader of the group, followed by Jo Asakura. Jun was the girl of the group, and her 10 year old brother Jinpei was also a member. Rounding out the five was Ryu Nakanishi, the pilot.
No, Really, What Are Their Names? If you remember "Battle of the Planets," you know their names as Mark, Jason, Princess, Keyop and Tiny.  And for some reason, the voice actor for Keyop gave him a really annoying verbal tic that the Japanese version of the character didn't have.
Why Are They Memorable? Well, other than the history behind the show, they're memorable for me because they were the first cartoon that I remember wondering why their lips didn't match what they were saying.  But other reasons they're memorable is because they were before Captain Planet -- a lot of the themes of the original shows focused on environmentalism. Plus, they drove cool machines and kicked butt when they needed to.
Trivia: For those who remember 7-Mark-7 from "Battle of the Planets," he was never in Gatchaman.  He was added as a wrap around in an attempt to cover up the bad editing of the show.

Tomorrow, a pirate with an unusual fighting style.

Memorable Anime Character: Death The Kid

Name: Death the Kid
Seen In: Soul Eater
Background: Death the Kid is the son of Lord Death, the headmaster at the Death Weapon Meister Academy (DWMA). Because of his father, he doesn't need to attend the school in order to be a meister because he already has considerable power, but he does anyway for personal reasons. Everything in his life has to be symmetrical, from his clothing to his surroundings. He carries twin guns Liz and Patty to keep that symmetry. Despite his attempts at keeping this symmetry, however, he hates when anyone mentions the lines in his head, which only go around one side.
Why Is This Character Memorable? Partially because of his symmetrical quirk, which will keep him from doing anything even in the middle of a fight -- his reaction to anything that is out of whack is really funny. But also because of his sense of loyalty to the other students even though he doesn't have to be there. He's got something to prove to himself, but he's not above helping others even if his father is the headmaster. And he kicks ass when he fights, even unleashing a "Death Cannon" when he needs to.

Tomorrow: Not one, but five fighters....in space!

Memorable Anime Character: Arsene Lupin III

Name: Arsene Lupin III First Appearance: "Lupin III" manga, 1967; anime 1971 (A movie was made in 1969, but not released in theaters due to budget constraints; it was turned into Lupin III SEcret Files in 1989)
What makes this character memorable? He's a thief, in fact one of the greatest thiefs alive.  That could be due to his lineage of being the grandson of another master thief, Arsene Lupin.  But he also has a sense of honor, in that he corrects injustices whenever he sees them.  He also has his one weakness -- women.  The character just exudes cool from his pores. When you have such directors as Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop) and Stephen Spielberg coming around to make your story, you have to be cool.
Lupin's Influence: You still see it today in a lot of anime works. Excel Saga is a prime example -- along with the director of the show, Shinchi Watanabe, dressing like Lupin III when he goes to events, The Director character in the show also has the same manner of dress.
Other Properties: Along with the manga and anime show, Lupin III has had adventures in 6 movies (one of those films, The Castle of Cagliostro, was directed by famed director Hayao Miyazaki), various video games, and audio CDs.
Trivia: When writer Kazuhiko Kato (who writes the series under the name Monkey Punch) created Lupin the 3rd, he didn't get permission from the estate of Maurice LeBlanc, who created the original Lupin.  In Japan at that time they didn't enforce copyright, so the character was only Lupin III in Japan.  In other countries (until the books fell out of copyright) he was known under different names such as "Rupin" and "Wolf."

Tomorrow: The son of Death as a good guy, if a little neurotic.

Review: Ramen Fighter Miki

Miki is a very active, boisterous 20 year old delivery girl working in her mother's shop. But everyday it seems like the same old routine.  Her mother gives her a delivery, and every day something gets in her way that prevents her from making the delivery proper, prompting her to fight.  Add to that her battle with the bakery shop girl rival Megumi, a just graduated college student named Kankuro who tries to fight Miki but doesn't understand why she doesn't remember his name, and the neighborhood mean dog Toshiyuki whom Miki is able to understand for some reason, and she leads a pretty busy life. On top of that, there is the local grocer named Akihiko who is addicted to the sensei show Super Space Battle Team Star Rangers, and a teacher named Ms. Katakana who unintentionally scares her students but manages to smile when she eats ramen.
And that is pretty much Ramen Fighter Miki.  But you're missing out if you pass this one by.

I'm sure we've all seen old Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry cartoons.  Well, this is the anime version of that.  The show is composed of two mini stories tied together with a common theme (for example, one episode starts with Miki trying to "expose" Megumi at her bakery in the first part, and in the second part Megumi goes to the ramen shop to find out why the shop is so busy at lunchtime every day). And although the show is violent, it's so cartoonish you can't take seriously -- no one seems to get seriously hurt despite the blows they take.
The show parodies a lot of different types of anime and films.  When characters encounter Ms. Katakama, for example, they see her initially as a vengeance spirit similar to that of the spirit in The Ring. You also have Akihiko's addiction to super sensei shows, similar to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  And the opening sequence can be seen as a parody of other fighting shows that feature characters on a "great quest."

The writing is pretty good on this one, with characters breaking the fourth wall on occassion.  The jokes are spot on in this show, and really highlight the silliness of everything going on around the characters.

The only problem I had was that this was only available as a subtitled show.  It would have been nice to have a dub, as well, so that I had a choice.

Overall, pick this one up when you see it on the shelves, or you can view it streaming at Hulu or Crunchyroll.

4.5/5