barbaroisgirl Reviews

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (1995–1996)

Brilliant Work.

[26 May 2003]

I went into the Gundam Wing fandom for the pretty boys and got so much more than I expected. Despite that different elements seem to be taken from earlier Gundam shows, this is anime at its finest. The development of its characters stays away from cliche and gets you to really care about them. I've lost track of how many times I've watched this, and unlike other shows where after one time watching it I'm fine, I still sob like a baby every time I watch episode 25 (very, very depressing). Unlike other anime shows, you've got people in here who are really human and aren't fake. Instead of a Sailormoon sort of approach where you have the good guy and the bad guy, it's obvious who's who, the show stinks of philosophy in warfare. Thus leaving you to decide if Treize is doing the right thing or the wrong thing. You can debate for hours about this. Unfortunately, some of the characters can get a bit tedious after awhile, but the other stuff going on in the show keeps you occupied.

The reason why Gundam Wing probably got so much attention was because of a) the lookers and b)it's release on American TV. Even if it had just been released to video and DVD, it'd probably still get a lot of attention. This is also one of the few anime series out there that has a REALLY good dub. I'm talking Cowboy Bebop good. The original Japanese version has its charm, but everyone who worked on the English version put a lot of energy into their roles. It's a superb series, and I can't recommend it enough.

Cardcaptor Sakura (1998–2000)

Konyanyanchiwa!

[9 May 2003]

I was another CCS fan who was horribly irritated when the WB chopped and hacked the series into bits, but it's good to see it back in its original form. ^_^ Everyone has their original name, everything's uncut and the way it should be, not to mention, TOUYA AND YUKITO GOODNESS! The dub destroyed the relationship between Sakura's older brother and his "friend", and this uncut version of Card Captor Sakura finally gives their relationship the respect it deserves.

If you've only seen the dub, prepared to see some HUGE differences in dialogue and scenes. That's a good thing, though! You'll enjoy this version a lot more than the one you used to be subjected to.

And lia, yes you do have a problem with male/male relationships. If you didn't, you wouldn't think something's wrong with exposing children to it. It's called tolerance, or if you would, acceptance.

Do check out Card Captor Sakura! It's worth every cent! ^_^

Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997)

a fairy tale gone horribly wrong

[14 September 2002]

I absolutely love utena and I've been a fan of it for almost two years running. When I first started watching the series, I thought it was sweet, girly, and fun. Then I got a hold of summaries for episodes 14-39 (14-23 will finally be released later this year) and my opinion completely changed. Utena starts out with the childish dream that you can be a prince and make anything happen, but as the show goes from fantasy to reality (as deeply expressed in the last episode), it's all a bunch of lies and nothing comes easy. This is a show that isn't really for kiddies or the closed minded, but if you're willing to let a few braincells fry while trying to figure out if it's Anthy or Akio that's the evil one, then go for it. Another aspect of the show I like are the designs of the character's outfits (I'll be honest. The manga outfits and Utena's rose colored uniform appealed more), plus the opera/punk (yes, such a genre is possible) songs that play during the duels. There are few technical inaccuracies in the duels (many of the moves the characters use in their fights could get them yellow carded) and Utena seems to be helped by Dios a little too much instead of winning them on her own, but it's worth it anyway.