I have a humongous backlog of anime DVDs at the moment, so I try to watch at least one disc a night. If I start early enough in the evening, I may be able to sneak in a second before going to bed. Occasionally, I’ll even have a method to my madness when it’s time to pick something to watch. For instance, Chobits.
Chi balances in the breeze.
When I saw the Chobits box sets available at a fairly low price, I thought it might be a good idea to watch the first couple discs I had sitting in my backlog in order to form an opinion, and decide if I liked it enough to invest in the subsequent volumes.
The show starts well enough, with Hideki, arriving in the city for school. He’s fascinated by the life-like persocoms (human looking personal computers), and wishes he could afford one of his own. We’re introduced to the rest of the cast as Hideki meets them, which includes the attractive yet humble and generous manager of the apartment building Hideki is staying in, and Hideki’s neighbor – a student like Hideki who seems quite knowledgeable on the topic of persocoms.
As fate would ridiculously have it, Hideki stumbles upon a persocom atop a pile of garbage on his way ome from grocery shopping one evening. After rationalizing to himself that it’s okay to take the naked discarded persocom home with him.
After groping the girl for what seems like hours, Hideki finally discovers the “Power” button (which may or may not actually be the clitoris…) and she activates. If only it were that easy…
Three’s Company styled antics ensue. There’s an amusing episode where Chi (this is the name Hideki gives her based on nothing more than “chi” is all she says) goes shopping for underwear. There are plenty of laughs as Hideki has to teach this custom made persocom from scratch.
So far, the show’s not all humor and bloody noses. There’s some intrigue, as well. We learn about Chi and her capabilities as Hideki does, and right now, that’s the element keeping me interested in this show.
Tenchi's girls enjoy a hot springs bath.
I’ve been a fan of Tenchi Muyo since I saw the first movie (Tenchi Muyo in Love) on the Sci Fi channel over a decade ago. It’s only recently that I’ve acquired all of the series on DVD. So, I popped in the first disc of Tenchi Universe and prepared to be entertained.
The Tenchi series was my first exposure to the “harem” genre of anime, and I’ve always been fascinated by how Tenchi can constantly dodge the romantic/sexual advances of the female cast he lives with. Sometimes I just want to yell, “Goddammit, pick one already!” But, I don’t, and he never does (at least to my recollection). Perhaps that’s part of his (and the series) charm.
The cast is slowly revealed to us over the course of four episodes, starting with Ryoko and Mihoshi, quite possibly the ditziest character in the anime world. Then, Princess Ayeka of the Jurai royal family arrives in response to Mihoshi’s distress signal. This of course, leads to a fight with Ryoko, leaving Ayeka stranded on Earth as well. After that, Sasami arrives to retrieve her big sister. Ryo-ohki, the bizarre cat-rabbit critter that transforms into Ryoko’s spaceship is born. And finally, there’s the ‘goblin in the cave’ myth that sets up Washu’s addition to the cast.
I decided to give the Japanese audio a try this go around with Tenchi, but I just wasn’t into it. Maybe I’ve been exposed to the English speaking versions of these characters for so long, that it’s become difficult to imagine them sounding any other way.
I think I might give Gatekeepers a try tonight…
