Lilo & Stitch is about an alien experiment who crash lands in Hawaii where he befriends a young girl named Lilo, it spawned into a series where both characters try and reform other experiments who go out of control, but few know that they also did an anime series as well, this is the story of Stitch!
Disney collaborated with Madhouse in 2008 to produce an anime version of Lilo & Stitch but instead of using the same character and same location, we move to Okinawa and this time we have a girl named Yuna, who looks like a rejected digi-destined.
To differentiate from the original series, the Stitch series doesn't use alien experiments instead using Japanese Yokai for character of the week episodes and very standard child cartoon friendly storylines for the other episodes. We even have a pink colored girlfriend for Stitch as well, however it doesn't take long to revert to the original formula of the former cartoon in later seasons & episodes.
So overall if you enjoyed Lilo & Stitch then you'll still find just as much enjoyment in this anime version.
Now to answer a question: Why is this in Cartoon Vault when it is an Anime?
This might surprise you but this is actually a sequel to the cartoon, as in Season 3 a grown-up Lilo visits Stitch in Okinawa. Under those circumstances it's hard to judge it as an anime when it's part of the show's canon.
If your an 80s child then you remember the era when Disney sucked and Don Bluth was grabbing the airwaves with a number of strong animated works starting with Secret of Nimh. In 1986 just over a month after my birth, he released An American Tail, the subject of today's cartoon vault.
We begin in Russia 1885 where a family of mice are celebrating Hanukkah, when a group of cossack cats launch an attack on the village, this reflects a real life event in Russia known as the Anti-Jewish Pogroms. With no home left, the Mousekewitz family journey by boat to America with promise of a better life promoted by songs from Papa, an Italian & an Irishman. Things take a turn for the worst when a massive monster storm (Literally) takes hold of the ship, throwing Fievel the lead character overboard.
The family arrive minus Fievel and quickly try and make the best of a bad situation, meanwhile Fievel through dumb luck and a well placed bottle also ends up in America where he meets a French Pigeon at the site of the Statue of Liberty being built. If it doesn't seem that way don't forget that the statue started off gold color, it's current green color is decades of decay & rust.
Fievel begins his search, briefly ending up at a sweat shop, but doesn't seem to improve as he's almost flattened by a train and taken out by a human.
Then we come to Bridget & Toni (Who we met at the sweatshop) trying to persuade the people to fight back against the cats, this then follows a meeting with drunk politician Honest John and Aristocrat Gussie Mouseheimer who echo the same sentiments. Then we get our Oscar bait song, which is every bit a tear-jerker as the subject matter.
The mice then finally come up with a great idea which is showcased in a brilliant work montage. Fievel sadly ends up getting caught by the cats having discovered the true identity of the films main villain who was supposed to be a rat; Fievel forms an unlikely friendship with Tiger, a large vegetarian cat voiced by Dom Deluise who lets Fievel escape, which leads the cats to the Mice trap at the pier. (No that pun wasn't intended) The mice unleash their secret weapon which is a nightmarish looking giant mechanical mouse which sends the cats off the pier onto a ship bound for Hong Kong.
The victory doesn't last when the pier catches fire and Fievel goes missing again, he's ready to give up after being teased by orphans but the film ends happily when Fievel reunites with his family. The film closes out with a finished Statue of Liberty and credits rolling over some impressive art and orchestra music.
This film could easily stand up to Disney which comes as no surprise when you remember that Don Bluth is a former Disney employee, while it maintains a lot of musical numbers and scenes which are suitable for children, they are balanced out by nightmarish scenes which suit the tone, period and animation style at the time of release.
The music really sells the film but at times the voice acting particularly from Fievel falls a bit flat, yes I know they had a child actor for his role, but he seems to lose momentum frequently which leads to some scenes that lose sound.
Overall it's a cult classic that never fails to put a smile on your face or a tear drop from your eyes, pity the sequels don't follow the success.
Crossover fever has become a staple of geek culture with high flying video game projects such as Project X Zone and semi-regular Shonen Jump crossovers such as Goku & Luffy saving the world, or even the multi-generation crossover film epics of Pretty Cure.
But what crossovers do we as an audience want to see the most? I bring this up seeing as Japan's favorite Thief Lupin III & favorite kid Detective Conan have joined forces in their own film and it looks awesome. Here are ten more series we'd like to see. Only rule is that I cannot list things that already exist such as Dynasty Warrior Gundam's epic crossover.
10. Nadesico X Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Two ships full of idiots fighting in one big battle, although contrary to their ditzy nature I wouldn't want to fight either captain, they're not as stupid as they act.
9. Outlaw Star X Cowboy Bebop
One is considered the best anime of all time, the other is a cult classic stuck in it's shadow but both combined could create something special.
8. Tenjo Tenge X Ikki Tousen
Considering the sex & violence levels in both shows, combined, these two may not even be allowed broadcasting rights but it would still be awesome.
7. Trigun X Grenadier
Consider these two the same shows with different gendered leads. It's too obvious to ignore the awesomeness of Vash the Stampede & Rushuna Tendo.
6. Mage Battle Royal: Fairy Tail X Slayers X Negima
The three powerhouses of the fantasy mage genre in one of the greatest teams in history. I would love to see a piece of art with Negi, Natsu & Lina Inverse in the same picture in all their bad ass glory.
5. One Piece X Fairy Tail
Saying that, Fairy Tail works with One Piece just as well. It would be easy just to combine the powerhouse Shonen Jump shows but you hit roadblocks when you try and decide which universe rules to go by, hence I doubt Bleach or Naruto would work in any other universe other than it's own. Madoka Magica has a similar problem.
4. Evangelion X Gurren Lagann
Evangelion is no stranger to being out of character so adapting for Gurren Lagann is surprisingly simple, two of the most groundbreaking mecha series in anime history, made by the same company no less. I'm surprised they haven't done it yet.
3. Pani Poni Dash X Azumanga Daioh
But not all crossovers have to be about fighting, the classes of Rebecca Miyamoto & Miss Yukari mix well for one of the most surreal looking school comedies of all time.
2. Black Butler X Hellsing
They're both British, they both work in the Underworld, they both have very capable allies and both have plenty of awesome. Between Alucard & Sebastian, pick a winner.
1. Ranma 1/2 X Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple
Many of the previous crossovers on this list would be well received and already written about frequently in fan fiction, but when it comes down to it you still need rules for both shows to fit and not make one show look bigger than the other, that's where this final entry comes in.
Although Ranma 1/2 is driven by it's Gender Bender antics the core part of it is Anything Goes Martial Arts & while Kenichi follows a strict formula of "bad guys get stronger every episode" it also has an anything goes formula, not to mention both shows feature in generic Japan on Earth.
So what does it result in? An anything goes crossover, in other words both worlds are open for any show that takes place on modern day planet Earth to enter, even if said show isn't an action series, in shorter terms this is the basic template world for anime, in fact any animated show, comic, live action movie or video games all use a basic world template and is the easiest scenario to crossover.
Bonus: Missing in Action
Clamp Crossover: All Clamp works happen in the same universe.
Anything with Dragonballz: Cheapens the other shows that get involved.
Magical Girl Crossover: Their universe rules are more diverse than Shonen Jumps.
Generation Crossovers: Nice idea but how do you rework an 80s creation with it's modern remake? Example: Old & New Dirty Pair or all the versions of Macross.
Death Note vs Code Geass: This is more Light vs Lelouch, that's for a different list.
Welcome to another Endless Wardrobe feature with more things that don't need a full post for.
I'm Back!
After an ugly event on Tuesday I've been on hiatus but now I am back and ready to post again.
On My Schedule Today
You might see as many as five posts in the next 48 hours, so lets see what's coming up.
Lilo Stitch Anime for Cartoon Vault
An American Tail also for Cartoon Vault
Two New entries for Walk of Fame
A review on web anime novel Okashina Futari
At least two top ten lists
On hold
Shezow Review for Cartoon Vault
Working on
New World, should be finished next week.
A video games feature within Retro Retrospect.
Dirty Pair Week, which should premier around August if all goes to plan.
Cancelled
Top ten list surrounding common complaints with anime that were unjustified, cancelled due to lack of material.
So what is a Dranzerstorm?
I've been asked this a couple of times and I'm going to tell you.
The right question would be how do you make a Dranzerstorm? You see when Beyblade was first distributed they were spinning tops made with a number of plastic & metal pieces which could be switched for the best combination.
You start with Dranzer's base, you then use Dragoon's weight disk, the next bit is important; Most Beyblade tops had a right spin gear but Dragoon's uses a left spin gear so it's important when making the Dranzerstorm that it spins left, you then finish with Dranzer's attack ring, although a G-Revolution spec works just as well, and presto you have a Dranzerstorm.
Other successful prototypes are the Dranzershield, Dranzerslash which uses Draciel & Driger parts respectively or my personal favorite the Dranzer Ice Storm which uses Wolborg's weight disk & Dragoon's left spin gear.
As promised the biggest review I've ever written, please click full view for the full review. Now to begin my longest ever review, Sonic OVA.
Sonic the Hedge...
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