Wait didn't you already review this? Nope this is different, although it's still wrestling.
The anime starts with the Dream Angels being completely annihilated by their opponents the Foxy Ladies, no matter how illegal they fight, with the Dream Angels left utterly defeated and injured it's left to the Wanna-be's to try and avenge them, but not wanting to see them end up like the Dream Angels, the coach brings in some specialist equipment to train the girls. Eri and Miki build up their reputation to fight the Foxy Ladies but the two girls find that their strength keeps increasing with each body blow they receive, prompting Eri and Miki to confront the owner of said equipment only to discover the sinister truth.
This is Dirty Pair, Eri and Miki are obvious expys of Kei and Yuri it's around the same period circa 1986 and the fact that Dirty Pair has used a wrestling plot for an episode even with similar themes is no coincidence, heck they even act like the Dirty Pair.
It's very flawed, the Foxy Ladies are clearly mismatched in weight compared to their opponents and the plot twist at the end feels like an ass pull.
On the other hand I do like the atmosphere and setting and it's nice to see a celebrity cameo from Demon Kogure (prominent metal singer in Japan)
No dub but was strangely licensed for western release, so the intention was there.
Final Verdict: This proves that the Dirty Pair formula can work in any setting, it's okay but seriously flawed.
Let's go dumber for our next review.
Sweet Diva are an idol pop group that just named Sakura as their top idol, while preparing a concert at a wrestling venue, a wrestler named Rio insults them, not wanting to take it lying down band members Elena and Sakura challenge Rio only to both be beaten pretty easy, Sakura still feeling sore about the ordeal announces that she wants to go pro to pay back Rio proper, after intense training and many losses she finally defeats Rio only to then decide that wrestling is a better career, how will Sweet Diva ever get Sakura back?
This is everything from gratuitous fan service to melodramatic cheese on a platter of pineapples, it's anime where you switch off your brain and hope you don't feel dumber by the end, it's saving grace is the fact that Sakura doesn't suddenly get good over night, she has to be taught to change her attitude to be able to compete, just training ain't gonna cut it, so at the very least the creators know how sport works, still doesn't change how bad it is but at least it's laughably bad.
Dub is pretty standard and actually not bad.
Final Verdict: You don't have to try too hard to get a good chuckle out of this series, it's definitely a midnight after a few drinks anime.
I spoke in length about the best anime but what about one of the worst?
This one is a doozy, teenage boy Sakura is destined in the future to create a miracle tech that stops women aging after the age of twelve, this has the unintended side effect of creating immortality in humanity as well as the more disgusting implications, leading god to order his assassination at the hands of Angel Dokuro, but Dokuro doesn't want to thinking he can be redeemed leading god to send someone else, putting Dokuro at odds with heaven's will, unfortunately Dokuro has a habit of killing and reviving Sakura due to her unnatural other worldly power as well as her spiked club, leading the hapless Sakura to wonder if death is a better option.
First off, the premise alone is exactly the kind of thing Twitter should be complaining about, not the popular stuff that has nothing offensive at all, just thinking about this premise is uncomfortable.
It would've been more redeemable if it wasn't a one joke series that out stays it's welcome, none of the other elements help much either, there's an attempt to give students photo realistic animal faces but it's just flat, it's over reliance on excessive comedic violence in the same vein as Itchy and Scratchy loses it's value after a while, it's really not a good series.
Dubbing, I don't care, it's probably terrible.
Also Helluva Boss does a better job of killing terrible people, next time call them for a series that does the death agents from heaven or hell a million times better.
Final Verdict: A deeply uncomfortable premise with nothing to offer other than the same joke every episode.
Now to show why I consider Black Lagoon top anime.
In the South East Asian town of Roanapur is a lawless zone where any world renowned criminal group resides, free from international laws, the many mafias, cartels, triads and yakuza all look to a group of pirate mercenaries for smuggling called the Lagoon company led by Dutch who along with crazed gunslinger Revy and hacker/mechanic Benny acquire a salaryman from a botched negotiation, pretty much abandoned by his employer the Salaryman takes the name Rock and becomes Lagoon's negotiator and professional, with no shortage of jobs on offer and as much action as swear words, welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games.
So why do I consider this the best anime of all time? Because it perfectly encapsulates the entire anime experience.
Think about when you first saw anime, and I mean a real anime; for me, anime when I first discovered it felt like a different world, there was more violence, there was swearing, the women actually kicked ass, it was funny, it looked amazing, it felt like the next stage up from cartoons.
Everything that Black Lagoon does matches all those feelings in spades.
It's setting provides a violent paradise where any amount of gun play and fighting is common, send in Roberta and that goes up to 11.
It's dub is perfect mainly because they do speak English in universe, and it wouldn't nearly be as good without Maryke Hendrikse's portrayal of Revy.
All the women are terrifying and it kicks ass.
It even has omake to lighten the mood.
The story is pretty much told through an audience surrogate in Rock which keeps the chaos in check.
It's just built to perfection, there's a lot to enjoy so go watch it.
Final Verdict: It will take something monumentally special to kick Black Lagoon off my number 1 spot.
Next up is Trigun, another I'm surprised I haven't done before.
Set on a Western stylized planet, Trigun is an anime of two halves.
The first half follows Vash the Stampede, a tall blonde man dressed in red who can out shoot anyone but is goofy, cheerful and a pacifist; he's followed by Meryl and Milly who are trying to piece together the destruction Vash leaves in his wake for their Insurance company not really piecing together that said tall blonde man they keep running into is actually Vash expecting someone more destructive to match the image of a 60 Billion Double Dollar bounty for destroying a town.
The second half features Vash crossing paths with the Gung-Ho Guns, a group of assassins led by Vash's brother Knives, revealing the terrible powers hidden inside Vash and the tragic past he had forgotten.
While largely forgotten today, Trigun stands the test of time far better than most anime, it's a Western epic that sees a more human side to the often tumultuous Western genre of constant bandits and gun slinging, the fact that Vash didn't even draw a gun until episode 5 is a testament to how well Vash is written as a character, the series has an insanely good cast that you can easily find yourselves rooting for even one episode characters, it's a rare anime that can envoke every emotion, something that only a few anime can match.
But I did say it was largely forgotten today, that's because of a few factors.
1. Westerns are hardly popular in the medium in Japan but often do better in the West.
2. Other media surrounding it has failed to make it relevant (time will tell if the reboot will succeed)
3. It's rivals were Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star making for an already inflated market at the time.
4. It worked just fine the first time.
One of the strengths of 90s anime was getting it right first time in the 24-26 episode limit they were given, all the endings of Trigun, Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebop were perfect and wouldn't continue in a sequel, spin off or remade in a different format, looking at you live action Bebop.
But one thing all three have in common, was none of them had any real problems bar nitpicks, 1998 was arguably the best year in anime history.
Dub is top tier especially with Jonny Yong Bosch as Vash.
Final Verdict: A western epic that deserves high praise in the same category as the best anime of all time.
