Now for something awesome.
In the Tensho era Japan, evil rises as the Black Night Demon returns to lay waste to the land, only the half crow demon Kabuto and a band of warrior gods, the human forms of Genbu, Byakko, Seiryu and Suzaku along with a talking sword can rid the land of evil.
This is so 80s, they had to release it in the 90s; it's art style, rock anthems, dark gritty colour palette and nonchalant attitude to violence is all 80s in aesthetic almost reminding me of a Japanese GI Joe of how casual everything seems in regards to action.
It was apparently licensed for western release but good luck finding a copy let alone any sign of an English language release
Final Verdict: There's not much to say, it promised 80s style action and that's exactly what you get, no complexity just a good old fashioned ninja anime where it's just beat the bad guys, what more do you want?
Now for a manga spinoff for a change.
Fairy Girls is a bunch of filler side stories to the main manga Fairy Tail, featuring prominently are Erza, Juvia, Lucy and Wendy as they take on various jobs and ultimately get drawn into shenanigans including such situations as looking after a lost baby, infiltrating a school as students, waifu wars as well as many ecchi situations; this among the regular Fairy Tail filler types of poorly constructed villains vs Fairy Tail.
What more could you ask for? Well they chose a guest artist named Boku to draw this version which is fine but Hiro Mashima's style is missed in this.
It's pretty harmless, they chose the timeline between Grand Magic Games and Tartaros which I always considered the point where Fairy Tail peaked, at four volumes it doesn't out stay it's welcome either.
Final Verdict: A nice breather to read before Tartaros arc as I always believed that arc to be brutal and emotionally draining, while the art and situations aren't for everyone it's still a good read.
This has taken a while but I have something to work with.
Ozunu Enno, the great Bodhisattva of Japan, fought to defeat the Demon Goddess Karuma along side the Guardian Spirit Zenki who defeated her.
Many generations later, Karuma returns, leaving a number of evil seeds across the land, these seeds in the shape of eyeballs feed on greed and desire and turns the unfortunate victims into monsters.
Chiaki the descendant of Ozunu must revive Zenki and defeat the returning evil, however Zenki is a lot smaller than remembered and alot more obnoxious, so Chiaki must learn to work together with Zenki as she is the only one who can awaken his true form. During the battle, a buddhist monk adorning shades looks for a way to recover his lost love.
It's monster of the week but much of the dynamics of the show including Chiaki's constant butting heads with Zenki gets old really fast and this being a 51 episode run can really be exhausting; it's not like it's incapable of mixing it up, Chiaki gradually gets better at her job, not all monster defeats have a happy ending, Souma Miki the sunglasses monk gives a good character performance and the supporting cast doesn't feel like it's relying too much on Zenki as they are just as capable.
Zenki himself is a great enough design but let down by his personality which drags out through the whole series.
The dub is pretty awful, Zenki especially is ten times of ear breaking which just makes the experience worst.
My last nitpick is the set pieces of Zenki's awakening and opening lines in almost every episode, the time wasted easily eats two full episodes of run time.
Final Verdict: It's a long Anime dragged down by it's set pieces that fails to evolve much over the course of the series, it's biggest sin being Zenki himself not being a good character.
Now a show that started as a joke.
Future Domino City has changed drastically with a clear divide between rich and poor, as the series begins, resident jerk ass Jack Atlas defeats his friend Yusei and takes his Stardust Dragon, moving up in the world and leaving Yusei in the slums of Satelite. In this future, duels are fought on duel runners, a type of futuristic motorcycle with duels taking place on race circuits and roads hence the card games on motorcycles tagline created by LittleKuriboh. As Yusei fights his way into Neo Domino City, it soon becomes apparent that he may have a connection with a mysterious Crimson Dragon which starts attracting attention from various enemy factions.
It's a silly premise with more edge than it deserves but it surprisingly works. Gone is the power of friendship and heart of the cards, gone is the goofball protagonist turned badass duelist, the theme here is, "I'm getting my Dragon back by any means necessary"
Okay 4kids couldn't keep their influence away but it feels like they took a step back to allow the series to play out as intended. There's plenty to like and is on par in quality with the Yugi Muto era.
The sub wil always be superior but the dub was at least good and cast perfectly even if Jack Atlas' accent is somewhat suspect.
Final Verdict: I like this version of Yu-Gi-Oh, it gives it's edgy full colour palette the right setting without feeling dated or trying too hard, this despite sounding like an absolute joke.
Next up, a rare Shonen Jump title.
Domori Elementary School is constantly plagued by strange phenomenon, everything from vengeful spirits to malevolent yokai; enter Meisuke "Nube" Nueno, a teacher with a demonic hand with the power to stop all the evil plaguing the school.
You might think this title is a throw away from the 90s but it's surprisingly popular, spawning live action versions along with full tv series, movie and ovas, it's largely the most underrated among Shonen Jump and made school mystery a popular genre. I compare it favourably to titles like Haunted Junction and Ghost Stories as it features similar setups and doesn't take itself too seriously, heck this series could be easily adapted to be like Ghost Stories who was infamously dubbed like an abridged series.
I got some fun out of it and it shows genuine creativity in it's designs and characters, no dub, but there is a persistent memory that the ova or movie was dubbed in the UK but I have not seen it. I have only seen the ova but it's plot is monster of the week so there's no continuous plot to speak of so you watch one episode you've seen them all.
Final Verdict: Horribly underrated, Hell Teacher Nube deserves more appreciation. It's funny, creative and a great watch.
