I've been visiting the 80s recently so lets look at Chikkun Takkun.
The nefarious Dr Bell has stolen the Waruchin Encyclopedia, a book shaped laptop computer that has had all the evil in the world sealed inside of it; it is able to help create anything the user seeks, so it's basically Wikipedia.
Trying to recapture the Waruchin is Chikkun, a space duck who looks like a small penguin, upon crashing on Earth with his allies Takkun hat and Mechatan, he ends up in the care of Miko and her friends the Kyunkyuns, who are a cheerleading squad I guess. It's up to Chikkun to stop Dr Bell's tyranny if he can stay focused enough to do so.
It's a situation of the week show, relatively short lived and very much 80s in aesthetic. I can get plenty of laughs out of Dr Bell who has a comedic voice and is the type of villain who is capable when serious but ultimately undone by his own ego. But his lust for the Kyunkyuns is creepy, mind you Chikkun is no better but his personality is closer to a six year old. For context the Kyunkyuns are 13. No dub, way too old to have one but part of the fun is Dr Bell's voice and it's passable as a comedy.
Final Verdict: It was acceptable in the 80s. It's aged as poorly as milk in a heatwave, while there is some comedic value to some of the performances it has way to many dodgy 80s tropes to bring it into this era.
It pains me to hit a come down after reviewing a favourite but that's how it works sometimes.
In 2003, a meteor crashes into Venus changing the climate enough to allow humans to colonize the planet.
By 2089 the planet has prospered but it's two biggest nations are at war Ishtar and Aphrodia. We cut to Earth reporter Susan Sommers who hopes to pick up a scoop in the warzone but our main focus is on a bike race team and main character Hiro and his friends as they get unwittingly dragged into the war after the Ishtar nation attacks. Clearly in over their heads they try and participate in the battles only to lose miserably as well as getting some people killed, so they join the Aphrodia army to see if that's any better but with Susan along it just complicates things.
I'll be frank, this is a poor man's Gundam with no robots, just a war with incompetent kids and a bitchy reporter just being useless. While the art direction is incredible for late 80s, the story, dialogue and characters are just really poor and it leaves me not caring when some get killed off, it's even worst when you realise that character designs are basically lifted straight from Gundam especially when the main bad guy looks like a long haired Gihren Zabi.
Dub is okay-ish but it's hardly a saving grace.
Final Verdict: I really didn't care for this, another product of early Central Park Media's grungy sci fi anime collection which joins the likes of Odin, Psychic Wars and MD Geist, an era I want to forget.
When I started Project 1000, I never thought I'd draw one of my favourite anime but here we are as I finally get to talk about Dirty Pair Flash.
Dirty Pair Flash is a 90s re-imagining of the 80s Dirty Pair, not the first to do so as they have rebooted previously as the Original Dirty Pair and even had an American comic version.
Flash is the most interesting entry as they didn't just get one attempt at an OVA, they actually had three attempts and we plan to look at all three.
OVA 1 exists as one big plot as the Lovely Angels have to stop a big time crime boss from stealing a card that will give control over a weapon facility satelite.
Kei and Yuri have a bit of a poor reputation having been put on probation numerous times but get unwittingly dragged into a mission when a dying 3WA agent hands a card to Yuri; unable to avoid being chased down by evil henchmen they completely obliterate the crime district en-route to the 3WA HQ, however this is only the start as they become targets of a former 3WA agent turned assassin, all the while trying to question a D&D obsessed professor and Kei & Yuri splitting up.
The key words in OVA 1 is destructive fun which is what Dirty Pair has always done best, of the three OVAs, 1 has the strongest action scenes but the story is notoriously hard to follow with many scenes involving the villains that have no impact on the story at large, along with some baffling choices, episode 4's fantasy world in particular stands out as being the most jarring. But it's a good start so lets move onto OVA 2.
OVA 2 is also a big plot but has a lot of filler which in a five episode run takes about 60% of the show. This time the Lovely Angels along with a computer geek that looks suspiciously like my brother in law, venture to a planet sized theme park that celebrates the 20th century in order to stop a computer virus, while this doesn't seem like an action packed mission until Touma the computer expert becomes a target for assassination and we get back to normal business, however we give up three episodes for a school ghost mystery, Kei & Yuri catching a con artist to earn money for a fancy dinner and Touma falling for a flowershop girl. OVA 2 has the best comedy but it's story while having an interesting take on the 20th century is poor, it's just not strong enough to only play for two episodes.
The final OVA is closer to the original Dirty Pair of being a villain of the week show but there's still an air of OVA 2's weird episode plot choices.
Episode 1 is Kei saving a baby of an heiress from getting killed by assassins.
Episode 2 the Lovely Angels become targets of a teen assassin.
Episode 3 the Lovely Angels have to learn beach volleyball in order to capture a corrupt politician.
Episode 4 Yuri has to stay with a teen boy who has built a robot copy of her but Yuri hopes it leads to marrying into wealth. Just go with it.
Episode 5 ends on a high as a terrorist attacks 3WA HQ to take revenge on the 3WA chief who originally arrested him.
OVA 3 is the most random of the three, you'd think by following the original Dirty Pair formula this would be the strongest but it's sheer randomness particularly in episode 3 and 4 just feels like cheap fan service but the final episode is the best of the franchise.
So that's Dirty Pair Flash, the dub is decent for early ADVFilms.
It's a mixed bag for the most part, you get the sense that the creators spent too much time throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks with a mix of success and head shaking failure, but if you've read my top 100 anime you'll be asking why I rate this anime so high as it's in my top 5. First anime ever so there is slight bias but the real reason is that it's unapologetic action presented as it was intended, it doesn't need a complex narrative nor does it need to make you think of complex feelings, it's just entertaining and in the end that's really all you need to enjoy anime and Dirty Pair is one of the best examples.
Final Verdict: Dirty Pair Flash has it's moments but for the full experience I'd watch the older versions but the stuff it does get right is still at a very high standard comparable to most anime of it's era and the entertainment value is worth more than even the most popular anime ever.
From a bad romance anime with sci-fi elements to a good romance anime with sci-fi elements.
Kaito is a normal school student with a keen interest in filming, while testing a new film on his old camera, a bright light strikes him, injuring him, he wakes up in bed the next day seemingly okay but upon arriving at school, a red haired girl named Ichika transfers into his school, believing her to be linked to the incident, Kaito and his friends invite Ichika on their summer film project along with Ichika's friend Remon, what begins as an accidental meeting becomes a whirlwind romance of summer love between multiple characters.
This setup seems familiar if you've ever seen Onegai Teacher, well it has more in common than you think as it's actually set in the exact same universe and is a distant sequel to Onegai Teacher and pretty much the same setup with the love story between human and alien.
With these factors the romance written is solid and very mature, it's greatest strength is capturing the essence of growing up in the later teen years, it never shys away from the stronger subjects treating the subject of sex with dignity and respect; it's sci-fi elements are pretty weak and slightly distracting and Remon's part in the story is very Mary Sue, otherwise it's a solid mature romance story.
No dub, but one is being released this year, there is talk of a sequel but nothing as of 2019.
Final Verdict: A solid, mature romance anime from the makers of another solid, mature romance anime, sadly they haven't solved their sci-fi storytelling issues but don't let it distract you.
Well so far the anime I've drawn has kept me interested so lets cover DNA^2.
In the future, over population has spiralled out of control all stemming from a Mega Playboy who made a 100 women pregnant, multiplying the DNA of the Mega Playboy in the offspring creating an unstoppable chain reaction. To stop this a DNA operator is sent back in time to neutralise the Mega Playboy source in hapless hero Junta who vomits when he sees sexy women, unfortunately she takes the wrong bullet and awakens Mega Playboy. Now Operator Karin must find a way to fix the issue by hooking Junta up with the only one not affected by the Playboy charm, Ami.
The first half was a complex love puzzle where Junta's playboy side attracts two other girls, one being Ami's best friend Kotomi the other being a girl who at first uses Junta to get back at her ex.
It's fine if a little manipulative, while Kotomi becomes a better character it doesn't help the others and with barely any chemistry between any couple the Playboy charm so to speak becomes manipulative making both genders look toxic. It gets even worst in the 2nd half when so called ex Ryuuji gets involved in the DNA issue and becomes able to absorb DNA turning him into freakin M Bison and if the train was crashing then it comes completely off the rails when the finale tries to get sci fi on us when more people from the future turn up.
I didn't watch the dub but I'm at least grateful not to.
Final Verdict: It tried to be one thing, wasn't great but salvageable but then it tried to be something else and went off the rails.
