My reviews of the DVDs in The Works Anime boxset (red)Better DVDs than in the blue boxset, generally more recent and higher quality, but these are all volume 1 of a series rather than some being movies or stand-alone OVA. Some of the series below don't have all of their volumes released in the UK yet.
Probably better for someone who mostly buys boxsets since you haven't 'wasted' much cash to find out if you like it or not (not sure if any of these come in boxsets though).
All of these reviews are based purely on the content of the DVDs unless noted, not on other reviews or shows.
I planned to do this after I'd seen all of them, but circumstances dictate that it wouldn't happen for a while.
Serial Experiments Lain
Very stylised for darkness and mystery, although for me the style mostly wasted time rather than tension building. If there are any subtleties then they are lost on first viewing. A shy young girl is affected by what appears to be a merging of the real world with the internet, causing people to die. Not sure if her dad is meant to be witholding something from her or is just a badly portrayed character. Who is the girl who looks exactly like her but with a wild personality, and who are the men in black? Will it start to get good or trip over as it tries to be weird without adding interest? The former seems more likely. Pretty good.
Chobits
Teenage boy moves to Tokyo to go to prep school. He can't even look at a girl without getting aroused, then feels incredibly embarrassed and ashamed of himself, thinking he is a pervert. Apart from all of those excrutiating parts (which make up the majority of the DVD), this is quite a good story of a robot-computer beginning to learn how to live with a back story of where did she come from and why did someone throw her away. Okay.
R.O.D. The TV
Writer is saved from death by three girls with the ability to magically control paper (cue amazing origami on a giant scale). Starts well, dips a bit in the 'introducing characters properly' episodes, then starts to get interesting. The tall quiet one has serious mental issues and the writer's "I don't need help/people" attitude is rather annoying. Has definite promise once everyone has calmed down a bit and if the mystery of the missing book lover is investigated. Okay/Good.
Gungrave
Undead superhuman protects a girl who wants revenge. First episode is in the present of a pretty wrecked world, with the odd bit of advanced genetic engineering thrown in. Next 3 episodes are flashbacks to the past when Grave was young and friends with the current enemy. Pretty well done, plot proceeds properly and none of the characters have secret motivations that make them act weirdly/unexpectedly/irrationally like in most anime. Pretty good.
Haibane Renma - New Feathers
Very interesting premise of a few angels (although the word is never used) who can't fly and who live in a high-walled city without any real explanation of how they get there or why they have a rule that means they have to live off the cast-offs of the significantly larger human population. There is a god-like figure (booming voice, reads minds), and everyone seems to accept the situation without any bother, possibly because it has always been like that. The characters are generally well thought out, the plot progresses well, the animation is good, no negative points for this at all. I'll be after the next 3 volumes for sure. Very good.
Texhnolyse
Fighter gets arm and leg chopped off after he annoys a woman for stopping her from poking his eye out, then gets techno replacements for the missing limbs donated. If you want plot, action, or dialogue, don't watch the first episode. If you want to see 20 minutes of scenes without any movement in them at all whilst listening to generic industrial dance music, then you'll love it. Seriously, there are only 2 minutes of things actually happening. The 3 other episodes have a little more action but it still all plods along at a snails pace with very little explanation of what is going on. The guy doesn't even get 'technolized' until the 4th episode and even then it isn't clear why. Looks fantastic, most of the cgi is very well done and merges seemlessly with standard animation although in a few scenes it is rather blatent. It is a VERY slow story, I think they must have blown the budget on the pictures and had to claw back some money by stretching each minor plot point into 3 episodes. Okay/poor.
Tenchi Muyo
Boy releases a demon from an ancient temple who turns out to be an alien criminal being pursued by some royal sisters. This series starts a bit rubbish, but improves significantly by the last episode on the DVD (5 episodes!). The whole feel of the show changes as it progresses. The animation style varies from person to person but it pretty good overall. There is some nudity, but unless you get shy at seeing a naked Barbie then it isn't anything to worry about (no 'bit's to worry about). Can't watch the dubbed version, the princess's voice is terrible. Why does so much anime feature a young boy who has several women in love with him? Good.
Lunar Legend Tsuhime
The first episode barely contains what appears to be the main character of the series (blonde woman) shown in the titles and DVD art, just two very brief glimpses. It is pretty confusing most of the way through, boy keeps fainting and it is impossible to tell what is real and what is fantasy, even in the more mundane aspects of his life. The later episodes are much clearer but don't explain much of the first. Too many mysteries in one go, so although they might eventually be solved it left these episodes with more confusion and less plot progression. The animation is rather simple but okay, the action scenes are okay. Who knows what the title is about? Okay.
Adventures of Mini Goddess
Centres around the goddess characters from Oh My Goddess. For some reason they shrink themselves down small and then taunt/bully/irritate or just plain mess with the head of a talking rat. It's definitely young kids stuff with regard to plot, characters, and content. The animation is a bit of an odd style and looks a bit cheap to me. Okay for kids, poor for adults.
Paranoia Agent
Not seen.
Probably better for someone who mostly buys boxsets since you haven't 'wasted' much cash to find out if you like it or not (not sure if any of these come in boxsets though).
All of these reviews are based purely on the content of the DVDs unless noted, not on other reviews or shows.
I planned to do this after I'd seen all of them, but circumstances dictate that it wouldn't happen for a while.
Serial Experiments Lain
Very stylised for darkness and mystery, although for me the style mostly wasted time rather than tension building. If there are any subtleties then they are lost on first viewing. A shy young girl is affected by what appears to be a merging of the real world with the internet, causing people to die. Not sure if her dad is meant to be witholding something from her or is just a badly portrayed character. Who is the girl who looks exactly like her but with a wild personality, and who are the men in black? Will it start to get good or trip over as it tries to be weird without adding interest? The former seems more likely. Pretty good.
Chobits
Teenage boy moves to Tokyo to go to prep school. He can't even look at a girl without getting aroused, then feels incredibly embarrassed and ashamed of himself, thinking he is a pervert. Apart from all of those excrutiating parts (which make up the majority of the DVD), this is quite a good story of a robot-computer beginning to learn how to live with a back story of where did she come from and why did someone throw her away. Okay.
R.O.D. The TV
Writer is saved from death by three girls with the ability to magically control paper (cue amazing origami on a giant scale). Starts well, dips a bit in the 'introducing characters properly' episodes, then starts to get interesting. The tall quiet one has serious mental issues and the writer's "I don't need help/people" attitude is rather annoying. Has definite promise once everyone has calmed down a bit and if the mystery of the missing book lover is investigated. Okay/Good.
Gungrave
Undead superhuman protects a girl who wants revenge. First episode is in the present of a pretty wrecked world, with the odd bit of advanced genetic engineering thrown in. Next 3 episodes are flashbacks to the past when Grave was young and friends with the current enemy. Pretty well done, plot proceeds properly and none of the characters have secret motivations that make them act weirdly/unexpectedly/irrationally like in most anime. Pretty good.
Haibane Renma - New Feathers
Very interesting premise of a few angels (although the word is never used) who can't fly and who live in a high-walled city without any real explanation of how they get there or why they have a rule that means they have to live off the cast-offs of the significantly larger human population. There is a god-like figure (booming voice, reads minds), and everyone seems to accept the situation without any bother, possibly because it has always been like that. The characters are generally well thought out, the plot progresses well, the animation is good, no negative points for this at all. I'll be after the next 3 volumes for sure. Very good.
Texhnolyse
Fighter gets arm and leg chopped off after he annoys a woman for stopping her from poking his eye out, then gets techno replacements for the missing limbs donated. If you want plot, action, or dialogue, don't watch the first episode. If you want to see 20 minutes of scenes without any movement in them at all whilst listening to generic industrial dance music, then you'll love it. Seriously, there are only 2 minutes of things actually happening. The 3 other episodes have a little more action but it still all plods along at a snails pace with very little explanation of what is going on. The guy doesn't even get 'technolized' until the 4th episode and even then it isn't clear why. Looks fantastic, most of the cgi is very well done and merges seemlessly with standard animation although in a few scenes it is rather blatent. It is a VERY slow story, I think they must have blown the budget on the pictures and had to claw back some money by stretching each minor plot point into 3 episodes. Okay/poor.
Tenchi Muyo
Boy releases a demon from an ancient temple who turns out to be an alien criminal being pursued by some royal sisters. This series starts a bit rubbish, but improves significantly by the last episode on the DVD (5 episodes!). The whole feel of the show changes as it progresses. The animation style varies from person to person but it pretty good overall. There is some nudity, but unless you get shy at seeing a naked Barbie then it isn't anything to worry about (no 'bit's to worry about). Can't watch the dubbed version, the princess's voice is terrible. Why does so much anime feature a young boy who has several women in love with him? Good.
Lunar Legend Tsuhime
The first episode barely contains what appears to be the main character of the series (blonde woman) shown in the titles and DVD art, just two very brief glimpses. It is pretty confusing most of the way through, boy keeps fainting and it is impossible to tell what is real and what is fantasy, even in the more mundane aspects of his life. The later episodes are much clearer but don't explain much of the first. Too many mysteries in one go, so although they might eventually be solved it left these episodes with more confusion and less plot progression. The animation is rather simple but okay, the action scenes are okay. Who knows what the title is about? Okay.
Adventures of Mini Goddess
Centres around the goddess characters from Oh My Goddess. For some reason they shrink themselves down small and then taunt/bully/irritate or just plain mess with the head of a talking rat. It's definitely young kids stuff with regard to plot, characters, and content. The animation is a bit of an odd style and looks a bit cheap to me. Okay for kids, poor for adults.
Paranoia Agent
Not seen.