Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1996 07:51:52 -0500
   From: Richard Lawson <sterman@sprynet.com>

   [...]

   EL HAZARD:  THE FIRST NIGHT

   [...]

   I may rent the other volumes of this series; then again, I may not. 
   We'll see what happens the next time I'm on call.

   OVERALL RATING:  <waggles hand>  Eh.  Maybe later volumes will raise my
   opinion of this series.

El Hazard starts out *really* slow; it picks up a bit with the three
priestesses, but doesn't become compelling until Ifuriita (Efreet) is
introduced.  Let me put it this way: the last episode can induce tears....

   MAISON IKKOKU :  SPRING WASABI

   This tape contains two episodes.  The first is about Godai's last
   attempt to get into college.  This significant turning point in Godai's
   life is buried in an inane plot involving Godai's attempt to get a clean
   pair of underwear and a visit by his slightly revolting grandmother.  I
   hold a Gaffneyesque view of the Loon Squad myself, so I didn't care much
   for their intervention as well.  This episode contains all that I hate
   most about Maison Ikkoku.

I'd modify that to "all that I hate most about the Maison Ikkoku anime."

The manga is much better (about my favorite, in fact); the early
animators added a lot of bogus stuff, watered down Kyoko's
personality, and completely blew one of the most important emotional
climaxes of the story (when Godai broke his leg).

Why they felt compelled to add the ludicrous underwear subplot to the
first emotional climax (not to mention the first time Godai calles her
Kyoko-san (at least in the manga)) is completely beyond me.

I think I remember hearing something the initial animators getting
sacked....

   [...]

   FIRST LOVES

   A mini-essay on lemons:  I'm not a big fan of lemons.  They're mostly
   vulgar, all action, no emotion.  There's a fine line between erotica and
   smut.  Actually, it's not so fine; most stuff falls into the latter
   category.  I have never enjoyed reading Playboy or watching X-rated
   films.  Never.  However, there is good erotic stuff.  I particularly
   liked the 'almost' scene in "Nullifier Part 3".  *That* was erotic; it
   suggested, had strong emotions, and didn't go too far.

   So I thought I'd try Japanese Erotica. [...]

   There wasn't much to recommend this story.  There was no emotional
   buildup, a lot of sexism, and the sex was not at all erotic.  I
   regretted renting this.  At least I know that the Japanese aren't any
   better at erotica than Americans.

You might try expanding your sample space.  While I heard little good
about First Loves, Doukyusei (Classmates), brought over here as End of
Summer, is rather good.

It's a "slice of life" drama, with plenty of emotional build up (in
Wataru's pursuit of Mai), not a lot of sexism as I remember (the
protagonists are somewhat older and beyond some of the stuff that
First Loves seems to cover from your description).  I don't know if
I'd count it as good erotica, but I found it to be a good story about
interesting characters.

Probably the best I've seen would be Tanin no kankei (Relationship
with a Stranger (??? the best I can render it)), brought over here as
Homeroom Affairs; it may be difficult to find, but it's worth it; it's
an often erotic (in much the Nullifier fashion) bawdy romantic comedy,
with a really good story behind it (even better if you check out the
manga, which adds a lot more details about the girl's family
background).  Highly recommended and worth going out of your way to
track down.

   [...]

   KIMAGURE ORANGE ROAD:  I WANT TO RETURN TO THAT DAY

   Having never seen KOR, and knowing nothing about it, I decided to go
   right to the climax of the whole story.  :)  The plot described on the
   back of the box sounded interesting.

Oh boy; while I myself started the Gundam saga with Char's
Counterattack without apparent harm, you'll miss a lot of the
intensity by not having watched this triangle develop over 48 TV
episodes and 8 OAVs.  The movie has a completely different feeling,
but is really true to life, as you noted.

   Evidently this guy, Kyosuke, has two girlfriends, Madoka (who looks a
   lot like Kyoko in MI; in fact, all of the characters have a very
   Takahashi-esque look about them) and Hikaru.  Hikaru is bubbly and
   flaky, and Madoka is serious and studied.  My initial preference is
   Madoka.

Good choice :-)

Takada Akemi was the anime character designer for both MI starting
with episode 27 and KOR.

   [...]

   The story ends somewhat unsatisfactorily, but the best stories often do.
   :)  There's a scene at the very, very end which I don't understand,
   probably because I've never seen any of the other anime (if someone has
   seen the whole series and would care to explain it to me, I would be
   greatly appreciative).

The best interpretation is that the character is telling us she's
getting on with her life.  (Something like "And you though I was going
to collapse in tears, right?")

   OVERALL RATING:  Wonderful!  I unknowningly saved the best for last.  I
   would highly recommend this anime to everyone and anyone, even someone
   who has never seen anime before.  There were no martial arts, no aliens,
   no mecha, no super-powered beings,

Actually, Kyosuke is a rather powerful ESPer (along with his sisters,
cousins, and mother's parents); in his case telekinesis,
teleportation, and time and parallel world slips....  But that's not
relevent to the movie, so they didn't have it distract from the focus
on the resolution of the triangle (just like they "forgot" about poor
Yusaku, Hikaru's would be boyfriend).

Oh yeah, according to one of the recent novels, he's also part alien
(he and his kin are descended from stranded aliens who intermarried
with humans).

   just relationships and emotions, done realistically and well.
   Makes me wonder what the "hook" is; how did a story about simple
   people and their problems become popular?  If all the stories are
   like this, I can understand.  :) I haven't felt this moved by an
   anime piece since "Wings of Honnemaise" (sp?).  I think this is the
   best anime story I have ever seen.

Certainly one of the best.  The hook of the Kasuga family's powers
provided many a neat plot twist (plus ever present tension from the
danger of being found out and having to leave town and his
girlfriends) and a superb ending to the TV series, but the focus was
on the relationships.  The music is also *great*.

					- Harold