Here, in the archives I have reviews of some of best anime that I've seen. I also included my opinion of it and some links to related pages.
Project A-Ko is about three girls, Eiko(A-Ko) Magami, Biko(B-Ko) Daitokuji, and Shiko(C-Ko) Kotobuki. A-Ko is super strong, B-Ko is hyper intelligent, and C-Ko is, well... cute. A-Ko and C-Ko are best friends, B-Ko want's to be C-Ko's "friend"(All of us anime fans out their know what that means;), but B-Ko was always bugged C-Ko when they were younger and doing mean things to her.
While this sound pretty dry and boring, it's not, not by a long shot. Project A-Ko is very close to the best anime I've ever seen. It is definitely the most humerous that I've ever seen. I highly recommend this one.
This is to anime what Terminator was to hollywood. Akira is a classic. It is the story of Kaneda and his friend Tetsuo, and what happens when science goes to far. The basic story, without giving to much away, is this: Scientists have managed to "make" a group of childern with super-powerful psykic abilities. Tetsuo at one point gains this same power, but a much more of it. This power makes him go nearly insane until Kaneda with the last three of the children manage to "heal" him. The only problem with this movie is that you have to see it two or three times before you can actually understand the storyline. Also, it is not for those who can't stand the sight of blood, since it does get a bit gory at times. But, all told, this is a classic among anime. Akira was originally a manga(Japanese comic), 2160 pages long. Unfortunately, a fair amount of stuff was cut from the manga so that it could fit into a 124min film.
I can't make up my mind which is better, Akira or Ghost in the Shell. Both are epic movies set in the near future. Ghost in the Shell is about a police cyborg, Motoko Kusanagi, and her search for her own soul, or, as it known as here, her ghost. This too is an excellent movie. The storyline is a bit easier to follow than Akira and there is slightly less gore. This too is a very impressive movie, with several very dramatic and stunning scenes. It also gives the viewer a lot to think about. Again, I highly recommend it.
Bubblegum Crisis is an eight part video series. There is also a three part sequel call Bubblegum Crash that I havn't seen yet, but I've heard that it's not very good. BCG follows a mercenary/vigelante group known as the Knight Sabers and their personal war against the Genom corporation and it's army of boomers(andriods).The Knight Sabers are Sylia, the leader; Priss, headstrong loner; Nene, computer hacker; and Linna, a martial artist. Equiped with Hard-Suit armor and transforming moterbikes, they help out the AD Police, and repeatedly save MegaTokyo. It is fun but lacks a conclusive ending to the series on the final episode. The series was good animation, though the quality of stories varied. The stories range from decent, as in in Revenge Road, to excellent in Moonlight Rambler and Red Eyes, IMO the two best episodes of the series. The hard rock soundtrack of each episode contains some the best music ever heard in anime.
There is also a parallel series that takes place in the same setting ten years earlier called "The AD Police Files". This series is MUCH, MUCH darker than the originals, and is better classified as a psycho-thriller.
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Plastic Little is an OAV about the adventures Tita, captain of a "cloud ship" named the ChaChaMaru. The action takes place on an island kept aloft in the clouds by a belt of powerful gravity generators. When the military tries to take control of the generators to use as a weapon Tita gets caught up in everything by making friends with the only person who knows that access codes that military needs. The rest of the story revolves around Tita and her friends' attempts to stop the military plans. This OAV had excellent animation, and an good story. Visually everything was very crisp and clear. The only thing it was lacking was a memorable music score, what musci there was was quite good, but had no really distinguishing features, like the awsome hard rock soundtrack of Bubblegum Crisis.
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The are many incarnations of Dominion, including Dominion: Tank Police, Dominion: No More Noise, and I believe others. Tank Police is a available on video and probably manga. No More Noise is available on manga, but I don't know if it is on video. As you may be able to tell, I've seen Tank Police, and read No More Noise. The are both about the Dominion City Tank Police, a group of law enforcement agents created to fight the massively rising crime rate in their fair -- but poluted and crime ridden -- city. There is a lot of humor in the series, but it can get a bit off the wall, especially in the first episode. If you can stomach humor of the same variety as Black Adder or Monty Python, you'll enjoy this.
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