From: Kevin.Kline@ofa123.fidonet.org
Newsgroups: rec.arts.animation
Subject: Japanimation reviews con't (may contain SPOILERS)
X-Sender: newtout 0.02 Nov 17 1992
Date: 12 Dec 92  17:15:18

 The 2nd video I picked up was "Beautiful Dreamer" and sorry to say this paled 
big time to Robot Carnival in terms of animation quality and story line.  
This was nothing more than trash really.  You have a skimpy-clothed alien
(Lum) chasing her wimpy boyfriend around (Ataru) and creating havoc with
everyone.  It turns out her boyfriend chases other women constantly and there 
are lots of skimpy clothed girls in it.  The other female characters are
nothing but saucered-eye sluts (sorry to say) that don't do much.  Save for
Lum who thinks she knows everything (she is what you can consider a "girl with 
guns" female, for the way she gets angry easily and shoots out lightning when 
she is angry with ATaru).
  The movie is FILLED with sexual jokes and the guys going around acting like 
perverts (there is this one scene where they are going through a bunch of
lingerie and etc.) and Lum gets her top taking off several times.  
 I was very disappointed with this, needless to say... To see a bunch of wimpy 
guys get bossed around by Lum and most of the other female characters (all
saucered-eye).  Not to mention Ataru's women chasing and needless # of skimpy 
girls in it.  This does NOTHING to dispell the notion that Japanimation is
"saucered-eye girls" that act macho.  It only ENHANCES it.  
 The 3rd video I got was "Nadia" (vol.2, vol.1 was out).  I was suprised by
this in that it was quite well done in terms of animation quality and
character design.  (Nadia herself had big eyes but most of the time they only 
had 1 white spec just like DISNEY at it made the characters look outstanding). 
 I would compare this to Miyazaki works in some way, even if the plot is a bit 
simple (some bad lady is chasing Nadia around because of some amulet she is
wearing).  My major problem was with the dubbing in which Nadia sounded WAY TO 
OLD and the lame sounding voices for the other characters (Jean, Grandis). 
But that doesn't take anything away from the awesome character designs and
animation quality of this.  This is something that I would like to see more
of, although the dubbing needs help big time (which could kill the chances of 
this getting on TV).
 I also really liked the different inventions Jean had that were quite
humorous to see (things that we have today, but they didn't have then like
esclators and airplanes).  Glad to see the lack of slut girls (Nadia was done 
PROPERLY with only 1 white spec in each eye for the most part) and bloody
violence in this show.  If this is the future of Japanimation here, then
things are looking up and this does show that Japanimation isn't just "girls
with guns" or bloody violence.  
  As for the last video, Orange Road vol. 1, was unfortantly was just about
the exact opposite of "Nadia" in that it was FILLED with saucered-eye girls
(and it was HORRIBLE, they had up to like 5-6 white specs in each eye at
times).  The main guy acted like a complete wimp (and saucered-eye) and there 
was this one saucered-eye slut (have to call her that) that did things that
suggested she was a lesbian!!!!!
 The black-hair female (Madoka) acted macho all the time and would boss
Kyosuke around (the wimpy female like Ataru in Lum) all the time, it seems she 
does everything well and bosses everyone around!  The orange-haired one
(Hikaru) acted more like a bimbo in trying to get Kyosuke (calling him
"Darling" all the time).  It seems that Kyosuke likes Madoka (the ohe that
bosses him around and looks like a slut at time, she drinks CONSTANTLY at bars 
from what I could see in this 1st volume) but can't get away from Hikaru (the 
one that acts like a bimbo).  
 Then there is this character named Akane (yet another saucered-eye girl) who 
in the 2nd episode of this 1st volume ("Hurricane! Akane the Shapechanging
Girl") showed lesbian characteristics by approaching Madoka in a very
suggestive way and wanting to have a date with her playing Tennis.  The show
is FILLED with scenes where Kyosuke touching Madoka's breast or looking at
them CONSTANTLY.  
 I would have to say the Orange Road was nothing more than your typical piece 
of cheap animation with all those saucered-eye girls (Madoka, Hikaru, and
Kyoskue 2 sisters) tons of erotic scenes (Kyosuke looking at Madoka's breats
all the time, Hikaru acting like a model for playboy) and even tones of
Lesbianism (with Akane approaching Madoka in a very suggestive way).  Needless 
to say, Madoka acts macho, drinks a lot, and beats up a lot of people and acts 
like the saucered-eye girls in most "girls with guns" anime.  Hikaru, on the
other hand acts like nothing more than a sex object that will do anything to
get Kyoskue attention.
 Kyoskue acts like a wimp and it seems like this show is dominated by all the 
saucered-eye girls instead.  
 I heard that the final movie to this was depressing... I guess this is where 
Kyoskue finally makes up his MIND (he is so wishy-washy) on which girl to
choose.  I bet he caves in to the one that is bossing him around (Madoka) that 
looks like a slut half the time after she demands he does something with the
other girl going after him (Hikaru).  That would be so typical... Is this
true?  Does Kyoskue finally make his mind in the final movie??  It seems sad
in a way, it seems like Madoka has everything and Hikaru has nothing...  But
what can you expect from a typical piece of garbage like this?  The rich get
richer I guess... Slut girl that fights gets it all! (sigh)... Tell me this is 
NOT the case with this show, but from what I seen, forget it!!!
 Overall, I was very impressed with ROBOT CARNIVAL (save for 2 bad stories in 
it) and Nadia and hope that will be the future of Japanimation... ON the other 
hand, Beautiful Dreamer and ORANGE ROAD were just pieces of typical trash with 
saucered-eye girls and sex!

--- Maximus 2.00