Anime of the Year 1991-II Spring - Honoo no Tenkousei

I managed to criticize everything again too much, but among decent works I'd highlight Honoo no Tenkousei as both memorable and amusing

1. City Hunter '91 シティーハンター'91 [Sunrise] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Mystery Ryo Saeba is back as the City Hunter, a "sweeper" (private detective) working on the streets of Tokyo. He and sidekick Kaori Makimura are hired to solve the problems of desperate people. When Ryo is not using his sharp shooting skills against bad guys, he's aiming his sites on pretty ladies. Kaori uses a giant anti-ecchi hammer to make sure he behaves. It does not really get better. The only thing that stands out is many beautiful women which is a rarity in anime due to abundance of girls. Concept is same poor, and action elements aren't fascinating.   Overall Rating: 6/10

2. Future GPX Cyber Formula 新世紀ＧＰＸサイバーフォーミュラ [Sunrise] (Finished 3/37) Tags: Shounen Racing Adventure, Sci-Fi 14-year-old Kazami Hayato is the youngest driver of Cyber Formula, a Grand Prix in which each vehicle is equipped with computers to aid in racing. With the help of Asurada, the most advanced cybernavigation system, and team Sugo, Hayato races to become the winner of the 10th Cyber Formula Grand Prix. Along the way, Hayato will have to learn what it truly means to be a racer and that victory cannot be achieved simply by driving the best machine. In addition, Kazami will have to gain the respect of the veteran racers, thwart those who attempt to steal Asurada, and participate in races outside of Cyber Formula. Sunrise is producing at least five anime series simultaneously, so seriously, don't expect a breakthrough. A total bore only suiting kids. The fact that series gets somewhat high scores is because racing anime used to be head on dumb by this moment, and Sunrise just dragged it to minimal level of acceptable quality. Also it aired in the West so spawns some nostalgy feelings. With flat characters like this it's pure averageness .   Overall Rating: 5/10

3. Zettai Muteki Raijin-Oh Matchless Raijin-Oh 絶対無敵ライジンオー [Sunrise] (Finished 3/51) Tags: Mecha, School Adventure, Sci-Fi Suddenly, an evil empire, Jaaku, raids the Earth. But the light appears from the Earth, and fights against Jaaku. It is Raijin Oh operated by Eldran. Eldran has protected the earth since the ancient ages. But he was injured during the fight, and Raijin-Oh falls to the ground. On the other hand, Jaaku scatters their weapons, Aku-Darmer, all over the world. Meanwhile, in Youshou elementary school, they have extra lessons in the 3rd class of the 5th grade. Eldran leaves Raijin Medal to them and asks them to save the Earth for him, and then he disappeared. In this way, the Earth Defense Agency consisted of elementary students is founded. Sunrise is totally lost in self-repeats. As usual, there's some humor, but the level of nonsense is pitch high.   Overall Rating: 5/10

4. Chiisana Obake: Acchi, Kocchi, Socchi 小さなおばけ アッチ・ソッチ・コッチ [Pierrot] (Finished 0/50) Tags: Comedy, Supernatural  This is a heart-warming story with three little ghost called There, Here and Where. They are not scary like usual ghosts but pretty and mischievous like human children. Of course they sometimes surprise people by disappearing or flying, but they are loved as children's friends. Each episode consists of two stories. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10

5. High School Mystery: Gakuen Nanafushigi ハイスクールミステリー 学園七不思議 [Studio Comet] (Finished 2/41) Tags: Horror, Mystery - Only two episodes are translated. As expected, just horror stories taking place at school. But within the genre it's above average.   Overall Rating: 6/10

6. Kikou Keisatsu Metal Jack 機甲警察 メタルジャック [Sunrise] (Finished 3/37) Tags: Detective, Mecha Action, Sci-Fi Twenty years into the future, a city now called "Tokyo" has developed into one of the few world-class high-tech centers, "Tokyo City." The main character, Ken Kanzaki, is a young investigator assigned to the criminal investigation section of the Metropolital Police. He is one of the finest sharp shooters in the Police.One day, Ken is ordered to provide security for a party held by for "Zaizen Konzern," a world-class plutocracy. All of a sudden, spector robots appear and distrupt the party. Zaizen, a commander-in-chief, is killed and both Ken and Jun. Zaizen's son,are fatally injured by the robots. Two of the party's guests, an auto-racer, Ryo Aguri,and a wresler, Go Goda, also receive serious injuries. Three severely injured young men are operated upon by scientists from the Metropolitan Police. Several days later, a robot corp led by a mysterious organization called "Ido" appears in the floating-town of the Tokyo Bay. But the Police and the Army have no effective strategies to contain them. At that moment, three young men attired in mechanical suits enter. They are the very three young men, Ken, Ryo and Go, who have been turned into the cyborg investigators through the operation. They call themselves "Armored Police Metal Jacks". "Metal Jacks," dazzlingly switching from "Jack Suits" to "Jack Armors," completely demolish the robot corp and achieve victory, thus signals the beginning of the battle between the high-tech criminals and "Metal Jacks" with a futuristic "Tokyo City" in the background. Sunrise hits a new low. Low quality animation, standard sentai+mecha, absolutely silly enemies. Traditional not funny Sunrise humor only irritates. Painful to watch.   Overall Rating: 4/10

7. 21 Emon 21エモン [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 3/39) Tags: Space Comedy, Sci-Fi In 2018 a young boy named 21 Emon dreams of becoming a space pilot and exploring space in general. He is the heir to a long line of hotel owners, which dates back to the founder of during the Tokugawa shogunate. Since the Earth has become a planet visited by tourists from all over the space, 21 Emon has to help out his family's business or they'll go bankrupt. Not translated. Same as old 21 Emon movie, humor is mostly based on differences of aliens culture. It's an easy source for additional episodes, but it does not make it interesting.   Overall Rating: 5/10

8. Jankenman ジャンケンマン [TV Tokyo] (Finished 1/51) Tags: Super Power Adventure There is a small village called Janken Town. The hero Jankenman protects the village and defeats his adversaries by playing games of rock-paper-scissors with them. Meanwhile, the villain Osodashi Mask always tries to deceive others. Not translated. One episode is enough to understand that it's a show for kids.   Overall Rating: 4/10

9. Shounen Ashibe (TV) 少年アシベ [Life Work] (Finished 0/37) Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life  The anime is based on the 4-panel comic strip drawn by Morishita Hiromi and published in Young Jump. The story describes the daily life of Ashibe (an elementary school boy) and his family and friends, including a pet white sea lion. Not translated. Gag series can hardly be enjoyed without subs. There's remake of the series in the future.   Overall Rating: 0/10

10. Oh! My Konbu OH!MYコンブ [TBS] (Finished 3/22) Tags: Shounen Comedy, Gourmet, Slice of Life Fifth-grader Nabeyama Konbu is the son of a cook in a slice-of-life gourmet comedy that tries to add an element of adventure to slaving in the kitchen. Konbu helps his father solve problems in the world through the judicious use of seasonings, the right choice of menu, and the pleasing of fickle customers. Not translated. Third culinary show. This time with distinctive Dragon Ball feel for humor and character designs. Mister Ajikko at least felt serious, this one is a mere parody.   Overall Rating: 5/10

11. Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory 機動戦士ガンダム0083 STARDUST MEMORY [Sunrise] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Adventure, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi It is the year 0083 of the Universal Century. The rebellious Principality of Zeon has been defeated in the One Year War by the Earth Federation. However, a faction of Zeon remnants led by Aguille Delaz fled from the final battle, hiding themselves away. After three long years, they attempt to rise up once more, sending Delaz's ace pilot, Anavel Gato, to infiltrate a Federation research base to steal one of two secretly developed prototype Gundams along with its deadly nuclear warhead. Threatened by the rogue Gundam suit and seeking to retain peace, the Earth Federation mobilizes the newly developed Albion carrier to recover the stolen unit. Manned by the remaining test pilots, with rookie pilot Kou Uraki piloting the remaining prototype Gundam, the Albion and her crew are determined to stop Gato, retake the stolen Gundam, and prevent the Zeon remnants from starting another war. Gundam needs some serious focus on characters. Every time if feels inferior to Macross that came ten years ago.   Overall Rating: 5/10

12. Bubblegum Crash バブルガムクラッシュ [Artmic, Darts] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Shounen Adult Cast, Mecha Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi The saga of the Knight Sabers continues as the group tries to find out who or what is behind the recent string of robberies, murders, and Boomer malfunctions which are somehow related to the creation of an advanced artificial intelligence. Furthermore, it seems that the Knight Sabers may be breaking up. Wow, first use of 3D graphics spotted by me. Anyway, stories are similar to Bubblegum Crisis, but without recollections of events happened in supposed prequel. If watched as part of the franchise, it's confusing. But if watched as a separate work, can be rated higher.   Overall Rating: 5/10

13. RG Veda 聖伝  [animate Film] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy The fearsome warrior Taishaku-ten rebelled against the world-ruling gods three hundred years ago and began his own oppressive reign. His dominion remained unchecked for years—until one day, the blind prophet Kuyou prophesied that warriors known as the Six Stars and a child of the vanished race called Ashura would defeat Taishaku-ten. Ashura, marked by his pointed ears and golden eyes; Yasha-ou, a robust warrior; and four other Stars prepare to challenge Taishaku-ten. In order to do so, they must journey across tarnished landscapes and battle monstrous demons that have plagued the land. But as the wheels of fate turn, Ashura and Yasha-ou must find the sixth Star before it is too late. Never heard of manga or anything, but setting of corrupted world has a lot of potency. Just as with Madara, it's seen that a lot of effort is put into worldbuilding and characters, but all that is used poorly by rushing action events and skipping everything else on the way.   Overall Rating: 4/10

14. Honoo no Tenkousei 炎の転校生 [Gainax] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shounen Combat Sports, Martial Arts, Parody, School Action, Comedy, Sports Transfer student Takisawa Noboru quickly learns that all disputes at his new school are settled in the boxing ring. Now he finds himself in a series of showdowns with the local top dog, Ibuki Saburo, for the love and respect of the beautiful Yukari. It's so satisfying to watch all those delinquents and boxing anime ridiculed. Still, with overall length of 40 minutes and no character investment can't give it a masterpiece based on humor alone as it does not feel integral this way, but a great gust of fresh air still.   Overall Rating: 6/10

15. Sukeban Deka Delinquent Detective スケバン刑事 [SIDO LIMITED] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shoujo Delinquents, Detective, School Action, Drama Having spent time at a juvenile corrections facility, teenage delinquent Saki Asamiya is given a chance to redeem herself and delay her mother's possible death sentence by working as an undercover cop. Armed with nothing but a special yo-yo, Saki's assignment is to return to her high school and investigate on the corruption and mysterious deaths among the students. But in order to find the answers to the condition of her school, she must confront the wealthy and powerful Mizuchi sisters, who moved in and have taken control after her previous expulsion. Concept is popular, because it's easy to stage as live action. Anime shine because of unreal plots, but usually can't complete with properly staged dorama. I don't see how this anime can contribute with this concept of school and around school battles. It becomes rather average action with strangely placed humor spikes.   Overall Rating: 5/10

16. Maison Ikkoku: Bangai-hen - Ikkokujima Nanpa Shimatsuki めぞん一刻番外編 一刻島ナンパ始末記 [Magic Bus] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Comedy, Drama, Romance Yotsuya and Ichinose are enjoying a hot afternoon when they recall the time that the tenants of Ikkoku-kan and Mitaka go off on a cruise to party hard aboard Mitaka's new boat; however, the boat falls apart, and everyone is shipwrecked on a deserted island. With everyone up to their usual antics and shenanigans, what can happen in such a desolate place? There was already fanservice OVA series. Just one more fanservice episode, as expected. Complete waste of time.   Overall Rating: 4/10

17. Abashiri Ikka あばしり一家 [Pierrot] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy For decades, the Abashiri family has been one of the most powerful and feared crime families in the world. Led by the frightening Daemon Abashiri, the family prepares to perform their final, greatest heist. As the family makes their assault on a large bank, Daemon reveals that his youngest child, Kikunosuke Abashiri, is actually the first daughter born to the family in 18 generations—which is why he wants to end their life of crime. Much to Kikunosuke's displeasure, her father has arranged for her to study at the elite Paradise Academy, hoping that the school will shape her into a proper lady. However, when she arrives, she finds that the place is even more brutal than the life of crime she just left! How does Kikunosuke intend to survive in a school full of teachers who are hell-bent on killing their students? Absurdist battle action trash comedy. Even when limbs are torn apart, a merry music is still playing - this kind of comedy. I'd add Ecchi tag here, because all its elements are present. Watchable average action comedy if you can turn off brain and just observe it all.   Overall Rating: 5/10

18. Yami no Shihosha Judge Judge 闇の司法官ジャッジ [J.C.Staff, animate] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Horror, Supernatural Hoichiro Ohma works in an office. Everybody knows him as a silent, humble man. Even his girlfriend, Nanase, doesn't suspect that he could be something more, but he is. When a person dies as a victim of murder; when someone kills himself with a curse on his lips; when someone's death needs to be judged, he is there, for he is a Judge Of Darkness. Following the Laws Of Darkness, with a book made of human skin and an unusual parrot, he pronounces judgement over living criminals that would otherwise go free. Weird below average horror.   Overall Rating: 4/10

19. Slow Step スローステップ [Pastel] (Finished 5/5) Tags: Shoujo School Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life, Sports Based on the Adachi manga of the same name. The story revolves around a romantic triangle formed by the girl Minatsu Nakazato, a young student and softball player; Shu Akiba, a schoolmate; and Naoto Kadomatsu, an up-and-coming boxer. In reality the three-way relationship is more like three-and-a-half, considering that Naoto is in love with Maria... actually Minatsu herself, who'd once disguised herself to escape some evildoers. Are you kidding me... first Nine, then Touch, Hiatari Ryoukou and now this one with same character designs and same love triangles and freaking baseball/similar sport each time. Characters feel even more immature and old-fashioned than ever. It's irritating on so many levels.   Overall Rating: 5/10

20. Souryuuden Legend of the Dragon Kings 創竜伝 [Kitty Film Mitaka Studio] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Super Power Drama, Mystery, Supernatural  The four Ryudo brothers hold an ancient secret - they are descended from the dragons. They have the speed, strength and power of their legendary ancestors - and they're getting stronger. But when pushed to the limit, they become the terrifying, uncontrollable dragons of mythology. These powers have attracted the attention of some powerful enemies - shadowy organizations with unlimited resources and weapons who will stop at nothing to control the brothers. Well, I seriously dislike Chinese mythology with all its laughable focus on same symbols, sacral numbers and presumably epic creatures. We observe another epic battle of Dragon entity versus Bull entity. There are four elements and four cardinal points, so of course we need four protagonists. But we need as much symbolism as possible, so there should be four antagonists. Protagonists are all brothers, so antagonists must be all sisters. Because yin and yang - WAKARU? Freaking stupid and ridiculous, thus can't be treated seriously. The main problem is that true colors only are shown at the end. During the main course of event it's just some clashes of different brothers with monsters and bad guys with occasional shifts into dragons. When things are broken down to personal level there is a semblance of substance and mystery behind it all while in reality it's one huge fake that only feels energetic due to a large number of characters, our usual horizontal extension with no actual depth.   Overall Rating: 5/10

21. Capricorn カプリコン [Aubec] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi In the blink of an eye, high school student Taku Shimamura finds himself transported to the bizarre world of Slaffleaze, where intelligent creatures govern and the ruling class, led by the villainous Zolba, is plotting the invasion of the world they know as Capricorn, the Earth. Joining together with the oppressed Slaffleaze peasants, Taku must find a way to stop Zolba`s dark forces before the way to the unsuspecting Earth is opened. In order to do so, he must first gain the love and trust of the last of the Yappie, the ancestral guardians of Slaffeaze. This is a task that will take more than a little courage and daring, for the last Yappie is not just a cute young female, she`s also a dragon. Isekai with animal races. It's rather short, so there's only enough time for characters to bump into each other, learn the wicked plans, conveniently discover superpower out of the blue and win, of course.   Overall Rating: 4/10

22. Akai Hayate 紅いハヤテ [Pierrot] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Martial Arts, Super Power Action Japan is secretly controlled by a tyrannical group of ninjas called the Shinogara. Their finest assassin is a man named Hayate Kanuma, whose father leads the Shinogara. Hayate, however, knows that the secret society's control over Japan is wrong. Sacrificing his own safety, Hayate kills his father. Now he's on the run, safe almost nowhere from his vengeful former comrades except perhaps for the one hiding place he decides upon: his sister. After possibly being fatally wounded, Hayate is able to transfer his soul into his sister's body, temporarily sharing it with her. His sister, Shiori, can awaken Hayate and call upon his ninja abilities when the Shinogara are close at hand but each time she does so, a little more of her true self is lost. This arrangement can't possibly go on forever, so how will Hayate finally defeat the Shinogara? An ok action. Nothing of it is memorable though, so average.   Overall Rating: 5/10

23. The Gakuen Choujo-tai The Chohjotai ザ・学園超女隊 [Magic Bus] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Mythology, Super Power Action Anime based on a 1986 novel. Yumi, a new student at the school, has four supernatural powers: prediction ability, telekinesis, levitation, and teleportation, but she is unable to use any of them at will. She organizes Chohjotai to uncover the true identity of school psychic research club. You can call me prejudiced against espers, but this this anime has no really outstanding traits.   Overall Rating: 5/10

24. Okama Hakusho Okama Report  おカマ白書 [-] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Seinen Crossdressing Comedy Okama is a man who has some problems. First off, his name means 'gay' in Japanese. Next, he has the hots for himself dressed as a girl. Finally, he ends up working at a transvestite bar where he has befriended a girl named Miki. This is not an easy matter to solve, because she only knows him as his female counterpart named Catherine. So how is a guy dressed as a girl supposed to come out to a girl as a heterosexual male? To make matters worse, she has a boyfriend who is trying everything in the book to get with her. Enter the exciting world of Okama Hakusho where love comes in many different flavors! Trap comedy. Everything is as usual - partying with girls with a boner, being molested by guys - very expected things like that. I never found anything fun in trap plots.   Overall Rating: 5/10

25. Sweet Spot スイートスポット [Group TAC] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy  These "amusing" adventures of a golf-crazy Office Lady were based on a manga from Weekly Spa! magazine by Yutsuko Chudoji. I usually dig corporate OL stuff, but this was rather tasteless.   Overall Rating: 5/10

26. Ippon Bouchou Mantarou 一本包丁満太郎 [J.C.Staff, animate Film] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Gourmet Based on the manga by Big Joe (ビッグ錠). Wow, fourth culinary show already. Compared to predecessors it's not childish and not comedy-focused. But seriously - the first hamburger steak challenge is to cut 20 onions in 5 minutes and we waste like 10 minutes on it? Why is the whole focus in hamburger steak on onions? Baka-bakashi... So will real competition begin now? Nope, it's again speed challenge to prepare fish super fast... Is it formula 1 or something? Why two same dishes taste differently? You would not believe, but because one is more neatly shaped and looks better ... this is SO stupid. Ever tried eating petals? Too bad, because some raw fish covered with just petals wins over first class dish. Ever boiled noodles? I hope not , because there just one person in Osaka who can boil noodles just right. 10 more minutes are wasted to boil dozens of noodles each with one second step from each other... This is not a show about cooking. This is a show about weird entertainment, mythology and irrational psychology around cooking, worst "culinary" show I ever seen which is just unforgivable so many years after decent Mister Ajikko that raised the quality plank high enough.   Overall Rating: 4/10

27. Shizukanaru Don: Yakuza Side Story 静かなるドン Yakuza Side Story [Tokyo Movie Shinsha] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Organized Crime Action, Comedy, Drama This manga depicts the life of Shizuya Kondou, a man who designs underwear by day and is "don" of a gang at night. Basically, it's all in the synopsis. Comedy with weird underwear designs and goofing around during daytime - black glasses coolness and bossing around at night. Comedy part is hardly outstanding, so...   Overall Rating: 5/10

28. Koha Ginjiro Trusty Ginjiro 硬派銀次郎 [Visual 80] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Shounen School Action, Drama After the death of his elder brother, Ginjiro Yamazaki appoints himself his parents' protector. After transferring to a new school, he gets into a lot of fights. Not translated. Parents and elder brother die in an accident, chibi Gen as he is called because of 142 cm height decides to become protector of his one year old nephew. He has his hands full with sports, studies, earning money by delivering newspapers and taking care of nephew, but a big hooligan threat won't wait till he has time for it. That's basically it. The only bright spot in this anime is female transfer student who takes care of Gen after seeing him in school carrying a nephew. Gen is cheerful, but can't say there is real humor. First episode is introductory, other two have some delinquents fights in the center. Can't call it all particularly interesting.   Overall Rating: 5/10

29. Dr. Typhoon Dr.(ドク)タイフーン  [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Drama, Sports Based on a seinen manga written by Takahashi Michitsuna and illustrated by Kazama Eiji, serialised in Weekly Manga Action. Izumi Typhoon, the eponymous Dr. Typhoon, is a highly skilled golfer based in New-York. Being a perverted sleazebag who does not back off from receiving shady money, his life tends to be more messy than it should... Not translated. Slightly more funny golf due to harassments , but nothing big.   Overall Rating: 4/10

30. Asuka: Nihon no Rekishi ASUKA -日本の歴史- [-] (Finished 0/20) Tags: - - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10

31. Fushigi no Umi no Nadia: Original Movie Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water - The Motion Picture ふしぎの海のナディア 劇場用オリジナル版 [Gainax, Group TAC] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Action, Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi Three years after the defeat of Gargoyle and Neo-Atlantis, a new threat has surfaced bent on bringing the world under his control. Geiger, using advanced robot technology, is attempting to begin a world war, and take control of the devastated world after the destruction has stopped. Once again, Nadia and Jean must fight to save the world, only this time from itself. I hoped it to be a recap movie... but not this kind of 25 minutes poorly justified recap with one hour of new half-assed adventure and only flat new characters introduced.   Overall Rating: 4/10

32. Michitekuru Toki no Mukou ni 満ちてくる　時のむこうに [Pierrot] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance Based on Suzuki Kouji's novel Paradise, which won the Japan Fantasy Novel Award in 1991. Prehistoric Mongolia. Bogd and his daughter Fayau, who love each other, live happily, but Fayau is abducted by the invaders, the northern tribes. Bogd, who has won the patronage of the best guardian spirit "Red Deer", tries to cross the ocean to regain his lover, but it does not come true. However, the spirits of the red deer promise that their love will meet again after a long time. During the Age of Discovery, as sailor Jones and island daughter Lyre, and as composer Leslie and editor Flora in modern Arizona, they feel the bond of love that has passed 10,000 years ... This anime is so full of all kind of superstitions that it makes me really sick. It turns out that Mongolians came because boy drew a girl's image bringing a curse. The way the sea created a pass for Mongolians to cross and flooded right before Bogd approached is such a huge Bible driven bs that I sincerely wanted to drop. Retelling the synopsis takes all the movie time with what's left only the way two spirits meet through time. A total disappointment.   Overall Rating: 4/10

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