Anime of the Year 1994-II Spring - Tottemo! Luckyman

Failed to find masterpieces in Spring 1994, so I'd prefer to highlight a decent work in need of translation - Tottemo! Luckyman

1. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S Sailor Moon S 美少女戦士セーラームーン S [Toei Animation] (Finished 3/38) Tags: Shoujo Mahou Shoujo Drama, Romance The Sailor Guardians and their leader, Sailor Moon, continue their duty of protecting Earth from any who would dare cause it harm. However, Sailor Mars' apocalyptic visions and the appearance of two new guardians—Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus—signal that a new battle will soon begin. These newcomers seek three Talismans that are inside the Pure Heart Crystals within human beings. Once brought together, these objects form The Holy Grail, a magical relic with extraordinary abilities. They want to use the Grail to save the world, but an evil organization known as the Death Busters seeks its power for their own desires. The removal of a Talisman from a person's Heart Crystal will cause their death, something that Uranus and Neptune see as a necessary sacrifice to form the Grail, while Sailor Moon and her group deem it unforgivable. But can any sacrifice be worth the cost if it saves the lives of the entire human race? It's nice that first episode shows a plot move this early, not so good that next two episodes are fillers as usual. Overall, usual Sailor Moon level.   Overall Rating: 6/10

2. Mobile Fighter G Gundam 機動武闘伝Gガンダム [Sunrise] (Finished 3/49) Tags: Martial Arts, Mecha, Space Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi, Sports In the year Future Century 0060, the many countries that once comprised Earth's surface exist as separate colonies floating in space. Their home planet now uninhabitable, the ruler of all of the colonies is decided by their unanimous participation in the intergalactic Gundam Fight Tournament—a series of battles between the champions of each colony to determine who is most fit to reign over them all. Neo-Japan's champion is Domon Kasshu, a man who accepts the role with some ulterior motives. Domon searches the galaxy for his brother, a criminal who allegedly murdered their mother and made off with the Devil Gundam, a highly advanced weapon with the power to unleash mass destruction across the galaxy. In his quest to bring his sibling to justice, Domon travels from colony to colony, meeting many of the fighters who will become his allies and enemies in the forthcoming Gundam Fight Tournament. Armed with the strength of the Shining Gundam, Domon battles to uncover the truth behind his tortured childhood, suffering great betrayal and crushing blows on his quest toward personal and national triumph. You would not believe, but Sunrise finally changed something after so many attempts. Now it feels like battle shounen with slightly older protagonist. Still childish and silly, but with such tempo can rise to decent in a thousand years.   Overall Rating: 5/10

3. Marmalade Boy ママレード・ボーイ [Toei Animation] (Finished 3/76) Tags: Shoujo Comedy, Drama, Romance Miki Koishikawa is a high school student who enjoys a very simple life. However, her ordinary life is about to be turned upside down, and she may not be able to handle everything that is coming her way. After a very "fun" holiday in Hawaii, her parents have decided to get a divorce. As if this wasn’t enough of a shock for the poor girl, she also discovers that they will soon be re-marrying and swapping partners with another couple who they met on holiday. In order to include Miki in this shocking turn of events, they ask her to give the new couple a chance, and set up a dinner date with everyone. Miki may have tried to be emotionally prepared for her new parents, but what she was not expecting was their handsome son Matsuura Yuu. Miki develops an instant crush for Yuu. What starts off as a lovely friendship between them soon develops into romantic feelings which they are both finding hard to control. But more trouble is ahead in their relationship, as both Miki and Yuu have admirers of their own who are trying very hard to keep them separated. Shoujo is hit on miss depending on characters personalities. Both are from middle school and kinda standard. Such basic shoujo focusing only on school romance was needed, but let's move on to more complex shojo already.   Overall Rating: 5/10

4. Ginga Sengoku Gunyuuden Rai Galaxy Warring State Chronicle Rai 銀河戦国群雄伝ライ [E&G Films] (Finished 5/52) Tags: Shounen Space Adventure, Romance, Sci-Fi Rai is a space opera that fuses feudal Chinese and Japanese customs with vast galaxy spanning empires and space-going societies. The story follows the life and times of the samurai Rai, and the quest of several spacefaring factions for control of territory and, of course, the Empire. Chinese customs Sengoku space opera with samurai. Did I miss anything? Add to that immature shounen samurai Rai, and the seriousness of the whole enterprise is put under huge question. Since it's unserious, let's compare it with another similar series Irresponsible captain Tyler. Tyler had charismatic team of characters , good humor, unexpected moves , logical narration. Rai has couple shallow occasionally showing up heroines and immature Rai, everyone else including enemies is either bland or unmemorable. Space battles here are depicted as one side just shooting at the other side, thus winning. We're getting thrown to war without any explanation or exposition. For some reason there's the need of constant down-to-earth samurai skirmishes on the planets. No humor spotted. So what we're supposed to do is watch different fights and different characters talking and as it repeats over and over make some sorts of conclusions out of it. It's a flawed approach from the start and with such horrible directorship and mediocre characters I fail to understand how people can like it.   Overall Rating: 5/10

5. Red Baron レッドバロン  [Tokyo Movie Shinsha] (Finished 3/49) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts, Mecha Action, Sci-Fi, Sports In the future, the "Metal Fight" games are the most popular televised sport in the world and many robot contestants compete for the title of Best Metal Fighter in the World. Kurenai Ken, along with teammate Saeba Shoko (who was, at first, adamant), pilots the Super Robot Fighter, Red Baron and enters the contest with dreams of becoming its champion. He must, however, face an army of other rivals from around the world including Kaizer (who is, in fact, Shoko's supposedly "lost" father, Tetsuo Saeba), the Tetsumen Tou ("Iron Fist" - a reference to the original Red Baron TV series) doctors, Tiger and ShinRon. It's better than average Sunrise mecha, but that is true for pretty much any mecha already. There's immature genki protagonist, some kind of female and mascot companions and even some humor - would suit kids just fine.   Overall Rating: 5/10

6. Shirayuki Hime no Densetsu The Legend of Snow White 白雪姫の伝説 [Tatsunoko Production] (Finished 3/52) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance  Snow White was a very happy princess, until the day her stepmother, the Queen Christelle, finally reveals her personality and wants to kill the girl. Snow White flees from the castle and got lost in the woods, where she meets seven dwarfs. Since when does a fairy tale take 52 episodes? Anyway, there's only official dub as story is totally  childish and safe . It's also safe from anything even remotely interesting as any work for kids.   Overall Rating: 4/10

7. Haou Taikei Ryuu Knight Lord of Lords Ryu Knight 覇王大系リューナイト [Sunrise] (Finished 3/52) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Fantasy Adeu the Sonic, brash young pilot of the Ryu Knight Zephyr, is joined in his travels by Princess Paffy, Priest Izumi and Ninja Sarutobi. They encounter various people of the land, including other Ryus. On the way, Adeu seeks to test his Ryu against others and thereby grow in his abilities. Another attempt to merge fantasy with mecha. It feels like imitation of some final fantasy game as there are even sort of chokobo here. It actually might work with any other company, but Sunrise turns it into another kids parody with chibi designs and cheap humor that only they seem to understand.   Overall Rating: 4/10

8. Tottemo! Luckyman とっても！ラッキーマン [Pierrot] (Finished 3/50) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, Super Power Comedy, Sci-Fi This gag comedy series focused on the adventures of a bizarre superhero powered by special cooking and fights against various aliens and other enemies threatening the planet Earth. Not translated. It's a drawn in a childish way superhero parody, but since it's parody can be amusing. Also Luckyman is sort of pervy and uses below the waist hits a lot, so can't call it a show for kids. If anything, it's definitely more fun than Kinnikuman and thus deserved translation much more than Kinnikuman. And it's only the second anime I know that has those great Maruko-chan style narrator comments. Cool stuff.   Overall Rating: 6/10

9. Yamato Takeru ヤマトタケル [Nippon Animation] (Finished 3/37) Tags:  Shounen Mecha, Space Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi In the 25th century, a spaceship carrying 300 people leaves the earth in search of a new world in the solar system, but an unexpected accident occurs. They crash into a black hole which is connected to another universe. The people on the ship are cast adrift in an emergency capsule to a planet called Ismo. The story begins 12 years after they have reached Ismo. Ismo is a star of the Onam System, which corresponds to the Solar System in our universe. It is the only planet left in the Onam System. The Death Star called Yomi is a comet which regularly approaches the Onam System. There were once 8 planets in the Onam System. Many years ago, in the time of the gods, there was a war against the evil monster Yamatano Orochi (an 8-headed snake-like creature). The gods won the battle. Yamatano Orochi was locked into 8 stones, one of which is buried deep in the center of each planet. Nobody was supposed to have access to the core of the planets. However Tsukuyomi, an evil god who rules Yomi, succeeded in reaching the stones one after another, destroying 7 of the planets using his powerful robots, the Sky Warriors. However, when he tried to acquire the last stone from the planet Ismo, the most powerful Sky Warrior, Susanoo, got out of control and was blown away. A million years later, the Death Star Yomi is approaching the Onam System once again. Tsukuyomi, the master of Yomi, plans to take this opportunity to realize his dream of ruling the entire universe. He is desperate for the last stone containing Yamatano Orochi. If Tsukuyomi can get hold of this stone, Yamatano Orochi will return to life and its power will become his. Tsukuyomi needs Sky Warrior Susanoo to capture the stone, and sends 8 Sky Soldiers to get Susanoo back. But it is too late. Susanoo no longer belongs to Tsukuyomi. It belongs to Takeru, a 13-year-old boy from Earth, who happened to discover the buried robot Susanoo and woke it from its million-year-long sleep. Takeru becomes involved in the battle against the Sky Soldiers and their evil master, Tsukuyomi. Susanoo stands up to protect his friends and their planet. It feels like shounen adventure with swords, but when giant robots show up our trump card is summoned. Protagonist is a normal genki cheeky brat, so there's hardly anything to discuss here.   Overall Rating: 5/10

10. Chou Kuse ni Narisou I'll Make a Habit of It 超くせになりそう [Studio Kyuuma, Studio Kikan, Azeta Pictures] (Finished 3/39) Tags: Shoujo Crossdressing, School Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life Shiratori Nagisa is a pink haired singing idol, continually badgered by her father to find new disciples for the family dojo. In an attempt to gain free-time as a normal kid, she cuts her hair and cross-dresses as a high-school boy. "Ootori Nagisa" enrolls in a run-down school, falling in love with a rival school's gang leader, Nosaka Akira. She soon finds out Nosaka-kun is a fan of Nagisa - The Idol. Keeping up the charade, they manage to sneak time together. Rivals for Nagisa's affection, BOTH their dojo-running fathers, as well as martial artist animals and an up-in-coming Idol conspire to make thier lives a complicated as possible. Childish protagonist, unserious mood, lots of boys love allusions due to trap nature of the anime... does not cut it for me at all.   Overall Rating: 5/10

11. Goal FH: Field Hunter Goal Field Hunter ゴールFH (フィールド・ハンター) [Image Kei] (Finished 3/39) Tags: Action, Sports The story is about Hikaru Tatsumura who came from Brazil to fulfill his dream to be a great soccer player because he met a great player once who was admired by all people. However Tatsumura is a very cheerful person and easy going except when it is about soccer. He becomes serious and strong. He also gives a unique performance such as doing a funny dance with his buddy after he makes a goal. Tatsumura will face a lot of challenges with his team while aiming for success. Not translated. There's enough horizontal interaction , SOL , comedy and protagonist maturity to rival other soccer spokons, but since it's not translated - who cares. I certainly don't.   Overall Rating: 6/10

12. Montana Jones モンタナ・ジョーンズ [Studio Junio] (Finished 3/52) Tags: Historical Adventure, Comedy, Mystery Boston, 1930: Montana Jones and his cousin professor Alfred Jones travel around the world to search lost treasures in order to bring them to museums. Alfred's mentor professor Gerrit helps them by sending LPs with information. On one trip they meet Melissa, a wealthy reporter, who speaks nearly all languages. She accompanies the two on their trips. Their opponent is Lord Zero, a rich, bizarre art lover and master thief. Lord Zero has two henchmen: Slim and Slam. There is also the inventor Dr. Nitro, who invents strange engines, which to help finding treasures. Only three episodes are translated. Art gives out Disney vibes. Substance is also similar as it's some adventure, and there is usually some competition with the antagonists. Something I saw in DuckTales  many times. It's more mature, of course, as there are no infant heroes and no characters are placed just for comedy relief like Donald Duck, but I still see no way how anyone but kids would want to watch it.   Overall Rating: 5/10

13. Soccer Fever サッカーフィーバー [Tokyo Movie Shinsha] (Finished 3/51) Tags: Historical, Team Sports Together with the hero of this series, Brian Thompson an ex-reporter, we get to relive the great games of the Football World Cup. The story begins with the first selection which took place in Uruguay 1930 until 1994 when it was held in the United States. We also get a depiction of Thompson's life from his youth until now. We also see the game brilliantly reborn through spectacular players like Franz Beckenbauer, Müller Gard, Eusebio and the greatest of them all, Pelé. Not translated. It feels like World Masterpiece Theater series (though it's not) with soccer theme. That's a fresh and historical look, which deserves praise. But since I don't have soccer fever, it's not for me to discuss.   Overall Rating: 6/10

14. Iria: Zeiram The Animation イ・リ・ア ゼイラム The [Ashi Productions] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Iria is the story of a girl and the Alien being she loves to hate. The series begins with her brother, Gren, taking a job. He is a bounty hunter, and one well known for his incredible skill. Iria, being a skilled apprentice bounty hunter herself, tags along. What is the job, one might ask. It is to find out what has happened to the crew and cargo of a Space Station. Needless to say, nothing is as it seems, and the war between Iria and Zeiram begins in earnest. Basically, it's a nice action story, but stretched too long, with annoying kids to accompany at certain points and with poorly written motivation of the sides of conflict.   Overall Rating: 6/10

15. Shin Cutey Honey New Cutey Honey 新・キューティーハニー [Toei Animation] (Finished 8/8) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Ecchi  Cosplay City is in danger when the evil Dolmeck shows up. Commanding his army of monsters, he plans on destroying everything. Only one person can stop this: Cutey Honey. After she is released from her dormancy, Honey Kisaragi becomes the multi-transformational android Cutey Honey. However, the least is expected when Honey is faced with an old enemy from the past: Panther Zora. Main disadvantage is that it lacks comedy since it's not made by Gainax... yet! As of now it mostly repeats ancient prequel with emphasized action and ecchi. Sadly, no real story value here.   Overall Rating: 6/10

16. Dengeki Oshioki Musume Gootaman: Gootaman Tanjou-hen Butt Attack Punisher Girl Gautaman  臀撃おしおき娘ゴータマン～ゴータマン誕生篇 [animate Film, Studio Kikan] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Parody Action, Comedy, Ecchi Mari Amachi is a very devout Christian who transfers to Perfect Religion Academy. A school devoted to all religions of the world in effort to make it's students the next world leaders in religion. Her friend Saori is kidnapped by the Black Buddha cult; a group who wishes to take away religious freedom though force and brainwashing. Mari prays to God for help but Buddha answers the call, instead! Mari aspires only to help her friend and she is transformed into Butt Attack Punisher Girl Gotaman. Between fighting bad guys, making a deal with Buddha, and wearing scandalous costumes, is it more than Mari can take? It repeats concept of Kekko Kamen, but provides less cringe and less humor, so lacks in every field.   Overall Rating: 4/10

17. Bakuen Campus Guardress  爆炎CAMPUSガードレス [Production I.G] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Shounen School Action, Comedy, Supernatural Long ago, the gate to the world of darkness was sealed. Now evil warriors, known as Remnants, are trying to reopen the gate and let demons take over the world. However, at Tobira High School, there exist guardians of the gate who must risk their lives to prevent the gate from being opened. It's exaggerated comedy action, so can hardly expect seriousness with muscular enemies in thongs or female enemy "Sexy whip". Female protagonist is on par with that as she competes with her mother over who kisses Takumi first in the mornings and most of her phrases are akin to "I will protect Takumi!" with Takumi  being her brother of relatively the same age. It's easy to entertain in the moment with this kind of craze, but after it's over no good impression remains.   Overall Rating: 5/10

18. Future GPX Cyber Formula Zero 新世紀ＧＰＸサイバーフォーミュラＺＥＲＯ [Sunrise] (Finished 3/8) Tags: Shounen Racing Drama, Sci-Fi A freak accident during the 12th Cyber Formula World Grand Prix causes Hayato Kazami to miss the rest of the season, and critically injures both his body and his will to continue racing. Hayato's longtime friend, Asuka Sugo, helps nurse him back to health, and in return he proposes to her and promises her that he would never race again. But as time goes on, Hayato begins to doubt whether he really wants to retire, and decides to make a comeback after all. And with the 13th Cyber Formula World Grand Prix now underway, he must struggle to regain his racing form; regain the trust of Asuka, whose promise he broke; and thwart the malicious intents of Henri Clayton. All the while, the reason behind Hayato's accident begins to unveil itself: the "Zero Zone." Since it's third installment already, it's hardly possible to shift set opinions at this point. As usual, I was only interested in whether protagonist has become a Pro by now and how relations have progressed to this point. Protagonist is kind of a pro all right now, but authors found a way to nullify all his progress yet again, lol. And he has progressed enough to hug a girl. I've known all that I came here for. Everything else is same average as usual.   Overall Rating: 5/10

19. Nana Toshi Monogatari: Hokkyokukai Sensen 七都市物語 ～北極海戦線～ [animate Film] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Military Drama, Sci-Fi  In 2099, Earth has shifted off its axis and begins to rotate at an angle of 90% to the 20th-century equator. Three years of natural disasters follows, and when things settle down, Earth's ten billion population has died and only two million moon colonists remain. Some return to begin the repopulation of the world in seven new cities and the remaining colonists of the moon fear that their former neighbors might pose a threat and construct a ring of defensive satellites to trap them on the newly repopulated homeworld. It feels like author of Legend of Galactic heroes was sad that all his stratagems looked silly in space, so he put up this artificial setting just to show cool traps hidden in the water! Ridiculously rushed development and implementation with zero outcome value, as for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10

20. Shin Kujakuou Spirit Warrior 真・孔雀王 [Madhouse] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Mythology Action, Horror  A young mystic without a past, Kujaku was born under a dark omen possessed of incredible supernatural powers. Raised by priests, he has learned to use these powers for good. But the evil Siegfried von Mittgard seeks to steal his birthright, and rule the world as the Regent of Darkness. He has dispatched bloodthirsty minions to destroy Kujaku before he can awaken to his destiny. Now, Kujaku must unravel the riddle of his past, before the power within consumes him! It used to be a total mess. Now it's just an average action with somewhat crazy story.   Overall Rating: 0/10

21. Mars マーズ [Discotek Media] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shounen Mecha Action, Sci-Fi Mars is the 1st remake of the franchise and restored the original manga's storyline of a young boy in suspended animation inside a South Sea volcano who awakens a century before his alien masters planned to use his powers to reduce human civilization to a manageable low-tech level. Not translated. As you see from the synopsis, source is very old, probably 60s. And it's inevitably very simple. It's mostly dialogues of Mars with scientists and military with inevitable giant mecha ambush at the end of each episode. It's mostly military fighting the giant mech, but of course boy can not be kept out of danger. Ending is kinda open, so meh.   Overall Rating: 3/10

22. Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho: Meikai Shitou-hen - Honoo no Kizuna Yu Yu Hakusho the Movie: Poltergeist Report 幽☆遊☆白書 冥界死闘篇 炎の絆 [Pierrot] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts, Mythology Action, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural Millennia ago, a war was fought between the Netherworld and the Spirit World. Ultimately, the Netherworld was destroyed and Lord Yakumo, the King of the Netherworld, was banished to the depths of space. Now, five defenders from the Spirit World must team-up against Yakumo's Demon-Gods for possession of five, mystical sites. But Lord Yakumo is dangerously close to reclaiming the Power Sphere—the source of the Netherworld's energy—and once it is again in his possession, our world will become the new Netherworld. Action has become very impressive, but there's not much besides.   Overall Rating: 6/10

23. Crayon Shin-chan Movie 02: Buriburi Oukoku no Hihou クレヨンしんちゃん ブリブリ王国の秘宝  [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Action, Adventure, Comedy An action adventure film set in a imaginary southern island in the Indian Ocean. The evil secret society, "White Snake" abducted Shinnosuke and Prince Sunnokeshi of the Buri Buri Kingdom, who looks very much like Shinnosuke, in order to get the kingdom's hidden treasure in the golden palace underground. Shinnosuke's parents, Hiroshi and Misae fight with Lulu, the major of the palace guard of the kingdom, against White Snake, trying to recapture Shinnosuke and the prince. Since there is a previous movie to compare to, it's easier to do now. There are still quite a few nice jokes, but action story with twim subplot gives a worse impression with much time getting spent on plot development and even fighting scenes with little opportunity for humor, and that's just not Shinnosuke usual tempo.   Overall Rating: 6/10

24. Sangokushi: Dai San Bu - Harukanaru Taichi 三国志 第三部 遥かなる大地  [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action Historical An anime based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel. As a part of trilogy, I hate it as much as prequels for being much worse than original Sangokushi titles because of art, same looking characters and even worse directorship. Same horrible open ending, of course.   Overall Rating: 4/10

25. Dohyou no Oni-tachi 土俵の鬼たち [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Combat Sports, Historical Drama, Sports Animated film about the life of the 45th Yokozuna, Wakanohana Kanji I. Not translated. Demon ring looked quite like a normal ring to me... Anyway, guy comes from a poor family, gets noticed for strength during WWII, wins first sumo match while being a normal thin guy, inevitably looses soon and then starts to go for judo professionally with all the hardships and conflicts on the way. Pretty normal story with some nice observations of the time.   Overall Rating: 5/10

26. J League wo 100-bai Tanoshiku Miru Houhou!! Jリーグを100倍楽しく見る方法!!  [Nichion] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Parody Comedy, Sports - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10

27. Slam Dunk: Ketsui no Shouhoku Basket-bu スラムダンク 決意の湘北バスケ部 [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen School, Team Sports - It's actually just a fast-paced compilation of the starter episodes, as such completely useless and messy with poor directorship.   Overall Rating: 1/10

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