week off = anime-thon

It hasn't been much fun spending my first week off sick. The nice part, though, is lying in bed all day catching up on anime. I have also limited my internet usage by cutting off aim, twitter, & facebook, and checking email once a day. More like internet communication usage because I still go on to check my reader & imagechan. And 3 more days until I leave for Mexico! It'll be nice to be cut off from the world for a bit. Anyways, here are some reviews on what I watched... I know, they're old, but had to watch them at some point.

1. Full Metal Panic?
Sagara works for a secret mercenary unit, Mithril, and is sent on a mission to act as a high school student in order to protect Chidori. Chidori is a 16-yr-old girl who is a "Whispered," someone that possesses knowledge of black technology useful for the military.

Funny at times and a tad bit ecchi (perverted) with the pantie shots. FMP is nothing special. Everything seemed generic. Not much character depth or growth. Well, maybe a little in Sagara. It was entertaining to say the least.

2. Full Metal Panic Fumoffu
The second series of FMP focusing mainly on the high school life of Sagara and Chidori. This series is less serious and funnier than the first. This had a feel of just silly OVAs. If you're looking for something fun to watch, you should watch this. I definitely thought this was better than the first series since the military aspect of the first one often left things a bit dry.

There is no continuous plot in this series. Just a bunch of random stories that happen to Chidori and Sagara and their classmates.







3. Neon Genesis Evangelion
Shinji, a 14-yr-old boy, is chosen to be a pilot of Unit 01, an Eva created by the company NERV. NERV's main purpose is to destroy Angels, unknown beings that are destroying the Earth.

I was never really into mecha type anime, but this one, I don't even know if it's considered mecha, is amazing. The intensity, drama, and action is great. There is a lot of character development and growth throughout the series. You see the characters at their weakest. Why do we do the things we do? Is it for ourselves or for others? These types of questions get asked a lot throughout the series. The last two episodes were highly criticized but I think it was a nice end although very confusing. What lies after the storm has passed and how have our decisions affected our reality?

4. The End of Evangelion

Episodes 25-26 and the 2nd Evangelion movie. It continues the story of the anime series. Another amazing continuation. This time dealing with more questions about humanity and reality. I don't want to say too much on what the plot is about because that'd be a spoiler for the series. All I can say is these two episodes were a lot gorier and very graphic. I loved the animation of the Evas and Angels. It had a more artistic feel than the series. But another great ending. Sigh.

Last year they released Rebuild of Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone. This is the first of four movies to be released in the coming years with new scenes and alternate endings to the original series. I started watching it and so far it looks exactly like the first episode, but we'll see how different it is when I finish it. The 2nd one will be released next year. Can't wait!