It's been a month and a half since my last order, which frankly ended up being pretty disappointing. Godannar and Aoi Yori Aoshi sit unwatched, and I don't even remember what else was in that order. Whatever it was, it didn't make much of an impression.

Anyhoo, I've been accumulating a list of things to probably include in the next purchase, presented here not in any particular kind of order:

Mezzo -- Action/fan-service. Probably not very good, but the eye candy might be OK. 13 eps for $30. I'm thinking it's probably like Najica Blitz Tactics except without the panty fixation. (And without the emotionless girl. And probably with less fan service overall.)

Also, there's a special called "Mezzo Forte" that comes in two versions. There's a censored release, and there's a "Director's Cut" which apparently includes full hentai. Robert's got that one behind his "18+ only" wall (along with titles like "Bondage Queen Kate" and "Milk Money"). I don't think I'll get that immediately, but if the TV series is OK, it might be intriguing. The censored version is 55 minutes; the uncensored one is 60 minutes, and only $2 more. Such a deal! Maybe. Later.

Mezzo is not really the kind of show I usually like, but I think I may be channeling myself a bit too much and I need to branch out a bit more.

Grenadier -- is another one outside my usual tracks. 12 eps for $27, so it isn't much of a risk. The main girl is cute and busty and it might be fun. (A gorgeous busty blonde with a BFG can't be a total waste of time, can she? Well, yeah, but it's not that much money.)

Onegai Twins -- is the canonical siscon show, a fetish I usually stay far, far away from. But Jeff Lawson just wrote about it, and makes it sound like it might be OK. If it doesn't offer anything else, it's got cute girls and bathing scenes. (Also, Kaneda Tomoko and Kawasumi Ayako.) 13 eps for $35.

And at least they do resolve the main story. One of the two genuinely is his sister, and by the end of the series we really do find out which one it is. I think it will be interesting to see if I can guess it before they reveal it.

UFO Princess Valkyrie 4 is a lock. The last two remaining episodes of the series, which still don't wrap up the story, but I gotta have it anyway.

Ramen Fighter Miki -- the first DVD is out now. It's harmless fun. (It's also a guilt purchase. I downloaded and watched the first episode on fansub.)

Slayers -- Funimation picked up the rights from Central Park Media, and got hold of a new print from Japan. They kept the original English dub (which doesn't matter to me) but apparently the new video transfer is a lot better. Hope so; it'd be hard to be worse. What I'm mostly interested in is whether the Japanese sound track is improved. The sound track on the CPM version I've got was terrible.

If I were a bigger fan of the series I'd probably pick this up. But I'm not, and even though it's only $30 I'm probably going to give it a miss this time. Maybe later.

Best Student Council -- is the requisite "really weird title" for this order. Cute girls? check. Angst? Apparently not all that much, since it's a comedy. Wise cracking puppet? Check. Yuri? Just a little, for flavor. (Nothing wrong with a bit of yuri, is there?) Mysterious pasts and mysterious powers? Evidently so. Overwhelmingly powerful student council? That, it seems, is what the show is about. I gather that this particular student council puts the one in Shingu to shame when it comes to overwhelming power.

It sounds offbeat and it sounds like it could be a lot of fun. (And it's a great cast.) I don't have very high expectations, but it's got Kawasumi Ayako and Nabatame Hitomi so it can't be all bad. Five DVDs are out now and the last one comes out in three weeks, but I think I'll just get the first one to see what I think of it.

The Third -- only the first DVD is out, so getting it is probably a mistake. Still, it sounds interesting and I think I'm going to go for it.

Actually, the following might be the real "really weird title":

Aoi and Mutsuki -- is $16 for 13 eps. It's a sequel, but the first half of the series costs twice as much. What hooks me is the cover art: the girls are round, like in Ninja Nonsense. Girls should be round.

It does the "Simoun" thing backwards: everyone in this race starts as a boy but at age 16 they choose their sex. So Aoi changes from nice boy to gorgeous woman. At which point you've got a blonde (Mutsuki), a brunette (Aoi), and a redhead (Mito).

I haven't found any reviews of this anywhere! Chris Beveridge hasn't gotten to it. ANN doesn't have any reader votes. No one has written a capsule review of it for AnimeNFO. But the investment is small, and it looks like it might be stupid fun. And if it turns out to be even slightly decent, I can always go back and pick up the previous series.

One more "first DVD is all that's out" that I'm going to pick up, and probably regret, is My Otome. It's another one that's outside my usual tromping grounds. What the hell...

[No spoilers in comments, please, not even inside of spoiler tags.]

UPDATE: OK, the order just went in:

DBZ Movie 12
Grenadier (boxed set)
Onegai Twins (boxed set)
UFO Princess Valkyrie 4
Ramen Fighter Miki DVD 1
Best Student Council DVD 1
The Third DVD 1
Aoi and Mutsuki (complete)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at 09:13 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
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