Now and Then, Here and There

Who would of thought that something dubbed by the cast of Pokemon could be so damn good? There are so many words to describe this show and yet nothing I could say would do this show justice.

Now and Then, Here and There tells the story of Shu, a kind hearted middle-school student from modern day Japan who meets a strange girl named Lala-Ru. While trying to defend her from unknown attackers, the two are mysteriously whisked away to an unfamiliar land; a futuristic destroyed Earth covered by desert and divided by war.

The moment Shu arrives in this world; his own humanity is put to the test. He is beaten and tortured, nearly killed on numerous occasions, forced to fight alongside other children as soldiers and to bear witness to many acts of cruelty. The other characters he encounters have varying opinions about the war; some oppose violence, some kill under the false promise that they will return home when the war ends, some kill because they enjoy killing. Personalities in this show range from stable to psychotic.

The series deals with many moral questions about war, the cost of war and the exploitation of children. Very real situations are presented where war has changed everything. In this world, humans have become monsters, children are forced to kill to survive, and rarities like water are worth killing over. Many times while watching this show, I would often stand up and scream at the television over the violence that takes place.

Excellent voice acting, great animation that sometimes discontinues, interesting characters and a strong plot lead this show to be considered an all time classic.

It is powerful, shocking and extremely hard to watch at times. Now and Then, Here and There is an amazing piece of work that is emotionally driven and it never pulls any punches. If you are looking for something light-hearted and happy, look elsewhere.

This anime will pull you into its dark world, whether you are ready for it or not.

Monster Rancher

I miss being a little kid. Back to the days of watching cartoons before school or waking up early on Saturday for the cartoon block; anime was still in the process of becoming big.

The shows I remembered involved collecting cute monsters. Pokemon, Digimon and Yugioh were some of the leaders in producing those kinds of shows but some shows have been completely forgotten about. Does anyone remember Monster Rancher?

Based off the video game of the same name, the show was built on a similar formula like Digimon where the goal was not to collect them all but to save the world and kill the bad guy. Were the shows clones of each other? Not necessarily.

Young Genki Sakura is a huge gamer who recently won a tournament that involved his favorite game "Monster Rancher" (who would of thought). His prize was a prototype copy of the newest version of the game. The day he gets it and pops the CD into his Playstation, he gets sucked into the world of the game where he decides to join the cause of a young girl named Holly who journeys to destroy the evil "Moo" (lol) instead of finding a way home.

Original? Hardly. But you know what, even though it is drenched in its role-playing roots that didn't stop it from being entertaining. Genki wasn't very interesting to watch but the supporting characters were surprisingly deep. They were filled with history which provided the drive for their journey. It was also darker in tone with characters dying all the time and themes like slavery and inner conflict evident throughout. Unlike Pokemon with its mindless plot, there was a definitive start and end to this story.

Unlike Pokemon with its mindless plot, there was a definitive start and end to this story. Was it a great show? No, but it was joy to watch and it did a good job at not being boring. Even though Monster Rancher never found its stride in the U.S., it's still going strong in Japan (The newest game Monster Farm is being released in the fall).

Whoever does remember this show, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

Street Fighter IV was the first to lead the fighting games of 2009 and now BlazBlue is the next to follow. But with so many other fighting games coming out this year, is it worth the money?

For those of you who know and love Guilty Gear, I have news for you: the game is most certainly its spiritual successor in terms of art quality, an in-depth fighting system, amazing soundtrack and characters packed with personality.

For those who never heard of Guilty Gear, BlazBlue is a great place to start. The system is friendly to newbies and fighting veterans alike. Even if you are just starting out, after playing for a couple of minutes the combos will be clockwork. Heck, even the right analog stick has assigned special just by moving it in one of four directions.

If you like fighting games and especially Guilty Gear, I urge you to pick up this title. It is worth every penny with a host of unlockables, an in depth story mode, English/Japanese audio and crazy fighting. While playing, you can notice how much care and attention was put into the game; it definitely shows. So far, my experience online has been fairly good, the game somewhat lags in the beginning but after a while it's hardly noticeable.

The game is only available in its limited edition form with the standard edition being released a month from now. But why would you ever but that version? The limited bundle has the game, the soundtrack composed by Daisuke Ishiwatari and a Blu-ray disc containing tutorials and tips from experienced player and the staff. The kicker is that the game is still only $60 bucks.

So not only do you get the game a month ahead of time and its packed with extras but its priced as the exact same price of the standard edition. There's no reason not to buy the limited edition.
But if you want it, better cross your fingers; the game has been sold out at every Gamestop in my location for both 360 and PS3 and I imagine its no different for other towns.

The only downside is the games limited appeal; there are some who have never heard of Guilty Gear and some people will be turned off by the anime designs. If you can look past that, this fighter is a gem to add to any collection.

Do yourself a favor, just buy the game. If you have PS3, I'll see you online.