GTO : Great Teacher Onizuka (Volumes 1 and 2)
When I first saw this sitting in our DVD rack at home, I thought to myself, "Why did we buy this?" Then I saw a trailer for it on Real Bout High School, and I was hooked.

GTO details the quest of Onizuka Eikichi, age 22, to become a "Great Teacher". You're probably wondering why this is interesting? Well, Onizuka is an ex-biker and gangster. He was the captain of the Karate team in college. His hair is bleached blond, and has multiple ear piercings. His idea of corporal punishment is hanging his delinquent students upside-down over a local park's pond and dunking them repeatedly. In short, GTO hits his students close to home, where it hurts.

The animation for this is kind of strange- it changes from real classy anime to gritty looking manga in a second. I learned from my friend Jade that this was the way the manga was drawn, as a way of making Onizuka's moods extremely obvious. She was disappointed when a joke about the size of Onizuka's pornography collection was left out. The opening for GTO is done by L'arc~en~Ciel, one of the greatest J-rock bands of all time. "Driver's High" is an achievement even by their standards.

The extras on this DVD include character designs, and the original Japanese opening and closings. You also have something titled "Onizuka goes Wild" Parts 1 and 2 depending on the disk.

Story: 7 of 10
Animation: 6 of 10
Music: 10 of 10
Subtitles: Good
Fan Service: Medium to High

Golden Boy Volume 1
Golden Boy follows the travels of Oe Kentaro, a 25-year-old Tokyo University law school dropout. He rides his bike from town to town, taking odd jobs. In the first episode, he lands a job at a small computer-programming firm, entirely run by beautiful women. The president has the bad habit of wearing next to nothing, and speeding around in her bright yellow Ferrari. Actually this is how she and Kentaro met. She hit his bike, miraculously not denting her Ferrari, but sending Kentaro flying into a heap of garbage. She gives him pain and suffering money- about $10,000 dollars.

Later, she fires Kentaro for unplugging her company's server (in the name of conservation ) and deleting the program they've been working on. Five days later, as her whole staff is programming like madwomen to meet the production date, Kentaro delivers the same program, only rewritten by him, saving the company from embarrassment. The president also learns that gave the $10,000 to an elderly couple in debt to the mafia. Horrified that she fired such a wonderful man, she chases after him. She doesn't catch him- he's already on his way to his next job, in another town.

This anime is great. It has great art, good story, loveable characters, good voice acting, and music that suits it very well. Pretty regular extras on this disk- opening and closing with out the credits, an image gallery and US trailers.

Story: 8 of 10
Animation: 7 of 10
Music: 7 of 10
Subtitles: Fair
Fan Service: High

Berzerk Volume 1: War Cry
I had heard about Berzerk a long time ago, when the game was first released for the Playstation. The game had a great story, so I was intrigued when my boyfriend came home from GameStop with the first volume of the anime. For those of you who played the PS1 game, you know a little about Guts and Caska. In Berzerk Volume 1, you see Guts as he was when he was young, how he was raised, and how he met Caska.

The animation is superb- colorful and fluid. I'd skip past the opening song. You won't be treated to an excellent J-rock anthem like L'Arc~en~Ciel's "Driver's High" as in GTO, or even a gothy ballad like "Gessekai", Buck Tick's opening for Nightwalker. Worst of all- Berzerk's opening is sung in English.

Warning for parents- Berzerk is bloody as all hell. Which is as it should be. It's about Guts personal hell. What's hell without some blood?

Bonus- there is a "Special Edition" box that you can purchase with the first volume. It has beautiful artwork, and is a most stylish way to display this new piece in your collection. Extras on this disk include an art gallery, production sketches, and an all time favorite of mine- OUTAKES!!

Story: 8 of 10
Animation: 9 of 10
Music: 3 of 10
Subtitles: Good
Fan Service: Low

Excel Saga Volume 1
In one word: Wacky. Buy this. You will die laughing. It's necessary to note that the FBI warning on this disk is replaced by a notice stating that any unauthorized duplication, public screening, or use of the disk packaging as a coaster, musical instrument or contraceptive device will dealt with severely, and that the punishment will include though is not limited to chicken feathers, cod liver oil, and a very, VERY depraved walrus.

The plot? Well, that's a little difficult. It's about a girl named Excel, who works for a strange organization know as ACROSS. Its purpose is to bring utopia to the world. Supposedly. The leader of this organization is called Ilpalazzo, voiced by the excellent Koyasu Takehito. Excel is ridiculously in love with him, even though he often shoots her with various firearms- anything from a handgun, to a bazooka. Other interesting characters include "The Great Will of the Macrocosm" which can bring anyone back to life at anytime, and even reshape the story, Pedro AKA Pe-san who dies in the first episode, Nabeshin who has a fabulous afro, Hyatt who is a Martian Princess and seems to be able to drain plant life, and has symptoms of Tuberculosis, and last but not least Menchi, who is a dog not matter what it looks like, and who Excel often tries to eat, but is never successful. This is called the "Quack Experimental Anime" for a reason.

Story: Um… Unknown
Animation: 7 of 10
Music: 7 of 10
Subtitles: Fair
Fan Service: Medium