6768 Ribon no kishi Nakayoshi TEZUKA Osamu (A Knight with Ribbons) ***** t A young princess dressed up as a prince in various adventures. (HBV) This is probably the mother of all shoujo animes, during the days when anime still only had unisex appeal. The story of western princes and princesses is the traditional plot of most shoujo mangas prior to the days of magical girls, bishounens and sport heroines. (HBV) LD/VHS: Tapeset 13 tape 100 min each, Selection 8 tape 55 min each, 3 episode selection 3 tape 28 min each, 2 LD box 7 LD 680 min & 705. 90 Ryokunohara Labyrinth Hana to Yume HOSHINO Kana Sparkling Phantom **** o Death comes between two close friends in this sad and romantic memorable story. (KEM) A good psychic/fantasy anime with a moody soundtrack. (HBV) LD/VHS: 45 Min. 71 Sasurai no Taiyo Shoujo Comic FUJIGAWA Keisuke /SUZUKI Miyumi ** t The story of two girls competing to be successful singers. (HBV) This is a Fuji TV series with 26 episodes. Music, Youth, Soap Opera all roll in one anime. (HBV) VHS: 3 tape 100 min each. 89 Satsujin kippu wa haato iro ? YAMAURA Hiroshi *** o A detective story about a murder on a train. (HBV) The usual fun detective anime with the usual amount of romantic comedy. (HBV) LD/VHS: 50 min. 86 Seito Shokun + Staff Shokun Weekly Shoujo SHOJI Yoko Friend **** t Kitashiro Naoko (Nakki) transfers to a new school and find new friends. Together they formed the Naughty Student Club. The club stick together through storms and sunshines as the members learns about life and maturity. Seito Shokun ends when Nakki finally becomes a teacher. (TC) The anime is an adaptation of one of the most important shoujo manga classics which won Shoji an award. (HBV) LD/VHS: 81 min. 92 Sequence Wings MIZUKI Ken **** o Girl travels back through time to find her lost lover, who is now living as a modern-day high school student with no memories of another life. Science fiction fantasy. (VIW) The anime has a very cohesive and convincing plot because the original manga is probably a yomikiri. (HBV) LD/VHS: 40 min. 90 Shiratori Reiko de gozaimasu Mimi SUZUKI Yumiko **** o A nouveau-rich, obnoxious and egotistical country ojousama meets a handsome but wimpy college student. (HBV) A love comedy through and through. The anime is based on the best selling wacky, nothing is sacred love comedy manga by Suzuki. (HBV) VHS: 40 min. 93 Singles Bessatsu FUJIMURA Mari Margaret o *** Girl falls in love with elder sister's boyfriend. Meanwhile another boy falls in love with the girl. (HBV) The excellence and depth of Fujimura simply cannot translate into the anime easily....(HBV) VHS: 30 min. 91 Slow Step Flower Comics ADACHI Mitsuru ** o 17 year-old Minatsu, a softball player, and her classmates the handsome KADOMATSU Naoto and the, in the spirit of Tatsuya, Akiba, who plays boxing. Plus Maria, who is Minatsu in disguise, and the sukebe YAMASAKURA coach who has a kid. Who will win Minatsu's heart after all? (CSP) I won't rank it Adachi's best. But hey, it's an Adachi work, can't be bad, right? (CSP) LD/VHS: 5 LD/tape 43-50 min each. 91 Sukeban Deka Hana to Yume WADA Shinji ** o High school student infiltrates a girl gang for the police. Main character uses a yoyo as a weapon. (ENC) It's so difficult to explain... How do you tell someone that this female delinquent is actually a police detective in a high school that's not unlike some underground crime syndication??? I didn't like the anime version all that much either. (MIN) LD/VHS: 2 LD/tape 50 min each. 80 Terra e Manga Shounen TAKEMIYA Keiko **** m Space opera about the struggle between humans in a very controlled future society and the Mu. Mu are humans with psychic abilities, who eventually leave the human's planet for humanity's old home. (ENC) A Takemiya Sci-Fi classic which is handicapped by outdated character design. (HBV) LD/VHS: 113 min. 9294 Tokyo Babylon 1&2 South CLAMP **** o Teenage sorcerer/exorcist Subaru Sumeragi investigates the supernatural in modern-day Tokyo, aided by his irrepressible twin sister Hokuto and his friend with a secret agenda, veterinarian Seishirou Sakurazuka. Subaru investigates a construction site murder in the first OVA and then a subway murder in the second. (VIW) A very well done and colorful detective story with some good songs. (HBV) LD/VHS: 65 & 55 Min. 9192 Tomoegayuku! Bessatsu TAMURA Yumi Shoujo Comics **** o Tomoe battles with an evil organization which is figure headed by her love. (HBV) A typical, almost "Romeo and Juliet" type of anime which is Tamura's specialty. Very good plot with decent animation. (HBV) LD/VHS: 1&2 45 min each, Original Remix Version 60 min. 8890 Umi no yami, Tsuki no kage Weekly Shoujo SHINOHARA Chie Comic *** o Two twin sisters contracted a mysterious bacteria from a trip and suddenly gained enormous power. One psycho sister began trying to kill the other because they both loved the same man, while the other sister and her boyfriend began to flee as everyone else became innocent victims...(HBV) A classic Chie Shinohara gothic manga which is unfortunately handicapped by poor character design. This anime also came with two extra OAV animes, Anoko ni 1000% and Cherry no manma. (HBV) LD/VHS: LD 120 min, 3 tape 40 min each. 8889 Vampire Princess Miyu Susperia KAKINOUCHI Narumi /HIRANO Toshihiro ***** o A young woman reluctantly becomes a vampire and destined to hunt the world looking for runaway dark spirits with called Shinma with her unusual and loyal companion. (KEM) A perfect OAV anime if such an anime ever exists. (HBV) LD/VHS: 25 Min Each, LD Box 2 LD 120 min, Animeigo 1 LD 100 min. 7980 Versailles no Bara Margaret IKEDA Riyoko 90 Summary (Rose of Versailles) **** to Oscar, the royal guard and the heir of a noble (and Oscar's a female!), is given the duty as the personal guard of Queen Marie Antoinette. But things get complicated when Queen Marie fell in love _not_ with the king. As she tries to protect the Queen (not only from the enemy, but also from discovery), she met her own love, and lost him. (TC) Anime had two different director-animater team; NAGAHAMA Tadao and ARAKI Shingo for the first half, DEZAKI Osamu and SUGINO Akio for the last half of the series. The first series featured lavishly beautiful artwork by ARAKI, though the scripts seemed rather weak; the second series significantly altered the original manga, but created astonishingly dramatic story with dynamic artwork. Great shoujo manga classic by IKEDA Riyoko and great anime with two different styles, both definitely worth to check out. (AAK) LD/VHS: TV series LD box 11 LD 1320 min, 10 tapes 95 min each, Summary tape 90 min, memorial addition tape 45 min. 84 Wata no kuniboshi LaLa OHSHIMA Yumiko **** o OHSHIMA Yumiko's story of Chibi Neko, a kitten who believes she will grow up to become a human being. _Wata no kuni-hoshi_ ("The Country-Star of Cotton") can be enjoyed on the level of a simple, sometimes funny, sometimes touching coming-of-age story, but if you look beyond the surface, you can find some profound insights about what it means to be a "girl," what it means to be a "woman," what it means to be a "mother," and also about the frightening aspects of growing up. (MAT) The anime is fairly well-made (by Tezuka Productions), and manages to capture some (but not all) of Oshima's brilliant manga's depth, but I thought it was miscast. Definitely worth checking out. (MAT) VHS: 96 min. 92 Weathering Continent NA TAKEGA Sei ***** o Sword and sorcery drama, in which a warrior, a bishounen magic user, and their youthful companion attempt to elude a mercenary gang intent on pillaging a haunted tomb city. (VIW) A high quality production anchored by INOMATA Mutsumi and YUUKI Nobuteru. An excellent fantasy anime. (HBV) LD/VHS: 60 Min 92 Winderia NA FUJIKAWA Keisuke **** m The prince and princess of two warring kingdoms fall in love, and a young farmer leaves his love in search of fame and fortune with one of the warring sides. Betrayals and tragedy result. (VIW) Rather Miyazaki-like appearance. Major tear-jerker. (VIW) LD/VHS: 100 min. 93 X2 (Double X) Asuka CLAMP **** o Image clip of CLAMP artwork featuring characters from the manga X, set to music by the band X (hence, "Double X"). Includes three minutes of animation for a proposed X movie. (VIW) CLAMP fans will love this, while anime fans will be awed by the three minutes of animation. (HBV) LD/VHS: 25 min. 8991 Yaji Kita Gakuen Douchuuki Bonita SHITOU Ryouko **** o Yaki and Jita are two high school girls who somehow find themselves changing school often together because, where ever they go, they get involved in school trouble and they end up fighting them, ergo having to leave the school to avoid complications later. Yes, our Yajima Junko, aka Yaji-san, and Shinokita Reiko, aka Kita-san, are majorly skilled in fight martial arts. The basic premises of this serial type series is, "Yaji and Kita transfers to another high school, find that they again end up in the same school unintentionally, gets involved in trouble (again), they fight to correct it (again), and then move on (again) because either a) they are forced by the school principal, or b) they decide they should move, or c) they attract too much followers after their bravado that they need to escape fast." (MIN) It is, at the essence, a tv jidaigeki (historical theatrics) parody. Adding spice to the story, Yaji-san usually attracts kobuns (male henchmen) because she has the anego-hada (sisterly disposition), and Kita-san attracts lots of females because she is most wonderful in shorts and pants and hair down!!!! It's cruelty to us Kita-san fan to have her wear skirts, hair pulled up and with glasses!!!! Kita-san usually attracts female because, in all essence, she is the most perfect male whose gender is female. OAV 1 has original story while OAV 2 is loosely based upon manga story episode 2. (MIN) VHS: 2 tapes 40 mins each. 88 Yami no Purple eyes Flower Comics SHINOHARA Chie ** /Weekly Shoujo Comic o The image clip of Chie Shinohara's award winning dark tale of mother and daughter who can transform into leopards (a la Cat People) and being ruthlessly pursued by an evil scientist. (HBV) Recommended for Shinohara fans only. (HBV) LD/VHS: 30 min. 89 Youma (1+2) Ribbon KUSUNOKI Kei **** o A ninja in 18th century Japan attempts to track down and confront his errant foster brother, who has become a demon lord. A horror story interwoven with historical events. (VIW) Not for the anachrophobic. Interesting, circular story for those who like ninja/fantasy plots. (VIW) LD/VHS: 40 Min each 88 Youseioo ? YAMAGISHI Ryouko *** o An alice in wonderland type of anime. (HBV) Fair animation. (HBV) LD/VHS: 60 min. 91 Yukan Club 1&2 Ribbon ICHIJYO Yukari *** o A comedy about a group of rich boys and girls and their adventure including looking for a lost pet and touring (and get in trouble) in Hong Kong. (HBV) Yukan Club means the "Leisure Club". The manga is a best seller. (HBV) LD/VHS: 30 & 35 min. 92 Zetsuai 1989 Margaret OZAKI Minami (Desperate Love 1989) **** o Confession of love by pop star Nanjou Koji to soccer prodigy Izumi Takuto. (HBV) OZAKI Minami distinctive and angular drawing style makes this a unique anime, along with good rock music. Recommended for connoisseurs. (HBV) LD/VHS: 45 min. ================================================================= Titles : 102 ================================================================= II. Related Animes based on Ladies or Adult Comics ================================================================= 89 Kasei Yakyoku ? HIRATA Makiko **** o A story about a rich young lady, her servant girl and a yakuza set against the pre-war era. (HBV) Excellent character interaction but the plot may be too mature for younger audience....definitely a "Lady Anime". (HBV) LD/VHS: 2 LD 60 min each, 4 tape 30 min each. 92 Shin Douseijitai ? SAIMON Fumi (Hawaiian Breeze) ** o Honda is an artist while his live-in girlfriend (for two years) is Eri, a fashion designer. After hearing his proposal, Eri refuses and instead runs off to Hawaii, even though she loves him. Now Honda finally finds out the reason of Eri's hesitation in marriage. He decides to go to Hawaii again. Will he succeed into convincing Eri to forget her dark past and wins himself a bride? (HBV) The story is based on "Hawaiian Breeze" of the popular "Shin Douseijitai" (Peter Pans and Wendies) series by Saimon Fumi, who was best known for her "Tokyo Love Story". VHS: 45 min. ================================================================= Titles : 2 ================================================================= ================================================================= III. Out of print anime: ================================================================= 93 Aru Kararu no Isan ? MICHIHARA Katsumi o VHS 70 min 8485 Attacker You! Nakayoshi KOIZUMI Shizuo (Jeanne et Serge) ** t A girl, Jeanne (You Azuki) wants to become a great volley-ball smasher as famous as her cousin Mimi Ayura. At the same time, she falls in love with a volley-ball player, Serge of the team of Hikawa. (RIV) It is very famous in France and when it was first aired, many French girls began to practice volley-ball. (RIV) VHS: 9 tapes 81-88 min each. 89 Be-Boy Kidnapp'n Idol ? OOYA Katsumi *** o A rich man falls in love with a boy idol singer and arranges to have him kidnapped. Comedy with a touch of shonen ai. (VIW) Guess the production staff thought if they feature artwork by OOYA Kazumi+ONDA Naoyuki and voices by popular male seiyuu, the result is automatic. Well, the life (and female fans) ain't so easy, bummer. (AAK) LD/VHS: 30 min. 84 Chiisana koinomonogatari NA MITSUHASHI (A Little Love Story) Chikako t MITSUHASHI Chikako's heartwarming story of two very tiny lovers originally ran in a non-manga magazine called _Utsukushii Juudai_ ("Beautiful Teen") starting in 1962, but it did not become widely popular until 1970 when it was published as a paperback by Rippuu Shobou. (MAT) According to manga critic MURAKAMI Tomohiko, "[It was so popular] practically anyone who experienced their teens after 1970 has run into this story of Chitchi and Sally at least once." (Quoted from _Manga-den_, 1987.) (MAT) LD/VHS: 71 min. 7879 Haikarasan ga touru Shoujo Friend YAMATO Waki ** t Otenpa girl Benio was chosen as the wife of a handsome lieutenant (sorry I am not sure about his rank) from a wealthy family. There is the old grandma and the strict housekeeper with whom Benio has a lot of conflict. Period should be prewar Japan. At times tear-jerker, at times laugh till your side split. (CSP) I liked the book much better. IMHO, the artwork of the anime series was somewhat coarse. (LLB) VHS: 2 Tape 120 min each. 8182 Honey Honey no sutekina ? MIZUNO Eiko bouken * t Honey and her cat in a around the world adventure (HBV) Anime based on Mizuno's famous slapstick adventure. (HBV) VHS: 44 min. 87 Kaze to ki no uta (Sanctus) Weekly Shoujo TAKEMIYA Keiko Comic ***** o A man named Sergio reminisces about his youth at an all-boys school in 19th century France, and about his relationship with his wanton and troubled roommate, Gilbert who destined for a tragic end. (VIW) Takemiya originally had hard time to find publisher for the manga, until Shogakukan finally agreed to place it on "Shoujo Comic", but was later moved to "Petit Flower".The multi-talented director YASUHIKO Yoshigazu (a Takemiya fan), with the help of KAMIMURA Sachiko's artwork, succeeded in trying to reminisce the scenes of the manga for those who have read the manga, rather than to tell the coherent story. High, high romance here between the two main characters. Anime backed up by Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias. (AAK) LD/VHS: 60 Min 91 Kiss XXXX Margaret KUSUMOTO Maki ** o The image clip of Kusumoto's Kiss XXXX, a very very sweet love story between a gothic band singer and his bandmate's sister. (HBV) The image clip has pictures and quotes from the manga. Recommended for Kusumoto fans only. Very little animation. (HBV) LD/VHS 27 min. 7071 Mahou no Mako chan ? URAGAWA Shinobu ** t The adventure of Mako, a mermaid. (HBV) Mako is a model based on "Little Mermaid". This Asahi TV's anime TV series have 48 episodes. (HBV) VHS: TV selection 25 min. 7475 Majokko Megu chan NA NARITA Akio/ (Little Witch Meg) INOUE Tomo *** t Two young witches, Meg and Non, are chosen as the candidates for the next queen of the Magic Land. They are sent to the earth because the one who learns more from the human world will be regarded as the new queen. Hence, they starts homestaying with humans (except their host mothers, who are ex-witches and can use a little magic). Meg is freewheeling, tomboyish, and loves to live with human family; Non is cold-hearted and dislikes humans, but occasionally rescues her troublesome rival Meg, in order to make it `fair competition'...(AAK) Early work by ARAKI Shingo+HIMENO Michi. And I remember that there were quite a few number of male "Meg-chan" fans, because she actively behaves in mini-skirt, or sometimes, lingerie! (AAK) LD/VHS TV selection tape 25 min. 86 Mami.Emi.Perusha NA NA ** Something bad happened and all three girls (Mami, Emi and Perusha) are all needed to save the day. Mami and the others were reluctant, saying that they did not do magic anymore, but somehow they got whirled into the midst of a funny adventure. (CSP) Just so and so, funny but far from a must-see. (CSP) LD/VHS: 30 min. 86 Nayuta ?Flower SASAKI Junko *** o A young girl gained esp power, along her esp comrades, to battle an evil prince who was once her friend. (HBV) A Sci-Fi classic by Sasaki which is handicapped by outdated character design. (HBV) LD/VHS: 75 min. 91 Otohime Connection Betsukomi OOYA Katsumi (Princess Connection) Flower Comics *** o An all-male pop group doubles as a detective agency. The cute girl member of the agency is kidnapped when one of the men's past returns to trouble them all in the present. (VIW) Excellent pop soundtrack with plenty of songs, all in the right moment. (HBV) LD/VHS: 45 Min 92 Ruri iro Princess 1&2 Omajinai Comic ORIHARA Mito ** o Ruri, a high school girl, is involved into a succession fight while being a princess of a fantasy world. (HBV) This OVA is based on the popular manga of the same name. (HBV) VHS: 28 min. 90 Umezu Kazuo no Majinai Halloween UMEZU Kazuo Shoujo Comickan ** o In the first story, a high school girl uses a video camera to record some unusual phenomenon, while in the second story, adventurous high school girls made a visit to a local ghosthouse. (HBV) The anime is based on short stories by Umezu Kazuo, arguably one of the most famous mangakas in the world shoujo horror manga. (HBV) LD/VHS: Approx 45 min. 87 Yume kara, samenai ? SHIRAKURA Yumi o LD/VHS: 40 min. ================================================================= Titles: 16 =================================================================