Anime Update: Here's what I've been watching this week. In a way, writing these synopses sorta reminds me of my early days at Cal-Animage. Although it's sad to say, I don't think I've gotten any better at writing them. Another CAA alum seems to be stirring up some trouble.
Gundam Seed:
I'm currently wading through a HK pirate subtitled version of this show. It features some great literal translations such as calling every reference to a ship, mobile suit and fighter a "boat". I especially love their translation of the name "Artemis" as "The Moon Goddess" and "Archangel" as "Angel Trumbone". Aside from the translation problems, It's probably the best Gundam series to date with a good mix of story, excellent animation quality and great mech designs. (Most Gundam series are unbalanced in that one or more of those three qualities is weak).
Mahoromatic:
This is a romantic comedy in the same style of Ranma, Love Hina, Ai Yori Aoshi, Tenchi Muyo!. Actually, the comparison with Tenchi is probably the closest, because there's sort of this sci-fi backstory, but the setting is rather modern. Mahoro is a combat android, and in recognition of her services in defending the earth from alien invaders, she's been given the choice of either remaining in combat duty, in which her lifespan will expire in 37 days or to live out her remaining days as a civilian for a little bit over a year. Mahoro chooses the civilian life, being a maid to Suguru, a 14 year old orphan. Each episode ends with a countdown of days until Mahoro will stop functioning, along with some poetry read by one of the characters in the show. In one of the episodes, the dog Guri barks his little poem (very much like the dog barking ending theme of Excel Saga). The ending theme (Mahoro de Mambo) is especially catchy. While being very fun to watch, there are a number of sexual jokes, so I would not say that this is a series for everyone.
Chobits
What happens when they start making Personal Computers which look like humans? How will life change? Those seem to be the questions asked and answered by CLAMP (creators of Magical Knights Rayearth, X, Tokyo Babylon, Angelic Layer) in this series. While not giving too much away, the basic premise is that Hideki finds a PersoCom that someone has thrown away, the only problem being that Hideki knows nothing about PersoComs or Chi, the PersoCom he finds. Of course, Hideki's friend Minoru alludes to the fact that Chi may be linked to the mysterious Chobits.
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