[continued from previous message]   
      
   that crowd.  This series may be the closest thing so far to an heir of   
   ESCAFLOWNE.   
      Available in North America from Geneon, and in Australia from Madman.   
      [Entry by Michael Lo]   
      
      LAUGHING TARGET:  Another serious story from Rumiko Takahashi (in   
   her "Rumik World" series), this takes many of Takahashi's favourite   
   cliches (unwanted engagements, a love triangle, teenaged protagonists,   
   etc.) and puts them into a supernatural-horror story.  Was available   
   from USMC.   
      [Entry by Rob Kelk]   
      
      LEGEND OF GALACTIC HEROES:  A far-future SF epic in which two vast   
   space-faring governments, the Empire and the Federation, vie for   
   supremacy amid the sea of stars.  Against this backdrop two young   
   heroes on the opposing sides wage war with each other and politics   
   with their peers.   
      
      LENSMAN:  Loosely based around the E.E. "Doc" Smith stories, an   
   ex-patrolman suddenly finds his planet being ripped apart, but all is   
   not lost!  His son inherits a "lens", which because of the nature of   
   the info on it, the enemy would really like it back, hence its   
   destruction of the planet and relentless pursuit of the boy from that   
   point onwards through all sorts of weird scenarios.  However he   
   gathers allies on the way, so the enemy doesn't get it all its own   
   way...   
      [Entry by Chika]   
      [Chika is understating matters - this anime uses little more than   
   some of the names from the original series of novels.  It isn't a bad   
   story, but don't expect it to be anything like "Doc" Smith's   
   masterpiece.  Lensman was available dubbed from Streamline when   
   Streamline was still in business.   - Rob Kelk]   
      
      LOCKE THE SUPERMAN:  An intergalactically famous superbeing lured   
   out of voluntary seclusion helps save Earth from a group of elite   
   ESPers bent on galactic conquest.  The design sense is rather   
   primitive but the story line is lean, exciting and propulsive,   
   revolving around the title character, a powerful female ESPer, and an   
   evil conclave.  Admittedly, these are simple premises, but the action   
   & storytelling are first-rate.   
      
      LODOSS WAR:  see RECORD OF LODOSS WAR   
      
      LOST UNIVERSE:  Lost Universe is done by all the same people who   
   did SLAYERS, and it's pretty much SLAYERS in outer space.  It's a   
   Sci-Fi comedy which follows the adventures of Kain Blueriver, a   
   psychic troubleshooter that hires himself out to solve problems and   
   looks like he could be the child of Lina and Gourry, and his ship the   
   Swordbreaker, which is one of the lost ships belonging to a highly   
   advanced lost civilization.  Joining him is Canal, the holographic   
   image which the ship projects to communicate, and Millie, a dead shot   
   who blows up kitchens cooking and wants to become the best something   
   or other in the Universe (exactly what changes with every episode).   
   Despite some not so great animation, those fuzzy dots that move around   
   are not because of a bad TV, the series is an enjoyable comedy done in   
   SLAYERS fashion, and although it doesn't quite live up to its parent   
   anime it's the closest thing out there to a fourth season of SLAYERS   
   right now.  Available from ADV Films.   
      [Entry by "Sultan Of Swing"]   
      
      LOVE HINA:  Keitaro Urashima, a 20 year old "ronin" (student who   
   has failed his university entrance exams) gets a job as the caretaker   
   at his grandmother's old hot springs inn.  What he doesn't know is   
   that she has turned it into a girls-only dorm.  The girls aren't   
   pleased at first to have him there, but eventually accept him, and   
   Keitaro starts to fall in love with one of the girls, named Naru.  But   
   Keitaro is haunted by the vague memories of having promised, when he   
   was young, to go to Tokyo U with a girl whose name he has since   
   forgotten.   
      What develops is a romantic comedy, with a fair amount of surreal   
   humor, and a number of fun, memorable characters.  This was a big, big   
   hit in Japan.  Non-Japanese fans of the manga version tend to have   
   real problems with the anime version since it varies a lot from the   
   manga.  I saw the anime first, then read the manga, and tend to like   
   the anime more.   
      Available from Bandai in North America, or Madman in Australia.   
      [Entry by Anthony D. Baranyi]   
      
      LUPIN III:  A semi-modern series of (TV & OAV) stories about a   
   stylish thief with a heart of gold and his gang.  My personal favorite   
   installment is CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO (directed by Miyazaki), although   
   THE FUMA CONSPIRACY is one of the most action-packed and entertaining   
   anime around.  Most LUPIN III is not by Miyazaki, but by a fellow who   
   calls himself "Monkey Punch" (I'm not making this up, you know).   
      ["The Fuma Conspiracy" is available from AnimEigo, under the name   
   "Rupan III".  "Castle of Cagliostro" is available from Manga Video.   
   Other Lupin III shows exist, but many, including one also available   
   from AnimEigo, are not recommended by the fans.   - Rob Kelk]   
      
      
   (continued in Part 4)   
   --   
   Rob Kelk  robkelk -at- jksrv -dot- com   
     "I'm *not* a kid!  Nyyyeaaah!"  - Skuld (in "Oh My Goddess!" OAV #3)   
   "When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of   
    childishness and the desire to be very grown-up."    - C.S. Lewis, 1947   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)