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   from Manga Video, subtitled on 3 VHS tapes.  No dub is available.  No   
   date for a DVD release is known.   
      [Entry by Slithy Tove]   
      
      GUNDAM (MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM, STARDUST MEMORIES, WAR IN THE POCKET, MS   
   TEAM 08, ZETA GUNDAM, ZZ GUNDAM, CHAR'S COUNTERATTACK, GUNDAM WING,   
   etc.):  One thing to keep in mind with GUNDAM is that there are two main   
   continuities.  One is known by the Universal Calendar and the other is   
   the After Colony calender.  The UC timeline is the original, while the   
   newer Gundam Wing universe uses the AC timeline.  Other than that they   
   have giant robots and semi-realistic near-future Earth space   
   civilizations at war, they don't interelate much.   
      MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM was the first 'gritty' and 'realistic' giant robot   
   stories, paving the way for other series.  Before MS GUNDAM, most giant   
   robot stories were vehicles for selling toys in Japan.  GUNDAM   
   revolutionized the genre by putting a background and a more realistic   
   use of giant robots.  GUNDAM is war story, with extras.   
      Adding in ambiguous allies and enemies and an unusual manifest   
   destiny, it managed to tell a compelling story of a young man thrust   
   into the middle of an unwanted war.  He and the ship he ends up on   
   become the pivot on which their history is decided.  The UC timeline has   
   the colonies rebelling against a static Earth Federation.  One of the   
   more interesting points is that no one is really good or evil, per se.   
   Both have faults and heroes, both have their villans.  The Gundam units   
   are on Earth's side for the most part.   
      MS GUNDAM, STARDUST MEMORIES, WAR IN THE POCKET and MS TEAM 08 all   
   are based (loosely) in the UC timeline.  They all use or make mention of   
   the One Year War.   
      Many GUNDAM shows are available from Bandai in North America.   
      GUNDAM WING (and the finale, GUNDAM WING:  ENDLESS WALTZ) are based   
   in the newer AC (After Colony) timeline.  A repressive Earth government   
   is tyranizing everyone, holding an iron grip over their colonies.  The   
   colonies finally rebel, using five Gundam mobile suits.  Piloted by   
   young freedom fighters, they are the colonies best hope to break the   
   iron grip of Earth.  Part soldiers and part terrorists, the young pilots   
   fight and interact with foes.  Still a war drama, GUNDAM WING puts an   
   effort into some social commentary on war and death.   
      GUNDAM WING has been televised in the U.S., and is available from   
   Bandai in North America and Madman in Australia.   
      [Entry by Arthur Hansen]   
      
      GUNDAM WING:  see GUNDAM   
      
      GUNDAM WING:  ENDLESS WALTZ:  see GUNDAM   
      
      GUNNM:  see BATTLE ANGEL   
      
      GUNSLINGER GIRL:  This is a thirteen-episode series set in modern-day   
   Italy, rife with political and police corruption, organised crime and   
   terrorism.  A shadowy government agency uses cyborged adolescent girls   
   as assassins, tied to their supervisors ("fratello", or siblings) by   
   brainwashing and mental conditioning for obedience and loyalty.  The   
   story is often bloody and violent but also includes scenes where the   
   girls interact with each other and their fratello in a remarkably   
   sympathetic manner.  Each of the girls featured has a distinct   
   personality, often mirroring their fratello for whom they feel   
   "affection" in differing ways.   
      In the wrong hands this series could have been superficial; Madhouse   
   are to be congratulated on avoiding the obvious pitfalls.  The character   
   animation is not the finest but the backgrounds are faithful to the   
   Italian cities the stories are set in.  The violence is realistically   
   displayed; blood and death are inextricably linked in this series.   
   Technically, the depiction of firearms is pretty well spot-on.  Each of   
   the girls has a signature weapon and uses it appropriately, a rarity in   
   anime.  American R1 licencing was announced by FUNimation in June 2004;   
   the R2 Japanese DVDs are already being released.   
      [Entry by Robert Sneddon]   
      
      GUNSMITH CATS:  Rally Vincent and May Hopkins are bounty-hunters in   
   Chicago.  Rally is a sharp-shooter with a passion for fast 70's sports   
   cars, and May likes explosives - lots of explosives.  A BATF agent   
   named Bill Collins "hires" Rally to help him break up a gun-smuggling   
   ring, and big trouble ensues, leading eventually to the Mayor's   
   office.  Based loosely on the manga by Kenichi Sonoda.  Good art and   
   animation.  Some violence and lots of shooting.  Three episodes.   
   Subbed and dubbed.  From ADV Films.   
      [Entry by Ben Cantrick]   
      
   H   
      
      HAIBANE RENMEI (variously translated as ASH WINGS ALLIANCE,   
   CHARCOAL FEATHERS FEDERATION, or variations on these; review written   
   after 3 episodes):  HAIBANE RENMEI is a mysterious and low key story   
   about a girl who wakes up to find she's become an angel, complete with   
   wings and halo.  Unable to remember her past life or even her name,   
   she finds herself in a community of angels (or Ash Wings as they call   
   themselves, due to their pale grey wings), who live a pretty ordinary   
   life near a town of normal people who treat the angels as a   
   subservient race:  tolerated, but not allowed to possess money or wear   
   new clothes.  But the town is surrounded by a high wall, and no-one   
   knows what lies beyond it, and no-one has ever been beyond it apart   
   from the crows and some mysterious beings who periodically visit the   
   town but whom no-one is allowed to talk to.  The main character and   
   general look of the people are reminiscent of LAIN, and HAIBANE RENMEI   
   seems to have started life as a (LAIN?) doujinshi.   
      [Entry by Shez]   
      
      HERE IS GREENWOOD:  Hasakawa has the worst luck:  He's late for his   
   high school entry exams, then he's late for high school, and his older   
   brother has married the woman of his dreams.  As he heads to school,   
   he figures things are looking up, until he finds out he's been put in   
   "GreenWood", the dorm notorious for its weird residents.  Having a   
   roommate who looks like a girl is the *least* of his problems ...   
      [Entry by Catherine Johnson]   
      
      HEROIC LEGEND OF ARISLAN:  see ARSLAN SENKI   
      
      HIKARU NO GO:  This series runs to 75 episodes and a couple of   
   specials.  Shindou Hikaru, a lazy 12-year-old boy, is possessed by the   
   spirit of a thousand-year-old master of the game of Go, Fujiwara no Sai.   
   In his attempts to let the ghost play the game it loves, Hikaru   
   encounters a child prodigy, Touya Akira, who becomes obsessed with   
   Hikaru's unbelievable skill at Go (Sai is invisible to everybody but   
   Hikaru and can only play through him).  He determines to find out the   
   secret behind Hikaru and thus begins a story of obsession, rivalry,   
   triumph, disaster, and occasional humour.   
      Ooookaaay.  Go doesn't appear to be the best basis for an engrossing   
   drama, but this anime conversion from a popular manga is surprisingly   
   good.  Hikaru's development from lazy kid to determined adolescent is   
   engaging, as are the accompanying characters who get involved as he   
   learns to play Go for himself and chases after Touya, aiming for a   
   career as a professional Go player and attempting to discover the "Hand   
   of God", the perfect move.  The animation quality is usually very good   
   (with occasional lapses).  Time passes and the characters grow up,   
   visibly, over the years.  The Go games that are the focus of the story   
   are animated in a surprisingly dramatic manner and the tensions between   
   the players are made clear.  The details of the Go world in Japan, China   
   and Korea are accurately portrayed; the writers did a lot of research to   
   enhance the story.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)