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      BROTHER, DEAR BROTHER:  see ONIISAMA E   
      
      BUBBLEGUM CRISIS:  A "cyberpunk" style anime that centers around   
   the mercenary (or perhaps vigilante) group, the "Knight Sabers".   
   These four women use powered armor to accomplish their missions.   
   There are eight OVAs in this series, and two major story arcs.  The   
   Genom megacorporation acts as the main villain in the series, but   
   there is serious question as to whether Genom is actually evil or not.   
   The humanoid robots, boomers, that Genom produces are used in combat,   
   and occasionally go rogue, but they also save lives and are   
   responsible for rebuilding Tokyo after the second Kanto quake.  The   
   plot is interesting and involving, if sometimes hard to follow.   
      The series owes a lot to the US movie BLADE RUNNER, and includes   
   several references to the movie.  For example, one of the Knight   
   Sabers, Priss, is the lead singer in a band called "The Replicants".   
   As in the movie BLADE RUNNER, one of the central issues in the series   
   is the question of what makes us people, and whether the created life   
   forms may be people.   
      The animation is somewhat dated, as is the music.  Still, the hard   
   80's rock sound is not at all painful to listen to, and the animation   
   holds up well over the years.  The characters and mecha were designed   
   by Kenichi Sonoda, of GUNSMITH CATS fame, and look good even after all   
   this time.  The dub is considered by many to be very bad, especially   
   the remakes of the songs.   
      BUBBLEGUM CRISIS has spawned several spin off series, a sequel,   
   BUBBLEGUM CRASH, and the recent remake BUBBLEGUM CRISIS 2040.   
      BUBBLEGUM CRISIS is available from AnimEigo in North America, MVM   
   in the United Kingdom, and Madman in Australia.   
      [Entry by Brad Jackson, edited by Rob Kelk]   
      
      BUBBLEGUM CRISIS TOKYO 2040:  BGC2040 is a 26-episode TV series   
   that "borrows" certain elements from the original BUBBLEGUM CRISIS,   
   but changes them enough to make it an alternative retelling of the   
   original story.  The basic concept is the same:  Four women use   
   powered armor to fight a secret war against renegade androids   
   (Boomers) and the shady corporation who makes them (Genom).  Some   
   things (such as Priss being a biker chick and singer of a rock band)   
   remain the same from the original series, but most other aspects are   
   completely different, ranging from the personalities of the characters   
   to the nature of the technology they use.  As a result, the show has a   
   different feel than its predecessor - at times it feels more like   
   EVANGELION than BLADE RUNNER.  Many (but not all) fans of the original   
   series dislike this show intensely.  Much of the criticism has to do   
   with certain plot twists that strike some as implausible.  However,   
   BGC2040 has its own fans as well.  It's probably best to judge the   
   show on its own, rather than comparing it against its famous   
   predecessor.  Available from ADV Films in North America, and Madman in   
   Australia.   
      [Entry by Scott Fujimoto]   
      
      BURN UP W:  Surrounding a group of specially selected (female)   
   police who, when called into action, display special skills (and a lot   
   more in those inevitable skin tight costumes!)  This series runs   
   through a number of side plots but is essentially concerned with an   
   underworld plot to control the minds of various powerful folk using an   
   addictive device.  Available from ADV Films in North America, and   
   Madman in Australia.   
      [Entry by Chika]   
      
      CAMPUS GUARDRESS:  see BAKUEN CAMPUS GUARDRESS   
      
      CARDCAPTOR SAKURA (a.k.a. CARDCAPTORS):  A sweet and charming   
   'magical girl' show by the popular CLAMP team, built on the framework   
   of a collectable card game.  4th grader Kinomoto Sakura accidentally   
   releases a number of magical cards from an ancient book. With the aid   
   of the cards' guardian, Keroberos, who appears as a winged toy bear,   
   and her adoring girlfriend Tomoyo, Sakura must recapture the cards and   
   return them to their book, using the captured cards' powers to help   
   her.  Complications ensue with the appearance of other seekers of the   
   cards.  CARDCAPTOR SAKURA is as much about the joys, vicissitudes and   
   perplexities of growing up, of what friendship really means, of how to   
   be brave in the face of danger, as it is about its frame story of the   
   chase after magical cards.  As with all CLAMP shows, the character and   
   costume designs are utterly charming, and as with all CLAMP shows,   
   there are hints of homoeroticism.   
      This show is commercially available in the US (from Geneon) in two   
   formats:  'Cardcaptor Sakura' has Japanese language and English   
   subtitles only, and has not been edited for content; 'Cardcaptors',   
   with an English dub only, is the version that was shown on American   
   TV, and is heavily edited.  Only the latter is available in Australia   
   (from Madman).   
      [Entry by Slithy Tove]   
      
      CARRIED BY THE WIND:  see TSUKIKAGE RAN   
      
      CASTLE IN THE SKY:  see LAPUTA   
      
      CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO:  see the entry for LUPIN III   
      
      CAT-GIRL NUKU-NUKU:  see ALL PURPOSE CULTURAL CAT-GIRL NUKU-NUKU   
      
      CHAR'S COUNTERATTACK:  see GUNDAM   
      
      CHARCOAL FEATHERS FEDERATION:  see HAIBANE RENMEI   
      
      A CHINESE GHOST STORY:  A naive tax collector is surprised to find   
   that he was assigned to work in the land of ghosts and spirits.  Too   
   late, he already fell in love with a beautiful ghost who wants to   
   harvest his soul for her mistress.  He can resist her spell and wins   
   her love, but now the two lovers find themselves in the middle of a   
   battle between the three best ghostbusters of the land.  Loosely based   
   on the same Chinese fairy tale as the popular live-action Hong Kong   
   movie of the same name.  Beautiful character design and 2D animation,   
   badly mixed with ugly, overdone 3D computer graphics that brings down   
   the overall experience.  Yet the great (very Chinese) humour and a   
   cute story save the film.   
      [Entry by Hanno Mueller]   
      
      CHOBITS:  (Review written after 16 episodes & all 8 manga volumes in   
   North America)  A country boy, Hideki Motosuwa, moves to the big city to   
   get an education and hopefully one day get into college.  Upon arriving   
   in the big city, he is awestruck by Persocoms.  (A persocom is a   
   computer that looks like a human with weird ears.)  However, he is too   
   poor to be able to afford one, so he struggles and finds a job.  One   
   night after work, he comes across a Persocom wrapped up in bandages and   
   left in the garbage.  He takes it home, and after several hours of   
   trying to activate it, he finally stumbles on it (definitely in an ecchi   
   place) and finds out that the only thing it can do is say "Chii", so he   
   decides to name "her" Chii.  He eventually gets help from a computer   
   expert he goes to classes with named Shinbo (who happens to have a   
   handheld persocom named Sumomo [Plum in the manga]), and with the help   
   of Shinbo, Sumomo, and others he comes across he learns that Chii is a   
   special kind of Persocom, and may even be a legendary Chobit.  All the   
   while Hideki struggles with finances and somehow a book series that Chii   
   got hooked on somehow tells the story of Persocoms and Humans, and   
   eventually, even the story of Chii and Hideki.  This series is   
   recommended by Geneon to be for 16 & up, and I agree, since there are a   
   few moments that are ecchi.  However the series is innocent enough as   
   nothing truly dirty happens in it.  Released by Geneon in North   
   America.   
      [Entry by Bill Martin]   
      
      CHRONICLES OF THE HEROIC KNIGHT:  see RECORD OF LODOSS WAR   
      
      COMBUSTIBLE CAMPUS GUARDRESS:  see BAKUEN CAMPUS GUARDRESS   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)