[continued from previous message]   
      
   detail, as is the far future.  Great plot complications throughout.   
      
      TO HEART:  A 13 episode slice of life drama about a group of   
   17-year-old high-school students.  The nail-biting climax of episode   
   one concerns whether or not Akari, a total sweetie with cherry-red   
   hair, will get to sit next to the boy she likes, and the rest of the   
   series pretty much follows on at the same tempo.  Akari's squeeze is   
   the sleepy-headed but kind-hearted Hiroyuki, whose ever-helpful nature   
   causes him to acquire new female friends in each episode.  The genius   
   of this charming series is how its focus on the events of everyday   
   life manages to elevate them to a level of importance that supplants   
   any need for magical superheroes or quests to save the world.  Having   
   said that, many of the girls that Hiroyuki befriends have intriguing   
   quirks:  e.g. Serika practices black magic, Kotone is a psychic who   
   only makes unlucky predictions, and Multi is an incompetent android   
   sent to the school for field trials.   
      Rather remarkably for a TV series that is bordering on shoujo, TO   
   HEART actually started life as a Hentai dating sim.  As well as the 13   
   episodes, there are 6 little "omake" (extras) which were originally   
   broadcast with some of the episodes.  They use super-deformed versions   
   of the characters and are mostly even more low key than the main   
   episodes.   
      [Entry by Shez]   
      
      TONARI NO TOTORO:  see MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO   
      
      TRIGUN:  A sci-fi western comedy (mostly) focusing around the   
   world's most unlikely criminal, Vash the Stampede.  The man is   
   apparently so dangerous that he's worth 60,000,000,000$$ ("double   
   dollars"), but whenever anyone catches up to him in hopes of snagging   
   the reward, they're always thwarted:  sometimes by his skill with a   
   gun, but mostly by his inherent goofiness.  However, Vash does have a   
   dark past, so mysterious that even he himself doesn't know what it is!   
   All in all, a fairly lighthearted show with some serious themes, but a   
   hilarious watch.  (Geneon)   
      [Entry by KireiSarah]   
      
      TSUKIKAGE RAN (a.k.a. KAZEMAKASE TSUKIKAGE RAN, CARRIED BY THE WIND):   
   Ran, a female samurai, is a self-described "beautiful female drifter"   
   wandering through feudal Japan, carried only by the ever-changing wind   
   and her eternal thirst for sake.  Generally accompanying her is Miao   
   (Meow), a wandering martial artist from China characterised mostly by   
   happy-go-luckiness, a good heart, and an utter, frightening lack of   
   anything resembling forethought or intelligence.  Together the two,   
   rather more frequently than Ran would like, get embroiled in resolving   
   problems of local corruption or crime.  An episodic light-hearted parody   
   of Japanese "wandering samurai and his sidekick" shows, high points   
   being likable characters and spectacular fight scenes.  13 episodes,   
   available now from Bandai.   
      [Entry by Blade]   
      
      THE TWELVE KINGDOMS:  see JUUNI KOKKI   
      
   U   
      
      URUSEI YATSURA (translates as something like THOSE OBNOXIOUS   
   ALIENS):  A slap-stick screwball comedy about Lum, the flying   
   electro-demon girl from space, Ataru, the earth boy she wants, and a   
   host of other crazy characters.  Popular madness in TV, OAV, and movie   
   formats by Rumiko Takahashi.  This entire series is being released   
   from AnimEigo in dubbed and subbed formats.  (The second movie is   
   available subbed from USMC.  Don't ask...)   
      [After hearing the fans' opinion of the dub of the first episodes,   
   AnimEigo decided to release the remainder of the URUSEI YATSURA TV   
   series in subtitled format only.  The UY OAVs are available in the UK   
   from MVM.   - Rob Kelk]   
      
      UTENA (a.k.a. SHOUJO KAKUMEI UTENA, REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA):  You   
   could go off roses!  A different twist on the magical girl series in   
   that the subject here makes no attempt to transform into anything   
   except by the fact that as a very young girl, grieving her parents'   
   death, she encounters a "prince" who comforts her and tells her that   
   they are destined to meet again, giving her a ring.  She vows to grow   
   up as noble as this prince, but takes it too literally, shunning the   
   usual fuku of her peers for more masculine garb.  On her acceptance to   
   a school with a mysterious club, she finds that not only were there   
   other people with the same ring as her, but that they regularly fought   
   for the hand of the "Rose Bride", in the hope that eventually the   
   lucky winner will gain entry to the strange castle visible from the   
   duelling ring, though each has a different reason driving them.   
   Available from Software Sculptors.   
      [Entry by Chika]   
      
   V   
      
      VAMPIRE HUNTER D (1985):  A.D. 12,090 is a lot like the Old West,   
   except for the mutants and vampires.  When Count Magnus Lee, an   
   ancient and powerful bloodsucker, sets his sights on a young woman of   
   the frontier, Doris Lang, she hires a cape-clad, sword-swinging   
   stranger known simply as D to get rid of a suitor who doesn't   
   understand "No."  D must fight his way past a horde of supernatural   
   guardians as well as taking on Count Lee himself, and also must   
   contend with his own unnatural aspects.  In addition to being a   
   dhampir (half human and half vampire), D has in his left palm a   
   symbiotic creature that exercises weird powers on his behalf but also   
   taunts him for his shortcomings at every opportunity.   
      Some fans look down on VHD for its crude animation and cliched   
   storyline, but it has become a cult classic, perhaps for its stunning   
   imagery and larger-than-life conflicts.  There's romance as well when   
   Doris starts falling for her half-human savior.  VHD is also notable   
   for its violence, as D's blade slices through nearly anything that   
   will make a blood splash.  Tetsuya Komuro's soundtrack gives a rich   
   atmosphere to both action and quieter moments.   
      Available from Urban Vision.   
      [Entry by Cathy Krusberg]   
      
      VAMPIRE HUNTER D (2000):  A second Vampire Hunter D movie was   
   released to Japanese theaters in April 2001 and is slated for American   
   theatrical release in September 2001.  Also titled "Vampire Hunter D,"   
   it is based on the third novel in Hideyuki Kikuchi's VHD series, "D -   
   Yousatsukou" (D - Demon Deathchase).  D is hired to retrieve a woman   
   kidnapped by the vampire Meier Link, but his task is complicated by   
   two factors:  a competing set of hunters, and the true love that led   
   the woman to accompany Meier of her own will.  The character designs   
   in the new movie are much closer to Yoshitaka Amano's vision, and the   
   animation is top notch.   
      [Entry by Cathy Krusberg]   
      
      VAMPIRE PRINCESS MIYU: An enterprising young woman crosses paths with   
   a strange girl named Miyu, a demon-hunter who is the last of her kind,   
   and follows her as she banishes Shinma with her flame.  This dark,   
   frustratingly short tale about the monsters without and within is a   
   pretty refreshing take on the vampire genre, giving us just enough   
   tragedy without seeming too ham-handed.   
      Parental Advisories:  Heavy violence (blood and gore) and implied   
   adult themes.   
      [Entry by Dot Warner]   
      
      VAMPIRE PRINCESS MIYU TV: This 26-episode series follows Miyu's life   
   as a schoolgirl.  In addition to fighting monsters, the focus is placed   
   more on Miyu's need for blood.  She also gets a cute anthromorphic   
   talking monster and spends way too much screen time angsting about being   
   a vampire.  I consider it to be vastly inferior to the OAV series,   
   although some fans think that the TV depiction of Miyu is more   
   sympathetic.   
      Parental Advisories:  Heavy violence (blood and gore) and implied   
   adult themes.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)