[continued from previous message]   
      
   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.   
      Licenced by Right Stuf.   
      [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]   
      
      TSUKUYOMI MOON PHASE:  Kohei is a young man from a family of powerful   
   spiritualists who happens to not have any of the powers of his   
   relatives, other than an ability to take photographs of supernatural   
   occurrences and a tendency to not be affected by many aspects of magic.   
   Kohei's life begins to change when while on an assignment to photograph   
   an old haunted castle in Germany he meets a pretty young girl named   
   Hazuki who happens to be a vampire who has been trapped in the castle.   
   Kohei helps Hazuki to break free, and becomes involved in Hazuki's   
   search for her mother who disappeared years before.  But powerful forces   
   in the shadowy world of vampires want Hazuki back, and Kohei finds   
   himself in the role of protecting Hazuki while trying to come to an   
   understanding of their odd mutual attraction.  With a brilliant and   
   witty script that is matched by aggressively edgy animation, masterful   
   swings between French bedroom farce-style humor and gothic horror, a   
   compelling sound track and very likable characters, Tsukuyomi is a   
   totally enjoyable fantasy.   
      [Entry by Dave Baranyi]   
      
      THE TWELVE KINGDOMS:  see JUUNI KOKKI   
      
   U   
      
      URUSEI YATSURA:  The title translates as something like THOSE   
   OBNOXIOUS ALIENS, though the title itself is actually a pun in Japanese.   
   This was the series that broke Rumiko Takahashi onto the manga and anime   
   scene, first in Japan, then around the world.  Ataru Moroboshi is this   
   planet's unluckiest person, so it was a foregone conclusion that he   
   would be the target of a contest, the outcome deciding the future of the   
   world.  When Moroboshi wins unexpectedly, his cry of "Now I can be   
   married!" is misinterpreted by his "Oni" opponent, a rather nubile young   
   thing called Lum.  Now Lum believes herself to be married to her   
   "darling", much to the disgust of most of the male population of   
   Tomobiki-cho.  A full compliment of characters conspire to make life   
   interesting for the happy couple, as well as copious numbers of special   
   and repetitive guests in this long-running series which includes six   
   movies, several OAV's and more than 200 TV episodes.   
      Originally released as a subtitled-only series by AnimEigo, though a   
   dub version was attempted - that was aborted after only two episodes due   
   to unfavourable feedback from fans.   
      [Entry by Chika]   
      
      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,"   
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)