[continued from previous message]   
      
   from a sinking floatplane and then they have to avoid the torpedoes of a   
   prowling US submarine.   
      Just by being there the Mirai and its crew start to immediately   
   change history.  Very quickly both sides are looking for the "mystery   
   ship".  The Americans are scared of yet another Japanese "super weapon"   
   coming upon them unexpectedly.  And the Japanese want to know just what   
   is this ship that has a Japanese crew but seems so foreign.  The many   
   details of the early part of WW II in the Pacific are brought into play,   
   particularly the distrust between the Services on both sides and the   
   fatalism of the leadership of the IJN after the debacle at Midway.  But   
   the story becomes very human too, due to the comparisons and contrasts   
   made between Yosuke Kadomatsu, the second-in-command of the Mirai and   
   Takumi Kusaka - the young IJN intelligence officer who has been given a   
   second chance at life and a detailed look at a future that may be, but   
   doesn't have to be.   
      ZIPANG is a brilliantly conceived and executed tour-de-force that   
   develops a true clash-of-cultures then deals with it intelligently and   
   honestly.  Punches are not pulled, nor are there any copouts.  This is a   
   story about war and it deals with both the bravery and the horror on   
   many levels.  Breathtaking action and serious drama are given equal   
   billing and the viewer is forced to consider what choices he or she   
   would make in similar situations.  And while a viewer who has some level   
   of knowledge of the War in the Pacific will find much to enjoy in this   
   series, the humanity of the characters and the questions that are asked   
   make ZIPANG a compelling story even for those who only have a cursory   
   knowledge of those events some sixty years that shaped the World we know   
   today.   
      [Entry by Dave Baranyi]   
      
      ZZ GUNDAM:  see GUNDAM   
      
   --   
   Rob Kelk  robkelk -at- gmail -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)