Samurai Bride

This show takes place in an alternate version of Japan, based on the Edo Period, but it takes place in modern time. Samurai still exist but live in isolation after WW2 (still defeated by the USA). Muneakira Yagyu has come to seek out the Buou academy where young folks learn samurai skills. There he discovers a 2 small factions, that is 2 girls each, fighting for control of the academy. the young looking Yukimura argues with the stuck up prima donna Sen until a battle ensues with Muneakira stuck in the middle. Suddenly a powerful beam of light appears in the sky and ends at Muneakira's feet. There a teen red head girl appears...nude. She awakens and Muneakira holds her, at which point they share a kiss. She becomes reanimated and becomes a powerful fierce warrior that takes no prisoners. Suddenly she faints and as she awakens again, she's a typical bubbly school teen. The others try to figure out who she is and how she got that power and why it comes and goes. Another encounter reveals that if she kisses Muneakira, a samurai descendant, she gains the power again and reveals she is Yagyu Jubei. Now the two quarreling ladies try to keep each other from kissing Muneakira, hoping to activate their hidden powers...

I was a little confused over this series, not able to figure out if this was a period or modern setting. Once I saw a character using a cellphone I surmised it was modern but with historical overtones. Aside from that, knowing that the samurai code still exists in this timeline will help you understand the setup, not to mention who is everbody. The characters are actual exist samurai back in the day, though in a different incarnation, in this case mostly women. Now I've seen this a couple of times before in anime in varying degrees of success. This time I think it works, and the tone of the anime blends pretty well the samurai drama with schoolgirl comedy. Also to add to the mix is the character designs for the women which are very sexy and curvy. And whereas Majikoi-Oh censored all of the nudity in that series, Samurai Bride does NOT! In fact the only thing not seen is Muneakira's privates when he ends up naked, though they were really pushing the limit when one underdeveloped girl character (looking like a loli in fact) is naked and sits on said naked guys lap to steal a kiss! Oh did I mention the servant who is masochistic? I don't see why it needed to be overtly adult here, though everything is awesome to look at and the action is pretty good. On that grounds I give it a minor thumbs up.

Digimon Adventure tri

This series takes place 4 years after the original 2nd season of Digimon, and continues the story with most of the kids in the everyday lives in their high school years. Taichi and friends are doing their own thing and seem to be drifting apart. Taichi is ready for a soccer match, while Yamato gets ready for a gig with his band. Suddenly strange digital anomalies are occurring in the skies over Tokyo, causing electronic desruptions. And some strange flying creature is phasing in and out. Tai alerts the others and Mimi is contacted from overseas. The disruptions get worse until finally the monster appears in solid form in the streets of Tokyo causing mayhem and distruction. Taichi has no choice but to summon Agumon once again to battle the rogue digital monster. More of these same digimon appear at the airport, and a school teacher gives the gang a ride there and another mysterious lady also offers her assistance. Apparently they're actually part of a secret Digimon monitor organization, and have been watching the disruptions and agree they need to be stopped. The fallout gets worse, and Taichi fears people will get hurt as his digimon fights the corrupted digimon. All of the Digidestined reunite, along with busy Joe and the overseas Mimi to fight off Kuwagamon. Soon another corrupted digimon appears, as well as another new girl student who seems to have her own Digimon...

I remember the original Digimon series on TV in the early 2000s, and one thing that was good about was even with the English dub, it retained it's cultural background mostly, if you compare it the Pokemon dub. Watched the series to their conclusions, but never really thought about what they did in their teen years. It's great they decided to bring back the series to celebrate the anniversary. As for the series itself, it definitely has matured. What I mean is back with original series, it was geared for kids as the kids were the main characters. And as the kids grew to adulthood, so has the new series. There is a definite more serious tone in the forehand, while there are humorous moments between the mayhem, and of course the little digimon are still cute. Taichi definitely is the heart of the drama again, as he is very concerned over the destruction being caused by the digimon in the real world, while Yamato is angry at Tai's hesitation to fight because of that. Joe is so caught up with his studies he has distanced himself from the others, although he has time for a girlfriend. There's also a hint of a coupling or romance between 2 characters, but that's for you to discover on your own. As for the episode structure, they seemed to end rather abruptly and not really a wrap up for what has happened. But then I found out this series was released as a series of films, and for the tv version they had to chop up the movie into 4 parts, ending each episode at a decent spot. There are actually 4 films, which equals about 12 tv episodes. Knowing that, I can say I enjoyed seeing the Digimon gang again, alive and well, grown up and still kicking butt. The character designs are nice to look at, and the action has been pumped up and better animated than the originals. If you've enjoyed the originals, then you should check out this sequel. Thumbs Up.