REVIEW: Animation Runner Kuromi 2 (anime OVA)

Animation Runner Kuromi 2 is a comedy. I reviewed the first Animation Runner Kuromi way back in 2009 (when my posting style involved many more spoilers - I pretty much lay out the whole thing, so beware if that would bother you).

Review:

Kuromi is still at Studio Petit but now has more experience. Unfortunately, this time around she has been given an impossible task: act as head of production for three anime series at once, all done by Studio Petit, with no corresponding increase in staff. As usual, most of the animators continue to make excuses and leave before all of their work is done. There's no way they'll manage to simultaneously complete three series when they could previously barely manage one.

In steps veteran producer Takashimadaira to show Kuromi how to handle the situation. Unfortunately, his way of doing things involves drastically speeding up the schedule and cutting lots of corners. Everyone at the studio is unhappy, and the animation quality is suffering. Is there some way the situation could be saved?

REVIEW: Black Butler: Book of Murder (anime OVA)

Black Butler: Book of Murder combines fantasy, mystery, and historical elements. It's approximately two hours long.

Review:

This OVA is based on Black Butler manga volumes 9 through 11. I read them way back in 2013, so I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the OVA was very faithful to the manga.

I highly recommend that Black Butler newbies not start with this OVA. At the very least, watch Black Butler: Book of Circus first, since Book of Murder references it and parts of the story depend heavily upon it.

Okay, in Book of Murder Ciel is confronted by the "Double Charles." The Queen suspects Ciel lied about the circumstances behind all the deaths at the Baron's home back in Book of Circus, and she's giving him an opportunity to reaffirm his loyalty. He has been instructed to hold a party. She has selected the guest  of honor, Georg von Siemens, to be accompanied by her butler, Charles Grey, and has allowed Ciel to choose the rest of his guests on his own.

The party seems to be a relatively ordinary affair, up until Georg is found stabbed to death in his room. After that, several other guests die. Only one guest could not possibly have committed the murder: Arthur, a struggling young writer who has so far only published one book, a detective novel. Arthur is asked to investigate the deaths and determine who the culprit is.

Murder Princess (anime OVA), via Hulu

 This OVA is short, so I've written a fairly complete synopsis, which means there are spoilers. I suppose I should feel guilty about that, since I said I'd try to cut back on them, but I don't. Trust me, if you ever had any urge to see this show, you're better off just reading spoilers and leaving it be. It's not the worst thing I've ever seen, but it rates a "meh" or "this kind of sucks" in enough areas that it's not really worth the two and half hours it takes to watch it.

I really don't want my motto to become "I watch/read this stuff so you don't have to," but it's hard for me to quit something once I've started it...

Synopsis:

Princess Alita barely manages to escape the traitor who has stormed her family's castle and killed her father and her friend/lady's maid. In the process of escaping, she encounters a female bounty hunter. The two of them fall off a cliff, and the simultaneous near-death experience causes them to switch souls. Alita, now in the bounty hunter's body, enlists the help of the bounty hunter to take her family's castle back. The bounty hunter, Falis, agrees, but only because she'd like to get paid and she'd like her body back (pretty much in that order).

After taking back the castle, Falis has to pretend to be Alita and assume the throne until Alita's brother comes back from peace talks in another country. Alita assumes the role of her lady's maid, even taking her former lady's maid's name, Milano. The new Alita doesn't know how to behave like a royal, but she can slaughter monsters like it's nothing, so her people love her.

Alita's brother comes back, and everything seems wonderful, until he's revealed to be a scumbag traitor who's working with a sorceress to try to get hold of something called Te Oria. Te Oria is magic/technology that can grant a person any wish. It's a powerful thing left over from a previous era, when robots were everywhere and technology was so advanced it looked like magic - in fact, all the magic and fantasy creatures in this era are actually technology left over from the previous era.

Anyway, the sorceress and scumbag traitor kill the other traitor (you know, the one at the beginning who killed Alita's father) because he'd outlived his usefulness or something. The sorceress and the scumbag traitor are after Alita - or, more accurately, her body - because only she can access and use Te Oria, which is hidden in the castle. Instead of running far, far away, new Alita, Milano, and a few companions go back to the castle to...try to kill the sorceress, I think. Or maybe just to access Te Oria and use it to switch back to their own bodies. It doesn't go so well, and the scumbag traitor gains access to Te Oria and uses it to wish for the destruction of the world. Once Te Oria is started, the only thing that can stop it is for Alita (or rather her body) to turn it off, but doing so will cut the power it has been providing to all the things from the previous era, including Alita/Falis' comrades/friends. The comrades/friends are unafraid, so Alita and Milano shed some tears before Alita turns Te Oria off.

Because they didn't get a chance to wish themselves back into their own bodies, Alita must continue to be the princess, her bloody battling earning her the name "Murder Princess," and Milano presumably continues to be her lady's maid. The fate of the scumbag traitor isn't mentioned.

Big Windup! (anime TV series + OVA), via Hulu

If you watch this on Hulu, there is something you should know. Although Hulu says this is a 26-episode series, it's actually a 25-episode series plus a 1-episode OVA that takes place a year or so before the series and stars an entirely different team, the one with Abe's previous pitcher. "Episode 26" might be better viewed after episode 9 (maybe 10 - I can't quite remember which episode finishes up all the stuff about Abe's previous pitcher). If you do this, you might be able to avoid the confusion and annoyance I went through when I watched the supposed 26th episode.

For once, I have written a post that is spoiler-free, or close to it - I'm pretty sure you can read the whole thing without ruining anything about the show for yourself. If you'd like to completely avoid spoilers, I also recommend not reading Hulu's descriptions for each episode, because they reveal who wins each of the games.

Synopsis:

Mihashi loves baseball and being a pitcher more than anything. Unfortunately, his junior high team lost every game they ever played, and Mihashi knows it was because of his lousy, slow pitching. Determined to stop being selfish and let his teammates enjoy playing baseball again, he transfers to a new school, Nishiura, where no one knows how much he sucked. To his combined horror and joy, he ends up being the only pitcher on Nishiura's brand-new baseball team. He wants so badly to play, but will he ruin the game for his new team the way his did for his old?

Although the entire team needs to learn how to work together, this is especially true for Mihashi, the pitcher, and Abe, the catcher. Training helps somewhat, but Abe doesn't really start to understand how to work with Mihashi until the team plays its first practice game - against Mihashi's old team. Abe wants to show Mihashi what a great pitcher he can be, now that he's finally got a team that will support him and appreciate him, and Mihashi becomes more confident in his pitching as he learns to trust Abe's direction.

Later, the summer tournament begins. Unfortunately, it looks like Nishiura might not last long: their first opponent is Tosei, last year's champion. The team trains and studies as hard as it can, so that they actually stand a chance when their big day comes. Although Tosei underestimates them at first, Nishiura holds its own. It's a close game in which just about every one of Nishiura's players gets a chance to shine.

Commentary:

I almost didn't watch this show. I put it into my Hulu queue on a whim, and then I started watching it because I noticed that the later episodes were going to expire at the end of this month. When I began the first episode, I groaned when I realized that Hulu only had the English dub version of the series: I usually like to watch anime in the original Japanese, with English subtitles, before watching it dubbed in English.

Fortunately, I stuck with it (and finished the entire thing in under a week). The dub was, for the most part, quite good. I found Sean Michael Teague (Mihashi) to be almost too whiny at times, but I'm willing to bet that the character is just as whiny in the original Japanese. Mihashi's just that kind of guy, and Teague's pathetic voice fit. Although I occasionally cringed when Mihashi went into full "kicked puppy" mode, I was also just as likely to squeal "he's so cute!" - as a character, he worked out for me, but it wouldn't surprise me if Mihashi turned away as many potential viewers as he attracted. If you've seen Fruits Basket, ask yourself if you liked Ritsu. If the answer is yes, you'll probably be fine with Mihashi. If he grated on your nerves, you might have problems with this show.

Anyway, back to what I thought about the dub. I wasn't sure I liked the idea of Greg Ayres as Abe at first. I'm so used to Ayres playing pathetic/goofy/whiny/immature characters, and Abe didn't look like he fit into any of those categories. As it turns out, Ayres is great as Abe and manages to make episode after episode of baseball lingo seem interesting. The truly awesome VA in this series is not Greg Ayres, however, but rather Todd Haberkorn (Tajima). Like Ayres, I wasn't impressed with him at first, but he just got better and better as the show progressed. After hearing him, I might have difficulty listening to Tajima's Japanese VA.

Aside from a couple characters whose voices made me cringe (Mihashi's childhood friend and the guy in the OVA who was going to quit the team), the dub was pretty good. I'm looking forward to getting to hear the show in the original Japanese (I don't own the series yet, but I plan to), but I have a feeling that this will be one of those shows where I'll prefer the English dub. The Japanese language track would have to be brilliant to overcome reading screen after screen of baseball terminology and internal monologues about strategy.

The first thing that drew me into this show was the relationships between the characters, particularly Abe and Mihashi.  Mihashi is like a puppy who's been kicked for years. He wants so badly to do good by his new team, and he's so sure that's impossible. Abe is a strong, confident player with a very dominant personality who can, and often does, steamroll right over Mihashi. Abe sometimes comes on too strong, leaving Mihashi convinced that he's angry at him when he's really not, but his direction also keeps Mihashi on track when Mihashi would rather run away and hide.

There is a sequel to Big Windup!, but I read that FUNimation was not planning on licensing it because Big Windup! didn't sell well. It's a shame (especially since I'd desperately like to see Nishiura play against more teams), but, after only a few episodes, I could see why Big Windup! didn't sell that well. Some of it may be due to the show's pacing, which is a bit slow - the characters play like real people, so this isn't a show with over-the-top action, and Nishiura only plays two games in the entire series, one of which takes 10 episodes.

I have a feeling, though, that the primary reason why the show didn't do so well is because of things like Mihashi and Abe's relationship. Mihashi never gets very good at reading Abe, but Abe becomes so attuned to Mihashi that he can tell if he's not feeling right just by nuances in how he acts. He notices the temperature and feel of Mihashi's hands, he worries about Mihashi's weight, and he gets upset when he learns that Mihashi responded to Tajima's text messages but not his. Abe tries to be the best catcher he can be not only for the entire team, but also for Mihashi in particular. He wants Mihashi to trust him as a catcher, and he wants Mihashi to become more self-confident. Combine all of this with Mihashi's constantly flushed cheeks (flushed, I think, with his passion for the game and his feelings of awkwardness and nervousness) and often hesitant manner.

I'm saddled with the usual American baggage, so I can't really say how all of this comes across to Japanese viewers, but I'm guessing everything in the show was intended to be viewed as plain old male bonding, with characters' closeness being a sign of how well-developed the team was becoming. I figured I had a dirty mind, and then I read a few reviews and realized it wasn't just me. We emotionally backward Americans can't help but see homoerotic elements in relationships like Mihashi and Abe's. I remember reading or hearing somewhere that, in the U.S., sports are one of the few things in American culture that give American males a socially acceptable way to touch each other and show affection. That doesn't mean that the male audience I'm guessing FUNimation was hoping would be attracted by this show would be comfortable watching Abe hold Mihashi's hand.

As for me, the list of shows I've watched and enjoyed include Hetalia: Axis Powers, Gravitation, Loveless, and Kyo Kara Maoh, to name a few. Whether or not the homoerotic elements were intentional, they are actually a plus for someone like me. In fact, in the U.S. there are tons of fans (many female, but I'm guessing also male) of shows and manga featuring romantic or near-romantic relationships between males. Had FUNimation made it clearer in its promotional materials and previews for the show that character relationships were more important than action in this show, Big Windup! might have been more successful. I almost didn't watch this show - how many other viewers with tastes like mine never watched this show because it looked like it was just about baseball?

Well, enough about the relationships - while those are what made me stick with and love the show, baseball still plays a huge part. As I've said before on this blog, I am not into sports. At all. I know very little about baseball. So, what did I think about all the baseball stuff in this show?

The show assumes that viewers know how baseball works - this isn't something like Eyeshield 21, where the viewer/reader learns the rules of the game as the players do. As a result, the show occasionally lost me, leaving me to get my enjoyment only out of the characters and the emotional content, rather than the specifics of what was happening in the game. For instance, I didn't even remember, until it happened in the show, that base stealing exists and is allowed. Things were only explained when characters did something special, for instance when players had problems hitting Mihashi's deceptively slow fastball, and even then I tended to have problems following the explanations. I'm sure that, if I had had a firmer knowledge of baseball, I would have been able to enjoy the show on another level. As it was, confusion and all, I still enjoyed the show.

It's amazing, really, that this show works as well as it does. Nishiura's team is filled with people who don't look particularly special - by the end of the series, I still couldn't remember all of their names. Although certain players play very well, everyone plays within the boundaries of what real people can do: you don't see the kind of flashy moves that turn up in Prince of Tennis. However, I think part of what causes this show to shine is that these characters do seem like real people. Every single one of them had to work hard to play as well as they do, and viewers can watch that hard work in action. Not only do these characters all seem real, they are also all very likable. This entire show could be held up as an example of what teamwork and good sportsmanship look like. This is not the kind of show where people cheat or hurt each other in order to win - everybody wins or loses by their own efforts.

I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys good-hearted shows that are heavily dependent upon character relationships (keeping in mind that the possibly unintentional homoerotic elements might be considered a red flag). The show's only negatives, to my mind, are Mihashi's often over-the-top pathetic behavior and the tortured pacing of the game against Tosei. I was also disappointed that the show only allowed viewers to see Nishiura play against two teams - I would have liked to see more of the tournament. The tournament isn't the only thing that never gets resolved: viewers are never told what it was that Mihashi's childhood friend really did that got him held back a year (unless I missed it), and we never learn which player Shino'oka has a crush on (why introduce the potential for a romantic storyline if you never do anything with it?). It really is a shame that FUNimation has no plans to license any more of this series.

Watch-alikes and Read-alikes:

• Whistle! (manga) by Daisuke Higuchi - This is another sports series (soccer, this time) that features fairly realistic gameplay and characters. This series focuses even more on the sport than Big Windup! - character relationships aren't quite as close (I don't think the word "homoerotic" even entered my brain when I was reading this series), and I don't think schoolwork is ever mentioned. Teamwork, soccer, and individual improvement are the important things in this series. I think characters' family relationships also come into play. There is an anime series based on this manga, but it hasn't been licensed in the U.S. and I doubt it will be, considering how things went with Big Windup!
• Eyeshield 21 (manga) story by Riichirou Inagaki and art by Yuusuke Murata - This series focuses on American football (like Whistle!, there is an anime version, but it's not licensed in the U.S.). I've included it on this list mainly because it's another sports series and therefore features things that show up in just about every sports series, like tough training, learning to work as a team, playing against good opponents, and at least one character who starts off convinced that he can never be a good player. This series has all of that, but otherwise it's pretty different from Big Windup! - everything about it is more over-the-top, rather than realistic. If that's not a problem, then this is a fun series with a ton of energy.
• Fruits Basket (manga) by Natsuki Takaya; Fruits Basket (anime TV series) - This might seem like an odd one to include, but it might appeal to those who enjoyed Big Windup!'s relationships and characters. One particular character, Ritsu, is a lot like Mihashi, and the relationship between two of the main characters, Tohru and Kyo, reminds me a lot of the relationship between Mihashi and Abe. In this series, Tohru, a cheerful and kind girl, ends up living with a few members of the Sohma family, after learning their big secret: when certain members of the family are hugged by a member of the opposite sex or when they become weak, they transform into an animal from the Chinese zodiac. Tohru begins to find a new family among the Sohmas, but will the Sohma family curse destroy all of that? Although I prefer the anime, it leaves a lot of loose ends, whereas the manga is now finished.
• The Prince of Tennis (manga) by Takeshi Konomi - As you might guess from the title, this series focuses on tennis. The main character is a young tennis prodigy who manages to rise above older players in his high school tennis team and even take part in national tournaments. This series is basically all tennis, all the time - occasionally family relationships come up, such as the main character's relationship with his father, a former professional tennis player, but you rarely see the characters doing anything that isn't related to tennis in some way. The explanations of everybody's style of tennis playing seem to be grounded in reality. As far as the visual appearance goes, however, Konomi lets artistic license run wild, resulting in tennis-playing that appears super-powered. Like Eyeshield 21, this series is included mainly because it's a sports series and therefore has some of the same things you'll find in just about every sports series. Because it's tennis, there's way more focus on individual growth, rather than team growth, although several characters have to learn to be able to play doubles together.
• NANA (manga) by Ai Yazawa; NANA (anime TV series) - Those who liked Abe and Mihashi's character types and interactions might like this show, which features a similar pair of characters: Nana Komatsu is a lot like Mihashi, while Nana Osaki is a lot like Abe. Character relationships are a huge part of this series.
• Cross Game (manga) by Mitsuru Adachi; Cross Game (anime TV series) - I honestly don't know much about this series, except that it is one of the few other U.S. licensed series involving sports and happens to also feature baseball.The descriptions I've read of this series make it sound more serious than Big Windup! (there's some kind of tragedy involved).
• Hikaru no Go (manga) art by Takeshi Obata, story by Yumi Hotta; Hikaru no Go (anime TV series) - This is basically a sports series, only the "sport" is the board game Go. Hikaru knows nothing about Go, until he awakens Sai, the spirit of a Go instructor from a thousand years ago who had been haunting a Go board. At first, Hikaru just plays like Sai tells him to, but, as he becomes more interested in the game, he learns how to play on his own. Gradually, he becomes an excellent player in his own right, and readers/viewers get to watch him grow into his own as a Go player. Those who appreciated Big Windup!'s emphasis that it is important to have a passion for the game might enjoy this series, in which Hikaru is surrounded by those who already have a passion for Go and gradually finds that same passion within himself. Plus, the rivalry between Akira and Hikaru is fun to watch and is as close, in some ways, as the relationship between Abe and Mihashi.

Fake (anime OVA)

If I ever decide it's time to sell some of my anime collection so that I can afford to buy new stuff, this will probably be on the pile of stuff I'm willing to sell. It's not the worst thing I've ever seen, not by a long shot, but it's not great. I have a feeling this was produced primarily for fans of the manga - since I've never read any of the manga, I'm not really part of the intended audience.

Before we go any farther, a quote from the back of the DVD box: "Contains depictions of alternative lifestyles. Viewer discretion is advised." I guess they couldn't say "Warning: nearly every male character in this is gay." Anyway, there are several kissing scenes, with tongue, but otherwise nothing terribly graphic. If you're actually hoping for something (i.e., sex) to happen, even the suggestion of something, you'll be disappointed.

Synopsis:

Dee Laytner of the NYPD and his half-Japanese partner, Randy "Ryo" McLane, are taking a much needed vacation at an out-of-the-way place in England. Originally, they were supposed to be going with a kid named Bikky, but, unbeknownst to Ryo, Dee paid Bikky not to come, because Dee would like some alone time with Ryo. You see, Dee has had the hots Ryo for quite some time, but Ryo hasn't really taken his feelings seriously, and all they've ever done is kiss.

Unfortunately, their happy vacation time is interrupted by the discovery of a dead body. For some unknown reason, this is not a cause for alarm, and Dee, Ryo, and two female guests are allowed to continue staying at the hotel. One of the guests, a Japanese woman, does her best to try to cheer Dee up and encourage Ryo to be more open about his feelings.

Dee and Ryo's alone time is again interrupted, this time by the arrival of both Bikky and Carol, two children they know, and then J.J., a cop from the same precinct as them who happens to have heaping boatloads of unrequited love for Dee - any possibility of Dee and Ryo doing more than kissing has now gone out the window. After talking with a workaholic NYPD cop named Berkeley Rose (seriously, that's his name) who also happens to be on vacation, Dee learns that all the murder victims who have been found near the hotel recently were tourists of Japanese descent and that the hotel owner's daughter had been killed five years ago by some Japanese tourists. Now that the hotel owner knows Ryo is half-Japanese, Ryo is in danger, so Dee rushes back to the hotel.

It's a good thing, too, because the hotel owner and his knife-wielding thug of a cook have decided it's time to slice Ryo up. Dee saves the day when he hits the hotel owner in the chest with a motorcycle. This does not, by the way, kill the guy or even result in his hospitalization. The hotel owner, who just prior to being hit by the motorcycle had seen the ghost of his distraught daughter trying to protect Ryo, realizes the error of his ways and is led off by the (English) cops. The ghost of the hotel owner's daughter is finally put to rest, the two female tourists from earlier are dead but apparently no one cares, and Dee never got to rip Ryo's clothes off.

Lucky Dee and Ryo - when they get back from their vacation, they learn that Berkeley Rose is their new commissioner. Or something. I'm not really sure how this works. It's quite possible that the creators of this series don't either.

Commentary:

This really needs to be watched with your brain turned off. Otherwise, you start to think about things like: How come none of the local police care about all the dead tourists? True, if it's not reported in the local news, that might delay bad publicity, but, if enough people die, word gets out, and wouldn't the lack of an investigation look really bad? Is an investigation really necessary? The guy is hardly even trying to hide that he's behind it, and a child could figure out that "dead Japanese tourists" + "daughter killed by Japanese tourists" = "killer father." Why did it take Dee so long to figure out that Ryo would be a potential target? Why was no one worried about staying at the very isolated hotel when a body was found right nearby? How did the hotel owner get hit by a motorcycle and not get hurt? How do all these cops keep their jobs when they're so awful at them and seem to care more about getting into each other's pants? How did a 13-year-old girl and a boy (maybe girl?) who's probably a bit younger manage to get the money for two tickets to England, and so quickly at that?

So, brain turned off.

You never know what you'll get when you're watching anime (or reading manga) that has gay characters. Will their gayness be considered socially unacceptable by other characters? Will the "but we're both guys" aspect be an obstacle in a romantic relationship? Or will the gayness go without comment? In this anime, it goes without comment - it probably helps that nearly every adult male character in this OVA is gay (judging by the opening animation, Berkeley Rose wouldn't mind getting into Ryo's pants either). The main conflict between Dee and Ryo is not "but we're both guys," but rather "I don't know if you're really serious about me, and I'm also not entirely sure how I feel about you or what I should do about how I feel about you."

The opening animation is part of what makes me think that this OVA is intended mainly for fans of the manga - there's a lot going on there that never comes up in the anime's story, and there are characters that never make an appearance anywhere but in that opening animation. I'm guessing that the manga has a "cheese factor" that is similar to this OVA - if I were generally more in the mood for that sort of thing, I might check out the manga to see if it's any better. As it is, I think I may end my Fake experience here.

Anyway, one thing that took me a bit to get used to was the artwork. Not so much the...interesting...background coloring (lime green walls? really?) as the "droopy eyes" look. Sometimes the droopy eyes were a bit more pronounced than others. I got used to it after a while, but I'm so used to my anime having a certain look, and how I feel about the artwork can sometimes make or break an anime for me.

The story was very, very simple. As a murder mystery, it sucked. There weren't a lot of potential suspects - the cook's thug-like looks immediately put him on the short list of suspects, and the hotel owner's behavior made him look suspicious well before the details of his daughter's death were revealed. The fact that all the victims were of Japanese descent was revealed fairly early, so I can't imagine why Dee and Ryo didn't realize that Ryo was in danger until almost too late. They're just idiots, I guess. Or all the blood that should have been in their heads was spending too much time in their pants.

One thing I did really enjoy about this DVD, though, was the humor. Dee's attempts to finally get Ryo alone and take their relationship to the next step were hilarious. I'm sure that, if J.J. had gotten to be around more, the whole "J.J. loves Dee, who loves Ryo, who possibly loves Dee" thing would have been worth many laughs (and I'm guessing you could add Berkeley Rose being interested in Ryo). I can't imagine any of them actually conducting an investigation, so I'd have problems taking any police-related plots seriously, but I'm sure I'd love further comedic/romantic plots.

I watched this in both Japanese with subtitles and in English dub. The English dub was ok - thankfully, none of the voice actors decided to sound stereotypically gay. However, compared to the Japanese language track, the English acting seemed to be a bit off here and there. The Japanese language track was quite good, although the subtitles seemed a bit stilted.

Extras:

There are none, not even a clean opening and closing. I wasn't bothered by the lack of a clean closing, since the closing is just a bunch of clips from the OVA, but a clean opening would have been nice.

Watch-alikes and Read-alikes:

• Gravitation (manga) by Maki Murakami; Gravitation (anime TV series) - Shuichi Shindo is a singer in a band that he hopes will become famous. One day, he loses a page of unfinished song lyrics. The handsome and caustic man who catches it insults the lyrics and sticks in poor Shuichi's mind. Schuichi later discovers that the man was Eiri Yuki, a famous writer, and seeks him out. The two eventually become lovers, but Yuki's emotional issues and Shuichi's rapidly developing musical career may tear them apart. Gravitation, like Fake, isn't for everyone, since it features romance between two men - although neither the manga nor the anime are explicit, the anime keeps the physical aspects of the romance slightly more "off screen" than the manga. This series may appeal to those who'd like another romance between two guys, combined with humor and a bit of drama.
• Descendants of Darkness (manga) by Yoko Matsushita; Descendants of Darkness (anime TV series) - Even after death, there's paperwork to do and criminals to catch. Tsuzuki Asato is a somewhat goofy (yet powerful) shinigami (god of death) whose job involves ensuring that the dead remain properly dead and out of the lives of the living. Tsuzuki gets a new partner, Hisoka, and the cases they investigate keep bringing them up against Muraki, a serial killer. Muraki seems to know an awful lot about Tsuzuki and Hisoka's darkest secrets. Those who'd like another series that combines brief mysteries with humor and a wee bit of romance between guys might want to try this. Compared to Fake, the mystery aspects are a bit stronger (and darker), the humor is less goofy, and the romance is (usually) more suggested than real.
  
• Weiss Kreuz/Knight Hunters (anime TV series) - There are a few incarnations of this, but the only one I have personal experience with is the first TV series. Four hot guys with dark and/or painful pasts make up a group of secret assassins called "Weiss" - as part of their cover, by day they all work in a flower shop. They kill those the law cannot touch, each with their own reasons for doing so. Those who'd like another anime that tends to fall into the "so bad it's almost good" category might want to try this. I don't remember there being any gay romance in this one, but there's lots of hot guys, melodramatic stories, investigations, and action, and hideously bad animation. I highly recommend watching this one in Japanese - I think this anime was created as a vehicle for its Japanese voice actors, so that's one area where this show excels.
  

Animation Runner Kuromi (anime OVA)

Because this one is so short, only 45 minutes or so long, I hesitate to recommend it unless you can get it cheaply. I think I got my copy used for $5, including shipping. It's very funny, and worth every penny I spent. I've bought crappy movies in the $5 bin at Wal-Mart and this definitely beats those out.

Synopsis:

Mikiko Ohguro (aka Kuromi) has just landed her dream job at a famous animation studio, Studio Petit. When she arrives for her first day, no one is there except the head of production, who holds out just long enough to give her a tour and hand her his work before collapsing and being taken to the hospital. It turns out he'd been working for days with a bleeding ulcer and had only been waiting for his replacement to arrive. Kuromi is horrified to realize that she is his replacement. She doesn't even know what she's supposed to be doing!

Production on the second episode of Time Journeys is way behind - there's only a week left for all the animation to be finished. Kuromi stumbles along on her own for a couple days, begging the animators to give her their finished work - with the exception of one prolific person (whose work is, unfortunately, shoddy), everyone has excuses. Exhausted, stressed out, and depressed, Kuromi is ready to quit, until she hears how the show's line director got her start - on the very show that inspired Kuromi to get into this business in the first place. With a renewed sense of energy, Kuromi decides to stick it out, and the director gives her some helpful advice for dealing with the animators. It's not long before everyone is working around the clock to get everything finished. Unfortunately, even this amount of effort isn't quite enough, but the director, not wanting to see Kuromi's hard work go to waste, finishes one scene herself. With a sense of awe and pride, Kuromi gets to watch the studio's finished work. For one shining moment, everything is wonderful - until she's handed the schedule for episode 6.

Commentary:

I seem to love "first job gone horribly wrong" stuff. This is hilarious. I wonder if there are animators out there who cry when they see this - even though I, personally, think this is funny, there are extras I've seen on some DVDs that make me think this is actually pretty close to the truth (the director of this anime says it's 99% truth, with artistic license to make things more interesting). The "making of" video on the Fullmetal Alchemist movie DVD sure looked like they only barely got the movie done in time, and I think certain people probably hid in storage closets and cried during the making of Tekkonkinkreet.

You've just gotta feel bad for Kuromi. It's like she's got a horrible group project, times a thousand. Dealing with the animators is like herding cats, there's who knows how many people waiting for the anime to come out who will be seriously upset if it's delayed, and poor Kuromi has to blunder about with a minimum of guidance. On my first day of work, I was told to just get started cataloging, someone would train me later when there was more time for that sort of thing. It was stressful, but at least no one added, "and your deadline for this insurmountable mountain of books is next week." It's no wonder that Oppama, the person who was supposed to be Kuromi's supervisor and the person she replaces, ended up with a bleeding ulcer.

The English dub wasn't too bad (please don't pelt me with rotten vegetables). Lisa Ortiz, who voiced Kuromi, got her stress and panic across nicely, although I think she was weaker during the more serious scenes. Some viewers may not like the way a few of the characters were done, and I don't know enough about Japanese to say whether the way the voices were done was justified. For instance, one of the characters, Hassaku Hozumi, has a bit of surfer dude voice, while another character (whose name I can't remember, but she was the perfectionist in the bunch) had an accent I can't quite identify, maybe Russian? Ok, so the English dub has issues, but I still liked watching it that way because I had an easier time enjoying most of the jokes.

I first saw this anime on TV while I was in grad school - I never got to see the end of it, which would have been even more painful if I had realized how close I came to seeing it all. I think I missed maybe the last 5 minutes. It was shown with the English dub, which is maybe another reason why I'm so tolerant of the dub - I've had some time to get used to it.

Extras:

Despite its shortness, or maybe because of its shortness, this OVA comes with lots of extras. Well, at least the list of extras is long.

The interview with Lisa Ortiz, who is the voice actor for Kuromi in the English dub, is approximately 3 and a half minutes long - it includes a tiny bit of behind-the-scenes info and some clips of Ortiz at work. If I remember correctly, this is the extra that explains why Kuromi is called Kuromi (through years of absorbing tidbits of information from anime and past experience in linguistics classes, I was able to make a decent guess about the origin of her nickname, but this extra spells it out nicely - also, her nickname makes more sense if you see her name in its proper order, Ohguro Mikiko).

Many of the extras dealing with director Akitaroh Daichi are a little disappointing. The interview with him is only 5 minutes long, although the information it includes (how he works, what a director does, behind-the-scenes info about the OVA, etc.) is interesting. The "Director's Diary" is a complete let-down. It's only slightly more than 2 minutes long and is an incredibly brief look at the entire process of making this OVA. The best behind-the-scenes info can be found in the director's commentary track, which can be found under the language settings on this DVD. It turns out that, although I caught the most obvious anime reference (I suppose I could still be wrong, since Daichi never mentions the show by name), there were apparently lots of references to Daichi's past anime and other anime that I missed.

Besides the commentary track, another extra I enjoyed was the mini documentary (5 and a half minutes) about the animation process. It's an interview with some guy named Matt Sheridan, who I'm guessing works in the US animation industry. The sound quality for this interview is pretty bad, but the information is nice. This is a good extra to watch if some of the animation jargon went over your head like it did mine. Unfortunately, even this mini documentary doesn't cover all the jargon used in the anime.

There are two galleries included, a sketch gallery and an art gallery. The sketch gallery is a short video of production drawings, while the art gallery is a video of stills from the anime. There are also alternate angle storyboards, which didn't interest me, so I didn't take a look at that. There are a couple trailers for Animation Runner Kuromi - both are English-language (and one misuses an apostrophe...). There's also the obligatory previews for other titles - I already own the ones that I think look any good.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

• Fruits Basket (manga) by Natsuki Takaya; Fruits Basket (anime TV series) - After Tohru's mother died, she went to live with her grandfather, but she left his house to live in a tent when he began home renovations. Tohru ends up getting invited to stay with the Sohma family, an amazing occurrence considering that Yuki Sohma is so popular at Tohru's school that he's got his own fanclub. Tohru soon discovers the Sohma family's secret - whenever certain members become physically weakened or are hugged by a member of the opposite sex, they turn into an animal in the Chinese zodiac. This is yet another anime Daichi directed. There are some stylistic similarities (weird creatures coming on screen to make comments, crazy energy), so it should appeal to some fans of Animation Runner Kuromi, even though the two stories have nothing in common.
  
• Fear and Trembling (book) by Amelie Nothomb - Amelie is a young Belgian woman who was born in Japan. It has been her dream to work for a company in Japan, and one day that dream comes true. She begins at the bottom of the corporate ladder, writing letters for her boss and trying to make perfect copies for him on the copier, and amazingly manages to descend even lower. I'm not sure how true any of this book is - maybe it's all fiction, or maybe it's exaggerated truth. Whatever the case may be, it's funny and horrible at the same time. Those who'd like another "horrible new job" story might like this, although Amelie and Kuromi have very different reasons for sticking with their jobs.
• Gravitation (manga) by Maki Murakami; Gravitation (anime TV series) - Shuichi Shindo is a singer in a band that he hopes will become famous. One day, he loses a page of unfinished song lyrics. The handsome and caustic man who catches it insults the lyrics and sticks in poor Shuichi's mind. Schuichi later discovers that the man was Eiri Yuki, a famous writer, and seeks him out. The two eventually become lovers, but Yuki's emotional issues and Shuichi's rapidly developing musical career may tear them apart. Gravitation isn't for everyone, since it features romance between two men - although neither the manga nor the anime are explicit, the anime keeps the physical aspects of the romance slightly more "off screen" than the manga. Those who liked the desperation and craziness in Animation Runner Kuromi might enjoy this - the personalities of several of the characters in this remind me of characters in Animation Runner Kuromi.
• Excel Saga (manga) by Koushi Rikudou; Excel Saga (anime TV series) - Lord IlPallazzo and his team of ACROSS agents (two of them - hyper Excel Excel and Hyatt, who is sickly and coughs up blood) plan to one day take over the world - and they're starting with just one city. Their various crazy attempts always fail. Those who'd like another high energy comedy with anime (and manga, and pop culture) references might want to try this. The references are more plentiful than Animation Runner Kuromi, and the craziness is more over-the-top, so keep that in mind.