...way out on the corner of fucked up and evil...

Playing the first Gungrave game is like having the batteries on your vibrator run out right before you reach orgasm - lots of fun while it lasts, but ultimately leaves you feeling unfulfilled and extremely grumpy.

I mean, seriously. What the fuck, Harry? I've just played through forty-five minutes of computer-generated carnage to get to you, and you just stand there? No backstory, no explaination, not even so much as a "Oh, hi Brandon, listen, I'm real sorry about that time I shot you in the face, threw you off a building, then laughed about it like the crazy bastard I am!" You son of a bitch.

Gungrave the anime, however, is damn cool. Feel those slashy Harry/Brandon vibes. But Jesus, how many aliases do some of these voice actors have? At least I can always rely on Lex Lang not to change his name on me. Was driving me mad not being able to figure out where I'd heard Lee's voice before.

Tis the disadvantage of there being so much interbreeding in dubbed anime. Listening to Gungrave is almost like listening to Kenshin - you got Saitou (Brandon), you got Anji (Big Daddy - man that never fails to make me laugh), you got Shishio (Lee) and best of all, you got Toramaru, the sumo wrestler, as Harry MacDowel. Also, Bear Walken was the narrator for Outlaw Star. His voice is ridiculously deep.

La!

Had absolutely massive anime haul arrive today - spent all day lying on the sofa watching Gravitation (how much is Yuki just Sanzo from Saiyuki with a haircut and wearing trousers?); Wolf's Rain (and yes, "Stray" is just as bad as I remember it, and Bondage Wolf is still as stupidly dressed); and Gungrave (they killed Spike! Also, Brandon speaks!), not to mention brand spanking new Witch Hunter Robin (Fluffy broke his leg, oh no!) and Saiyuki (I want Homura's little Godbabies).

The English dub of Wolf's Rain weirds me out, mostly because of the cast of the four main characters: Bondage Wolf is played by Crispin Freeman (Alucard from Hellsing, Zelgadis from Slayers, Amon from Witch Hunter Robin and Touga from Utena, among other things); Main Wolf is played by Johnny Young Bosch (Vash from Trigun, Fluffy from Witch Hunter Robin); Shiny is played by Mona Marshall (Izzy from Digimon, weird little kid Vash meets on the sandsteamer from Trigun) and Fluffy is played by the guy who did the voice for Tai in Digimon and angry vengance kid (TM) that Kenshin and Saitou meet in Kenshin (you know, the one that Saitou sends to live with his wife).

Stray, the opening theme, is as I've said, awful. Imagine Brian Adams singing a song in English written by a Japanese person. That level of badness. Have had it stuck in my head all day.

Gravitation is great, but only has three episodes on the DVD, which annoys me. There's nobody I recognise on the voice cast, which is a welcome change, although personally I think Yuki's voice is too deep. Then again, I was kind of hoping David Matranga would be cast. Casted. Castified. Whatever. Hatre is still cool. Ryuuichi still makes me laugh. Can't wait for the introduction of Yuki's crazy stalker-tastic brother.

Gungrave is fairly spiffy, if you can get past the first episode, which basically plays like twenty minutes lifted straight from the game. I'm still upset about Spike being killed. I really love the characterisation on Harry, though to be honest, I find Brandon's taciturn act slightly annoying - there's nothing wrong with being quiet, but the guy bloody well mimes in some scenes!

Witch Hunter Robin just gets better and better - loved the scene with the infiltration of the STNJ (Poor Fluffy! Did I mention he broke his leg?) and how Miho is trying to pick up the slack since Amon has gone AWOL. Micheal's still great, despite mullet-licious tendancies. The Chief, aka Hitler, gets some much-needed character development this time around, helping the Hunters piece together what's happened to Robin and Amon, instead of just bitching about them. Doujima still annoys me, though.

Also, we get to meet a new character, Nagira, who looks to be very, very interesting - a mysteeeeerrrious connection to Amon's past, and outspoken opposition of the STNJ's treatment of witches and seeds. I hope he doesn't die.

Saiyuki pretty much continues as it alwaus has - Hakkai still annoys me, Homura still rocks my world - I love Jason Douglas - Sanzo is still grumpy (in a cool way) and Kougaji is still useless. Poor Kougaji.