Psycho-Pass – Season 1

The show fallows Akane Tsunemori, a new inspector of Unit One. Tsunemori hunts criminal with other criminals called Enforcers. Enforcers are given special guns called Dominators designed to only kill people with a high Crime Coefficient. On Tsunemori’s first day she shoots Kogami, a talent criminal. She is accompanied by Ginoza, her superior who looks down on Enforcers, and Masaoka (previous detective) and Karari (Enforcer). She is assigned to be Kogami’s handler for missions. The main antagonist is a criminal named Makishima, who’s psychology yields a low crime coefficent, which them from shooting him with the Dominators.

I was unsure if I was going to like this series since I’m not used to detective anime shows, but it was good. I think Kogami and Makishima were my favorite characters in the show. But after the first couple episodes I really got into it. I’m really looking forward to seeing the next season.

Available On: Netflix.

Futurama

Fry is a pizza delivery boy. Moments before the year 2000, Fry is frozen in time for the next 1000 years.  In the year 3000, he refuses to return to being a delivery boy, and meets a new friend named Bender by accidentally stepping into a suicide booth. They both live and decide to mooch off of his living distant nephew, Dr. Farnsworth, incidentally Dr. Farnsworth is looking for a delivery team for Planet Express. Leela the career assignment officer decides to abandon her job, and joins Fry and Bender on the Planet Express team. Fry meets Dr. Zoidberg the Planet Express doctor who is an lobster-like alien, and Amy Wong a rich engineering student at Mars University. The main plot revolves around the Planet Express company and it’s employees and the central group (Fry, Leela, and Bender).

Voice Actors: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr, and David Herman.

WE LOVED THIS SERIES! Mostly me though. I was so thrilled when I saw the ending, which is a real tearjerker and an utter surprise at that. Even though this show had lots of crudeness it was maybe one of the best endings to a TV series that I’ve ever seen. I was very pleased that it didn’t end on a cliff hanger.

Available on: Netflix, Google Play, and Amazon.

The Host

Alien body snatchers called Souls invade Earth possessing nearly all humans. A few humans are able to resist and even fight back. One Soul possesses a young woman named Melanie Stryder and meets strong resistance. Over time the relationship between Melanie and the Soul, that calls itself Wanderer, possessing her becomes cooperative and even friendly. As Wanderer learns more about humanity it’s attitude changes.

This movie is based on a book by Stephanie Meyer who also wrote the Twilight series. The movie is done really well. I have not yet read the book so I cannot say how well the movie follows it. I suspect not everyone will be happy with the alien body snatchers being referred to as Souls. The vehicles with chrome-like exteriors were kinda cool. There are some great sports cars in the movie especially the Lotus. I also like the Unimogs. I enjoyed this movie.

Cast includes: Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Jake Abel, Frances Fisher, Chandler Canterbury, Diane Kruger. William Hurt, Boyd Holbrook, Scott Lawrence, Shawn Carter Peterson, Lee Hardee, Phil Austin, Raeden Greer, J.D. Evermore, Emily Browning, Mustafa Harris, Bokeem Woodbine, Alex Russell, David Lichtenstein

Available on: Google Play, Amazon, YouTube

Durarara!!

Ryūgamine a young boy moves to a big city, and he’s very excited to be attending a new school with his childhood friend Kida. Kida warns Ryugamine about the bad people in the city. As they head into the city they see the local legend “Black Rider”, sometimes at night the motorcycle turns into a horse, and locals believe that the rider has no head. The rider is known through out the anime as “Celty Sturluson”, how riders around looking for her stolen head. The anime is set in a town in Japan called Ikebukuro.

I wasn’t sure originally about watching the anime, and I haven’t read the manga quite yet but I do plan to. This anime was much different then the majority I have seen recently. It was very enjoyable and I would recommend it to someone interested in animes about gangs and criminals.

This anime is a spin off of the light novel written by Ryohgo Narita, and the illistrations were produced by Suzuhito Yasuda.

Available on: Crunchyroll and Hulu.

House (TV Series)

Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) an unconventional doctor with amazing skills at a fictional hospital (Princeton Plainsboro) in New Jersey. He works as the head of Diagnostic Medicine with his team working on the most puzzling cases, . He deals with constant pain from muscle damage by popping pain relievers. His physical disability causes him to be depressed and moody, as a result Dr. House is not exactly a ‘people person’, quite the contrary, he is frequently quite offensive to people around him but his medical brilliance and dedication tend to overshadow his rudeness.

I love watching House even if it’s the reruns, but I think it might be an acquired taste for many. The cases they face can be quite amazing! I was surprised how good Hugh’s American accent was, since he is British, it was spot on.

Cast includes: Hugh Laurie, Lisa Edelstein, Omar Epps, Robert Sean Leonard, Jennifer Morrison, Jesse Spencer, Peter Jacobson, Kal Penn, Olivia Wilde, Amber Tamblyn, Odette Annable, Charlyne Yi

Available on: Netflix, Google Play, Amazon

Crossing Jordan (TV Series)

Jordan Cavanaugh is the only child of a widowed and retired ex-cop. She is a forensic pathologist who can’t help getting involved in the cases of the deceased victims she sees in front of her everyday. She is a rule breaker when it is necessary, and is very direct when dealing with people. Dr. Jordan works in the Boston morgue with a crew of unique individuals who are all great at what they do.

I don’t have the foggiest idea how I missed this show when it first aired. Crossing Jordan is a forensic procedural drama. It is well acted, and well written. It is fun to watch.

Cast includes: Jill Hennessy, Miguel Ferrer, Ravi Kapoor, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Valentine, Jerry O’Connell

Available on: Netflix, TV.com, TV Muse

Barakamon

Handa a professional calligrapher punches a curator of a gallery after his work is criticized. The curator had said that his work was too unoriginal, causing Handa to get angry. Handa’s father sends him off to a small remote village for a ‘retreat’. There he practices to prefect his work, and meets the villagers and interacts with them. The anime is an adaptation of the manga, Handa-kun, by Kinema Citrus, Funimation has licensed the show for streaming.

This is one of my recent favorites since I have been looking for good animes to watch. This anime doesn’t disappoint. It’s very funny and very enjoyable.

Crazy Taxi City Rush – App Review

Crazy Taxi is a mission based application published by Sega. It’s really a fun game that keeps you coming back, The game allows you to choose your driver, buy the taxi that you want, upgrade your taxi, and add decorations to get more cash. The major enjoyable part is that the game has multiple maps, and it allows you to beat your previous scores. I also enjoy the fact that the whole thing seems to have a story line.

This app is available on: Itunes and Google Play

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun

This anime is about a high school student Sakura who is in love with her classmate Nozaki. She quickly confesses her love to him, but he misunderstands and thinks she is just a fan. He invites her to his house to help him with some drawings. She discovers he’s actually a renowned shojo manga artist named Sakiko Yumeno. She agrees only as a way to get closer to him. In their adventures they meet other schoolmates that help assist them and help inspire them.

I really enjoyed this anime and the manga. The voice actors matched the characters very well, and overall there was really nothing that I could pinpoint as being negative about the anime or manga.

You can watch the anime at: Animeshow.

Foyle’s War

Christpher Foyle(Michael Kitchen) is a Detective Chief Superintendant in Hastings, Sussex, England during World War Two. As such he fights against crime that frequently takes advantage of the war-time condition such as pilfering, the black market, profiteering and murder. Foyle is assisted by Detective Sergeant Paul Milner(Anthony Howell) and a driver named Samantha Stuart(Honeysuckle Weeks).

I really enjoy Foyle’s War. It must be quite a challenge to make films about the past when it comes to sets, props, wardrobe and slang used at the time(or banter for you Monty Python fans). I am impressed by the job these folks have done making season after season always maintaining a high level of attention to details even when it comes to the background of shots, especially when shooting outdoors. That is representative of the overall quality of Foyle’s War.

The Official Foyle’s War Fan Site

Cast includes: Michael Kitchen, Honeysuckle Weeks, Anthony Howell

Available on: Hulu Plus, Google Play, Yidio, Netflix