Macross Frontier: sometimes, its nice to get *exactly* what you want, 
and if you're a Macross fan, this is like having your birthday Easter, 
Christmas and Mechaival [1] all happen at the same time. So, we get 
gorgeous modern animation, superb new Valkyrie designs by Shoji 
Kawamori, superb *old* mecha designs by Shoji Kawamori, and music by 
Yoko Kanno. We even get a cameo "DYNA-MITE EXPLOSION!" once again.

	This being a 00s kind of anime, though, we also get an ambiguously 
gendered main character who is a failed Kabuki actor (er... okaaaayyy... 
), a gay bridge bunny - a *male* bridge bunny - who is so 
stereotypically homosexual it makes Hard Gay look like the poster child 
for The Stepford Wives, and a cat-girl maid Zentraedi [2].

	These are minor caveats, however. Kawamori! Kanno! Macross! Best. 
Anime. Series. EVER! Still.

	
	Allison and Lillia: this is about a bookish, quiet type [3] who is 
gently press-ganged into adventures by his impulsive, excitable best 
girl friend in a world stuck in a 1930s time-warp.
	In other words, its a lovely, old fashioned kind of adventure series 
that immediately reminds you of the spirit of Cities of Gold and 
Biggles, though its a bit more genteel than that - more a sort of 
Indiana Jones inspired Swallows and Amazons than Willard Price <insert 
animal name here> Adventure.
	Some time is spent in vintage 1930s aeroplanes, too, but if I start 
talking about that... well, lets put it this way - if you think I'm hung 
up about *mecha*... [4]
	So I'll leave it to a friend of mine to sum up this word in in... uh... 
one word:

	"Sweet." [5]

	Also Mobile SUIT Gundam. No, not "Mobile SUIT Gundam <X>, <Y> or <Z>. 
The original T.V. series.

	Sayla is Chars sister?! Wow. Who'd have thought?!

	[1]The COMs celebration to end all celebrations. Occasionally literally.

	[2] Dammit, Hopley!

	[3] Speaking as a quiet, bookish type I think I can safely say that 
high-spirited, amazing adventures seem to be very resistant to happening.

	[4]Consider, for example, this explanation of mine when the subject of 
a certain aircraft arose when discussing Patlabor 2:

	 "Just checked, and its not exactly a F-2. Its a "FS-X", which was what 
Japan was calling the F-2 programme before it became the F-2. In other 
words, its a jet that doesn't technically exist thats based on a jet 
that does exist, but isn't called by the name it was called back
when it didn't exist.

	Clear?"

	[5] Like the series, thats *sweet* in the old fashioned sense of 
something charming. Not the modern, Grand Theft Auto sense.

-- 
* "Attack!"     * justin@briareos.demon.co.uk *
* "Attack who?" *                             *
* "EVERYONE!"   *                             *
  - Galvatron    *   Decepticon Decoy Target   *