Rating: 
Summary: Quirky, fun, and unique
Review: Neo Ranga is hard to describe. Played out in 15 minute episodes, it has the feel of a slice-of-life show that just happens to include a giant god (Neo Ranga) from a tiny island kingdom. The three sisters who, often reluctantly, are the masters of Neo Ranga continue to live their lives. For example, the youngest sister, Yuuhi, rides Neo Ranga to school.Neo Ranga's charm, then, is not in Neo Ranga himself--while he has emotions, he's essentially a mirror of the inner thoughts of the individual sisters, acting (or not acting) based on their impulses. The sisters all have well-defined personalities, with qualities and flaws. One thing this is not is a mecha show--Neo Ranga is not a giant robot (at least not obviously), and the show is not about Neo Ranga fighting things (although this happens). That kind of show's been done a thousand times; I'm not sure this slice-of-life approach has ever been done before. It's always interesting, often funny, and sometimes sad. Highly recommended. This edition comes with a box to hold all of the discs for the entire series. The box is weak in two ways--first, it's paper thin and low quality. Second, the artwork is a weird editing of the original artwork, designed to cover up that the sisters are wearing only paint. (The covers of the individual discs also have this editing, but they are reversible to show the original artwork.) This reflects one last point about Neo Ranga: the artwork and the title sequence for the episodes are crawling with nearly-naked images of the sisters, but the show itself doesn't have them. While this is a good thing in my view, it does smack of false advertising. Neo Ranga is no more about bouncy girls then it is about robots blowing up.
Rating:
Summary: Quirky, fun, and unique
Review: Neo Ranga is hard to describe. Played out in 15 minute episodes, it has the feel of a slice-of-life show that just happens to include a giant god (Neo Ranga) from a tiny island kingdom. The three sisters who, often reluctantly, are the masters of Neo Ranga continue to live their lives. For example, the youngest sister, Yuuhi, rides Neo Ranga to school. Neo Ranga's charm, then, is not in Neo Ranga himself--while he has emotions, he's essentially a mirror of the inner thoughts of the individual sisters, acting (or not acting) based on their impulses. The sisters all have well-defined personalities, with qualities and flaws. One thing this is not is a mecha show--Neo Ranga is not a giant robot (at least not obviously), and the show is not about Neo Ranga fighting things (although this happens). That kind of show's been done a thousand times; I'm not sure this slice-of-life approach has ever been done before. It's always interesting, often funny, and sometimes sad. Highly recommended. This edition comes with a box to hold all of the discs for the entire series. The box is weak in two ways--first, it's paper thin and low quality. Second, the artwork is a weird editing of the original artwork, designed to cover up that the sisters are wearing only paint. (The covers of the individual discs also have this editing, but they are reversible to show the original artwork.) This reflects one last point about Neo Ranga: the artwork and the title sequence for the episodes are crawling with nearly-naked images of the sisters, but the show itself doesn't have them. While this is a good thing in my view, it does smack of false advertising. Neo Ranga is no more about bouncy girls then it is about robots blowing up.
Rating: 
Summary: Some Sister's are Worse Than Others
Review: This is the simple story of three sisters - Minami, Ushio and Yuuhi - who discover that a long lost elder brother has disappeared, leaving them the kings of an island paradise (Barou) and owners of a 'god' that looks suspiciously like a drop-out from Evangelion (Neo Ranga). Simple, that is, unless you live in a community on the edge of Tokyo and Ranga decides to leave Barou and take up residence with them - trampling houses, highways and the National Defense Force in the process. The youngest, Yuuhi, is a bit ill tempered, and keeps grabbing control of Neo Ranga to pound some Yakuza or corrupt government officials. Since this often involves pounding local traffic and architecture as well, the god of Barou is getting a lukewarm reception, and the sisters are being harassed by police, media people, and friends. For Ushio, who has a strong moral sense, and Minami, who wants to have a nice, simple, Japanese life, these are woeful circumstances. In addition, no one is sure what Neo Ranga is thinking. The story is told in a light, witty style that contrasts with the footage of parts of Tokyo being turned into dust. Other than Yuuhi, who is the incarnation of one of the Furies, characters are predictable within the limits of the story. In addition to irritated neighbors, we have suspicious government agents trying to find out what makes Neo Ranga tick. I am not quite sure where this story is going. Thematically, it is a serious story, and the antics of some of the characters distract from this. It is hard to accept the woes of three young women who are trying to fit a 60-foot tall god into their back yard. Think of this as light entertainment with some potential for becoming a strong story. The only thing that really irritates me is that the story is told in 15-minute episodes. When you discount intro and trailer, there isn't a lot of story time. And this distracts from the larger story arcs. So far, I like it, but it is too soon to go overboard.
Rating: 
Summary: GET YOUR MONSTER OUT OF MY YARD!
Review: Three sisters--Minami, Ushio, and Yuuhi--are sent a letter from their missing brother telling them to come to the tropical island of Barou, all expenses paid. When they arrive there, they learn that their brother married the last princess of the island. Both of them have died, leaving their only child, Joel, to inherit the throne. He's way too young to run the kingdom so the God of the island, Neo Ranga, has advised the nation to call in the sisters to run things. Of course, the three girls can't believe it, and want no part of it and decide to go home. In the process of trying to convince them to stay, the ancient god Neo Ranga, a skyscraper tall creature, is awoken and follows the girls, destroying all that stands in his way, including parts of Tokyo. For the moment, the girls seem to be able to control his actions, but what is he really? A military secret weapon? A heartless killer? A guardian of the girls? Is he an animal or plant? An alien? Most of the later episodes on this dvd deal with the city's reaction to having an incredible behemoth walking around like he's somebodys pet, stepping on cars or knocking chunks out of buildings, obeying the whims of 3 immature girls. It's pretty dangerous. The first couple of episodes on the dvd are just really bad. The animation is mid-80s style, whether intentionally, or due to budget, I don't know. They also work on the Pokemon level of anime with annoying characters. For example, Joel, the nephew, walks around with a large iguana on his shoulder and wears a bad Chuck Norris karate outfit. The music is even more discouraging. It was composed by a person pushing orchestra hit on his electronic keyboard. If you can survive the torture of the first few episodes, all of which consist of the military uselessly attacking Neo Ranga, the anime becomes more involved and a noticeable improvement in the quality of the story and the animation creeps in. The extras are rudimentary, with some production sketches, notes on the episodes, and clean opening and closings. I recommend this dvd with some reserve due to the low quality of the early episodes. Hopefully, volume 2 will be all good.
Rating:
Summary: A Review After Finishing the Series
Review: When I bought this box and watched the first few DVDs, I wrote up a review for this series with 5 stars on it and a glowing review of how this series was both unique and well done. After finishing this series, I decided to write a new review based on my opinions after I was done. The first thing to notice different from my old review is the change from 5 stars to 4. This doesn't mean that the beginning isn't as astoundingly good as it was when I first reviewed it, it's just an indication of the downhill trend of the series. It's not that the series really gets worse; rather, the problem is that the series fails to go anywhere. In the beginning of the series, one gets the impression of a great potential in the relationship between the sisters, Ranga, and the people around them. Not just the potential story of those people getting used to having a god-mech amongst them, but the possiblities of those opposed to Ranga being in Japan working against the sisters. Unfortunately, the series instead seems to stall a little bit and become a deep philosophical ride about the nature of right and wrong, what makes a god, and the thoughts of the three sisters. Now I like philosophy along with many other thigns, but the end of this series seems to stall out and fail to truly pick up like I thought it should (the beginning is a little slow as well). In the end, the series still deserves 4 stars, though not 5. The animation is amazing, the philosophy is interesting occasionally, the action is well done, and the plot is very original and well done. Now if only the series had truly picked up all that potential and gone all the way, this series would be more than just another good anime and be one of the greats.
Rating:
Summary: A Review After Finishing the Series
Review: When I bought this box and watched the first few DVDs, I wrote up a review for this series with 5 stars on it and a glowing review of how this series was both unique and well done. After finishing this series, I decided to write a new review based on my opinions after I was done. The first thing to notice different from my old review is the change from 5 stars to 4. This doesn't mean that the beginning isn't as astoundingly good as it was when I first reviewed it, it's just an indication of the downhill trend of the series. It's not that the series really gets worse; rather, the problem is that the series fails to go anywhere. In the beginning of the series, one gets the impression of a great potential in the relationship between the sisters, Ranga, and the people around them. Not just the potential story of those people getting used to having a god-mech amongst them, but the possiblities of those opposed to Ranga being in Japan working against the sisters. Unfortunately, the series instead seems to stall a little bit and become a deep philosophical ride about the nature of right and wrong, what makes a god, and the thoughts of the three sisters. Now I like philosophy along with many other thigns, but the end of this series seems to stall out and fail to truly pick up like I thought it should (the beginning is a little slow as well). In the end, the series still deserves 4 stars, though not 5. The animation is amazing, the philosophy is interesting occasionally, the action is well done, and the plot is very original and well done. Now if only the series had truly picked up all that potential and gone all the way, this series would be more than just another good anime and be one of the greats.
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