Miami Guns Vol 1

Rating:
Summary: CLASSIC COMEDY
Review: Well, Miami Guns is what I would call an instant classic. It is just that hilarious. In fact, it is probably the funniest anime I've ever seen, eclipsing even Excel Saga in terms of craziness and humor.

In the future, Miami has become so crime-ridden that the rich people of the city have formed their own paid police force called Miami Guns. After young, rich, beautiful, spoiled, and psychotic Yao receives a death threat, she is assigned a Miami Gun bodyguard named Lu Amano, who just happens to be the daughter of the police chief. After the assasin is caught, Yao decides that being a police officer would be a fun and exciting job so she joins the force.

In the first episode, A foiled bank robbery turns into a worse situation when the robber holds a baby hostage in a standoff with the Miami Guns. That is, until Yao shows up, parachuting out of a helicopter. When she opens her chute she is slammed into the wall of a skyscraper, then she drifts through a tree, then hits the top of a car, backflips and falls over the hood, and lands on her face on the cement. This is the kinda of thing she does. Will the baby survive the hostage-taker....and the Miami Guns?

The second episode is a parody of summary episodes in anime series. Yah and Lu think that after ONE episode, the audience needs a summary of all the episodes that have come before! The origin of how Yao came across her beloved Mauser pistol is revealed in a sequence that made me cry it was so funny. Also, a lot of the supporting characters in equally funny parts are introduced and the back story.

The third episode is about a phone call for help from a girl's school that came in the middle of the night to the police station but was cut off before more was said. Yao and Lu are sent undercover to find out what the problem is. This episode was a masterpiece from the lesbian overtones of Yao and another student to the sadomasochist principal. It was just hilarious.

The last episode was a great parody of the anime Initial D which I have never seen but was great nevertheless. Someone has been running drivers off the road and leaving tofu on their injured bodies. Of course, the ever ballistic Yao sees this as an exciting challenge, seeing as how she only joined the force for shoot-outs, car chases, etc. Noone can identify the serial wrecker except to say a giant rabbit is involved.

I recommend this series with the highest marks. It is a classic, and is probably the funniest anime out there. Pretty skimpy extras:

Translation Notes
Image Gallery
Japanese Trailers
Character Guides

In addition to this dvd, I would also recommend Excel Saga and Magical Shopping Aracade Abenobashi as other series that you would find funny and treats the same basic themes as Miami Guns. Volume 2 of Guns comes out on August 3, 2004.

Rating:
Summary: Comedy and Action
Review: Yao Sakurakoji is a certifiable nutcase everyone loves to hate; Lu Amano is a soft talking straight girl with a crush on someone she shouldn't have one on. Together they raise havoc in the new city of Miami. Well, Yao does at least - she's a spitfire who joins the Miami Police because of the car chases, gun fights and action. Resulting in some insane situations and results. If you're a criminal cornered by the police and Yao volunteers as a hostage - forget it! Likewise if you're trying to help her out of a bad situation save yourself and run away before she makes it worse.

Miami guns is aimed at people who like satyr, parodies and humor: it won't appeal to anyone needing serious plots, or bloody gore, or brooding drama. For example, the second episode is a "review" of previous episodes (some series features a review late in the season to help fill rushed schedules) which in fact can't happen becuase it is the second episode (but it is an imaginative way to set the background and also parody other shows). There are some sexy parts (Yao isn't above using her gender to embarass lesser mortals, in a bikini-clad PG-13 way), but humor is the keystone. If you like crazy anime women who can be screaming murder one moment and staring dim-witted the next, try it.