Rating: Summary: SAVING THE GALAXY ONE GARBAGE CAN AT A TIME Review: Let me just start this way: Galaxy Angel is very, very funny. The Angel Brigade is a branch of the Trasvaal Empire military, charged with finding "Lost Technology". In ancient times, there was a civilization that had reached the apex of technology until something called the Chronoquake destroyed it. Centuries later some of the Lost Technology showed up at the planet Transavaal, and allowed the planet to build the first starships. Soon, the planet had built a large empire spanning the universe. Other specimens of Lost Technology are scattered through the galaxy. The military sends the Galaxy Angels to gather it up. The problem is that noone knows what it looks like and sometimes it could be buried under miles of rock or on a world inhabited by space pirates. Well, anyway, the Angels are fully capable of doing their job, or are they?
There are five Angels and they are all memorable and distinct. Milfeulle is the newest member and she has an almost supernatural affinity for good luck. For instance, when the Angels are gambling in a casino, she proceeds to win everything in the joint. That is, until the owner tries to cheat her with a rigged roulette table. She calls a color and when the ball seems to rest in a position in which she will lose her money, a giant asteroid appears out of nowhere and after the impact the ball lands in the color she chose. She is a bit of a dummy though, but nice.
Forte is another Angel, and has a mannish voice, and guns are her specialty. Ranpha is Mrs. Glamour herself and is always falling for studly looking guys. She is also a great martial artist. Mint is the younger, more demure Angel that mainly stays back on the ship and controls the missions. Every once in a while she gets personally involved, like when she puts on a giant chicken costume to capture some kidnappers. Lastly, we have the most enigmatic member of the team, Vanilla H. Yes, that's right, her name is Vanilla H. You would almost think she was an android with her long blue hair, red eyes, and nurse-like white uniform and almost continuous silence. She looks very similar to and acts like Rei from Neon Genesis Evangelion. That is, if you can picture Rei inserted into a comedy. Her deadpan comments are made even funnier by the craziness going on around her with the other girls.
Volume 1 was very funny and entertaining. While the Galaxy Angel's mission is to find Lost Technology, they always seem to end up with sorry jobs. For instance, cleaning up garbage in an asteroid belt, rescuing cats, returning school IDs to pirate infested schools, etc. Every once in a while, they do run into some fearsome adversaries, like a giant hamster that has a freakin' laser beam in his mouth! What can I say, this dvd was FUNNY! The animation was crisp and colorful. The characters were instantly distinguishable because they had such great personalities. The humor was right on. Especially funny was the episode where they find a world destroying sentient missle who can speak. The problem with the missle is that he doesn't want to blow up. The girls kinda smart off to it, and the missle says he's going to detonate. All of the girls cringe in fear. Then the missle laughs and says it was just joking!
Fun and highly recommended.
Extras:
Now I Get It GA lectures: These are introductions to each episode given by the Japanese actress that plays the bubbleheaded Milfeulle that give a little backstory.
Promo clip and Textless opening.
Rating: Summary: Excel LITE Review: Thats a good way to describe it. Think of Excel Saga without the frenetic pace, constant super deformity, and crude humor, but instead put in its place, wit, an extremly high kawaii factor (wait till you see mint-chan), and best of all, 5 of the most loveable characters in an anime in a good while. This anime oozes charm, and although its not exactly original, constantly funny, or containing any semblance of plot, it is nevertheless a very fun anime to watch, and because each episode is 15 minutes, the joke is carefully planned in each episode almost like a skit. From Milfeulle's incredible luck, Forte's comedic usage of firearms, Ranpha's fighter traninig (and blondness), Mints's absolutely adorable cosplay tendencies, Vanilla's constant focus on nothing but her strange religion, and a talking melancholy missile, theres enough material here to provide constant entertainment, even when the joke itself doesnt have you rolling. The characters make this show, and although its not the best comedy anime out there, this cute and charming little show absolutely works.
Rating: Summary: Fun anime by CLAMP! Review: The latest release by CLAMP (the all woman anime creative/writing team) does what they do best: take anime conventions and warp them into light hearted humor-adventure dealing with strong women/girls. GALAXY ANGEL is a series of 11-minute anime stories that tell fun, quick, ephemeral comic strips on film.Mille Fuelle is the center of the group; a cute, proper girl with best intentions who is horribly klutzy and air headed, but has SUCH luck that everything goes her way in time. Forte Stollen, the oldest woman, is a kind of Germanic, gun toting, gun loving hot head who believes the best way to solve any problem is via gun powder and lead. Vanilla, a take on the hollow, silent asian stereotype most reknowned through Rei Ayanami (Evangelion). Vanilla barely can put two words together to save her life, and has an amazing fascination with a giant mechanical totem she prays to. Mint, the little cute girl who has elven-cat ears and seems to be the most sensible, together member, but hides a very ruthless interior with nice dresses, sweet demeanor and the occasional chicken suit. And Ranph, the 'best friend' of Forte (both are well endowed, older members) who loves to eat, and must exercise continually to burn off the calories she takes in, thus keep her super-sexy figure with which to attract cute guys. It is a great, fun look at the space/mecha/team/strong woman anime steroetypes with a 5 sided grab bag of knuckle-heads named after foods/desserts out to recover the LOST TECHNOLOGY of the universe (something they never really understand or define). Each story is about how these girls get into awful trouble by doing dumb things, and naturally events spiral into over drive until a conclusion of sorts results. While GALAXY ANGEL isn't top notch anime, it is all ages fun in tiny snippets meant to play to a crowd that isn't looking for anything other then silly stories and cute designs. While the art isn't anime's best, it is, like all CLAMP projects, solid, well animated and tells the story well enough without being over emphatic. Just because it is anime, it doesn't have to be Evangelion-blood bath-mean faces-mech&tech. For a silly kids anime this show is really fun. Mild gun play, gun love, and a bit of silly violence. No sexual scenes or intentions (aside from Forte's low cut outfit).
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