Rating: 
Summary: Good mecha!!
Review: I think that despite some of it's similarities with past mecha series, this series is truely remarkable. The fact that it is probably going to remind alot of anime fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion still remains, however there are many differences between the two series.The storyline is centered around an ongoing battle between Aliens and Humanity. The heavily Military influenced Galactic University has taken parts from the aliens to develop the earths counter-weapon. The funny thing is that our the earth's counter weapon is sort of a Frankenstien made up of recovered alien parts. When the experiments to wake up this re-developed alien (later to be known as "Frank" or the Extra 1) go terribly wrong the our main character, Takuto Kaneshiro, of the series looses someone very close to him, Maki Agata who was invloved with this experiment. Takuto Kaneshiro, later to be known as Lieutenant Ryu Soma, decides to join an organization called Funeral where the Extra 1 or Frank has been taken to battle the aliens. The series revolves around Ryu Soma and his hatred towards the Extra 1 for taking Maki's life. At the funeral base the other key characters are introduced as a plot begins to develop. I have watched this whole series and I have to say that once you get through the first couple volumes of the series, the story get much better. Trust me, the whole series is not as borring as the first couple episodes of this series may seem. There is actually more to the plot than just a silly little Frankenstien take on a Mecha series. Other recomendations:
RahXephon, Vandread, Escaflowne, and the ever soooo popular Neon Genesis Evangelion (If you havn't seen it yet but who hasn't seen Evangelion!!). DEFFINATLY CHECK THIS ONE OUT!! :)
Rating: 
Summary: A TAD TOO MUCH STRANGENESS
Review: Ok, see if this sounds familiar. In the future there was a first impact caused by a alien which started a war in which these giant weird sounding weird looking robots/aliens come down one by one for no apparent reason and this one task force sends out equally big mecha based on the alien technology they don't really understand to combat them. Hmmmmm.....Neon Genesis??? Unfortunately, I am describing Argentosoma, which is such a mishmash of such disparate stories as King Kong, Battle of the Planets, Frankenstein, Moby Dick, and Evangelion that it really has no hope of being a unique expression of art. At the beginning of the first episode an alien is blown up by the Earth defenses but reassembled and reactivated by a scientist. First mistake...do not reassemble a hostile alien!!
In the process the alien, called "Frank" (oh, the irony) kills everyone at the research facility....except Takuto Kaneshiro, a college student who had shown up there looking for his girlfriend, who worked with the scientist. After Frank leaves the compound, he meets a young girl, Harriet, and surprisingly becomes her protector, saving her life from another alien who had arrived on the scene. FUNERAL, the anti-alien taskforce decides that the girl might just be useful after all. The physically scarred Takuto is meanwhile being rehabilitated by a slightly psycho doctor with his own agenda. Takuto vows to kill Frank and the doctor gives him a new identity, Lt.Ryu Soma, in order to infiltrate FUNERAL and get close enough to take his revenge. This series is just a little too goofy and derivative to me. The scarred Ryu looks like a dumb Two-Face. What's with the names too? I mean, really, FUNERAL?? When the mecha start fighting with each other, you could just put in Evangelion. To me Frank even resembled the main Eva. Its resemblance to Neo Ranga also cannot be overlooked. The analogies are just to blatant, especially the overt christian symbols, such as a crucifixion pose done by one of the aliens, etc or the biblical rants of the doctor. Also, the leader of FUNERAL is obviously a female vulcan. The more I write about this the more I dislike what I just watched. I will admit it had bizarreness going for it. When I saw Takuto's new hair style, I just pictured Cameron Diaz in There's Something About Mary when her hair sticks up with that hair gel. In the end, this dvd was a joke.
Rating: 
Summary: Character over giant robots
Review: Though its allusions to Neon Genesis Evangelion are somewhat agonizing, Argento Soma's primary focus is on their characters and the interactions between them. In the first DVD, don't expect a lot of heavy action but enough to satisfy for the time being (though I assume future releases will have more). It's slightly slow but at least it leaves time to get acquainted with the characters, especially the infinitely intriguing main protagonist/antagonist, Ryu Soma, a revenge-obsessed scarred man.
Rating:
Summary: this one has potential!
Review: Unlike Shinji, Takuto/Ryo is quite unusual--am I suppose to root for him, or jeer him? I say this because even after changing nto the not so pleasant Ryo, he keeps having flashbacks of his past life with Maki. Now THAT is worth watching!
i like the series being set in the States, two black characters who actually mean more than most real life movie roles, and seeing Frank and Hattie too. the tone is different from Eva too--much more "normal". I'll be watching this series quite a bit.
Rating:
Summary: this one has potential!
Review: Unlike Shinji, Takuto/Ryo is quite unusual--am I suppose to root for him, or jeer him? I say this because even after changing nto the not so pleasant Ryo, he keeps having flashbacks of his past life with Maki. Now THAT is worth watching!
i like the series being set in the States, two black characters who actually mean more than most real life movie roles, and seeing Frank and Hattie too. the tone is different from Eva too--much more "normal". I'll be watching this series quite a bit.
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