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L

LAIN: see SERIAL EXPERIMENTS LAIN

LANDLOCK: Firstly, this is *not* a Shirow story. It merely uses
some character designs. A typical brother and sister eventually find
that they have more to them than meets the eye. Or two eyes; each one
a different colour! This story is a typical quest to save the world
against insurmountable odds and evil mentors. Available from Manga
Video.
[Entry by Chika]

LAPUTA, CASTLE IN THE SKY (a.k.a. TENKU NO SHIRO LAPUTA): Young
Pazu's life is turned upside down when a girl, Sheeta, floats down
from the sky into his sleepy mining village wearing a mysterious blue
pendant. Together they search for the flying castle in the sky,
Laputa, while pursued by nefarious government forces after the secrets
that Sheeta and her pendant hold. A rip-roaring adventure classic
from Studio Ghibli and master director Hiyao Miyazaki, with an almost
relentless pace, animation that still impresses twenty years after it
was made and amazing attention to detail.
Available in both US Region 1 and UK Region 2 on DVD - the UK
release is unfortunately dubtitled, although the dub (from Disney) is
of excellent quality.
[Entry by Andrew Hollingbury]

LAST EXILE: Claus Valca and Lavie Head, two young Vanship pilots
in the flight-dominated world of Prestale, become embroiled in a
massive war for power after rescuing a young girl, Alvis Hamilton,
from the wreckage of a Vanship stalked by a mysterious mechanical
creature. Gonzo's flagship series to mark their 10th anniversary is
undeniably visually impressive, and perhaps most successfully
recaptures the blending of shounen action and shoujo romance pioneered
by ESCAFLOWNE of any recent series, although there are some moments
when the plot could do with tightening up a little - overall, however,
LAST EXILE is an epic adventure that should appeal to most audiences.
Available on Region 1 DVD from Geneon, in Australia from Madman,
and forthcoming from ADV in UK Region 2.
[Entry by Andrew Hollingbury]

LAUGHING TARGET: Taken from the "Rumik World" series of short
stories, this horror story concerns Yuzuru, who has a childhood
sweetheart. When this girl, Azusa (bethrothed to him as a young boy),
returns to his life, strange things start to happen, especially to
Yuzuru's current squeeze. When people start dying and Yuzuru's
girlfriend is threatened, Yuzuru has to start to find out about
Azusa's past and make some unpleasant decisions. Was available from
USMC.
[Entry by Chika]

LEGEND OF BLACK HEAVEN (a.k.a. KACHOU OOJI): On the outside, Ooji
appears to be a typical Japanese middle-aged middle manager; married
to a wife who wants a home of their own, father of a son who wants
Dad's attention, working for a boss who just wants things to run
smoothly, and so on. But things were not always this way, and years
before Ooji was the lead guitarist in a fairly successful rock band,
and the urge to look back and remember is never far away. Things come
to a head when Ooji's wife throws out his old guitar and Ooji becomes
despondent over the loss of this final symbol of his youth. But then
a mysterious and beautiful new colleague tempts Ooji with a new guitar
and a chance to play. Ooji is lead off as if in a trance and finds a
chance to release his soul through his music. But there is a very odd
catch to this bargain - Ooji's music is the source of power for the
weapons of one side of an interstellar war that is going on
unbeknownst to Humanity, and soon the very existence of the Earth
depends upon Ooji and his ability to play. This story of a mid-life
crisis that turns into a sci-fi adventure is simultaneously funny and
poignant and is definitely for the "older" fan who may well also find
himself "looking for his old guitar" from time-to-time.
Available in North America from Geneon.
[Entry by Dave Baranyi]

LEGEND OF GALACTIC HEROES: A far-future SF epic in which two vast
space-faring governments, the Empire and the Federation, vie for
supremacy amid the sea of stars. Against this backdrop two young
heroes on the opposing sides wage war with each other and politics
with their peers.

LENSMAN: Loosely based around the E.E. "Doc" Smith stories, an
ex-patrolman suddenly finds his planet being ripped apart, but all is
not lost! His son inherits a "lens", which because of the nature of
the info on it, the enemy would really like back, hence its
destruction of the planet and relentless pursuit of the boy from that
point onwards through all sorts of weird scenarios. However, he
gathers allies on the way, so the enemy doesn't get it all its own
way ...
[Entry by Chika]
[Chika is understating matters - this anime uses little more than
some of the names from the original series of novels. It isn't a bad
story, but don't expect it to be anything like "Doc" Smith's
masterpiece. LENSMAN was available dubbed from Streamline when
Streamline was still in business. - Rob Kelk]

LEO THE LION: see KIMBA THE WHITE LION

LOCKE THE SUPERMAN: An intergalactically famous superbeing lured
out of voluntary seclusion helps save Earth from a group of elite
ESPers bent on galactic conquest. The design sense is rather
primitive but the story line is lean, exciting and propulsive,
revolving around the title character, a powerful female ESPer, and an
evil conclave. Admittedly, these are simple premises, but the action
& storytelling are first-rate.

LODOSS WAR: see RECORD OF LODOSS WAR

LOST UNIVERSE: LOST UNIVERSE is done by all the same people who
did SLAYERS, and it's pretty much SLAYERS in outer space. It's a
Sci-Fi comedy which follows the adventures of Kain Blueriver, a
psychic troubleshooter that hires himself out to solve problems and
looks like he could be the child of Lina and Gourry, and his ship the
Swordbreaker, which is one of the lost ships belonging to a highly
advanced lost civilization. Joining him is Canal, the holographic
image which the ship projects to communicate, and Millie, a dead shot
who blows up kitchens cooking and wants to become the best something
or other in the Universe (exactly what changes with every episode).
Despite some not so great animation, those fuzzy dots that move around
are not because of a bad TV, the series is an enjoyable comedy done in
SLAYERS fashion, and although it doesn't quite live up to its parent
anime it's the closest thing out there to a fourth season of SLAYERS
right now. Available from ADV Films.
[Entry by "Sultan Of Swing"]

LOUIE THE RUNE SOLDIER: see RUNE SOLDIER

LOVE HINA: Keitaro Urashima, a 20 year old "ronin" (student who
has failed his university entrance exams) gets a job as the caretaker
at his grandmother's old hot springs inn. What he doesn't know is
that she has turned it into a girls-only dorm. The girls aren't
pleased at first to have him there, but eventually accept him, and
Keitaro starts to fall in love with one of the girls, named Naru. But
Keitaro is haunted by the vague memories of having promised, when he
was young, to go to Tokyo U with a girl whose name he has since
forgotten.
What develops is a romantic comedy, with a fair amount of surreal
humor, and a number of fun, memorable characters. This was a big, big
hit in Japan. Non-Japanese fans of the manga version tend to have
real problems with the anime version since it varies a lot from the
manga. I saw the anime first, then read the manga, and tend to like
the anime more.
Available from Bandai in North America, or Madman in Australia.
[Entry by Dave Baranyi]

LOVE YOU BABY: see AISHITERUZE BEIBE

LUPIN III: Gentleman (err, mostly) thief, international man of
mystery, exquisite lover (but only in his dreams), Lupin III decides
to make a career out of flashy crimes and ridiculous car chases. The
grandson of the infamous Arsene Lupin (without LeBlanc's consent,
unfortunately, leading to a bit of a tiff in which the English
translations temporarily went under the title of RUPAN), Lupin travels
the world in search of the next big score while being hounded by
Inspector Zenigata of Interpol. His companions are the sharp-shooting
Jigen, the noble Goemon, and the occasionally back-stabbing Fujiko,
whom Lupin never quite manages to score with. The quality of the TV
series is rather subpar; the OAVs and films are better, but most of
them have aged pretty poorly. Personally, I find it a fun throwback
to the 70's "mod" style.
PARENTAL ADVISORIES: Moderate violence (for comedic effect),
implied adult situations, and lots of (interrupted) Fujiko beddings.
[Entry by Dot Warner]

M

M66: see BLACK MAGIC M66

MACH GO GO GO: see SPEED RACER

MACROSS: Epic sci-fi space opera, influenced by GUNDAM and YAMATO.
In the year 1999, a deserted alien space warship crash lands on Earth.
The people on Earth spend the next 10 years refurbishing the
spaceship, christening it the Macross. On the day of the Macross'
launching ceremony, the Zentradi, an alien race of humanoid giants,
appears above the Earth to claim the ship. The crew of the Macross
are forced to perform a space fold to escape, unwittingly taking
50,000 civilians with them to the edges of the solar system. With the
fold system mysteriously missing, the Macross is forced to slowly make
its way back to Earth, while constantly being harassed by the pursuing
Zentradi.
Within the backdrop of this war, personal dramas are played out.
Foremost among them is the love triangle that slowly forms between
fighter pilot Ichijyo Hikaru, singer Lynn Minmay, and bridge operator
Hayase Misa. Hikaru saves Minmay's life during the Zentradi attack,
and falls in love with her when the two are accidentally stranded deep
within the Macross. But as Minmay's singing career blossoms and her
star rises, he wonders if their worlds are drifting apart. Hikaru and
Misa begin their relationship with almost constant arguments, but
their time together in the line of duty slowly brings them closer.
MACROSS comprises 36 episodes, and originally aired on TV in Japan
from 1982 to 1983. MACROSS is generally considered a classic, famous
for its transforming Valkyrie mecha and its idol singer, Lynn Minmay.
In the US, it was altered and incorporated into the 1985 ROBOTECH
series as the Macross Saga.
Was available subtitled from AnimEigo. Now available dubbed as
part of ROBOTECH, and subtitled and newly-dubbed, from ADV.
R1 official website: <http://www25.advfilms.com/titles/macross/>
[Entry by Ray Li]

MACROSS: DO YOU REMEMBER LOVE: Set in the MACROSS universe, this
"film in a film" is a brief and somehow distorted retelling of the
original TV series, SDF MACROSS. Any other description will be only a
list of differences from the original story.
[Entry by Andrew V. Tupkalo]

MADOX-01: At first, the story seems like a remake of MEGAZONE 23 -
a top-secret battlesuit falls off a truck, and is found by a college
student. But MADOX-01 quickly takes a turn to the absurd. The
student doesn't care about the suit; he just wants to be able to take
the silly thing off and go on a date. The military man doesn't want
the suit back; he wants to destroy it because it made his tank company
look bad during tests. And the person who developed the suit wants to
keep it intact because she wants to keep her position in the
military/industrial complex. While the story is silly, the action
scenes are coreographed well and the characters are engaging and
all-too-human.
MADOX-01 is available from AnimEigo.
[Entry by Rob Kelk]

MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH: TV Season One: Three junior high school
girls - Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki, and Fuu Hououji - meet for the
first time atop Tokyo Tower on a field trip, when they are summoned to
Cephiro by the Pillar, Princess Emeraude. Master Mage Clef informs
them that they need to become the Legendary Magic Knights and save
Cephiro from destruction, to be allowed to return home. High Priest
Zagato has captured Princess Emeraude and set up obstacles to prevent
the girls from fulfilling their quest.
TV Season Two: In a second visit to Cephiro, the girls learn from
Master Mage Clef that there are three countries from nearby planets on
their way to invade Cephiro: Autozam, Farhen and Chizeta. During the
battles, a more sinister force appears and the girls must defend the
planet from destruction.
Season one has 20 episodes, which must be seen before the 29
episodes in season two since there are unresolved matters from the
first season that get resolved in the second season.
MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH TV is available from Anime Works.
[Entry by Gerardo Campos]

MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH OAV: Three junior high school girls -
Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu - make a wish to never get separated, a few days
before their graduation and before they start to attend different high
schools. While they are having fun, mages and warriors from Cephiro
start to appear on Earth, some of them supporting Princess Emeraude,
preparing the ground to receive her, and others Cephirians not really
convinced that invading Earth will solve Cephiro's problem. The girls
have an encounter with Mokona and later with Master Mage Clef whom
start to give them magic powers, and receive the duty to find and
awake their "mashins" to defend Earth.
The TV series and the OAV episodes are set in different worlds; the
stories are completely unrelated.
This 3 episode OAV is available from Manga Entertainment.
[Entry by Gerardo Campos]

MAGIC USERS CLUB: see MAHOU TSUKAI TAI

MAGICAL GIRL PRETTY SAMMY: Sasami Kawai is chosen by Tsunami,
Queen of Juraihelm, to become the title character. With the aid of a
magic wand and her cute animal sidekick Ryo-chan, Sammy rights wrongs
and triumphs over evil, while desperately hoping no one she knows
spots her in her ridiculous costume! Three-part OAV series featuring
the magical-girl spoof character introduced in the TENCHI MUYO:
MIHOSHI SPECIAL anime. Entertaining silliness that can be appreciated
by fans of TENCHI as well as an affectionate send-up of the Magical
Girl genre. Watch for the Evil Bill Gates clone in episode two!
Available from Geneon.
[Entry by Dave Menard]

MAGICAL MEOW MEOW TARUTO: see MAHOU SHOUJO NEKO TARUTO

MAGICAL NYAN-NYAN TARUTO: see MAHOU SHOUJO NEKO TARUTO

MAGICAL PROJECT S: TV series version of MAGICAL GIRL PRETTY SAMMY
and spoof of magical girl shows in general. Aimed more at children
than the OAV series was. Catchier theme song, too. Suitable for all
ages. Available from Geneon.
[Entry by Dave Menard]

MAGICAL SHOPPING ARCADE ABENOBASHI: see ABENOBASHI MAHOU
SHOUTENGAI

MAHOROMATIC (a.k.a. MAHORO: AUTOMATIC MAIDEN): Suguru, a nice
young guy who girls fall for but who lives alone, decides to hire a
maid. He ends up hiring Mahoro, a retired combat android, one of the
best who ever worked for a secret government organization that
protects the Earth from two other shadowy groups. She actually
retired because combat has nearly worn her out and she only has a year
to live, so she decides to work for the son of her old commander. But
when strange forces try to capture Mahoro, Suguru's life gets much
more interesting ...
Available in North America from Geneon, and in the UK from ADV.
[Entry by "HiEv"]

MAHOU SHOUJO NEKO TARUTO (a.k.a. MAGICAL MEOW MEOW TARUTO or
MAGICAL NYAN-NYAN TARUTO): NEKO TARUTO is about a young girl cat
called Taruto. Now, this is not like most "cat girl" anime - Taruto
is not a human with catlike characteristics, but a young cat with
human qualities and intelligence. She lives with her master, Iori (a
human college-aged youth), and his teenaged sister Kinako, who have
just moved to a new seaside town that is very European in appearance.
Iori is thrilled to be in this new town because he loves to make
desserts, and this town specializes in Northern European-style
desserts. But the town and the relationship between the humans and
the cats in it are subtly different from our world. Not the least of
the differences is that this world is tied magically to a world of
sentient cats from which a kitten princess was lost during a terrible
war some time before. Various forces from that cat world are now
secretively roaming the human world, looking for the missing princess
for different reasons. And Taruto appears to be at the center of this
search. Taruto has certain abilities that suggest that she may be
that missing princess - in particular she has some ability to do
magic, albeit in a rather unpredictable and uncontrolled fashion. But
every so often something seems to take over Taruto's usual kitten-like
self that allows her to do much more than normal. Various funny,
poignant, mysterious and antic events take place during the first
three quarters of the series. Then the final story arc brings
together all of the background events as forces of the cat world
actively start to pursue their quarry.
All-in-all, NEKO TARUTO was one of the most enjoyable, intelligent
and sweet fantasy anime I've ever seen. The creators of this story
took a classic plot, filled it with wonderfully likeable characters
and brought a sense of self-consistent fantasy to the entire mix that
made the story truly "magical". Each episode brought something unique
and different to a very traditional story and managed to make the
blend totally unforgettable. The best comparison I can make is in the
way that everything comes together in some of the better Miyazaki
fantasy movies. This is a "must see" anime for anyone who loves
classic fairytale-style fantasy.
Licenced by Bandai in North America.
[Entry by Dave Baranyi]

MAHOU TSUKAI TAI (a.k.a. MAGIC USERS CLUB): This series starts
with an alien craft entering the Earth's atmosphere, devastating the
carrier taskforce sent to intercept it, and ... stopping in the
middle of the Pacific. Meanwhile, Sae is trying to make a good
impression on her afterschool club leader Takeo so that he'll notice
her, although it shouldn't be too hard to notice someone in a club
that only has five members, even if it is a club for people who can
actually cast spells (although the rest of the school thinks it's for
people who practice stage magic).
Despite the alien and the magic, this is a coming-of-age story
about five unusual teenagers, told with compassion and humour.
Six OAVs and a sequel TV series (which actually *is* a sequel
instead of being a remake), translated by Anime Works.
[Entry by Rob Kelk]

MAI-HIME: 16 year old Mai Tokiha and her younger brother Takumi
are transferring to their new school, the Fuuka Academy, by ferry.
After an eventful journey involving mysterious shining red stars and a
frenetic fight between the sword-wielding Mikoto and the gun-toting
Natsuki, Mai discovers that she is a HiME, a girl with special powers
who must defend Fuuka against Orphans, monstrous creatures that menace
the area. As more and more HiMEs are discovered, the stakes hot up
with mysterious prophecies, the consequences of their powers and
several insidious organisations wanting to control the HiMEs - or
destroy them.
Studio Sunrise throws several cliches together - high school comedy
drama, some bishoujo (and occasional bishounen) fanservice,
superpowered action with "mecha" - and surprisingly manage to make
something that sticks together fairly well. MAI-HIME is fairly
unoriginal in execution, but the fact that there's something for
almost everyone, coupled with excellent animation and strong
characterisation, means it's almost bound to be enjoyable in some
respects.
At the time of writing, MAI-HIME is still running in Japan, with 18
episodes of 26 aired - the Japanese Region 2 release has begun with
the first two episodes on DVD.
[Entry by Andrew Hollingbury]

MAISON IKKOKU: A young man in love struggles to achieve his
impossible dreams. The widow who can't forget her beloved husband
knows she has to move on. The handsome, worthy tennis instructor vies
for the widow's love. The harpy-like friends keep the young man and
the widow apart. That, in a nutshell, is MAISON IKKOKU: a slice of
everyday life in a seedy suburban Tokyo boarding house.
Real life is the setting for this romantic comedy from Rumiko
Takahashi (RANMA 1/2, INU-YASHA). Godai is a "ronin", a young man who
failed to get into college. While he struggles to pass his entrance
exams, he moves to a boarding house closer to Tokyo and gets
neighbours right out of a wacky sitcom, who drive him to distraction
and tease him mercilessly. The day he swears to leave Maison Ikkoku
forever, the love of his life shows up to become the new manager,
Kyoko Otonashi.
Kyoko is a young widow who hasn't recovered from her loss. Her
father-in-law offers her the resident manager position at this
boarding house he owns until she decides what she wants to do with her
life. So begins the impossible dream for Godai.
This love story is interesting because it breaks the rules. Godai
is *not* the perfect hero. The rival, Shun Mitaka, isn't a complete
jerk. It feels more realistic than other romance stories, yet is also
a very typical one. The story is filled with laughter, touching
moments and wonderful characters. And when the ending unfolds, it is
a wonderful moment that just about breaks your heart. Even guys who
hate romantic stories love this series. Advisory: Mature situations.
Ages 13+.
Available from Viz.
[Entry by Travers Naran, edited by Rob Kelk]

MAJO-NO TAKKYUBIN: see KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE

MAMONO HUNTER YOHKO: see DEVIL HUNTER YOHKO

MARIS THE CHOJO (a.k.a. SUPERGIRL MARIS): Unlike the other RUMIK
WORLD stories by Rumiko Takahashi that have been turned into anime,
this OAV is not at all serious. Maris is a super-strong
troubleshooter who just can't stay out of debt. (She dreams of
getting rich, or at least breaking even, but fate conspires against
her.) One day, she's assigned to track down the kidnappers of one of
the richest eligible bachelors in the galaxy ... This OAV is one of
the few anime to have a Jackie-Chan-style "blooper reel" under the
ending credits. Was available from USMC.
[Entry by Rob Kelk]

MARMALADE BOY: Miki is your typical teenage anime girl, popular in
school, star of the girls' tennis team, happy with her life. Until
the day she came home from school and her parents told her they are
divorcing. Not just divorcing, but also swapping partners with
another couple they met on their recent vacation. And this is just
the first 5 minutes of episode 1! Based on the manga by Yoshizumi
Wataru, MARMALADE BOY follows Miki, Yu, the teenage son of the other
couple in the partner-swap, Meiko, Miki's best friend, Ginta, Miki's
tennis teammate, Arimi, with her ever-present group of male followers,
Suzu, famous teen model, and others through 76 episodes of high school
romantic comedy/drama that often has viewers semi-suicidal with its
unexpected plot twists and turns.
Licenced by Tokyopop.
[Entry by Jeanne Hedge]

MARTIAN SUCCESSOR NADESICO (a.k.a. MOBILE BATTLESHIP NADESICO):
Aliens attacking Martian colonies. Dead parents leaving orphaned
children to defend themselves. Doesn