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Have you ever seen an anime/manga where that has a series within a series(like a tv show) with a ridiculous premise? One I can think of is Kamakiri Man from Zatch Bell about a giant praying mantis with a human head that fights crime like a Saturday Morning cartoon. A concept so silly and ridiculous that you wonder how a series about it would play out on it's own. Shakunetsu no Nirai Kanai is pretty much that concept made into an actual series.

Coming from the mind Ryuuhei Tamura (Creator of Shonen Jump's Beelzebub), Shaknetsu no Nirai Kanai (Hardboiled Cop and Dolphin) is his next ... foray into Weekly Shonen Jump and the result is very similar to Beelzebub for his benefit.

The series starts off with it mainly being a comedy manga, with the absurdity of the idea of a Dolphin Cop being the main gag going forward. Jokes about dorsal fins, people questioning why he's a Dolphin, and nautical language (using Fishsticks as a substitute for "Oh shit") are the types of comedy you'll see early on. The fun is seeing how serious it's played by Orpheus and everyone just accepting who he is as a person as the series moves on.

To pair up with Orpheus we have our main character Samejima. Samejima is the early straightman to Orpheus and soon enough starts becoming a comedy machine himself. Making jokes, goofing around, and having some wonderful expressions while also being a badass cop. His character gradually shines more and more as the two of them start working together and caring for each other as a team.

The third anchor for the story would be Chako, a little girl who is viewed as an Oracle to a cult and is Orpheus' daughter. She has mystical powers but generally is seen doing this to turn sealife into half human hybrids, and at a certain point helping Samejima breathe underwater. She's playful, innocent, and cares for both Same and Orpheus and is a center point for the story.

Without giving too much away the plot later involves Undersea Gangs who want to kidnap Chako, and these gangs also involve Human/Sea Creature hybrids. This is where Tamura's experience from Beelzebub comes into play making some very fun fight scenes that got a ton of that classic "Real life element explained in the manga to make the fight cooler".

As of the time of writing the series has had a pretty big plot point happen with a new big bad showing up. It's going into the battle direction but still is maintaining it's ridiculous concept so that end I've been enjoying it.

Before I wrap up I'd like to say the setting for this series being a small tropical island is a fantastic choice. It allows for some really good looking setpieces, one fight in particular I loved took place underwater near a barrier reef and the shading and lighting from the sun through the waves really added to the atmosphere.

All in all as the series is still going on I'd recommend it. The beginning is full of your usual comedy, but don't let that dissuade you as the story becomes much more shonen/action filled as it progresses and it surprisingly works.

Sakura Wars: The Movie is a very deceptive title. At first glance (and from what US trailers have been released) this movie is treated as a very open source for people to get interested in the Sakura Wars series. If you go in with intentions like that, I'm sorry to say Sakura Wars: The Movie will leave you dazed and confused.

I'm not going to be touching upon too much of the plot for this movie as it's honestly coming off the chain of TV series, and OVA's released prior to this movie. However as a person watching this movie with only brief understanding of the ... series (Between walkthroughs of the game translated) it leaves a lot to be determined. Set in between the events of Sakura Taisen 3 and 4 this movie focuses on the Flower Division surviving on their own after Ichiro Oogami (Main character in the games and Captain of the Division) was transferred to Paris. As we see the girls not only maintain their roles as theater actors,a new threat appears as a conspiracy from the New York division strikes Japan forcing the girls into their Kobu's one more time to fight against the evil Kouma.

This plot is not winning any awards, as it's played by the numbers throughout the entire movie. The big part that did have me interested however was the final sequence in which Sakura and Lachette have a very dramatic performance with each other. That's honestly the only scene that comes to mind that really stood out for me because the performance in Japanese was very good imo.

The art for this movie is great, characters pop out with their color schemes, backgrounds look gorgeous, and the animation over all was very nice except for one thing. The CGI in this movie is very bad. It's not King of Thorn level bad, but it's getting there. This wouldn't be so much an issue but the action scenes in this movie are done with this CGI which causes you to lose the impact of what's going on since the mechs just look ehhhhh.

Sound is great, Sakura Taisen has always been known for having great music and this movie fits the bill. A big shoutout to rhe musical numbers thrown in the movie, especially for the opening.

Characters are already established prior to this movie, so if this is your first experience you will be missing a lot of backstory. You can piece together who exactly is who as you go through it, but I'd def either watch the prior anime or play through the games as you'll be very lost.

Enjoyment is pretty much hampered by the mix of not well developed characters, predictable story, and jarring CGI. Even the grand conclusion for the battle is not very impressive when considering the stakes and the fact that one of the characters only comes in for maybe like 2 minutes in the final showdown (who is important to prior Sakura Taisen games) is just a punch to the nads. If it wasn't for the good character art/backgrounds and great musical numbers/perfomances I'd have most likely stopped watching this movie by the half way mark.

All in all if you're a Sakura Wars fan I'd give it a shot if you're interested. As to everyone else who's looking for a first exposure to the series, either watch the first anime and work your way up or just play the games. Otherwise this movie will leave a bitter experience in your mouth.

Omae Umasou da na is a movie that has dived into a topic that happens in a good amount of dinosaur movies*Coughlandbeforetimecough*. While the movie doesn't reinvent the wheel, it does tell a interesting story that has you watching till the end.

Story: The story focuses on a T-rex(Big Jaw as it's called in the movie) named Heart. At the beginning of the movie an egg drifts down the river, a plant eater(Completely blanking on the species) finds this egg and decides to take it as it's own along with her own eggs. After a dinosaur attack all that remains of her eggs are just one ... of her own eggs, and the one with Heart in it. After the eggs hatch the herd tells the mother to abandon the egg due to it being a meat eater, the mother decides to split off from the herd and raise the two children in solitude. In order to control Heart's meat eating nature the mother has him eat red berries as a substitute. This plan works decently but Heart still has his cravings for meat. While Heart and his brother Light(The other dinosaur that hatched) go out berry hunting, Heart decides to head off in his own direction. Heart then meets a herd of Big Jaws with their leader being a one eyes big jaw named appropriately "One Eyed Baku." While the herd is taking in their game Heart flees at the sight of them eating the flesh of their catch, Baku then questions him on why he is here and what is he doing. After answering his questions and scurrying off, one of the herd breaks off to track Heart. When Heart returns to Light the herd member (Think his name was Doma. Names were far and between in this movie) attacks Light and questions Heart's relationship to a plant eater. Doma laughs at the idea of the two being brothers and tempts Heart with the taste of meat and tells him that he is a Big Jaw.(Which Heart denies due to being raised as a plant eater) They scuffle with Heart ripping off Doma's tail and Heart begins to question his taste of meat and what he really is. That's part one. I'll focus on part two briefly so you get a glimpse of why the hell this movie is named what it is.

A stronger grown up heart (This is probably the only movie where you will see a T-rex doing push-ups with one hand), after breaking off from the herd has taken his taste of meat with pride. Hunting other dinosaurs and eating his flesh, he soon sees a tiny egg on the ground. Heart approaches it to find a baby anklyosaurus(Hard Shell is the term they use) who believes Heart is his father. Heart in his meat phase calls the baby Umasou(Which means something on the lines of delicious) as to which the baby thinks his name is(Reminded me of Chii's sweet home). Umasou now follows Heart believing that he is his father and wants to become strong like him. I'm gonna leave off there since I'm sure at this point if you're reading you must have some interest in this movie. I hope that's the case.

Art: The art is very colorful. Landscapes are painted to match the areas, my favorite being the vast deserts covered with sands with animal bones being scattered all across, with patches of grass randomly in it. Character designs are well, this is a kid's movie after all. Basic and plain, but enough to warrant some attention.

Sound: Music choices fit the scenes accordingly. There are 3 vocal songs that are actually really catchy. The main one being when Heart and Umasou are training(For what dare you ask? Watch the damn movie!). It's really addicting I swear.
Seiyuu's are also very good. Was surprised to see Baku being played by Ikari Gendo's seiyuu(He's like, every villian now).

Character: Very good. You get attached to the Heart and the struggle he goes through. Being raised by the complete opposite and ending up raising the complete opposite with Umasou. The other characters like Umasou and Heart help keep the story in check. Was a little bit upset that Umasou did not really do much in the last part, he was just kind of there to say "Hey! Cute mascot here!"

Enjoyment: The movie is meant for kids, that's a given. But it does appeal to all crowds. I grew up with these types of movies so seeing another one is fine with me, though for this one the fight scenes are actually pretty cool. The last one with ____ being the best one. I watched it on my own and enjoyed it, I'm also 20 by the way.

Overall: This movie is the same old telling just brought back with some cool stuff. Characters are fun, the songs are catchy, and in the end you really do feel for Heart and the choices he makes as a character. It's a movie you can really watch with anyone, and I'd say if you got nothing better to do. Watch Umasou do a breakdance spin with his awkward body.

8/10

When the next OP moviie was announced I had mixed opinions. The movies have always been enjoyable and recently have been going back to remaking some of the classic arcs with a bit of new goodness. However when I learned the original creator Eiichiro Oda would be heading the project, I squealed like a school girl. So, after waiting about 8 months the movie has finally been subbed and I watched it today. Does Oda's canon movie triumpth over the original and remade story lines of the other movies? Let's tackle this movie.

Plot: Surprisingly the plot is the toughest thing to talk about IMO. The ... plot isn't bad, oh hell no it's great. It's just a bit of an old tune from an Oda plot line. As other people have stated, the plotline works a lot like the Arlong arc. Actually... you might as well say IT IS the Arlong arc. Nami gets kidnapped by crazed villian (Shiki in our case), Luffy and crew go to save her. Shiki tries to make Nami his navigator and plans to control the entire ocean starting with the East Blue. Luffy and crew have to rescue her and protect their homeland by beating Shiki and saving everything. Yadda yadda yadda. Point is, it's a new location with new characters, but it has the general idea the Arlong arc brought up, but on a higher scale. I enjoyed the arc so I really had no problems.

Art: Damn. I can't say anything more than that. The characters, the islands, even just looking at all the stuff in the scenery is just amazing. Fluent animations mixed in with some of those wacky expressions that OP fans have grown to love. One of my favorite works of art in the movie has to be near the end, with the snow falling in a night sky while all the battles are going on. Also just to add in, the character costumes look cool as hell. I mainly love Chopper's. I thought he couldn't get any cuter but I guess I was wrong.

Sound: All the Seiyuu's work their roles perfectly. One Piece has lots and lots of communications between the crew mates. Which really means that you get to hear perfect chemistry between the characters voices. The new characters voices are also very good. Shiki and Indigo's conversations are just hilarious, and it just reminds you how good classic comedy duo's can be, especially with each of their reactions. The seiyuu's did a great job. For the music I can also say, it was great. You get your mix of peaceful melodies, crazy fast paced music, and of course, roaring battle music. Every piece of sound works in it's place, and just adds more on to the scenes.

Character: Oda never fails when it comes to characters. The Strawhats are all here and enjoyable as ever. You get your Zoro and Sanji bickering, Brook's bone jokes, and of course Luffy's goofy laugh and enjoyable personality. When it came to the action too, same thing. The characters in battle resembled how they were in the series, the same feeling for fights and just the same atmosphere. Though one thing I did find a bit annoying was Nami played the damsel in distress role. Which she can really kick ass, so it's a bit of a shame to see her not really doing much fighting, but her scenes with Shiki work out great.

Speaking of Shiki he's also a very enjoyable character. He has the quirks of many OP villians, and his devil fruit power is very cool. I also like how they develop him first as a good guy, but later turns out to be a real asshole. Adds on to his deceitful character. His crew is also very enjoyable. Despite that only two members really shined, Indigo and the gorilla. Indigo was a comical relief and did a great job of it with his comedy lines with the others. The gorilla on the other hand, didn't really do that much. He was just kind of there with the intent of "If I'm here than maybe someone can use their signature moves on me." Least what it looked like to me.

Enjoyment: As a OP fan, I loved the living hell out of this movie. I always love seeing the Strawhats on the big screen ( Or just HDTV screen in my taste) and watching them go at it in a crazy movie like this. You have enjoyable new characters, crazy animals (Oda really knows how to combine random things with animals), beautiful artwork, and a fantastic world that the movie takes place in. It's got your comedy, drama, and of course, action as all OP fans would expect. Also, Luffy does a seriously badass move at the end of it, I was just in awe as it happened like "Oda, you've done it again."

Overall: As the description says it does take place later on in the series. But honestly, even if I never saw One Piece before I would love this movie. It's enjoyable for everyone but the fans will go to town with this movie. It just shows, when you put the creator behind the wheel of the movie, this is how it goes. A fantastic movie, and it makes absolute sense why it was a box office smash in Japan.

Story: It's pretty simple. A kitten gets lost from her mother, and then she gets adopted into a family. Basically the plot is simple for anyone to understand in a heartbeat.

Art: What I found interesting is that the animation company behind the anime was Madhouse(The company who also did Deathnote and Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro), so I kinda expected some good clear movements and good artstyle. Which I did find and was happy for.

Sound: This is where I think CSH shines. Chi's voice is done by Satome Koorogi(Who has also done supporting roles like Menchi from Excel Saga and Nina from FMA) so I was ... kind of expecting a sweet cute voice that wasn't too high pitched. Her voice is just adorable from her normal talking as Chi to when she plays around with other objects in the house. The opening I have to add is also quite catchy. Problem is that it's short, like thirty seconds short.

Character: Chi as a character overall is great. A young kitten curious of how life works in the apartment and the way of living in it is just plain cute. From mistaking her litter box for a bed to believing the word wee was her name. As for other characters there isn't much to say. The humans just are well there and set up the scenario for Chi's actions.

Enjoyment: This series is bound to make either laugh or just blow you away with it's cuteness. You really have fun watching this series and just can't wait for the next episode to happen and see what funny thing Chi does next.

Overall: If you want a series to just give you a good laugh or if you're a cat fanatic I recommend it to you. The only problem I found with it is that the episodes are only 2 minutes and 20 seconds(2 minutes and 50 seconds including the opening). But still it's an easy series to pick up and enjoy.