009-1

I just finished this series a few days ago. It was great. I'm not a huge fan of the art style that Shotaro Ishinomori uses in his shows (see Cyborg 009), but the character development in 009-1 is excellent. It's a spy thriller (with cyborgs), and very much feels like one, with constant gadgetry and espionage and back-stabbing plots and all of the things you would expect from a spy thriller. The main character, Agent 009-1 (also known as Mylene Hoffman), is an excellent protagonist, and is extraordinarily sexy. She is the sole focal character of the series, and you as the viewer really get to know how her mind works and who she is throughout the course of the show's thirteen episodes. Each episode is fairly self-contained, with some wrap-up continuity in the last few episodes to pull the series together. 

The Jnglish voice-acting in the show is absolutely atrocious, so I watched it in Japanese with subtitles, and I am glad that I did. Agent 009-1's Japanese voice actor really brought the character to life. She fit the character's personality perfectly. She never raised her voice, was always gentle, and had a very calm, level-headed inflection while still maintaining a certain warmth in the character's voice. The Japanese voice acting was just a pleasure to listen to, and in a way I'm glad that the English acting was so bad, else I probably would have missed out.

Anyway, the series was great, and is fairly short and non-committal. Check it out.

Verdict: Recommended

Gold

Gold is an excellent compilation. Asimov is one of my favorite authors, and I jump at every opportunity to read his material. Gold is his final compilation, and is made up of three parts. The first section is a collection of short stories, while the second is a collection of essays about Asimov's thoughts on science fiction, and the third is a collection of his thoughts on writing in general. The stories are great (as is usually the case with Asimovian literature), and vary in length from mid-sized short stories to stories that only span a few pages. The real meat of this book, though, are the essays. They are all vastly interesting and offer insights into the world of writing that I had never before been presented with, and, for better or worse, reveal a lot of Asimov's personal biases and preferences. 

It's a great book, and I encourage all fans of science fiction to check it out. It is important, however, that you have some previous experience with Asimov before jumping into this one. I recommend that you read a reasonable amount of his stuff before picking this one up, as a lot of the essays will be meaningless otherwise.

Verdict: Recommended

Samurai Champloo

Let me start off by saying that this is easily my favorite anime series so far. I think that it has successfully beaten out Trigun, which is a big deal for me. Samurai Champloo is simply beautiful.

The story is set in feudal Japan and follows three unlikely protagonists (Has there ever really been a "likely" protagonist? I've never heard that phrase.) on their quest to Nagasaki  to track down the legendary samurai who smells of sunflowers. Obviously, the story is a lot more convoluted and complex than that, but that's the run down. The three protagonists (Mugen, a wild criminal swordsman with a mysterious past; Jin, a cool and collected samurai of dangerous caliber; and Fuu, a young girl who stumbles upon the two during a bar fight) are all very interesting in their own right, and manage to fit into archetypes while still being refreshing and deep and avoiding cliche. The character development in the show is very well done, and I found myself to be very emotionally involved in the characters' stories and personalities by the end of the series.

The animation in the show is superb, demonstrating a fluidity of motion that many other anime lack, while still remaining detailed and stylized at every turn. The animation is also very consistent, with very little chibi-style break away scenes or ridiculous facial expressions and things of the like. These things certainly have their time and place, but the atmosphere of Samurai Champloo, while still being lighthearted and exciting, is serious overall, and I'm glad they avoided said exaggerations.

Now, for the music. Oh my goodness, the music. The soundtrack is what makes this show. The show takes place in feudal Japan, but incorporates elements of modern Japanese hip-hop culture throughout. This is reflected by the brilliantly composed downbeat instrumental hip-hop soundtrack that plays incessantly throughout the show. I don't know how to explain why this works as well as it does, but there is a magnificent synergy between the two themes that one would not expect. 

The show is just great. It's one of the few things in my life (media-wise, at least) that I have stepped back from immediately upon completion and thought, "I want to do that again."

Verdict: Highly, highly recommended