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Sgt. Frog! Jinki: Extended! Dragon Ball! More Dragon Ball! Oh, and more Dragon Ball!

Ever think there’s not enough insanity in your life? Ever wish that the hum drum day to day could be broken up with insane aliens who want to take over the world but fail miserably, and you’ve already watched Invader Zim? Well, relax, anime fans. Sgt. Frog> is here! Sergeant Keroko, the high ranking officer of a group of invaders from Planet Keron, manages to be one of the worst invaders of all anime after getting captured by a human family and forced to do - what else? - chores! He is joined by Corporal Giroro, Lance Corporal Dororo, Private Second Class Tamama, and Sergeant Major Kururu. They may not be the best troops in town, but they are crazy. And insane. And… well, you get the picture. Sgt. Frog is a silly, silly anime, with a lot of weird humor, jokes at the expense of other anime, and all-around madness that works out to comic goodness. The show may confuse the crap out of you, but I guarantee that if you hang on long enough, it’ll all make sense. Wait, maybe guarantee is too strong of a word. I can strongly assure you… no, that’s not right either. Look, it’ll either make sense or it won’t, but one thing is for certain - it’ll make you laugh. Season one part one (which works out to the first thirteen eps plus a handful of extras like trailers and Pekopon Invasion Recon Data) make this a fantastic set, well worth watching.
Going out of your brain waiting for Evangelion 1:0? You could always try passing the time with Jinki:Extended. The only anime to take place in Venezuela (thanks for that info, Wikipedia), J:E is about gigantic robots (Jinki) and the girls who drive them. The series kicks off with Aoba Tsuzuki, a model enthusiast (and I mean building robots and whatnot out of plastic, not flaunting the latest fashions at the mall), she is kidnapped by two strange men, who just happen to work for her mother, Shizuka (who’s kind of a bitch), the leader of an organization called Angel. Then there’s Akao, a clone and Jinki pilot. The thirteen episode show builds up to a final battle between the ancient Jinki and the man-made Jinki, with these two gals at the helm.

J:E is a slow anime, not terribly unique or compelling. If you’re a fan of mecha, then it might be worth the watch, but really, there are tons of other anime to keep your robot needs in check, like Funimation‘s Aquarion (the show that got me loving giant robots) or the aforementioned EVA movie slated to hit stores next month.

Dragon Ball is one of those franchises that will always be with us. Goku and his merry band of ball hunters (Heh. Dirty.) are constantly coming to your television with new movies (DBZ: History of Trunks and DBZ: Bardock, Father of Goku), live action movies (Dragon Ball: Evolution) and box sets aplenty (DB Season one and DBZ: The Dragon Box).  So how to sort through it all?

Lets start with DB:Evolution. Young Goku (Justin Chatwin) has a hard time fitting in at school. He has the power to take on his bullies, but it isn’t until he’s noticed by hottie Chi Chi (Jamie Chung, Sorority Row) that he begins to hit back. All of this is moot, though, because a big firey ball of something or other comes flying out of the sky and demolishes Goku’s house, taking out his grandfather (Randall Duk Kim, Kung Fu Panda) and sending him on a quest to collect the dragon balls in order to make his wish come true. Along the way he’ll get help from Bulma (Emmy Rossum, Phantom of the Opera), Master Roshi (Chow Yun-Fat: awesome) and a few others in the fight against the evil Lord Piccolo (James Marsters, Torchwood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And I friggin’ dare you to see Marsters in the amazing makeup; he did a fantastic job. Or the makeup department did. Either way, it’s good). The story here is nothing new, though the big question was, will it follow the absolute goofy insanity that is the anime? Answer: sort of, though in all honesty, I don’t think we could have hoped for anything better than sort of. The people are there, they’re mostly the same; Bulma still has a capsule bike, Goku still has wild hair (no tail, though. Hm.) and Master Roshi still makes naughty jokes. That said, if you turn off the part of your brain that knows the plot to Dragon Ball and just watch, you’ll do fine. On the Blu-Ray edition of the film, bonuses include Goku’s workout featurette, Goku’s quest game (blah) Brian Anthony “Worked Up” video,  deleted scenes and outtakes, plus a digital copy.

The History of Trunks is, well, just that. In an alternate world where Goku dies, and Trunks is left to be trained by Gohan to become a Super Saiyan to defend the earth from (what else?) Androids. In Bardock: Father of Goku, we get another tale outside the main realm of DBZ, but no less interesting. Bardock is a low-clayy Saiya warrior who does battle with Frieza, a universal big bad, and in this movie we see how Bardock lived, fought, and died, leaving a son in the care of an elderly man, Gohan. Both of these movies are not in the cannon of DBZ in the sense that they aren’t on the season box sets, but they are certainly a must for any fan of the Super Saiyan.

Finally, two box sets: Dragon Ball season one and the much awaited Dragon Ball Z : Dragon Box One. Both box sets are a thing of beauty; the marathon play function is essential on anime like this (As One Piece proved beautifully), and the pre-set to Japanese audio will woo hard-core fans. But the Dragon Box is the kind of release that fans live for: produced from the original masters with frame by frame restoration, the forty-two episodes on six discs set comes with a forty-eight page collector’s booklet. It’s the set that you’ve been waiting for, the set that is *the* DBZ set to own, hands down. Got the other box sets? Hawk ‘em on eBay. Save up your allowances, kids, because the Dragon Box lands November eleventh, and you don’t want to be caught unawares. Meanwhile, season one of DB is here, and season two arrives with the Dragon Box, so prepare to be divested of your hard earned income, anime lovers.

(Amanda Rush has a need for anime monster killing. Follow her on twitter: @BrokenAmanda)