Mama wa Poyopoyosaurus ga osuki!

Ah, the trials and tribulations of raising young kids. Set in the Tokyo sprawl of today, Mom and Dad have to raise two kids -- Jura and Hyouga, who just happen to be working through their early years. Naturally, Grandma and Grandpa spoil them unecessarily, and dealing with the whimiscial desires of their children and the needs of school life together is a bit tough, but they manage.
This series is fun, not only because of the antics of Jura and Hyouga (future parents, take note!), but also because it gives the regular US anime fan a bit of insight into Japanese life. In a way, this a modern version of SAZAE-SAN (a still popular TV series and the longest running animated series in Japan, if I am correct) that is not only modern, but very realistic. Hyouga's a bit on the slow side, Jura is cute and emotional, and naturally they can drive their parents nuts. The animation is of great quality for TV, more consistent than EVANGELION and pretty neat overall. While it may be awhile before this series gets over to the states, it would be a pretty neat watch for those who want to win their parents over to anime.

Midori no Makibaou

Without a doubt, this show is the black sheep of the season. With the crudest humor in existance, MIDORI NO MAKIBAOU is without a doubt the anime of the anti-cute. Set in Japan's horse racing community, Makibaou - the ugliest horse alive, second only to his father - has to race for his life and his self-esteem.
The animation is decent, but I swear that the design of the entire series is off kilter by about 180 degrees and a kilogram of LSD. The opening alone is insane, with hairy, naked men running about alll over the place. The ending is even worse, assailing one's ears with Enka (a form of traditional Japanese song) and Disco at the same time. The character designs make horses look like horses (naturally, with the exception of Makibaou) and people look like horses, too. Plus, one gets to see oh-so-wonderful scenes like Makibao getting excited and blowing horse apples all over the place.
In any case, for those with really twisted senses of humor, this is a good show, and worthy of your time. Outside of that, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. You can brainwash people with that ending theme...

Sailor Moon Stars

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse -- it does. Nephrenia returns -- at least temporarily -- and wreaks havoc on the Sailor gang, then Mamoru dissappears, and now, we have the Sailor Fighters. All I can say is one word -- Ugh. The Sailors have a new enemy -- one who manipulated Nephrenia into coming after them again, and a new trio of allies to fight it. The Sailor Star Fighters are, well -- they're not your typical Sailors. Again, we see a gender bender in three guys who change to three girls to become Star Fighters. Gaudy costumes, bad poses, the works. Ugh, ugh, ugh.
Still, all the same voice characters are there, and the animation is the same as it was for its predeccessor, SAILOR MOON SUPERS. Unfortunately, it seems like the quality that the original series had has been completely lost in this latest incarnation. Unless you're really into SAILOR MOON, and you are sure you can stomach the latest changes to the series, then I wouldn't suggest watching this.

Ijiwaru Baasan

Who says that one can't have more than one insane show a season? IJIWARU BAASAN (Bullying Grandmother) is the second of two really loony programs (the first being Midori no Makibaou) this season. Basically, Grandma is a nasty and maipulative thing most of the time, cousing endless trouble for her son-in-law and daughter, her grandchildren, and her neighbors.
The artwork is about on par with the style of SAZAE-SAN, but the writing and animation quality is strictly modern. While I don't recommend this to everyone (even myself), it's twisted humor and weird songs (containing lyrics such as 'you are the super-sexy baasan!') would please anime fans with an odd streak in their humor.

Meitan Conan

A popular Manga series from Shonen Sunday out as anime, a young detective gets turned into an even younger detective after he gets knocked out and fed a solution by a thief. Under the guise of Edogawa Conan, his own cousin, Conan lives with his girlfriend and his future father-in-law, who is also a detective (and played by the seiyuu do was the voice of Saeba Ryou in City Hunter). Occasionally, they get caught up in a mystery (generally a murder), and Conan has to save the day by figuring out the real killer. Also, Conan has picked up a few friends from grade school, and they also solve mysteries together. Basically, this is a 'mystery of the week' anime, which has its good points an its bad points.
The animation is again of good quality -- while it doesn't match that of ESCAFLOWNE, it is as good as MAMA WA POYOPOYUSAURUS GA OSUKI!, which is enough for this fan. The seiyuu are good actors and give a little extra something to the character I myself can't define but chalk up to experience (e.g.: Takayama Minami, who plays the voice of Conan, for example, was also in this year's Lupin III movie as well as a regular voice in MIDORI NO MAKIBAOU). Still, the series can only kill off so many people before one gets tired of it. I mean, most if not all the titles end with 'Satsujin Jiken' (murder mystery). If one has a stomach for the same thing in a different way every time. Still, it's good in small, irregular doses.

--briefs by Orin Starchaser