Dead Leaves

Alternate titles: Furi Kuri

GAINAX's recipe for this schizophrenic 6-episode OVA series includes giant robots protruding from limbs, a melancholy protagonist, a rock soundtrack by the Pillows, an alien girl that wields a guitar and rides a Vespa, and a story to complement the madness. Add poking fun of the anime industry, Japan, and GAINAX itself, to taste.

From the mind of Koji Morimoto, assistant animator of Akira and director of Magnetic Rose, comes Noiseman Sound Insect, a short and very abstract 15 minute OVA. In the town of Cahmphon, an experiment of Dr. Franken's goes terribly wrong, creating a monster called Noiseman. Under heavy oppression, a group of young people rebel against this creation, to save the town, and the sound from being literally vacuumed away.

Meet Mink, the hyper fire-haired teenage daughter of the world's greatest dragon slayer... and dragon! With the blood of both human and dragon flowing through her veins, Mink’s life is anything but ordinary -- especially since she’s in love with Dick, a musical dragon slayer! With enemies at every turn (including the half human/half slime princess Vena), Mink must try her hardest to win the affection of a man who wants nothing more than to see her dead. Can she win the guy without losing her life?

Mifune Densuke wasn’t anything special in his school. That is, until he gets selected to be a member of club Eiken, one such club that happens to have gathered the most overly voluptuous female members of the school. Since then his every waking second seems to be tangled up in breasts one way or another. Whether its mammoth mamaroonies, fake bukkake, panty shots, or girls that just cant seem to keep anything phallic out of their mouth, you’re sure to find it here.

Alternate titles: Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonjaa

The Chrono Trigger OVA is a 16 minute promotional clip, which was never released on any sort of video -- rather, it was played in select anime cons. The clip focuses on monsters of the CT world enjoying the Millenial Fair. Fans of CT will enjoy the inside jokes and music ported from the game.

Samurai Champloo is all about style, from the dj-style scratching scene changes to the hip-hop-inspired soundtrack to the eclectic character design. Mugen's fighting style is a funky meld of capoeira and limb-cutting, and Jin is the dramatic foil; he is all steel and old-school samurai style. What binds them together is the desire to test each other's abilities, and a promise to a girl named Fuu: to find the samurai that smells of sunflowers, who plays a pivotal role in her past. Together they travel through edo-era Japan, finding battle and comedy wherever they stop.

Ichigo, an ordinary high school student who is tough in a fight has just one unusual trait -- he can see ghosts. One day he is attacked by a hollow, a vengeful spirit, which would have killed him except that he was saved by a girl named Rukia. She is a Shinigami, a guide to the afterlife and slayer of evil spirits. Unfortunately many hollows want to devour his spiritual power and Rukia is hurt fighting to protect him. After giving her powers to Ichigo so he can save himself, she finds she can't take them back. Now Ichigo has to do her job. He is now a student -- and Shinigami!

In a world where reality series are in high demand, an experiment was concocted: take regular folks who have dropped through the cracks in society, brainwash them to believe they are a real family, and see how they function as a family unit. The regular populace was so interested in the idea that this family was put in their own reality series, of course! Living in a closed environment and unaware of the outside world, this dysfunctional bunch do everything they can to remain sane... that is, until they accidentally escape!

The timid Simon and the brash Kamina led a relatively uneventful life in their underground cave community, until one day Simon found something that would change their lives forever: what seemed like a large face in the wall. But before he could show off his discovery, their cave was assaulted by a strange giant robot; even more strange was the red-haired, gun-toting vixen who swooped in simultaneously to join the battle. The battle isn't going their way, however, until the three think of the best way to kill a giant robot: another giant robot. Soon they find themselves inside the object that Simon found — a robot known as a Ganmen — and blast their way to the harsh surface of the planet. Now, as the three meet new friends and figure out how to use their new method of transportation, they set out to navigate the planet and investigate the source of the giant robots and their "Beastmen" pilots.