Well Deserved Praise

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This series is set a decade after the 'Great Tokyo Way' which left Japan divided into ten competing independent states. These states are represented by champions supported by a mob; 'The Best and the Rest'. The story is centred on Nozomi, one of the Rest, who travels round Japan with a group of friends on her motorbike. As they travel they seek pink heart-shaped stones whose function, if any, remains a mystery for much of the series and mediate in various disputes at the behest of their Best. Along the way they meet a variety of people; get into a few scrapes and ultimately learn some surprising facts.When one starts watching this it is hard not to think of 'FLCL' as the art style has the distinctive look of that series, however this series is a bit more traditional than that one. That isn't to say it doesn't have some weird moments; it just isn't as weird! Personally I liked this look; it made the series stand out from all the others airing at the moment; many of which have designs that are so similar characters could walk into one series from another without standing out. The story is okay; nothing amazing but it does serve to give some great moments and an ending that is delightfully strange. Overall a decent enough series with a distinctive look at makes it stand out from the crowd; not a must see but it is worth watching.These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.