OGG
1.Lamia Loveless -Vysaga
2.Axel Almer - Soulgain
3.Kyosuke Nambu - Altissen Riesse
4.Excellen Browning - Rien Weissritter
5.Kusuha Mizuha/Brooklyn Luckfield - RyuKoOh
6.Leona Garstien - Sieguarlion
7.Einst Alfimi - Person Licheket
8.Ibis Douglas - Astelion AX
9.Masaki Andoh - Cybuster
10.Lune Zoldark - Valsione
11.Raoul Graden - Excellence Lightning
12.Fiona Graden - Excellence Eternal
13.Gilliam Yager - Gespenst RV
14.Sanger Zonvolt - Dygenguar
15.Rastel Fensmker - Aubensiter
16.Fighter Roar - Compatible Kaiser
17.Falker Alberch - Yardabout
18.Despinis
19.Mai Kobayashi/Katina Tarask - Grungust Type 3
20.Alion - His mech.

OG2
1.Lamia Loveless - Vysaga
2.Kyosuke Nambu - Altiessen Riesse
3.Excellen Browning - Rien Weissritter
4.Kusuha Mizuha/Brooklyn Luckfield - RyuKoOh
5.Katina Tarask - R-Blade
6.Leona Garstien - Sieguarlion
7.Tasku Shiguju - Huckbien Mk III Boxer
8.Masaki Andoh - Cybuster
9.Lune Zoldark - Valsione
10.Gilliam Yager - Gespenst RV
11.Sanger Zonvolt - Dygengaur
12.Rastel Fensmker - Aubensiter
13.Villetta Vadim - Red Randgrith
14.Ryusei Date - R-1
15.Raidise Fujiwara Branstien - R-2 Powered
16.Aya Kobayashi - R-3 Powered
17.Mai Kobayashi - R-Gun Powered
18.Ibis Douglas - Astelion
19.Raoul Graden - Excellence Striker
20.Einst Alfimi - Person Licheket.

OG1
1.Kyosuke Nambu - Altiessen
2.Excellen Browning - Weissritter
3.Kusuha Mizuha - Grungust Type-2
4.Brooklyn Luckfield - Wildswine
5.Katina Tarask - Giganscudo
6.Leona Garstien - Valsion Custom
7.Tasuku Shinguji - Guarlion
8.Masaki Andoh - Cybuster
9.Lune Zoldark - Valsione
10.Gilliam Yager - Black Gespenst
11.Sanger Zonvolt - Grungust Type-0
12.Elzam Von Branstien - Huckbien Mk II "Trombe"
13.Kai Kitamura - Armor Lion. (Replace with Latooni in Ryusei's path)
14.Villeta Vadim - R-Gun
15.Ryusei Date - R-1
16.Raidise Fujiwara Branstien - R-2 Powered
17.Aya Kobayashi - R-3 Powered
18.Irmgult Kazahara - Grungust
19.Rio Meilong - Huckbien
20.Rhada Bryban - Huckbien Mk II

I am a white, cis/sys/sis/whatever straight male.
And it's no fun at all.
It's the perfect thing to be if you want to be a jerk. Everything is geared to help and protect you, but if you try to be a decent human being, that's where things get unpleasant quickly.
Firstly, everyone who shares your interests is a jerk, or more accurately, the VAST majority of them are. This is because they, like you, are at the top of the socio-economic totem pole, and want to stay there. So they are typically both socially and fiscally conservative dorks.
As such, everyone who isn't a straight, white, cis male hates them. And by extension, YOU.
It gets really, really old, having people attack you or mistrust you over and over again without end. And yes, I understand the irony. I get it. But it feels very alienating. VERY. And it's also hypocritical as all hell. I'm not supposed to treat you a certain way but you can treat me however you want? That is BS.
So you wind up walking away from those communities, because you share NOTHING in common with them, and they treat you badly.

Neo Granzon Code: (Usable on second or later play through)

Down,Up,Left,Right,L1,R1

Getting the thingy. Mech. 

First half of stage 26, destroy all but 1 Liege Geios and then reduce the HP of the last one to 1000 or lower. It can be used in the second half of the stage.

my favourite three SRT Characters are:
1.Lamia Loveless
2.Ibis Douglas
3.Kusuha Mizuha

And in that order.
That's not something I knew.
Because it's not something I had ever thought about.

Do want:
HEATS (Getter Robo Armageddon)
FIRE WARS (Mazinkaizer)
Dreams (After war gundam X)
Resolution (Also after war gundam X)
Last Impression (Gundam Wing Endless Waltz)
Just Communication (Gundam Wing)
Meteor (Gundam SEED Destiny)
Triple Baka (Vocaloid)
BEYOND THE TIME (CCA Gundam)

Want seasons 3&4 of SRT to exists.
Sigh.

Kusuha! DO WANT.

Major Gilliam: I want to make a stealth check to conceal something in the castle.
GM: What?
Major Gilliam: My Gespenst.
GM: WHAT.
Major Gilliam: I roll 13, plus a modifier of 234,765,999.
GM: *Flips table*.

And so begins the Inspector. This anime used music that was directly from the games - which was actually kind of clever, because the music in the game was awesome.

This show is darker and more intense then Divine Wars, which makes enough sense, considering that it's about kyosuke and not ryusei.

Though arguably it's actually about excellen, or more specifically, her breasts.

They get more screen time then some characters.

This show really doubled down on the "Awesome".

The first scene with our heroes shows them smashing through some obvious cannon fodder, and Excellen's nipples bulging through her pilot outfit.

I understand that, as a human, she has nipples, but there's gotta be like, five layers of reasonably thick cloth between them and us, so there is no way we should should be able to see them.

Of course, it's entirely possible that she would have intentionally rigged something to cause this to happen, she's that kind of character. 

Excellen is…controversial. Flamboyantly and unrepentantly bisexual, she spends all her time sexually harassing and assaulting everyone around her, except her boyfriend Kyosuke. Ironically, Kyosuke's indifference to his girlfriend's antics simply render him all the more awesome.

Excellen is complicated, because she is comic relief, fan service, and actual character all at the same time. Her actual character is very intelligent, and tough as nails. She even gave Aya a serious verbal bitch-slapping in the first game when Aya was bing an idiot.

I love Excellen as a character. But I played through OG2 for GBA, when the worst thing that they could do was imply or inform that a woman was sexy or naked, so when they would do so, it was more lame then anything else. The level of fan service in this show, on the other hand is…not something I'm sure I am comfortable with.

That Excellen is in love with Kyosuke is not up for debate. But Excellen/Lamia is very shippable.

Kyosuke on the other hand, is just awesome. 

The show changes a hell of a lot from the game, unlike Divine Wars, which changed only minor or unimportant stuff. 

The show also has a lot of fan service in it. Excellen, Lamia, Aya, Kusuha, and many others are all topless on screen at least once, and in most cases, totally naked - though below the belt is censored.

The camera will also focus on a woman's bottom or breasts given the chance, especially if whatever it is the characters are talking about is not terribly interesting.

Keep in mind that the actual games are rated at worst 12+, which makes the level of fan service all the more insane.

Granted, all of the people who played the original game when it came out are going to be my age or older by now, but it's still weird.

Really, really weird actually.

And so ends divine wars. It's been a hell of a ride.
The show has an unbelievably low death toll. It really is a very happy show. Even Levi Tolar lives - Though this is not immediately obvious.
I'm looking forward to The Inspector tomorrow.

Kusuha Misuha is my favourite. She's unbelievably adorable.

Lefina Enfield is a victim of circumstance.
Having graduated at the top of her class from the academy, she was immediately promoted from cadet to Lt. Col and given command of the Hiryu Custom, despite being 19 years old, and having no experience.
Her promotion was caused because the man who was SUPPOSED to get it knew too much, and they wanted to keep him quiet. As such, Lefina wound up with an XO who resented her, because he was the best friend of the guy who got passed over.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the head operator for the same ship was the person who had graduated immediately behind her from the same academy, and she resented Lefina for getting not only a massive promotion, but being given her own command - and not just any command, either. The Hiryu Custom is and UNBELIEVABLY big deal.
Then war breaks out, and she finds her ship behind enemy lines, staring down the entirety of the United Colony Corps, and not only does she defeat them all, but she goes on to play an instrumental role in saving the world.
Then, six months later, the world is attacked AGAIN, and the commander of her battle group dies, leaving her in command of the entire Steel Dragon Battle Group, or the GoRyuSenTai.
So she leads her forces to victory, and saves the world a second time.
Katina Tarask is awesome.
Sorry about that.
Ahem.
She has, since that point, lead her forces to victory under hellish circumstances a further two times since then.
All before the age of twenty.
  

And now, I am watching Super Robot Taisen: Divine Wars.
What happens when you take roughly 80 episodes worth of plot and politics, and try to cram it into a 26 episode show? Divine Wars, that's what.
In order to understand the show, one really has to have played the games. because in the rush to put things on screen, a great deal of valuable context goes right out the window.
The show is unadulterated fan service, but not of the semi-naked women kind. It throws any attempts to make sense out the window, and instead focuses on showing us gorgeous 3D animations of the series mecha beating the snot out of each other - Which is what everyone came here to see.
It also does orchestral versions of many of the game's best pieces of music. The special rendition of "Trombe!" is a personal favourite of mine.
Divine Wars is for the Die-Hard mecha fan or SRT fan ONLY. The appeal lies in the fact that we already know all of these characters, and watching a show about them is awesome, not in the show's merits as a show itself. It is a video game anime, after all.
One odd thing is watching all of the playable characters who were originally in the DC fight the protagonists. Because while the Earth Federation Army isn't perfect, the Divine Crusaders have some straight-up evil people among them.

Wow,  I know I said this show was bad, but I didn't realize it was THIS bad.
Firstly, the main character is an idiot. This is not something that is unique to her; Most main characters are morons, but that's not a good thing. Secondly, the whole premise of the show is insane.
There are two kinds of ninja; Good ninja, and bad ninja.
Simplistic, and even more stupid when you realize that no-one thinks of themselves as being "Evil".
Secondly, the thing that makes a ninja "Good" or "Bad" is equally insane. Basically, a "Bad" Ninja is one who sells their skills to the highest bidder: I.E. They are a mercenary. Usually but not always slimy, if not evil.
"Good" Ninja follow orders to the letter, no questions asked.
So, mercenaries, versus state assassins. Neither one is particularly "Just".
The crazy thing is, Senran Kagura just might be vicious social commentary on the nature of the Japanese being brought up to obey orders, but I doubt it.
I should also mention that I played the Hebijo side of Burst before the Hanzo side, and so I think of them as being the protagonists, so that plays merry hell with my suspension of disbelief.
Not that the show itself doesn't do a lot of that itself.
Really, the biggest wall for me is that the story refuses to acknowledge the concept of Lawful Evil. Anyone who obeys orders, no matter what they are, is good. Anyone who disobeys orders, no matter what they are, is evil.
This is somewhat remedied in Deep Crimson, but the main characters are too stupid to rebel against their rigid command structure until WAY late in that game. Even then, they don't so much rebel as "Compromise, kinda."
In fact, it is the characters severe lack of intelligence and will that really kills the series. And why I like the "Bad guys" more. Because THEY cleave their own path in the world, following no-one's orders.
And, seeing as the entire Hebijo squad placed in the top ten of the recent popularity poll, it appears that I am not alone in this opinion.
Wow. This show really is terrible. So much telling instead of showing, so many informed attributes, so little actual fighting. I mean, the good guys get jumped, and then have their butts handed to them in three strikes maximum.
Not to mention that it's just so unbelievably weird. It's difficult to explain just how weird it really is.
It's a spectacular failure of suspension of disbelief. The whole thing is a mangled, incomprehensible mess. It's difficult for me to even find it sexy because of how weird it is.
It was also made at a bizarre time for anime, when the nudity laws were stronger, meaning that for all of it's posturing as a trashy anime, SRT: The Inspector and Ranma 1/2 are both more explicit then it is.
In summation, it has a nonsensical and contradictory plot, a premise that is insane, barely tolerable characters, and to top it all off, it tries to have an ambiguous ending, despite the fact that it chronicles the events of the FIRST game in a FIVE game series.
Did I enjoy it? Kinda. Nowhere near as much as I enjoy VD: Mermaid, which I will watch again and again, but as trashy, awful, video game anime go, it's unbelievably terrible.
The animation is gorgeous, however.

Coming up on the end of Hataraku Mao - Which means that soon, I shall be watching Senran Kagura.
God help me.
Why didn't I bring something else?
No helping it now.
Gotta say, if Valgaav is an instance of the audience hating a villain for the wrong reasons (the feeling being "Oh god, not THIS guy again!") then Sariel is an instance of hating a villain for the right reasons.
He is unbelievably creepy. And you hope he gets killed in a way that is both horrific, and extremely painful.
Lucifer, on the other hand, is an excellent instance of the perfectly executed heel-face turn. The audience goes from hating him with a burning passion to treasuring him as a beloved protagonist in the space of a single episode.
Well, only one episode left. Which is a harsh reality, and not just because the series is a lot of fun.
It's also because Senran Kagura is very, very, VERY dreadful.
It's not even fun to watch in a "guilty pleasure way" unlike Valkyrie Drive.
Sigh.

Today, I am watching Hataraku Mao, and Senran Kagura.
Maybe. I might chicken out and not watch that second one.
Because it's terrible.
Hataraku Mao, or "The devil works part time" is not perfect. It contains a fair amount of fan service, there are "Harem" themes (Even if only barely) and the strength of the female characters is…above average at best.
That said, when held up to rest of anime as a rule, it is a shining example of progressiveness.
The story too is very neatly constructed; It swaps from comedy to drama in an instant - which is just one of the many ways in which it resembles the slayers.
Also, the backgrounds are superb. It delivers a level of realistic detail I have never seen anywhere before. The backgrounds can almost pass as photographs.
It's also a very political show; The morality of the Human/Monster struggle is not as black and white as it initially appears.
However; The show does not make the mistake of becoming too deep or philosophically heavy. It does occasionally get dark, but not "Elegy to the dogs" dark. Besides, the periods of darkness are never very long.
Sadao Mao, the main Character, is a lot like Lina Inverse, in that his primary weapon is not power, but intelligence and cunning. Also much like her, he is a good leader, and INCREDIBLY POWERFUL.
He isn't as violent as she is, and alignment wise, they are complete opposites. Mao is, and always has been Lawful Good. Lina Inverse is more Chaotic Neutral leaning good.
Mao shares the Main Character slot with Emi Yusa, the woman who kicked his ass so bad that he had to run away to earth in the first place. Unfortunately, she is nowhere near as badass in the show itself as she is the backstory. This is partly justified by the fact that she, unlike the deamons, has no way to recharge her powers, but it's still annoying. Also annoying is the "A-cup angst" jokes that she provides for. Granted, she doesn't do as many of them as Lina Inverse did, but Lina was more of an "A-cup RAGE" then anything else, and so instead of becoming insecure and flustered when attacked on that front, she would simply go on a destructive rampage.
Emi's main redeeming feature is the complexity of her relationship with the main character. What they have looks like a romance, but it isn't. Rather then struggling with feelings of love for a man she doesn't like, Emi is struggling with feelings of hate for a man she does like. Mao is more or less directly responsible for every bad thing that has ever happened to her and everyone she knows, but is a nice guy. Thus, the conflict.
The show is more light hearted then the slayers, and has a shallower story because of it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

And so we approach the very end of the slayers, perhaps the best anime I own, or have ever seen.
The series has some very good points: Setting aside strong female characters, or not hyper-sexualized characters, the series functions both as a comedy and a drama…mostly because it doesn't mix up "drama" and "Murder/angst festival".
When bad things happen in the show, it's not simply so that something bad happens to balance out the comedy; it happens because the plot calls for it. In short, the show is a saga, not a soap opera.
it has it's weak points, but everything does.
Another interesting feature is the very muted romances. While yes, it is telegraphed that Gourry and Lina are an item, Gourry and Sylphiel is just as clearly telegraphed. Basically, it could go either way.
Hell, Sylphiel/Lina is reasonably well telegraphed. The two like each other. A lot.
All of the show's romances are implied at best - besides lina/gourry, once at the end of the second season, but that's not exactly concrete.
I used to be a Sylphiel/Gourry shipper, but of late I have switched to Sylphiel/Lina.
And not just because "Lesbians are neato".
Also, I ship Xellos/Fillia.
And not just because I HATE Valgaav.
The show and the books diverge on several points, and despite watching the show before reading the books, I have to say that the books are better, when it comes down to it.
Not better then the show itself, just better in the places that are different.
I can't defend my Lina/Sylphiel ship very well, save only to say that despite supposedly being in love with the same man, they get along unreasonably well. One of the few defences I do have is that it's almost like they both like gourry, but want each other to be happy more then they do to be with him. I.E. They like each other more then they like gourry.
Though what do I know, I can't even tell if I'm using I.E. right.
This is my only completely unreasonable ship.
Possibly the best aspect of the show, however, is Xellos.
Xellos is awesome. He's a Bad Guy, but he never does anything bad ON SCREEN, and that is important, because that makes his evil into an Informed Atribute, and so the audience only half believes it. This means that he can function as a Good Guy for all intents and purposes, story wise. The audience loves him, and so do the protagonists. If he gets hurt, we get angry.
What we end up with is a character who can do whatever he wants - because he's technically evil - but who the main characters get along with. This is largely because while he occasionally threatens and fights the main characters, he never actually hurts them badly. He even appears to go out of his way to not hurt them. He is an incredibly complex and interesting character.
He's also unbelievably cool, and his (Japanese) acting is excellent. Also, I love the "Open/Closed eyes" shtick - it transforms his entire character in an instant. He's almost two people. he can change the entire tone of the scene in an instant.
My favourite line of his is "I value your will."Out of context, it doesn't mean much, but in context - which I won't spoil - It's epic.
Cool as Xellos is, however, he is not my favourite character. That position he just barely loses to Lina Inverse herself.
What I love about Lina is how unapologetically "Herself" she is. She is a violent nutcase, but insists that she is a delicate lady. Anyone who disagrees is severely punished. This is brilliant. Because she refuses to be defined by other people's terms, and this refusal is both sub-concious and automatic. If she doesn't fit into the box that someone expects her to fit into, be it man, god, or society itself - then she doesn't angst about it, or even think about it all. The world is just WRONG for trying to place her somewhere she doesn't fit. She cleaves her own path through life, and also through anything that stands in her way.
As the show draws to a close, I'd like to focus on the good, rather then the bad. It really has been a good time watching the whole series through.

DAMN The Slayers is a good show!

Valgaav is back. Though I may have been wrong about the whole "Genocide" thing. Still, he's a monster and worse, a mary sue. God, is he annoying. I see him on the screen, he talks, and I yell "Shut up!"
But he doesn't listen.
Bastard.

Season three is also the "Zelgadiss is awesome" season. This is fine though, as he IS awesome.
Seriously though; In this season, there is nothing he can't do.
He is shown to be a mathematician, an engineer, and even a safe cracker.
He's just awesome.

The slayers is divided into disks with 6 or 7 episodes on them. This gives one 150-175 minutes of time in-between disk changes.
Ranma 1/2 is broken into disks with 4-5 episodes, delivering 100/125 minutes between disc changes. Not as good as the slayers, but it rarely is that good.
Aria brings 3-4 to the table, or 100/75 but even that is pretty good compared to the normal amount.
Valkyrie drive clocks in at an obnoxious 2 episodes per disk. And, to make matters worse, one disk of valkyrie drive can cost as much as 100$, which is more then FIVE disks of ranma.

Valgaav SUCKS!

Valgaav isn't on the 3rd disk of season 3 at all! Yay!

So I have been marathoning the slayers recently. 26 episodes a day.
Season one is good. Made cheaply, but good.
Season two has a lot of fan service, but it's good too, none the less.
Season three…
Put bluntly, I HATE VALGAAV.
I HATE HIM.
HATE HATE HATE!
He is an unbelievable author's pet, has so much power "Because" to the point where he can beat the slayers+a god dragon+a god+xellos with one hand. He keeps surviving long past when he should be dead, and worst of all, he's an idiotic, self-centred @$$hole whose sole motivation is wanting to destroy the world because his life is unpleasant.
Over the course of the season, he:
•Commits genocide
•If that first one isn't enough for you, then you need counselling
•Is repeatedly a gigantic hypocrite
•Forces one of the characters to do/see things that she doesn't want to, and in an exceptionally rape-y way

All in all, he's the kind of villain who you are highly anticipating the death of. But NOOO, he's a mary-sue, and so he gets reincarnated as a good guy at the end.
GOD, I HATE THAT BASTARD.

Other then that, Season three is a lot of fun.

I sure hope my trash show has a happy ending…