Here we are at part 2 of the Matt's Grand Anime Review. Today I focus mainly on shounen/action genres.

Dragon Ball Z

Without Dragon Ball Z the American anime market may very well not exist (certainly not the way it does today). DBZ is certainly an entertaining show, what with all the rediculous battles and "power up" sequences, but it's not without its faults. Cheesy and reptitive animation dampen the action sequences and there really isn't a whole lot of character development. In fact, I consider DBZ to be almost like a "bro show". And, toss on the fact that no character can ever really die and a lot of the suspense has just been killed. But, at that, it does make for some excellent entertainment if you're willing to overlook the formulaic plots and the aforementioned other problems. 6/10

Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei

Take a manically depressed school teacher, who believes that everyone and everything is out to get him, add about a dozen high school girls, throw them into a classroom and you've got Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei. If anything, Zetsubou-sensei is like a politcal and social satire cartoon somewhat like Pinky and the Brain, though far more dark and with less world taking over. Each character in the show has their very own specific personality trait which, when combined with the brooding titular character, leads to some unique and hilarious moments. Of course, being a political/social commentary, there are a lot of cultural refernces that I'm lightyears away from understanding, but at that just the rediculousness of the whole situation is entertaining. 7/10

Naruto

As mentioned before, Naruto is almost single-handedly responsible for my spiral into anime. I personally would consider Naruto to be Dragon Ball Z done better. It falls squarely into the same type of plots, following a group of fighters as the run around training and saving the world. However, Naruto has far stronger characters and less of the "oh, they can revive everybody with the Dragon Balls should some one die" thing hanging in the background. Granted, that's not to say it's perfect. Most of the main characters have really annoying personality traits; for example Naruto the stupid hot head, Sasuke the emo and Sakura the fawning girl/hot head. Luckily, there's a fairly extensive cast of supporting characters that can usually make up for these flaws. The stories themselves can be formulaic often resorting to bad guy shows up, something sad and dramatic happens, much fighting ensues, Naruto comes in with a speech or something and saves the day. Even still, it's an enjoyable watch and I wouldn't be writing this article were it not for this show. 7/10

Excel Saga

Trying to explain Excel Saga to anybody would be like trying to explain nuclear physics to a peanut butter sandwich. It just can't be done. In a nutshell, Excel Saga follows the exploits of two lackey's to an organization trying to take over the world. Our two protagonists, the hyper-energetic Excel and the often dying Hyatt, go on various missions in attempts to infiltrate. This is usally setup within the first two minutes and everything that follows is generally absolute randomness. However, it's not so random as to be off-putting. No, it goes beyond that into a brand new level of hilarity. I can't really explain it anymore, so just watch this clip. 7/10

Trigun

I watched Trigun as the result of a deal with one of my many, many brothers. The stage is set on some distant planet with an old west style theme. The story is told from the perspective of a couple of girls working for an insurance claims department as they follow the world reknowned outlaw, Vash the Stampede. It feels like Trigun tries to tackle too many issues at once, attempting to be episodic while having a larger story arc. The further the show goes on, the more things fall apart, but I'll cut it some slack as the manga went into hiatus in the middle of animation. All in all, it's good but not great. 6/10 So, that's that. Expect the third and final installment this Sunday. It'll be a treat to be sure.