Animation Greatness Part 1

I will start by saying I am an animation addict. From Sponge Bob to Samurai-X, I can't get enough cartoon goodness. While I do enjoy many live action TV series, they sometimes just seem too faked, either due to poor acting or bad special effects. But with cartoons there are no such restraints. The special effects are only limited by the artist imagination. And bad acting while it can be annoying, unlike live action, it is not the death of the show. So I am going to start a series of posts listing some of the best animations that you have probably never watched.

Gargoyles
First off is my absolute favorite American cartoon Gargoyles. This series was created by Greg Weisman and aired 1994-97. The reasons I love this series are almost too numerous to mention but the big two are it's deep characters and unique plot.

The story is about a clan of Gargoyles who are frozen in stone for 1000 years and reawakened in modern times, where the existence of Gargoyles has been forgotten. While it may sound simple enough it can actually get quite complex, which is a rarity in American animation, especially a Disney one. Another great aspect worth mentioning is the voice acting. Put simply it is unmatched greatness. With actors like Jonathan Frakes (Aka:William T. Riker) and Marina Sirtis (Aka:Deanna Troi) plus a host of other great voices, you really can't go wrong with this cartoon.

Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure
Dual! is a lesser known Japanese Anime that is highly under appreciated. Don't let the ridiculous name scare you off from this one, it is a fantastic series. The premise is a boy in high school begins seeing visions of giant robots fighting, visions no one else can see. For years people make fun of him thinking he is crazy. But one day he is kidnapped by a very odd scientist who transports him to a parallel world were the robots are real.

It is hard to put into words what makes this series so good but a big part of it is the very lovable characters. A big part of the series is that several very different girls are forced in to the main characters life. All of which, for one reason or another, have a crush on him and are constantly fighting for his attention. While it may sound like a romance it is much more comedic than romantic.

This series was created by Masaki Kajishima the creator of Tenchi Muyo and it shows. The two series have a very similar style and actually share a few characters in common.

Sadly this series does have two shortcomings. First of all it is only 14 episodes long & secondly the voice acting is not very good. But despite these little annoyances it is still well worth watching.

To be Continued...