JG2001

Final Fantasy VIII is probably the most underrated of all the Final Fantasy games. It had the unfortunate luck of following VII, which was the first title in the series to be created in a 3D style on the Playstation.

While FF8 does have its drawbacks, it's still a better game than FF7 in a lot of ways. The combat system is more interesting, and allows a deeper level of character customization. This is the only game in the series that requires you to draw magic spells from your opponents in order to use them. The graphics are understandably better, being a later installment, but the level of difference between FF7's cartoony, exaggerated characters and FF8's more realistic look is astounding.

Speaking of the characters, there is a much deeper level of complexity to them than found in FF7. Throughout the game, we see into Squall's thoughts. While he's the protagonist, it's obvious right off the bat that he's not the most likeable guy in the world. He doesn't really care about being a hero or doing the right thing like Cloud in FF7. He just wants to be left alone. None of them are as simplistic as Barret, who looks and talks like Mr. T with a gattling gun for an arm and a chip on his shoulder. The level of the story is much more personal. Perhaps too personal for a lot of players' tastes, as it focuses primarily on the relationship between Squall and Rinoa. The world is at stake, but at the same time, there's something much more personal about it.

FF7 will always have its place as a favorite of the Final Fantasy series by many players, but for the reasons stated above, as well as some others that I might not have thought to mention, I feel that FF8 is actually the better game, and is vastly underappreciated by the audience of RPG players.

"Photon: The Idiot Adventures" is amazingly well titled, as just about every character that plays a central role in the story is, to one extent or another, an idiot. Photon, the main character, is a young boy who barely has any dialogue aside from moaning and groaning, and to match, he has all of the intelligence of a box of rocks.

It's really hard for me to recommend this OAV to just anyone. On the one hand, it's insanely funny, especially if you're into wacky animated science fiction comedies. On the other, it's absolutely perverse. The villainous Papacha has his pants down so often that the black dot covering his privates is a joke in and of itself. If you were offended by a film like Dumb & Dumber or have trouble with sexual jokes above a PG-13 level, this probably isn't the anime for you.

My Neighbors the Yamadas is a wonderful series of short stories based around the misadventures of the Yamada family. Varied in length and tone, you never really know what to expect next. However, while it is indeed a great film, it does have its drawbacks. Chiefly that being the fact that the film is probably too long. Since there is no solid narrative to carry the film through, there isn't a normal sense of pacing, and it can be a struggle for some people to make it all the way to the end in one sitting. Aside from this complaint, the film is still a must see.

Some sequences to watch out for:

The family's young daughter, Nonoko, accidentally gets left behind at a shop while on a family excursion, causing the family to panic. Meanwhile, Nonoko simply waits for them, assuming that her family somehow got lost.

A chase scene in which the father imagines himself as Kamen Rider, the hero of a popular Japanese kid's show.

A scene in which some characters are watching a baseball game on television, and the deceptively simple animation style is used to depict scenes from a real game.