Dragon Half (2002)

As Good As It Gets

Blistering performances.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

This particular two-episode anime series is meant to be viewed just for fun. There are no hidden conflicts, or deadly threats to civilization. There are no powered battle suits, and hardly any magic. What you have is a cute teenage girl, Mink, who happens to be half-human and half-dragon, and her two girlfriends, one of whom has pointy ears and so may or may not be an elf. She has a teenage crush on a pop singer who also happens to be the king's dragon slayer. And after that it gets a little weird. And after THAT it gets even weirder, and more outlandish, and funnier. None of it is meant to be taken seriously, but all of it is great fun to watch. A lot of attention to small, and sometimes hilarious, details is a continuing feature of this anime.

This is without doubt the funniest Animé I have seen, and quite possibly the funniest thing, I'm sure nothing has made me laugh so much! Everything in it is funny, there's not a second goes past without something to make you laugh, and it manages to maintain a cohesive if somewhat surreal plot under it all too. And as for the ending music... I've had it playing when I open Windows since I first saw it a year or two ago and it still makes me laugh! And, as I think everyone else had said, Dug Finn's realisation that he's been cut out of the first episode... unparalleled, that made me so hard and long I missed the end.One thing I would say though, usually I sit on the fence in the big subs/dubs debate, I really don't mind either for the most part, but if you're going to buy DragonHalf go for the Subbed version if you have the choice, the Japanese voices just suit the comedy so much more. I first saw the subbed and when I finally found it again and bought it I was disappointed to find that I had the dubbed version, and that the dubbed was so distinctly inferior. Not to say the dubbed is bad, but it misses a couple of jokes (like Damaramu's one step, two rank, three meal pun) and the subbed is just that much better it's worth the effort of reading!Even if you don't like animé, watch it. It might seem a bit weird, but if you give it a chance it'll have you rolling in the aisles, it may even convert you.

This video is just an absolute hoot. Overall, next to the Slayers: Dragonslave and the vastly underrated Shinesman OAV dub, this is the most belly-achingly silly anime tape I've ever seen. From the self absorbed part time dragon slayer, part time teen idol Dick Saucer, to he ever so cute Mink, to the adorably silly Super Deformed modes, to Dug Fin complaining about how they cut out his part in the first episode, this one will just have you rolling on the floor.And that's not even getting to the danceably silly, nutty, kooky, ending theme song. It's Beethoven in a way you've never heard before. I've heard that the only point of the lyrics was to match the melody and rhythm of the song, and I believe that! Absolutely silly.

This is, without a doubt, the funniest hour of anime I've ever seen. The characters and situations are incredibly goofy, parodying everything from RPG cliches to idol singers. The way the characters snap in and out of Super Deformed mode (where they become goofy caricatures of themselves) never gets old. The voices are perfect (as is usually the case with Japanese voices for anime), and the music is fittingly nutty (the ending theme made my laugh until I cried). Take my advice, if you want a good laugh, buy this anime! My only complaint is that they only made two episodes, whereas the original manga ran for quite a while, and this series deserves to be continued. A classic.