Title: Meitantei Conan: Kudo Shinichi he no Chosenjo
Also known as: Detective Conan: Kudo Shinichi's Written Challenge
Broadcast date: 10/2/06
Genre: Detective Drama
Cast: Oguri Shun, Kurokawa Tomoka, Jinnai Takanori, Iwasa Mayuko
Plot: Kudo Shinichi is a famous high school detective. Just before his class trip, he receives a challenge letter. A kidnapper will abduct one of his classmates unless Shinichi can stop him!
What is good: The mysteries are actually pretty difficult.
What is bad: Unless you are a Detective Conan fan, this will probably be rather boring for you.
Overall rating: C+
Overall: I usually get a lot of enjoyment out of detective series. As long as the detectives aren't completely moronic and the cases aren't extremely easy, I'll be there every step of the way. However, I found this 10th anniversary of the Detective Conan series completely boring. The actors were good depictions of their anime counterparts. Even though I never watched the anime past a couple of episodes, I could easily identify each character. There was just nothing there to give it that extra 'oomph.' Shinichi seemed to be walking through the mysteries despite the fact that he was having trouble solving them. It would have been nice if there was a little more personality for each of the characters. Especially since, in the overall timeline, this special takes place before the anime series actually starts. There is another special coming out next year. Hopefully the characters will be a little more three-dimensional.
Title: Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru
Also known as: I'm in love with my little sister
Release date: 1/20/07
Genre: Romantic Drama
Cast: Matsumoto Jun, Eikura Nana, Yuuta Hiraoka, Komatsu Ayaka
Plot: Yori (Matsumoto Jun) is in love with his twin sister, Iku (Eikura Nana). He tries to forget Iku by sleeping with his classmate Tomoka. Now the twins need to choose between their forbidden love and a normal life.
What is good: The dialog isn't too bad.
What is bad: The extraordinarily long dramatic pauses.
Overall rating: C-
Overall: I knew little about this movie when I turned it on. I knew it was about incest between twins and that it starred MatsuJun and Komatsu Ayaka so I expected a decent dramatic movie. Sadly, I was mistaken. This movie is filled with extremely long dramatic pauses. All of the characters take a good 5 - 7 minutes to spit out one line of what they want to say to each other. Eikura wasn't very interesting as Iku but that may be a problem with the character and not the actress. I suppose if you are a fan of MatsuJun, you'll want to watch this movie. Just don't expect anything wonderful from it. 
Title: Death Note - The Last Name
Release date: 11/3/06
Genre: Supernatural drama
Cast: Fujiwara Tatsuya, Matsuyama Kenichi, Nakamura Shido (voice only), Kaga Takashi, Toda Erika
Plot: In the sequel to the first 
Title: Nana 2
Release date: 12/9/06
Genre: Romance, Slice of Life
Cast: Nakashima Mika, Ichikawa Yui, Kyo Nobuo, Tamayama Tetsuji, Narimiya Hiroki, Hongo Kanata, Maruyama Tomomi
Plot: Komatsu Nana/Hachiko (Ichikawa Yui) finds herself trapped in a love triangle with Trapnest's Takumi (Tamayama Tetsuji) and Black Stones' Nobu (Narimiya Hiroki). When she finds out she is pregnant, it devastates her best friend and roommate, Osaki Nana (Nakashima Mika). Can any of them find happiness in their lives after this?
What is good: Nakashima Mika is still the perfect choice to play Osaki Nana.
What is bad: The actors for Hachi, Shin and Ren were all replaced.
Letter rating: B-
Overall: I was really looking forward to seeing how the movie would handle a lot of the issues in this part of the storyline. The script seemed to be very good but the change in casting was a big distraction. In my opinion, Miyazaki Aoi was perfect as Hachi. Ichikawa Yui wasn't able to bring the same naviete and innocence to the character. I understand that Miyazaki Aoi didn't want to tarnish her image with the delicate issues dealt with in the second movie. However, she should have read through the manga to see what the future of her character was before accepting the role in the first movie. Considering how popular the NANA franchise is, I don't understand why she would have thought that the story would have stopped with the first movie. I also understand that the change in Shin's actor was due to Matsuyama Ken'ichi being too old for the role. While this is more understandable, since Shin has a larger role in this movie, it was difficult to accept the new actor as Shin. 
Title: Nana
Release date: 9/3/05
Genre: Romance, Slice of Life
Cast: Nakashima Mika, Miyazaki Aoi, Matsuda Ryuhei, Matsuyama Ken'ichi, Narimiya Hiroki, Maruyama Tomomi
Plot: The story of the lives and loves of two Nanas. Osaki Nana (Nakashima Mika) is a punk princess determined to make her way to the top of the Tokyo rock scene. Komatsu Nana (Miyazaki Aoi) is a naive girl following her boyfriend to Tokyo in the hopes of marriage. The girls meet on a train in the middle of a snowstorm. Little did they know how intertwined their lives would become from that one fateful meeting.
What is good: The emotional rollercoaster that is the girls' lives.
What is bad: Since this movie only takes us about halfway through the Nana storyline, the ending seems a little abrupt.
Letter rating: A
Overall: I adore the Nana franchise. On one hand, I wish I could rock like Osaki Nana but on the other hand, I wish I knew how to be the "perfect" housewife like Komatsu Nana. I watched the movie before watching the entire anime series so it really was this version of the story that I fell in love with. Nakashima Mika was the perfect choice to play singer Osaki Nana and I thought that Miyazaki Aoi did a really good job bringing the innocence and puppy-dog characterization that is Komatsu Nana. While I didn't like the Trapnest songs very much, I did enjoy GLAMOROUS SKY, the movie's theme song which was written by Hyde of L'arc~en~Ciel fame. This is definitely a girly movie but I think any girl who has ever loved a boy before would love this movie. 
Title: Tokkyu Tanaka San Go
Also known as: Tanaka Express 3
Broadcast date: 4/13/07 - 6/22/07
Number of episodes: 11
Genre: Romantic comedy
Cast: Tanaka Koki, Kuriyama Chiaki, Tsukamoto Takashi, Akiyama Ryuji, Kato Rosa, Hiraiwa Kami
Plot: Tanaka Ichiro (Tanaka Koki) is a big talker. While he claims to be a "big shot," he is, in fact, a ronin-turned-freshman at a third-rate university. He accidentally meets Meguro Terumi (Kuriyama Chiaki) and declares her his "personal heroine." After befriending two tetsu (train fanatics), the three men find themselves trying their best to romance Terumi and her friends while finding their way in life.
What is good: The writing was excellent. You learn a bit about the tetsu way without going completely overboard.
What is bad: The first episode is pretty terrible.
Letter rating: B+
Overall: This show was recommended to me by a friend. After watching the first episode, I thought maybe she had lost her mind or something. However, from the second episode on, I fell in love with the characters and their personalities. At first, Ichiro is extremely annoying but once you learn why he acts the way he does, it's difficult to dislike the guy. I'd love to really talk more about the show and why I enjoyed it but that really requires a lot of spoilers since the show revolves around the relationships of the three main characters. All I can say is watch it. Don't let the first episode fool you. This really is a great series.
Title: akihabara@DEEP
Broadcast date: 6/19/06
Number of episodes: 11
Genre: Action and Adventure
Cast: Kazama Shunsuke, Ikuta Toma, Himura Yuuki, Hoshino Gen, Matsushima Hatsune, Kosaka Yuka, Honjou Manami, Kitamura Kazuki
Plot: A group of otaku come together to form a troubleshooting company. They try their best to solve the problems of the people in Akihabara.
What is good: Kitamura Kazuki is an awesome villian
What is bad: Maybe it's because the concept of Japanese otaku is so foreign but they seemed to overreact to just about everything.
Letter rating: A+
Overall: I went into this series expecting something along the lines of Densha Otoko. However, I think this is so much better because it doesn't revolve around the life of one person. You have six people, each with some sort of oddity. Each of them turned to a website, Yui's Lifeguard, in order to help them live their daily lives. It's through this website that they come together and become friends. It was really awesome to watch these people grow into something more than just otaku. They really become close friends.
Title: Kimi wa Petto
Also known as: You're My Pet
Broadcast date: 4/9/03 - 6/18/03
Number of episodes: 10
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Cast: Koyuki, Matsumoto Jun, Tanabe Seiichi
Plot: Journalist Iwaya Sumire (Koyuki) has had a terrible day - her longtime boyfriend broke up with her and she got a demotion at work. On the way home, she finds an injured boy (Matsumoto Jun) in a cardboard box. After nursing him back to health, the boy claims that he will do anything in order to stay with her. So Iwaya takes him in as a pet and names him Momo, after the dog she owned when she was a child.
What is good: MatsuJun is pretty cute as Momo.
What is bad: The "ideal" man that all the girls want (Tanabe Seiichi) is a huge dork, whereas everyone calls him "cool."
Letter rating: B
Overall: Kimi wa Petto is a very cute show. However, there isn't a whole lot of depth to it. While you like the characters, there isn't anything to make you really feel for them. Iwaya seems to be stuck in this sadness, even when she's supposed to be happy. Takeshi shines when he takes on the Momo personality but is fairly dull as himself. This is something that you'd watch when you have nothing else to watch and you don't want to turn on your brain.