Hataraki Man (2006*)/My Girlfriend Is Shobitch (2017 - 2018*)/Red Vs. Blue: The Shisno Paradox (2018/Season 16/Flatiron/Cinedigm Blu-ray w/DVD)/Rocket Girls (2007/*all Sentai Complete Collection Blu-ray Sets)

Picture: C+/B+/B & C+/C Sound: C+/B+/B & C+/C Extras: D/B/A/C Main Programs: B+

Here's our latest group of Anime and action, old and new...

Hiroko Matsukata is journalist/reporter for the local Jidai Magazine Weekly. She is a female worker in mostly male dominated job industry, there are only four females in her company of 40, but to get where she is now she had to work three times as hard as any male and she treated like a man. In fact, her co-workers call her the 'Hataraki Man' (2006) in that she is more man-like and doesn't act feminine enough. She is admired, resented and scorned by the people around her, but then the Hataraki Man doesn't care about people's opinions about her, she cares about getting the job done.

Hiroko is a hard working (and still young) independent woman, but that is just the problem ...she is a woman. Being a woman in a male dominated industry woman have to put up lazy male co-workers, males who steal the credit for her work and sexual harassment. While some girls use their sexuality to their advantage Hiroko prefers to be judged by her work and prove how she is just as good as any of the 'boys'.

This series is a reflection of some ideas of how the modern woman has an up hill battle in the male work place. Most of humanity is still secretly sexist, while they play lip service to the saying that men and woman are treated as equals in the work place, men still look down on woman when comparing to the opposite gender. Extras include trailers.

Episodes include...

The Female Hataraki Man - Hiroko find a big scoop involving a scandal with a high ranking politician.

Stakeout Man - Hiroko goes out on an all night stakeout.

Ramen Man - Hiroko goes out drinking with Kobu who in charge of the food and smut section of the magazine.

Apology Man - Hiroko and her boyfriend Shinji both wonder how many times they had to miss dates with each other. Shinji gets laid off of his job.

Double Back Man - Mayu has to learn to be more ruthless and cruel if she is to make it in the publishing industry. Editors don't care about what is true, but more of what sells.

Princess Man - Shinji's sudden talk on marriage to Hiroko cause her to panic and overthink on if she should act more 'feminine' like her co-workers. Acting cute and feminine can open doors more than her journalist's integrity.

Meticulous Man - Hiroko wonders when was the last time she was able to relax. Why does she work so hard? What was her inspiration? And when a woman is cranky ...stay out of her way.

Reward Man - Hiroko has to deal with editors in how many copies to make before they hit the press, but she is happiest when people buy their articles.

Accomplish Hataraki Man - Hiroko catches a cold and breaks up with her boyfriend Shinji.

Incapable Hataraki Man - Hiroko compares herself with Kaji the most popular female in the company and wonders what she lacks.

Nevertheless, Hataraki Man - Hiroko wonders if all the sacrifices she made for her job is worth it and wonders why she works. It is because she loves her job.

Haruka has had a crush on Akiho Kosaka since forever, but after asking her to be his girlfriend and getting a 'yes' she turns out to be not the reserved girl he thought. Akiho is beautiful and smart ...but when it comes to relationships, dating and sex Akiho has no reservations or modesty and tends to be very direct and blunt on the subject. Is Haruka's sexual fantasies all about to come true? Haruka soon finds not only his reputation is in danger but his chastity maybe as well too in My Girlfriend Is Shobitch (2017 - 2018).

Haruka is also your all around nice guy at school, while he is popular among the girls he is unaware of his own popularity. Kosaka on the other hand looks like the perfect girl, but she has been raise by her mother to have no sexual reservation and was taught to satisfy Haruka's sexual needs, but after Haruka started to date Kosaka, all girls he knows start making sexual jokes and advances with him. It is pretty soon clear all the girls have a 'thing' for Haruka and want in on the action too. Including his childhood friend Shizuku who enjoys sexually harassing him but is really too shy to actually make moves on him. Kanata, Haruka's little sister who considers herself as Haruka's 'pet' and see him more as a man than her brother. Rina a rich girl who has only been in an all girls school.

This seemed like another harem anime for boys or adult anime, it is filled with a lot sexual jokes, double entendres and fan-service. The female characters are very liberal and all the characters are placed into compromising/awkward positions and making the audience think of dirty thoughts. Extras include Japanese promos, fat load of dirty jokes with character commentary, clean opening and closing animation and trailers.

Episodes include...

No, don't open it so wide, please... - After pining Kosaka for a year, Haruka learns Kosaka is way more open and liberal about the male libido than he is comfortable with.

"Just whip it out now!" ...can I say that? - Haruka's little sister Kanata learns about her brother is dating Kosaka and refuses to lose to her. Kosaka want to improve her cooking for Haruka.

Ah, this is my first time having two at once - Haruka meets Kosaka's parents and learns her mother is the reason why Kosaka is so forward.

S-so this is how it goes, huh... - Here comes Rina who seems to be interested in both Haruka and Kosaka (she is interested for 'research' purposes only).

It tore... What do I do!? - Haruka deepens his relationship with Kosaka and Rina. Kosaka proposes to the student council to increase sexual education and materials/magazines at school.

D-don't show this to anyone else, okay? - Haruka and Kosaka meets the school playboy Hoshikawa ...but is he really into girls ...or is he into Haruka?

Jeez... I can't get my mind off of it... - The school goes on their class trip and it seems everyone wants to have some hanky panky on the trip.

I-I'm not saying you cant take it that far! - After the school trip it seems like love is in the air and everyone is in heat. The class pres Saori tries to catch Haruka in the act of perversion and only makes herself look like the perverted one.

I told you, not so suddenly!! - Shizuku makes a move for Haruka and tries to seduce him with her bento.

I can't... take it... any longer! - It's time for the finals, but can Haruka study with everyone making studying an orgasmic experience or some sexual reference joke? Haruka and Kosaka finally confess their true feelings to each other.

I've bared it all to you/I'll do whatever you say! - Haruka and Kosaka get stuck in a high tech love hotel and is forced to have an 'exciting time' for the computer to let them out. Haruka plays a lewd version of the King's Game with all the girls.

After saving the (finally) saving the universe (again) and the Red and Blues have made up with each other, they decided to go out for pizza together ...nothing can go wrong, right? But what was to be a simple road trip for pizza, the Red and Blues end up not only lost in time but find themselves in the middle of galactic war between the 'Gods' and all of existence once more is in their hands in Red Vs. Blue: The Shisno Paradox (2018 aka Season 16).

Will the Red and Blues ever get a break from saving the universe from military complexes, power hungry dictators, terrorists, rogue robots, aliens, forerunner technologies or from themselves? After time and time again they have either risen or runaway from various challenges and yet (somehow) saved the universe ...and now they have finally made peace between each other. But now, they find out that they are the 'chosen ones' and the Gods of the Universe have given them time traveling guns to 'save' the past from an 'evil' time controlling God called Chrovos. BUT the Red and Blues use their new founded ability to time travel and fix their own personal mistakes of their past (and figure our the rules of time travel) history is about to get re-written by the galaxy's most dumbest or luckiest of troopers (depending on which way you look at it). In the end they find out they were being play by these so called Gods, and the last thing any of them like is being played and they will give them hell before they will be played again.

The Red Vs. Blue series is, as you may know, loosely based on the Halo video games set in a futuristic shooter game, only it is a giant comic parody compared to the actual game. (Can you still call the series Red Vs. Blue if the characters aren't fighting each other anymore?) The series is filled with crazy, funny, and wise cracking characters who somehow get involve with twisted/crazy plots that involve universal destruction ...and yet they are the hero/heroines wannabes who end up saving the day. All the characters look like various troopers from the games with just slightly different suits or colors. Extras include Designing the Sound for RvB, Machinimating for RvB, Behind the Animation, Behind the Scenes with Joe and Minni, Behind the Scenes with Sister and Tucker, The Cyclops, Bloopers and commentary.

Finally, we have Yukari Morita, a young high school girl who decides to look for her long lost father who disappeared in the Solomon Islands, but instead finds herself going a lot farther ...into outer space! By fate, she runs into the Solomon Space Association and they find she light enough to ride their rockets ...so they make a deal with her, she becomes their astronaut and they help her find her father in Rocket Girls (2007).

Yukari was in search of her father in the South Seas, but instead discovers her father was one night stand with her mother (and is the town drunkard/village chief/idiot). And on top of that she has a half-sister her own age, Matsuri. However, she is immediately recruited into Solomon Space Association because they need someone light enough to pilot their rockets. The Solomon Space Association is a private company investing into commercial space travel, but their only problem is they can't send a full grown adult into space because they're too heavy for their rockets ...but a teenager school girl is light enough. If they make it into space they will become the youngest astronauts ever and the Solomon Space Association will secure their space contracts. Does Yukari, Matsuri and Akane have the right stuff?

This was a light hearted drama about high school girls riding rockets into space. The series has some elementary level information about space travel and rockets, but truthfully space travel is a lot more dangerous and serious than they make it. BUT if you think about it, if they can send teenager into space for cheaper and half the amount of training ...why bother send adult astronauts into space at all? Extras include clean opening and closing animation and trailers.

Episodes include...

Destiny - Yukari visits the Solomon Island to find her father, but instead runs into a runaway astronaut from the Solomon Space Association.

Assembly - Yukari is recruited into becoming an Astronaut but then has to go through the 'training'. Yukari discovers she has a half-sister named Matsuri.

Launch Pad - Yukari and Matsuri continue their training. The Solomon Space Association hides the fact their rockets has a fuel problem and it keeps exploding.

Count Down - Yukari learns of the rockets failures and begins a hunger strike until the problem is fixed.

Ignition - Yukari's mother arrives and smooth things over with Yukari. Yukari become impatient with all the delays to the launch.

Control - Yukari makes it into space but is way off course and is running out of air. Matsuri is sent into space to rescue her.

Gravity - Yukari and Matsuri return to Earth and land in Yukari's old school's swimming pool. Yukari junior Akane is so impressed with them that she wants to join them.

Separation - Akane arrives in the Solomon Island, but she fails a number of the physical tests.

Kick Motor - Akane is given a special survival training for her to remain in the astronaut program.

Orbiter - The USA space shuttle Atlantis runs into trouble in space when a vital part becomes stuck. Yukari and Akane is sent into space to help.

Turn Start - The satellite Orpheus becomes lost in deep space, but the girls and the crew of the Atlantis come up with a bold plan to rescue the satellite.

Rocket Girls - Yukari and Akane is able to rescue the Orpheus ...but there may be a problem with their rocket safely re-entering Earth.

The 1080p 1.33 X 1 in a 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image frame on Hataraki and Rocket are upscales of older series apparently too heavily finished in standard, low definition video and/or the original film or professional video masters are lost, missing or even are somehow owned by another entity. Rocket is the weaker of the two.

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Girlfriend is, on the other hand, the best performer here and has the best production values throughout. Color, depth and detail are pretty good as well.

That leaves two versions of Red, a 1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer that looks rougher now that we are in the 4K and 8K era and a DVD in anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image that is on the level of the upscaled Series here.

As for sound, all the Sentai Blu-rays offer Japanese DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo lossless mixes, though the upscaled show episodes are on the weak side and not great, but better than lossy sound almost. Girlfriend adds an English DTS-MA 2.0 Stereo dub but it is not as good as the Japanese version, both with Pro Logic-like surrounds, but the big surprise is that the Red Blu-ray finally has lossless sound!!!

The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Red is still not as convincing overall as Girlfriend, but is a very welcome upgrade and the best any of the sets we've covered have ever sounded. The DVD version still has lesser lossy Dolby Digital 5.1, but at least both versions are not stuck with lesser sound.

- Ricky Chiang