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Everyone has a list of their favorite anime shows. That's a given. But do you have a list of the anime you consider so pedestrian, lame or terrible you wouldn't show them to you ex ever?

Lemme share my lame list. It's not in any order by the way.

1. "Bartender" - Show about a mixologist who can ease your troubles with a drink. Each episode comes with a history or story behind the cocktail du jour. Employs fourth wall techniques. Verdict: bleah and just plain boring

2. "Boys Be" - Tales of boys at school and the way they drool, pine for and leer at girls and women. Contains fanservice which means scenes where female characters inadvertently end up showing their underwear. Verdict: sexist and dumb

3. "Diamond Daydreams" - Show about the lives and loves of several women who reside or work in the nothern part of Japan. At times seems like an ad for certain locations. The character designs are among the ugliest I have ever seen. Memo to the show's animators: Go back to art school and learn how to draw. Then smack yourself for producing what amounts to nothing more than a disguised travel brochure.

4."Haunted Junction" - Kids from different religious backgrounds attend a haunted school with well-known ghosts from Japanese popular culture. Well they focus mostly on spectres Japanese school kids yak about such as the girl who haunts toilets. Verdict: A big mess. Supposed to be funny but is excruciating to watch. Has disturbing characters like a teen-aged girl overly fond of little boys. Gag.

5. "Gregory Horror Show" - MIni episodes about a mouse the unseen protagonist encounters in a place full of "scary" characters. The segments are too short and choppy. The characters are NOT scary at all since they are drawn simply. Think of wooden blocks then imagine them with faces and stubby appendages. The premise isn't bad but the animators faltered in the execution.

6. "Oh My Goddess" OVA - The first installment in a series that should have been buried long long ago. Geek meets one of the Nordic goddesses of fate. She ends up keeping house for him and falling for this very common guy. This show is nothing more than wish fulfillment for the guy who cannot get a date and still lives in his mom's basement. This tripe is an insult to any woman who can think for herself.

7. "Onegai Teacher" or "Please Teacher" - Half-human/half-alien lands on Earth and pretends to be a teacher to gather data on humans. Circumstances force her to marry one of her students. She looks like a well-endowed woman in her mid-20s. He is actually 18 but looks 15 because he was in a coma-like state for several years. They keep their marriage a secret and eventually fall in love.

Skip this so-called romantic show. If you have the DVDs, burn them and fumigate the room where these were kept. I found the relationship between the main characters disturbing and just wrong. The creator of this show should be ashamed for producing this putrid excuse for an anime. He or she deserves a flogging.

8. "Rahxephon" - Show where giant statues ( actually just prettier looking giant robots) wreak havoc in a walled-off world. Hero is a teen with a murky past. There is also a mysterious girl and a woman who is more than what she seems. Great animation, nice CGIs and compelling storyline at first. But I found the plot too convoluted for my taste and the pace of the show can be glacial at times. I couldn't finish this out of frustration and boredom.

9. "School Rumble" - HIgh school anime about a clueless girl, the guy she likes, the bad boy who loves her and their classmates. Typical show where someone can't tell the object of their affection how they feel because of certain reasons and circumstances. (e.g. the person they love just doesn't get it). Some people like this show. I don't. I got tired of the main characters' inability to confess their love.

10. "R.O.D." the TV series - Three sisters with the unusual ability to manipulate paper. They solve cases and are called paper masters for a good reason. One can create paper animals that do her bidding while another can fashion weapons out of paper. This is the tv spinoff of the popular "Read or Die" OVA about a bookworm who is really a special agent for the British.

The television show buchers certain characters in the original movie much to its detriment. The plot is more complex and folks double cross each other out of the blue. The series also runs too long and gets bogged down by the different subplots. This is one sorry spinoff to a decent, original movie.

A gothic manga set to hit stores April 8 is Shin Mashiba's "Nightmare Inspector: Yumekui Kenbun" which chronicles the cases of Hiruko and the people who seek his help. Hiruko, who hangs around the Silver Star Tea House, is not human but a creature who eats your dreams in lieu of payment. Suffice it to say his clientele is made up of folks plagued by nightmares.

Published in America by VIZ Media, "Nightmare Inspector" is geared for teens and comes with a price tag of $9.99. Each chapter is a story of a client who has found himself or herself at the tea house for one reason or other.

The artwork is beautiful and several of the stories have a twist to them such as the fan obsessed with an actress. He finds to his cost that life does imitate art. The story of the young man who yearns for the woman who he only knows as a voice at other end of his phone is actually a tale about narcissism. And the woman who dreams she is literally falling apart has a bloody secret to hide.

Volume One hints there is more to Hiruko than meets the eye; calling him as someone no longer human. So how did he become a nightmare inspector? Why is his base the teahouse? Hopefully latter episodes will answer these questions.

It reminds me of the horror comics I read while growing up in the '70s and '80s. "Nightmare Inspector" doesn't break new ground but it's a nice read.

The manga was published in Japan by Square Enix, the publisher of the first manga series from Shin Mashiba.

One look at "Ghost Hound" and you know what show got the bulk of the production money in the fall anime season. I've seen the first episode and I'm interested enough to want to see the succeeding episodes.

Production values are high on this show and the animation is crisp and beautiful. And if the characters look similar to the characters from that other supernatural show, "Jigoku Shoujo", it's because the same person did the design.

The story itself is intriguing. Our main guide to this world is Taro Komori, 14, who has out of body experiences when he falls asleep. He lives in a mountain community with his father, the local brewer, and his mother, who looks like she's going to break down any time soon. His sister is dead.

Taro dreams about his and his sister's kidnapping 11 years ago. I'm assuming the pretty girl lying on a cot near a young Taro is his sibling. She mouths something but he cannot make it out.

The new school psychologist, a cliche creepy-looking man, asks him if he still records his dreams and encourages him to keep doing it. Perhaps this was a suggested treatment for the boy? The viewer isn't told yet.

We meet other kids in the area who will eventually have a tie to Taro. There's the transfer student, Masayuki Nakajima, who is so new on campus he's still wearing the uniform of his old school. He is trying desperately to become pals with Taro and Makoto Ogami, the moody boy who seldom goes to class.

Then there's the still unnamed grade school girl who can see spirits and Taro's soul when he has an out of body experience.

What is the connection between all of them? Why does Taro's soul visit things that happened in the past? Who is this weird little girl who sees things?

Here's hoping the other episodes will provide the answers. Or I will be reduced to muttering a tv colleague's worn out phrase, "It raises more questions than answers."

Anime isn't restricted to shows about magical pre-teens with pink hair and cutesy sidekicks. It deals with a wide range of subject matter and uses a variety of animation styles. And yes, there are dreck shows as there are gems out there.

Since I burned out on shows featuring giant robots and spaceships as a child, I seldom watch mecha anime or anything that remotely looks mecha. But sometimes I make exceptions especially if the mecha elements do not overwhelm the entire story.

One of my favorite anime guys is Makoto Shinkai who created "Voices of a Distant Star" which every anime fan should see at least once.

It is the story of two young lovers separated literally by time and space. Shinkai used his Macintosh to create the anime. The character designs aren't so hot but the story and the background are wonderful.

Cell phone messages sent between the main characters, Mikako Nagamine and Noboru Terao, play a big role in the story. Yeah, it's a stretch to believe that a cell phone company would have such a coverage plan but let's just go with the flow, shall we?

The two last saw each other in middle school. War breaks out between Earth and a group of aliens called Tarsians. Mikako joins the UN forces and learns to fight the Tarsians using a giant robot. Somehow she still wears the same uniform from school. Whatever. She misses Noboru and experiences these moments where you know she's either dreaming or hallucinating.

Because Mikako is traveling light years away, she ages slower than Noboru and her messages takes years to reach him. He tries to hang on then gives in to the inevitable. He meets a girl called Wakana and it's hinted that he goes out with her in high school. The manga version further elaborates on this relationship.

Then like a bucket of cold water, he receives a message from Mikako who we last see is in a firefight with the enemy. Lysithea, the spaceship that carries her and the others, is damaged. Her last message ends in static.

Noboru drops out of high school and joins the space armada in the hopes of reuniting with Mikako.

The manga's ending is more satisfying since it has Mikako scanning a list of people who joined the armada and seeing Noboru's name.

This is a tear jerker of a show and could be too much of a chick flick for some guys. But give it a try. You might like it. Then give Shinkai's other works a look. The man knows how to tell a story.

Gorgeous animation do not a good anime make. An engaging storyline and likeable characters are also required. So it's kind of sad when a show you know could have been great merely reaches the acceptable level.

Such is the case with the second season of Hell Girl which is actually called "Jigoku Shoujo Futakamori". Enma Ai is back with her three assistants as they offer a hellish bargain to those who want to have others dragged unceremoniously to Hell. If you're willing to enter a contract with Ai, the bane of your existence gets whisked off pronto. The price remains a steep one. You go to Hell as well when you die because as Ai says, two graves are dug when a curse is placed.

Like the first season, this one features beautiful character designs and backgrounds plus the same hohum way of telling its stories.

Each episode focuses on Ai's client of the week and how she deals with their requests. Some of her clients are a waste of molecules, so to speak, while a few deserve to get dispatched to the underworld themselves. There is a little boy who undergoes personal tragedies one upon the other that you wonder how Ai can just sit there and do nothing for him. He is actually a key in resolving Ai's end and mirrors the persecution she faced in her earlier human form four hundred years ago.

That's another problem. The director assumes you know Ai's back story or have seen the first season. Go watch the first season. It helps explain certains things in the second season.

This time around, we learn more about the history of Ai's three assistants and why they're working for her now. We also meet a rather unpleasant hell spawn masquerading as a little girl who could double as the Japanese version of the "Bad Seed." She's called Kikuri I think. She tags along with the gang and tries to muck up their work.

After sitting through all the episodes even the crummy ones the ending comes as a major disappointment. Aaaargh! It was a let down to be sure. Is that how Hell Girl is supposed to end? I am so tempted to spoil it for the rest of y'all but I won't be a party pooper.

Claire is never welcome in the villages and towns she visits. While the people fear her and don't think twice about saying insulting things as she walks by, they also need her services to survive.

The silver-eyed woman who carries a big sword and usually talks like all emotion has been drained out of her voice is a Claymore. Claire is a demon/human hybrid created to kill the shape-shifting demons called Youma who prey on humans. Hers is a harsh existence. Claymores must fight to keep their demon side at bay because once they lose their human will, the organization they work for will hunt them down using other Claymores.

"Claymore" is one of the new shows this season and is based on a manga by the same name. But I've learned my lesson. I'm not going to read the manga until I finish the anime. That's how my interest flagged in "Death Note" and "Bleach". Keeping up with both the manga and anime storylines were just too exhausting. Well, it's not as if these are the only shows I watch.

So back to "Claymore". It's an intense series which I doubt will have any characters around just for comedy relief. The main protagonist is Claire whose past hints of the reason why she decided to become a Claymore. The viewer is introduced to her as she goes to one of her assignments. A demon has been terrorizing a village and its desperate inhabitants hired a Claymore to slay the demon. Claire arrives and is met with both dismay and relief. Only one boy in the village seems to express genuine interest and admiration for her. Raki's parents were killed by the demon which resulted in him and his older brother living with their uncle's family.

Fate doesn't smile on the boy.

SPOILER ALERT. DON'T READ BEYOND THIS POINT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE REST OF EPISODE ONE PLUS PARTS OF EPISODE THREE AND FOUR.

The boy comes home to find his relatives slaughtered by the fiend who was pretending to be his brother. His older brother was slain along with his parents but Raki never knew that since the demon assumed the form of his sibling. Youmas aren't dumb demons. They can assume the memories and forms of the people they killed and devoured. Claire dispatches the demon soon enough and tells the others that she followed Raki because the scent of demon lingered on him. She tells the semi-grateful villagers that someone from her organization will come by to pick up the payment then she departs.

Raki, the sole survivor of his unfortunate family, is soon cast out of the village by the others who fear he might become a demon too. He wanders without food and water but stumbles upon Claire. She takes him in as her traveling companion after he admits what the villagers did to him. She tells him he can cook for her but the boy later finds out she requires very little food and can last without food or water for days. From flashbacks, we see that Claire went through the same thing Raki did and this may have led to her decision to take in the orphan boy.

Episodes three and four are equally sad and poignant. Raki asks Claire at one point why she would lead such a life after she kills a fellow Claymore and friend who is becoming a demon. The friend, Elena, sent Claire a request to kill her. Claymores who reach their limit can ask a specific colleague to slay them by sending a black note with the symbol of their name. Elena sends such a note to Claire.

Claire and Raki later pose as siblings when they enter a holy town where a demon is killing/eating priests and guards. No "unnatural being" is allowed by law into the holy city so Claire takes pills that change her eye color and has the unfortunate side effect of damping down some of her senses. She cannot sense the demon and gets severely injured during a fight against this strong and wily opponent. She resorts to relying a lot more on her demon powers and realizes after she finally kills the demon that she will soon lose her human consciousness. She asks one of the guards to kill her before then and tells Raki farewell. She had earlier requested from their priest client that the church take in Raki if she gets killed.

Raki flings himself on Claire and tells her she was the kindest person he's met. If she dies, then he dies with her too. I got such a headache afterward from all the crying I did watching this episode. Of course they didn't die. Otherwise this would have been the shortest show this season.

Honestly, I didn't think I'd be watching this show when the lineup for the fall anime season came out. I decided to give "Claymore" a look after "Darker than Black" left me cold. I had expected to follow that show this season but the first three episodes disappointed me.

However, Claire and the gang impressed me and now I'm hooked. Hooked I tell ya! Hooked like a fish pulled from a lazy river and tossed into the bottom of a rickety wooden boat crammed with beer-guzzling pals out for the day. I think you get my drift.

I still consider "Shell" by BANA one of the better anime songs I've heard. The song was used in the series, "Witch Hunter Robin", which is readily available here on DVD. The soundtrack should be easy to get too.

It's the guitar part that I like so much about the song. That and the fact the singer doesn't sound like a squeaky gerbil. Here's the opening animation to the show courtesy of some fan who put it up on YouTube.

Robin does some weird thing to the TV screen. I suppose she's getting all swoony over Amon who broods, shoots and generally looks cool during the entire show. But who wouldn't swoon over such a bishounen (beautiful boy) , neh? And like any brooding anime hero, Amon wears all black plus a trenchcoat. I'm getting the vapors now. Just kidding.