Archive for the ‘Live Action’ Category
January 14, 2012
The premise of these reviews is simple: watch the first episode of a series and then immediately sit down to record a review mini-podcast. The reviews are five- to ten-minutes long and entirely off the cuff. As always we only review new shows (so no sequels or continuations) and try to avoid anything that just looks outright awful. These are the next three of the new season:
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Listen – Episode 1 of Inu x Boku SS from David Production with the opening “Nirvana” by MUCC and is streaming on Crunchyroll.
Listen – Episode 1 of Thermae Romae from DLE Inc. with the ending ”Thermae Roman” by Chatmonchy.
Listen – Episode 1 of Deka Kurokawa Suzuki from NTV and is streaming on Crunchyroll.
Posted in Anime, Anime Seasons, Editorials, Guides, Live Action, Podcasts, S.W.A.T. Reviews, TV Series | Tagged Deka Kurokawa Suzuki, detective, Inu x Boku SS, Thermae Romae | 3 Comments »
November 11, 2011
It has been awhile since I saw Last Exile but overall I remember liking the series so I was eager to watch Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing. Right off the bat the series reminds you of one thing: Range Murata is definitely a lolicon. Any perusal of one of his Robot art books will remind you of that fact. So when Fam starts the series in her underwear and sleepwalking I am not exactly sure why people were SUPER surprised. It does set an odd precedent as the episodes I have seen since then never have that odd level of fan service again. Perhaps Gonzo thought this was putting their best foot forward but I think most people would disagree. Other than that poor choice it is mostly the Last Exile you remember. Apparently the prediction that moving to an abundant planet would stop the conflicts was optimistic thinking because it seems war had broken out again. But really without giant airship battles I don’t think people would be anywhere near as interested in Last Exile. Since the Guild is no more they don’t have the musket battles but in their place there are air pirates so you can get your Skies of Arcadia grove on. Fans of the original series will notice that Dio is alive and well. Still sort of loopy but defiantly calmer. How exactly he survived after Last Exile has yet to be explained (if it will be explained at all.) After three episodes I have yet to make a firm decision on the series. It has a primarily female cast. While there are men the three main characters and primary focus are all young ladies. So that means no wading into harem territory like people accused the series of doing with Claus but it then does lend itself to the yuri subtext being in everything that the world of the pink ghetto casts. Fam and Giselle seem fine with Fam being the spunky one and Giselle being the quiet one. Millia is not only a princess but also a princess character and that means she can be a bit grating. The action has been pretty good so far and the plot has potential. But as far as I can tell the main villain’s problem seems to be that everyone is far too happy and he will not be having that which could lead to a very corny developments. I am interested enough to keep watching but still hesitant to give it a recommendation yet.
As many others did, when I got Sailor Moon vol. 1 I also got Codename Sailor V vol. 1. This was new to me, I knew about it of course and had looked at some of it, but never really got to read it. Having read Sailor Moon first of the two, it put me in the exact mood for the young girl fantasy that is Sailor V. The big difference between these two so far is that Sailor V is decidedly free of any serious romantic entanglements instead focusing on peppy Mina’s daily struggles with classes balanced with sometimes saving the world as a Sailor Guardian thanks to talking cat Artemis. Mina amuses me greatly in her slacker fashion which prefers video games and idols to studying and saving people. Since this is a primer for Sailor Moon you can obviously see a lot of Usagi in Mina but they are still different because Mina is very physically capable. This is also what makes her so fun as she loves kicking baddies once she is roped into caring. Sailor V also becomes something of a legendary icon as the story goes on getting her own video game, fan club, and even a police detective rival among other amusing things. Once she has been in action a while, Mina gets more serious and both her and readers start to wonder who is “the boss” and why Mina was chosen for this role. I am curious to see how this ties in swiftly to Sailor Moon.
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Posted in Anime, Live Action, Manga, Novels/Light Novels, Ongoing Investigations | Tagged A Dance with Dragons, Blood-C, Codename Sailor V, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira, Last Exile: Fam the Silver Wing, Once Upon a Time | Leave a Comment »
October 7, 2011
I got to read Gen Manga volumes 3 & 4 back to back. Reading both volumes in succession makes me realize that the storytelling in Gen is somewhat compressed compared to your normal mainstream manga experience. While the storytelling still has a distinctly manga feel you don’t get the impression that the stories contained within are assuming they are going to run for 20+ books. They seems to be primed to end in a book or two but could run longer. Mainstream manga seems more designed to run for a long time but could be cut short if forced to. The individual chapters still have a more manga styled decompressed flow but chapter to chapter it seems more compressed. But all the compressed vs. decompressed storytelling talk from Ogiue Maniax might be why I am noticing it more. Vs Aliens is still my favorite story in the anthology. It has a very quirky story with some unusual twists every chapter. The only problem is that is quickly coming down to the big reveal of what is actually going on. If the final reveal is lame is going to really hurt the overall story. The boxing story is Wolf is still solid but I am not sure if I really care for the added element of the hyperactive flat chested girl vs the distant chesty girl love story. My feelings on KAMEN are still up in the air as I am interested in the story but not deeply invested. There is a promise of a big fight scene in the next chapter. How well the fight is pulled off I might help me solidify my feelings. I still don’t really like Souls. Volume three ends one arc and volume four starts a new arc. Volume three ended a bit lighter than I assumed it will but this genre has just never been my cup of tea. In volume 4 there is a one shot story called Sorako. This really feels like an American indy comic. It is the story of a small town girl who feels trapped in her small life under the backdrop of looking for her dog that ran away. It is slice of life in a way that really feels like an American comic more than a Japanese style of same formula. Gen is still an interesting experiment in the U.S. It has the feel of a doujinshi anthology but will a more consistent schedule. I am curious how well it will do here.
With great elation, I started the new season of anime by watching Bakuman S2. We start the season with Ashirogi Muto waiting for their editor to come to the studio to go over their contract for serialization. It is an exciting time and they are also invited to the Shonen Jack New Year’s bash. This episode is really about them getting acclimated with their new positions, getting assistants, and meeting some new people as well as getting to know others better. It is mostly a set-up for things to come and I can’t wait for those things!
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Posted in Anime, Live Action, Manga, Ongoing Investigations | Tagged Bakuman, GEN magazine, Kamen Rider Fourze, Shinryaku! Ika Musume, Squid Girl Season 2, Terra Nova, Twin Spica | Leave a Comment »
August 12, 2011
In my Tsukihime round-up I finally got around to the Tsukihime PLUS+DISC. Mostly a few little stories added to promote previous releases of Tsukihime and Kagetsu Tohya. The Alliance of Illusionary Eyes is the main meat of the content of the disc and is mostly from the point of view of Akira Seo and her first meeting with Tohno Shiki. Her appearances in Kagetsu Tohya make much more sense after reading this. The other three stories are much sillier but sometimes enlightening. Geccha 1 and 2 are little behind the scenes looks at unanswered questions, plot holes, and unused material in a Type-Moon told in a comedic manner. I wonder how many people ship Arcueid and Ciel as they fight like pair that would surely be hooked up in yaoi fanfiction. Sad Birthday Girl fans can see unused Satsuki’s path material. There is also the utterly weird Kinoko’s Masterpiece Experimental Theater. This is mostly weird to be weird. There is no hidden material here. Just uncle Nrvnqsr Chaos. There is nothing vital here other the Alliance but there is a lot to enjoy. Plus I can attest that you can read all of this in just one lunch break if you put your mind to it.
I was so pleased to find Trigun: Badlands Rumble showing at Otakon this year. The movie plays out like an extended TV episode. This is one last hurrah for the fans really so as such it isn’t the place to start for the unfamiliar. Badlands Rumble features Vash’s legendary good-nature as he tries to protect Amelia who is looking for revenge against notorious bandit Gasback who is rumored to be heading for Macca City. Meryl and Milly are dispatched to keep an eye on things since their insurance company has insured a statue in the city for $$5,000,000,00. Wolfwood gets in on the action too, but I won’t say exactly how. I must say it was wonderful to hear the cheers and claps when Wolfwood appeared for the first time. Everything comes together in a spectacular action-packed end. Beyond new animation, there is nothing to say this wasn’t just a part of the show. I saw it dubbed and it didn’t quite have enough force behind it so I’ll be curious to watch it again on DVD. Trigun: Badlands Rumble is good fun with characters that you love.
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Posted in Anime, Cartoons, Live Action, Manga, Ongoing Investigations | Tagged Bunraku, HeartCatch PreCure!, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, Tsukihime, Type-Moon, Vento Aureo | Leave a Comment »
July 22, 2011
Broken Blade‘s 5th movie really takes the series down a notch I am sad to say. The focus of the film is Girghe a lot, a character who as far as I’m concerned has no soul in their design. Perhaps this movie was trying to fix that impression, but it doesn’t work and the “reasoning” behind his past seemed like a cop-out full of holes. I just refuse to feel for the guy and I think they really wanted me to change my mind. While Girghe is acting crazy, Rygart isn’t helping the situation. They decide the best time for a vendetta fight (which they are having because why again?) is right in the middle of a major mission. Probably the only redeeming scene in the entire movie is the fight between Brocuse and Rygart, looks amazing, just try to forget why it is happening and why it ends the way it does. This is the problem with most of the film, it isn’t well put together and thus you start questioning why anything is happening the way it is.
Sadly since the defeat of Zess the Broken Blade series has not been nearly as strong as is started. Rygart just seems to lose a lot of strength as a lead character as he seems way too interested in dealing with Girghe but not nearly as invested in doing anything else as he should. And Girghe just comes off as an unrepentant and unlikeable psychopath despite them trying to soften him up during the movie. I think they want him to be the dark mirror to Rygart’s noble intentions but he just comes off as a big waste of time. Their last confrontation actually annoyed me. I don’t see why Rygart would waste time with his theatrics when everyone else is getting slaughtered. General Borcuse on the other hand as at least a little more subtle in his villainy. He sometimes twirls his mustachio but at least I can understand being a completely wretched human to your enemy on the battlefield. The dehumanizing effects of being a solider can do that to a man. Also his fight with Rygart was pretty good which was the highlight of the movie. Hodr and Sigyn mostly seem to show up in this movie to wishfully wonder how Rygart is doing. And Sigyn has to have more slumber part-time with the POW Cleo. I had such high hopes for Broken Blade. It started off so well but it seems to have sadly lost its focus.
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Posted in Anime, Cartoons, Live Action, Manga, Ongoing Investigations | Tagged Break Blade, Broken Blade, Captain America: The First Avenger, Diamond Is Unbreakable, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Toradora, Winnie the Pooh | 3 Comments »
