Anime Review Roundup
The Bad News
First up, Trigun Badlands has been delayed as confirmed on a Manga Tweet. The long awaited movie outing for Vash the Stampede will have to be awaited even longer. The new date is November 12th.
And Bandai is officially bye-bye, which isn’t really unexpected. Last year, Bandai Entertainment announced that they would cease new licenses and concentrate on winding down their existing physical distribution, making the best of their back catalogue. The date has now been set for their death knell, with March 2013 the end of their physical distribution in the US. However, print media will cease to be distributed in October of this year, and the final shipments of DVDs and Blu-rays will be in November, so if you have holes in your collection to fill, now’s the time.
The Good News
Sherlock is getting a manga. The Japanese like the Moffat BBC adaptation of Sherlock Holmes so much that Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman will have their likenesses immortalised in manga style. Who knows, maybe there will be an anime in a few years!
And did you like Samurai Girls as released by Kazé and Manga this winter past? There’s going to be more inkblot alternate history fan service fun, as a second series has been announced.
News sifted from Twitter, ANN and the Fandom Post.
The anime review gold rush continues! Last week we had four reviews, this week we have even more, so don’t be surprised if I take a week off to be resuscitated. First up, I got to take a look at one of my favourite anime of all, Usagi Drop. It’s not what you will have come to expect from anime. There are no clichés here, no stereotypical characters, and no predictable plotlines. It’s just a simple tale of a 30 year old bachelor who suddenly finds that he has to be a father to a six year old girl. It’s a slice of life tale of two people who have to get used to being a family, and the typical problems that they face. It’s the sweetest, most heart-warming anime that I have seen.
There was another departure from the anime norm next, when I got to review Princess Jellyfish, the Deluxe Collector’s Edition, although this one plays with established tropes and character stereotypes. It’s a show about fans and fandom, in much the same as was Genshiken. Amamizu-kan is home to the Sisterhood, a group of women otaku isolated from general society, and wrapped up in their own particular obsessions, shunning the outside world of the stylish set, the smart and the popular, and more importantly men. Then into the life of jellyfish enthusiast Tsukimi walks this smart, popular and stylish princess... who happens to be a cross-dressing guy.
Back to normality with my third review of the week, Rosario and Vampire: The Complete Series. This is a harem comedy with a spooky twist. A hapless teenage male (what other type is there?) fails his exams and winds up going a high school in the wrong neck of the woods. He’s the only human in a school full of monsters, where humans are banned, and you’d think he’d run a mile. But there’s a cute vampire, a big breasted succubus, a sparky little witch, and icy snow queen all lusting on him.
Then I got to one of the bigger releases of the year, as I took a look at the Blu-ray release of Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie 2 – The Sacred Star of Milos. Whereas the Conqueror of Shamballa was a continuation of the first series, this second feature isn’t a continuation of Brotherhood. It’s actually a third separate adaptation of the source material, although it could fit in the Brotherhood time line if you squeeze it. Ed and Al travel to the Western border regions following the escape from prison of a mysterious alchemist, and get embroiled with a rebellion of a people looking to reclaim their independence. It all centres on the myths and legends of the Sacred Star of Milos, a red rock that grants ultimate power to he who wields it. When people start chasing red rocks in Fullmetal Alchemist, it never ends well...
Finally it was the turn of an anime movie that has practically snuck out without anyone noticing. Although how you can miss a title like Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack is beyond me! Yup, the fish have grown legs, and are coming out of the oceans to have their revenge on humanity. It’s the end of the world as we know it. I mean fish with legs. They’re creepy enough in Slayers and that’s supposed to be a comedy. Gyo is a full on exploitation horror, full to the brim with sex, violence, and sharks with legs chasing screaming, half naked girls.
Usagi Drop was released in Region 4 by Siren Visual in April, and you’ll have to import it from there, or source the Region 1/A locked US release from NISA. Princess Jellyfish comes out today courtesy of Manga Entertainment, and they’re also responsible for Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie 2 – The Sacred Star of Milos. The Conqueror of Shamballa also gets a re-release, although at this time, you can only get it in a twin pack DVD with Sacred Star of Milos. The Shamballa Blu-ray (individual and twin pack) has been delayed to December, when the Shamballa DVD will also be released on its own. Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack is also out today thanks to Terracotta Distribution, while Rosario and Vampire: The Complete Series comes out from MVM next Monday.
First up, Trigun Badlands has been delayed as confirmed on a Manga Tweet. The long awaited movie outing for Vash the Stampede will have to be awaited even longer. The new date is November 12th.
And Bandai is officially bye-bye, which isn’t really unexpected. Last year, Bandai Entertainment announced that they would cease new licenses and concentrate on winding down their existing physical distribution, making the best of their back catalogue. The date has now been set for their death knell, with March 2013 the end of their physical distribution in the US. However, print media will cease to be distributed in October of this year, and the final shipments of DVDs and Blu-rays will be in November, so if you have holes in your collection to fill, now’s the time.
The Good News
Sherlock is getting a manga. The Japanese like the Moffat BBC adaptation of Sherlock Holmes so much that Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman will have their likenesses immortalised in manga style. Who knows, maybe there will be an anime in a few years!
And did you like Samurai Girls as released by Kazé and Manga this winter past? There’s going to be more inkblot alternate history fan service fun, as a second series has been announced.
News sifted from Twitter, ANN and the Fandom Post.
Usagi Drop was released in Region 4 by Siren Visual in April, and you’ll have to import it from there, or source the Region 1/A locked US release from NISA. Princess Jellyfish comes out today courtesy of Manga Entertainment, and they’re also responsible for Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie 2 – The Sacred Star of Milos. The Conqueror of Shamballa also gets a re-release, although at this time, you can only get it in a twin pack DVD with Sacred Star of Milos. The Shamballa Blu-ray (individual and twin pack) has been delayed to December, when the Shamballa DVD will also be released on its own. Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack is also out today thanks to Terracotta Distribution, while Rosario and Vampire: The Complete Series comes out from MVM next Monday.
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