Shiki: Part Two (A J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

May 19, 2012 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

The second half of “Shiki”, the roles are reversed as the humans fight back against the vampires. But which side will you be more sympathetic towards? Overall, “Shiki” has turned out to be an enjoyable, dark and violent series that fans of that genre will enjoy. Recommended!

TITLE: Shiki: Part Two

DURATION: Episodes 13-22 (300 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition 16×9 HD Native, Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV MA

COMPANY: Aniplex/FUNimation Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: May 29, 2012

Originally Created by Fuyumi Ono

Directed by Tetsuro Amino

Series Composition by Kenji Sugihara

Music by Yasuharu Takanashi

Created by Fuyumi Ono

Manga by Ryu Fujisaki

Character Design by Shinji Ochi

Art Director: Ichirou Tatsuta

Anime Production by Daume

Featuring the voices of:

Kazuyuki Okitsu/John Burgmeier as Seishin Muroi

Kouki Uchiyama/Jerry Jewell as Natsuno Yūki

Toru Ohkawa/David Wald as Toshio Ozaki

Ai Orikasa/Lydia Mackay as Chizuru Kirishiki

Aoi Yūki/Cherami Leigh as Sunako Kirishiki

Ayano Ishikawa as Azusa Koide (Natsuno’s mother)

Gackt/J. Michael Tatum as Seishirō Kirishiki

Haruka Nagashima as Kaori Tanaka

Haruka Tomatsu/Tia Ballard as Megumi Shimizu

Keiko Kawakami/Luci Christian as Akira Tanaka

Nobuhiko Okamoto/Chris Burnett as Tōru Mutō

Nozomi Sasaki as Ritsuko Kunihiro

Shinya Takahashi/Todd Haberkorn as Masao Murasako

Wataru Takagi/Ian Sinclair as Tatsumi

Yuko Mizutani as Kyouko Ozaki

When citizens of a secluded village begin dying off in alarming numbers, the sole hospital’s head doctor tries desperately to save his patients – but his efforts are in vain. Entire families are wiped out while others desert their homes. All hell breaks loose as the villagers discover their loved ones’ corpses are rising from the grave with an insatiable thirst for human blood. Who is safe when the urge to kill in order to survive blurs the line between man and monster?

Dark, eerie, scary…these are are words that some have used to describe Fuyumi Ono’s horror novel “Shiki”.

A story that would lead to a manga adaptation featuring artwork drawn by Ryu Fujisaki and serialized in the magazine “Jump SQ” from December 2007-2011, the popularity of the series would lead to an anime TV series in 2010 produced by anime studio, Daume (best known for “Onegai Teacher!”). The series also caught a lot of attention when Japanese rock star Gackt announced he would voice one of the characters in the series.

And now the series will be released on Blu-ray and DVD (in two parts) in May 2012 courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.

What is “Shiki” About?

“Shiki” (which translates to “Corpse Demon”) revolves around a small town known as Sotoba.

But dark things have been happening in Sotoba of late. Many people who have caught sickness and are now dying. There was a folk tale long ago that the village had many deaths due to okiagari (vampires) but it is looked only as an old tale that people today don’t take seriously.

Meanwhile, the main doctor in town, Toshi Ozaki is growing frustrated because each person he tries to help looks like they are suffering from anemia but later grow tired to the point that they die. Why are they dying? Is there an epidemic in town?

While scientifically, an epidemic may seem plausible but when teenager Natsuno Yuuki/Koide sees a former classmate that passed away, has risen from the dead, he tells Toshi Ozaki and both believe that perhaps the town is infested with okiagari…vampires or some type of demon who feeds on the living in the small town.

But are these rumors of the okiagari shiki true? But most importantly, can anyone stop it?

In the second half of “Shiki”, after having seen the vampires (okiagari) going after humans and literally increasing the body count. We have seen a few people starting to know that there is no epidemic in the small village and also seeing the dead awaken and walking around town.

But how can these individuals such as Dr. Toshi Ozaki, Natsuno Yuki, the Tanaka siblings and others alert others that the okiagari exists. As for now, without any solid proof, it’s hard to prove. Meanwhile, Natsuno Yuki was targeted by the vampires and is now dying. With Natsuno being one of the main people in the village to uncover the secret, what will happen now?

“Shiki” features the following characters:

Natsuno Yuuki/Koide – The first protagonist of the series. Natsuno has a cold demeanor. Quiet and sometimes emotionless, Natsuno hates living in Sotoba and prefers living in the city. But because of his parents wanting a change of environment and become more creative, they moved away from the city to Sotoba for inspiration.
Toshi Ozaki – The Dean and doctor of the local hospital, Toshi is a married man but is often working late. He resigned from a university hospital to take his father’s position and despite people bringing up his father, Toshio was not supportive of his mother or his father due to them putting the Ozaki family’s reputation before anything else. He slowly starts to grow frustrated as he tries to find out what is killing the people in the village.
Sunako Kirishiki – A teenager girl who lives in the Kanemasa mansion with her family. She has a genetic disorder known as SLE and can only come out during the night time. She also exhibits these black filled eyes that resemble some of the vampires/demons.
Seishi Muroi- A priest and author, he is currently working on a novel about “Shiki” and can detect actual shiki. He is good friends with Toshi Ozaki.
Touro Mutou – The son of Takeshi Mutou, director of the Ozaki Clinic. He is the eldest in the family and he is good friends with Natsuno.
Kaori Tanaka – A naive girl who thinks Megumi Shimizu is her best friend (despite Megumi disliking her). She and her younger brother Akira are among the few that believe the area is infested with okiagari shiki and hopes people will believe them.
Tatsumi – He is the servant to the Kirishiki family but also a special vampire “Jinrou” that can withstand sunlight and is quite powerful. He leads the Shiki.

VIDEO:

“Shiki” is presented in 1080p High Definition and the anime studio Daume has done a wonderful job in character design and art backgrounds. Typically anime studios are on a time restraint and are working on multiple anime series at a time but Daume is one of the few studios that tend to put all their focus onto a single series at a time.

The art backgrounds are lush and beautiful, homes and overall village structures are well-detailed and the character designs are actually quite stylish and with colors that support the darker anime feel but also a colors that look absolutely vibrant at times.

With that being said, the anime series still has a softness (that most anime TV series has) and one should not expect OVA or film quality type of anime, but still this is a series that looks fantastic with its detail of structures and interior of homes. “Shiki” definitely looks very good!

AUDIO:

“Shiki” is presented in English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese DolbyTrue HD 2.0. This is an anime series that primarily focuses on dialogue and if there are action sequences, the action is quick. But the series does make up in ambiance. You’ll hear like insects flying, heartbeats, wind, cars passing by and everything that one can expect in a rural village. If anything, the series utilizes a spooky ambiance and sound effects to freak viewers out. The English soundtrack has more dynamic range but when it comes to voice acting, both are well-done.

The biggest standout for this series is the music. The musical soundtrack by Yasuharu Takanashi is fantastic, especially the opening and ending theme of the series.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Shiki: Part Two” comes with the following special features:

Episode 18 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Mike McFarland (Line Producer, ADR Director, voice of Yuki), Ian Sinclair (voice of Tatsumi), J. Michael Tatum (voice of Seishiro) and Lydia Mackay (voice of Chizuru).
Episode 22 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Mike McFarland (Line Producer, ADR Director, voice of Yuki), Cherami Leigh (voice of Sunako), John Burgmeier (voice of Seishin) and David Wald (voice of Toshio).
Preview Featurette Vol. 05 – (1:46) The original Japanese DVD Volume preview for Vol. 5.
Preview Featurette Vol. 06 – (1:46) The original Japanese DVD Volume previews for Vol. 6.
Preview Featurette Vol. 07 – (1:16) The original Japanese DVD Volume previews for Vol. 7.
Preview Featurette Vol. 08 – (1:14) The original Japanese DVD Volume previews for Vol. 8.
Preview Featurette Vol. 09 – (:39) The original Japanese DVD Volume previews for Vol. 9.
Textless Opening Song – Calendula Requiem
Textless Closing Songs – Gekka-Reijin
TRAILERS – FUNimation Entertainment trailers

EXTRAS:

“Shiki: Part Two” comes with both the Blu-ray and DVD of episodes 13-22.

There have been a few dark, creepy anime that has made it to America within the last five years. And similar to the United States, even Japan has had its share of anime series incorporating vampires to a storyline.

But what makes “Shiki” so unique is that it doesn’t retain the banality of the usual vampire storyline. This is not a series about a group of teenagers unleashing a counterattack against the vampires, nor is this a storyline about a vampire or human falling in love. This is a story about a rural Japanese town in which the vampires plan to eradicate all humanity and literally turn everyone into a vampire.

Each time we were introduced to a character, you would expect that this character would be a main character in the storyline, but beginning with the first episode, viewers quickly learn that each character is essentially going to be a victim. In some way, it reminded me of “Boogiepop Phantom”, a darker anime series from 2000 that seemed every character introduced, their livelihoods were futile.

But what makes the anime series work is that we get to meet these villagers, learn of their quirks and if anything, feel comfortable with each and everyone of them…that is until the okiagari begin to target them.

The same can be said with “Shiki” as the townspeople think that people are dying of an epidemic, while very few people suspect that a new family that has moved to the area is responsible. And sure enough, when people start to see old friends who have died, walking around, what do you do? How you can fight against these reborn monsters?

The first half of the series focused on the deaths of many in the village and the discovery by Natsuno Yuuki, Toshio Ozaki and brother and sister, Kaori and Akira Tanaka discovering that there is no epidemic but deaths caused by the okiagari (vampire). And to make things worst, there appears to be no defense against them. They keep rising and they are growing by the numbers. Also, it doesn’t help that there are specialized vampires such as Tatsumi who can withstand the sunlight and literally use his charm to get people to let him into their homes and thus leading to a person’s quick death.

The second half of the series, the roles are reversed dramatically. We knew that the people of the village were starting to find out about the vampires, we knew that Natsuno and Toshio Ozaki had to do something. And that something begins with this second half of the series.

We have seen the perspective of the humans, the second half gives us a glimpse of the vampires. While some seem vicious, those of the village who were brought back as vampires struggle with their past human feelings of caring for an individual, wanting to be with a person or their family but unfortunately, because of what they are, they crave blood and when they don’t feed, that is when the vampire takes over their body and literally makes them to vicious monsters.

Unfortunately, without spoiling the series, there is not much that I can say but that everything you watched in the first half of the series and made you sympathetic towards the humans, your perspective may change as you get to see other side of things. Especially learning of the history of certain individuals. But for those who have been wanting to see humanity fight back, will then you’re going to love what happens in the second half of the series.

And if there is anything that I can say is that the violence and bloodshed will increase dramatically with each episode and for those who have a low tolerance towards blood, you have been warned… as this series gets bloodier and bloodier with each episode.

Also, don’t forget to watch what happens after the ending credits of the final episode.

As for the Blu-ray release, Daume, an anime studio who usually doesn’t rush into anime production has once again done a fantastic job with this series. With most TV series, many anime studios are typically hampered by multiple projects they have to get to a television studio but with Daume, one of the few that tends to focus on a series and thus dedicates its staff into making wonderful looking anime series. Granted, the setting is the country and a lot of the backgrounds one will see are trees, fields, forests, etc. But they manage to put quite a bit of detail on their background art and also on the actual character designs which are quite stylish. Especially with the combination of dark to vibrant colors that really pop on Blu-ray. The voice acting is well-done on both lossless soundtracks and there are a few audio commentary tracks included.

Overall, It’s been a long while since I have watched an anime series so dark, eerie and where situations are so unexpected. And from this second half of “Shiki”, all I can say is that… I enjoyed this series a lot. It’s quite violent and bloody but for those who are up to a very intense but enjoyable series featuring humans vs. vampires, will find “Shiki” to be a series worth watching.

Recommended for anime fans who enjoy violent, dark and eerie anime!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

The Secret World of Arrietty (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

May 13, 2012 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

I was captivated by the beauty of “The Secret World of Arrietty” and also found the story to delightful, lighthearted and enjoyable. A more accessible, non-complex family film that once again, Studio Ghibli delivers!

TITLE: The Secret World of Arrietty

MOVIE RELEASE DATE: 2010

DURATION: 95 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (48 kHz, 24-Bit), Japanese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Original Production Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English ESL, SDH, French

COMPANY: Studio Ghibli/Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

RATED: G

Release Date: May 22, 2012

Originally created by Mary Norton

Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki, Keiko Niwa

Storyboard by Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Unit Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Music by Cecile Corbel

Art Director: Noboru Yoshida, Youji Takeshige

Animation Director: Akihiko Yamashita, Megumi Kagawa

Sound Director: Hiroshi Kasamatsu

Producer: Toshio Suzuki

Production by Studio Ghibli

Featuring the following voice talent:

Mirai Shida/Bridgit Mendler as Arrietty

Ryunosuke Kamiki/David Henrie as Sho (Shawn)

Keiko Takeshita/Gracie Poletti as Sadako (Aunt Jessica)

Kirin Kiki/Carol Burnett as Haru (Hara)

Shinobu Ōtake/Amy Poehler as Homily (Arietty’s Mother)

Tomokazu Miura/Will Arnett as Pod (Arriety’s Father)

Tatsuya Fujiwara/Moises Arias as Spiller

Based on the acclaimed children’s book series “The Borrowers,” by Mary Norton, “The Secret World of Arrietty” is an imaginative tale of “little people” living furtively among us, and the unlikely friendship that forms when their hidden world is discovered. The heartwarming family adventure features beautiful, stylized animation and timeless themes of friendship, courage and determination.

In 2010, Studio Ghibli (the popular anime studio known for creating “Ponyo”, “Spirited Away”, “Princess Mononoke”, “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind”, “Castle in the Sky”, “My Neighbor Totoro”, “Kiki’s Delivery Service” to name few) released the film “The Secret World of Arriety”, a film adaptation of the popular children’s fantasy novel “The Borrowers” (1952) by English author Mary Norton.

The film broke records in Japan, surpassing it’s previous film “Ponyo”, opening on 1,522 theaters (a record for a Studio Ghibli film) and earn over $145 million in the box office. The film is the 4th biggest earning anime film in Japan of all time and won “Animation of the Year” in 2011 at the 34th Japan Academy Prize.

“The Secret of Arriety” is a Studio Ghibli film directed by Hiromasa Yonebashi (“Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade”, “Ponyo”, “Spirited Away”, “Spriggan”) and a screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki (“Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind”, “Castle in the Sky”, “Howl’s Moving Castle”, “My Neighbor Totoro” to name a few) and Keiko Niwa (“Tales from the Earthsea”, “Ocean Waves”, “From Up on Poppy Hill”).

The US release would feature music and vocals by French singer and harper Cecile Corbel and would feature the voices of Disney Channel actress Bridgit Mendler (“Good Luck Charlie”, “Lemonade Mouth”), Amy Poehler (“Parks and Recreation”, “Saturday Night Live”), Will Arnett (“30 Rock”, “Arrested Development”), Carol Burnett (“The Carol Burnett Show”), David Henrie (“Wizards of Waverly Place”, “How I Met Your Mother”) and Moises Arias (“Hannah Montana”, “Astro Boy”).

“The Secret World of Arrietty” begins with a 12-year-old boy named Shawn (voiced by David Henrie), who has temporarily moved to his aunt Jessica’s (voiced by Gracie Poletti) home as he rests and waits to have heart surgery. Meanwhile, as he stays at the home, he will be taken care of by the caretaker, Hara.

When he steps onto the lawn, he sees the family cat named Nina looking at something. When Shawn goes to check, he sees a small girl hiding from him.

The young girl happens to be Arrietty (voiced by Bridgit Mendler), a 14-year-old borrower who was retrieving a plant to bring home to her mother, Homily (voiced by Amy Poehler). When her father Pod (voiced by Will Arnett) arrives from home, he tells the family that a new “being” (human) has moved into the house and Arriety tells her family that she had seen the boy when she was out. But the parents warn her that the rule of a Borrower is that they must never be seen by a human and if they do, they must move away as humans curiosity can lead to trouble for them.

Because Arrietty has reached an age where she can now go on borrowing adventures with her father, her first mission is to retrieve a sugar cube and tissue paper.

And as Arrietty and her father go on a mission to retrieve those items, she does quite well, but while she is trying to get the tissue paper, Shawn who is laying down on his bed, looks directly at her and starts talking to her. Shocked by this, Arrietty fails in her mission and now because Arrietty was seen by a human, her father warns her to not have communication with him ever again.

But feeling bad that she was seen by a human, what shocks her even more is that Shawn has stopped by to bring her the sugar cube that she had dropped. As she tells her parents, her father begins to become concerned that because Shawn knows of their whereabouts, they will need to move.

Upset that Shawn has brought the sugar cube, she climbs up to Shawn’s room and tells him that she needs no help in “borrowing” and also tells him that they must stop communication. But as the two talk, a crow tries to attack Arriety and she is saved by Shawn.

Meanwhile, the caretaker of the home, Hara hears the noises from Shawn’s room and attacks the crow. When she asks him what prompted the crow to go to his room, he tells her that it must be building a nest but Hara suspects that perhaps Shawn has had contact with the little people and Hara would do anything to capture them.

VIDEO:

Magical, beautiful and everything that you can expect from Studio Ghibli. I was completely in awe when I watched “The Secret World of Arrietty”. The painted backgrounds are so detailed, so beautiful to look at and of course, that Studio Ghibli style of character design.

In this day and age, we tend to put so much into CG animated films and whenever I watch a Studio Ghibli fan, I always find it amazing of how gorgeous their films are. From the first animated film that I watched back in the early ’90s (which was “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind”) to the latest release of “The Secret World of Arrietty”, Studio Ghibli continues to show this creative style through this film. The hand painted backgrounds are absolutely beautiful, the character design continues that Studio Ghibli look and style that they are famous for and I was hypnotized, captivated and loving every minute of the film.

Presented in 1080p High Definition, detail can be seen on the painted backgrounds. Vibrant during the day scenes, amazingly detailed to the little kitchenware used by the Borrowers, its one thing I expected from Studio Ghibli and nothing less and once again, they have delivered.

There are no compression artifacts, edge enhancement, aliasing, banding or any problems in picture quality for “The Secret World of Arietty” whatsoever. This film looks absolutely magnificent on Blu-ray!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“The Secret of World of Arrietty” is presented in English 5.1 DTS Master Audio (48 kHz/24-bit) and in Japanese and French 5.1 Dolby Digital.

First the good. As one can expect from the Japanese casting, the voice acting is fantastic and the English dub track is equally magnificent.

And you want an immersive soundscape? “The Secret World of Arrietty” delivers. From the ambiance of the home on top of the hills with nothing but nature, you can hear the birds chirping, the insects, Nina the cat growling, the breeze flowing through their, great use of directional sound. Indoors, the same thing as the Borrowers, Arrietty and her father can hear the ticking of the clocks, the scurrying of the rats and its absolutely immersive.

While this film is not the type to use LFE, there are some moments that do use a bit of lower frequency sounds but for this animated film, dialogue and music is crystal clear and great use of the surround channels for ambiance.

The other positive is unlike “Ponyo” which Disney didn’t give the Japanese soundtrack a lossless audio soundtrack, with “The Secret World of Arrietty”, a Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is included.

As for the bad, there isn’t any. Aside it not having as many action sequences compared to “Nausicaa”, “Spirited Away” and “Ponyo”, this is not one of those type of films. But still, “The Secret World of Arrietty” sounds wonderful and fans should be pleased with the lossless soundtracks!

Subtitles are in English ESL, SDH and in French.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

If there was only one downer of this Blu-ray release, it is that”The Secret World of Arrietty” has very little special features. Included are:

Original Japanese Storyboards - Watch the entire film but this time with the video showcasing the original storyboards.
Cecile Corbel’s “Arrietty’s Song” Music Video - The Japanese version of Cecile Corbel’s “Arriety’s Song”
Bridgit Mendler’s “Summertime” Music Video – (3:01) Bridgit Mendler, voice actress of Arrietty in the US version, sings the film’s ending theme.
The Making of “Summertime” – (2:02) The making of Bridgit Mendler’s music video.
Trailers & TV Spots – The Japanese trailers and TV spots.

EXTRAS:

A DVD of “The Secret World of Arrietty” is included with this Blu-ray release. The DVD is in Widescreen (1:85:1) – Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions, English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, with subtitles in English ESL, SDH and French. A slipcover is included.

“The Secret World of Arrietty” is an enjoyable, delightful and non-complex film that is visually captivating and looks and sounds fantastic on Blu-ray!

While one of the things that people will notice is that the film has the Studio Ghibli quality in look and also in character interaction, this is a Hiromasa Yonebashi directed film and a film written by Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa. It’s a film that is not complex, not about the environment, nor is it polemic film that is driving to drive a message to the viewer. And is more accessible for younger viewers, compared to the more serious Studio Ghibli films such as “Spirited Away”, “Princess Mononoke”, “Grave of the Fireflies” or even “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind”.

But “The Secret World of Arrietty” is lighthearted and is pretty much on scale with other Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki films such as “Kiki’s Delivery Service”, “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Whispers of the Heart”. Captivating and enjoyable films that is not entirely geared towards older viewers, a film that I can enjoy with my young son and other parents can watch with their families. It’s essentially a family film and in some way, as a fan of Studio Ghibli films, I love the fact that the studio tends to change things up once in awhile.

I can understand if some people who prefer Studio Ghibli’s more epic storylines with a deeper message and I’m sure Studio Ghibli will continue to make those movies as they do with these lighthearted films, but with “The Secret World of Arrietty”, this is a film that I enjoyed because it’s touching, heartwarming and just overall delightful and no worries of complexity, it’s straight-forward and even my 9-year-old loved it!

And the Blu-ray is magnificent! But not perfect. Video and audio quality is fantastic, although this is not one of those action-intense films, the film makes up with its visual flair and ambiance. The main low-point of this Blu-ray release is that there are not as many special features included.

Fortunately, this Blu-ray release comes with a DVD, so as summer vacation is around the corner, parents can use the DVD for those long commutes or something the children can watch during the summertime.

Overall, I was captivated by the beauty of “The Secret World of Arrietty” and also found the story to delightful, lighthearted and enjoyable. A more accessible, non-complex family film that once again, Studio Ghibli delivers!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray, Blu-ray Reviews, Children's DVD/Blu-ray

Shiki: Part One (A J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

May 12, 2012 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

It’s been a long while since I have watched an anime series so dark, eerie and where situations are so unexpected. And from this first half of “Shiki”, all I can say is that… I’m loving every minute of it!

TITLE: Shiki: Part One

DURATION: 12-Episodes (300 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition 16×9 HD Native, Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV MA

COMPANY: Aniplex/FUNimation Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: May 29, 2012

Originally Created by Fuyumi Ono

Directed by Tetsuro Amino

Series Composition by Kenji Sugihara

Music by Yasuharu Takanashi

Created by Fuyumi Ono

Manga by Ryu Fujisaki

Character Design by Shinji Ochi

Art Director: Ichirou Tatsuta

Anime Production by Daume

Featuring the voices of:

Kazuyuki Okitsu/John Burgmeier as Seishin Muroi

Kouki Uchiyama/Jerry Jewell as Natsuno Yūki

Toru Ohkawa/David Wald as Toshio Ozaki

Ai Orikasa/Lydia Mackay as Chizuru Kirishiki

Aoi Yūki/Cherami Leigh as Sunako Kirishiki

Ayano Ishikawa as Azusa Koide (Natsuno’s mother)

Gackt/J. Michael Tatum as Seishirō Kirishiki

Haruka Nagashima as Kaori Tanaka

Haruka Tomatsu/Tia Ballard as Megumi Shimizu

Keiko Kawakami/Luci Christian as Akira Tanaka

Nobuhiko Okamoto/Chris Burnett as Tōru Mutō

Nozomi Sasaki as Ritsuko Kunihiro

Shinya Takahashi/Todd Haberkorn as Masao Murasako

Wataru Takagi/Ian Sinclair as Tatsumi

Yuko Mizutani as Kyouko Ozaki

Dark, eerie, scary…these are are words that some have used to describe Fuyumi Ono’s horror novel “Shiki”.

And now the series will be released on Blu-ray and DVD in May 2012 courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.

“Shiki” (which translates to “Corpse Demon”) revolves around a small town known as Sotoba.

But are these rumors of the okiagari shiki true? But most importantly, can anyone stop it?

“Shiki” features the following characters:

Natsuno Yuuki/Koide – The first protagonist of the series. Natsuno has a cold demeanor. Quiet and sometimes emotionless, Natsuno hates living in Sotoba and prefers living in the city. But because of his parents wanting a change of environment and become more creative, they moved away from the city to Sotoba for inspiration.
Toshi Ozaki – The Dean and doctor of the local hospital, Toshi is a married man but is often working late. He resigned from a university hospital to take his father’s position and despite people bringing up his father, Toshio was not supportive of his mother or his father due to them putting the Ozaki family’s reputation before anything else. He slowly starts to grow frustrated as he tries to find out what is killing the people in the village.
Sunako Kirishiki – A teenager girl who lives in the Kanemasa mansion with her family. She has a genetic disorder known as SLE and can only come out during the night time. She also exhibits these black filled eyes that resemble some of the vampires/demons.
Seishi Muroi- A priest and author, he is currently working on a novel about “Shiki” and can detect actual shiki. He is good friends with Toshi Ozaki.
Touro Mutou – The son of Takeshi Mutou, director of the Ozaki Clinic. He is the eldest in the family and he is good friends with Natsuno.
Kaori Tanaka – A naive girl who thinks Megumi Shimizu is her best friend (despite Megumi disliking her). She and her younger brother Akira are among the few that believe the area is infested with okiagari shiki and hopes people will believe them.
Tatsumi – He is the servant to the Kirishiki family but also a special vampire “Jinrou” that can withstand sunlight and is quite powerful. He leads the Shiki.

VIDEO:

AUDIO:

The biggest standout for this series is the music. The musical soundtrack by Yasuharu Takanashi is fantastic, especially the opening and ending theme of the series.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Shiki: Part One” comes with the following special features:

Episode 1 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Mike McFarland (Line Producer, ADR Director, voice of Yuki), Jerry Jewell (voice of Natsuno Yuki), David Wald (voice of Toshio Ozaki) and John Burgmeier (voice of Seishin).
Episode 12 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Mike McFarland (Line Producer, ADR Director, voice of Yuki), Chris Burnett (voice of Toru), Tia Ballard (voice of Megumi) and Alexis Tipton (voice of Kaori).
Preview Featurette Vol. 01 – (2:17) The original Japanese DVD Volume preview for Vol. 1.
Preview Featurette Vol. 02 – (1:46) The original Japanese DVD Volume previews for Vol. 2.
Preview Featurette Vol. 03 – (1:45) The original Japanese DVD Volume previews for Vol. 3.
Preview Featurette Vol. 04 – (1:46) The original Japanese DVD Volume previews for Vol. 4.
Textless Opening Song – Kuchizuke – (1:32) Featuring Buck-Tick’s theme song “Kuchizuke”.
Textless Closing Songs – Walk no Yakusoku – (1:27) Featuring Nangi’s ending theme “Walk no Yakusoku”.
TRAILERS – FUNimation Entertainment trailers

EXTRAS:

“Shiki: Part One” comes with both the Blu-ray and DVD versions of episodes 1-12.

The first half of the series focuses on the deaths of many in the village and the discovery by Natsuno Yuuki, Toshio Ozaki and brother and sister, Kaori and Akira Tanaka discovering that there is no epidemic but deaths caused by the okiagari (vampire). And to make things worst, there appears to be no defense against them. They keep rising and they are growing by the numbers. Also, it doesn’t help that there are specialized vampires such as Tatsumi who can withstand the sunlight and literally use his charm to get people to let him into their homes and thus leading to a person’s quick death.

But of course, with everything looking quite dark and the viewer is left wondering if certain characters are going to survive, one can only hope there is a glimmer of light that these humans can find a way to fight back. And for that, let’s hope that things get even better in the second half of the series.

Overall, It’s been a long while since I have watched an anime series so dark, eerie and where situations are so unexpected. And from this first half of “Shiki”, all I can say is that… I’m loving every minute of it!

Recommended for anime fans who like dark and eerie anime!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Cat Planet Cuties: Complete Collection (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

May 10, 2012 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Cat Planet Cuties” is a sci-fi harem anime series with fan service, well-endowed characters and plenty of action, but some may find the series too mild compared to other anime series of the same genre. Overall, “Cat Planet Cuties” is a fun and enjoyable series worth watching!

TITLE: Cat Planet Cuties: Complete Collection (Asobi ni Ikuyo!)

DURATION: 12-Episodes (325 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition 16×9 HD Native, Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV 14

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: May 15, 2012

Originally Created by Okina Kamino

Directed by Yoichi Ueda

Series Composition by Katsuhiko Takayama

Music by Tomoki Kikuya

Original Character Design by Noriko Morishima

Art Director: Hiroshi Kato

Chief Animation Director: Noriko Morishima

Mechanical Design by Naohiro Washio

Animation Production by AIC PLUS+

Featuring the voices of:

Haruka Tomatsu/Brittney Karbowski as Manami Kinjō

Kana Hanazawa/Monica Rial as Aoi Futaba

Kanae Itō/Tia Ballard as Erisu

Mutsumi Tamura/Aaron Dismuke as Kio Kakazu

Aki Toyosaki/Lara Woodhull as Melwin

Ayahi Takagaki/Cherami Leigh as Ichika

Fumihiko Tachiki/Sonny Strait as Yūichi Miyagi

Hiromi Hirata/Martha Harms as Maki Itokazu

Iori Nomizu/Luci Christian as Antonia

Kikuko Inoue/Staci Moon as Kuune

Minako Kotobuki/Cherami Leigh as Chaika

Naomi Shindoh/Aleisha Force as Durel

Yui Horie/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Jens (Janes)

Yukiko Monden/Jami Marchi as Jack

She’s as frisky as she is curvy – and kitty wants to play! The flirty fun begins when nice guy Kio has a close encounter with a sexy, alien cat-girl named Eris. She’s every nerd’s fantasy come true, and she and her fellow intergalactic felines are setting up base in Kio’s house. Unfortunately, Kio doesn’t have a lot of time for heavy petting. Secret agencies and enemy dog-aliens are sniffing around, hoping to get their paws on his pussycat pal’s tail! The guy’s definitely got his hands full – but with Eris jumping in his lap to purr in his ear, it’s likely Kio will land on his feet!

In 2003, Okina Kamino and illustrator Hoden Eizo and Nishieda would work on the Japanese light novel “Asobi ni Iku yo!” (Let’s Go Play). In 2006, a manga adaptation by 888 was created and serialized in the manga magazine “Monthly Comic Alive”.

With the popularity of the manga series and light novels, a 12-episode anime adaptation was created in 2010 titled “Asobi ni Ikuyo: Bombshells in the Sky” and now, the series will be released on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment under the name, “Cat Planet Cuties”.

“Cat Planet Cuties” revolves around a shy teenage boy named Kio Kakazu. Kindhearted and sophisticated, Kio’s uncle pressures him about having a girlfriend and the first girl he tries to push himself on is a teenage girl with cat ears and a tail (thinking the girl is cosplaying).

The girl is actually a real alien named Eris, a Catian who has the body of a human but have cat tails and ears and also have a lot of feline qualities. Eris a 16-year-old scout and when Kio accidentally gets drunk and passes out, when he wakes up, he finds a naked Eris in his bed. Not sure what is going on, he realizes that Eris is a real alien.

When his neighbor and childhood friend Manami comes over, she wants to confront Kio about the girl that he came home with. Meanwhile, at the same time, his teacher Ms. Itokazu comes over to bring some work and both are shocked to see a teenage girl with Kio that is barely dressed. And wonder why she is cosplaying.

But Kio and Eris tell her that she is not from this planet and at first both can’t believe it but when Eris shows proof that she is an alien and news reports on television show a space ship being found, both Manami and Ms. Itokazu react with concern and both immediately leave Kio’s home.

We quickly learn that Manami is trying to become a CIA member and is a candidate for recruitment. She is excellent with spy communications and weaponry and she has been secretly listening into Kio’s conversations (as she has his room bugged) and with revelations that an alien being is on Earth, she has been assigned to target Eris.

Meanwhile, it is revealed that Ms. Itokazu is a leader of the Beautiful Contact Japan Sect. that are working on human and alien communication but want humankind to encounter aliens that are found in fictional sci-fi movies. Not a cat girl with big breasts. So, she wants to make sure that Eris is eliminated.

As for Kio’s other friend, Aoi Futaba, she and Kio share the same passion for classic films and she secretly has a crush on Kio. But while she seems shy and quiet around him, in reality, she’s a deadly killer who works for the Immigration Bureau of Japan and is among their top agents. She has a technologically advanced battlesuit and weaponry and her bosses have been working with the Dogisians and thus her job is to eliminate Kio and Eris.

But will these women kill their friend? Especially Aoi and Manami who both have a crush on Kio.

And what will happen when the Catians and Dogisians arrive on Earth?

“Cat Planet Cuties” features the following characters:

Kio Kazaku – The protagonist and kindhearted teenage boy. Kio is the first to meet the Catian named Eris.
Eris – A Catian and 16-year-old scout who is exploring Earth. She is very grateful to Kio and because she is entering her first heat, she wants Kio to be the one to mate with her.
Aoi Futaba – A teenager who works for the Immigration Bureau of Japan. While she looks like a shy girl and has a crush on Kio, she is a warrior who is excellent with firearms. She has been given orders to assassinate Kio and Eris, but her love for him may brand her a traitor.
Manami Kinjou- A childhood friend of Kio and his next door neighbor. She has had a crush on him but she keeps her emotions within her. She has been wanting to join the CIA but when she is ordered to assassinate Kio and Eris, she chooses to risk her career.
Maki Itokazu – Kio’s teacher and a leader of the Beautiful Contact Japan Sect. Her orders are to make sure that Earth meets a certain “better” kind of alien, but since Eris was the alien to come in contact with humanity, she is told to take out Eris, to erase that meeting between alien and human.
Qoone – The Catian Starship Captain known for her large breasts. She tries to establish diplomatic relations between Earth and Catian.
Melwin – The Catian Starship First Officer.
Chayka – A member of the Catian Starship Crew.
Durel – The Catian Starship Doctor also with large breasts.
Rulos – The computer AI of Eris’ personal ship.
Janes – The Dogisian in charge of relations between Earth and Dogisian. She and the Dogisians are trying to eliminate Eris and friends.

VIDEO:

“Cat Planet Cuties” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:78:1). AIC Plus+ did a magnificent job when it came to the visual look of the anime series. Backgrounds are well-painted and detailed, the characters designs and even mechanical designs look very good and plenty of shadows and details. Overall, the series looks great on Blu-ray.

AUDIO:

As for the lossless audio, “Cat Planet Cuties” is presented with an English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack and the Japanese version is presented in Japanese 2.0 Dolby TrueHD. Because the series features a good balance of dialogue and action, I was hoping to hear a more immersive soundtrack for the action scenes. A little more use of the surround channels, but for the most part, the lossless soundtrack is good. I did notice differences with the Japanese and English version, as Kio sounds much more younger (ie. junior high or early teens), whereas the English version, Kio sounds like an older teen. Nevertheless, voice acting is well-done on both soundtracks and the English version of course, has a been more dynamic range thanks to its 5.1 lossless track.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Cat Planet Cuties: Complete Collection” comes with the following special features:

Episode 1 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Scott Sager (ADR Director), Monica Rial (voice of Aoi) and Tia Ballard (voice of Eris).
Episode 9 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Christopher Bevins (line producer and voice director), Aaron Dismuke (voice of Kio) and Brittney Karbowski (voice of Manami).
Extra Bonus Features – (7:58) 14 previews for the next episode.
Textless Opening Song – (1:32) Textless theme song “Now Loading… Sky!!”.
Textless Closing Songs – Featuring six textless closing songs.
Cat Planet Cuties U.S. Trailer – (1:34) FUNimation Entertainmen trailer for “Cat Planet Cuties”.
TRAILERS – FUNimation Entertainment trailers

EXTRAS:

“Cat Planet Cuties: Complete Collection” comes with both the Blu-ray and DVD edition of the OVA’s.

For those wanting a mild harem anime series, you really can’t go wrong with “Cat Planet Cuties”. As one would expect, there are a lot of female characters, one teenage boy and some of these characters are more well-endowed than others, it’s a banal storyline.

In Japan, there are far too many anime series where female characters are all after the one male character and in some way, there can be comparisons with “Cat Planet Cuties” to other alien harem anime series such as “To Love RU” and even “Heaven’s Lost Property”.

The good news is that the series is beautifully animated and it was able to integrate a good amount of action and not so much focus on the fan service. Also, it’s a series that tends to cater to those who enjoy Furry type of anime series. Cats and dogs with human characteristics, these type of anime series tend to have a strong fanbase.

With that being said, the caveat is that it focuses too much on the political conspiracy and while the Catian’s are exciting to watch, the Dogisians were an uninspired antagonist. Also, I found the character of Kio to be normal and average, whereas “Heaven’s Lost Property”, its main character is a pervert and in “To Love RU”, the main character is a person who is confused of his feelings of who he likes. With “Cat Planet Cuties”, it tries to fit everything in the light novel series in 12-episodes and thus everything feels short and almost rushed. The ending, especially of what happens to Kio was like an easy way out for the writers to solve the harem issue.

Still, I did enjoy “Cat Planet Cuties” and its multiple characters and how the Catians try to get accustomed to the Planet Earth but also the “heat” problems that female cats go through to find a mate. These issues were fascinating and fun to watch but once again, as the group have their few episodes of having fun together, with only 12-episodes, it just felt too short and made me wonder how much of Okina Kamino’s storyline was missing from the animated series.

As for the Blu-ray release, I will say that the animation especially the painted backgrounds look magnificent on Blu-ray. The characters are well-designed and while you tend to expect anime TV series to be soft in colors, the overall anime production by AIC Plus+ was well done! Lossless audio was good but I was hoping for a bit more immersive audio during the action sequence. And there are two audio commentary tracks as well as bumpers and textless opening and closing themes included.

Overall, “Cat Plant Cuties” well no doubt entice the anime fans who love anime harem series, well-endowed, furry characters and also sci-fi action. But for those who want a deeper storyline or even more fan service may find “Cat Planet Cuties” a bit too mild for their tastes and that there are other better sci-fi anime harem series out there.

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – OVA Collection (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

May 7, 2012 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – OVA Collection” features four short OVA episodes that explain some of the history of characters such as Roy Mustang, Maes Hughes and Izumi Carter but also fun episodes featuring Edward and Al. Plus you get 16 hilarious four-panel comic theater episodes as well! If you are a fan of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood”, “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – OVA Collection” is a must-own release!

TITLE: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – OVA Collection

DURATION: 4 OVA’s (60 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition 16×9 HD Native, Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV 14

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: May 22, 2012

Originally Created by Hiromu Arakawa

Directed by Yasuhiro Irie

Series Composition by Hiroshi Ohnogi

Music by Akira Senju

Opening and Ending Theme by L’Arc~en~Ciel

Character Deisgn by Hiroki Kanno

Art Director: Takeshi Satou

Art Design: Kazushige Kanehira

Anime Production by BONES

Featuring the voices of:

Rie Kugimiya/Maxey Whitehead as Alphonse Elric

Romi Paku/Vic Mignogna as Edward Elric

Iemasa Kayumi/Kent Williams as Father

Megumi Takamoto/Caitlin Glass as Winry Rockbell

Shinichiro Miki/Travis Willingham as Roy Mustang

Unshou Ishizuka/Aaron Dismuke as Van Hohenheim

Ai Satou/Brittney Karbowski as Mrs. Bradley

Akemi Okamura/Cynthia Cranz as Paninya

Anri Katsu/John Burgmeier as Dolcetto

Atsuki Tani as Berthold Hawkeye

Chika Fujimura/Gwendolyn Lau as Sheska

J. Michael Tatum as Scar

Fumihiko Tachiki as Sloth

Fumiko Orikasa/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Risa (Riza) Hawkeye

Go Shinomiya as Storch

Kikuko Inoue/Laura Bailey as Lust

Wendy Powell as Envy

Join Ed and Al as they chase rumors of successful human transmutation into a web of shocking family drama and lies. Sneak a glance at hidden sides of Winry and Hawkeye’s personalities. Survive the frigid north with a young Izumi Curtis as she fights to gain a deeper understanding of alchemy. Explore the legendary friendship shared by Mustang and Hughes and watch them grow from military school rivals into hardened brothers transformed by the horrors of the Ishvalan War.

You thought you knew the whole story. You thought all the tales were told. You were wrong.

In Japan, “Fullmetal Alchemist” (Hagane no Renkinjutushi) has been a popular long running anime and manga series created by mangaka Hiromu Arakawa. The original manga series was serialized in Square Enix’s “Shonen Gangan” since 2001, while the 51-episode TV series created by BONES was shown on television in 2004 and was followed by a film to conclude the series.

The popularity of “Fullmetal Alchemist” has led to many novels, OVA’s, drama CD’s, soundtracks and video games and a lot of these releases have been distributed in various countries and its popularity is a testament of how people have come to love the series which has won many awards in Japan including being voted for the #1 most popular anime series of all time.

Despite it’s popularity, the series could have gone on longer but because the anime series was created when the manga was only several years old, the anime series only lasted 51-episodes and there were differences between what the director featured on the anime series and what Arakawa had in the manga.

So, in 2009, a new series titled “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Furumetaru Arukemisuto) was created by BONES and this time around, the series would follow the manga much more closely. A total of 64 episodes were made, including a film and also 4 OVA’s. With the series and film being released by FUNimation Entertainment in the United States on Blu-ray and DVD, now the four OVA’s will be available on Blu-ray and DVD in May 2012.

To make sure that there is a difference between this series aside from the storyline differences compared to the original, the staff is different this time around as well as the character designs. The director for “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” would feature the following production team: Yasuhiro Irie (who worked on RahXephon”, “Cowboy Bebop”, “Macross Plus”, “Gunparade March”), series composition by Hiroshi Ohnogi (“Eureka Seven”, “Area 88, “Aquarion”, “RahXephon”, “RIN”, “Skullman”), music by Akira Senju (“Red Garden”, “Mobile Suit Victory Gundam”, “Silent Service”), character designs by Hiroki Kanno (“Angelic Layer”, “Eureka Seven”, “Ninja Scroll”, “RahXephon”) and art design by Takeshi Satou (“Mobile Suit Gundam 00″, “Ghost Slayers Ayashi”, “Please Twins!”).

What is “Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood”about?

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” is a series about two young alchemist brothers named Edward and his younger brother Alphonse Eric (aka “Al”). Their father left them and several months after their father left, an epidemic hit their village and killed their mother. Grieving and alone without their mother, the two quickly tried to hone their alchemist skills and hope to bring their mother back alive by using a human transmutation (this is illegal and considered taboo by alchemist).

While performing the transmutation, a dark shadow comes and literally breaks apart the body of Alphonse and as for Edward, he is shown “the truth” but in return for doing the transmutation, there is a toll and in this case, he loses his legs and feet and his right arm. And the transmutation to bring their mother fails as Edward was only able to revive a disembodied figure. In a short time allowed before the dark shadow leaves, Edward was able to bond Al’s soul to a suit of armor but there are some consequences as Edward loses a leg and also sacrifices his arm in the process. And these consequences and guilt have plunged Edward to the lowest he had ever been and now he is determined to help his brother regain his humanity.

Both Edward and Alphonse join the Amestris military and through their investigations, Edward wants to use this opportunity and help his brother regain his body back, despite a magnificent evil group lurking behind the background of the Amestris military.

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – OVA Collection” features the following characters:

Edward Elric – The oldest of the Elric brothers who manage to survive a transmutation and managed to bond his brother to a suit of armor just in time. In the process, he lost his legs and his right arm in which his childhood friend Winry has created metal prosthetics known as “automail”. He is also quite short but also very destructive as he is skillful with alchemy and the fact he survived a transmutation shocks the military. Working as a State Alchemist in order to find a way to bring his brother’s body back and possibly getting his own body back.
Alphonse Elric – Al is the youngest brother of Edward who was bonded to a suit of armor. Almost invulnerable and very strong. Often mistaken as the eldest because of his size.
Roy Mustang – The Lt. Colonel of the State Military who wants to become the next Fuhrer of Amestris. He is the one who discovered Edward and Alphonse.
Winry Rockbell - A childhood friend of Edward and Alphonse. She is also very gifted in technical and mechanical things. Often is the person who repairs Edward’s automail (metal prosthetic limbs). And always arguing with Edward, but its quite obvious that she cares about him.
Maes Hughes – An old friend of Roy Mustang’s who tries to help him with his goal to become a Fuhrer. He works in military intelligence and has a loving wife and young daughter. A family man, he lets Winry stay with them when she is in town.
Riza Hawkeye – Roy Mustang’s most trusted subordinate. The voice of reason and excellent in using firearms.
Izumi Hartnet/Izumi Curtis – The teacher of Ed and Alphonse Eric who helped them hone their alchemy right after their mother died.

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – OVA Collection” features the following four episodes (each episode is about 15 minutes each) on one Blu-ray disc. Here is a basic summary of each episode:

OVA EPISODE 1 – The Blind Alchemist – Edward and Al visit a blind alchemist who was rumored to have pulled off a perfect human transmutation.
OVA EPISODE 2 – Simple People - With Edward constantly breaking his automail during battle and having Winry fix them, the Elric brothers decide to give Winry a present each time she does have to fix them.
OVA EPISODE 3 – The Chronicle of Teacher – The history of Izumi Hartnet and her training and first encounter with Sig.
OVA EPISODE 4 – Yet Another Man’s Battlefield – The story of how Roy and Hughes met each other back in military boot camp.

VIDEO:

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – OVA Collection” is presented in 1080p High Definition and because this is an OVA, productions on OVA’s are much better than their television counterpart. Backgrounds are much more detailed, colors are vibrant and for the most part, the series looks fantastic on Blu-ray. I didn’t see any compression artifacts and even during scenes with a lot of red or amber, I didn’t see any banding issues.

AUDIO:

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – OVA Collection” is presented in English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and in Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0. Overall, the 5.1 lossless soundtrack sounds very good and there is a good amount of surround usage and its much more immersive than its Japanese lossless counterpart.

The Japanese lossless soundtrack is still good, especially if you have a receiver in which you can change the setting to stereo on all channels. I do prefer the Japanese lossless soundtrack in terms of acting. For example, the scene where Edward is screaming in pain after performing the transmutation is incredibly acted by Romi Paku, Vic Mignona did a good job but I felt Romi was much more emotional and you can hear that pain in his voice. But the English lossless of course, has a much better sound overall. So, it all comes down to preference.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – OVA Collection” comes with the following special features:

FULLMETAL FOUR-PANEL COMIC THEATER – (40:30) A collection of 16 fun and hilarious four-panel comic short stories which are essentially parodies of scenes from the “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” TV series.
TRAILERS – FUNimation Entertainment trailers

EXTRAS:

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – OVA Collection” comes with both the Blu-ray and DVD edition of the OVA’s.

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood OVA Collection” is a fun collection of short OVA episodes and with both the TV series and film being released by FUNimation Entertainment on Blu-ray and DVD, at least it gives fans more episodes to watch.

Prior to watching these OVA episodes, I was curious if they were going to be crazy like the previous series, “Fullmetal Alchemist” and its OVA’s. But essentially what we have with these OVA episodes are actually storylines that reveal the past of other characters.

Primarily for the third and fourth episodes feature the history of characters. We learn how Izumi (Edward and Al’s teacher) and Sig met and what she was doing before they met. And also a fascinating episode involving Roy Mustang and Maes Hughes. Two very good friends who were not as close when they first met.

But the other two episodes are just as entertaining but “The Blind Alchemist” definitely had some surprises as Ed and Al encounter another person who tried to use human transmutation, while “Simple People” actually show the emotions that Winry has towards Edward, but also a little of what Risa may have towards Roy.

While “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” (the TV series) is based on the manga series, these OVA’s are standalone and are not based on the manga.

As mentioned, I wondered if there would be any craziness featured on the FA:B OVA series like the original series OVA release which dabbled with super-deformed characters. And sure enough, fans will get a taste of that craziness with the 16 Four-Panel Comic Theater presented in the special features of the Blu-ray and DVD release.

Overall, “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – OVA Collection” has a good balance of humorous and serious episodes but for the most part, with the series completed and the film having been released in the US, this is essentially the final release for “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” on Blu-ray and DVD for now. And if you are a fan and have watched every TV episode and the movie, then more than likely, you will enjoy this Blu-ray and DVD release of these OVA episodes.

Recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Black Butler: The Complete Second Season (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

April 23, 2012 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

More exciting than the first season… If you are looking for an anime series that is dark, violent but also has enough humor, “Black Butler: The Complete Second Season”, along with the first season, are recommended!

TITLE: Black Butler: The Complete Second Season

ANIME RELEASE DATE: 2010

DURATION: 12 episodes + 6 OAV episodes (450 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (4:3), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV PG

Release Date: April 3, 2012

Originally created by Yana Toboso

Directed by Hirofumi Ogura

Series Composition by Mari Okada

Music by Taku Iwasaki

Character Design by Minako Shiba

Art Direction by Manabu Otsuzuki

Anime Productions by A-1 Pictures Inc.

Featuring the following voice talent:

Daisuke Ono/J. Michael Tatum as Sebastian Michaelis

Maaya Sakamoto/Brina Palencia as Ciel Phantomhive

Nana Mizuki/Luci Christian as Alois Trancy

Takahiro Sakurai/Jason Douglas as Claude Faustus

Aya Hirano/Caitlin Glass as Hannah Anafeloz

Jun Fukuyama/Daniel Fredrick as Grell Sutcliff

Junichi Suwave/John Swasey as Undertaker

Emiri Kato/Monica Rial as Meirin

Hiroki Touchi/Ian Sinclair as Bard (Bardroy)

When last we saw dear Sebastian, he was poised to feast on the ripened soul of his young master. Unfortunately for the debonair demon, there’s a new butler in town…

Enter Claude Faustus, a malevolent manservant uninspired by the drab flavor of his own contracted master, Alois Trancy. This pedestrian lad holds no allure for Claude, so the bespectacled butler sets his sights on a finer delicacy from the menu of the damned: none other than Ciel Phantomhive. And so begins a devilish dance of death starring crow and spider.

The demonic duel rages beyond the limits of good taste, culminating in a debaucherous maze of madness pitting butler against butler. Sebastian and Claude: two ravenous rakehells filled with the power of darkness and locked in a macabre battle for the soiled soul of the young master they so long to savor/devour.

This limited edition includes an artbox sized to hold both this set and the season 1 DVD/Blu-ray combo pack.

In 2006, mangaka Yana Toboso (“Rust Blaster”) began working on his second manga that year for Square Enix’s “Monthly GFantasy” magazine. The series nown as “Kuroshitsuji” (Black Butler) would receive a large fanbase due to its bishounen characters.

By 2008, “Black Butler” would receive an anime adaptation featuring production by A-1 Pictures (“Tetsuwan Birdy: Decode”, “El Cazador de la Bruja”, “Valkyria Chronicles”) directed by Shinohara Toshiya (“Lupin III: Crisis in Tokyo”, “Gurren Lagann”, “Samurai Deeper Kyo”), a screenplay by Mari Okada “CANAAN”, “Aria the Natural”, “Red Garden”, “PoPoLoCrois”), music by Taku Iwasaki (“Angel Heart”, “R.O.D. – The TV”, “Soul Eater”), character designs by Minako Shiba (“.Hack/Sign”, “Letter Bee”, “Madlax”) and art direction by “Hiromasa Ogura” (“Ghost Hound”, “Aquarian Age”, “Appleseed”). The opening theme “Monochrome Kiss” is by SID and the ending theme “I’m Alive” is by BECCA.

And since the release of the original manga series and anime series, the popularity of “Black Butler” has led to a musical, drama CD’s, a video game and books have been released in Japan.

While the manga is still ongoing in Japan, the anime series has continued with two full seasons at 48 episodes long and now both seasons are being released on Blu-ray/DVD courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.

What is “Black Butler” about?

“Black Butler” takes place in London (during the Victorian Era) and revolves around a 12-year-old named Ciel Phantomhive, who is from the Phantomhive noble family who is known for their toy and candy empire. A long time ago, Ciel used to be a happy boy but his happiness was destroyed when someone murdered his family.

Now Ciel wants to find the killers of his family and makes an exchange with a demon for his soul. He wants vengeance on those who disgraced him or the Phantomhive name and to find and kill the murderers of his family.

The demon approves and to stay close with Ciel, the demon Sebastian Michaelis will become his butler and protect him. But once Ciel’s duties are done as upon their agreement, Sebastian will be able to take his soul and kill him.

Black Butler Season 2

The first season concluded with Sebastian taking Ciel’s soul as agreed. And the new season begins with butler Claude Faustus who works for the spoiled and vulgar Earl Alois Trancy. We learn that Earl Alois Trancy is a bit evil to his servants, sticking his finger in the eye for one of his maids and also showing his lack of care for anyone in the world but himself and his butler Claude.

Meanwhile, his uncle Arnold Trancy, the Viscount of Druitt, suspects Alois’s legitimacy as the former head’s son and we learn that Alois had a traumatic childhood in which he was kidnapped at birth and sent to slavery. Alois was the only survivor of a plague that spread throughout the village he lived.

Meanwhile, that night, a cloaked man carrying a trunk comes to the mansion of Earl Alois Trancy and Alois desperately wants to know what is inside the trunk. Sebastian makes a deal with Alois that if Alois shows him a special black tea box inside the mansion’s basement, he will show him what is inside the trunk. But immediately, Claude attacks Sebastian and during the melee, it is revealed that Ciel Phantomhive is inside the trunk.

Alois wants Ciel Phantomhive, meanwhile Sebastian manages to escape with the special black tea box and his trunk. Inside the tea box is a blue ring, which Sebastian places on Ciel’s finger and immediately Ciel has been revived.

As the story progresses, we learn that Sebastian was not able to consume Ciel’s soul as originally planned in the contract, because Claude Faustus was able to snatch Ciel’s soul before Sebastian.

And now, because of this…there is unfinished business between Sebastian and Ciel, but most importantly between the two butler demons, Sebastian and Claude. Meanwhile, Alois continues his pursuit of capturing Ciel.

So, you get all 12 TV episodes of “Black Butler” season two and also six OVA’s featuring more lighthearted, upbeat, humorous episodes revolving Ciel and Sebastian, Elizabeth, Bardroy, Spears and Grell and Alois Trancy and his butler Claude.

The main characters of “Black Butler” are:

Sebastian Michaelis – The butler for Ciel Phantomhive and also a demon who will protect Ciel until he accomplishes his task to help Ciel find who murdered his parents and avenge the Phantomhive name. When all tasks are accomplished, as agreed by his contract with Ciel Phantomhive, he will take his soul and kill him. Sebastian has taken the form of the previous Earl, Vincent Phantomhive. Although he protects Ciel, the two have an uneasy relationship as they don’t care for each other all that much.
Ciel Phantomhive – Once a happy boy who’s life was changed when his family was murdered. Now that he is older, he tries to avenge his family’s name and search for his parent’s killer by taking part in a contract with a demon (Sebastian). The demon will protect Ciel by pretending to be a butler, but once all duties are accomplished, he will consume Ciel’s soul. Ciel has lost his eye when he was a slave and was used as a sacrifice in a cult ritual. He has become a cold person since his family’s death.
Bardroy (Bard) – The American cook who uses weaponry to make the food for the household, despite not making anything edible.
Finnian (Finny) – The clumsy gardener who has superhuman strength.
Mey-Rin – The clumsy maid who wears cracked glasses because it’s the first gift Ciel had purchased for her. She has a big crush on Sebastian.
Tanaka - The steward who has served under Ciel’s parents and now serves Ciel. When his parents were murdered, Tanaka was there and was stabbed in the back.
Madame Red – The aunt of Ciel, she is a doctor who practices at Royal London Hospital. But when she was pregnant, she was in an accident in which her husband was killed and the baby died. So now she feels hatred towards those she performs abortions on and kills them along with the grim reaper named Grell Sutcliffe. Together, they are known as Jack the Ripper.
Grell Sutcliffe – A grim reaper who decides if a dying sould should be allowed to continue living, Grell is a gay man who calls himself a woman and is infatuated with Sebastian. He murders people alongside Madame Red.
Earl Alois Trancy – Kidnapped at birth and later becoming a slave, Alois Trancy had suffered major trauma as he was sexually abused by his father. He has a contract with demon butler Claude. Alois has been after Sebastian and Ciel as Claude had told him that Sebastian destroyed the village he lived in under the orders of his master, Ciel.
Claude Faustus – A demon butler who is a perfectionist. He has a contract with Alois Trancy. Claude also has an interest in Ciel’s soul and it is revealed in season two that he had snatched Ciel before Sebastian could consume him.
Hannah Annafellows – Alois’ maid and servant, who is constantly mistreated by Alois. She is revealed to be a demon who has a contract with someone that Alois knows quite well.

VIDEO

“Black Butler” is a violently, dark and bloody anime. Anime production by A-1 Pictures, Inc. is well done as artistic backgrounds of London during the Victorian Era is painted with great shadowing and the action sequences are also well-done as we get several styles which include a serious to more fun and hilarious style of animation. The second season is a bit dark, as Alois is a vulgar individual who does some really bad things to his maid Hannah Annafellows (ie. gouging her eye with his finger) while blood drips. So, there are short moments of bloody violence.

What I enjoy about the series are the overall character designs and the costume designs. The series is very bishounen-driven but its combination of themes that are dark and hilarious actually work quite well for “Black Butler”. Also, the second season does benefit from being made two years later than the first season and there are good amount of details on the characters and art background. But it’s important for people to know that this is a TV series, so the softness that usually appears on TV series can be seen in “Black Butler: The Complete Second Season”. Neverless, for a TV Series on Blu-ray, the second season of “Black Butler” looks very good in HD.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

As for the lossless audio, you get a English Dolby TrueHD Audio 5.1 mix and Japanese Dolby TrueHD Audio 2.0 mix. Typically, I listen to the Japanese soundtrack but in this case, because it takes place in the Victorian era, the English voice dub and accents are done very well. The voice talent for the English dub have said that “Black Butler” is one of the most challenging anime series as the voice talent had to perfect their spoken dialect and it does give the series its own personal feel and for the most part, it works. There is also a bit more of a dynamic range when it comes to the English lossless track.

The Japanese soundtrack is also very well done especially when it comes to the more emotional moments, the voice acting is stellar. But the English dub has the advantage because of it’s 5.1 mix but if you prefer to watch it in Japanese or English, both soundtracks are excellent and should appeal to Sub/Dub anime fans.

Subtitles are in English but you are unable to switch the subtitles on or off. When you click on the Japanese lossless soundtrack, then you will get the English subtitles.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Black Butler: The Complete Second Season” comes with the following special features:

Episode 1 Commentary - Featuring audio commentary by Luci Christian (voice of Alois) and Jason Douglas (voice of Clause Faustus).
Episode 12 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Brina Palencia (Ciel) and J. Michael Tatum (voice of Sebastian).
OAV 3 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Ian Sinclair (ADR Director and voice of Baldroy).
Outtakes - (3:20) Featuring the audio flubs by the English voice talent.
U.S. Season 1 Trailer – (1:02) Season 1 FUNimation Entertainment trailer.
U.S. Season 2 Trailer – (1:32) Season 2 FUNimation Entertainment trailer.
Becca Musician Profile – A text info. on BECCA
Textless Opening Song – Featuring the opening theme “Shiver” by The GazettE.
Textless Closing Theme Song – Featuring the ending theme “Bird” by Yuya Matsushita and “Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni Wa” by Kalafina.

EXTRAS:

“Black Butler: The Complete Second Season” comes with a slipcase which fits both “Black Butler” season one and two Blu-ray cases.

Butler Demon Sebastian Michaelis vs. Butler Demon Claude Faustus, Ciel Phantomhive vs. Earl Alois Trancy…. Total opposites from each other, both having suffered tragedy but this time around, both Sebastian and Ciel are the hunted and Alois and his butler Claude will do whatever they can to get his revenge!

There is no doubt that “Black Butler” has a strong fan following and is a different kind of anime series that most people are used to watching. For one, it deals with the occult and it does have its share of dark, violent moments but the series itself thrives on its darkness and humor. And for many of the female fans, it’s strong bishounen character designs.

The storyline for “Black Butler” is quite dark and like the first season, there is quite a bit of violence and blood featured. While the first season had a good number of upbeat moments, the second season of “Black Butler” has a more brooding theme, darker situation as so many things are revealed in regards to Ciel and also Alois, especially more that revolves around their backstory and also in regards to Sebastian and Claude. In someways, the two are like each other’s doppelganger but yet they are completely different in personality.

As the season does feature more darker episodes (I found the second season much more entertaining), fans who want the upbeat and humorous episodes will get them as there are six OVA’s included with the 12-episodes. For example, the first OVA is like a “Black Butler” meets “Alice in Wonderland”, OVA 2 revolves the residents of the Phantomhive Estate in a role playing game style of episode, OVA 3 features Bardroy narrating a behind-the-scenes of “Black Butler” as if it was an actual movie set, OVA 4 returns to the “Alice in Wonderland” storyline, OVA 5 features Spears and Grell training to be grim reaper recruits and OVA 6 features Alois Trancy wanting Claude to fill his room with flowers and finding a way to keep a butterfly from leaving.

The character designs, the art design are very well-done for “Black Butler” and as mentioned, the detail is well-done for this second season but for a TV series, also incorporates the softness as expected from a TV series on Blu-ray. As for the special features, you do get several audio commentary tracks and also the audio flubs. And as far as acting is concerned, the Japanese soundtrack is very good but I really have to commend the voice talent of “Black Butler” for pulling off the dialects, as I have seen many anime series that tend to fail. So, fortunately, the English dub was well-done.

Overall, “Black Butler: The Complete Second Season” is a much more exciting, darker season than the first. I do enjoy the battling demon butlers and to see Sebastian and Ciel become the hunted and seeing how the overall storyline manages to conclude with a major twist and an ending that I never expected to happen.

If you are looking for an anime series on Blu-ray that is a bit dark and has it’s crazy moments, both seasons of “Black Butler” are worth recommending!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

April 8, 2012 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture” is a wonderful film with a captivating storyline, cool new characters, plenty of action and more. The Blu-ray also looks and sounds great and you get a good amount of special features as well. If you want an awesome anime film on Blu-ray, “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture” is highly recommended!

TITLE: Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture

ANIME RELEASE DATE: 2011

DURATION: 110 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:78:1), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: Not Rated

Release Date: April 25, 2012

Original Created by Hiromu Arakawa

Original Character Design by Kenichi Konishi

Directed by Kazuya Murata

Screenplay by Yuichi Shinbo

Storyboard by Kazuya Murata

Unit Director: Shingo Natsume

Music by Taro Iwashiro

Art Director: Kazuo Ogura, Tomoaki Okada

Chief Animation Director: Kenichi Konishi

Mechanical Design by Shinji Aramaki

3D Director: Koki Ota

Anime Production: BONES

Featuring the following voice talent:

Rie Kugimiya/Maxey Whitehead as Alphonse Elric

Romi Park/Vic Mignona as Edward Elric

Toshiyuki Morikawa/Matthew Mercer as Melvin Voyager

Fumiko Orikasa/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Riza Hawkeye

Kenji Utsumi/Christopher R. Sabat as Alex Louis Armstrong

Maaya Sakamoto/Alexis Tipton as Julia Crichton

Megumi Takamoto/Caitlin Glass as Winry Rockbell

Sakiko Tamagawa/Shelley Calene-Black as Miranda

Shinichiro Miki/Travis Willingham as Roy Mustang

A fugitive alchemist with mysterious abilities leads the Elric brothers to a distant valley of slums inhabited by the Milos, a proud people struggling against bureaucratic exploitation. Ed and Al quickly find themselves in the middle of a rising rebellion as the exiled Milos lash out against their oppressors. At the heart of the conflict is Julia, a young alchemist befriended by Alphonse. She’ll stop at nothing to restore the Milos to their former glory – even if that means harnessing the awful power of the mythical Philosopher’s Stone.

When the hit anime TV series “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” was coming to a close, BONES wanted to make sure the adventures of the Elrich brothers, despite their adventure ending in the series, would still continue in the movies.

Set during a time when both brothers were still looking for the Philosopher stone, this is where director Kazuya Murata (“Eureka Seven”, “Figure 17″, “Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion”) and screenwriter Yuichi Shinbo (“Doraemon” films) would base the story for “Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Mirosu no Sei-naru Hoshi” (“Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos”). The film would also feature music from rock band L’Arc~en~Ciel and the artist Miwa.

The film was announced during the final episode of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” and premiered in Japan in July 2011 and screened in U.S. theaters in 2012.

For those not familiar with “Fullmetal Alchemist”, in Japan, “Fullmetal Alchemist” (Hagane no Renkinjutushi) is a popular long running anime and manga series created by mangaka Hiromu Arakawa. The original manga series was serialized in Square Enix’s “Shonen Gangan” since 2001, while the 51-episode TV series created by BONES was shown on television in 2004 followed by a manga faithful anime adaptation with “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” airing in 2009-2010.

What is “Fullmetal Alchemist” about?

“Fullmetal Alchemist” is a series about two young alchemist brothers named Edward and his younger brother Alphonse Elric (aka “Al”). Their father left them and several months after their father left, an epidemic hit their village and killed their mother. Grieving and alone without their mother, the two quickly tried to hone their alchemist skills and hope to bring their mother back alive by using a human transmutation (this is illegal and considered taboo by alchemist).

While performing the transmutation, a dark shadow comes and literally breaks apart the body of Alphonse and as for Edward, he is shown “the truth” but in return for doing the transmutation, there is a toll and in this case, he loses his legs and feet and his right arm. And the transmutation to bring their mother fails as Edward was only able to revive a disembodied figure. In a short time allowed before the dark shadow leaves, Edward was able to bond Al’s soul to a suit of armor but there are some consequences. And these consequences and guilt have plunged Edward to the lowest he had ever been.

With this opportunity, this gives Edward a chance to repair what he did wrong and help his brother. But as they investigate on how they can get their bodies back and investigating what is known as a “Philosopher’s Stone”, an unknown group is out there, observing the Elric brothers every move and willing to kill in order to get to Edward.

Meanwhile, a military figure named Roy Mustang is assisting the Elric brothers by giving them opportunities to find the Philosopher’s Stone but to do that, the two will be part of the military. For the Elric brothers, working together is a good idea as they hope the stone may give Edward a chance to bring his brother Al back to life and also get back his own body as well.

“Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos”

The film is set during the time Edward and Al are looking for a way to get their human bodies back.

“The Sacred Star of Milos” begins with the Crichton family who were driven away from their home. For a young Julia Chrichton, she saw her own people being gunned down but her brother Ashley trying to prevent her from seeing any of it.

Fast forward and the teenager Ashley is studying his parent’s alchemy books and his sister are together. They hear a scream which Ashley goes to check, when young Julia goes to look for her brother, she notices her parents hanging dead, blood everywhere and then someone attacking her brother Ashley and then she faints.

Fast forwards many years later and a criminal named Melvin Voyager has escaped from an Amestris prison and the Elric brothers (who are always anxious to visit new areas to find more information on the “philosopher stone”) decide to chase after the escaped convict.

While on the bus, a chimera attacks people on the bus and Melvin Voyager goes after it. Unfortunately, that causes problems on the train, so the Elric brothers try to protect the people on the train while Edward tries to go after both the chimera and Melvin Voyager, who Edward finds out is an alchemist.

Meanwhile, back at HQ, Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye wonder why Melvin Voyager would escape from prison when he was weeks away from being released in jail? While searching his belongings, they find part of a newspaper clip cut out and when they look at what was missing, it is a photo of an older Julia Chrichton, who was arrested for entering Table City.

At the same time, a group of people with flying contraptions have shown up and go after Julia Crichton, which Melvin Voyager is also after.

As the Elric brothers are trying to figure out what is going on, their journey leads them to the borders of Amestris and Creta and in between both countries down below is Table City, an area where people who once had their own land and forced out, were sent to live in an area which is essentially a junk yard and area where both countries deposit their waste and the city is essentially a bottomless pit.

As the Elric brothers descend into Table City, what secrets will they find and what is so special about Julia Crichton and Melvin Voyager?

VIDEO

One thing I love about anime films on Blu-ray is the fact that you know that unlike TV series, studios tend to have a higher budget, more staff and more time is dedicated in the look and feel for an anime film. “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture” is a big example of how the film looks fantastic thanks to its beautifully painted art backgrounds, it’s 3D use for vehicles and weaponry and more.

Presented in 1080p High Definition (1:78:1), one of the biggest differences that this film would have versus the TV series and previous film is the character design. The character designs have a bit of a different style when compared to the TV series and I think that was part of the reason of the difference is to show that this is not a film derived from Hiromu Arakawa’s manga but is its own storyline featuring the Elric brothers. The art backgrounds are just heavily detailed and are beautiful too look at. In fact, the Blu-ray really showcases the detail of the CG work and the art.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

Another reason why I love anime films on Blu-ray is that you also tend to get a Japanese soundtrack in the same lossless soundtrack as the English dub. So, both are in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. I did notice that the English version had a bit more of a dynamic range but yet both are wonderful when it came to using the surround channels during the many action sequences during the film. Also, noticed the use of surround for ambiance as well. And for those with a subwoofer, yes, awesome use of LFE during the action sequences as well.

I watched the film in both Japanese and English dub and fans should feel great that both are done very well. In fact, as much as I enjoy watching “Fullmetal Alchemist” in Japanese, I will have to say that FUNimation Entertainment has always done a marvelous job when it came to the voice acting of this series. Vic Mignogna and Maxey Whitehead have literally nailed the voice of the Elric brothers and from the TV series to the film (as well as the other voice talents), I have always been impressed by the English dubwork, as well as the Japanese voice acting, so I had to watch the film in both soundtracks. Both are fantastic!

English subtitles were also easy to read.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture” comes with the following special features:

Fullmetal Alchemist: Making of Sacred Star of Milos - (1:04:25) Featuring the making of “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture” hosted by Romi Park (voice of Edward) and Rie Kugimiya (voice of Alphonse) and featuring interviews with the crew. In Japanese with English subtitles.
U.S. Cast Commentary – Awesome FUNimation Entertainment audio commentary featuring Mike McFarland (ADR Director), Maxey Whithead (voice of Alfonse), Vic Mignogna (voice of Edward) Colleen Clinkenbeard (voice of Riza), Christopher R. Sabat (voice of Armstrong) . English dub fans will want to listen to this audio commentary!
U.S. Trailer - (1:03) FUNimation Entertainment trailer for “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture”.
Web Promo - (19:13) Super-deformed version of the Elric Brothers being interviewed.
Theatrical Trailers – (4:07) The Japanese theatrical trailers for “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture”.
TV Spot – (:48) The Japanese TV spots.
FUNimation Entertainment trailers

EXTRAS:

“Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture” comes with both the Blu-ray and DVD version of the film and special features.

When it was announced that “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture” was being made, I was quite happy. Mainly because it gave fans a chance to enjoy the Elric Brothers and the characters once again.

With the manga series completed and the TV series also finished, despite the characters and the series being so immensely popular, it was not a long running storyline like “Dragon Ball Z”, “Bleach” or “Naruto”, nor was there a film being created every summer.

And that is probably a good thing as non-canon films that are derived from anime series are usually not that good, but in the case of “Fullmetal Alchemist”, the last film “Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa” was enjoyable but after watching “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture”, I had a smile on my face at the very end because in my eye, I felt that this film was excellent.

While it did focus more on the Elric brothers and we didn’t see much action coming from Roy or Riza, they do make an appearance as with other popular characters such as Winry and Armstrong but the newer characters and the storyline created was so enjoyable and fascinating, and also a bit violent and kind of dark.

I loved how the film showcased both Amestris and Creta and seeing the people in Table City living in conflict and fear. This really made the viewer enjoy these newer characters such as Julia Crichton and her friends. And there are quite a bit of twist and turns, especially when transmutation starts to come into play…you know things are going to get crazy and by the end of the film, you’re left satisfied with how the story ends and how things end up for these characters.

As a film, it was enjoyable but I don’t know if I can see “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture” as a final film, because just from this film alone, it does show that there are always potential to further explore adventures of the Elric Brothers. But with that being said, I’m sure fans would even love it even more if a future film featured the involvement of creator Hiromu Arakawa.

But whether or not this film will be the last for “Fullmetal Alchemist”, based on the film alone, I enjoyed it more than the first and I really the storytelling and the characters, especially the beautifully painted art backgrounds. Especially the stylistic choice for the film’s character design which is slightly different from the TV series.

As for the Blu-ray release, video and audio quality were great, but the making of was wonderful and for English dub fans, they will really enjoy listening to the audio commentary, especially coming from Vic Micnogna. But you do get a good amount of special features with this release.

For those wondering if they can enjoy this film without knowing a thing about “Fullmetal Alchemist”, I think they can enjoy the film as things are explained for viewers. But I can only hope that if one watches the film, I hope they enjoyed it enough to watch the TV series in order for things to make more sense.

For parents, this is not for young children. There are some major sacrificing done (ie. blood sacrifice), so there is quite a bit of violence and blood, so definitely not to be watched with younger children in the room.

Overall, “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture” is a wonderful film with a captivating storyline, cool new characters, plenty of action and more. The Blu-ray also looks and sounds great and you get a good amount of special features as well. If you want an awesome anime film on Blu-ray, “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos – The Motion Picture” is highly recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Part 2 (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

April 6, 2012 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“The Legend of the Legendary Heroes” has turned out to be a wonderful, complex and addictive anime series! And there is no doubt that once this first season is complete, you will be wanting even more. But for those who are looking for a deeper and entertaining anime series on Blu-ray, I highly recommend giving “The Legend of the Legendary Heroes” a chance! Recommended!

TITLE: The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Part 2

ANIME RELEASE DATE: 2010

DURATION: Episodes 14-25 (300 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:78:1), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV PG

Release Date: April 17, 2012

Originally created by Takaya Kagami

Original Character Designs by Saori Toyota

Directed by Itsuro Kawasaki

Series Composition by Kiyoko Yoshimura

Music by Miyu Nakamura

Character Design by Noriko Shimazawa

Produced by Hyun Ah Jeong, Tomoko Iwasaki, Yoshiyuki Ito

Anime Production: ZEXCS

Featuring the following voice talent:

Ayahi Takagaki/Luci Christian as Feris Eris

Daisuke Ono/Eric Vale as Shion Astarl

Jun Fukuyama/Ian Synclair as Lyner (Ryner)Lute

Akiko Yajima/Leah Clark as Arua

Atsushi Imaruoka/Mike McFarland as Kurau (Claugh) Chrome

Ayana Taketatsu/Alexis Tipton as Ethrina (Eslina Folkel) Forkle

Fuyuka Oura/Brina Palencia as Kifa (Kiefer) Knowles

Junichi Suwabe/J. Michael Tatum as Milan (Miran) Froward

Mariya Ise/Cherami Leigh as Kuu Orla

Mikako Takahashi/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Noah En

Miyuki Sawashiro as Carne Kywell

Nobuhiko Okamoto as Lilay Wrinkle

Saki Fujita/Jami Marchi as Milk Colored

Satoshi Hino/Michael Turner II as Luke Stockart

Takuma Terashima/John Burgmeier as Sui Orla

Tomokazu Sugita as Lucille Eris

Tomosa Murata as Iris Eris

Yasunori Masutani/Christopher R. Sabat as Rahel Miller

A war between bordering lands Roland and Estabul has begun. At the King of Roland’s command, Ryner Lute, a bearer of a cursed, extremely lethal power called the Alpha Stigma, and his beautiful comrade Ferris set out on a search for the Heroic Relics – artifacts that contain enormous supernatural powers and can be devastating if placed in the wrong hands. War tactics, bloody magical battles, and political intrigue ensue!

Adventure, political intrigue, action…all this and more can be found in FUNimation’s Blu-ray release of “The Legend of the Legendary Heroes” (Densetsu no Yusha no Densetsu), an anime adaptation of Takaya Kagami’s popular Japanese light novel series.

Originally featured in Dragon Magazine and presented with illustrations by Saori Toyota from 2002-2005, “The Legend of the Legendary Heroes” has received a light novel sequel, plus two spin-off series (a collection of short stories) plus drama CD’s and a Sony PSP video game.

A 24-episode anime TV series was produced by ZEXCS and both parts will be released on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment in April 2012.

The anime series was directed by Itsuro Kawasaki (“arc the Lad”, “Noir”, “Venus to Mamoru”), screenplay by Kiyoko Yoshimura (“Chocolate Underground”, “Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing”, “Gravion”), character designs by Noriko Shimazawa (“Final Approach”, “Otoboku”, “Bleach”) and music by Miyu Nakamura (“Utawarerumono”, “Manyu Hiken-cho”).

“The Legend of the Legendary Heroes” is a complex anime series as it is set during a time when countries are fearing of war, magical knights are killing anyone who possesses magical talents and political corruption broods within each country.

In part two of “Legend of the Legendary Heroes”, the second half focuses on Ryner Lute. Having done all he can to help King Sion of the Roland Empire, while trying to live a normal life, unfortunately in order to accomplish peace, Sion must do things that he does not want to do. For one, conducting inhumane experiments on those who have the Alpha Stigma and that means, for the greater good, he must kill his best friend, Ryner.

What will happen when the Roland Empire finds out that Ryner Lute has the Alpha Stigma and what happens when a mysterious other with the eyes of the Alpha Stigma tries to reach out to Ryner and have him join their group?

The series focuses on plots of several key individuals:

The Roland Empire Storyline

Sion Astal – The son of a previous king and a lowly commoner. Hated by Nobles and bullied at a young age (by his noble relatives and half brothers), Sion desires for peace into the land and that the land is not all about the nobles but there is support for the commoners as well. If anything, to stop the corruption in the Roland Empire.

As a member of the Roland Royal Special Military Academy, the intelligent Sion Astal met Ryner and Kiefer, two people who became part of his team. One day, his team was massacred by Magical Knights and only he, Ryner and Kiefer survived. While Ryner was responsible for defeating all the Magical Knights through his Alpha Stigma powers, as leader of the team, he was given credit as the Hero of Roland and through political ties, he would become the king of the Roland Empire.

Unfortunately, in order to become the King of Roland, Sion has joined forces with Lucile Eris, who has now triggered “The Mad Hero” in Sion’s body.

Miran Froaude – The Lgt. General of the Roland Imperial Army and the adopted son of the Marquis Karlal Froaude. He is dressed in all black, emotionless and will often carry out missions (which include many people getting murdered) without permission from Sion. He has his own agenda and it is not known what he is up to.

Miran feels that Sion has been weak because of his friendships to Ryner and feels that the only way to get Sion on the path to being the right king is to eliminate Ryner Lute.

Lucile Eris – The head son of the Eris Swords-Clan and he mysteriously hides behind the shadows after getting Sion to become the king of the Roland Empire. A man that has a strong demon within him. He is dead set on wanting to be the only man to protect his sister Ferris and unveils his power to Ryner, telling him that if he ever gets close to Ferris, he will kill him.

Claugh Klom – Sion’s right hand man. He does not trust Miran Froaude who appears to be doing his own work without permission of the King. He is also very close to the former princess of Estabul, Noa Ehn.

The Ryner/Ferris Storyline

Ryner Lute – Lazy and always wanting to take a nap, Ryner is also talented in magic, combat and more. He is also the bearer of the Alpha Stigma, an ability that grants him powerful demon magic that wants to cause only destruction and misery. But Ryner’s Alpha Stigma is different from others and he is sent by Sion along with Ferris Eris to find magic relics. When it is revealed to the Roland Empire that Sion’s best friend bears the eyes of the Alpha Stigma, Ryner knows that he may not be able to stay in the Roland Empire for very long. But when he finds out that Sion has given orders to have him killed, Ryner knows he must leave his friends.

Ferris Eris – A member of the famous Swords clan, she is given the mission to accompany Ryner Lute in finding magic relics. She is a no-nonsense woman who is passionate about dango. Most of the time she is inflicting pain on Ryner. During the second half of the series, we start to learn that Ferris may have feelings towards Ryner and always wants to be by his side.

Milk Callaud – Captain of the Roland taboo hunter team. When she was younger and in an orphanage with Ryner, he promised he would marry her. Ryner has no recollection of this. She has been hired to lead a team in tracking down Ryner and Ferris, thinking that Ferris is forcing Ryner to break rules. She is not sure what King Sion is up to but because she is a Captain, it is her duty to lead the taboo hunter team.

Gastalk Empire Storyline:

Kiefer Knolles – A good friend of Ryner and a woman who has always loved him despite how he may behave. She is from Estabul and she witnessed the death of her elder sister and kidnapping of her younger sister by the Roland mage knights. Using her young sister as a hostage, the Roland Empire has used Kiefer as a spy for Estabul and made her a double agent for her younger sister’s safety. Kiefer has since been aligning herself with Refal Edia, the ruler of the Gastark Empire but when Sui Oria returns without an arm and badly injured, Sui Oria mentions the name “Ryner Lute” and because of Kiefer’s relationship with Ryner, she is considered a traitor to the Gastalk Empire.

Refal Edia – The ruler of the Gastark Empire who is fighting for peace for his land but at the same time, wants everyone, adult and children born with the Alpha Stigma to be killed. He is smitten with Kiefer and posses the Rule Fragment Glouvil, a large, powerful sword in which it can be used only if he sacrifices something from his body. Having used the sword to fight against other countries, he has sacrificed his right leg, his sense of smell and his left eye.

Ril Oriea – The eldest of the Oria family and wields the Rule Fragment, “The Ring of Thunder Beats”. Similar to Miran who has control of the dark beasts, Ril has a ring that controls the magic beats of light. He is the primary person who has murdered anyone who is Alpha Stigma and extracts crystals from them which he uses as weapons.

Sui Oria and Kuu Oria – Brother and sister who are after fragments that Ryner and Ferris are looking for. But also known like their older brother to hunt and kill people who have Alpha Stigma.

Alpha Stigma Storyline

Tiir Rumibul – The featured “devourer of flesh”, this person who fights using his Alpha Stigma also consumes flesh. He is also the one responsible for devouring Claugh’s arm. Seen as a murderer, he befriends Ryner Lute and has him join his team. It is learned that Tiir has a camp in which he is protecting children with Alpha Stigma. He has seen his kind massacred by the Gastalk Empire and wants Ryner to join his people and help protect the young ones from being murdered.

VIDEO

“The Legend of Legendary Heroes” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:78:1). The anime series does feature beautifully painted backgrounds (as one would expect from an adventure-based series) primarily trees, clouds, surroundings areas, while the series does focus a lot on closeups of the characters. There is CG use when the characters display their magical powers but for the most part, the series looks good on Blu-ray.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

As for the lossless audio, you get a English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix. The English dub has a better dynamic range (considering it’s a 5.1 lossless track, while the Japanese version is a 2.0 lossless track) and due to the complexity and many characters featured in this anime series alone, FUNimation Entertainment brought out their top guns to provide the voices of the characters.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Part 2″ comes with the following special features:

Episode 21 Commentary - Featuring audio commentary by Joel McDonald ADR Director and Eric Vale (voice of Sion).
Episode 24 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Ian Sinclair (voice of Ryner) and Luci Christian (voice of Ferris).
Textless Opening Song – Featuring the opening theme “Last Inferno” by Ceui.
Textless Ending Theme Song – Featuring the ending theme “Filament of Light” Takagi Ayahi.
FUNimation Entertainment trailers

Who’s side will you choose?

This is the storyline of the second half of “The Legend of the Legendary Heroes”. Where the first half featured various branching storylines of various characters of the fantasy/adventure series, the second half now focuses on protagonist Ryner Lute.

Ryner has pretty much aligned himself with Sion because of his fight for peace but when Sion’s own staff and also Sion himself knows that in order to accomplish peace, you must take out those who can cause trouble to the land and that includes those who are possessed with the Alpha Stigma, that includes his best friend, Ryner Lute.

The second half of the series actually becomes quite exciting as we see so many things working against Ryner, may it be Sion (who is constantly battling himself due to “The Mad Hero” of whether or not he should kill Sion), Lucile Eris (who wants Ryner dead because he sees his sister starting to develop emotions for Ryner), Miran Froaude (who wants Ryner dead because he feels Ryner is what makes Sion to week and compassionate) and the list goes on.

So, for fans wanting something deeper and a bit more complexity with their anime series may enjoy “Legend of the Legendary Heroes”, a storyline about warring kingdoms, political corruptness, action/fantasy/adventure, etc.

“Legend of the Legendary Heroes” incorporates lot of fantasy elements that people are used to seeing in an anime series, sword fighting, magic-use and in the case of this series, plenty of violence. While watching the series, while there are protagonists and people who seem they are evil, every characters has their flaws. For example, Sion wants to fight for peace, but in order to achieve peace, one must do the unthinkable in showing people that you have great power. And in the greater good, he must eliminate even his best friend Ryner. Ryner is a person who hates war but when his Alpha Stigma is used, he becomes a killing machine. No one is perfect in this anime series.

“The Legend of the Legendary Heroes” is a series that viewers will want to watch without any distractions because of the amount of characters featured in the series. Granted, with each branching storyline, there is a good amount of character development that allows the viewers to understand motivations and why things are happening like they are.

Despite the complexities of this anime series, you get a bit of seriousness and humor. For example, storylines that related to Sion are often serious and emotional, while storylines revolved around Ryner and Ferris (non-battle sequences) are often comedic as the two are like a ranting couple and despite the pain that Ferris puts Ryner through, the relationship between these two characters are hilarious, until you get to the battles and things can get very serious.

As for the Blu-ray release, the series looks absolutely wonderful in HD but I wish the series was self contained as a complete collection instead of two separate parts. As for special features, you do get a few audio commentary from the English dub voice actors.

“The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Part 2″ turned out to be a wonderful second half. While it did focus primarily on Ryner Lute, it’s no surprise as his storyline is quite centric to the other branching storylines in the series. But if there is one problem I have is why hasn’t there been a continuation of this intriguing anime series?

After watching “The Legend of the Legendary Heroes”, you can’t help but want to watch more because the series ends when everything is starting to become so exciting and so good!

The fact that “The Legend of the Legendary Heroes” in Japan has continued to exist via 11 volumes, followed by another 9 volumes for “The Great Legend of the Legendary Heroes” and another 11 volumes for “The Legend of Legendary Heroes Anyway” and five volumes for “The Legend of the Black Fallen Hero”, not to mention a web radio series and video game, it would be a shame if in America, our introduction to this anime series begins and ends with this anime series. It’s like watching “Lord of the Rings” and the two films after were never created. So, I really do hope a second season is created!

Overall, “The Legend of the Legendary Heroes” has turned out to be a wonderful, complex and addictive anime series! And there is no doubt that once this first season is complete, you will be wanting even more. But for those who are looking for a deeper and entertaining anime series on Blu-ray, I highly recommend giving “The Legend of the Legendary Heroes” a chance! Recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Part 1 (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

April 5, 2012 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

One of the more complex fantasy and action anime series to come out on Blu-ray in the U.S., “The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Part 1″ is definitely recommended!

TITLE: The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Part 1

ANIME RELEASE DATE: 2010

DURATION: 13 episodes (325 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:78:1), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV PG

Release Date: April 17, 2012

Originally created by Takaya Kagami

Original Character Designs by Saori Toyota

Directed by Itsuro Kawasaki

Series Composition by Kiyoko Yoshimura

Music by Miyu Nakamura

Character Design by Noriko Shimazawa

Produced by Hyun Ah Jeong, Tomoko Iwasaki, Yoshiyuki Ito

Anime Production: ZEXCS

Featuring the following voice talent:

Ayahi Takagaki/Luci Christian as Feris Eris

Daisuke Ono/Eric Vale as Shion Astarl

Jun Fukuyama/Ian Synclair as Lyner (Ryner)Lute

Akiko Yajima/Leah Clark as Arua

Atsushi Imaruoka/Mike McFarland as Kurau (Claugh) Chrome

Ayana Taketatsu/Alexis Tipton as Ethrina (Eslina Folkel) Forkle

Fuyuka Oura/Brina Palencia as Kifa (Kiefer) Knowles

Junichi Suwabe/J. Michael Tatum as Milan (Miran) Froward

Mariya Ise/Cherami Leigh as Kuu Orla

Mikako Takahashi/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Noah En

Miyuki Sawashiro as Carne Kywell

Nobuhiko Okamoto as Lilay Wrinkle

Saki Fujita/Jami Marchi as Milk Colored

Satoshi Hino/Michael Turner II as Luke Stockart

Takuma Terashima/John Burgmeier as Sui Orla

Tomokazu Sugita as Lucille Eris

Tomosa Murata as Iris Eris

Yasunori Masutani/Christopher R. Sabat as Rahel Miller

A 24-episode anime TV series was produced by ZEXCS and both parts will be released on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment in April 2012.

The series focuses on plots of several key individuals:

The Roland Empire Storyline

Lucile Eris – The head son of the Eris Swords-Clan and he mysteriously hides behind the shadows after getting Sion to become the king of the Roland Empire. What is his true motivation?

Claugh Klom – Sion’s right hand man. He does not trust Miran Froaude who appears to be doing his own work without permission of the King.

The Ryner/Ferris Storyline

Branching Storyline:

VIDEO

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Part 1″ comes with the following special features:

Episode 3 Commentary - Featuring audio commentary by Brina Palencia (voice of Kiefer) and J. Michael Tatum (voice of Miran).
Episode 9 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by director/line producer Colleen Clinkenbeard (voice of Noa) and Monica Rial (voice of Iris).
Textless Opening Song – Featuring the opening theme “Lament (Yagate Yorokobi Wo)” by Aira Yuuki.
Textless Ending Theme Song – Featuring the ending theme “Truth of My Destiny” by Ceui.
FUNimation Entertainment trailers

Back in the ’80s and ’90s, adventure-based anime series that typically captures kingdoms and political corruptness were storyline banalities. But from 2000 and on, once in awhile you come across these complex anime series and can only hope that more of these will be made.

“Legend of the Legendary Heroes” incorporates lot of fantasy elements that people are used to seeing in an anime series, sword fighting, magic-use and in the case of this series, plenty of violence. While watching the series, while there are protagonists and people who seem they are evil, every characters has their flaws. For example, Sion wants to fight for peace, but in order to achieve peace, one must do the unthinkable in showing people that you have great power. Ryner is a person who hates war but when his Alpha Stigma is used, he becomes a killing machine. Kiefer is a person similar to Sion who wants peace but because the Roland Empire was using her as a double spy, she was involved with the massacre of her teammates.

So far, the first half of the series has been entertaining but it will be interesting to see how this series resolves itself by the second half. It seems that the more Sion wants to attain peace, Miran does something unthinkable and Sion is powerless to do anything about it. If anything, despite being a king, he is a puppet. Also, things are heating up in the Ryner/Merris storyline as they are constantly being hunted by Gastark Empire’s Sui Oria and Kuu Oria. So, this series is definitely has a lot of potential going into the second half.

While the series was given 24-episodes, having not read the light novels, I don’t know if everything made it into the series but I do know that the series was quite favorable by viewers in Japan.

Overall, “The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Part 1″ is a deep, complex anime series that will appeal to fans of the fantasy anime genre. There is a lot of action but there are also branching storylines that deal with drama, action and political strategy, and because of that, I found the series to be entertaining and enjoyable.

If you are looking for a fantasy anime series on Blu-ray, definitely give “The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Part 1″ a try!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Black Butler: The Complete First Season (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

April 3, 2012 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

If you are looking for an anime series that is dark, violent but also has enough humor and craziness… “Black Butler: The Complete First Season” is definitely an anime Blu-ray that is recommended!

TITLE: Black Butler: The Complete First Season

ANIME RELEASE DATE: 2008

DURATION: 24 episodes (600 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (4:3), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV PG

Release Date: April 3, 2012

Originally created by Yana Toboso

Directed by Toshiya Shinohara

Series Composition by Mari Okada

Music by Taku Iwasaki

Character Design by Minako Shiba

Art Direction by Hiromasa Ogura

Anime Productions by A-1 Pictures Inc.

Featuring the following voice talent:

Daisuke Ono/J. Michael Tatum as Sebastian Michaelis

Maaya Sakamoto/Brina Palencia as Ciel Phantomhive

Akiko Yajima/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Angela

Emiri Katou/Monica Rial as Meirin (Mei Lin)

Hiroki Touchi/Ian Sinclair as Bard (Bardroy)

Hisayoshi Suganuma/Jonathan Brooks as Fred Abberline

Jun Fukuyama/Daniel Fredrick as Grell

Junichi Suwabe as/John Swasey Undertaker

Koji Yusa/Jerry Jewell as Lau

Romi Park/Lydia Mackay as Madam Red

Shunji Fujimura/R. Bruce Elliot as Tanaka

Yukari Tamura/Cherami Leigh as Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford

Yuuki Kaji/Jason Liebrecht as Finny (Finnian)

Ciel Phantomhive is the most powerful boy in all of England, but he bears the scars of unspeakable suffering. Forced to watch as his beloved parents were brutally murdered, Ciel was subsequently abducted and violently tortured. Desperate to end his suffering, the boy traded his own soul for a chance at vengeance, casting his lot with the one person on whom he could depend: Sebastian, a demon Butler summoned from the very pits of hell.

Together, they’ll prowl the darkest alleys of London on a mission to snuff out those who would do evil. They’re a rare sight, these two: the Butler who dismembers with dazzling cutlery and the Young Master who carries the devil’s marking. Rest assured that wherever they may be headed, it’ll be one hell of a ride.

And since the release of the original manga series and anime series, the popularity of “Black Butler” has led to a musical, drama CD’s, a video game and books have been released in Japan.

The main characters of “Black Butler” are:

Sebastian Michaelis – The butler for Ciel Phantomhive and also a demon who will protect Ciel until he accomplishes his task to help Ciel find who murdered his parents and avenge the Phantomhive name. When all tasks are accomplished, as agreed by his contract with Ciel Phantomhive, he will take his soul and kill him. Sebastian has taken the form of the previous Earl, Vincent Phantomhive. Although he protects Ciel, the two have an uneasy relationship as they don’t care for each other all that much.
Ciel Phantomhive – Once a happy boy who’s life was changed when his family was murdered. Now that he is older, he tries to avenge his family’s name and search for his parent’s killer by taking part in a contract with a demon (Sebastian). The demon will protect Ciel by pretending to be a butler, but once all duties are accomplished, he will consume Ciel’s soul. Ciel has lost his eye when he was a slave and was used as a sacrifice in a cult ritual. He has become a cold person since his family’s death.
Bardroy (Bard) – The American cook who uses weaponry to make the food for the household, despite not making anything edible.
Finnian (Finny) – The clumsy gardener who has superhuman strength.
Mey-Rin – The clumsy maid who wears cracked glasses because it’s the first gift Ciel had purchased for her. She has a big crush on Sebastian.
Tanaka - The steward who has served under Ciel’s parents and now serves Ciel. When his parents were murdered, Tanaka was there and was stabbed in the back.
Madame Red – The aunt of Ciel, she is a doctor who practices at Royal London Hospital. But when she was pregnant, she was in an accident in which her husband was killed and the baby died. So now she feels hatred towards those she performs abortions on and kills them along with the grim reaper named Grell Sutcliffe. Together, they are known as Jack the Ripper.
Grell Sutcliffe – A grim reaper who decides if a dying sould should be allowed to continue living, Grell is a gay man who calls himself a woman and is infatuated with Sebastian. He murders people alongside Madame Red.

VIDEO

What I enjoy about the series are the overall character designs and the costume designs. The series is very bishounen-driven but its combination of themes that are dark and hilarious actually work quite well for “Black Butler”. Last year, when I reviewed the DVD version, I mentioned that I would not be surprised if this series received a Blu-ray release. The colors look very good, as do the art backgrounds. Granted, this is a TV series, so you will have a bit of softness but compared to the DVD release, “Black Butler” looks very good with better line detail and vibrant colors.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

As for the lossless audio, you get a English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix. Typically, I listen to the Japanese soundtrack but in this case, because it takes place in the Victorian era, the English voice dub and accents are done very well. The voice talent for the English dub have said that “Black Butler” is one of the most challenging anime series as the voice talent had to perfect their spoken dialect and it does give the series its own personal feel and for the most part, it works. There is also a bit more of a dynamic range when it comes to the English lossless track.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Black Butler: The Complete First Season” comes with the following special features:

Episode 1 Commentary - Featuring audio commentary by Colleen Clinkenbeard (Director/Line Producer/voice of Angela), Brina Palencia (voice of Ciel).
Episode 7 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Ian Sinclair (Director/voice of Bardroy) and J. Michael Tatum (voice of Sebastian).
Episode 16 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Josh Grelle (voice of Edward) and Kevin Leasure, ADR Engineer.
Episode 21 Commentary – Featuring English dub voice talents Ian Sinclair, Monica Rial and Jason Liebrecht.
“The Story Thus Far” – (23:58) A summary of what has taken place on “Black Butler” feat. narration by Tanaka (the steward who worked for Ciel’s parents).
His Butler, Performer – (26:38) A special OVA which aired at the end of the first season of “Black Butler”. Due to a shipwreck, Sebastian must stage a performance of “Hamlet” to celebrate the third anniversary of the PhantomHive Company.
Becca Musician Profile – A text info. on BECCA
Textless Opening Song – Featuring the opening theme “Monochrome Kiss” by SID.
Textless Ending Theme Song – Featuring the ending theme “I’m Alive” by BECCA and “Lacrimosa” by Kalafina.

It’s great to finally have this anime series released on Blu-ray in the US!

The storyline for “Black Butler” is quite dark and there is plenty of violence and blood featured. But interesting enough, to help balance this darkness and make it more appealing to anime fans, you get the Bishounen style, you get the characters who are fun and hilarious (some who are clumsy and dumbwitted) and you have anime character designs that tend to change from more serious to crazy/hilarious.

The character designs, the art design are very well-done for “Black Butler” and you can tell that the first half of this season focused more on character development. Showing us the somewhat belligerent relationship that Ciel and Sebastian have but also their crazy staff that work at the Phantomhive mansion. The second season starts to show more serious and emotional storylines but because the manga is still ongoing, this is a series that manages to resolve Ciel’s storyline but also continuing the adventures of both Ciel and Sebastian for season two. And if you thought the first season was intriguing, the second season also has some surprises in store.

Overall, “Black Butler” is a pretty fun, exciting, dark and violent anime series. It’s actually a refreshing series because of the time period and the situation of the characters, especially Ciel. While I enjoyed “Black Butler” for its darker overtone, the series also has its fair share of humor and also emotional episodes. The last three episodes alone are wonderful and definitely sets things up for the second season.

As for the Blu-ray release, you do get the four audio commentary tracks plus the OVA for the first season. And as mentioned, the video quality for the Blu-ray release of “Black Butler” is definitely much improved compared to the DVD release. And as far as acting is concerned, the Japanese soundtrack is very good but I really have to commend the voice talent of “Black Butler” for pulling off the dialects, as I have seen many anime series that tend to fail. So, fortunately, the English dub was well-done.

If you are looking for an anime series on Blu-ray that is a bit dark and has it’s crazy moments and is also a lot of fun to watch, “Black Butler: The Complete First Season” may be what you are looking for.

Recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray