“Vampire Knight Guilty Volume 2″ (A J!-Ent Anime DVD Review)

September 26, 2011 by Michelle Tymon · Leave a Comment

“”Vampire Knight Guilty Volume 2″ is the second to last volume of the series and the most exciting yet. The many secrets that filled the series are finally revealed in this volume. A must see!”

DVD TITLE: Vampire Knight Guilty Volume 2

DURATION: 100 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9 WIDESCREEN, JAPANESE & ENGLISH STEREO

COMPANY: VIZ

RATED: 16+

Release Date: May 17 2011

Original Manga by Matsuri Hino

Directed by Kiyoko Sayama

Music by Hozumi Goda

Art Direction by Kazuhiro Ito

Character Designs by Asako Nishida

Produced by VAMPIRE KNIGHT PROJECT

Featuring the following voice talent:

Yui Horie/Mela Lee as Yuki Cross

Mamoru Miyano/Vic Mignogna as Zero Kiryu/Ichiru Kiryu

Daisuke Kishio/Ethan Murray as Kaname Kuran

Hozumi Goda/Christopher Corey as Kaien Cross

Junichi Suwabe/Troy Baker as Akatsuki Kain

Jun Fukuyama/Bryce Papenbrook as Hanabusa Aido

Junko Minagawa/Dorothy Elias-Fahn as Ruka Souen

Susumu Chiba/Spike Spencer as Takuma Ichijo

Souichiro Hoshi/Steve Staley as Senri Shiki

Eri Kitamura/Carrie Savage as Rima Touya

Hiroki Yasumoto/Travis Willingham as Toga Yagari

Risa Mizuno/Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Seiren

Kana Ueda/Stephanie Sheh as Sayori Wakaba

Mariko Kouda/Michelle Ruff as Juri Kuran

Hirofumi Nojima/Tony Oliver as Haruka Kuran

Tarusuke Shingaki/Patrick Seitz as Rido Kuran

Fumiko Orikasa/Wendee Lee as Shizuka Hio

Continually haunted by visions of blood, Yuki is determined to discover the secrets of her past, but Kaname repeatedly evades her questions. Zero confronts Kaname at the Moon Dormitory, and the two end up fighting. Then Kaname advances his relationship with Yuki to an entirely new level, which has the members of the Night Class in a bit of a tizzy. But Yuki’s dreams only intensify – will her past be forced into the light at last?

“Vampire Knight Guilty Volume 2″ contains episodes 5-8 of the second season of the popular anime series by Matsuri Hino. Many secrets surround the students of both the Day and Night Classes of Cross Academy, and many of them get revealed in this volume. Yuki is haunted by nightmares where she and her surroundings are covered in blood. Soon she starts seeing these visions when she’s not asleep. Meanwhile Ichiru Kiryu enrolls into Cross Academy, with full intention of killing those who he believes is responsible for Shizuka Hio’s death, even his own twin brother, Zero. The school gets one more visitor, Rido Kuran, Kaname’s uncle who seems to be after something Kaname has been protecting from him for years…

“Vampire Knight Guilty Volume 2″ focuses on the following main characters:

Yuki Cross – Yuki Cross is one of the main characters of the series. She is a member of the Day Class and is one of the members of the Disciplinary Committee in charge of keeping the Day and Night Classes separate. She is cute and clumsy despite being a member of the Disciplinary Committee. Yuki is the headmaster’s daughter and one of the only ones that knows the identity of the Night Class. Her earliest memory is of her about to be attacked by a vampire but being saved by Kaname Kuran. She has very strong feelings for Kaname Kuran but she also deeply cares about Zero, but more as a best friend. In this volume, she is constantly haunted by terrifying nightmares where everything around her is covered in blood. She gets much closer to Kaname in this volume and is finally able to unlock her mysterious past… but what is revealed may destroy her relationship with Zero.

Zero Kiryu – Zero is a member of the Day Class. He is also a member of the Disciplinary Committee with Yuki. The headmaster brought him in four years ago after his parents were killed by a vicious vampire. Because of that fact, he hates vampires and clashes with the members of the Night Class quite a bit. He is rather cool and sarcastic, but can manage to drop a few jokes with Yuki, who he’s rather close to. Despite being a hunter who hates vampires, ironically because he was bitten as a child, he is a vampire himself. Over the course of the series, Yuki and Zero have gotten closer… but something that happens in this volume may change their relationship once and for all.

Kaname Kuran – Kaname is a member of the Night Class. He is the leader and the most powerful out of the Night Class. He saved Yuki from a vampire when she was a child and is even still very protective towards her. He has very strong feelings for Yuki even though she’s rather oblivious to that fact. For the most part, he keeps the other vampires out of trouble and is the one who helped establish this school with Kaien Cross. There is a lot revealed about Kaname’s past in this volume and what happened to his parents. His relationship with Yuki and her past is also revealed and exactly how much he really cares for her.

Kaien Cross – Kaien is Yuki’s father as well as Zero’s adoptive father. He is the headmaster of Cross Academy and a former vampire hunter. He opened Cross Academy in hopes to bring peace between humans and vampires. His personality for the most part is rather eccentric. In this volume, it becomes a bit more apparent why he gave up hunting in this volume.

Akatsuki Kain – Akatsuki is a member of the Night Class. He is a pretty calm and loyal vampire who seems to always get in trouble only because he’s around his cousin, Hanabusa who causes trouble. He never loses his temper and seems to have insight on all of his friends and their feelings.

Hanabusa Aido – Hanabusa is a member of the Night Class. He is considered an idol (which is also a pun off of his name) by the girls of the Day Class. He is cute like a child but can be very jealous and throws tantrums just like a child would as well. He is very protective of Kaname and gets jealous of anyone that gets too close to him. He is Akatsuki’s cousin.

Ruka Souen – Ruka is a member of the Night Class. She is sophisticated and beautiful and she is the idol of males of the Day Class. She has very strong feelings for Kaname.

Takuma Ichijo – Takuma is a member of the Night Class. He is from an aristocratic family and is one of Kaname’s closest friends. He is rather cheerful and friendly unlike most other vampires.

Senri Shiki – Senri is a member of the Night Class. He rarely speaks and when he does, it’s usually a single sentence. He works as a model with Rima. In this volume, we get to see a bit more out of Senri and we find out a lot more about his family.

Rima Touya – Rima is a member of the Night Class. She is petite and pixie-like and works as a model with Senri. Also like Senri, she doesn’t speak very much and is not very energetic.

Toga Yagari – Yagari is a renowned vampire hunter and is sent to Cross Academy by the Hunter Association to see if everything is running as it should be. He is also Zero’s mentor as a vampire hunter from when he was younger. He saved Zero from a Level E vampire (humans that were bitten by vampires who turned into violent monsters that thirst for blood) which resulted in him losing his right eye. Despite being ruthless in killing vampires and knowing about Zero’s situation, he still seems to have hope in him.

Seiren – Seiren is another member of the Night Class and Kaname’s unofficial bodyguard.

Sayori Wakaba – Sayori is a member of the Day Class as well as Yuki’s best friend and dorm-mate. She is kind and always worries about her best friend.

Ichiru Kiryu – Ichiru is the younger twin brother to Zero. Years ago when Shizuka killed their parents, she turned Zero into a vampire and took Ichiru. Since then, he had been serving her until her death. Even before he was taken by Shizuka, he had always held a strong grudge against Zero. Ichiru was a sickly child and even though Zero and his parents loved him very much, he always felt inferior and slowly that overwhelming love just made him resent them even more. Despite being with Shizuka, he is still human which is another reason he hates Zero. Despite being reunited with his brother, the only thing on his mind is to avenge Shizuka’s death and kill anyone who he thinks is involved, including Zero.

Juri Kuran – Juri Kuran is a pure blood vampire, Kaname’s mother, Haruka’s wife and sister, and the sister of Rido. She was also very close to Kaien and was the reason he stopped hunting. She died when Kaname was younger along with her husband.

Haruka Kuran – Haruka Kuran is a pure blood vampire, Kaname’s father, Juri’s husband and brother, and the brother of Rido. He died when Kaname was younger along with Juri.

Rido Kuran – Rido is a pure blood vampire, the brother of Juri and Haruka Kuran, Uncle to Kaname Kuran and the father of Senri Shiki. He appears at Cross Academy looking for something he wasn’t able to obtain from Juri and Haruka Kuran at the time of their death, something that is very precious to Kaname.

Shizuka Hio – Shizuka is the pure blood vampire that killed Zero and Ichiru’s parents and turned Zero into a vampire.

“Vampire Knight Guilty Volume 2” features a total of 4 episodes on one DVD. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

Volume 2:

Episode 5- The Subordinate’s Trap – Cross Academy gets a new student: Zero’s twin brother, Ichiru.
Episode 6- Fake Lovers – Yuki and Kaname are supposedly a couple now, but they seem to have completely different ideas about their relationship…
Episode 7- Kiss of Thorns – Senri comes back to Cross Academy, but seems like a totally different person…
Episode 8- Spiraling Recollections – Yuki’s true past is finally revealed.

VIDEO & AUDIO

“Vampire Knight Guilty Volume 2″ is presented in 16:9 and audio options include both Japanese and English. Just like the rest of the series, the art in this volume is pretty but the character designs are indeed Shojo so that may attract or detract viewers. But overall, the art is great and the animation is smooth and backgrounds look great. Everyone is very pretty in this series.

Throughout the series, the Japanese cast as well as the American cast both do a wonderful job. All of the voices seem fitting and don’t seem out of place. The Japanese cast includes big names like Yui Horie, Mamoru Miyano, Daisuke Kishio, Jun Fukuyama, and many others. The American cast is also full of big name voice actors including Mela Lee, Ethan Murray, Vic Mignogna, Troy Baker, Stephanie Sheh, and others.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The only special features available on the discs are Viz Trailers and DVD Credits.

Drama, angst, revenge, and questionable relationships sum up this volume of “Vampire Knight Guilty”. If you love soap operas, then you’ll love this series and particularly this volume. Secret pasts revealed, plot twists, revenge, love triangles… (Maybe even love squares): all happen.

The main event that happens in this volume is Yuki’s mysterious past is finally revealed and that throws her relationships with Kaname and Zero into a tailspin… This is the exciting volume where everything changes.

I won’t reveal the big secret in my review, but if you’re watching this volume before any other volume: stop. Nothing will make sense and too much has happened in the story. “Vampire Knight Guilty” is the second season and prior to the four episodes in this season, there are thirteen episodes in season one. This volume starts off seventeen episodes into the whole series. This series is very story driven and for the most part the story is linear, so it’s not a series you can pick up a random volume to start watching. Not to mention there are a lot of main characters to keep track of and this particular volume reveals one of the biggest secrets of the series. If you have been watching the series, this is the volume you want to watch.

The “Vampire Knight” series pretty much has non-stop drama. The whole story is rather dramatic and serious, so I am very happy that they have the breaks with the funny little moments, which I probably enjoy the most out this series. There are a lot of great characters as well and they vary in types so most viewers can find at least one character they like and or can relate to. I personally like the banter between Yuki and Aidou as well as the moments where Zero, who is usually rather serious, can have a silly moment.

The target audience for this series will probably be mostly girls, considering it’s full of drama, angst, romance, and pretty vampire boys… (of course guys can like that too) the series does have some action in it, but this particular volume is full of drama.

This was also a very big character development volume. Yuki’s past is revealed, bringing much more depth to her character. Kaname’s past is revealed a bit more and we get to see more of exactly who he is and what exactly Yuki means to him. Zero’s self-loathing continues in this volume, but seems better when he is with Yuki… until her secret is revealed. Ichiru… still hates his brother (as well as pretty much everyone else), and is still annoying. On the other hand, one thing I enjoyed a lot was the fact that we got to see a little more of the background characters like Senri and Rima, instead of them just being in the background all of the time. They are two of my favorite characters so it was nice to see them get a little more spotlight.

As I’ve mentioned, this volume is exciting story wise, but brings to light some very, very questionable relationships among the pure blood vampire folk… I know that there are some Shojo manga series fans that LOVE this kind of stuff… but it might be a little too much for me. With that being said, if you are looking for a series full of pretty vampire men, messy love triangles, angst, revenge, drama… congratulations! You have found the perfect series for you. If you’re not looking for any of the above, this series does offer some action and quite a bit of comedy too, and the funny parts are truly funny, but the other themes are still much stronger and may be too much for some.

This volume is the final step before the conclusion of the anime series, so most of the secrets throughout the series get answered in this volume so if you have been watching the series up until this point, it’s very exciting. If you have not seen the rest of the series up to this point or know nothing about the series, I emphasize again that this volume will be confusing and full of spoilers so I definitely recommend watching the rest of the series first.

Team Kaname or Team Zero: one of them definitely takes the lead in this volume and you’ll have to watch to see which one it is. All of your questions will be answered in this volume. Be sure to pick up this climactic volume leading up to the exciting conclusion!

Filed Under: Anime on DVD

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

July 27, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” ends with part 5 and what a thrilling, pulse-pounding finale it came to be! Action-packed, battles galore, the ending is much better than the previous series! Highly recommended!

TITLE: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part Five

DURATION: Episodes 53-64 (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 14

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: August 2, 2011

Originally Created by Hiromu Arakawa

Directed by Yasuhiro Irie

Series Composition by Hiroshi Ohnogi

Music by Akira Senju

Character Design 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

The Flame Alchemist’s rebel army pushes the forces of Central to the brink of collapse – until the enemy’s fallen leader returns to take control. As mortals and monsters wage war, young Edward and Alphonse Elric must face a cruel being with the unholy power of a god. After endless adventures and countless struggles, the boys find the fate of the world in their weary hands. When the Gateway closes and the circle is complete, who will be left alive to celebrate the astonishing sacrifices made?

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. Currently there are over 60 episodes that have aired in Japan and the series is still ongoing. Also, unlike the previous anime series, this series would be created in HD (540p). The first 13 episodes of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” would feature its first 13-episodes covering the first 26-episodes from the original anime series but from that point on, the series becomes a whole new storyline which features more characters and for the most part, something new and different for the viewers, especially fans of the original series.

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 be 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!”).

“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. And these consequences and guilt have plunged Edward to the lowest he had ever been.

Meanwhile, a military figure named Roy Mustang has come and is shocked to see that Edward was able to survive a human transmutation and also anchoring his brother’s soul and thus gives Edward a chance to join the military to fight with them but at the same time, gaining access that may give Edward a chance to bring his brother back to life and also his own body as well.

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 his every move and willing to kill in order to get to Edward.

In part two of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood”, we learn that Bradley is a homunculus and that the homunculus may have infiltrated the State Military.

In part three, Ed and Al continue their search of how to get their bodies back but meanwhile, Scar tries to find out the truth of why the Ishvalans were massacred. Meanwhile, Ed and Al find themselves in the North needing Olivier’s help but can they divulge the information about Bradley, the Fuhrer is a homunculus? Meanwhile, Ed and Al find themselves teaming up with the people they have been against.

In part four of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” and division in the State military have been drawn as information of Bradley being a homunculus is now known and a war between the rebellious members of the State Military led by Mustang take on the homunculus.

And here we are with the final volume of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood”. It’s an explosive finale as we get to see Mustang vs. Envy, Scar vs. Bradley, Armstrong vs. Sloth and a whole slew of surprises that will definitely be quite exciting for the fans who have stuck with this series since the beginning.

Will Elric get Al’s body back? Will Elric get his limbs back? Will the military be able to defeat the Homunculus?

This is the way that Hiromu Arakawa had wanted “Fullmetal Alchemist” to be, how it was meant to end and what a thrilling conclusion right to the final episode!

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” 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.
Alex Louis Armstrong – A strong arm alchemist who is extremely strong and hulking in size but also very sensitive.
Izumi Curtis - The teacher of Ed and Alphonse Eric who helped them hone their alchemy right after their mother died.
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.
King Bradley – The head of the State Military and King of Amestris who has a major secret.
Riza Hawkeye – Roy Mustang’s most trusted subordinate. The voice of reason and excellent in using firearms.
Jean Havoc - One of Roy Mustang’s subordinates who is exceptionally trained in firearms.
Lin Yao – A prince of Xing who is trying to find ways of immortality in order to prepare for his goal as Xing’s future emperor. An excellent swordsman.
Lan Fan – Lin Yao’s bodyguard and a skilled fighter willing to protect her boss at all costs.
May Chang – A young princess of Xing who goes to Amestris with her panda Xiao Mei. She has the power to heal and also manipulate energy.
Olivier Mira Armstrong – The older sister of Alex Louis Armstrong who leads the Brigs Fortress and protects the country from Drachma. She is cold, distrusts people and inpatient. She believes in “Survival of the fittest”.
Miles - A man who is quarter Ishvalan and wants to change the country’s perception towards Ishval.
Buccaneer – A huge man who has two different pieces of automail (the latest type of automail which makes Winry so excited when she is around him).

The Homunculi

The main antagonists which consist of artificial humans who are trying to create the philosopher’s stone and has become a major thorn in the military’s side. They are hard to defeat as they can regenerate.

Father – The main antagonist who is the creator of all homunculi. For some reason, he looks like Hohenheim and has interest in Ed and Al.
Lust – A homunculi who is a sexy woman who can use her fingers to become weapons and grow to larger lengths and cut through anything.
Gluttony – A homunculi who likes to eat people or anything. He has powerful jaws with acidic saliva.
Envy – A homunculi who can assume any appearance and makes him infiltrate the military HQ quite easily and is known to create and instigate major problems.
Greed – A homunculi that craves money, women and worldy possessions. After being killed by Wrath, Lin Yao who is searching for immortality wants to become the new Greed.
Sloth – A large muscular man who has great speed and strength for his size. He has been digging beneath Amestris and ends up inside the Briggs Fortress.
Pride – A homunculus using the body of Selim Bradley, the adoptive son of King Bradley, He uses his shadows to kill.

VIDEO:

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Part Part Five” is presented in 1080p HD 16×9 via a HD native source. It’s important to note that although the conversion was made to 1080p, I’ve read that the actual Japanese original masters were created in 540p. With that being said, this is a TV series and one can’t expect OVA or film quality but I manage to compare the DVD and Blu-ray version and the Blu-ray looks much more colorful, much more detailed and looked much better and more colorful than its DVD counterpart.

I did notice edge enhancement and I’m sure the conversion of a 540p source to 1080p possibly led to the jaggies that can be seen at times. Granted, I’m a bit picky when it comes to video quality but the fact that this is created by BONES (a busy anime production company) and the fact that this is not an OVA or film, for a TV series, “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” looks very good. Granted, it’s not uber-vibrant but there is a good amount of shading, detail, blacks are deep and overall, I felt the Blu-ray looked much better than its DVD counterpart.

AUDIO:

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Part Part Five” 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. There is quite a bit of action in this second volume, plenty of battles are featured and many episodes that utilize the surround channels.

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 especially during the more emotional moments in this second volume (which there are many). But I’ve watched the series in both Japanese and English and for the most part, both are well done and similar to “Dragon Ball Z” and “One Piece”, the English dub has caught my attention and this time around, I was watching many of the episodes in English. But both voice acting are well done.

Subtitles are in English.

NOTE: You can not use your audio button to switch from Japanese to English and vice versa while watching the series. You will need to press your guide button to switch to another audio. Also, you can not optionally remove English subtitles unless you choose the English lossless soundtrack. So, for those who want to watch the series in Japanese with no English subtitles may be disappointed by this.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Part Five” comes with the following special features:

EPISODE 64 Commentary – Audio commentary by Mike McFarland (ADR Director/Line Producer and voice of Havoc) and Maxi Whitehead (voice of Alfonse) and Vic Mignona (voice of Elric).
Outtakes – (7:33) Outtakes by the English dub voice talents from the entire series (Note: there is profanity in the outtakes).
Textless Opening and Closing Songs – The textless opening and two ending theme songs.
Trailers – FUNimation Entertainment trailers.

The final episodes of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” is finally here.

And what an explosive final volume it turned out to be!

If there were two words that came to mind after watching “Part Five” it would be the words “Kick Ass”. Because there is a lot off butt-kicking in this series. You want to see Mustang go all out, oh..well, wait until you see the battle between Mustang vs. Envy. And you can learn how his anger has to be tempered but also getting to see that caring side that he has towards Risa.

Another butt-kicking moment was to see Armstrong vs. Sloth but also seeing who else comes to the rescue to battle Sloth. One of the coolest and also more hilarious moments of the series.

You get to see one of the coolest fighting moments in the series as Scar takes on Bradley. And of course, it doesn’t end there. Every character gets into the action and the battles are pretty significant, bloody but also…as mentioned, “Kick Ass”.

But most importantly, unlike the previous series, we do get a conclusion to what happens to Elric and Alfonse. And for me, this is how Hiromu Arakawa ended it, had wanted it and I would take this ending over the original series anyday. It was well-done, well-written and from beginning to end, I felt the series was much better executed.

As for the Blu-ray release, PQ and AQ is good and voice acting for both lossless soundtracks are well-done. This time around, I found myself more comfortable listening to the English dub track and this is coming from a guy who prefers to watch anime in Japanese most of the time. But both are well-acted and fans should not have a problem with either. As for the special features, we get an audio commentary with English voice talent Maxi Whitehead (Al) and Vic Mignona (Elric) to discuss their feeling of working on the series and how they felt about the series vs. the original version. And we also get a gag reel of all the outtakes during the making of the series. Plus the usual trailers and textless opening and ending themes.

I was able to compare the DVD and the Blu-ray release of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” and the artistic backgrounds and its details are much better looking on Blu, the colors are more cleaner, sharper and more colorful on Blu and for the most part, for a TV series, I’m quite content with the PQ. I felt the black levels were good and again, for a TV Series released in 2009, the picture quality is good not great (it’s not 1080p) and there is a hint of edge enhancement but it’s still pretty good. And in this part four, you also get two audio commentary as well.

Overall, “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” was fantastic from beginning to end. But this final part V pretty much validated for me that I preferred this version over the original. The story and battle sequences were intense but for the most part, I felt that “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” story-wise was very appealing, exciting and addictive.

I know there are some who are very hooked on the original that they didn’t want to try “Brotherhood” but I highly recommend giving this series a try since this series, an adaptation of the manga series that is very faithful to Arakawa’s work, unlike the previous series which creators had to come up with a different storyline because the manga was not completed at the time.

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Sakura-Con 2011 Report by Michelle Tymon (J!-ENT Interviews and Articles)

June 4, 2011 by Michelle Tymon · Leave a Comment

Sakura-Con 2011 Report and Photography by Michelle Tymon

Sakura Con 2011 proved that the popularity of anime and Japanese culture are still very strong in the US and especially in Seattle. The attendance at the yearly convention grows every year and this year, it was no exception bringing in an amazing 19,040, over 1,000 more than last year’s number of 18,002. The weather also proved to be nice for most of the weekend, but because it is taking place in Seattle, there was still some rain.

However, that definitely didn’t stop anyone from going to the con. Anime fans could be seen walking up and down the streets of Seattle that weekend, rain or shine.

Kotono Mitsuishi performing with Team Dreamcatchers at Sakura-Con 2011

The guest lineup at this year’s Sakura Con was impressive as ever as they brought big names from both Japan and America. Guests this year included: Kotono Mitsuishi, Berryz Kobo, exist+trace, Daisuke Moriyama, Tony Oliver, Clarine Harp, Christopher Bevins, Tiffany Grant, Cynthia Cranz, Wendy Powell, Stephanie Sheh, and 6%DOKIDOKI.

Tiffany Grant

For a complete listing for the 2011 guest lineup, http://www.sakuracon.org/programming/guests.php

Fans can come to Sakura Con to enjoy many activities involving manga/anime, video games, Japanese music, and Japanese tradition and culture.

For those interested in manga/anime, the convention offers panels, Q&A’s, autograph signings with industry guests, a huge exhibition hall where fans can buy all sorts of merchandise, Artist Alley where artists can show off their own art, and cosplay photoshoots.

Video game fans can enjoy 24 hour gaming rooms, video game tournaments, retro gaming, DDR and other arcade games, Microsoft playtest, and the Rock Band stage.

For fans of Japanese music, there are a few concerts during the weekend they can go to (this year it was the JRock band exist+trace and the JPop group Berryz Kobo) and people can enjoy open mic karaoke, karaoke contests, and various dances. As for those interested in Japanese culture, people can go play the game “Go”, watch various cultural and traditional demonstrations or get information through various organizations like the Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle, the Japan America Society of the State of Washington, and the Hyogo Business and Cultural Center.

There are also various theaters at Sakura-Con including the AMV theater, anime theaters, and live-action theaters. They are not only a great way to watch great anime and movies, but also a great place to relax if you ever had free time in between events you wanted to go to and they are also open 24 hours.

Crowd outside the Exhibition Hall at Sakura-Con 2011

For the past few years, Sakura-Con has been known to bring some amazing musical guests from Japan.

On Friday night, the JRock band exist+trace held a concert. exist+trace is a visual rock band consisting of all female members. At their concert, they showed that they could definitely hold their own and rock out even harder than their male colleagues. Despite some technical problems in the beginning, they still managed to rock the house and the crowd had a great time.

On Saturday night, the JPop group Berryz Kobo performed to a packed house and even brought some of their hardcore fans from Japan with them. They started out the concert talking about the earthquake and tsunami that had just devastated Northeastern Japan and kicked off the concert with a cover of the popular 1992 song “Ai wa Katsu” by Kan.

I happened to be sitting next to four fans from Japan who were jumping, cheering, shouting, and dancing through the whole show. While looking around the audience, I also spotted another older fan from Japan who was in one of the aisles dancing the choreography to each and every song they sang perfectly. The fans from Japan definitely made themselves known among the crowed but the American fans were also full of energy and enjoyed the show.

Berryz Kobo at their Q&A

Every year at Sakura-Con they hold a charity auction. This year was no different, except this year the charity auction was for both the Make-A-Wish Foundation as well as Peace Winds America, the latter to help out the relief efforts in Japan for those affected by the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in March of this year. Things that were auctioned off at both auctions were quite impressive this year.

Items included shikishi drawings done by artists attending Sakura-Con as well as other famous artists, huge Sakura-Con 2011 posters that were displayed at the various hotels, signed anime goods, anime cels, and many other items. The first two badges for next year’s convention were also auctioned off and went for about $2,000.

The package included badge #’s 1 & 2, a free hotel room for the whole weekend as well as advanced VIP seating for all the events.

Run Sasaki and a Team Dreamcatchers' member presenting Luffy's coat at the Charity Auction

During the Peace Winds America auction, very rare and amazing things were offered with the help of Kotono Mitsuishi and Run Sasaki.

Kotono Mitsuishi offered items from her own merchandise from her website; she had three bundles available which included a signed original t-shirt, cellphone charms and a handkerchief. Mitsuishi-san also managed to get other items signed by other cast members on shows she’s currently working on and auctioned them off.

One of the most amazing things that Run Sasaki auctioned off was a replica of the coat Luffy wore in the movie, “One Piece: Strong World”. Not only was the coat a one of a kind, Mayumi Tanaka (the seiyuu who does Luffy’s voice) wore it at last year’s Sakura-Con during her performance with Team Dreamcatchers and signed it as well.

One of the items that I highly regret not getting was a one of a kind “Anpanman” handkerchief. I am not the biggest “Anpanman” fan, but this handkerchief was not sold in stores and it was signed by the cast members. It being signed by Keiko Toda (the seiyuu who does “Anpanman” is also a famous actress in Japan who has done many dramas and movies) alone would make it worth quite a bit, but since it includes so many other signatures including Koichi Yamadera (another famous seiyuu whose credits include Ryoga from “Ranma 1/2″), it was priceless.

Other items included shirts signed by Ikue Ohtani (who does Pikachu’s voice in “Pokemon” and Chopper’s voice in “One Piece”) and other amazing goodies. Both charities raised thousands of dollars for wonderful causes.

For more information on either of these charities, please go to: http://www.wish.org and http://peacewindsamerica.org/

Outside the convention center

As someone who has been going to the convention since 2004, I’ve seen this convention grow quite a bit.

Every year the convention would grow in attendance and bring in even more guests and the names got bigger every year. And because of the convention’s growth each year, there have been a few minor bumps in the road along the way but this year the staff did an outstanding job keeping everything running smoothly and their hard work was very apparent.

The staff members and volunteers put in countless amount of hours every year to bring such a big event to the growing number of fans every single year. One of the biggest improvements that I saw was in dealing with the lines for the autograph signings.

In past years of Sakura-Con, the autograph signings sometimes caused frustration because there would be only an hour and some guests were so big that the line of people that would show up would be too long and not everyone would be able to get an autograph because of the time constraints.

This year the lines were still insanely long for some guests but they were better organized and the lines moved smoothly. They also held two autograph sessions at once (the room that the signings were in as huge) most of the time and also held more than one autograph signing for a number of the big guests to help everyone who wanted an autograph to get one.

One of the biggest lines that I personally witnessed for Sakura-Con was the line for Kotono Mitsuishi on Saturday. There was a slight confusion with people lining up early for the session who were given bracelets to come back later (this year the convention made a rule where people were not supposed to line up earlier than 30 minutes before the signing) but even with that, everyone there was able to get an autograph.

Cosplayers: Boa Hancock and Nami fighting over Luffy

Another bump in the road they managed to fix this year was the wait time for registration. Last year, registration took hours for some con goers but this year, registration was speedy.

The con goers I talked to mentioned that the time to get their badges this year only took minutes and every time I passed by the registration room, the lines were very short. That is an incredible feat considering the 19,040 con goers this year. Despite some frustration that may be caused, this convention really wouldn’t be possible without the staff and the volunteers.

This year they were able to show that past problems can be resolved so it really will be exciting to see what kinds of guests and events they bring us next year.

Line at the Exhibition Hall for the Berryz Kobo CD

Big guests, amazing concerts, cosplaying and tons of fun events: Sakura-Con 2011 was amazing and anime fans can definitely look forward to Sakura-Con 2012.

Cosplayer: Haruhi Suzumiya

For more pictures check out my flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28410146@N06/sets/72157626884064456/

Filed Under: Interviews and Articles

Culture Japan Episode 6 Review: “Impressive rides with anime graphics (itasha) explored” (J!-ENT Straight-Up Reviews)

May 27, 2011 by Level J · Leave a Comment

Culture Japan Episode 6. Images courtesy of dannychoo.com.

“Danny Choo’s passion for, and uncanny access to, Japanese pop culture is a big draw for me or anyone with even a slight interest in Japanese pop culture”

TITLE: Culture Japan Episode 6

TYPE OF SERIES: Japanese Pop Culture

MEDIUM: Streaming Video

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS EPISODE

OFFICIAL SERIES WEBSITE

Images courtesy of dannychoo.com.

“Culture Japan” is not only the name of the web show, it is also the name of the related website with a enormous following.

“Culture Japan” episode 6 caught my attention from the initial intro of the series.

The “Culture Japan” slogan is: “Your Portal to Japan”. Watching episode 6, I felt that I had stepped through that portal and had arrived in Japan. That portal is still open, as I have been very reluctant to cease watching the episodes in a non-stop fashion.

Danny Choo, the director and host of “Culture Japan”, has a list of accomplishment and success that strike me as very impressive. Here’s the rundown, Danny Choo resides in Tokyo and runs a small web and TV production company called Mirai Inc.

Danny Also works with Japanese companies such as figurine/doll manufacturers, anime/game producers, print publishers, e-commerce retailers to name a few.

Danny Choo resume also includes working as Computer Engineer at Japan Airlines, Website Manager on the management team at Amazon and as CGM Product Manager at Microsoft. Danny Choo also speaks Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, and English.

The vision of Danny Choo for “Culture Japan” was to be a medium where he can share Japanese culture with the world. The show is currently broadcast on Saturday on Tokyo MX TV and broadcasted in Asia through the Animax Asia Network. Currently, Danny Choo is working to get it broadcasted on television in various countries but for now, people can watch it through live video streaming service, Crunchyroll.com.

A great portion of “Culture Japan” episode 6 covers the” Ita-G Festival 2010″.

The “Ita-G Festival” features cars (itasha), bicycles (itachari), motorcycles (itansha), and other transportation belonging to anime fans and otaku (fanatics).

I did mention that these vehicles belong to anime fans and otaku, right?

So, it is safe to assume that these vehicles had a special flare to them; the special flare being stickers, graphics, and memorabilia of their favorite anime series or characters which transforms them into itasha and so forth.

Danny Choo was also part of the festival with an itasha featuring his very own character: Murai Suenaga which is also available for purchase as a FIGMA action figure (and also other various Mirai Suenaga related merchandise).

Danny Choo’s passion for, and uncanny access to, Japanese pop culture is a big draw for me or anyone with even a slight interest in Japanese pop culture.

This episode was bursting with so much information and addicting coverage of the itasha culture; I immediately became engorged and addicted to this show at the same time. I am sure the episodes that follow will be chocked full of the same passion and access to the Japanese pop culture that I have quickly become enamored with.

Culture Japan covers different subjects each episode but there are reoccurring segments such as the AmiAmi sponsored figure countdown. This segment features Richard Wilson along with Danny Choo as they countdown the top ten anime and manga figures available.

After watching episode 6 of this Danny Choo Production, I would blindly recommend this show with great enthusiasm to otaku of all caliber. But not only otaku but to anyone who has even a passing interest in Japan pop culture. I honestly felt like I was watching a live version of “Newtype” magazine (a longtime, popular Japanese magazine that covers otaku culture from anime, manga, models, etc.).

While watching Crunchyroll.com, anyone can watch it for free but there will be continuous advertising that will self-interrupt the viewing for a minute and then return back to the show. Premium members subscribed to Crunchyroll.com will not have their viewing disrupted by ads.

I thought Danny Choo did an excellent job as the host of Culture Japan. I was impressed at how Choo conveyed his love and fiery passion for Japanese culture in episode 6 of “Culture Japan”. If you want to be in the know of itasha culture and enjoy following host Danny Choo as he brings Japanese pop culture to the world, I recommend to you episode 6 of “Culture Japan”.

Now if you want seconds and thirds and fourths… You get the picture. Spoil yourself by watching all the episodes available online. For now my portal to Japan will stay open.

Filed Under: Anime Related News

Kurokami the Animation: Volume Six (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

May 1, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

The conclusion of “Kurokami the Animation” is here with the final sixth volume. Kuro, Keita and friends put up one final fight against the evil Masagami… who will survive and who will die? A fitting conclusion to this action anime series and also included is a bonus episode featuring the character Excel. Overall, “Kurokami the Animation” has become an entertaining, action-driven anime series from beginning to end. It’s worth checking out!

TITLE: Kurokami – The Animation – Volume Six

DURATION: EPISODES 21-24 (100 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen), English PCM 2.0,

COMPANY: Sunrise/Bandai Entertainment

RATED: NOT RATED (Note: This anime does feature violence)

Release Date: May 22, 2011

Originally created by Dall-Young Lim, Sung-woo Park

Directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi

Series Composition by Reiko Yoshida

Original Character Design by Sung-woo Park

Character Design: Hiroyuki Nishimura

Art Director: Shunichiro Yoshihara

Chief Animation Director: Hiroyuki Nishimura

Art Design: Tomoyasu Fujise

Sound Director: Hiromi Kikuta

Director of Photography: Naoyuki Wada

Anime Production by Sunrise

Featuring the following voice talent:

Jason Griffith as Keita Ibuki

Laura Bailey as Kuro

Christopher Kromer as Daichi Kuraki

Crispin Freeman as Reishin

Emily Bauer as Riona Kogure

Eva Kaminsky as Nam

Julie Ann Taylor as Akane Sano

Kathleen McInerney as Yuki Kaionji

Marc Thompson as Hiyou

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Mikami Hojo

Michael Sinterniklaas as Punipuni

Patrick Seitz as Steiner

Stephanie Sheh as Excel

With the truth behind Reishin’s actions finally revealed, Keita learns the horrible secret behind Kuro’s power. Now Kuro must face not only the evil power behind everything but also fight against her very own nature. With their true enemy finally revealed, the Tera Guardians muster all their strength to defeat their foe… even if it costs them everything.

The final sixth volume of “Kurokami” is here!

In this final volume featuring episodes 21-24, Kuro and Keita have made a commitment to put an end to the Doppeliner System that has caused everyone so much misery! But the biggest surprise was that her brother Reishin was never an enemy, he was protecting her from being sacrificed by their village. But now, the Masagami, red and white incarnations that are part of Kuro have incredible power and wants to form with Kuro in order to rule the world and destroy the galaxy.

It’s the final battle where everything is put on the line. Who will live and who will die?

“Kurokami the Animation” Back Story

For those who have never heard of “Kurokami”, in the world of “Kurokami” (“Black God”), one sometimes think they see another person that looks exactly like them (doppelganger) but in reality, there are three (doppeliner) which share the same life force (known as Tera). If by any chance, one was to see each other, one would die and the others would have that life force equally distributed. Making sure this “Coexistence Equilibrium” is kept in check are the Tera Guardians.

This is the story of “Kurokami”, a 23-episode anime TV series which is an adaptation of a Japanese manga series by Dall-Young Lim and illustrated by Sung-Woo Park and is an ongoing series published in the magazine “Young Gangan”.

The anime series is directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi (“Glass no Kamen”, “Midori Days”, “Twelve Kingdoms”) and features series composition by Reiko Yoshida (“Aria”, “D.Gray-Man”, “Kaleido Star”, “Peach Girl”). Character designs are by Hiroyuki Nishimura (“Spirit of Wonder”, “Deltora Quest”) and music composed by Tomohisa Ishikawa (“Appleseed: Ex Machina”, “Kite Liberator”, “Innocent Venus”). And now the first volume of the anime series is released on Blu-ray and includes the first four episodes.

“Kurokami” revolves around a teenager named Keita Ibuki. When he was younger, his mother met someone that looked exactly like her and the next day she was hit by a car. So, the existence of a doppelganger has always been in his mind.

One night when he went out for ramen, he meets a girl named Kuro along with her dog Punipuni, they seem quite hungry. He offers her his ramen and all seems well until a madman comes out of nowhere and assaults her.

Keita tries to help her but is easily beaten by this madman. But what he sees is this girl’s incredible fighting power. After all is done and Kuro overcomes her assailant, she tells him that she is out to kill her brother.

The paths of both Keita and Kuro cross again and Kuro explains to her about the doppeliner and that she is a Tera Guardian. As Keita tries to deal with this and possibly learn why his mother died, his childhood friend Akane (who likes Keita) tries to help both Keita and Kuro as well.

One evening, a group of thugs with extreme power go after her again but this time, Keita tries to help but is mortally wounded. Kuro manages to escape with him but because he is dying, she decides to exchange hearts with him in order to keep him alive and thus a contract is created. But she warns him that they must be near each other at all times or her heart will become necrotic if its too far away from her. Keita has now become the contractee and his life is forever bonded with Kuro.

In volume 2 of “Kurokami the Animation”, Keita and Kuro confront a group of Tera Guardians in battle, meanwhile we learn about Kuro’s past and also information about Keita’s deceased mother. But most importantly, Keita is told the truth about his status of being a contractee and that contractees can easily be killed and are not invincible.

For Keita, his thought was that he wouldn’t die during a battle but now knowing that he is vulnerable may change his status of how he fights with Kuro. Meanwhile, Keita, Kuro and Akane left to Okinawa and confronted two survivors from the Hiba Clan.

In volume 3, it appears that others are looking for the survivors of the Hiba Clan and while Reishin makes his appearance. Keita discovers that contractees can be “negative roots” but would he ever dare going that direction. Also, a friend who had been dead has made his appearance once again and the news he has for Keita will surprise him.

As Kuro and Keita barely survive against their battle with Reishin, thanks to the help of Excel and Steiner, Kuro and Keita are able to escape. But unfortunately, in order for them to escape, Steiner sacrificed his life. Meanwhile, Kuraki and Raiga then take on Reishin to for the control of the Kaionji Group.

In volume four, this begins the second season of “Kurokami”. Kuro and Keita take on the powerful Shinra and both find a way to combine their life energy. Meanwhile, Akane is revealed to be a master root. Everyone in the world except Tera Guardians and contractee’s have collapsed for some unknown reason and the Pure Land has been created.

“Kurokami: The Animation” features the following characters:

Keita Ibuki – When Keita was young, he met a woman that looked like his mother. The following day, his mother died. One day, while trying to defend a woman who was getting beaten by a Tera Guardian, he is severely injured in the heart area and before he was to die, Kuro saves his life by forming a contract with him. As long as the two are close together, he has the ability to heal Kuro and also develops his skill as a contractee.
Kuro Shishigami - One of the last remaining members of the Shishigami clan and a Tera Guardian. She is after her brother Reishin Shishigami who murdered everyone in the clan (including their mother) except her. She now has formed a bond with Keita and together they take on other enemy Tera Guardians.
Reishin Shishigami - The older brother of Kuro who was thought to be the evil enemy ends up being a brother trying to protect his younger sister.
Akane Sano – A childhood friend of Keita, Akane is in love with him but has a hard time expressing it to him. She occasionally joins Keita and Kuro on their adventures.
Punipuni - Kuro’s small doberman pup and is always hungry. He also seems to understand people when they talk to him.
Excel - A veteran contractee who worked with the Tera Guardian named Steiner and later Mikami. She has the ability to create Hexagon shields.
Yakumo – A Tera Guardian that survived the massacre and does all he can to protect Kuro. His contractee is Riona Kogure and both are often traveling with Kuro and Keita.
Riona Kogure - A contractee of Yakumo. She escaped from the Kaionji group when she found out that she was going to be experimented on.
Mikami Houjou – A powerful Tera Guardian from the Ginko clan. She once worked for the Kaionji group for medicine to give to her dying contractee. She later forms a contract with Excel.
Nam – A Tera Guardian who has the sole job of not interfering but recording the history of the Tera Guardian. She is also very well-endowed, hungry and having discovered real food, begins to freeload at Keita’s home.

“Kurokami” vol. 6 features the episodes 21-24 of the TV series on one Blu-ray disc. Here is a brief, spoiler-free synopsis of each episode:

EPISODE 21 – Deity – The fight against the Masagami. Who will live and who will die?
EPISODE 22 – Destiny – The aftermath of the fight against Masagami… but was the Doppeliner System eliminated?
EPISODE 23 – Path - The final episode. A recap story that ends with us knowing what happened to Kuro, Keita and Akane.
BONUS EPISODE 24 – The Tigress and the Wing – The following is a bonus un-aired episode featuring a recap of Excel’s life and her becoming the contractee for Mikami Houjou.

VIDEO:

“Kurokami The Animation” is featured in 1080p High Definition. The series is quite vibrant and looks absolutely beautiful in HD. Blacks are nice and deep, colors pop and I didn’t notice any edge enhancement or compression artifacts during my viewing of the series.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Kurokami The Animation” is presented in English PCM 2.0. And as mentioned in my previous review of volume 1 of the series, “Kurokami” does not include the lossless Japanese audio while the DVD does include both soundtracks. It is discussed on various message boards that because the series is being released at the same time in Japan, to prevent reverse importation, the lossless Japanese soundtrack was not granted for the U.S. release (note: In Japan, the Blu-ray release costs about three times as more than the U.S. release and to prevent reverse importation over there, they didn’t include English subtitles).

Unfortunately with Japan and the U.S. on the same region for Blu-ray releases and people demanding simultaneous or near simultaneous releases, this is easily going to be an issue for American anime fans if more series continue to feature the lack of a Japanese audio track.

As for the English dub, for the most part the English dubbing was well-done. Jason Griffith (as Keita) known for his work for the character Shadow for “Sonic X” does a very good job but anime voice acting veterans Laura Bailey (as Kuro) and Julie Ann Taylor (as Akane) do a solid job as the voice of their characters.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Kurokami the Animation vol. 6″ contains the following special features:

Textless ending themes - Included are two textless ending themes for “Kurokami the Animation”.
Bandai Entertainment Previews

With the last fifth volume of “Kurokami the Animation”, the action-packed volume and also the final reveal about Reishin was a surprise and now here we are with the continuation but also the final volume of the series. While the last volume was all about the action, this final sixth volume concludes the action with episode 22 with the final fight against the Masagami but also knowing what must be done to end the Doppeliner System.

In the end, “Kurokami the Animation” gives fans closure to how the series ends and what happens to the characters. The ending of episode 23, the final episode of “Kurokami”, was quite touching but also sad at the same time. But by watching the series from beginning to end, I felt it was the only conclusion that had to happen. Especially having to conclude the Kuro – Keita – Akane angle. The final episode, features a narrative of the three protagonists of the series and gives us insight in the minds of Kuro, Akane and also Keita and it was a fitting end to this series.

Also included on the Blu-ray release (and DVD) is the un-aired episode about Excel and gives us good insight about her and the relationship she had with Steiner but also how she became a contractee for Mikami.

Although listed as “episode 24″, this is not the final episode, this is an unaired bonus episode that was created but has no place in the pacing of the series as the director kept the focus on Kuro and Keita. But it was a good bonus episode to have on the Blu-ray release and to also let us know why she is so wise despite being a teen.

“Kurokami – The Animation” is an enjoyable anime series sporting cool characters, cool animation/background art and also fight sequences. The series had its share of dark moments but also its fair share of hilarious, fun and upbeat moments. But the storyline while focusing on action, actually has a clever storyline about doppelgangers, fortunately the diverse characters in this series have made “Kurokami” worth watching.

While I know there are anime fans who are put off by the fact that this is the only Bandai Entertainment release thus far that does not contain a Japanese soundtrack, fortunately the English dub is well-done. I do wish that the Blu-ray releases had more special features outside of the usual textless ending themes but in the end, the anime series throughout its entire run was entertaining and with each release, had me wanting more and more.

Overall, “Kurokami the Animation: Volume Six” was a fun and enjoyable action series from beginning to end! Was it the best anime series, definitely not. But would I watch it again? Most definitely.

If you have been curious about this anime series, “Kurokami the Animation” is a series that I can easily recommend!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

VIZAnime.com To Stream Highly Anticipated BLUE EXORCIST Anime on 4/20!

April 8, 2011 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

PARANORMAL ANIME ADVENTURE BLUE EXORCIST PREMIERES ON VIZANIME.COM THIS MONTH

New Aniplex Series About A Teenager And His Infernal Destiny Launches In The U.S. Only Days After Japanese Debut

VIZ Media has announced that it will serve as an official distribution partner for Aniplex of America’s domestic debut of the BLUE EXORCIT anime series. VIZ Media will carry the new action series (subtitled) on its VIZAnime website beginning Wednesday, April 20^th, just days after its eagerly anticipated debut on Japanese TV on April 17^th. New episodes will stream on the site every Wednesday.

In the animated series, Rin, along with his twin brother Yukio Okumura are raised by an eminent priest, Shiro Fujimoto, but one day Rin discovers that their biological father is actually Satan! As the border between “Assiah” (the human world) and “Gehenna” (demon’s world) is intruded upon by evils, Rin vows to become the ultimate exorcist to defeat his own father, Satan. To hone his raw skills, Rin enters True Cross Academy to train with other exorcist candidates. Can Rin fight the demons and keep his infernal bloodline a secret? It won’t be easy, especially when drawing his father’s sword releases the demonic power within him!

VIZ Media is the official North American publisher of the BLUE EXORCIST manga (graphic novel) series, created Kazue Kato. Volume 1 is on sale now and is published under the company’s Shonen Jump Advanced imprint. BLUE EXORCIST is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens and carries an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

BLUE EXORCIST Volume 1 will also available on April 11^th as part of VIZ Media’s expansive digital manga library available exclusively for the VIZ MANGA APP for the Apple^®iPad™ mobile device. For more information on the VIZ MANGA APP, please visit www.VIZ.com/apps/.

Manga creator, writer and illustrator Kazue Kato won the prestigious Tezuka Award when she was only 19 for her work, Rabbit And I, published in Japan in Akamaru Jump magazine. Her latest manga series, BLUE EXORCIST, debuted in Jump Square magazine in April of 2009.

Filed Under: Anime Related News

Sentai Filmworks Announces Maria Holic Alive! License

April 5, 2011 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

HOUSTON, April 5, 2011—Sentai Filmworks today announced its acquisition of Maria Holic Alive! the follow up to the hit comedy and nosebleed bonanza Maria Holic. Set to begin broadcast in Japan on April 7, Maria Holic Alive! will soon be available in the U.S.

Synopsis: Some things never change: Ame no Kisaki, that famous and extraordinarily exclusive boarding school, STILL doesn’t accept boys. And Kanako, Kisaki’s most romantically unfortunate student, STILL doesn’t accept them either. They give her the hives. Literally. Sadly, that means that Kanako’s STILL trying to connect with ANYONE of the same sex, and having the usual horrid luck; STILL being in imminent peril of dying from the constant nosebleeds she gets from being over stimulated by the presence of her fellow classmates; and STILL being forced to endure the tragedy of sharing a room with the school’s most beautiful girl, who is, of course, STILL a guy in drag. Poor Kanako! She came to school to major in loving women, and instead she’s STILL failing relationships in Maria Holic Alive!

About Sentai Filmworks:
Sentai Filmworks is one of the fastest-growing anime companies in North America, including hit series like Clannad, Gintama, Eyeshield 21 and hit movies like Appleseed. Sentai Filmworks programs can be found on home video distributed by Ingram Entertainment, Baker & Taylor, Section23Films, The Right Stuf and other good and fine distributors. Digital product offerings may be found at iTunes, Netflix, Amazon, Zune Marketplace, Anime Network, Playstation Network and YouTube.

Filed Under: Anime Related News

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

April 4, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” continues the action and excitement for part four but this time around, the action is much more intense! Definitely put this series high on top of your anime on Blu-ray to buy list!

TITLE: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part Four

DURATION: Episodes 40-52 (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 14

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: April 5, 2011

Originally Created by Hiromu Arakawa

Directed by Yasuhiro Irie

Series Composition by Hiroshi Ohnogi

Music by Akira Senju

Character Design 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

Edward and Alphonse Elric’s reckless disregard for alchemy’s fundamental laws ripped half of Ed’s limbs from his body and left Al’s soul clinging to a cold suit of armor. To restore what was lost, the brothers scour a war-torn land for the Philosopher’s Stone, a fabled relic which grants the ability to perform alchemy in impossible ways.

The Elrics are not alone in their search; the corrupt State Military is eager to harness the artifact’s power. So too are the strange Homunculi and their shadowy creator. The mythical Stone lures exotic alchemists from distant kingdoms, scarring some deeply enough to inspire murder. As the Elrics find their course altered by these enemies and allies, their purpose remains unchanged – and their bond unbreakable.

In part two of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood”, we learn that Bradley is a homunculus and that the homunculus may have infiltrated the State Military.

Now here we are in part four of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” and division in the State military have been drawn as information of Bradley being a homunculus is now known and a war between the rebellious members of the State Military led by Mustang take on the homunculus begins.

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” 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.
Alex Louis Armstrong – A strong arm alchemist who is extremely strong and hulking in size but also very sensitive.
Izumi Curtis - The teacher of Ed and Alphonse Eric who helped them hone their alchemy right after their mother died.
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.
King Bradley – The head of the State Military and King of Amestris who has a major secret.
Riza Hawkeye – Roy Mustang’s most trusted subordinate. The voice of reason and excellent in using firearms.
Jean Havoc - One of Roy Mustang’s subordinates who is exceptionally trained in firearms.
Lin Yao – A prince of Xing who is trying to find ways of immortality in order to prepare for his goal as Xing’s future emperor. An excellent swordsman.
Lan Fan – Lin Yao’s bodyguard and a skilled fighter willing to protect her boss at all costs.
May Chang – A young princess of Xing who goes to Amestris with her panda Xiao Mei. She has the power to heal and also manipulate energy.
Olivier Mira Armstrong – The older sister of Alex Louis Armstrong who leads the Brigs Fortress and protects the country from Drachma. She is cold, distrusts people and inpatient. She believes in “Survival of the fittest”.
Miles - A man who is quarter Ishvalan and wants to change the country’s perception towards Ishval.
Buccaneer – A huge man who has two different pieces of automail (the latest type of automail which makes Winry so excited when she is around him).

The Homunculi

Father – The main antagonist who is the creator of all homunculi. For some reason, he looks like Hohenheim and has interest in Ed and Al.
Lust – A homunculi who is a sexy woman who can use her fingers to become weapons and grow to larger lengths and cut through anything.
Gluttony – A homunculi who likes to eat people or anything. He has powerful jaws with acidic saliva.
Envy – A homunculi who can assume any appearance and makes him infiltrate the military HQ quite easily and is known to create and instigate major problems.
Greed – A homunculi that craves money, women and worldy possessions. After being killed by Wrath, Lin Yao who is searching for immortality wants to become the new Greed.
Sloth – A large muscular man who has great speed and strength for his size. He has been digging beneath Amestris and ends up inside the Briggs Fortress.
Pride – A homunculus using the body of Selim Bradley, the adoptive son of King Bradley, He uses his shadows to kill.

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Part Four” features episodes 40-52 on two Blu-ray discs. Here is a basic, spoiler-less summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 40 – Homunculus (The Dwarf in the Flask) – In this episode, Hohenheim’s past is revealed.
EPISODE 41 – The Abyss - Ed vs. the Chimeras, Darius and Heinkel.
EPISODE 42 – Signs of a Counteroffensive – Hohenheim vs. Pride. Also, a new transmutation circle is discovered.
EPISODE 43 – Bite of the Ant – Briggs vs. the Drachman forces. Envy returns.
EPISODE 44 – Revving at Full Throttle – Hohenheim reveals his past to Al. Meanwhile, Greed confronts Bradley.
EPISODE 45 – The Promised Day – Greed vs. Bradley. Ed tries to get Greed to become an ally.
EPISODE 46 – Looming Shadows – Roy informs Olivier about Selim’s true identity, meanwhile Ed tries to send Winry back home.
EPISODE 47 – Emissary of Darkness – Ed and his group go to see Hohenheim and tell him about the Promised Day. Meanwhile, something is wrong with Al.
EPISODE 48 – The Oath in the Tunnel – Lan Fan and Lin vs. Gluttony, meanwhile Heinkel takes on Pride.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 49 – Filial Affection – Hohenheim reminisces on the day he left his family and why he did it.
EPISODE 50 – Upheaval in Central – Roy Mustang, Mrs. Bradley and others are cornered by the Central soldiers.
EPISODE 51 – The Immortal Legion – Olivier vs. Sloth.
EPISODE 52 – Combined Strength – Al uses the Philosopher’s Stone to fight against Kimblee and Pride.

VIDEO:

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Part Four” is presented in 1080p HD 16×9 via a HD native source. It’s important to note that although the conversion was made to 1080p, I’ve read that the actual Japanese original masters were created in 540p. With that being said, this is a TV series and one can’t expect OVA or film quality but I manage to compare the DVD and Blu-ray version and the Blu-ray looks much more colorful, much more detailed and looked much better and more colorful than its DVD counterpart.

AUDIO:

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Part Four” 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. There is quite a bit of action in this second volume, plenty of battles are featured and many episodes that utilize the surround channels.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Part Four” comes with the following special features:

EPISODE 40 Commentary – Audio commentary by Mike McFarland (ADR Director/Line Producer and voice of Havoc) and voice talents John Swasey (Van Hohenheim) and Aaron Dismuke (young Hohenheim)
EPISODE 46 Commentary – Audio commentary by Mike McFarland (ADR Director/Line Producer and voice of Havoc) and Caitlyn Glass (ADR Director/voice of Winry Rockbell).
Textless Opening and Closing Songs – The textless opening and ending theme songs.
Trailers – FUNimation Entertainment trailers.

With the latest volume of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” – Part Four, the only words I can think of to describe the episodes in this volumes is probably… “the sh*t has hit the fan!” and I mean literally.

There is no secret in the military that Bradley is a homunculus and you have no doubt in your mind that this is going to be a violent and bloody battle and it will be interesting to see how things progress between Roy Mustang’s group vs. the homunculus and how much it differs from the original “Fullmetal Alchemist”.

For the Elric brothers, while Ed is featured quite a bit, it’s Al who gets quite a bit of the spotlight and the writers definitely show how much this young kid has matured and also how much different he is from his older brother.

Suffice to say, this latest volume is action packed and if there is something you will see quite a bit, it’s impaling scenes, death scenes and episode after episode, the writers deliver. Also, when it comes to explaining the past of van Hohenheim, everything is quite intriguing and also entertaining.

Overall, I really enjoyed part four of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” and how well-paced, how action-packed and how much deeper the episodes were. This latest volume was quite addicting and I definitely enjoy how the series has continued to grow and improve with each episode. This is possibly the most action-packed volume of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” by far.

As for the Blu-ray release, as explained with my review for the first volume, some people may have issues that this series is not true 1080p but created in 540p and then upscaled to 1080p. As many Japanese companies are going through cost-cutting situations due to their economy, we are going to see some anime released in 4:3 instead of widescreen and we are going to see Japanese companies not taking advantage of true 1080p and focusing on creating anime series in 540p. It’s the nature of the industry right now and if we want to support anime, we’ll need to support them even during these tough times.

But with that being said, I was able to compare the DVD and the Blu-ray release of “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” and the artistic backgrounds and its details are much better looking on Blu, the colors are more cleaner, sharper and more colorful on Blu and for the most part, for a TV series, I’m quite content with the PQ. I felt the black levels were good and again, for a TV Series released in 2009, the picture quality is good not great (it’s not 1080p) and there is a hint of edge enhancement but it’s still pretty good. And in this part four, you also get two audio commentary as well.

Overall, “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” may not please the die-hards who have loved the original anime TV series but the fact is, we are getting a series that is now closer to the manga series and also more episodes than the original release. Not to say one should forget the original series but in a way, the “Fullmetal Alchemist” brand has moved on to bigger and better and the FMA: Brotherhood series is much more consistent to what the creator, Hiromu Arakawa intended.

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” has the making of a great anime series and part four continues the excitement of the previous three volumes. Definitely put this series high on top of your anime on Blu-ray list!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Bleach: DVD Set Seven – Original and Uncut (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

March 30, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

In this latest box set of “Bleach”, Ichigo deals with his inner hollow with the help of the visoreds and a storyline featuring the soul reapers staying in reality on Earth protecting people from the arrancars. Although many episodes are fillers, these filler episodes were tolerable and fun to watch. If you enjoy “Bleach”, DVD Set Seven is still worth checking out!

DVD TITLE: Bleach: DVD Set Seven – Original and Uncut

DURATION: Episodes 122-133 (300 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: 4:3, Bilingual Japanese & English, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: VIZ Media

RATED: 13+

Release Date: February 16, 2010

Originally created by Kubotite

Directed by Noriyuki Abe

Music by Shiro Sagisu

Character Design by Masashi Kudo

Art Director: Natsuko Suzuki, Sawako Takagi

Anime Production by TV Tokyo, Dentsu, Studio Pierrot

Featuring the following voice talent:

Fumiko Orikasa/Michelle Ruff as Rukia Kuchiki

Masakazu Morita/Johnny Yong Bosch as Ichigo Kurosaki

Hiroki Yasumoto/Jamieson Price as Sado “Chad” Yasutora

Kentarou Itou/Wally Wingert as Abarai Renji

Masakazu Morita/Johnny Yong Bosch as Hollow Ichigo

Noriaki Sugiyama/Derek Stephen Prince as Ishida Uryuu

Satsuki Yukino/Wendee Lee as Shihouin Yoruichi (human form)

Shinichiro Miki/Michael Lindsay as Urahara Kisuke

Yuki Matsuoka/Stephanie Sheh as Inoue Orihime

Kaya Matsutani/Megan Hollingshead as Rangiku Matsumoto

Nobuyuki Hiyama/Vic Mignogna as Ikkaku Madarame

Jun Fukuyama/Brian Beacock as Yumichika Ayasegawa

Romi Paku/Steve Staley as Toshiro Hitsugaya

While Captain Hitsugaya’s advance Soul Reaper troops adjust to life in the World of the Living, Ichigo and his friends undergo extensive training to prepare for the battle with the Arrancars. Ichigo is determined to learn to control his inner Hollow, but the Visoreds he goes to for help are just as determined for him to release it. Then, when Soul Reaper Rangiku saves a young soul from a Mock Arrancar, the extent of Sosuke Aizen’s grand scheme is slowly revealed.

“Bleach” is one of those titles, alongside “Naruto” and “Dragon Ball Z” that has managed to capture the attention of anime fans and continues to reinvent itself with new sagas and characters. Created in 2001 by mangaka Tite Kubo, the manga has been published on Weekly Shonen Jump and the animated series has been airing on Japanese television since 2004.

The series has manged to grow its fandom worldwide, especially in the US as the series has aired on television on the Cartoon Network and the various video games for the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP have also been popular among the fans as well.

The manga series revolves around teenager Ichigo Kurosaki, who has the ability to see Soul Reapers (a military group that escorts the souls of the dead) and in this case, Ichigo has seen a female Soul Reaper named Rukia Kuchiki. One day, a hollow (a monster that was once a human soul) has come to attack and when Rukia was injured, she transferred her spirit pressure to Ichigo in order for him to fight the hollow.

The first part of the series focuses on Ichigo and Rukia’s friendship as somehow nearly all her spirit pressure had been transferred to Ichigo and stripping away her soul reaper power and thus Ichigo now has the power to take on the hollows while Rukia helps guide him through the battles with her knowledge. As Rukia temporarily lives with Ichigo, the two together battle hollows.

The second part of the series deals with Rukia’s superiors finding out that Rukia has committed an illegal act by transferring her power to a human and the punishment is by death and featured Ichigo and friends going to the world of the Soul Society to rescue Rukia.

The third part of the series (season 4) deals with a new enemy known as the Bount, a race of humans that consume human souls to extend their lives but are also quite powerful and they also utilize dolls (like a soul reapers zanpakuto) as deadly weapons and would continue on to season 5.

In Season six, we are introduced to the Visoreds, a group of ex-Soul Reapers who have crossed over into the realm of the Hollows. We learn that Captain Sosuke Aizen, the traitor has created an army of Hollows with Soul Reaper powers called Arrancars and now a few captains and lieutenants of the Soul Society must stay on Earth and disguise themselves as normal humans in order to protect the Earth from the Arrancars. Meanwhile, Ichigo Kurosaki must deal with his vicious hollow side that wants to come out and take over.

And here we are with “Bleach: DVD Set Seven – Original and Uncut” featuring episodes 122-133. With Ichigo’s hollow trying to take over, the only people can help him are the Visoreds, but are they willing to help him? Meanwhile, members of the Soul Society try to get used to life in Japan and also prepare for any attacks from the Arrancars.

The main characters of “Bleach” are:

Ichigo Kurosaki – The main protagonist. A teenager who becomes a substitute soul reaper after absorbing Rukia’s powers. Accepting his new powers and wanting to protect everyone around him. Ichiro manages to grow in power with every battle he gets involved in.
Rukia Kuchiki – A Soul Reaper who transferred her spiritual power to Ichigo.
Orihime Inoue – A longtime classmate of Ichigo who is very caring and manages to develop her spiritual awareness and after her brother is killed by a hollow, she has managed to grow in power which is tied to a hairpin that her brother had given her.
Yasutora “Chad” Sado – A friend of Ichigo and very quiet. Developed a sense of seeing hollows and eventually gaining a power of strength and a right arm that is literally a weapon to fight against hollows.
Uryu Ishida - A classmate of Ichigo and a descendant of a priest group that hunted hollows known as Quincy. Earlier on, Uryu was a rival of Ichigo due to his hatred towards the Soul Reapers and eventually becomes friends with him.
Kon – A modsoul who’s life soul is put into a stuffed lion. When Ichigo is a Soul Reaper, Kon takes over Ichigo’s body, so no one including Ichigo’s family knows that Ichiro is actually not there. Mostly a comedy-driven character known for his perverseness and always complaining about something.
Kisuke Urahara – Owner of the Urahara shop and a former captain of the 12th Division in the Soul Society. He caught Aizen converting Soul Reapers to Visoreds but before he can save them, Aizen framed him for the crimes and Urahara fled to the real world.
Yoruichi Shihoin – An old friend of Kisuke Urahara who can turn into a black cat. She is the former captain of the 2nd Division and former Commander in Chief of the Secret Mobile Corps.

For “Bleach” DVD Set Seven”, the following storylines concentrate on these Soul Reapers:

Renji Abarai – Liutenant of the 6th Division in the Gotei 13 under Captain Byakuya Kuchiki. Cares deeply for Rukia Kuchiki and is recruited by Kisuke Urahara to help train Yasutora Sado.
Toshiro Hitsugaya – Captain of the 10th Division and the youngest captain in the history of the Soul Society. Because of his young age and height, on Earth he is mistaken to be a grade schooler.
Rangiku Matsumoto – Lieutenant of the 10th Division, the well-endowed, carefree lieutenant who loves shopping and drinking.
Ikkaku Madarame – The 3rd Seat of the 11th Division who loves to battle and known for his bald head.
Yumichika Ayasegawa – The 5th Seat of the 11th Division. He can’t stand things that are “ugly”.

Here is a basic spoilerless summary of each episode included on the three DVD’s of “Bleach: DVD Set Seven – Original and Uncut”:

Note: In Japan, this set features season 6 and 7. Episode 132 begins season 7 in Japan.

DISC 1

EPISODE 122 – Ichigo searches for the Visoreds as his inner hollow has become too powerful to control.
EPISODE 123 – The Visoreds will only help Ichigo if he can beat Hiyori.
EPISODE 124 - Ichigo takes on his inner hollow
EPISODE 125 – The continuing of Ichigo vs. his inner hollow.

DISC 2

EPISODE 126 – Ichigo trains with Hyori, Chad trains with Renji, meanwhile Orihime looks for Ichigo.
EPISODE 127 - Orihime deals with her sadness after Urahara tells her that she should not fight in battle.
EPISODE 128 – Rangiku protects the spirit of a child that is about to become attacked by an arrancar.
EPISODE 129 - Rangiku and Shota discover the source of the music that brings the arrancar.

DISC 3:

EPISODE 130 - The arrancer is revealed to be able to disguise itself as the human souls it devoured.
EPISODE 131 – The fate of of Yui is revealed.
EPISODE 132 – Ichigo’s sister Karin meets Toshiro Hitsugaya and she wants him to take part in soccer tournament.
EPISODE 133 – Keigo Asano’s sister asks Ikkaku Madarame to help train kendo students at his school.

VIDEO:

If there is one thing that I’ve always enjoyed about “Bleach” is that for a TV series that is cranked out in Japan, the TV series features a good amount of detail in the background art. The series tends to really showcase quite a bit of locations and thus, not always reusing scenes.

Also, the character designs, despite not always being detailed, is shown great care by character designer Masashi Kudo who definitely respects the original illustrations of Tite Kubo. Some closeups are really well done and there is a good amount of focus on the actual animation during the battle sequences.

For a TV series, especially knowing how in Japan, many of these studios tend to crank them out because they have other deadlines taking on other series, “Bleach” especially for season 4, continues to look very good.

As for picture quality, of course on DVD, you are going to see some banding and edge enhancement but for the most part, picture quality is very good.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Bleach” is presented in stereo English and Japanese. Both dialogue tracks are clear and understandable. For those with a modern receiver may want to set their setting to stereo on all channels for a more immersive soundtrack.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Bleach: DVD Set Seven – Original and Uncut” comes with the following special features:

DISC 1

Production Art – Using your remote, you can cycle through “Bleach” production art.
Manga Preview – A short preview of “Bleach” on manga.
Clean Ending – The clean ending theme.
Sneak Peek – Sneek peak of VIZ related anime series on DVD.

DISC 2

Production Art – Using your remote, you can cycle through “Bleach” production art.
Manga Preview – A short preview of “Bleach” on manga.
Clean Ending – The clean ending theme.
Sneak Peek – Sneek peak of VIZ related anime series on DVD.

DISC 3

Kon Test - A Kon multiple choice test.
Production Art – Using your remote, you can cycle through “Bleach” production art.
Omake – (9:43) A collection of all the omake animation (from episodes 122-133) that is featured at the end of each episode.
Manga Preview – A short preview of “Bleach” on manga.
Clean Ending – The clean ending theme.
Sneak Peek – Sneek peak of VIZ related anime series on DVD.

EXTRA:

“Bleach: DVD Set Seven – Original and Uncut” comes with a slip over cover case.

Like many people who were hooked on the Cartoon Network Saturday night block with “Naruto” and other Shonen Jump-related anime series, “Bleach” was almost like a Saturday night ritual. And it was not just anime fans as I remember watching an NFL radio interview with a football player from the Dallas Cowboys who even said it was his Saturday night before a big game.

The series delivered when it came to action and cool characters and season 1-3 were quite explosive and exciting to watch. But when the fourth season came and The Bount storyline came into play, although the action was still there, it was almost a step back compared to the “us against the world” (or us against the Soul Reapers) storyline that made “Bleach” so exciting to watch.

With “Bleach: DVD Set Seven – Original and Uncut”, the series similar to the “Naruto” series has caught up to the manga series to quickly and like “Naruto”, you get quite a bit of filler episodes included in the series. Which is usually a bad thing but in the case of “Bleach”, it may be a good thing.

The cool thing about this latest release is the fact that we finally see how Ichigo deals with his inner hollow. We know that hollow is quite wicked but at the same time, very powerful, so it was a given that he would need to control that hollow and sure enough, a lot is focused on the training and him learning from the visoreds.

But it’s those remaining episodes that fans will like or dislike and those are the filler episodes that feature the soul society and not the primary characters that people are usually used to seeing. But in the case of “Bleach”, that might be a good thing. In “Bleach”, there are so many soul reapers in the soul society and because the series is primarily focused on Ichigo and his friends, there are rarely any episodes that showcase these characters in battle. And in “Bleach”, with so many characters, there are only so many things you can do and so many characters you can focus on.

For “Naruto”, the filler episodes typically have characters joining with Naruto on a mission, where in “Bleach”, the writers went to work on storylines featuring a few of the soul reapers from the 10th and 11th division and create storylines around those characters and because they must get used to living on the real world, the writers found a way to showcase them adapting to the world. From Toshiro Hitsugaya feeling uncomfortable in the real world especially due to his size and how he looks quite young, Rangiku and her shopping habits and Ikkaku living at the Asano household and somehow being pulled into doing things for Asano’s sister. Also, this allows for the writers to focus on storyline that involve Ichigo’s family members and high school friends and most of all, the soul reapers having to take on the arrancars.

So, I found the “Bleach” fillers much more tolerable than the “Naruto” fillers in the fact that these soul reapers were given their own storyline without having to rely on Ichigo or his friends to be part of those battles. While I enjoyed that, I’m sure those who may dislike the fact that Ichigo and friends barely show up during those filler episodes.

If anything, I do enjoy the series and I enjoy the many characters featured in “Bleach” and I look forward to seeing how the arrancar storyline develops.

Overall, if you are a big fan of “Bleach”, another recommended DVD set for your collection!

Filed Under: Anime on DVD

11 EYES – COMPLETE COLLECTION (A J!-Ent Anime DVD Review)

February 21, 2011 by Michelle Tymon · Leave a Comment

“”11EYES” is a thriller anime series filled with action… and mild fan service.”

DVD TITLE: 11EYES – COMPLETE COLLECTION

DURATION: 325 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9 WIDESCREEN, JAPANESE 2.0 STEREO

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks

RATED: TV-14

Release Date: January 11, 2011

Original Created by Lass

Directed by Shimoda Masami

Music by Shoichiro Sakamoto

Art Direction by Masato Miyake

Main Character Designs & Executive Director of Animation by Shoji Hara

Character Designs by Tomoya Hiratsuka

Produced by Makoto Ito/Yuichiro Takahata/Eiji Mannou/Mana Tsurugi/Uesama

Featuring the following voice talent:

Daisuke Ono as Kakeru Satsuki

Mai Goto as Yuka Minase

Yuu Asakawa as Misuzu Kusakabe

Oma Ichimura as Yukiko Hirohara

Shoutaro Morikubo as Takahisa Tajima

Noriko Rikimaru as Kukuri Tachibana

Emiko Hagiwara as Shiori Momono

Ayano Niina as Lisette

Raised in an orphanage after witnessing his sister’s suicide, Satsuki Kakeru’s life has already been dark and cruel enough. When he and his friend Yuka are thrown into a alternate dimension called the Red Night, it takes a gruesome turn from bad to horrific. Now, trapped flickering between our world and the Red, Kakeru quickly discovers that he and Yuka are not alone, and that, together with the other so-called “fragments,” they must defeat the malevolent entities known as the Black Knights.

Facing monsters from beyond imagination and at the center of a deadly hunt, Kakeru’s only chance of saving their lives now hinges on finding the power buried within himself and unraveling the mystery of his own origins and family… if he can survive long enough to do it! The horrors of the Red Night are just the beginning of the nightmare as shocking truths are exhumed!

“11EYES” is a horror action anime series based on the eroge of the same title. The story centers around Kakeru Satsuki, a high school student who grew up an orphan and always wears an eye patch on his right eye because for some unknown reason, is a different color than his normal eye. His older sister took her own life when he was quite young and ever since then, his only real friend has been a girl named Yuka. One day, Kakeru and Yuka are sucked into a terrifying alternate reality called the Red Night where they are attacked by weird monsters and a group of beings called the Black Knights. They are able to escape the Red Night after some time, but find themselves trapped in that world once again very soon after they were able to leave. But this time they discover that they are not the only ones from the normal world who get trapped in the Red Night. They encounter Misuzu, an onmyouji priestess and upperclassman. They then encounter a mysterious girl being held captive within a crystal by the Black Knights. They soon realize that Kakeru’s right eye might hold the key to figuring out what is happening and possibly save them as well.

“11EYES” focuses on the following main characters:

Kakeru Satsuki – Kakeru Satsuki is the male protagonist of the series. Currently a high school student, he is an orphan and his sister took her own life when he was still very young. His right eye is a different color than his left, therefore he wears a eye patch to cover it up to avoid any questions that should arise. He and Yuka get stuck in the weird dimension called the Red Night and their lives are changed forever. He soon finds out that his right eye is more than a different color and may play a large part in what is happening to him and the others that get stuck in the Red Night.

Yuka Minase – Yuka is Kakeru’s only childhood friend. They grew up together at the orphanage and they are extremely close. While she is usually rather sweet and calm, her personality starts to change when others start to get too close to Kakeru, who she apparently has very strong feelings for…

Misuzu Kusakabe – Misuzu is an onmyouji priestess that they find trapped in the Red Night with them. She is a senior classmte and very strong. She acts as the leader to the group an helps train Kakeru to become stronger. However, the more time that they spend together, the more her feelings seem to grow for him.

Yukiko Hirohara – Yukiko is a classmate of Kakeru and Yuka and for the most part, a very cheerful and silly girl with a slight fascination with boobs. She is from a country called Dransvania and has a very dark past. When she takes her glasses off, she becomes a completely different person: a cold-blooded killer who is very skilled at fighting. It is pretty apparent that she has feelings for Takahisa.

Takahisa Tajima – Takahisa is a delinquent at Kakeru and Yuka’s high school. He was adopted by the school nurse, Saiko. He is another person who gets sucked into the Red Night. He has the ability of pyrokinetics and at first, he has no interest in the others that get sucked into the Red Night along with him. However he has feelings for Yukiko and eventually is willing to help the others.

Kukuri Tachibana – Kukuri is someone that has the exact same name and appearance as Kakeru’s sister that died years ago. She’s shrouded in mystery and a mute for an unknown reason. She is introduced to Kakeru and Yuka by Misuzu.

Shiori Momono – Shiori is a mysterious transfer student that suddenly appears in their school when all of the events involving the Red Night start happening. She doesn’t have much direct contact with Kakeru and the others at first, but she seems to be observing hem by hanging around their friends Kaori and Tadashi.

Lisette – Lisette is the mysterious girl they find trapped within a crystal and held captive by the Black Knights in the Red Night. They soon find out that she’s not all that she seems to be.

The Black Knights – The Black Knights are the enemies that Kakeru and the others find themselves fighting against in the Red Night. Calling them “Fragments”, for some reason the Black Knights are hunting down Kakeru and his friends, trying to kill them. They have unearthly appearances and have special powers. They are holding Lisette prisoner within a crystal.

“11EYES” features a total of 13 episodes on two DVDs. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

Episode 1- Red Night – Kakeru and Yuka are sucked into the Red Night.
Episode 2- The Girl in the Crystal – ts and convict him of the hit?.
Episode 3- Lonely Pride – Kakeru wants to protect Yuka and asks Misuzu to train him.
Episode 4- A Smiling Mask – Yukiko reveals a much darker side of herself.
Episode 5- For Friends and For Tomorrow – Kakeru and Yuka are introduced to Kukuri, who looks exactly like Kakeru’s dead sister.
Episode 6- Disturbed Minds -The secret about Kakeru’s eye is revealed; Yuka misunderstands something between Kakeru and Misuzu and runs off.

DISC 2:

Episode 7- Twisted Awakening – Yuka awakens to her power, but with an unlikely cost.
Episode 8- The Witching Hour – Yuka becomes more and more emotionally unstable.
Episode 9- Broken Bonds – Takahisa goes berserk and Yukiko has to make a difficult decision.
Episode 10- The Witch Awakens – Kakeru and the others learn the truth about the Black Knights and everything else.
Episode 11- The Option of Destruction – The tables have turned and the last battle starts.
Episode 12- The Dawn of Darkness – The battle with Liselotte concludes.
Episode OVA- Pink Phantasm – A very naughty parody of he series…

VIDEO & AUDIO

“11EYES” is presented in 16:9. The art and character designs look great. There is a big difference between the normal world and the world of the Red Night and I think they did a great job showing the contrast between the two worlds through the art.

Like most Sentai Filmworks titles, there is only the option of Japanese audio with this series. The voice acting is well done and the cast is full of very well known seiyuus such as Daisuke Ono, Yuu Asakawa, and Shoutaro Morikubo just to name a few.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The only special features available on the discs are Sentai Filmworks Trailers, Clean Opening and Ending Animations, and DVD Credits.

First impression of the series: A horror action series, where the number of girls completely outnumber the guys; by the end of the series and ova: wow, that was somewhat predictable.

Viewers who were already thinking about checking out this series probably already know it’s based on an eroge (erotic video game) but for those who don’t know about the series at all may want to keep that in mind. This series is pretty mild (until the ova) but it is created for a 14+ male audience, but once you watch the ova the rating jumps to 18+. Not that there aren’t any female viewers who won’t enjoy this… but I would say the majority of the audience would be male. However, despite being based on an eroge, there weren’t that many eroge elements throughout the series until the ova. But like an eroge, it seems to lack a compelling story.

What you will find in this series: action, violence, a couple of humorous characters, fan service and some nudity. What you may not find: a very creative story. Of course this isn’t the first series guilty of such. The story is rather generic and predictable, but characters like Yukiko keep the audience entertained (A super cute, happy girl becomes a psycho killer when she takes off her glasses. That could be creative… nah. But nonetheless, she is amusing.). The first half of the series is pretty light and can be humorous and isn’t as dark, but the second half of the series definitely gets much darker and weirder (how about a razor blade in your tea?).

Of course there are positive things in this series. There’s plenty of action, and I enjoyed some of the banter between some of the characters, as well as the interaction between Yukiko and Takahisa. Takahisa’s relationship with his adoptive mother was also cute. The music is great, especially the opening song “Arrival of Tears” by Ayane. The animation, character design, and the voice acting are all great.

There is an ova after the 12 episode series and that episode is ridiculous. Of course, that’s the point of the episode and they make that clear in the beginning of the episode. While there isn’t full on nudity, there’s plenty of brief nudity (cleverly hiding any naughty bits) and there’s some questionable objects such as a vibrator sword (which is mosaic-ed out but it’s still obvious what it is.). You may not see much, but everything that is implied in the episode is definitely naughty. Pretty much even if the series as a whole may be okay for 14+ to watch, I’d definitely say the ova is 18+. I know I keep stressing that but it really is a bit of a jump. The ova is either going to be absolutely hilarious or too perverse and possibly offending depending on the viewer. I’ll admit that I found it funny but very disturbing at the same time.

The bottom line: this series is great if you’re looking for a series with cute girls, some fan service, action, violence and some humor. If you’re looking for a series with a series with a deep plot, you may not find it in this series. It’s definitely not the worst I’ve seen but “blah” sort of describes most of the series for me. However if you’re a fan of the eroge, you’ll probably enjoy it.

Filed Under: Anime on DVD