Romeo x Juliet – Juliet Collection (A J!-Ent Anime DVD Review)

“”Romeo x Juliet – Juliet Collection” brings an action-packed, fantastical re-imagining of a classic to an end. A beautiful piece of work that is a must-see!”

Image courtesy of © GONZO. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Romeo x Juliet – Juliet Collection

DURATION: 290 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9 WIDESCREEN, ENGLISH 5.1 DOLBY DIGITAL SURROUND SOUND, JAPANESE STEREO

COMPANY: GONZO/FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TVPG

Release Date: August 11th, 2009

Based on the Play by William Shakespeare

Written by Reiko Yoshida

Directed by Fumitoshi Oizaki

Music by Hitoshi Sakimoto

Sound Direction by Tomohiro Yoshida

Art Direction by Masami Saito

Character Design by Hiroki Harada

Produced by Yoshihiro Iwasa(CBC)/Daisuke Gomi/Tsutomu Kojima

 

Featuring the following voice talent:

Takahiro Mizushima/ Chris Burnett as Romeo Montague

Fumie Mizusawa/ Brina Palencia as Juliet Capulet

Miyu Matsuki/ Colleen Clikenbeard as Cordelia

Hirofumi Nojima/ Eric Vale as Francisco

Kosuke Toriumi/ Robert McCollum as Curio

Katsuhisa Houki/ R. Bruce Elliott as Conrad

Ryo Hirohashi/ Maxey Whitehead as Antonio

Ryotaro Okiayu/ Mike McFarland as Tybalt

Shinnosuke Tachibana/ Sean Michael Teague as Benvolio

Kazuhiko Inoue/ J. Michael Tatum as William Shakespeare

Aya Hisakawa/ Dana Schultes as Lady Portia

Tetsuya Kakihara/ Christopher Bevins as Mercutio

Sayaka Ohara/ Carrie Savage as Hermione

Junko Iwao/ Jamie Marchi as Orphelia

Koji Ishii/ Sean Hennigan as Lord Montague

Romeo and Juliet share a romance not meant for this mortal coil. Their love has the power to alter the course of time – and change the world they must if there is to be any hope for a future. Together they will discover the burtal truths of both past and future while maintaining their devotion to a love once found only in fairy tales. All the while, villainous Duke Montague opposes their union and crushes Neo Verona with a boot at its throat. As their cherished city tumbles down around them, Romeo and Juliet have no choice but to face an otherworldly destiny that threatens to destroy them both.

“Romeo x Juliet -Juliet Collection” covers the second half of the series and the conclusion of the series. The anime “Romeo x Juliet” takes a completely different spin on the original Shakespearean play. Set in Neo Verona, years ago Prince Montague killed off the Capulets, who were at the time the rightful owners to the throne. He then took over Neo Verona and the city quickly changed into a society where the rich became even richer and the rest fell into poverty. The daughter of Prince Capulet, Juliet, had survived the attack that took place 14 years ago and has been living disguised as a boy. The few remaining servants to the House of Capulet took it upon themselves to raise her, hoping that one day she would be able to reclaim her rightful position to the throne.

Juliet grew up not remembering anything about the attack that took place 14 years prior or who she really is. She took on the name “Odin” as a boy and she also fights injustices as the hero of the city, the masked Red Whirlwind. One day she attends a masquerade ball, where she runs into Romeo, the son of Prince Montague. Unlike his father, Romeo is kind-hearted and cares a great deal for the people of Neo Verona and dislikes how his father runs things. They fall in love with each other at first sight, but just like the original story, they find out that their love will have a series of obstacles because their love is one that is not supposed to be…

Will Romeo and Juliet be able to escape their cruel fate that awaits them in this re-imagining?

 

“Romeo x Juliet” focuses on the following main characters:

 

Romeo Montague – Romeo Candore Van DiMontague is the son of Prince Montague. He is extremely kind-hearted and caring, completely opposite of his father. He believes that the nobles should use their power and wealth for the people and tries to persuade his father to do the so but it’s no use. One day he sees Juliet at a masquerade ball and falls in love with her at first sight. Soon after, he finds out who she is and his family’s connection to her’s and has slight doubts about them possibly getting together, but his feelings for her are much stronger. He does everything in his power to be with Juliet and also wants to change the fate of Neo Verona, even if it means defying his father. He is deeply in love with Juliet and will do anything for her.

Juliet Capulet – Juliet Fiammata Erss DiCapulet is the only remaining Capulet after Prince Montague slaughtered her family when she was two. She grew up in hiding with a few servants of the House of Capulet but for most of her life, she didn’t know her true lineage. So she would not be found by the guards, she had been dressed up as a boy and went by the name of “Odin”. Before she knew of her lineage, she would dress up as the vigilante “Red Whirlwind” and save the citizens of Neo Verona from the wrongs of the guards of Prince Montague. One day she attends a masquerade, as a girl, and sees Romeo and falls in love. Their first meeting is cut short but they keep running into each other. After she finds out about her true lineage, she soon finds out that her true love’s father is the one responsible for slaughtering her whole family. Despite that, she can’t change her love for him and he feels the same for her. She wants to be with him and restore peace to Neo Verona… but will their fate allow it?

Cordelia – Cordelia is one of the surviving servants to the House of Capulet and she is Juliet’s best friend. She is very much like an older sister to Juliet and cares for her very much.

Francisco – Another surviving member of the servants to the House of Capulet. He has long blond hair and is quite the ladies man. He is rather intelligent but just as skilled in fighting.

Curio – Another surviving member of the servants to the House of Capulet. He has a scar on his right eye and is sort of the strong man of the group. He is rather quiet and cool. He is very dedicated to protecting Juliet and cares for her very much.

Conrad – Conrad is the Captain of the Capulet Guards and he saves Juliet and Cordelia when the massacre happened on the House of Capulet. He raised Juliet and serves as the leader of the rebels. It is his ambition to restore the throne to Neo Verona to the rightful owner, Juliet.

Antonio – Antonio is Conrad’s grandson. He frequently accompanies Odin on his adventures into the city helping out the citizens of Neo Verona. He is like a little brother to Juliet.

Tybalt – Tybalt is the mysterious man who appears one day and saves Juliet’s life. He has a deep grudge against Prince Montague and has a connection with both Juliet and Romeo.

Benvolio – Benvolio is Romeo’s best friend and was once a noble. However due to his father disagreeing with the Prince, his family was stripped of their nobility and forced into hiding. Juliet and her followers helped out his family.

William Shakespeare – William or “Willy” is a playwright that hides Juliet and her followers in his playhouse. He is constantly trying to write the ultimate play and gets ideas from Juliet and her life story.

Lady Portia – Lady Portia is Romeo’s mother. She left the castle when Romeo was seven because she couldn’t deal with her husband’s evilness. Lady Portia is extremely kind and caring just like Romeo and hopes that one day Romeo can change Neo Verona for the better. She also supports Romeo and Juliet’s love and prays that their cruel fate can somehow be changed.

Mercutio – Mercutio is the son of another noble that wants very badly to impress the Prince. Dissatisfied with his own father, he envies Romeo for being the son of the Prince. However, he pretends to be friends with him to spy on him for the Prince.

Hermione – Hermione is a noble that is named as Romeo’s betrothed. She is very proper, appears to be very sweet, and cares very much for her betrothed despite him not feeling the same for her. However, she has a darker side to her… after all she is a woman in love with a rival.

Orphelia – Orphelia is the one who tends to the great tree, Escalus. She single handedly changes Juliet’s destiny…

Lord Leontes Montague – Prince Montague is the main antagonist throughout most of the series. He is the current Prince of Neo Verona and he is Romeo’s father. He is a ruthless, heartless tyrant that believes in ruling over Neo Verona using power and fear. He actually got his current position by using power: he killed off the rightful owner of the throne, Prince Capulet. He is the polar opposite of his son, Romeo. He has pretty much no compassion and truly believes that his way of rule is the only way to rule.

“Romeo x Juliet – Juliet Collection” features a total of 12 episodes on two DVDs. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

• ACT 13- PULSATION ~ GUIDED – Juliet is captured by Prince Montague and is set to be executed.
• ACT 14- SOLEMN RESPONSIBILITIES ~ IN THE CIRCLE OF THESE ARMS – Romeo is banished to run the mines as his punishment for letting Juliet escape.
• ACT 15- THE SELF ~ THE WAY FORWARD – Romeo’s days at the mines continue.
• ACT 16- ONE PERSON ~ SO DEAR – Juliet and her group get to Lady Ariel’s mansion.
• ACT 17- CRUEL TYRANT ~ DARKNESS, THE ORIGIN – We see into Leontes Montague’s past and Tybalt’s connection to him is revealed
• ACT 18- ASPIRATIONS ~ IN EACH OF THEIR HEARTS – William finishes a play and has everyone act in it for the people of Mantua

DISC 2:

• ACT 19- SUCCESSION ~ I AM NONE OTHER – Everyone acts out the play that William wrote… it seems to be a combination of a few stories we all know… Also the identity of the Red Whirlwind is revealed.
• ACT 20- DUTY ~ UNWAVERING STEP – The rebellion begins.
• ACT 21- THE COVENANT ~ THE GODDESS’S EMBRACE – Juliet prepares to take on her newly established destiny.
• ACT 22- CURSE ~ RAGING FURY – The Capulet forces prepare for the final battle.
• ACT 23- SEED BROUGHT TO LIFE ~ THE KISS OF DEATH – Prince Montague has fallen, but Escalus calls for Juliet.
• ACT 24- PRAYER ~ IN THE SAME WORLD AS YOU – Can Romeo save Juliet from her fate and can they beat their fate and have a happy ending?

VIDEO & AUDIO

“Romeo x Juliet” is presented in 16:9. GONZO once again doesn’t disappoint. The character designs and backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous. In this particular series though the amount of detail given to the architecture of Neo Verona and the other places is absolutely amazing. The atmosphere of Neo Verona takes a lot of influence from old European architecture and merging it with fantasy aspects. The animation quality is superb and doesn’t falter throughout the whole series.

For audio, you have the option of either Japanese or English. The Japanese cast has a handful of veteran seiyuu including Kazuhiko Inoue, Ryotaro Okiayu, and Aya Hisakawa lending their voices for some of the characters. Overall, every character’s voice seemed to fit their character and all the Japanese seiyuu do a fantastic job. As for the English dub, FUNimation does a wonderful job matching the original Japanese voices. I believe that FUNimation has some of the best English dubs, this one included. I always prefer the original Japanese over the English, but I enjoy FUNimation dubs including this one. I feel that the feeling of the original acting is not lost.

There are only English subtitles available.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

For the special features, there are textless songs, FUNimation trailers, and a commentary for ACT 24 on disc 2.

I will probably say this many times throughout my review: Despite sharing the name of the play written by Shakespeare, there is very little association with the original in this anime.

I believe that the audience will be pretty split on this series. Fans of the original play may or may not like the re-imagining of a classic. Some people may love it because of the new twist on a classic. However it’s pretty safe to say that the series is pretty much completely different than the original play other than the fact that there are people named Romeo and Juliet, their households are technically feuding (more so in this version, the Capulets have been killed off by Prince Montague), and their love was not meant to be of this world but they still try to make it work.

Here is my own opinion… When I first heard about there being an anime based on “Romeo and Juliet”, I was wondering how they were going to make more than 2 episodes of it. Of course when I finally saw it, I realized that it was pretty much “A story very loosely based on the play Romeo and Juliet”. The story is pretty much completely original. The setting of the world of this anime is very much a world of fantasy fused with what seems to be an old European city.

If you know anything about the original play and the original characters… you might want to disregard what you know of the characters at least. Pretty much none of the characters from the original play share their original persona. I didn’t mind most of the changes, but Mercutio is one of my favorite characters from the play and I didn’t enjoy the changes they made with him in the anime. Tybalt also had some interesting changes made to his character… or more so his connection to Romeo in this series. It’s sort of funny to think about considering how the original Tybalt felt about Romeo.

Those who know about other Shakespeare plays may enjoy the fact that a lot of the characters are named after various characters from his other works (Or at least they seem to be). In my opinion, it’s also those supporting characters that make this series entertaining.

There are moments that are right out of the play, the most famous lines like “O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?” and “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet.” Those are moments that I think that people who know the play will enjoy.

I think one of my biggest issues with the series is Romeo and his relationship with his father. I can’t seem to understand how Romeo for the most part is rather oblivious to his father being such a terrible tyrant (he’s not completely oblivious but he doesn’t seem to fully grasp how blatantly evil his father is). There is not a single moment in the series where Leontes even shows a bit of compassion.

I actually don’t even know how Romeo grew up to be so compassionate and caring considering his mother, who shares his demeanor, left the castle when he was seven. I mean it’s a wonderful thing that Romeo grew up to be the wonderful person that he is… but his father is so… evil.

I mean there’s a slight explanation on why he’s so evil, but it’s just weird to me that Romeo grew up not realizing how evil his father is. His father never even tried to hide how much of a tyrant he is… yet Romeo acted oblivious about the fact that his father really didn’t care about the people. His father only cares about power and well… more power.

Romeo somehow grew up to be a complete angel. Romeo seriously has no evil in him… at all. He really just wants to do what is right and just wants to love Juliet.

The other little thing that slightly irked me was the whole thing with Escalus. I mean I understand the moral of the story… by episode 20, the series takes a completely different turn than I think most people might expect this series to go… I guess I see how it ties in with Romeo and Juliet’s destiny. But overall it still left me with a big “huh?” until the end at least… by then I felt a little better after I thought back to the original play.

Overall, this series is entertaining. I’m still trying to figure out if it’s better to not know anything about Romeo and Juliet and watch it with a fresh mind, or if it’s better to watch it with prior knowledge to the original story. I mean there really was only two ways this story could ultimately go: either the anime would follow the original well known ending to the original play, or Romeo and Juliet would have a happy ending. Either way, people might be upset. To see which ending the series had, you’ll have to watch for yourself and even then… it could be interpreted in more than one way.

Despite the cons that I pointed out, I did enjoy the series. By the end of the series, the pros outweigh the cons for me. The art is wonderful and the cast is fantastic. There are some great characters (I mean William Shakespeare himself is in the series…) and it was interesting to see a Juliet that wasn’t the helpless young girl and had much more character. I can appreciate this series for what it is and I would recommend it.

Despite any conflicted feelings I had watching the series, by the absolute end of the series I thought it wrapped up nicely and I really did enjoy it. The ending made me smile and made up for any doubts I had through parts of the series.

I highly recommend this series for those that are fans of romance and or fantasy anime. I am a person who knows the original play, and I personally thought it was a great re-imagining on a wonderful classic.

Linebarrels of Iron: Volume 1 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

“Linebarrels of Iron” is enjoyable, action-packed, sexy and mecha driven anime series with a twist.  Just awesome!

Image courtesy of © 2008 Eichi Shimiazu, Tomohiro Shimoguchi, Akita Publishing/GONZO/Linebarrel Partners. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Linebarrels of Iron: Volume 1

DURATION: 12 episodes (300 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: Language: English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound, Japanese Stereo, English Subtitles

COMPANY: Gonzo/FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV MA

Release Date: January 19, 2010

Based on the manga series “Kurogane no Linebarrel” by Eiichi Shimizu, Tomohiro Shimoguchi

Directed by Masayuki Kojima

Series Composition by Kiyoko Yoshimura

Screenplay by Kiyoko Yoshimura, Shigeru Morita

Music by Conisch

Character Design by Hisashi Hirai

Chief Animation Director: Hisashi Hirai

Mecha Design by Tsutomo Suzuki

Sound Director by Masafumi Mitsuma

Featuring the following voice talent:

Mamiko Noto/Alexis Tipton as Emi Kizaki

Tetsuya Kakihara/Josh Grelle as Kōichi Hayase

Aya Hirano/Monica Rial as Miu Kujou

Chiwa Saito/Tia Ballard as Rachel Calvin

Emi Shinohara/Michele Specht as Yurianne Faithful

Gô Shinomiya/Joel McDonald as Hideaki Yajima

Hirofumi Nojima/Ian Sinclair as Sobi Nakajima

Jun Fukuyama/Todd Haberkorn as Hisataka Katō

Jun Konno/Jerry Jewell as Makoto Doumyouji

Kana Ueda/Cherami Leigh as Shizuna Endō

Masako Joh/Cynthia Cranz as Chisato Hayase

Miyuki Sawashiro/Mary Morgan as Satoru Yamashita

Noriko Shitaya/Carrie Savage as Risako Niiyama

Rie Kugimiya/Aaron Dismuke as Izuna Endō

Yoshikazu Sato/Bob Carter as Jack Smith

Yuuichi Nakamura/J. Michael Tatum as Reiji Moritsugu

Kouichi dreams of being a hero, but in reality he’s a punching bag for every bully on the block. His life flatlines when the mysteriously naked Emi crash lands on his pitiful existence, thrusting Kouichi into the middle of an intergalactic showdown between rival races of self-regenerating Machinas.

Through his death-bed partnership with the Linebarrel mecha, Kouichi gains the strength to stand up to his tormentors and crush the alien invasion force that’s determined to conquer Earth. There’s just one problem: all this newfound power and special attention from nearly naked babes is turning Kouichi into a jerk. His friends can’t stand him, he makes his dream girl sick, and those aliens want to kill him extra dead!

Kouichi may have the mechanized muscle to save the world, but he has much to learn about being a true “Hero of Justice.”

In 2004, the manga series “Kurogane no Linebarrel” (Linebarrels of Iron) was created by Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi.  The manga was first serialized in Akita Shoten’s monthly shonen manga magazine “Champion Red” and in 2008, received its anime adaptation featuring a total of 24-episodes which ended in March 2009.

The anime series is directed by Masamitsu Hidaka (known for his directorial work on various “Pokemon” series and films), series composition by Kiyoko Yoshimura (“Chocolate Underground”, “Dogs: Bullets & Carnage”) and Shigeru Morita (“Mobile Suit Gundam Seed”, “Seikon no Qwaser”).   Character design for the series is by Hisashi Hirai (“Mobile Suit Gundam Seed”, “Sokyu no Fafner”, “Infinite Ryvius”, “Heroic Age”), mecha design by Tsutomu Suzuki (“Zone of Enders”, Kurokami the Animation”, “Bokurano”) and music by Conisch (“Hitohira”, “Hipira: The Little Vampire”).  “Linebarrles of Iron” is animated by Gonzo.

“Linebarrels of Iron” is a story about Kouichi Hayashi, a teenager who is often bullied.  He always dreams that his purpose in life is to be an ally of justice but he is often picked on and bullied in front of his childhood friend and the girl he cares about Risako Niyama.  Things get so bad that often she tries to defend him and when things get tough, his friend Hideaki Yajima is always there to protect them.

One day, Kouichi is bullied by three people who force him to get their lunch, which Kouichi agrees to and infuriates Risako.   He tells her that he believes he has a hidden, latent power to become an ally of justice but of course, his two friends don’t believe it and try to tell him to fight back. Meanwhile, an object called “Linebarrel” is heading towards the planet Earth.

When Kouchi is arriving back to school after getting the bullies their food, he sees the object going straight down on him.   When Kouchi awakens, he sees a big giant mecha robot in front of him and right next to him, a naked girl.  He brings the girl, who doesn’t remember who she is to his home to get some clothes.  But while they are talking, three mecha show up in the area.  They belong to the Katou Organization and start destroying parts of the city.

The girl, Emi Kizaki immediately remembers that those mecha are the enemy and the military with their mecha start to protect the city and fight against the enemy.   Both Kouichi and Emi are stuck in the neighborhood with no chance to escape but his friend Yajima finds them and tries to save them.  Kouichi who has had enough of people trying to protect him, gets upset and punches the wall and ends up breaking the wall.  Emi then remembers and tells him that he has power and must call the power of Linebarrel.  Immediately a light surrounds both Koichi and Emi and he awakens and calls a huge machina named Linebarrel to appear.

We then see a more confident Kouichi with special abilities and Kouichi believes that this latent power to become the ally of justice has finally awakened, when the truth is that on the day the object fell on him, he died but Emi saved his life by having Linebarrel choose him for a factor.  He now has special abilities and has been given a second life which is tied to the life of the mecha.  But the problem with Kouichi is that the power has gotten to his head, his idea that he’s the ally of justice makes him feel that he is the most powerful being and doesn’t understand humility.  All he cares is people recognizing his power and wanting to exact revenge on those who hurt him.

But eventually, he’ll learn a big lesson when someone close to him dies and knows he has a major responsibility by having this newfound power.

“Linebarrels of Iron” is a series that pits two organizations against each other.  The good guys are known as JUDA while the bad guys are known as the Katou Organization.

JUDA consists of:

• Kouichi Hayase - The main character who goes from the weak teenager constantly being bullied to a boy who controls the powerful machina known as Linebarrel.   He was killed on the day Linebarrel crashed into him and shares his life with Linebarrel.  Linebarrel has now given him power and also power to automatically restore his body.  But because Kouichi is somewhat unstable with his emotions and his belief that he is the ally of justice, his ego tends to get into his head at times.  But throughout the series, we see him grow as an individual and becomes protective over the people he cares about, including the girls of JUDA who suddenly start taking a liking towards him.
• Emi Kizaki – Emi was supposed to be the initial factor (pilot) of Linebarrel.  She is a mysterious member of JUDA because she came from another dimension.  She tends to be hard on Kouichi but at the same time cares for him.  But she gets very angry when she thinks Kouichi is always trying to see her nude.
• Reiji Moritsugu – The Chief of the Special Task Force at JUDA.  He is a calm but cold person who seems to be impervious of pain.  He and Kouchi often get into squabbles because of their sense of dealing with justice.
• Satoru Yamashita – (the blonde factor at JUDA)  A subordinate of Reiji and also obsessed with him.  Also serious but can be cheerful.  She pilots the machina known as Hind-Kind.
• Shizuna Endo – One of the twins of JUDA, She is very loud and always screaming and hurting Koichi but you can tell she has feelings towards him, especially when Kouichi treats her as a girl and compliments her.  She and her brother pilot the machina known as Deceive.
• Izuna Endo – One of the twins of JUDA, he is very shy and introverted.  His sister Shizuna is more domineering.  He pilots the machina Deceive along with his sister.
• Miu Kujo – The kindhearted (and well-endowed) member of JUDA.  She has a crush on Kouichi after he saved her life.  She pilots the machina Painkiller.
• Kunio Ishigami - The Chief of JUDA Corporation.  A former high-ranking officer of the Katou Organization with many secrets.  Also, loves to prank his pilots and have fun.
• Yui Ogawa – Ishigami’s secretary and is the more maternal member of JUDA, giving the pilots advice and admonishing her boss for his pranks.
• Rachel Calvin – A genius from the US who is the chief of research and development for JUDA.  Often gets angry with Kouichi.

The Katou Organization:

• Hisataka Katou – The head of the Katou Organization.  Cold and calm, his goal is world conquest with bloodshed.  He is the pilot of the massive mecha known as Shangri-La.
• Masaki Sugwara – The right hand man of Katou.  The First Division Captain who is mysterious and sports a cowboy outfit and long hair with no emotions.  Pilots the second largest Machina known as Glein-Neidr.
• Takuro Sawatari – The Fourth Division Captain of the Katou Organization.  Violent and brutal and wants to destroy Linebarrel.  He pilots the Arma Idaten.
• Dimitri Magarov – Third Division Captain and a creepy looking man who pilots the Arma, Kagutsuchi.
• Yurianne Faithful - The Seventh Division Captain.  An attractive redhead who pilots the Arma Tsubaki-Hime.
• Riku Ousei - The Eighth Division Captain who is very obese and a psychopath.  Pilots the Arma Yaoyorozu.
• Jack Smith – The Sixth Division Captain – A human with a power of the Arma, doesn’t pilot any mecha and follows the code of honor in combat.

“Linebarrels of Iron” Volume 1″ comes with a total of 12 episodes, with six episodes on two DVD’s. Here is a basic, spoilerless summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

• EPISODE 1 – The Iron and the Boy – Kouichi discovers his newfound power and is reborn.
• EPISODE 2 – Justice Barreling Along – The JUDA corporation tries to recruit Kouichi.
• EPISODE 3 – Azure Terror – JUDA sends Reiji Moritsugu to deal with Kouichi’s stubbornness.  Yajima starts to worry about his friend.
• EPISODE 4 – The Price of Justice – Emi loses her trust in Kouichi and Linebarrel is confiscated.  A tragedy hits Kouichi hard.
• EPISODE 5 – Guidepost to Tomorrow – Kouichi joins the JUDA Corporation.
• EPISODE 6 – A Radiant Night – Kouchi is introduced to the other pilots of the JUDA Corporation.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 7 – The Worst After School Hours Ever – Hisataka Kato of the Katou Organization tries to get Kouichi to join their organization.
• EPISODE 8 – Playful Devils – JUDA sends Kouichi, Reiji and Miu on a mission to aid U.S. forces against the Katou Organization.
• EPISODE 9 – The Black Chamber – JUDA sends the pilots on a mission to investigate mysterious spheres that the Katou Organization has launched all over the world.
• EPISODE 10 – Over Drive – The Katou Organization has hijacked a U.S. satellite weapon.
• EPISODE 11 – Super Nova – Kouichi must destroy the satellite from impending worldwide disaster.
• EPISODE 12 – From the Tropics with Love – Ishigami brings the pilots to a deserted island for rest and relaxation.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Linebarrels of Iron: Volume 1″ features pretty solid animation.  The artistic backgrounds are nicely lighted and shaded.  Character designs are also well done and feature the character designs with a lot of shading and featuring the character in a variety of emotions.  Also, the series features a lot of mecha.  Each pilot on both sides with their own machina and abilities definitely brings in this other element to the series.  There is a lot of action featured in “Linebarrels of Iron” and a lot of destruction.   GONZO did a spectacular job with the animation and a series that I hope receives the Blu-ray treatment.

Audio is in English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound and Japanese Stereo.  Both voice acting for the English and Japanese are well done.  The English dub is very well done and was quite pleased with the amount of action and sound effects.  Good use of surround channels and good punchy bass for booms from the subwoofer.  I definitely would love to hear this soundtrack ala lossless audio if brought to Blu-ray.  But for the most part, English dub soundtrack is well done and more immersive.  Japanese soundtrack is very good but only in stereo but if you have a home theater receiver capable of setting audio on all channels, it definitely makes the soundtrack much more immersive.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Linebarrels of Iron: Volume 1” comes with the following special features:

DISC 1:

• EPISODE 6 – A Radiant Night Audio Commentary - Featuring audio commentary by Caitlin Gass (ADR Director), Alexis Tipton (Emi) and Josh Greeley (Kouichi)
• Music Video: Proud – (3:42) The full animated music video for “Proud”.

DISC 2:

• Promotional Video – (1:22) The original Japanese promotion for “Linebarrels of Iron”.  Subtitled in English.
• Original Japanese TV Spots – (1:19) The original Japanese TV commercials.
• Textless Opening Song – (1:47) Opening theme song by JAM Project.
• Textless Closing Song – (1:35) The ending theme by Maaya Sakamoto.
• Trailers - FUNimation Entertainment trailers

“Linebarrels of Iron” is enjoyable, action-packed, sexy and mecha driven anime series with a twist.

I really enjoyed this series.  For one, it was interesting to have the protagonist that was mentally unstable.  No, nothing like Shinji of “Neon Genesis Evangelion”, the character of Kouichi had this unstable mentality because of his ego and willingness to become this “ally of justice”.  In some sort of twisted way, he sort of reminded me of Kira of “Death Note” and Kouichi trying to exact his way of justice and having so much power getting caught up in his head.

Also, this mecha anime series contains a little bit of that “harem” style in which there are many female characters who start to show interest towards Kouichi, something you really don’t see from a mecha anime series and also because it’s harem, it has its share of a little fan service.  Especially as the female pilots thinks that to show their appreciation to an Earthling, they must take off all their clothes.  Granted, there is no nudity in “Linebarrels of Iron” but it added that sexual element to the series which mecha otaku’s who enjoyed series like “Gravion” or “Gurren Lagann” will enjoy.

So, far the first half of the anime series has featured quite a bit of action and it’s going to be interesting to see what happens when both organizations go all out.  I can imagine that this series is going to switch to serious mode during its second half as JUDA and the Katou Organization pilots battle each other and I can imagine that characters are probably going to get killed in battle.

But what I found important with this series is that each episode is connected and they are fun.  No filler episodes.  With so many characters featured in this series, there is a good amount of character development and a very good balance of humor and action.  And that is what makes “Linebarrels of Iron” so addicting and enjoyable.

As for the DVD, this is a pretty solid release that actually has a good number of special features than just the opening and ending theme songs.  Character and mecha design especially the artistic backgrounds are well done.  The series is also well-acted both in Japanese and English. Personally, this is one series that I hope FUNimation Entertainment considers for a Blu-ray release.  It’s a really fun, action-packed series that I can imagine, will look and sound great via HD.

Overall, the first volume of “Linebarrels of Iron” was exciting and a good amount of mecha action, humor, fan service and more.    Definitely recommended!

Dragonaut – The Resonance Part 01 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

For those who enjoy action-oriented anime series and are interested in dragons and well-endowed women…look no further “Dragonaut – The Resonance” is an anime series for you!

Image courtesy of © Dragonaut Project. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Dragonaut – The Resonance Part 01

DURATION: (Episodes 1-13) 315 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9, English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound, Japanese Stereo, English Subtitles

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV MA

Release Date: November 3, 2009

Directed by Manabu Ono

Story Concept by June Maekawa

Music by Kousuke Yamashita

Character Design by Makoto Uno

Art Direction by Kei Ichikura

Chief Animation Director: Tadashi Sakazaki

Mechanical Design by Junya Ishigaki

Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka

Edited by Akinori Mishima

Anime production by GONZO

Featuring the following voice talent:

Daisuke Ono/Justin Pate as Jin Kamishima

Minori Chihara/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Toa

Aya Hirano/LydiaMackay as Garnet McLane

Eiji Maruyama/Mark Stoddard as Amadeus

Eiji Miyashita as Keiichi Amagi

Junichi Suwabe/Chris Sabat as Gio

Mamoru Miyano/Jerri Jewell as Ashim Jamal

Miyuki Sawashiro/Brina Palencia as Akira Souya

Miyuki Swashiro/Carrie Savage as Laura

Nana Mizuki/Cherami Leigh as Jacqueline Baumgold

Ryoko Ono as Itsuki Habaragi/Otohime

Saeko Chiba as Widow

Takuma Takewaka/J. Michael Tatum as Lina Cromwell (Raina Cromwell)

Tetsuya Kakihara/Todd Haberkorn as Kazuki Tachibana

Tomokazu Sugita/Brad Hawkins as Howlingstar

Yuko Goto/Caitlin Glass as Makina (Machina)

With a deadly asteroid hurtling towards Earth, sexy human Dragonauts in tight uniforms and their curvaceous dragon companions come together to create a formidable fighting force with all the right moves. Caught in the middle of this race against time are Jin, a heartbroken young flyboy, and Toa, a voluptuous lady-dragon with an amazing set of intergalactic battle skills.

Jin’s down about the fate of his doomed planet, but Toa is quick to grab him by the seat of his pants and lift his sagging spirits. If these star-crossed space cadets can unlock the secrets of their mysterious connection and convince the Dragonauts to join the action, there may yet be hope for planet Earth!

In 2007, the anime series “Dragonaut  – The Resonance” began its 26-episode run on TV Tokyo through March 2008.  A manga series followed the anime series a month later and serialized on the manga magazine “Jump Square”.

“Dragonaut  – The Resonance” is directed by Manabu Ono (“Transformers: Cybertron”, “Saki”) and story concept by Jun Maekawa (“Dragon Ball Z”, “Dragonball GT”, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters”, “Getbackers”, “Prince of Tennis”).  Also, part of the animation crew are character designer Makoto Uno (“Gravion”, “Stellvia”, “Witchblade”) and composer Kousuke Yamashita (“Glass Fleet”, “Hana Yori Dango”).

“Dragonaut – The Resonance” is anime series revolves around an 18-year-old teenager named Jin Kamishina.  We see how he and his best friend Kazuki Tachibana and talking about going to space together as both have been admitted to an astronaut program.  But because Jin’s mother is an astronomer, Jin and his sister are given a chance to go to space with their mother and father (who is piloting the shuttle).

Meanwhile, out in space, three objects are flying towards the Earth.  While the Kamishina family and others are flying out to space, they are hit by one of the objects and we see a glimpse of Jin as he is falling high above.

The series then cuts to the present and an asteroid is heading directly to Earth and there are plans to destroy the asteroid (known as Thanatos).   Meanwhile the scene cuts to Jin’s life in present as we learn from a journalist named Ko Yonamine who begins reminding Jin that he was the only survivor of the accident and suffered no injuries from the fall (and media speculate how he could have survived such from it).  His father was blamed for the accident and how he is living with relatives. Since his family members death, Jin has been alone and withdrawn from society.

Meanwhile, the journalist sees a girl staring at Jin from the distance and when he goes to look for her, she disappears.  The journalist is working with an ISDA (Inernational Solarsystem Development Agency) scientist named Yuuri Kitajima and think that the girl is an “album”.  Yuuri is a scientist who studies dragon and was the first of the ISDA to discover the first dragon egg and has devoted her life into researching them and most of all, wanting to examine Toa since she is one of the original dragons.

We later learn the girl dubbed the “Album” is Toa, a mysterious girl who has supernatural athletic abilities, strength and healing capabilities and most importantly, she is a dragon who can turn to human form.

As for Jin’s best friend Kazuki, since the day of the accident, his life has been much more successful as he becomes a member of the ISDA and because he successfully achieved resonance with a dragon named Gio, he becomes an official member of the Dragonauts.

One day while walking out at night, Jin hears a scream from a woman.  When Jin goes to see who was screaming, he sees a humanoid-like monster feeding on the woman and tries to run away from him.  The monster tries to go after Jin and Jin ends up falling off from a building and Jin remembers when he was falling off the shuttle and remembers being saved by a light.

In this case, Jin was once saved again by a woman and the monster pursues it and we learn that this was all a plan by the ISDA to capture Toa.

But from that moment Jin and Toa met, they develop a bond together.  Meanwhile, the Dragonauts who are part of a unit called the Lindworm Unit do what they can to capture Toa and Kazuki’s dragon Gio escapes from the HQ defying orders to help Jin find Toa which develops anger and jealousy within Kazuki.

As for Jin, Toa and the Dragonauts, they are unaware that another mysterious group is behind-the-scene pulling strings for their own purpose.

The main characters of “Dragonaut – The Resonance” are:

• Jin Kamishina – The mysterious teenager who survived the shuttle accident with no injuries and has developed a bond with the “album” known as Toa.   After his family’s death from the accident, Jin has been emotionally withdrawn until Toa entered his life.
• Toa – One of the original Dragons who can turn to human.  In human form, Toa has supernatural abilities such as strength and healing abilities.  In dragon form, she is very powerful and can take on more than two dragons.  The ISDA want to capture her in order to retrieve information on the original dragons from Thanatos.
• Gio – The dragon from the ISDA who joined with Kazuki Tachibana but disobeyed him in order to protect Toa and also Jin.

The International Solarsystem Development Agency (ISDA)

• Kiril Zhazhiev – The leader of the D-Project with the main goal to destroy the asteroid known as Thanatos.
• Baisil Sakaki – A soldier of the ISDA in charge of commanding the Dragonauts as their military commander.
• Laura – Helps Sakaki in order to capture dragons.
• Yuuri Kitajima – A scientist who studies dragons and discovered the first dragon egg.  Devoted to researching the dragons.
• Kasuga Nozaki – The head of the D-Project research group.

The Lindworm Unit – Those of the ISDA who have resonated with the dragons

• Raina Cromwell/Howlingstar – The leader of the Lindworm Unit.  The ISDA public representative and popular amongst the women and has resonated with the dragon known as Howlingstar – Raina’s dragon partner and leader of the Communicators.
• Akira Soya/Machina – A dragonaut of the Lindworm Unit.  Close with her dragon partner Machina and when she sees how Jin reacts to Toa with compassiona nd love, she ends up helping Jin/Toa.
• Sieglinde Baumgard/Amadeus – The youngest Dragonaut and is a child prodigy with a cold demeanor.  Amadeus looks like a butler but it is Sieglinde’s dragon.
• Kazuki Tachibana/Widow – Was best friends with Jin before the accident.  Now a Dragonaut, Kazuki is very jealous that the dragon he bonded with has chosen to help Jin and leaving him.  Widow is a communicator that allows Kazuki to join with her in order to retrieve Gio.

“Dragonaut – The Resonance Part 01″ features the first 13 episodes on two DVD’s. Here is a spoiler free summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

• EPISODE 1: RESONANCE – Hand in Hand - An introduction Jin’s life before and after the accident and how he met Toa.
• EPISODE 2: TRYST: The World Starts Moving - Jin is being interrogated by the ISDA and is told what the asteroid Thanatos truly is.
• EPISODE 3: AWAKENING: Wings Gathered - Toa and Spirytus go into battle and ISDA sends out dragons to capture Toa.
• EPISODE 4: FLIGHT: To the End of the Blue – Jin and Gio discuss how Toa is important to them and come up with a plan.
• EPISODE 5: MINGLE: The Rain Starts Falling – We see how the military tried to have a Resonance program.  The ISDA reveals to the public about the D-Project and Thanatos.
• EPISODE 6: REUNION: Feelings of Attraction – We see a flashback on what happened to Jin after the accident and the Dragonauts go after Toa.
• EPISODE 7: RECOLLECTIONS: Hearts Reflected on the Water – Kazuki finds a new communicator named Widow.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 8: PARTING: An Echo Out of Thin Air – Kazuki and Widow confronts Jin and Gio.
• EPISODE 9: DETERMINATION: Overcoming the Cafe – A flashback of what happened to Sakaki’s wife and newborn.
• EPISODE 10: TRUTH: A Shattered Mirror – Yuuri explains to Jin that something happened two years ago after he survived the accident.
• EPISODE 11: RUMBLINGS: In Search of the Truth – Akira and Machina help out Jin and thus betraying the Lindworm Unit.
• EPISODE 12: FIERCE ATTACK: The Scorching Messenger - The fourth original dragon known as Ostrum has resonated with someone and Kasuga’s true identity is revealed.
• EPISODE 13: VISITATION: A Guidepost Shown – The history of the D-Project.  Ostrum vs. Atrum.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Dragonaut – The Resonance” is an anime series with beautiful artistic backgrounds.  Rocks and cliffs are well-detailed, as are the lush backgrounds and blue skies.  But if there is one thing that stands out in this series is Makoto Uno’s character designs and that is because if you are familiar with the anime series “Gravion”, the one thing that stands out is women who are very well-endowed.  And the same can be said with “Dragonaut”.  Many of the women in the series are well-endowed.  But also, one thing about Uno’s work that I can definitely give credit is the character designs and the emotions featured in the characters.

For a TV series, “Dragonaut – The Resonance” takes place during outdoor settings and a lot of colors are featured, especially as the Dragonauts are fighting or are searching around the island area.  Detail is very well done and while character designs uses simple lines, shadows are done and artist backgrounds definitely enhance the animation.

As for the audio, the English dub is featured in English 5.1 Dolby Digital.

Subtitles are featured in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Dragonaut – The Resonance Part 01” comes with:

• Audio Commentary for Episode 10 “TRUTH: A Shattered Mirror” – The following audio commentary features Brina Palencia (Akira) and Kate Oxley (Nanami) discuss the episode and their characters.
• Textless Opening and Closing Songs – Textless themes for “Perfect Blue” and “Rain of Love”.
• FUNimation Trailers

I have to admit that when I first saw the cover and trailer for “Dragonaut – The Resonance”, I was expecting a “Gravion” style of anime series.  Mainly because the women featured in the images are women who are well-endowed and  since the same character from “Gravion” was involved with “Dragonaut – The Resonance”, I was expecting a humorous but action-packed anime series.

But the anime series turned out to be a very serious drama and action-based series. This is not a series in which one can pick up late if it was aired on television, you really need to watch these episodes in order as there are many characters featured and the storyline can be quite complex.

Character designs are fine but not too much emphasis was put on the actual character designs as the figures have very few lines.   Where the series shines is its use of artistic, detailed backgrounds.  3D CG for the mecha is good but considering this is a TV series and its made by a popular animation studios that has a lot of things happening all at once, most of the art is focused on the backgrounds and CG.

For those who were wondering if the series has a lot of fan service, aside from the well-endowed women and some female characters wearing short shorts, “Dragonaut – The Resonance” is quite tame.

Overall, I felt that “Dragonaut – The Resonance” was an OK anime for its first half.  I was not feeling that this anime series was exceptional and to tell you the truth, I felt it to be quite average.   I think part of the problem this series encountered was trying to showcase too many characters all at once and somehow along the way, the main characters Jin and Toa end being featured less and less as the writers tried to flesh out all these other characters in the first half of the series.

Granted, the good news is that each episode has importance to the episode after it.  This is a pretty serious anime series and for those who are looking for a series that combines dragons and other sci-fi/hi-tech elements, then “Dragonauts” is your thing.  Each episode are not filler episodes and you can expect a good amount of action and for those who dig the fan service, you get several women who somehow manage to defy gravity.

“Dragonaut – The Resonance Part 01″ was an average anime series for its first half thus far but I hope plot-wise, the anime series gets even more entertaining for the second half.

Basilisk – The Complete Series (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

Action-packed, well-written and overall a well-rounded anime on Blu-ray release!  A truly captivating, adrenaline pumping, action-packed anime series based on the award winning novel by Futaro Yamada and manga series by Masaki Segawa.  Definitely a title worth having in your anime on Blu-ray collection!

Images courtesy of © 2005 Futaro Yamada-Masaki Segawa-Kodansha/Gonzo. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Basilisk – The Complete Series

 

DURATION: 24 Episodes (600 Minutes)

 

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

 

RATED: TV MA

 

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: December 15, 2009

 

Originally Created by Futaroh Yamada

Directed by Fumitomo Kizaki

Scenario/Script: Yasuyuki Muto

Music by Kou Nakagawa

Character Design and Animation directed by Michinori Chiba

Sound Director by Yoku Shioya

Director of Photography: Kenji Fujita

Executive Producer: Koji Kajita

Producer: Hidemasa Arai, Hideyuki Nanba

Assistant Director: Yukio Nishimoto

Assisant Producer: Misato Kaneko

Anime Production by GONZO

 

 

Featuring the voices of:

Kousuke Toriumi/Troy Baker as Kouga Gennosuke

Nana Mizuki/Laura Bailey as Iga Oboro

Atsushi Imaruoka/Eric Vale as Jimushi Jyubei

Katsuhiro Kitagawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Kasumi Gyoubu

Katsui Taira/Jeremy Inman as Udono Josuke

Ken Uo/J. Paul Slavens as Amayo Jingoro

Kenji Utsumi/Jim Johnson as Nenki Mino

Misa Watanabe/Jennifer Seman as Akeginu

Ryuusaku Chidiwa/Chris Cason as Kazamachi Shogen

Sho Hayami/Mark Stoddard as Yakushiji Tenzen

Takeshi Aono/R. Bruce Elliot as Azuki Rousai

Wataru Hatano/John Burgmeier as Chikuma Koshirou

Yasushi Miyabayashi as Muroga Hyouma

Youji Ueda as Kisaragi Saemon

Feudal Japan is set to bear witness to the bloody clash of titans as two fearsome ninja tribes are unleashed, one upon the other. For wretched within the Edo Castle loyalties have been severed into warring factions, as two sons struggle to inherit the title of Shogun. If this rupture goes unresolved, the Tokugawa kingdom will be torn apart. A solution must be found, one befitting a samurai family.

The Kouga and the Iga, two ninja clans with four hundred years of hostilities between them, meet at the request of Lord Ieyasu. There they learn that the peace forced upon them is to be broken by the whim of royalty, and that the outcome of this battle will determine the next Shogun. The passions of the past quickly reignite as two scrolls are sent out into the night.

Ill-fated is this event indeed, for lovers stand with hands entwined as travesty approaches on the wings of a hawk. Reared from birth as sworn enemies, Gennosuke and Oboro, each the heir of these rival clans, seek lasting peace between their peoples. But the terms have been set, and two lists seal their destinies. Two lists from which a name can only be crossed out in blood.

No mercy will be spared to the enemy.

 

The popular 1958 novel “The Kouga Ninja Scrolls” by Futaro Yamada was adapted into a manga series titled “Bajirisuku ~Kōga Ninpō Chō~” (Basilisk: The Koga Ninja Scrolls) in 2004-2005 by Masaki Segawa and winning the 2004 Kodansha Manga Award.

The anime series adaptation was then produced by Gonzo Studios in 2005 and is now the complete series is now available on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.

“Basilisk” is about two ninja clans at war, the Kouga and the Iga clan who have fought each other for four hundred years but a “no hostilities” pact is made to prevent the two from going into war.

We are given a glimpse of the past when the Iga clan’s Princess Ogen and the Kouga clan’s leader Danjou.  Two people from opposing clans who were planning to get married.  With the two clans living in peace, it looked as if marriage was possible until fighting began in the Iga village and survivors from the village were killed by the Kouga clan.

Needless to say, the two lovers became hated enemies but due to a “no hostilities” pact, there would be no fighting between the two clans.

Fast forward many decades later and now Ogen is the elder of the Iga Clan and Danjou of the Kouga clan.  With the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu now retiring, their is a dispute of who will be taking over as the Third Tokugawa Shogun.  So, in order to decide, Tokugawa lifts the pact and the rules are each clan can select 10 of their best ninjas.  Whoever is the last one standing and has complete control of the scroll will be the rightful heir.

As Ogen and Danjou have been waiting for this moment, their own offspring are in a similar predicament that they were in when they were younger.  Princess Oboro of the Iga clan and Gennosuke, leader of the Kouga clan are planning to get married.  With peace in their land, the two feel that their marriage can hopefully end all hostilities.

But it is too late.  For Ogen and Danjou, they know that their offspring will now face what they faced but this time, the two clans will go to war.  With Ogen and Danjou part of their clan’s top 10 ninja, the two fight each other and are the first to go down.  The Iga clan are the first to learn about the pact being lifted and while Oboro invites Gennosuke to her village, unbeknown to him is that the Iga clan are waiting to kill him.

The war begins as now Gennosuke and Oboro, two lovers are now in opposing sides of the war.  Their job is to lead their clan to annihilate the other but with the two deeply in love, which is stronger…their love for each other or their clan’s 400-year hatred for each other.

The main characters of “Basilisk – The Complete Series” are:

The Kouga Clan

• Kouga Danjou – The grandfather of Gennosuke and the leader of the Kouga clan.  His ability to create poison needles that come from his mouth.  Once engaged to the Iga chieftess Ogen.
• Kouga Gennosuke - The leader of the Kouga clan and adopted heir of Kouga Danjou.  In love and engaged to Iga clan’s Oboru.  He looks at the rivalry between the two clans as past and he and Oboro hope for a peaceful existence.  Gennosuke has the Doujutsu ability to look at people and make them kill themselves.
• Kagerou – A warrior who is known for being attractive but her sexual arousal is her biggest weapon as she can turn poisonous.  She has feelings for Gennosuke.
• Kisaragi Saemon – Older brother of Okoi and a specialist in stealth operations.  Saemon can take on the identity of anyone and is literally a maser of disguise.
• Kasumi Gyoubu – Tall, strong and has the ability to merge to a solid surface and become one with it.  Specializes in stealth operations.
• Okoi - The younger sister of Kisaraki Saemon.  Known to be a tomboy and is quite busty, she has the ability to absorb a person’s blood if her skin touches theirs.  The more skin she touches, the quicker she can sap them of their blood.
• Udono Jousuke – The overweight and not-so-smart member of the Kouga clan.  Very agile and his ability is his body turning to rubber.
• Jimusha Jubei – A torso of a man (no arms, hands, legs or feet) who can slither like a snake. Uses his tongue to hold a sword.
• Kazamachi Shogen – A person that a body that is malformed and has an appearance of a spider.  He can excrete a sticky substance which he can use as a weapon.
• Muroga Hyouma – Has the Doujutsu technique that Gennosuke has but is not able to control it and thus, he must have his eyes closed permanently.  He is known for teaching Gennosuke his kindness to people including his rivals.

The Iga Clan

• Ogen – The adopted chieftess of the Iga clan who was once engaged to the Kouga clan’s Danjou.  When raising Oboru, she never told Oboru about the rivalry between the Iga clan and the Kouga clan.
• Oboro – The princess of the Iga clan engaged to Gennosuke of the Kouga clan.  Because of the way she was raised away from negativity, she was never told why her clan and the Kouga clan never got along.  Her special ability is the ability to neutralize anyone with abilities by looking at them.  She assumes leadership of the clan after her grandmother’s death.
• Yakushiji Tenzen – The second-in-command of the Iga clan.  Has the ability to come back to life after death.  Is interested in making sure the Iga clan is at war with the Kouga clan.
• Akeginu – The bodyguard of Oboro and known to be seductive but uses her power to secrete blood from her body and use it as a weapon.
• Chikuma Koshirou – Tenzen’s apprentice and has the ability to create whirlwinds with his breath and shred people up with it.
• Amaya Jingoro – An assassin that can turn to liquid and is very dependent on water but his weakness is salt water.
• Hotarubi – The girlfriend of Yashamaru who has the ability to call upon her pink butterflies to use as weapons or as a defensive measure.
• Mino Nenki – An assassin that has a lot of hair on him which he can control and extend.  He also can also make them become like spikes or as an extra appendage to grasp or swing on trees.
• Azuki Rousai – The second oldest of the Iga clan known for his over-sized head.  Has the ability to stretch and kill his enemies through his powerful hits or kicks.
• Yashamaru – The boyfriend of Hotarubi.  Very cocky and has the ability to create wires and control them to slice people up.

“Basilisk – The Complete Series” features the following 24-episodes on 3 Blu-ray discs. Here is a spoilerless summary of each episode:

Disc 1:

• EPISODE 1 – Destiny – The introduction of the story of Ogen and Danjou.
• EPISODE 2 – Last Rendezvous - The lifting of the pact and the story of Gennosuke and Oboro.
• EPISODE 3 – The Onslaught of War – The Iga clan are the first to make their strike against one of the members of the Kouga clan.
• EPISODE 4 – The Horned Owl – Oboro suspects that her clan is trying to kill Gennosuke and Udono.
• EPISODE 5 – The Surprise Attack - The Iga clan try to surprise the Kouga clan in their own home territory with a surprise attack.
• EPISODE 6 – Longing in the Rain -The Kouga clan’s Saemon and Gyoubu take on the Iga clan’s Yashamaru.
• EPISODE 7 – Blood-Sucking Seductress – Oiku of the Kouga clan is captured but she reveals her ability.
• EPISODE 8 – Cage of Blood - With Oiku now at the mercy of the Iga clan, will her clan be able to rescue her in time?
• EPISODE 9 – Farewell – Gennosuke finds out about the truth of the pact being lifted.
• EPISODE 10 – Divine Mandate – A runthrough of what took place from episodes 1-9.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 11 – On Their Own – Hotarubi and Nenki of the Iga clan try to make a surprise attack against Gennosuke and the Kouga clan.
• EPISODE 12 – Remembrance – Saemon takes on Hotarubi. Meanwhile, Koshirou tries to make himself useful.
• EPISODE 13 – A Swarm of Butterflies – The final battle between Saemon and Hotarubi.
• EPISODE 14 – Fallen Flower – Gyoubu takes on members of the Kouga clan and another member of the Iga clan is lost.
• EPISODE 15 – Reckoning – Tenzen vs. Gyoubu.  Also, back story of why Gyoubu despites the Iga clan.
• EPISODE 16 – First Impressions – An episode featuring a back story about Gennosuke relationship with Oboro.
• EPISODE 17 – Wandering Hearts – Gennosuke takes on Tenzen.
• EPISODE 18 – A Dawn Without Light – An episode about Tenzen’s past.
• EPISODE 19 – Conspiracy – Koshirou takes on the the ninjas of the Kouga clan.  Meanwhile, Akeginu and Oboro join up with Lady Ofuku.
• EPISODE 20 – River of Mercy – Akigenu takes on Kagerou.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 21 – With All Her Heart – Tenzen goes after Kagerou.
• EPISODE 22 – The Haunted – Tenzen vs. Gennosuke.  The secret of Tenzen is revealed.
• EPISODE 23 – Emancipation – The final battle between Gennosuke and Tenzen.
• EPISODE 24 – Requiem – The final battle with the last two standing….Gennosuke vs. Oboro.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Basilisk – The Complete Series” is featured in 1080p High Definition (16×9).  The character designs by Michinori Chiba is quite awesome.  I really like the character designs of each of the characters and how the characters blend into the actual painted backgrounds.   Part of the challenge that I’m sure Gonzo had to face is the number of characters featured in this series but for the most part, the animation was solid.

As for colors, colors are not as extremely vibrant compared to a series such as “Burst Angel – The Complete Series” on Blu-ray which utilize a lot of reds and oranges but its important to emphasize that “Basilisk – The Complete Series” is a TV series and not an OVA or film.  The series takes place tends to put more emphasis on the character designs rather than the surroundings (since mostly everything is either Japanese homes, walls or trees and lush green scenery).  Also, focusing on the action sequences and the characters abilities.

Not all is perfect with this upconvert though.  There are a few times that I’ve noticed compression artifacts and also some discoloration (nowhere near the amount of colorful globs that I spotted on the Blu-ray release of “Samurai Champloo” but you do see it during the dark sequences) which is probably due to the DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) filtering.

As for audio, the lossless audio soundtrack is primarily the English audio track which is presented in Dolby TrueHD English 5.1.  Also, included is a Dolby Digital English 2.0 (for the commentary track) and Japanese 2.0 soundtrack.  I was hoping for this anime series that the audio would include a Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack but it doesn’t.  Fortunately, the English dub was very good and was able to get into the dialogue.

The lossless soundtrack features clear dialogue coming from the center channel as the front channels features the music and sound effects.  The surround channels also feature the sound effects of swords clanging, abilities that are explosive, thunder and rainstorms, you name it…there is a good use of the surround channels in this series.  As well as the use of LFE through the subwoofer for large and short rumbles.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Basilisk – The Complete Series” comes with the following special features spread out onto three Blu-ray discs:

Disc 1:

• “The Onslaught of War” Audio Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by ADR Director Tyler Walker, Mark Stoddard (voice actor of Tenzen) and discussion about Tenzen’s character.

Disc 3:

• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original First Press Extra Features #3 – (31:54) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Youji Ueda (Saemon) and Haruka Kimura (Okoi) discussing the figures that come with the special edition DVD releases in Japan, discussion about their characters, reading letters from fans and more.
• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original Extra Features #4 – (31:22) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Youji Ueda (Saemon) and Haruka Kimura (Okoi) discussing their favorite scenes in the episode of that DVD volume and reading letters from fans.
• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original Extra Features #5 - (31:22) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Tomokazu Sugita (Hattori Kyohachiro) and Fumihiko Tachiki (Hattori Hanzo) discussing their characters, the Hattori family, favorite scenes in the episode of that DVD volume and reading letters from fans.
• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original Extra Features #6 - (32:39) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Tomokazu Sugita (Hattori Kyohachiro) and Fumihiko Tachiki (Hattori Hanzo) discussing their favorite scenes in the episode of that DVD volume and reading letters from fans.
• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original Extra Features #7 - (33:07) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Naoki Yanagi (Yashamaru) and Miyuki Sawashiro (Hotarubi) discussing their characters, favorite scenes in the episode of that DVD volume and reading letters from fans.
• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original Extra Features #8 - (32:44) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Naoki Yanagi (Yashamaru) and Miyuki Sawashiro (Hotarubi) discussing their favorite scenes in the episode of that DVD volume and reading letters from fans.
• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original Extra Features #9 - (33:02) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Yasushi Miyabayashi (Hyoma) and Misa Watanabe (Akeginu) discussing their characters, favorite scenes in the episode of that DVD volume and reading letters from fans.
• History of the Ninja – A text based info. on the history of ninja.  This may be hard to read for those viewing with smaller screens.
• Cast Auditions – Audio featuring ADR director Tyler Walker who talks about the casting process and cast auditions with the American voice talent and what he was looking for.
• Textless Songs – Featuring the textles opening theme “Kouga Ninpo Cho” and the two textless closing themes “Himemurasaki” and “WILD EYES”.
• Trailers – Featuring FUNimation Entertainment trailers.

I was absolutely captivated by “Basilisk”.  Each episode had meaning… were action-packed, gripping and no filler episodes that was just making the series question myself of when certain situations were going to happen.  Each episode has its consequence and the fact that the series features so many characters with interesting capabilities, it definitely made my viewing of this series worthwhile.  I literally was watching each episode one after the other and enjoying it.

In the end, “Basilisk – The Complete Series” gets my pick for runner up for best anime TV series on Blu-ray for 2009 (behind “Fullmetal Panic! The Second Raid”).  Where “Basilisk – The Complete Series” comes up short is that the DNR filtering tends to add to the discoloration of the upconverted picture quality of the anime series and also the lack of the a lossless Japanese audio soundtrack was a bit of a bummer.  The problems that were quite evident on “Samurai Champloo” is quite visible in “Basilisk”, especially in disc 2 since most of the action take place during the night  and the color blobs become a bit more evident.

Aside from the PQ shortcoming, fortunately, the English dub was pretty solid.  For a period-based anime series, I was hoping for a lossless Japanese soundtrack but with a modern receiver, I suppose we can compensate by selecting audio on all channels.

But truthfully, the storyline of “Basilisk” is just too captivating to pass up on Blu-ray.  The original DVD’s didn’t have great picture quality to begin with, so things do look much better on Blu-ray.  I felt “Basilisk” had the best story plot-wise compared to the other anime TV series released on Blu-ray in 2009 thus far.  And for those who want more of Futaro Yamada’s “The Kouga Ninja Scrolls” can purchase the Blu-ray release of the live action film “Shinobi: Heart Under Blade” also available from FUNimation Entertainment.

For those wondering about the TV MA rating, the anime series is quite violent and there is quite a bit of blood and bod part dismemberment.  The violence is fitting for this anime series but if you are into violent anime, then “Basilisk – The Complete Series” may not be for you.

Overall, “Basilisk – The Complete Series” is a very good release with a few shortcomings.  Fans who have enjoyed anime series such as “Ninja Scroll” to action-based (and very bloody) ninja battles and many characters featured to watch and enjoy.  In the end, I feel that “Basilisk – The Complete Series” is just an enjoyable and a highly entertaining anime  that deserves being included in your anime on Blu-ray collection.

Afro Samurai – Director’s Cut (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

Violent, gory and stylish!  Definitely an original and unique, action-packed short anime series featuring an awesome collaboration with actors Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Perlman and Kelly Hu in to bring out the original manga vision of Takashi “Bob” Okazaki.  Beautiful artistic visuals and animation by GONZO, if you’re  into anime that focuses more on the action, “Afro Samurai- Director’s Cut” is definitely for you.

 

Image courtesy of © 2006 Takashi Okazaki, Gonzo/Samurai Project.  All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Afro Samurai – Director’s Cut

DURATION: 5 Episodes (125 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9, English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound, English Stereo

COMPANY: Gonzo/FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV MA

Release Date: May 22, 2007

Directed by Fuminori Kizaki

Written by Takashi Okazaki

 

Executive Produced by Leo Chu, Eric Garcia, Shinichiro Ishikawa, Samuel L. Jackson and Arthur Smith

 

Co-Produced by Eric S. Calderon

Consulting Producer: Tommy Blacha

Character Design and Chief Animation Director:  Hiroya Iijima

Art Director: Shigemi Ikeda

 

Music by RZA and Michael Baiardi

 

Casting by Jamie Simone, Kendra Carter

Featuring the following voice talent:

Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of Afro Samurai/Ninja Ninja

Ron Perlman as Justice

Kelly Hu as Okiku

Yuri Lowenthal as Juma

S. Scott Bullock as Dharman

Jeff Bennett as Foo

Tara Strong as Otsuru

Jason Marsden as Sasuke

Phil LaMarr as Brother

Afro Samurai (voiced by Academy Award nominated Samuel L. Jackson) is an epic tale of a black samurai’s hunt for Justice (voiced by Ron Perlman: Hellboy, Alien Resurrection) who murdered his father.  With music store by the RZA (Kill Bill, Wu Tang Clan), Afro Samurai blends traditional Japanese culture, funky technology and hip hop to create a brutally fresh entertainment experience.

Violent and visually entertaining!  Definitely an original and unique, action-packed anime series featuring a fantastic collaboration with actor Samuel L. Jackson, Takashi Okazaki and GONZO.

The popular anime and manga series is created by mangaka Takashi “Bob” Okazaki and produced by world renown Japanese animation company STUDIO GONZO (”Full Metal Panic”, “Vandread”, “Gantz”, “Samurai 7″ and many other anime) brought us the popular five-episode series (which aired in the US on SPIKE TV back in 2007 ) was released as a special Director’s Cut featuring 15 minutes of never before seen footage.

The short animated TV series featured a collaboration with Samuel L. Jackson, creator Takashi Okazaki and anime production studio GONZO and took three years to develop and the series was followed by a movie titled “Afro Samurai: Resurrection” which takes place a year later after this series.

Because of it’s impressive visuals, violent action scenes, unique characters (especially since the main character is a Black samurai) and its hip hop music courtesy of RZA (of Wu-Tang Clan fame), the anime attracted many fans in the US.

The series revolves around a wandering samurai known as Afro Samurai in his goal of wanting to exact revenge for his father’s death.

In this futuristic, feudal-like Japan,  the country is dominated by the person who is known as the top #1 fighter (which is designated by a “ichiban” headband).  Afro’s father happened to be the #1 man at the time, the person to beat and one day, he was killed by the #2 opponent (note: only the person who has the #2 headband can challenge the #1 fighter) that goes by the name of “Justice”.

Justice decapitated Afro’s fathers head in front of him when he was a child and since that traumatic moment, Afro has trained and has become an excellent swordsman in order to become #1.  So, the series focuses on Afro trying to get his vengeance by challenging the top opponents out there and becoming #2 and finally getting the opportunity to challenge his father’s killer, Justice.

Accompanied by the mouthy Ninja Ninja (also voiced by Samue L. Jackson) during his adventures, the five episodes feature Afro taking on a variety of opponents and also flashbacks of his past when he was a child.

“Afro Samurai-Director’s Cut” features a total of 5 episodes on one DVD and comes with another disc with special features.  Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

• EPISODE 1 – Revenge – The series features Afro when he was young and watched as his father was killed during a battle.  Now Afro, grown up and a feared samurai, is now wanting his revenge on the man who killed his father.
• EPISODE 2 – The Dream Reader – Afro is taken care of by a woman named Okiku and we see flashbacks of Afro’s past as a child bent on revenge.
• EPISODE 3 – The Empty Seven Clan – A clan sends out a robot based on Afro to take on the Afro Samurai.
• EPISODE 4 – Duel – Afro comes face-to-face on someone sporting a bear mask (a face resembling a teddy bear that Afro’s young female friend used to have) and a flashback from Afro’s past.
• EPISODE 5 – Justice – The final battle between Afro and his childhood friend and the final confrontation between Afro and Justice.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

GONZO has done a remarkable job with this series.  The animation and the painted backgrounds are well-done!  Daytime scenes are colorful and vibrant and night-time scenes are dark and work well with this series.  It’s also important to note that “Afro Samurai – Director’s Cut” has quite a bit of talent involved with the look of the film such as character designer and animation director, Hiroya Iijima (”Gantz”, “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex” and “Black Cat”).  Also, art direction from Shigemi Ikeda (”Gantz”, “Gasaraki”, “Inuyasha”, Infinite Ryvius, “Black Cat” and many of the “Mobile Suit Gundam” TV series and films).

The series is featured in 16×9 and for the most part, the picture quality really brings out the detail of the surroundings, including the rocky cliffs to the disembowelment of several characters.  And color from the lush green painted backgrounds, blue skies and huge clouds, villages and buildings to the action sequences which showcases a lot of blood.

As for the audio, “Afro Samurai-Director’s Cut” is featured in English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound and English stereo.  The series actually sounds quite awesome with the clanging of the swords and the metal healing, sounding quite awesome.  Also, scenes with weapons being launched or fireworks being shot up to the sky, “Afro Samurai” has a solid 5.1 presentation.  I actually prefer to listen to the series with my receiver set at stereo on all channels (especially for those that have a 7.2 or higher setup).

“Afro Samurai – Director’s Cut” is featured only in English, there is no Japanese soundtrack.   Voice acting is well done by actors Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Perlman and Yuri Lowenthal.  Samuel L. Jackson definitely brings out the believability of both Afro and Ninja Ninja and gives the series that cool, funky vibe.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Afro Samurai – Director’s Cut” features the following special features:

• In the Booth – Voice Talent of Afro Samurai – (14:48) Interviews with voice talent Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Perlman, Kelly Hu, creator Takahashi Okazaki and co-producer Eric Calderon discussing how the series came about.
• RZA Music Production Tour – (4:54) RZA showing us how he created the music and crew talking about how RZA’s music was important for the series.  How hip hop is blended with Japanese animation.
• Character Profiles with Commentary by Co-Producer: Eric Calderon – (23:42)  Gonzo’s Eric Calderon talks about Afro Samurai, Okazaki’s vision, the voice talent involved in the series and what is cool about the character and the series.

I know that I’m coming on to this series quite late but for the most part “Afro Samurai – Director’s Cut” is a solid series.  It’s definitely a violent series full of blood and dismembered body parts but it’s interesting to see how samurai anime-based series has come since the early 90′s.  The action is fast and fierce but for “Afro Samurai”, the series is highly stylized.  Even the blood flowing and how the colors are feature is quite artistic in presentation.

Of course, some people may have a hard time seeing characters that are non-Japanese who are samurai, especially a Black anti-hero with a huge afro.  But Takashi “Bob” Okazaki, who was a big hip hop fan definitely was inspired by the music and wanting to do something different and sure enough, Afro Samurai was a unique creation.  Okazaki has done a wonderful job with this series and for the most part, doing something unique and different.  “Afro Samurai” may feature five episodes but in the overall plan, Okazaki has mentioned, that the series is just a very small part of what he has planned for Afro Samurai and for the most part, one can only hope that the series receives a larger storyline than just five episodes.

The “Afro Samurai” series has star power with Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Perlman and Kelly Hu contributing their voices to the series.  You have RZA bringing the hip hop to Japanese animation, so for the most part, it’s a unique blend of East meets West in bringing two cultures together.  I felt that was pretty awesome!

GONZO also has done a fantastic job on the animation and artistic backgrounds for this series.  I felt the action and fighting choreography was well done!  Again, everything is stylized.  Even down to the packaging of this release.  I have to say that “Afro Samurai-Director’s Cut” also features a pretty awesome package design.  Featuring a magnetic case and how the folds are, it’s pretty cool.

As for the TV MA rating, despite the series being shown on television, this is not a series to have children around watching.  It’s violent, bloody and features nudity and a sex scene.   In fact, some might find the series a bit disturbing and too gory for their tastes.

Overall, if you are a fan of “Afro Samurai” that was shown on television, the director’s cut features 15 extra minutes will definitely entertain you.   I personally can’t comment on where the extra footage is located but I would assume that the majority of those extra minutes are the extremely violent scenes.

As for my opinion on the series, for one, its short. The series obviously focuses more on the fighting and violence and the goal for people to become #2 in order to fight the #1 fighter.  I felt that the nature of this series was keeping the Western audiences in mind but utilizing Japanese animation by GONZO.   As far as storyline execution goes, “Afro Samurai” is nowhere near the deepness of other samurai anime like “Samurai Champloo”, “Hakkenden”, “Rurouni Kenshin” or “Samurai 7″.  But again, the series is short and Okazaki has not had the opportunity to have a full-length animated series.

But it’s also a different style of anime that although it uses the concept of samurai and has some inclusion of Japanese culture, the series is very Western.  Afro is stoic, while Ninja Ninja could be easily too vocal or mildly annoying but what I did like about the series is its style.  Sure, it’s bloody but somehow the way these fight scenes, no matter how violent they were, the execution was quite artistic in someway.

Also, the series is unique and how it tries to bring together samurai and hip hop music.  And of course, having the main character being a Black protagonist.  But “Afro Samurai” is a series that is literally action and style over substance.  If Okazaki was given a chance to have a full-length anime series of 26 episodes, it would be interesting to see what he would be capable of plot-wise.

Overall, “Afro Samurai” was entertaining, violent, gruesome but visually stylized.  It was something different and that’s a good thing.  Also, the fact that you can find “Afro Samurai – Director’s Cut” online for a pretty cheap price, definitely makes this DVD release worth checking out.

 

Witchblade: The Complete Series (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

Based on the popular Top Cow comic book series, which means…plenty of action, scantily clothed women and a well-endowed protagonist, need I say more?  For those looking for an action-driven anime series on Blu-ray, “Witchblade: The Complete Series” is definitely for you!

Images courtesy of  © 2006 Top Cow Productions, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Witchblade – The Complete Series

DURATION: 24 Episodes (600 Minutes)

 

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

 

RATED: TV MA

 

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

 

RELEASE DATE: November 3, 2009

 

Originally Created by Michael Turner, Marc Silvestri

Directed by Yoshimitsu Ohashi

Series Composition/Script by Yasuko Kobayashi

Music by Masanori Takumi

Character Design by Makoto Uno

Art Director: Junichi Higashi

Sound Director: Jin Aketagawa

Executive Producer: Koji Kajita

Producer: Osamu Nagai, Shin Hieda, Tsuyoshi Okazaki

Anime Production by GONZO

 

 

Featuring the voices of:

Akemi Kanda/Carrie Savage as Rihoko “Rico” Amaha

Mamiko Noto/Jamie Marchi as Masane Amaha

Masaya Matsukaze/Robert McCollum as Yusuke Tozawa

Mie Sonozaki/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Reina “Lady” Shoho

Nana Mizuki/Monica Rial as Maria

Rikiya Koyama/Mark Stoddard as Reiji Takayama

Shinji Ogawa/R. Bruce Elliott as Tatsuoki Furumizu

Shizuka Itou/Trina Nishimura as Shiori Tsuzuki

Kent Williams/Kazuhiro Nakata as Masayo Wado

Jerry Russell/Shouto Kashii  as Mr. Cho

Lauri Steele/Maiko Itou as Mariko Natsuki

Sought by the greed of Men since the dawn of Humankind, but only bestowed upon the woman whose fate it forever scars – the Witchblade.

Is it the Righteous Sword of God, or the Hand of the Devil Himself? Now a new bearer has been chosen and she must discover the answers for herself. As she stands on the brink of destiny, she is forced to seek the balance between ecstasy and ruin… Masane Amaha is a woman on the fringe of society, bouncing rootless from town to town with her daughter, Rihoko. She struggles to build a life for her family, with no memory of the past and no clue as to what the future holds. But upon their arrival back in Tokyo forces conspire to separate parent from child, unleashing the fury of the Witchblade. The young mother will find herself conscripted into the service of the Doji Group and hunted down by the emissaries of the NSWF, Masane will find herself an unwilling ground zero for the swelling chaos fast approaching.

 

Based on the popular Top Cow comic book series, which means…plenty of action, scantily clothed women and a well-endowed protagonist, need I say more?  For those looking for an action-driven anime series on Blu-ray, “Witchblade: The Complete Series” is definitely for you!

“Witchblade” was created in 1995 by Marc Silvestri and David Wohl and was published by Top Cow Productions.  The series was quite popular as a 23-episode television series adaptation was featured on TNT in 2001 followed up by an 24-episode anime television series created by Japanese animation studio GONZO in 2004.

The series is a separate story from the original comic book series as it focuses on a character named Masane Amaha.  The series takes place six years after Tokyo was leveled by a massive earthquake.

Two people survived the epicenter known as Ground Zero: Masane Amaha and a little girl named Rihoko which Masane has raised as her own daughter. Unfortunately, with their return to Tokyo, the National Scientific Welfare Foundation have been trying to take Rihoko away from Masane because Masane shows no signs of financially taking care of her, so the NSWF wants to give Rihoko a proper home.

Meanwhile, the NSWF and the Doji Group have been after the witchblade and have kept their eye on Masane as she shown signs of wielding and become a witchblade and because of the fact that after the great earthquake, she was among the two (along with Rihoko) that survived in “Ground Zero”.  These two groups are now after the Witchblade.

As the main storyline features a good number of action as the two groups do what they can to acquire the witchblade capture Masane, the main storyline of the anime series of Witchblade is about a mother who wants to be normal and raise her daughter but also knows that  the witchblade’s power is literally destroying her body body and she is succumbing to its power.  Masane does all she can to rid of the witchblade but will she be able to before it destroys her?

The main characters of “Witchblade: The Complete Series” are as follows:

• Masane Amaha – The main protagonist who raises a young girl named Rihoko which she has accepted as her own daughter.  Quite naive, people are surprised how even the daughter sometimes calls the shots in their relationship.  Known for being well-endowed (earning the nickname “Melony”), Masane is surprised to find out that she is the bearer of the Witchblade and it is starting to consume her by destroying her body.    She and Rihoko are the main survivors at “Ground Zero”.
• Rihoko Amaha – Riko is not the blood daughter of Masane but she had looked at Riko as her mother (as she was a surviving baby along with Masane during the great earthquake).  She cares about her mother and wants to be close to her.
• Yuusuke Tozawa – A freelance photographer who helps Rihoko escape from the NSWF and eventually starts to help Masane.  He uses his connections to find out more about the Witchblade.
• Reiji Takayama – The Bureau Chief of Douji Enterprises.  Has worked with Masane and using her Witchblade powers to fight against malfunctioning “Ex-Cons”.  He has a unique bond to Rihoko which is revealed later in the series.
• Tatsuoki Furimizu - The antagonist of the series.  The head of the NSWF and the father of the Neogene daughters.  Believes his father is perfect and his mother imperfect, he seeks to create a perfect mother and through the process, he has created Neogenes (humans that wield the cloneblade) and among those female Neogenes are known as “The Cloneblade Sisters”.
• Reina Soho – A Neogene cloneblade that has a bond with Reiji Takayama and Rihoko.  Regarded as the most powerful of the Cloneblade sisters.
• Maria – A second generation version of the Neogene cloneblade but has two cloneblades.  She is mentally unstable and wants approval from her mother Reina.

“Witchblade: The Complete Series” features the following 24-episodes on 3 Blu-ray discs:

Disc 1:

• EPISODE 1: The Beginning
• EPISODE 2: Bewilderment
• EPISODE 3: Defiance
• EPISODE 4: Movement
• EPISODE 5: Search
• EPISODE 6: Change
• EPISODE 7: Past
• EPISODE 8: Reciprocity
• EPISODE 9: Sdness
• EPISODE 10: Interaction

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 11: Danger
• EPISODE 12: Prisoner
• EPISODE 13: Separation
• EPISODE 14: Family
• EPISODE 15: Bonds
• EPISODE 16: Relaxation
• EPISODE 17: Confusion
• EPISODE 18: Turn
• EPISODE 19:  Feelings
• EPISODE 20: Request

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 21: Vow
• EPISODE 22: Inform
• EPISODE 23: Chaos
• EPISODE 24: Light

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Witchblade: The Complete Series” receives its first entry to HD.  As I tend to remind viewers, the series is a television series and in Japan, television series have less of a budget that OVA’s and animated films plus, they are typically done in a time crunch as animators tend to work on several series during the week and thus, some episodes tend to get to the television network right on the day of airing.

With that being said, “Witchblade” is featured in 1080p High Definition and before the series was released on Blu-ray, there was plenty of talk of how the series was upconverted.  So far, FUNimation Entertainment anime series on Blu-ray that have been “upconverted” have looked pretty solid and often don’t like like an upconvert.  “Witchblade” is a colorful anime series but it does look like it is upconverted and it’s no surprise as the series was created back in 2004.

Detail on artistic backgrounds are OK and the character designs by Makoto Uno utilizes simple lines and shadows but when the action begins, GONZO was able to showcase the fight scenes and battles quite well.  Also, each scene typically features the characters in a variety of locations.

I did seem to notice some combing, banding and also some artifacting, so “Witchblade” does not exactly showcase picture perfect video quality but for the most part, animation is quite solid but for those looking for great picture quality, “Witchblade” is good but not great.

As for audio quality, “Witchblade” is also a series in which the Japanese audio quality is featured in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.  Most releases on Blu-ray from FUNimation Entertainment have had a lossless Japanese audio track (excluding the “Dragon Ball Z” films), so for purists, they may be disappointed by this.  Although if you have a receiver capable of stereo on all channels, this should make things a bit better.

English lossless soundtrack utilizes the soundscape in bringing out those explosive and destructive moments of the film.  Surrounds and subwoofer LFE usage is well-utilized as booms can be felt but also Masanori Takumi’s music as you hear the piano and strings coming nice and strong through the front channels and dialogue also coming clear and understandable through center channel.

As for the English dub track, I’m starting to enjoy Carrie Savage and Jamie Marchi’s voice acting and both do a great job with Rihoko and Masane’s vocals and as much as I’m a Japanese vocal track supporter, I was definitely content with English voice acting for the series.

Subtitles are in English only.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Witchblade – The Complete Series” comes with the following special features featured in 480i Stanrd Definition, Dolby Digital English 2.0 and Dolby Digital Japanese 2.0 with English subtitles.  Included are:

• Japanese Cast Interviews – The following cast interviews with Japanese voice talent are included:  Mamiko Noto (voice of Masane Amaha) – (9:08), Akemi Kanda (voice of Rihoko Amaha) – (7:32), Masaya Matsukaza (voice of Yusuke Tozawa) – (7:52), Reiji Takayama (voice of Rikiya Koyama) – (7:58), Mie Sonozaki (voice of Reina Sohou) – (7:53), Kenichi Suzumura (voice of  Hiroki Segawa) – (8:29), Shinji Ogawa (voice of Tatsuoki Furumizu) – (7:43), Nana Mizuki (voice of Maria) – (9:31).
• The Witchblade Forged – The creation of “Witchblade”.  Part 1 – (16:54) Interviews of David Wohl and Marc Silvestri, co-creators of “Witchblade” and the breaking away from major comic companies and going independent with Image Comics, Part 2 (17:19) – Top Cow and creating the characters for “Witchblade” and why the comic series worked well and its popularity and adaptating it from comics to screen., Part 3 (19:51) – “Witchblade” receiving its anime adaptation.
• Inside Top Cow – Featuring the following special features: A Tour of Top Cow with Marc Silvestri (14:00), How to create a comic book the Top Cow way (17:11), Top Cow studio tour outtakes (7:52), coloring a comic book page with Blond (4:33), the early days of Image Comics (3:33), The Top Cow talks about comics (6:42), Experiences in Japan/Other Top Cow franchises with Matt Hawkins, president of Top Cow (7:20) and Crossing into other media.
• Textless Theme Songs – Textless opening theme songs for “XTC” and “Dear Bob” and textless closing themes for “Ashitano-Te” and “Kutshuhimo”.
• Japanese TV Spots – (1:21) A set of Japanese TV commercials for the Japanese DVD release of “Witchblade”.
• Promotional Video – (1:55)
• Trailers – FUNimation Entertainment trailers.

“Witchblade: The Complete Series” was actually different from what I was expecting from the original comic book series but for the most part, having its own storyline that has some connection to the comics but yet featuring new characters is pretty cool.

GONZO handled the animation and art backgrounds quite well with the series, put in a lot of characters, a lot of action and destruction to the overall scenery of the “Witchblade” anime series.  I did find it interesting how the characters revolved around relationships, especially between mother and daughter.   And for the most part, despite all the action of the antagonist trying to obtain the witchblade, the central core of the anime series is the bond between mother and daughter.  The close bond and a bond that is nearly non-existent with another and how it has affected certain characters.

Overall, “Witchblade: The Complete Series” was an entertaining anime series that managed to retain an upbeat, action-packed anime series, especially with its sound effects and rock n’ roll soundtrack.   I was surprised the anime series was chosen for a Blu-ray release because it was an older anime series that was not made in HD.  But with the popular of the comic book and television series in the US, with more anime fans wanting more complete season anime series on Blu-ray, it does make sense.

As for the Blu-ray release, the upconvert is good but it’s not as vibrant or detailed as most anime HD titles that have been released on Blu-ray thus far.  Also, for those who are looking for lossless Japanese audio, unfortunately you’re not going to find it in this release as the English dub is the only choice for lossless while the Japanese track is 2.0 stereo.

Overall, I have no doubt that anime fans will flock to “Witchblade” on Blu-ray.  The name recognition of “Witchblade” is quite strong and the fact that you have a scantily clad anti-heroine that is well-endowed, it’s definitely going to catch the attention of anime on Blu-ray fans.

If you are looking for an action-packed series on Blu-ray, you can’t go wrong with “Witchblade: The Complete Series”.

Red Garden – The Complete Series & OVA (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

“From the music to the awesome voice acting in conjunction with an intriguing storyline and animation that is absolutely beautiful but yet with undertones so dark and disturbing, makes “RED GARDEN″ an anime series worth owning.  Definitely recommended!”

 

Image courtesy of © 2006 GONZO/RED GARDEN PROJECT.  All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Red Garden – The Complete Series & OVA

DURATION: 22 Episodes + OVA (600 minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: English 5.1 Dolby Surround Stereo, Japanese Stereo

COMPANY: Gonzo/FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV MA

Directed by Kou Matsuo

Series Composition by Tomohiro Yamashita

Screenplay by Juki Hanada, Mari Okada, Tomohiro Yamashita

Storyboards by Hajime Horinouchi, Kou Matsuo

Music by Akira Senju

Original Character Design by Fujijun

Character Desgin by Kumi Ishii

Art Director: Masatoshi Kai

Chief Animation Director: Kumi Ishii

Featuring the following voice talent:

Akira Tomisaka/Melissa Davis as Kate Ashley

Ayumi Tsuji/Brittney Karbowski as Rose Sheedy

Misato Fukuen/Taylor Hannah as Lise Harriette Meyer

Miyuki Sawashiro/Kara Greenberg as Claire Forrest

Ryoko Shintani/Maggie Flecknoe as Rachel Benning

Rie Tanaka/Shelley Calene-Black as Lula

Sho Saito as Chairman

Takashi Kondo/Chris Patton as JC

Takehito Koyasu/Jose Diaz as Herve Girardot

While alive, Kate, Claire, Rose, and Rachel each explored the streets of New York with the promise of limitless futures unfolding before them. But now, brought together as members of a blood-stained sisterhood, their once delicate hands reach out to silence demonic beasts no ordinary weapon can destroy. Brutally murdered only to be resurrected as clandestine killers, the girls must stalk their prey with a primal ferocity – or risk losing what remains of their s-called lives. The only clues to their tragic past are a swarm of crimson butterflies and the mysterious woman who carries the harrowing secret behind the lives they lived – and the walking corpses they’ve become.

What would you do if you were given a second chance at life?  Welcome to the life of four teenagers who are given a new chance at life but things are not as what you may expect.

Back in October 2006, GONZO’s “RED GARDEN” appeared on TV Asahi. The show ended at 22 episodes in March 2007 and have been collected along with one OAV in a 4-DVD box set from FUNimation Entertainment.

The series which is animated by GONZO is directed by Kou Matsuo (“Rozen Maiden” series) and featuring a screenplay by Tomohiro Yamashita (“Afro Samurai”, “Gankutsuou: The County of Monte Cristo”), Jukki Hanada (“K-On!”, “Rozen Maiden”, “Chobits” and “Popotan”), Mario Okada (“Rozen Maiden”, “Vampire Knight”, “Kodomo ni Jikan”).  Music is composed by Akira Senju (“Fullmetal Alchemist”, “Rampo”, “Mobile Suit Victor Gundam”) and character designs by artist Fujijun.

“RED GARDEN” is an anime that takes place in New York and revolves around four teenagers:

Kate Ashley - A member of GRACE, the top students who police the school for students who are late to class and to ensure that all is well at their high school but trying to cope with life after the death of her good friend Lise.

Rachel Benning – The popular girl in school, very fashionable and always wearing the most expensive clothes and partying with her friends.

Claire Forrest – Independent and outspoken. Not a student but works (or tries) to make ends meet.

Rose Sheedy – A shy girl who takes care of her siblings while her mother is hospitalized.

The four girls have nothing to do with each other but each share a common friend named Lise Meyer who has been murdered. To make matters worse, other young girls from their high school are being murdered.  But with the four main characters, another bond they share is that they can’t seem to remember what happened the night of Lise’s murder.

One night, the four are brought together and not sure why they are brought together, they wait and then a mysterious woman named Lula and her partner JC appear and tells them that they all were murdered and have been given a second chance at life.  The bodies they have now are “re-animated” and are not their original bodies and to stay alive, they will need to kill the beasts who murder at night.  They have no choice but to fight and win. Or else they die.

Of course, the four don’t believe they were murdered until they all go to visit a home that they recall visiting.  That is when they realize they were murdered and are in fact dead.  To make things worse, they are attacked by a man/monster and the four manage to survive.  They are then told that in order to live, each of them must fight these monsters when called upon every night.

The bodies they have right now, are replications of their real bodies and they can go on living their life in the real world but in order to survive, they must fight these monsters.  And there is a chance that they can go back to their original bodies but when they do, they will lose all their memories.   And of course, there are rules…if one of them doesn’t fight, they will all die.  So, the four must work together to take on these monsters.

Not knowing why this is happening, the first story arc features the y0ung women dealing with their new lives and having a difficult time with it, the second arc features an introduction of a mysterious man named H’Erve who starts dating Kate and the third arc is the revelation of who H’erve really is and the final battle between the Animus and the Dolore clan.

Other characters in Red Garden:

Lise Harriette Meyer – A friend of the four main female characters who was murdered earlier in the series and was supposed to be reanimated but was captured by Herve and is a an experiment used by Herve’s family to find a way to end their family curse.

Lula – Represents the Animus and her job is to help those re-animated and prepare them for the war against the Dolore Clan.

JC – The brother of Lula and rarely speaks.  Although women can only be animus, it is not known how he possesses the abilities as well.

Herve Girardot – Lived in the mansion where the four main characters were killed.  He wants to find a cure for his family through Lise in order to help his cousin and sister Anna who have the curse.

Paula Sinclair – The chairman of Grace who has a mysterious tie to Animus.

The following 22-episodes are featured on four DVD’s.  Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode of “Red Garden”:

DISC 1:

• EPISODE 1 – Farewell, Girls – Four high school teenagers brought together by a mysterious woman and the four learn about their fate.
• EPISODE 2 – A Cruel Night – The four young women must fight against a man who has turned into a dog.
• EPISODE 3 – The Real Me – The four go to visit Lise’s father and attend her funeral.
• EPISODE 4 – Where Are We Going? – Claire starts to investigate the mansion of where they were murdered.
• EPISODE 5 – Every Window – Rachel is having a hard time with her death and starts to suffer a mental breakdown.
• EPISODE 6 – A Small Light – The young women learn from Lula about what happens if one of them chooses not to fight and runs away from battle.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 7 – Another Fate - We learn about Herve and how his mother died when he was younger.  We also learn about his sister Anna and cousin Mireille.
• EPISODE 8 – Go Love – The four young women accept what has happen to them and now must become friends and work as a team.
• EPISODE 9 – Awakening – The four young women work on their personal lives.
• EPISODE 10 – Bewilderment – Lise wakes up, while the young women take on another beast.
• EPISODE 11 – Respective Thoughts – Kate’s sister Emma introduces her to her fiance Emilio.  Luke accuses Rachel of having an affair with a teacher.
• EPISODE 12 – His Thoughts – Emilio’s true colors are revealed and we learn that he is trying to get close to Kate for a reason.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 13 – Holiday – The young women start to learn that their bodies have special abilities.
• EPISODE 14 – Reason To Fight – Paula, the head of Grace seems to have knowledge of Kate and that she is dead.
• EPISODE 15 – Sorrow & Anger – Herve goes through a breakdown after someone close to him dies.
• EPISODE 16 – Painful Lie – Herve reveals to Kate about the history of the Animus and Dolore clan.
• EPISODE 17 – The Truth – Kate tells her friends about Herve has told her and Herve is put in jail for disobedience by his grandfather.
• EPISODE 18 – Slight Hope – Herve and Emilio kidnap Lise.

DISC 4:

• EPISODE 19 – Feelings That Don’t Come Across – The Dolore clan kidnaps Kate.
• EPISODE 20 – The Room That’s Left Behind – Herve, Emilio and the three young women infiltrate Vivaleo Pharmaceuticals to go and find Kate.
• EPISODE 21 – The Last Morning - It’s Christmas eve and the young women share what may be their final time with their loved ones.
• EPISODE 22 – The Light – The final battle between the Animus and Dolore clan.
• OVA – Dead Girls – We learn what has happened to the four young women hundreds of years later.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Red Garden” is definitely a unique animated series.  The animation is based on the original character designs by artist fujijun.  Needless to say that the character designs give a certain style that is fresh and almost a style you would see in classic bishojou manga series.  Also, the animation uses simplistic style for its characters that is reminiscent to 80′s animation but using modern artistic and well-painted backgrounds.  But also capturing emotions on the face of an individual quite well.  Also, CG used for certain scenes to make snow or rain.  And also different from most anime series is that “Red Garden” has a fine layer of grain added.  Overall, a stylish and fresh looking anime series that I really enjoyed watching.

As for audio, this is also another plus for the series is the fact that “Red Garden” takes place in New  York City and the English dub definitely captures the language of New York teenagers.  May it be angst, profanity, anger, it’s captured quite well.  But for the most part, both Japanese and English dubs are well done.  The English dub track is featured in 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound and the Japanese track is in stereo.  Personally, I chose to have stereo on all channels selected on my receiver in order to have a more immersive sound.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Red Garden – The Complete Series & OAV” comes with the textless opening and ending themes and FUNimation Entertainment trailers.

“Red Garden” is a pretty trippy, stylishly cool and original anime series.  I really enjoyed the unique storyline, character designs and everything that went into creating this anime series.

I have to admit that I was not really sure what to expect from “RED GARDEN” at first.  In the beginning, it was almost like a twisted “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” but in this case, these young women are dead.  Unlike Buffy, these women do not want to be killing monsters each night and its bad enough for them having to cope with the fact that not only have they died, they now have to fulfill this obligation of fighting monsters for the rest of your life.

Is it worth living this second chance of life or is it better off dying?  The way the girls are dealing with this, how horrified they are about having to kill or be killed and seeing how the story progresses and learning about both clans is quite interesting.  I must say again,  I was quite impressed with the storyline especially how they tied things together in the “Dead Girls” OVA.

It would have been nice if there were other special features included in the anime series, especially to hear from the screenwriters and also the character designer.  Heck, even a audio commentary by the English dub talent would have been nice.  It’s important to note that this title was originally released by ADV Films back in 2007 and even back then, there were no special features but the textless opening and closing themes.

Speaking of the themes, I have to say that I really dig the animation for both the opening and closing themes.  Especially with the rockin’ ending themes by rock band LM.C.

From the music to the awesome voice acting in conjunction with an intriguing storyline and animation that is absolutely beautiful but yet with undertones so dark and disturbing, makes “RED GARDEN″ an anime series worth owning.  Definitely recommended!

 

Burst Angel – The Complete Collection (A J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

“An anime series with high level action, guns ablazing, mecha destruction and a tremendous amount of fan service.  ‘Burst Angel – The Complete Collection’ gets the High Definition treatment and looks and sounds magnificent on Blu-ray!”

Images courtesy of  © 2003-2007 GONZO/Project BAKUTEN.

TITLE: Burst Angel – The Complete Collection

DURATION: 24 episodes +1 OAV (600 Minutes)

 

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (16×9),  English and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English subtitles

 

RATED: TV 14

 

COMPANY: Gonzo/FUNimation Entertainment

 

RELEASE DATE: September 29, 2009

 

Directed by Koichi Ohata

Series Composition by Fumiko Shimo

Music by Masara Nishida

Character Design by Kanetoshi Kamimoto, Osamu Horiuchi

Art Direction by Aki Makoto, Toshikazu Ishiwata

Mechanical Design by Kanetake Ebikawa

Character Conceptual Design by Ugetsu Hakua

3D Director: Tomoaki Kaneko

Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka

Director of Photography: Sei Kitaoka

Anime Production by GONZO

 

 

Starring:

Akeno Watanabe/Monica Rial as Jo

Megumi Toyuguchi/Jamie Marchi as Meg

Mikako Takahashi/Alison Retzloff as Amy

Rie Tanaka/Clarine Harp as Sei

Yuji Ueda/Greg Ayres as Kyohei Tachibana

Takayuki Sugo/Mike McFarland as Leo Jinno

Kyoko Hikami/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Maria

Susumi Chiba/David Trosko as Hayao Ichimonji

Jerry Russel as Governor Glenford

Kent Williams as Ishihara

A new law and a dark underground syndicate have delivered devastating chaos to Tokyo. The city’s only chance for survival is a fearless mercenary, her dangerously beautiful comrades and a massively armed and armored mech. In this land where war has spread like a disease, they will have to put their very existence on the line and fight to be the cure.

 

An anime series with high level action, guns ablazing, mecha destruction and a tremendous amount of fan service.  ‘Burst Angel – The Complete Collection’ gets the High Definition treatment and looks and sounds magnificent on Blu-ray!

In 2004, GONZO featured the 24-episode anime series “Bakuretsu Tenshi” (aka “Burst Angel”) on TV Asahi followed by an OVA titled “Burst Angel Infinity” and a manga series titled “Angel’s Adolescence” which served as a prequel and released in Japan in 2005 and a first volume released in the US in 2008.  With the DVD released in the US, this time around, FUNimation Entertainment has given the popular series its first entry to High Definition via Blu-ray.

“Burst Angel” is directed by Koichi Ohata (who directed the “Ikkitousen”series, “M.D. Geist” and “You’re Under Arrest: Full Throttle”) and features series composition by Fumihiko Shimo (“Air”, “Gravion”, “Clannad” and the “Full Metal Panic” series).  The anime series would feature character conceptual design by Ugetsu Hakua (“Tower of Druaga” TV series), character designs by Kanetoshi Kamimoto (“Mushi-Uta”, “Taisho Yakyu Musume”) and Osamu Horiuchi (“Full Metal Panic” series, “Knights of Ramune”, “New Cutey Honey”) and mechanical designs by Kanetake Ebikawa (“Blue Submarine No. 6″, “Mobile Suit Gundam 00″, “G.I. Joe Sigma 6″ and the “Full Metal Panic!” series).

“Burst Angel” takes place during a time when crime has risen to a very high rate and it’s become so bad that firearms in Japan is legalized, so that citizens can take protect themselves.  Meanwhile, the government courtesy of Tokyo Governor Ishihara and Ricky Glenford has established a group known as RAPT (Recently Armed Police Taskforce) who work to eliminate criminals and bypassing arrests.

The anime series focuses on a team who take out monsters that have mutated, mechas on the rampage or the typical bad guy criminals in the city.   The team consists of:

• Sei – The leader of the group who belongs to a Chinese group known as Bai Lan run by her grandfather who has tremendous power in city politics.  But when her grandfather stepped down from their organization, those running it have decided to partner with RAPT to preserve the clan and instantly disgusts and pushes Sei away from the organization that her family has run.  She is rebellious against Bai Lan secretly and her grandfather helps finance her secret activities.
• Jo – The mysterious white haired girl who excels as a mercenary and guns and is the primary force from the group that rises against the opposition and takes them on with guns ablazing.  Has unknown powers and she pilots the mecha known as the Django.  Jo doesn’t know too much about her past but she wants to protect the people closes to her.  She’s a no nonsense person who enjoys sleeping and watching horror films.
• Meg – Megumi is Jo’s BFF.  She found and took in Jo and also good at firearms but she’s very emotional and is often kidnapped which Jo ends up having to save her.  She is attracted to Jo and can be seen getting close t Jo quite a bit.  She is also a character that is always hungry.
• Amy – The computer hacker and genius of the group.  A young girl and often in odds with Meg.  Loves to eat and play video games.  But loves hacking into computers.
• Kyohei Tachibana – A culinary student who is hired by Sei to cook for the team.  Doesn’t understand too much about the group but tries to make their lives happier with good food.
• Leo Jinno – The mechanic who is always working on Jo’s Django and will fight with weaponry if the situation requires it.  Also, has an attraction towards Sei.

The episode listing of “Burst Angel – The Complete Collection” are as follows (spoiler-less summaries):

DISC 1:

• EPISODE 1: “Hell Comes Silently” - A culinary student named Kyouhei is nearly attacked by a monster who is then killed by a girl with white hair.  Kyouhei then gets a big job to become the cook for a group of women and finds out that one of the women he cooks for is that girl with white hair.
• EPISODE 2: “The Heartless Gunfighter” – Meg saves Kyouhei but ends up being captured.  Now the group must rescue her.
• EPISODE 3: “City Where the Beast Howls” – The group go after a drug user who gets captured by another group.  As they look for this drug user, they realize that someone else is looking for this same guy.
• EPISODE 4: “The Brothers Die at Dawn” – Continuing from the last story, Meg and the man go after the drug user.
• EPISODE 5: “Mansion Where Lurks the Demon” – Meg goes undercover at an all girls school where mysterious things are happening.
• EPISODE 6: “Wash This Garden With Blood!”- Continuing from the last story, Meg learns that the school may be harboring some monster.
• EPISODE 7: “Black Sky” – A big giant crow kidnaps Kyouhei’s friend and also Meg.
• EPISODE 8: “The Wounded Outlaw”- Jo and and Kyouhei search for the crow.
• EPISODE 9: “Party of the Dragon” – Sei decides to partake in a political marriage for the sake of Bailan.
• EPISODE 10: “Uncharted Cyberspace” – Someone has been using Amy’s face in Cyberspace and thus she and Kyouhei go to the electronic district to figure out who is responsible.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 11: “Eastern Angel, Western Hawk” – Jo must protect the Japanese wrestler, Mega Rider.
• EPISODE 12: “Tower of Tears” – RAPT tries to take over the Osaka police.
• EPISODE 13: “Showdown in Osaka” – Takane Katsu arrives in time to save Meg and now both Takane and Joe take on a cybot.
• EPISODE 14: “Wild Kids” – A flashback episode about how Meg and Jo met.
• EPISODE 15: “Slingin’ Oil” – The group takes a break from all the action and go to the beach for some R&R.
• EPISODE 16: The Man With No Name – Jo goes after a cybot and meets up with a mute samurai.
• EPISODE 17: “Dueling Angels” – A cybot is being piloted by a woman named Maria who has similar abilities to Jo.
• EPISODE 18: “The Immortal Classmate” – Kyouhei runs into an old friend named Akio but this friend is no longer the same kind of guy he once new.
• EPISODE 19: “24-Hour Strategy” – Takane and Leo visit the filming of a drama but something happens to Takane and she goes crazy.
• EPISODE 20: “Blood Red Highway” – A RAPT police cybot goes crazy and attacks innocent people.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 21: New Sheriff In Town – The Bailan partners up with RAPT.
• EPISODE 22: Genocide Angels – Jo is captured and we learn about her and Maria’s past.
• EPISODE 23: Red Sea Gallows – Jo and Maria fight to the death.
• EPISODE 24: Angels, Explode! – The group goes on a mission to take down RAPT.  But will it become a suicide mission?
• OAV: Burst Angel Infinity – An OVA that relates to episode 14 (“Wild Kids”) in which Meg and Jo go back to where they first met and visit their young friend Shirley and give her a birthday present.  But they learn that Shirley was attacked by a monster and is now in critical condition.  Now Meg and Jo want revenge.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Burst Angel – The Complete Collection” is an anime series that definitely looks very good on Blu-ray despite being an upconvert.  So, far FUNimation Entertainment has shown us how anime that was not originally created for HD looks so beautiful and vibrant on Blu-ray (the last release “Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid looks phenomenal) and “Burst Angel – The Complete Collection” doesn’t disappoint at all.

In fact, one of the positives of the anime series is that for a TV series, there is high production value with the way the anime looks.  From the many scenery that are painted gorgeously to the vibrant and colorful animation, I admit that I was impressed because due to the tight schedules of anime companies (especially since they tend to work on several series at the same time), I was amazed by how much effort and detail the artists put on the actual series.  And also surprised to see how much fan service-driven the animation gets during the series midway.

As for audio, the series is presented in Dolby TrueHD English and Japanese 5.1. The lossless audio for “Burst Angel” is fantastic.  The action segments really take advantage of your soundscape as sounds can be heard from your front, center and surround channels and also a bit of LFE.  With so much action in this film, this series is one of the most immersive anime on Blu-ray TV series released in the US thus far.

The mecha battles and the zoom and clashing of metal can be heard to Jo (or Jo in her Zango) as you can hear the machine gun bullets and the action quite loud and well.  In fact, there were a few times (mainly in the English soundtrack) that I felt that perhaps the action may overshadow the actual vocals.  But everything worked out and audio is one of the strong points of this anime on Blu-ray release.

For the most part, both dubbing is well done although, I could not stand the South Western twang given to one of the supporting characters on the English dub but overall, the English voice talent is as solid as the Japanese voice dub.  A key difference is with the character of Meg in which the Japanese voice dubbing makes you feel that Meg is a young teenager, while the English dub gives the feeling that she is a young woman.

English is the only subtitled presented.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Burst Angel – The Complete Collection” comes with the following special features (in 480i Standard Definition and Dolby Digital Japanese 2.o):

DISC 1:

• The Brothers Die at Dawn Commentary – Featuring audio commentary for episode 4 by Chris Bevens (Voice Director), Nathan Harrison (Audio Mixers), Monica Rial (Joe) and Jamie Marchi (Meg).
• The Wounded Outlaw Commentary – Featuring audio commentary for episode 8 by Chris Bevens (Voice Director), Monica Rial (Jo) and Clarine Harp (Sei).
• Uncharted Cyberspace Commentary – Featuring audio commentary for episode 10 by Chris Bevens (Voice Director), Alison Retzlof (Amy) and Greg Ayres (Kyouhei).

DISC 2:

• Showdown in Osaka Commentary – Audio commentary for episode 13 by Chris Bevens (Voice Director), Monica Rial (Jo) and Caitlin Glass (Takane).
• Dueling Angels Commentary - Audio commentary for episode 17 by Monica Rial (Jo) and Colleen Clinkenbeard (Maria).

DISC 3:

• Angels, Explode! Commentary – Audio commentary for episode 24 by Chris Bevins (Voice Director), Monica Rial (Jo), Jamie Marchi (Meg), Clarine Harp (Sei) and Alison Retzlof (Amy).
• Japanese Staff and Cast Interviews: Featuring interviews with Japanese Cast (16:02) hosted by Mai Morishita who interviews the Japanese voice talent, CGI Artist (2:09) featuring behind-the-scenes footage of the CG artist working in the office and Character Designer (3:48) featuring the various painted designs but the character designer Ugetsu Hakua.  Featuring an interview with Mai Morishita and Ugetsu.
• The Lightness and Darkness of Jo – (23:21) An Anime Expo 2005 special showcasing Jo from clips from the TV series.
• Usetsu Hakua (Character Designer) Special – (2:40) – A special showcasing the art of “Burst Angel” courtesy of the character designer Usetsu Hakua.  Featuring animation of the characters a few years after the TV series with Meg as the lead fighter of the group and how the main characters look years after the series.
• Battle Record of all 24 Episodes – (1:23:52) Battle record of all episodes.  Featuring a portion of the battle sequences for each episode.
• Previews of the TV Series – (5:46) Japanese next episode previews for the “Burst Angel” TV Series.
• Previews of the OVA – (2:14) Japanese preview for the “Burst Angel Infinity” OVA.
• Japanese Trailer – (2:25) Original Japanese TV trailer.
• Textless Songs - Textless songs for “Loosey” by THE STRIPES, an alternate OP for “Loosey” by THE STRIPES, “Under the Sky” by Cloudica and an alternate version of “Under the Sky” by Cloudica.
• Outtakes – (10:30) English dub outtakes
• FUNimation Entertainment Trailers

There is no doubt that if you want a series that combines action, mecha action and fan service, “Burst Angel – The Complete Collection” is definitely for you.

If one thing can be said about “Burst Angel”, this anime series is action-packed and for a TV series, it’s probably one of the few anime television series that I have seen released in this decade with this much fan service.  It’s one thing to get your typical panty shots but “Burst Angel” is quite interesting as the show progresses, all of a sudden the series starts to feature characters (primarily Sei and Meg) in interesting situations.  Not sure if there was like experimenting with the animators during the second half of the series  because it seems like the Sei and Meg’s boobs get larger and larger. It was like “Dead or Alive” (the video game) with the jiggle. And although not as out there as Satoshi Urushihara’s OVA “Plastic Little”, somehow during mid-season the artists seem to start having a nipple fetish and it becomes more prominent during the second half of the series.  Also, to make low rise clothing more prominent and thus we see quite a bit of butt crack as well.  So, fans who enjoy fan service, will definitely get their money’s worth with this anime series.

But what about the overall series?  Is the plot any good?

When I began watching the series, I realized how “Burst Angel” almost resembled a classic anime known as “Bubblegum Crisis”, in terms of four women having to take on corruption in the city.  But throughout the 24-episodes, you start to realize how many episodes are stand-alone episodes that really don’t have a connection to a major storyline.  In fact, you can go from episode 1-2 and then to episode 12 and you wouldn’t miss much of a storyline since episodes 3-11 are more stand alone episodes of the group going on missions.  Granted, you get to see more of Kyouhei and Amy but that leads me to wondering why the character of Kyouhei is  even in the anime series.  He’s just a cook and aside from providing the group with meals, if anything, it seems like if he was created just to ensure that the series can have more filler episodes.  And by the final leg of the series, he’s hardly even shown.

So, that was my main peeve about this series is that you feel like you’re watching too many stand-alone episodes and you wonder when are we going to see something significant that contributes to the main storyline and a build-up to whatever is happening.

But as for positives, you have to give GONZO major props because this anime series looks fantastic.  A lot of detail in the background art, the series doesn’t have that waxy look like most animated television series shown, nor is the animation and background art anything but simple. This anime is quite detailed and very vibrant. Nice use of reds, yellows and blues.

Although an upconvert, the series looks very good on Blu-ray and the lossless audio soundtrack is even more exciting as the series is full of action and you hear those action sequences become quite immersive all around you.

Also, another positive is that this series has a good number of special features including audio commentary for a complete collection.  Typically you get only the textless opening and closing themes but it’s great to have several audio commentary and also other special features on the Japanese side.  Especially the “Ugetsu Hakua (Character Designer) Special” which I’m not sure if it’s meant to be a glimpse to the future of “Burst Angel” but if it is, I definitely like what I see.

Overall, “Burst Angel – The Complete Collection” is not a great anime but there are a lot of positive things going for it that I can see a group of fans who would be happy enough for the fact that it has a lot of gun action, mecha battles, monsters but most of all, those fans wanting plenty of fan service will probably enjoy this series despite a lot of the episodes being stand-alone.  And also, it’s a pretty good looking anime series as well and definitely is much more enhanced over its DVD counterpart, especially with the lossless soundtrack.

If you are looking for an anime series on Blu-ray, “Burst Angel – The Complete Collection” may definitely be for you.

Magikano – The Complete Series (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

“For those who enjoy harem anime series, ‘Magikano’ is definitely a wacky series in which many females (who happen to be witches) vie for young Haruo’s attention.  Wacky, humorous and fun!”

 

Image courtesy of © 2005 Takeaki Momoise – Kodansha- Magikano Project.  All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Magikano – The Complete Series

DURATION: 13 Episodes (325 minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: English 5.1 Dolby Surround Stereo, Japanese Stereo

COMPANY: Gonzo/FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV 14

Based on the original manga by Takeaki Momose

Directed by Seiji Kishi

Series Composition and Script by Hideki Mitsui

Music by Katsuyuki Harada

Character Design: Takashi Kobayashi

Art Director: Masakazu Miyake

Chief Animation Director: Takashi Kobayashi

Sound Director: Satoki Iida

Director of Photography: Hiroshi Kubo

Editing by Takashi Sakurai

Animation by Tokyo Kids

Production by Magikano Production Committee

Featuring the following voice talent:

Mitsuhiro Ichiki/Clint Bickham as Haruo Yoshikawa

Sakura Nogawa/Jessica Boone as Ayumi Mamiya

Halko Momoi/Carli Mosier as Marin Nijihara

Kanako Sakai/Luci Christian as Chiaki Yoshikawa

Mai Nakahara/Kira Vincent-Davis as Maika Yoshikawa

Nana Inoue/Tiffany Grant as Rika Anju

Natsuko Kuwatani/Monica Rial as Michiru Mamiya

Noriko Namiki/Carli Mosier as Yuri Kurosu

Noriko Rikimaru/Christine Auten as Tetsuko Hondo

Tomoko Kaneda/Hilary Haag as Fuyuno Yoshikawa

Haruo Yoshikawa always believed he was just an average, run-of-the-mill kid. He makes average grades in school, lives in an average house with his average family, and looks to be headed for a totally average future.

But there’s something Haruo doesn’t know. Maika, Chiaki, and Fuyuno, his three sneaky sisters, have been keeping a him in the dark about their family’s dirty little secret – they’re all witches! In the blink of an eye, his life goes from average to unbelievable with the arrival of Ayumi – an enchanting young girl who’s bound and determined to arouse his inner magician and make a “real man” out of Haruo.  Warning!  There’s supernatural slapstick, magical mayhem and great, jiggling gobs of fan service galore in the most totally witching series ever – Magikano!

Back in 2003, mangaka Takeaki Momose (“Miami Guns”, “RahXephon”) released his manga series “Magikano” which was published on “Magazine Z” from Kodansha.  The manga would eventually receive a 13-episode anime series courtesy of Tokyo Kids and was broadcast on Animax in 2005 and now the complete series is available on DVD courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.

The series is directed by Seiji Kishi  (“Ragnarok the Animation”, “Galaxy Angel Rune”, “Yugo the Negotiator” and “Tentai Senshi Sunred”) and would feature a screenplay by Hideki Mitsui (“Mahoujin Guru Guru”, “Sol Bianca: The LEgacy”, “Tenchi in Tokyo”, etc.).  Character design is by Takashi Kobayashi (“Angel Tales”, “Battle Skipper”, “Hand Maid Mai”, “Kasho no Tsuki”) and music by Katsuyuki Harada (“Galaxy Angel Rune”, “Hime-sama Goyojin”).

The series revolves around a teenager named Haruo Yoshikawa.  Your average junior high school teenager who has never missed a day of school and lives with his three sisters Maika, Chikaki and Fuyuno.   What he doesn’t know is that his sisters are witches and do whatever the can to protect their brother and not catch on that they are a magical family.  Each day his sisters use magic, they use a memory erasing hammer on him, so he doesn’t remember a thing.  It’s also interesting to note that the eldest sister Maika, has a brother complex (almost like an attraction) and very protective of any girl trying to get near her brother.

Meanwhile, a blonde girl named Ayumi is a witch who has been cursed when she was a child and tends to get into mischief.  So, in order to lift the curse, her father sends her out to Earth where she must befriend Haruo, the only person that can lift the curse from her.  So, in order to become close to him, she decides to become a maid at their home and moves into their house.  But how Ayumi wants to get close to Haruo is by using her body in anyway she can to attract him to her and get close to him enough to seduce him and unlift the curse.

Needless to say, the three sisters are not so happy about this and it causes chaos and the sisters will do whatever it takes to prevent ANY woman or person from taking advantage or getting close to Haruo.  Add a few more characters (who also want to be close to Haruo) and “Magikano” becomes a hilarious and fun harem anime series of witches who vow for Haruo’s attention, while behind the scenes…someone possibly sinister is keep their eyes closely on Haruo.

The main characters of “Magikano” are:

THE YOSHIKAWA FAMILY

• Haruo Yoshikawa – The main protagonist who is kind-hearted and a bit naive.  Because his sisters tend to use the memory erasing hammer on him, he rarely knows of any magical hijinks going around.
• Maika Yoshikawa – The eldest sister who is overprotective towards Haruo.  Almost like an attraction, she wants Haruo all to herself and doesn’t want any other woman close to him.   She has a short temper and when she becomes extremely jealous, she turns into a green skinned monster like creature.
• Chiaki Yoshikawa – The athletic sister who is kind-hearted and loves eating food.
• Fuyuno Yoshikawa – The shortest and youngest sister who loves money.  But an excellent problem solver.

THE MAMIYA FAMILY

• Ayumi Mamiya – Cursed during her childhood, a young witch…she enters the Earthworld in order for Haruo to lift her curse. Not knowing how to lift the curse, she thinks that it must be getting him sexually attracted to her.  So, she does all that she can to do so but knowing that Haruo’s sisters and others are in her way.
• Michiru Mamiya – Younger sister of Ayumi and wants to be head of the family that she will do what she can to prevent her older sister Ayumi from breaking the curse.  She and Ayumi don’t really get along.

HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS & OTHER SUPPORTING CHARACTERS

• Yuri Korosu – The school’s #1 idol and student council president.  She has always liked Haruo since they were kids but knowing that Ayumi has entered their school, she and Ayumi become rivals and will do whatever it takes to get Haruo’s attention.  She is also a witch who’s hair turns from brown to silver in witch mode.
• Marin Nijihara – A Catholic witch hunter that is often clumsy at times.  Feels that she needs to protect Haruo from the witches.
• Rika Anju – A maid sent by Ayumi’s father to help out at the Yoshikawa’s, after Ayumi’s presence tends to create more havoc in the household.
• Hajime Hario – Friend of Haruo who is always trying to find ways to make money and also believes in the supernatural.
• Sora Fujiwara – Friend/sidekick of Hajime and is always taking pictures of whatever.  Including the girls in uncompromising poses.
• Hongo Tetsuko – Haruo’s teacher but also seems to know the secrets of the witches.

The following 13-episodes are featured on two DVD’s.  Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode of “Magikano”:

DISC 1:

• EPISODE 1 – Magi? She is a Witch? – Ayumi makes her entrance and immediately has Haruo in her sights to get close to him.  But Haruo’s sisters will do what they can to protect him.
• EPISODE 2 – Magi? The Student Council President is also a Witch? - Yuri, the Student Council President has always  liked Haruo but when she sees Ayumi trying to get close to him, she will do whatever it takes to stop her and will challenge her for Haruo’s affection.
• EPISODE 3 – Magi? The Dangerous Siblings? – Everyone ends up in Haruo’s dreams.
• EPISODE 4 – Magi? It’s Stolen? – When the girls go out and relax in the hot springs, someone sneaks in and steals the girls panties and also Ayumi’s important pendant.
• EPISODE 5 – Magi? A Witch Hunter? – Enter Marin, the witch hunter.
• EPISODE 6 – Magi? There’s a Ghost? – There’s a ghost in the swimming pool and the witches must protect Haruo from it.
• EPISODE 7 – Magi?  A Maid is Here? – Ayumi’s father sends a maid named Riku to the Yoshikawa household.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 8 – Magi? A Victory Kiss? – A contest of whoever wins, gets a kiss from Haruo.
• EPISODE 9 – Magi?  He’s a Sleeping Prince? – Something is wrong with Haruo and the girls try to find out why.
• EPISODE 10 – Magi? The Cat Panties are Cursed? – When Ayumi wears a pair of panties, she finds out that the panties are cursed with a talking cat.  When she starts treating the cat badly, the cat starts to pull pranks to embarrass her.  The only way she can have them removed is if Haruo sees them.  Of course, all the others think it’s another ploy for Ayumi to get close to Haruo and thus they try to stop her.
• EPISODE 11 – Magi? It’s a Holy Night? – It’s Christmas time and Haruo has been gone quite a bit?  Could it be that he’s found someone else special?
• EPISODE 12 – Magi? It’s Time for Awakening? – Michiru makes her move and Haruo’s true nature is revealed.
• EPISODE 13 – Magi? It’s the Final Episode? - Michiru’s plan goes haywire and now everyone must work together to stop ultimate chaos.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Magikano” is featured in 4:3 standard definition.  For an anime that appeared in 2005, it doesn’t have that digital vibrant color as some anime released around the same time or now.  But for the most part, where it succeeds is that each scene is not minimal and does feature a lot of focus on the animation of the characters and some scenes with really good background painting.  Character designs and capturing expressions of anger, confusion and happiness is well done.  And the zany nature of the series works well with the overall animation.  If anything, picture quality is quite clear and I didn’t see any blemishes or any scratches.  Nor did I see any compression artifacts.  So, picture quality is good.

The audio is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Surround sound and Japanese stereo.  For the most part, I chose to listen to the anime series with stereo on all channels.  So, audio would be much more immersive during the action sequences.  In terms of audio, the English dub has a more teenage approach to the dialogue and although not profane, when the women get upset they yell “bitch” and has a more sexual curve than its Japanese counterpart.  In the Japanese counterpart, it fits the junior high school theme much more with the voices.  But because of the dialogue and of course, the women showing off their panties or trying to use sex as a way to get to Haruo, personally I found  it more sensible to watch it in English, so they seem like high schoolers than junior high students.

Subtitles are in English only.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Magikano – The Complete Series” comes with the textless opening and ending themes and FUNimation Entertainment trailers.

“Magikano – The Complete Series” is definitely a series that is a mixed bag.  During the earlier episodes, although hilarious and fun, the series doesn’t necessarily hook you because there are so many characters and typically, you would want to see some major character development with those characters.  Granted, there are only 13-episodes in the series, so things had to speed along quickly in order to have everyone introduced.

By the second half of the series, that is when things start to become more enjoyable because it tends to focus more on Haruo and Ayumi than the other characters.  It seems the first half was to setup everyone somehow wanting to be around Haruo but the second half focuses more on Ayumi’s feelings towards Haruo and that her ambition to lift the curse is being replaced by actual love for him.

But part of the problem with this harem anime series is that you have many people who like Haruo.  A typical theme of harem anime but in other harem anime, series tend to take place when the male protagonist is either a college student or a young adult.  In the case of “Magikano”, the characters are supposed to be junior high students and the anime series wants to retain its sexual vibe.

The series tends to have a more grown up theme with the girls trying to use their bodies to attract Haruo.  I can understand if they were older teenagers in high school but not junior high.  Especially during episode 10 when Ayumi is trying to rid of her cat panties and wanted to get any reaction from Haruo so she can rid of them.  The cat spirit in the panties talking about situations down there and of course, Haruo’s younger sisters then talking about lingerie and panties.  So, the  fan service may seem inappropriate for some viewers.

But for a harem anime series, it’s funny and hilarious at times as the girls are at each other’s necks in trying to get Haruo’s attention and being the kind of guy he is, naive and not sexually active, it tends to go over his head at times.  Does it rank high up there to other harem anime series such as “Love Hina”, “Aoi Yori Aoishi”, “Tenchi Muyo” or “Ranma 1/2″?  Not really because those series had may episodes to flesh out character development.  With only 13-episodes, the viewer is quickly introduced to characters in each episode and one can only imagine how much we are missing in terms of what was featured in the manga series.

But I was entertained and I did enjoy “Magikano – The Complete Series” for its humor and wackiness.  If you are looking for a harem anime series, you may want to give “Magikano – The Complete Series” a chance.

 

Welcome to the NHK – The Complete Series (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

“’Welcome to the NHK’ features quite a number of unexpected but many highly entertaining plot twists for an anime series.  Definitely one of the most entertaining anime series I have seen in long time!  Top-notch storytelling, wonderful animation and for the most part, this anime series is highly recommended!“

 

Image courtesy of © 2006 Kadokawa Shoten/Welcome to the N-H-K Partners.  All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Welcome to the NHK – The Complete Series

DURATION: 24 Episodes, 4 DVD’s (600 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9, English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound, Japanese Stereo, English Subtitles

COMPANY: GONZO/FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV MA

Release Date: August 25, 2009

Based on a novel by Tatsuhiko Takimoto

Directed by Yusuke Yamamoto

Series Composition/Screenplay: Satoru Nishizono

Music by the Pearl Brothers

Character Design by Masashi Ishihama, Takahiko Yoshida

Art Director: Hiroshi Igaki

Chief Animation Director: Takahiko Yoshida

Anime Production: GONZO

Featuring the following voice talent:

Yutaka Koizumi/Chris Patton as Tatsuhiro Sato

Daisuke Sakaguchi/Greg Ayres as Kaoru Yamazaki

Yui Makino as Misaki Nakahara

Sanae Kobayashi/Luci Christian as Hitomi Kashiwa

Risa Hayamizu/Monica Rial as Megumi Kobayashi

Mayumi Shou/Christine Auten as Shizue Sato

Yoku Shioya as Hikikomori-Alien

Sato’s life – or what’s left of it – is a paranoid mess of conspiracy theories and social anxieties.  He’s terrified of the outside world; his apartment is overflowing with the remnants of cheap take-out food; and his retinas have been permanently scarred by a steady diet of internet porn.  But maybe it’s not all his fault.  After all, the nefarious N-H-K is out there, and they’re determined to turn society’s fringe-dwellers into a brainwashed lot of jobless, hopeless, future recluses.

Enter Misaki – a mysterious girl-next-door type who is Sato’s last chance to beat down his inner demons and venture out in the light of day.  She’s ready to help him overcome his crippling phobias, but Sato would rather cover in his existential foxhole and pretend to work on the demo for his virtual sex game.

He’s afraid to face the world.  She’s strangely desperate to fix a total stranger.  Maybe together they can be normal.

Hikikomori - A Japanese term that refers to social phenomenon when individuals who are reclusive and withdraw fro social life and live in isolation.

NEET - An acronym for “Not in Employment, Education or Training”.  A term developed in the UK but now used in Japan, China and South Korea for those who are 15-34 year-olds who are unemployed, not enrolled in school, engaged in any housework or training.

“Welcome to the NHK” is unique, fresh and for the most part, highly entertaining!  It’s a bit of everything and the overall build up to the final half of the series is surprising, captivating and just overall fantastic.

Based on the novel by Tatsuhiko Takimoto and published in Kadokawa Shoten in 2002, an anime series was created in 2006 and for the most part, has received positive reviews.  Originally released on DVD by ADV Films, the series is one of the titles transferred to FUNimation Entertainment and now the whole collection is available in one complete set.

The anime series is directed by Yusuke Yamamoto (who has worked on anime such as “Arjuna”, “Mobile Suit Victory Gundam” and “Twin Spica”), a screenplay by Satoru Nishizono (“.Hack/Legend of the Twilight”, “Hellgirl”, “MazinKaiser” and “Naruto”) and character designs by Masashi Ishihama (“Kite”, “Ninku the Movie” and “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”) and Takahiko Yoshida (“Big Windup!”, “Gad Guard” and “SaiKano”).  Anime production is by GONZO (“Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School”, “Vandread”, “Samurai 7″, “Afro Samurai”, “Gantz”, etc.).

The series “Welcome to the NHK” (aka N.H.K. ni Yokoso!) revolves around a man named Tatsuhiro Sato, a college dropout and a man who has become a “hikikomori” and a “NEET”.  He literally has been stuck in his apartment for four years as a recluse and has not had any public contact with anyone.  He knows he needs to get a job in order to pay the bills but he is so scared that everyone is talking bad about him and staring at him that he is to afraid to go out in public.  All he brings close to him is his memories of his senpai, a former student named Hitomi Kashiwa who always felt that humans were being brought down by conspiracies.  But that was then, when he was a high school student… this is now.  He’s just a recluse and now he is starting to believe his senpai’s conspiracies which he calls “Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai” (N.H.K.), those responsible for the conspiracy to turn people into hikikomori and NEET’s.

But his life starts to change when a girl named Misaki Nakahara offers him to be part of a program in order to rid him of his “hikikomori” ways and discovers that the next door neighbor that has been annoying him for over a month with his loud anime music and old acquaintance Kaoru Yamazaki.

Here is a basic summary of the main characters of “Welcome to the N.H.K.”:

• Tatsuhiro Sato – A college dropout who has become a hikikomori and a NEET.  Has been a recluse, stuck in his apartment for four years and is afraid of society.  He imagines them all talking about him, thinking bad about him and more.  He is funded by his parents and only goes out when he needs to get food.  His life starts to change when he gains two friends…Kaoru Yamazaki and Misaki Nakahara.  But also, his old senpai from high school, Hitomi Kashiwa, when she returns back into his life.
• Kaoru Yamazaki - A hardcore otaku who was bullied when he was in high school.  He knows Sato from a time when Sato tried to protect him from bullies (and Sato ended up getting beaten up as well).  He is game developer, attends a vocation school on game design and loves the character “Puri Purin”.  Known for his love of figurines and hentai/moe video games (eroge) and his anger towards people who don’t understand moe or otaku culture.  He teams up with Sato in order to develop a hentai video game.
• Misaki Nakahara – A mysterious girl who befriends Sato in order to rid his “hikikomori” ways.  She creates a contract that if Sato does not complete his training, he will owe her a million yen.  But there is more to her character and that she may be the one that needs Sato more than anything.
• Hitomi Kashiwa – Sato’s Senpai.  Always sarcastic, Hitomi believes that her life is hindered because of conspiracies.  In fact, she talks about to Sato during their time at the Literary Club of their high school (as they were the only two members).
• Megumi Kobayashi - She was Sato’s class rep back in high school.  She is into multi-level marketing and wants to recruit Sato.  But there is more to the story of why she wants to meet up with Sato, as her brother is also a hardcore hikikomori.

“Welcome to the NHK – The Complete Series” features a total of 24 episodes on four DVD’s.  Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

• EPISODE 1- Welcome to the Project! – The introduction to Sato and his first meting with Misaki Nakahara who claims that she can cure him of his hikikomori way.
• EPISODE 2 – Welcome to the Creator! – Sato discovers that his neighbor that has driven him nuts with his loud music is his college acquaintance Kaoru Yamazaki.
• EPISODE 3 – Welcome to the Beautiful Girls! – Yamazaki introduces Sato to erotic video games (eroge).
• EPISODE 4 – Welcome to the New World! – Sato gets addicted to eroge and Yamazaki introduces him to Akihabara.  Sato runs to his high school senpai Hitomi Kashiwa.
• EPISODE 5 – Welcome to the Counseling! – Sato decides to sign the Misaki’s contract and get help to cure his hikikomori way.
• EPISODE 6 – Welcome to the Classroom! – When Sato is told by Misaki that Yamazaki has a girlfriend, it drives Sato nuts.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 7 – Welcome to the Moratorium! – Sato’s mother wants to check in on him and thus Sato tries to put up a facade that he has a girlfriend (played by Misaki).
• EPISODE 8 – Welcome to a China Town! – With his mother coming to visit, both Sato and Misaki pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend.
• EPISODE 9 – Welcome to a Summer Day! – Yamazaki tries to sell sample of their video game, meanwhile Sato thinks about Misaki.
• EPISODE 10 – Welcome to the Dark Side! – Sato and Yamazaki think that Misaki is up to something and wonder why she is really trying to help Sato out.
• EPISODE 11 – Welcome ot the Conspiracy! – With Sato and Yamazaki planning to showcase their finalized game at Natsucomi, Hitomi wants Sato to join her for something important on that same day.
• EPISODE 12 – Welcome to the “Off” Meeting! – Sato thinks he’s going on mini-vacation with Hitomi to an island but discovers that the people she has joined with are part of something that could be tragic.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 13 – Welcome to Paradise! – Sato discovers the group that Hitomi has joined with and now gets entangled with their suicide pact.
• EPISODE 14 – Welcome to Reality! – After the events from the last episode, the group gets to learn about themselves and who they could have hurt.
• EPISODE 15 – Welcome to the Fantasy! – Sato’s mother has bad news…she’s cutting his allowance in half.  Now Sato is desperate to make money… by becoming an S.M.T. (gold trader) on a MMORPG.
• EPISODE 16 – Welcome to Game Over! – Sato becomes addicted to the MMORPG and both Yamazaki and Misaki try to help him.
• EPISODE 17 – Welcome to Happiness! – Sato receives a call from his class rep, Megumi Kobayashi from high school and she wants to meet with him.
• EPISODE 18 – Welcome to No Future! – Having been caught up in Megumi’s multi-level marketing business known as Mouse Road, now he is stuck with all these items.  Yamazaki and Misaki try to help him out of it.

DISC 4:

• Episode 19 – Welcome to the Blue Bird! – Megumi’s kikikomori brother has gone missing.
• Episode 20 – Welcome to Winter Days! – Yamazaki’s father is ill and must go back to his hometown in the countryside.
• Episode 21 – Welcome to Reset! – Due to what happened in the last episode, Yamazaki must move back to his hometown.  Thus leaving Sato all alone.
• Episode 22 – Welcome to the God! – It’s the final test for Sato and Misaki wants him to go with her to a New Year’s eve festival where there would be many people.  But what happens when the two become separated?
• Episode 23 – Welcome to Misaki! - Misaki comes up with a new contract and for some reason, she’s bring up discussions about popular figures who have committed suicide.  Meanwhile, Sato’s parents have cut off his allowance and with no money, Sato is forced to get a job.
• Episode 24 – Welcome to the N-H-K! – Misaki finds a message in her book left behind in the hospital, Sato knows he must now rescue Misaki.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Welcome to the NHK” features one of the coolest animation I have seen for a television series.  Not only are the colors vibrant but there is a lot of detail in creating the environment.  May it be Sato’s messy room with empty kleenex boxes, empty beer cans and posters of young women on the walls; Yamazaki’s room filled with figurines and books; Misaki’s nice home; scenes from areas around Tokyo…there are plenty of artistic backgrounds, items that showcase the lives of the individuals and the places that they live and more.  Even during the dreamlike sequences, there is quite a bit of detail in the artwork.

This is quite uncommon to see this much in a television series.  Typically, anime series are facing tight schedules to get their episodes on television  and thus there is some skimping done on artistic backgrounds and what you would seen in the overall scene but somehow Gonzo animation went all out in making sure the world of “Welcome to the NHK” was well.

Of course, there is only one quirk that I have in the animation and that is during the series, everyone has different types of clothing but for Misaki, later on in the series, she tends to wear the same t-shirt and blue skirt almost all the time.  Even during the cold and snowy winter, I wonder why she would wear a skirt all the time.  Granted, she may be a frugal character but it’s one thing that made me wonder with all the daily changes in the other characters, why not her.

As for picture quality, the anime is presented in 16:9 and for the most part color is well-done.  Although, I did notice on my 51″, there are these marks that would show up. Not compression artifacts but something that was probably in the film.  It’s not noticeable unless you really look and it’s more evident on larger screen televisions and possibly more on a larger viewing (via a projector screen).  But for those who watch the series in a smaller set or computer screen will probably not see it.

As for the audio, the audio is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound and Japanese stereo.  I watched the series in both English and Japanese and both are very well done.  The English dub has a more mature sound as Sato and Yamazaki do use profanity which makes their situation quite believable but the Japanese version excels more in the emotional scenes of the female characters, especially Yui Makino’s Misaki.  Overall, both English and Japanese are done well.

The series is pretty much front and center channel for the 5.1 track driven due to the series being a more dialogue-driven  but for both audio, I preferred to watch the series with my receiver setting at stereo on all channels.

As for subtitles, the series is presented with English subtitles.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Welcome to the NHK – The Complete Series” comes with the following special features:

DISC 1:

• Clean Opening and Closing Animation

DISC 4:

• FUNimation Entertainment Trailers

I can’t tell you how pleased I am with “Welcome to the NHK”.  I enjoyed this series tremendously.

I watched the first volume when the anime was first released and entertaining as it was, I thought it was your typical adult comedy style of anime series about two guys trying to work on an erotic video game series and the main plot was a hikikomori teaming up with an otaku.  How wrong I was.  This series is dramatic and although it does carry a lot of humorous-style of storylines, the series does get serious and quite deep.

From problems of people becoming hikikomori and NEET’s, excessive spending on merchandise (when one can’t really afford it), addiction to MMORPG video games  but also touching upon a major problem in Japan which is suicide.  Needless to say, there is a message in “Welcome to the NHK” and the message is that there is hope.

The way that the screenplay adaption of the novel was done and how there is a build-up in these episodes, there are just a good number of plots that takes the three main characters in interesting directions and so, this series is not exactly simple or for those expecting humorous adult humor.  This is a well-planned, well-written and most of all, a well-animated anime series.

I do feel that this series all comes down to what one is expecting.  I believe there will be a group who wants that storyline (ala “Genshiken”) about two people trying to create an erotic video game and showcase that otaku culture and be surprised (or dismayed) of how the series suddenly turns dramatic and serious in the second half.  But for me, I enjoyed every episode and the various parts of Japanese culture that is touched upon. Showing that even certain things that people enjoy can definitely become problematic when one starts to neglect their life and personal responsibilities.   And the way the show was written, the good news is that the messages were carefully intertwined with the episode’s storyline and by no means is the message preachy.

For those wondering about the TV MA rating, the series does have adult humor and situations.  There is little nudity towards the end of the series but it’s mainly adult humor and the English dub uses profanity.

As mentioned in the video and audio portion of this review, the animation on this DVD is above most television-based anime.  Where a lot of TV anime are rushed to get onto TV (and some created mere hours before they air), “Welcome to the NHK” is one of those few rare television series that manages to be vibrant, detailed and for the most part beautiful.  You can’t help but laugh at the surroundings of Sato and Yamazaki’s homes.  And both Japanese and English voice talents do an excellent job for this series.

Overall, I just felt that “Welcome to the NHK” is just a magnificent anime series.  Highly recommended!

 

« Previous Page — Next Page »