CLANNAD: AFTER STORY On Sale Today

April 19, 2011 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

CLANNAD: AFTER STORY ON SALE TODAY

HOUSTON, April 19th, 2011 – Section23 Films is pleased to announce the release of CLANNAD: AFTER STORY. The complete collection which includes all 25 episodes and an all new English dub on 4 DVD’s, is available today.

Title: CLANNAD: AFTER STORY COMPLETE COLLECTION
Running Time: 625 min.
Age Rating: TV PG
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
CAT: SF-CL600
UPC: 814131012500
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Street Date: 4/19/2011
Format: DVD
SRP: $69.98

SYNOPSIS: A few months have passed since Tomoya declared his love to Nagisa. Now their relationship is entering a new phase, and neither is quite sure where it will take them. As their friends move on to lives of their own, Tomoya and Nagisa get ready to start a family of their own. But Nagisa’s health has always been precarious, and an event that should bring nothing but joy delivers tragedy instead. Now Tomoya must learn to accept the bitter with the sweet and to understand that the most important thing is to hold onto love, no matter what. Don’t miss the heartbreak and triumph of the masterful conclusion to one of the most beloved anime series ever in CLANNAD: AFTER STORY!

About Section23 Films:

Section23 Films provides home video marketing and distribution services for a variety of companies, including Sentai Filmworks, Switchblade Pictures, Maiden Japan and AEsir Holdings. With its special focus on genre entertainment, Section23 Films distributes some of the very best anime, martial arts, and horror titles on the market today.

Filed Under: Anime Related News

SECTION23 FILMS ANNOUNCES MARCH SLATE

December 8, 2010 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

GUIN SAGA COLLECTION 1 BLU-RAY EDITION Available on March 29th

HOUSTON, December 8, 2010 – Home video distributor Section23 Films today announced its MARCH slate of releases, including the sweeping anime epic for the ages, GUIN SAGA! The first collection will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray by Section23 client Sentai Filmworks.

Product details follow, in order of release

Coming March 2011

Title:                 Shin Koihime†Musō – Complete Collection
Published by:    Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time:         325 min.
Street Date:      3/1/2011
Format:             DVD
Language:         Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP:               $49.98

SYNOPSIS: What do you do once you’ve made your epic journey and accomplished the legendary quest you set out for yourself. Well, you could hang around the village looking important, but when Kan’u and Chouhi’s rescue a mysterious girl, they find that a more enjoyable option may be a brand new quest! Especially when it turns out that this new girl is Ryuubi, and the Ryuubi that Kan’u and her sword-sisters faced previously was an imposter who stole this Ryuubi’s name and heirloom sword! Meanwhile, the three Chou sisters have gotten their hands on a magical book of spells that’s just a little more dangerous than they think. Get ready for an inspired new journey in search of magical arts and artifacts as the ancient Chinese epic Romance Of The Three Kingdoms puts on an all new, all-female front in Shin Koihime†Musō – Complete Collection!

Includes 12 episodes PLUS Special OVA!

Title:                 AKANE IRO NI SOMARU SAKA COMPLETE COLLECTION
Published by:    Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time:         325 min.
Street Date:      3/8/2011
Format:             DVD
Language:         Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP:               $49.98

SYNOPSIS: Junichi Nagase was a real delinquent in middle school, one nasty enough that he earned the nickame “Geno Killer,” and it’s by this less than flattering epithet that Yuuhi Katagiri first comes to know him when he rescues her from two thugs one evening. Needless to say, both are stunned when not only does Yuuhi find herself transferred into the same high school class as “the Killer,” but that shock grows into outright stupefaction when Yuuhi shows up at Junichi’s house with the mind-blowing announcement that she’s supposed to move in with him! It seems that they’re engaged, and since this is the first that Junichi and his younger sister Minato have first heard of the arranged marriage set up by their parents, it’s an idea that’s going to take a little getting used to. Get ready for ties that bind and gag as bad boy and good girl collide cohabitationally while the entire school gets to watch! Truth IS stranger than fiction in Akane iro ni Somaru Saka – The Complete Collection!

Title:                 CLANNAD THEATRICAL
Published by:    Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time:         95 min.
Street Date:      3/15/2011
Format:             DVD
Language:         English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP:               $29.98

SYNOPSIS: Plagued by a seemingly endless stream of haunting dreams, Tomoya drifts through life with an almost overwhelming sense of anger and emptiness. Then, one fateful day, he meets the mysterious and beautiful Nagisa, and his world begins to change. While helping Nagisa revive the defunct Drama Club at their high school, Tomoya discovers that she has the same dreams. Their story starts beneath the cherry blossoms, but where will fate lead them? Discover a stunning new vision of one of anime’s classic love stories in Clannad Theatrical.

Title:                 GHOST SWEEPER MIKAMI COLLECTION 3
Published by:    Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time:         275 min.
Street Date:      3/22/2011
Format:             DVD
Language:         Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP:               $49.98

SYNOPSIS: The insanity that surrounds the Mikami Detective agency continues as our intrepid… okay, maybe not intrepid… as our financially motivated band of heroes are back on the case, attempting to solve the supernatural puzzles, occult conundrums and ancient mysteries (some from the early 1990s!) that plague a ghost and demon infested modern Japan. But it’s not all death and destruction and there are the occasional time-outs for loftier goals or as Yokoshima admirably admits: “I’ve always wanted to sing ‘Johnny B Good’ at Nippon Budokan filled with nothing but beautiful naked girls before I die!” Okay, perhaps not such admirable content, but it got ‘naked’ into the synopsis and you have to appreciate his honesty! And honesty is what you get, along with all the usual action, drama and spooktacularly bad jokes and puns in the absolutely certifiable third collection of GHOST SWEEPER MIKAMI!

Title:                 GUIN SAGA COLLECTION 1
Published by:    Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time:         325 min.
Street Date:      3/29/2011
Format:             DVD
Language:         English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP:               $59.98

SYNOPSIS: He awakens in the dark forest of a mythical land with some type of leopard mask that he cannot remove. The only thing he remembers is his name – Guin – and that he is a warrior of unimaginable power. And when the two twins of Parros, innocent victims of a civil war arrive, Guin knows what he must do. But the journey to save the children means much more than just slaughtering a few hundred well-trained Mongoul soldiers. Victory means he must battle magical desert tribes, assemble forces that have fought each other for hundreds of hears, and divine a mysterious plan that he is central to. Prepare for a sweeping anime epic of mystery and magic! Of violent clashes and dark double-crosses. Ready yourself for the battle with GUIN SAGA.

Title:                 GUIN SAGA COLLECTION 1 BLU-RAY EDITION
Published by:    Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time:         325 min.
Street Date:      3/29/2011
Format:             BD
Language:         English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP:               $69.98

Filed Under: Anime Related News

Nyan Koi! – Complete Collection (A J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

December 5, 2010 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

An enjoyable harem anime series with a twist! “Nyan Koi!” is so entertaining, I couldn’t stop watching…and ended up watching every episode in one sitting. A fun comedy with a little drama and fan service! Definitely recommended!

DVD TITLE: Nyan Koi! – Complete Collection

DURATION: Episodes 1-12 (300 minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen, Dolby Digital Japanese 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks

RATED: TV PG

Release Date: December 14, 2010

Originally created by Sato Fujiwara

Director: Keiichiro Kawaguchi

Series Composition: Shinichi Inotsume

Music: Manabu Miwa, Shigenobu Ookawa

Character Design: Kazuaki Morita

Art Director: Naoko Kosakabe

Chief Animation Director: Yukie Sako

Animation Production: AIC

Featuring the following voice talent:

Shintaro Asanuma as Junpei Kōsaka

Yuka Iguchi as Kaede Mizuno

Atsuko Tanaka as Nyamsas

Eri Nakao as Suzu Kōsaka

Haruka Tomatsu as Akari Kirishima, Kotone Kirishima

Jun Fukuyama as Haruhiko Endou, Tama

Juurouta Kosugi as Keizou Kirishima

Koji Yusa as Josephine

When cat-allergic Junpei Kosaka damages a statue of a cat deity, the cats don’t just get his tongue, they put theirs in his mouth! Now cursed with the ability to understand felines, Junpei must perform one-hundred great favors for cat-kind or face the fate of being turned into a cat himself!

Life quickly becomes a purrfect hell as every cat in the neighborhood starts sending Junpei their list of “requests.” And if the kitties weren’t already whipping him into a cat-atonic stupor, the women in his life are making things even worse. His sister, mom, and the girl he has secret feelings for are all cat-crazy; the local Yakuza’s daughter is playing cat and mouse; the local cat-owning monk’s daughters are acting catty; and Junpei’s childhood best friend is ready to use him as a scratching post!

In 2007, the manga “Nyan Koi!” by Sato Fujiwara was serialized in the free web comic “FlexComix Blood” and two years later, the manga receives its anime adaptation from AIC and makes its DVD debut in the US courtesy of Sentai Filmworks.

The series is directed by Keiichiro Kawaguchi (Kowarekake no Orgel”, “Sket Dance”, “Hayate the Combat Butler”), screenplay by Shinichi Inotsume (“Kowarekake no Orgel”, “Hayate the Combat Butler”, “Sket Dance”) and features music by Manabu Miwa and Shigenobu Ookawa. Character designs are by Kazuaki Morita (“My Bride is a Mermaid”, “Tentai Senshi Sunred”) and art direction by Naoko Kosakabe (“NieA 7″, “Kissxsis”, “Jinki: Extend”).

“Nyan Koi!” is a series about a high school sophomore named Junpei Kosaka and he is allergic to cats. So, much that he hates them and one day, he thinks he hears his cat Nyamsus talking to him but dismisses it.

As for Junpei, he is always dreaming about his friend Kaede Mizuno and wishes he can get closer to her. One day, while he was walking home from school, Junpei kicks a can and it hits a neko-jizo-sama statue (a cat statue that serves as a guardian deity of cats). Having broken the cat statue, now Junpei is forced to grant 100 wishes to cats and if he doesn’t do it, he will turn into a cat which will eventually kill him because of his allergy towards cats.

And to remind him and watch over him is his family cat Nyamsus who tries to make sure Junpei know of his curse.

So, Junpei will do all he can to help cats, even though he dislikes them. But along the way, each time he helps the cats, he encounters other girls who start to take a liking towards him (and in the process, making other girls jealous) because of the attention he is starting to receive.

The main characters of “Nyan Koi!” are:

Junpei Kosaka – The main protagonist who is allergic to cats. His mom and sister love cats despite him hating them. One day, he kicks a can and destroys a cat deity statue and in order to make up for the damage, he must fulfill 100 requests from different cats (that he can communicate with) or else he will turn into a cat and die from his allergy. He is in love with Kaede but starts to find himself learning that other girls he comes in contact with start to like him as well.
Kaede Mizuno – Junpei’s classmate and the girl he has always had a crush on. But she is so naive that she doesn’t know he has feelings for her. She loves cats but because she has four dogs, cats tend to stay away from her.
Kanako Sumiyoshi - Kanako is a classmate who dresses up ala Manba (very dark make up) and tries to be tough. But her being a manba is to stop her from crying all the time because when she and Junpei were young (and would always hang out), Junpei avoided her feelings towards her and displayed it to another female classmate and since then, she has carried a grudge towards him and hates him. But because one of the cats she is taking care of asks for Junpei’s help, Junpei must become friends with Kanako.
Chizuru Mochizuki – A college student who works as a mail carrier. She is bad with directions and is always lost but when cats lead Junpei to her, he ends up helping several cats and also helping Chizuru in the process.
Nagase Ichinose - Kaede’s senior who is on the track team and daughter of a powerful Yakuza family. She is quite masculine and thus is rejected because everyone thinks she is a guy. She is quite protective of Kaede and despises Junpei because she thinks he is not good for Kaede. Despite being strong and athletic, she has one weakness and it’s lightning. She has problems with soft drinks which make her drunk. One day, when Junpei helps her, she starts to have feelings towards him.
The Kirishima sisters (Kotone & Akari) – Kotone and Akari are twin sisters and the daughters of Keizou Kirishima, the Buddhest monk from the temple where Junpei destroyed the statue of the cat deity. Kotone likes Junpei because he always has bad luck and gets very jealous if Junpei is with another girl. Akari senses the supernatural and is very protective of her older twin sister Kotone.

“Nyan Koi!” is 12-episodes long and is presented on two DVD’s. Here is a basic synopsis of each episode:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 1 – The Scruffy Cat and the Cursed High Schooler – Junpei is a high schooler who is allergic to cats. So, allergic that he hates them. But after he breaks a cat statue, now he is cursed and if he doesn’t want to turn into a cat and die from his allergies, he must perform 100 favors for cats.
EPISODE 2 – That Man is a Manservant? – Junpei must help a cat which leads him to his childhood friend and now a girl that despises him, Kanako Sumiyoshi.
EPISODE 3 – Your Name Is… – A college student/postal carrier named Chizuru Mochizuki is bad with directions and a cat leads Junpei to help her out.
EPISODE 4 – Beautiful People – A cat owned by tomboy Nagi Ichinose leads Junpei to her. But Nagi despises Junpei because of his friendship with Kaede.
EPISODE 5 – Times Square – Junpei goes to the amusement park with Kaede, Kanako and Nagase but will Junpei be able to get close to Kaede with the other two girls around? Meanwhile, Kaede may have found out the truth about Junpei’s curse.
EPISODE 6 – Milk and Bitters and Sugar and Spice – Kaede meets two twins Akari and Kotone Kirishima who know about his curse. Meanwhile, Kotone is infatuated with Junpei, while her sister is overprotective of her.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 7 – Wait Until Dark – Junpei is getting prepared to go on a school trips to Kyoto with his classmates. Also, Ichinose’s family in Kyoto will be having a meeting to decide who will be Nagase’s husband.
EPISODE 8 – The Passionate Private Running Coach – Junpei goes to help the next cat in need, but when he forgets to help the cat…the cat wants revenge on Junpei.
EPISODE 9 – Girls in the Water – The group goes out to swim but Junpei is sick and Kanako wants to take care of him.
EPISODE 10 – As it happened One Night – The Kirishima twins are counting on Junpei to help them deal with a spirit.
EPISODE 11 – Friends – It’s almost Christmas time and Junpei and Kanako spend time together.
EPISODE 12 – Does Heaven Await Me? – Kaede is suspicious of Junpei and Junpei must find a way to convince her that nothing bad is going on or else the curse will consume him.

VIDEO :

“Nyan Koi! – Complete Collection” is presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen. The animation tends to change from very cutesy style of anime that will appeal to the fans who love cute characters, especially for the cats and then shifting to normal anime style. Character designs are well-done, especially the closeups. The background art tends to differ depending on the scene with some look quite simple to others looking a bit more detailed. I did notice more background art being used in the second half of the series and for the most part, I really enjoyed the character designs for this anime series. For the most part, the animation and art backgrounds for “Nyan Koi!” are very good.

The colors for “Nyan Koi!” are quite vibrant and for the most part, animation is up-to-par with other TV anime related series. It is important to note that because the series was released on Blu-ray in Japan, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sentai Filmworks/Section23 Films releases “Nyan Koi!” in HD.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Nyan Koi!” is presented in Japanese 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo. Voice acting is well done for this series. I felt that Shintaro Asanuma did a great job with the voice of Junpei, very cool, deep voice. Meanwhile, the voice actress such as Yuka Iguchi as Kaede, Ryoo shiraishi as Kanako and Haruka Tomatsu as the twins, all did a fantastic job.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Nyan Koi!” comes with the clean opening and ending themes plus trailers from anime currently available from Sentai Filmworks.

“Nyan Koi!” is quite an interesting harem anime series. Despite the usual storyline of all females starting to like a certain guy, Junpei is an interesting character as his interest is primarily on Kaede and the only reason he was nice to the other girls was because of their cats and his obligation to grant 100 wishes for the cats or else he will turn into one and die from his allergy. It’s a bit twisted in a way but “Nyan Koi!” is a pretty fun anime series.

Each episode is connected to each other, so there is no worry of filler episodes. Each episodes tend to focus on Junpei fulfilling the 100 wishes but at the same time, these episodes also build upon him trying to get close to Kaede but yet the others also wanting to get closer to Junpei and we get to see him starting to care for the others but yet the writers finding ways to tease you in regards to Junpei and Kaede’s friendship and how close they will get.

But each of the characters are quite fun to watch and it does make me wonder how much crazier the actual manga gets and how many more girls are introduced to this whole harem mix. But because this series alone focuses on not too many characters, each episode does feature plots that further the character development, relationships and jealousies that exist. But it all comes together quite nicely.

As mentioned earlier, this is an anime series that tends to go from serious to a cutesy style but by no means is this an anime series for young children. Yes, it does have many cute moments but it’s also important to note that while the series doesn’t feature any nudity, there is some perverted humor as characters such as Kanako Sumiyoshi (who has big breasts) tends to jiggle wherever she goes and Nagi Ichinose has this thing about grabbing on Kanako’s breast. Also, a few pantie shots that show up form time to time. So, there is some perverted humor in this series but nothing that tends to overshadow the whole storyline.

As for the DVD, you do get 12 episodes and the vibrant animation is quite pleasing. The only downer is the lack of special features but unfortunately, with TV series, it’s becoming more of a common place to not see much special features on anime on DVD these days, “Nyan Koi!” is no different. As for those who are video or audiophiles, there is a Blu-ray release in Japan, so it will be interesting to see if Sentai Filmworks will bring out a Blu-ray release to the US. But it’s a series that would definitely look much better on Blu-ray, although audio-wise, the series will probably be more ambiance-base since its a dialogue driven series.

But overall, “Nyan Koi!” is an entertaining anime series. I enjoyed it so much that I watched it all in one setting. There is a good amount of comedy, drama and fan-service and I have no doubt that this series will go over well with anime fans. If you love “harem anime”, definitely give “Nyan Koi!” a try!

Filed Under: Anime on DVD

SECTION23 FILMS ANNOUNCES OCTOBER SLATE

July 22, 2010 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

SECTION23 FILMS ANNOUNCES OCTOBER SLATE

CANAAN Available on October 26th

HOUSTON, July 22, 2010 – Home video distributor Section23 Films today announced its October slate of releases, including CANAAN which will be released on DVD and Blu Ray, from Section23 client Sentai Filmworks.

Product details follow, in order of release

Coming October 2010

Title: KIMIKISS: PURE ROUGE COLLECTION 1
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 10/5/2010
Format: DVD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98

SYNOPSIS: Kouichi always thought of Mao as his little sister, but when he wakes up from a dream and she walks into his house, he doesn’t even recognize her. Probably because, after living in France for several years, Mao is definitely not anyone’s little sister anymore! To further complicate things, Koichi’s mom has invited Mao to stay at their house while she attends the same high school as Kouichi and their mutual friend Kazuki. But given that Kouichi’s been trying to build a relationship with Yuumi, the revelation that he’s now sharing accommodations with a non-related girl is definitely going to cause some emotional waves. Or maybe a tsunami by the time Kazuki’s sister Nana, her best friend Narumi and all the other kids at school get overly involved. Young love and teenage angst are the rule as histrionics and history classes collide in the first spellbinding collection of KIMIKISS ~ PURE ROUGE!

Title: TYTANIA COLLECTION 2
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 10/12/2010
Format: DVD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98

SYNOPSIS: The rulers of the Empire of Valdana have repeatedly failed to capture Fan Hyurlick, but now they’ve succeeded in doing something far worse by striking down the ones closest to him. Unfortunately for the surviving members of the Tytania dynasty, by changing their greatest enemy from an interstellar fugitive into a man driven by anger and vengeance, all they’ve really accomplished is to sign their own death warrants! And if that wasn’t enough trouble, the internal divisions among the Empire are coming apart at the seams and suddenly none of the Landless Lords are safe from a knife in the back! The body count will climb as brother turns on brother and one man’s fight for justice becomes a vendetta! The creative team behind the legendary MACROSS unleashes an epic struggle for the future of mankind in the climatic second collection of TYTANIA!

Title: TEARS TO TIARA COMPLETE COLLECTION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 650 min.
Street Date: 10/19/2010
Format: DVD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $69.98

SYNOPSIS: In a strange dark age, across the land that will someday become Europe, the Divine Empire has been on the march, ruthlessly devouring its weaker neighbors for generations. But when a savage priest attempts to resurrect the long-buried Demon King Arawn by sacrificing Riannon, the young high priestess of the Gael Clan, the Empire sows the seeds of its own destruction! Deciding to side with the beautiful girl instead, the revived Demon Lord joins forces with her potentially legendary brother Arthur, and begins to assemble a mighty force that may just bring the Divine Empire its knees! Humans, elves and even dragon take arms in a spectacular animated interpretation of the Celtic, Gaelic, British and Roman myths of Albion, as an all star English vocal cast adds the crowning glory to TEARS TO TIARA the complete epic collection!

Title: TEARS TO TIARA COMPLETE COLLECTION BLU-RAY EDITION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 650 min.
Street Date: 10/19/2010
Format: BD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $89.98

Title: CANAAN COMPLETE COLLECTION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 10/26/2010
Format: DVD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $59.98

SYNOPSIS: Colors have scent. Sounds possess images. In this future world, where biochemical weapons have changed the game, an unlucky few have their senses blended. They are gifted with abilities beyond what normal humans feel. They possess synesthesia.

Title: CANAAN COMPLETE COLLECTION BLU-RAY EDITION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 10/26/2010
Format: BD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $69.98

Filed Under: Anime Related News

LA CORDA D’ORO ~ PRIMO PASSO COLLECTION 1 ON SALE TODAY

June 22, 2010 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

HOUSTON, June 22th, 2010 – Section23 Films is pleased to announce the release of LA CORDA D’ORO ~ PRIMO PASSO COLLECTION 1. It’s on sale today wherever fine DVDs are sold.

Where words fail, music speaks…and fills the infinite between two souls.

SYNOPSIS: Talking to invisible people that only you can see can get you into unusual situations, so when Kahoko Hino encounters a tiny fairy named Lili on the way to school, she is shocked to find herself entered in a competition for her school’s elite music program! That might be wonderful, except Hino doesn’t even play an instrument, let alone own one! But Lili has a solution for that as well, and he attempts to give her a magic violin. Hino refuses at first, but weakens, perhaps noticing how many good looking boys seem to be in the program. The problem is that now Hino is competing against a host of other talented students, and she really can’t play a note! Now she’ll have to work double-time in order to justify her place in the orchestra! Will Hino become the musical prodigy everyone thinks she is, or will she just end up playing second fiddle? One way or another, she’ll have to face the music in ‘La Corda d’oro’ –
Primo Passo – Collection 1!

Title: LA CORDA D’ORO ~ PRIMO PASSO COLLECTION 1
Running Time: 325 min.
Age Rating: TV-PG
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
CAT: SF-LCD100
UPC: 814131017208
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Street Date: 6/22/2010
Format: DVD
SRP: $49.98

Filed Under: Anime Related News

“Brighter Than the Dawning Blue” (a J!-Ent Anime DVD Review)

May 25, 2010 by Michelle Tymon · Leave a Comment

“Brighter than the Dawning Blue” is a beautiful story that shows that true love can conquer all obstacles. Gorgeous.

DVD TITLE: Brighter Than the Dawning Blue

DURATION: 12 Episodes (300 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9 WIDESCREEN, JAPANESE STEREO

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks

RATED: 13+

Release Date: June 1st, 2010

Original Work by August

Directed by Masahiko Ohta

Music by Hiroyuki Sawano

Sound Direction by Toshiki Kameyama

Art Direction by Toshiharu Iijima

Original Character Designs by Bekkanko

Produced by Lunar Culture Committee

Featuring the following voice talent:

Susumu Chiba as Tatsuya Asagiri

Hitomi Nabatame as Feena Fam Earthlight

Mio Nonose as Mia Clementis

Hyo-sei as Natsuki Takamizawa

Mai Goto as Mai Asagiri

Daisuke Kishio as Jin Takamizawa

Nami Kurokawa as Sayaka Hozumi

Shizuka Ito as Wreathlit Noel

Shinpachi Tsuji as Takeshi Takano

Yu Asakawa as Karen Clavius

Akira Negishi as Samon Takamizawa

Takashi Kondo as Jürgen von Klügel

Masashi Kimura as Lyones theo Earthlight

It’s never easy when a stranger moves into your house, but if you have to host a foreign exchange student, Feena Fam Earthlight would be almost the perfect choice. She’s smart, kind, generous, and attractive, but she’s also the Sphere Kingdom’s Princess, and tensions between Earth and our Lunar neighbors have been tense since the big war. So you might forgive Asagiri Tatsuya for having some reservations, but since his father is the first assistant to the president, what better place to board the Princess so she can learn more about Earth culture? And, as mentioned before, Feena is VERY attractive.

Unfortunately, the course of true love doesn’t normally have to contend with either interplanetary diplomacy or Feena’s bizarre entourage of assistants… and then there’s the question of how the kids at Tatsuya’s school are going to react.

“Brighter Than the Dawning Blue”, or “Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na” centers on the story of the love of the Princess of the Moon and her love for a commoner on Earth. The story takes place years after the Moon had been colonized by Earthlings, but sometime after the relationship between those on the Moon and those on Earth became strained and Oedipus War started. Over some times, things calmed down but still remained slightly rocky. Princess Feena wants to learn more about Earth and become more like her mother so she decides to go to Earth and homestay with the family of the secretary of the President of the United Nations. Tatsuya Asagiri is pretty much a normal high school student who is surprised one day to find the Princess staying at his house because of his cousin Sayaka(who is like his older sister)’s job. He helps her learn more about the Earth and they start falling in love with each other. However, there are many obstacles that stand in the way of their love including politics and a fiancee. Will their love be strong enough to withstand all the trials to come?

“Brighter Than the Dawning Blue” focuses on the following main characters:

Tatsuya Asagiri – Tatsuya is the main character of this story. He is a pretty normal high school student who lives with his younger sister and his cousin who is like his older sister. One day, he comes home to find the Princess of the Moon Kingdom of Sphere in his home. He immediately feels a connection with her and starts falling in love with her. He has always wanted to go to the Moon because of a girl he met when he was younger that was from the Moon. He soon finds out that she’s a lot closer than he thought. He has a weird way of showing affection and tends to tweak the nose of those he cares about.

Feena Fam Earthlight – Feena is the Princess of the Moon Kingdom of Sphere. She is beautiful and kind and wants to be more like her mother Sefiria, so she heads to Earth to learn more about it and the people there. She homestays with Sayaka’s family and meets Tatsuya and feels a connection with him. Despite being from different worlds, she falls in love with Tatsuya and wants to bring their two worlds together.

Mia Clementis – Mia is Feena’s servant from the Sphere Kingdom and is obsessed with cleaning. She is a bit clumsy and air headed at times but only wishes to do what is best for Feena.

Natsuki Takamizawa – Natsuki is one of Tatsuya’s closest friends and has known him since they were young. She may or may not have feelings for Tatsuya, but overall she is very supportive of Tatsuya and only wants him to be happy.

Mai Asagiri – Mai is Tatsuya’s younger sister. They go to the same school and she plays flute and is the part leader for the flute in the school band.

Jin Takamizawa – Jin is Natsuki’s older brother. He is good looking and a bit odd and quite frequently says the wrong things, resulting in his sister pummeling him through the window. This in turn causes his father to dock his paycheck.

Sayaka Hozumi – Sayaka is the cousin and older sister figure of Tatsuya and Mai and is also the secretary of the President of the United Nations. She takes in Princess Feena into their household so she can learn more about Earth.

Wreathlit Noel – Wreathlit is a being from the Moon. She looks like she’s a young girl but she may be older. She is always watching Feena and Tatsuya, and her body also belongs to another entity named Fiacca who is determined to prevent Tatsuya and Feena from getting together.

Takeshi Takano – Takano is a famous photographer that has connections with the Kingdom of Sphere. He is an odd old man that was the only person who was allowed to document Princess Feena’s stay on Earth. He can be a bit pervy, but overall he seems to be good at heart.

Karen Clavius – Karen is the Military Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sphere. Despite being rather strict, she only wants what is best for the Princess and will do everything to help her.

Samon Takamizawa – Samon is Natsuki and Jin’s father and the chef and owner of the restaurant Trattoria Samon. He is always docking pay from Jin’s paycheck for various reasons including continuously breaking the window after being thrown through it.

Jürgen von Klügel – Jürgen is Princess Feena’s fiancee. Despite being denied by Feena as a fiancee, he is determined to get her back no matter the cost.

Lyones theo Earthlight – Lyones is the father of Feena and the King of the Kingdom of Sphere.

“Brighter Than the Dawning Blue” features a total of 12 episodes on two DVDs. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 1- The Princess Does a Homestay?! – Princess Feena Fam Earthlight from the Moon is doing a homestay at Tatsuya’s house.
EPISODE 2- The Princess is an A-Student! – Feena goes to school with Tatsuya.
EPISODE 3- The Princess and the Cooking Battle! – Feena and Natsuki have a cooking contest.
EPISODE 4- Fight, O Princess! – Feena defends the household from… bugs.
EPISODE 5- The Princess Marooned on a Desert Island! – The group goes to the beach.
EPISODE 6- The Princess is Forbidden to Fall in Love?! – Tatsuya and Feena start to have strong feelings for each other.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 7- The Princess’s Fiancee! – Feena’s fiancee shows up.
EPISODE 8- With the Princess Beneath the Bright Blue Sky – Tatsuya and Feena must duel.
EPISODE 9- The Shadow that Approaches the Princess – Tatsuya and Feena go on their first date but many different forces try to stop their relationship.
EPISODE 10- A Princess With Just One Wing – Feena heads back to the Moon after hearing that Karen was apprehended.
EPISODE 11- The Hand Placed Atop the Princess’s – Another battle between Earth and the Moon is about to begin.
EPISODE 12- The Princess and… – Tatsuya and Feena want to proove that their love will bring their worlds together, not apart.

VIDEO & AUDIO

“Brighter Than the Dawning Blue” is presented in 16:9. The art is well done and the character designs are nice to look at and my first impression is that the art reminds me that of a romance simulation game… and that is what this anime is based on.

There is only Japanese audio and only English subtitles available.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The only special features available on the discs are textless songs, Sentai Filmworks trailers, and a music video featuring clips from the show.

“Brighter Than the Dawning Blue” is a twelve episode series and is a rather quick watch. There are quite a few negatives that I personally found in this series… so I’m going to get that out of the way first.

I won’t say this series is boring, I’ll say it’s mellow. In the end, this is a love story… but there is very little conflict going on. I mean conflict isn’t something you want TOO much of… but this series almost has none. This in turn makes the story rather predictable, for me personally there were pretty much no surprises at all. For the most part, everyone likes each other.

This is a love story as I keep saying, but I had a really hard time trying to figure out the target audience for this series. I mean the main character is a guy and he is surrounded by girls… but unlike most romance games targeted for male audiences, there is pretty much no fan service (which I personally don’t mind…). There isn’t much action whatsoever… there are some politics and even a little mecha involved, but nothing impressive. So honestly, I think male audiences would find this boring. So what about female audiences? If anyone has read a shojo manga before, they know that any love story is FULL of drama (a lot of it unnecessary). I don’t like overdone drama… but a lot of girls LOVE it. Tatsuya is surrounded by girls and Feena should have at least one rival… but she doesn’t. One would think Natsumi would be a potential rival, but she ends up pushing the two together. Which is great in a way, but is unrealistic I think…

With all that being said… there were a lot of elements from various genres… but to me it was rather generic. There wasn’t anything in this series that made it stand out from other love stories. Natsuki using a huge paddle to beat up her brother whenever she got mad at him is like Akane from “Ranma 1/2″ or Kaori from “City Hunter” using their megaton hammer to beat the crap out of their love interest… but in this case it was used for her brother. So a popular element in love comedies was used… but in a slightly different way.

The American release only provides Japanese audio with English subtitles, which doesn’t bug me at all but I know that that might affect people who prefer English dub. Also, throughout the series there were random mistakes with the subtitles. They were mostly minor mistakes that seemed to be made when they were not sure what was being said and took a guess, but in the end most of the translations were correct.

Now that I got out of the way, I do have some positives too.

As I said, this is a very mellow series. However there was quite a bit of comedy in this series, most of it involving Jin who’s definitely a secondary character. Despite being a secondary character though, he is much needed in this series considering without him, this series would probably be too mellow and would be just plain boring. He is probably the most memorable character for me and kept me interested in the series. The art in this series was pretty to look at. The environments were well drawn and the character designs were nice and I think both male and female audiences would enjoy it. I think all of the voice actors did a great job and none of the voices seemed out of place. Even though I pointed it out as possibly a negative thing, I think a simple love story with very little conflict will appeal to a decent sized audience as well.

Despite any criticisms I had to say about this series, this isn’t a bad series. I did enjoy watching the series, I just personally thought there was some improvements that could have been made. This is in the end a cute love story and I know many people who would enjoy watching it. This is another story of love conquering all obstacles and I hope people will check it out.

Filed Under: Anime on DVD

SAMURAI HAREM On Sale

May 12, 2010 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

SAMURAI HAREM – ASU NO YOICHI COMPLETE COLLECTION ON SALE TODAY

HOUSTON, May 11th, 2010 – Section23 Films is pleased to announce the release of SAMURAI HAREM – ASU NO YOICHI COMPLETE COLLECTION. It’s on sale today wherever fine DVDs are sold.

His Skill with a Sword is Magnificent but… His SOCIAL Skills Still Need a LOT of Work!

SYNOPSIS: After many long years perfecting the art of fighting, 17 year old Yoichi Karasuma is sent down from the remote mountains where he has been raised thinking that he’s going to study some new martial arts techniques… but what he’s really going to learn about are some slightly more practical things, like electrical appliances, modern clothing and, most especially, how NOT to make girls to want to kill you! Unfortunately, that last lesson is one Yoichi may not survive, as his new Dojo is infested with the infernal creatures in the form of the Ikaruga sisters, and they don’t really seem to understand how “proper” girls are “supposed” to behave! Will Yoichi’s bushido blade be struck down by the fearsome charms of Ibuki, Ayame, Chihaya and Kagome? Or will the equally lethal girls from the rival Tsubame School be his undoing

Title: SAMURAI HAREM – ASU NO YOICHI COMPLETE COLLECTION
Running Time: 300 min.
Age Rating: TV-PG (V,D)
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
CAT: SF-ANY100
UPC: 814131013803
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Street Date: 5/11/2010
Format: DVD
SRP: $49.98

CONTACT:

Filed Under: Anime Related News

Eyeshield 21 – Volume 1 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

May 1, 2010 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

Japan’s wild, crazy and popular football (American football) anime series finally receives its US release! What an enjoyable series “Eyeshield 21″ has turned out to be! Definitely recommended!

DVD TITLE: Eyeshield 21 – Volume 1

DURATION: 13 Episodes (325 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: 4:3, Japanese 2.0 Stereo, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks/Section23 Films

RATED: TV PG V

Release Date: May 18, 2010

Originally created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yuusuke Murata

Directed by Masayoshi Nishida

Series Composition by Nobuaki Kishima

Character Design by Hirotoshi Takaya

Art Director: Satoshi Shibata

Music by Ko Otani

Sound Director: Yuuki Matsuoka

Anime Production by Studio Galllaop

Featuring the following voice talent:

Miyu Irino as Sena

Atsushi Tamura as Hiruma

Aya Hirano as Mamori

Kappei Yamaguchi as Raimon Tarou

Kouichi Nagano as Kurita Ryoukan

Rikiya Koyama as Musashi

Shoko Nakagawa as Suzuna

Daisuke Hirakawa as Akaba Hayato

Daisuke Ono as Kengo Mizumachi

Welcome to the gridiron of the damned! Huge hulking bodies throw themselves at each other, while a tiny lithe body runs between them for the goal! No, it’s not a game of football, it’s Sena Kobayakawa trying to evade the monstrous Ha-Ha brothers down the halls of Deimon High School! But wait! Sena’s incredible skills at not getting caught have been spotted by the devilish (possibly actually demonic) captain of the school’s embryonic American style football team, and when Sena asks to be the teams manager, he gets thrust onto the field as a running back instead!

But there are two big catches – first, to keep the identity of their new “star” player an absolute secret, Yoichi makes Sena wear an opaque visor on his helmet and gives him the alias of “Eyeshield 21. And the second catch? Well, in order to hit his fastest “speed of light” running mode, Sena usually has to be absolutely terrified… not that that will be a problem with the monstrous players that he’ll soon find himself running from!

In Japan, American football may not be too popular compared to the international futbol (soccer), but there are a few high schools that have football teams and the NFL does have a game played in Japan, helping to spread the game’s popularity.

But in 2002, writer Riichiro Inagaki and illustrator Yusuke Murata introduced American football to a broader audience through their manga “Eyeshield 21″ which has been featured on the very popular Weekly Shonen Jump, has led to several videogames and also a 145-episode anime series which lasted from 2o05-2008. With American exposure to “Eyeshield 21″ for the translated Shonen Jump manga, now the popular anime series has made it way to American shores courtesy of Section23 Films/Sentai Filmworks with the first volume of “Eyeshield 21″ featuring the first 13 episodes.

“Eyeshield 21″ revolves around a young teenager named Sena Kobayakawa who has passed his entrance exams at his local high school, Deimon Private Senior High School. The school where his childhood friend Mamori Anezaki attends. Both Sena and Mamori are close because all throughout his life, Sena has been bullied and Mamori has been there to protect him.

Living his life as a gopher for other friends, Sena hasn’t had any true friends until he meets the devil-looking Yoichi Hiruma and the very huge Ryokan Kurita who try to get Sena to join their football team.

Of course, Sena doesn’t know how to play football but being the new kid at school, once again, he gets bullied but this time, the huge Kurita ends up taking care of them. Out for revenge, the bullies start to pick on Sena once again but Sena is sick and tired of getting beaten up and when they go after him, he demonstrates a skill which he has had for a long time, speed. Because Sena has lived his life running away, he is very quick and immediately, Hiruma wants to utilize him on the Deimon High School Devil Bats football team.

Sena just wants to become a team manager but Hiruma wants Sena to be the team’s running back. And because Hiruma wants to make sure that no one can steal him for their high school, he plans on a disguise that no one but he, Sena and Kurita will know and that is putting an eyeshield on a football helmet and giving Sena a #21 jersey and the nickname “Eyeshield 21″.

Now the three are determined to find more players to join the Devil Bats and getting closer to their goal into making it to the high school football tournament championship round.

The main characters of “Eyeshield 21″ are:

Sena Kobayakawa – The main character. Short, shy and clumsy. Has been bullied throughout his life and now wants to stand up for himself. Especially since he has made friends on the Deimon High School football team. So, outside of football, he is seen as the manager, but when he’s on the football field and disguised as Eyeshield 21, he is a running back that dazzles the audience with his impressive speed.
Mamori Anezaki – Sena’s childhood friend and a girl who has always protected him when he was getting bullied. Scared that Sena is hanging out with Hiruma and team, she decides to become a manager of the team alongside with him and oblivious that Sena is disguised as Eyeshield 21.
Yoichi Hiruma – The captain and quarterback with devlish looks and is always up to something that is typically up to no good. Either gaining intel on people at school, taking care of his devil dog Cerberus or trying to make his football team better by pushing them.
Ryokan Kurita – Despite his huge size and being a great lineman, he is also shy, softspoken and kind. Also, loves to eat a lot!
Tarao Raimon (Monta) – Had dreams of becoming a baseball player but when the Deimon High School baseball teams kicks him off, the football team utilizes his fantastic catching skills and makes him a wide receiver. Has a monkey-like appearance.
The Ha-Ha Brothers – Bullies who are constantly tormenting Sena, Hiruma blackmails them into joining the football team.

Here is a brief spoilerless summary of episodes 1-13 for “Eyeshield 21″ included on two DVD’s:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 1 – Sena is admitted to Deimon High School and is bullied but his new friends of the Devil Bats football team defend him. Sena’s true skill is shown to Hiruma.
EPISODE 2 – Hiruma wants to test out Sena’s speed and see how fast he can actually run. The team must recruit more teammates.
EPISODE 3 – The Deimon High School Devil Bats take on the Koigahama Cupids football team.
EPISODE 4 – The Devil Bats must now prepare for their next game against the Oujou White Knights.
EPISODE 5 - The Deimon High School Devil Bats vs. the Oujou White Knights.
EPISODE 6 - The Oujou White Knights has Shin, the star linebacker who is quick and has been able to stop Sena despite his quick speed.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 7 - With Shin stopping Sena, Sena and team must find a way to get past him.
EPISODE 8 - With the Devil Bats far behind against the White Knights, Hiruma feels like quitting. Can Sena convince Hiruma to stay in the game.
EPISODE 9 – Sena meets Raimon Tarou (Monta) who has tremendous catching skills and wants to play for the baseball team but Sena tries to recruit him to the football team.
EPISODE 10 – Sena goes to apologize to Sakuraba after what took place during the Devil Bats and White Knights game.
EPISODE 11 – The team must plan for their next game…the thug football team – Zokugaku Chameleons.
EPISODE 12 – Deimon Devil Bats vs. Zogaku Chameleons
EPISODE 13 – The Devil Bats must find a way for their offense to defeat the Chameleons defense.

VIDEO:

“Eyeshield 21 – Volume 1″ is presented in 4:3. Because the series is a comedy, character designs range from being detailed to being simple, depending on the scene. But there is a good amount of detail on the backgrounds at times but the main focus are on the characters and at times you will see really beautiful drawn images, to simplistic images but it captures the wild and crazy style of “Eyeshield 21″. For the most part, the anime series compliments the manga series.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Eyeshield 21 – Volume 1″ is in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0. Voice acting is well-done and for the most part, the audio is clear. For a more immersive soundscape, I chose to have my receiver set with stereo on all channels. But overall, the 2.0 track is good. Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Eyeshield 21 – Volume 1″ features trailers for upcoming Sentai Filmworks releases.

I have been wanting to watch this anime series for the longest time!

In fact, I was figuring it would never come out because sports anime series such as “H2″, “Touch”, “Slam Dunk”, “Captain Tsubasa”, etc. are very popular in Japan but yet in America, but unfortunately there aren’t many anime fans who enjoy sports.

Fortunately, we have seen a few sports anime released in the US in the last several years such as “Prince of Tennis” and “Big Windup!” and now we have “Eyeshield 21″, the popular Shonen Jump football (as in American Football) manga series and the anime series courtesy of Sentai Filmworks.

Similar to other sports anime in which there is an underdog getting involved with sports and displays a tremendous skill, “Eyeshield 21″ definitely showcases that into the storyline but with the characters, in this case the team is more like the “Bad News Bears” and with the “The Devil Bats”, the team consists of characters that are just wild and crazy. Actually, all teams have characters that are wild and crazy and I suppose that is what makes “Eyeshield 21″ so interesting and enjoyable.

Also, what I liked about this series is that the main character, Sena, is unlike the usual underdogs of sports series. Where some underdogs are filled with low self esteem and can seem they are whining nearly every episode, despite being bullied all his life, Sena stands up for himself. Sure, he has moments where he is unsure he can be successful but by no means is his character whiny or brat-like. So, for the most part, it’s good to see his transformation to Eyeshield 21.

In terms of pacing, the first 13 episodes of “Eyeshield 21″ really gets into the action quickly as we see the Devil Bats taking on three football teams. There are no filler episodes in this volume at all. In fact, you get into the action quickly.

As for the characters and their skills, where some sports anime series try to emphasize realism and others focusing on a characters super skills, “Eyeshield 21″ leans towards the latter and each member does possess a certain skill which eventually builds as the series progresses.

With this first volume, these episodes are just fun and entertaining but it’s important to let the viewer know that since this is was a popular series in Japan, it was a long running series with over a 140 episodes and with 13 episodes per volume, it’s going to take awhile to complete.

But if you are looking for a sports anime series, “Eyeshield 21″ is definitely an anime series worth checking out! Definitely recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on DVD

Gin Tama – Collection 1 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

April 25, 2010 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

Hilarious, crazy, odd and action-packed! The popular Shonen Jump manga and anime series “Gin Tama” receives its first release in the US! Definitely recommended!

DVD TITLE: Gin Tama – Collection 1

DURATION: 13 Episodes (325 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: 4:3, Japanese 2.0, English Subtitles

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks/Section23 Films

RATED: Rated TV 14 VSL

Release Date: April 27, 2010

Originally created by Hideaki Sorachi

Series Directed by Shiji Takamatsu

Series Composition – Akatsuki Yamatoya

Script by Akatsuki Yamatoya, Michiko Yokote, Taketo Shimoyama

Music by Audio Highs

Character Design by Shinji Takeuchi

Art Director: Yuki Nomura

Anime Production by Sunrise

Featuring the following voice talent:

Daisuke Sakaguchi as Shimura Shinpachi

Rie Kugimiya as Kagura

Tomokazu Sugita as Sakata Gintoki

Akira Ishida as Katsura Kotarou

Kazuya Nakai as Hijikata Toushirou

Kenichi Suzumura as Okita Sougo

Kenta Miyake as Harada

Kujira as Otose

Mikako Takahashi as Sadaharu

Satsuki Yukino as Otae

Susumu Chiba as Kondou Isao

Tetsuharu Ohta as Yamazaki

Yuu Sugimoto as Catherine

Life isn’t easy in feudal Japan… especially since the aliens landed and conquered everything! Oh sure, the new health care is great, but the public ban on the use of swords has left a lot of defeated samurai with a difficult career choice! This is especially true if they’re not particularly inclined towards holding a day job, which is why Gintoki Sakata’s opted for the freelance route, taking any job that’s offered to him as long as the money’s right.

Unfortunately, in a brave new world filled with stray bug-eyed montsters, upwardly mobile Yakuza, and overly ambitious E.T. entrepreneurs, those jobs usually don’t pay as well as they should for the pain, suffering, and indignities endured!

Since 2003, “Gin Tama” (which means “Silver Soul” has been a manga series that has entertained many “Shonen Jump” fans. Written and illustrated by mangaka Hideaki Sorachi, the popular manga received an anime adaptation and has aired in Japan since 2006 on TV Tokyo and has since surpassed over a 100 episodes. The anime series now makes its debut in the US on DVD courtesy of Sentai Filmworks with the first 13 episodes in “Gintama – Collection 1″.

The series is directed by Shinji Takamatsu (“After War Gundam”, “School Rumble” series, “SD Gundam”), series composition by Akatsuki Yamatoya (“Buso Renkin”, “Blue Dragon”, Soul Eater”, “Transformers: Cybertron”), character designs by Shinji Takeuchi (“Geneshaft”, “Heat Guy J”, “Planetes”) and music by Audio HIGHS.

“Gin Tama” is a series that takes place during the Edo Period (Tokyo – 1860′s) but in this alternate reality of the Edo Period, aliens known as Amanto have conquered Japan and because of the war against the samurai’s, the Amanto have banned swords in public and are now co-existing with the humans (more like humans are forced to co-exist with the Amanto). Also, technology has been shared with the people of Japan allowing space travel, giving them access to cars, mopeds, television and more.

The series focuses on the silver haired Gintoki Sakata and his two freelancers who will perform odd jobs for a fee, but sometimes these odd jobs turn out to be more destructive than realized.

The main characters of “Gin Tama” are:

Gintoki Sakata – The owner of “Odd Jobs Gin”. Often lazy, likes reading manga, picking his nose and is late on his rent payments. Willing to take on odd jobs for a living but is also an excellent swordsman who despises the Amanto and those who co-exist with them. Despite the sword ban, Gintoki is defiant towards the Amanto and carries a sword.
Shinpachi Shimura – A teenager who wants to learn the ways of the samurai and thus becomes a freelancer at Odd Jobs Gin. Often the voice of reason but is hardly listened to and is often a person who receives some sort of punishment. Lives with his sister Tae.
Kagura – An alien girl of the Yato Clan who looks human but has tremendous strength. Kagura flee to Earth to earn money but also to get away from her violent Yato heritage. In Earth, she has to hold an umbrella to prevent sunlight from damaging her translucent skin. Loves pickled seaweed, eating, money and often has a temper. She also is blunt about things that women don’t say in public.

Other characters in the series include:

Sadaharu - Kagura’s pet, a large dog looking inugami. Loves to bite people and Kagura loves it because she takes his wanting to eat her as a form of playfulness. Often used as Kagura’s vehicle.
Otose – Owns Otose Snack House and the landlord for Gintoki. Loves smoking and doesn’t appear to be offended when Gintoki refers to her as an old hag.
Catherine – The feline female thief who works at Otose Snack House and at first, she seemed like a nice woman but in reality she’s a trash talking person who can easily get into trouble.
Ayame Sarutobi (Sachan) – An elite ninja who loves Gin. Only problem is that she’s nearly blind without her eyeglasses.
Isao Kondo - Commander of the Shinsengumi. A confident leader who has a low self-esteem when it comes to his rear end sprouting like an afro. Infatuated with Shinpachi’s sister Tae.
Toshiro Hijikata - The vice-commander of the Shinsengumi and loyal to Kondo. An excellent fighter.
Sogo Okita – The best swordsman of the Shinsengumi but prefers to carry a bazooka. He appears to not like his vice-commander.

Here is a brief spoilerless summary of episodes 1-13 for “Gin Tama – Collection 1″ included on two DVD’s:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 1 – How Shinpachi becamea freelancer for “Odd Jobs Gin”. The characters talk about how they can earn more money.
EPISODE 2 – Continuing the odd job from the last episode and introducing the Shinsengumi, the police of the area.
EPISODE 3 – Gin trains Shinpachi in the ways of the samurai. Introduction to Shinpachi’s sister Tae.
EPISODE 4 – How Kagura became a freelancer for “Odd Jobs Gin”.
EPISODE 5 - Odd Jobs Gin takes on a mission to deliver a package for an injured postman. Gintoki confronts the Shinsengumi.
EPISODE 6 - Gintoki helps out the father of a pop star who wants to see his daughter.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 7 - The group is given a mission to find the alien prince’s octopus pet.
EPISODE 8 - An episode focusing on the Shinsengumi and commander Isao Kondo’s infatuation with Shinpachi’s sister Tae.
EPISODE 9 – After Kondo’s humiliation, Shinsengumi’s Toshiro Hijikata has his men going after the silver haired man who beat their commander.
EPISODE 10 – An introduction to how Kagura found her pet, an inugami named Sadaharu.
EPISODE 11 – The group is offered an odd job to find a dying man’s first love.
EPISODE 12 – An introduction to how the group met Catherine the thief.
EPISODE 13 – The group is offered an odd job to find a missing woman.

VIDEO:

“Gin Tama” is presented in 4:3. Because the series is a comedy, character designs range from being detailed to being simple, depending on the scene. But there is a good amount of detail on the backgrounds but if anything, the anime series is respectful towards the illustration and artwork of creator Hideaki Sorachi.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

As for “Gin Tama” is in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0. Voice acting is well-done and for the most part, the audio is clear and what would expect from a TV series. For a more immersive soundscape, I chose to have my receiver set with stereo on all channels. But overall, the 2.0 track is good.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Gin Tama – Collection 1″ features trailers for upcoming Sentai Filmworks releases on disc 1 and on disc 2 are the clean opening and closing animation.

“Gin Tama” is a hilarious anime and I have to say that it is quite unique and breathes new life to action/humor-based anime series that are featured on “Shonen Jump” such as “Bleach” and “Naruto”.

The fact that “Gin Tama” takes place during the Edo Period and humanity was beaten by aliens and now co-existing with them and sharing technology is quite unique. But it’s the characters that bring something different to the series. Unlike other “Shonen Jump” heroes, the characters of “Gin Tama” are just odd. The main protagonist, Gintoki is a booger picking, manga reading, lazy hero but when in battle, he’s quick during his sword fights. Kagura seems like a sweet girl but she’s perverted (although her bluntness is more of naivety) in the manner she speaks and has this intense strength that makes her quite scary and then you get the character Shinpachi who tries to be the voice of reason but ends up being the person who gets the raw end of the deal.

But what can you expect when you have an anime series titled “Gin Tama” which is an interesting name by Hideaki Sorachi which is used as a pun on the word “Kintama” which means testicles. “Gin Tama” is pretty much a comedy series as we see these odd people being lazy or on missions. There are jokes that parody Japanese pop culture and even several nods to other Shonen Jump titles in the series. But along with the comedy, there are episodes that have quite a bit of action scenes as Gintoki encounters quite a bit of alien enemies.

If anything, “Gin Tama” is a fun, hilarious and action-packed series but it’s one of those series that is going to require your patience as there are over a hundred episodes in Japan. This first collection only contains the first 13 episodes and the fact the series is not yet completed in Japan, similar to other “Shonen Jump” series such as “Naruto” and “Bleach”, this is a series that you want to make sure you are in it for the long run.

Overall, “Gin Tama” is a series that is unique and a lot of fun to watch. I definitely look forward to the next collection. Definitely recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on DVD

Appleseed (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

April 20, 2010 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

Action-packed, vibrant and all-out awesome! “Appleseed” set the bar for 3D animation used in a Japanese animated film back in 2004 and it still looks absolutely awesome in 2010 on Blu-ray. Although, a major caveat of Sentai Filmwork’s first Blu-ray release is it lacks lossless audio!

TITLE: Appleseed

DURATION: 105 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (16×9), English DTS, English 5.1, Japanese DTS, Japanese 5.1, Subtitles: English, English for the Hearing Impaired

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks

RATED: R (Some Violence)

Release Date: March 16, 2010

Originally created by Masamune Shirow

Directed by Shinji Aramaki

Screenplay by Haruka Handa, Tsutomu Kamishiro

Character Design by Masaki Yamada

Mechanical Design by Takeshi Takakura

Mecha Design by Atsushi Takeuchi

Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka

CGI Director: Yasuhiro Ohtsuka

Executive Producer: Sumiji Miyake

Producer: Hidenori Ueki, Naoko Watanabe, SORI

Backround Design by Nobuhito Sue

Music Production by Shin Yasui

Original Music by Tetsuya Takahashi

Production: Fumihiko Sori

Production Design by Shinji Aramaki

Featuring the following voice talent:

Ai Kobayashi/Luci Christian/Jennifer Proud as Deunan Knute

Juurouta Kosugi/David Matranga/James Lyon as Brialeos Hecatombcales

Mami Koyama/Allison Sumrall/Lee Rush as Athena Areios

Miho Yamada/Shelley Calene-Black/Cindy Robinson as Nike

Takehito Koyasu/Andrew Love/Jack Aubree as (Colonel) Hades

Toshiyuki Morikawa/Chris Patton/Dave Wittenberg as Yoshitsune Miyamoto

Yuki Matsuoka/Hilary Haag/Mia Bradley as Hitomi

Yuzuru Fujimoto/Jason Douglas/Michael McConnohie as (General) Uranus

Plucked from the last battlefields of the final war, mercenary Deunan Knute finds herself pressed into duty with the ESWAT, defenders of the Utopian city of Olympus. But serpents lurk beneath the peaceful surface of this apparent Garden of Eden, and new seeds of destruction have already been planted! Now it’s up to Deunan and her former lover, the now-cyborg Briareos, to unravel a deadly web of plots that threaten to bring down Olympus from within!

Special Features: Commentary with Shinji Aramaki (Director) & Fumihiko Sori (Producer), Alternate English Dub (5.1), The Birth of 3D Live Anime, Original Japanese Trailer, Special Japanese Trailer, Staff Profiles.

Masamune Shirow, one of my favorite manga artists that I had the opportunity to enjoy his works back when I was a teenager. I’ve grown up reading his manga “Black Magic”, “Dominion”, “Ghost in the Shell”, “Orion” and also had the opportunity to read his series “Appleseed”.

Although the first Shirow anime I watched was the OVA “Black Magic M-66″, I also had the opportunity to watch the first anime release of “Appleseed” and I can easily remember how cerebral the OAV was compared to “Black Magic M-66″ and the two “Dominion Tank Police” OVA’s. But if there is one thing that you can expect from Shirow’s work is an intelligent story, being created with meticulous detail and a tremendous back story. Shirow is able to create a world with characters that just amazes me.

Granted, his work that a lot of people outside of Japan are familiar with is “Ghost in the Shell” but in 2004, all things changed with the release of “Appleseed” the movie. The bar has been raised for anime films courtesy of director Shinji Aramaki (known for his mechanical design work on anime such as “Bubblegum Crisis”, “Gasaraki”, “Megazone 23″, “Genesis Climber Mospeada”, to name a few), character designer Masaki Yamada (“Great Dangaioh, “Samurai Champloo”, “Midnight Strike Force”), mechanical designer Takeshi Takakura (“Glass Fleet”, “Galaxy Angel”, “Heat Guy J”) and Atsushi Takeuchi (“Ghost in the Shell”, “Ah! My Godess”, “Moldiver”) along with producer/live action director Fumihiko SORI.

And now the film makes its HD debut on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks. “Appleed” also happens to be the first Blu-ray release from Section23 Films.

“Appleseed” is about a young female soldier named Deunan Knute, a survivor of the Global War who is running away from a group of strong, mecha enemies. She eventually is captured and we learn that she is actually rescued by a group who have brought her to the Utopian city known as Olympus.

She meets Hitomi, a bioroid (robots that look like human, were built to protect humanity and have no emotions of love or hate) who is responsible for recruiting new members of ES.W.A.T. (Extra Special Weapons and Advanced Tactics). Upon Deunan’s awakening, she finds out that her former boyfriend Briareos Hecatonchires, who has been missing is alive. But no longer the man he once was. He is now a cyborg that still has part of his humanity but his whole look is of a robotic soldier who works for ES.W.A.T.

Deunan is shocked by finding out that Briareos is still alive but surprised that when around her, he acts as if he doesn’t care. Meanwhile, she is brought up to speed about the city of Olympus in which its inhabitants are half human and half robot/clone known as Bioroids. The city is governed by three factions – Prime Minister Athena (who is a first-generation Bioroid actually created by Deunan’s mother, Dr. Gilliam Knute) who has been searching for Deunan; General Uranus III of the Olympus Army who doesn’t like Bioroids and does not trust them; and the Council of Elders, a group of Elders that listens to a supercomputer known as Gaia who believe the future is with Bioroids and not humanity.

Because of these three factions, all is not good in the world as each have their own agenda and everyone is going after data known as “Appleseed”. Data that will give Bioroids the ability to reproduce and extend Bioroid life.

But it appears that these factions are all after Deunan. Why is she a target for these factions and why do they want her?

VIDEO:

“Appleseed” receives its 1080p (16×9) High Definition Blu-ray release and for the most part, Sentai Filmworks does a great job in ensuring the film and their first Blu-ray release looks very appealing. It’s important to remind everyone that “Appleseed” was released in 2004, before SORI’s “Vexille” (2007) and before “Appleseed Ex Machina” (2007).

When I first watched this film on DVD, I was blown away by the animation. Watching it in 2010, the animation, movements and the overall look of the film is still pleasing but having seen how far it has come a few years later with the sequel, you can’t help but watch this film and think to yourself of how this film was the stepping block for big things to come. The artistic backgrounds still look amazing and the Blu-ray release definitely gives us more detail of the concrete, the overall vibrant look of Olympus to the awesome detail of the mecha and vehicles.

Comparing it to its DVD counterpart, the Blu-ray looks fantastic. Even if you have never seen the sequel to “Appleseed” or even “Vexille”, six years later after the film’s release, “Appleseed” still holds up very well.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

This is where things tend to get a little murky with this release. To put it bluntly, there is no lossless audio. Sentai Film works forgoes Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA for simple DVD DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1. Granted, the DTS audio track has more space to work with on the Blu-ray versus its DVD counterpart but this is a film in which lossless could have taken this film to an amazing direction.

We are given both the Geneon English dub track and then we are given the Sentai Filmworks English dub track in DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1. In addition, we also get the Japanese DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks.

I have watched the film with both soundtracks and I have to say that…I enjoy the new dub for Deunan but I prefer the older Briareos as I felt the newer dub made him sound like X-Men’s Wolverine. But overall, it all comes down to preference and for me, I preferred the newer English dub track over the original but I also preferred the Japanese soundtrack over both English tracks.

Without the lossless soundtracks, if you have a solid home theater receiver and have the ability to play stereo on all channels, I felt that was my choice to have a more immersive soundtrack.

Speaking of the soundtrack, when the movie was released in Japan, I was doing review work of the original album soundtrack (before I watched the film) and I was very impressed with the original soundtrack and its use of electronic music. It definitely kept in pace with the action and overall, fans of Boom Boom Satellites, Paul Oakenfold, Ryuichi Sakamoto will definitely dig the music soundtrack. Also, Tetsuya Takahashi does an amazing job with the musical score as well!

As for subtitles, subtitles are in English and English for the hearing impaired.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Appleseed” comes with the following special features:

Audio commentary with Shinji Aramaki (Director) and Fumihiko SORI (Producer) – Both Aramaki and SORI discuss various scenes of the film and what was changed from the original dialogue, various challenges they encountered from the creation of the 3D segments from the original sketches, the revisions, added scenes that were not part of the original story and more. Subtitles are provided for the commentary and when each person talks, the subtitles for Aramaki are white and SORI’s are in yellow. Overall, an upbeat commentary track.
Alternate English Dub – Not more of a special feature but an audio setting.
The Birth of 3D Live Anime – (35:54) A special Japanese featurette (with English subtitles) about the making of “Appleseed”. From the use of motion capture to the making of the 3D characters, the environments and more.
Production Staff Files – A text based profile of Shirow Masamune, Shinji Aramaki, Fumihiko SORI, Yusaku Toyoshima, Yasuhiro Ohtsuka and Tetsuya Takahashi.

When “Appleseed” came out, I remember my first impression was… “I hope it’s a lot better than the OVA series”. And sure enough, after watching the film, I was impressed by the 3D animation, the enjoyable storyline, the pulse-pounding action, the music, the mechanical designs and more.

I felt that “Appleseed” raised the bar for Japanese animated films and sure enough, we have seen how far both Shinji Aramaki and SORI have taken 3D animation and anime a few years later and I can only wonder what kind of film these two have in store for viewers in the near future.

“Appleseed” was very exciting in that the storyline was smart but also managed to have a bit of humor and also this dramatic aspect as Deunan is reunited with her boyfriend turned cyborg Briareos.

I will also say that the film was viewer-friendly because when the manga series came out, I was very fortunate to pick up the “Appleseed Databook” to get a better idea of the “Appleseed Chronology” because the manga and also the OAV can get a bit over your head, while this film, anyone can easily watch it and understand what is going on.

Overall, “Appleseed” is one of those animated films that is deserving of a Blu-ray release. For Section23 Films/Sentai Filmworks, “Appleseed” is a fantastic choice for a release. But I know the main caveat for anime on Blu-ray fans is the fact that this release does not come with a lossless English and Japanese track.

But considering the price this Blu-ray is going for and in terms of audio, you do get two English dub tracks in DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1, you get the Japanese audio track in DTS/Dolby Digital 5.1 and also an audio commentary track in addition to a half hour documentary on the making, you do get your money’s worth. Also, since the sequel “Appleseed Ex Machina” came out on Blu-ray several years ago, if you own that release, you more than likely will want this first film for your collection.

Overall, “Appleseed” is an awesome film and for fans of Masamune Shirow’s work, especially those familiar with the “Appleseed” manga series and OVA will definitely be pleased by this film. The characters and the whole city of Olympus just looks fantastic on Blu-ray. Again, the lack of lossless audio is a bummer but for now, especially for its price in the US, this is the definitive version of “Appleseed” to own and in my opinion, it’s a film worth having in your anime on Blu-ray collection.

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

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