SENTAI FILMWORKS HOSTS MAKOTO SHINKAI

June 14, 2013 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

HOUSTON, June 14, 2013 — Sentai Filmworks is proud to welcome critically acclaimed director Makoto Shinkai as our Special Guest of Honor for Anime Expo 2013; and in celebration of the event, Sentai will be hosting the official English Language premiere of his new animated masterpiece, The Garden of Words. A mesmerizing drama focusing on two unusual acquaintances who become much more than friends over the course of several rainy days, The Garden Of Words is the latest animated treasure to join Shinkai’s amazing pantheon of previous work, which already includes the breakout hit Voices of a Distant Star, She and Her Cat, The Place Promised In Our Early Days, 5CM Per Second and the feature length Children Who Chase Lost Voices.

Widely considered to be one of the most influential new figures in the anime industry by fans and critics alike, this will be Makoto Shinkai’s first appearance at Anime Expo, North America’s largest dedicated anime convention. Both the convention and the official Premiere of The Garden Of Words will take place in the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles, CA, with Mr. Shinkai appearing from July 6th and 7th and the Premiere taking place on July 6th at 3:00PM in Video Room 1. Whether you’re an anime enthusiast or a serious student of film, this event promises to be a unique, once in a lifetime opportunity to meet and interact with an animation legend in the making. The fireworks will only be the start of the festivities, so come join Sentai Filmworks, Anime Expo and 50,000+ attendees as we show Mr. Shinkai how anime fans celebrate the four day Fourth of July weekend!

About Sentai Filmworks:
Sentai Filmworks is one of the fastest-growing anime companies in North America, producing hit series like High School of the Dead, Towanoquon, Samurai Girls, Guin Saga, Needless and Angel Beats as well as high profile theatrical films such as Grave of the Fireflies and Appleseed. Sentai Filmworks’ programs can be found on home video distributed by Ingram Entertainment, Baker & Taylor, Section23Films, The Right Stuf and other good and fine distributors. Digital product offerings may be found at iTunes, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, Zune Marketplace, Anime Network, Playstation Network, Google Play and YouTube.
www.sentai-filmworks.com

SENTAI FILMWORKS LICENSES ANIMATION SERIES “LEVIATHAN ~ THE LAST DEFENSE ~”

May 31, 2013 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

HOUSTON, May 31, 2013 — Can three lone girls turn the tide of an alien invasion? Find out in Sentai Filmworks’ newest acquisition: the animation series Leviathan ~ The Last Defense ~! Based on a new mobile game launched in Japan by the global nobile social company GREE[1], this 13 episode series is directed by Kenichi Yatagai and features character designs by Takaharu Okuma (Kotoura-san) with series composition by Yasunori Ide (Hanaukyo Maid-tai), sound direction by Yosuke Morita and music by Shiho Terada (Inazuma Eleven GO) and Tomoki Kikuya (Hidamari Sketch).

There lands of Aquafall were a paradise, where water flows freely, the hills are covered with lush vegetation and life in all forms flourishes in peace and abundance. That’s before the meteors began to fall, each impact spawning new, hideous monsters. It soon becomes clear that there were others who want to claim the entire green world for themselves. An enemy that will not stop until everything has been vanquished. Fortunately, the fairy Syrop is on guard and knows exactly what to do. Working quickly, she recruits an extraordinary team of young women to form the base of the Aquafall Defenders: the incredibly strong Jormungand, the rich Bahamut and the stoic Leviathan. But can three lone girls really turn the tide of an alien invasion? The scales of fate hang in the balance in Leviathan ~ The Last Defense~!

Leviathan ~ The Last Defense ~ will be available soon through select digital outlets with a home video release to follow later this year.

Filed Under: Anime Related News

Kids on the Slope: Complete Collection (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

April 27, 2013 by Dennis Amith · 2 Comments

“Kids on the Slope: Complete Collection” is an anime series that you rarely see these days. The characters and the storyline just draws you in, the overall series is just delightful and so enjoyable! From the creative team behind “Cowboy Bebop”, “Kids on the Slope” is not just highly recommended, it’s on my list as one of the top anime series for 2013 on Blu-ray!

TITLE: Kids on the Slope: Complete Collection

YEAR OF RELEASE: 2012

DURATION: 12 episodes (300 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV 14 LD

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks

RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2013

Original Creator: Yuki Kodama

Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe

Script by Ayako Katoh, Yuuko Kakihara

Music by Yoko Kanno

Character Design by Nobuteru Yuki

Art Director: Shinichi Uehara

Anime Production by Mappa, Tezuka Productions

Featuring the voices of:

Ryohei Kimura/Chris Patton as Kaoru Nishimi

Yoshimasa Hosoya/Andrew Love as Sentarō Kawabuchi

Aya Endo/Maggie Flecknoe as Yurika Fukahori

Junichi Suwabe/David Matranga as Junichi Katsuragi

Yuuka Nanri/Rebeka Stevens as Ritsuko Mukae

Nobuhiko Okamoto/Blake Shepard as Seiji Matsuoka

Nozomi Furuki/Chris Martinez as Taichi

It’s the summer of 1966 and high school freshman Kaoru Nishimi is struggling to adjust to the latest of many moves in his young life, this time to his uncle’s home in the seaside town of Kyushu. It’s never easy adjusting. It’s never easy fitting in. But this time will be different. This time he’ll meet friends who will change his life forever. And he’ll discover a new passion, one that grabs his heart and rocks him to his very soul. It’s music. A beat. A whole new way of looking at life. It’s called jazz, and together with bad boy Sentaro and music store girl Ritsuko, they’re going to follow their muse to wherever their music takes them! You think garage bands are something new? Think again and travel to a time when dreams and a couple of musical instruments really could change the world! Get ready to be blown away by a tale of life, love and all that jazz in THE KIDS ON THE SLOPE!

In 2007, mangaka Yuki Kodama would create a manga series titled “Sakamichi no Apollon” which was serialized in “Flowers” Magazine.

The manga series would attract the attention of director Shinichiro Watanabe (“Cowboy Bebop”, “Samurai Champloo”, “Baby Blue”). Knowing that the series would feature a lot of music (especially with jazz), who best than go to a person that is well known for creating music for anime series, Yoko Kanno (“Cowboy Bebop”, “Aquarion”, “Macross Frontier”, “Macross Plus”, “Escaflowne”, “Darker than Black”, etc.). And in 2012, the 12-episode anime series was featured on Fuji TV’s “noitaminA” anime block.

“Sakamichi no Apollon” would feature a storyline written by Ayako Katoh (“Chihayafuru”, “Stitch!: Itazura Alien no Daiboken”) and Yuuko Kakihara (“Heaven’s Lost Property”, “Stitch!”, “Chihayafuru”), character design by Nobuteru Yuki (“Battle Angel”, “Battle Royale High School”, “The five Star Stories”, “Heat Guy J”, “Space Battleship Yamato 2199″) and background art by Shinichi Uehara (“Aoi Bungaku”, “Ninja Scroll”, “Paprika”, “Summer Wars”, “Tokyo Godfathers”).

And now “Sakamichi no Apollon” will be released in the U.S. with the title “Kids on the Slope” in May 2013 on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Sentai Filmworks as a complete collection.

“Kids on the Slope” is a series that takes place in 1966.

Kaoru Nishimi is a teenager who has to move from Tokyo to Kyushu and live with his Aunt, while his father is working abroad. Trained in classical piano, Kaoru loves to play but his wealthy aunt is not too fond of him playing piano until a certain time and for the most part, the family is very strict and Kaoru feels like he is living alone.

During his first day at school, he tries to keep to himself and is warned that a boy named Sentaro Kawabuchi sits behind him and not to mess with him.

Meanwhile, the class representative named Ritsuko Mukae shows him around the school. And for Kaoru, her vibrant smile for some reason, makes him very happy.

While looking for a way to get to the rooftop at the school (a place where Kaoru typically runs off to when he wants to be away from everyone), he sees a guy sleeping near the top area. When Kaoru ask if he knows where he can get the key, a group of seniors come with the key but are not interested in giving it away. Seeing how badly Kaoru needs it, the guy who was sleeping ends up getting a fight with them and while he is outmatched by the three guys, he manages to get the key to the top floor.

When Kaoru tries to get it, the guy tells him that he will give him the key for money, which Kaoru refuses and becomes upset.

While class is about to start, Sentaro Kawabuchi sits behind Kaoru and when Kaoru turns around, he finds out that Sentaro is the guy he met earlier and fought with the three guys. As Kaoru tries to run away from Sentaro, Sentaro follows him wherever he goes. Kaoru runs to the roof despite the heavy rain and Sentaro does the same. But he throws Kaoru’s umbrella and tells him to embrace the rain and both are soaken wet.

As Kaoru tries to help both of them with clean clothes, Kaoru sees Sentaro playing drums with his pencils and finds out that Sentaro is a jazz drummer, while Sentaro finds out that Kaoru is a classical pianist.

After school, Kaoru asks Ritsuko if she knows a record shop in town and surprisingly, she tells him that her father owns Mukae Record Shop. When Ritsuko finds out that Kaoru plays the piano, she tells him to go into the basement where he sees a piano. But to his shock, he sees Sentaro there playing the drums.

And that day would be the first time Kaoru is introduced to jazz music. Sentaro asks Kaoru to play the piano and the two get into a discussion of how Kaoru can’t play jazz music and let his emotions be free while playing. Wanting to prove Sentaro wrong, Kaoru begins to listen to jazz music and learns how to play it on the piano.

Next thing you know, these two different people end up becoming good friends and both become interested in practicing and performing jazz music with one another. But will their differences lead them to stay as friends or will it push them apart?

As for Ritsuko, being friends to both guys, she knows that the two who have had bad childhoods and because of that, they need each other to be as friends but also for support. But how strong is their friendship? And will their pasts interfere with their present?

“Kids on the Slope” features the following characters:

Kaoru Nishima – Lived in Tokyo, but when his mother abandoned both him and his mother. Because times are tough, his father had to look for work, while he stayed with his wealthy aunt who is very strict. Throughout life, Kaoru has been a shy, timid boy who never knew what friendship or love was all about. So, while he has learned how to play the piano and does very well in school, he has been used to being a school loner and being bullied at school. But despite not knowing what true friendship is, he develops a friendship with someone so different than him…Sentaro Kawaguchi. He also is in love with Ritsuko.

Sentaro Kawaguchi - Sentaro is half Japanese and half American. When his mother left him and his father, he and his young siblings lived with his grandmother but after she died, his father became an alcoholic and started beating on him and the children. Forced to grow up at an early age, Sentaro’s life has always been a tough guy who got into a lot of fights. He’s not interested in school, loves playing jazz music on drums and takes care of his young siblings, while his father works far away. His only friend at the time was his neighbor Ritsuko, who he grew up with. But now he finds a new friend in Kaoru and has feelings for a girl named Yurika.

Ritsuko Mukae – The class representative and nice individual who grew up with Sentaro and always watched over him. Because she sees how Kaoru is and how he is with Sentaro, not many people treat Sentaro normally, so she hopes the two can be very good friends. While she grew up liking Sentaro, she is unaware that Kaoru has fallen for her. How will she respond if he tells her that he loves her? Ritsuko’s father is also the owner of the local recordshop and in the basement is where her father, Sentaro, Junichi and Kaoru practice their music.

Yurika Fukahori – A girl that was getting accosted by guys, Sentaro came to her rescue. From the first moment he saw her, it was love at first sight. And now Kaoru wants to help Sentaro get closer to Yurika, so he can get clsoer to Ritsuko. But because Sentaro is shy, he tells Yurika that Kaoru is the guy interested in her. But for Yurika, she is smitten with Junichi.

Junichi Katsuragi – The cool trumpet playing friend of Sentaro. He often joins Sentaro and Ritsuko’s father for a session in the record store basement. From a wealthy family and attending college, Junichi walks to the own beat of his drum. And his cool demeanor captivates Yurika.

Tsutomu Mukae – Ritsuko’s father and owner of the local record shop. He is a bass player and jazz music aficionado.

Seiji Matsuoka – Dreams of becoming a rock star and wants Sentaro to play drums for his band.

Shigetora Maruo – Guitarist for Seiji’s band and a guy who sits next to Sentaro and Kaoru.

VIDEO:

“Kids on the Slope” features fantastic animation and background art courtesy of Mappa and Tezuka Productions! Presented in 1080p High Definition, the series definitely captures Yuki Kodama’s artwork and brings life to the anime adaptation. Characters are well-shaded and drawn, while background art is very detailed. I love the overall look of this anime series! No sign of softness, banding or any major issues.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

The lossless soundtrack for “Kids on the Slope” is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. While dialogue is crystal clear, how I would have loved to have a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack because of the series’ wonderful music. The music is so awesome for this series that I was hoping that it would utilize the surround channels but it’s primarily a lossless stereo soundtrack, which is common for an animated television series from Japan.

As for voice acting, both the Japanese and English soundtracks are well-performed. There is one primary difference and that is for the character of Seiji Matsuoka. In the Japanese version, Seiji sounds like a regular teenager but for the English dub version, they made him sound very feminine and with the lisp, changed the dialogue and have him flirting with Kaoru (which is not in the Japanese version), I thought that was an interesting direction by ADR director Steven Foster to take the character of Seiji in that direction.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Kids on the Slope: Complete Collection” comes with the following special features:

Clean Opening and Ending
Japanese Previews – (3:04) Japanese prevews for “Sakamichi no Apollon”
Interview with Shinichiro Watanabe – (16:04) An interview with the director of “Kids on the Slope”.
Interview with Yoko Kanno – (21:46) Yoko Kanno talks about how she was brought on board as a composer, how she found the jazz musicians through YouTube and how she had YUKI and Motohiro Hata do the music for the series opening and ending themes.
Interview with Takashi Matsuanga and Shun Ishikawa – (13:33) Interview with the teenage pianist and drummer who provided the music for Kaoru and Sentaro for the anime series.

It’s very rare to come across an anime series that captures real life and focus on character interaction, emotions and most importantly, music.

While we have seen these type of storylines featured in Japanese dramas such as “Long Vacation” or “With You”, for anime there is “Nodame no Cantabile” but most of the time, there is always a supernatural, fantasy type of addition to that storyline.

Here we are with an anime adaptation of Yuki Kodama’s “Sakamichi no Apollon” and having watched all 12 episodes, I can’t help but feeling of how awesome, how delightful this anime series was, because it’s such a rarity to see, especially to see it released in the United States.

“Kids on the Slope” captivates the viewer for its storyline of friendship of two broken individuals, the love triangle but also how jazz music is incorporated into the film and I must say, this is one of the coolest, hippest soundtracks I have heard from an anime series. So much that I wanted to purchase the soundtrack immediately because the music for this anime series was fantastic!

While those used to a certain style of anime may not like a series about a bromance, let alone about music, “Kids on the Slope” is probably one of the best anime series that I have seen in 2013 and I have to put this in my top three for anime series on Blu-ray for the year because it’s that good!

Why is this anime series so captivating?

It’s about the characters! Kaoru is a guy who hasn’t had many friends or social activities. He is not good at reading people, nor is he that good at showing emotions. That so many times, he reads things and his only way of communicating is with anger. We see Kaoru as this meek character with glasses, always studying and playing the piano.

While Sentaro also never had many friends growing up, but you realize that the reason why he’s gotten into so much trouble is because he was always bullied because he was not full Japanese. He used his height and his strength to deter people from bullying him and he ended up getting into a lot of fights while growing up. But like Kaoru, he also had a dysfunctional childhood.

Kaoru needs Sentaro, because he makes him feel wanted and important but most of all, he’s the first guy who never treated him any less, but accepted him as a friend right off the bat.

Sentaro respects Kaoru for his magnificent piano playing but because he cares so much about him. He lived life feeling that no one cares about him, thus he became a bully but now he has found a friend who believes in him.

And for both individuals, having each other as friends is not easy because they are so different, but despite their problems, they know that they make a great team and are very good friends. But both are a bit too hardheaded to admit it.

Ritsuko is your good-natured female character and good friends with both. She grew up with Sentaro and she always took care of him as he was always getting into fights. She is his neighbor and Sentaro has always practiced the drums at her father’s record shop.

But she sees how Sentaro has opened up to Kaoru and she knows he needs that. But as she gets to know Kaoru, she knows he needs Sentaro as well. But when she finds out that Sentaro likes another girl, let alone finding out that Kaoru has fallen for her, how is a girl supposed to react?

Throw in characters such as Yurika and Junichi and other dramatic situations that really bolster the storyline, the characters and also the emotional angle of the series.

I felt the series delivered in emotional impact when Kaoru felt that he was lonely and no one understood his feelings, but when he found out how his life was all this time and how he lived alone and had to endure abuse and bullying throughout his life, much worse than he has had, it was an emotional scene. In fact, there are many of these emotional moments throughout the series and I was pleased of how the writing was. Both Ayako Katoh and Yuuko Kakihara did a wonderful job!

As for the Blu-ray release, the anime looks fantastic! The character designs are different from what most people may be accustomed to but it actually has a taste of the old school anime that I grew up watching. Characters are well-drawn, well-shaded and the art backgrounds are just beautiful too look at.

And as for special features, I was amazed to find interviews instead of the typical clean opening and ending animations. So, you do get an interview with director Shinichiro Watanabe, composer Yoko Kanno but also with teenage musicians Takashi Matsunaga and Shun Ishikawa who were both found by Kanno on YouTube. Two young professional musicians who know jazz music and really made the anime feel believable, entertaining and exciting.

Overall, “Kids on the Slope: Complete Collection” is an anime series that you rarely see these days. The characters and the storyline just draws you in, the overall series is just delightful and so enjoyable! From the creative team behind “Cowboy Bebop”, “Kids on the Slope” is not just highly recommended, it’s on my list as one of the top anime series for 2013 on Blu-ray!

Highly recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Bodacious Space Pirates: Collection 1 (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

April 27, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Bodacious Space Pirates” is a fun, humorous and entertaining sci-fi anime series! A coming-of-age story about a teenager who must take over her deceased father’ job of being a Captain of a pirate ship. Can she do it? Find out in “Bodacious Space Pirates: Collection 1″!

TITLE: Bodacious Space Pirates Collection 1

YEAR OF RELEASE: 2011

DURATION: 13 episodes (325 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV 14 VD

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks

RELEASE DATE: January 8, 2013

Original Creator: Yuichi Sasamoto

Original Character Design: Noriyuki Matsumoto

Directed by Tatsuo Sato

Series Composition by Tatsuo Sato

Music by Elements Garden, Hitoshi Fujima, Junpei Fujita, Noriyasu Agematsu

Art Director: Akira Ito

Chief Animation Director: Hiroshi Takeuchi

Animation Character Design: Akira Yasuda, Hiroshi Takeuchi

Art Design by Masahiro Sato, Stanislas Brunet, Thomas Romain, Yann Le Gall

Anime Production by Satelight

Featuring the voices of:

Kana Hanazawa/Caitlynn French as Chiaki Kurihara

Masaya Matsukaze/Christopher Patton as Kane MacDougall

Mikako Komatsu/Luci Christian as Marika Kato

Shizuka Itou/Carli Mosier as Misa Grandwood

Ai Kayano/Margaret McDonald as Ai Hoshimiya

Asuka Nishi/Emily Neves as Ursula Abramov

Atsushi Ono as Jotoff Sief Sydow

Chiaki Omigawa/Brittney Karbowski as Mami Endō

Chinatsu Akasaki as Maki Harada

Haruka Tomatsu/Monica Rial as Princess Gruier Serenity

Hiroki Yasumoto as Shō

Hisako Kanemoto/Kalin Coates as Grunhilde Serenity

Kanako Nomura/Allison Sumrall as Shōko Kobayashimaru

Kaoru Mizuhara/Monica Rial as Luka

Keiji Fujiwara/Kalob Martinez as Hyakume

Kenta Miyake/George Manley as Schnitzer

Kiyono Yasuno as Aster Aruhanko

Maaya Uchida/Tiffany Grant as Izumi Yunomoto

Mariya Ise/Elizabeth Bannor as Natalia Grennorth

Natsumi Takamori/Tiffany Terrell as Sasha Staple

Rikiya Koyama as Narrator

Rina Satou/Shannon Emerick as Jenny Dolittle

Satomi Satou as Lilly Bell

Suzuko Mimori as Belinda Percy

Yōko Hikasa as Lynn Lambretta

Yoshino Nanjou as Yayoi Yoshitomi

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka/Greg Ayres as San-Daime

Yui Horie/Hilary Haag as Coorie

Yuiko Tatsumi/Hayley Adams as April

Yuko Kaida/Shelley Calene-Black as Ririka Katō

Most families have a skeleton or two in the closet, but Marika is understandably shocked to learn that what her family has been hiding is a skull and crossbones! While the revelation that her late father was a space pirate would have been earthshaking enough for most teenage girls, discovering that he was the captain of the notorious pirate ship Benten Maru will change Marika’s life forever. You see, pirating is a family business, and she’s just inherited the position of captain – and her father’s former crew is quite intent on making sure Marika accepts the job!

What’s a girl to do? Well, if you’re a high school student whose prior total naval experience has been working at the space yacht club, there’s really only one moral dilemma that has to be resolved: are pirates allowed to wear really short mini-skirts?

Yuichi Sasamoto’s 2008 light novel series “Miniskirt Space Pirates” is among the few light novels that received an anime adaptation.

Produced by Satelight, the anime series known as “Moretsu Pirates” (“Bodacious Space Pirates”) was aired in Japan between January through June 2012. And with the announcement of an animated film scheduled for release in February 2014, “Bodacious Space Pirates” will be released in the U.S. on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Sentai Filmworks in two parts, the first feature episodes 1-13.

“Bodacious Space Pirates” is an anime series written and directed by Tatsuo Sato (“Lagrange – The flower of Rin-ne”, “Cat Soup”, “Stellvia”), featuring art direction by Hiroshi Takeuchi (“AKB0048″, “Elfen Lied”, “Durara!!”), character designs by Hiroshi Takeuchi (“Shutsugeki! Machine Robo Rescue”, “Idolm@ster: Xenoglassia”, “Big O”) and music by Elements Garden, Hitoshi Fujima, Junpei Fujita and Noriyasu Agematsu.

“Bodacious Space Pirates” is an anime series that revolves around a happy teenager named Marika Kato. She is someone that loves being part of the space yacht club at Hakuho Academy and working at the Retro-Maid Cafe with her good friend Mami.

One day while coming home, she meets Misa Grandwood and Kane McDougal who has important business with her mother Ririka. And that business pertains to her.

With Marika now an older teenager, the three reveal to her that her father was a famous space pirate and that both of her parents were space pirates. And in order to continue the Kato lineage of captains of the Bentenmaru, she must become the Captain of the Bentenmaru.

At first Marika is not sure if she wants that responsibility but one day while working on a space ship for the yacht club, working alongside new student Chiaki Kurihara, both were put into a situation where they had to captain a ship and prevent problems from happening. With Marika becoming successful, she decides to become the Captain of the Bentenmaru but relies on the crew in helping her with the job.

While on the outside, Marika may seem like a regular teenager, Bentenmaru medic Misa Grandwood and helmsman Kane McDougal observe and evaluate to see if Marika is up to the job.

With part one of “Bodacious Space Pirates”, the series focuses on Marika’s training as the new Captain of the Bentenmaru but also being hired by Princess Gruier Serenity of the Serenity Royal Family to find a Golden Ghost Ship, a first-generation colony transport ship whose descendants became the first settlers of Serenity. But most importantly to find the Artificial Womb room, a lab that genetically creates and births children for the Serenity Royal Family. But due to political turmoil in her country, Princess Gruier wants to destroy the Artificial Womb.

But wanting to stop her is her youngest sister, Princess Brunhilde.

Will Marika succeed in her first major job as the Captain of the Bentenmaru?

“Bodacious Space Pirates” features the following characters:

Marika Kato – A student and member of the space yacht club at Hakuho Academy and also works a part-time job as a waitress. Marika lives with her mother Ririko, who she refers to her with her first name. Marika suddenly learns that her deceased father Gonzemon Kato was a pirate and since she is the descendant, she is the new captain of the pirate sop, the Bentenmaru. Trying to divide time with school, her job and her duties as a pirate, Marika must train and continue her father’s legacy.

Chiaki Kurihara - A mysterious girl who transfers to Marika’s school and sees herself as a rival to Marika. She may seem cold and not wanting to be near Marika, but she is deciding if she wants to become a space pirate as she is the heir to the Barbaroosa.

Misa Grandwood – The sexy medic of the Bentenmaru and the doctor at Hakuho Academy. She is responsible for watching over Marika’s progress as Captain of the Bentenmaru.

Kane McDougal – The helmsman at Hakuho Academy and the adviser of the space yacht club but also Marika and Chiaki’s teacher.

Hyakume – The Bentenmaru’s radar and sensor specialist.

Coorie – The Bentenmaru’s electronic warfare specialist.

Schnitzer – The Bentenmaru’s tactical officer and a cyborg. A good friend of Marika’s mother, Ririka.

San-Daime - The Bentenmaru’s engineer who has an obsession with teddy bears.

Luca – The Bentenmaru’s navigator and psychic.

Ririka Sato – A former pirate of the Bentenmaru and mother of Marika.

Mami Endo – Marika’s best friend and co-worker at the retro-maid cafe.

Jenny Doolittle – President of the space yacht club and heir to a major space shipping conglomerate.

Lynn Lambretta – The vice-president of the space yacht club and a skilled hacker, also Jenny’s girlfriend.

Gruier Serenity – The Seventh Princess of the Serenity Royal Family of the Serenity Star System who’s father was good friends with Marika’s father. She hires the Bentenmaru pirates to find the Golden Ghost Ship.

Grunhilde Serenity – The eighth Princess of the Serenity Royal Family of the Serenity Star System. She and her sister Gruier have conflicted feelings of finding the legendary Golden Ghost Ship and is trying to prevent her sister and the Bentenmaru pirates from achieving their goal.

VIDEO:

“Bodacious Space Pirates” is presented in 1080p High Definition. While a series that displays a lot of color (primarily when they are in Earth), there are some noticeable banding with areas with a lot of red, in space. While character design and mechanical design look very good and sharp, for the most part, this is is a colorful anime series.

AUDIO:

The lossless soundtrack for “Bodacious Space Pirates” features an English and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack. While the series is front-channel driven, both are equal when it comes to the use of the front channels. As for voice acting, both are also well-done and acting from both the Japanese and American talent will satisfy viewers. If there were two key difference between soundtracks is the audio presentation for Misa Grandwood and Chiaki Kurihara. For the English dub, Misa’s presentation has that raspy sexy adult voice which fits the style of the character, while the English dub version of Chiaki features more of a monotone direction, as opposed to a more livelier version in the Japaneese soundtrack. But for the most part, fans should be happy with both lossless soundtracks.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Bodacious Space Pirates: Part One” comes with the clean opening and closing animation.

I am a big fan of sci-fi anime especially if driven with an all-female cast.

In the ’90s, probably the best known anime series to feature all-female characters and the concept of space pirates was Katsuhito Akiyama’s “Sol Bianca” series.

While “Sol Bianca” is old school anime and a more serious storyline, “Bodacious Space Pirates” is spunkier, humorous and fun thanks to its high school characters. You have Marika Kato, a regular teenager just wanting to have fun and be with her friends but now her life has changed drastically when she finds out that her parents were space pirates and as a descendant, she must continue the Kato line of being Captain of the Bentenmaru.

And we watch as this teenager who has a smart but spunky, yet vibrant side to her as opposed to another teenager, Chiaki Kurihara who is the opposite. More cold, more observing and just nothing like Marika. But yet both must fulfill their duty as captains of space pirates for their own ship.

From learning the basics of combat and teamwork, to reading a script and playing a part like an actor of trying to steal jewels from innocent civilians, but also a kindness that makes her different from other pirates, but her willingness and passion to be in space.

The first half of the anime series focuses on Marika’s training as the Captain of the Bentenmaru but also working together with Chiaki. While the first half features episodes that deal with Marika’s first major job as she is hired by a princess to find a mysterious ghost ship.

Like most sci-fi anime series, there are many characters but in this case, the crew of the Bentenmaru are not as focused on as other series tries to integrate many crew members. If anything, your mind is focused primarily on Marika and a few key characters who are trying to make sure their new Captain does the right thing, or try to support her as best as they can.

As for the Blu-ray release, the series looks vibrant on Blu-ray. There are a few banding issues but nothing terrible. The soundtrack is primarily a lossless 2.0 front-channel driven soundtrack but dialogue is clear and it’s an interesting direction in which the English dub does something different than its Japanese counterpart. As for special features, you get the usual clean opening and ending animations.

Overall, “Bodacious Space Pirates” is a fun, humorous and entertaining sci-fi anime series! A coming-of-age story about a teenager who must take over her deceased father’ job of being a Captain of a pirate ship. Can she do it? Find out in “Bodacious Space Pirates: Collection 1″!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

SENTAI FILMWORKS LICENSES “UTA NO PRINCE SAMA 2”

April 23, 2013 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

HOUSTON, April 23, 2013 — The music is back but the song is definitely not the same in Sentai Filmworks’ newest acquisition: Uta no Prince Sama 2. The new season of the smash hit features direction and series composition by Koh Yuh (Loveless, Angelic Layer) with character designs by Mitsue Mori and music by Elements Garden (Love, Election & Chocolate, Bodacious Space Pirates).

After the amazing high note that capped the first season, would it be fair to expect Haruka and her hunky harem of beautiful boy singers to be able to top themselves? Ah, but what if they had a little more help? Yes, believe it or not, now there are even MORE gorgeous guys ganging up for the attention of the song-mistress who’s available for even more music making now that she’s moved into the dorms. Only now StArish as some REAL competition, as the new golden throated warblers from the SENIOR MASTER COURSE make it their job to show the first six what it really takes to become a J-Pop star. And what about that mysterious seventh member of StArish? Yes, he’s back as well in his own catty fashion! But does he plan to take Haruka to fantasyland? Will the boys get kicked back to the street if they can’t stay in sync? And will Haruka stay composed and keep composing when the sophomore slump hits her writing? Find out if everyone can learn to live (and sing) in harmony as the hits keep on coming in UTA NO PRINCE SAMA 2!

Uta no Prince Sama 2 will be available soon through select digital outlets with a home video release to follow later this year.

About Sentai Filmworks
Sentai Filmworks celebrates its 5th Anniversary as one of the fastest-growing anime companies in North America, producing hit series like Persona 4, Girls und Panzer, Devil Survivor 2, Bodacious Space Pirates, Majestic Prince and High School of the Dead as well as high profile theatrical films such as Grave of the Fireflies, K-ON! and Appleseed. Sentai Filmworks’ programs are distributed through Ingram Entertainment, Diamond Comic Distributors, Section23Films and Waxworks through retailers Amazon, Best Buy, Fry’s, FYE, Hastings, Sam Goody, Suncoast, The Right Stuf, Wal-Mart and other good and fine stores. Digital product offerings may be found at Amazon, Anime Network, Crunchyroll, Google Play, Hulu, iTunes, Netflix, PlayStation Network, Rovi, Vudu, XBOX Marketplace and YouTube.
www.sentai-filmworks.com

Filed Under: Anime Related News

SENTAI FILMWORKS LICENSES “THE SEVERING CRIME EDGE”

April 22, 2013 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

HOUSTON, April 22, 2013 — Experience hair raising thrills, razor-edged suspense and shear insanity in Sentai Filmworks’ newest acquisition: The Severing Crime Edge! This 13 episode series is directed by Yuji Yamaguchi (Fate / stay night TV) and features character designs by Katsuzo Hirata (Angel Beats!) with series composition by Tatsuhiko Urahata (Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere), sound direction by Yota Tsuruoka (CLANNAD) and music by Yasuharu Takanashi (Hell Girl).

Kiri Haimura loves cutting hair. Actually, he doesn’t just love cutting hair, he obsesses over it and even has a special set of scissors he delights in using. But when his mane obsession for a bit of trim draws him to Iwai Mushanokōji , whose long hair has never been cut, he finds himself entangled in a situation no shears can hack him out of. Because Iwai is heir to a strange curse that makes her hair impossible to cut. Or, at least, until Kiri’s clippers take off a lock, thereby revealing that his scissors are cursed as well! But now that she’s shorn free, Iwai has a slew of “murderers” after her, each armed with their own cursed implements and eager for the chance to kill the “Hair Queen.” And if that’s not enough to make Kiri wig out, it seems that many of them actually attend his own school! Will this evil crew cut in on Kiri’s Hair Queen, or will he snip their ambitions in the bud? The worst hair day ever turns into the ultimate series of close shaves, distressing situations and, yes, brushes with death in SEVERING CRIME EDGE!

The Severing Crime Edge will be available soon through select digital outlets with a home video release to follow later this year.

About Sentai Filmworks
Sentai Filmworks celebrates its 5th Anniversary as one of the fastest-growing anime companies in North America, producing hit series like Persona 4, Girls und Panzer, Devil Survivor 2, Bodacious Space Pirates, Majestic Prince and High School of the Dead as well as high profile theatrical films such as Grave of the Fireflies, K-ON! and Appleseed. Sentai Filmworks’ programs are distributed through Ingram Entertainment, Diamond Comic Distributors, Section23Films and Waxworks through retailers Amazon, Best Buy, Fry’s, FYE, Hastings, Sam Goody, Suncoast, The Right Stuf, Wal-Mart and other good and fine stores. Digital product offerings may be found at Amazon, Anime Network, Crunchyroll, Google Play, Hulu, iTunes, Netflix, PlayStation Network, Rovi, Vudu, XBOX Marketplace and YouTube.

Filed Under: Anime Related News

SENTAI FILMWORKS LICENSES “Uta no Prince Sama”

April 20, 2013 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

HOUSTON, April 19, 2013 — Get ready to make beautiful music with Sentai Filmworks’ newest acquisition: Uta no Prince Sama 1. This fan favorite 13 episode series is directed by Koh Yuh (Loveless, Angelic Layer) and features series composition by Tomoko Konparu (NANA, Nodame Cantabile) with character designs by Mitsue Mori, sound direction by Shoji Hata (You’re Under Arrest: Full Throttle, Okamkakushi ~ Masque of the Wolf) and music by Elements Garden (Love, Election & Chocolate, Bodacious Space Pirates).

When Haruka gets the chance to take the entrance exam for Saotome Academy for the Performing Arts, it seems as though she’s one step closer to her dream of composing songs for her favorite singer, Hayato. However, this is no gleeful high school musical experience, and Haruka’s hiding a dreadful secret that may silence her musical ambitions forever. And even if she does get into Saotome, the competition will be more brutal than going on Japan’s Top Idol! That’s because, as a writer, Haruka could be paired with any one of six radically different male singers. Will it be upbeat Otoya, serious Masato, flirtatious Ren, split-personality Natsuki, optimistic Syo, or the unapproachable Tokiya, who’s rumored to be Hayato’s brother? And just to make things more complicated and awkward, writers and singers are expressly NOT allowed to become romantically involved! Can one girl and six handsome young men learn to make beautiful music together in a strictly Platonic sense? They can if the oddball staff of Saotome, most of whom are current and former idols themselves, have anything to say about it in Uta no Prince Sama!

Uta no Prince Sama 1 will be available soon through select digital outlets with a home video release to follow later this year.

Filed Under: Anime Related News

SENTAI FILMWORKS LICENSES “DEVIL SURVIVOR 2: THE ANIMATION”

April 18, 2013 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

HOUSTON, April 18, 2013 — Make a deal with the Devil himself in Sentai Filmworks’ newest acquisition: DEVIL SURVIVOR 2 THE ANIMATION. This 13 episode action series based on the hit game is directed by Seiji Kishi (Persona 4 The Animation, Angel Beats!) and features series composition by Makoto Uezu (Kamisama Dolls, Qwaser of Stigmata) with character designs by Etsushi Sajima, sound direction by Satoki Iida (Persona 4 The Animation, Inu X Boku SS) and music by Kotao Nakagawa (Inu X Boku SS, S-CRY-ed).

When the world is under attack by a monstrous and seemingly unstoppable enemy, the only way to fight back is with warriors who have already died! Sidestepping a gruesome fate in a subway crash during an earthquake, two young men and a girl find themselves recruited into the ranks of the Devil Summoners and given the ability to literally call up demons to battle against the mysterious Septentrione! Can Hibiki, Daichi and Io survive in a war where demons face demons under human command? Where a person’s death can be seen in advance? Where every living being is just a game piece to be saved or expended? And where each clash comes with a clock counting down to Armageddon? Get ready to be immersed in the ultimate conflict between good and evil as the living, the dead and the demonic combine forces to send the invaders straight back to Hell in DEVIL SURVIVOR 2 THE ANIMATION!

DEVIL SURVIVOR 2 THE ANIMATION will be available soon through select digital outlets with a home video release to follow later this year.

Filed Under: Anime Related News

Heaven’s Memo Pad – Complete Collection (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

April 17, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Heaven’s Memo Pad” is a fascinating series from beginning to end, I can only hope that we see another season of the series because I’m hooked! Beautiful animation, fun yet compelling story and fascinating characters! “Heaven’s Memo Pad” is recommended!

TITLE: Heaven’s Memo Pad

YEAR OF RELEASE: 2011

DURATION: 12 episodes (325 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV 14 VD

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks

RELEASE DATE: March 26, 2013

Originally created by Hikaru Sugii

Directed by Katsushi Sakurabi

Series Composition by Seishi Minakami

Music by Taku Iwasaki

Original Character Design by Mel Kishida

Character Design by Keiichi Sano

Art Director: Yutaka Onishi (bic-studio)

Chief Animation Director: Keiichi Sano

Sound Director: Jin Aketagawa

Anime Production: J.C. Staff

Featuring the voices of:

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka/Blake Shepard as Narumi Fujishima

Yui Ogura/Hilary Haag as Alice

Ai Kayano/Brittney Karbowski as Ayaka Shinozaki

Daisuke Ono/Illich Guardiola as Sōichirō “The Fourth” Hinamura

Hitomi Nabatame/Shelley Calene-Black as Min-san

Kouki Miyata/Greg Ayres as Major

Masaya Matsukaze/Adam Gibbs as Tetsu

Saki Ogasawara/Cynthia Martinez as Charuni “Meo” Kusakabe

Takahiro Sakurai/David Matranga as Hiro

Narumi Fujishima isn’t your typical high school student; he’s never really fit in and has been becoming increasingly more isolated from his fellow classmates. But he’s not alone, and when Ayaka, the sole member of the Gardening Club, introduces him to the reclusive girl who lives above the ramen shop, Narumi enters a whole new secret world. Alice is a NEET, someone who is Not Employed, being Educated or in Training, but as Narumi quickly discovers, that doesn’t mean that she does nothing all day. In between tending to her small army of stuffed bears, Alice is an expert hacker and very exclusive, private detective. To his surprise, Narumi finds himself drafted as one of the strange, but elite team of associates that Alice has assembled from her NEET acquaintances. Together they’ll battle gangs, thieves, murderers and drug lords. And in the middle of it all, Narumi will find his life changing forever in Heaven’s Memo Pad!

In Japan, the acronym NEET (which stands for not in education, employment, or training) tends to describe people who are shut-ins who avoid real life. But also describing an otaku culture of people who are addicted to anime, video games and just don’t want to assimilate with society and rather stay inside the home without finding a job or pursuing any education.

But for light novel writer Hikaru Sugii and illustrator Mel Kishida, the two created a series known as “Kami-sama no Memo-cho” (God’s Memo Pad) to show a different side of NEET’s.

In 2007 and a total of eight volumes would be printed by ASCII Media Works. In 2010, a manga adaptation of the series was illustrated by Tiv and featured in ASCII Media Wroks’ “Dengeki Daioh” magazine.

The anime adaptation was created in July through September 2011 and was produced by J.C. Staff. And now the anime series, named “Heaven’s Memo Pad” has made its way to America on Blu-ray courtesy of Sentai Filmworks.

The series is directed by Katsushi Sakurabi (“Lunar Legend Tsukihime”, “Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru”, “Melody of Oblivion”, series composition by Seishi Minakami (“G-On Riders”, “Master Keaton”, “Kemonozume”, “Gunparade March”, “Toaru Kagaku no Railgun”), music by Taku Iwasaki (“Read or Die”, “Jojo’s bizarre Adventure”, “Gurren Lagann”, “Black Butler”), character design by Keiichi Sano (“A Certain Magical Index”, “A Certain Scientific Railgun”) and art backgrounds by Yutaka Onishi (“Girls und Panzer”).

The story centers around a not-so-involved high school student named Narumi Fujishima. He is often wondering about the existence of humans and comparing them to pixels.

One day, while Narumi was walking by an area, he hears a woman scream and jumping out of a window and word of a guy who has been injured. At first, a group comes to the rescue but think that Narumi is the assailant but they realize later that someone else is responsible.

The following day at school, his classmate Ayaka Shinozaki tries to have a conversation with him but since he’s not a social person, he is unaware of who she is. And she tries to get him involved, primarily with the Garden Club, which now he and Ayaka are the only members. She also has her visiting a group of friends that she wants to hook him up with.

When he arrives, he realizes that the group is the same people that accused him as an assailant the day before. He learns that they are members of NEET, an amateur detective agency featuring unemployed people who solve cases. And the NEED agency is led by a girl named Alice, a no-nonsense, anti-social NEET who has the appearance of a young girl and has stuffed animals around her plus a fridge full of her favorite soda, “Dokupe” (a pun on “Dr. Pepper”). But inside her room are high-end monitors and computer equipment and video surveillance that allows her to see what is going on in the city but also top notch hacking skills, but also a high intelligence, especially when it comes to deductive skills.

She explains to Narumi that she is not a detective that investigates but uses her skills to help bring solace to those who have been killed and defends their cause.

And all of a sudden, Narumi becomes a member of NEET, working on various cases happening in the city.

“Heaven’s Memo Pad” features the following characters:

Narumi Fujishima – An introvert who lives with his sister, while his father doesn’t live with them as he tries to raise money for the family to survive. He has nothing going on with life, until he meets his new friends who are NEET’s.

Alice - A mysterious girl that acts childish, but has high intellect, high level of deductive reasoning and is a hacker. She is extremely introverted and is a NEET that is anti-social, lives with her stuffed animals and is constantly drinking her favorite soda “Dokupe”. She likes to stay in the dark and often, Ayaka has to get her to take care of her hygiene. Not much is known about how she has so much top notch equipment and what made her become the leader of the NEET Detective Team.

Ayaka Shinozaki – Always cheerful, Ayaka works part-time at a ramen shop known as Hanamaru. She is a member of the Garden Club which she gets Narumi to join her. She lives with her brother Toshi, a drug-addict (which she doesn’t know about but everyone else does).

Tetsu – An ex-boxer and loves to gamble. He is a NEET detective with connections with the local police department.

Shosa – Looks young but he is a military otaku who loves guns and camouflage and loves to build things to spy on people. He help set Alice’s equipment up and is a NEET detective. Shosa (which means “Major”) is his nickname.

Hiro – A NEET detective and the driver of the group. He is popular with women and is very stylish. Always texting women but uses his connections to his advantage.

Soichiro “The Fourth” Hinamura – The leader of the NEET yakuza group known as Hirasaka-gumi. He can be violent and cold but he is often helping Alice and is responsible for repairing her stuff animals.

Meo - A Thai teenager who was one of the client’s of the NEET Detective Agency but later becomes their friend.

Minli Huang – The owner of the Hanamaru Soup shop where the NEET Detectives hangout. She cooks ramen, can be mean at times and is seen wearing a sarashi instead of a bra.

Renji Hirasaka – A new friend of Narumi and a NEET who has a connection to “The Fourth”.

VIDEO:

“Heaven’s Memo Pad” is presented in 1080p High Definition. As a fan of the work from J.C. Staff, the character designs for the anime series. It’s important to remember that this is a TV series and not an OVA, so you are going to see a bit of softness at times. But for the most part, this series is colorful, character designs are really well-done and are well-shaded. Art backgrounds are well-detailed and while the series does utilize a lot of close-ups, the capturing of emotion and city surroundings is nicely done.

AUDIO:

The lossless soundtrack features an English and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack. While the series is front-channel driven, both are equal when it comes to the use of the front channels. As for voice acting, both are also well-done and acting from both the Japanese and American talent will satisfy viewers.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Heaven’s Memo Pad” comes with the clean opening and closing animation. Plus Sentai trailers.

“Heaven’s Memo Pad” is an enjoyable anime series about an introverted teenager who makes new friends when he joins their NEET Detective Agency.

Part of the fascinating points of why people will enjoy this series are its characters. While Narumi is the introvert, it’s hard to see how these others are NEET’s but they are. Alice is an intelligent hacker, but one must wonder how this teenager is not in school, not living with parents and has access to this expensive hardware. We don’t know too much about Alice but she is the key person that everyone tries to protect and works for.

You also have a group of characters that seem unlikely NEET’s, Ayaka, the happy teen; Tetsuo the boxer/gambler; Major the military otaku and Hiroaki the gigolo. And then you have a yakuza leader known as “The Fourth” but he runs a group full of troglodyte members who thinks Narumi is a master for being able to do the most simplest things on the computer.

So, because of these characters, you can’t help but laugh and gigle at times.

Especially when it comes to Narumi and Alice. Because Alice is anti-social and really doesn’t get out much, the group puts in her head that Narumi sniff’s her dolls, since she sleeps with them so closely. So, she kind of thinks that Narumi is a pervert. And quite often, Ayaka and even Meo try to give Alice a bath or hair treatment, but when she calls Narumi for help, by the time Narumi gets there, the girls think that Narumi is trying to get a sneak peak and is labeled a pervert. So, there are some fun and crazy moments throughout the anime series.

But of course, each episode revolves around a case. From a Thai girl named Meo’s who’s father is missing but all they have is a bag full of money. Was her father connected to organized crime? Another features The Fourth going to Narumi to help with promotions for band. Another situation revolving around a person once connected with “The Fourth”, to the group taking part in a baseball game against a yakuza leader who was once a star pitcher. But the most emotional episodes relate to Narumi, as the return of Ayaka’s brother has led to trouble and with her in a coma.

Suffice to say, while the series has its share of laughs and serious moments, the final three episodes are my favorite because we get to see everyone really going all out to help their friend who nearly died from an attempted suicide. And Narumi and Alice are intent on finding out why someone so cheerful, tried to end her life.

As for the Blu-ray release, picture quality is very good in HD, lossless stereo soundtrack is good but not too immersive since it’s more of a front-channel dialogue-driven series. And for special features, it’s primarily the clean opening and ending animation.

Overall, “Heaven’s Memo Pad” is a fascinating series from beginning to end, I can only hope that we see another season of the series because I’m hooked! Beautiful animation, fun yet compelling story and fascinating characters!

“Heaven’s Memo Pad” is recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God – Collection 1 (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

April 8, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God” may not be the best looking anime on Blu-ray but its unique storyline about puzzle solving is rather fascinating, entertaining and its characters are enjoyable to watch. I’m definitely looking forward to season 2. Recommended!

TITLE: Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God – Collection 1

YEAR OF SERIES RELEASE: 2011

DURATION: 1-13 (325 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks

RATED: TV 14 VL

Release Date: March 29, 2013

Directed by Junichi Sato

Series Composition: Mayori Sekijima

Music by Akio Izutsu

Original Concept by Hajime Yatate

Character Design by Youhei Sasaki

Art Backgrounds by Green

Anime Production: Sunrise

Featuring the voices of:

Jun Fukuyama/Christopher Patton as Gammon Sakanoue

Shintarō Asanuma/David Wald as Kaito Daimon

Akira Ishida/Blake Shepard as Sōji Jikukawa

Chiwa Saito/Allison Sumrall as Kaito Daimon (young)/Maze

Daisuke Kishio/Kyle Jones as Yuuichi Aizawa

Kaori Shimizu/Luci Christian as Nonoha Itou

Keiji Fujiwara/Jay Hickman as Baron Kaidō

Kenta Miyake/Christopher Ayres as Funga

Kishô Taniyama/Eric Opella as Diceman

Kouki Miyata/Shannon Emerick as Cubic G (Galois)

Mai Goto/Cynthia Martinez as Airi Mizutani

Mamoru Miyano/John Gremillion as Bishop

Masahito Yabe/Clint Bickham as Naoki Takeda

Rina Satou/Carli Mosier as Tamaki Chieno

Satsuki Yukino/Brittney Karbowski as Ana Gram

Takahiro Sakurai/Greg Ayres as Rook Banjo Crossfield

Toshiyuki Morikawa/Illich Guardiola as Herbert Müller

You need the world’s best puzzle solver of course. And that would be Kaito Daimon, a completely average high school student except for one thing: he’s a demon at solving puzzles. Not only is he exceptionally good at solving them, he loves solving them. In fact, Kaito eats, sleeps and breaths puzzles. So when he suddenly finds himself caught in a lethal Philosopher’s Puzzle made by the sinister POG, he wouldn’t be worried, except that his childhood friend Nonoha is caught with him. And she… Well, let’s just say that Nonoha and puzzles don’t mix. But if Kaito can get them out alive, he’ll be designated a Solver, someone who travels the world attempting to solve the latest deadly riddles left by the POG. There’s a new conundrum around every corner and each deception could lead to death. But once a riddle has been posed, you can count on Kaito to unravel the solution in Phi-Brain – Puzzle of God!

From Hajime Yatate, creator of “After War Gundam X”, “Armored Trooper Votoms”, “Battle Spirits”, “Big O”, “Cowboy Bebop”, “Infinite Ryvius” and many other well-known anime series comes the concept of a world that revolves around puzzles.

“Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God” is a 25-episode anime series produced by Sunrise and aired in Japan on NHK Educational TV from October 2011 to September 2012. And a third season that is set to air this year in Japan.

The anime series is directed by Junichi Sato (“Kaleido Star”, “Princess Tutu”, “Sailor Moon”, “Sailor Moon R”), series composition by Mayori Sekijima (“Angel Sanctuary”, “Clamp School”, “Megami Paradise”, “Tekkaman Blade”, “Tenchi in Tokyo”, “Zillion”), music by Akio Izutsu and character design by Youhei Sasaki (“Fafner”, “Case Closed”, “Shakugan no Shana III”).

The anime series has led to a manga serialization on Kadokawa Shoten’s “Newtype Ace” and also a release of a Sony PSP video game.

And now “Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God” will be released on Blu-ray courtesy of Sentai Filmworks.

“Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God” is set during a time where puzzles are the way of the land. For high school freshman, Kaito Daimon, solving puzzles is what he is great at but what is his drive?

Having lost his parents who died trying to solve a deadly puzzle, long ago he and his good friend Rook were raised as children by an unknown traveler, who taught him the importance of solving puzzles.

And to this day, as a teenager, Kaito has made it a mission to solve all puzzles but most importantly not wanting for anyone to get hurt by puzzles.

But there is a mysterious organization that creates deadly puzzles and many have lost their lives to it. Known as the P.O.G. (Puzzle of God), Kaito has made it a mission to defeat all puzzles, especially those coming from the P.O.G.

One day, while he and his friend Nonoha were trying to solve a puzzle, an Orpheus armband attaches to his arm. The Orpheus helps Kaito see through puzzles and helps him defeat them, but will he and his friends be ready to take on the deadly P.O.G. puzzles?

The main characters of “Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God” are:

Kaito Daimon – Seen as a slacker, Kaito catches the interest of people at his school because he is an excellent solver and cares about nothing but puzzles. But why is he interested in puzzles and what happened in his past life that made him interested (or hate) puzzles. Looked at as the only hope to solve P.O.G.’s deadly puzzles and is being followed by P.O.G. as a potential Phi-Brain.
Nonoha Itou – A tomboy who has a photographic memory. Not good with puzzles and often seen beating up Kaito, but the truth is she has feelings for him and feels that he must be around him to make sure no other girl gets close to him. She also doesn’t like when Kaito talks bad about her cooking.
Gammon Sakanoue – A cocky solver known as “Galileo”, Gammon has a crush on Nonoha and rather solve puzzles when money is involved. He sees Kaito as his rival, but is often on missions assisting him and Nonoha.
Cubik Galois – A solver known as “Edison” who loves building robots and loves math. He is loyal to Kaito.
Ana Gram – An effeminate boy who loves paintings. A solver known by the name “Da Vinci”.
Souji Jikukawa – President of the student council and president of the puzzle club. Tries to assist Kaito and his friends by guiding them to the Puzzle of God.

VIDEO:

“Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God” is rather interesting because for an anime coming from Sunrise, you expect to see animation and character design that is exceptional. With that being said, this is an anime series that is not aired on the major television networks in Japan. In fact, it’s aired on NHK’s Educational channel and so, it’s gets a different treatment with many people contributing to the series, including Green who does the art backgrounds. With that being said, the 3D use of the backgrounds are good, character designs are well-shaded but facial character designs are much simpler compared to other Sunrise animated TV series.

AUDIO:

“Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God” is presented in Japanese and English DTS-HD MA 2.0. Dialogue is clear on both soundtracks and the dynamic range is good for stereo. But I found myself adjusting the audio settings on my receiver to have a more immersive soundscape.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God” comes with the clean opening and ending sequence.

While “Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God” is considered an educational anime series, I absolutely enjoyed its storyline because I love to partake in puzzles and solving them.

It has always been said that the more you use your brain, the better things are when you get older. And for me and my wife, we both partake in advanced puzzles because we have loved ones who have Alzheimer’s Disease. So knowing this, we have constantly used puzzles as a way to keep our brains active.

And so, the whole concept of an anime series about puzzle solving is rather fascinating but not surprising, considering that a lot of Japanese video games incorporate puzzles. May it be the “Professor Layton” video games to the “Brain Age” games that are released, Japan has always been a big proponent of puzzle games because of research showing that puzzle solving is good for the brain.

With NHK being a government owned network, what best to get the message across than through an anime release about puzzles and puzzle solving.

In each episode, we see how the main protagonist Kaitou gets involved with challenging puzzles, but how he is able to solve them. The series goes into the process of how Kaitou thinks, the different moves he can make, but one is correct.

I know, some of you may be reading this and are thinking that the concept must be boring, but fortunately what makes “Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God” work is its characters and their mysterious background. Kaitou is a protagonist who solves puzzles, but when most people are thinking that he does it because he loves doing it, the truth is that he does it because his parents died by trying to solve a deadly puzzle and the man that mentored him told him that he must solve puzzles and one day, they will be reunited.

Add a couple of intriguing characters as the tsundere Nanoha, the effeminate Ana, the cocky Gammon and the robot building Cubik, to see these very different characters work together to take on the various puzzles by the antagonist group Puzzle of God (POG) is rather fascinating and fun to watch.

Sure, “Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God” may not have the glitz or the detail of other Sunrise animated releases but this is a special series that airs on NHK’s education channel and while it’s an educational anime series in one sense, it also has its share of action and violence as well. So, this is not PBS, for children-type of anime.

As for the Blu-ray release, while the series does look good in HD, once again, it’s not the most-detailed anime from Sunrise and its lossless soundtrack is in stereo. Special features are primarily the opening and closing theme and Sentai Filmworks trailers.

Overall, “Phi-Brain: Puzzle of God” may not be the best looking anime on Blu-ray but its unique storyline about puzzle solving is rather fascinating, entertaining and its characters are enjoyable to watch. I’m definitely looking forward to season 2. Recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray