Archive for the ‘Anime’ Category
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Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 30th, 2008
A question to ponder before we head into this review. What do you get when you mix anime or japanese animation with a healthy dose of John Woo? Besides a ton of falling gun shell casing and cute characters performing acrobatics in the air while taking down a dozen bad guys? You get a movie that goes full speed for over a hundred minutes and makes you realize that this is truly the perfect avenue for John Woo and style of films. However, just don’t expect there to be a completely solid story behind it.
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Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 27th, 2007
Sometimes I absolutely adore anime. Great action from the far east that breaks boundaries one could only dream of. Or perhaps to tell an engaging story about a love lost long ago. Once in a while, I hate anime unfortunately. This usually occurs when they break no boundaries, tread over the same story or it plays out like hentai (tentacles in places where they don’t belong). So I receive Paprika to review. Hoping I would like it, I quickly stuffed it in my dvd player and found the following:
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Disc Reviews by Ryan Keefer on May 11th, 2006
Whisper of the Heart follows Shizuku, a young girl on the cusp of womanhood as she learns to realize her talents and follow her dreams. She harbors deep admiration for Seiji, a mysterious young man, who shares a strange kinship with her that soon blossoms into love. From the start, Shizuku isn’t sure who she is. She indulges in songwriting and reading. It’s the latter hobby that first links her to Seiji. She starts to notice his name in the histories for every library book she checks out. It seems he’s always …
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Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 20th, 2006
Synopsis
Set in an imaginary European country on the verge of war, in a vague time period that is approximately Edwardian, this is the story of Sophie, a young girl who encounters Howl, the handsome wizard who lives in a gigantic, clattering contraption of a mobile castle. The interest Howl has in Sophie arouses the angry jealousy of the Witch of the Waste (voiced by Lauren Bacall in the English dub), who curses Sophie with instant old age. Sophie, no longer recognized by Howl, takes up residence in …
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Disc Reviews by Mark Dancer on August 21st, 2005
Synopsis
When the economic boom in Japan leads to massive deforestation, the raccoons find their habitat threatened. They band together and mount a campaign to stop the destruction of their world by humans. They learn to shape change, and wreak merry havoc with construction crews. Some of their stunts simply frighten the people off, but some of the sabotage is deadly, too.
The packaging and the “From the Creators of Howl’s Moving Castle” might be a bit misleading in this case. Studio…
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Disc Reviews by Jeremy Frost on June 18th, 2005
This “best of” collection includes eight episodes from the only season produced of this incredibly strange program. The animation style is strictly classic wide-eyed Japanimation, but the poorly dubbed audio is as American as it gets. This is the most schizophrenic show I have ever seen. If you remember the “Matthew’s Best Hit TV” segment from Lost in Translation, then you have some idea of what I am talking about.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that this series is produced by Bob and Harvey Weins…
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Disc Reviews by Rod on April 4th, 2005
I’ll start this review with a disclaimer about my Astro Boy knowledge level – for those Astro Boy fans reading this, I’m not an Astro Boy die-hard, and while I have some hazy recollections from my youth, until a few days ago, that’s about where my AB knowledge ended.
Astro Boy Backgrounder
The box set reviewed here contains 50 new episodes, released on television in their entirety overseas in, and in part in North America, in 2003. This is in fact the third incarnation of Astro Boy:
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Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 10th, 2005
Synopsis
Poor Haru is have a rough day at school, and it isn’t like this is an exception. She can’t seemto fit in, and is filled with self-doubt. On her way home, she rescues a cat from traffic, and isastonished when the cat speaks to her. It turns out that she rescued the prince of the CatKingdom. By way of thanks, the Cat King decides she should become his son’s bride. Harudoesn’t like this idea. Coming to her aid is the Baron, an elegant cat figurine come to life, alongwith his f…
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Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 3rd, 2005
Synopsis
The setting is the Adriatic in the 1930s. The hero is a bounty hunter known as Porco Rosso(“The Crimson Pig”), a former Italian seaplane pilot who deserted the post-war military ratherthan join the Fascists, and who, for mysterious reasons, has been cursed to look like a pig. Hemakes his living defending civilians from seaplane pirates, and his activities force the pirates tobring in outside talent: self-obsessed American aviator Curtis. In their first encounter, Porco’seng…
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Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 2nd, 2005
Synopsis
Over a thousand years in the future, human civilization has largely collapsed. Most of theplanet is consumed by the Sea of Decay, a forest of toxic spores and giant insects. Only a fewhuman outposts remain. The most idyllic of these is the Valley of the Wind, where the peoplehave learned not to be locked in combat with nature. Nausicaa, the princess of the valley, isparticularly in tune with the insects. The peace in the valley is shattered when it is dragged intothe bitter…
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Disc Reviews by Stanley Koodoo on June 18th, 2004
Apparently inspired by Three Godfathers, the over-sentimental John Ford western from 1948, the “godfathers” here are three homeless Tokyo-ites — Gin, a former professional bicycle racer; Hana, a transvestite; and Miyuki, a young runaway girl — living together in Shinjuku, Tokyo. On Christmas Eve, they find a baby, and embark on a journey that takes them all across the city in order to reunite the baby with its parents, while at the same time bringing their own lives closer to their ultimate destinies. Fun, fast-pac…
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Disc Reviews by Stanley Koodoo on June 18th, 2004
Wizards is a Ralph Bakshi production that is a lot more family friendly than some of his other better known works aka Fritz the Cat and the less said about his adaptation of The Lord of The Rings, the better. Wizards does borrow a lot from the Tolkein classic however, in it’s themes of industrialism versus nature as played out in the classic good versus evil story.
The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world where an ancient prophet foretells the coming of twins who will battle and the outcome of the con…
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Disc Reviews by Stanley Koodoo on March 13th, 2004
Cyborg 009 (pronounced zero zero nine, not double oh nine) is a show about a group of people who are half-human and half-robot – a.k.a. cyborgs. Abducted and experimented on against their will, these cyborgs are revolting against the person who made them, the evil Black Ghost.
This show has the look of an old fashion anime program. Based on a manga strip that started in 1969, the character designs are from that era, with exaggerated facial features (most evidently big noses), sleek lines and big feet. B…
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Disc Reviews by Jeremy Frost on June 11th, 2003
It is very seldom to see an anime TV series draw the cult following the Cowboy Bebop has. This show has now made its way to the big screen in Cowboy Bebop: The Movie. This film is very entertaining… maintaining the feel of the television show, but growing the characters and the level of action. If you are a fan of anime, you cannot go wrong with Cowboy Bebop!
”Mars. Days before Halloween 2071. Villains blow up a tanker truck on Highway One, releasing a deadly virus that kills hundreds. Fear…
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Disc Reviews by Aric Mitchell on May 3rd, 2003
Synopsis
Chihiro is a ten-year-old girl moving to a new home. On the way there, her father takes awrong turn, and they find themselves in an abandoned amusement park. I really don’t want tosay too much, as this is a film whose wonders should be discovered without too muchforeknowledge. Suffice to say that Chihiro soon finds herself in a magical world of spirits,striving to free herself, her parents, and a new friend. Spirited Away is a stunning film, worthyof comparison to Alice in Wonderla…
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Disc Reviews by Jeremy Frost on April 16th, 2003
Very few children’s animated television shows have been able to stand the test of time as well as Speed Racer has. This show has grow to a cult status, and 35 years after it’s debut, still holds a loyal fan base. Sure, both the animation and the story are very dated, but that adds to the allure of the Speed Racer phenomenon.
”The world’s favorite high-octane animated hero is back! Roaring into action aboard his trusty Mach 5, it’s the intrepid young racecar driver who sparked an international cult phe…
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Disc Reviews by Jeremy Frost on February 22nd, 2003
It may be a stretch to call Heavy Metal a classic animated film, but it definitely can be considered as a cult classic. When released in 1981, this film featured groundbreaking animation and content. It is now 22 years later, and though the animation now seems somewhat dated, the film still holds its own… Heavy Metal remains to be extremely entertaining, and ranks up there as one of the best adult oriented animated films ever made. That being said, it is a pleasure to have this film join Heavy Metal 2000 in Columbia-Tri-Star’s Superbit collection.
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 28th, 2002
Synopsis
Two young children move to a new house with their father. Their mother is in the hospital,but they are hopeful she is getting better. In the garden, they have access to a magical world ofspirit creatures. This is a gentle, warm work, with the same delight in the fantastic as is present inPrincess Mononoke and Spirited Away (though unlike those films, this one can be enjoyed evenby very young children). Sweet but never cloying, moving but never saccharine, funny, andfrequent…
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Disc Reviews by Jeremy Frost on April 1st, 2002
Columbia-Tristar made the right decision to make Metropolis their first release under their new Destination Films label. This is one of the finest anime films of all time, and everyone will take something away from viewing this film.
Synopsis
“Brace yourself for a totally new experience in cutting edge animation. Based on the classic comic created by Osamu Tezuka (Astroboy), written by Japanese anime legend Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) and directed by Rintaro (Galaxy Express 999), Metropolis…
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