Posted 4/13/12 11:09 am EST by Hilary Rothing in C2E2, Diamond Select Toys, IDW, Toys
Battle Beasts are coming, thanks to the fine folks at Diamond Select Toys and IDW Publishing! During this year's Chicago Comic and entertainment Expo (C2E2), DST will be feeding the rabid fans with both an ashcan preview of IDW's upcoming Battle Beasts comic book mini-series AND an exclusive Minimate of one of the new lead characters! DST has been hinting at some type of Battle Beasts goodness since 2010, and it looks like the wait is finally over!
Posted 12/22/10 1:59 pm EST by Hilary Rothing in Anime
So you say you like TV shows about sexy, supernatural-battling babes? Well, leggy, flame-haired Ghost Sweeper, Reiko Mikami makes Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Patricia Arquette look like the Golden Girls in a Halloween special.
Ok, maybe not...but there's something great about the anti-heroine of Takashi Shiina's popular early '90s paranormal comedy. I say "anti-heroine" because Mikami isn't particularly likable, although she's certainly fun to watch. The series, based on the long-running manga, (almost forty volumes long) follows Reiko Mikami, a twenty-year old exorcist, hired by a wide variety of clientele, all with the same problem - pesky ghosts. With the assistance of one very hormonal high school student named Tadao Yokoshima and a teen girl ghost named Okinu Mikami helps those spirits trapped in our world move on to heaven.
Mikami, whose already amassed a considerable fortune through ghost Read More...
Posted 12/20/10 5:00 pm EST by Hilary Rothing in Animation, Anime, TV
Even if you've never seen an episode of "Fullmetal Alchemist," there's a good chance you've encountered a fan cosplaying as the series' towheaded, red-caped hero Edward Elric. And now, thanks to FUNimation, you can put a name to the face - for free.
The well known anime distributor is premiering episodes 27-39 of the English dub of "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" on iTunes well in advance of the December 28th DVD/Blu-ray street date. In fact, you can download episodes right now. And in the spirit of the holiday, they're throwing in episodes 1 and 27 of this second "FMA" series for free, giving fans a chance to try before they buy. Read More...
Posted 12/17/10 6:46 pm EST by Hilary Rothing in Animation, Anime, Reviews
The word "Canaan" may conjure up images of the promised land of milk and honey but video game publisher Type-Moon's thirteen episode futuristic sci-fi thriller is a far cry from the holy land.
A sequel to the popular "visual novel" console game "428: F?sa Sareta Shibuya de," "Canaan" takes place in Shanghai, where the titular character, a young Middle Eastern girl, synesthete (a person whose senses blend together) and trained mercenary is on the hunt for the beautiful and equally dangerous Alphard, the leader of "Snake," a terrorist organization responsible for biological attacks on Shibuya and Shanghai. But Canaan's gripe with Alphard is runs much deeper, as she is also the woman who killed the man who raised and trained Canaan as a child, Siam.
Caught in the middle of Canaan and Alphard's ongoing battle is Maria Osawa, a Japanese photographer on assignment in Shanghai to cover the upcoming anti-terrorism summit along with burned out and jaded journalist, Minoru Minorikawa. Years earlier, Maria was abducted by Snake during the attack on Shibuya and infected with the deadly Ua virus. However, her scientist father, Kenji Osawa was able to develop a cure, saving his daughter's life, which was all part of Snake's master plan. Read More...
Posted 12/9/10 4:01 pm EST by Hilary Rothing in Animation, Anime
If the title alone doesn’t lure you in, let me be of some assistance. Although she’d rather be honing her homemaking skills in the kitchen or daydreaming about teen idols, Yawara Inokuma, granddaughter of revered Judo champion, Jigorou Inokuma, will take you down if she has to. You see, Yawara can’t help it, not as long as she’s living under her Judoka grandfather’s watchful eye.
Naoki Urasawa’s late-eighties manga-turned-anime is the quintessential sports series, featuring an exceptionally talented yet emotionally conflicted heroine in high school student and judo expert Yawara Inokuma, whose overbearing grandfather is constantly pushing her towards martial arts greatness and away from the usual teenage pursuits, like courting boys and following fashion (hence the “fashionable” Judo girl).
It may sound like a downer, but in fact like another popular sports anime, “Touch,” focused on baseball (which “Yawara!” director Hiroko Tokita also worked on), there’s plenty of comic relief in this light-hearted of coming of age tale, most notably in the form of Yawara’s ultra-competitive granddaddy, Jigorou. Simultaneously the bane of Yawara’s existence and her greatest supporter, Jigorou is a crotchety old man who happens to kick serious ass when the occasion calls for it. His only wish is that his granddaughter would succeed him as Japan’s greatest Judo champion, despite her resistance. Read More...
Posted 12/7/10 5:23 pm EST by Hilary Rothing in Animation, TV
David Mamet on “The Simpsons?” Sure, why not. The “Glengarry Glen Ross” scribe seems like a suitable follow-up to this season’s worldly array of guest stars, which has included great minds like physicist Stephen Hawking, economist Muhammad Yunus and anti-pederast, Chris Hansen.
According to “Simpsons” executive producer Al Jean, who broke the news to Entertainment Weekly, Mamet will play a writer on an‘80s era sitcom called “Thicker Than Waters,” which Homer is a big fan of. And in true Mamet fashion, there will be plenty of bleeped out f-bombs in the episode, titled “Homer the Father,” which airs on January 23. Read More...
Posted 12/6/10 6:27 pm EST by Hilary Rothing in Movies
With the release of Ong Bak 3, the “final(?) chapter in the Thai martial arts trilogy, one of the most successful Asian film franchises in recent history comes to a conclusion. In a movie industry dominated by Hong Kong studios, “Ong Bak” not only held its own, but opened the door for the recent influx of Thai martial arts films and a new breed of high-flying action stars. One in particular stands out, Yanin “Jeeja” Vismistanada, often heralded as “the female Tony Jaa.” High praise or at least an equivocated compliment in a male-dominated industry.
Her name may not roll off the western tongue the way “Tony Jaa” does but the work of this young Thai actress and Muay Thai specialist, star of “Raging Phoenix” and “Chocolate,” is certainly on par with Jaa’s non-stop bone-breaking and elephant-acrobatics. Read More...
Posted 12/3/10 5:43 pm EST by Hilary Rothing in Animation, Anime, Movies
Ah, the bizarre world of anime, releasing a film called “Summer Wars” in the middle of December. Never mind the fact that a good chunk of the film takes place in a virtual world called Oz where a teenage math genius and a thirteen-year old recluse, who takes on the persona of a white rabbit adept in Shaolin Kung-Fu, battle a nefarious artificial intelligence known as “Love Machine.”
“Summer Wars” might just fit into a genre I like to call “acid-trip anime,” rich in the kind of imagery and storytelling most of us couldn’t conjure up without the aid of some highly potent hallucinogenic.
But it’s exactly this type of hyper-imaginative filmmaking and fanciful character design that’s made “Summer Wars” one of the most critically lauded animated films in recent history.
Perhaps it’s the fact that director Mamoru Hosada and writer Satoko Okudera, the team behind another critical darling “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time,” aren’t afraid to dive deep down the rabbit hole of trippy, alternate-reality storytelling, much like another anime director who’s found great success stateside, Hayao Miyazaki. Read More...
Posted 12/1/10 6:00 pm EST by Hilary Rothing in Animation, Anime
We’ve still got almost a year to go before the premiere of “Avatar: Legend of Korra,” the sequel to the hit Nickelodeon animated series, “Avatar: The Last Airdender, which spawned the not-so-much-of-a-hit live-action film. Which is why we’re glad Dante Basco, aka “Prince Zuko,” is tweeting and blogging away on his involvement in the project.
Basco, who gave voice to the Fire Nation prince in the original series, told fans via Twitter that he is “playing a new character…but he definitely has something to do with Zuko.”
Which, of course leads fans to speculate that Basco could be playing the son of Zuko and Mai, the knife-wielding daughter of the New Ozai governor. There’s also been talk of Basco voicing flashbacks for Zuko in the new mini-series.
The actor elaborated a bit more on his involvement in “Legend of Korra” in a recent blog post after a “Korra” recording session. “I just recorded an episode today in which I play a character that is a big surprise… (at least it was to me)…But to the die-hard fans, I don’t think you will be disappointed with the new series… I think it’s going to be amazing and I’m just honored to be apart of it again.” Basco also revealed that one of the episodes he worked on is titled “Skeleton In The Closest.” Read More...
Posted 11/30/10 6:30 pm EST by Hilary Rothing in Animation, Anime, Movies
Could Hiroya Oku’s dark futuristic thriller “Gantz” become the next great American sci-fi franchise?
Viz Pictures, NCM Fathom and a string of film distributors, both domestic and international, are betting that a pair of upcoming “Gantz” live-action releases will usher western audiences into the deadly, future-tech survival game that Oku’s hit manga and anime is centered on.
For those unfamiliar, I’d describe “Gantz” as a cross between “Tron” and the “Cube” trilogy with a bit of a “Matrix” feel. Sounds good right?
After two high school students are hit by a train in an attempt to save a homeless man’s life, they awaken in an apartment, where they learn that they now belong to “Gantz,” a spherical entity who outfits the two teens with slick black super powered suits and advanced weaponry, before sending them on numerous game-like missions where they receive points for killing aliens. Read More...
Posted 11/29/10 7:00 pm EST by Hilary Rothing in Animation, Anime, Manga, Movies
Before Rocky Balboa’s inspirational climb up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a scrappy young Japanese orphan named Joe Yabuki fought his way out of prison to boxing superstardom. And now, forty-plus years after the debut of Asao Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba’s classic boxing manga, “Ashita no Joe” is getting the live-action treatment, with a feature film set for release on February 11th.
A seminal title in the history of anime and manga, “Ashita no Joe” or “Tomorrow’s Joe,” set the standard for the intense, often-theatrical “sports” genre. A heart wrenching, and at times, brutally violent tale of redemption, honor and determination, the story of Joe Yabuki transcended the pages of the voluminous manga, most famously with a fan-staged funeral for Joe’s rival, Rikiishi Toru, in a boxing ring back in 1970. Read More...
Posted 11/24/10 11:00 pm EST by Hilary Rothing in Animation, Anime, Movies
With only a week to go before the theatrical release, anticipation is high for the live-action “Space Battleship Yamato” movie. As for today’s release of the accompanying Steven Tyler power ballad? Not so much.
If you’re not familiar with “Space Battleship Yamato,” you may recall the early ‘80s American animated series, “Starblazers,” a toned-down dubbed version of the original Leiji Matsumoto anime.
Predating survivalist space operas like “Battlestar Galactica” and “Stargate Universe,” the series focuses on the crew of the Yamato, built from the ruins of the old World War II battleship of the same name. The crew is tasked with reaching the planet Iscandar, whose Queen Starsha has promised advanced technology which can save humanity from extinction, after an alien attack has left Earth in radioactive ruin.
The “Space Battleship Yamato” franchise has yielded countless films, manga and games but next week’s release marks the first live-action film in the series’ history. A hefty undertaking for such a revered franchise, with a thirty-plus year history. Read More...
Posted 11/23/10 5:01 pm EST by Hilary Rothing in Animation, Anime
Welcome to the Toxic Jungle! Hayao Miyazaki’s 1984 cautionary eco-fable, “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” is coming to Blu-ray on March 8th, 2011 via Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
The post-apocalyptic film, which predates the founding of Miyazaki’s celebrated Studio Ghibli, centers on the story of Nausicaa, a kind-hearted young princess with the ability to commune with oversized mutant insects and a longing to understand the environmentally ravaged world she inhabits.
Aside from serving as a sobering environmental allegory, “Nausicaa” features one of the greatest voice acting casts ever assembled, including Edward James Olmos, Mark Hamill, Frank Welker and Patrick Stewart. Read More...
