Posted 1/3/13 2:30 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, Movies, Reviews
"The Mystical Laws" has all of the hallmarks of being a vanity project with the added bonus that its producer/writer is a self-professed living Buddha (no, really). This bizarre near-future story of Westward expansion of a evil, Chinese-based empire, aliens, and space gods flits back and forth between sci-fi and philosophy (with a wee bit of nationalism thrown in). Also, there are carnivorous lizard men, but that comes later in "The Mystical Laws'" bloated, bizarre two hours running time.
Posted 12/20/12 3:35 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, DVD and Blu-ray, Movies, Reviews
It's hard to overstate the importance of "Ninja Scroll" in the U.S.. The Madhouse-produced feature was one of those titles that--for a certain segment of the population--was the first mainline injection of anime into their lives. Instead of something more artful or thoughtful like the works out of Studio Ghibli, the 1993 film was a shot of bloody, oversexed, fast-moving exploitation brilliance to a generation whose exposure to Japanese animation up to that point involved transforming robots.
Nearly 20 years on, Sentai Filmworks/Section23 Films has re-released "Ninja Scroll," and for this fan, it still feels as essential as ever.
Posted 12/20/12 1:40 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, Movies
In this exclusive clip from the upcoming anime based on the "Mass Effect" trilogy, see how even the most determined, battle-hardened Krogan warriors fare against a group of industrious humans.
Posted 12/20/12 12:14 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, Movies, News, TV, Xbox 360
No specifics on when we might expect it beyond the release window announced in yesterday's newsletter, but this should be welcome news to 360 owners interested in anime and manga publisher VIZ's streaming service.
Posted 12/19/12 6:00 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, Movies, News
The "Walking Dead" producer wants to bring more mechs to movie theaters as she gains the rights to the 70's Toei anime from the creator of "Devilman" and "Getter Robo," Go Nagai. Could we really be looking at a big-budget movie featuring mutants, mechs, and also dino-mechs in the near future?
Posted 12/18/12 10:02 am EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, DVD and Blu-ray, Movies, Reviews
There's something beautiful and horrible about seeing children being brave and fending for one another. Beautiful because even at an early age, the smallest and weakest of us already have the strongest character and instinct to protect others; horrible because no child should be in life-or-death circumstances.
Based on the WWII memoir of Akiyuki Nosaka who wrote the story to chart his and his sister's own hardscrabble struggle to survive the American firebombings of Japan, this film isn't easy to watch but it's essential viewing among the great works of animation--or really of all film, for that matter.
Posted 12/17/12 3:00 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, DVD and Blu-ray, Movies, News, Section23 Films, TV
It's been nearly ten years since the last official release of AIC's "Vampire Princess Miyu" via TokyoPop, but Section23 now has the license for the horror-mystery series and are set to re-release it in the spring on DVD.
You can find the full details for all of Section23's March releases after the jump.
Posted 11/28/12 4:22 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, DVD and Blu-ray, Movies, News, VIZ
The first film in the three-part "Golden Age Arc" has made its way to DVD and Blu-ray this week from U.S. publisher VIZ. "The Egg of the King," which was released theatrically in Japan and streamed via VIZ's Neon Alley service sets up a three-film adaptation of the complete "Berserk" series.
And you know what? It's pretty good.
Posted 11/28/12 10:22 am EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, DVD and Blu-ray, Funimation, Movies, News
The CLAMP-produced series "Blood-C" comes to DVD and Blu-ray in January in a pretty slim month for new titles from FUNimation. Plus, the gourmet adventure series "Toriko" comes to DVD.
Posted 11/26/12 2:35 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, Movies, News
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has released its massive list of 12 animated movies that can end up on the short list for the 2013 Golden Globes. Among them: kids who can talk to ghosts, more wacky talking animal adventures, living dead animals, coming-of-age dramas, and Adam Sandler as Dracula, if you can believe it.
We've got the full list of nominees below and our thoughts on the HFPA's picks.
Posted 11/23/12 3:30 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, Movies, News
Akiyuki Nosaka's autobiographical novel of surviving in the wake of the firebombing of Kobe in 1945 will be headed into production as a live-action feature from Dresden Pictures in 2014, according to Screen Daily.
Posted 11/23/12 3:00 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, Movies, News
While an official announcement should be due sometime in the coming weeks, according to the Studio Ghibli Facebook page, the studio's distributor, Toho has nabbed the domain names "Kaze Tachinu" (The Wind Rises) and "Kaguya-Hime no Monogatari" (Princess Kaguya Story), which line up with the plot details of their next two projects.
Posted 11/21/12 4:30 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, Movies, News
Back in September, we brought you news that Leamington Spa-based theater company Whole Hog Theater Productions planned to mount a live-action/puppet stage play based on Studio Ghibli's "Princess Mononoke" in 2013. The sole production they had planned was immediately sold out after the announcement, and as a result, Whole Hog Theater wants to add more dates.
So the non-profit has taken to Kickstarter asking fans for support to put on more performances (at least, in the U.K).
Posted 11/15/12 12:30 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, DVD and Blu-ray, News, Section23 Films
The shortest month of the year still has a solid number of anime offerings from Section23 Films. Notably, "New Fist Of the North Star" gets another U.S. release, over eight years after the update to brutal martial arts anime received its first pressing in the U.S. Which begs the question: who holds the rights to the 152-episode series from the 80's? The subbed version streaming on Hulu is credited to the original studio Toei Animation, but it's unclear who holds the rights to release any of the previous dubs or a complete set with all of the subs here in the U.S. (I guess that would be Eastern Star/a.k.a Diskotek Media?).
As for high-def offerings, the publisher is releasing the gender-bending "Battle Girls: Time Paradox" as a complete collection on Blu-ray as well as on DVD, if you're looking for some lady samurai in feudal Japan action-comedy.
You can check out the full slate of February releases after the jump.
Posted 11/8/12 12:20 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, Movies, PS3, TV, VIZ
VIZ takes on competing video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu while going head-to-head against Crunchyroll with their unorthodox subscription service on PSN. Offering animated series, features, and Asian films on a dedicated streaming platform sounds great, right?
Well, some of the quirks in how Neon Alley handles its content, a curiously barebones interface, and the overall vision for the service are things you might want to think about before plunking down your $6.99 a month.