Anime Review Roundup

The anime is coming thick and fast now, which makes a contrast to the virtual desert of anime there was back at the start of the year. I haven't even had time to address the final instalment of Durarara!! The first title to delay my pleasure last week was Bleach: Series 9 Part 1. It's all change for Bleach with this volume. Not only does the show ditch the canon Arrancar arc to indulge in a whole season of filler, but the production of Manga Entertainment's discs now switches from Australia's Madman Entertainment, to France's Kazé Entertainment. If you've gotten used to the way that Madman do things with DVDs, you may be concerned by some of the changes that Kazé have made. See what these changes mean for you by clicking the review.

It's also that time of year when we get a fresh instalment of Ghibli high definition goodness. They are taking their time over releasing the back catalogue on Blu-ray, but who can blame them when the results are this good. Admittedly Tales From Earthsea isn't exactly everyone's favourite Ghibli movie, but there's no denying the quality of the audio and video on the new Blu-ray. I had my first encounter with son Goro Miyazaki's adaptation of the Ursula K. Le Guin Earthsea universe, and found it to be not that bad actually.

Not too long ago, we were hearing just how difficult it is to release anime in high definition in the UK, that the audience just isn't there to support such an exercise. Yet this week, 3 out of the 4 titles have high definition releases. Angel Beats comes from a different anime niche than Ghibli's family friendly fantasies. This comes from the school of Visual Novels, the choose-your-own adventure computer games that take players through complex stories. Key/Visual Arts' Jun Maeda is a master of creating these, and games such as Air, Kanon, and Clannad have proved to be highly adaptable to popular anime shows. Jun Maeda also created Angel Beats, but it's an original anime, not adapted from a game. If it was a game, it wouldn't be a visual novel. It'd more likely be a first person shooter...

To conclude the week of reviews, I took a look at the other new Ghibli Blu-ray, Howl's Moving Castle. This one is directed by the father, Hayao Miyazaki, and offers more of what you would expect from a Ghibli film, a magical, wondrous fairy tale adventure, this time based on the novel of the same name by Dianne Wynne Jones. I'm not as up to date with Miyazaki's movies post Spirited Away, and this was my first in depth look at Howl's Moving Castle. See what I thought by clicking my review.