Straight to the reviews this week, beginning with the final instalment of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood on Blu-ray. This fan-favourite show took its sweet time to get here in the high definition format, after an initial faltering start a couple of years ago. The delay in its release has given me just the excuse I needed to watch it again now, and I take a look to see whether it’s worth upgrading the DVDs of
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Part 5, indeed all of the series to Blu-ray. Answer: After reviewing the recently released volumes 3-5 on BD, I went back and bought volumes 1 and 2 as well.
It seems that upgrades are the order of the day with my second review, as I took a look at one of my personal favourites on Blu-ray,
Kiki’s Delivery Service. This classic heart-warming Ghibli animation about a young witch’s coming of age enchanted me the first time I saw it, and it’s no less enchanting now. In fact it’s even more so when taken in its high definition glory. Click the review to see why once more you’ll be pulling out your wallet, and dispensing with the services of that venerable DVD.
The re-releases keep on coming, and for the third anime review of the week, a title which I previously reviewed under the ADV banner, I passed the discs over to my colleague Stuart McLean, as he took a look at
Last Exile: The Complete Series, which is coming out again now as a prelude to the recent sequel series. Last Exile is getting close to ten years old now, but it turns out that the Gonzo animation, the steampunk vibe, and above all the quality of the storytelling still holds strong today. Click on Stuart’s review to read more about this fascinating alternate world of airships and feudal conflict.
We end the retro-quartet with
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. This was released last year on DVD, and now it makes its UK debut on Blu-ray. I actually missed this show the first time around. It’s quite the fan favourite, with its anarchic animation, and profane content harking back to the edgy and more adult cartoons that come from the US. The Japanese studio GAINAX took a look at shows like Ren & Stimpy, Powerpuff Girls, and South Park and decided that they could do it better. Click on my review to see why I didn’t agree.
That’s four reviews of four re-releases, with Studiocanal’s Kiki’s Delivery Service coming out on Blu-ray DVD combo today. Manga Entertainment release all the rest, and Last Exile came out on DVD on the 17th of June. Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt was released last Monday 24th of June as a Blu-ray DVD combo, while Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Part 5 was released as a Blu-ray only on the same day. Last Monday also saw the release of the first half of the complete series of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood on Blu-ray, if you’re collecting from scratch. Hopefully next week, I’ll have some reviews of new releases.
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