Anime Review Roundup
Saved For The People
Last year, Warners dabbled in anime once again when they released the first series of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure on DVD, and were met with universal derision from anime fans. The first thing was that it was DVD only in a Blu-ray age, the second was the way the episodes were crammed onto as few discs as possible like some sort of bootleg, with little thought given to AV quality, the third thing was the show got dubtitles, although for some daft reason, the thing which most got the goat of fans, was the menu design.
It’s been a big week of anime conventions in the US, and in one of them, Viz Media announced that they have picked up the Jojo’s franchise for streaming and home release, ahead of the new Diamond is Unbreakable series. One solitary tweet from Viz also seems to indicate that they will go back, and re-release the first series as well. As you can imagine, Jojo’s fans are really quite happy. Hopefully the releases will work their way to the UK too.
The first of three anime reviews last week was for Hanamonogatari, as MVM once again visits the lucrative and fan-favourite Monogatari universe. Most other long-running franchises would start to hit diminishing returns at this point, but Monogatari continues to go from strength to strength. In Hanamonogatari, the story focuses on former basketball player Suruga Kanbaru, who for me has always been one of the weaker characters. This story follows her as she investigates rumours of the supernatural that take on a very personal bent, and Hanamonogatari turns out to be one of the strongest offerings from this franchise yet.
It was then the turn of Patlabor – The Mobile Police Series Collection 2, a review that had been lurking on my hard drive for a couple of months now, waiting for a slot for me to post it. This franchise about giant robots turns out to be utterly refreshing as it’s actually about its characters instead. The first collection had a couple of missteps in an otherwise strong run of episodes, but Collection 2 is even better, with an overarching storyline that develops well over the episodes, and an even stronger focus on the characters. Click on the review to read more.
I concluded the week with Tokyo ESP: Collector’s Edition, anime’s answer to the X-Men. We find a city in the midst of chaos, as people are suddenly awakening to super-powered abilities, their ESP triggered by strange glowing fish, flying through the city. Most of them are choosing to use their powers for ill, understandable when the government reacts by harshly discriminating against the espers, but fortunately there are a few that aspire to be champions of justice, and will use their powers to protect humanity. Alas, Tokyo ESP wasn’t quite what I expected, but if you click on the review, you can see if it’s still worth spending some time with.
This Week I’ve Been Mostly Rewatching...
Daphne in the Brilliant Blue. It’s a show that you want to hate at first acquaintance. After all it has the most absurd fan service I have seen in anime. Butts and bosoms abound, with absolutely insane costume designs, bikini briefs that are more merkins than clothing. It balances out this costume inanity with bird-like character designs that are unattractive in the extreme. It’s a futuristic action show, a sort of Charlie’s Angels meets Waterworld set up, with a young orphan girl winding up joining a ‘fix-it’ agency with a bunch of outlandish and somewhat mercenary women. But it’s a show with its heart in the right place, with its light comedy-action working well on an episodic basis, an interesting and compelling future world, and gradually revealing a story arc about the main character that is heartfelt, engaging, and moving. Daphne in the Brilliant Blue doesn’t aim very high, but it hits its target in the bull’s-eye.
Daphne in the Brilliant Blue is one of my favourite, middle-of-the-road anime. Stuart McLean reviewed the complete collection when it was released in the UK, although I originally warmed to the series over its single volumes. That collection is still available from retailers and indeed the single volumes are still available in some quarters.
MVM release Hanamonogatari on DVD and Blu-ray on April 11th. All the Anime release Tokyo ESP on Collector’s Edition and standard DVD today, while Madman Entertainment released Patlabor – The Mobile Police Series Collection 2 on DVD in 2014.
Last year, Warners dabbled in anime once again when they released the first series of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure on DVD, and were met with universal derision from anime fans. The first thing was that it was DVD only in a Blu-ray age, the second was the way the episodes were crammed onto as few discs as possible like some sort of bootleg, with little thought given to AV quality, the third thing was the show got dubtitles, although for some daft reason, the thing which most got the goat of fans, was the menu design.
It’s been a big week of anime conventions in the US, and in one of them, Viz Media announced that they have picked up the Jojo’s franchise for streaming and home release, ahead of the new Diamond is Unbreakable series. One solitary tweet from Viz also seems to indicate that they will go back, and re-release the first series as well. As you can imagine, Jojo’s fans are really quite happy. Hopefully the releases will work their way to the UK too.
This Week I’ve Been Mostly Rewatching...
Daphne in the Brilliant Blue is one of my favourite, middle-of-the-road anime. Stuart McLean reviewed the complete collection when it was released in the UK, although I originally warmed to the series over its single volumes. That collection is still available from retailers and indeed the single volumes are still available in some quarters.
MVM release Hanamonogatari on DVD and Blu-ray on April 11th. All the Anime release Tokyo ESP on Collector’s Edition and standard DVD today, while Madman Entertainment released Patlabor – The Mobile Police Series Collection 2 on DVD in 2014.
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