It’s been a week of re-watches, as I’ve mostly been taking a look at newer versions of titles I’ve previously reviewed in other forms on this site. This is the second Akira Blu-ray I’ve reviewed, although Manga Entertainment’s second shot at the film has been out a while. Their first HD release of the classic cyberpunk anime was the Bandai disc reworked for Region B, and this second one is the Funimation version that came out a few years ago. This disc addressed some of the deficiencies of the Bandai release, but what it gives with one hand, it takes with the other. Y’know, Akira takes place one year prior to the Tokyo Olympics, set in 2019. It might have been a disappointment not to have hoverboards back in 2015, but I think we can breathe a sigh of relief at the lack of psychokinetic delinquents in the world today.
The one new title to the UK I looked at this week was Seven Mortal Sins, and I wish I hadn’t. It’s less a question of good or bad, although this show is decidedly bad, rather a fact that I’ve outgrown the show, now so far out of the target demographic that this review is hardly representative. It’s a fan service show with lashings of nudity, S & M, and a little bit of sex as well. Of course if we got someone from the target audience to review it for you, we’d be breaking the law, as the BBFC in their infinite wisdom have rated it 18. Technically it is probably deserving of that rating, it’s just that you’d have to find a really immature 18-year-old to enjoy this show.
Anime Limited are bringing out a new version of the Satoshi Kon classic Perfect Blue, and once again I’m comparing and contrasting two discs, two releases five years apart. This time they are releasing Perfect Blue in an Ultimate Edition format, and they’ve sourced some really nice physical extras to go with it, none of which I have seen. But I don’t need them to enjoy this classic psychological thriller once more, which sees a pop idol turned actress haunted by herself. As well as the trailer, there is a video below, which compares the new release to the previous Blu-ray.
Speaking of psychokinetic delinquents, I next looked at From the New World Part 1, which I have upgraded from DVD to Blu-ray. It’s a sci-fi show in a classic vein, presenting a curious post-apocalyptic future world, and then challenging you to comprehend just how it turned out that way, and why it works the way it does. You could call this ‘New World’ a thousand years hence the society that results from a story like Akira. It’s deceptively pretty and idyllic.
This Week I Have Been Mostly Rewatching...
Darker Than Black. More people with strange abilities! Darker Than Black is a fantastic show from the height of the last anime bubble, a world of super-powered secret agents working against each other in the background of a world altered by the appearance of ‘Gates’, no-go areas which coincided with the loss of the sky, to be replaced with false stars. From Aniplex and Studio Bones this high quality animation has a great story and compelling characters, and it has a cooler than cool soundtrack from Yoko Kanno.
Manga Entertainment released the show on DVD back in 2009 in 3 parts, but you can get the complete series collection now. Here’s a review of Part 1. The second season Gemini of the Meteor is harder to find though. This was a Funimation show in the US, and Aniplex have taken back control, and what few releases there are out there, in the US or here are all OOP. The US saw a Region A release of Season 1 on Blu-ray, but there was never a UK Blu-ray release. Now that Aniplex have it, I hope they get around to re-releasing it the way they did Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, as their Blu-rays tend to be top quality and Region B compatible, even if you have to pay through the nose. This show is definitely worth paying for.
Manga Entertainment released Akira (the Funimation disc) in 2016 on Blu-ray/DVD combo. MVM released Seven Mortal Sins on Blu-ray on 8th April. Their From the New World Part 1 came out on DVD and Blu-ray in 2014, and while the Blu-ray may be hard to find now, remember there might be a player compatibility issue with the discs. All the Anime will release Perfect Blue Ultimate Edition on April 29th.
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