MCM Comicon News and Anime Review Roundup
This year I learned that I don’t have to be glued to Twitter to catch all the announcements from MCM Comicon as they happen. It’s not like someone will erase the tweets straight away. I managed to get a day or two of DIY in and there were all the announcements waiting for me at the end of the weekend. Of course I’ll have forgotten all this by the time the autumn Comicon rolls around, and I’ll gleefully waste another day glued to a Twitter feed. Anyway, once again it was just two of the three distributors at MCM that were making official announcements. As for who has what titles, see below.
Anime Limited
Anime:
Gundam 00
Gundam Char’s Counterattack
Gundam Wing
Gundam Bandit Flower
Ride Your Wave (Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara)
Birthday Wonderland
Tamako Market and its sequel film Tamako Love Story.
We Rent Tsukumogami (Tsukumogami Kashimasu).
All the Anime seem to be finally picking up the pace on their Gundam releases, after their initial, overoptimistic intention to match the US releases from Nozomi. As usual, they’ll be going for their Collector’s Edition releases to sweeten the purchase for fans.
Vinyl:
A Silent Voice (Nov 19)
FLCL (Sept 19)
The All the Anime vinyl project has also been a long time coming, with the announcement that they would start a label for the large shiny black discs full of sound made a few years ago, but only now looking to come to fruition, as more and more millennials decide it’s cool to invest in obsolete formats. In no way bitter that no FLCL CD (slightly less obsolete format) was announced.
MVM
All the Anime might have had panels and guests and lots of formal interaction with fans, but once again, MVM let the Twitter do the talking, and they had ten new anime titles to announce that induced much glee in fans.
Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs
Asura Cryin’
Domestic Girlfriend
The Girl in Twilight
Mysteria Friends
Revue Starlight
Starmyu S2 and OVA
Record of Grancrest Wars
You can guess which of these titles I’d be most excited about, as I’ve already reviewed import versions of Tamako Market and Anohana for this site, although if MVM release the dub version of Anohana, that might be cause for some to double dip.
My first anime review of the week was for Black Clover Season 1 Part 2. It’s been a while since I reviewed the first instalment of this long-running shonen anime show, and the intervening time has necessitated a switch in label and release format. No longer a Funimation combo release, this one comes from Manga in separate BD and DVD forms. It’s still a long running shonen anime, and you know what to expect from those, although we’re still setting the stage here, introducing the characters. We haven’t gotten to any episode-stretching battles full of levelling up, let alone recaps and fillers. This is still the one anime that I can only watch in English though.
It’s not anime! But it’s released by All the Anime. I’m so confused... Castlevania Season 1 is the show, with the scourge of Dracula and his demonic hordes in 15th Century Wallachia the instigators of this story. In the first season of this Netflix original, based on an old NES game, we’re introduced to the protagonists that will eventually work together against this menace, over the course of 4 action packed and blood soaked episodes.
I concluded the week with a review for Maquia – When the Promised Flower Blooms. This feature film is the directorial debut of prolific anime scriptwriter Mari Okada. It’s a fairy tale with a twist, the story of an immortal girl who winds up raising a fleetingly short-lived and fast growing human boy. But it takes place in a world where magic and legend is rapidly passing from memory as progress and advancement takes its place. Mari Okada can always get to the emotional heart of a character narrative, but as a directorial debut, Maquia is a little overlong and confused in tone.
This Week I Have Been Mostly Rewatching...
High School DxD Born. I am having the hardest time right now reviewing Re:Zero Part 2, as I’ve never seen the first half of the show. I just have no context for the characters, no familiarity with the story. It’s a real pain. I say this because Funimation’s release of High School DxD was messed up in the UK. They missed out Season 2 after releasing the first season, and went straight to the third. And you know, I have no need to have seen Season 2 to know where I stand with High School DxD Born. It’s just more of the same by the numbers harem rom-com, adapted from a light novel to give its faux narrative weight behind its contrived T&A and comedy sexual harassment. Naturally it’s a fan favourite big seller, and as so often happens with these shows, I couldn’t find any heart or humanity in the characters for the show to click with me.
There was a two and half year gap between the two seasons released here in the UK, not that you’d notice. There was also a label switch from Manga to All the Anime. Here’s my review of High School DxD Born. You can still get the combo release, and knowing the genre, I suppose you already have.
Manga Entertainment released Black Clover Season 1 Part 2 on Blu-ray and DVD last Monday 20th of May. All the Anime released the Collector’s Edition of Castlevania on the 13th of May, although the standard Blu-ray comes out today. All the Anime release Maquia – When the Promised Flower Blooms on Collector’s Blu-ray, standard Blu-ray and DVD on June 17th.
Anime Limited
Anime:
Gundam 00
Gundam Char’s Counterattack
Gundam Wing
Gundam Bandit Flower
Ride Your Wave (Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara)
Birthday Wonderland
Tamako Market and its sequel film Tamako Love Story.
We Rent Tsukumogami (Tsukumogami Kashimasu).
All the Anime seem to be finally picking up the pace on their Gundam releases, after their initial, overoptimistic intention to match the US releases from Nozomi. As usual, they’ll be going for their Collector’s Edition releases to sweeten the purchase for fans.
Vinyl:
A Silent Voice (Nov 19)
FLCL (Sept 19)
The All the Anime vinyl project has also been a long time coming, with the announcement that they would start a label for the large shiny black discs full of sound made a few years ago, but only now looking to come to fruition, as more and more millennials decide it’s cool to invest in obsolete formats. In no way bitter that no FLCL CD (slightly less obsolete format) was announced.
MVM
All the Anime might have had panels and guests and lots of formal interaction with fans, but once again, MVM let the Twitter do the talking, and they had ten new anime titles to announce that induced much glee in fans.
Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs
Asura Cryin’
Domestic Girlfriend
The Girl in Twilight
Mysteria Friends
Revue Starlight
Starmyu S2 and OVA
Record of Grancrest Wars
You can guess which of these titles I’d be most excited about, as I’ve already reviewed import versions of Tamako Market and Anohana for this site, although if MVM release the dub version of Anohana, that might be cause for some to double dip.
This Week I Have Been Mostly Rewatching...
There was a two and half year gap between the two seasons released here in the UK, not that you’d notice. There was also a label switch from Manga to All the Anime. Here’s my review of High School DxD Born. You can still get the combo release, and knowing the genre, I suppose you already have.
Manga Entertainment released Black Clover Season 1 Part 2 on Blu-ray and DVD last Monday 20th of May. All the Anime released the Collector’s Edition of Castlevania on the 13th of May, although the standard Blu-ray comes out today. All the Anime release Maquia – When the Promised Flower Blooms on Collector’s Blu-ray, standard Blu-ray and DVD on June 17th.
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