Devil May Cry Blu
FMP!: The 2nd Raid Blu

You know I didn't look. I thought they were linked to the Amazon pages where they didn't have a date. It's possible those Rightstuf dates aren't set in stone and might change.

Those are targeted release dates that were sent out to retailers. Obviously like any media releases (DVD/BD), the release date/status is subjected to change. As to Amazon.com, they are usually slower than TRSI in listing or updating information/release dates on anime releases.

Well, its a good thing "great artists" are never fully appreciated within their lifetimes. .

As for art...the intro to Moribito had more awe factor than those two series. Ahee!

McHawkson, have you watched Burst Angel or Heat-Guy J?

My problem with the series was the pacing and the characters. I couldn't stand any of the main characters; Kurono was a whiny little bitch, the girl (I can't remember what her name was) was pretty much useless and seemed to only be there as eye candy and to fuel Kurono's perverted fantasies (personally, I didn't find her very attractive), and Kurono's buddy (can't remember his name either) was just a big sissy.

Now, Gantz didn't single-handedly cause my turnoff of anime, which itself wasn't so much a turnoff as just me refusing to blind buy anime (this was really the only way I could watch new stuff). It was a combination of me watching Gantz, Samurai Gun, and Gilgamesh all around the same time, not liking either of them, and realizing how much money I wasted on stuff I ended up not liking.

However, I did think the show started to get better near the end during the last game. Maybe if it had continued in that direction, it would have redeemed itself for me, but instead it just ended, which also made me mad.

And my top 5 anime, in no particular order, are:
Zeta Gundam
Cowboy Bebop
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
Super Dimension Fortress Macross
Armored Trooper Votoms

I didn't know where to ask this but is there a high demand/resell value for 5 Centimeters Per Second?

It's definitely OOP. There aren't that much listings on auction sites. The resell value has been slowly climbing up. It's hard to say if it will go much higher. I would wait a bit more and see what happens. Then again there is always a risk of another studio rescuing this movie.

I'm currently watching Godannar. After watching the first disc I was second guessing my decision but from disc 2 onward I have been loving the hell out of this show. Don't go taking this as a recommendation because I can see a lot of people hating it so if you don't like what you see in the trailer (gobs of fan service and plenty of over the top action and drama) then I wouldn't bother with it.

Watching Ergo Proxy. Boy, is it deep. Seems like you need to have a minor in psychology to fully appreciate it.

I'm only one episode into Gantz, and yes, Kei is an annoying little asocial punk. Still, the concept intrigues me, and I don't have to like all the characters in a show.

I watched about half of Heat Guy J and I had to quit, it wasn't bad, it just didn't draw me in.

Good to hear that about Godannar, I've had that one, havent' watched it yet; I just feel a little weird picking it up.

Most of my anime is blind buy, but I think I get it cheap enough to afford the risk.

Almost. I saw The Girl Who Leapt Through Time yesterday and I enjoyed the show.

It's possible that I'm burnout - but, it seems that I couldn't find any other good anime series/movie that I can enjoy. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was pretty good. I've added Sword of the Stranger (which release in June) to my list.

Can't wait.

No, not yet. They're basically on my list - but little concern about giving up after first disc. I'm much more interested in adult anime (not porno one, like Ghost in the Shell, Gunslinger girls, and goes on) than Saturday morning cartoon style animes.

It was intrigued at beginning, but it got annoyed quickly.

anyone check out the skycrawlers yet?

(In reference to Gantz) Yeah, same problem here. Thought it got too repetitive after awhile. Like most, the primary characters took me completely out and the only character that I found interesting was killed off way too early . The flaws were just too overbearing over my love of the concept and I just didn't see myself returning to it often enough to justify keeping the orb set.

Can't believe the price for this set locally. Best Buy = $25 Newbury Comics = $27 ..so I ended up buying it at the second Walmart I visited for $20 (the first Walmart was surprisingly out of stock only a day after release).

It's on the agenda for tomorrow night so I'll get back with my thoughts.


Recently finished up Kawajiri's Cyber City - The Final Collection which was long over due. Picked it off Rightstuf for about $7. Excellent series of shorts blending sci-fi police action drama themes with the last feature adding a little vampire mythology into the mix. The animation is a little dated and the first two stories formulaic, but I found each of stories (which centers around three multi-life serving prisoners who are given an ultimatum to work down their sentence in the name of the law or reamain in earth orbiting prison) very interesting and enjoyable - especially the last two. A bit noir-ish at times, somewhat cyber punkish, and definitely given a hard edge throughout ... very good stuff. And the style is very reminiscent of Kawajiri's other works (Wicked City in particular, but without the extreme themes of sex and nudity).

It's basically a parady of all the Super Robot shows from the 70's, with the over the top action and Go Nagai-esque fan service. If you like that (and/or you liked Tranzor Z, which was the English adaptation of Nagai's Mazinger Z, or Force Five), ADV has Mazinkaiser, and there are several Getter Robo series out there. Also, another show with similar aesthetics but a little less fan service (hey, it was a kid's show!) is Gaogaigar.

Just finished watching it. I rented it from Blockbuster. I read a few reviews and was worried it was going be a boring and annoying psychoanalysis type movie. I did not find it boring at all even though the pacing was rather slow. The "intellectual" angle left enough out to make you think/fill in the blanks, but not too much to leave you really confused. And when it asked you to "think" you did not have to stretch into those annoying "ethereal" concepts. Oh and of course, the animation was absolutely amazing. Recommended (especially on Blu-Ray).

Thanks for the tip, i'll have to look into those other shows.

I'm kinda looking forward to Sword of the Stranger:



Thoughts?

Just finished this series...

Season 1 rocks! - Season 2... just average



A fun Anime for those who love watching pro-wrestling and MMA.


Off to get the OAV - Grappler Baki

It was pretty good, I enjoyed it well enough and will purchase the Blu-Ray when it is released.

Two part question that wikipedia had no answers to.

First - Any news on FLCL being re-released. EBay has only a few non-bootlegs every so often and they are selling for a small fortune. With something that popular is it licensing issues holding it back or is there some story I don't know about?

Second - I watched some of the 1st episode of the new Fullmetal Alchemist series online and considering that many of the characters who don't survive the original are back, it is setting the series somewhere during season 1. Is that correct?

I couldn't tell if this was like the Bebop movie where they just sort of sneak it into the continuity as a story just never told in the original series, or is it a reboot like the Neon Genesis movies?

Thank you in advance.

Couldn't tell you about FMA, but as I recall the licensee for FLCL (Synch-Point, a subsidiary of Broccoli) went out of business in the US. In short, happy hunting.

FMA is a reboot based closer on the original Manga which the previous series started with, but deviated from the Manga because the Manga wasn't fully released at the time.

Just finished this up myself.

First, I'd compare the tone and pacing of Sky Crawlers to Jin Roh of all Oshii works. It's essentially yet another story about identity and existentialism.

I just saw Terminator Salvation this morning as well. As exciting and as action packed as it is I much prefer a science fiction (any really) film such as Sky Crawlers; which on an intellectual level is so far advanced and complete than Terminator Salvation it's scary.

Very slow paced and dry in delivery, only peppered with, and I would add absolutely remarkable (and life-like!), action sequences, there is still something within Sky Crawlers that compelled me enough to hold my interest level. The film is and feels long but I don't necessary find any flaws with that aspect. Once the revelations and/or more important plot ties really began to develop was there a payoff. But it takes time. Although the answers to its questions are not necessarily provided.

Definitely a unique film that I would recommend for anyone familiar with Oshii or anyone else seeking out a thought provoking story line ...

ps - Kenji Kawai really nailed the score on this one.
pss - Make sure to stick around until the credits are finished (not completely necessary but for some it might be ...)

No word on a re-release, but I certainly wouldn't consider those on ebay going for a "small fortune" seeing as how they're going at (or even below) MRSP. Retail pricing for each FLCL was $29.99. The entire set at retail would have been approximately $90.00. There are several going for less than that on ebay, if you don't mind use that is.

You may want to check out Fighting Spirit especially if you like boxing.