This entry will be filled with spoilers. Please don’t read it if you haven’t watched Pacific Rim. The film ends with the destruction of the portal and the alien colonists. With the portal closed and the colonist dead, there are no more Kaijus. How can there be a sequel? I have a few ideas about how there can be Kaijus in a sequel, these ideas are based on anime and Kaiju films.
Each idea has the following elements in common:
A rogue element within the K-Science Lab creating the Kaiju
A variant of Newton “Newt” Geiszler’s Kaiju Drift (mind meld) device used to control the Kaijus
Genetically modified and mechanically enhanced brains to facilitate Drifting with human pilots
The hive mind trait of a Kaiju’s brain enable pilots to communicate with each other through a radio-telepathy frequency.
The first idea involves harvesting genetic samples of defeated Kaijus to grow clones for despots and madmen for the right price.
The second idea is derived from the millenium incarnation of Mecha-Godzilla. The rogue K-Science Lab technician would use kaiju skeletons to create the framework for bionic Kaijus. Each bionic Kaiju possesses Jaeger weaponry. A variant of this idea is to use the Mecha-Godzilla iteration from the animated series based on American Godzilla film. A Kaiju would be repaired and revived with Jaeger parts in the same vein as Deathlok (Marvel’s zombie cyborg soldier).
(Cyber-Zilla from Godzilla: The Series by Dino Master)
The another variant is based on an obscure anime called Argento Soma (where a giant monster, Frank, was created from the remains of fallen monsters). The scientist would cobble together a kaiju from the parts that remained after battle.
(Frank by ミヤマカラマ)
The third idea involves splicing creatures like reptiles, crustaceans, and arachnids with Kaiju DNA to create new biological weapons. In one extreme case, a human-Kaiju hybrid exists.
I meant to write this up some days ago when I actually finished this set, however I couldn’t figure out how to insert a link in here (and still can’t) so as is typical for me, I got pissed off and just gave up. However, with a show this good, it would be very remiss of me to not share it. I have already written up on the series in general with an Anime You Should Be Watching post (which is what I meant to link in here, but alas, the Add Link button remains greyed out) so this is just about the third and final season of Aria.
As I mentioned in that previous review, this show is the very definition of Slice of Life shows. In the previous seasons of Aria, it’s largely about the wonders that Akari sees on her new homeworld of Aqua (Mars), and the people she meets and befriends. Throughout those times, she and her friends are striving towards becoming Prima Undines, basically gondoliers like we have in Venice. This season the focus is much more on Akari and her friends realizing their dreams and the passing of the torch from the Three Great Water Fairies. But, like with all slice of life series, the destination isn’t what’s important. No one who watches this would think that Akari is going to fail her exam. We know she’ll become a Prima. The important thing is the journey, and seeing Akari and her friends come to terms with the fact that when they do reach their goals, that things aren’t going to be able to stay the same as they were before. Needless to say, there’s going to be a need for a lot of tissues. It’s not tragic sad like a Clannad is, but rather just so packed full of emotion that even thinking about certain scenes, such as Alice’s promotion, is enough to choke a person up. This is that episode, for anyone curious.
This set, released by Nozomi Entertainment which is the licensing arm of anime retailer The Right Stuf, is very beautiful. The artbox that was used is a nice, sturdy chipboard box with lovely artwork on it. The set contains all 13 episodes of Aria the Origination, the 7 episode picture drama (just think of a regular anime with little to no actual animation), and the OAV Aria the Arietta. It also comes with an episode guide booklet, and a disc with 2 hours of extras containing cast and staff interviews. There is no dub on it, so everything is in Japanese with English subtitles.
A few random thoughts I had about this set. First off, I really like how the opening theme song is played as part of the show. The vast majority of anime just have a set opener with the same animation every time. Aria has always made it so the opening just starts playing as we’re eased into the show, so in effect the OP animation is different every time. Secondly, just how freaking old is President Aria? On Aqua, apparently they have cats that are much more intelligent than Earth cats in that they seem to understand human speech. Of course, maybe our cats understand us perfectly and just don’t deem us worthy of responding, I don’t know. Anyways, President Aria is one such cat, but it’s shown that the founder of Aria Company, whom everyone calls Grandma, first came across and befriended President Aria back when she was an undine with another company. At that time she was probably at most 25, and now appears to be in her 70’s. So President Aria is at least 50, and still as active and pudgy as he was back then. I guess Martian cats live a very long time.
All in all, this was a treat to see. It’s definitely not a show that you’ll want to marathon, since it’s so slow paced. It’s best to be enjoyed an episode or two at a time, so you have time to properly digest each episode. Whether you need a pick me up, or just want to relax after a long day, there’s an episode of Aria that can fit the bill at any time. The great thing about Aria is that other than the last 3 episodes or so, you can really watch it in any order that you wish, and the story being told will make perfect sense.
After the last set that I reviewed, I was glad to see that next on the list was a title I knew I was going to enjoy. This release of Toradora memorable and special for a couple reasons. First off, this was NIS America’s very first title that they released back in July of 2010 (yes, I’m just now getting to it, so now you know how bad my backlog is!). July of 2010 is also the first time that site founder Arleigh and I attended Anime Expo together (but not the first time we met in person, that would be Anime Boston 2008). It was my third Expo, but I believe it was his first. NISA decided to really go all out and in order to promote this title the brought over two of the stars of the show, Yui Horie (Minori Kushieda) and Eri Kitamura (Ami Kawashima). Getting to meet Yui Horie was a dream come true, so I’ll always remember this particular convention fondly. And of course, they had their booth set up in the dealer’s room where they were selling this set, so when I saw it, the collector in me demanded that I pick it up. These NISA sets are made with the collector in mind. The giant artboxes definitely draw the eye to them, and although they’ll likely need special display space, it’s fully worth it if you are the collector type.
Toradora was a great choice for a newcomer in the market too. From a star studded cast to nice visuals and an engaging story, there was no reason to expect anything but success from this. I’ve seen sites list it as a comedy, and while that’s not wrong, it’s not entirely right either. People that have watched a lot of anime might be familiar with the term “romcom” which is shorthand for romantic comedy. That’s getting closer to the mark, but mixed in with the romance and the comedy is a good helping of drama too, so I dare say the proper term for this show is “draromcom”!
In this first of two sets, we get the first 13 episodes of the show, plus two bonus shorts. This set is largely setting things up with comedy and light drama for the more involved romance and heavier drama to come in later episodes. So, we have our main protagonist, Ryuji, who is always mistaken for a delinquent because of his looks, and our other protagonist, Taiga (played to perfection by the legendary Rie Kugimiya), who looks like an adorable little doll but is actually short tempered and vicious, to the point that her nickname is the Palmtop Tiger, referring to her small stature and vicious nature. Through a series of misunderstandings and other events, they come to find out that Ryuji has a crush on Taiga’s friend Minori, and Taiga has a crush on Ryuji’s friend Yusaku. They decide to team up to help each other confess to their crushes, but while neither of them wants to admit to it, over the course of these 13 episodes it becomes apparent that they are falling for each other. It’s pretty standard fare, but the execution of it is done extrememly well so it doesn’t feel old and tired like it very well could have. Having a character like Ami come along to play an antagonistic role helps get the story moving, and provides a good bit of the comedy in this set. And while this is lighter on the drama than future episodes, the last few start to build it up with Taiga’s deadbeat dad making an appearance.
From a story and character standpoint, I think this show is in the upper tier, but this set does suffer from a few production problems. This was NISA’s very first release as I mentioned before, and they definitely had some growing pains. Once in awhile there are some spots where the video transfer was a little rough, resulting in some jagged images or blurred lines. This seems to be most noticeable when the camera pans across a room where there is a lot going on. I’m not a big technophile, so I don’t go through it frame by frame trying to find any sort of imperfection, but from those that do (seriously, how is that even enjoyable?) it’s said that there are several instances where it seemed like frames were overlapped on each other, hence the blur. For those of us who are just watching on regular HDTVs without big fancy blu ray players beyond a PS3, while you will probably notice a couple janky areas, but nothing that will ruin the enjoyment of the set.
All in all, this is a show that I could easily have written an Anime You Should Be Watching column on, and only didn’t because I’m generally lazy. If you can find this set, and you’re a collector, I say snap it up. NISA has released a standard set, that doesn’t come in the fancy box with the nice hardbound episode guide, and this premium set is sold out at the distribution level, so it may not be possible to find it at a sane price anymore.
Also, I wanted to add, don’t let the fact that I’ve written 2 colums in 3 days fool you. I don’t intend to be nearly as prolific as Lisa Marie is, and it’s completely dependent upon me finishing something from my backlog. I have plenty of material to choose from, but some sets might take me a few days to finish, or I might take a break from watching anything for awhile. But with my beloved New England Patriots out of the playoffs now, and me having very little interest in other sports, I should find myself with a lot more free time so who knows? Maybe I can put a dent in this backlog after all. Current backlog count: 847 discs.
I’ve been pretty open about my love for anime and, of late, my love for the incredibly funny and irrelevant anime series Nichijou.
This is a series where it runs on it’s own logic that may not makes sense to us, but definitely adds to the hilarious scenes, moments and overall tone of the show. This particular scene is from episode 16 and has Yukko visiting the new coffee shop to try the place out. Ok, nothing funny about it so far, but this is no ordinary coffee shop but one that serves all those fancy espresso type drinks.
So, this scene just ends up even more hilarious when one thinks of their very first time entering a Starbucks or an espresso cafe having no idea how to order those fancy drinks. For most people not in their 20’s coffee was either black or with cream and served small, medium or large. We didn’t know what that “Tall” meant small or that “Grande” meant medium and don’t even get me started on “Venti”.
This scene just brought back memories of seeing people new to such coffee houses trying to order their coffee and acting as if they know what they’re doing when everyone around them, especially the barista, knows they have no clue what’s going on.
As anyone that knows me knows, I have a massive backlog of videos that I bought but have yet to watch. Hence the incredibly uncreative name for this column! Seriously, I sat and thought on it, and that was the best I could do. Deal with it. So anyways, as I have about 850 discs that I have purchased but never watched, I thought it would be best if I sat down and watched them and gave my thoughts on them here. They’ll all be anime, but this is different from the Anime You Should Be Watching column I infrequently wrote before. With that column, I was cherry picking the titles that were the best of their particular genre. Here, there’s going to be a lot of average shows, because there are a lot of average shows produced in Japan. In fact, just because I bought it doesn’t mean it’s any good. It’s entirely possible that I bought a steaming pile of shit. If that’s the case, well, if I sat through it and watched it, then you’ll have to suffer through my review of it. Lucky you! Thankfully, I like to think that for the most part, I have pretty decent taste, so the worst that you’ll have to put up with is a resounding MEH from me.
So, without further ado, let’s start this new column!
I really wish that I had started out with an instant classic, but that’s just not the case. As I said before, they can’t all be winners kid, and this one is certainly not what I’d put in my stable of timeless classics. When Sgt. Frog first was announced for license here in the US, there was a huge swelling of support. The way people were acting, you’d have thought that the second coming of Cowboy Bebop was upon us. Then the company that originally licensed it, ADV Films, went bankrupt, and that was that. Until FUNimation swooped in and picked this up. I hadn’t watched any of the fansubs of this, and I was strictly going off of word of mouth when I bought it. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t. In this case it doesn’t. The sad thing is that I bought every release that FUNi made before I ever watched the first one. That’s the drawback to having the backlog that I do. I’m only now watching stuff I bought 3 years ago. C’est la vie.
This particular release follows pretty much all the others. A lot of Gundam humor and veiled references to other similar shows. That’s great if you’re a fan of Gundam. I’m not. Hence my mileage on this particular show is highly limited. I do love the yandere type of girl, so Nishizawa, while not a strict yandere, does amuse me with her going from all dere dere to conniving psychopath. But that’s largely negated because Fuyuki is a clueless idiot. So here we’re mainly going through the winter months. This means the typical things like Christmas parties and New Year celebrations. I really wish I could say that this brought something new to the genre, but it really doesn’t. Everything we see here we’ve seen many a time before, and more importantly, we’ve seen it done better. I don’t care about things being repeated. When you’ve seen as much anime as I have, you’re not going to see a ton of genuinely new content. But a lot of anime can take these well worn tropes and still make them interesting. This one doesn’t. Frankly, I have no idea how this managed to go for 358 episodes. I’ve watched through 51 and frankly that’s enough for me. Unfortunately I still have another collection of this to get through, although I should be happy that FUNimation didn’t pick up any more than that, and since it’s been over a year since they licensed any of it, I think it’s safe to assume that no more will find its way over here.
For something that had so much buzz going in to it, I must say that this has been a massive disappointment. I don’t often let public opinion influence what I buy, and this gives a good reason why I shouldn’t. The public at large doesn’t know good anime, and they certainly don’t know what I’d like. I may not always pick out a winner, but I certainly can do a lot better than Sgt. Frog.
I think it’s not a secret that the anime series (and now the three films) Puella Magi Madoka Magica is one of my favorite anime. It’s not just me who has a major fondness for this anime. Site anime editor pantsukudasai56 also shares my passion for this series. Over a couple years ago I profiled several AMVs featuring this series. One of them was Chiikaboom’s Devil’s Game.
That very same editor decided to go back and re-edit the AMV using scenes from the series and the three films and what we get is a vast improvement over a video that was already a classic in the AMV scene. The animation from the films are much more crisp and the detail shows from the increased budget.
This “Devil’s Game 2.0” has now become one of my top AMVs ever and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Anime:Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movie 1: Beginnings, Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movie 2: Eternal, Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movie 3: Rebellion
Yes, I agree with the philosophy of one Issei Hyodo of the anime series High School DxD. This is just one of over 200+ anime titles which were picked to comprise the 5-minute running time of the latest “AMV of the Day”.
“Animegraphy 2013” by qyll pretty much takes every anime title that is currently showing in the year 2013 and puts selected scenes into the video. This is quite a feat considering that some anime titles appear more than just once and for more than a second. I like how the video shows an early form of anime with 1963’s Astro Boy as a sharp contrast to how anime looks like now 50 years later.
Anime sure has grown since these last 50 years.
Anime:A Certain Scientific Railgun S, Accel World EX, Ace Of Diamond, Ai Mai Mi Aiura, AKB0048: Next Stage, Aku No Hana Amnesia, Ano Hi Mita Hana No Namae Wo Bokutachi Wa Mada Shiranai. Movie, Arata Kangatari, Arpeggio Of Blue Steel, Arve Rezzle: Kikaijikake No Yosetachi, Astro Boy, Shingeki no Kyojin, Aura: Maryuuinkouga Saigo No Tatakai (Movie), Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman, Berserk The Golden Age Ac Lll – Descent BlazBlue: Alter Memory, Blood Lad Blue Exorcist (Movie), Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai Next, Brother’s Conflict Buki Yo Saraba (Movie), Cardfight!! Vanguard: Link Joker-Hen, Chihayafuru 2, Chitose Get You!!, Chokotan! Code:Breaker, Coppelion, Corpse Party: Tortured Souls – Bougyakusareta Tamashii No Jukyou, Cuticle Tantei Inaba, D.C.III ~ Da Capo III ~, Dakara Boku Wa H Ga Dekinai, Danganronpa The Animation, Dansai Burni No Crime Edge, Dareka No Manazashi Date A Live, DD Hokuto No Ken (2013), Death Billiards, Devil Survivor 2 The Animation, Diabolik Lovers, Dokidoki! Precure, Dragonball Z Battle Of The Gods Ebiten: Kouritsu Ebisugawa Koukou Tenmonbu, Encouragement Of Climb, Fairy Tail, Fantasista Doll, Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma☆Illya Free! Freezing Vibration, Futari Wa Milky Holmes, Galilei Donna, Gambo (Movie), Kotonoha no Niwa, Gargantia On The Verdurous Planet, Gatchaman Crowds Genei Wo Kakeru Taiyou Genshiken Nidaime, Ghost In The Shell: Arise (Movie), Gifuu Doudou!!: Kanetsugu To Keiji, Gingitsune, Gintama Girls Und Panzer Specials Gj-Bu Golden Time, Gundam Build Fighters, Haitai Nanafa 2nd Season, Haiyore! Nyaruko-San W, Hajime No Ippo: The Fighting! – Rising, Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun, Hal (Movie) Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home (Movie), Hanayaka Nari, Waga Ichizoku: Kinetograph, Hayate No Gotoku! Cuties, Henneko: Hentai Prince And The Stony Cat, Hidamari Sketch: Sae Hiro Sotsugyou-Hen, High School DxD New, Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kaku: Outbreak, Houseki No Kuni, Hunter X Hunter (2011), Hyakka Ryouran: Samurai Bride, Hyperdimension Neptunia Inazuma Eleven Go Vs Danball Senki W (Movie), Inazuma Eleven Go: Chrono Stone, Infinite Stratos 2, Inu To Hasami Wa Tsukaiyou Ishida To Asakura, Jewelpet Happiness, Kakumeiki Valvrave Kamisama Kiss, Kamisama No Inai NIchiyoubi Kara No Kyoukai – The Garden Of Sinners (Movie), Karneval Kick Heart, Kill La Kill Kimi No Iru Machi, Kindaichi Shounen No Jikenbo: Kuromajutsu Satsujin Jiken-Hen, Kingdom 2nd Season, Kiniro Mosaic Kira Kira 5th Anniversary Live Anime: Kick Start Generation, Kiss×Sis, Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku, Koitabi: True Tours Nanto, Kono Naka Ni Hitori Imouto Ga Iru!: Ani Imouto Koibito, Kotoura-San, Kuroko’s Basketball 2, Kyoukai No Kanata Kyousougiga (2013), Little Busters! Refrain, Little Witch Academia, Log Horizon Love Lab Love Live! School Idol Project Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions (Movie), Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions: Depth Of Field – Ai To Nikushimi Gekijou Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions: Kirameki No… Slapstick Noel Magi: The Kingdom Of Magic, Majestic Prince Maji De Otaku Na English! Ribbon-Chan: Eigo De Tatakau Mahou Shoujo, Makai Ouji: Devils And Realist, Mangirl!, Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, Meganebu!, Minami-Ke Tadaima, Mirai Nikki Redial, Miss Monochrome The Animation, Miyakawa-Ke No Kuufuku, Mobile Suit Gundam AGE: Memory Of Eden (Movie) Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, Mondaiji-Tachi Ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu Yo?, Monogatari Series: Second Season Mushibugyo My Little Monster, My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute, My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering With My School Romantic Comedy, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, Nagi No Asu Kara, Namiuchigiwa No Muromi-San Naruto Shippūden, Nekomonogatari (Black), Non Non Biyori, One Piece OreShura, Otona Joshi No Anime Time, Outbreak Company, Patema Inverted (Movie), Persona 3 The Movie, Phi-Brain: Puzzle Of God (2013), Photo Kano Pokemon: Origins Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live, Puchimas!: Petit IDOLM@STER, Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie Part III: Rebellion, Recorder To Randoseru Mi☆, Red Data Girl Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS, Rozen Maiden (2013), Ryo, Saint Young Men, Saki: Achiga-Hen – Episode Of Side-A Specials, Samurai Flamenco, Sasami-San@Ganbaranai, Say “I Love You”, Seitokai Yakuindomo, Senhime Zesshou Symphogear G, Senran Kagura, Senyuu, Servant X Service Silver Spoon Sket Dance (OVA) Space Brothers, Sparrow’s Hotel, Star Driver The Movie, Steins;Gate: Fuka Ryouiki No Déjà Vu , Stella Jogakuin Koutou-Ka C³-Bu Strike The Blood, Super Seishun Brothers, Tamako Market Tamayura: More Aggressive, Tanken Driland: 1000-Nen No Mahou, Tantei Opera Milky Holmes: Alternative (OVA), Teekyuu 2, Tesagure! Bukatsu-Mono, The Devil Is A Part-Timer Toaru Majutsu No Index: Endymion No Kiseki Tokyo Ravens, Uchouten Kazoku Unbreakable Machine-Doll, Uta No☆Prince-Sama Maji Love 2000%, Vanquished Queens (OVA), Vassalord (OVA), Vividred Operation, Walkure Romanze, Wanna Be The Strongest In The World, WATAMOTE ~ No Matter How I Look At It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!, White Album 2, Wind Rises, World God Only Knows III, Yami Shibai, Yondemasu Yo Azazel-San. Z, Yonhyakunijuu Renpai Girl (OVA), Yowamushi Pedal, Yozakura Quartet: Hana No Uta, Yuusha Ni Narenakatta Ore Wa Shibushibu Shuushoku Wo Ketsui Shimashita Yuyushiki, Zettai Bouei Leviathan, Zettai Karen Children
Song:“Love Lost” by the Temper Trap and “If You Wanna” by The Vaccines”
Just going to be brief with the description of the latest “AMV of the Day”. The latest pick was the winner of Anime Weekend Atlanta (AWA) 2012.
“See Who I Am” is the title of the video and also the title of the song used by the video’s creator (Speedy180). This particular song is a favorite of mine from symphonic metal band Within Temptation and also used in one of the very first AMV’s I watched (Alchanum) and one which got me into the scene to begin with. The video itself is an anime mix of so many anime titles that I could only recognize some of the one’s that I’ve actually seen. I’m sure there are many more I missed.
It’s a well-done video that uses Sheryl Nome of Macross Frontier singing to sub in for Within Temptation’s Sharon den Adel. It’s a very dramatic song and the anime visuals picked and they’re put together more than matches the emotional content of the song.
Anime:Guilty Crown, Macross Frontier, Fairy Tail, Fate/Stay Night, Fafner in the Azure, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Bleach and many others…
Some turmoil of the personal kind of late, but that won’t stop me from sharing a new AMV that has caught my eye. The latest “AMV of the Day” comes courtesy of one TheLastSamurai2011 who seems to realy enjoy making a particular type of video.
This particular AMV creator loves the anime series Black Lagoon and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s an anime series that’s pretty much great not just because of all the crazy gunplay and hand-to-hand combat action, but for the fact that it’s most badass characters are pretty much all women. These ladies are not your typical cutesy “magical girl” types that’s popular with many anime fans. No, Black Lagoon has ladies that range from psychotic, sociopathic, unstoppable killing machines to just plain old badass.
This AMV focuses on the tragic backstory of one of the series’ most intriguing characters. Roberta could only be described as a lone wolf killer. Her violent past and the tragic loss of her original family was only tempered by being taken in by a soldier who molds her to become the protector of his son. Things happen as they’re wont to happen in violent tales. Roberta’s psychotic side soon becomes unleashed on those who has destroyed her adopted second family and she’ll carve of blood trail to find those responsible.
This video does a great job in telling part of her story.
So, another month of all things horror and dark has passed. Time to detox from that month by putting up a new AMV that’s all about fun and extreme action.
The latest “AMV of the Day” is simply called “Ride or Die” and I must say that it’s probably one of the best anime music video’s I’ve ever seen. I have to say that it’s on par with another AMV profiled earlier this summer with “RadioAkshun” in terms of editing and syncing up the lyrics of the chosen music with scenes from the anime.
The anime itself is breathtaking to watch and I’ll be profiling it soon. Redline works almost perfectly with the theme song from this past summer’s Fast & Furious 6. One rarely finds AMVs that uses hip-hop songs to great effect but this video’s producer and creator, Kyssifur, choosing 2 Chainz and Wiz Khalifa’s “We Own It” was quite a genius move.
Ok, less talking and back to watching this video on loop. It’s just that much fun and awesome.
Anime:Redline
Song:“We Own It (Fast & Furious)” by 2 Chainz and Wiz Khalifa
Through the Shattered Lens 