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Multiverse and non-causal are definitely bad sign words in the arvel Universe.

Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Abnett
Art: Nic Leon

What They Say:
Stranded on 21st century Earth, the 31st century Guardians finally have a chance to locate the anomaly that is ripping the past, present and future of the Universal Time-stream apart. But locating it is one thing…preventing it is something else altogether. Shocking twists and end-of-the-World action!

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Guardians 3000 series comes to a close here and it does so in a pretty damn interesting way, at least possibly for old school fans of the characters. The series has been one hot run since the start with the way timelines were collapsing on themselves in the future, causing wholesale rewrites and attempts to get it all figured out and fixed in the 31st century. The shift back to the 21st century as the focal point that took its aim at Michael Korvac definitely made for an interesting twist, especially since his attempt to do what he’s doing aligned with the end of everything because of the final Incursion that will take us firmly into the Secret Wars event.

What we get here is another adrenaline rush of material, both in dialogue and action, because the stakes are high but we also know that the end is here. For Geena and Yondu, trapped inside the house with Korvac initially, we get to learn of how he’s rewound himself to this period in time to attempt to bring stability to the multiverse and avoid the mistakes of the past. It’s an interesting approach and you can see heroes attempting this in other books from time to time, though not with as disastrous results. Amid the conversation where Geena tries to understand all of this, we get plenty of action on the outside with the two teams fighting the A-Sentience that Korvac has commandeered for his own, making for a lot of fun but also the simple fact of padding things out a bit to give it the necessary action component. It’s not bad as it has some fun commentary and the aftershocks of the time effect on costume and character changes is positively fun.

But the reality is that what seems to be going on here is the grand seeding of Geena Drake into the Marvel Universe as a key figure – something we’ve seen in a few other books going into Secret Wars with other characters. Here, Korvan refers to her as a singular entity across all the time streams and there is only her and no variation across them, which is why she hasn’t changed at all. His guiding her here to him was all about providing a stable reference point for what he’s trying to do, not realizing himself that there are grander forces at work that’s about to reshape everything. It’s a disturbing series of events really, as we get towards the end and the enormity of it all starts to sink in for Geena, as she realizes that as everything collapses around when it comes to reality, that she’s going to be living through it all alone.

In Summary:
Guardians 3000 has been one of my favorite Marvel books of the past eight months as it has an infectious energy to it and played with some grand scale and concepts, but also this really cool sense of fun and weirdness amid the plan. With that plan revealed and Geena now cast into some other role yet to be determined, it was really fun to see how the grand spectacle of all turned upside down for Korvac even as he thought he had finally won. The series feels like it’s designed purely to set certain things in motion and I’m hoping I can find it within the overall Secret Wars event itself, because I like these characters and I’ve grown to like Geena. I have no idea what the future holds for my Guardians 3000 group after Secret Wars, but I really, truly, hope there is a future. This has been a whirlwind of a run with some utterly fantastic moments that are hard to create. I want more of it and hope that there is.

Grade: B+

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: May 13th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99

Entertainment Weekly seems to be the go-to place to get shots of the in-production first of four Hunger Games movies, and the newest issue that’s out shortly features the first look at Josh Hutcherson as Peeta and Liam Hemsworth as Gale. The feature, due on March 23rd, 2012, is a big hopeful for Lionsgate as they want it to be their Twilight since the books do have a very strong following (and I just picked up the ebook trilogy myself to start in with so I’ll know more as the production continues. Do they fit the bill as you imagine from the characters as described?

Plot synopsis: Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games.  Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy.  If she’s ever to returnhome to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

[Source: EW.com ]

It’s caption time again , but first things first is to reveal the winner for last week’s competition:

Some fun captions for the naked bunch this week, but the simplicity of Serial Experiments Nobue‘s caption won me over. Well done once more!


Just like always, please post a caption to go with the following image. There is no prize, except the knowledge that you are better at putting words into the mouths of anime characters than your peers.

Here is this week’s image:

Bandai Visual Japan is queuing up another piece of its catalog for next year with the announcement that the Ninku series will be coming to Blu-ray. The show, which has had its short movie released here previously, ran for 55 episodes between 1995 and 1996 and comes from the manga of the same name by Kouji Kiriyama. The Blu-ray release is coming in two parts with the first set on June 26th, 2015 and the second on August 26th, 2015. Both will be priced at 30,000 yen each. Bandai Visual has also debuted a new trailer to promote the release.

The release comes with a few extras such as a new audio drama that runs about 15 minutes, a booklet and an all new cast commentary of some sort on it that’s presumably for one or more episodes as opposed to the whole series. The box set will be designed by the original character designer, Tetsuya Nishio.

Plot concept: In the war, a group of warriors called Ninku fought against the Imperial Army and almost annihilated it. But in the end, the Ninku lost and got shattered. After the war, the imperial army established themselves as the defender of the people with the help of propaganda. They also managed to get the people to think the Ninku were the villains and had started the war. Fusuke looks like a child but he is the former captain of the first Ninku division. His mother was taken during the war and after the Ninku were defeated, he goes on a journey to find her. On his journey he meets Aicho and Touji, both also former Ninku captains, and together they fight against the imperial army that tries to kill the last remaining Ninkus.

The ninku is a clan of extinct ninjas who command esoteric and powerful techniques, hence a lot of other groups are constantly trying to steal their techniques to take over the country. Their primary target is Fusuke, a weird looking kid but one of the most powerful Ninku ninja. Fusuke, together with other Ninku ninja with different specialties must fight those threat that caused the downfall of the Ninku clan.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFNTbwxjuqc?rel=0]

[Source: NINKU BD-Boxes ]

After the strong performance of the first season, The Walking Dead got the second season renewal pretty quickly and was bumped up to thirteen episodes as opposed to the six that the first got. The second season had its second episode this past Sunday night and based on the strength of those two episodes, which helps to ensure that the show is not a flash in the pan from last year, AMC has ordered up a third season for the comic book based series. The season premiere this year netted the network with 7.3 million viewers, 4.8 million of which were in the highly coveted 18-49 demographic. That may not seem like much for most primetime network series (which are actually struggling a fair bit this year), but it’s the most ever for a basic cable premiere. The second episode slipped to 6.7 million viewers, but with timeshifting coming into play, these are very, very strong numbers and essentially guaranteed a pickup at this point. Things can change over course of the season and if the show dips significantly, a cut order may be in place, but based on where it is now, 2012 will have a strong third season for the show. In addition to the AMC showings, Fox International Channels started its global launch for The Walking Dead this weekend, breaking pay-TV ratings’ records across the world and drawing more 10 million viewers in 122 countries for the season premiere.

“Today we are pleased to announce that the ‘dead’ shall live as we proudly renew The Walking Dead for a third season on AMC and, globally, with our terrific partners at Fox International Channels,” said Charlie Collier, AMC’s President.

[Source: Deadline ]

The finale for the 2014 summer event series Original Sin is set to be released on September 3rd, 2014 and Marvel Comics has sent out a few preview pages as well as a look at the four covers that you can potentially get for the title. The series comes from creators Jason Aaron and Mike Deodato

Marvel also continues to show that they’ve got it right when it comes to working the print/digital issue as every issue of Original Sing includes a code for a free digital copy of that same comic on the Marvel Comics app for iOS and Android devices. Additionally, each issue also features special augmented reality content available exclusive through the Marvel AR app – including cover recaps, behind the scenes features and more that add value to your reading experience at no additional cost.

Plot concept: Drained of the Infinity Formula, Nick Fury is dying. Aging rapidly and uncontrollably. In his time as the “man on the wall,” he has survived protecting Earth in secret against monsters, demons and other unseen threats. Yet even he cannot escape old age. But the battle-hardened former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. will not go down without a fight! He’ll fight to his last breath to protect the Marvel Universe from what’s coming – even if it means going through the Avengers to do it!

Yet nothing could prepare them for what’s next. Amidst the chaos and rage of battle, more Watchers have descended upon the moon! Not to observe, but to render judgment on Uatu’s killer! This is it – all your questions will be answered! And the Marvel Universe will tremble at the truth!

Who will watch us now? Don’t miss the heart-stopping conclusion that will leave the Marvel Universe torn asunder! Open your eyes wide when ORIGINAL SIN #8 hits comic shops and digital devices in September!

Everybody has one. This is Marvel’s ORIGINAL SIN!

ORIGINAL SIN #8 (JUN140609)
Written by JASON AARON
Art by MIKE DEODATO
Cover by JULIAN TOTINO TEDESCO
Variant Cover by GABRIELLE DELL’OTTO (JUN140610)
Teaser Variant by JEUN-SIIK-ANH (JUN140612)
Interlocking Battle Variant by ART ADAMS (JUN140611)
FOC – 08/11/14, On-Sale 09/03/14

Eiichiro’s in Florida and things won’t be the same.

What They Say:
Baby Steps centers on a honor student named Eiichiro Maruo who becomes frustrated with his life and decides to join the tennis club. Despite lacking experience and physical strength, he utilizes his studious nature to develop a strategic approach to playing tennis. Taking notes of his opponents’ habits and tendencies, he is able to predict their next move before they even react. He also meets Natsu Takasaki, a beautiful girl with a passion for tennis. With her help, he aims to become a professional tennis player.

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The first season of Baby Steps, awkward name and all, was the kind of series that simply worked very well for me. With a more serious approach to the sports side as opposed to the comically outlandish, we got to experience seeing Eiichiro’s struggle that started initially with an attraction to a classmate and turned into a real passion for him and his particular set of analytical skills. The slow build approach took its time, but it was interesting to see how the things that drew him into the sport ended up being less of a focus along the way, though still present and important in their own way as well. The series may not be in the stratosphere of an amazing work, but that first season with a lot of source material to work with presented a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable work.

With this season, things kick off with Eiichiro having gotten the nod to go play in Florida with a training camp facility that to him feels like a city that’s all about tennis. Amusingly, pretty much everyone looks beautiful to him and his shy and awkward side is definitely there in a cute way. It doesn’t take long to get him on the court though, initially with Marcia, so he can try and shake off his jet lag a bit. Just getting back into playing is great, but it’s also fun to watch the really emotive Marcia play, since the Japanese players tend to not play like this. Marcia gets set up nicely here to be an interesting character against Eiichiro as this storyline moves on. But the same is also said about the others that he meets, such as his dorm mate, Atsushi, who fills him in on some of what to expect as a fell Japanese person in dealing with the food and the like there. He provides a nice senpai kind of feeling without it getting weird or over the top.

Eiichiro’s two week exchange program stay here is something that starts off well and we get to see him exposed to some very different ways of practicing and learning, which includes conditioning and exam aspects of it all. It’s solidly done and you get to see the effort they all put into in order to progress and succeed. Eiichiro makes an impression on others as well though, initially with all his notebooks which just shocks them in a big way with how detailed they are. The show doesn’t go too deep into things in its opening episode here overall, but we get some decent tennis being played in front of Eiichiro as he tries to analyze others ahead of his own match, which leads us to the closing moments here as he goes against Alex, who is playing pro and ranked 819th in the world. And it’s made clear why quickly, though Eiichiro makes his own opening mistakes that he sets to correct here.

In Summary:
Baby Steps in its second season here doesn’t do much to introduce new viewers to things, which is unfortunate since you might get some new folks on and you hope to grow your audience. But what it does for established fans is definitely fun and welcome as we get the separation of Eiichiro from the people he knows and places him in a whole other world with its own struggles and challenges. What’s really great to watch is that he doesn’t spend hardly any time at all on worrying about adapting here as he’s just enticed by all the tennis play and opportunities here and throws himself directly into that, at least for now. That keeps us away from some of the sillier things, but it also says well of Eiichiro and his growing passion for tennis that has taken him to the other side of the world to learn how to play. This is a series I loved the first time around and it’s off to a great start here.

Grade:

Streamed By:

Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.

Chae-Kyung gets into an auto accident!

Creative Staff
Story/Art: SoHee Park
Translation/Adaptation: HyeYoung Im/Jamie S. Rich

What They Say
Struggling with reconciliation, Shin and Chae-Kyung are suddenly stuck in awkwardly close quarters when the king orders that the pair stay put until he can defuse the situation with Yul. But when the king, preempting Yul’s plan, confronts the public with the truth about his brother’s final wishes and allows them to decide who should be crown prince, Chae-Kyung seeks to defy the king’s command and return home to intercede with Yul. But instead of running home, she runs right into a trap…set for Shin!

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Volume 16 is packed with drama, both intimate and public. Bombshells explode so quickly on each other’s heels that these chapters could have come off as ridiculously over-the-top. However, previous volumes have laid the groundwork such that the story sweeps you along rather than drowns you in melodrama.

To start, the opening chapter concludes the romantic moment begun at the close of Volume 15. Given the never-ending obstacles in the Crown Prince and Princess’ relationship, I assumed something would dispel or interrupt the mood. I was wrong. As such, Volume 16 should be a memorable one for Shin/Chae-Kyung fans. There’s a lot of skin, but the tone is more poignant than hot and heavy. Of course creator Park can never let things get too sappy, and bawdy humor returns the next morning with Eunuch Kong and Lady Han barging in to serve breakfast in bed.

Then the drama returns with a surprise announcement from the king. Yul’s been plotting all this time to wrest the throne by painting his uncle as a usurper, but the king outwits him, foiling the prince’s plot. In doing so, the king inadvertently ruins another plotter’s plans, and the trap Yul’s mother laid for Shin gets sprung by Chae-Kyung instead.

It’s not a K-drama without someone getting rushed to the hospital. While everyone (with the possible exception of Yul’s mother) is deeply affected, the two princes are the most distraught. However, Chae-Kyung’s hospitalization provides another opportunity for Shin and Chae-Kyung’s romance to deepen. Meanwhile, Yul gets hit by mind blowing guilt when he learns why Chae-Kyung left her cottage and again when he learns his mother’s part in the accident. As usual, creator Park has to lighten the heavy mood with some laughs, and her rendition of Chae-Kyung’s post-accident face is pretty funny although I could have done without Eunuch Kong’s “Lady Mama” wedding dress.

Included as extras in this volume are Words from the Creator from the Korean Volumes 23 and 24, a four-page manga about creator Park’s trip to France, and another four-page manga about Park and Yul.

In Summary
The emotional roller coaster that is Volume 16 brings Chae-Kyung and Shin closer than they’ve ever been. Yul, on the other hand, is as manipulative as his mother at times but so miserable you can’t help pitying him. He looks as if he’s blown his chances for winning Chae-Kyung’s heart, and things could possibly head toward a happy ending for Chae-Kyung and Shin. However, creator Park’s left a significant loose thread, namely the driver implicated in Chae-Kyung’s auto accident, that should fuel the drama for several more chapters.

Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: September 23rd, 2014
MSRP: $25.00

Mulan’s true mission is about to be revealed.

Creative Staff:
Story: Marc Andreyko
Art: Micah Kaneshiro

What They Say:
Though the future boasts endless technological wonders, only a very few can afford access to them. As a new virus rages through the rich and poor, threatening all of humanity, a warrior is awakened to stop the evil puppeteers behind it all! Centuries after her ancestor and namesake fought for China, a new Mulan has been chosen by the ancient Chinese immortals in a final battle for the world!

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With any number of variations on Mulan out there in the world, it’s always interesting to see more and how they’re appropriated for different causes, times and themes. The most famous for Western audiences is obviously the Disney movie, but there are a lot of powerful ones out there that have explored some solid themes and has a strong cultural identity attached to it. with Mulan: Revelations, we get a series that’s showing us a dark future ahead, but also connecting to a dark past, wrapping it up in a story of immortals, mysticism and more. And a bit of technology too. While created by Robert Alter, I was drawn to this book because of Andreyko’s scripting, which makes me curious how he’ll bring it to life in future issues. The opening installment is certainly chaotic enough to try and break through.

Though the book takes place in 2125, it does start initially in 500 BC China, where we see spirit beasts of some sort that was conflicted about their mission at the time, opting for the big picture but wanting to fight alongside others. Those others include the Mulan of this time, struggling against the enemy, but faltering against their weight. Mulan herself is saved at the last minute by the spirits and whisked away, to be thrust into her true destiny it seems. Which is what takes us to Shanghai in 2125, where Mulan has grown up as a trust fund woman, alongside her brother, but is very much connected to the world rather than aloof and above it all. The world here is facing a crisis at the moment though, where a techno retro virus is at work that’s killing or crippling a lot of lower class people with implants. That’s starting to seep through to the upper classes now and the panic is setting in.

With Mulan, we see her dealing with her brother, who burns through his allowance each month, and the way she also helps out in the free clinics with the lower classes so that they’re not quite so understaffed. Through it, we learn the basics of the social and class structures, which is interesting, but Mulan also gets to see her first case of someone with the virus. What’s (not) surprising is that her blood allows the victim to heal, at least in some places, which catches the attention of those looking to figure all of this out. That puts a big target on Mulan, who unaware at the time, is off with family that has a grander vision for her future but is realizing that the time to train and teach her properly has passed and is now too late. It’s all familiar to be sure when it comes to the structure and key aspects of it, but it’s laid out in a way that leaves you wanting to know more, with her being talked about having immortal blood and the big corporation, Sinotech, seemingly being run by masked demons of some sort.

In Summary:
Mulan: Revelations doesn’t actually reveal a lot, but it’s the first issue so that’s no surprise. What we mostly get is a lot of setup material that’s interesting, if familiar, as it presents some events of today and extrapolates them globally a hundred years from now. While I do like the general idea of it and what it presents, it’s hard to imagine that it would be this long before some of these events would play like this. That said, giving us a series taking place in China of the future, tying it to the past, and mucking around with a person like Mulan makes it interesting. There are some interesting ideas here, but I wish the 500 BC segment was brought in elsewhere and more time was focused on introducing us to the 2125 period first before establishing the connection to the past. I’m certainly intrigued and the team here has done a good jof of capturing my interest in a lot of ways, especially to see if they can actually pull it all off.

Grade: B

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 24th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99

One area that’s being very well supported as we expected with the Sailor Moon Crystal anime series is the merchandising aspect of it. With a lot of fans being older than the young girls market as nostalgia is factoring in, Bandai has a lot of solid licensing being done to produce some good items to appeal to adult women. The latest thing to get the nod are four new earring releases that will debut in January 2015 with preorders open now for them. This pieces work to the individual style of the characters being worked with and are also priced different based on the materials used. Sailor Mercury’s runs for 12,960 yen while Sailor Venus jumps in at just 9,720 yen. Sailor Mars is at the top end due to her materials at 12,960 while Sailor Jupiter is in the middle at 11,880 yen. Each of the pieces are 92.5% silver while Sailor Mercury has Blue Topaz for example.

Click on the images below to see them in larger form. You can head to the Bandai Fashion page to preorder them here as well as see other previously solicited jewelry items for the property.

[Source: Nijimen via ANN ]

Media Blasters has set their plans for the month of August this morning with a pair of releases in the works. The first is a priced down release of the Otoboku – Maidens Are Falling For Me subtitled only collection which was last released back at the end of 2009 for $30 and will now be released on August 9th for $19.99. While we get that re-release, Media Blasters is bringing out something new as well with the first of two collections for the third season of this franchise, Ikki-Tousen Great Guardians. This release will be bilingual with a runtime of 150 minutes and will arrive on August 30th, 2011 for $29.99 and will contain the first half of the season that aired on AT-X in Japan in the summer of 2008. The twelve episode season was produced by ARMS with Koichi Ohata directing an all new storyline.

Ikki-Tousen Great Guardians DVD 1

No details are known about this release yet other than it will be bilingual.

Otoboku: Maidens Are Falling For Me DVD Complete Collection

Mizuho, a young man from a well-off family, is told that his grandfather’s last wish is that he attend his mother’s high school. Such a mundane request would ordinarily not bother Mizuho, but unfortunately, his mother’s alma mater is an exclusive academy for young ladies. With the help of his childhood friend Mariya, he manages to convincingly disguise himself as the fairer sex, but will he be able to keep up the act until he manages to graduate?

To make matters worse, Mizuho can’t seem to keep a low profile within the school and ends up thrown into an election for the schools most prestigious position.

Contains episodes 1-13 (episode 13 is a bonus parody of the Cinderella story).

Special Features: Live Event in Kawasaki, Promotional Video Clip, Textless Ending (Last Episode).

Viz Media tends to release the bulk of their books at the beginning of the month with more spread throughout the month, and they’ve updated their plans a bit for the March 2015 release period. Showing up through Right Stuf, they’ve now added twenty three new books to the solicitation list. It’s a pretty good mix of ongoing things overall, though they have a new release with the latest Pokemon movie getting its manga adaptation. Ongoings are the name of the game here, especially for newer books like Seraph of the End and Kiss of the Rose Princess. This month also sees the announcement of some new omnibus releases with Ranma 1/2, Dragon Ball, D.Gray-man and Skip Beat! all getting new volumes of either 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 releases.

1. Pokemon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction Graphic Novel
2. Claymore Graphic Novel 26
3. Naruto Graphic Novel 69
4. Pokemon XY Graphic Novel 2
5. Oresama Teacher Graphic Novel 18
6. Kamisama Kiss Graphic Novel 17
7. LBX Graphic Novel 4: The Super LBX
8. YuGiOh! 5D’s Graphic Novel 7
9. Nisekoi: False Love Graphic Novel 8
10. Kiss of the Rose Princess Graphic Novel 3
11. Seraph of the End Graphic Novel 4
12. Ranma 1/2 Graphic Novel 13-14 Omnibus
13. Dragon Ball Graphic Novel 22-24 Omnibus
14. D.Gray-man Graphic Novel 16-18 Omnibus
15. Skip Beat! Graphic Novel 28-30 Omnibus
16. Pokemon Adventures Graphic Novel 27 (Emerald)
17. RIN-NE Graphic Novel 17
18. Master Keaton Graphic Novel 2
19. 07-Ghost Graphic Novel 15
20. Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire Graphic Novel 3
21. Terra Formars Graphic Novel 5
22. Arata: The Legend Graphic Novel 21
23. Requiem of the Rose King Graphic Novel 1

Kanako’s high school lesbian dream life continues, nosebleeds and all, now in English and high definition.

What They Say:
Some things never change: Ame no Kisaki, that famous and exclusive boarding school, still doesn’t accept boys, and Kanako, Kisaki’s most romantically unfortunate student, still doesn’t accept them either. (They give her the hives. Literally.) Sadly, that means that Kanako’s still trying to connect with anyone of the same sex, and having the usual horrid luck.

Kanako’s still in imminent peril of dying from the constant nosebleeds she gets from being over-stimulated by the presence of her fellow classmates. She’s still forced to endure the tragedy of sharing a room with the school’s most beautiful girl who is, of course, still a guy in drag. Poor Kanako! She came hoping to find love and happiness, and all she’s found is misery, frustration and a level of desperation so great that she’ll even take a chance on a sleepover in a dorm filled with deathtraps.

Contains episodes 1-12.

The Review:
Audio:
While the original DVD release was a monolingual one, this new version brings us the original Japanese language track as well as the new English language dub in stereo using the DTS-HD MA lossless codec. The series is not one that really goes big or wild, but it has its key moments along the way that makes the use of the mix important, both with the louder moments but also some of the incidental sounds to make the humor work or the dialogue come across right. Both mixes handle things well and the music is the area that tends to be the most noticeable element overall, which works well since it has the widest and warmest usage. The series may not be hugely memorable in terms of its design, but it fits the show well and the encoding here is clean and clear throughout as we had no problems with dropouts or distortions during regular playback.

Video:
Originally airing in 2011, the transfer for this twelve episode TV series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. The series is spread across two discs with nine on the first and three on the second, which is also where all the extras are. The series is one that looked good on DVD outside of a bit of banding, but it comes to life even more here with the what Shaft animated it. The colors have a richer and deeper feeling to them, a warmer approach for much of it, and the details are all the more visible and clean. It’s the kind of show where, especially on a larger screen, you can really savor it when you pause on various situations and just enjoy the attention to detail that they put into it. Colors are solid throughout, the gradients are significantly minimized though they’re still part of the actual source material and the overall presentation definitely brings out the quality of the show.

Packaging:
While I really liked the cover artwork to Mariaholic, Mariaholic Alive shows off some of the problems with the show on the front cover as the generally considered lead character of Kanako is given a much smaller portion and Mariya really takes the strong position. We get Mariya and some of the others from the schools set against a darkened backdrop that has parts of the school campus visible, and there are a few smiles but it feels weirdly disconnected from the overall atmosphere brought in by the background. The back cover is the same basic layout of the first one with different colors as it has a blue background. The summary runs across both of them with three pictures on each side as well from the show to add a bit more color to it. The disc and episode count is clearly listed above a cute shots of the show. The bottom half of the cross is given over to the usual items such as production credits and a technical grid. No show related inserts are included nor is there a reversible cover here.

Menu:
The menu design for this release works the simple aspect with some nicely done static menus. The background goes with the blue style with some nice elegant designs woven into it while the foreground provides for some good character artwork, though they’re simple but nicely detailed pieces with them standing about. The navigation along the right uses the off-white from the back cover with a standard vertical breakdown of episodes by number and title, but it’s a bit smaller than usual and a little harder to read even on larger screens at a distance. The layout is fairly standard for Sentai Filmworks but it works well during regular usage as well as during playback through the pop-up menus.

Extras:
The extras are strong in this release for fans of the creative team and all those involved in the production as each episode has a commentary track with it that must have been hell to translate, so extra props are seriously required here for all the work that went into it for that many episodes. In addition to that we get some of the original Japanese promos and the clean versions of the opening and closing sequences.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF7hCLdlhKQ?rel=0]Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After I had taken in the first season of Mariaholic and really enjoyed the way it let the lead female character be all pervy like the lead boys often are in harem style series, I was keen on seeing the second season, hoping for more of the same with some mild tweaks or new characters to help expand it. I was looking forward to it enough that after watching this, I was very happy to see that Mariaholic Alive was getting its season simulcast. Unfortunately, the simulcast of it was a difficult watch as a lot of what I liked was either excised outright or reduced greatly in favor of greater focus on the esoteric humor that does work, but in smaller doses. The lack of Kanako for much of it is even translated into the cover here as she’s barely on it at all.

So while I didn’t come away from the season with positive feelings, and in fact was quite glad when it was done, I was really curious to see if my feelings on it would change with a marathon session over the course of a day. To my surprise, my feelings on it did soften a good deal, finding more continuity across the episodes that I saw before and feeling that the humor worked a bit better overall. I won’t say I was a complete convert and behind it like I was the first series, but I didn’t feel as put off by it as I was. What this season does, focusing more on the summer side of the school life of the girls in the series, is to showcase them a bit differently but still keep to some of what makes them who they are. But with the focus of Kanako taken off, since she’s now been there for a few months, it feels like it’s lost its main motivating factor.

In fact, Kanako has some time where she’s actively taken out for an entire episode so that she can focus on catching up on her studying. She’s doing so poorly in her grades after a few episodes that there’s a chance she won’t be there much longer and has to really buckle down. We get some fun with that as she struggles with it, but we get a follow-up episode that shows what happened during that week away where everyone else goes through a lot of adventures that she has a hard time figuring out when she comes out of her seclusion. It works well enough when watching it back to back like this, but I was frustrated by the experience during the original viewing since I wanted more of Kanako and everyone else.

To make matters worse, because of some of the things she gtes involved in, there’s an episode where for 95% of it she has a mask over her mouth that’s taped shut with a big X on it. This comes at a time when one of the other girls she’s into has a young arranged marriage husband show up, something that he takes seriously but she never did, thinking it only a joke among old men. There’s fun in watching Ryuken deal with the earnest young boy who is still more interested in stag beetles than her, but seeing Kanako do her best while being unable to talk to try and break things up and get in his way is a lot of fun. But I also wanted more of her dialogue to try and accomplish this since she goes so over the top so often.

That’s not to say the show doesn’t do some fun stuff with Kanako at times, which is good since it’s the main draw for me here as most of the other characters, including Mariya and Matsurika, kind of grate on me rather easily since they’re smug and condescending in their own way. Her pursuit of girls is a lot of fun, from learning that she can’t be allowed in the public bathing areas because of how she gets excessive nosebleeds that turns it all red to an even with kimonos where she practically quivers over the idea that she can see the nape of the girls necks. The cruelest of the segments here is when the summer swim meet is coming up and Kanako is all set to see not only those in her class but also the upperclassman as well in their swimsuits. Of course, it has some good lead-up to it, but it cuts things short rather abruptly and it’s without any real payoff for the most part.

Similar to the first season, while the high definition upgrade is a big draw for me since I’m generally not a dub fan (though I’m glad for every one we get), for a lot of people the inclusion of a new English language dub is more important. Having watched the show a couple of times previous in its original Japanese, I did the same approach here as the first season and went back and forth between the tracks since they’re not locked. Essentially mirroring the first season, the cast in general is done in a fairly straightforward way for a lot of it as they deliver their lines well and hit their comedic marks just right. Though she has a reduced role at times in this season, for me the key character is that of Kanako since she’s the most outlandish of them all with how she interacts with others and within her internal dialogue that she often carries. Jessica Calvello definitely did that in spades and made Kanako a really fun character to listen to in this form, even if I’m still strongly connected to the original Japanese actress since that was my first introduction to it. It’s one of those tough roles to step into and fill, but Calvello definitely did it and did it in a way that should earn a lot of fans for it..

In Summary:
Mariaholic Alive hits some good notes throughout it and I definitely felt like it flowed better than when I saw the simulcast and this third viewing sort of cemented that a bit more. The show has its good points when it comes to what Kanako gets involved in and some of the troubles she faces, but it also puts a lot of diversions into it, such as a whole court case style episode and some extended time going on about things that seemingly have no sense. And the cast, primarily in the form of Matsurika and Mariya, really abuse her verbally in a way in the final episode by just telling her how everything is her fault in the end. She has her issues, but it just felt more mean than it needed to be, even considering what Kanako is like. When Kanako gets a chance to cut loose it’s a lot of fun as her perverted nature shines through. While the season does move away from some of the key areas that made me enjoy the first so much, it’s definitely gotten a great treatment here with the high definition upgrade, the continued inclusion of the numerous Japanese commentary tracks and a very, very welcome English dub adaptation..

Features:
Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English Subtitles, Clean Opening, Clean Closing, Japanese Commentaries, Promos

Content Grade: B
Audio Grade: A-
Video Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Menu Grade: B
Extras Grade: A

Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: March 25th, 2014
MSRP: $69.98
Running Time: 300 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen

Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.

The new season of Garo: Moon of Crimson is inching ever closer and now the official channel for it has launched a new thirty-second teaser for it that highlights the cast of characters for it once again. The show is one that’s definitely interesting in that it’s going a whole other direction with the second season and is one that feels like some of the series we get out of cable networks like American Horror Story where it reworks things, though with some cast remaining and other new actors coming in.

This new series is now scheduled for an October 10th, 2015 debut and the main cast and full staff have been revealed.

Animated at MAPPA and Tohokushinsha, the series is directed by Atsushi Wakabayashi based on the overall composition by Shou Aikawa and Toshiki Inoue. Takao Yoshioka, Seishi Minakami, Masaki Wachi, Shinichi Inotsume and Shigeru Murakoshi are involved in the scripts for the show. Masao Ebihara is handling the character design adaptation from the original works by Masakazu Katsura.

The series will star Romi Park, Akiko Yajima, Daisuke Namikawa, Tomokazu Seki, Kenyuu Horiuchi in undisclosed character roles.

No premise for the season has been revealed yet other than that it’s set during the Haian period.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L5_Uyz2Oi4]

There’s a lot going on these days on the live action side of Attack on Titan, which is good even if all you want is more animated material, as the first film is scheduled for an August 1st, 2015 bow. Ahead of that, a new theatrical poster has been released for it that shows off the main cast and some of the overall trappings of the film that fans want to see. Before the second film comes out on September 19th, there will be a short character driven/slice of life TV drama with some of the cast appearing in it as well.

Property concept: 100 years ago, titans suddenly appeared on Earth. Soon, human civilization veered on collapse due to the titans. Humans then built a giant wall to defend themselves. Within the giant walls, humans lived in peace, but, 100 years later, the giant wall is broken.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsY3_LbOPMw]

The sound you hear is that of Steins; Gate fans heads exploding across multiple timelines. Or, to put more succinctly, “Sonuvabitch!”

After the end of the final episode of the series that debuts today in Japan, there is an additional clip that announces that a theatrical production has been green-lit for Steins gate. There are no details at this time, but it’s something that will keep the show alive in another form, which it’s very much capable of. The TV series, which is being simulcast on Crunchyroll, got a pick-up at Anime Expo this year by FUNimation as the series is considered a spiritual successor to Chaos; Head which FUNimation also has.

[Source: ANN ]

One series that got almost no promotion ahead of its broadcast debut in Japan is that of Brave Beats, which is landing about now. The new show comes from the folks behind Tribe Cool Crew so you can get an idea of what it’s all about and now Crunchyroll has picked up the series. They don’t have details on their start date, time or regional availability for it yet though.

The series is directed by Yuuta Murano and stars yuri Toshida, Shiho Kokido, Tooru Sakurai and Meguru Takahashi.

Plot concept: Hibiki Kazaguruma is a sixth grader who meets an amusing little robot named Bureikin while coming home from school one day. Bureikin, a dancer from an alternate-dimension dance world, challenged the dance king for the throne and lost. He has been deprived of Dance Stones (the stones of dance power) and sent to the human world. To restore his power, Bureikin must collect all the Dance Stones scattered around Earth. Meanwhile, the Dance Stones cause chaos on the human world. To retrieve the Dance Stones, Bureikin fuses with Hibiki and transforms into a Dance Hero.

Crunchyroll is making a lot of fans pretty happy today with the announcement that they’ve acquired the streaming rights for Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold. The series is set to debut tomorrow, April 10th, at 11am ET. The series will be available to premium and free members in the United States and Canada while viewers in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America (South America, Central America, and Caribbean) will be able to see it if they’re premium members.

The series will be directed by Takeshi Furuta based on scripts by Toshimitsu Takeuchi and character designs by Hideyuki Motohashi. The cast includes Hideyuki Tanaka as Leo Aioria, Yuusaku Yara as Sagittarius Aioros, Takumi Yamazaki as Aries Mu, Toshihiko Seki as Scorpio Milo, Tesshô Genda as Taurus Aldebaran, Nobutoshi Canna as Aquarius Camus, Yuji Mitsuya as Virgo Shaka, Takeshi Kusao as Capricorn Shura, Ryouichi Tanaka as Cancer Deathmask, Keiichi Nanba as Pisces Aphrodite, Kenyuu Horiuchi as Libra Dohko and Ryotaro Okiayu as Gemini Saga.

The original work from Masami Kurumada ran in the late 80′s and there was renewed interest after the 2012 series Saint Seiya Omega made its way out and ran for two years. With a new 3DCG film last year as well, there’s still plenty of interest, particularly outside of Japan in South America and parts of Europe.

Plot concept: The 12 Gold Saints gave their lives to destroy the Wailing Wall to break the way for Seiya and the Saints in their battle against Hades in the Underworld!

Though presumed dead, Aiolia and the other Gold Saints return to the beautiful earthly world of radiating luminescence!
Why have these lost souls been brought back to life?
Shrouded in this deep mystery, Aiolia becomes embroiled in a duel.
When he burns his Cosmo to its limit…the Cloth of Leo transforms!

In 2015, the Golden Cosmo is finally revived!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiFncVFhUKA]

Let the tone be set as the official site for Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt has updated to reveal the first key visual for the anime adaptation of the original work. This piece gives us a look at the two lead characters with Io Fleming and Daryl Lorentz alongside the Eath Federation and Zeon mobile suits. The look of it definitely does what it needs to in reaffirming that this is going to be a serious toned UC 0079 series when it hits, which is something that a lot of fans of the older work, such as myself, have been craving.

No production details have been revealed yet.

The book, which began in 2012 in Big Comic Superior from Yasuo Ohtagaki, is a side story for the UC timeline set in 0079. It’s aimed at an older audience with more of a science fiction/military design than the traditional action-oriented materials of the last decade or so.

Plot concept: Federation troops and Zeon forces carry out a fierce battle in the Thunderbolt Sector in what was once Side 4 “Mua”. The Thunderbolt Sector is a shoal zone composed of the debris of destroyed space colonies, named for the electrical discharges from the metal debris. MS pilot Io Flemming is among the Federation soldiers who are dispatched to the area, where Zeon sniper Daryl Lorenz awaits them on the battlefield.

Details are slim at this point still, but Marvel’s C.B. Cebuski, who worked an age ago at Central Park Media where he worked on anime properties, has been spending some time in Japan recently for Marvel. While he teased about that a couple of weeks ago, today he’s provided a look at what’s in store for Japanese fans as it looks like there will be an incursion into the Marvel Comics world in Japan with Attack on Titan!

If you ever wondered, “What if the titans from Hajime Isayama’s “Attack on Titan” attacked the Marvel universe?”, you’ll find out soon!!

— C.B. Cebulski (@CBCebulski) November 3, 2014

For many decades & multiple reasons, almost no manga, especially popular titles, crossed into other comic universes… until now! (cont.)

— C.B. Cebulski (@CBCebulski) November 3, 2014

I loved “Marvel Team-Up” and “What If?” as a kid. I would spend hours dreaming up my own crossovers & alternate reality stories. (cont.)

— C.B. Cebulski (@CBCebulski) November 3, 2014

As I got more into manga, I always imagined how cool it would be for the Marvel characters to cross into the pages of manga worlds. (cont.)

— C.B. Cebulski (@CBCebulski) November 3, 2014

Not a joke, folks. Attack on Titan and the @Marvel universe are crossing over! In 2 weeks. In Japan. Want a teaser? pic.twitter.com/9AF5fqWLfX

— C.B. Cebulski (@CBCebulski) November 3, 2014

And the dead shall inherit the earth. Slowly, but surely.

What They Say:

Rick Grimes is not prepared for this. A couple months ago he was a small town cop who had never fired a shot and only ever saw one dead body. Separated from his family he must now sort through the death and confusion to try and find his wife and son. Collects THE WALKING DEAD #1-6.

The Review:

If there’s been a series I’ve been wanting to read for some time, it’s The Walking Dead. When I was getting to the point in being ready to catch up on it due to numerous recommendations and plenty of critical acclaim, the TV series was announced and I felt like I wanted to see that without the influence of the book. While I’m firmly of the belief that the book is almost always better than the show, there’s something to be said about a fairly real-world title like this that can be done even better when it comes to live action since it can really spend its time on characters in a format that allows for growth. That’s not to disparage the book in the slightest, it’s just one area where a title like this can achieve something just as powerful, but different, because of the medium used. Going into the comic after watching the show, with the divergences that are there, allows each to stand on its own, giving you the feeling of being able to see what’s the same but to enjoy the differences greatly.

Like a lot of good properties in dealing with the dead walking the earth, we don’t get the explanation of why it happens. The series focuses on officer Rick Grimes of the little town of Cynthia. A call that he gets while on duty leads to him being injured and thrown into a coma, but that’s not the worst of his problems. When he awakens, the hospital is empty and it’s been quite some time since everything went down. He learns quickly that the dead are now walking the earth and only a little quick thinking kept him alive all this time. But that discovery doesn’t help as he makes his way into the town and sees how its fallen and some of the undead that are straggling along. Even worse, there’s no sign of his wife and son, though indications in the house show that she may have gone to see relatives elsewhere when the world turned to crap. With a little help from a father and son pair of survivors he came across, he’s able to get himself on the right path to go towards Atlanta since he figures that’s his best bet.

Rick’s journey to Atlanta and his time in there is fairly short as he sees just how bad things are and the sense of desolation of it all is pretty well captured. Rick’s luck holds out even when he’s at his worst though as a young man named Glen rescues him from a bad situation, which in turn brings him to a group of survivors out in the outskirts of the city. This pocket of humanity is what Rick needs to give him a sense of purpose but also to ease some of his burden as he discovers his wife and son is there, as well as his partner Shane from the force. It’s at this point that The Walking Dead really starts to come together as we’re quickly introduced to the group of varied survivors and how they’re working together to ensure their continued survival. There’s a tenseness to the story at this point, but also that easing to things as people try to make sure some aspects of their lives continue on as normal, even as there are incursions of the dead.

The dynamics of the group are pretty important as the cast fleshes out, and that happens literally as a few of them die early on because of the dead. The draw in terms of the characters at this stage is seeing how Rick and his wife Lori and his son Carl all come together with things. There’s an obvious sense of palpable relief on all their parts that all of them are alive, but there’s some issues that are a part of it as well because of what’s been done to survive. Lori’s proven herself to be a strong person, but Shane has designs on her and had been working that angle for a bit. While he and Rick were solid partners before, there’s new tensions as he never expected Rick to survive and Rick’s presence also adds a new authority figure, which has a pair of alpha males fighting it out in subtle ways sometimes to be top of the pack. Shane had been second fiddle for so long, and has done so well keeping everyone alive, that when it’s threatened, he really does view Rick as a threat.

While Kirkman’s writing is obviously the big draw here as he works his magic in its early stages about a group of survivors, what sells it is that artwork by Tony Moore. Moore gives it a very rough feel but makes sure that the backgrounds, while naturalistic once they get out of the city, is never devoid of detail or a sense of life. The characters are the same as they have a slightly haggard look to them but also a bit of hope for most of them. The world he works with here keeps things relatively normal in a lot of ways, as everything went to hell quickly, but also adds in the right kinds of small amounts of destruction, trash and decay that happens. There’s a whole lot to like with his art and the way he works facial expressions is just an added bonus to it all.

Digital Notes:

This graphic novel compilation contains the first six issues of the series in one file that has a total of a hundred and forty pages with no extras, alternate covers or anything else.

In Summary:

One of the difficult things with a book that’s also a TV series is the desire to draw comparisons between the two. It’s very hard to resist when it comes to The Walking Dead because there are so many similarities but also a number of significant divergences that gives them both a unique storyline to work with. The concepts are the same, the approach is the same, but the details and flow of it move in different ways. While I do thoroughly enjoy the flow and narrative of the TV series, there’s a wonderful raw and tense edge here that’s evident in a different way. The shorter format of twenty-odd pages per issue has the framing happening in a different way and that allows each of the properties to thrive and complement each other. This opening graphic novel has a lot to offer and it’s a lot of fun with its quick bursts of violence, affection and humanity in the face of the end of civilization.

Grade: B+

Stuff happens. What kind of stuff? I’m still not sure.

What They Say:
Gintama is a story of a handyman named Gintoki, a samurai with no respect for rules set by the invaders, who’s ready to take any job to survive. He and his gang, however, are also among the very few who have not forgotten the morale of a swordsman. Wherever they go, all they do is to create troubles. Troubles that they of course try to solve, but in reality…

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the Pirako and Jirocho arc behind us now, thankfully, Gintama moves on to other things. With the previous arc being so involved in the very earth bound and bloody side of things, this one brings us a bit more of the science fiction that does populate the series as it spends a good part of its time out in space with the amusing cast of characters that exist there, including the cow-butler that I can’t help but to stare at. There’s some amusing moments as it deals with the men there, particularly when they go on about the woman of their dreams in whether she’s more of a DS or a Genesis, followed my insistence that one of them is definitely not a Sega fan, certainly has its moments. But it all comes down to the main point that there are things occurring on Earth that need to be dealt with, tools that need to be put away, and that has them heading there to make sure that their bosses main interests aren’t interfered with.

Where the show really made me laugh is when it took on the Tokyo Youth Ordnance bill briefly and just went off the rails with Shinsuke’s position on the whole thing. And it gets brought back up again as well, which just makes it even more amusing, particularly with the way Shinsuke presents it.

This episode spends all of its time in space with events that are being played out against sides that are using each other for various means. This episode felt like a whole lot of nothing in the end though because, probably due to my missing about a hundred and fifty episodes, I haven’t a clue who any of these characters are and there’s no quick reminder for anyone else either who may have come onto the show since it started back up several weeks ago. It does play some fun little Legend of Galactic Heroes aspects to it and there’s some intrigue and politics mixed in on a base level, but there’s no real connection to anything here for me. It’s looking to build up to something big considering how much time it’s spending on fairly serious material here and expanding the scope of events, so it’s an interesting starting point, but it’s not one that I think is all that friendly to newer viewers in the slightest.

In Summary:
Sometimes Gintama makes me laugh a whole lot. Sometimes it juts offers up a few chuckles and on some very good occasions, it gives me a very serious show with a lot of action that’s almost surprising from a show that’s generally more comedy oriented. Episodes like this, however, are the most frustrating because it just doesn’t work in the slightest for me because there isn’t a shred of context for anyone. If it was the middle of the arc, that’s one thing and I wouldn’t raise an eyebrow, but with it being the start of one, there’s no context provided here and no connection with the core cast of characters not even in the show outside of the opening and closing sequences. At least we get a new closing sequence this time around which is pretty nice, but it’s sad when the most interesting part of the show is the ending sequence.

Grade: D

Simulcast By: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.

Will it turn out that the heart of the alternate dimension is actually filled with one of mankind’s oldest nightmares?

Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yasuhiro Nightow
Translation/Adaptation: Matthew Johnson

What They Say
In the interdimensional maelstrom of New Jerusalem – what New York used to be before it went to hell, literally! – the agents of Libra quietly keep the lid on the paranormal pressure cooker. When agent Klaus Reinhertz tracks the source of the super-drug Angel Scale, he is drawn into a deadly game with a mob boss from the Beyond: win and have your dreams come true, lose and have your mind absorbed by the alien godfather!

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
When the world changed three years ago when Jerusalem’s Lot replaced New York City the biggest shock may actually have been to mankind’s psyche as the rules humanity had come to live by- including those of physics- were suddenly thrown out the window. Luckily for humanity at large the city came with its own walls and guardians for its gate who obsessively observe everything that passes through their gates which provided a small measure of comfort for those on both sides of the wall hoping to keep as much of the otherworld from venturing out onto the world at large. Those who would be protectors also live with the dread of knowing though that someday a time will come when something slips past the gates watchmen and unleashes hell on the world at large- and unfortunately for Libra that day may have come.

Inside the walled city a drug from the other side called Angel Scale is making the rounds in the underground and is finding willing users across the spectrum in the form of the various beings that inhabit the city, including humans. The effect of the drug on humans is rather severe as it gives the user a tremendous sense of euphoria while turning them almost into a type of superman, capable of great strength and regeneration and whose effects create a berserker stat and it can even cause the body to move and fight after having the head being separated and somehow it has managed to get past the gates with some rather disastrous results.

In order to discover the drug route Klaus is going to need to engage in a game of strategy that will pit everything he has on the line against one of the biggest mafia heads from the other side- a being that just so happens to also be possibly the greatest master of the game Klaus will need to win to get the information he needs and escape with his life. But how much of a chance does Klaus have when even one of the most highly regarded chess players in the world can’t master this game?

Sadly for Libra this isn’t even their biggest issue as an incredibly powerful and ancient threat is starting to move in the shadows of the city. The menace is such that even Mafioso heads from the human world will come to try to get power from it, though they may discover that this ancient power is far more capricious than they had counted on and one member of the entourage may have their life changed forever. This appearance of this incredibly old foe doesn’t go unnoticed though which may bring in the services of a person even the other members of Libra fear. But when Leo is involved in an accident and suddenly has his eyes change in power will the discovery of the heart of the otherworld void the city is connected to signal the end of humanity?

The second volume of the series kicks off in a somewhat underpowered way in a fashion as the reader is introduced to even more of the cities wonders in a much lower key manner than the initial volume created. Some of this is due to Nightow deciding to try his hand at creating a powerful air of tension through a new game that has a passing resemblance to chess in its outset but which changes dramatically as the game goes on. This decision is going to be one that is going to depend heavily on the individual reader’s reaction as creating a new game makes it a bit harder to really follow as the tension attempts to build but if one doesn’t buy into this aspect it can feel like a really well drawn but hollow challenge.

Then the volume brings in what appears to be a standalone tale introducing a new and rather young mob member named Tonio who is about to have his life changed forever as his boss brings him to Jerusalem’s Lot but for reasons of his own. Luckily this story point actually is a way of building up the next challenge for Libra, and it is one that will use far more action- and a far more established opponent type- than the first tale’s games master. Through the introduction though the new menace that is revealed has a chance of exciting readers with the promise of where Nightow might take the tale but it also runs the risk of alienating them as the threat is one that has become so common these days it is bordering on being seriously overexposed. While what is here seems to be handled in a pretty interesting way with a good deal of action (and unbelievably skilled and detailed illustration) this new change is probably going to decide if this book becomes as loved as Trigun or if it is simply “The work that followed Trigun.”

In Summary
While the first arc in the book may not excite all and the second one may be a bit off putting by its change in focus the book seriously picks up the action and humor that Nightow fans have come to expect from his work after a somewhat slow start. What Nightow reveals in this collection is the creatures that will become the heart of what Libra will be struggling against (at least for now anyway) as he puts his interpretation on that enemy in such a way that it may cause the reader to feel that there is something fresh here, even if it is based off of a very old nightmare. Those who care to give this volume a chance will discover that, even if the story itself may not always grab their attention, Nightow is completely at the top of his game when it comes to his artwork as the book has some of the most original artwork found on the market today. This action fueled story with its otherworldly design is a book that will find no small number of fans and which has the potential to be a sizable hit in the US manga market and heap more accolades on an already rather beloved creator.

Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: N/A
Text/Translation Grade: B

Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: May 9th, 2012
MSRP: $10.99

New York, NY— December 1^st, 2014 —Marvel Unlimited is celebrating “cyber week” by inviting Marvel fans to experience over 75 years of Marvel Comics through Marvel Unlimited! For only 75¢for the first month of a Marvel Unlimited monthly subscription, new subscribers will be able to experience the greatest present of all – access to over 15,000 digital Marvel comics!*

Unlock the Marvel Universe for only 75¢ through Marvel Unlimited by using the Promo Code MARVEL75 at Marvel Unlimited checkout and prepare yourself for some of the greatest Marvel Comics featuring The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man and many more!  This amazing gift is accessible through Marvel Unlimited on the web and through the Marvel Unlimited app on iPhone®, iPad® and Android™ devices.

New to the Marvel Universe and don’t know where to start? Don’t worry! Marvel Unlimited subscribers have access to the DISCOVER section of Marvel Unlimited. Subscribersare now able to discover new pathways into the Marvel Universe by being able to search by their favorite storylines, characters or creators.

Want to learn about Marvel’s Civil War? Marvel Unlimited will show you the entire series and offer you a step-by-step suggested reading order. Curious about who Dr. Strange is? Marvel Unlimited is here to provide you with his most heroic Marvel moments. Love Sara Pichelli’s artistic style? Marvel Unlimited can now show you some of her most acclaimed work all in one place.

With classic and newer issues being added to Marvel Unlimited on a weekly basis as early as six months after they’re in stores, you’ll definitely want to join Marvel Unlimited this holiday season and enjoy the gift of the Marvel Universe!

Just a few days after information surfaced about the name for the Monsters, Inc. prequel with Monsters University, we’ve been treated to the logo itself as discovered by the Pixar Blog . In related news, the movie has had a bit of a change because of some scheduling issues as Pixar wanted a bit more time between releases. With Brave set to hit next summer, Monsters University has been bumped from its previous date of November 2nd, 2012 to June 21st, 2013. This open slot in November will now be taken by the Disney animated film Reboot Ralph.

There’s little detail out there at the moment about Monsters University, which is how Pixar usually plays it, but what’s come out so far is that it’s a bit of a flashback tale that tells of the time when Mike and James became friends at college after starting out as enemies. Which makes all the more sense in avoiding the number sequel idea.

Can Lisara and Iria really work well together for any amount of time?

What They Say:
With Ryousuke still limp from the previous fight, Quele attempts to heal him. Lisara sets out to rally the Restall army with information provided by Iria.

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With everyone now in the other realm and focusing the events there, things take a decent turn here as it puts Ryousuke on the outside for a little bit as he attempts to recover from the fight that he’s been in. He’s been mostly bedridden because of it, though that’s not a bad place to be as Quele is there trying to help him recover while wearing next to nothing from what we can see. It provides a nice chance for Ryousuke to reflect on what’s going on a bit as he learns that Lisara and Iria have headed off to get more intel, providing the incentive to get back and to also realize just how much Lisara means to him after all they’ve been through together.

For Lisara and Iria, it’s a decent chance to get to know the lay of the land a bit more as the two are working to get into Tours-Soleil. There’s a number of ways that they can attempt to do this, so getting the right one, using the military as a feint, seems like it’s the best idea in order to retrieve their friend from there. Lisara and Iria have some good bits along the way here as the action unfolds and they do their best to infiltrate, showing us some decent looking creatures that are amusingly abusive towards her in a way that causes her clothes to continually b shredded. Showing us Ryousuke arguing with her mother in-between those bits is interesting, since it lets him rail against her while she proves to be calm and purposeful in a way that he certainly didn’t expect.

In Summary:
While we do get a few events going on here, there’s a sort of wheel spinning feeling going on when you get down to it. Lisara and Iria have some decent material together, working side by side at first until things take a momentary twist that you know will be righted. Lisara provides most of the fanservice, though Iria’s costume certainly is eye-catching, and the abuse heaped on her is kind of comical in how they want it to be titillating. For Ryousuke, he has some minor material here that works decently overall, whether it’s a bit of mildly naughty fun with Quele or more serious time spent with Lisara’s mother that is fun if only for where she seems to be continually placing his head. I’m still really interested in the show but it’s just not firing on all cylinders well here.

Grade: B-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.

Nami’s fans will have a hard time with this episode.

What They Say:
The Sunny is mysteriously deformed by the bizarre powers of Giolla! Can Nami, Chopper, and Brook act in time to save their beloved home? Meanwhile, the battle for Block C continues as Luffy suffers a staggering setback, and the Don Quixote Family’s plans for dealing with Luffy are revealed!

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As events roll on with this arc, it’s definitely growing in interest, particularly because of events going on with Law, Caesar and that particular group. The Navy men and their abilities are always intriguing when they’re not the norm and we definitely saw that the last time around, enough so that even Law was surprised by it. Add in the little twist with Joker and it all does come together fairly well. But the show is one that knows it needs to change things up so we don’t get too much of any one story at a time and that means visiting characters we haven’t seen much of for a bit. Particularly those on board the Sunny, which finds itself going through strange seemingly drug-induced changes thanks to the arrival of a woman named Giolla.

This large and bouncy woman is all about making things artistic and she’s warping and twisting portions of the ship with her powers as a part of the Don Quixote family. They’ve given her a classic 60′s housewife look that’s certainly amusing as it works well as she twists and warps not just the ship, but the Straw Hats as well – which includes Nami’s chest shrinking down to flatness and Chopper looking like a Minecraft character. Their freakout is adorable, especially since Nami looks like a tall tween with her body type now. We get a good bit of time spent with this and seeing how the Sunny essentially turns all psychedelic is great since it has such great colors to it and the whole thing just gets so surreal when you get down to it. The panic on the Straw Hats faces match it as well, especially since the ship essentially gets hijacked by Giolla for the Family.

With that dominating most of the episode, to good effect, we also get some time spent at the arena itself where we see Bartolomeo watching the match play out as Luffy makes his way through it. This gives us a little time in the waiting room with what seems to be shaking out some of the characters that will play more of a role in the arc as it goes on and the kind of personalities tensions that can surface. This is balanced with some very fun moments with Luffy in the arena, riding one of the contestant/bull characters in there, with such a sense of glee and happiness about it that you can get easily caught up in it all. Of course, it has to turn serious as well since there are some surprisingly big actors on the stage here and that makes for a different kind of fun. Not so much for the bull he named Ucy though…

In Summary:
With this episode, most of its focus is on the Sunny and what Giolla is doing to both the ship and the crew. It is drawn out as it dominates about three fourths of the episode, but it’s done in fairly standard One Piece style so it’s not exactly a complaint. Watching as the Straw Hats there get warped and then the Sunny itself, well, I laughed and enjoyed the weirdness of it. It’ll be interesting when they catch up to the rest in this form and the reactions from that to say the least. We also get some decent if shorter time with Luffy in the arena, but it has a turn in what’s going on as it was mostly fun and fancy free time for him going at it before it turned deadly serious, which will make more of this arc even more fun to watch.

Grade: B

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.

Nozomi Entertainment is doing a bit more promotion for the DVD release of Tamayaura: Hitotose with a new clip for it. They also brought out the first two OVA episodes for streaming earlier this fall, which may do a better job overall of getting you interested. The two pieces, clocking in at over thirty minutes each, are available with English subtitles via YouTube. Naturally, they’re restricted to just North American viewing as that’s where their rights are for it.

The company announced the pickup of the series at Anime Expo this summer and set a quick release for it. The show came out on October 6th, 2015 with it being on DVD and priced at $44.99 for the nearly 400-minute run. The release contains episodes 1-12 and Special Episode 5.5. Special features include the Tamayura OVA Series, Clean Openings and Endings, Promotional Videos and Commercials

Plot concept: As a little girl, Fuu Sawatari’s father taught her to love photography. They took pictures everywhere they went. But after he passed away, seeing those photographs only served as a reminder of her loss, so she locked them away to be forgotten. Years later, her brother Kou finds their father’s picture album, and as he flips through its pages, the pictures remind Fuu of all the happy memories of her father that she will carry with her forever.

Now, as the shy Fuu enters her first year of high school, she once again takes up her father’s old camera, determined to take wonderful pictures that will bring joy and happiness to others.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTqjupCaBmU]

Lots of a training and a bit of backstory

Creative Staff
Story/Art: Gamon Sakurai
Translation: Ko Ransom

What They Say
Soon to be animated as a three-part theatrical feature, in this volume the hit on-going series further fleshes out its intriguing cast. Learn how the female demi-human “Izumi” came on stage, how a trustworthy friend who left it spent his days, and more.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Thanks to the new situation they find themselves in, Kei and Ko are forced to put themselves through some serious training in order to get into better shape. Meanwhile, Ko gets a crush on Izumi, and Ogura helps our hero learn a little about his ghost. This all works as a means to flesh out Ko and Kei’s characters and play them off one another, and of course jam in a ton of exposition. Though I can see how this was necessary, it really is a shame as it feels like the first time the series has grinded to a halt. Which isn’t to say it feels useless or boring, it’s just certainly quite a bit slower than the rollercoaster that the series has treated readers to so far.

After this, though, we get to Izumi’s past, and it’s absolutely fantastic. Thanks to her abusive father, we get to see her get absolutely beaten down and her life destroyed, which makes for some powerful scenes. Thanks to her monstrous dad she learns that she’s a demi-human, and in the same moment is finally forced to run away. Finally, Tosaki meets up with her as she’s completely broken down, and we get one more bit of tragedy in her life before finally seeing her have a powerful rebirth in more ways than one.

To wrap things up, we actually get a look at Kai after all this time. He’s now in prison thanks to his actions earlier in the series, and his chapter is spent showing his interactions with a fellow inmate who’s guarding a secret. It’s a great little bit of story, and shows that Kai really is the nicest guy in the series, as well as a character who’s simply fun to watch.

In Summary
This volume is a bit of a mixed bag, dropping a lot of the high stakes action so it can take the time to flesh out some characters and concepts. Ultimately this was likely a necessary step, but it unfortunately leaves the first half of the volume feeling more than a little slow. Though there are some important ideas thrown around, it’s hard to say that much of what appears in that part is terribly exciting. Fortunately, though, the back half manages much better, giving some attention to two characters that’ve been sort of low key so far. And of course they’re both fantastic stories, which really helps to salvage the volume and keep it from feeling like too much of a low point for the series. Ultimately, this is likely the weakest volume so far, but that’s more of a testament to how good the series has been up till now. Even if it’s not the thrill ride past volumes have been, it’s still a solid tale with some real high points, and absolutely something worth reading.

Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A
Package Rating: B+
Text/Translation Rating: B+

Released by: Vertical
Release Date: August 25th, 2015
MSRP: $12.95

Announced earlier this year with plans to debut this summer, a new key visual has been released for the Ultra Super Anime Time block series Wakaba*Girl. Announced at AnimeJapan 2015, this part of the block is being directed by Seiji Watanabe with Jukki Hanada handling the scripts and Kana Ishida adapting the character designs. The series is being animated at Nexus, which has done a lot of production assistance and 2nd key animation for several shows, but Wakaba*Girl marks their first formal full production.

Wakaba*Girl
will debut as part of the block on July 3rd, 2015.

The show is based off of the single volume work done by Yui Hara, which ran back in 2010 with four chapters overall. The block is an interesting one as it’s set to have three short form series that run ten minutes each, giving the show more room to breathe than the usual three or four minute episodes, but not trying to deal with the scale and cost of a full length episode with so little original material to work with.

Yui Hara’s other work, Kiniro Mosaic, has its second series starting up in April 2015.

Plot concept: The story centers around the activities of Wakaba Kohashi, “a slightly out-of-tune super” daughter of a well-to-do family, and her friends. Wakaba (literally, “young leaves”) looks like an elegant rich daughter, but she admires the trendy “gyaru” fashion subculture. There is also the pure, innocent, fairy-tale-like Moeko. Mao is capricious and behaves in her own way. Nao used to be an athletic type of girl, but now loves the boys-love genre.

With things so close to being fixed, the final real struggles are just now starting for Okabe.

What They Say:
All the D-Mails have been undone, and everything is ready to go. But there’s a price to be paid that Okabe hasn’t considered…

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the progress that Okabe has made in trying to realign things, he’s come down to his last major stumbling block. Having secured the D-Mails that were sent by Moeka, Feyris and others and turning the page back, we’ve seen the divergence ease quite a lot. And interestingly enough, each time that he’s done this, Mayuri’s death occurs a day earlier than it had before to show that the changes are making an impact. But Okabe has to grapple with his main issue now in that the last D-Mail that he has to alter is the one that saved Kurisu’s life at the beginning of the series. With the two women very important to him, he has to do what he can to save Mayuri but without changing what happened to Kurisu. Considering the feelings that have blossomed between the two, it’s certainly a bigger issue than he anticipated.

Watching as Okabe has to go through her death again and again over the course of the series has been difficult and having it happen again here is no less so since he knows how close he is and what needs to be done. But he’s unable to do it at this point due to the cost, and the anguish in his voice and face is pretty evident. When he does reveal things to her, making it clear why the problem is, it hits her pretty hard in a way that’s very much what Kurisu is like. There is so much going on below the surface, but you can surmise just how much she feels for Okabe after all that’s happened and the realization that he’s saved her in the past, and owes her life to him.

Similar to past episodes, much of what happens here that’s significant is all in the last few minutes of the episode. But that doesn’t discount the rest of it as it’s all about the grappling with the situation. Okabe has his moments where he plays up his rogue mad scientist shtick in a rather amusing way, but the majority of it focuses on the real emotions burning beneath the surface for him as he tries to save Mayuri. I keep finding myself drawn to the earlier episode where the two of them have existed for millions of years and how it’s all come down to these small minutes that he has to try and fix things. With the difficulty in what it is that Okabe has to do, getting a look at what they’re all experiencing at this moment is the spot on thing to do.

In Summary:
Stein;s Gate slows things down in just the right way here by focusing on the characters and the drama associated with what must happen in order to put everything right. When doing the right thing means doing wrong things, it’s an incredibly difficult position to be put in, both for someone like Okabe but also for Kurisu when she discovers the truth. If your death can save someone else, would you do it? Especially if it’s for someone that you care for and who saved your life previously? It’s not a hugely complicated scenario, but it’s one that puts a lot of pressure on all involved to find the right kind of resolution. Taking the time to work through some of these issues rather than ramping up the dramatic action is a much more enjoyable approach since it forces us to connect with the characters more as they struggle with it. Very good stuff and an emotional wringer in the making.

Grade: B

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.