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The assignments come in at long last.

What They Say:
Mutta has been chosen to go to the moon. First, he will serve as Vince’s backup. Now, Kenji and Nitta must learn what the future has in store for them.

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Space Brothers has done a good job of working through the various problems that the brothers have been facing, even if you can be a bit unnerved by the potential relationship that could exist between Olga and Hibito if only for their ages. Olga has served as a kind of inspiration and muse for Hibito in getting his career back on track so it’s easy to see a kind of attraction forming from that. We also saw Mutta’s time in the NEEMO mission play out well in a way that really made him shine even as he grappled with some serious friendship and competitive issues that arose from it, so his mind has certainly been occupied. But it was good to see that, in their own way, the two brothers were able to talk about Hibito’s problems that helped cement Hibito trying to really get past it so he can achieve their shared dream once more.

The focus shifts more to Mutta this time around, which I can definitely appreciate. As much as I like Hibito, I love watching the kind of awkward way that Mutta advances towards his dream and the people he interacts with. I also love that he has complete faith in his brother to get past this and move forward himself. Because of what Mutta has accomplished so far, he’s been given the plum assignment of going to the moon as his next full mission. But that’s still going to be some time away and in the interim, he gets to work by being Vince’s backup for the mission he’s going on, which means doing everything that Vince is doing for awhile and learning everything to gain more experience and understanding of an array of systems. Mutta’s shocked that he gets to be the next Japanese person to go to the moon, but he’s just so excited in general with the backup mission that you can imagine that he’s not processing the big news fully just yet. Which is totally Mutta.

While Mutta is obviously a big focus here, it’s also good that we get to spend some real time with a few of the others from the training segment. Both Kenji and Nitta have gone through the trials all the same, but not everyone can get slotted right way. Both of them are kept fully in the program after a good talk by Chief Butler, who makes it clear that they have plenty to look forward to but that now is not the time that they’ll be making it into space. It’s the last thing any astronaut wants to hear that they’re not going or being assigned a mission to train for, but the pair are finding that there are other things ahead of them with other training they get to go through. You do have to feel bad for both of them, especially with how Kenji has to break it to his daughter, but it’s actually quite welcome that they cover it at all and some of the adult aspects of it, as well as how a child reacts. It may be a bit overdone (my kids never acted like that) but you can see it as a cute externalization of how Kenji may feel to some degree.

In Summary:
Space Brothers does some of what it does best here in a way by working through how characters cope with finding out about how their future and their lives will proceed. We’ve followed a few of these guys for quite awhile now beyond Mutta and seeing how their assignments come down, how they grapple with the news and break it to others is definitely instructional for some. Balancing that with the joy we get out of Mutta, deservedly earned because of how he approaches the missions and training sessions unlike others, helps since we really want to root for him and everyone else. He brings such a child-like joy to it that it’s really easy to get caught up in him, which is why it’s useful that we get the balancing act here. The future is bright for all involved, just more so sooner for some rather than others.

Grade: B

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

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.

Detective Trap makes its serial debut!

Creative Staff
Story: Tsugumi Ohba
Art: Takeshi Obata
Translation/Adaptation: Tetsuichiro Miyaki

What They Say
Big changes are in store now that Moritaka and Akito have their very own series in Shonen Jump. Hanging out with their favorite manga creators, hiring assistants, keeping track of the weekly reader surveys – life as a professional manga artist is tough! Can these two survive the pressure?

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Bakuman’s creators have done an amazing job of keeping fans entertained, and Volume 5 keeps the excitement going from the very first page with an editor switch! Hattori, who’s championed Ashirogi Muto from the start, is out, and 23-year-old Miura is in. Unlike Hattori, who’s been a steady, wise uncle figure to the boys, Miura’s a rookie himself and has more of a youthful we-are-going-to-take-over-the-world!!! aura to him. His introduction does the trick of unsettling the boys as they first must decide if they trust him and then if they trust his judgment in regards to the Detective Trap series. In addition, Miura adds another dimension to the Jump editorial office, and not just as a new personality. He, like the boys, is a novice at the business, and though we’ve gotten a sense of what it’s like for those at the bottom of the hierarchy with the editors Hattori, Miura really gives the perspective of the newbie trying to figure how to scrape his way up.

Several other new characters are also introduced in this volume, including Hiramaru, whose manga debuts at the same time as Ashirogi Muto’s. Apparently, a slightly deranged mental state is necessary for manga geniuses in this series (I wonder this is a commentary on the creators’ part), but unlike Eiji, who’s a cheerful idiot, Hiramaru’s the unmotivated and disgruntled type. They’re setting him up to be another major Ashirogi rival, but for now he comes off as being very one-dimensional.

As for old rivals Fukuda and Aoki/Nakai, they’re still in the picture. It’s a little too convenient how they get their series so quickly on the heels of Ashirogi Muto, but that allows their three-way (four-way, if you include Eiji) rivalry to continue. Regarding their fight for top ranking, that’s probably the weakest part of the storyline. There’s nothing physical or showy about their “battles,” which are all talk about rankings and surveys, and it feels a bit like a repeat of the Gold Future Cup – just with more assistants. Between the different release dates and early and final survey reports, it can be a chore to remember who’s gaining on whom even though you are invested in the characters and interested in their performances.

In the midst of all this manga-making, the creators have not forgotten to put in some romantic angst, including an unexpected episode between Aoki and Nakai. Overall, that arc felt unnecessary and, as Fukuda observed, stalker-ish. (Not to mention, drawing manga in a snowstorm has to be impossible.) But Chapter 40 more than makes up for it with a significant jump in the Moritaka and Miho’s relationship. It starts off strangely, especially when Miho jokes about being naked in her text messages, but it serves as a compelling impetus for Moritaka’s actions. For anyone who has been feeling frustrated with Moritaka’s overly pure romance with Miho, you’ll get to see his love and concern for Miho in deed and not just text, a nice reminder of who his true motivation for manga is.

As an aside, my review volume contained several pages with ink smudges, which was disappointing coming from Viz.

In Summary
Team Ashirogi’s finally gotten its first series in Jump! But as they hit this critical point in their career, several new people come into their lives, including another genius rival and a rookie editor for Trap. And as the boys struggle with being newcomers in a rough business, Miho runs into her own career difficulties. Ohba and Obata livens the Bakuman cast with new colorful characters even as they keep the trials of our aspiring artists real and compelling.

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

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: June 7th, 2011
MSRP: $9.99

With the Gundam 00 world pretty much done and over with, it’s on to the next big thing for the franchise. After a few decades of different types of series, Sunrise is looking to balance their years long Gundam Unicorn project with Mobile Suit Gundam AGE which gives us a much younger cast of characters than before, though there are some familiar echoes to it all. Prior to this, we’ve had one brief clip come out that didn’t reveal much but this one gives us the full on look at the various characters, the mobile suits and more as it deals with characters in the early teen range mostly. Though it also includes a few adults as well, of course. It may have a lighter tone to it, but it’s not hard to imagine it getting a bit darker as it progresses as well. It does make me want to go haul out G-Gundam again though…

Check it out below! Will you be checking out this series?

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQolfsOE7xs]

[Source: Crunchyroll ]

Crunchyroll added another new simulcast today with the debut of Akatsuki no Yona, which will be available every Tuesday on the service at 11am Easter Time for premium members and a week later for free members. Crunchyroll has some really good availability for the series as it will be available worldwide except Asia

The series will run for two seasons over the course of half a year. The manga began in 2009 in Hana to Yume and is still ongoing with over eleven volumes so far. The anime adaptation is being produced by Studio Pierrot with scripts by Shinichi Inotsume. The cast includes Chiwa Saito as Yona, Tomoaki Maeno as Hak Son, Junko Minagawa as Yoon, Masakazu Morita as Ki-Ja, Nobuhiko Okamoto as Shin-Ah, Junichi Suwabe as Jae-Ha, Hiro Shimono as Zeno and Yuusuke Kobayashi as Soo-won.

Plot concept: Akatsuki no Yona centers around the princess of the Kingdom of Kouka, Yona. Despite her father’s disapproval, she’s in love with and plans to marry her cousin, Soo-won. However, her world gets turned upside down on her 16th birthday, and she is forced to flee from the palace. Now, with her friend and bodyguard Hak, Yona must set out on a journey to find out and fulfill her destiny.

The release of Shangri-la is one that is a bit curious to watch overall because in all territories so far, we haven’t gotten a full collection. FUNimation and Madman Entertainment each released it in their regions respectively back in 2012 in the late summer and late fall in two parts on DVD, but neither has brought it to collected form until now. Madman Entertainment has set a February 19th, 2014 release for the full collection, again only on DVD unfortunately, for $59.95 AUD. The release contains everything that was in the separate sets before which for extras includes episode commentaries, the promotional video for “Magical Gina the Akiba Fairy” and the clean opening and closing sequences.

Plot concept: In the distant future, earthquakes and the effects of global warming have splintered Japanese society. Some struggle hand-to-mouth in the jungle-tangled ruins of civilization. Some live comfortably within the closed-off city of Atlas. Others lurk online, anonymously hacking the global economy. As nature grows more violent and the divide between classes expands, one spirited girl, Kuniko, must face her destiny and lead her people into the utopia of Atlas.

The city’s ruthless government isn’t going to welcome them with open arms, but Kuniko won’t give up until the gates of Atlas are kicked open for good – even if it means discovering that the promised land she dreamed of is built upon a foundation of twisted secrets and lies.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfl2ykS8Bg0?rel=0]

[Source: Shangri-La ]

Welcome back to Star Wars Thursday, a celebration of the wonderful and often wacky world of a galaxy far, far away.

So you think you’re a Star Wars fan, right? I know I spend an awful lot of time each week thinking and writing about Star Wars. Even so, I’m constantly amazed by the amount of creativity and effort that other fans bring to the game. Some create mashup art. Others write scholarly articles about scientific concepts using Tatooine as a model.

Then there is the One. A Minecraft aficionado, @ParadiseDecay , is recreating A New Hope using only “vanilla Minecraft.” This means he did the entire thing without using any special Star Wars “mods” (which are also available in the Minecraft world).

On July 14th, he released his most recent “Breath” trailer for his film. He hopes to have the entire movie finished next year, and will only show it via his website – http://paradisedecay.wordpress.com/ .

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U7RyXiHB1s?rel=0]

There are many other snippets available for view on his website and YouTube channel. One of my personal favorites features Leia and Chewie.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFFp-fSYG8?rel=0]

As of his most recent update, he only has 40 minutes left to go to complete his masterpiece. It’s taken him three years to get this far. That is serious fanboy dedication!

If you want to have the audio to play along, you’ll need your own copy of the Original version of A New Hope, since he won’t have the sound included on the full length version. Can anyone hook me up with this mystical beast?

Until next week – may the Force be with you!

Information via Polygon.com and Paradise Decay’s website .

The Durarara!! push is strong in Japan and only getting stronger. With the three seasons currently airing and in production, it’s now been announced that there will be a special episode called Watashi no Kokoro wa Nabe Moyou that is being produced, which originated in the Durarara!! Gaiden!? light novel spinoff book. The episode is being done by the same team as the TV production and it’ll get a special limited run in theaters, as several OVAs do these days, on May 30th, 2015. It’ll then be bundled with the sixth volume of the DVD/BD releases of the first season of the series, which is set to land on July 22nd, 2015. It looks like it’ll be a standard TV episode length as well.

The Durarara!! X2 series is planned for three seasons, with the first part in January 2015, the second in summer 2015 and the third part in Winter 2016.

The main staff is returning to the production with Takahiro Omori directiong based on scripts by Noboru Takagi and character designs by Takahiro Kishida. Animation production is being done by studio Shuka, their first production, instead of Brains Base which handled the first series.

The cast announced so far includes Miyuki Sawashiro as Celty,Toshiyuki Toyonaga as Mikado. Mamoru, Miyano as Masaomi Kida, Kana Hanazawa as Anri Sonohara, Daisuke Ono as Shizuo Heiwajima, Hiroshi Kamiya as Izaya Orihara, Sanae Kobayashi as Namie Yagiri, Jun Fukuyama as Shinra Kishitani, Eri Kitamura as Mairu Orihara, Hisako Kanemoto as Kururi Orihara, Houchu Ohtsuka as Haruya Shiki, Ayahi Takagaki as Erika Karisawa, Kazuma Horie as Seiji Yagiri, Mariya Ise as Mika Harima, Takaya Kuroda as Simon Brezhnev, Takuma Terashima as Saburou Togusa, Yūichi Nakamura as Kyōhei Kadota, Yuuki Kaji as Walker Yumasaki, Saki Fujita as Ruri Hijiribe, Daisuke Kishio as Kasuka Heiwajima, Misato Fukuen as Saki Mikajima, Akio Ohtsuka as Shingen Kishitani, Katsuyuki Konishi as Tom Tanaka, Keiji Fujiwara as Kinnosuke Kuzuhara, M.A.O as Vorona, Kappei Yamaguchi as Mizuki Akabayashi, Hiro Shimono as Aoba Kuronuma and Yuuki Ono as Chikage Rokujo. Masaya Onosaka as Max Sandshelt, Misaki Kuno as Akane Awakusu, Yasuyuki Kase as Mikiya Awakusu, Shozo Iizuka as Dogen Awakusu, Toshiyuki Morikawa as Егор (Egor), Satoshi Mikami as слон (Sloan), Atsumi Tanezaki as Emilia and Kiyoyuki Yanada as Shu Aozaki.

Plot concept: “6 Months Later…We haven’t changed at all… or it seems….”

Half a year after the turmoil that rocked the entire city of Ikebukuro—

Peace has once again returned to the city and people are living each day normally. The high school students enjoy their days of youth as the strongest and most dangerous man of Ikebukuro works diligently. The informant plots a new scheme and the headless rider is pursued by the cops as she rides through the night…But soon this normal will be cut short by the abnormal. Slowly but surely, the unknown will seize the city and face an all new storm.

[Source: Twitter ]

Sometimes time travel takes you… elsewhere.

Creative Staff:
Story: Rafael Albuquerque, Mike Johnson
Art: Rafael Albuquerque

What They Say:
Welcome to the Meld, an inhospitable dimension in time where Joshua, a chrononaut, finds himself trapped. With no memory or feedback from the team of scientists that sent him, he can’t count on anything but his heart and a stranger’s voice to guide him to his destiny.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I admit it, I’m a sucker for time travel stories. There’s so many ways it can go, even when using familiar angles to work with, that it can lead to some really interesting stories and character material. Dark Horse kicks off a new miniseries involving it here with Ei8ht, which comes from writer/artist Rafael Albuquerque and co-writer Mike Johnson. It’s my first experience with either of them so there’s a freshness about it that definitely works for me since I’m not thinking of any other works they did. With this being a miniseries, there’s only so much space to work with, but I like that the first issue teases just enough of what’s going on to draw you in, but doesn’t lay everything out. You get the confusion of the main character, but some of the background as well, just not all of it. It provides a dual track of material to work towards in understanding what’s really going on here.

The story here has a man named Joshua, working with some scientist in what seems like the present, getting ready to go on a mission to the past to do something with a Nazi, presumably to kill him. Joshua’s riding some cutting edge technology both in the time travel device and the ability to communicate with the present and he’s doing what he can to ensure that he remembers his mission when he gets there as apparently memory loss is a potential problem along the way with such a trip. There are deals being made about what will happen if Joshua completes his mission and it involves a woman in some way, again there’s enough to presume that it’s because of medical reasons that he’ll go the distance to get the most advanced help he can get for her, and it works well to set the stage for motivations both for Joshua and what the scientist may be up to with all of this, and that there’s a certain kind of trust going on here that can be verified fully. That gives it all a nice tension and shows us that the two men are working together, but they’re not a tight bond like other properties we’ve seen.

Joshua’s time in what you presume to be the past is really well done as we get him struggling with the crash of the ship, the memory loss and just the weirdness of it all – such as being told to follow the dinosaur over the communication device. The blending of the two time periods works well throughout the book, especially the panic in the beginning with Joshua trying to remember his name and then the calmness from before the journey. The journey is one that takes him to unusual but almost expected places as we see him run up against a group of people that feel like they stepped out of the Road Warrior and he ends up being kept in their camp after being knocked out. Information is minimal, but we learn that this place is called the Meld, which is like a bartertown of sorts that definitely gives off a post-apocalyptic feeling. Add in a couple of panels of our mystery man, who is known as the Spear in this place, and it sets up a lot of things without giving us anything firm. Which is exactly what it should do.

In Summary:
Admittedly, there’s nothing here that stands out as plainly unique and never been done before in a way, but what Ei8ht presents is a very well polished work that offers up a lot of potential. The team here has put together a really solid work that makes me want to know more about both periods of time in it, to see why Joshua will go the distance here but also to see how things unfold in this other place – which is easy to believe is the past but also something very different. Adding in the man that he’s after and what his story is and how it all ties together has me more interested in the next issue than I would have guessed at the start. The scripting is solid and the pacing is spot on, but what really sells it in the end as a whole is the visual design. Albuquerque does a great job in giving us a bleak world in all the time periods, but he also gives us the color coding right from the start. It also helps that he does the color work here which helps to really make it clear how everything is going to fit and flow here while adding to the narrative in a great way, especially some of how the Meld locations look in contrast to the character designs in it. The Meld is its own thing, and the idea of traveling to the past but ending up there is intriguing. I can’t wait for more of this miniseries. The potential is definitely here, but you have to really absorb all the elements of it, not just the story, not just the art, but the two and the coloring of it all.

Grade: B+

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: February 18th, 2015
MSRP: $3.50

The summer series Seiyu’s Life has finished up and we’re doing a little clean-up with some newly added bits that have come out for it from FUNimation. After bringing out the previous ending sequences for streaming, FUNimation has now brought out the seventh and eighth ones, and we’ve included the fifth one that we missed as well. Each of the endings changes things up a bit with a little something in the background, though they all use the same main animation and song. It’s called Into Your Ears and is performed by EARPHONES, which is made up of the voice actresses in the show with Marika Kouno, Rie Takahashi and Yuki Nagaku.

FUNimation simulcasts the series on Tuesday’s at 4:30pm ET for viewers.

Based on the manga by creators are Kenjiro Hata of Hayate the Combat Butler and voice actress Masumi Asano, the dojin Sore ga Seiyuu is making the leap to anime form with Gonzo animating the project.

The cast for the series includes Rie Takahashi as Futaba Ichinose, Marika Kōno as Rin Kohana and Yuki Nagaku as Ichigo Moesaki. The staff for the show has Hiroshi Ikehata directing it based on the series composition and scripting by Michiko Yokote and character designs by Yukari Hashimoto.

The manga, which had its first release from the circle that the two write and draw within, came out first in 2011 and have had new issues arrive with subsequent Comic Market events

Plot concept: Follow a rookie seiyu in her first steps into the world of professional voice acting! She might be unsure of herself, but Futaba Ichinose is ready to make it as a professional seiyu. She meets Ichigo Moesaki, an actress who won’t stop until she’s an idol seiyu who not only acts but also enchants audiences with singing and dancing performances. These two rookies are joined by Rin Kohana, who is already a seasoned professional who made her debut when she was 5, who has a middle school life while working as a professional seiyu.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uskhy6I-2o]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa-PNuAfTmA]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moM63H4W9R0]

The preliminary release information from Madman Entertainment has surfaced with a look at what’s to come from the Australian distributor in November 2014. The release month has a lot coming out on November 26th, 2014 as they release everything on one day. We’ve got some familiar new titles that are getting released very, very close to their North American counterparts, which is a big plus, and we’re seeing parity elsewhere as well, such as with Silver Spoon unfortunately being DVD only. Check out the full slate and AUD pricing below!

1. Street Fighter Assassin Fist Movie Edition DVD/Blu Ray $29.95/$34.95
2. Bayonetta Bloody Fate DVD/Blu Ray $29.95/$34.95
3. Space Dandy Collection 1 (Eps 1-13) DVD/Blu Ray $59.95/$64.95
4. Hal (DVD) $29.95
5. One Piece Film: Z DVD/Blu Ray $29.95/$34.95
6. Ghost In The Shell 25th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray) $34.95
7. Oreimo Season 2 Collection (Subtitled Edition) $59.95
8. Hellsing Ultimate Collection 3 (Eps 9-10) (Blu-ray)
9. Ninja Scroll (Remastered) DVD/Blu Ray $29.95/$34.95
10. Senran Kagura: Ninja Flash! Series Collection DVD/Blu Ray $59.95
11. Silver Spoon Season 1 Collection (Subtitled Edition) $59.95
12. Fairy Tail Collection 12 (Eps 132-142) (Blu-ray) $59.95
13. Ghost In The Shell Arise Ltd Edition (Import) V03 (Blu-ray) $59.95

[Source: Yonkou Productions ]

The bonds of brotherhood.

What They Say:
Luffy makes headway toward Doflamingo’s refuge, making his way through Doflamingo’s guards, while down below Admiral Fujitora faces off against Sabo, who has the power of the Fire Fist from eating the Flare-Flare Fruit! But with Fujitora’s ability to call down a meteor, will Sabo have to power to save himself?

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
One Piece has been moving towards its goals for a bit now and it’s managed to largely make it entertaining as it’s gone on even though it hasn’t felt like it’s accomplished too much. By spending its time with some of the smaller movements of the cast, regular and arc-specific members, it’s fleshed out the events well enough so that we’re invested in what’s going on. But it also takes the time to dip into them a bit more and explore the slow changes that some go through, such as Riku and his position with what’s going on as the former king. That can and does work well overall with really establishing things in an engaging way, but after a few episodes of it and other characters, you really just want to dig into the main action component and see what game changing elements are coming next.

As things do move along in its traditional way here, we get some fun footage with Luffy and his Moocy group making their way along and getting into the action with a silly feel to it. We also get that from others, whether on horseback or on foot, which ups the action component nicely after some episodes that give it lip service. There’s a lot of factions at work in this storyline, as is par for the course, so seeing the way it’s all working towards getting to where Doflamingo and his group are at works well. Especially since it does show off the overall level of destruction in the area and some of the other groups that are at play with their own agendas, such as Fujitora and his very ominous presence that he has in general. What’s really neat is that we get Fujitora meeting with Sabo at this point, who now has Ace’s flame ability, and that has a great kind of sense of coming full circle in a way as he’s protecting his brother and friends more than anything else. After that lengthy flashback arc that really dove deep into the trios younger years, it’s great to see this surface again in this form.

This fight does end up dominating a nice chunk of the episode, and while we get to see some great stuff from Sabo in general, Fujitora and his side definitely offer some compelling sequences here with fantastic sound effects to make it all the freakier sounding. This really does take up a good chunk of time here, but it’s just beautiful to look at as it unfolds in the present with the choreography of it all, but it also provides for some good flashback material as well, briefly, that shows us the brothers as kids and the kind of understanding that Fujitora has with it as well. That’s a key part to make it really well done as it brings the two of them onto the same page in a sense in understanding a sadness, but it also has a greater understanding among the rank and file of just how freakishly scare the three brothers really are. And it also does the great thing, once again, of reinforcing just how far Sabo will go for Luffy at this point as the two of them are now facing against the world with the loss of Ace. Seeing Sabo’s reaction to Ace’s death amid all of this also makes it clear why he’ll go the distance, and so intently.

In Summary:
One Piece has a very strong episode here overall, even if it doesn’t really progress the overall storyline in any significant way. What we get here with it seeing Sabo’s place in the world at this point, who he’s associated with and just how far he’ll go to protect his brother. With him and Fujitora as the main factors here, among a few others along the way, there’s a great sense of scale to it that works beautifully in really putting Sabo firmly into this arc. While I enjoyed his time in the arena before when he showed up, it did feel a bit more like playtime than something serious, though he was intent on capturing Ace’s devil fruit. Here, this is about doing what needs to be done by a bond that has been forged stronger than most other. It’s wonderfully done and definitely has the feeling of some real weight to it.

Grade: B+

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

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.

Now that Sentai Filmworks has picked up the rights to Parasyte: The Maxim for release in North America, the series is quickly making its way onto Hulu already. The streaming service has the first twelve episodes of the series now available on it in its original Japanese with English language subtitles and will be adding new episodes weekly. Of real interest and surprise for those that follow how things get on the service, those that are Hulu Plus members can get this in HD, which is rare. This is also the first series that lists Sentai Filmworks directly and not The Anime Network, which is interesting as well.

The series is being directed by Kenichi Shimizu at Madhouse with series composition put together by Shoji Yonemura. Tadashi Hiamatsu is handling the character designs for the series. Nobunaga Shimazaki is playing the lead role of Izumi while Aya Hirano is tackling Migi, the alien parasite itself. Kana Hanazawa has signed on to play Satomi Murano. Additional casting includes Miyuki Sawashiro as Kana Kimishima, Atsuko Tanaka as Ryoko Tamiya, Hiroyuki Yoshino as Uragami, Kiyono Yasuno as Yuko Tachikawa and Rena Maeda as Akiho Suzuki.

Parasyte was created by Hitoshi Iwaaki and ran for ten volumes in Japan during the 1990′s with over eleven million copies in print. The adaptation comes as the property is being done as a pair of live action films as well that are in development, which the anime series is inspired by. The manga has had a varied life in North America as it was originally serialized in Mixxzine and later found its way to Del Rey. It was released in Japan again fairly recently which led to Kodansha Comics bringing it out as well in North America once more.

Plot concept: Unbeknownst to mankind the world is quietly being invaded. Alien beings known as “Parasytes” begin infiltrating humans one by one, burrowing into their brains to take complete control of both their bodies and their identities. With an insatiable hunger for human flesh these cold and calculating creatures mutate into grotesque monsters who feed on the unsuspecting when they’re not hiding behind the faces of everyday people. Only Shinichi Izumi, a lone high school boy, is aware of the terror lurking in plain sight. After one Parasyte’s attempt to take over his brain ends in failure, Shinichi’s right arm is instead possessed by this monster with a mind and an agenda all its own. As Shinichi and his unwanted cohabitant, “Migi,” struggle for dominance of his body, the alien infection continues to grow and so does the trail of bodies in its wake. Now Shinichi and Migi must become more than host and parasite if they hope to not only protect themselves, but Shinichi’s loved ones as well. As Shinichi and Migi’s symbiotic bond deepens, will Shinichi be able to hold on to his humanity, or will he evolve into something more than he ever imagined?

The lengths a vampire will go to save a busty teenage schoolgirl.

What They Say:
Werewolves, zombies, and even the Abominable Snowman fight day and night for the title of Territory Boss. The vampire Staz, however, finds the whole thing to be a serious pain. He spends his time watching anime, playing video games, and daydreaming about going to the Human World. That all changes when he meets Fuyumi, a human girl who instantly win’s Staz’s heart, and who then loses her life to a man-eating plant.

Refusing to give up on the girl of his dreams, Staz travels across the Demon and Human Worlds in search of a way to bring Fuyumi back to life by any bloody means necessary.

The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release is a bit of a surprise as we get a pair of locked PCM tracks for the series. The show comes in its original Japanese language form as well as the new English language dub, both of which are stereo, and you can’t change them on the fly – though you can change it through the pop-up menu during playback. The series is one that has a pretty active forward soundstage mix to it as it plays out since it’s filled with plenty of physical comedy, sound gags and so forth that keeps it moving. The dialogue is where it’s most well handled as they pop about and come in from different angles, notably with Bell, but in general there’s a good sense of directionality and placement throughout for it. This is mirrored with the action effects as well as there’s some decent movement throughout when these scenes come in, though a lot of it feels light on real impact at times. The combination of the two works well and the series opening and closing sequences top it all off really well with a warmer and fuller sound.

Video:
Originally airing in 2013, the transfer for this series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. The ten episode series and OVA is spread across two discs with five on the first and six on the second, giving it all plenty of room to work with. Animated by Brain’s Base, the series goes for a kind of old school approach that’s fitting for the material as there’s a kind of hodgepodge aspect to the visual design which give it a modern but otherworldly look for the demon world. It does a lot of moving around and the panning sequences largely handle it well, though there’s a few areas where we do get some line noise. The show isn’t one that’s animated on the cheap, but it’s going for a particular style that really does suit it but does come across as looking a little odd. The transfer definitely works well and we get some good pop and vibrancy with the colors that stands out well and detail is nicely handled where it’s needed. It’s a clean looking transfer that definitely does the job, especially in the really busy scenes where the bit rate surges regularly in the mid-thirties.

Packaging:
The packaging for this limited edition comes in a really nice small but heavy chipboard box that works to the shows familiar design with its yellow and black color design and manga illustration style artwork. The front cover gives us a good look at the main trio while the back cover delves into some of the supporting characters. That’s underneath the wrap cover on the back that breaks things down nicely with a good summary of the premise and a look at the extras. It’s bright, bold, colorful and eye-catching to be sure. The Blu-ray case inside works the same idea with the front cover, using anime style illustrations, that has the six main characters all together with the black and yellow all around them. The back cover largely mirrors the back of the box insert but with the colors inverted as it goes into the premise, breaks down the regular disc features and has the technical information in a clean way, albeit not in a technical grid. The case is slightly bigger than usual as it has a hinge to hold the four discs from the site. It also has some good artwork on the reverse side of the main cast imitating the Beatles street walking sequence.

While I really like the packaging, especially the quality of the box, the big piece that makes this a really limited edition release is the 96 page book inside. Half the book is dedicated to episode breakdowns, character profiles and a slew of design, background and promotional artwork that’s really great to have. The other half, surprisingly enough, is a Blood Lad manga story, which is a real treat to read as it shows how well the show has adapted things but also the tone of the manga itself, which certainly makes you want to read more.

Menu:
The menu design for Blood Lad is pretty nicely done as it ties into the style of the series well while also giving several of the characters their own moment. The main layout is the checkered background, which changes color with each character that’s brought to the forefront, where it has the logo along the upper left and the bottom left has the navigation strip, which is done in a cutely spooky way. There’s a lot of empty space, but it works out well as the right side is given over to the character artwork that fades in and out with each change. With the color changing as well, the open space doesn’t feel quite so open, especially with the checkered approach. The navigation strip works well with quick and easy access here and during playback, though I did wish that it highlighted which episode you were on when watching and checking the episode list itself. Beyond that though, it’s a good in-theme menu that sets the tone well and works smoothly.

Extras:
The extras for this release are all kept to the second disc where we get some of the familiar pieces such as the clean opening and closing, but also some welcome things we don’t often get. One of those is a ten minute long series of dub outtakes – with each new scene getting its own chapter, a real rarity that’s great to see. We also get a brief chalk art video that was commissioned for a convention and an art gallery that lets you delve into the materials nicely. The OVA is also included in the extras section as it follows up the events from the TV series and just goes for a kind of wacky if largely forgettable approach.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI7YtisCL0w?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Based on the manga by Yuuki Kodama, Blood Lad is one of several series in the last few years that came out with a ten episode run. Animated by Brain’s Base, the show was a surprise pickup at the time by Viz Media as it was out of their normal wheelhouse of series that they worked on, and because the related manga is released by a different publisher. As a sign of how Viz Media was changing its anime approach, it couldn’t be any clearer. And thankfully, the results are pretty strong here as the show is very well treated with a great limited edition with a fantastic book, a solid dub and a strong encoding and authoring job that brings it all together. Because in the end, as shiny as the box is and all the goodies inside, it’s the show itself that counts.

Blood Lad is a really unusual show in some ways as I kept feeling like I had stepped back into the 80’s a bit, and I mean that in a very good way. It revolves around a vampire named Staz, who is completely fascinated with the human world but hasn’t visited there as times have changed over the centuries and it’s easier to just stay in the demon world. In that world, he’s carved out his own territory where he’s the boss and rules it in a kind of half assed lazy way, but one where he definitely shows that he can handle it through his less conventional methods. The population he has is pretty cool with his style of leadership, though there are always others that want to take him out and claim the territory as their own. For Staz, he’s more interested in hanging out in his place, a modest apartment really, where he plays his favorite videogames from Japan. They’re all from a couple of decades ago and are quaint, but they’re huge things to him and he plays them with a real passion and love that’s great to see.

Into every vampire’s life a little challenge must fall, and that challenge is an unusual one as a human has somehow wandered into his realm from the human world. With his love of humans, he’s quickly intrigued, but when he discovers it’s a rather adorable teenage schoolgirl named Fuyumi, well, he’s almost pretty much in love. Unfortunately, he gets distracted by a real challenger to his position and Fuyumi ends up gobbled up by a plant creature that spits out her uniform and bones. Alas, Fuyumi has become a ghost and is unable to return to the human realm. This spurs Staz to action, which is what the series is really about as he’s on a quest to find a way to resurrect her and bring her back to her world, though he’ll want to be with her as well. It’s a fairly standard setup, but there are some quirks along the way that makes for some great twists as Fuyumi isn’t a normal human and what we learn about here is actually pretty interesting that once again reminds me more of 80’s comedy anime series with how it has a kind of fun and loose approach to things that works really well.

What the series does is to run through a bunch of episodes where we meet an array of characters that have connections, clues and their own agendas that run with what Staz is up to. Staz is the primary of course and he has a really laid back style that’s fun to see, but also his own panic inducing moments, such as when he has to deal with his older brother who is just intent on unlocking Staz’s hidden vampire powers for his own agenda (revenge!). We also get the arrival of a challenger from a different demon world realm named Wolf that has a rather amusing connection to Staz from the past, but he’s different from others since he’s a werewolf and that has its own quirks. We also get a really fun character in Bell, a treasure hunter that traverses the dimensions with size changing frames that really make for some comically fun fight sequences she gets involved in. It’s a pretty good cast that has a solid supporting cast under it with Staz’s younger sister Liz and a host of minor demons that pop in and out throughout.

The series has a very loose kind of approach to it where anything can go since it’s the demon world and the rules are easily changed. That works in its favor because it’s not a show that takes itself too seriously, and that allows it to be really enjoyed to a greater level. Staz is the main focus here and he is quite fun to watch with how he approaches things and the kinds of interactions he has with people, especially when it comes to his family. If there was anything that frustrated me a bit with the series, it was Fuyumi. She’s the reason everything is happening, and there’s a great twist with her towards the end, but there’s an empty shell aspect to her for the most part. She’s just dragged along to things and moved from place to place after the initial confusion of what’s going on. She has some great bits of humor and her expressions are fantastic – and I’ll admit I loved her “Click Here” shirt – but there’s not much to her in terms of character. And that’s really the only crimp within the show, which doesn’t drag it down but keeps it from being even more.

In Summary:
This release is my first experience with the property and I had no clue what to expect. What I found was a pretty quirky show that uses its humor well and its references right to make for a very fun time with what’s otherwise a simple story. With its ten episode run and OVA, it doesn’t overstay its welcome and that’s an important thing. We don’t get a full closure to the story, more of a closure to the opening setup, but that works well as it’s a whole lot of fun. Some shows, especially comedies, can’t sustain a longer run. What we get here hits all the right notes and it left me with a lot of laughs, some good looking animation with a bent towards an 80’s female anime form that I like and a look at the larger world in a pretty loose way. Viz Media has put together a pretty solid release all around here and it makes me more excited to see what they’ll plan in the future with other shows. For fans of Blood Lad, this is pretty much the best release you could get and I can’t think of what more you’d want from it.

Features:
Japanese 2.0 PCM Language, English 2.0 PCM Language, English Subtitles, Interactive Art Gallery, English Dub Outtakes, Convention Chalk Art Video, Clean Opening & Ending

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

Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: September 2nd, 2014
MSRP: $69.99
Running Time: 275 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.

A new school year promises new opportunities, but also new challenges, for the Queen of Hair and her protector. Danger continues to lurk, however, in even the most unexpected places…

What They Say:
Episode 4: “Where Is the Visitor?”

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
So, it’s Spring (which means a new school year) and the usual class switching occurs. Kiri and most of his friends stay in the same class, though Kashiko is not going to be with them. Is a light-hearted school episode going to occur? I wouldn’t bet good money on that with this show.

Saying that, of course, is as if challenging the writers, who immediately plunge us into a non-horrific “let’s make friends” episode, as Yamane Byouinzaka is placed into the same class as Kiri and Iwai, and Kiri encourages her to try to stop being so aloof from the rest of the class. Their classmates know nothing of the Killing Goods and Authors, so why should Yamane cause herself to be alone and disliked?

Afterwards, Kiri and Iwai go to a place her father used to go, with some of their classmates in tow (to Kiri’s disappointment). It turns out to be a bar, but as they also serve food it’s okay for the kids to come in to have a meal. They are met by Hitomi Karuko, a beautiful blind woman who plays the piano for the place. While this seems nice and all, we know the game is up a bit later when a sinister-looking man in the corner mumbles something about sinners and sorry for using “her majesty” to find them. Obviously, he is either an Author or tied to Gossip, the organization that watches from the shadows. The sinister man leaves the bar just after Karuko stops playing, and Kiri senses something wrong with him and follows. Outside, he reveals himself to be “justice.” He is descended from a judge who himself was executed after killing twenty people. He says that he has no interest in killing Iwai, but instead wants to lie in wait for those Authors who would try to kill her, since then he can “pass judgment” upon them.

As the mood just got really heavy, it must be time for some comic relief, which comes in the form of a female police officer, Kozakura Zenigata, who comes to confront the sinister man. He, however, pulls out his Killing Goods, a murderously magical Law Book. He casts a spell on the police officer and nearly kills her, but the magical noose that was strangling her breaks. The sinister man claims that it only kills people who deserve the ultimate punishment.

Later on, Kiri has taken Zenigata to the hospital, with some help from the Byouinzaka twins. It is now revealed that Zenigata knows all about Gossip and even says that Gossip and the senior police brass are aware of the Killing Goods and even help this “justice” fellow. We finally learn his name: Seigi Nakajima and learn that he likes to push Authors to commit crimes right in front of him so that he can then kill them. Zenigata, however, doesn’t believe that he will continue to content himself with that, but will at some point move to killing people regardless of their innocence or guilt.

Back at the bar, we see Karuko and her piano tuner Houichi at work, though it seems that as anyone could have guess from the start, she is an Author whose piano can be literally murderous, if you listen to her song until the very end. In fact, we see Houichi apparently wrapping up and disposing of a loose end. How does he survive? It appears that he is deaf, so Karuko can play the entire song to him as much as she likes.

While there were no “monochrome” moments this episode, there was some plot and world information thrown out there. We get introduced to two more Authors, though neither of them, at the moment, appear to have any interest in killing the Queen of Hair. That may be, but I am sure that there will be further Authors to come who will be out to see if the “legend” concerning the Queen and the Wish are true. It would seem that after several more murderous and horror-filled episodes, the writers felt the need to allow us to catch out breath, but just for this episode. A little comic relief comes in with a cop bearing a significant name (Zenigata…where could someone have heard that name before?), but whose effectiveness is highly questionable. As a breathing spell, this episode works to get us off of the bloody (and other bodily fluids) track we have been on and allows us to have some lighter moments. I suspect this is all of the respite we will have for a while, since there are certainly more Authors and more blood to come.

In Summary:
Not all of the Authors are seeking to murder poor little defenseless Iwai. Besides her protector Kiri, we come across two more Authors who state they have no interest in seeing the Queen of Hair fall to their Killing Goods: the beautiful blind pianist Karuko and the merciless judge Nakajima. Whether there are many other Authors, however, who share their disinterest is an open matter of debate. I suspect we will not be meeting another in the next episode.

Episode Grade: B

Streamed by: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard

Gruesome cosmic horror and fish faces.

Creative Staff:
Story: Grant Morrison
Art: Chrisn Burnham, Nathan Fairbairn

What They Say:
An occult hustler known only as ‘Nameless’ is recruited by a consortium of billionaire futurists for a desperate mission. But nothing is what it seems—a terrifying inhuman experiment is about to begin. Abandon all hope and experience ultimate horror in NAMELESS.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
At this point, reading a Grant Morrison book is like walking through a long confusing maze. The man has a truly twisted writing style, skewing towards throwing events at the audience and letting them piece together what it all really means. The maze only becomes more complex and enigmatic the further you venture inside, but that’s really the appeal of a Morrison book. Piecing together the strung together story and realizing what it all means gives you a true sense of satisfaction. His newest venture with long time collaborator Chris Burnham retaining his signature story style, but Nameless is an easier read for more newer Morrison fans. Nameless offers horror and sci-fi fans a meaty and strange story to sink their teeth into from a truly gifted team.

Nameless begins with a spree of massacres and gory deaths occurring all across the globe. Police and governments are baffled as to the cause, though two things do connect all of these murders. There is always an unknown symbol painted on the walls, and the killers scream the same insane words, “Zirom Trian Ipam Ipamis.” These deaths draws the interest of a paranormal investigator with no name, only referring to himself as Nameless. He is pursuing clues to this mystery, but is stopped in his tracks by a veiled lady and her army of fish-faced thugs who appeared at every murder. Nameless ventures into a realm dreams are real and reality is never what it seems to help stop this cosmic threat before life as we know it is snuffed out.

The style Morrison is going for in Nameless is a blending of Lovecraftian horror with modern science fiction. This is a comic that wears its influences on it’s sleeves and revels in what makes both Lovecraft and sci-fi scary. Chris Burnham brings his very dirty, gritty art style to the book, giving an unnatural and unnerving tone to the story. He doesn’t shy away from gore and sex, and his art is so graphic that some scenes actually did manage to shock me. For example, while reading through this book again, I noticed a character’s finger tips had been ripped off and strange green goo was oozing out of her stubs.

The story can shock you because you’re never sure what is real and what is not. There’s ambiguity in this first issue, especially when Nameless wakes up from an adventure in a temple to his small one room apartment surrounded by fish men. Nameless travels through dreams and the creatures in this story can manipulate your senses, showing you horrific things that may or may not actually exist. Did he actually go to the jungle, or was that a dream, and is he still dreaming as he’s taken captive. These are questions you’ll be asking yourself throughout the story. Nothing ever seems real, which helps build the mystery of Nameless and his mission.

I really enjoyed the first issue, but it does feel like a lite Morrison story. For casual comic readers, this is a good introduction to a unique voice in comics. If you’re a horror fan, this is a must buy as Morrison and Burnham have crafted a truly unnerving story. However, it goes without saying, if you’re not a fan of horror or gore, stay away from Nameless. The story is also quite thick, and it’s not a simple read. Morrison books take a while to get the full nuance of what he’s trying to say to his audience, but I promise the journey is worth all the struggles.

In Summary:
Nameless is a good start to an insane world Morrison is trying to create. Part Lovecraft and part Alien, this comic doesn’t disappoint in the horror and the suspense. The gore is heavily on display, which is Burnham’s personal style and makes the comic a creepy read. I wouldn’t say Nameless is scary, but it definitely unnerves you as it shows off alien slime monsters and fish people. The story keeps you interested in the main character of Nameless, and the mood of the story keeps you on edge about what is real and what is just a dream. If you can stomach Burnham’s gore, definitely give this one a look.

Grade: B+

Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Image Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: February 4th, 2015
MSRP: $2.99

Originally airing in Japan in 2008 based off of the game franchise of the same name, Hulu has now added the first twenty-six episode of Inazuma Eleven to its service. Coming from Arait Multimedia, the series is getting release in both Spanish and English language form for these episodes. The original series ran for a hundred and twenty-seven episodes and has had a few series past that as well, so it’ll be interesting to see how much has been done this way to get released. The series has seen a lot of success in Japan and even spawned a movie back in 2010.

Plot concept: The members of Raimon Jr High’s soccer team, led by Mark Evans, dream of winning the National Championship. To achieve their dream they must defeat the best teams in the country, among which there is the Jude Sharp team, Royal Academy, who have already won the tournament on several occasions. Although initially they feel discouraged due to being only seven players, Mark succeeds in getting Axel Blaze, an excellent player who had long abandoned the game, to join them. They will base their training on Mark’s grandfather “super-techniques notebook”, who was goalkeeper on the Inazuma Eleven legendary team. They will participate in the competition knowing that if they lose, the team will be dissolved permanently and Mark’s hopes to honor the original members of Inazuma Eleven will vanish forever. With much effort, overcoming all their fears and learning to better themselves, they will manage to surprise the opposing teams.

Dark Horse Comics is kicking off another miniseries on February 26th, 2014 with Pariah. The series comes from writers Aron Warner and Philip Gelatt with artwork by Brett Weldele that gives us a bit of science fiction fun. The series has some strong credits to its name as the concept comes from Aron Warner, who was involved with Shrek, and written by Philip Gelatt who got some solid attention for his work on Petrograd. Add in artwork by Eisner-nominated painter Brett Weldele of The Surrogates fame and the pages to preview below come all the more enticing.

Plot concept: Trapped in space, the genetically engineered geniuses known as “vitros” must band together and create a plan to get back to Earth before their failing satellite turns into a deathtrap!

Don’t leave it to the boys.

Creative Staff:
Story: Alex de Campi
Art: Fernando Ruiz, Rich Koslowski

What They Say:
As casualties continue to mount, it’s up to Betty and Veronica to put aside their differences if the gang hopes to rid Riverdale of the Predator menace—but can the girls keep their claws out of each other long enough to keep the Predator’s claws out of everyone?!

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
ARchie vs Predator comes to a close with this installment and I can only reinforce my desire to see this done as a big budget film sometime in some form because it would be an absolute blast. Though it started slow, in order to set the tone and introduce the gang to folks while slipping in the Predator here and there, the second and third installments definitely upped the ante and things got crazy fun as the “curse” became more integral and bodies started dropping. With some familiar locales used, blood everywhere and chaos making its way out, the book definitely moved forward in a very fun way. And it separated itself from the Afterlife with Archie by showing you can do the characters in different forms without being the same.

This issue deals with the fact that the cast has been whittled away effectively and we’re down to what really makes up the core trio of the property. With Archie knocked out after what happened and dying from his wounds, that has Betty and Veronica doing what they can to save him while also figuring out how to try and survive and defeat the Predator. With the kinds of crazy things that Veronica’s father gets involved with, upping the ante to have his Manor have a panic room due to bad dealings with some weapons sales really does make sense. That it also has a reconstructive surgery bed that’s automated is certainly cute though. It does bring into play the idea of Archie as the rescuer in the second half, after he gets bulked up, but truly the series sticks to our two lead heroines doing the heavy work here.

These two against the Predator definitely works well, though it’s got the weirdness mixed in with the Predator basically liking both of them and wanting to get closer in its own violent way, at least through some of the speech icons we get. While it does play to the old school character traits with Ronnie focused on how she looks while surviving and killing and Betty totally focused on Archie and how he’s doing, the two do come together well to fight the Predator and win out over him. It’s not a hugely complex sequence, but it works well and lets both of them stand tall. Of course, it goes back to some really weird angles afterwards when it comes to their Archie obsession, but it also feels like it hits up the vibe and tone of the old books in a very fun way.

In Summary:
This series has been an absolute blast for me from start to finish. I’ve grown reacquainted with the Archie characters in the last few years and the simplicity of the main books but I’ve also really enjoyed the various serious interpretations that have cropped up along the horror line. This one takes that blending and runs with it in a really fun way. The series reads very well while sticking to the characters quirks and well known traits and it takes the Predator and puts it in Archie style form, which is pretty cute even when it’s all grisly and ripping bodies apart. This is certainly one of those unusual pairings that exists from time to time and it’s easy to be derisive about it, but it works perfectly and left me thoroughly loving each installment right up to the end.

This issue also has a two page Josei & the Pussycats segment, but I’m far less familiar with them and it didn’t really connect with me.

Grade: A-

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: July 22nd, 2015
MSRP: $3.50

Durarara!! is back in manga form!

Creative Staff:
Creator: Ryohgo Narita
Character Design: Suzuhito Yasuda
Art: Akiyo Satorigi
Translation: Stephen Paul
Lettering: Lys Blakeslee

What They Say:
The serial slashings in Ikebukuro have come to an end, and Anri is steadily recovering from her injuries. But life is far from “back to normal” for Kida. Enraged at the random violence that has shattered the peace of his neighborhood, Kida and his middle school crew, the Yellow Scarves, reunite to address the rise of organized gangs in town—the Dollars, the followers of Saika, and now the Yellow Scarves. When all is said and done, who will hold the power of the streets in Ikebukuro?

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I’m on the beat of a friend, taking over Durarara!! and I can say with confidence that it delivers as much as I remember the anime delivering. I only wish I could read those light novels, but alas.

After the craziness of Saika’s arc, we’re into slightly more normal—well, the kind of crazy normal that’s typical of Ikebukuro—territory with a gang war…yeah, it’s not that normal I guess, but this is Ikebukuro as we know it now. It’s not the Ikebukuro of Super Gals, this is the Ikebukuro of Durarara!! where folks like Shizuo and Simon duke it out in the streets denting mailboxes.

Since we have the initial introduction of characters out of the way, Durarara!!, with both this arc and the Saika arc as I recall, is able to really big into its vibrant cast of characters. Durarara!!, more than Narita’s other light novel Baccano!, is about character. Characters in both shine, but it is in Durarara!! where they blind. They’re wonderfully full and, within Narita’s two works here, are only outshined by Isaac and Miria. (I’m sure I could think of more in Baccano! that are better in Durarara!! or, more importantly, ones in Durarara!! that are worse than those in Baccano!, but in general only Isaac and Miria come to mind.)

This arc is focusing squarely (ha! puns) in on Masaomi Kida of the Yellow Scarves, Anri Sonohara otherwise known as Saika, and Mikado Ryugamine of the Dollars. “The Night of the Ripper” incident cause both gangs, the color gang the Yellow Scarves and the colorless gang the Dollars, to suspect each other. Each suspects the other of the attack, probably with leading on from Izaya, the “information broker.”

This isn’t just about protecting friends from friends, but that’s what both the Dollars and the Yellow Scarves are doing on whole. It’s also about the pride of leading a group of people. It’s the hubris in man that doesn’t allow them to stand down from a position of power. It’s the greed of the many to take over everything in Ikebukuro. It’s the self-deprecation of Masaomi returning to what he thought he left behind for that very pride. Durarara!! is ridiculously layered material, but it’s all based in character. There’s a reason so many people clamored for the anime so quickly and so easily and it’s not just because the name is funny to say. There’s more going on than just shipping Izaya and Shizuo together or, perhaps more importantly, which one is better #BestBoy. What’s drew people is the characters, what kept them is this layered storytelling.

In Summary:
I loved the anime when I finally got around to watching it (I blind bought all of the DVD sets at AnimeIowa years ago and then bought the lunchbox and sold off the DVDs to a friend) and this manga version doesn’t disappoint. I agree with Chris; it’s easier to read than to watch because you can slow down and speed up at your own pace—that’s especially paramount given the ridiculously woven story that Narita tends to write. Plus the artwork ain’t bad to look at either. I’m excited to keep reading this adaptation of something I already love and we’re hot on the heels of the second season with a third coming not soon enough!

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

Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: September 23rd, 2014
MSRP: $12.99

Rogue agent Hex has a history with Koko, and she’s planning to take out her anger on Jonah.

What They Say
Koko is growing suspicious of two members of the CIA: Book Man and Hex. R fears that Hex’s rash behavior is going to undo all of the hard work they have invested in Operation Undershaft. Can he keep everything he’s worked toward from falling apart?

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Jormungand loves to turn on a dime just to keep me on my toes. Last episode I praised the use of conversations rather than flashbacks to get viewers back up to speed after the seasonal hiatus, but this episode relies much too heavily on the same trick. While it’s still as entertaining as ever, I have to penalize such poor writing.

The first of a two-parter, this episode is basically the info dump that sets up the context for part two. And what a dump it is! One of the structural weaknesses of Jormungand’s story is the way it mechanically introduces the characters. The show started out with Koko and Valmet, and all of “those guys”, and we really didn’t get to know any of the men until they were each given their one special episode where we learn their past. Gradually they’ve become less of an undifferentiated mass, but there has to have been some better way to develop them organically. Perhaps having fewer characters in the first place, or maybe by skipping that nonsense with Orchestra in season one?

Anyway, it’s too late to fix that problem now, so this time we’re given R’s story. R’s real name is Renato Socci, and he narrates his past tracking down war criminals in the Balkan war with the help of the CIA. It was there he met George Black aka Bookman aka Saw, and it was from there he started working with the CIA full-time. The baton is then passed onto Bookman, who tells Hex’s backstory. She was in a all-female special forces unit until it was dissolved due to political controversy. Then her fiance was killed in the 2001 World Trade Center attacks, and since then she basically went insane. Then it’s Hex’s turn to have a dream flashback where we learn she once fought with Koko and some allies were killed. Finally, Koko has a conversation with R (conveniently, since I can’t remember a single conversation they’ve had before) about George Black, which is awkward since R is secretly working for him, and he’s unsure whether Koko’s onto him or not.

So the episode fails utterly at “show, don’t tell,” but I’m not quite done yet. During Hex’s flashback, we’re also introduced, briefly, to one of Koko’s former bodyguards by the name of Echo. Koko was apparently fond of him, and it was he who advised her to always keep smiling. We’ve heard nothing of him since, so it’s hard to imagine he wasn’t killed by Hex in the battle.

It’s not that this information isn’t interesting, because it is, and it’s not as though there aren’t humorous bits and great character moments, as those are present as well. But the information is doled out so gracelessly that it’s hard not to be somewhat disappointed. Next week promises quite the bloodbath, as George Black seems to have given up Jonah to Hex, but there has to have been a better way to get all of the pieces in place than three monologues and a contrived conversation.

In Summary
While conversations were a great way to add new information about events we’d seen in a previous season, using them to dump exposition about a bunch of characters we’ve never seen before is just lazy. Jormungand fans are used to learning about one dude in Koko’s entourage per episode, but we find out about R, Hex, Bookman, and this mysterious Echo all at once? That’s just bad writing, and all of the CIA assets in the world can’t cover that up.

Grade: B-

Streamed By: Funimation

Review Equipment:
Sony VAIO 17″ HD screen

With a series of games starting back in 2008 and extending into 2013 as well as a couple of novels and some manga, it’s no surprise that BlazBlue is getting an anime adaptation. Listed as BlazBlue: Alter Memory, the new series is set for a fall 2013 broadcast in Japan. The news kicked off over the weekend with the launch of the official site and some key art, which you can see further below. The official site also brought into light the cast that will be behind it and the production team that will be animating it:

• Supervisor: Toshimichi Mori
• Director: Hideki Tachibana
• Assistant Director: Seiji Mizushima
• Series Composition: Deko Akao
• Screenplay: Deko Akao/Tatsuya Takahashi
• Character Design/Chief Animation Director: Tomoyuki Shitaya

Cast:

• Ragna the Bloodedge     Sugita Tomokazu
• Noel Vermillion     Kanako Kondo
• Jin Kisaragi     Tetsuya Kakihara
• Rachel Alucard     Kana Ueda
• Hazama     Nakamura Yuichi
• Taokaka     Saito Chiwa
• Litchi Faye Ling     Chiaki Takahashi
• Iron Tager     Kenji Nomura
• Tsubaki Yayoi     Imai Asami
• Kokonoe     Matsuura Chie
• Makoto Nanaya     Isomura Tomomi

Plot Concept: The story is set in December of 2199, when the streets are full of anticipation for the end of the year and the start of the new one. Amid the celebrations, word spreads that Ragna the Bloodedge, an SS-class rebel with the highest ever bounty on his head, has appeared in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. The apparent aim of Ragna or the “Grim Reaper” is the destruction of the system controlling the world. To collect the bounty, a motley array of unrivaled fighters converge on Kagutsuchi.

[Source: Crunchyroll ]

While a lot of attention is on the new fall 2014 simulcasts making their way onto Hulu slowly but surely, there are a few other properties that are getting on there as well. The latest addition comes from Freemantle Media with Monsuno now being on the Hulu service.  r Hulu Plus subscription you can watch this show in HD on your TV, mobile and computer. The show originally aired in Japan from late 2012 to late 2013 and was adapted by Dentsu Entertainment USA for North American Consumption. The show has all three seasons available on the service in English language only with the two twenty-six episode halves that comprise the first series and the third series that ran for thirteen episodes.

Plot concept: Chase Suno and his friends, Jinja and Bren, are on a search for Chase’s father, Jeredy Suno. However, they soon become involved in something else upon reaching their father’s lab and becoming involved with an organism known as Monsuno. Chase, choosing to side with his father’s work, denies S.T.O.R.M. access to the Monsuno and escapes. They are now on the run from the military organization, S.T.O.R.M., while still looking for Chase’s father. However, a mysterious organization also has his eyes set on Chase and the group’s Monsuno.

While FUNimation is betting big this April with the release of Eureka Seven on DVD and Blu-ray for the TV series and movie, they’re also laying the foundation to get this show out there legally streaming for people outside of their own site. And that means we’re now starting to see the series on Hulu in order to attract fans who saw the previous runs on Cartoon Network and enjoyed the property. The series has just the first two episodes up at this time and it’s in its original Japanese language with subtitles that’s also open to Hulu Plus members so they can stream it to their TV app as well as any digital devices.

Plot concept: For Renton, every days the same. Nothing happens, nothing changes. He goes to school, he goes home. Nothing exciting ever happens to him. Until one day, a giant mecha called an LFO comes crashing down on him literally. And inside is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen! The thing is, though, the girl, named Eureka, is on the run from the military with her stolen mecha, and shes brought trouble with her.

I’ll continue to give Marvel credit in trying to make Hercules a thing because you can see them wanting to bring him about as a potential god to use theatrically when they need to put Thor away for awhile. The latest attempt to get the character up to speed, after his recent Secret Wars 2099 appearance, is his own series that lands on November 4th, 20th. The new book comes from writer Dan Abnett and artist Luke Ross and now Marvel has shown off the finalized cover, the variant covers, and a few unlettered pages from it.

Plot concept: Time to show the world why he set the bar for heroism in the first place. Whether its street crime or cosmic level threats, not labor is too big or small for the greatest son of Olympus. But a new evil has awoken – one that will push the demi-god to the limit and test his mighty resolve. Witness the Marvel Universe through the eyes of one of its most powerful warriors, and the heart of a true champion. A modern world, an age-old hero and non-stop action await you in HERCULES #1 – on-sale this November!

HERCULES #1 (SEP150711)
Written by DAN ABNETT
Art by LUKE ROSS
Cover by CLAY MANN
Variant Covers by SKOTTIE YOUNG (SEP150715) & JAY ANACLETO (SEP150712)
Action Figure Variant by JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER (SEP150714)
Hip-Hop Variant by THEOTIS JONES (SEP150713)
FOC – 10/12/15, On-Sale – 11/04/15

Fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender are continuing to get excited, and rightly so, for the new series coming from the team behind it with the reveal of the new trailer for The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra which debuted this weekend at the San Diego Comic-Con. With the series moving forward in time by another seventy-five years, it allows it to build off of what has come before but to stand on its own as well, which will definitely help it in the long run so it doesn’t seem like a retread.

Plot concept: The new series will take place 70 years after the end of the Avatar: The Last Airbender story arc, with all-new characters and settings.The protagonist of the new series, Korra, the next Avatar after Aang, is a hot-headed and rebellious young woman from the Southern Water Tribe who is “ready to take on the world”. The series plans to follow Korra as she faces an anti-bender revolt while mastering the art of Airbending from Aang and Katara’s son, Tenzin.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EV5ed85ytk&w=560&h=349]

We got the first blush details yesterday about the upcoming Japanese Blu-ray box sets for Initial D where there would be two of them priced at 42,000yen each with the first due on February 21st, 2014 and the second on March 21st, 2014. Now they’re showing up on Amazon and the details are out as to what each of the sets  will contain

To break it down simply, it’ll be broken up like this:

Premium Box 1:

• Initial D: First Stage (26 eps) [1998]
• Initial D: Second Stage (13 eps) [1999–2000]

Premium Box 2:

• Initial D: Extra Stage (OVA; 2 eps) [2000]
• Initial D: Third Stage (Movie) [2001]
• Initial D: Battle Stage (OVA; 1 eps) [2002]
• Initial D: Fourth Stage (24 eps) [2004–2006]
• Initial D to the Next Stage – Project D e Mukete (Special; 1 eps)
• Initial D: Battle Stage 2 (OVA; 1 eps) [2007]
• Initial D: Extra Stage 2 (OVA; 1 eps) [2008]

The sets do not contain the Fifth Stage.

The releases are planned to have a special book for it and a luxury storage box of some kind associated with it. Radio programs and more material from the drama CD sides are also expected to be included.

Plot concept: Takumi’s nights working as the delivery boy for his dad’s tofu shop have turned him into one of the most formidable drivers around. Behind the wheel of his modified Eight-Six, he’s one with the road – and his life shifts into high gear when the underground street racing world takes notice.

Local legend Keisuke, a member of the infamous Red Suns racing team, wants to take Takumi on. He’s not alone; drivers from across the region are lining up for a shot at the new guy. One challenger after the next, Takumi schools the competition with his amazing drifting technique and downhill expertise. But it’s not enough to simply rack up the victories – Takumi’s out to prove he’s the best.

Can Tandoji save the day with a Dark Stone attack before the school festival gets canceled? Oh my!

What They Say:
Tomorrow is the school festival and the students are hard at work. As the rock club’s newest member, Alma is preparing for the events when a Dark Stone slides onto campus. Kagami realizes, “We can’t let Miss Ruri find out or she’ll cancel the festival.”

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As the series rolls on, Sacred Seven manages to be one of the more unusual Sunrise series in that it feels like it’s aping very heavily on other shows over the years and little in the way that feels original or tightly done. When you have an episode like this one where you watch the first half and find that there really is precious little to say about it, you have to wonder. This much fluff in the fourth episode could have its moments if it allows the characters to connect better, but mostly we just keep learning that nobody here is all that interesting to begin with. Ruri and Tandoji have the most time since they’re the leads, but with it essentially “playing school,” there’s little to like.

The basic thrust of it is that as the school life goes on, it’s going to be threatened by a Dark Stones issue when one of them ends up arriving on campus. The fear is that Ruri will end up canceling the festival and, shock and horror, Kagami himself is actually quite concerned about that happening and wants to see it dealt with by Tandoji so that the school doesn’t suffer. There are some cute moments associated with this early on, such as when he transforms in Ruri’s office and another student comes in afterwards only to compliment him on his awesome costume play for the festival. Yet even as Tandoji goes on the offensive looking for this thing, Ruri turns her focus back to the festival itself. When you consider her attention to detail with the past Dark Stone instances, it really paints her in a bad way.

The festival does allow for both Tandoji and Kagami to hunt the critter in the school, where it is causing some trouble with the way it ruins the floors. Kagami gets to use his mobile unit and ends up with praise for its design. Tandoji is called out easily in the costume and there’s even a comical moment in the midst of the hunt where some of the kids throw paint at him. It’s such a disjointed mess with what’s going on here with the cast and their use at school of their powers and suits that it really shows a lot of the problems inherent in it. Particularly with Tandoji trying to keep his identity secret and yet doing this, making it more obvious who he really is to anyone who takes a true gander at him. The action itself is also rather weak and decidedly uninteresting, making a tense moment when some students are in peril as the only really decent moment here, and that’s not saying much at all.

In Summary:
Sacred Seven manages to only slide further downward with this episode and doesn’t offer up much hope for where it can go next since it could slide further or level out here. The show has been a disappointment since the end of the first episode, where we had a potentially interesting idea with some interesting designs and pacing that has now moved to a flavor of the week feeling. It all comes across as so forced and this episode in particular has everyone seemingly acting out of character in a way, even if you can go with some of the light believability of it with Ruri doing her best for the festival because of her own different school life prior to this. When looking at the episode as a whole, and bringing in the two before, it just reinforces what a mess the whole thing is and how difficult it will be to actually salvage it. The core idea isn’t bad, but the execution uses all the bad norms of shows of this nature and none of the good.

Grade: C-

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.

A taste of the past.

Creative Staff:
Story:Jonathan Tsuei & Eric Canete
Art: Eric Canete

What They Say:
Cornered, wounded and unarmed. What will Rain do? Join us as Rain reveals that she is much more than a woman on the run.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
RunLoveKill hits the halfway point with this installment and it starts to answer some of the questions in a very roundabout and incomplete way. With it being the kind of book that’s going to tease some elements as long as it can, I’m not surprised. That the series is going on a brief hiatus makes it naturally frustrating, but only because I want more of it sooner rather than later. The story is most certainly the draw here but it’s one that’s made so much richer by the artwork and giving that the time to come out right is worth it. And hopefully some folks will check out the first trade that hits next month and will come back for more, as the story of Rain and the Origami is one that’s really interesting and worth spending time with.

What we get this time provides for some tasty morsels from the past as we see a younger Rain, likely in her tween years it seems, where we discover that she’s very skilled with playing a musical instrument but partially because of the intensity of her father in teaching her. There’s some instructive moments in seeing the relationship between the two, which colors her relationships with men in general, and knowing that she’s spent her life on the run since this moment is saddening to say the least. With Origami having found them and knowing what she is, they’re intent on bringing her back no matter who has to be taken out to do so. That her father is killed before her eyes is a huge open wound that will never really heal and not having the time to grieve immediately only makes it worse as his last words to her really are to run. And run she does, for years to come, killing and being the reason for others being killed along the way.

The present day part of the book takes up a good chunk of space as well, though it’s mostly action focused as the Origami forces close in on Rain. This has her putting up quite the fight and seemingly letting loose with a head popping kind of ability, or at least that’s how it appears from the intensely detailed and highly active panels we get, as she struggles with the realization again that she’s only going to have to keep doing this over and over as Origami never stops. The action is well done and it moves quickly, keeping it engaging with the movements and detail of it all. Dey gets a bit of time here as well, mostly as Janus seems to take a liking to pummeling him, and it’s good to see that he’s not giving up even after all that’s happened in trying to help her. Not save her, per se, but rather to support and help Rain with whatever it is that she’s going through.

In Summary:
RunLoveKill does some really fun things here overall, though most of what we get in the present is a semi-holding action with Rain defending and attempting to escape again. It’s beautifully illustrated and I liked what we got from the Origami side as they close in on her with how it’s presented, but I was hoping for a bit more forward motion. The flashback material is what sells it for me this time around as it’s a tantalizing look at what happened that set her on the path she’s on, though it doesn’t answer many questions and actually leaves you asking more. Seeing the way they’re after her from a young age and the intensity of the hunt now combined with the look at her abilities in brief here really ramps things up in a very good way. I just felt like it needed a little more meat and movement to push forward to the next level. Which I suspect we’ll get a good chunk with in the next issue.

Grade: B

Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Image Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: July 22nd, 2015
MSRP: $2.99

Welcome back, Tribe Cool Crew

What They Say:
Haneru is a kid who’s always been into dancing and dreams of becoming a famous dancer like his idol Jey-El. One day while he’s practicing his moves at his usual spot he finds out it’s the same place where a girl named Kanon also practices and she’s secretly a famous dancer known as Rhythm who’s well known on the internet. After being impressed by her moves and finding out she’s been watching his, he decides to form a dance team with her.

The Review:
Content (warning as portions of this review may contain spoilers):
Now that’s what I’m talking about. The show’s been kind of rolling around in circles for the last few weeks, and the last couple of episodes were especially bland. These two episodes however, are a complete return to form for the series and brings it back to the level of fun it started out with.

The first of these episodes introduces a couple of new characters named Lui and Moe. They’re the goofiest of the dancers introduced so far (and given the criteria that’s saying something), with a team name to match and happen to be the first dancers in the series to finally break the streak of Jey El worshippers. Instead they want to surpass him and get rich which…isn’t really all that different at it’s core but it’s cool to get some characters whose motivations aren’t quite the same as the others. Their unique style and obsession with team colors catches Haneru’s attention though, and it gets him interested in coming up with a team color for the gang.

While the others are kind of interested in the idea, Kumo isn’t and ends up challenging the two to a dance off. After going the last few episodes without a dance sequence, it’s good to finally have them back. The sequence itself is has some of the best music the show’s rolled out in a while, though Lui and Moe’s dancing CG looks a bit jerkier compared to everyone else’s. It all wraps up with Haneru realizing that Tribe Cool Crew doesn’t need any colors to be a real team after seeing how well Kumo and Mizuki’s dance synched together. Nothing too groundbreaking here but way more fun material than the last few episodes have had.

Of course where all the real excitement lies is in the second one, which brings us the next stage of the Dance Road tourney. All the other major teams from the previous rounds join in this time, and combined with the stage setting a spaceship looking tower, it’s a massive load of fun. Rather than a dance off, this round ends up being a series of dance trials featuring mimicking Jey El’s dancing to a precise tee, and a Dance Dance Revolution knockoff. The dance levels are off the charts with this one, with a lot of great dance sequences, and the show’s musical score ramps up even higher, bringing the most amount of variety it’s had in ages. What really sells it though, is that even the characters themselves are having a fun time, and it makes for one of the show’s best episodes yet. To top it off, it looks like the next trial is a dance off against Master T, and that sounds like it should be a blast though sadly it’s not happening till the next episode. In the meantime though, glad to finally have you back Tribe Cool Crew. Please don’t ever go away again.

In Summary:
Tribe Cool Crew’s finally remembered it’s a show about dancing and rolls out a pair of dance heavy episodes that bring the series back to being loads of fun again. Looking forward to whatever weirdness happens with the Master T standoff, and hopefully it’s as crazy as it sounds, but for now I’m just really glad the show’s back to being great.

Grade: B+

Streamed By: Funimation, Hulu