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Standing beside (or some might say above) great classics about feudal Japan such as Ruroni Kenshin and The Dagger of Kamui, one of the best anime released in the 90s to impact both Japanese and American anime fans is Ninja Scroll. But how does this latest release in the U.S. market fare to prior ones?

What They Say:
Swords shatter, blood sprays, and demons suck the life out of dying men as the wildest samurai adventure ever made is unleashed to tear your senses asunder! Jubei Kibagami has always been the master dealer of death, but in rescuing a ninja woman from a monster he sets loose a chain of events that puts death in his own veins and sends them on a nightmarish odyssey through a surreal and devil infested ancient Japan. How do demonic possessions, an annihilated village and a man thought safely buried in his past all connect? If Jubei can’t piece the blood soaked clues together, his only consolation will be that he won’t live to regret it for very long! Prepare your mind and steel your gut for the insanely gore packed orgy of violence that still stands alone and unchallenged as the ultimate anime action feature: the epic milestone in animation that is the legendary Ninja Scroll.

The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release comes with the Japanese 2.0 track present, the English 2.0 and a Japanese commentary track, which all sounded ok.

Video:
As the main selling point of this re-release, it was important to know if the digital remastering of the picture would be any good. I’m happy to see that the visuals are much clearer than previous releases. The movie was originally released in 1993, and looks great here. The restoration amplifies the best aspects of director Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s cel animation style which holds up fine after 20 years as the colors are truly vibrant and the art lines a sharper than ever. The picture is intact here and there’s no cropping and zooming for any illusion of a widescreen picture. The subtitles are colored and detailed appropriately, which makes them easy to read as needed.

Packaging:
The front contains the cutout of the two lead characters taken from the original movie poster, placed on top various movie scenes done up in black & red. It’s easy to see it done to distinguish from previous releases in the U.S. The back a mixed bag though as it has some nice screen shots but the text description is a bit lengthy and rather small to read.

Menu:
The menu is rather simple with the original movie poster on the left side and white text links on the right with mini blood splatters acting as pointers. Easy to navigate.

Extras:
This aspect is a bit disappointing. After seeing other releases with cast interviews, and various behind the scenes vids on the making of this movie, this release containing a Japanese commentary track, which is actually pretty educational as director Yoshiaki Kawajiri talks about everything that went into making this film. There’s also trailers for other Sentai Filmworks products.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
For those not familiar, the story of Ninja Scroll is done in tribute to the legendary warrior Jubei, who was said to travel ancient Japan and was victorious in many battles with his swordsmanship. This movie mixes up a few legends about his adventures and has become a staple of American anime fandom since the 90s.

As the movie opens, Jubei takes down three pursuers who want revenge after he retrieved an expensive sword and returned it to a poor village. The scene shifts to the next day when the local Chamberlain hears about a nearby village that has been quarantined after an apparent plague has wiped out all its inhabitants. He also hears of a group of men who rode through it just prior to the infection taking hold, but dismisses this report from his lieutenant.

Later that lieutenant, his female agent Kagero and over 20 men are attacked by a huge warrior with immense strength, the power to shift his body into a rock-like form, and deadly accuracy with a spinning bladed weapon. Kagero is the only one to survive this bloody massacre, but she is captured by the rock warrior who shifts back to human form for his carnal needs. In the midst of this, Jubei appears to expose the warrior’s weakness and helps Kagero escape.

Eventually, Jubei runs across a diminutive old man named Dakuan who is a spy for the Tokugawa shogunate. He tells Jubei of the Devils of Kimon, a group of unnatural warriors looking to loot a ton of gold, led by one whom Jubei thought he had dealt with decisively 5 years ago. Dakuan encourages Jubei to help him take down this group but Jubei initially refuses, until Dakuan tells him he’s just poisoned Jubei in a subtle manner and there’s only one day for Jubei to take an antidote before … the end. They go and reunite with Kagero and the pursuit is on.

Ninja Scroll was one anime other productions tried to emulate with ultra-violence, gore and bloodshed. However, without the high budget or the talents of director Yoshiaki Kawajiri, who had perfected his techniques of slick movements, high contrasts, dark colored themes and intense facial movements, most of these other productions were rather lackluster. Kawajiri’s work on Wicked City and Goku: Midnight Eye among other productions had shown him to be king of horrific action anime, much like Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust would show years later. In writing and directing Ninja Scroll, he was able to depict the violent world of ancient Japan and make people believe in what was happening on the big screen, much like the live action movies showing that era, and in some aspects, more effectively.

In Summary
Despite my misgivings about the extras, it’s still really nice to see this edition of Ninja Scroll on the shelves. The picture quality is very nice and the commentary is informative to have after all the years this movie has been out. So if you’re wondering if it’s worth the time and money to replace your old copy of Ninja Scroll, I’d say that’s a decent move.

Features:
Japanese Language 2.0 Dolby, Optional English subtitles, English 2.0 audio, Japanese language commentary with director Yoshiaki Kawajiri

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

Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: November 21st, 2012
MSRP: $14.98
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1, 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen

Review Equipment:
Panasonic 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Marantz stereo receiver

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Lupin The 3rd – The Mystery Of Mamo

Thirty-five years after its debut in Japanese theaters, the first animated movie featuring master thief Lupin The 3rd has been released again on R1 DVD but this time with every conceivable extra feature one could want for this movie. How does this version fare against previous American releases though and is it worth purchasing if one has one of the aforementioned releases?

What They Say:
The world’s most wanted master thief, Lupin the Third is dead! Despite a coroner’s report, Interpol Inspector Zenigata is skeptical and discovers that Lupin is actually alive and well and stealing! But who had set up Lupin’s death and why? For now, questions are set aside, as Lupin, Jigen and Goemon immediately embark to Egypt to pilfer a stone artifact from a pyramid, with Zenigata in hot pursuit. Fujiko, lured by the promise of eternal youth and beauty by the sinister and enigmatic scientist known as Mamo, doublecrosses Lupin and steals the stone. Her betrayal causes a rift between Lupin and his cohorts, causing the trio to split up, but eventually leads Lupin to Mamo’s hideaway, where he discovers the madman’s dark secret and a fiendish scheme that threatens the entire planet! Now, it’s up to Lupin to stop the insane Mamo-before he can complete his 10,000 year-old plans of world domination.

The Review:
Audio:
One of the main selling points for this release is the presence of a long-sought English dub of mysterious origin from the late 70s. Although this version of the movie was played at science fiction conventions and anime clubs in the 80s, no one was really certain who actually produced it, as it was often transferred on the underground scene in the VHS tape trading era. There was no listed credit for any of the actors or voice directors or anything though, and so this dub could only be seen at conventions, club meetings (on degrading generations of copied tapes), or as footage that was combined with clips from the Hayao Miyazaki movie Castle of Cogliostro for the laserdisc arcade game Cliff Hanger during the 80s. (More on this in the ‘Extras’ section.)

In any case, that particular dub is present intact on this disc along with the ’95 performance by Streamline Pictures, the one created for Manga Video UK in 1996, as well as the most recent one released by Geneon in the 2000s, along with the original Japanese language track. All of these came out fine in Dolby Digital 2.0 and I had no issues listening to any of them. It’s rather interesting though the Japanese audio is distinctively louder than any of the English tracks.

Video:
The movie was originally released theatrically in 1978, and looks good here. The cel animation holds up fine and colors are vibrant and steady. The nuances of old-school sketch-line animation are still fun to watch. The subtitles are colored and detailed appropriately, which makes them easy to read as needed.

Packaging:
The front contains the Lupin Gang doing various actions in the middle of a circle with a yellow backdrop behind it, with the title text in bright red. The rear text is lengthy but easy to read, promising a good deal of entertainment and information on the disc.

Menu:
The menu has the contents of the front cover with various options listed vertically on the lower left side. It’s nice to hear the Lupin theme in the background. However, the font of the text is a little difficult to read from a distance, even on a 50” HDTV. The outlines of the words are a little difficult to make out unless you’re about within 10-12 ft. It’s my one criticism of the menu though as otherwise it’s easy to navigate.

Extras:
This section is the true gem of Discotek’s release as opposed to previous versions of this movie. There is so much information in each section of this DVD it took me a few days to read it all. The first link was truly educational as I first got to see this movie in ’87 at Archon with an English dub. It was my first exposure to Lupin overall, but there were no credits on the tape and thus no real indication where this movie came from. So in reading the first link “A History of Mamo In English,” it was fascinating to learn that seemingly no one knows where exactly this dub came from, though there was an archival office in L.A. which was apparently a primary source for people to acquire the movie. Also, apparently, the movie was originally entitled just Lupin The 3rd, with subsequent titles “Lupin III vs The Clones” and “Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo” being placed as the movie had its interesting run through the underground scene and later was acquired by different anime importers. Thanks to the staff at Lupinthe3rd.com, there are a lot of information and interviews in this link to learn about.

The next link “A Filmography of Lupin The Third” was useful in figuring out how many movies, TV Specials and OAVs have been produced until the end of December 2012. Sadly, the number that has been released officially in the U.S. would constitute about 1/3 or ½ at this point and it made me seriously anxious to want more of them brought here someday. Again, this was a very educational link.

Then I got to the interview with Bill Dufris, which was very cool in learning what it’s like firsthand to play a character as animated as Lupin and the methods he enacted to do so for the Manga UK dub. The liner / production notes and the translated text of the film program were pretty handy about the creation of the movie itself, but I would’ve preferred to also see the physical program if possible scanned onto this DVD instead of just read to me on screen. The experience isn’t entirely the same.

Last but not least of the text –oriented extras was “Why Mamo Matters by Mike Toole,” accomplished anime reviewer of Anime News Network and Anime Jump fame. Toole writes a good deal on the history of the Lupin character as well as why he and his team have retained their popularity in Japanese and American anime fandom. It’s rather extensive, about as much as the English dub link, and honestly makes for good reflecting.

As to video extras, there’s the original Japanese trailer for the movie, and then there’s the international trailer, which is basically for the ’78 English dub with text of the changed character names displayed prominently. Until now, I’d honestly no idea this trailer existed so it’s a wonderful find.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The movie starts off in an interesting fashion, as a man fitting the description of master thief Lupin The Third is apparently executed via hanging in Transylvania. Inspector Zeningata reads the coroner’s report but refuses to believe Lupin is dead and goes to see his body. Since it’s Transylvania, Zeningata brings a stake to stab Lupin’s dead body with… which promptly explodes when he does this, as the real Lupin appears just afterward. Strangely, Lupin is wondering how this whole incident came to be himself and flies off on a rocket to investigate.

After an intriguing opening sequence focusing on genetic manipulation, the scene switches to Egypt, where Zeningata has chosen to pursue Lupin. He notes that a rare medicine was stolen in China, and then a rare herb was taken from the castle of Count Dracula. Zeningata decides from his sixth sense that Lupin may be heading for the pyramids of Egypt since it contains rare elements too, and calls in much of their police force to assist. Meanwhile, Lupin and his gun-toting best friend Jigen are indeed inside one of the pyramids making their way through a series of traps to the Pharaoh’s tomb. Once there, Lupin reaches under a wall and finds a mineral he was looking for. The duo has no time to speculate about it however as the police forces break in trying to kill Lupin. However, with the assistance of a motorcycle, a handy escape route and an appearance by Goemon the Samurai, the team is able to make a successful escape.

Elsewhere, Lupin’s rival (and sometimes companion) Fujiko is apparently having a good time modeling at a palace for a mysterious benefactor who is working to ensure Fujiko never grows old. When she tries to find out who is actually watching her however, the search is fruitless and she heads off to Paris instead to meet the Lupin gang. When she gets there, she finds a tuxedo clad Lupin professing his love for her. Fujiko is a little cold to these advances, but becomes much more interested when Lupin pulls out the mineral from Egypt. Lupin comes to wonder if Fujiko has another deal on the side for it, but simply insists she keep her side of the bargain and go on a date with him. Fujiko says she needs a moment to get ready and… sprays him with a paralyzing agent and rides off with the mineral.

Fujiko arrives at a graveyard hoping to meet hey mystery client, but a disembodied voice insists the stone must be examined first, and she gives it to a large henchman named Mr. Flinch. It’s apparently looked over by someone, because the voice says the stone is real and is the source of all life. A small figure appears in the sky to introduce himself, but destroys the stone to open it and find a transmitter that has been broadcasting to the listening Lupin gang. The being introduces himself as Mamo.

The next day, Lupin and company discuss a legend concerning the key to immortality, which corresponds to the Philosopher’s Stone they found in Egypt. The group argues about the veracity of this legend but this is interrupted by a helicopter which shoots up the area and begins a crazy two-part chase involving a trip through the sewers (during which we hear Goemon’s best line ever), a car switch, a bunch of police led by Inspector Zeningata, a truck you just have to see to believe, and the fracturing of a physics law or two. (If your only experience with Lupin movies is the Castle of Cogliostro, this scene is every bit as enjoyable as the opening chase sequences from that movie.) Eventually, the adventures some dramatic turns as Lupin pursues the stone (and Fujiko) to an island where he meets familiar figures such as Napoleon and Adolf Hitler, before coming face to face with the diminutive Mamo himself.

The story and direction are a bit haphazard, as the focus keeps shifting from Lupin’s relationship with Fujiko to this crazy, long-developed scheme that Mamo (or ‘Mameaux’ as it’s been Romanized in a couple places) is enacting while he tries to get with Fujiko too. A lot of players get involved including the U.S. government. The exaggerated cartoony style of the animation directed by Soji Yoshikawa (Panzer World Galient) and Yasuo Otsuka (Little Norse Prince) is more effective than the screenplay which only begins to make sense in the later scenes. There are some interesting touches though, such as when we see into Lupin’s mind at one point and a psychedelic mix of live and animated sequences are displayed. Also, the movie has a pretty nutty ending, and it’s somewhat interesting to see how western culture is viewed by the Japanese in a few spots here. But overall though, the film is a bit hard to get into given the story’s imbalance.

It is still entertaining for long-time Lupin fans but more for nostalgia value than actual movie strength. Some of this comes from the 70s visual style, but it is also good for watching an interesting experience play out as four completely different studios have taken these characters and their story and created their own interpretations for English speaking audiences. Naturally, circumstances dictated that names and dialog would be changed between these versions. Sometimes he’s Lupin, other times he’s The Wolf. Fujiko became Margo at one point, and Jigen became Dan Dunn.

Which English dub is the best? That is hard to say. I’m personally partial to the ’78 dub but this is more because its nuances help me recall my childhood watching Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets more than anything. Some people who first experienced Lupin III from this movie during the 80s convention scene might say the same thing. Others may have picked up the Streamline Pictures dub at Blockbuster Video or someplace similar and gotten to like Lupin that way. The Geneon dub has really good subtleties in the actors’ performances but some of the minute dialog changes don’t completely jibe well with the movie. The Manga UK dub is about as decent as the Streamline Pictures one. In any case though, your mileage may vary here.

In Summary:
The film itself is decent. It’s more important for learning about anime history than total entertainment as it’s still rather weird, even by Lupin standards. The sheer amount of information and effort placed into it though is what makes this DVD an early contender for best release of classic material in early 2013. Unless a blu-ray is released at some point, I’d have to consider this the definitive version of Mystery of Mamo to own. Animation historians like Jerry Beck would probably love to have this. If this release is an omen of things to come during the year, old school anime fans should take it as a good one for certain.

Features:
Japanese Language, English Language (Includes all four English dubs: the 1978 version for Japan Airlines, the 1995 Streamline dub, the 1996 Manga Video dub, and the 2003 Pioneer/Geneon dub), English Subtitles, “Why Mamo Matters,” An Essay by Mike Toole, Liner notes written and compiled by Lupinthe3rd.com Staff, Written interview with voice actor Bill Dufris, Translation of the original movie program

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

Released By: Discotek Media / Eastern Star Inc.
Release Date: February 26, 2013
MSRP: $24.95
Running Time: 101 Minutes
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1, 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen

Review Equipment:
Panasonic 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Marantz stereo receiver

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Locke The Superman

“I wonder why the wars never stop. Some say it’s because there are those who profit from war. Well, that’s certainly true, but.. But it might be that … we are born this way- Born with a genetic predisposition to love war when we grow up. But what about him? Is Locke also that way? Why has he remained a child?

What They Say:
The intergalactic wars have begun. The federal army is no match for Lady Chan’s legion of robotic soldiers. Defeat is at hand. Only the super-powered Locke, now a peace loving civilian can save the Earth. Locke must use his superhuman powers and ultra-destructive lightning sword to defeat the villainous onslaught. Will Locke come to the rescue of his doomed planet? Can he resist the beautiful but traitorous Jessica? The final showdown awaits aboard a monstrous asteroid spaceship!

The Review:
Audio:
The English and Japanese Dolby 2.0 audio tracks came through just fine with no problems here. The English track is still reminiscent of the quality of English VHS tracks of the 80s. (More on this in the ‘content’ section.)

Video:
The video quality here is very nice and crisp for a Japanese theatrical movie released in 1984. The subtitles are yellow with black detail for good reading as needed. It looks better than any previous release to date.

Packaging:
The front contains the original theatrical movie poster with paintings of the main protagonists and villain. The back has a decent synopsis of the movie and a few cells from the film.

Menu:
The menu is a bright picture of Locke generating his powers against a black &blue space backdrop. The options at the bottom are highlighted by a single underline for easy navigation.

Extras:
There’s a pilot movie here containing an overview of what the animators would hope to achieve in bringing the original manga to celluloid life. It’s fun and education to see this part of the process, especially when you consider it was only the first step and the character would go on to be featured in two subsequent adaptations in the late 80s and 2000s. There’s also a pretty cool original English trailer on here from the 80s dub (which we’ll be getting to in the ‘content’ section as well.)

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
We’re shown an operative named Yamaki looking over the battle records of a boyish-looking space soldier named Locke. Yamaki wonders why with the ESP power at Locke’s command, he hasn’t aged in 30 years and concludes it’s because he doesn’t want to. Having learned enough, he journeys to visit Locke on Earth and finds him tending to a sheep farm. Locke seems content but has bare knowledge of how to care for the sheep. When one appears ready to give birth, Yamaki lends a hand as his family has raised sheep before. Afterward, while playing with his new arrival, Locke invites Yamaki to stay for dinner.

Over a simple meal, Yamaki asks Locke if he’s heard about Lady Kahn, a millionaire who owns several space stations. Seventeen years prior she formed the Kahn Foundation and founded a school to secretly train ESPers (Extra Sensory Perception users). Locke mentions that Kahn tried to recruit him into her Millennium group in order to build a kingdom to last 1000 years but he turned her down. Yamaki says that after a 5 year investigation, the only thing the Federation has learned is that Kahn has 200 fully trained ESPers, and Yamaki come to ask Locke to help take her down. Locke says he has no interest in any of this as he doesn’t want to be anyone’s pawn. After a heated discussion Yamaki eventually leaves, offering to help if another situation with the sheep comes up.

Yamaki returns to his hotel room, and carefully examines his door, finding an explosive device set to go off upon entry. He disarms it and enters but accidentally trips a laser sensor which activates the bomb anyway. Yamaki barely survives, only to see an old foe named Luke Oh coming in the room to finish his handiwork. However, Luke’s laser repeatedly bounces off a barrier that has surrounded Yamaki, as Locke arrives to check on his new friend and effortlessly dispatch the assassin. Locke agrees to help Yamaki investigate Lady Kahn’s plans.

Ramses and his science team begin forcing violent images into Jessica’s subconscious of Locke brutally murdering her parents. Later, we’re introduced to Corneilia Prim who supervises the ESPers’ combat development. She takes personal care of Jessica, and enacts new methods to turn the girl into a sleeper agent. Jessica is willing to do anything for Lady Khan since meeting her during childhood.

What follows is some galaxy spanning sci fi action that gets wide in scope but is missing a little in its pacing. At its strongest, we get to see the ESPers use the three T’s of their powers (telepathy, telekinetics, and teleportation) in various battles against Locke, while he tracks down Lady Kahn’s whereabouts. Director Hiroshi Fukutomi (Battle Angel, Fatal Fury) displays a fun penchant for progressive dolly rotation shots so that the “camera” could switch perspectives during the important dramatic and action scenes. They were often good bits of animation to see play out. The art doesn’t have many sketch lines and is a bit more abstract in its way than other anime of this time.

The lower budget for this film kind of shows through a couple times though. For example, there’s a strange method of displaying fire at one point as part of the Locke cel is intercut with live footage from a fire, which is later superimposed over the cel of a building. Also, it seems they use a rotoscope technique for animating Lady Kahn at one point. On the other hand, we get a small glimpse of CG animation use to depict the spaceships traveling at one point, and similar technology was to present Locke’s history in the opening scenes. Fukutomi was one of the earliest directors to integrate such technology in anime, much like he would do for the movie SF New Century Lensman.

In watching the screenplay based on the original manga by Yuki Hijiri, you get the sense a lot has happened in this universe prior to the film and that a lot could happen beyond it. Sometimes though, it feels that too much is being shoehorned into the story (especially since this is based on the first arc of a 33 volume manga.) There’s a romantic subplot that is handled clumsily, about as much as Anakin and Amidala in Star wars, as though the romance takes place because someone felt there had to be a love story even though little plausible development is given to it. It’s interesting to see the villain Lady Khan developed in the background in a slow reveal. She comes off somewhat as an ersatz combination of the X-Men’s Professor X and Magneto when you see her ideals and plans announced.

Speaking of announcing, I have to talk about the dub that’s present on this release. Locke The Superman was one of several anime titles that were acquired for U.S. distribution by Celebrity Home Video. They were often edited down to cut out the violence and nudity and placed in the children’s section of video stores such as Blockbuster Videos. Also, the movie titles would be altered as in the cases of Clash of the Bionoids (originally Macross: Do You Remember Love), Vengeance of the Space Pirate (My Youth In Arcadia) and Technopolice 21c. Often though, there would be alternate versions with the footage uncut released to the public as well.

Our movie here was rechristened Locke The Superpower, with several minutes removed like the others. The dub is from that release and much like some of the others, the acting and pacing are a bit uneven. The stories remain intact but the nuances and subtleties… just don’t quite resonate as well as the majority of dubs in modern performances, and come off as lifeless readings sometimes. For example, hearing people pronounce ESPers as ESP-ARRRRS gets to be grating after a while, especially if you understand where the term comes from.

It makes you appreciate the talents of voice directors like Andrea Romano (Batman TAS, Justice League Unlimited) and Colleen Clinkenbeard (Panty & Stocking w/ Garterbelt) who help give the impression that there are characters are dealing with situations as opposed to folks who are reading off a piece of paper and don’t convey much emotion… or too much when told to screech unconvincingly. Coming up in the 80s though, this is mostly what anime fans had available (and not all of them were bad to be honest. Some were quite good actually, and will be covered in a future article.) In any case, I do have to commend Discotek Media for integrating this track with the Japanese remastered release to preserve the history for long time anime fans and present excellent picture quality to boot. It’s also fun to hear the sound effects from 80s anime that you don’t hear in modern works anymore.

In Summary:
Locke The Superman is another solid release from Discotek Media. The pacing is a bit rough at times, but eminently enjoyable if you’re looking to see dramatic action movies featuring Japanese animation’s general take on ESP abilities, similar to what’s shown in movies Akira and Harmageddon. If you can handle the art style and the focus on (as my friend likes to put it) “The green-haired Goku guy,” I definitely recommend picking up this DVD. (PS: thanks to Dave Merrill for the CG pics!)

Features:
English Dolby 2.0, Japanese Dolby 2.0, English subtitles, English trailer, Pilot movie

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

Released By: Discotek Media / Easter Star
Release Date: November 13, 2012
MSRP: $14.98
Running Time: 116 Minutes
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1, 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen

Review Equipment:
Panasonic 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Marantz stereo receiver

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From Up On Poppy Hill

What they say:
“GKIDS is extremely proud to present the highly anticipated new film from Studio Ghibli, creators of Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and many other animated masterpieces. Written by legendary studio founder Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Goro Miyazaki, From Up on Poppy Hill marks the first feature film collaboration between father and son. The results are stunning – a pure, sincere, nuanced and heartfelt film that signals yet another triumph for the esteemed studio.”

Content:
Recently, I went to a screening of From Up On Poppy Hill, the newest Studio Ghibli movie to come to U.S. theaters. The film is currently making a tour of the United States, and will be coming to my area, AtlantaGeorgia, on April 19. However, the local arm of the Consulate General of Japan, was kind enough to do a one time pre-screening at Landmark Midtown Theater for anyone who wanted to register and attend. So I and a couple friends from Anime Weekend Atlanta (along with a pretty decent sized crowd) took up the invitation.

At the start we see a young woman named Umi preparing meals with her grandmother, a few female boarders and her little brother. She hoists up a pair of flags for tugboats to see as part of her daily routine and heads off to her local high school KonanAcademy with two of her friends. One of her girlfriends shows her the school newspaper which seems to have an anonymous personal ad directed toward Umi, since it’s addressed to ‘the girl who posts the flags: why do you send your thoughts to the sky?’

Later, she has lunch with her girlfriends, while off to the side, the pool is uncovered, and one of her male classmates (with egging from his friends) jumps off the roof, bounces of a tree and dives into the pool. Umi runs to pull him out and eventually realizes all the boys are taking pictures of the two of them and that he’s smiling about it… right before she dumps him back into the pool.

The next day, the school newspaper runs with a lead story “Save Our Clubhouse From Demolition,” but with the side story carrying pictures from yesterday’s stunt. Umi meets her friend Sora who is super excited because she’s just bought a picture of the mystery boy in mid-dive and wants to go find him somehow so he can autograph it. Sora bugs Umi to go to the newspaper with her to find out who he is and Umi (after initially refusing to go along) eventually tags along. They come to the somewhat dilapidated building, which the school wishes to tear down and make way for the impending 1964 Olympics. Inside, the girls meet (predominantly male) members from various extracurricular clubs such as astronomy and philosophy before getting to the student newspaper office. There the girls meet two of the reporters / photographers as well as the editor… who just so happens to have a very familiar face. He introduces himself as Shun Kazama and asks Umi to help him create stencils while his friend smoothly escorts Sora outside, and thus our two eventual leads begin to get to know each other.

The story here written by Hayao Miyazaki is a solid one. It focuses on the teens getting to know one another logically, though in a somewhat complex manner. We come to understand Shun’s life a bit as he’s dropped off by his tugboat–driving dad every day for school and we see his world connect to Umi’s. The main focus comes to be how they (and everyone else eventually) work to save the clubhouse from destruction. In the interim, both characters are developed richly enough so that you do want to see them overcome the problems they encounter professionally and personally. This aspect places From Up On Poppy Hill alongside Studio Ghibli’s best romantic introspective works such as Whispers of the Heart and Only Yesterday.

Characters, story and art stylings must be on point for a good animated feature to be worth repeated viewings. From Up On Poppy Hill very much qualifies on that score. The screening I attended presented Japanese dialogue with English subtitles, though there has been an American audio track I wanted to hear with considerable voice talent attached. Anton Yelchtin, Chris Noth, Jamie Lee Curtis and Christina Hendricks are all attached so I was hoping to hear their performances. When the movie comes to my city in a couple weeks, I’m hoping to experience that version as well. Even if it’s a repeat of the Japanese presentation, though I’ll be just as happy to see this movie and catch any missed details. This Miyazaki collaboration yielded good results and gives me a bit more faith in Goro Miyazaki’s future.

Grade: A

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Shin Getter Robo Versus Neo Getter Robo

Based on Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa’s immortal super robot classic and freely adapted from every corner of the Getter-verse by director Jun Kawagoe (Mazinkaiser SKL, Super Robot Wars), Shin Getter Robo vs. Neo Getter Robo is the OVA series with too much high power, man!”

The Review:
Audio: 
The Japanese audio comes across clear in Dolby Digital 2.0 and there was no real distortion issue of any kind during playback.

Video:
The series was released originally in 2000 and still looks relatively decent for an OAV from this time period. The picture quality is colorful, sharp and overall visually pleasing.

Packaging:
The front cover shows our focus character Gou Ichiomonj in front of the title mecha with the masthead in the lower right corner. The rear cover has images from the OAV with an appropriately sized text telling what to expect. Decent work here.

Menu:
We see the original Getter Robo and Neo Getter Robo teams along with Professor Saotome and his crew in the background, beneath both title mecha. The masthead is dead center, with options for playing the whole disc or selecting an episode off to the left, while English subtitle options are on the right.

Extras:
None present on here, which is too bad actually. The original Japanese release had a set of vignettes featuring Nagai / & Ishikawa’s super robots leading to the launch of super robot Mazinkaiser but they’re not present here. Ah well…

The prologue of the first video showcases the original Getter Robo team from the 70s series taking on the monsters of The Reptilian Empire in the ruins of New York. Seeing his friends are about to be overrun and that for some reason the Shin Getter Robo is unable to activate, Musashi in Getter 3 (who’s died so many times in the Getter Robo shows, I’m about to start calling him Kenny), rips out the reactor from his mecha and crushes it, resulting in… anyone remember the opening explosion from the movie ‘Akira’?

Fast forward to several years later, when lead Getter pilot Gou Ichimonji is wrestling people in open matches. One of his opponents turns out to be much more than human and mutates into a huge monster. Fortunately, former lead pilot Hayato Jin arrives with the Neo Getter machines and his comrades in tow and the battle begins.

Volume 2 opens with the Neo Getter team in training maneuvers. They soon get a call from their friends in America who pilot Texas Mack (or as I like to call it, The Mech With No Name), a gun-slinging super-robot complete with cowboy hat, poncho, and horse. They’re suddenly called to Washington D.C. to deal with a massive meteor shower, as well as the monster of the day. Neo Getter Robo arrives to help, but there’s also the matter of the orbiting mass driver launching the meteors, to which Texas Mack responds: “No problem!” The alien menace gets progressively worse with volumes 3 and 4, until desperate measures involving Shin Getter Robo are required to save the day.

Kawagoe delivers decent action sequences throughout this series. The animation is fairly comparable to other OAVs from this period, though the quality takes a bit of a dip in the 3^rd episode, possibly due to budget concerns. It’s not quite up to the standard set by Getter Robo Armageddon at the time, but gets the job done mostly. The mecha animation works well by using generally fluid scenes. However, the character animation bothered me a bit as their movements weren’t quite as animated. Compared to the combination of 70s and 90s techniques used in say, ‘Giant Robo,’ the results here are decent but could’ve been better. The script by Shinzo Fujita is mostly episodic in each volume, even though there is a master villain behind the events. The general feel of the series is still dramatic but much more fast and loose than the broodingly dark ‘Getter Robo Armageddon.’ In this respect, the series feels more like its 70s predecessors.

Now at this point, you may be wondering what the meaning to the title may be. I’m sorry, but this series seems to follow in the tradition of old Nagai / Ishikawa short movies in which the main mecha fight is advertised, but never happens. (The only exception I know of is ‘UFO Robo Grendizer VS. Great  Mazinger.’) The title Shin Getter Robo Vs. Neo Getter Robo seems to point more toward the idea one machine is an upgrade over the other as things progress in this series.

In Summary
All in all, I’ve had fun watching Shin Getter Robo VS. Neo Getter Robo since it doesn’t require as much brainpower as some of my favorite anime. The super robot genre had mostly gone dormant in the 90s, but enjoyed a renaissance with works like ‘Giant Robo’ and ‘Brave King Gaogaigar’ at the time. This series definitely played a role in revitalizing such titles for a while, and it was fun to reminisce about that period with this DVD.

Features:
Japanese Language 2.0 Dolby, Optional English subtitles, English 2.0 audio

Content Grade: B+
Audio Grade: B+
Video Grade:  A
Packaging Grade: B+
Menu Grade: A
Extras Grade: N/A

Released By: Discotek Media / Eastern Star
Release Date: March 19, 2013
MSRP: $17.95
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1, 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen

Review Equipment:
Panasonic 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Marantz stereo receiver

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“If it’s still in you to speak of restorations, sing of this nation’s future. I dare you.”

What They Say:
Although she’s only sixteen and looks even younger, Misao Makimachi is already a skilled and competent member of the Oniwabansh ninja clan. Which is a fortunate thing for Misao, as her onimitsu talents may be all that keeps her alive when a journey in search of the leader of the clan, Aoshi Shinomori, leads her instead into a face-to-face encounter with an even more dangerous man and a plot to overthrow the Meiji government! Quickly enmeshed in the affairs of the legendary assassin Hitokiri Battosai, now known as Kenshin Himura wielder of the reverse-blade sword, Misao finds herself pulled into the middle of a deadly intrigue against Makoto Shishio, who is orchestrating the conquest of all Japan, beginning with Kyoto! Get ready for blades to flash and blood to flow as Nobuhiro Watsuki’s acclaimed Rurouni Kenshin returns at long last to the world of animation in an epic masterpiece: Rurouni Kenshin – New Kyoto Arc!

The Review:
Audio: 
The audio presentation for this release comes with the Japanese Dolby 5.1 and English Dolby 5.1 tracks present, which were decent and sounded fine on my system.

Video:
These OAVs were originally released in Japan in 2012, and look very nice here. The digital animation techniques fine and colors are vibrant. The subtitles are colored and detailed appropriately, which makes them easy to read as needed.

Packaging:
The front has a simple picture of Kenshin standing with the title in the lower right corner. The back has some screenshots along the top and lower 1/3 with credits along the bottom and a selling synopsis in the middle. The text for this synopsis could be a little bigger because it is a bit compact.

Menu:
There’s a split screen of Kenshin and his adversary that’s taken from the cover of one of the Japanese releases. At the bottom are large, readable text links to the various features taking up the lower thirds.

Extras:
Not much present here other than the trailers for other Sentai Filmworks releases.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
At the outset, we see two men walking in medieval Japan. They’re discussing how the Chief of Internal Affairs was assassinated by Soujiro Seta of the Shishio Faction, and that Makoto Shishio has come to Kyoto with several people. Officer Fujita arrives at a local precinct and reads up on Shishio’s rise as a head assassin, noting that Shisho’s organization could’ve caused great change to the government of the Meiji Era that would’ve allowed him to rule. As it stands though, the government took advantage of the chaos of the Boshin War to dispose of him, by burning him alive. There are rumors though that swordsman supreme Kenshin Himura has come to deal with remnants of the situation personally.

Along the way, we’re presented with events that are presented in a somewhat haphazard fashion. I know that at some point an important duel took place but I’m not entirely certain for what purpose. There was a guy trying to kidnap a little boy and Kenshin uses a special non-violent technique to take him down. Later in the second episode, there are a couple duels that do enhance the story a bit and show Kenshin and Shihio ‘s skills, but as a whole, the story feels fragmented and doesn’t come together entirely. It feels this was more for people who were familiar with the original TV and anime versions but not really conducive for new viewers entirely. The story is presented from the perspective of Misao and at times doesn’t feel as involving as the TV series at all. The script by Mari Okada (Basilisk, Gosick) feels as though there’s something (or many things) missing. Considering a whole ton of episodes are compressed into approximately 100 minutes, it’s understandable but even to one who has not watched the whole show, there are times when it feels this whole thing doesn’t come together.

For fans of modern digital animation techniques, there’s some decent eye candy here from director Kazuhiro Furuhashi (Gundam Unicorn, Fatal Fury) but the artwork doesn’t feel as developed as older techniques of the TV show Furuhasi also directed, except in certain battles during the later scenes. Familiar characters do show up along the way so they can be fun to look at with newer animation, but again, their use isn’t all that great within the story.

As there was a revival of interest in Ruroni Kenshin due to the highly popular live action movie, it’s easy to understand why this OAV was produced. The franchise is still marketable though and a short work like this can bring a piece of Kenshin story to newer generations. The dub is serviceable but nothing really special. Individual aspects are decent such as the fight scenes but overall, it’s honestly just an ok effort at best.

In Summary:
This walk down memory lane is a bland one for the most part. As an outsider peeking into this story, I couldn’t help but feel like I wanted something of a cohesive story as opposed to fragments that were fused together. I’d recommend this to the diehard Ruroni Kenshin fans and to people who want a couple decent battles for eye-candy but not for anyone other than that.

Features:
Japanese 5.1 Language, English 5.1 Language, English Subtitles

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

Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: March 12, 2013
MSRP: $19.95
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1, 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen

Review Equipment:
Panasonic 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Marantz stereo receiver

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What They Say
“A veteran assigned to extract Earth’s remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself.”

The Review
Sixty years after humanity has defeated an alien invasion, Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) has a relatively quiet time. He lives in a floating sky station with his girlfriend and communications officer Vica (Andrea Riseborough) high above the Earth. Most of humanity has gone to into space (some of whom live on a large space station, while the rest have moved on) following the war, which began with destruction of Earth’s moon, leading to massive tidal waves and land-changing earthquakes. Combined with the use of nuclear weapons, these events have ruined much of the world. So Jack lives a somewhat lonely existence maintaining the processors taking Earth’s resources (most notably the water and air), reporting his NASA boss, Sally (Melissa Leo) and making certain everything is ready for the eventual journey into space in two weeks.

His most difficulty comes from “Scavs,” various remaining aliens who sabotage the drones at times and try to get some of the tech off them. Meanwhile, Jack goes to bed and wakes up every morning with visions of what seems to have been his life before the war, but since these are only fragmented pieces, he can’t put anything together. Still, he maintains some sanity between his job and time with Vica, but the only time he seems to find any real solace is when he visits a small enclave where lush greenery of nature has begun to re-emerge and he’s built a wooden cabin to enjoy it and other pre-war comforts. However, chance meetings with two key characters, a woman named Julia (Olga Kurylenko) and the mysterious Beech (Morgan Freeman) threaten to destroy the world as he knows it. The thing is, will it be for the better or worse?

Oblivion takes a while to start up. We’re slowly introduced to Earth as Jack knows it and watch him doing his job, living his life and fighting folks when the need arises. In this vein you kind of get a vibe similar to The Quiet Earth and I Am Legend some times, with maybe the ethereal atmosphere of Solaris (the 2000s version) thrown in. Eventually as the story shifts, we’re thrown in to the more active sci-fi elements that are typical fare but still pretty solid screenplay wise. Writer/ director Joseph Kosinski (of Tron Legacy fame) creates a beautiful word for Jack to interact with. About 2/3 of the way through though, you can start to figure out where the story is going and how it’ll likely be resolved if you’re a long-time fan of the genre. Still it really is a fun throwback to 70s / 80s styled sci fi like Logan’s Run and The Black Hole, thanks in no small part to the sound effects / foley which harken back to old-school aural punches. Presented at key moments, they are very effective in this film.

As to Tom Cruise himself, he’s still a very capable leading action man. His range is still effective and it seems that given is recent works such as Jack Reacher and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, the man shows no signs of slowing down. He’s fighting time off somehow, and if he can keep at this level, I say let him continue to do so. The supporting characters aren’t too bad though not necessarily super memorable either this go around. I did find myself empathizing a bit with the Vica character a bit as the movie went on, but your mileage may vary on that.

Overall, I found this to be a very solid movie. Not great, but nowhere near as bad as I’ve read some reviews make it out to be. The sounds and visuals are fantastic, but it is the story that is the most important piece of a film. This aspect isn’t entirely new but still conveys its ideas very well. In a year where it seems there’s some there’s a lot of potentially good sci-fi such as After Earth, Elysium, Pacific Rim, and Star Trek Into Darkness being released into theaters, I’m glad Oblivion is the one to kick off the slate. This movie gives me a bit of faith in the works we have to look forward to.

Grade: A- / B+

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Iron Man 3 is a well-paced, kick ass action movie based on one of the most acclaimed storylines ever in Iron Man’s mythos. It is partially for that reason however that I must say it is the most frustratingly disappointing comic book movie of 2013 so far.

What They Say:
Tony Stark uses his ingenuity to fight those who destroyed his private world and soon goes up against his most powerful enemy yet: the Mandarin.

The Review:
It starts off promisingly enough with a flashback to a certain conference Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Professor Yinsen (the man who helped him build the armor and heart magnet) referenced in the first movie.  It’s 1999 and Stark is about to bed a scientist named Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) , who wants to show him some new biotechnology she’s developed. En route to this rendezvous however, a misshapen man named Aldritch Killian (Guy Pearce) attempts to talk with him about his new organization Advanced Idea Mechanics, but Stark tells him to go to the roof where they can talk privately. Needless to say however, Stark has other things on his mind…

Flash forward to present day, in which a terrorist called The Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley) has been attacking various American targets. The President (William Sadler) announces plans to send Col. Jim Rhodes (Don Cheadle) in his newly re-christened Iron Patriot armor (which marketing said tested well with kids) to deal with the threat. We find Rhodes having lunch with Stark, whom the government doesn’t want dealing with the Mandarin’s threats. Rhodes is partly in agreement on this as he’s worried about Stark’s health. Stark of course denies this… just before he has an anxiety attack.

Stark Industries meanwhile is functioning normally with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) running things and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) adjusting to his new role as security head. Pepper has a visitor whom Happy instantly is suspicious of. He calls Stark who has retreated to his lab to work on a new invention. It turns out he’s been doing this a lot since the New York Avengers incident, which has caused Stark sleepless nights  and a severe case of postwar traumatic stress disorder. This is a problem that resonates throughout the movie, even as several plans are enacted against him and everything he holds dear.

However, there is a story twist that occurs about 2/3 into the film that truly brings the story down and is very disappointing to see. As a long time fan of Iron Man, it was disheartening to see the story take this direction. We’re living in era of great super-hero movies being produced with the spirit of these characters remaining intact in the process. So in this respect, it’s not a satisfying Iron Man movie and doesn’t get to the level of the first film which kicked off Marvel’s Phase One storylines. The movie will do well at the box office and likely entertain folks wanting to see Robert Downey Jr. do what he does best. He does excel here as Stark gets put through some intense hell emotionally and physically and has to be resourceful enough to put himself back together stronger than ever. However, there are many comic fans who will not like what happens here and may want to see Black run afoul of an alien Predator (which he did in the original Schwarzenegger movie).

I don’t want to be entirely doom and gloom here while writing out my thoughts, though. Iron Man 3 really is a kick ass film, but.. I feel like I just had a date with Molotov Cocktease; it was a heck of an experience but not the one I was wanting when I saw what was in front of me.

Grade: B-

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As one of the longest running science fiction franchises in entertainment history, rivaling Doctor Who and Star Trek in its way, the world of Mobile Suit Gundam has expanded into several universes of mecha, combat, character development, and political drama. For over a decade, much effort went into creating what is known as the Universal Century (U.C.) continuity focusing on characters and mecha fighting with and against factions such as Earth military Federation  The Jions, Crossbone Vangard, The Titans and others still. Then in the mid-90s, fans would see Mobile Fighter G-Gundam emerge as the first Alternate Universe (A.U.) with its own separate continuity. Several other series such as Gundam X, Gundam Seed, Turn-A Gundam and others would also come about with their own separate storylines to develop.

So for a hypothetical question, if you were asked to develop a list of the Top 5 animated Gundam works ever accounting for both sets of continuities, how would you do so? What criteria would you use? Story quality? Personal taste? Mecha designs? Character development? Technical quality? Innovations? Facing the Kobayashi Maru of fandom articles here, I went with answer G: All of the above.

Mobile Suit Gundam

I decided to start at the beginning, because to not acknowledge the original Mobile Suit Gundam in this piece would just be disrespectful. The 1979 classic adaptation of writer Yoshiyuki Tomino’s novels was one of the first of a specific kind of mecha anime which some would call the ‘real robot’ genre where giant mecha were used to fight politically motivated wars as opposed to ‘super robot’ shows (IE Mazinger Z and Gaogaigar) where the robot was a hero meant to save people from evil conquerors. The original Gundam series focused on people who emigrated to space and started to develop psychic abilities, called. Newtypes.’  Fifteen year- old Amuro Ray lived happily on a space colony until the forces of Zeon came in their mecha to find out about a new advanced Mobile Suit (the general name for giant robots in this world) called the Gundam. Amuro stumbles across this mecha himself and (with the handy operator’s manual) manages to fight off a couple of attackers before encountering his eventual long-term enemy “The Red Comet” Char Aznable. The two go on to have a length rivalry (with interesting twists) that affects their lives greatly, and wouldn’t be resolved until the 1988 theatrical film “Gundam: Char’s Counterattack” was released in Japanese theaters. Mobile Suit Gundam focused not only on this rivalry, but the friendships Amuro forms with his eventual shipmates (the hastily assembled crew of The White Base), as well as the secret agenda of Char Aznable, who has his own reasons for working with the Zeons. In the process, Char becomes an icon being the masked villain archetype whom many other Gundam antagonists are based on. The TV show ran 43 episodes, but the pacing became rather formulaic which probably led to its cancelation. People who wish to experience this story are better served by getting the subsequent compilation film trilogy which brought a resurgence to Gundam with better story pacing and animation (especially in the third movie) while still focusing on the artwork and designs by Yoshikazu “Yas” Yasuhiko and Kumo Okawara.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

This first sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam does something rather unexpected: it changes the political scene to where the Earth Government is now villainous, using an army called The Titans to rule space colonists with an iron fist. Char Aznable, is now a leading protagonist still fighting for his same beliefs, though not with the Zeons this time. Many of the supporting characters return in different ways but a youngster named Kamille Vidan is the central character this go around. This was created during the height of the 80s “real robot” genre and became a favorite for fans in both Japan and America (where giant robot toys and models had become very popular). In the fledging American anime scene (consisting of tape copying and trading at club meetings), Zeta Gundam was highly thought of for its strong storytelling and innovative mecha designs. The storylines here would only be resolved to a certain degree, while the rest were continued in its immediate TV sequel series Gundam ZZ (AKA Gundam Double Zeta), and are often touched upon in the current OAV Gundam Unicorn. When Zeta Gundam was released in the U.S. officially in the 2000s, longtime fans were happy to see it here, but not happy that the opening and closing sequences were not present in this release and that the subtitles were not of the best quality.  Still, fans remain hopefully that someday a newer release will rectify this.

Gundam 0080: War In The Pocket

This was an interesting direction for the Gundam franchise. Instead of a film or TV show, Sunrise had decided to try their hand at the OAV (Original Animated Video) format, releasing a 6 volume series which would take place as a side story. None of the characters from the previous anime would be present and there would be no Newtypes involved. The most interesting twist of all was that the lead character (a young teenage boy) would never pilot a mobile suit. The result was that you had a solid character drama about how war affects a little boy. There’s some great action and comedy along the way to balance things out. Also, you had a short release that could pull in new fans who knew nothing of the backstory that Gundam had built up. The success of 0080 lead to other similarly minded OAVs shows such as Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory and Gundam MS 8^th Team to be produced as well.

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

Gundam Wing was revolutionary step for the Gundam franchise in a few respects as well. It was one of the new AU continuity shows so it was able to create its own world with a clean slate like G-Gundam before it. The focus was not on one central character but on five different ones who had each been given separate missions. As the stories progress and slowly begin to weave together, several political conspiracies are revealed. This was the first Gundam TV series to be broadcast fully in the U.S. (on Cartoon Network’s Toonami segment), gaining many new fans for the franchise. There were some thematic elements that carried over from the U.C. continuity, which gave newer fans who tried the other shows a small sense of familiarity with the product. Many new designs were introduced as the five characters each piloted new Gundam mechs against their enemies. However, the boyish and somewhat effeminate designs and the ease of accessibility to this storyline led to an entirely different demographic getting into Gundam; namely women. Females really latched onto their favorite of the five Gundam pilots and infused fresh fan energy into the franchise (on both American and Japanese sides). Often they could be seen at conventions dressed in their favorite Gundam cosplays or talking on the net about their favorite stories (official and fan-oriented).

Mobile Suit Gundam 00

The most recent Gundam TV series to come the U.S. had excellent animation techniques and a very strong story. This was the first to incorporate modern world issues and conflicts into a Gundam storyline, where different countries have run out of natural resources, fossil fuels and the like. As a result people have resorted to different ways to collect energy from the sun. Meanwhile warfare has broken out and a special force looks to use Gundams to end the conflicts. It’s similar thematically to Gundam Wing but takes things in a different direction with a different overall feel. Also, this led to the last theatrical film, “Gundam 00: Awakening of Trailblazer” which has some fantastic animation and battle sequences and throws new enemies into the fray.

So these are the top I chose for this article. Which would yours be? I already know I’ve ticked a bunch of you off focusing on these choices while omitting others. So go ahead. I can take it.

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Rose of Versaiiles

Acclaimed as one of the greatest shoujo stories to be exported in any format from Japan, the essential anime known as The Rose of Versailles has finally come to the United States on R1 DVD.

What They Say:
General Jarjayes – so desperate for a son to preserve the family name and noble standing – names his newborn daughter “Oscar” and chooses to raise her as a boy.

Fourteen years later, Oscar is a masterful duelist, marksman, and the newly appointed Commander of the French Royal Guards. Her first task: to protect Marie Antoinette, who is engaged to the French prince and future king, Louis-Auguste.

But even though the planned marriage should provide both countries with some much needed peace and prosperity, the French court is a dangerous place – and Marie’s youthful naïveté makes her an easy target for those who wish to see the monarchy overthrown. Oscar soon finds herself both defending Marie’s reputation from those that seek to discredit her and protecting her life from those that wish to kill her.

The Review:
Audio:
The only track available here is the Japanese 2.0 Dolby stereo which sounded clear with no distortions of any kind.

Video:
Beautiful picture optional yellow subtitles with black edges for definition. Easy reading on these.

Packaging:
The cardboard container box presents beautiful paintings from the series with each separate disc in its own plastic case alongside even more paintings. There are 4 DVDs, each containing five episodes.

Menu:
The menus are pretty as each individual episode has its own page containing separate artwork, as well as options for prologue, opening sequence, 2 parts and the closing, while a portion of the opening theme plays in the background. Nice work here.

Extras:
Not much here besides textless opening and closing sequences, as well as some trailers.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
For the better part of three decades, anime fans in the underground scene as well as the current mainstream scene have wondered one thing: will The Rose of Versailles ever be available legally in the United States.

It’s easy to understand why people became drawn to this series after watching it. From the time when Oscar is born, we come to understand the struggles she comes to have as a young woman groomed to be a military heir in a male-dominated society. Her father treats her completely as a young man in both praise and punishment, giving no quarter due to her gender. (He’d tried 5 times beforehand to have a male heir with no success, so his frustration comes through at times). The first episode exemplifies this when General Jarjayes puts Oscar into a duel against another officer’s son to see who will earn a prominent position as a junior commander. However, Oscar privately challenges this young man outside the event (which was to have been viewed by other officers and soldiers) and the General is furious with her, almost wanting to withdraw her from the selection. The news she defeated her opponent handily however spares her and propels her into a fortunate, yet life-altering situation.

Oscar winds up becoming protector to Lady Marie Antoinette, who is on her way to meet her fiancée, future-King Louis XVI. However, a secret group looking to take down the monarchy and end the tenuous peace France has developed with other European countries at this time tries to ingratiate an impostor and kidnap Lady Antoinette. Oscar prevents this and exposes the infiltrator, becoming quite the hero to Lady Antoinette in the process.

The future Queen is depicted as being a generally nice person but rather naïve in many respects, never wanting to marry or handle royal duties. When she greets Louis XVI, she feels absolutely nothing for him, even though he himself is a kind and gentle sort (and a bit heavy as well). The Lady’s attentions are often focused on Count Axel Von Fersen, a dashing soldier who is rising through the ranks, while hiding his own romantic feelings for her. All the while though, she keeps focusing on her admiration and affection for Oscar (as does every other female in the royal court, it seems).

Oscar meanwhile, simply wants to do right as a loyal friend to Antoinette and Louis XVI, by preventing schemes against the couple. Many manipulators appear along the way and become entwined in the royal court conspiracies, though the story skillfully takes time to develop their involvement. A pair of women named Jeanne and Rosalie are prime examples of this coming from opposite ends. Jeanne recruits a lovestruck accomplice into helping her into the favor of the royals by any underhanded means necessary. Rosalie, on the other hand, is a poor girl who comes to seek vengeance within the court after a tragedy befalls her family.

Like I said, the story by Riyoko Ikeda expands into several lives but it never loses its focus. Oscar’s belief in loyalty, friendship and justice remain a constant throughout the story, and these principles are tested quite often. Alongside her lifelong friend and servant Andre, Oscar’s skills as a soldier are also developed through the series even as she deals with more betrayals than Downtown Abbey and Dangerous Liaisons combined. It’s really interesting to see an outside author’s perspective on French history (and some of America’s) played out here after what’s apparently been some extensive research. Ikeda’s original 10-volume manga was focused on Lady Antoinette’s rise but the Oscar character became more popular as the reader’s view into the past history, so she was made the main focus.

It’s equally interesting to see the shoujo-ai themes play out where Oscar is concerned as she’s been made one of the icons of gender role reversal in anime, much like Princess Knight before her as well as Revolutionary Girl Utena would be many years later. The sentiments are handled naturally as she embodies freedom from social graces her gender would’ve imposed, thus Oscar’s gaining so many admirers and detractors over time. Naturally a ton of melodrama is displayed throughout, as are the blonde hairstyles. (Really, every other female here has so much blonde to them, it can be trying to tell them apart some times.) The lavish lifestyles of the court are prominent throughout this half of the show (and are a stark contrast when the lives of average French citizens are shown in later episodes).

Directors Tadao Nagahama (Star of the Giants) and Osamu Dezaki (Space Adventure Cobra) amped up the melodrama and feminine aesthetics, while adapting the manga, though with somewhat different techniques. Nagahama’s style was minimalist, often doing stilted characters being slid around at times with accompanying voiceovers to help simulate implied movement except at key points of action where there was full animation. In addition, there were interesting color and background manipulations for emotional effect. Although Dezaki didn’t take over directing duties until close to midway through the show, this style seems to emulate his work on the shoujo sports drama Aim For The Ace.

However, Dezaki eventually did take over eventually and the animation improved dramatically, with some of his trademark cinematic techniques and patented “postcard method,” where all action would stop on a still painting or sketch to simulate dramatic effects. (His film “The Professional: Golgo 13” remains the greatest example of this technique available to American audiences.) Much of this was enhanced greatly with animation work and character designs by Shingo Araki (Saint Seiya), Akio Sugino (Black Jack OAV series) and Michi Himeno (Gegege No Kitaro). They worked together to emulate Ikeda’s designs which look like they’re straight out of a French history museum. A lot of the artwork is reminiscent of Le Chevalier D’eon, or perhaps Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (minus the computer models that is) with every aspect being so regal, colorful and exaggerated.

It’s a testament to Ikeda’s writing strength that a show geared for young females utilizing these elements can command attention of an older male such as myself and many other fans outside the target audience long after its initial broadcast. The intensity can be a bit thick at times with the music and metaphorical imagery, but the story is very solid and compelling. At the very least it can inspire one to study up on history in various aspects, as well as other parts of human existence.

In Summary
It’s honestly been a pleasure to have an opportunity to review one of the longest standing treasures of anime fandom in a legal and well-produced format. Until now, it was exported to many other countries in Latin America as well as R1 DVD in France under the title ‘Lady Oscar.’ As it has finally come to the United States, I’m very much looking forward to set 2 with the conclusion of the Rose of Versailles series.

Features:
Japanese Language 2.0 Dolby, Optional English subtitles, Textless Opening and Closing sequences, Trailers for other Nozomi Entertainment titles

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

Released By: Right Stuf / Nozomi Entertainment
Release Date: May 2013
MSRP: $49.99
Running Time: 480 Minutes
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Review Equipment:
Panasonic 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Marantz stereo receiver

Pacific Rim

Before the start of the 2013 summer movie season back in May, I circled three movies I wanted to see the most out of the potentially good offerings of this year, and this was one of them. After several disappointments and mixed reactions to other flicks so far, I can honestly say Pacific Rim is THE Summer movie I’ve been waiting for this year.

We’re given the set up in decently paced screen time. One day set in the not too distant future, an inter-dimensional rift opened up in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, and huge monsters called Kaiju started to come out one at a time to wreak havoc. This prompted the various nations of the world to invest their resources and create giant robots called Jaegers to fight of the creatures.

The initial scenes take place over a period of 12 years, during which we’re introduced to our lead character Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam). At the end of this set-up, we see him working at one of several walls humanity has started to build in hopes of keeping out the creatures. He’s a former pilot who’s just been looking to survive after a mission gone horribly wrong. However, his former commander, Marshal Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) arrives to recruit him for a new and desperate plan he hopes can end this war.

Pentecost brings Hunnan back to base where we meet Mako (Rinko Kikuchi), an officer in Pentecost’s corps. Humanity is losing this war because the Kaiju are apparently learning the Jaegers’ fighting tactics and where once armies existed, only 4 active machines are left. To make maters worse, the U.N. is withdrawing funding from Pentecost’s program while the scientists are predicting something even worse is coming through the rift…

In looking over the ads and promos for this movie, there’s a lot of emphasis on the mecha vs. monster combat, and it’s a good selling point. Unlike say the Transformers movies (the Bay ones, not the ’86 animation) the action is fast and hard hitting but it’s easy to discern what’s being presented to us. The combats are visceral masterpieces like nothing we’ve seen on screen before. Director Guillermo Del Toro and the effects team at ILM really shine here. When cities are smashed due to the fighting, you give a damn what happens to the people within. The 3-D is clear and very effective to help the experience, and I promise, the trailers do NOT show you everything that happens in these scenes. Some great surprises pop up.

The thing is though, none of this means anything unless you have a stake in what’s happening in front of you. Unless you care about the characters, everything else will be boring eye candy. As the Transformers films have failed miserably in this area, Pacific Rim succeeds much better. Despite what the promotions have thus far advertised, this movie is very much about the characters fighting this war. While most of them aren’t developed completely in the story by Del Toro and Travis Beacham, we’re mostly given enough insight to these people so that we’re rooting them on when the time comes.

This comes to us partially in how the Jaegers are piloted, as two human brains are needed to sync up with the machines in a process called ‘drifting’. During this, the pilots see and experience every memory the other has ever had. A lot of good story is presented in short segments here, especially Mako’s, (for which it feels Del Toro returns to his Pan’s Labyrinth creep-out techniques). Initially, we come to know Beckett is a veteran who isn’t angsty, but has seen horrors of war and wants to get back into the fight now. Pentecost is stoic, intense and… well, this clip pretty much sums up his character

Elba just emanates bad-a$$ throughout this entire movie, even in his character’s quieter scenes. You just know he’s going to get humanity through this war no matter what tactics he has to use to end it. There are some other interesting people we’re introduced to such as a father-&-son duo who’ve been defending Australia from attacks. We also get a couple of wacky scientists (one of whom is portrayed by Charlie Day of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia fame) who get some great screen time with their own subplot. Finally there’s Ron Perlman, who just plain enjoys working on Del Toro’s films like he has in Hellboy and Blade II. His character here is rather colorful to say the least and plays an interesting part in the greater scheme of things. So this movie is honestly about the characters as much as it is about the combat and everyone performs decently.

I have to take a moment to address the concerns I’ve been seeing in the weeks leading up to this film’s release. I took a rather lovely fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion to the screening with me, with the amusing side goal of us figuring out who might be the character based most on Shinji Ikari. Fortunately, no one here fit that role in any way. To be honest, the most similarity I saw here was the way the mecha are launched or delivered to their targets, with scientists giving support and orders in a safe bunker. That’s it. The characters’ relationships are totally different, and plot-wise I saw more similarities to other big robot anime such as Great Mazinger, Getter Robo, and Giant Robo more than anything else. (If you want specifics, ask me later. I’ve got to finish this and there’s probably others that I missed.)

This movie is about as derivative as Quentin Tarrantino’s selection of Asian cinema when he created Kill Bill. Del Toro and Beacham followed a similar formula to create something not seen before in American cinema. Robot Jox (the other movie comparison I often hear about) counts only to a certain degree because it was a made-for-video movie done on a made-for-video budget. Pacific Rim is the result of taking the best available production values as only American movies can provide and putting together a very entertaining action flick. Heck, I bet someone is saying the movie isn’t original enough because we have Ellen McClain of the Portal games sounding like GLaDos when she’s the voice of the Jaegers’ computers.

As you might guess, I was very happy with this movie and would recommend seeing it again and again. I didn’t feel the need to nitpick at it for good and bad parts like I have with the rest of this summer’s fare. Check it out, let the film present its story and show for what it is. Oh, if you’re really a film fan, stay through until the final credit. It made me tear up a little inside.

Ok. That’s it. Now go see the damn movie. Got more reviews to write. Til next time….

Grade: A-

Batman – Child Of Dreams

A solid Japanese take on the American dark knight.

Creative Staff
Story: Kia Asimiya
Art: Kia Asimiya
Translation/Adaptation: Max Allan Collins

What They Say
If you could be anyone, who would you be? There’s a drug on the streets of Gotham that will make your dreams come true. For a minute, for an hour, for a whole night if you’re lucky, you can literally become your idol – provided your idol is one of Batman’s greatest enemies. The price for your fantasy come true? It’s steep. As steep as it gets. But for a taste of criminal glory, it’s a price many are willing to pay. It’s up to Batman to find the supplier for this surreal and deadly drug – and the search takes him to Tokyo for a confrontation with the ultimate chemically enhanced enemy…

The Review
Technical:
The cover is a removable dustjacket with a colorized version of Batman sitting in his chair in the Batcave. There are credits and descriptions of the premise on the rear (beneath a more shadowy rendition of The Dark Knight) and inside the front cover. The general overtones are black-ish through out this cover. The inside paper is rough but sturdy, a little more so than newspaper quality. The general aesthetics are grayish, with the black & whites contrasting only in the heaviest action scenes, where the definition of the artwork really shines through. Some scenes appear to have been blacked out a bit though in comparison to the original Japanese release. The sound effects are Romanized and spelled out in a variety of different sizes, colorings and fonts, which do lend more impact to the action sequences.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The story beings with our focus character, Yuko Yagi. She’s just come from Japan (literally right from her flight) with her news crew and producer Mr. Nagai to do a story on Batman in Gotham city. Police radios indicate the criminal Two-Face has taken hostages for some unknown reason and that Commissioner Gordon has cordoned the area off. Yuko and her crew manage to sneak past the cordon but become hostages themselves, with Two-Face initially sparing them to document his violent actions. However, only the timely intervention of the World’s Greatest Detective prevents Yuko from becoming another victim of Two-Face’s coin toss. Strangely though, Gordon and Batman note that Two-Face is supposedly locked up at Arkham Asylum, and so the mystery behind the identity of this criminal begins.

As the investigation continues, Yuko comes to cover more incidents of Batman’s villains seemingly out of character in violent incidents. Meanwhile, word spreads of a strange new drug called “Fanatic” spreading through Gotham’s underworld and causing a public health crisis. These elements send Batman on one of his strangest and most dangerous cases yet, all while Bruce Wayne comes to know this young reporter who has her own agenda, and may unwittingly be following someone else’s…

I recently walked around a few comic shops in and out of my home city, and no one I’d spoken to had heard of this manga. It’s really sad to see this as Kia Asimiya wrote and drew here one of the best Batman stories of the 2000s. There’s need to know the ins and outs of the DC Universe (whichever version may exist these days). Child of Dreams is simply a well-written action / mystery with some interesting artwork. The backgrounds are rendered in crisp detail, and Asimiya emulates the best aspects of Batman’s rogues here. The element that may throw some people of is seeing Bruce drawn with well, a rather large nose. Compared to typical American renditions, Bruce seems like he’s doing a Cyrano De Bergerac here. The original was a 2-volume release and a couple images that were clear in those books are blacked out a bit in this collection, possibly to help make room for a couple of sound effect fonts.

But once you get past that, Asimiya still has him in a heck of a storyline and shows he understands the Batman’s psyche that has been crafted in the modern comics era. The plot unfolds logically as Batman follows the clues as to what’s really going on. The story is pretty self-contained and none of the usual supporting characters except for Gordon and Bullock make an appearance here, so there’s no need to know what’s come before. Everything concludes in a solid enough fashion that I wouldn’t mind seeing a future writer incorporate this manga into the regular DC continuity someday.

Also, Yuko is a fun focus character to follow in her own right and proves competent and capable at times, giving Japanese fans someone decent to follow and help them learn about this American comic book hero. American writer Max Allan Collins (best known for his manga styled comic-turned-gangster movie Road To Perdition) gets a lot of the nuances of Bruce’s inner detective voice written correctly, and does a decent job with the text, though he does get the names mixed up in a couple spots.

In Summary
It’s been some years since this was released but Child of Dreams remains a good work to enjoy, especially in an age of countless events and reboots of the DC Universe. If you just want a good mystery to read, look no further than this story. I believe it’ll appeal to newer and veteran Batman fans alike. Recommended.

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

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics
Release Date: March 1st, 2003
MSRP: $24.99

The most recent live incarnation Superman character entitled ‘Man of Steel’ came to theaters and was the most controversial and divisive film about the character yet. Some really liked the action and felt the tone was just what this hero needed to be relevant in modern times. Others have said this movie betrayed the core elements of what makes Kal-El a good character to begin with.

I decided to look back at Seventeen Superman Stories you might want to check out some time to truly understand and enjoy the Last Son of Krypton. Perhaps it will educate some folks on the reasons their filmgoers reacted so strongly to this movie. Perhaps it will inspire others still to simply go out and learn more about Superman. There’s a sentiment in comics today that Superman is an outdated character for modern times because he’s too powerful and incredibly moralistic, not wanting to use his considerable abilities to kill anyone, and thus people tend to gravitate toward other comic book heroes feeling Superman’s ‘boy scout’ morality makes him a lame character.

The thing about a character is that he’s only as good as the conflicts he’s written to face, and there have been challenges to not only that morality but Superman’s considerable power which have actually made for good storytelling over the years. There are many other good stories out there not on this list that you can track down as well, but I only had room for 17 here.

17. Superman: Peace on Earth

Writer Paul Dini and artist Alex Ross set out to do a series of treasury-sized graphic novels depicting a day in the life of four of DCs biggest heroes. Before doing ones on Batman, Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel, the pair first showed Superman deciding to try and feed everyone on Earth for a day after a chance encounter with a starving young woman at Christmas time. The stories featured fantastic paintings and a look at how these characters see the world they’re attempting to protect.

16. Superman: For The Man Who Has Everything

This classic story by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (who later teamed to do create Watchmen) first appeared as Superman Annual issue #11. It showed what Clark would truly want in life as a parasitic plant sent by the warlord Mongul gives his mind those desires. We get to see an unusual look at Jor El as well as an interesting view of what Krypton might be like if it’d never exploded (according to Kal-El). His reaction when those desires are ripped away is priceless. The story was so compelling it was later adapted for the animated series Justice League Unlimited.

15. Superman: Secret Origin / Superman Brainiac / Superman and The Legion of Super Heroes

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s take on Superman was very solid and pulled from the best elements of Superman lore. We get to see the earliest days of Clark’s life as he interacts with self-made billionaire Lex Luthor, who comes to control Metropolis one day. We also see Superman’s first (and eventually tragic) meeting with the true Brainiac, an encounter which was adapted for animation with partial success. The last stages send Superman into the far future to assist the Legion against a twisted culture dedicated to eliminating all aliens on Earth in the name of the most powerful human ever: Superman. Frank’s artwork is excellent in these stories as he takes great pains to depict Christopher Reeve of the 70s movies as The Man of Steel.

14. Superman: Earth One

This is the start of a new initiative of whole story arcs produced in a single GN instead of multi-issue comics spread through out several months at a time. In the process, DC has started building a new continuity featuring their two most visible characters. Batman Earth one came out subsequently to this one. But this story by J. Michael Straczinsky depicts Clark’s early days of coming to Metropolis and trying to find a job that actually challenges him and that he can’t simply accomplish with his powers. It’s an interesting angle taken here. Also we get the build up of an enemy we’ve not seen before. Familiar faces get a serious revamp in the second book, which makes this world a very intriguing one. Some elements here likely influenced the Man of Steel movie so it could be a good read for you.

13. Superman: Crisis At Hand

This is a 2 part story in issue 16 of Superman The Man of Steel and 72 of Superman, from the 90s series. It exemplifies to me why I like his character. He has the powers of a god compared to us, yet wants to uphold humanity’s laws. It’d be easy to write up a character who completely disregards such laws and just tears people apart at a whim. But that’s not who he is. He thinks of himself as a citizen of Earth and wants to inspire, not terrify. This brings me back to why I enjoyed this story, in which Clark Kent has such great powers yet lives next door to a man who is abusing his wife. He can’t tune this out (in fact, with his super hearing, it is in fact, driving him nuts) and when he tries to rectify the situation as Superman, the wife calls the cops on him for trespassing. We also see in this story, the first time Superman dealt with a domestic violence situation with tragic results.

12. Superman: The Price

In the late 80s, John Byrne did one last arc that would effectively end his tenure as the head man in charge of Superman’s post crisis revamp. In a 3 part storyline entitled The Supergirl Saga – (Superman #21, Adventures of Superman #444 and, Superman #22), three Kryptonians laid waste to their universe and were threatening to do the same to Superman’s world as well. In the final issue, he decided that he had no choice in order to end their menace than by executing these criminals via kryptonite exposure. Byne took major heat for this, but it did establish a powerful precedent that Superman falls back on whenever the question of lethal force enters his mind. Was there any other way he could deal with a given situation? Will this type of problem prevent him from being the kind of example he truly wishes to be to mankind? Some interesting ramifications followed him in future stories, such as the next pick for example…

11. Superman / Aliens

Yes, you’re reading this right. Many years before Ellen Ripley ran across those horrific xenomorphs, the Man of Steel had an encounter with them in what turned out to be a pretty decently thought out story by Dan Jurgens. A communications buoy broadcasting a Kryptonian distress signal lands on Earth and Superman takes a Lexcorps spacecraft out to find the source: a domed city on a lonely asteroid. He becomes stranded while looking for survivors and since he’s not near Earth’s yellow sun, things get rather desperate for him. Also, he comes to terms with a big mistake he makes during this adventure, which could spell trouble for everyone at Lexcorps space station. The high contrast artwork of Kevin Nowlan is incredibly dark and sufficiently creepy as Superman has the most terrifying fight for his life, while attempting to adhere to his rule of never using lethal force.

10. Superman: Lex 2000 / Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

Fun storyline where Lex Luthor becomes the President of the United States. Superman’s immediate reaction is priceless. Things are brought to a head though in Superman / Batman: Public Enemies when President Luthor blames Superman for a Kryptonite asteroid the size of Brazil heading for Earth, and places a one billion dollar bounty on Superman’s capture. Jeph Loeb, Ed McGuinness and Dexter Vines end this storyline with some crazy slugfests involving many of DC’s villains and heroes.

9. Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali

Ok, aliens come to fight Earth’s greatest champion and our two protagonists duke it out to see who goes to the main event and who just gets the butt-whipping of a lifetime. Not a great story by any means but this was one of those 70′s oversized formats with incredible artwork by Neal Adams, so it’s good for looking at the pictures and hearing Ali’s voice in your head if nothing else as the two most iconic figures at the time square off. Just check your brain at the door and let out your inner child.

8. DC Comics Presents Annual #1

Pretty cool pre-Crisis story. For a long while , DC comics settled their continuity problems by having characters living in Earths in different universes. This particular story depicted the Lex Luthors of Earths 1 & 2 deciding to switch places and face off against their respective enemies. Tings get even more complicated though with the involvement of Lex Luthor from Earth 3, a benevolent scientists who has trouble stopping powerful villains known as The Crime Syndicate led by the kryptonian Ultraman. Definitely worth a read.

7. Crisis On Infinite Earths

Over 2 decades ago, the DC universe underwent a revamp under Marv Wolfman and George Perez which reset the many continuities and universes into one big universe, as every hero and villain ever created had to face the threat of the Anti-Monitor. Many prominent characters (heroes and villains alike) were killed in what became some of DC comics’ most iconic moments. Although it took the combined resources of five remaining world to combat this evil (which resonated for many years after the series conclusion) it was the villain’s climactic battle against Superman which brought everything to a close. Truly an educational, historic and kick-a$$ read, the likes of which many modern comic book writers still draw influences from.

6. Superman / Action Comics: Whatever Happened to The Man of Tomorrow?

Alan Moore wrote the closing chapter on the Silver Age Superman after the epic series Crisis on Infinite Earths changed the DC Universe forever. It was spread over 2 (then-final) issues of Superman and Action Comics, in which an aged Lois Lane tells about the Kryptonian’s final days when all of his conflicts came to a horrific end for him and his friends. Which leads to our next recommendation…

5. Superman: The Man of Steel

John Byrne did a very good revamp of Superman’s origins in the post CrisisDC universe. The story does a great job of showing who the main characters are and how they’d act for the next couple decades, by giving new meaning and depth to Clark Kent and reimagining Lex Luthor as a powerful businessman.

4. Superman: Red Son

In the past, there have been Superman comics done outside of continuity often referred to as “Imaginary Stories”, which had Superman placed in many strange situations such as splitting into red and blue incarnations so he could marry both Lois and Lana (long before the electric suit thing), as well as show what his life would’ve been like if his rocket had landed in Gotham City, or in a futuristic Metropolis. In the 90s, DC started a specific line of such stories though with decidedly more serious themes called Elseworlds. Our next 3 picks are a couple of the best regarding Kal-El.

Red Son examined how Superman’s life might’ve turned out if his rocket had landed in Russia near the advent of the Cold War, and Mark Millar’s excellently written storyline provides a well-thought scenario on how Kal-El (under the guidance of his adopted father Josef Stalin) would come to relate to Earth’s citizens and other DC heroes, not to mention America’s most capable scientist Lex Luthor (who has a rather ironic role in the story’s conclusion). The political climate of this world is shaped in very interesting and logical ways before all is said and done.

3. Kingdom Come

This pick is a very grim tale illustrated and conceived by Alex Ross and written by Mark Waid in which Superman returns to action after retiring for 10 years due to the fact humanity wanted heroes who were more ruthless and had less control of themselves. This story examines the benefits and detriments of Clark’s moral center as his lack of experience in government world order comes to light. Is telling forceful vigilantes “There is a right and a wrong in this universe, and that distinction is not difficult to make” enough to convince everyone in this new generation of metahumans to change their ways? Although many other characters are involved to a lesser extent, it is Superman’s actions (along with Batman and Wonder Woman’s) which guide the terrible events of this story and lead to catastrophic results (not to mention a hellified fight against Captain Marvel). Eventually, Ross contributed to a pseudo-sequel written into regular DC Comics continuity as a Justice Society of America arc, entitled Thy Kingdom Come.

2. All-Star Superman

Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly garnered massive amounts of fan and critical acclaim with their alternate take on The Man of Steel. For this storyline, Superman discovers that Lex Luthor has done the unthinkable and used the sun to give him terminal cancer. As a result, he decides to live out his life doing final incredible tasks to leave a lasting legacy (most especially with Lois Lane), while encountering intriguing hints at his future. If you don’t grab this book which many consider as iconic as Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, you’re missing out on something special. The animated movie written by the late great Dwayne McDuffie is almost as good with an interesting twist for its ending.

1. The Death & Return of Superman / World Without A Superman / Superman Doomsday: Hunter Prey

Yeah there was this drawn out, highly publicized story where Superman died fighting a big monster and everyone went to the comic shop to pick up issue #75 and make it a collector’s item (not that I’d ever do such a thing…  >_> ). However, the follow up storylines ranged from pretty good to truly epic for The Man of Steel.

The World Without A Superman stories showed the effect this character had on everyone around him, which led to the Reign of the Supermen in which everyone was trying to figure out which one among 4 people claiming to be Superman reborn was the real one. This segment started rough (particularly art wise as different teams gave their take) but became well paced, action packed, and developed intriguing new characters, The aftermath forever altered Green Lantern’s life and brought Superman back to publishing prominence in terms of sales.

The subsequent story Superman / Doomsday – Hunter Prey showed an intense follow up as Doomsday winds up on Apokolips to face Darkseid’s forces. We come to learn Doomsday’s origins as Superman faces the recurring cause of his fear of death one last time.

I recently picked up the Omnibus collecting Death, Return and World Without (while trading in some other comics I didn’t need to dull the pain inflicted on me olde wallet) and still had a fantastic time reading this story. There was no need to depower him or make him a jerk. He stuck to his beliefs, fought hard, got knocked as low as someone could be and came back fighting harder with more determination than ever. That’s why it’s my pick for the best Superman story I’ve ever read. Strangely, DC isn’t pushing Hunter / Prey at all in its Man of Steel promotion, but it’s a good follow up to conclude things. Recommend grabbing all of these obviously.

Excellent expansion of the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime story.

Creative Staff
Story: Yoshikazu “Yas” Yasuhiko, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Hajime Yatate
Art: Yoshikazu “Yas” Yasuhiko
Mecha design: Kunio Okawara
Cover design: Grace Lu
Translation/Adaptation: Melissa Tanaka

What They Say
It is the year Universal Century 0079, in a space colony the Earth Federation is storing and testing a new piloted robot for use in the battle against the Principality of Zeon. The experimental RX-78 Gundam mobile suit is scheduled to be transported to Federation command in Jaburo, deep within the Brazilian jungles. Unfortunately, before the transporter would arrive, the Federation would come under attack from Zeon. With few resources available against the Zeon’s most mobile mechs, Federation forces strike back using their new weapon, the mobile suit Gundam.

Caught in the crossfire is a young teen named Amuro Ray. Not willing to see innocent people die like this, Amuro crawls into the cockpit of the closest machine around him. Whether it be a tank, jeep or jet, he was going to use it to help stop this slaughter. And what he happened to slide into was another Gundam. Having never operated a machine like this, what are the chances he can do anything to repel an experienced squad of mech-piloting invaders?

Volume 1 includes an essay from Hideaki Anno, director of the hit anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, Color pages from “Yas,” and an essay from Kadokawa Publishing Executive Shinichiro Inoue.

The Review

Technical:
The hardbound and very sturdy cover here is very striking, with the RX-78 Gundam emerging through orange-ish smoke and debris and the title prominently displayed dead center.  The blue of the Gundam’s chest makes it stand out for good contrast. The back cover continues the orange theme though overlaying a space colony being invaded by very tiny Zakus (easy to miss at first glance) with a loquacious summary of the beginning of the story.

The paper feels nice and smooth and looks glossy. The art is well defined and very striking in the action areas. There’s a LOT of information on each page, which is natural considering this volume and subsequent ones will contain two issues of the original Japanese release in each book. It’s still a lot of information on each page to take in though on the initial reading and feels like reading a text novel at times. Sound effects are written in impressive fonts throughout.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
This is my first opportunity to write an actual manga review. I don’t really read very many manga as I’m more of an anime fan. However, as a long time fan of the original Mobile Suit Gundam film trilogy, I was ecstatic to learn there would be a new manga being released in the U.S. covering the events of the films and their predecessor TV series. What I didn’t totally expect was to see that the events of this era would be expanded on so well and that the films’ director and character designer Yoshikazu “Yas” Yasuhiko would be able to transpose the most active elements of the anime in manga form so well.

As some of you reading this are aware, the series was originally conceived as a set of novels by Yoshiyuki Tomino. The anime adaptations went in a different direction than those novels but still retained much of the elements that helped eventually define anime’s “space opera” genre. Many have seen the story of how teenager Amuro Ray lives on a futuristic space colony near his girlfriend Frau Brau and with his father, who has been working to build a new kind of mobile suit (the general term for giant robots in this world). His father hopes this mecha can help the Earth Military Federation defeat the armies of the Zeons, whose mecha have proven very capable in battle.

One set of Zeons come to the colony hearing rumors of the new suit and scout around a bit, attacking everywhere. Meanwhile, the EMF have a new battle ship called The White Base docked at this colony. In the ensuing attacks, many of the top personnel are injured or killed, and the ship’s quartermaster, Bright Noah, winds up taking command and presses several civilians to serve the ship. Meanwhile, Amuro finds the Gundam prototype and its operating manual, which he uses to defeat the invading Zeons, though at heavy cost to personnel as well as to his own morale.  A Zeon scout survives however and reports to his ship’s commander, Char Aznable, who has a record for wiping out EMF ships and mecha, earning his nickname “The Red Comet” due to his mobile suit’s red coloring. Char wears a mask and has his own agenda against the Zeons, but this is developed in later issues.

Much of this is covered in the anime adaptations, and it’s nice to see imagery which have become iconic in the anime (and articles covering the anime) rendered beautifully and in great detail in high-contrast comic format. The strength of Yas’s manga here though, lies in building up the supporting civilians who appear and their contributions to the war. For example, we see the fate of the original captain of the White Base here covered in great and moving detail. We also see the EMF’s lack of respect initially toward Bright’s improvised crew, as well as the Zeon scouts’ first encounter with an EMF mecha, which sets the tone for much of what comes. There’s also the White Base pilot Mirai who seems to have a lot more on the ball than a civilian should, as well as the initial development of Sayla Mass, who Gundam fans know to be an important character later on. The best element takes place in a segment when the White Base crew decides to attack Char at a moon base due to a vulnerability they count on. Fellow mobile suit pilots Hayato, Kai and Ryou get to shine in this attack as it takes place WITHOUT the use of Amuro and the Gundam. It’s a great segment, the likes of which I’m looking forward to in subsequent volumes.

In Summary
The events here cover about 1/3 of what you may have seen in the first MS Gundam movie, but with a lot more information given.  It’s rather similar to Space Battleship Yamato 2199 in that respect. In fact, Bandai recently announced Gundam Origin is supposed to get the anime treatment in 2014. Hopefully they’ll retain this new material in the process. It’s an excellent piece of work and I’m really looking forward to collecting this series. I’m honestly happy to plunk down my $30 and support Vertical Inc’s efforts to bring this familiar but expanded story in a new version, right up to its very end. Recommended.

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

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Vertical Inc
Release Date: March 26th, 2013
MSRP: $29.99

The second part of the The Hobbit film trilogy is now upon us, one year after first part was released to theaters.

Brief recap of An Unexpected Journey: The wizard Gandalf the Grey (Sir Ian McKellen) of the previous Lord of the Rings trilogy comes to recruit the Hobbit known as Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) to help a group of Dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on a quest to take back their mountain home Eleborn, which was conquered by the dragon Smaug many years back. It’s a dangerous undertaking as some races, most notably the Orcs led by Azog The Defiler (Manu Bennett) do not want them to succeed.

The Desolation of Smaug starts with a nighttime encounter in a seemingly happy town (featuring a brief cameo almost the instant the movie starts if you pay attention). Thorin sits in a tavern having a drink while noticing some of the men there are keying on him. Suddenly, Gandalf appears and tells him there might be a way to restore his kingdom of Dwarves, as well as the fact there’s a price on Thorin’s head.

We cut to 12 months later (just after the events of the first film) as the Dwarves seek to elude the Orcs. Gandalf mentions a place they might find shelter… with an interesting hitch. Still, this gives them time to contemplate their next move as they head to the Lonely Mountain. The team has to go through a foreboding forest of mystery (the first of many treacherous routes on this journey) before they get to the mountain though. Gandalf however breaks off from them to investigate another aspect of the coming crisis.

Along the way, we meet a formidable force of Elves, including a female warrior named Tauriel (Evangeline Lily) and a face familiar to Lord of the Rings viewers, Legolas (Orlando Bloom), who has a bit of a harder edge to his personality in this story. I guess he mellowed with age. There’s also a smuggler named Bard (Luke Evans) whose story proves to be more interesting as the tale progresses.

I’ve seen people say this film is better than An Unexpected Journey. I don’t totally agree on this, in that this series feels just like The Lord of the Rings as Peter Jackson has told the story. Film one introduces the characters and the situation the must face; film two is the thrilling adventure, and the third will likely be the climax much as Return of the King concluded the previous set. A lot more does happen visually in this movie as the action these guys go through doesn’t disappoint in the slightest and keeps folks engaged big time.

Beyond the sweeping cinematography of vast landscapes and forestry, one thing Jackson and his team excel at is fight scenes. They’re both grand and personal at the same time. You get the hack and slash styles of the Orcs and Dwarves, while the Elves show incredible speed and accuracy in their skillsets. The mix of these differences with varied camera and effects techniques creates some of the best battle sequences on film. I saw this screening in 3D without the 48fps frame rate so I can’t tell you how that version looked, but the one I saw had impeccably clear quality. This was damned handy during the wild river chase sequence, which has to be seen to be believed. Six Flags’s Thunderiver ride has nothing on this.

The action is most effective though because of the characters we’ve come to know, whose development is well paced among all the craziness. It’s interesting to see how these people are connected in both this trilogy and the previous one. It’s also good to see how the Dwarves’ crew makes it through these dangerous times, as well as the effects this journey has on Thorin who seemingly grows darker, driven and more haunted. Meanwhile, Bilbo continues to be a fun fish-out-of-water with the quick wit, able to solve just about any puzzle placed in front of him. You kind of feel proud of him and sorry for him as he helps the crew get through everything.

The biggest hurdle this team faces though is a magnificent feat for film fans as we finally meet the dragon whose presence has been whispered of through 1 and 2/3 movies. It is so incredible to see this creature created that it was really worth saving for discussion until the end. Between the lifelike texture and intricate movements displayed here, Smaug is truly the most incredible dragon ever realized on film. He is pure menace, accentuated by the vocal performance of Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness) with evil enunciation and dread, articulated excellently in the dragon’s movements. Watching Smaug and Bilbo’s interaction is rather amusing considering their respective actors team together on the BBC series Sherlock, so listening to Smaug torment Bilbo is a rather fun bit to take in. From a visual standpoint, this aspect called to mind the animated Hobbit movie done by Rankin Bass in the 80s as there were parts of this specific scene that seemed to jump right out of that movie.

As you might imagine, I had an excellent time watching this film and will likely return to the theater to do so again. I know of the changes Peter Jackson has made here that many fans of the novel are seemingly not happy with. Still, he recently explained these were inspired by certain elements left open by J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels, and the changes have been entertaining so I’ll allow for them. I’ve not read the novel myself, nor have I seen the animated movie in many years. However, I’ve been quite captivated by the story presented in these two films and was annoyed when it indeed in Kill Bill fashion. I know I could easily take in the book or animation to get a resolution, but I don’t want one from those mediums just yet. Due to the incredible efforts thus far, I am instead very happy to anticipate this journey’s end when the third film is released.

Grade: A

Colorful

If John Hughes had directed a dark anime movie, this would likely be the result…

What They Say:
There is a Train Station on the other side of death, yet not all who arrive on the platform will be judged ready for passage onwards. For one unready soul, there will be a test… and a second chance. Rather than be reborn, this soul will awake in the body of 14 year old suicide Makoto Kobayashi. But even while finding a way to fit into Makoto’s existence, the soul must unravel two mysteries: the secret of the great sin it committed in its own previous life, and the reasons that led to Makoto’s suicide. And while some may believe the truth to be as plain to see as black and white, “Makoto” soon finds that the real world is overlaid with so many shades of gray and rainbows of colors that even what seem to be the most obvious of facts are not what they seem. With the soul’s time in Makoto’s body quickly running out, the answers to all of life’s mysteries await discovery in the acclaimed animation masterpiece that won the 3th Japanese Academy award for Excellence in Animation: COLORFUL.

The Review:
Audio: 
The English and Japanese audio both came out fine with no distortions.

Video:
The movie was originally released theatrically in 2010 using the best techniques in digital animation and looks very pretty n screen. The DVD had no pixilation issues of any kind.

Packaging:
The front depicts Makoto laying peacefully in a red and white flora arrangement with the masthead on the bottom and film festival awards across the top. The rear has the “what they say” text at the top with screen caps over the middle and appropriate credits at the bottom.

Menu:
The menu has options for the movie, languages, credits, scene selection, and previews on the bottom third with an easily spotted cursor for link selection.

Extras:
None other than Sentai Filmworks previews

It’s a rather interesting look at what might make a child end everything before even trying to start to find his life potential. Along the way, we see that Makoto was an angry, trouble child who had very creative talents. We also see he has had difficult interactions with other kids who are in the art club at school, who themselves may have their own difficulties resulting in awkward or unusual interactions. On top of this, there’s something Makoto has witnessed that erodes his image of a stable home life and causes him to lash out repeatedly. So much seems to taint Makoto’s emotional intake, all before he enters high school.

We often see “young people with problem” movies in the U.S. but I don’t think many take quite the approach shown here. How should youth assimilate to the world around them? What part do we play with their perceptions? Are art minded people simply crazy or just ones who what may be standard life differently than more logic oriented ones? How much could concepts such as sex affect such people? The movie touches on all these aspects of life and thankfully, doesn’t provide any answer except the only one that matters. In peeling back layers of our existence, Colorful depicts Makoto’s journey into understanding and doesn’t do it in a condescending way, which is a bit refreshing in some respects compared to American films which tackle similar subject matter. There are some aspects which feel somewhat similar to other films dealing with the young but perspective is everything here.

In Summary:
Learning what makes Mokoto tick (as well as Purapura to a degree) is a worthwhile aspect to this commentary on everyday life. Colorful is a very solid anime film to gain (or re-gain) a bit of insight on what’s precious about this world. It’s simple but not simple-minded. Will it affect you as it did me? Depending on your life experiences, your mileage may vary on that score. But in any case, I don’t think you’ll find it boring. My only complaint is the lack of extra insights from either the director or original story writer to understand their process in making the movie. Otherwise, I’d say this is a decent DVD to buy.

Features:
Japanese Language, English Language, English Subtitles

Content Grade: A
Audio Grade: A+
Video Grade:  A+
Packaging Grade: A
Menu Grade: A
Extras Grade: N/A

Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: May 14th, 2013
MSRP: $29.98
Running Time: 126 Minutes
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1, 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen

Review Equipment:
Panasonic 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Marantz

Space Captain Harlock

When the alien Mazone murder his father, Tadashi Daiba finds himself controlled by a hostile and disbelieving government unwilling to believe his claims, let alone prepare to fight off an alien invasion. His only hope of revenge against this mysterious foe is by joining up with the most famous of all ossible allies: the stoic space pirate Captain Harlock and his eccentric crew of misfits aboard the good ship Arcadia. With the Earth’s military holding Harlock’s final ties to Earth hostage on one side and the Mazone on the other, can the Arcadia’s crew overcome such awesome odds and prevent the invasion?

Space Pirate Captain Harlock was first shown on Japanese TV in 1978 and is one of three flagship works by Leiji Matsumoto (Star Blazers / Space Battleship Yamato, Galaxy Express 999). Directed by Rintaro (Galaxy Express 999 the movie, Metropolis) and broadcast around the world, the series secured Matsumoto’s place as a master of space opera. This collection presents all 42 episodes of the series, uncut and with English subtitles, for the first time on DVD in North America.

The Review:
Audio: 
The Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 audio tracks came through just fine with no problems here.

Video:
The series was originally broadcast on TV in 1978, and the video converted here for DVD release looks gorgeous except for a couple spots where there’s some sort of interference from original tape source materials most likely. The video quality here is very nice and crisp. The dialogue subtitles are white with black detail for good reading as needed. For the intro and closing themes as well as the background vocals, there are blue subtitles with black trim.

Packaging:
The front of the box shows Captain Harlock steering his classically styled piloting wheel in front of his mighty battleship Arcadia with the Earth displayed prominently in the background, and the masthead at the bottom. The rear shows the main cast off to the left of the text shown in the aforementioned “What They Say” section, with screen shots and technical specifications along the bottom.

Menu:
The menu has the opening theme repeating. There is a picture of Harlock at his steering column on the left of the screen, and list of the seven episode names per disc listed vertically on the right side, with jolly roger next to each one highlighting the episode selection. Options for subtitles appear along the bottom.

Extras:
No extras are included with this release.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Man… talk about a series that has a lot of history to it, in both the U.S. and Japan. Originally broadast in 1978, the series opens with an earth military transport carrying grains, jewels, and wine from a colonial farm to Earth. The officers speak about someone who’s been raiding the transports recently. Soon enough, a dark ship appears on their monitors and displays skull and crossbones on its flag. The officers try to fight their fate but their ship is boarded by the crew of Captain Harlock, who interestingly confiscates only the harvest, while dumping all the jewels and wine into space.

Meanwhile, the Prime minister on Earth concerns himself with the daily horse races, even as his military chief commander kiruta appears to tell of Harlock’s raid. Kiruta decides to try and capture Harlock by waiting for him to visit a little girl at the local orphanage named Mayu, whom the Captain has been coming to visit every year.

Meanwhile, a side mystery develops as someone has been blowing up observatories and killing astronomers. Dr. Daiba and his son Tadashi discuss the murders while looking at a circular object heading for Earth. Tadashi blames Harlock, but the Doctor admonishes him, saying Harlock loves the Earth and is incapable of intentionally harming his home world.

Captain Harlock’s crew is trying to talk him out of visiting Mayu but he can’t bring himself to break his promise on her 7^th birthday. As he surprises the child, she cries, trying to get Harlock to leave before he’s captured, but he takes her in his arms and visits a lonely grave with her… just Commander Kiruta appears with his troops to arrest him. However, the crew of the Arcadia is not so easily dissuaded from their Captain, and whisk him away to face off against the mysterious object falling toward the Earth…

Thus the players are set for dramatic adventure series, as Captain Harlock wages war against the alien Mazone, a race of feminine looking humanoids who have an interesting connection to Earth’s plant life as it turns out.  Throughout the 42 episodes the invasion plans take their toll on Harlock and his crew, who have to fight this war pretty much by themselves as Earth’s military remains slow to respond to the threat. Meanwhile, Commander Kiruta keeps looking to use Mayu against him. Still, Harlock and company remain determined to see things to the end, even coming to face the Mazone Queen and her demands for the Earth. Interestingly, both leaders sort of come to see the other’s point of view in some respects but this doesn’t deter events from coming to their inevitable conclusion.

There’s a lot of drama and emotion throughout the series, which director Rin Taro uses masterfully to exploit Leiji Matsumoto’s iconic character to the fullest. All of the elements of the genre known as ‘space opera’ are present here, between the galactic battles, incredibly desperate odds, angst for just about everybody involved and a small bit of romance in a couple places.

Taro’s techniques depicting hard hitting action are very effective, especially in personal combat scenes and assassination sequences with hard impacting sudden death shots combined with slow moving characters and sped up background lines. There are some screenplay elements that could be sped up a bit though, particularly when Kiruta kidnaps Mayu for a while. Still, we do get to see the Arcadia crew develop pretty well with their talents. The “potato heads” as American fans have come to call the hardy, misshapen bunch are a hoot to watch in action. Also, Kei (Harlock’s trusted lieutenant) gets to show how capable she can be, even as she has to teach eventual crew member Tadashi the ropes.

There’s also a motif present throughout in that a song about Captain Harlock plays in the background during the lull in action at times, somewhat similar to an pirate crew singing to motivate themselves while pushing this ship through the seas. Meanwhile, there’s an equally interesting element in that Harlock seems to be talking to the ship and almost expecting an answer. This gets explained more fully in the mini-movie “Mystery of the Arcadia,” an expanded episode which sadly isn’t present on this set.  Still, the show does give us interesting (though brief) first looks at Harlock companions Tochiro and Emeraldas, which help explain some of their connections if you’ve ever seen the Galaxy Express 999 films (also directed by Rin Taro).

Space Pirate Captain Harlock is one anime that has had a turbulent time being brought over intact for American anime fans. It was created ny Leiji Matsumoto and has become the starting point for his universe of central characters who’ve become anime icons over the decades. Previous attempts to import the show have had mixed results. The first company to do so was Ziv International, who released two tapes.  One tape had the first and 8^th episodes, with decent English dub performances for the time retaining the flavor of the Japanese script. Their second tape, however had totally different actors and dumbed down scripts, even though it presented episodes 2 and 3.  These materials were released later by Malbu Home Video but with the audio timing off by a couple seconds, yielding even worse products.

A different company known as Harmony Gold (of Robotech fame) acquired the entire TV series which lasted 42 episodes. However 65 episodes were required for American syndication so the show was edited together with another Matsumoto work entitled Queen Millennia: The Queen of 1000 years (which although produced after Captain Harlock, actually took place hundreds of years prior). The American combination was broadcast as Captain Harlock and The Queen of 1000 Years in the mid 80s. After a couple decades of waiting, it really is pretty cool for classic fans to get a chance to experience this series finally in its original state.

In Summary:
Space Pirate Captain Harlock is the kind of show that doesn’t get made anymore. In Harlock, you get a strong, focused adult protagonist who knows right from wrong and will sacrifice himself to preserve this if need be with he and his crew overcoming great odds in the process. I’m very glad to see this series make it to the U.S. intact finally for future American anime fans to experience. Also, there’s actual closure instead 13 episodes and a wait and see if we can catch up to the manga practice prevalent in today’s anime.

Content Grade: A+
Audio Grade: A-
Video Grade:  A+
Packaging Grade: A
Menu Grade: A
Extras Grade: N/A

Released By: Discotek Media / Eastern Star
Release Date: August 27th, 2013
MSRP: $59.98
Running Time: 1000 Minutes
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Review Equipment:
Panasonic 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Marantz stereo receiver

Unico

Excellent classic for kids and the kid in all of us.

Creative Staff
Story: Osamu Tezuka
Art: Osamu Tezuka
Translation/Adaptation: Ben Applegate

What They Say
A little unicorn named Unico lives with his mistress Psyche, bringing her happiness and good fortune in return for her unconditional love. The goddess Venus, however, grows jealous of Psyche’s legions of admirers and flings Unico across time and space! When he awakens, he’s facing down mean buffalo in the American west, with no memory of his ast life. It’s the first of many exciting adventures that will bring Unico face to face with high society in Imperial Russia, characters from fairy tales and Shakespeare, and even an automated factory intent on blotting out the sun.

Straight from the mind of Osamu Tezuka, internationally beloved creator of “Astro Boy” and “Buddha”, the entire three volume series of “Unico” has been collected into one outstanding 400 page omnibus edition. Presented in its original full color format, “Unico” is a magical series of adorable and thought-provoking adventures that’s the perfect first manga to read with the little ones as well as an absolute necessity for any manga enthusiast.

The Review
Technical:
The cover stands out pretty well, with  the predominantly white Unico taking up most of the front with a bright green background. You could almost want to place special effects or other video tricks behind him. The title is in readable white smaller print on the left side, along with the author’s name. The Japanese translation for the name though is in dark green and almost indistinguishable from the rest of the picture. The back contains a title synopsis super-imposed over another picture of Unico.  The inside contains a table of contents and acknowledgements to the many contributors toward the Kickstarter campaign to get this book published. Interestingly, the pages are all colorized and it reads left to right, instead of right to left like many other manga titles. Sound effects still are presented with Japanese characters, but have matching colored English translations beneath them. The art style is cartoony and less detailed than most modern works, much like the Tom & Jerry and Mickey Mouse shorts that inspired manga in the 40s and 50s.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The story of Unico is a rather extensive one, incorporating Tezuka’s affinity for metaphysics, mythology and history (which are rather prevalent in his other works) and combining it with a child-like sense for wonder and adventure.  In it’s own way, it sort of reminds me of the 70s Benji movies or maybe Milo & Otis, or others where a lost animal is our focus character trying to find its way home, except Unico’s story is far greater in scope.

The initial focus however, is on Unico’s master Psyche. She has many admirers but one very jealous goddess Venus. In order to destroy Psyche’s spirits, Venus decides to have her prize pet Unico kidnapped and thrown through thousands of years of time in order to make Unico forget Psyche ever existed. Through those years Unico finds some solace in helping various people but is also cursed whenever he finds a bit of happiness with said people as he is whisked away to yet another place and the amnesia cycle begins again.

Initially, he’s sent to the frontier of the American west, and then to help a princess dealing with intrigues and a royal curse while trapped in a castle. After that he helps out a cat who believes she should be adopted by a witch if she can find one. Unico’s exploits reach all over the world through time, space and fantasy realms, go on for 400 pages total.

I have to say it’s kind of refreshing to read a children’s story with very basic art styles from Osamu Tezuka.  Not much use of sketch lines or details  as opposed to more modern works. But there’s a definite beauty in this kind of comic. It was also refreshing to see an all-color manga done directly from its original source. I hadn’t seen one before; only all black and white works. It’s all basic colors staying within the lines like kids’ coloring books.

It’s interesting to see this as a story aimed at children in Japan, as it seems Unico is destined never to find home or happiness on a permanent basis, but is willing to bring it to every life he touches. Is Tezuka trying to teach self sacrifice here while giving epic adventures for the kids? Perhaps.  It’s a repeated sensation I hadn’t had totally while watching the animated films (previously my only access to the character.)  The book’s eventual conclusion has an element of ‘be careful what you wish for’ to it as well.  You kind of feel for the little guy as he’s whisked away from point to point just as he seems to find the smallest bit of contentment. Still this is balanced by the fresh new characters he gets to interact with (human and animal) and those interactions feel as lively as a classic Chuck Jones / Tex Avery cartoon.

In Summary
I had fun reading this story and getting to know the Unico character all over again. Like I said, my only experience with him was In watching the two anime movies (which Discotek Media did a nice job on recently.)  I was glad to learn more of Osamu Tezuka’s storytelling style here and want to thank the Kickstarter contributors for making it possible to have Unico’s full story available to American kids and adults alike.

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

Age Rating: General Audiences
Released By: Digital Manga Publishing
Release Date: April 23rd, 2013
MSRP: $34.99

Robotech

What They Say:
ROBOTECH is a sweeping science-fiction anime epic of humans defending their home world against alien domination. The saga is told through the eyes of characters caught up in a series of wars that erupts when a mysterious spacecraft crashlands on Earth at the turn of the millennium. The secrets of alien knowledge aboard this vessel were unlocked, leading to the development of “Robotechnology” and the creation of a vast arsenal of robotic “mecha” to defend the Earth against the alien threats that would eventually strike to lay claim to the mysterious power source known as “protoculture.” Carl Macek’s groundbreaking sci-fi epic has enthralled audiences for decades since first appearing on American television in 1985. One of the first-ever anime imports, this saga spans several generations of mankind’s fight for freedom. ROBOTECHr: THE COMPLETE SET includes the remastered versions of all 85 episodes from the three Robotech Wars: THE MACROSS SAGA, THE ROBOTECH MASTERS and THE NEW GENERATION. It also includes the ROBOTECH: 2-MOVIE COLLECTION featuring the fan favorite – THE SHADOW CHRONICLES – and the latest film, LOVE LIVE ALIVE, as well as a bonus disc. Take home this all-inclusive collectable set every fan must have

The Review
Packaging:
There’s a slipcase silver-themed cover box with a veritech pilot (presumably the blue-haired bespectacled Max Sterling of the Macross Saga) on the front and content details with a picture of a cyclone rider from The New Generation on the back. Inside the box is a single plastic case with the same info as well as all 20 DVDs . The case stacks each series up in sections and is a little cumbersome to get to individual discs one might be searching for. , but it’s definitely sturdy to say the least.

Video:
The Macross Saga benefits from the restoration work done on the Japanese series restoration done by Shin Kurokawa of AnimEigo fame. The picture is bright with Red and Blue hues noticeably more vibrant than any previous release. The Robotech Masters and New Generation segments also look bright but are just a tad less crisp. Still there’s pretty good video quality here on their remasters.  I’ll talk a little more on the video aspect in the ‘Content” section.

Audio:
The audio is pretty loud and hard hitting in the effects area. Dia log is still easy to hear and no distortions were present. There are some aspects though I’ll have to talk about in the “Content” section due to this being a conversion instead of a straight translation.

Menu:
Each menu is tailored with characters and color schemes from their respective story segments with the Robotech opening theme in the background. The individual episodes have a white cursor clearly indicating links to features as needed.

Extras:
Over the years, there have been different sets of extras added to each collection for Robotech as different companies have taken responsibility for distributing the series. Thankfully, the additions have been cumulative through each collection. As the “Complete Set” represents the most extras in one place to date, I’ll be largely looking at their presence on this set only and not the previous ones.

This is a bit difficult in a way though as it’s a little hard to tell what’s an extra and what’s content in this set. I will say there’s 4 discs of extras here which are truly exhaustive, in addition to some of the content on the Love Live Alive and Shadow Chronicles DVDs . There are a lot of short videos including trade show promos, art galleries, commercials for 80s toys (IE vertiechs, action figures and cyclones) and trailers for recent movies. I have to say the “Women of Robotech” commercials are the funniest things in the world as they the female characters as dress up dolls, and the spots are just plain goofy when taken out of context. There are also some pretty cool behind the scenes documentaries of both 80s and 2000s efforts which make one appreciate the production process and how much energy Carl Macek, the Agrama family and crew of Harmony Gold put into things.

There’s also the Japanese openings and closings to Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Calvary Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeda, the three shows merged into Robotech (More on these below). The deleted scenes from the different versions of each series are interesting to note. Also, there are different pilots and TV episodes to be discussed in the ‘Content’ section.  But suffice it to say there’s a lot of material here that is very educational and entertaining.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Recently, I saw a facebook post noting that 29 years have passed since Robotech premiered on TV this month. I got to see it a year after that as it didn’t start in my area until then. For many kids like myself, all animation works were cartoons to entertain us in the morning, afternoons and keep us out of our parents’ hair. Every character had the same design  style with about 6-8 primary colors present while wholesome family values were shown to us in every episode with characters going on non-fatal adventures alongside the toy commercials and occasional advertisements for Disney movies (or theatrical versions of He Man /She-Ra, Transformers, Go-Bots and the like). There was no continuity between episodes of anything. However, there were these weird looking shows such as Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets which had unusual facial shapes, fantastic weapon designs and more detailed background artwork. Later other shows such as Voltron and Star Blazers had a similar style but with elements of a progressing story besides which started to keep my interest.

So when Robotech started broadcasting, it was a totally new experience for me. There were cool weapons and toys (one of which looked like my Transformers jet I was playing with repeatedly) and big battles like the ones on G.I. Joe. However unlike that series, there were other things really keeping my interest such as the fact people acted like people with real emotional reactions to various situations, some of which were very adult in nature. Occasionally, romantic scenes and alcohol use were present. Also, in a complete contrast to the G.I. Joe series, characters were being killed off instead of always parachuting out of planes or being stunned and sent to some other dimension. We were relating to these characters as people who could potentially go into combat (or just be sitting around in a command center) and potentially not be seen in the following episodes because they were dead. For kids growing up in the 80s and 70s, these were strange elements to see in a cartoon, shown only in live movies and some comic books instead.  Equally compelling were romantic relationships (some interracial) which were evolving through the course of the show. In time, after finding the book Robotech Art 1, I got to read about the show’s origins and ending (as it was cancelled with 6 episodes left. Damn you, KPLR-11!) I’d learned these elements (along with the art style, cool toys, etc) were very prevalent in Japanese animation and been produced quite regularly since the 60s in shows I’d vowed to catch up on over the years.  It was also eye opening to know there were more adult-ish versions of Voltron (Golion / Dairugger XV) Battle of the Planets (Science Ninja Team Gatchaman) and the like that I needed to hunt down and see for the first time. I imagine other kids alive at that time who eventually became anime fans had a similar gateway experience.

Over the decades, the landscape for such animation has been changed drastically; Japanese animation is commonly referred to as ‘anime’ and shown frequently on American television. Some recall seeing it on Sci-Fi Channel or in syndication, others have their first experiences watching shows regularly on Adult Swim / Toonami or occasionally on premium cable channels. Though animation is still largely seen as something for children with as few adult elements as possible, there are still those who see high brow humor on The Simpsons, SouthPark or similar nighttime fare.  There are still other American shows such as Avatar The Last Airbender and Justice League Unlimited with intelligently written progressive storylines. Meanwhile, kids and adults have the opportunity to see anime on line or buy home releases at various stores or have had the opportunity see theatrical films from Akira to The Wind Rises at the theaters thanks to companies forming to import and find profit in selling unaltered anime to American markets. Also, various anime-focused conventions have been organized across the country for fans to celebrate their favorite shows in all kinds of ways.

In that time, the kids who were Robotech fans have had a chance to grow up and have kids of their own who’ve grown up in this environment. They can see more of the potential that animated storytelling can have more readily than the folks of my generation or earlier had a chance to see. The initial anime shows that were re-written as footage for the Robotech storylines (Macross, Southern Cross, & Mospeda) have since been released in the U.S. in unaltered boxsets with Japanese languages and English subtitles. The version of Robotech I’m writing about here in this box set is actually different than the one I saw on TV all those years back. So in doing this review, two questions have to be answered for people purchasing the collection: is Robotech still worth watching and have the people behind the set (Harmony Gold, Lionsgate, A&E Networks) created a worthwhile product here?

To answer these, we have to look at the Robotech stories presented in this box set individually, beginning with the 85 episode serial. Robotech is the story of a 3 part war. The first part, The Macross Saga, starts with the Earth in a time of global civil war, until an alien spaceship crashes on Earth, and humanity unites to developing the technologies within to advance and be prepared should the owners of the space craft come looking for it. Ten years later, a young pilot named Rick Hunter flies to the island crash site where a city now thrives around the restore spacecraft, now known as the SDF-1. He’s there to see his “big brother” Roy Fokker, who leads the new veritech fighter plane squadron (known as Skull Squadron) for Earth’s defense forces. That same day an alien race of giants called The Zentradi come attack from space to retrieve the ship. The commander of the SDF-1, Captain Gloval, decides to try and take the battle to the enemy in space by using what’s known as a Fold System (a method of space war travel) to jump into space. The crew aims to take the ship near the moon; but instead warp to the planet Pluto. In the process, the city (filled with inhabitants locked in battle shelters) is transported accidentally with the ship. The fold system engines disappear en route so everyone has to take the long way home using conventional engines. Along the way, Rick becomes a veritech pilot (at first accidentally to rescue a pretty girl he meets named Lynn Minmay, and then later at the urging of both Minmay and Roy to join the defense forces.)  While working under the command of the executive officer Lisa Hayes, Rick grows into an effective soldier, and deals with Minmay’s seemingly fickle affections. Minmay herself becomes a big singing star for the city inhabitants, who’ve rebuilt their lives aboard the SDF-1. Meanwhile, the Zentradi under Commanders Breetai and Exedore, continue to try and capture the ship, and understand the strange customs they see taking place aboard it (particularly the concepts of fictional entertainment and male / female interaction), while their Supreme Commander Dolza sets his sights on a now known bigger prize: Earth itself.

About 15 or so years later, we’re introduced to Dana Sterling, the daughter of two of The Macross Saga’s supporting characters, Max and Mirya Sterling. The first Robotech War as it’s now known, devastated much of the Earth and decimated humanity’s population. The SDF-1 is a crashed junkpile, filled with secrets of Robotechnology including a plant that generates the energy source ‘Protoculture’ that powers the transforming mecha soldiers use. Many people live in MonumentCity, near the SDF-1. Soon, a group of humanoid aliens known as The Robotech Masters come in massive island-sized spacecraft to retrieve the ship’s secrets since The Zentradi have failed apparently. Dana is a bit of a misfit in the Earth military but proves capable as a lieutenant commanding the 15^th Tactical Attack Corps, piloting a set of transformable tanks. She comes to have feelings for one of the Masters’ pilots, named Zor, who has odd secrets of his own to explore over the course of the series. Meanwhile, Supreme Commander Leonard believes the only way to survive this second war is to throw his forces into repeated attacks against technically superior and seemingly invincible forces. His second in command, General Emmerson (whose godson Bowie works for Dana) believes more careful planning and strategy are needed against this new enemy, and he becomes totally at odds with his leader. The Masters themselves become increasingly desperate over the course of the series as they whisper about a fearsome alien race known as The Invid who likely want the Protoculture as well.

The conclusion of this segment leaves Earth ripe for invasion. Dana leads some soldiers in search of her parents, who themselves left with the survivors of the Macross Saga in search of other alien races to contact and potentially make peace with. Meanwhile, the Invid come and quickly overwhelm the depleted Earth military forces who are battered after fighting off the Robotech Masters. The Invid turn Earth into a slave colony to harvest Protoculture. A few years later, the expeditionary forces commanded by Admiral Rick Hunter are sent to invade and reclaim the Earth. This beginning of the third Robotech War focuses on Lt. Commander Scott Bernard of the Mars Division attack forces. Although there are hundreds of human soldiers, The Invid are ready and Scott is the only one to survive the first wave attack. His fighter plane falls to Earth while his fellow soldiers (including his fiancé aboard one of the battleships) are wiped out. Scott vows to find the Invid’s headquarters Reflex Point, and get the Earth ready for Adm. Hunter’s main attack. Along the way, he meets several folks who become his guerilla team and family of sorts, wanting to also get rid of these giant crab-like aliens dominating the planet. This group includes Rand the scavenger, Rook the loner with her own weaponry, Annie the red-headed orphan girl, a huge mechanic named Lunk, and Lancer, an effeminate soldier who has survived by disguising as a female singer called Yellow Dancer.

So you have a sprawling tale of sci-fi and war, with elements very much in the traditional anime genre known as “space opera”. Does the story hold up nearly 30 years after initial release? For the most part, I say it does. There are those who say that since the individual anime have been released and times are different now, the show is no longer valid entertainment. To that end, I had a debate with a female friend over the use of music and culture shock, both accidental and intentional, as themes throughout the show. These elements still feel solid in moving the story along and helping to develop characters in some respects. Also, given the imaginative use of such things, I find they’re no less solid for a fighting tactic as alchemy, powering up fireballs, and rappelling to fight giants have been in anime. The use of music to move a story forward feels more like a trend that was popular in the 80s on anime like Megazone 23 and Bubbegum Crisis , but it’s still entertaining in this day and age.

Now Robotech wasn’t entirely perfect in this aspect, per se. Through the initial stages of her singing development, it gets repetitive to hear Minmay sing “To Be In Love” again and again when it’s clear the character should be (or in the case of the Japanese series, has been) working on different songs as the show progresses. Luckily, after a point late in the show, she does present different material and the singing scenes more bearable. Other characters (mostly male) do some singing and have mixed results during the Second and Third Robotech Wars.

This brings me to the topic of voice acting. For folks in the modern era who think occasionally some actors do decent or sometimes not-so great vocal work, I have to say you’re lucky as many people in those jobs perform rather well, and / or have competent directors guiding them. From the 90s and 80s on back, many talents were directed to be incredibly high pitched and whiny or speak unnaturally low to emulate the goofy dialog handed to them, sometimes with terrible background music, or at least music that just would never stop. I will definitely say on the whole, the talents in Robotech did very good work, as the ADR was generally age appropriate for the actors’ characters. There were a lot more adults in older shows than there are now, so there aren’t as many people trying too hard to sound like teenagers (while the ones voicing teen characters don’t sound bad at all, actually) and delivery is more believable. Folks such as Tony Oliver, Reba West,Greg Snegoff, and Mike McConohie all sound natural in their roles. Also, Robotech showed characters actually can have memorable conversations with no background music playing, adding to the feel of the moment at hand.

Recall earlier though I said this wasn’t the same version of Robotech I grew up on. That’s in reference to a newer version having been released after ADV Films released the entire series as originally broadcast. Afterward, they released what’s known as “Robotech Remastered: Extended Edition” which combined the original Robotech vocal performances with the footage from their segments Japanese components (including footage that had been deleted due primarily to being too adult for kids television). The foley of the engines and weapons were replaced entirely with new effects though, while the Japanese effects were omitted entirely. Also, each segment had its own set of opening credits with footage from their given show as opposed to the original version which had amalgamated footage in both the opening and closing sequences. This is the version in found in the boxset, and it’s most different for me as an old-school viewer, since the new sounds took a bit of getting used to while watching this go around. To someone who hasn’t seen the previous version, there shouldn’t be as much of an issue here, and I myself got used to the newer audio eventually. Still, although it’d take a bit of an effort to go and re-synch the older audio with the extended footage, I can’t help wishing my childhood version were part of this set, even though I did pick up the original versions on DVD some years back.

Going back to the story aspect for a bit, while most of it was pretty solid, there were aspects that didn’t work at all. In rewriting the scripts so that Robotech could play out congruently with the footage at hand, there weren’t really too many changes to the characters themselves, or to the story that much, for both Macross and The New Generation.  The biggest difference in Macross was in changing the definition of ‘protoculture’ from an ancient race in the Japanese series to an energy source in Robotech. For the New Generation, there’s relatively less change other than a penchant to referring to the events of the previous two wars. However, for Southern Cross’s transition, there are certain events over the beginning of the show introducing the Robotech Masters to Earth and the dialog (and narration) can’t seem to determine if humanity knows who the Masters are or if humanity just knows aliens are coming to invade. There’s very inconsistent writing in the first few episodes here. Also, there’s an episode entitled “Dana’s Story” that was created as a transition piece from The Macross Saga in which Dana tells Bowie about how her parents met. The editors used footage from both shows to tell this story, which was fine, but then later in the episode, there’s a space battle which uses fighter planes that are clearly not introduced until much later in the series, thus creating a bit of a headscratcher for the viewer. Still, outside these elements, the characters develop decently through the show and of the three Robotech stories, this one presents the most violent content showing what happens to ground troops in a war and some pretty unpleasant scenes do take place. Also, Zor’s re-write isn’t too bad considering how he eventually figures into things.

Moving beyond the original series, we come to extra episodes included here. The original dub for Genesis Climber Mospeda episode 1 is on here as the first episode retained the characters Japanese names and is presented with no video enhancement, so the footage still has its vintage look. It’s rather fun to watch from a historical perspective. Equally fun is watching the Macross pilot that was sent to TV stations when Harmony Gold first proposed showing the series. Keep in mind this was done prior to Robotech so while the actors are the same, their vocal cadences are a bit different, as are their the characters’ name changes. There’re apparently two versions in this set. One has the first episode and the masthead altered for American language. The other is completely unaltered with all footage retained from the version and 3 episodes contained here. Again it’s interesting to see how these shows evolved into Robotech eventually as a sort of evolutionary missing link.

On the opposite end are a couple failed efforts at expanding the story. First there’s Robotech: The movie, or Robotech: The Untold Story as it was to be called. This was a movie primarily using footage from Megazone 23 combined with re-edited footage from Southern Cross to create a new side story. However, the project was shelved due to poor reception at a test screening in Dallas, and never seen in the U.S. again.  Due to the fact Megazone 23 is licensed with another company, no footage from it could be used for this set so only the Southern Cross re-edits are presented here, and… well, they just aren’t very good to watch, to be honest. It’s nice to see them here for reference though. Along that same vein is the pilot for Robotech II: The Sentinels, which was supposed to be a brand new series with original animation detailing what happened when the surviving characters of The Macross Saga went into space and ran into The Invid themselves. However, due to various disagreements and lack of funds, only the first three episodes were ever produced, with the rest of the story fleshed out in comics and novels eventually. The pilot presented here is ok, though it’s weird seeing the characters look so different from the original show.

The 2006 original movie Robotech The Shadow Chronicles though was a successful film for Hamony Gold that actually was a pretty decent work in its own right. The story by Thomas J. Bateman, Steve Yun and Tommy Yune initially starts during the final New Generation episodes “Dark Finale” and “Symphony of Light”. The focus characters are Maia Sterling (Max and Mirya’s other daughter who now leads the Skull Squadron) Vince and Jean Grant (Bowie’s parents) and Marcus Rush (brother of Scott Bernard’s fiancé). They work under the command of General Reindhard aboard the SDF-4, which has begun final attack preparations with the main Expeditionary Forces at Earth’s moon. Prior to this, they teamed up with a race called The Haydonites (presumably during the Sentinels storyline) and acquired a stealth technology that makes Veritech fighters invisible to The Invid. Reindhard coordinates efforts with the ground forces attacking the Invid’s headquarters and decides that if all else fails, he will use Neutron-S missiles that will likely destroy all life on Earth (Invid and human alike). As the space battles bflare up, Reindhard gets a transmission from Scott Bernard on Earth (with Greg Snegoff returning to reprise the character) who says the ground battle is going poorly before he’s cut off… The animation is handled by DRMovie (who worked on Macross Plus and Yukikaze) and is a really good mix of 2D cel and 3D CG techniques, very comparable with animation methods of the time.

Robotech Love Live Alive is also present in this set, and… I honestly don’t know what they were thinking here. It’s said to be a project Carl Macek was working on but never got to finish before his passing. He was probably inspired by the Japanese video Mospeda Love Live alive, but the concept for the Robotech one is totally different. This one basically is a clip show as Lancer thinks about the journey he took with Scott and company to their final battle at Reflex Point. There’s only a couple minutes of new footage at the end to show how the characters’ lives turned out (most notably Lancer’s.) As a stand lone, I don’t think I’d have wanted it, but it’s here for the box set so I’m happy to have it for completeness. The one boon though to come from this is the presence of the Japanese Love Live Alive video on this box set. I’d only heard of it in the back section of Robotech Art 1 but didn’t think I would see it released here. Mospeda Love Live alive is a 50 minute music video collection, somewhat similar to the Robotech version but with completely different execution and pretty cool 80s music, similar to Macross: Flashback 2012 and Bubblegum Crisis: Hurricane Live. The removable subtitles don’t hurt a bit besides, and I have to say “Midnight Rider” is a cool song to rock out to.

In Summary: 
I asked earlier two questions. Is Robotech still a good series? I wrote once in a review that a good story remains a good story no matter when it’s told, and I still hold that position after watching this new version of Robotech long after I saw the initial version. Though it’s had some flaws, it’s still a largely well-told space opera with action, romance and character evolution. I’d recommend this set for anyone who wants to watch a good sci-fi show despite the flaws. I also asked if the makers of this set have put together a good product. That answer is a resounding yes. This is an awesome set. I’ve not seen U.S. TV releases that have had the amount of extras this one contains. The retail pricing is around $90 but I’ve seen this available for around $35-$45 in stores and on line. This is one of the best representations of classic American and Japanese television available and is very much a collection I’d recommend grabbing when you can.

Features:
2 New Documentaries (Robotech The Inside Story, The Making of Robotech Love Live Alive), Japanese version of Mospeda: Love Live Alive, Deleted Scenes, Behind the Scenes Featurettes, Alternate Versions of Episodes, Pre-Production Galleries, Rare Promotional Videos and Trailers

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

Released By: Harmony Gold, Lionsgate, A&E Networks, Content
Release Date: November th, 2013
MSRP: $89.98
Running Time: 37 Hours
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1, 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Review Equipment: Panasonic 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Marantz

This installment of the Ten Years Later series is a personally fond one for me to reminisce on. I’ll be focusing on the TV series Hi No Tori, known in the US as The Phoenix.  It’s an anime adaptation of story by “The God Of Manga” Osamu Tezuka. A former medical student turned comic creator, Tezuka revolutionized the methods for which both manga and anime were produced in Japan for more efficiency and better quality. Most of you reading this will be familiar with his best known anime Astro Boy (AKA Tetsuwan Atom), as well as some of his other works such as Kimba The White Lion (Jungle Emperor Leo) and Black Jack.

The Phoenix was Tezuka’s magnum opus series, which took place at various points of humanity’s past and future. Rather than telling a specific moral of any sort, the stories focused on various aspects of human existence, all while people either interacted with, battled for, or pursued a mythical firebird which possessed great wisdom and the ability to bestow immortality. Tezuka had already dabbled in religion and mysticism on other works like Buddha and In The Beginning (his manga adaptation of the Old Testament of the Bible). It was an interesting collection of stories which were seemingly converging on the present. One of them was adapted into a theatrical film in the late 70s. Three others were produced as 50-minute OAV / mini-features in the late 80s with high quality animation for the time.

The stories don’t have much of a message so much as they look at various aspects of human existence and how they can impact us on both physical and abstract levels, somewhat like a metaphysical version of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits. Characters go through things such as resurrection, nuclear war, huge sword battles, immortality, space travel, and great pain and hardship as their stories play out around the pursuit of the Phoenix (or the fleeing from it). One character’s story had him in an unorthodox experiment that made him see robots as people and people as monsters. Another story focuses on a medieval girl raised as a boy, whose violent actions have devastating, time-spanning consequences. A separate story sees a man fall in love with an alien during the craziest of times on Earth.

Ten years ago, veteran anime director Ryosuke Takahashi adapted moments of the Phoenix story into a 13 episode TV series. Before it was broadcast on Japanese TV though, he brought a sample of it to Emory University in Atlanta where he gave a lecture on the history and future of anime, alongside Bandai producer Eiji Sashida who covered the economic aspects. One interesting aspect to the lecture was when Takahashi insisted the translator interpret his words using the term ‘cartoons’ in reference to the anime he spoke of. I came to figure if the man behind Armor Trooper Votoms, SPT Layzner and Blue Gender among other things could use the term ‘cartoons,’ so can I.