The winner in films this week is Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, one of the best artificial intelligence movies I have ever seen. TV has Grimm: Season 4 with more Wessen intrigue and mystery, as the story line gets more convoluted with each episode. If you are more into temporally displaced bodice rippers, then Outlander: Season One, Part 2 concludes the first season. I suppose I should also mention iZombie: Season 1 is out this week, but I’m not sure I want to. I suppose I should watch an episode and see if it is any good.
In Anime Bleach: Season 26 brings us episodes 355 through 366 of the continuing epic of the Soul Reapers. For those who have been counting, that means we are finally getting Bleach releases up to date with the episodes that are streaming, but it took years to get there. Nobunaga the Fool: Collection 2 sees the Eastern Star on the cusp of full-scale interstellar war.
Go Nagai is one of the most prolific creators of anime, coming up with entire genres that never existed before. In 1991 he did it again in the OVA Go Nagai World; if you ever wonder where Chibi characters came from, wonder no longer. In these three episodes he transferred a number of his most popular protagonists to a deformed world where their bodies were seriously misshapen, and they spent the rest of the story line trying to return to normal. The other classic being released this week is Super Dimension Century Orguss, made back in 1983/1984 as part of the Super Macross series of space adventures. What makes this release notable is in its only previous US release back in 2007 only the first 7 episodes of the total 35 episodes had an English voice track, with the rest being subtitled. This time the first 17 episodes are dubbed, and there is a good chance the original voice actors did the next 10, since they appeared on stage together at this years MacrossWorld Convention to make an exciting announcement.
Durarara!! x 2 (#1) is out this week, but it is way overpriced for a single series, and it isn’t even that; it is only the first 6 episodes of the second series, which is already streaming episode 24. I will be watching this one online for the foreseeable future.