Daisuki is an online streaming service created by a consortium of Japanese Anime companies. Some of the titles they are streaming this season include Sword Art Online II, the Irregular at Magic High School, and M3 the Dark Metal. It has taken them almost a year, but finally the first Daisuki App is available for the iPad or iPhone (word is they will have an Android version available soon). Unlike many of the premium streaming services, you don’t actually need a paid account to get to watch programs from them. You will still be limited to their free programs, or the first few free episodes from some of their paid programs, of course. But you only need a free registration from their web site to use their app, which puts them head and shoulders above most such applications, which require a paid subscription. And since even the free registration log in to their app allows you to stream a ton of videos not available anywhere else, you can’t really go wrong by signing up for this.
The second Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian world premiere actually took place at the Smithsonian in DC, which was totally appropriate. The third film in the series takes place at the British Museum, so I can make a good guess where its premiere will be held. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb doesn’t seem to have a home page yet, but it won’t be hitting the big screen until December, so there is still time. I really do like this franchise, and I am quite happy they didn’t just make one movie and give up on the concept. In fact, it should be good for another 50 or so films, when you look at how many museums there are in the world of the caliber of the ones they started with.
TMNT, better known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, gets yet another reboot, and considering how kick ass the source material is, it well deserves it. I also suspect this may be the first time Michael Bay has made a movie for Nickelodeon, and it is certainly the first time I have been looking forward to seeing a Nickelodeon movie. I don’t feel the other Shinobe release this week, Ninja Apocalypse, is in anywhere near the same level of quality, and I will therefor ignore it.
In movies, Veronica Roth’s #1 best-selling novel-turned-movie Divergent holds pride of place. A lesser known film, I’ll Follow You Down, looks to be a very interesting time travel story, somewhere between Safety Not Guaranteed and π. While I don’t see anything genre coming out in TV, I do have to mention that Top Gear 21 is becoming available, since that is always a fun show to watch.
In Anime, Katsuhiro Otomo has done it again. in 1995 his anthology Memories collected the short works of a number of animator/directors who were about to take over the Anime world of their day. Here it is a generation later, and he does it again with a new crop of award winning creators in Short Peace, just as amazing as the first collection. BTW, the Japanese version of that web site has a lot more information with a better trailer set, and a lot of it is in English. If you don’t already know about Katsuhiro Otomo, his Manga creations include Domu, Akira, Batman: Black & White #4, and Hipira: The Little Vampire, while his Anime creations include Akira (yes, he got to do his own Manga as an Anime, and he did it right), Neo Tokyo, Robot Carnival, Metropolis, Steam Boy, and Mushishi. He was both screenwriter and director on everything except Metropolis (he only wrote that one), and I should probably mention that was the 2006 live action version of Mushishi. If you haven’t seen any of those, do yourself a favor and watch them all soon.
Sengoku Collection takes place in a parallel Earth where a magical battle rages for world domination. Suddenly the primary characters from both sides, generals of the Warring States period reincarnated with completely different appearances, personalities, and genders, are transported to our own version of the planet, where they have to contend with technology they don’t understand. Some adjust better than others, and one is determined to get home at any cost. Freezing: The Complete First Season is a story about Pandoras, the genetically enhanced schoolgirls with enough superhuman strength to slaughter aliens, and their Limiters, partners in the battle to save the Earth. If they don’t do serious bodily harm to each other first. This has previously been released, but this is it’s first time under the Anime Classics Funimation imprint, which means you can get it for half the previous price, and only about $6 more than their S.A.V.E. editions run.
This is Airship Pirates, performed live by Abney Park in Moscow, Russia, earlier this year (2014). And just because one is never enough, here are two more tracks from the show that night; Katyusha and Aether Shanties. I do love me some Steampunk music.
Ready for this time travel story about war and the need for continuity across the centuries? Have a free glimpse of Outlander episode 1, and see if you don’t want to join the party. I found it quite tasty and I think you will too. Visualize it as Highlander with a Tardis.