Two weeks into the new Anime season, and I already have a few favorites, with Izetta: The Last Witch topping the list. It is the early days of WWII Europe in a parallel timeline, with Germany blitzing over the surrounding countries one after another, and the Austrian princess trying desperately to make it to England to sign a mutual defense treaty. The twist is, this universe had a race of magic users, and the lone survivor is a childhood friend of the Princess, and not a fan of the government of those who inflicted that genocide. The first episode grabbed me within the first 5 minutes, the second was better than the first, and while that is no promise that it will keep delivering at that level I like what they have done so far. The Simulcast is on Saturdays at 11:45am EDT, I will be checking it out each weekend. Sadly, the legitimate trailer I found for it is way too short to give you a feel for what they are doing, so you should just go watch the first episode.
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The first trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Trollhunters project is out, and it is tasty. The animation work is by Dreamworks, so you know it is good, and the voice cast is world class, and includes Kelsey Grammer and Ron Perlman. The main character Jim was voiced by the late Anton Yelchin, at least for the trailer, and further demonstrates just how versatile he was. The production is another Netflix Original Series, and will begin playing on December 23rd.
Ever wonder what The Great Wall was built to protect them from? Starring Matt Damon in Zhang Yimou’s (Hero, House of Flying Daggers) first English Language movie, this is supposed to be the largest film ever shot entirely in China. It will be on the big screen in February, and I will be in the theater for this one.
Shin Gojira AKA Godzilla Resurgence is in theaters as of tomorrow, and runs for one week. On Friday Max Steel is the combination of human Max McGrath and alien Steel, who become the superhero when they have to. This is a spinoff of a TV series based on an action figure, so it is somewhat Transformers-like in its genesis. Considering it was filmed in the Carolina’s and the toy company producing the movie is Mattel, I am not sure why the only official web site I could find for it is in Japan.
The re-imaging of Ghostbusters becomes available this week, starring four very gifted and funny women. Approaching the Unknown is a story about the first mission to Mars, which in this version has a single expedition member. The most recent iteration of The Legend of Tarzan was a solid example of the franchise, but it just didn’t speak to me the way some of the work done in the 40s and 50s did. We also get an animation this time around, Ice Age: Collision Course being every bit as funny as the previous four entries in that series. I loved the visual of the proto-squirrel being carried away in an alien’s flying saucer that was the heart of every trailer I saw.
In Anime, Wish Upon the Pleiades: Complete Collection puts a bunch of magical girls in a spacecraft and sends them into the skies to retrieve pieces of a destroyed alien ship. And Level E: Complete Series is coming out in a S.A.V.E. edition, for those who haven’t picked it up yet.
Just posted online last week, Yolo is the latest track from BAND-MAID, Japans leading Kawaii Heavy Metal band. OK, that last statement is up for debate, with bands like Baby Metal and Doll$ Boxx in the running for that title. Yolo is also the name of their second single, in this case a single with four songs, which will be released in November. They are doing their Brand New MAID Release Tour right now, tonight playing in Mexico, with stops in London and Germany later this week. The second track is The Non-fiction Days from last April, the third is Before Yesterday from June. Those last two are from their third mini-album Brand New MAID, and I am sure they will be doing all eight songs from it tonight, along with a lot of others.