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Something to Watch: DVDs

Lots of good TV out this week, as we get ready to roll into the fall viewing season. Season 3 of Chuck is their strongest season yet, with more guest stars than ever before; No more Mr. Nice Spy! Season 4 hits the tube on Monday, September 20th. Smallville: The Complete Ninth Season finally is out as well this week, with the season 10 premier for that one on Friday, the 24th of September. Also from CWTV, and also with the new season kicking off on Friday the 24th is Supernatural: The Complete Fifth Season.

The miniseries that may turn into a full TV series, The Phantom is another rendition of this classic comic strip into a live action format. Like many of Sci-Fi’s miniseries (and almost none of their made for TV movies) this one is surprisingly better than you are expecting.

From UK TV a couple of classic Whos: Dr. Who: The King’s Demons with Peter Davison as the Doctor, Anthony Ainley as the Master, and Janet Fielding as Tegan. The other Davison story is Doctor Who: Planet of Fire. From an earlier incarnation, Doctor Who: The Creature from the Pit with Tom Baker and Lalla Ward.

On the animation front, and also from the UK, it’s Shaun the Sheep: Party Animals. This series is from the same team that does Wallace and Gromit, and these little gems use virtually no dialog, telling the story visually. The only real new anime title is My Bride Is a Mermaid: Season 1 Part 2, bringing us the balance of the opening season episodes. Both sets of in-laws are dysfunctional to an extreme degree, besides the fact the non-human family are also Yakuza.

Something to Watch: DVDs

There arn’t any movies of note this week, although I did at least like the title of Brainjacked. For TV shows, one solid winner in FlashForward: The Complete Series, although the title might turn out to be a lie since Starz was looking to pick up the series some time ago. Also out this week, season one of The Vampire Diaries, which had that memorable photo shoot on a highway overpass in Georgia. I bet none of that footage will be in the DVD!

For Anime, the complete Black Blood Brothers series hits the shelves Tuesday, bringing the story of the Kowloon Children Wars home. For those who need a score card, the Red Bloods are the humans, and the Black Bloods are the vampires. Also, the Uncut version of Naruto Season 3 is being released. I fail to understand why they couldn’t just release the uncut version at the get-go, but I am betting it had something to do with selling the same episodes to the same people twice. And finally there is a Remastered version of Full Metal Panic: Season 1, one of my favorite Anime series. I have no clues as to what part ws actually remastered, but I figured I should mention it.

Something to Watch: DVD’s

In the too silly to be avoided department, this weeks winner is Ninjas versus Zombies. While I personally won’t be adding this one to my collection, I will watch it when it comes to late night cable. You know with that title someone will be picking it up. It is kind of sad when this is the only movie worth mentioning for the week (unless something sneaked past me).

Live action TV series did much better, with Lost: The Complete Sixth and Final Season finally being available. Which also means that Lost: The Complete Collection will be on the shelves as well, for anyone who hasn’t been collecting the seasons one by one.

I am happy to be able to report that Red vs. Blue: Recreation, Season 7 is also being released this week. That only leaves one more season before all of them are available as well, and this series is my favorite Machinima program.

In Anime, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 2 completes season two of this excellent paratemporal Steampunk story. A series I have not run into before, Persona -trinity soul-2 is also being released. I missed the release of the first half of the series in July as well somehow. This one is Subbed, not Dubbed, and features a series of mysteries to be solved in a futuristic city. If you prefer your action on galactic scale battlegrounds, then Tytania: 1 may be just what you’re looking for. This box set is the first 13 episodes of the series, with the second half to release separately later.

Something to Watch: DVD’s

I never thought I would be saying this, but they actually made a sequel to Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, called The Lost Skeleton Returns Again. The key points of this release in the IMDB Writeup seem to be that the returning actors are wearing the same clothes, and the director promised not to make another sequel. With luck it will be as funny as the first one.

I have been looking forward to the release of The Good, The Bad, The Weird since it hit a limited theater run earlier this year. This is a cowboy train robbery movie that takes place in the Chinese Wild West (Manchuria to you and me), with multiple groups including Korean Outlaws, Chinese Bandits, and the Japanese Army all going after the treasure. If it is a fraction as good as the trailer it should be a hoot, and funny besides.

Another one I have been anticipating is the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2 complete collection. There is some debate on whether it comes out this week (one site puts it as far back as September 14th), and no indication as yet whether it includes the feature film, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. But I really do like the storyline, and season one had what may be my favorite song used in an Anime (at least in the top ten), God Bless.


There are a few darker releases this week; Casshern Sins continues the classic tale already presented with both a live action feature film and an animated TV series, about the cyborg who murdered the moon but may offer redemption and salvation to the robotic populace. Shigofumi: Letters from the Departed tells the animated tale of Kanaka (a talking walking staff) and Fumika (I’m not dead yet) as the Shigofumi Mail Carriers delivering messages of hate and love from the dead to the living. This rather strange and macabre series is Subbed, not Dubbed. I have always thought that which is better changes from one series or film to the next, and is a function of the fidelity of the translation and the quality of both sets of the voice actors.

Something to Watch: DVD’s

I have been waiting for a decade or two to be able to add Max Headroom: The Complete Series to my collection. Depending which web site you believe, this will either be available the 3rd or the 10th of August, but that is a small detail compared to the 1984 to 1987 initial programming dates. As near as I can tell, this box set is only the 14 episode US TV series, which was much wimpier than the original BBC4 TV Movie, and completely different than the BBC TV series. But it is more Max Headroom than has ever been previously available, so it is a great start! Set your TVs for 23 minutes into the future.

On the Movie front, Clone Hunter looks to be an easily forgotten film presentation, but our only option at the moment. I suspect I will pass on this one.

Master of Martial Hearts, the complete series is almost more of an OVA, weighing in at 5 episodes. The 11 women protagonists battle it out for a shot at The Platonic Heart, which is a jewel that can grant wishes. With the tag line The Gloves Aren’t The Only Things Coming Off this series is not designed for younger viewers. Also out this week, Project Blue Earth SOS the complete series is a tale of alien invasion, now in a low cost S.A.V.E. version.

If you are a fan of stop motion animation in general or Robot Chicken in particular, you might want to check out another Adult Swim title, Titan Maximum season 1. This one is a Giant Mecha parody.