There isn’t any western genre that I could find, but Simon Pegg’s A Fantastic Fear of Everything is finally being released in the US on Disc (previously available as an all-format import or streaming on Netflix). In Anime, Kizumonogatari Part 2 Nekketsu becomes available Tuesday, but at $69 for a 68 minute animation I think I will pass. It should be noted that Momotaro, Sacred Sailors is being released in the US Tuesday, possibly for the first time ever. That was the first feature length animation produced in Japan, and it helped pave the way for Anime. Sharing the blue ray box is Spider & Tulip, another WWII era animation, although I am not clear if both of them were financed by the Navy Ministry of Japan, or only the former, but they are worth seeing for their historical significance.
We get a new animation from Studio Ghibli with The Red Turtle, a brilliant story which needs no dialog to make its meaning known. MindGamers is a story about true possibilities for neural networks to interface to the wetware in our skulls, and not all the potentials are positive things. This one played in theaters across the country on a single night, if you missed it here is your next chance to catch it. A Dog’s Purpose is based on the book of the same name, and is included because reincarnation comes under the heading of fantasy in some cultures, and therefor genre.
Anime has a confusing entry today, with One Piece Movie: Gold and One Piece: Heart of Gold both coming out, two completely different animations. The live action Black Butler: The Movie is coming out this week as well, two hours of demonic butler revenge saga! Grimgar: Ashes & Illusions contains the complete series of amnesiac adventurers lost in a fantastic world. Season 2, part 2 of Garo: Crimson Moon continues the trials of the commoners exposed to the depredation of the demons and monsters that roam the night, while the rich and powerful stay safe inside the shielded part of the city. Only the wearers of the Golden Armor fight to protect them, and they can not be everywhere at once. Nurse Witch Komugi R is the complete collection of Magical Girl/Idol turned Nurse (Magical Nurse turned Idol? Nurse Idol turned Magical Girl? I don’t watch this series, so I am noticeably vague on the details) stories. I also have to mention the re-release of the classic Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, a classic from the Gundam Universe that was a subplot of the primary story from 1996 to 1999.
The next chapter in the Lycan/Vampire Wars comes out this week in the form of Underworld: Blood Wars. The Girl with All the Gifts, based on the book by M. R. Carey will also be on the shelves come Tuesday. Strangely, the one I really want to see this time around isn’t genre: La La Land. In Anime Asterisk War: The Academy City on the Water is an excellent series, but with Part 4 holding only 6 episodes yet running at $55, I will definitely be watching it streaming online rather than adding it to the collection. Snow White with the Red Hair brings out Season 2 of the fairy tale, which at least is realistically priced.
Everything seems to be animated this week. It is always a treat to get a new title from Studio Ghibli, Ocean Waves is available this week for the first time in the US. It was made in 1993 as a TV anime, but at 152 minutes long rates as a mini-series. In anime, My Hero Academia: Season 1 has a hoard of high school students with superpowers, and a guy who enrolled in the most prestigious school for Heroes with no powers at all. Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle: Complete Collection has mechanical dragons used for aerial combat, with the prince and princess from adjacent kingdoms battling it out to see who gets Top Gun status, at least at first. Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA is another season of those girls with guns getting into more trouble, and in Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid you cannot separate the women from the weapons.
The best movie this time is a true story: Hidden Figures has to be one of the best films of the year, or last year at least. If you haven’t seen it yet, now is your chance! Mars: Season One is a mini-series presented on National Geographic all about the upcoming Mars Colonization project. Monster Trucks is silly fun for the entire family, a very friendly invasion indeed. And then there is Tangled: Before Ever After Volume 1, an animated prequel; the production values on this one are way below the original films (1930s at the most recent, it appears), but they are at least trying to tell a new story.
In Anime, Is the Order a Rabbit?? – Season 2 brings us lots more silly fun, and Toriko: Parts 1-4 contains the first 50 episodes (4 seasons, or one year, depending on how you prefer to count) of the ultimate food porn combat comedy! I think the streaming service is up to episode 148 or so at the moment, to put that in perspective.
The number one box office sensation of 2016 in Japan finally comes to US theaters this weekend: Makoto Shinkai’s masterpiece Your Name. That’s the one I intend to see, but another interesting option is Colossal, about a woman connected to a gigantic alien trashing downtown Seoul (because I guess it couldn’t afford the ticket to make it to Tokyo, which has a rich cultural heritage of being trampled by giant monsters). Actually, I might have to see them both this weekend.