One of the more interesting Anime’s for the new winter season, LAGRANGE -The Flower of Rin-ne from Viz Media. Here is a taste to get you started…
In movies we have a very interesting historical epic, 1911, staring Jackie Chan, Bingbing Li, and Joan Chen, amongst others. It tells the story of the defeat of the warlord fueled empire and the near-unification of China (there were still pockets owned by the British, Japanese, etc.) just after the turn of the last century. Jackie Chan is also the director for this film, bringing yet another slice of history to the world in the form of a story you can care about, as he has done so often of late. I think in the long term these productions will stand out as his legacy, and I find it ironic that the slapstick kung-fu comedies that we all know and love has been what has given him the financial backing he needed to create this series.
And then there is The Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption, which would be a direct to video release, except it looks like it will also be in a few theaters the week after the DVD is released. The cast does include Billy Zane and Ron Perlman, who between them probably account for a noticeable percentage of the 6 million dollar budget. This is a sequel of a prequel to a sequel of a remake, and I will not be holding my breath in hopes it will be watchable. Three guesses which movie will be coming home with me this week.
The winner in TV this time around hands down is Primeval: Volume Three. The title is a bit confusing, since most folks (and even Amazon, it appears) might think it meant season 3. But volume 1 was season 1 and 2, volume 2 was season 3, and volume 3 brings us season 4 and 5. There is also a quality documentary available, Nova: Finding Life Beyond Earth, from my favorite PBS science show. We may be on the verge of finding out if we are alone or not, and this episode gives you all the latest updates.
One amusing release for western animation in the form of Penguins of Madagascar: Operation Blowhole, doing a great animated James Bond parody.
For true anime, Akikan! – Complete Collection fits the bill, with a unique Japanese concept; inanimate objects as characters. This time around the soda cans are also people, and there is a bit of a war on between the Iron and Aluminum Can tribes. I am sure it will be no surprise to discover the cans become beautiful girls in their anthropomorphic form. Finally, Tweeny Witches – Complete Collection explores how an un-magical human and her two magical best friends team up to take control of their lives.
The one movie of note this week is In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds, a followup to a surprisingly good direct to DVD first video. The first one had a decent amount of star power, this one has Dolph Lundgren as the modern day time traveling protagonist who ends up in a medieval war against evil sorcerers. I think I can do better dragon CGI on my home computer, but other than that this one looks like fun.
In TV we also have a single entry this week: The Nine Lives of Chloe King Volume 1. This one aired on ABC Family, and involves a high school girl who gets killed in the first episode, unleashing her superpowers. This series is a lot like watching a high school remake of Charmed, and they accurately hit their target audience of 13 to 17 year old girls; the appeal outside of that demographic is limited. You can watch full episodes on their official web site (linked above) if you want to see if this one might be for you.
Anime is where this weeks releases come into there own, with several new programs, and a number of old favorites being re-released in more cost effective packaging. To start,
Fairy Tail – Combo Pack Part 2 is the next installment about the most dangerous team in the Wizards Guild, sometimes as dangerous to themselves as to the demons they go up against, and definitely as good at generating collateral damage on the surrounding terrain and inhabitants as Dirty Pair ever was.
Himawari Too!! – Complete Collection likewise continues the story of the student kunoichi (female ninja’s, or perhaps ninjette’s, in English) as they go up against alien invasions, bubblegum maniacs, and evil broccoli. This one is just a tad surreal, more than a little bit silly, and a whole lot of fun. It is not my place to tell you about Viper GTS, the third new release for the week; if you know what it is and want a copy, you no doubt know where to find it.
The bargain editions in more cost effective packages I mentioned, the [S.A.V.E.] (for Super Amazing Value Editions) set, we have Heroic Age – The Complete Series, the Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor – The Complete Series, and D.Gray-man Season 1. If you shop around, you can pick any one of them up for less than $20.
I was rather surprised to find there isn’t much new coming out this week for last minute x-mas gifting, but there is one masterpiece: Futurama: Volume 6. I have always loved this show, and it continues to be high quality sci-fi humor.
Another show worth looking into is Rosario + Vampire: Season One, and Rosario + Vampire: Capu2, which means you can collect the entire series up at the same time. The basic plot is a normal human kid gets accidentally enrolled in a high school for monsters, and ends up with a vampire girlfriend. Plenty of comedy and fan service in this one, as there is in the other new anime for the week: Heaven’s Lost Property – Season 1 Complete. In that one a girl crazy high school boy has a wish granting winged girl fall out of the sky and into his life. She interprets his wishes in some bizarre ways not being used to humans, with pretty comedic results.
Strangely enough, I found no live action releases this week; I think that is the first time that has ever happened.
This may be one of the most surreal young musical artists to come out of Japan for a long time: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Her songs have one hell of a lot of energy and are very upbeat (at least musically; I don’t speak enough of the language to know if that holds up lyrically) and perhaps the most kaiwaii live action sequences every filmed. After the two songs, a brief interview to give you an idea of what else she is up to.
There is a new feature length film coming out in the Elric family saga, Fullmetal Alchemist : The Sacred Star of Milos. The video is more of a tease than a trailer, and the film will have a limited theatrical run, but this is still exciting news. If you don’t already know all about this modern classic, stop by their official Funimation site to watch some episodes and bring yourself up to speed on this paratime/steampunk romp. Thanks to Crunchyroll for the heads up on this one.