This week the 2014 remake of the French film classic La Belle et la Bête, AKA Beauty and the Beast will be available in American theaters. It has English subtitles for those who don’t speak the language although if you know the story you probably won’t need them. Also this week The Girl with All the Gifts is being released in the UK and at Fantastic Fest, going to wide release on October 11th.
The only Western genre title I could find this week was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, a franchise I generally like better in comic/manga form. But I haven’t seen this one yet, I am hoping they finally live up to the promise of their original format.
Anime has Asterisk War Volume 1 which is sadly only the first half of season one of this series. I will be waiting until they release at least a full season, and preferably two, to a single box set before I pick it up. But it is an excellent story you should be watching online while waiting for a real release. Den-noh Coil 2 is the second season about the hidden secrets in the digitally augmented world beyond their VR headsets. With one of their number dead and virtual creatures that act as if they are alive, they only have so much time to unlock the mysteries surrounding them. Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen has the Jun’s from two separate universes getting together to explore how having/not having the combat dolls in their lives changed how it all worked out. Finally, One Piece – Season 8 Voyage 3 brings episodes 481 through 492 of pirate goodness home.
The teaser had me promising to be in the theaters for this one, now that I have seen the third full trailer of Moana there is no doubt where I will be this Thanksgiving. Both the artwork and the CG animation look excellent, and I have already seen enough just from the trailers to know I will enjoy getting to know both of the protagonists.
There do not seem to be any new genre films this week that I can find. There is a new documentary that I have been waiting for: The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years covers the band from 1963 to 1966, and was put together by Ron Howard from a ton of clips, interviews, and found footage. It got 100% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes, and is the first film I have ever seen with that score. I am looking forward to seeing this one on the big screen, it should be fun.
Captain America: Civil War is pretty much it for western movies and TV this week, but if you can only have one, what an excellent choice! Anime doesn’t do any better, having only two titles, neither of them new. Maken-Ki!: Season One is being re-released in a S.A.V.E. edition, and everything from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is being released in an Ultimate Collector’s Edition. That means 28 episodes of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (seasons 1 and 2), 25 episodes of The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya (likewise 2 seasons), 13 episodes of Nyoron! Churuya-san, and 16 episodes of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, along with some artwork and extras, all in a single boxed set for over $100. The good news is, they are also re-releasing each of those titles individually at reduced rates, so if you already have a lot of them, this is a great time to complete your sets. I will be picking up The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan since that is the title I am missing, as an example.
Both sites have made the announcement front page news: Funimation is teaming up with (or perhaps merging with is more accurate) Crunchyroll. They will be sharing titles, with each side playing to their strengths; Crunchyroll continuing to bring you streamed subtitled shows within an hour of their airing in Japan, Funimation using their in house voice acting team to get them dubbed and available streaming in English in just a few weeks, and available for digital downloading or disc purchasing. I haven’t seen any mention of what happens to those of us who own premium memberships with both companies yet, I am hoping the new operation rewards us for years of loyalty with some kind of discount combo membership.