Toriko looks to be silly fun, with a bit of old-school animation. Japan in general, and Tokyo in particular, has always had a population of oversized beasts of various kinds (Insects, Lizards, and Amphibians) roaming the countryside and stomping on buildings. Toriko is the legendary Gourmet Hunter, out to capture and kill these creatures and eat them, while Komatsu is the timid chef who’s goal it is to turn them into diner, one after the other. Episode one of the series aired in Japan a few nights ago on the 14th of April at 6PM PST, and new episodes become available each week at that time, being simulcast on both Funimation and Hulu.
Top of the list this week is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. There is a related package release covering multiple movies, but to me it makes sense to wait until you can get them all in a single box, if you have not been picking up each one as it comes out.
Ga Rei Zero is the story of the Paranormal Disaster Countermeasure Headquarters, a team used by the Japanese Ministry of Defense to protect the homelands from threats supernatural and paranormal. After a disastrous encounter they find themselves at risk of being absorbed into an equivalent organization reporting to the Ministry of the Environment. Also out this week, Needless Collection 2 takes place in the mutant ghettos after WWIII.
Ga-Rei-Zero will be released this Tuesday; here is a taste…
Topping the list this week is Tron: Legacy, the absolute must-add for every collection. This one really did deliver after the 30 year wait for the sequel. Also out this week is The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third book in C.S. Lewis’s classic series to be converted to a movie. While it was also the third book published in that series, it is the 5th book in the internal chronology of the series. I am not sure if they intend to convert all of the books, but they are at work on the next one. The Australian film Beauty and the Beast: A Dark Tale didn’t get much time in the theaters in this country when it came out last year, but now those of us in the US finally have a chance to see it with it’s DVD release.
The TV show of note is a full series box set of Babylon 5, one of the best TV shows ever made. Brainchild of J. Michael Straczynski, this 5 year story arc told an amazingly complex tale of a war cycle that flared up every ten thousand years or so, and did it in a way that made you care about each character, loving some and hating others. This has been out for a long time as individual season box sets, but this is the first time it has been compiled into a single package.
I should mention that we do have one entry this week in the wacky conspiracy theory category: Kubrick’s Odyssey: Part 1 Kubrick & Apollo. Trust me when I say even though this one appears at first glance to be a documentary, it is the purest of science fiction of the parallel timelines/alternate history variety. At no time did Stanly Kubrick every run the Apollo Program, or film any moon landings.
On the Anime front, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 4 brings the next 13 episodes of the series. Edward is still trying to retrieve his missing limbs and Alphonse’s entire body in this Alchemy driven Steampunk story spread out across multiple timelines. This is one of the better Animes made in the last handful of years, and if you are not familiar with it you could always watch it online to get an idea of what it is about.
From some of the same creators, and released in the US through the same distribution house as F.M. Alchemist, Hero Tales: Part 1 and Part 2 are also becoming available this week. This is more of a fantasy, where fate and the Gods have decreed a conflict that legendary heroes leading the tribes of men must resolve. Again, you can watch episodes at the series home page to decide if this is something for your collection.
Finally, Strike Witches – Complete First Season is being re-released as a Viridian Collection box set, so you should be able to find a more affordable price tag if you haven’t already put this one on your shelves.
It has been a bit of a fight today trying to find something to blog about. One of my favorite stories, and I really hope it is true, is about Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner-like TV show. The only other Philip K. Dick TV series I know about was the wonderfully done Total Recall 2070 made in the ’90s and run on Showtime in this country. It is a bit hard to find the series on DVD (mostly because they haven’t released it except for the pilot), but you can always watch it on Hulu. This being April Fools Day, however, I am not going to trust any source posted today. Luckily, yesterday it was announced that the BBC has ordered more Dirk Gently episodes. So far they have only aired the pilot episode of this dramatization of everyone’s favorite Douglas Adams detective, and the new order is only for three more of them, but that is still four more than I had expected to see. Now to start the letter writing campaign to BBC America to get them to pick it up.
The first full length season 6 Doctor Who trailer went online very shortly ago (it had 302 views when I got to the web page, so its fresh!). It looks like its going to be another exciting season, and thanks to io9 for the heads up on this one.