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Something to Watch: DVDs, 31Dec13

Shaolin Warrior comes very close to being genre, since all martial arts movies are fantasy films at heart. I don’t mean because of the various gods and demons that sometimes populate them, that is a matter of personal belief and spiritual worldview. I am referring to the superhero-like powers the fighters have, which enable them to do many things on a par with Captain America, Thor, or Spider Man. The other movie that looks interesting this week is CBGB, a movie about the punk scene centered around the legendary club n New York.

In TV there is a BAFTA-nominated fantasy/supernatural program focused on teens called Wolfblood. They are high school aged werewolves who must hide what they are even from their closest friends, or their entire specie may be hunted down and killed. Like being in high school wasn’t stressful enough. This release is the first season of the CBBC series, hopefully season 2 will be along soon.

In Anime, So I Can’t Play H: Complete Collection is not the most subtle series you will run across (Hint: in these kind of titles, the H always stands for Hentai). This is about a teenage boy who makes a deal with a Shinigami to let her use some of his essence to stay in this world, but instead of taking years off his life like a normal goddess of death would do, she drains off his lecherous libido. Now he has to figure out how to get those feelings back, or he will completely miss out on a major aspect of any mans youth. Fate/Zero: Complete 2nd Season continues the epic of the Holy Grail Wars, with Zero being (rather confusingly) the 4th such war, but the first one to take place.

Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians is the third series in the original martial arts with exploding clothes franchise. Each of these high school students is the reincarnation of one of the most famous martial artists from throughout history, and they will battle it out to see who is the best. Chrono Crusade is coming out in a S.A.V.E. edition, which means if you shop around you can pick up the entire series about the premiere Combat Nun of the 1920s (and her demon sidekick) for around $20.

Something to Watch: DVDs, 17Dec13

Looks like some excellent selections were held back for last minute shopping opportunities. In movies, Elysium would stand out on its own merits anyways, but it has to be about the only time Jodi Foster got to be the bad guy, at least that I have seen. And even though it doesn’t stand up to District 9, his previous work, for originality (that’s what happens when they hand you a corporate run big budget; too many folks have a vote in what you can and can’t do), Neill Blomkamp still did a quality job within the constraints they saddled him with. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters was a great YA book, and I am pleased to see they didn’t just stop with the first Percy Jackson story; with any luck, they will continue to go through converting all of the books to feature films. The comic-book-to-movie installment of Kick-Ass 2 continued the franchise’s tradition of having over-the-top actors in the adult superhero role, with the underage superheroes being the sane ones. Scary thought, that, but it definitely seems to work for them.

While I only believed The Lone Ranger to be genre within a certain narrow range before this movie came out, Johnny Depp completely changed the dialog for the story. I consider this the best Lone Ranger tale ever, quite the fitting reboot for what has always been an American classic series. And for those wondering why I considered it genre at all, it is twofold. First, you have the whole ghost who walks thing of the Spirit Warrior who can not be killed (not to be confused with The Phantom, that is a whole different Ghost Who Walks). The second reason is the Lone Ranger had a nephew named Dan Reid, who grew up to be a captain of industry, and had a son named Britt Reid, also known as the Green Hornet. The same authors created both series, I always liked the fact that they linked them together that way. Ghost Team One is a comedy horror movie, but after I have said that, I have nothing to add. Except that this one will not be following me home.

We don’t have anything directly genre in TV, but Burn Notice: Season Seven is coming out, as is Burn Notice: The Complete Series. For western animation, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is good silly fun (and it comes with a 3D version).

In Anime, Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero is a cautionary tale of what Happily Ever After might devolve into. Akatsuki has saved the fairy tale kingdom and escaped home with his prize, Miu (daughter of the Demon King); and that’s where their real problems begin. In what one would think would almost be a related series (but isn’t), Blue Exorcist: The Movie has the son of Satan out to eradicate demonic forces the world over. Dad wouldn’t be proud.

Vividred Operation: Complete Collection shows what kind of world will result from a peaceful use of technology to solve the Earth’s energy problems, when that solution is attacked from space, and only a team of 14 year old girls can protect our planet. Like so many other shows, you can watch it on Crunchyroll if you prefer. The Pet Girl of Sakurasou is a twisty little story that leaves us wondering who will wind up on who’s leash, but finding that out is a fun ride. It is hard to describe Di Gi Charat beyond the fact that she is an alien who came to Earth to break into the music industry, but trust me when I say she gets in lots of trouble. Hopefully you will find something interesting in this collection; enjoy!

Something to Watch: DVDs, 10Dec13

I usually hit movies first, but Day Of The Doctor gets the number one spot this time around. This is after all the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who Special, and definitely had more Doctors than any other episode. While we are on the topic of TV, I should mention Futurama: Volume 8 and Futurama: The Complete Series will both be hitting the shelves this week.

Another break from my normal structure; I usually do live action movies first, but Despicable Me 2 has to start out the movie presentations this week. It was way too much fun, and you just can’t have too many minions. The other movies worth mentioning have either Cantonese or Mandarin as their primary sound track, including Man of Tai Chi. Note that that is the second Asian-centric film Keanu Reeves has starred in this year, and the first one he has directed. Saving General Yang takes place in 986 AD, and involves the famous Yang Family Generals. For something different, The Rooftop seems to be a Taiwan gangland musical with lots of singing, dancing, and fighting. It looks like a fun film to check out.

In Anime, Bleach: Season 19 brings us up to episode 279. To put that in perspective, they are up to episode 366 streaming from Japan, so the DVDs are finally starting to catch up with the streaming sources. Another returning favorite is Fairy Tail: Part 7, bringing episodes 73 through 84, and they are also releasing Fairy Tale: The Movie this week, so you get a double dose.

Btooom!: The Complete Series is about a combat game which suddenly changed when the 7 best players in the world were kidnapped, and woke up on an island with a bag of bombs each and holes in their memories; now they have to kill each other off and be the last one standing to escape, or so they are lead to believe. Finally, in the main series, a bunch of friends had their bodies repeatedly swapped so they never knew who they were going to be next, had their ages change at random, and had their desires overwhelm them and take control, all being done to them by an outside force. Now, in Kokoro Connect: OVA Collection, their inner emotional state is suddenly being projected into one of their friends, including phobias and suppressed desires, sometimes with near lethal results.

Happy Birthday Doctor Who

More coverage, this time with a glimpse of the crowd in the rather cattle-car waiting area they kept us standing in for a couple of hours. They could have just opened the doors and let us sit down, but that didn’t happen. That was just about the only part of the event I found less than entertaining, everything else about the event was excellent.

Lady Gaga and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

Yes, it really happened several days ago; Lady Gaga and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu shared a stage on the hit Japanese music program Music Station, and it was hard to say who was more Kawaii. It was also hard to say what they thought about each other, at least from this bit of footage. Considering no one has a face in a Kyary Pamyu Pamyu video except Kyary Pamyu Pamyu herself, my bet would be she was not happy that someone else was taking center stage on the Kawaii platform, but this is only a small slice out of the show. I haven’t seen it myself yet, but hopefully the DVR has captured it and I will be able to watch it and come to a much more informed conclusion. The show airs on Friday nights in Japan, on Sunday in the US for those with NHK Premium. It is the one Japanese rock show that musicians from all over the world drop in to sing one of their songs while they are touring the country, and all the best J-Pop bands hit as often as they can arrange (AKB48 are pretty much the show regulars). Thanks to Crunchyroll for the heads up on this one.