From the folks who are doing Once Upon A Time, another twisty little show, this time redoing Alice for modern times: Once Upon A Time In Wonderland. It hits the small screen (OK, not so small for those who have 4K TVs with a huge screen, but lots of us are still watching in SD) on October 10th on ABC. It tends to look like the creators watched the Syfy channel’s Alice and said “I could do that, but with an American accent”, but I really don’t care. I will watch any variation of a classic by Lewis G. Carrol, Frank L. Baum, Edgar Rice Burroughs, or a select few other writers from the 1800s, and enjoy them no matter where they take them.
World War Z is the US movie this time around with actual high speed zombies who could really catch you when they chased you. The Hong Kong offering this time around is The Last Tycoon, not genre but pretty good.
In TV we have season 1 of Arrow, which was the best new Broadcast TV show of last year in my book. Season 2 rolls out on the CW on October 9th, and I am looking forward to it. We also get Grimm: Season Two, the best new broadcast TV show from the year before that. And to complete this weeks set, we have The Mentalist: The Complete Fifth Season, kind of a near-genre show what with it’s Not A Psychic screaming through the bullhorn.
In Anime, Sword Art Online: Aincrad Part 2 picks up two years after everyone was trapped in the murderous game, and the challenges get more deadly the further up through the levels they go. The Future Diary, parts 1 and 2 also comes out this week. 12 people now have diaries on their cell phones that can tell them of events in the future, and they are in a race to see which of them can use that foreknowledge to become a god. Only one can win; the rest will die, repeatedly, as their glimpses of the future always include their own deaths. Trust me when I say that even though these two anime’s are not lighthearted, they are both very, very good.
Michiko & Hatchin is also being released with both parts 1 and 2 coming out on the same day. A sexy prison escapee rescues an abused girl, and their lives become entangled as they search for the man in their past they have in common.Naruto Shippūden: The Lost Tower is a feature film length story that has Naruto traveling back in time, visiting ancient civilizations, and getting in trouble while trying to save the day. Finally, Golgo 13: Complete Collection puts all 50 episodes of the TV series starring the assassin’s assassin in a single box set. Mind, there are also two live action movies, an animated feature film, an OVA, a radio play, and six video games all for the same character. Every one of these is based on the Manga Golgo 13, which is the oldest manga still in publication, having started in 1969.
What looks to be another interesting show from the CW, The 100 is about human survivors in orbit around Earth after a nuclear confrontation. When the radiation dies down a little and the nuclear winter ends, they collect up 100 juvenile delinquents, throw them in an orbital lander, and fire them at the Earth. The goal is to see how many of them survive, because the orbital habitats are over populated after 3 generations, and they are running out of resources rapidly. I do not know what the expected broadcast date is, although Murphy’s Law says it is probably some time next week, next month, or next year.
Star Trek Into Darkness starts us off this week, continuing the excellent J.J. Abrams reboot of the franchise. I would buy a 4K TV to watch this on, if I didn’t need to eat or pay rent for the next few years, it was just that good. I am going to count Delete as a movie, since it was a miniseries on a cable system channel about movies called Reelz. Seth Green and Matt Frewer have to save the world when the internet wakes up and decides humans are dangerous and unnecessary. The Last Keepers is a family friendly show about a young woman who discovers all the women in her family have mysterious powers; the trailer looks great and the cast is very impressive, but I couldn’t find a home page for it. I won’t bother to mention Frankenstein’s Army.
In TV, Supernatural: The Complete 8th Season looks like the best bet this week, although Castle: The Complete 5th Season is a lot of fun even if it isn’t genre.
In Anime, Blue Exorcist: The Complete 2nd Season continues the battle between demons and humans with episodes 13 through 25. Our protagonist Rin is on trial at the Vatican to determine if he will be imprisoned or inducted into their anti-demon army. Bleach: Season 18 brings us up to episodes 256 through 267 as the Soul Reapers continue their never ending battles with things that would destroy humans.
Last Exile: Fam, The Silver Wing comes out as two box sets, parts 1 and 2, totaling 21 episodes. This is the sequel to The Last Exile, in which the Earth was restored and a long war ended through Steampunk Mad Science. In this series, those who survived remaining behind on the surface of the Earth make war on the returning exiles, attempting to destroy country after country. The final new entry this week is This Boy Caught a Merman, about an unusual relationship that has more to overcome than most.
There is a re-release worth noting this time around: Patlabor: The Mobile Police TV Series collection 2 is episodes 13 through 24 of this classic series. The director (and one of the writers) on this series was Mamoru Oshii, who went on to do all the different Ghost In The Shell Cyberpunk movies and TV series, and first became famous for his work as director of the very surreal Urusei Yatsura.
The Tomorrow People is a blast from the past, completely redone for a modern audience. The CW is a great channel for these kind of projects, being willing to try out something new and give it a chance, unlike Fox and others of that ilk.
The original Tomorrow People was a British children’s show which ran from 1973 through 1979, and then got reincarnated in 1992 for a single season. The team at Big Audio Finish then turned it into a series of Radio Plays running from 2001 through 2007. I look forward to seeing how this new incarnation works out, because I have loved the concepts behind each version and series, but I do not feel any of them delivered on that promise. After what I saw the CW do with Arrow, I think there is a chance I will finally get to see some Tomorrow People episodes begin to meet their full potential. And if they don’t, hey, at least I get to see another Arrow episode!
The most impressive new broadcast TV show for me last time around was Arrow, with excellent writing, a killer cast of some of my favorite actors, kick ass production values, and an adherence to the same sensibilities that addicted me to the original comic version in the first place. Season 2 starts on Wednesday, October 9th, and I had to share a few of my favorite trailers to gear me up for the next round. If you are not already watching this show, you want to check it out. Did I mention which show it is going to share the evening with?