Yet another Netflix exclusive TV series, this one was put together by The Wachowskis (The Matrix and Cloud Atlas) and J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5 and World War Z), a couple of my favorite Sci-Fi creators. As usual with Netflix originals, on June 5th you don’t just get the first episode, you get the entire first season. I worked very hard to ration myself for the Daredevil series, to not just binge watch it in a single weekend. I can already tell I am going to have the same fight with this show.
Another Saturday, another great band. This time we take a look at Survive Said The Prophet, a Japanese Indi rock band who sing in English as often as not. The first track is Subtraction from their new 8 song EP Course Of Action, which was just released on April 15th. The second tune is If You Really Want To, which was posted online back in May of 2014 but is also on the new EP. They got together in Tokyo in 2011 and released their first single Let Us Party that same year. They have done tours and festivals across Asia since then, and you can find their music on iTunes Japan.
Sooner or later it had to happen; a Nerdcore artist, MC Lars in this case, did a tribute to George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. The track is called Dragons Blood, and both the video and the song are fun. As someone watching the end product it is hard to tell if Editor Mike Sobo, Visual Effects master Tobias Arturi, or the
Effects Mixer Samarei was the one responsible for the excellent time/speed frame shifting during the combat choreography. It is truly well done, whoever pulled it off.
There is one actual disc in the Movie category that I saw, Walter, an Indi film that blends ghosts, religion, and mental illness to create a story in which a ticket taker at the local Cineplex is responsible for determining whether the people he meets go to heaven or hell. This one looks pretty quirky, and if it came to a movie theater near me I missed it. Also, Jupiter Ascending is out on streaming and digital download; if you want the Disc version, that will be available on June 2nd. In TV we have The Musketeers: Season 2, buckling yet another swash as the adventure continues.
There are an assortment of Anime this time around, led by Space Brothers: Collection 2, where things are heating up in the competition to become astronauts. This set brings the count up to episodes 14 through 26, be aware that the series itself is currently up to episode 99 and counting. We also get Freezing: Vibration, in which a new generation of women are going through genetic engineering modifications to enable them to battle the alien invaders. Something is going wrong, and it is up to Satellizer el Bridget and her crew to get to the bottom of it before it is too late. Devil Survivor 2: The Animation, Complete Collection is about a group of people who’s cell phones acquire an app which shows their own death a minute or two before it happens. The deaths are caused by powerful beings from other universes/levels of existence, and to avoid dying they have to defeat the invaders. No one can fight these creatures alone, so they evolve into groups and teams, but even so death takes its toll. Unlimited Psychic Squad is a spin off of Psychic Squad, and is focused on Kyōsuke Hyōbu’s organization P.A.N.D.R.A. as it tries to oversee three of the most powerful psychics in the country.
Continuing a couple of old favorites, Naruto Shippūden DVD box22 contains episodes 271 through 283, while Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Blue-Eyed Casval is only 63 minutes long and is available only as an import. Considering it costs close to $100 for an hour of animation, I will watch it streaming on Daisuki, although it is also available from Amazon Instant Video and the Google Play Store. Speaking of expensive, The Garden of Sinners: recalled out summer has two movies about a precognitive woman who avoids death by seeing what is about to happen, but for $70 for 120 minutes I will pass. Considering the original price was $189, later reduced to $149, they are at least heading in the right direction with this, but I wish I knew of a legal streaming service carrying it so I could watch it there. Finally, Hanamonogatari: Suruga Devil is five episodes for $50, which isn’t as badly priced as the others but still seems steep. It is the Sixth arc to the Monogatari series’ second season, which I will continue to watch on streaming services.
A young French film student by the name of Gwenn Germain has put together an amazing tribute to Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli films, and it is world class. Watch, and go Ooh and Aah, and let me know what you think!
Another great parody from the team that brings us the Great Rap Battles of History series, this one is a Game of Thrones composite melody. And even here they keep up the competition, with the question Which House sang it the best?