Anime Review Roundup

Manga Entertainment Announce Their 2013 Q1 Schedule

Their most recent podcast had a fair bit of housekeeping to it, so it’s time to update those release diaries for Manga Entertainment DVD and Blu-ray...

7th January
Shigurui: Death Frenzy - re-release (DVD and Blu-Ray)
Dragon Ball Z - Season Five (DVD)

January 14th
Bleach: Season 10 Part 1 (DVD)

January 21st
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion - Season 1 (DVD and Blu-Ray)
The World God Only Knows - Season 2 (DVD)

January 28th
Journey to Agartha (DVD and Blu-Ray, also DoublePlay Collector's Edition with hardcover package - limited edition, only 2,000 copies)

February 4th
Tiger & Bunny - Part 1 (DVD and Blu-Ray combo pack)

February 11th
Eden of the East - Complete Box Set (DVD and Blu-Ray)
Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts - Complete Season 2 (DVD)

February 25th
Bleach: The Movie 4 - Hell Verse (DVD and DVD/Blu-Ray Collector's Edition)

March 4th
Dragon Ball Z - Season Six (DVD)

March 11th
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion - Season 2 (DVD and Blu-Ray)
Bleach: Season 10 Part 2 (DVD)

March 18th
Persona 4: The Animation - Part 2 (DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack)
Naruto Shippuden - Box 12 (DVD)

March 25th
Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion (DVD and Blu-Ray)
Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror (DVD and Blu-Ray)

A couple of reviews for you this week, beginning with one of Beez’s dying gasps. A few months before they closed up shop, they licensed a few unique titles, the sort of shows that you rarely see from mainstream distributors. I got the chance to watch House of Five Leaves, a samurai anime unlike the usual samurai shows. It’s not heavy on the action, swords are rarely drawn, and there are no proud and taciturn warriors to root for. In fact the protagonist is actually a samurai possessing a distinct lack of tact, and a major inferiority complex. These two traits make it difficult to hold down a job, and get him involved with the disreputable Five Leaves group. A character drama that’s steeped in mood and atmosphere, House of Five Leaves offers something different from the usual anime fare...

Something a lot more familiar is my second review title of the week, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, which I got to examine in its Blu-ray incarnation. 12 years between series and spin-off feature film is practically unprecedented in anime, or at least current anime practice, which usually has the spin-off movie announced while the series is still ongoing. But the extended break has allowed the creators to understand just what it was that worked about the original series, and apply it to the feature. Thus we have dopy and madcap Vash the Stampede, cool and moody Wolfwood, and the exasperated insurance agents Meryl and Milly, all drawn into a ridiculous adventure, featuring madcap antics galore.

Beez Entertainment released House of Five Leaves back at the end of 2011, while Manga Entertainment did Kazé a favour and released Trigun: Badlands Rumble for them last Monday.

Anime Review Roundup

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