Anime Review Roundup

Manga News Snippets

A little bit of info from Manga Entertainment last week, beginning with an update about Blue Exorcist The Definitive Edition. It was previously solicited as a combo release, including the previously released subtitle only DVDs as well. This has now been dropped, and The Definitive Edition of Blue Exorcist will be Blu-ray only, and as announced before, the Blu-rays will include both the English dub and the Japanese audio. An interesting tweet from Manga indicated that in this case, releasing the dub on DVD would actually have cost them more than releasing it on Blu-ray.

At last weekend’s Ayacon, they also clarified some details about the forthcoming Sword Art Online series, beginning this December. Mirroring the US release, it will be in 4 parts, and will be available as DVD only, and Blu-ray DVD combos. More details at UK Anime Network.

There’s a lot of anime this week, so I’ll be brief. First up is Naruto Shippuden: The Movie 3 – The Will of Fire. Summer’s the perfect time for an inconsequential action movie, and you can’t get more inconsequential than a shonen anime tie in. Out of sync with the main TV storyline, wafer thin plot about a beloved teacher sacrificing himself for the sake of those he cares, and his star student refusing to let him, and wodges and wodges of action sequences. Job done.

Then it was the turn of Inu x Boku SS: The Complete Series. It’s a romantic comedy with a twist, the twist being that its protagonists have supernatural heritages. It’s why they are somewhat isolated from society, with the main female character going as far as being antisocial, untrusting and acid-tongued. That’s until she meets her bodyguard, who promises to be faithful, attentive, and loyal. He’ll basically be her dog and worship at her feet.

It’s always good to have a second opinion, and last week, Stuart McLean took a look at Stein’s Gate: Part 1 this time on DVD. I’ve already waxed lyrical about its sci-fi conspiracy charms, but I can see how its somewhat familiar character stereotypes could appear clichéd and aimed at a small (i.e. my) target demographic. But against the moe, tsundere, cute, perverted and all the other usual pigeonholes, Stuart also discovered that the quality of the storytelling shines through.

This isn’t anime, but if you grew up with Star Blazers, you’ll be right at home with Space Battleship Yamato. They are after all, synonymous. Space Battleship Yamato’s anime series was renamed for the West. 2010 saw the start of a revival of the show, beginning with what was at the time the most expensive Japanese feature film made. It’s a grand old space sci-fi film, with the eponymous battleship heading out to the stars on a mission to save the human race. It’s got space dogfighting action, heroes and villains, a bit of mystery, and a bit of romance too. It’s great fun as I found out.

Hellsing Ultimate came back to the UK on stonking form this year, balls-to-the-wall vampire action in all its HD glory. And contrary as always I found that I didn’t like it as much as I used to. Continuing their year of Hellsing, Manga have reached into the crypt and resurrected the original Hellsing Complete Series. It’s not as loud, it’s not as bloody, and it’s not as faithful to the original manga. I found that I liked it a lot more.

Manga released Naruto Shippuden: The Will of Fire on DVD and Blu-ray / DVD combo last Monday. That’s when they released Hellsing: The Complete Series on DVD as well, while that’s also when MVM released Inu x Boku SS, also on DVD. Manga Entertainment release Space Battleship Yamato today on DVD and Blu-ray / DVD combo, while Manga’s Steins;Gate Part 1 came out on DVD and Blu-ray on the 15th of July.

Anime Review Roundup

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