Last week I kicked off the anime reviews with a look at Girls und Panzer: This is the Real Anzio Battle OVA. I absolutely adore the Girls und Panzer franchise; its combination of cute girls and massive tanks makes for one of the most enjoyable anime series of recent years, and we’ve recently been treated to the feature film spin-off, which turned up the cute tank mayhem to 11. The one story that was brushed over in the television series was the Anzio Battle arc. But it did get an OVA adaptation after the series had ended, and it’s the last piece of the Girls und Panzer puzzle to be released in the UK. But there are a couple of slight problems revisiting an episode set earlier in the story just after we’ve had that comic-book crescendo of a feature film.
I then turned my lascivious attention to Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls. Don’t worry, it’s hard to behave inappropriately towards or harass a cartoon, and given that this is a harem comedy with lots of saucy moments, a Sid James laugh is practically demanded. Monster Musume can get very naughty indeed, but even with that, it’s one of the best harem shows I have seen. If you want to know the reason why, you’ll have to click on the review.
A relatively light anime review week meant that I got the chance to delve into my personal collection, and continue the journey of Tegami Bachi, in Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee Reverse - Part 1. Season 1 had a languid pace indeed, taking its own sweet time in getting to the point of the story. That story really only picks up momentum here in the first half of the second series. All that world building and character development pay off as we learn what happened to Lag Seeing’s saviour Gauche Suede, the schemes and plots against the government of this land of eternal night, and the history behind it all.
This Week I’ve Been Mostly Rewatching...
Hellsing. Everyone talks about the sheer insanity of Hellsing Ultimate, a vampire show so manly that it makes Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure look like The Care Bears. But studio Gonzo took a crack at Kouta Hirano’s story first and came up with something more narrative focused, with a little more character development, and less chewing of scenery. The story starts off in the same place, with police woman Seras Victoria ‘recruited’ by immortal vampire, and Hellsing operative Alucard, in that organisation’s constant battles against the forces of the undead. But it caught up to the manga and Gonzo had to go their own way with the story as so often happens. No Nazi vampires in this version. That taming of the vampire has an effect on the show. It makes the end credits the bit you look forward to most, although Hellsing really isn’t that bad. It’s only the end theme is that good.
Having said all that, while the rewatch may have dulled the shine somewhat, I really did enjoy discovering the show when I first watched it, as I wrote in my review a few years ago. ADV originally released the series way back in the early 2000s, but Manga Entertainment rescued the licence and released a complete DVD collection in 2013. You can still get it today.
MVM release Girls und Panzer: This is the Real Anzio Battle OVA on Blu-ray DVD combo today. Monster Musume: Collector’s Edition is a combo release which was due from MVM on December 18th. There will be standard BD and DVD releases in spring 2018. Sentai Filmworks released Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee Reverse Collection 2 in 2013 and you’ll have to import.
UPDATE: Alas MVM too have encountered the ghost of Christmas Delayed, and Monster Musume's Collector's Edition will now be released on January 22nd. The standard DVD and BD versions will be issued on April 9th.
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