Anime Review Roundup

I actually reviewed some UK titles last week, which makes a change from the usual winter drought of releases. They were pretty good too, beginning with Grimgar Ashes and Illusions. It’s an Isekai anime, the genre where protagonists wake up in a fantasy world, usually with MMORPG leanings. Grimgar does things quite differently though. Not for it the heroes who adapt to their new world in seconds, dealing out death and destruction in dungeons with the best of them. Grimgar’s protagonists are weak, inexperienced, losers really, working the hard way to figure out their world. It also looks devastatingly beautiful too. Click on the review to see more.

Speaking of fantasy worlds, next was the turn of Fairy Tail Part 22, the last instalment of Fairy Tail for now. It concludes the Tartaros arc, and as you might expect, it tests the heroes of Fairy Tail as they’ve never been before. But despite the usual shonen action tropes, Fairy Tail still manages to satisfy in ways that Naruto and Bleach never even think of trying. You’ll be left hoping for more Fairy Tail once you’ve seen Part 22, and fortunately, they’re going to make some.

Back to my own Christmas haul, as I took a look at the Bodacious Space Pirates Movie: Abyss of Hyperspace. This is a movie that I had long hoped would get a Region B Blu-ray release to compliment the series discs. Alas that hasn’t happened yet, so this DVD has to fill in for the meantime. It’s a chance to revisit the teenage pirate and her crew, as well as her wacky friends, as they go on a grand adventure to help a young boy reclaim his legacy. Spin-off movies can be a little hit or miss when they stand alone from the main series storyline. Click on the review to see which one this is.

Memories. There aren’t that many anime anthologies out there, but somehow I’ve contrived to watch a whole batch of them in close order. I reviewed the Genius Party and Beyond collections quite recently, there’s another review coming hot on the heels of this article, and somehow my re-watch pile contrived to thrown Katsuhiro Otomo’s Memories to the top. It collects three very different animations together, playing in different genres and styles. Magnetic Rose might be the most prominent of the three given Satoshi Kon’s involvement (it presages Millennium Actress), but the comic value of Stink Bomb shouldn’t be underestimated, nor the satirical bite of Cannon Fodder.