Watch 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood'!

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My sister and I recently watched Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and it was phenomenal! I cannot recommend this anime enough. I would say it is one of the greatest anime series ever produced, up there with Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Speaking of Evangelion, I noticed several references to it in this show, which makes me think the creator was inspired by it when writing this story.

What is the story? Two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric (Ed and Al for short), attempt to resurrect their dead mother but end up disfigured instead since they broke an alchemy taboo and the Law of Equivalent Exchange(TM) took effect. Ed loses his right arm and left leg, and Al loses his whole body. Ed saves Al's soul at the last minute, binding it to a suit of armor. The rest of the series is about them searching for a way to become whole again while learning about their estranged father and dealing with a mysterious evil force that lurks in the shadows.

You can stream this series on Netflix and Crunchyroll as well as buy a physical copy. I want to try to get this on Blu-ray in the future as this is media I feel is worth preserving.

'Shinsei Galverse' Is Brief but Has Potential

Shinsei Galverse has finally premiered, and I must say, this is a good first impression. It looks good and definitely has potential. The video is featured above.

I'm guessing this is a pilot episode since it does not have a definitive end and the runtime is like that of a TV episode. If viewership meets or exceeds expectations, hopefully more episodes will be made and we get to see more of the Galverse. Speaking of, I realize now that the name "Galverse" contains the word gyaru when pronouncing it in Japanese. Gyaru, in case you don't know, refers to a particular fashion subculture among Japanese women.

'Shinsei Galverse' Premiering Soon!

Holy crap!

I ran into this trailer while I was on YouTube a few days ago. Shinsei Galverse, a new crowdfunded independent online anime, will be premiering on June 25! It's about a group of 8,888 women, collectively known as Galverse, who are reincarnations of a being known as "Mother" who used to rule over the galaxy. When these ladies learn about their origin, they unite together to stop an evil organization known as "Space End Society." You can learn more about it on the official website.

What really sticks out to me is the art style. It is reminiscent of 1980s and 1990s anime such as Sailor Moon, so it looks and feels retro and modern simultaneously. Not only that, Kotono Mitsuishi, Japanese voice actress who played such iconic roles like Sailor Moon and Misato Katsuragi, will be voicing a character in this production (she's the blond scientist)!

I'll try this out and see for myself if this lives up to the trailer. I may post about it again after the premiere. Until then, take care!

Watch 'Lady Oscar: The Rose of Versailles'!

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There is a new anime series that was recently added on RetroCrush titled Lady Oscar: The Rose of Versailles. You can view it for free here. I have been watching the first few episodes, and I am enjoying it immensely!

For the uninitiated, I will explain what it is. Lady Oscar: The Rose of Versailles is the 1979 anime adaptation of the smash-hit 1973 manga series Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda. The main character is Oscar François de Jarjayes, a woman born in 18th-century France who is raised as a man by her father so that he has an heir to his position as captain of the royal guard. Once Oscar comes of age, she is tasked with guarding Marie Antionette, the Austrian-born noble who marries Louis XVI and is the dauphine and later queen of France. The setting is the late 1700s, the time period before and during the French Revolution. Basically, this is Les Misérables but from the perspective of the nobility. As the series progresses, you will see how the decadence, corruption, and selfishness of the high class led to the poor lower classes rising up and initiating the Revolution.

I first came to know about this series through Revolutionary Girl Utena. Utena's dueling outfit and those of the Student Council are directly inspired by the military outfits worn by Oscar. Soon after, I began reading the first-ever official English translation of the manga which was recently published by Udon Entertainment. It's awesome. If you love manga and well-told stories with complex characters and beautiful artwork, look no further than this. It's five volumes and worth every page. The surprise success of the manga very likely led to the anime's addition to the RetroCrush catalogue.

Back to the anime. From what I've seen so far, it's not much different than the manga. The advantage of watching this as opposed to reading the manga is that I can tell who the characters are when they are in full color. Manga tends to be published in black-and-white, so sometimes it is hard to differentiate the characters, especially when they are wearing similar outfits and hair-dos. But that is a minor complaint. If you love history, animation and/or anime, or just good stories in general, this is a must-see.

Anime Review: 'Sailor Moon S: The Movie'

original Japanese theatrical poster (source)

Today I'll be going over the second theatrical film based on the classic 90s anime Sailor Moon. This is Sailor Moon S: The Movie. The "S" in the title implies that it takes place at some unspecified point in the Sailor Moon S arc, which is the third season/series in the overall canon.

Why am I reviewing this during the Christmas season? Simple: it takes place during Christmas break, in much the same manner that Die Hard takes place on Christmas Eve, therefore making it a Christmas movie, technically. For this review, I will be utilizing screenshots that I took myself from the Blu-ray disc, because I finally have that capacity now (yay for me!).

'Evangelion' Officially Releasing in North America on Blu-ray!

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This is admittedly a late post after the news dropped, but GKIDS has obtained the rights to Neon Genesis Evangelion and its movies Death(true)² and End of Evangelion in North America and is releasing it on Blu-ray for the first time! There are three versions of this release: the Standard Edition (pictured above), the Collector's Edition (pictured below), and the Ultimate Edition which is only limited to 5,000 copies and is now sold out. More information can be found on the GKIDS website. I have preordered the Collector's Edition as it contains the old ADV English dub in addition to the new one. Once it arrives, I'll review it.

The snazzy Collector's Edition. Source is the same as above image.

I had discussed the bootleg Blu-rays previously, and after hearing what will be contained in the official release, I've decided to keep them. First of all, "Fly Me to the Moon" is intact, the ending theme that unfortunately will not be present in the rerelease. It also contains the original versions of episodes 21 to 24, Death(true), and then some. In short, I want to preserve some of the original material from the franchise.

Anime Review: 'Akira'

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Earlier this month at my local comic-con I bought myself a used copy of Akira, the landmark anime film that started the anime boom in the West. I had actually seen it a few months earlier online, and after seeing it I wanted to own it. So here we are.

The famous bike slide scene

Akira is based on the manga by Katsuhiro Otomo. Interestingly, the manga was still being produced when the film adaptation hit theaters in 1988, finishing in 1990. Otomo himself even directed the movie. What sets this film apart from other anime is that it is animated at 24 FPS (frames per second) and it shows the characters lip-synching, meaning that the voice acting had to be recorded before the animation. While this is normal for a Western animated feature, this isn't for anime; animation is mostly limited and audio is recorded after animation. Because of this, the film was the most expensive anime production until Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away in 2001.

Anime Review: 'Princess Tutu'

One of the best anime series I've ever seen! Source

I recently finished the 2002 anime series Princess Tutu. After getting the complete series on Blu-ray for Christmas, I began watching in earnest. I knew this was a good show by reputation beforehand, but man, I had no idea how good it was!

The premise is as follows: a yellow duck named, well, Duck, sits in a lake all by herself. Then she sees a boy dancing nearby. She wishes she could dance with him, and a mysterious old man appears granting her a red pendant. When Duck puts on the pendant, she becomes a human girl. Afterward, she enrolls in an arts academy in a walled town and enters the ballet division. It is there that she meets her two friends, Pike (pronounced "PEE-kay") and Lillie ("LIH-lee-ay") who are also ballet students. Other characters soon appear: Mytho ("MEW-toh" for some reason), Rue, and Fakir. Duck soon finds out that Mytho is a prince from a story called "The Prince and the Raven" who shattered his own heart so that the raven could be sealed away. Because of this, he has no emotions. When Mytho falls from a building trying to protect a bird's nest, Duck rushes in to save him, and her pendant transforms her into Princess Tutu, another character from the aforementioned story. Rue and Fakir are also important, but I don't want to give away too much, so I'll just leave it at that.

Many people view this anime as the spiritual successor to Revolutionary Girl Utena, another magical girl anime that utilizes fairytale aesthetics, surreal visuals, menacing men that seem to control things in the background, and a mysterious plot that is fully revealed at the end. After seeing this, I can definitely see why viewers would draw that conclusion. Now that I think of it, there is another similarity: both protagonists have pink hair.

The series takes obvious inspiration from fairytales and ballets such as Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, even going so far as using music and naming episodes on those plays. Heck, the main villain's name is Drosselmeyer! Apparently a real ballet studio assisted in production, so the dancing you see is the real thing. The town seems to be based on Germany, with signs being in German. Not surprising since many fairytale stories we know and love come from Germany. The citizens of said town are a mix of humans and animals; one such anthro animal is Mr. Cat, the ballet teacher.

The characters are endearing, especially Duck, and the story will suck you in in no time. As the plot progresses, you will find out more about the characters, their motivations, and what exactly is going on. This is something you won't forget long after you've finished it. Do I recommend this anime? Absolutely with a capital A!

Quality Rating: 10/10
Content Rating: 13+

2010s Retrospective: TV Edition

 

Now we enter the next phase of the 2010s retrospective: television (or streaming). Similar to my last post, the shows will be listed in the order of their premiere dates.

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1. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2010-2019)

Created by Lauren Faust, whose previous works include The Iron Giant, The Powerpuff Girls, and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic proved to be an unprecedented hit for Hasbro and was popular not only among little girls, but by adult men who called themselves "Bronies." The unicorn Twilight Sparkle and her friends are entrusted with the Elements of Harmony, and together they defend the land of Equestria from various evil forces. The show is very well made, from the characters to the animation done on Adobe Flash. The show is mostly slice-of-life, but the beginning and ending of seasons have some story arcs that last two episodes each. This show is the best version of My Little Pony that's ever been made, at least compared to the generation that came before it which I grew up on and loathed. For anyone who's itching to give this a watch, I would suggest watching the first seven seasons and then watching the 2017 movie and then stop there. As far as I'm concerned, the last two seasons didn't happen. (Season eight adds another "Mane 6" team for no good reason, and season nine adds shameless pandering to the Bronies.)
Official rating: TV-Y / My rating: 3+ (seasons 1-8), 7+ (season 9)

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2. Sym-Bionic Titan (2010-2011)

A show that truly deserved better and ended way too soon. Sym-Bionic Titan is the brainchild of Genndy Tartakovsky who also created Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack. A princess, a soldier, and a robot escape war on their home planet and take refuge on Earth where they disguise themselves as high school students. Unfortunately the show ended after only one season of 20 episodes. The reason was that the show wasn't able to sell toys. Yeah. Sounds like the 80s, doesn't it? Despite its short run, it still offers fun, action, and humor in a way only Tartakovsky can make it, and for that I recommend you check it out.
Official rating: TV-PG / My rating: 10+

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3. Gravity Falls (2012-2016)

Alex Hirsch, who previously worked on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack on Cartoon Network, gives us a series that has a great balance between humor and mystery. Gravity Falls is about two fraternal twins, Dipper and Mabel Pines, who are forced to spend their summer break in, you guessed it, Gravity Falls, Oregon with their great uncle (grunkle for short) Stan who owns a gift shop called the Mystery Shack. The show slowly evolves from a slice-of-life comedy to a suspenseful mystery and a race against time to stop a powerful demon from another dimension from destroying the world. This show is one of the best shows from Disney Channel and was praised for its clever writing and lore. What's funny is that the show is only 2 seasons with 20 episodes each, yet was aired in four years. This is a must see for fans of animation and fans of mystery stories.
Official rating: TV-Y7-FV / My rating: 7+

2010s Retrospective: Movie Edition

 So begins the first 2010s retrospective post.

Before I begin this lookback, I will let you know that the following films are those that I have seen (though not all because that would take too long), so no, I will not be discussing Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4, or other such films simply because I have not seen them. Also, these movies will be listed alphabetically and by release date. So without further ado, let's begin.

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1. Alice in Wonderland (2010)

A surprise success for Disney's live-action branch, making a billion dollars worldwide, Alice in Wonderland is a sequel to the original story by Lewis Carrol and is directed by Tim Burton. Many people panned this film likely because they compared it to the animated Disney version. But when judging it on its own, it's actually pretty alright. I like the designs for the characters, and the world of Wonderland actually being called Underland is a very Tim Burton-y thing. Can't say much for the sequel released a few years later. That was a waste of time.
Official rating: PG / My rating: 10+

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2.  How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

DreamWorks Animation starts the decade off strong with How to Train Your Dragon, a film based on the book series of the same name. In a similar vein to Shrek, the film takes liberties from its original source material. The flying scenes are some of the best animated sequences ever put on screen in my opinion, and the film does not contain any pop culture references, something that is usually present in DreamWorks films. While nowhere near as grand as other DreamWorks classics like The Prince of Egypt and Shrek, it definitely soars above their other mediocre works (*cough* Boss Baby *cough*).
Official rating: PG / My rating: 7+

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3. Tangled (2010)

Disney's 50th animated film in their ever-expanding canon, Tangled is a great Disney princess film that draws inspiration from the fairy tale Rapunzel. The songs are great, the CGI is impressive, especially in regards to Rapunzel's hair, which I've heard was tough to animate, and the characters are endearing and worthy of Mickey Mouse's ears of approval. The film did so well that it even has its own TV series which is still ongoing as of this post.
Official rating: PG / My rating: 7+