Merry Christmas! I'm still allowed to say that, since Christmas is twelve days, not one. Speaking of, today I'd like to go over a Christmas movie that, had I seen this before 2020, I would have mentioned in my 2010s movie retrospective and would have hailed as a modern classic and the best movie of 2019 with Steven Universe the Movie as a close second. This is Klaus.
It seems Christmas has come early for Sonic fans, because the trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has finally dropped, premiering during The Game Awards 2021. The YouTube trailer can be found below:
From what I can gather from this trailer, Sonic is fighting crime in Green Hills, Montana. His guardian/adoptive father Sheriff Tom tells him that one day "there will come a moment when [his] powers will be needed." That time comes soon enough when Dr. Robotnik, played by the one and only Jim Carrey, returns to Earth and reunites with his previous righthand man. He mentions that he has found a source of ultimate power, which, for those who know at least some Sonic lore, is a Chaos Emerald. Then Miles "Tails" Prower enters through a ring portal like he did in the end of the first film and meets Sonic. The two fly on Tails's biplane and attempt to dodge Robotnik's attacks. They then enter the bar from the previous movie wearing heavy snow gear which seems like the start of a hilarious skit. The final scene worth noting is the first appearance of Knuckles the echidna who is implied to have been convinced by Robotnik that Sonic is evil and must be destroyed, as is the case with other Sonic media such as Sonic X.
Picking up from where Sonic the Hedgehog left off, which I reviewed previously, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is setting itself up to be just as good if not better than the first movie and another entry in the realm of video game adaptations that don't suck, which began in 2019 with Detective Pikachu. It premieres in theaters April 8, 2022.
I finally received the Neon Genesis Evangelion Collector's Edition Blu-ray, courtesy of Shout! Factory and GKIDS. For this post, I decided to make a video instead of showing a bunch of pictures with text. The video can be found below. Enjoy!
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.
Merry Christmas, everyone! Christmas Day may be over, but the season isn't. As I wished for, I received the Steven Universe complete collection DVD set from my parents Santa Claus. And boy is it pure gorgeous eye candy! There's a lot to look at here, so sit back, relax, and read along with me.
The top image is of course the box cover, and it pops with the rainbows. The art is an image of the Gem Temple and beach house from the show.
The sides of the box also contain great art and rainbow effects.
The back shows the rest of Beach City and a description as well as the logos for the show, movie, and epilogue series.
It is now December, and with it an opportunity to update this blog. Today I'll be talking about the classic 80s cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power. The 2018 Tumblr fanfic reboot can suck it.
I recently started watching this series out of curiosity on YouTube on a curated playlist that has all the episodes in order. You can see it for yourself here. I am currently on episode 18 as of this post, and from what I've seen, it's actually really good.
I unfortunately didn't grow up with this series since I was not an 80s kid and it didn't air reruns on any major network during my formative years. Thankfully with modern technology previously unwatchable titles are now accessible.
The premise of the show is as follows: Adora is a force captain of the Horde, an evil organization that has been conquering planets. One day, Adora finds out that she is the long-lost twin sister of Prince Adam/He-Man who was kidnapped as a child and raised by Hordak and Shadow Weaver to serve the Horde. She discovers a magic sword, and when she raises it and shouts "For the honor of Grayskull!" she transforms into She-Ra. She's like proto-Sailor Moon.
Oh yeah, and her horse can transform too, similar to He-Man's pet tiger. Neato.
Adora leaves the Horde and joins the Rebellion. Keeping her other persona a secret, Adora as She-Ra helps those in need and fights off the Horde with He-Man and the rest.
The animation is limited as was typical of television cartoons of the time, but it makes up for it with its storylines and characters. My favorite character so far has to be Kowl. Madame Razz is a close second.
I'll be watching more and may do a series overview once I've finished. I'm quite impressed by this, and I hope the rest of the series will continue promising.
To preface, I'll state upfront that I am half Filipino on my mother's side. Growing up, I didn't think I would ever see explicit Filipino characters outside of what was produced in the Philippines. That changed in 2017 when I saw Lars Barriga from Steven Universe make an ube cake in one episode. It blew my mind to see a Filipino character in a major Western production. Ever since then, I've been interested in seeing Filipinos in mainstream media.
So imagine my surprise when I found the trailer for a Filipino animated film being produced for Netflix:
Content warning: violence, implied sex scenes
Hayop Ka!, which means "you animal" in Tagalog, is a story about a cat named Nimfa who works as a saleswoman. She has a dog boyfriend who works as a janitor. One day she meets another male dog who is rich, and after falling for him she must decide if she will go for him or stay with her boyfriend. Basically, a generic love triangle story that has been told millions of times before.
The animation and backgrounds look very impressive for an international non-anime film. The characters are anthropomorphic animals along the veins of other Netflix properties like Beastars and Aggretsuko. Heck, the main character almost resembles Nicole Watterson from The Amazing World of Gumball minus the blue fur.
I would like to see this out of curiosity, but unfortunately, it isn't available in the US, only in select regions. As long as this is better than The Nutshack, the gosh-awful attempt to have a mainstream television series featuring a Filipino cast, then I'd consider this a win for Filipino animation, or at least a step in the right direction.
While the US and the world await the results of the presidential election, I recommend visiting Deus ex Magical Girl. This website is the main reason that I started this blog. The creator D. G. D. Davidson is an anime fan (particularly of the magical girl variety, hence the website title), a librarian and archeologist, an author, and a Catholic. His schtick mostly consists of reviewing magical girl anime and manga and occasionally giving commentary on Western media.
I've been following him for about five years since I looked up a review of Sailor Moon Crystal on his older defunct blog Sci Fi Catholic. After reading his material I was inspired to create a blog where I talk about my interests in much the same manner as he. Thus Clear Is a Belle was born.
Over the weekend, one of my online friends brought this to my attention. Steven Universe is getting a complete series release on physical media for the first time! The complete collection includes the series, the movie, and the epilogue series Steven Universe Future as well as tons of special features.
As expected, some fans are frustrated that this is only on DVD when there should be a Blu-ray version as well. I understand their concern, as Blu-rays have much better picture and audio quality, but for me I don't really care. In fact, this is convenient since I can play this on my computer and take screenshots. Eventually I want to discuss this series and offer my personal take on it.
The collection is currently available for pre-order on the WBShop for $89.99 and on RightStuf for $80.99. The item releases on November 3rd, the day that the show aired its first episode back in 2013.
To end this post, here is the image of the back of the box. Let's hope and pray this collection doesn't disappoint!
ADDENDUM (10/5/2020): More details have come out about the release, which you can read here.
After a couple months of hiatus, here is another YouTube video from Clownfish TV, because I love their commentary on pop culture. Kneon and Geeky Sparkles analyze a cringe-inducing article on SyFy Wire that attacks 1980s cartoons and 80s kids to make the argument that modern animation is much better and more "progressive." The author of the article is someone who wasn't even alive during that time, likely a Millennial or Gen Z.
After listening to this, I have much more respect for 80s cartoons. I am growing increasingly tired of creators rebooting old properties to make it in their image to push an agenda (looking at you, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power!) when they should be making original content instead.
