Kurokami The Animation – Volume One (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

“Kurokami vol. 1″ boasts a solid, action-packed storyline and beautiful visuals on Blu-ray but the lack of a Japanese soundtrack may deter some anime fans.

Image courtesy of © 2009-2010 Lim Dail Young, Park Sung Woo/Square Enix/Sunrise, Bandai Visual. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Kurokami – The Animation – Volume 1

DURATION: 102 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen), English Dolby TrueHD Audio 2.0, PCM 2.0,

COMPANY: Sunrise/Bandai Entertainment

RATED: NOT RATED (Note: This anime does feature violence)

Release Date: March 9, 2010

Originally created by Dall-Young Lim, Sung-woo PArk

Directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi

Series Composition by Reiko Yoshida

Original Character Design by Sung-woo Park

Character Design: Hiroyuki Nishimura

Art Director: Shunichiro Yoshihara

Chief Animation Director: Hiroyuki Nishimura

Art Design: Tomoyasu Fujise

Sound Director: Hiromi Kikuta

Director of Photography: Naoyuki Wada

Anime Production by Sunrise

Featuring the following voice talent:

Jason Griffith as Keita Ibuki

Laura Bailey as Kuro

Christopher Kromer as Daichi Kuraki

Crispin Freeman as Reishin

Emily Bauer as Riona Kogure

Eva Kaminsky as Nam

Julie Ann Taylor as Akane Sano

Kathleen McInerney as Yuki Kaionji

Marc Thompson as Hiyou

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Mikami Hojo

Michael Sinterniklaas as Punipuni

Patrick Seitz as Steiner

Stephanie Sheh as Excel

A world in which one’s happiness and misfortunes, even their lives are controlled by “luck”… In this world, there are three identical looking people in existence. Each of these three split between them an energy-like force called “Tera.” This energy can be attributed to the amount of “Luck” or “Life Energy” that an individual possesses.

Between those three, the one with the largest share of Tera is called the “Root” and the two possessing a lesser amount are called the “Sub.” If a Sub should ever meet up with another person that looks just like them, they will die. Their Tera will then be absorbed by the remaining two. If two Subs run into each other, they both perish, leaving the entire amount of Tera to be absorbed by the Root. That individual then becomes a “Master Root” and comes into possession of an enormous amount of luck and leads a life with success at every turn. This is the hidden truth of existence in the World of Humans and is called the “Doppeliner System.”

In accordance to the rules of the Doppeliner System, there exist beings who observe the human world, maintaining the balance of Tera, known as the “Coexistence Equilibrium.” These beings possess abilities that surpass those of normal human beings, and reside in hiding in places known as the “Pure Place” in tribes. They are called the Tera Guardians. This is a tale of battle that begins with the meeting between a human boy named Keita and a young Tera Guardian girl named Kuro.

In the world of “Kurokami” (“Black God”), one sometimes think they see another person that looks exactly like them (doppelganger) but in reality, there are three (doppeliner) which share the same life force (known as Tera).  If by any chance, one was to see each other, one would die and the others would have that life force equally distributed.    Making sure this “Coexistence Exquilibrium” is kept in check are the Tera Guardians.

This is the basis of “Kurokami”, a 23-episode anime TV series which is an adaptation of a Japanese manga series by Dall-Young Lim and illustrated by Sung-Woo Park and is an ongoing series published in the magazine “Young Gangan”.

The anime series is directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi (“Glass no Kamen”, “Midori Days”, “Twelve Kingdoms”) and features series composition by Reiko Yoshida (“Aria”, “D.Gray-Man”, “Kaleido Star”, “Peach Girl”).  Character designs are by Hiroyuki Nishimura (“Spirit of Wonder”, “Deltora Quest”) and music composed by Tomohisa Ishikawa (“Appleseed: Ex Machina”, “Kite Liberator”, “Innocent Venus”).  And now the first volume of the anime series is released on Blu-ray and includes the first four episodes.

“Kurokami” revolves around a teenager named Keita Ibuki.   When he was younger, his mother met someone that looked exactly like her and the next day she was hit by a car.  So, the existence of a doppelganger has always been in his mind.

One night when he went out for ramen, he meets a girl named Kuro along with her dog Punipuni, they seem quite hungry.  He offers her his ramen and all seems well until a madman comes out of nowhere and assaults her.

Keita tries to help her but is easily beaten by this madman.  But what he sees is this girl’s incredible fighting power.  After all is done and Kuro overcomes her assailant, she tells him that she is out to kill her brother.

The paths of both Keita and Kuro cross again and Kuro explains to her about the doppeliner and that she is a Tera Guardian.  As Keita tries to deal with this and possibly learn why his mother died, his childhood friend Akane (who likes Keita) tries to help both Keita and Kuro as well.

One evening, a group of thugs with extreme power go after her again but this time, Keita tries to help but is mortally wounded.  Kuro manages to escape with him but because he is dying, she decides to exchange hearts with him in order to keep him alive and thus a contract is created.  But she warns him that they must be near each other at all times or her heart will become necrotic if its too far away from her.

Now the two must deal with their new lives together but at the same time knowing that they will be the hunted.

“Kurokami” vol. 1 features the first four episodes of the TV series.  Here is a brief, spoiler-free synopsis of each episode:

• EPISODE 1- Doppeliner System – Keita and Kuro meet each other for the first time.
• EPISODE 2 – Pact – Keita is badly injured while trying to help Kuro and in order to save his life, the Terra Guardian Kuro makes a pact with him.
• EPISODE 3 – Synchro – Tsubota-sensei tries to help Keita but it appears that Tsubota may be something much more than a teacher.
• EPISODE 4 – Tracker – Tera Guardian Steiner and Excel start to follow Akane for some reason.

VIDEO:

“Kurokami” is featured in 1080p High Definition.  I have to say that for a TV series, this is probably one of the most beautiful looking (and more recent) anime to show up on Blu-ray in the U.S.  Artistic backgrounds are highly detailed and for any Japanophile anime fan who is watching this series, can only be happy by seeing so many scenes around in Japan featuring this beautiful artistic backgrounds.  Character animation is also well done especially during the fighting sequences which are well-animated.

Overall, “Kurokami” looks fantastic on Blu-ray.  A lot of detail, I didn’t notice any edge enhancement nor did I see any more compression artifacts.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Kurokami” is featured in English Dolby TrueHD Audio 2.0 and is front channel driven.  The lossless audio is enjoyable to listen to but what is surprising is that it is not in 5.1.  Also, this is the first Bandai release where the Blu-ray does not include the lossless Japanese audio while the DVD does include both soundtracks.  It is said that because the series is being released at the same time in Japan, to prevent reverse importation, the lossless Japanese soundtrack was not granted for the U.S. release (note: In Japan, the Blu-ray release costs about three times as more than the U.S. release and to prevent reverse importation over there, they didn’t include English subtitles).

Unfortunately with Japan and the U.S. on the same region for Blu-ray releases and people demanding simultaneous or near simultaneous releases, this is easily going to be an issue for American anime fans if more series continue to feature the lack of a Japanese audio track.

As for the English dub, for the most part the English dubbing was well-done.  Jason Griffith (as Keita) known for his work for the character Shadow for “Sonic X” does a very good job but anime voice acting veterans Laura Bailey (as Kuro) and Julie Ann Taylor (as Akane) do a solid job as the voice of their characters.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Kurokami” contains the following special features in 1080p and 480p:

• Textless Opening - Textless opening for “Sympathizer” by Minami Kuribayashi
• Textless Ending – Textless ending theme for “Irodori no Nai Sekai” by Minami Kuribayashi
• Bandai Entertainment Previews
  

“Kurokami” has turned out to be a fantastic series thus far.  The anime is definitely for those who enjoy action, especially fighting-based anime series.  The concept of the “doppeliner” is pretty cool but with only four episodes, it will be interesting to see where this series is headed.  But for these first four episodes alone, I was definitely pleased by the series.

As for positives, the major positive aside from the story is this series looks fantastic on Blu-ray.  The detailed artistic backgrounds definitely look beautiful and the fighting sequences look absolutely fluid.  Please note that I haven’t seen the DVD version to do any comparisons but with so many anime TV series upconverted for Blu-ray, it was great to see an anime TV series native to HD and look so beautiful.

On the negative side, I think that many anime fans who prefer the Japanese soundtrack let alone lossless Japanese audio soundtrack are reeling of the lack of inclusion of it.  As mentioned, with Japan and U.S. sharing the same region on Blu-ray and with people wanting simultaneous (or near-simultaneous) releases, this is going to be a major issue in the near future.

The other negative that I can think of for anime fans is episodes per volume.  With other anime companies releasing complete series or breaking down their releases by a dozen episodes, “Kurokami” which is a 23-episode series features only four episodes per volume.

Overall, “Kurokami – The Animation” is an entertaining anime series that so far features a solid storyline, beautiful animation and painted backgrounds and looks great on Blu-ray.  Although not a perfect release especially without the Japanese lossless, definitely a series worth considering for your anime on Blu-ray collection!

Tags: a J!-ENT Anime Blu-Ray Disc Review, anime, Bandai Entertainment, Dall-Young Lim, 黒神, KUROKAMI, Kurokami - The Animation, SquareEnix, Sung-Woo Park, Sunrise

Eureka SeveN: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

Romance, action and all-out mecha battles galore!  “Eureka SeveN: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers” is a re-imagining of the popular manga/anime TV series and easily accessible for those not familiar with the series.  Overall, a solid Blu-ray release with outstanding lossless audio!

Image courtesy of © 2009 Bones /Project EUREKA MOVIE. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Eureka SeveN: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers

DURATION: 117 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen), English and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Subtitles: Full English/Songs & Signs

COMPANY: BONES/Bandai Entertainment

RATED: PG-13 (Action, Violence and Some Nudity)

Release Date: March 2, 2010

Directed by Tomoki Kyoda

Storyboard by Hiroshi Haraguchi, Tomoki Kyoda, Yasushi Muraki

Music by Naoki Sato

Character Design by Kenichi Yoshida

Art Director: Kazuo Nagai

Mechanical Design: Hiroyuki Yanagise

Sound Director: Kazuhiro Wakabayashi

Director of Photography: Shunya Kimura

Animation Production by BONES

Featuring the following voice talent:

Yuko Sanpei/Johnny Yong Bosch as Renton

Kaori Nazuka/Stephanie Sheh as Eureka

Ami Koshimizu/Kari Wahlgren as Anemone

Keiji Fujiwara/Crispin Freeman as Holland Novak

Michiko Neya/Kate Higgins as Talho Yuki

Shigenori Yamazaki/Peter Doyle as Dominic Sorel

For almost half a century, mankind has been at war with a mysterious entity known as the EIZO. It is the year 2054 and human-kind is on the brink of destruction. A select few are evacuated to colonization spaceships and the government is about to fire their doomsday device, the Hammer of God.

In the middle of this war are two teenagers, Renton and Eureka; two childhood friends who were separated when Eureka was kidnapped by government forces eight years ago. Renton is now a soldier, piloting the Nirvash, aboard the GEKKO led by Holland Novak but the crew of the GEKKO is actually rebels with their own mission.

Renton and Eureka are now reunited and fate will test the young lovers as they fight the EIZO, government forces and even Holland. Their love will be the key to mankind’s future and fulfilling their dreams.

“Eureka SeveN”, the popular mecha anime TV series from anime studio, Bones, has spawned several video games, novels and now a movie.  What began as an animated series was then quickly adapted into a manga series which ran in Kadokawa Shoten’s “Monthly Shonen Ace” from 2005-2006 with a total of 23 chapters.

The anime series was a big hit in the US airing on the Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” and in 2009, “Eureka SeveN: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers” was released in theaters during Golden Week and fans of the series would get a chance to see a new re-imagining of the characters for the film version.  Director Tomoki Kyoda (“Eureka Seven” TV Series, “RahXephon”, “Skull Man”, “Ouran High School Host Club”) wanted to make a film for those who never read the manga and never watched the anime series.  So, literally a film that would be brand new for anyone watching it.

In the TV and manga series, “Eureka SeveN” revolved around a boy named Renton Thurston, a young 14-year-old who is brash and tends to enjoy living for the moment.  His hobby is grabbing his lift board (somewhat like a surf or skateboard but is used for floating in the air) and just riding it and having fun.  Renton, also happens to be the son of the late military hero Adroc Thurston and the grandson of famous scientist Axel Thurston.  But unlike them, Renton is not into studying nor does he have any career ambitions, he’s just a boy who idolizes Ray-Out Magazine’s Holland Novak, a professional lift board rider.

One day, a mecha (an LFO known as Nirvash typeZERO – the world’s first humanoid mobile machine – Light Finding Operation) crashes near his home and inside it comes out a girl who piloted it.  And the girl’s name is Eureka SeveN and Renton eventually joins the group known as The Gekko State which is headed by his hero Holland Novak and at the same time, is attracted to Eureka.  While Eureka the Gekko State are being pursued by the UF Force (as Holland, a former member, stole Eureka).

In “Eureka SeveN: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers”, the storyline is much more different as Renton and Eureka were childhood friends and Renton’s LFO mecha is a bunny-like creature named Nirvash. During this time line, Earth has been under the attack from aliens known as the Eizo who have replicated quickly to the point that their growth can easily kill of humanity.

One day, while both were just kids traveling along with Professor Dominic Sorel, as Sorel leaves off to tend to other matters, Renton and Eureka (who has a condition similar to Xeroderma – the inability to have contact with the sunlight) were separated by soldiers.

It appears that government soldiers are after the young Eureka and to prove that she is who they are looking for, they expose her to the sunlight and we see her skin being eaten away and showing a green layer underneath.  Renton does all he can to stop the soldiers from taking Eureka but he is too young and weak to stop them.

Fast forward eight years later as Renton is now a teenager.  He now is employed by the military and is a soldier who works under the leader Holland Novak.  While he and Holland fight against the Eizo, to Renton’s surprise, he sees Eureka once again.  Renton who is still in love with Eureka does not want to be separated from her again and will do all he can to protect her.  But Eureka is hesitant because she is not human and was created by the Eizo to record her interaction with humans.  But this doesn’t mean anything to Renton.

All Renton knows is that he will no longer be separated from Eureka and he will do all he can to protect her.  But what he doesn’t’ know is that for Holland and the crew, they have a dark secret they are hiding and for them and that they are a rebel faction who are also after Eureka.

Can Renton protect Eureka from the government, Gekko and the Eizo?

VIDEO:

“Eureka SeveN: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers” is a Bones production that looks awesome on Blu-ray.  Featured in 1080p High Definition, the detail on the painted backgrounds are well-done and contain a lot of detail.

Fans of the manga and anime series should be happy with the character designs by Kenichi Yoshida (“Overman King Gainer”, “Cowboy Bebop: The Movie”, “Eureka Seven” TV series) and the mechanical designs by Hiroyuki Yanagise (“Sakura Diaries”, “Death Note”).

The battle sequences look fluid in animation and Bones did not skimp on details as they had a lot of key animators and in-between animators working on this film.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Eureka SeveN: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers” is featured in Japanese and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1.  I have to say that I was pleased by the lossless soundtrack.  Because of the amount of action in the film, there was great use of surround usage for explosions, weapons being shot out and hearing it pan from left to right.  Good use of LFE for booms and for the most part, crystal clear audio coming from the front and center channels. Dialogue and the music by Naoki Sato (composer for “Heroic Age”, “Mouse”, “Sword of the Stranger”) sounds very beautiful in HD.

As for the dub, this is about preference and the good news is that you get both Japanese and English lossless soundtracks.  I watched the English dub at the theater and once again on Blu-ray but also watched the film in Japanese to see if there were any audio differences and for the most part, action special effects and music were both fantastic on both soundtracks.  I did enjoy the more emotional voice acting from the Japanese lossless track but again, its all about preference and fortunately you get both lossless soundtracks.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Eureka SeveN: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers” contains the following special features:

• Theatrical Trailer – (2:06) The original theatrical trailer for “Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers”.
• TV Commercial #1 - (:17) The first Japanese TV commercial for “Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers”
• TV Commercial #2 - (:17) The second Japanese TV commercial for “Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers”.
• Making-of-Featurette – (50:18) The making-of “Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers”.  Featuring director Tomoki Kyoda explaining the film and why they did a re-imagining of the “Eureka Seven” story for the film.  Also, the planning of the film up, storyboards, animation, recording the voice talent, ticket sales for the first screening of the film and the showcasing the journey from the film’s infancy to the first screening of the film.
• Trailers – Trailers for “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”, “Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society” and “Sword of the Stranger”.

My first exposure to “Eureka SeveN” was actually from this film.  I have seen bits and pieces on television but I missed way too many episodes to comprehend what was going on and thus I passed.

But since the first screening of the film, I started to get acquainted with the manga and anime series and for the most part, my enjoyment of the film is what made me want to learn more about it.

I know with most people watching the film, they have some major knowledge of the TV and manga series but when I watched this film with a few friends who were also not familiar with the world of “Eureka SeveN”, we enjoyed it.  Now knowing the differences between the characters of the film and the manga/anime series, personally I feel that this movie is easily accessible for those not familiar with the series and that’s good thing.

As for those who are fans, like any anime that is re-imagined and different from the original, I can understand if there are fans who are not appreciative of the changes and I’m sure there are those who are open to seeing what director Tomoki Kyoda and Bones had in store for the audience.  But I can tell you that watching the film on Blu-ray definitely made things more exciting as I had the opportunity to test out the lossless audio and just be in awe of how immersive the soundscape was.

Bandai Entertainment did a magnificent job in the lossless audio treatment of this film.   Also, the picture quality was definitely great to see in 1080p HD and I was happy to see the 50-minute making-of Japanese special feature (with English subtitles) included.  But to my surprise, after the theatrical screening of “Eureka SeveN: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers”, there was a 25-minute featuring the English dub voice talent that is not included on this Blu-ray.  In a way, it’s a shame because that featurette was hilarious and fun!  I’m surprised it was not included at all.  It would have been an excellent addition to the Blu-ray release and definitely would have made it a pretty complete release.

Overall, for those who are familiar with the series may have quite a bit to talk about in terms of differences and their own opinions of the film.  But coming from a guy who watched the film along with his friends (who don’t watch much anime) and didn’t know too much about the manga and anime series at the time, the three of us enjoyed the film.  And as for the Blu-ray, Bandai Entertainment did a wonderful job in giving us a Blu-ray release with both lossless soundtracks and a beautiful animated film in HD.  The film has romance, action and all-out mecha battles.  Sci-fi/mecha anime fans will definitely find something to enjoy about this film.

With a strong March week of anime on Blu-ray releases, “Eureka SeveN: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers” definitely stands out amongst the many anime titles available now on Blu-ray released in the US.

Definitely recommended!

Tags: a J!-ENT Anime Blu-Ray Disc Review, anime, Blu-Ray, Eureka Seven, Kōkyōshihen Eureka Sebun: Poketto ga Niji de Ippai, Tomoki Kyoda, 交響詩篇エウレカセブン ポケットが虹でいっぱい

Evangelion: 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

“Evangelion 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone” has literally raised the bar for anime on blu-ray.  This film looks fantastic and the lossless audio for both audio tracks is just immersive and phenomenal.  This Blu-ray release is highly recommended!

Image courtesy of © KHARA INC.  All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Evangelion: 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone

DURATION: 98 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition,English and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 6.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: KHARA INC./FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: PG-13 (Action, Violence and Some Nudity)

Release Date: March 9, 2010

Originally Created by Hideaki Anno

Chief Director: Hideaki Anno

Director: Kazuya Tsurumaki, Masayuki

Co-Director: Kobun Shizuno

Screenplay by Hideaki Anno

Storyboard by Shinji Higuchi and Tomoki Kyoda

Music by Shiro Sagisu

Character Design by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto

Art Director: Hiroshi Kato, Tatsuya Kushida

Chief Animation Director: Shunji Suzuki

Mechanical Design: Ikuto Yamashita

Director of Photography: Toru Fukushi

Executive Producer: Toshimichi Ootsuki

Animation Production by GAINAX

Featuring the following voice talent:

Kotono Mitsuishi/Allison Keith as Misato Katsuragi

Megumi Hayashibara/Brina Palencia as Rei Ayanami

Megumi Ogata/Spike Spencer as Shinji Ikari

Akira Ishida/Jerry Jewell as Kaworu Nagisa

Fumihiko Tachiki/John Swasey as Gendou Ikari

Motomu Kiyokawa/Kent Williams as Kouzou Fuyutsuki

Yuriko Yamaguchi/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Ritsuko Akagi

Hiro Yuuki as Makoto Hyuuga

Megumi Hayashibara/Monica Rial/Stephanie Young as Pen Pen and Yui Ikari

Mugihito/Bell Jenkins as Keel Lorentz

Takehito Koyasu/Phil Parsons as Shigero Aoba

Tetsuya Iwanaga/Greg Ayres as Kensuke Aida

Tomokazu Seki/Justin Cook as Touji Suzuhara

Tokyo-3 still stands after most of civilization was decimated in the Second Impact. Now the city endures the ceaseless onslaught of the deadly Angels, bizarre creatures bent on eradicating the human race. To combat this strange and ruthless enemy, the government agency NERV constructs a fleet of towering humanoid machines – the Evas – and Shinji Ikari is called into action, reluctantly taking his place at the controls of Eva Unit 01.

Living a life of loneliness and questioning his existence, Shinji struggles to accept responsibility for mankind’s battle for survival. Shinji will fight the Angels alongside the only person who might understand his plight: Rei Ayanami, the elusive and frail pilot of Eva Unit 00. Shinji and Rei will struggle to learn a simple truth: when carrying the burden of humanity’s survival on your shoulders, you are not alone.

Absolutely emo with action and destruction galore combined with beautiful, vibrant visuals, solid tweaking of the original storyline and the first rebuild film that “Neon Genesis Evangelion” fans will truly adore.  Evangelion: 1.11 – You Are (NOT) Alone is highly recommended and the Blu-ray release literally raises the bar for quality anime on Blu-ray!

In 2006, Japanese fans and anime fans of “Neon Genesis Evangelion” received exciting news that in the Summer of 2007, the first of four Evangelion films based on the anime television series would be released in theaters.   According to news reports, Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno watched the series from beginning to end and wanted to fix up a lot of questions and debates that fans had over the television series and most importantly, incorporate today’s new CG technology for the film versions.  Even furthering the excitement is that the original crew and cast have signed on to work on the new film.

So, with mass promotion in Japan, “Evangelion 1.01 – You Are (Not) Alone” became the #1 film in Japan making over $14.6 million (US), surpassing “The End of Evangelion” which brought in $14.5 million (US).  A limited edition DVD was released in Japan in 2008 which came with a script, music videos and an “Explanation of Evangelion” feature and needless to say, fans paid dearly for this limited edition DVD release (only 300,000 were made).  A Blu-ray and DVD release titled “Evangelion 1.11″ which included a re-transfer of the film plus three additional minutes was released in May 2009 and is currently the best selling Blu-ray release in Japan and now the Blu-ray and DVD release of “Evangelion 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone” has been released in the US.

With many Americans waiting for “Evangelion 1.11″ Blu-ray release, suffice to say, the film was released with a very short run at limited theaters and made over $100,000 and was screened at the anime convention Anime Expo in 2009 with great fanfare.

“Evangelion: 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone” is a film that takes the first six episodes of the TV series and features new animation and CG and a few different storyline details of certain characters but for the most part, creator Hideaki Anno made sure the film was faithful to the anime series.  The major difference between “Evangelion 1.01″ and “Evangelion 1.11″ is that the latter includes three minutes of extra footage (spread out during the first 15 minutes of the film) and scenes that were darker can now be seen much better.  Also, the Blu-ray edition boasts video and audio in HD and also comes with special features which 1.01 on DVD was barebones.

In the first film, Shinji Ikari’s father, the Supreme Commander of NERV, sends Lt. Colonel Misato Katsuragi to pick up Shinji, while the city is being attacked by another Angel (aliens destroying Earth).  When he is brought to Tokyo-3 at NERV HQ, immediately his father expects him to pilot the Evangelion Unit-01.

Shinji, who thought he could spend some time with his father or somehow have some father and son bond is shocked that he is brought all that way to pilot the Evangelion and immediately breaks down.  When Shinji refuses, his father asks for the injured Rei Ayanami to pilot her Evangelion unit.  But Shinji sees her, hurt and bloody from her last battle that he ends up accepting the mission and taking on the Angel.

Shinji pilots the Evangelion Unit-01 and defeats the angel but in the process, a large part of the city is destroyed.

Shinji is brought to Misato’s home and will temporarily live at her place but meanwhile, Shinji who wants his father’s love and attention, can’t understand why he is being used and why he is the one being selected to fight the Angels.  Weak and feeling alone, even his classmates bully and beat him up because of the destruction he caused while fighting the Angel.

This leads to Shinji questioning his life, his father and his purpose.  But when he meets Rei Ayanami, he starts to become curious towards her.  Meanwhile, more angels show up but with Shinji in such a negative and depressed mood, can he handle the burden of being the hero that must protect humankind?

VIDEO:

“Evangelion 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone” is featured in 1080p High Definition.  I had the opportunity to compare the Blu-ray to the 1.01 DVD release from FUNimation Entertainment from last fall and I can tell you right now that this Blu-ray looks fantastic.  Detail is much more apparent and the vibrancy of the colors of the film literally pop onscreen.   The CG animation is top notch and overall, Gainax definitely went all out in creating a fantastic anime full of detail, vibrant colors and staying faithful to the anime series but making sure everything is updated and looks amazing.

The DVD looks good but the main difference was that 1.01 was taken from a 35mm film transfer while the Blu-ray release was taken from the original High Definition digital file.  Not to say that the two look like night and day but there is a significant difference in terms of how vibrant and sharper the animation looks on Blu-ray.   “Evangelion 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone” looks absolutely beautiful!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

As for audio, I know how I was appreciative of the Dolby Digital 5.1 for  “Evangelion 1.01 – You Are (Not) Alone” but for “Evangelion 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone”, you get a Dolby TrueHD 6.1 English and Japanese lossless soundtrack and there are MAJOR differences between the lossless soundtrack and its DVD counterpart.  On lossless, there is good use of the various channels for this film.  From hearing the music and main character vocal coming from the center and front channels, you will then hear the loudspeakers through the surround channels and then the rear surround channels carry audio that is different.  For example, in one scene in which Shinji is asking out of his mecha, you hear the main characters and vocals through the center and front channels, loud speakers and musical instruments on the surround and on the rear surround channel, you hear Shinji screaming in agony behind you.

There is a huge difference between the lossless audio track and the Dolby Digital 5.1 track from the DVD.  Personally, the lossless audio is just phenomenal, how it is so immersive and envelops the soundscape from all directions was fantastic.  And I am so happy to find out that the Japanese audio track is lossless as well. Something that fans have wanted from anime on Blu-ray!

As for the dubbing, personally, I have never listened to the original ADV Films English dubs, so I can’t comment on how the newer voice dubs are with the original but from what I hear from friends and have read, fans were more than grateful for the English voice dubbing for “Evangelion 1.01″.  As for the Japanese voice acting, I’ve always felt the voice acting was solid.  Both tracks are similar for the most part in terms of audio featured on a certain channel but I did notice that the Japanese lossless track took advantage of the space.  For example, in the beginning you will see Shinji, his father and the scientist in a large open space.  In the Japanese lossless audio track, the sense of emptiness in that area and the echoing can be heard quite well on the lossless Japanese audio track.  But I also feel that the English dub was a slight more louder than its Japanese counterpart.  So overall, both lossless audio soundtracks are well-done.

As for subtitles, the subtitles on the Blu-ray are in English only.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Evangelion: 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone” contains the following special features:

• Rebuild of Evangelion 1.01 – (15:14) This segment features two versions of the pre-rendered 3D compared to the final cut.  The two versions are the Shiro Sagisu Version and the Joseph-Maurice Ravel Version and both music are different from one another but the segment is the same.
• Angel of Doom Promotion - (2:20) A music montage video from scenes taken from the film.
• News Flasher - (:55) Text teasers for “Evangelion 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone).
• Movie Previews – The movie previews contain the Preview 1 (Color Corrected Version), three versions of the “Fly Me to the Moon” and three versions of the “Beautiful World” themes (sung by Hikaru Utada).
• FUNimation Entertainment Trailers

When I first heard that the rebuild of “Neon Genesis Evangelion” would take place and that these new films would be based on the television series, I wasn’t so surprised because the series is so popular that it would definitely generate an extreme amount of money for GAINAX.  But one thing that I was not looking forward and what drove me crazy about the TV series was the character of Shinji Ikari.  Back in the mid-90’s, I can easily remember how his whining really tested my patience and looking back, he was such an anti-hero, mainly because he was “emo” most of the time.  Always negative, always in a bit of depression and funk as he always felt people didn’t care about him (and yes, I know that Hideaki Anno was clinically depressed when he was creating this film and parts of show was based on his depression) but it did get on my nerves at the time.

But here we are nearly 15 years later and watching “Evangelion 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone” and after it was all done, I was excited and hoping the second film would come out stateside very soon.  Yes, Shinji still whines and is still depressed but the fact is the film is structured a bit differently from the anime TV series and somehow, the pacing is much easier to take for the viewer with the film version and felt that the screenplay for the first film, the quality of the animation and artistic backgrounds and the music all worked together fantastically.

In a way, some part of me wants to rewatch first six episodes of the television series to find out the key differences (it’s been 14 years and I can’t recall too much from the television series except certain key scenes and the final episodes) were but personally, I found myself happy and content with this film that I look forward to seeing how Anno and the GAINAX crew tweak the next three films (and I can’t wait until the final film).  But for the most part, I felt that the film, the voice acting, the animation, the art and everything else about the film was well done and fantastic.

As for the Blu-ray release, this release was just fantastic.  I felt the Eva 1.01 DVD release was good but after watching this Blu-ray release, “Evangelion: 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone” is just fantastic and just an overall exciting release.  Fantastic picture quality, as well as phenomenal lossless Japanese audio.

As for the PG-13 rating, yes, “Evangelion 1.11″ has its share of violence and nudity, so this is not a series that you want to have your little kids around watching at all.  But overall, in the end, it was great to see Evangelion again but this time with the much improved reboot.  Nearly 15-years-later, it was definitely great to see Evangelion again but this time in a film sporting newer animation, CG, artwork and a solid screenplay and soundtrack.   But most importantly,  done in the way that the director Hideaki Anno had wanted but also what the fans have wanted as well.  And after I watched the film,  I can tell you that I loved it! The action, the drama is still intact.  Things may be a little different but still, fans of the original series will definitely enjoy this film release.

“Evangelion: 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone” is in the top 3 for best anime release on Blu-ray.  This release is absolutely fantastic and I definitely recommend this film in HD!

Tags: a J!-ENT Anime Blu-Ray Disc Review, anime, Evangelion 1.11, Evangelion Rebuld 1.11, Funimation Entertainment, Neon Genesis Evangelion, You Are (Not) Alone

Ponyo (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

I had one word going through my mind throughout the film and that was “wow!”.   What an amazing looking film utilizing hand drawn backgrounds and Miyazaki literally pouring his heart and soul into this film. Although a film that he created for young children, this is a family film that people of all ages can enjoy.  Simply magnificent, “Ponyo” is indeed a Hayao Miyazaki masterpiece!

Image courtesy of © NIBARIKI/GNDHDDT.  Disney.  All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Ponyo

DURATION: 103 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (48 kHz, 24-Bit), Japanese and French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

COMPANY: Studio Ghibli/Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

RATED: G

Release Date: March 2, 2010

Originally created by Hayao Miyazaki

Written and Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Music by Joe Hisaishi

Art Director: Noboru Yoshida

Animation Director: Katsuya Kondo

Sound Director: Eriko Kimura

Director of Photography: Atsushi Okui

Executive producer: Koji Hoshino

Producer: Toshio Suzuki

Production by Studio Ghibli

Featuring the following voice talent:

Hiroki Doi/Frankie Jonas as Sosuke

Yuria Nana/Noah Cyrus as Ponyo

George Tokoro/Liam Neeson as Fujimoto

Tomoko Yamaguchi/Tina Fey as Risa (Lisa)

Betty White as Noriko

Emi Hiraoka/Janessa Rose as Kumiko

Kazuko Yoshiyuki/Lily Tomlin as Toki

Kazushige Nagashima/Matt Damon as Koichi

Tomoko Naraoka/Cloris Leachman as Yoshie

Yuki Amami/Cate Blanchett as Grandmamare

Walking on the beach near his home, a five-year old boy named Sosuke (voiced by Frankie Jonas) finds a beautiful goldfish trapped in a bottle. He releases the tiny creature and, sure that she is no ordinary fish, names his new friend Ponyo (Noah Lindsey Cyrus). As Ponyo and Sosuke grow closer, she reveals to him that she is the daughter of a powerful wizard (Liam Neeson) and a sea goddess (Cate Blanchett), and magically transforms herself into a real human girl. But by crossing from her watery world onto land, Ponyo has created a dangerous imbalance in nature. As the moon begins to draw closer to the earth, sea levels rise and a giant tsunami threatens to destroy Sosuke’s home. Ponyo’s father marshals all his might to find his missing daughter, as the two children embark on an adventure of a lifetime to try and save the world.

In 2008, Studio Ghibli released their latest Hayao Miyazaki film “Ponyo” (aka “Gake no Ue no Ponyo”) in Japan and followed with a U.S. release in August 2009.  The film which is Miyazaki’s eighth film for Studio Ghibli has amassed several awards including the Japanese Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.  The film which is budgeted around $34 million dollars made over $199 million worldwide.  Where his 1988 film “My Neighbor Totoro” was Miyazaki’s tale for older children, this time around for “Ponyo” he wanted to create a film for young children and was inspired from Hans Christian Anderson’s”The Little Mermaid”.

And now this magnificent film will be released on DVD and Blu-ray (which includes the DVD) on March 2nd.

“Ponyo” is a film about a young five-year-old boy named Sosuke (voiced by Hiroki Doi/Frankie Jonas) who lives with his mother Lisa (voiced by Tomoko Yamaguchi/Tina Fey).  His father Koichi (voiced by Kazushige Nagashima/Matt Damon) is in the military and is on a ship leaving Lisa to take care of Sosuke and bring him to nursery school, while she works at a retirement home.  The two live on the highest peak of a seaside town right near a cliff.

Meanwhile in the water, a man named Fujimoto (voiced by George Tokoro/Liam Neeson) is a human who has the ability to live undersea and also has great power and taking Ponyo (a fish with a face of young girl) and her siblings out on a trip.  While riding on a submarine, Ponyo swims away and sleeps on a jellyfish but accidentally gets caught up in the pollution that is trapped in the ocean and is stuck inside a bottle.  Although, she is able to escape the ships dragging the undersea waste, she is unable to breath because of the bottle.

Sosuke notices the bottle and thinks its a goldfish that is stuck inside the bottle and frees her by breaking the bottle.  He accidentally cuts himself on the glass but Ponyo licks the blood from his finger and instantly heals him.  Excited about his new “goldfish” which he names “Ponyo”, he brings her along with him while his mother drives him to the nursery.

He tries to even feed her part of his sandwich and interesting enough, Ponyo eats the ham from his sandwich.  As he has fun with his new fish friend, her father Fujimoto wants his daughter back and using his magical powers, he is able to retrieve her from Sosuke.

But when he brings Ponyo back home, she enjoys her time with Sosuke so much that she immediately starts talking about how she wants to be with him and also eat more ham.  But most of all, wanting to be human.  But Fujimoto is not thrilled about humans because of how they have polluted the oceans but Ponyo loves Sosuke and wants to be with him and wants to be human which allows her to grow arms and limbs.  Fujimoto realizes that Ponyo has had a taste of human’s blood and immediately uses his power to revert her back to being a fish.  Concerned about Ponyo, Fujimoto goes to visit his wife and Ponyo’s mother Granmamare (voiced by Yuki Amami/Cate Blanchett).

But while Ponyo is incapacitated, her siblings come to use their magic and she ends up finding a way to become human.  But unfortunately, she is unaware of the consequences by offsetting nature by releasing too much magic into the ocean and now the imbalance has caused hurricane like conditions in the seaside town.  With the town being flooded, Lisa and Sosuke try to make it back home as quickly as they can.  But Sosuke notices a young girl running along with the waves.  He realizes that the girl is Ponyo and she has come to stay with him.

But despite the happiness that Sosuke and Pony have found with one another, the imbalance caused by Ponyo turning human has led the moon to come out of its orbit and affecting the waves at a terrible level.  With Lisa concerned about the people at the retirement home, she knows that she must check up on them and knowing that their home is high up on the cliff and that the children are safe in the house, she leaves Sosuke to take care of the house and stay with Ponyo.

The following morning, with the water risen so high near the patio of Sosuke’s home, he now worries about his mother who has not returned home.  Thus begins the adventure between Sosuke and Ponyo as they go search for his mother Lisa.

VIDEO:

Magical, beautiful and everything that you can expect from Hayao Miyazaki.  I was completely in awe when I watched this film.  In this day and age, we tend to put so much into CG animated films and rarely do we see hand drawn quality animation anymore.  I’m so glad that Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli continues to show this creative style through this film. The hand painted backgrounds are absolutely beautiful, the character design continues that Miyazaki look and style but looks absolutely fluid during its more action-oriented scenes.

Presented in 1080p High Definition, detail can be seen on the painted backgrounds.  Vibrant during the day scenes with trees that are full of detail and water reflecting the trees, cliffs showcasing the detail as shadows and detail showcasing the curvature and the little pieces of grass that are placed within the rocks.   The scene with the storm and the crashing features Miyazaki’s handiwork as he created the water and his waves all by himself.  It’s an amazing sight to see.

There are no compression artifacts, edge enhancement, aliasing, banding or any problems in picture quality for “Ponyo” whatsoever.  “Ponyo” achieves perfection!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Ponyo” is presented in English 5.1 DTS Master Audio (48 kHz/24-bit) and in Japanese and French 5.1 Dolby Digital.  First the good.  The English dub track is fantastic.  You want an immersive soundscape, “Ponyo” delivers.  From the sound of the ocean, bubbles popping, the rush of the waves, the sounds of trees rustling, the sound of rain, sea animals swimming in the water and most of all, a beautiful musical score by Joe Hisaishi.  This soundtrack is absolutely divine.   Great use of front and center channels with dialogue and music that is crystal clear.  The surround channels and the use of LFE as the sound effects bring “Ponyo” to life.  This lossless soundtrack is perfect!

Now the bad.  There is no lossless Japanese audio soundtrack.  The Japanese Blu-ray release has a lossless soundtrack but what happened to it for this Blu-ray release?  There is no doubt that audiophile purists who want the original Japanese soundtrack are going to be upset by this and one can hope that if Disney does bring out a Miyazaki release on Blu-ray in the near future, that a lossless soundtrack is included for both the English and Japanese audio.

Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Ponyo” has a good number of special features in 1080p High Definition and 480i Standard Definition.  Audio is in English 2.0 Dolby Digital and subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.  Special features include:

• Meet Ponyo – (3:22) Executive producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy talk about working with Hayao Miyazaki and give a quick introduction to “Ponyo”.
• Original Japanese Storyboards - Watch the entire film but this time with the video showcasing the original storyboards.
• A Conversation with Hayao Miyazaki & John Lasseter - (3:31) PIXAR’s John Lasseter and a friend of Hayao Miyazaki talk about “Ponyo”.
• Creating Ponyo – (3:58) Hayao Miyazaki talks about how he came up with the concept of “Ponyo” and him wanting to create a film for children.
• Ponyo & Fujimoto – (2:59) Hayao Miyazaki talks about the name “Ponyo” and the character Fujimoto.
• The Nursery - (2:00) Studio Ghibli Producer Toshio Suzuki talks about Miyazaki wanting to create a children’s nursery and both men made Miyazaki’s dream happen by creating the Studio Ghibli Nursery.
• Producer’s Perspective: Telling the Story- (2:27) Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki talks about how Miyazaki works and creating the storyboards and story for “Ponyo” and more.
• The Locations of Ponyo – (9:32) An excerpt from a Japanese documentary on Miyazaki’s animated films and visiting the areas that inspired Miyazaki to create the village of “Ponyo”.
• Scoring Miyazaki – (7:19) A featurette about Joe Hisaishi’s scoring Miyazaki films and more.
• Original Japanese Trailer – (3:22) The original Japanese theatrical trailers.
• Behind the Microphone – (6:04) Featuring the English dub voice talent talking about their role, their appreciation for Miyazaki and his films and interviews with the All-star talent.
• My Neighbor Totoro – Creating My Neighbor Totoro – (3:00) Miyazaki talking about the creation of his film “My Neighbor Totoro”.
• Kiki’s Delivery Service – Creating Kiki’s Delivery Service -  (2:27) Hayao Miyazaki discussing the creation of “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and what inspired Miyazaki for the creation of the city in the film.
• Castle in the Sky: Character Sketches – (2:37) Miyazaki talks about the characters of “Castle in the Sky” and discussing how his audiences are loyal to his films over time.
• Enter the Lands – Visit the land featuring various small animated Studio Ghibli characters (from all films).  Click on a character from that film (note: only “Ponyo”, “My Neighbor Totoro”, “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and “Castle in the Sky” are available) to get a Q&A or a small video info. of that film and its characters.

EXTRAS:

A DVD of “Ponyo” is included with this Blu-ray release.  The DVD is in Widescreen (1:85:1) – Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions, English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Japanese and French with subtitles in English SDH, French and Spanish.

Once again, Miyazaki continues to prove to us that hand-drawn animation is absolutely beautiful and there is no need to join the pack and create a CG animated film.  “Ponyo” succeeds on all levels – storyline, animation, music and its soundtrack.  I absolutely loved this film!

Before I saw the film, I figured that people were so used to Miyazaki’s more serious work and for him to try to go back to something similar to “My Neighbor Totoro” was going to be difficult in this day and age but with “Ponyo”, he managed to pull it off.  The world he creates is magical, the characters are just enjoyable to watch.  From every scene, I was literally just loving the animation and the painted backgrounds and to find out that Miyazaki actually drew the sea and the waves himself using 170,000 separate images is amazing.

In terms of any deep messages on society or ecology, in “Ponyo”, we see how trash and waste has been collecting on the ocean floors and Ponyo being stuck in a bottle lying in a wasteland under the sea.  For Fujimoto, as he tries to maneuver underwater, waste and garbage is everywhere.  So, it was great to see Miyazaki convey how people have mistreated the ocean with their garbage and incorporating it to the storyline.

The Blu-ray is absolutely beautiful when it comes to picture quality, lossless audio and also contains a good number of special features.  If there was only one thing that prevents this Blu-ray release from reaching perfection is the lack of a lossless Japanese audio soundtrack.  But both English and Japanese vocals are well-done with the English track featuring all-star talent with Tina Fey, Liam Neeson, Cate Blanchett, Betty White, Cloris Leachmen, Lily Tomlin and Matt Damon providing their voices for this film.   Even Jonas Brothers sibling Frankie Jonas (as Sosuke) and Miley’s younger sister Noah (as Ponyo) do a great job as the primary vocals.  The Japanese soundtrack features two of Japan’s top celebrities with George Tokoro lending his voice for Fujimoto and Tomoko Yamaguchi as Lisa.  And also Hiroki Doi (Sosuke) and Yuria Nana (Ponyo) do a wonderful job providing the main voices for the Japanese audio track as well.

Overall, Hayao Miyazaki is truly a remarkable filmmaker and “Ponyo” is a true masterpiece.  Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli show no signs of waning and they manage to capture the magic that I have felt when I was younger when I first watched Ghibli classics such as “Nausicaa”, “My Neighbor Totoro”, “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and “Laputa: Castle in the Sky”.  This Blu-ray release is highly recommended!

Tags: a J!-ENT Anime Blu-Ray Disc Review, anime, Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese animation, Ponyo, Studio Ghibli, 崖の上のポニョ

Heroic Age: The Complete Series (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

For those who have been wanting sci-fi/mecha action on Blu-ray will definitely enjoy “Heroic Age: The Complete Series”.  Definitely one of the top three anime series available on Blu-ray in the US and a series that his definitely recommended!

Image courtesy of © XEBEC/Argonaut Crew. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Heroic Age – The Complete Series

DURATION: 26 Episodes (635 minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition 16×9, Dolby True HD English 5.1 Dolby Digital Japanese 2.0

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV PG

Originally created by Tow Ubukata

Directed by Toshimasa Suzuki

Series Composition by Tow Ubukata

Character Design by Hisashi Hirai

Art Director by Toshihiro Konama

Music by Naoki Sato

Mechanical Design by Ken Ootsuka, Naohiro Washio, Yoshiki Kuga

Anime Production by XEBEC

Featuring the following voice talent:

Hiroshi Yazaki/J. Michael Tatum as Age

Yui Ishikawa/Caitlin Glass as Deianeira (Dhianeila)

Kaori Shimizu/Luci Christian as Aneesha

Rie Kugimiya/Monica Rial as Mail

Satomi Arai/Brina Palencia as Bee

Takashi Kondo/Joel McDonald as Iolaus

Takashi Matsuyama/R. Bruce Elliott as Mobead

Yukari Tamura/Monica Rial as Tail

Ami Koshimizu/Cherami Leigh as Utila Ra (Yuty La)

Chihiro Suzuki/Greg Ayres as Mehitaka Bore (Mehitak Pore)

Daisuke Kishio as Meleaguros

Hiroki Yasumoto as Kilis

Hiroshi Okamoto as Takius

Hiroyuki Yoshino as Atlantis

Masayuki Katou/Christopher R. Sabat as Karkinos Lucan (Rucan)

Miyuki Sawashiro/Stephanie Young as Rekti Rekuu (Lecty Leque)

Rina Satou/Lydia Mackay as Prome Ou

Saori Seto as Hestia

Shiho Hisajima as Iouda

Susumu Chiba as Rom Rou

Yoshinori Fujita as Paeto Ou

Yukana as Nilval

Akira Ishida as Zaki

Ayako Kawasumi/Wendy Powell as Elena

Cho as Ermita

Long ago, the advanced Tribe of Gold vanished from the vast universe. In the void left by their departure, the tyrannical Tribe of Silver ascended to rule, forcing mankind – the Iron Tribe – to the brink of extinction.

Now humanity wanders the cosmos in search of a savior. Prophecy has foretold of one who will labor for their freedoms, and on a planet of ruin a champion is found. A feral boy named Age holds the destiny of their species in his hands and the untold power of the Tribe of Hero within.

In April 2007, the sci-fi anime series “Heroic Age” produced by XEBEC (“Steam Detectives”, “To Love-Ru”, “D.N.Angel”) and directed by Toshimasa Suzuki (who worked on “MoonPhase”, “Rozen Maiden: Traumend”, “Silent Mobius” TV) began airing on TV Tokyo and TV Osaka.  While the anime series was ongoing, in July 2007, mangaka Tow Ubukata (“Chevalier D’Eon”, “Sokyuu no Fafner”, “Pilgrim Jager”) began work on the manga series “Heroic Age” which was serialized in Kodansha’s Magazine Z.

The 26-episode animated television series featured Ubukata who would be involved with series composition, character designs by Hisashi Hirai (“Mobile Suit Gundam Seed”, “Infinity Ryvius”, “Fafner”, “S-CRY-ed”), mechanical design directed by Ken Ootsuka (“Banner of the Stars”, “Brave King GaoGaiGAr Final”, “Gurren Lagann”) and music by Naoki Sato (“Sword of the Stranger”, “X”, “Eureka Seven”).

The story parallels Greek mythology and takes place in the distant future in which humanity is in dire trouble.  Known as “The Iron Tribe”, they are looked at as an inferior race by the Silver Tribe, a race who looks at themselves as not only the most superior and powerful but also the guardians of space and then there is the Bronze tribe, an insect species who takes direction from the Silver Tribe to hunt down any members of the Iron Tribe.

Thus the Iron Tribe under the direction of the young princess Dhianeila (a psychic and telepath) in search of a person as told in an old prophecy of a person who will protect humanity and bring peace to the world.

While the Iron Tribe were searching a deserted planet known as Oron, the only living person appeared to be someone named Age who looks like a teenager but is actually 120-years-old (due to being in stasis for over a hundred years).  Why is this young man living by himself in a deserted planet?  No one knows why but as the Iron Tribe search the planet, they are immediately attacked by the Bronze Tribe who destroy the home of the young man who immediately transforms into Bellcross, large destructive mecha.

It is then learned that Age is a Nodos, a vessel that contains the essence of a Heroic Tribesman and can transform into a member of the Heroic Tribe.  These Nodos have superhuman abilities, can breathe in space and unaffected by the space vacuum.

While Age spends time with the humans (The Iron Tribe), he learns about humanity and defends them from any attacks and danger.  Immediately, the princess feels that Age is the prophecy who will help save humanity from its oppressors.  Meanwhile, the other Nodos in the world are not to thrilled that Age is spending time with the lesser beings – the humans and thus ask him to join them or else, be their enemy and he will be destroyed.

This sets up events in which Age, a Nodos who has now dedicated his life in protecting the humans from those of his own kind and from those who want to oppress humanity.

“Heroic Age: The Complete Series” features a total of 26-episodes on three Blu-ray discs.

VIDEO:

“Heroic Age: The Complete Series” is a series that looks very good on Blu-ray and compared to recent FUNimation Entertainment releases, the good news is that I didn’t see the discoloration problems that were evident on “Witchblade”, “Samurai Champloo” and “Basilisk”.  Many times through the series, it made me wonder if “Heroic Age” was an upconvert or not because there were scenes that looked absolutely beautiful but then there were some scenes that I felt, were not as sharp and vibrant.

Part of the problem when it comes to animated television series is that there is a shorter time schedule to get an episode for airing and for the most part, budget is quite tight as opposed to a film or an OVA. Also, I’ve been told that if we want the better looking series on Blu-ray, look for series after 2008. “Heroic Age: The Complete Series” was released in 2007 but by no means does this series look bad.  Blacks are nice and deep, action/battle sequences look very good and I find less aliasing (it’s there if you really look) and compression artifacts this time around.  So, picture quality is not absolutely pristine.  Personally, if this is an upconvert, then the good news is that “Heroic Age: The Complete Series” definitely looks better than the majority of the anime TV series upconverts that I have seen on Blu-ray thus far.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Heroic Age: The Complete Series” features a lossless English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack.  Special effects are used to good effect with the surround channels, audio and music is nice and clear coming from the front and center channels and for the most part, from spacecraft motioning to the hear the battles between the Nodos and using their weaponry, you get a good amount of  action from your surround channels and good utilization of LFE for the multiple attacks and explosions.  A good immersive lossless soundtrack for the English dub track.

And like previous FUNimation Entertainment releases, Japanese soundtrack is in Dolby Digital 2.0.  Granted, you can easily have you receiver set with stereo on all channels but for the most part, for those expecting a lossless Japanese soundtrack, you are not going to find it in “Heroic Age: The Complete Series”.  But overall, voice talent is solid for both English and Japanese soundtracks. English dub fans should enjoy the lossless soundtrack.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

With the recent “Claymore – The Complete Series” filled with special features content and a booklet, unfortunately “Heroic Age: The Complete Series” is not given any major special features treatment for its Blu-ray release but the textless opening and ending themes.

There are no Japanese commercials or promotional videos for the series.  With such a strong Japanese and English dub cast, it would have been cool to see any Japanese featurette including commentary by the ADR Director and voice talent for the English dub track.

“Heroic Age: The Complete Series” was a pretty solid series from beginning to end.  A lot of action sequences that reminded me a little of “Super Robot Wars OG”, “Aquarion” and event”Battlestar Galactica”, the series has a lot going for it as it brings together sci-fi action, mecha battles but also a deep storyline about humans trying to escape those who want to destroy them and finding a hero who fights on the side of humanity.

To see human kind as the underdogs is this battle in the cosmos was rather enjoyable and in a way, I was very happy because I have been wanting a sci-fi/action anime series on Blu-ray and I have to admit that “Heroic Age: The Complete Series” is probably one of the most satisfying anime TV series that I have seen on Blu-ray thus far.

As for the Blu-ray release, it’s hard to recommend the series if one already owns it on DVD based on the fact that there are no special features included and there is no lossless Japanese soundtrack.   But for those who do not own the series on DVD, will enjoy the marginal upgrade for the video compared to its DVD counterpart and a pretty solid English lossless soundtrack.

“Heroic Age: The Complete Series” is not a perfect release but it’s one of the top three series out there available on Blu-ray in the U.S. at this time.  An enjoyable series from beginning to end that is definitely recommended!

Tags: a J!-ENT Anime Blu-Ray Disc Review, anime, ヒロイック・エイジ, Blu-Ray, Funimation Entertainment, Heroic Age

AMAZON.COM TO EXCLUSIVELY DISTRIBUTE MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM UNICORN V. 1 BLU-RAY; OTHER GUNDAM SERIES AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING

January 14, 2010 – Bandai Visual Japan announced today that Amazon.com will release the Mobile Suit Gundam UC(Unicorn) Vol.1 Blu-ray with a two-month exclusive window in North America under the “Honneamise” label.

Amazon.com will be taking pre-orders starting on January 10 with a street date of March 12, 2010 at a SRP of $49.98. Bandai Entertainment Inc.distributes this Blu-ray product for Bandai Visual Japan.

Since its inception in 1979, the Gundam franchise is considered the introduction of the giant robot or “Mecha” genre in the U.S. Mobile Suit Gundam UC is a series of popular novels by Harutoshi Fukui, which was originally serialized from 2006 to June 2009 in the monthly Gundam Ace magazine by Kadokawa. Ten volumes of the novel have sold over 2 million copies. The story is set in Universal Century, three years after the events of the film Char’s Counterattack. The series will be comprised of six 50-minute episodes directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi.

The Blu-ray will feature Episode One with Japanese and English TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese and English Dolby Digital 2.0 audio with a 16:9 / 1080P High Definition transfer. Subtitle tracks will include Japanese, English, French, Spanish, and Chinese (in both Cantonese and Mandarin). The English voice cast features the talents of Steve Cannon, Stephanie Sheh, Rachael Lillis, Tara Platt, and others.

Additionally, to celebrate Gundam UC’s Blu-ray release, Bandai Channel will begin streaming classic Gundam series starting February 1. This is a long-awaited opportunity for existing fans to revisit their favorites or for newer fans to become familiar with the world of Gundam beforewatching Gundam UC. Six TV series of Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Z Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, and Mobile Suit Gundam 00) are planned for free streaming in North America and Europe for limited time only on AnimeNewsNetwork (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com), Crunchyroll (http://www.crunchyroll.com) and YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/AnimeChannel). More series are to be added later.

Tags: a J!-ENT Anime Blu-Ray Disc Review, anime, Blu-Ray, Blu-ray News, MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM UNICORN

Basilisk – The Complete Series (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

Action-packed, well-written and overall a well-rounded anime on Blu-ray release!  A truly captivating, adrenaline pumping, action-packed anime series based on the award winning novel by Futaro Yamada and manga series by Masaki Segawa.  Definitely a title worth having in your anime on Blu-ray collection!

Images courtesy of © 2005 Futaro Yamada-Masaki Segawa-Kodansha/Gonzo. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Basilisk – The Complete Series

DURATION: 24 Episodes (600 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition 16×9, Dolby True HD English 5.1 and Japanese  Dolby Digital 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV MA

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: December 15, 2009

Originally Created by Futaroh Yamada

Directed by Fumitomo Kizaki

Scenario/Script: Yasuyuki Muto

Music by Kou Nakagawa

Character Design and Animation directed by Michinori Chiba

Sound Director by Yoku Shioya

Director of Photography: Kenji Fujita

Executive Producer: Koji Kajita

Producer: Hidemasa Arai, Hideyuki Nanba

Assistant Director: Yukio Nishimoto

Assisant Producer: Misato Kaneko

Anime Production by GONZO

Featuring the voices of:

Kousuke Toriumi/Troy Baker as Kouga Gennosuke

Nana Mizuki/Laura Bailey as Iga Oboro

Atsushi Imaruoka/Eric Vale as Jimushi Jyubei

Katsuhiro Kitagawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Kasumi Gyoubu

Katsui Taira/Jeremy Inman as Udono Josuke

Ken Uo/J. Paul Slavens as Amayo Jingoro

Kenji Utsumi/Jim Johnson as Nenki Mino

Misa Watanabe/Jennifer Seman as Akeginu

Ryuusaku Chidiwa/Chris Cason as Kazamachi Shogen

Sho Hayami/Mark Stoddard as Yakushiji Tenzen

Takeshi Aono/R. Bruce Elliot as Azuki Rousai

Wataru Hatano/John Burgmeier as Chikuma Koshirou

Yasushi Miyabayashi as Muroga Hyouma

Youji Ueda as Kisaragi Saemon

Feudal Japan is set to bear witness to the bloody clash of titans as two fearsome ninja tribes are unleashed, one upon the other. For wretched within the Edo Castle loyalties have been severed into warring factions, as two sons struggle to inherit the title of Shogun. If this rupture goes unresolved, the Tokugawa kingdom will be torn apart. A solution must be found, one befitting a samurai family.

The Kouga and the Iga, two ninja clans with four hundred years of hostilities between them, meet at the request of Lord Ieyasu. There they learn that the peace forced upon them is to be broken by the whim of royalty, and that the outcome of this battle will determine the next Shogun. The passions of the past quickly reignite as two scrolls are sent out into the night.

Ill-fated is this event indeed, for lovers stand with hands entwined as travesty approaches on the wings of a hawk. Reared from birth as sworn enemies, Gennosuke and Oboro, each the heir of these rival clans, seek lasting peace between their peoples. But the terms have been set, and two lists seal their destinies. Two lists from which a name can only be crossed out in blood.

No mercy will be spared to the enemy.

The popular 1958 novel “The Kouga Ninja Scrolls” by Futaro Yamada was adapted into a manga series titled “Bajirisuku ~Kōga Ninpō Chō~” (Basilisk: The Koga Ninja Scrolls) in 2004-2005 by Masaki Segawa and winning the 2004 Kodansha Manga Award.

The anime series adaptation was then produced by Gonzo Studios in 2005 and is now the complete series is now available on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.

“Basilisk” is about two ninja clans at war, the Kouga and the Iga clan who have fought each other for four hundred years but a “no hostilities” pact is made to prevent the two from going into war.

We are given a glimpse of the past when the Iga clan’s Princess Ogen and the Kouga clan’s leader Danjou.  Two people from opposing clans who were planning to get married.  With the two clans living in peace, it looked as if marriage was possible until fighting began in the Iga village and survivors from the village were killed by the Kouga clan.

Needless to say, the two lovers became hated enemies but due to a “no hostilities” pact, there would be no fighting between the two clans.

Fast forward many decades later and now Ogen is the elder of the Iga Clan and Danjou of the Kouga clan.  With the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu now retiring, their is a dispute of who will be taking over as the Third Tokugawa Shogun.  So, in order to decide, Tokugawa lifts the pact and the rules are each clan can select 10 of their best ninjas.  Whoever is the last one standing and has complete control of the scroll will be the rightful heir.

As Ogen and Danjou have been waiting for this moment, their own offspring are in a similar predicament that they were in when they were younger.  Princess Oboro of the Iga clan and Gennosuke, leader of the Kouga clan are planning to get married.  With peace in their land, the two feel that their marriage can hopefully end all hostilities.

But it is too late.  For Ogen and Danjou, they know that their offspring will now face what they faced but this time, the two clans will go to war.  With Ogen and Danjou part of their clan’s top 10 ninja, the two fight each other and are the first to go down.  The Iga clan are the first to learn about the pact being lifted and while Oboro invites Gennosuke to her village, unbeknown to him is that the Iga clan are waiting to kill him.

The war begins as now Gennosuke and Oboro, two lovers are now in opposing sides of the war.  Their job is to lead their clan to annihilate the other but with the two deeply in love, which is stronger…their love for each other or their clan’s 400-year hatred for each other.

The main characters of “Basilisk – The Complete Series” are:

The Kouga Clan

• Kouga Danjou – The grandfather of Gennosuke and the leader of the Kouga clan.  His ability to create poison needles that come from his mouth.  Once engaged to the Iga chieftess Ogen.
• Kouga Gennosuke - The leader of the Kouga clan and adopted heir of Kouga Danjou.  In love and engaged to Iga clan’s Oboru.  He looks at the rivalry between the two clans as past and he and Oboro hope for a peaceful existence.  Gennosuke has the Doujutsu ability to look at people and make them kill themselves.
• Kagerou – A warrior who is known for being attractive but her sexual arousal is her biggest weapon as she can turn poisonous.  She has feelings for Gennosuke.
• Kisaragi Saemon – Older brother of Okoi and a specialist in stealth operations.  Saemon can take on the identity of anyone and is literally a maser of disguise.
• Kasumi Gyoubu – Tall, strong and has the ability to merge to a solid surface and become one with it.  Specializes in stealth operations.
• Okoi - The younger sister of Kisaraki Saemon.  Known to be a tomboy and is quite busty, she has the ability to absorb a person’s blood if her skin touches theirs.  The more skin she touches, the quicker she can sap them of their blood.
• Udono Jousuke – The overweight and not-so-smart member of the Kouga clan.  Very agile and his ability is his body turning to rubber.
• Jimusha Jubei – A torso of a man (no arms, hands, legs or feet) who can slither like a snake. Uses his tongue to hold a sword.
• Kazamachi Shogen – A person that a body that is malformed and has an appearance of a spider.  He can excrete a sticky substance which he can use as a weapon.
• Muroga Hyouma – Has the Doujutsu technique that Gennosuke has but is not able to control it and thus, he must have his eyes closed permanently.  He is known for teaching Gennosuke his kindness to people including his rivals.

The Iga Clan

• Ogen – The adopted chieftess of the Iga clan who was once engaged to the Kouga clan’s Danjou.  When raising Oboru, she never told Oboru about the rivalry between the Iga clan and the Kouga clan.
• Oboro – The princess of the Iga clan engaged to Gennosuke of the Kouga clan.  Because of the way she was raised away from negativity, she was never told why her clan and the Kouga clan never got along.  Her special ability is the ability to neutralize anyone with abilities by looking at them.  She assumes leadership of the clan after her grandmother’s death.
• Yakushiji Tenzen – The second-in-command of the Iga clan.  Has the ability to come back to life after death.  Is interested in making sure the Iga clan is at war with the Kouga clan.
• Akeginu – The bodyguard of Oboro and known to be seductive but uses her power to secrete blood from her body and use it as a weapon.
• Chikuma Koshirou – Tenzen’s apprentice and has the ability to create whirlwinds with his breath and shred people up with it.
• Amaya Jingoro – An assassin that can turn to liquid and is very dependent on water but his weakness is salt water.
• Hotarubi – The girlfriend of Yashamaru who has the ability to call upon her pink butterflies to use as weapons or as a defensive measure.
• Mino Nenki – An assassin that has a lot of hair on him which he can control and extend.  He also can also make them become like spikes or as an extra appendage to grasp or swing on trees.
• Azuki Rousai – The second oldest of the Iga clan known for his over-sized head.  Has the ability to stretch and kill his enemies through his powerful hits or kicks.
• Yashamaru – The boyfriend of Hotarubi.  Very cocky and has the ability to create wires and control them to slice people up.

“Basilisk – The Complete Series” features the following 24-episodes on 3 Blu-ray discs. Here is a spoilerless summary of each episode:

Disc 1:

• EPISODE 1 – Destiny – The introduction of the story of Ogen and Danjou.
• EPISODE 2 – Last Rendezvous - The lifting of the pact and the story of Gennosuke and Oboro.
• EPISODE 3 – The Onslaught of War – The Iga clan are the first to make their strike against one of the members of the Kouga clan.
• EPISODE 4 – The Horned Owl – Oboro suspects that her clan is trying to kill Gennosuke and Udono.
• EPISODE 5 – The Surprise Attack - The Iga clan try to surprise the Kouga clan in their own home territory with a surprise attack.
• EPISODE 6 – Longing in the Rain -The Kouga clan’s Saemon and Gyoubu take on the Iga clan’s Yashamaru.
• EPISODE 7 – Blood-Sucking Seductress – Oiku of the Kouga clan is captured but she reveals her ability.
• EPISODE 8 – Cage of Blood - With Oiku now at the mercy of the Iga clan, will her clan be able to rescue her in time?
• EPISODE 9 – Farewell – Gennosuke finds out about the truth of the pact being lifted.
• EPISODE 10 – Divine Mandate – A runthrough of what took place from episodes 1-9.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 11 – On Their Own – Hotarubi and Nenki of the Iga clan try to make a surprise attack against Gennosuke and the Kouga clan.
• EPISODE 12 – Remembrance – Saemon takes on Hotarubi. Meanwhile, Koshirou tries to make himself useful.
• EPISODE 13 – A Swarm of Butterflies – The final battle between Saemon and Hotarubi.
• EPISODE 14 – Fallen Flower – Gyoubu takes on members of the Kouga clan and another member of the Iga clan is lost.
• EPISODE 15 – Reckoning – Tenzen vs. Gyoubu.  Also, back story of why Gyoubu despites the Iga clan.
• EPISODE 16 – First Impressions – An episode featuring a back story about Gennosuke relationship with Oboro.
• EPISODE 17 – Wandering Hearts – Gennosuke takes on Tenzen.
• EPISODE 18 – A Dawn Without Light – An episode about Tenzen’s past.
• EPISODE 19 – Conspiracy – Koshirou takes on the the ninjas of the Kouga clan.  Meanwhile, Akeginu and Oboro join up with Lady Ofuku.
• EPISODE 20 – River of Mercy – Akigenu takes on Kagerou.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 21 – With All Her Heart – Tenzen goes after Kagerou.
• EPISODE 22 – The Haunted – Tenzen vs. Gennosuke.  The secret of Tenzen is revealed.
• EPISODE 23 – Emancipation – The final battle between Gennosuke and Tenzen.
• EPISODE 24 – Requiem – The final battle with the last two standing….Gennosuke vs. Oboro.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Basilisk – The Complete Series” is featured in 1080p High Definition (16×9).  The character designs by Michinori Chiba is quite awesome.  I really like the character designs of each of the characters and how the characters blend into the actual painted backgrounds.   Part of the challenge that I’m sure Gonzo had to face is the number of characters featured in this series but for the most part, the animation was solid.

As for colors, colors are not as extremely vibrant compared to a series such as “Burst Angel – The Complete Series” on Blu-ray which utilize a lot of reds and oranges but its important to emphasize that “Basilisk – The Complete Series” is a TV series and not an OVA or film.  The series takes place tends to put more emphasis on the character designs rather than the surroundings (since mostly everything is either Japanese homes, walls or trees and lush green scenery).  Also, focusing on the action sequences and the characters abilities.

Not all is perfect with this upconvert though.  There are a few times that I’ve noticed compression artifacts and also some discoloration (nowhere near the amount of colorful globs that I spotted on the Blu-ray release of “Samurai Champloo” but you do see it during the dark sequences) which is probably due to the DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) filtering.

As for audio, the lossless audio soundtrack is primarily the English audio track which is presented in Dolby TrueHD English 5.1.  Also, included is a Dolby Digital English 2.0 (for the commentary track) and Japanese 2.0 soundtrack.  I was hoping for this anime series that the audio would include a Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack but it doesn’t.  Fortunately, the English dub was very good and was able to get into the dialogue.

The lossless soundtrack features clear dialogue coming from the center channel as the front channels features the music and sound effects.  The surround channels also feature the sound effects of swords clanging, abilities that are explosive, thunder and rainstorms, you name it…there is a good use of the surround channels in this series.  As well as the use of LFE through the subwoofer for large and short rumbles.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Basilisk – The Complete Series” comes with the following special features spread out onto three Blu-ray discs:

Disc 1:

• “The Onslaught of War” Audio Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by ADR Director Tyler Walker, Mark Stoddard (voice actor of Tenzen) and discussion about Tenzen’s character.

Disc 3:

• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original First Press Extra Features #3 – (31:54) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Youji Ueda (Saemon) and Haruka Kimura (Okoi) discussing the figures that come with the special edition DVD releases in Japan, discussion about their characters, reading letters from fans and more.
• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original Extra Features #4 – (31:22) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Youji Ueda (Saemon) and Haruka Kimura (Okoi) discussing their favorite scenes in the episode of that DVD volume and reading letters from fans.
• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original Extra Features #5 - (31:22) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Tomokazu Sugita (Hattori Kyohachiro) and Fumihiko Tachiki (Hattori Hanzo) discussing their characters, the Hattori family, favorite scenes in the episode of that DVD volume and reading letters from fans.
• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original Extra Features #6 - (32:39) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Tomokazu Sugita (Hattori Kyohachiro) and Fumihiko Tachiki (Hattori Hanzo) discussing their favorite scenes in the episode of that DVD volume and reading letters from fans.
• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original Extra Features #7 - (33:07) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Naoki Yanagi (Yashamaru) and Miyuki Sawashiro (Hotarubi) discussing their characters, favorite scenes in the episode of that DVD volume and reading letters from fans.
• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original Extra Features #8 - (32:44) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Naoki Yanagi (Yashamaru) and Miyuki Sawashiro (Hotarubi) discussing their favorite scenes in the episode of that DVD volume and reading letters from fans.
• Behind the Scenes of Basilisk: Japanese Original Extra Features #9 - (33:02) Featuring voice talents Kousuke Toriumi (Gennosuke), Risa Hayamizu (Kagero), Yasushi Miyabayashi (Hyoma) and Misa Watanabe (Akeginu) discussing their characters, favorite scenes in the episode of that DVD volume and reading letters from fans.
• History of the Ninja – A text based info. on the history of ninja.  This may be hard to read for those viewing with smaller screens.
• Cast Auditions – Audio featuring ADR director Tyler Walker who talks about the casting process and cast auditions with the American voice talent and what he was looking for.
• Textless Songs – Featuring the textles opening theme “Kouga Ninpo Cho” and the two textless closing themes “Himemurasaki” and “WILD EYES”.
• Trailers – Featuring FUNimation Entertainment trailers.

I was absolutely captivated by “Basilisk”.  Each episode had meaning… were action-packed, gripping and no filler episodes that was just making the series question myself of when certain situations were going to happen.  Each episode has its consequence and the fact that the series features so many characters with interesting capabilities, it definitely made my viewing of this series worthwhile.  I literally was watching each episode one after the other and enjoying it.

In the end, “Basilisk – The Complete Series” gets my pick for runner up for best anime TV series on Blu-ray for 2009 (behind “Fullmetal Panic! The Second Raid”).  Where “Basilisk – The Complete Series” comes up short is that the DNR filtering tends to add to the discoloration of the upconverted picture quality of the anime series and also the lack of the a lossless Japanese audio soundtrack was a bit of a bummer.  The problems that were quite evident on “Samurai Champloo” is quite visible in “Basilisk”, especially in disc 2 since most of the action take place during the night  and the color blobs become a bit more evident.

Aside from the PQ shortcoming, fortunately, the English dub was pretty solid.  For a period-based anime series, I was hoping for a lossless Japanese soundtrack but with a modern receiver, I suppose we can compensate by selecting audio on all channels.

But truthfully, the storyline of “Basilisk” is just too captivating to pass up on Blu-ray.  The original DVD’s didn’t have great picture quality to begin with, so things do look much better on Blu-ray.  I felt “Basilisk” had the best story plot-wise compared to the other anime TV series released on Blu-ray in 2009 thus far.  And for those who want more of Futaro Yamada’s “The Kouga Ninja Scrolls” can purchase the Blu-ray release of the live action film “Shinobi: Heart Under Blade” also available from FUNimation Entertainment.

For those wondering about the TV MA rating, the anime series is quite violent and there is quite a bit of blood and bod part dismemberment.  The violence is fitting for this anime series but if you are into violent anime, then “Basilisk – The Complete Series” may not be for you.

Overall, “Basilisk – The Complete Series” is a very good release with a few shortcomings.  Fans who have enjoyed anime series such as “Ninja Scroll” to action-based (and very bloody) ninja battles and many characters featured to watch and enjoy.  In the end, I feel that “Basilisk – The Complete Series” is just an enjoyable and a highly entertaining anime  that deserves being included in your anime on Blu-ray collection.

Tags: a J!-ENT Anime Blu-Ray Disc Review, anime, バジリスク 甲賀忍法帖, Basilisk, Blu-Ray, Futaro Yamada, Gonzo, Masaki Segawa

Samurai Champloo – The Complete Series (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

Humrous, action packed and stylishly hip!  From the director of “Cowboy Bebop” and “Macross Plus”, Shinichiro Watanabe wowed anime fans with the stylish “Samurai Champloo”.  Now the popular samurai action anime series receives its first entry to Blu-ray!

Images courtesy of © manglobe Shimoigusa Champloo. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Samurai Champloo – The Complete Series

DURATION: 26 Episodes (650 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition 16×9, Dolby True HD English 5.1 and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV PG

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: December 8, 2009

Originally Created by CLAMP

Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe

Script by Dai Sato, Keiko Nobumoto, Ryoto Sugi, Seiko Takagi, Shinichiro Watanabe, Shinji OBara, Touko Machida, Uwadan, Shimofuwato

Music by Fat John, Force of Nature, Nujabes, Tsutchie

Character Design by Hideto Komori, Kazuto Nakazawa

Art Director: Takeshi Waki

Mechanical Design by Mahiro Maeda

Anime Production by Studio Manglobe

Featuring the voices of:

Kazuya Nakai/Daniel Andrews as Mugen

Ayako Kawasumi/Kari Wahlgren as Fuu

Ginpei Sato/Kirk Thornton as Jin

Check it. The notorious Champloo crew is straight carving up the competition on Blu-Ray. Be the first one on your block to catch these buck willd samurais abusing their license to ill in high def!

Let’s break it down. Mugen’s a reckless sword-slinger with a style that’s more b-boy than Shaolin. He’s got a nasty streak that makes people want to stick a knife in his throat. The there’s Jin, a deadbeat ronin who speaks softly but carries a big blade. He runs game old-school style, but can make your blood spray with the quickness. When these roughnecks bring the ruckus, it ain’t good for anybody, especially them. Enter Fuu, the ditzy waitress who springs her new friends from a deadly jam. All she wants in return is help solving a riddle from her past. She and the boys are tracking the scent, but there’s ninety-nine ways to die between them and the sunflower samurai.

In 2004, Shinichiro Watanabe known for his directorial work on the anime “Cowboy Bebop” and “Macross Plus” returned with his latest anime “Samurai Champloo”.    The 26-episode anime series was no doubt highly anticipated due to Watanabe’s work with “Cowboy Bebop” and featured anime production by Studio Manglobe (“Sengoku BASARA”, “Ergo Proxy”).  The series spawned a manga series right after and also a Sony PlayStation 2 video game.

The anime series would receive rave reviews for its stylish presentation but also how it would be a samurai action series with slapstick comedy.  Also, featuring a hip-hop soundtrack courtesy of Watanabe’s friend DJ Tsutchie and the Japanese hip hop duo Forces of Nature, Fat Jon, Nujabes and other talented artists who would contribute to the series and have involvement in the various album soundtracks.

In terms of its stylish presentation, it helps when the series has talents such as veteran Kazuto Nakazawa (who worked on “Kill Bill Vol. 1″ and anime series such as “El Hazard”, “Blood+”, “Fatal Fury”, “Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko”) working on character designs and Mahiro Maeda (“Blue Submarine No. 6″, “Final Fantasy: Unlimited”, “Gunbuster”, “Gunsmith Cats”, “Last Exile”) working on the weapons (mechanical design) for the series.

In America, the series would debut a year later on the Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” featuring a censored (due to profanity) version and also eliminating any blood or nudity.    The anime series was released in the US by Geneon and on December 2009, the complete series is being re-released on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.

In the first episode of “Samurai Champloo”, Mugen goes into a tea house where a group of samurai thugs and a politician’s son try to intimidate patrons including waitress Fuu.  Mugen offers to take on the men if she will feed him 50 dumplings.  At first, Fuu resists but when she starts getting hassled by the men, she agrees to Mugen’s demands.  Mugen, meanwhile takes on the samurai thugs and easily defeats them.

Meanwhile, Jin is a ronin samurai had taken on the local magistrates men who were about to slay an innocent man who didn’t have enough money to pay them.  Jin then enters the tea house to get something to eat/drink but sees a fight between Mugen and the thugs.  Mugen thinks Jin is part of the group of thugs and attacks him but Jin is able to counter him.

Both Mugen and Jin start fighting to the death but with the tea house in shambles after the fight and burning down, the two are caught after they faint from smoke inhalation and now face execution for the murder of the magistrate’s son.  Meanwhile, Fuu who no longer has her job because the place had burned down now wants to focus on finding this samurai who smells like sunflowers and feels that she needs some help.  She decides that Mugen and Jin would be the perfect choice but to get them to join her, she must rescue them.

And because she is able to rescue them, the two must join her but also promise that they can not duel one another until they help her find the samurai who smells like sunflowers.  “Samurai Champloo” features a storyline which features the three as they travel from village to village, getting into trouble and also helping those in need.

“Samurai Champloo” is a series that focuses on three individuals who join together in order to find the sunflower samurai.  Their adventures take place during the Edo Period.  The main characters are:

Mugen: The wild hair, foul-mouthed wandering samurai who sports a metal-soled geta (traditional Japanese wooden sandals) and a samurai sword and wanders from village to village.  Wants to fight the best and so far, his biggest challenge has been Jin but knows he can’t fight him until they finish their quest.

Jin: The quiet, mild-mannered ronin  who wears eyeglasses and fights via the traditional kenjutsu style of the samurai.  Slow to anger but easily gets aggravated by Mugen.

Fuu: The 15-year-old girl who recruits both Mugen and Jin to find a samurai who smells like sunflowers.   She is accompanied by her pet flying squirrel named Momo.

Each of the three individuals tend to get themselves in trouble but in each episode which features an adventure as they go from village to village to find this sunflower-smelling samurai and try to make it to Nagasaki in order to find the sunflower samurai

“Samurai Champloo – The Complete Series” features the following 26-episodes on 3 Blu-ray discs.  Here is a spoilerless summary of each episode:

Disc 1:

• EPISODE 1 – Tempestuous Temperaments: An introduction to how Mugen, Jin and Fuu and how they united with each other.
• EPISODE 2 – Redeye Reprisal: A horrible ogre is supposedly killing people, is it true?
• EPISODE 3 – Hellhounds for Hire Part 1: Mugen and Jin ditch Fuu and somehow end up working for rival gangs.
• EPISODE 4 – Hellhounds for Hire Part 2: Part 2 of the storyline featuring Mugen and Jin working for rival gangs.
• EPISODE 5 – Artistic Anarchy: A kidnapper posing as an artist has Fuu on his list for his next victim.
• EPISODE 6 – Stranger Searching: Fuu takes part in an eating competition.
• EPISODE 7 – A Risky Racket: A thief has stolen Fuu’s money and the group tries to search for him.
• EPISODE 8 – The Art of Altercation: A man has been looking everywhere for a samurai wearing eyeglasses (Jin) and is out for revenge.
• EPISODE 9 – Beatbox Bandits: The group encounters a group of bandits that beatbox?

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 10 – Lethal Lunacy: Mugen takes on the Shaolin-trianed swordsman.
• EPISODE 11 – Gamblers and Gallantry: Jin saves a woman and ends up falling for her.
• EPISODE 12 – The Disorder Diaries - Mugen steals Fuu’s diary and reads what she has written about their adventures together.
• EPISODE 13 – Misguided Miscreants Part 1: Mugen’s past catches up to him.
• EPISODE 14 – Misguided Miscreants Part 2: Mugen gets his revenge on the pirate!
• EPISODE 15 – Bogus Booty: Mugen and Jin take on the beautiful ninja.
• EPISODE 16 – Lullabies of the Lost Verse 1: The three have an argument and end up splitting from each other.
• EPISODE 17 – Lullabies of the Lost Verse 2: Part two of the episode of where the three go on their separate ways after an argument.
• EPISODE 18 – War of the Worlds: Each of the three have their own storyline as Fuu gets a facelift, Jin keeps his promise for a friend and Mugen learns how to read.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 19: Unholy Union – Fuu gets closer to finding the sunflower samurai.
• EPISODE 20: Elegy of Entrapment Verse 1 – What happens when the three encounter a blind musician.
• EPISODE 21: Elegy of Entrapment Verse 2 – Jin and Mugen learn new techniques.
• EPISODE 22: Cosmic Collissions – The three go on to Nagasaki and somehow ends up in a mine that may have treasure.
• EPISODE 23: Baseball Blues – What happens when the three encounter a group of American thugs…how about a game of baseball?
• EPISODE 24: Evanescent Encounter Part 1 – The three have arrived in Nagasaki and now go to look for the sunflower samurai.
• EPISODE 25: Evanescent Encounter Part 2 – Jin must take on the most powerful man in the Shogunate, Kagetoki Kariya.
• EPISODE 26: Evanescent Encounter Part 3 – The final episode as Fuu finally finds the sunflower samurai and both Mugen and Jin are put to a test.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Samurai Champloo” is featured in 1080p High Definition 16×9.  Before I go into discussion about picture quality, I just want to emphasize that this is an upconvert of a 2004 anime TV series.  Television series in Japan are not exactly the best in quality compared to a Japanese OVA and a film.  With that being said, “Samurai Champloo” was produced by Manglobe who had a lot of time to work on this stylishly cool looking anime series.  When this anime series first came out, you can’t help but think how awesome the look of the series was courtesy of veterans Kazuto Nakazawa and Mahiro Maeda.   The series looks absolutely fresh and cool!

Here we are five years later and the Blu-ray release is out and there are positives and negatives.  The positive is that the series looks beautiful especially when you see the oranges and reds, lush green plants looking quite vibrant.  Painted backgrounds and homes look very detailed and beautiful.

The negative in terms of picture quality is that this series has its share of compression artifacts and also it has some coloration problems that is quite evident from episode-to-episode.   For example, you can see someone’s clothing that is purple or blue but then see this glob of dark green showing up and I know for HD videophiles, this is unacceptable.

As for anime fans, many see this as a problem that will happen with an older anime TV series that was meant for DVD and problems that are more evident when upconverted to Blu-ray.  Granted, those who will see the artifacting are those who watch these anime series with a larger screen.

With that being said, the series does has its share of moments where PQ is just really, nice and colorful but in terms of this coloration problem, it was evident on the “Tsubasa” Blu-ray release from FUNimation but this time around, it’s much more noticeable.

As for audio, “Samurai Champloo” is a series that is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English and Japanese.   The fact that we get the lossless Japanese audio track is actually pretty big considering the recent prior FUNimation Entertainment Blu-ray anime TV series have only featured a 2.0 track.

For both lossless audio soundtrack, the series is front and center channel driven.  Dialogue is clear and the music comes out of the front and surround channels with nice bass.  There is some surround channel usage with crowd ambiance and special effects that fill up each channel at times but it is important to note that this is a samurai action series and is mostly swordplay.  Also, there is action at the end of nearly each episode, the series is primarily front and center channel driven, especially when you reach the final episodes.

Optional subtitles are available in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Samurai Champloo – The Complete Series” comes with the following special features:

• “Battlecry” (Opening) Promo Video – (1:44) The opening theme promo video.
• Promo Video – (:60) A promo for the second season of “Samurai Champloo” (which was aired on television).
• Teaser Trailer – (:49) Two animated teaser trailers featuring all three characters.  Very artistic, stylish and cool!
• Conceptual Art – Using your remote, you can cycle through various conceptual art of the characters and several designs.
• Bumper Gallery - Using your remote, you can cycle through various bumper gallery artwork.
• Textless Opening and Closing Songs
• Trailers - FUNimation Entertainment trailers

“Samurai Champloo” was an anime series that really came with a lot of hype because of Shinichiro Watanabe’s involvement.  Questions many people had was how can he follow up from “Cowboy Bebop”.  Will it be a smart anime?  Will it be a stylish anime?  And similar to CB, would “Samurai Champloo” feature an awesome musical soundtrack?

When I first saw the anime series, I was very impressed with the animation and character designs.  First, for a samurai anime series, you get all the action but also this combination with slapstick comedy which was pretty awesome!  But also, this gorgeous, fresh looking anime series that was really different from any samurai-related anime that came before it (and there have been many).

The character designs were pretty cool but it’s the characters that are different than previous series.  For example, Mugen…sports a wild hair cut and steel-soled geta.  Definitely not your typical looking samurai!   And where “Cowboy Bebop” went a more jazz route, “Samurai Champloo” goes for a more Japanese hip-hop route.

But the series also had a touch of historical information such as the Shimabara Rebellion, Van Gogh’s appreciation for Ukiyo-e paintings and fictionalized versions of Mariya Enshirou and Miyamoto Musashi.

But of course, the series doesn’t take itself too seriously as a period-driven samurai series such as a “Hakkenden” or even “Rurouni Kenshin” as the group encounters bandits that beat box and blue-eyed Europeans who can pretend they are Japanese. Sure, the series is a bit farfetched if one is expecting a serious storyline but that’s what makes this series a bit unique from it’s look, music and its overall presentation.  The series although is action and comedy driven, definitely gets serious as the series approaches its final three episodes.

As for the Blu-ray release, its unfortunate that the series is not one of FUNimation Entertainments better looking anime series on Blu-ray but considering that this is a TV series and it’s an older 2004 anime series, it all comes down to if the PQ is good enough for the viewer, their setup (especially how large their monitor/screen is) and if you want to watch the series with a lossless soundtrack.

But overall, “Samurai Champloo – The Complete Series” was a fun and entertaining series which I really enjoyed even before it came out on Blu-ray.  It was a unique style of anime series (and sure enough, the hip hop and samurai style was revisted with “Afro Samurai” a few years later) at the time and although not as deep as “Hakkenden”, nor does it feature a large cast such as a “Samurai 7″ but it manages to captivate you with its quirkiness, action, its hip style and bass-driven hip hop music in the background.

Overall, for those with their original DVD’s, you’re probably good with those and may want to upgrade to Blu-ray for the lossless audio.   But If you are a fan of Shinichiro Watanabe’s work or if you are looking for an entertaining anime series to have on Blu-ray, “Samurai Champloo – The Complete Series” is worth having in your collection.

Tags: a J!-ENT Anime Blu-Ray Disc Review, anime, サムライチャンプルー, Blu-Ray, Funimation Entertainment, Geneon, Samurai Champloo

Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Season One (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

Quite Addictive!  CLAMP’s “Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Season One” is one of the better anime series available on Blu-ray.  It has all the elements of fantasy, adventure, action, science fiction incorporated to its storyline and the characters are just  fun to watch.  Definitely an anime series worth owning on Blu-ray!

Images courtesy of  © 2008 CLAMP/KODANSHA/NHK-NEP.  All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Season One

DURATION: 26 Episodes (640 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition 16×9, Dolby True HD English 5.1 and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV PG

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: November 17, 2009

Originally Created by CLAMP

Directed by Koichi Moshimo

Screenplay by Hiroyuki Kawasaki

Music by Yuki Kajiura

Character Design by Minako Shiba

Art Director: Shin Watanabe

Sound Director: Toru Nakano

Executive Producer: Hisako Matsumoto

Anime Production by Bee Train

Featuring the voices of:

Daisuke Namikawa/Vic Mignona as Fay D. Flourite

Mika Kikuchi/Carrie Savage as Mokona

Miyu Irino/Jason Liebrecht as Syaoran

Tetsu Inada/Chris Sabat as Kurogane

Yui Makino/Monica Rial as Sakura

Kouki Miyata as Yukito

Maaya Sakamoto/Amber Cotton as Tomoyo

Shinichiro Miki as Touya

Colleen Clinkenbeard as Yuko Ichihara

J. Michael Tatum as Seishiro Sakurazaka

A true and noble heart holds much power, stronger than the hardest fist and mightier than the most potent magic. Four disparate travelers begin an epic journey; their goals different, their destiny the same. Along the way, the past will meet the future in the present. Of all the paths of every life, mingling in the dimension between dimensions where a foe has the face of an ally, and an ally the face of a monster.

At the center of this heroic undertaking, Syaoran: a young man called upon to save his fated, the princess Sakura. Her memory has been shattered, the very essence of her soul sent adrift across the universe. Feather’s float down on strange lands, torn asunder if only to prove the power of love.

With fellow travelers Kurogane and Fai, a warrior and a wizard, an epic quest begins. One of danger and mystery… The possibilities are endless.

The fantasy shonen manga known as “Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE” by the well-known mangaka group CLAMP (“X”, “xxxHolic”, “Cardcaptor Sakura”, “Angelic Layer”, “Chobits”) was created in 2003 and has been featured on Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen through October 2009.  In 2005, a 52-episode anime series aired through 2006 and included five OVA’s released between 2007-2009.

The series was featured on FUNimation Entertainment’s “Funimation Channel” in 2008 and had been released on DVD previously in the US back in 2007.   Now, the popular series receives its High Definition treatment with the first season (26 episodes) released on Blu-ray in Nov. 2009.

The series is directed by Koichi Mashimo (“Sorcerer Hunters”, “.Hack” series, “”Dirty Pair: Project Eden”, “Noir”) and features a screenplay by Hiroyuki Kawasaki (“Irresponsible Captain Tylor”, “Martian Successor Nadesico”, “Sorcerer Hunters”, “Sakura Wars”, “Tekkaman Blade”).  Music for the series is courtesy of Yuki Kajiura (“Mobile Suit Gundam Seed”, “.Hack” series”, “My-HIME”, “Madlax”), character designs by Minako Shiba (“.Hack” series, “Noir”, “Kuroshitsuji”, “Darker than Black”) and art direction by Shin Watanabe (“Arc the Lad”, “Batman: Gotham Knight”, “Diamond Daydreams”).

“Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE” is about a young man named Syaoran who returns home and meets up with his friend Sakura (who really likes him).  She has wanted to confess her love to him but due to circumstances, she has to go back to the castle.  While Syaoran goes back to the ruins, he sees Sakura who seems to be levitated in light.  As he goes to rescue her, small feathers of light disappear and Sakura is left unconscious.

In order to save Sakura, Syaoran along with a unconscious Sakura, a magician named Fay D. Flourite and a ninja named Kurogane are transported to present day Japan in which they come in contact with a dimension witch (Yuuko Ichihara of the CLAMP anime series “xxxHOLIC”).  Yuuko explains that they were brought together for a reason and that in order to get home, they would need to travel to various alternate universes to find their way back home.  And in each universe, Syaoran must find these feathers which represents Sakura’s memories and are now scattered in various alternate universes, he along with his two compatriots must travel these alternate universes but must find these feathers and return them back to Sakura. After finding each feather(s) for that universe, they will then go to another universe where things are different than the last.

But in order to begin their adventure for Syaoran to revive Sakura and for each of them to return back home, Yuuko must collect payment and that is for each of them to give up something precious.  Syaoran makes the biggest sacrifice in which if he is able to revive Sakura, she will no longer have any memory of Syaoran.  So, the four embark on their trip to various worlds where familiar faces from their own world are different people from different backgrounds and occupations.

Meanwhile, as Syaoran and the others try to find the feathers, an enemy rival named Fei Wang Reed has interest in obtaining the feathers.  He will kill anyone and anybody to obtain Sakura’s feathers.

So, the first season is race to get the feather of Sakura’s memories but at the same time, confronting challenges of powerful enemies and rivals from various universes.  Will Syaoran, Fay and Kurogane survive their adventure?

The main characters of “Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE” are:

• Syaoran – The main protagonist from the Kingdom of Clow who likes a girl named Sakura.  But when Sakura’s memories are lost, he has made it his mission to find each feather of her memory and bring her back to life, even if she will no longer remember him.  Syaoran is an aspiring archaeologist and in each universe, seems to have developed certain supernatural or fighting skills.
• Sakura – The princess of Kingdom Clow who has always loved Syaoran.  On the day she was to tell him that she loves him, she loses all her memories and magical powers and left unconscious.  Only when Syaoran brings back a feather of memories and returns it back to her does she start to get better little at a time.
• Fay D. Flourite – A  magician from the country of Selece.  He has sealed King Ashura and has run away from Selece, never wanting to return back home.  He gladly accepts traveling with Syaoran and Kurogane but unlike them, he has no intention of going back home.  He gives up his treasured item, a tattoo as payment to Yuuko.
• Kurogane - A ninja who is always fighting and shows no mercy.   And because of this, Tomoyo sends Kurogane (without his approval) to where Syaoran and Fay.  But also cursing him  and that if he kills anyone, his strength will decrease.  Tomoyo’s goal is for Kurogane to learn what true strength is and let him know that it is not about his sword or killing people that brings strength.
• Mokona Modoki - Two bunny-like creatures that are given to the three by Yuuko Ichihara.  The white creature allows for teleportation to the alternate universes, while the black creature allows the three to keep in direct contact with Yuuko.  But both can also sense Sakura’s feathers of memories.

“Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Season One” features the following 26-episodes on 3 Blu-ray discs:

Disc 1:

• EPISODE 1: Destinies Converge – Something has gone wrong in the Kingdom of Clow, leaving Sakura unconscious.
• EPISODE 2: The Power to Fight – Syaoran (with Sakura), Fay and Kurogane are whisked to a new world.  What will be their mission?
• EPISODE 3: Sword of Demon Destruction – The first alternative universe places Syaoran and the group in the Hansin Republic where people have their own powers.
• EPISODE 4: Innocent Wandering – Sakura has gone missing.  Will Syaoran be able to find her?
• EPISODE 5: The Battle of the Mage – The gang leader Shogo challenges Syaoran in a Kudan battle.
• EPISODE 6: Unshed Tears – The fight between Syaoran and Shogo begins.
• EPISODE 7: The Broken Memento – The group travel to their next world, the Koryo Country and learn from Chun Hyang of an evil group known as Ryanban.
• EPISODE 8: God’s Beloved Daughter – Sakura is drawn to the local castle for some reason.
• EPISODE 9: Princess of Shadows – The gang encounter the Ryanban and learn about their famous weapon.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 10: Mirror of Separation – Syaoran vs. the Ryanban leader’s son.
• EPISODE 11: The Chosen Tomorrow – The Ryanban takes control of the villagers.
• EPISODE 12: A Warm Smile – The group are whisked into another world that consists only of a large lake.
• EPISODE 13: Advocate of Illusions – The group visit a new world, the Jade Country in which the princess is supposedly has a magical feather.
• EPISODE 14: Truth in History – A ghost princess visits Sakura.
• EPISODE 15: A Heart That Believes – Sakura tries to rescue children from the castle with the help from the ghost princess.
• EPISODE 16: Strength in Kindness – The group now goes to the Storm Country in which a fight tournament is taking place.
• EPISODE 17: Demon Hunters – The group reach Oto Country in which they are attacked by oni.
• EPISODE 18: Cats and Dogs – Fay and Kurogane learn a secret of Syaoran.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 19: Resolution to Live – Syaoran wants to learn how to use a sword and asks Kurogane to teach him.
• EPISODE 20: The Afternoon Piano – Kurogane trains Syaoran on how to use a sword.
• EPISODE 21: The Demon’s True Face – The gang encounters the oni Seishiro (from the CLAMP anime/manga series “Tokyo Babylon”).
• EPISODE 22: Indelible Memory – Syaoran and the group try to protect Seishiro from the town hall.
• EPISODE 23: The Fading Life – Seishiro starts to attack Syaoran and the others.
• EPISODE 24: Blade of a Desperate Fight – The group learn that they are in a virtual reality world leading to a battle between Kurogane and Seishiro.
• EPISODE 25: The Ultimate Game – The battle between the Oni heats up, meanwhile Syaoran tries to get the feather from Seishiro.
• EPISODE 26: The Last Wish – The group end up in a new world, Tsarastora County where the group learns that if they can reach to the top of a blessed temple, the would be granted a wish.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Season One” is presented in 1080p High Definition (16×9).  So, far with some of the upconverted anime series from FUNimation Entertainment really looking gorgeous on Blu-ray, “Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Season One” has its moments of vibrancy and sharpness with beautiful, colorful backgrounds and the noticeable CLAMP character designs but on Blu-ray, you also see compression artifacting.  There are times where you can see the artifacts quite clearly on a larger television set (I have a 52″, so it really stood out and I would imagine those with larger screens will also see it become more prevalent).  It’s not too distracting as it doesn’t happen throughout the whole episode but you do notice it from time to time.  And in terms of animation, when it comes to CLAMP animated series, there is always less emphasis on the actual look (in fact, one thing you’ll notice with certain characters in “Tsubasa” are similar to “xxxHolic” with characters sporting the long arms, long bodies, long legs, etc.) but more emphasis on the storyline and how the character design and artistic background compliments it.   So, PQ wise, “Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Season One” is not going to be the greatest look anime series on Blu-ray but it compliments CLAMP’s storytelling quite nicely.

But where the series does shine is its immersive soundtrack.  One thing you will notice about “Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Season One” from the first episode is how much utilization there is for the surround channels of the series.  You literally hear audio all around you and the series during its action sequences, really take over the soundscape all around you.  But all is not perfect.  Front channel music and surround sound good…but it’s almost a similar to the “Grease” effect (for those who have the Blu-ray of the movie “Grease”) where the front channels overpower the center channel.  The sound effects and music are much louder than the spoken dialogue when your volume is low that the only way to get things to sound right is to increase the volume of your receiver or by increasing your center channel volume. Otherwise, once fixed…you realize that “Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Season One” does sound awesome and it’s great to have an anime series taking advantage of actions sequences involving explosions and various sound effects.  And as always, the quality of the English dub courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment is well-done with this series.

For those who were hoping for a lossless Japanese audio soundtrack, “Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Season One” is presented in Dolby Digital Japanese 2.0 only.  For those who have a modern home theater receiver, this can be easily remedied by selecting stereo on all channels but I can understand for hardcore anime fans who prefer the Japanese dialogue wanting lossless Japanese audio.

Subtitles are only in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Season One” comes with the following special features:

• Cast Auditions – The cast auditions (audio only)  for those who provided the English dub for the characters Syaoran, Sakura, Kurogane, Fai, Mokona and Yuko.
• Faces in the Crowd – A text-based character bio.  Featuring a variety of characters that have appeared in other CLAMP manga/anime series.
• Character Guide – A text based bio for the main characters of “Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Season One”.
• World Guide – A text based guide to the various worlds featured in the anime series.
• Textless Theme Songs – Textless opening theme song “Blaze” and closing theme song “Loop”.
• Trailers – FUNimation Entertainment trailers.

Let me first say that I have been a big fan of CLAMP-related anime and manga series.  When “Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE” was originally released, I felt that the appearances of characters from various CLAMP series was just awesome.

With that being said, I’ve always felt that CLAMP series although known for their character designs, the overall enjoyment of their work is how well written the stories are and how much they focus on character development.  So, with that being said, for those looking for a series that features a well-written storyline that is quite addictive, you’re going to enjoy “Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE”.

But those who are looking for the best looking anime on Blu-ray, you may find yourself disappointed that the upconverted anime series has its share of compression artifacts from time to time and is not exactly an anime series that is known to showcase picture-quality via anime on HD especially when compared to other previous upconverted television  anime series on Blu-ray from FUNimation Entertainment such as “Full Metal Panic! – The Second Raid” and even “Burst Angel – The Complete Series”.   Also, I can see those who want lossless Japanese audio being disappointed that there is only a 2.0 Japanese audio track and last, the special features are mainly text-based special features with no major featurettes.

Personally, I feel that those who want an entertaining anime series will enjoy “Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE”.  It’s too good of a series to pass up on Blu-ray, especially with its enjoyable and addictive storyline.  Especially how the series features many characters (and alternate versions of them) plus, you also will see CLAMP cameos of characters from other anime/manga series.  Definite cool!  And for those who do enjoy English dubs, you will enjoy the lossless audio as surround channels are well utilized and overall, a pretty solid soundtrack during its action sequences (despite the front channels slightly overpowering the center channel during a lower volume setting).

I do feel that among the current offering on Blu-ray in terms of anime television series, “Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Season One” is definitely one of the better series out there.  It has all the elements of fantasy, adventure, action, science fiction incorporated to its storyline and the characters which are fun to watch.  Definitely a series worth owning on Blu-ray!

Tags: a J!-ENT Anime Blu-Ray Disc Review, anime, Blu-Ray, CLAMP, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, xxxHolic

Witchblade: The Complete Series (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

Based on the popular Top Cow comic book series, which means…plenty of action, scantily clothed women and a well-endowed protagonist, need I say more?  For those looking for an action-driven anime series on Blu-ray, “Witchblade: The Complete Series” is definitely for you!

Images courtesy of  © 2006 Top Cow Productions, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Witchblade – The Complete Series

DURATION: 24 Episodes (600 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition 16×9, Dolby True HD English 5.1 and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV MA

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: November 3, 2009

Originally Created by Michael Turner, Marc Silvestri

Directed by Yoshimitsu Ohashi

Series Composition/Script by Yasuko Kobayashi

Music by Masanori Takumi

Character Design by Makoto Uno

Art Director: Junichi Higashi

Sound Director: Jin Aketagawa

Executive Producer: Koji Kajita

Producer: Osamu Nagai, Shin Hieda, Tsuyoshi Okazaki

Anime Production by GONZO

Featuring the voices of:

Akemi Kanda/Carrie Savage as Rihoko “Rico” Amaha

Mamiko Noto/Jamie Marchi as Masane Amaha

Masaya Matsukaze/Robert McCollum as Yusuke Tozawa

Mie Sonozaki/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Reina “Lady” Shoho

Nana Mizuki/Monica Rial as Maria

Rikiya Koyama/Mark Stoddard as Reiji Takayama

Shinji Ogawa/R. Bruce Elliott as Tatsuoki Furumizu

Shizuka Itou/Trina Nishimura as Shiori Tsuzuki

Kent Williams/Kazuhiro Nakata as Masayo Wado

Jerry Russell/Shouto Kashii  as Mr. Cho

Lauri Steele/Maiko Itou as Mariko Natsuki

Sought by the greed of Men since the dawn of Humankind, but only bestowed upon the woman whose fate it forever scars – the Witchblade.

Is it the Righteous Sword of God, or the Hand of the Devil Himself? Now a new bearer has been chosen and she must discover the answers for herself. As she stands on the brink of destiny, she is forced to seek the balance between ecstasy and ruin… Masane Amaha is a woman on the fringe of society, bouncing rootless from town to town with her daughter, Rihoko. She struggles to build a life for her family, with no memory of the past and no clue as to what the future holds. But upon their arrival back in Tokyo forces conspire to separate parent from child, unleashing the fury of the Witchblade. The young mother will find herself conscripted into the service of the Doji Group and hunted down by the emissaries of the NSWF, Masane will find herself an unwilling ground zero for the swelling chaos fast approaching.

Based on the popular Top Cow comic book series, which means…plenty of action, scantily clothed women and a well-endowed protagonist, need I say more?  For those looking for an action-driven anime series on Blu-ray, “Witchblade: The Complete Series” is definitely for you!

“Witchblade” was created in 1995 by Marc Silvestri and David Wohl and was published by Top Cow Productions.  The series was quite popular as a 23-episode television series adaptation was featured on TNT in 2001 followed up by an 24-episode anime television series created by Japanese animation studio GONZO in 2004.

The series is a separate story from the original comic book series as it focuses on a character named Masane Amaha.  The series takes place six years after Tokyo was leveled by a massive earthquake.

Two people survived the epicenter known as Ground Zero: Masane Amaha and a little girl named Rihoko which Masane has raised as her own daughter. Unfortunately, with their return to Tokyo, the National Scientific Welfare Foundation have been trying to take Rihoko away from Masane because Masane shows no signs of financially taking care of her, so the NSWF wants to give Rihoko a proper home.

Meanwhile, the NSWF and the Doji Group have been after the witchblade and have kept their eye on Masane as she shown signs of wielding and become a witchblade and because of the fact that after the great earthquake, she was among the two (along with Rihoko) that survived in “Ground Zero”.  These two groups are now after the Witchblade.

As the main storyline features a good number of action as the two groups do what they can to acquire the witchblade capture Masane, the main storyline of the anime series of Witchblade is about a mother who wants to be normal and raise her daughter but also knows that  the witchblade’s power is literally destroying her body body and she is succumbing to its power.  Masane does all she can to rid of the witchblade but will she be able to before it destroys her?

The main characters of “Witchblade: The Complete Series” are as follows:

• Masane Amaha – The main protagonist who raises a young girl named Rihoko which she has accepted as her own daughter.  Quite naive, people are surprised how even the daughter sometimes calls the shots in their relationship.  Known for being well-endowed (earning the nickname “Melony”), Masane is surprised to find out that she is the bearer of the Witchblade and it is starting to consume her by destroying her body.    She and Rihoko are the main survivors at “Ground Zero”.
• Rihoko Amaha – Riko is not the blood daughter of Masane but she had looked at Riko as her mother (as she was a surviving baby along with Masane during the great earthquake).  She cares about her mother and wants to be close to her.
• Yuusuke Tozawa – A freelance photographer who helps Rihoko escape from the NSWF and eventually starts to help Masane.  He uses his connections to find out more about the Witchblade.
• Reiji Takayama – The Bureau Chief of Douji Enterprises.  Has worked with Masane and using her Witchblade powers to fight against malfunctioning “Ex-Cons”.  He has a unique bond to Rihoko which is revealed later in the series.
• Tatsuoki Furimizu - The antagonist of the series.  The head of the NSWF and the father of the Neogene daughters.  Believes his father is perfect and his mother imperfect, he seeks to create a perfect mother and through the process, he has created Neogenes (humans that wield the cloneblade) and among those female Neogenes are known as “The Cloneblade Sisters”.
• Reina Soho – A Neogene cloneblade that has a bond with Reiji Takayama and Rihoko.  Regarded as the most powerful of the Cloneblade sisters.
• Maria – A second generation version of the Neogene cloneblade but has two cloneblades.  She is mentally unstable and wants approval from her mother Reina.

“Witchblade: The Complete Series” features the following 24-episodes on 3 Blu-ray discs:

Disc 1:

• EPISODE 1: The Beginning
• EPISODE 2: Bewilderment
• EPISODE 3: Defiance
• EPISODE 4: Movement
• EPISODE 5: Search
• EPISODE 6: Change
• EPISODE 7: Past
• EPISODE 8: Reciprocity
• EPISODE 9: Sdness
• EPISODE 10: Interaction

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 11: Danger
• EPISODE 12: Prisoner
• EPISODE 13: Separation
• EPISODE 14: Family
• EPISODE 15: Bonds
• EPISODE 16: Relaxation
• EPISODE 17: Confusion
• EPISODE 18: Turn
• EPISODE 19:  Feelings
• EPISODE 20: Request

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 21: Vow
• EPISODE 22: Inform
• EPISODE 23: Chaos
• EPISODE 24: Light

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Witchblade: The Complete Series” receives its first entry to HD.  As I tend to remind viewers, the series is a television series and in Japan, television series have less of a budget that OVA’s and animated films plus, they are typically done in a time crunch as animators tend to work on several series during the week and thus, some episodes tend to get to the television network right on the day of airing.

With that being said, “Witchblade” is featured in 1080p High Definition and before the series was released on Blu-ray, there was plenty of talk of how the series was upconverted.  So far, FUNimation Entertainment anime series on Blu-ray that have been “upconverted” have looked pretty solid and often don’t like like an upconvert.  “Witchblade” is a colorful anime series but it does look like it is upconverted and it’s no surprise as the series was created back in 2004.

Detail on artistic backgrounds are OK and the character designs by Makoto Uno utilizes simple lines and shadows but when the action begins, GONZO was able to showcase the fight scenes and battles quite well.  Also, each scene typically features the characters in a variety of locations.

I did seem to notice some combing, banding and also some artifacting, so “Witchblade” does not exactly showcase picture perfect video quality but for the most part, animation is quite solid but for those looking for great picture quality, “Witchblade” is good but not great.

As for audio quality, “Witchblade” is also a series in which the Japanese audio quality is featured in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.  Most releases on Blu-ray from FUNimation Entertainment have had a lossless Japanese audio track (excluding the “Dragon Ball Z” films), so for purists, they may be disappointed by this.  Although if you have a receiver capable of stereo on all channels, this should make things a bit better.

English lossless soundtrack utilizes the soundscape in bringing out those explosive and destructive moments of the film.  Surrounds and subwoofer LFE usage is well-utilized as booms can be felt but also Masanori Takumi’s music as you hear the piano and strings coming nice and strong through the front channels and dialogue also coming clear and understandable through center channel.

As for the English dub track, I’m starting to enjoy Carrie Savage and Jamie Marchi’s voice acting and both do a great job with Rihoko and Masane’s vocals and as much as I’m a Japanese vocal track supporter, I was definitely content with English voice acting for the series.

Subtitles are in English only.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Witchblade – The Complete Series” comes with the following special features featured in 480i Stanrd Definition, Dolby Digital English 2.0 and Dolby Digital Japanese 2.0 with English subtitles.  Included are:

• Japanese Cast Interviews – The following cast interviews with Japanese voice talent are included:  Mamiko Noto (voice of Masane Amaha) – (9:08), Akemi Kanda (voice of Rihoko Amaha) – (7:32), Masaya Matsukaza (voice of Yusuke Tozawa) – (7:52), Reiji Takayama (voice of Rikiya Koyama) – (7:58), Mie Sonozaki (voice of Reina Sohou) – (7:53), Kenichi Suzumura (voice of  Hiroki Segawa) – (8:29), Shinji Ogawa (voice of Tatsuoki Furumizu) – (7:43), Nana Mizuki (voice of Maria) – (9:31).
• The Witchblade Forged – The creation of “Witchblade”.  Part 1 – (16:54) Interviews of David Wohl and Marc Silvestri, co-creators of “Witchblade” and the breaking away from major comic companies and going independent with Image Comics, Part 2 (17:19) – Top Cow and creating the characters for “Witchblade” and why the comic series worked well and its popularity and adaptating it from comics to screen., Part 3 (19:51) – “Witchblade” receiving its anime adaptation.
• Inside Top Cow – Featuring the following special features: A Tour of Top Cow with Marc Silvestri (14:00), How to create a comic book the Top Cow way (17:11), Top Cow studio tour outtakes (7:52), coloring a comic book page with Blond (4:33), the early days of Image Comics (3:33), The Top Cow talks about comics (6:42), Experiences in Japan/Other Top Cow franchises with Matt Hawkins, president of Top Cow (7:20) and Crossing into other media.
• Textless Theme Songs – Textless opening theme songs for “XTC” and “Dear Bob” and textless closing themes for “Ashitano-Te” and “Kutshuhimo”.
• Japanese TV Spots – (1:21) A set of Japanese TV commercials for the Japanese DVD release of “Witchblade”.
• Promotional Video – (1:55)
• Trailers – FUNimation Entertainment trailers.

“Witchblade: The Complete Series” was actually different from what I was expecting from the original comic book series but for the most part, having its own storyline that has some connection to the comics but yet featuring new characters is pretty cool.

GONZO handled the animation and art backgrounds quite well with the series, put in a lot of characters, a lot of action and destruction to the overall scenery of the “Witchblade” anime series.  I did find it interesting how the characters revolved around relationships, especially between mother and daughter.   And for the most part, despite all the action of the antagonist trying to obtain the witchblade, the central core of the anime series is the bond between mother and daughter.  The close bond and a bond that is nearly non-existent with another and how it has affected certain characters.

Overall, “Witchblade: The Complete Series” was an entertaining anime series that managed to retain an upbeat, action-packed anime series, especially with its sound effects and rock n’ roll soundtrack.   I was surprised the anime series was chosen for a Blu-ray release because it was an older anime series that was not made in HD.  But with the popular of the comic book and television series in the US, with more anime fans wanting more complete season anime series on Blu-ray, it does make sense.

As for the Blu-ray release, the upconvert is good but it’s not as vibrant or detailed as most anime HD titles that have been released on Blu-ray thus far.  Also, for those who are looking for lossless Japanese audio, unfortunately you’re not going to find it in this release as the English dub is the only choice for lossless while the Japanese track is 2.0 stereo.

Overall, I have no doubt that anime fans will flock to “Witchblade” on Blu-ray.  The name recognition of “Witchblade” is quite strong and the fact that you have a scantily clad anti-heroine that is well-endowed, it’s definitely going to catch the attention of anime on Blu-ray fans.

If you are looking for an action-packed series on Blu-ray, you can’t go wrong with “Witchblade: The Complete Series”.

Tags: a J!-ENT Anime Blu-Ray Disc Review, anime, Funimation Entertainment, Gonzo, THE COMPLETE SERIES, Witchblade

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