OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Gunsmith Cats

Master of machine detail and gratuitous fan-service, Kenichi Sonoda first created the idea of his Riding Bean OVA and manga about a underworld mercenary/driver(think The Transporter starring Stallone in the 80s), but after leaving Artmic where he worked on Gall Force and Bubblegum Crisis, went to Monthly Afternoon magazine to do a remake of the concept, this time focusing on two secondary characters from the original. Rally Vincent was first Bean Bandit's white blonde partner and a firearms specialist, but remade into a half-Indian, partnered with a young partner modeled after the Riding Bean antagonist's junior partner. This new manga was titled Gunsmith Cats, and eventually turned into a 3-episode OVA series which acts as a bonus story arc outside the original 90s run. Although like the Riding Bean OVA, this anime is highly inspired by The Blues Brothers movie, but with more of an affection for 80s action films.

Set in Chicago, Rally Vincent runs a gun shop with her diminutive partner May Hopkins, as well as being part-time bounty hunters. Their latest case has the dynamic duo capture a fugitive gunrunner, while being cornered into helping an ATF agent, Bill Collins, who sports the standard 90s male-ponytail. The weapons smugglers are secretly working for a crooked senator planning on having the local gangs wipe each other out with the additional firepower. Thrown into the mix is an ex-KGB agent/turned merc, "Bloody Pierce" Radinov, who takes a special interest in taking down Rally on her own after her first kidnapping of May leads to her near death in an astounding chase scene. A crafty showdown between the bad girls is modeled after a tense Hollywood blockbuster.

The OVA was first released on three separate video tapes through ADV Films, then in a collected edition VHS and DVD titled Gunsmith Cats: Bulletproof. After ADV folded, the actual anime was put in limbo for several years until Animeigo(who also own the rights for the Riding Bean anime)ran a crowdfunded campaign to add the OVA to their catalog. The manga has had a successful run in English by Dark Horse Comics, and is worth a look if you want to look more into the action-packed world of Rally Vincent.

Punchline is overhyped as fuck!

ANI-MOVIES, *Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Since there were already two live-action/animated films based on the Bullwinkle cartoons, as well as one of Dudley Do-Right, it became a natural choice to do a movie based on the other Frostbite Falls filler, Peabody's Improbable History was a successful release for Dreamworks Animation. A family-oriented film with talking dogs and time travel certainly works good enough for modern day audiences, especially for the post-nuclear family where the dog is the father!

Mr. Peabody is a super-intelligent dog who couldn't get adopted for being to smart, but eventually gains several masters degrees, with his own business which and a spacious penthouse. Despite his success, he fills the void in his life with an abandoned baby he finds, and becomes his legal guardian naming the boy Sherman. Peabody also creates his own time machine called the WABAC which he and Sherman visit historical moments in world history. This ideal lifestyle goes along the first few years of Sherman's life until his first day in public school where his insight on the "real" story of George Washington makes his classmate Penny to act out in a fit of jealousy. An altercation during school lunch has Sherman biting Penny for calling him a dog has Mr. Peabody being called in to talk to Ms. Grunion, a narrow-minded rep for Child Services who doesn't believe a boy should be raised by a dog. Peabody invites Penny and her parents to meet at his penthouse for Sherman to apologize to Penny, hopefully winning over Grunion's favor. Unfortunately, Sherman gets talked into showing Penny the WABAC, and has to get Mr. Peabody to come back with to ancient Egypt to save her from marrying King Tut. They rescue her, but have to make a pit stop at Leonardo da Vinci's to get the WABAC recharged. Sherman and Penny get a little more chummy, and she cons him into taking Leonardo's prototype plane for a test flight, thus infuriating Peabody. After an argument, the time travellers get sent to the Trojan War where Sherman runs away to join in the famed Trojan Horse invasion. Peabody saves Sherman from harm, but it appears to Sherman and Penny that he dies in the attempt, so the children go back to the present to get modern day Mr. Peabody to go back and change things. However, both the past and present Mr. Peabody and Sherman fuse together in front of Ms. Grunion. The hot-tempered busybody threatens to take Sherman away, leading Peabody and Sherman trying to make a getaway in the WABAC. This leads to an Avengers-esque appearance of a time/space disturbance in the sky, with dozens of historical figures being pulled out of it. Mr. Peabody uses the WABAC to reseal the paradox, returning everything to normal, and getting a presidential pardon(from three different presidents!)for being Sherman's caretaker.

Despite Dreamworks' obsessive need to throw in an abundance of modern slang and outdated catchphrases, the final product managed to be an enjoyable feature for all audiences. The animation is similar to the 60s-deco look of The Incredibles, even though the character designs still maintain the appearance of the original cartoon series. The movie takes a slight turn on the entire time travel motif by making the WABAC be an actual "time machine" instead of a "should've been machine", which really took the duo alternative versions of points in human history where everyone spoke English and even had modern day conveniences like airplanes no matter the time period. Another spin on the source material was Mr. Peabody being more of a father-figure to Sherman since in this version he adopted him as a baby instead of as an orphaned boy. All in all, this works as an entertaining science-fiction family adventure for old fans and new.

ANI-MOVIES, *Justice League Dark: Apokalips War

Where as the previous phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe went out on Avengers: Endgame, the "DC Animated Movie Universe" concluded a near decade's worth of made-for-video films with this follow-up to the original Justice League Dark movie. Combining several comic storylines like Injustice and Darkseid War, Apokalips War brings all of Earth's heroes(and villains)in a final stand against the New Gods. Taking place in a post-Flashpoint timeline, the DCAMU has had several movies featuring Justice League, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Teen Titans, and even the Suicide Squad, plus a possible Constantine animated web series although that might be more connected to the CW's Arrowverse.

Set sometime after The Death And Return Of Superman, the collected Justice League(s) along with the Bat-Family and Teen Titans plan for a possible invasion from the alien overlord Darkseid, and all the forces of his planet Apokalips, enhanced monsters called Parademons. But they were not prepared for the full onslaught of his neww "Paradooms", monsters that are part Parademon and part Doomsday which Darkseid previously sent to Earth to kill Superman. The heroes' offensive was met with defeat as the Paradooms' Kryptonian strength kills or succumbs the first wave. Heroes like Batman and Wonder Woman and turned into cybernetic soldiers loyal to Darkseid, while Superman is infused with Kryptonite which blocks his powers. Other heroes like Zatanna perished while Constantine uncharacteristically panics and portals back to Earth. Two years pass and the powerless Superman along with Raven talk Constantine and his bored drinking partner Etrigan the Demon into helping them locate Robin who now leads the remains of the League of Assassins. Superman convinces Robin to help them lead an assault on Apokalips and break through Darkseid's hold on Batman. Lex Luthor secretly working with the remains of the Suicide Squad secures Superman's forces with Lois Lane while the heroes teleport their way to Apokalips, free their comrades, and stop Darkseid once and for all.

Without getting into a lot of spoilers, this movie acts as a definitive final chapter first started in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, even though from this point on a newly resent timeline is starting up in the next movie, Superman: Man Of Tomorrow. There's some DC Universe animated films that have nothing to do with their yearly releases, such as ones connected to toylines like Lego or DC Superhero Girls, and the occasional one-shot like the Batman/TMNT cartoon movie. Apokalips War however is one of the only times that a non-comic book DC production attempted to give a conclusion to a long-running plot, which even the Arrowverse's version of Crisis On Infinite Earths didn't dare to do as characters get flatlined with no parallel universe counterpart waiting in the wings to take their place. The animation is above average, even done from the original Justice League Dark movie, and is a definitive hard "R" rating with the level of violence and cursing abundant throughout the film. This might either enrage most fans since it seems to be just cleaning the board for a new timeline, or praise for having the fortitude in taking their characters in this darkest of dark endings.