ANI-MOVIES, *The Grinch

Illumination tried to milk the Dr. Seuss cow one more time after The Lorax with yet another full-length adaptation of How The Grinch Stole Christmas which was perfect the first time in the 30-minute TV special done by the master of facial expressions, Chuck Jones. The live-action version gave people the jibblies, so possibly going back to animation would be a step back up. The CGI is pleasant to watch but bringing in modern day 3D animation filled with pop culture references don't really help.

This version of Whoville doesn't mention the fact that their world exists in a microverse which happened to have their own counterparts to Jesus and Santa Claus as Christmas is the center of the entire town's attention. The Grinch is a mysteriously green loner that lives inside a nearby mountain along with his dog Max who realizes he needs to go into town for groceries. The decorations, good cheer, and aggressive carollers reinforces Grinch's hatred of the holiday, so much so that he plans on stealing the entire thing from everyone. He decides to dress up as Santa Claus(this time with an actual white beard!)and herds the fat reindeer Fred into pulling his sled which he stole from his neighbor. Fred is later shown to have his own family so Grinch lets him go and replaces him with Max. With an assortment of gadgets right out of Wile. E. Coyote's catalog the Grinch successfully pulls off the citywide heist, even though the Whoville residents still sing welcoming Christmas which seeps into his heart. It's just then that the sled filled with swag almost goes over a cliff where Fred and his family shows up to use their mutant reindeer super-strength to help Grinch retrieve his stolen goods so he can return them. The Whoville folk are strangely okay with this as they invite Grinch to Christmas dinner where the reformed loner realizing that all he really wanted was to stop being alone. There is a subplot in this with Cindy Lou trying to ask Santa to help with her single mother raising her twin baby brothers, although this is mainly used as filler to make it to an 85-minute long feature.

The Grinch is definitely the lesser annoying of the two adaptations of Seuss' book and it does have a number of charming cartoon gags. The downside is that it pulls along what is a short story into a full-length movie by giving the Grinch another unnecessarily sobby origin with pathetically little dedicated to giving any details concerning his past. The original TV special is still one of the single greatest holiday specials of all time and this movie is more of a humorous cash grab instead of becoming a Christmas standard.

ANI-MOVIES, *Mirai

Being the only non-Ghibli anime movie to be nominated for an Oscar, Mirai was directed by Mamoru Hosoda of Summer Wars fame. Produced by Studio Chizu, the 2018 movie used elements from Hosoda's previous title The Girl Who Leapt Through Time into a new time travel fantasy feature for all ages.

Kun is a playful 4-year-old who gets some competition for his parents' affection with his newborn sister. The baby Mirai(which is Japanese for "future")is taking up most of the family's time with their second child, and the Kun is naturally jealous of her for this. The boy goes out to the garden of the house that his family built enclosing a tree where he meets a humanized version of his dog Yukko, revealing that there is something enchanted concerning this tree. Kun gets a visit from a teenage Mirai from the future who convinces him to put away a pair of dolls which is a Japanese tradition concerning a girl's marriage. Somehow being able to go along with all the weirdness, Kun soon gets sent back in time to meet his mother as a girl, and then later on his great-grandfather after WWII. A visit from Kun's future self leads him to a realize that Mirai has a place in his family as her future self shows him how the tree in the garden literally acts as a family tree with its mysterious power.

Mirai is shown from the point of view of a toddler with none of the adult characters having any given names. It doesn't make Kun out to be a likable protagonist, but then he's only 4 as his perception on the bigger world is still developing so any criticisms about him being a brat should add his age to the equation. The anime is an original idea by Hosoda and the creators at Studio Chizu where their vision expands into a diverse feature with the various timelines Kun visits. As a movie, this might not seem as memorable as a Ghibli presentation, although it does help the viewer appreciate the ties to their family both past and future.

Christine McVie, R.I.P.

 

ANI-MOVIES, *Early Man

After digging back into their Wallace And Grommit franchise with the Shaun The Sheep spinoff movie, Aardman Animation created an original idea for a stop-motion picture in Early Man. Unlike some of the previous Aardman movies, Early Man was specifically engineered for a British audience as it focuses on football, or as it is called in the Western Hemisphere, "soccer". The sports movie is mixed in with director Nick Park's brand of shenanigans and cartoon humor.

Set a few millions of years ago, a meteor crashes on a group of prehistoric primates in what would become England who use the burnt space rock to invent the game of soccer. Some ages later, the descendants of that tribe have their land taken over by a greedy empire to mine its precious metals. Hopeful caveman Dug challenges the empire's Lord Nooth to get their home back by winning a soccer game but Dug and his faithful boar don't really know how it is played. Luckily, local bronze dealer Goona is a naturally good player, but the empire turned her down because they only use male players, and she teaches Dug's tribe to work together as a team as they come to realize the talent they inherited from their ancestors.

Despite being as historically accurate as The Flintstones, Early Man is a fresh take on the vintage cartoon caveman concept. It bears a bouquet of cheeky humor but is still a family-friendly feature highlighting the virtues of family and friendship. Aside from its poor box office reception, the film is a gratifying watch with amazing voice acting, especially Tom Hiddleston hamming it up as the loathsome Lord Nooth.

OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Fragtime

The mangaka known as Sako created a 2-volume yuri series, and Kaze-san And Morning Glory director Takuya Sato applied his similar brand of shoujo-ai creativity into an OVA special based on the manga. Tear Studio hit the ground running with their work on this their first made for video feature, a girl/girl romance with a science-fiction twist.

Misuzu is a shy girl who has the strange ability to stop time for three minutes a day which she uses to get out of akward situations. This works on everyone and everything around her, except for the popular Haruka who learns of it after Misuzu tries to shockingly look at her panties while believed to be frozen. Haruka at first blackmails Misuzu into hanging out with her after breaking the ice, and they both become more than friends as they use the clock stopping to help out their schoolmates in hidden little ways. Misuzu's power begins to fade as she realizes that Haruka keeps up a helpful appearance to cover up her own insecurities. Despite the magic being used up, the two reconcile and come out to each other.

The similarities in the relationship between romantic duo in this and Sato's Kaze-san And Morning Glory which came out a year earlier are apparent, although it maintains the same fuzzy feelings someone experiences in adolescent love. Fragtime is yet another charming yuri anime inviting for curious minds.

ANI-MOVIES, *Big Fish And Begonia

One of the few Chinese animated movies to get a English theatrical release, Big Fish And Begonia was made partially through Studio Mir which most Americans would recognize for animating Voltron: Legendary Defender and Legend Of Korra. Zhang Chun and Liang Xuan directed this full-length movie that started out as a short flash animation which took the better part of a decade to finally get its big budget remake. The story takes inspiration from Chinese mythology as its style is similar to Studio Ghibli's Sprited Away.

A race of elementals known as the Others live in a world below the ocean where they govern the changing of the seasons. One of the Others is Chun and she joins more of her kind in her teenage years as they go to spend a small amount of time in the human world in the form of a red dolphin. Chun's visit causes a human boy to be killed in rescuing her, so once back home she makes a deal with the resident soul collector to give half her life away to return the boy to the living. Troublemaking neighbor Qui helps her take care of the boy's soul that they name Kun, and the two teens grow closer as they keep Kun now occupied in the body of a growing dolphin with a unicorn horn coming out his head. The celestial gods realize that Kun is in their world which is supposed to cause the ocean to crash over them. Chun is able to help Kun be resurrected in the human world, along with being reincarnated herself after Qui sacrifices his life to be the new soul collector.

Big Fish And Begonia has amazing 2D and 3D animation formatted in both hand drawn and CGI. The style and movement has their own special brand of excellence which shows how far Chinese animation has gotten in the last generation. The dub voice acting is fine, but the original Chinese language is equally good. The only thing that keeps the movie from achieving higher praise is the plot periodically introduces new elements that don't seem to pay off later on like the introduction of a rat witch who uses Kun as her way back to the human world. The overall story is easy enough to follow and it isn't necessary to have a major in Chinese folklore to appreciate this romantic fantasy.

OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *New Getter Robo

Go Nagai's second big hit in the field of giant robots after Mazinger Z was Getter Robo that introduces two major ingredients into the mecha genre, one was the concept of an entire team of pilots, but also the first combiner unit. Before Voltron or Transformers started stacking metal mashups, Getter Robo was the groundbreaker for it all. A few years after they finished up two separate OVA series concluding the original arc from the 1970s, New Getter Robo was its own 13-episode OVA as a remake. The anime was its own solid series set aside from the prior Getter Robo incarnations which don't require the prior series' history.

Oni are showing up and attacking a special lab housing the space radiation called "Getter Rays" which can do anything from folding space and time, pulling in demons and other monsters from different dimensions, and powers the lab's guardian Getter Robo which is piloted by a trio that can reconverge their vehicles into three battle modes. A disgraced martial artist, a former terrorist, and a reformed monk get pulled into a mad scientist's fanatical mission to halt the repeated monster attacks. Exactly what the Getter Rays are and what they actually do are a serious mystery as it keeps sending people into alternate timelines, gun-toting samurai, and steampunk airships makes for an interesting narrative, but ultimately makes the watcher confused as to what the actual point of it was other than nostalgia for the source material.

New Getter Robo did receive a television release but was first and foremost an OVA as it has large buckets of blood being sprayed all over the battlefield. The anime has the same over the top attitude that would later influence titles like Gurren Lagaan, but when making that frame of mind into the sole focus of an entire series doesn't help much if there is no definitive resolution or even a consistent plot. You can watch this whole series now on DVD or Blu-Ray, as well as streaming, even if you still enjoy the ride if you don't expect it to go anywhere.

ANI-MOVIES, *Batman And Superman: Battle Of The Super Sons

Not set in their current Tomorrowverse, the latest release from the DCU animated line of original titles is an attempt to appeal to newer fans by introducing what originally began as DC's original version of Marvel's What If? with an imaginary timeline where Batman and Superman's sons were Batman Jr. and Superman Jr. The "Super Sons" were reinvented into the New 52 comics as a time-displaced Superman and Lois had their own son from a parallel universe would team up with the current Robin who here is the biological son of Batman. Battle Of The Super Sons is the very first DCU animated feature that was produced totally in CGI, or at least one not based on a Lego toy.

Set in a modern version of current day DC Comics, Superman's kept his identity secret from his Jon, until on his birthday when his half-alien super powers finally kick in. Superman takes Jon to have the Dynamic Duo give him a physical where Jon is introduced to Batman's son Robin, aka: Damian Wayne. Whether there were any other Robins prior to him is never stated, but Damian's spoiled ninja overlord upbringing has alienated him from the younger heroes like the Teen Titans. Meanwhile, a stowaway from Superman's homestead Krypton makes its way to Earth as the alien body-possessing giant starfish calling itself Starro who replicated millions of spores to control the world's heroes. Damien breaks away from an attack of by his brainwashed father to enlist Jon's help, even though his super powers aren't totally up on his father's caliber. The Super Sons have a showdown with the possessed Justice League from their satellite where Starro is waiting for them, and the boys also have to take on their own dads to fry the starfish's plans for universal domination.

The use of 3D animation does function believable enough throughout the feature, but it does loose some of its quality for some of the scenes, like anything with Superman flying or most of the fight scenes are satisfactory, however footage where the characters are just standing around giving superhero quips tends to drag on. The premiere of this version of "Superboy" is well done, but Robin's arrogance is cranked up to 11 to make him even more unappealing as possible while not even showing up in the movie until nearly halfway through. The voice acting is enjoyable with Shazam's Jack Dylan Grazer as the fresh faced Jon, although Travis Willingham's Superman does it with far more bass than needed. It is a less annoying DC animated outing from titles like Legion Of Super Pets, even if some of the stereotypical teenage angst shows it mark near the beginning.

That moment when you realize the Jem show had one of the only genuine series finale to an 80's cartoon!

Obscure O.V.A., *eX-Driver

Kosuke Fujishima was the creator of the automobile centric manga, You're Under Arrest, which went into the development of this post-cyberpunk 6-episode OVA series. eX-Driver was an original idea Fujishima came up with where cars in the distant mid-21st Century drive themselves similar to in Minority Report, but the concept gets pretty wonky as the anime goes on.

In the future, people no longer know how to drive cars as they are all automated. However, occasional accidents happen where their systems break down leaving the car racing down the street with innocent pedestrians trapped inside. A team of specialists called eX-Drivers have their own cars that they operate manually in order to get on stop each episode's chase scene. The two main drivers are the kindhearted Lorna and the tomboy Lisa that each have their own separate vehicles. The sister act is interrupted by their newest recruit Soichi who is only 12. The conflicting egos play into the ongoing plot which shows how doomed this version of the future is when a former eX-Driver leads a gang of fast and furious wannabes bent only on causing chaos simply for the hell of it.

The problem with creating a science-fiction story set in the future is predicting how technology will develop over time where 90s movies like Johnny Mnemonic had no insight on how computers could change, so making an anime in the early 2000s about how mankind might be naive enough to let surrender all control over to malfunctioning AI. eX-Driver was Fujishima's attempt at trying to follow his own possible phobia ourselves to give in fully to an automated society. The writing is abundant with character jealousies and fan service scattered throughout Fujishima's writing that does play too much into anime stereotypes. The OVA series was 2-episodes longer than the You're Under Arrest OVA, but the difference between the two titles is that one was set in a believable slice-of-life comedy where eX-Driver was expanded with a weak grasp on a more idealistic future.

ANI-MOVIES, *Okko's Inn

Okko's Inn was a kid's novel series by Hiroko Reijō that ran throughout the early 21st Century. It was popular enough to get its own girls manga, and in the summer of 2018 received the rare opportunity to have a simultaneously released anime TV and movie premiere. The TV series adaptation was stretched out into 24 episodes, but the movie got its release halfway during the series run, so it allowed viewers to pick which version they wanted. The movie is not a compilation film using footage from the TV anime, and both were animated by Studio Madhouse, so the main difference in quality is divided between theatrical quality and a weekly anime series. So far, only the anime movie has gotten an English release through GKids, making it the primary source to investigating.

A young girl nicknamed Okko has her parents killed in an auto accident, and now she lives with her surviving grandmother in her hot spring inn. Okko is surprised to find her new home is inhabited by Uribo, a boy ghost that had been watching over Okko's granny since they were both young, but the annoying kid is able to communicate with her since he saved her life in the same accident that took her parents. Okko also gets visited by the dead older sister of a neighboring rival innkeeper, along with a bell demon that was sealed up in a box who ends up nabbing most of her desserts. Throughout the movie run, you can see Okko being introduced to new characters like fortune tellers that leave an impact on her hidden coping with the loss in her life, and how she is gaining a new family with her grandma and new ghost friends. The supernatural angle does take a decided absense from the plot when Okko encounters the family that caused her original accident, so its paranormal elements get used more as a plot motivator instead of being the main drive of the film.

You can tell that Madhouse felt the need to compartmentalize the movie adaptation into a series of various segments where as the TV series was more freedom to stretch the story out over an entire show. On its own, Okko's Inn is a family-friendly feature that introduces children to the concept of letting go of their pasts while making plans for the future of themselves and family.

ANI-MOVIES, *The Black Cauldron

Prior to their second renaissance, 80s were a troubling time for Disney Studios. For their 25th theatrical animation, it was decided to give into the high fantasy wave that hit pop culture at the time with the works of Tolkien, or Dungeons and Dragons. Lloyd Alexander had a written a series titled The Chronicles Of Prydain aimed at showing morals to children, but without all the religious implications that the Narnia books were going for, and Disney decided to combine the first two volumes into a singular plot. The Black Cauldron was released after Don Bluth had already left Disney, even though you can still point out numerous hints of influence on the studios remaining animators. This was the first Disney cartoon movie to get a PG rating due to its dark imagery which just managed to escape the Satanic Panic of the 80s. The original story is inspired by Welsh mythology, namely the collected tome called The Mabinogion.

Set in the mystical land of Prydain, a skeletal sorcerer known as the Horned King sends his forces looking for an enchanted cauldron which would allow him to raise an undead army of darkness. Taran is a glory hungry teenager hoping to be a hero but is instead given the task to care for an oracular pig that could show the Horned King the cauldron's location. He and his pig are captured, but Taran manages to get his fortune telling pet away while he escapes with a captured princess, a lying bard, and a small furry creature known as Gurgi. Our heroes now have to trek to a forbidden land of witches in order to get to the cauldron before the Horned King, although in order to destroy the cursed object it requires a living sacrifice.

Aside from being the first Disney movie to use CGI as part of its animated feature, The Black Cauldron was still crafter under traditional Disney formula. The main distraction for most Disney fans would be that there are no musical numbers in it, although Elmer Bernstein offers a memorable score especially if you appreciated his prior efforts in The Magnificent Seven and Ghostbusters. The casting is also delightful with John Hurt as the haunting Horn King, and the opening narration by the prior animated Gandalf, John Huston. Much of the elements of this went into inspiring Disney's Gummy Bears series, but with less gore and zombies. The movie is finally available through special order Disney Blu-Ray, so be sure to watch it in its full visual glory.

MISC. MANGA, *Barefoot Gen

I Saw It which was the first manga to get a genuine American release. It was printed through Educomics which normally publishes educational underground comics. It was an accounting of author Keiji Nakazawa's life in Japan during World War II, and this one-shot was later expanded into the ongoing expanded storyline, Gen Of Hiroshima, which was later reprinted in full through publishers New Society Publishers and Last Gasp under the title Barefoot Gen. The manga ran from 1973-87 and was the basis for a live-action movie trilogy, a live-action mini-series, and two anime movies, but its more infamous for its historical significance and realistic account of war atrocities.

Set in Hiroshima during WWWII, life for the common citizens was perilous, and poor boy Gen struggles along with the rest of his family as they are having to surrender so much of their lives to the Japanese government. Gen's father Daikichi is branded a traitor after getting kicked out of the people's volunteer soldiers, and his actions get his family split despite his pregnant mother given birth to his baby sister Tomoko. Their situation becomes even sadder when Hiroshima is bombed by the American forces, how the war ends, and Japan's surrender to the outside world.

Barefoot Gen is of course noted for providing the point of view of war from the nation launching it in the first place and how it affects that country's citizens. Nakazawa's perspective on how these tragic events left its toll on his life are reflected better in the writing than in the slightly more cartoonish-looking artwork. The manga doesn't hide the horrors of war, so make sure to keep that in mind if you plan to delve into this real-life catastrophe.

ANI-MOVIES, *Leap!

Originally titled Ballerina, Leap! was joint production between Canadian and French animators. This somewhat historically inaccurate children's tale had first a French language release, and then with some of the cast being recase for the American dub with some of the original voice actors.

Set in France during the mid-1880s, Felicie and Victor are orphans who escape their orphanage in the countryside to live in Paris. Felicie is a spunky girl wanting to join the ballet company of the Paris Opera and manages to get a spot after pretending to be the daughter of a snooty debutante. Felicie is taken in by the kindly Oddette, a cleaning woman who was a former ballerina after crippling her leg and teaches her everything she knows in a series of Karate Kid-inspired montages as her student tries to get a part in the upcoming performance of The Nutcracker. There is a some standard cliches like a liar-reveal, a love triangle, a bitter rivalry, but all this gets pulled to the side as Felicie's biggest challenge is escaping the snooty debutante who chases her up the Statue of Liberty still under construction.

Leap! is a fun diversion on a lazy afternoon with your children, although your mileage may vary depending on which dub of it you hear, as there are at least two English dubs circulating on streaming, one of which has different dialogue in various scenes. The modern music used for the 19th Century backdrop also has trouble fitting in despite its classy dance numbers. The animation quality is also in flux between uncanny valley realism and cartoonish mannerisms, even though the backgrounds are stunning.

ANI-MOVIES, *Liz And The Blue Bird

Several properties like Star Wars take minor or background characters and give them their own outlet, as was the case with Sound! Euphonium. The anime TV series based on a novel went on for two seasons, and then spun-off an original story set in the same fictional universe. Liz And The Blue Bird is a full-length theatrical release that spotlights two of the cast members from the show's second season. Kyoto Animation used a subtle minimalistic approach to this production directed by A Silent Voice's Naoko Yamada and written by Reiko Yoshida that works as a companion piece to the original anime, but at the same time being its own entity, not making it necessary to have watched the TV series.

Mizore and Nozomi are best friends during their final year in high school. Mizori is a timid oboist, while Nozomi is an extraverted flutist, and both of them are part of the school's music club seeking recognition with an upcoming band competition. Their main piece is centered on an original fairy tale titled "Liz And The Blue Bird" about the title character forming a loving relationship with a blue-haired girl who is secretly a transformed blue bird. The story sets a reflection of Mizore fretting over her relationship with Nozomi as she fears they will separate after graduation. Mizore is offered a spot at a musical college, but only wants to attend if Nozomi goes as well, where Nozomi doesn't consider herself becoming a professional musician as Mizore is the one who has the raw talent to achieve it. This indecisiveness causes a rift between them, even though you can clearly see how the two keep in sync with each other, especially when they are the only band members playing during their solo performance in the Liz music piece. The duo eventually work out their differences as their relationship achieves a new resolve secure in the fact that they will still be friends no matter where they go.

Liz And The Blue Bird might seem profoundly similar to the Kase-sand And Morning Glories OVA that came out in the same year in which two girls in their senior year come to terms about their futures going in opposite directions, although Kase-san is more of a confirmed yuri anime, where Liz has a less romantic relationship between its main characters. The movie has a superb soundtrack, notably the scenes where the band is actually performing, and great detail was given into showing how even when they are separated that Nozomi and Mizore have a strong effect on the other. Again, you don't need to have seen anything of Sound! Euphonium to be able to keep up with the plot, even though it does make you curious as to why it tends to introduce so many additional characters from the TV series.

OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Demon City Shinjuku

Yoshiaka Kawajiri is probably best known by Western otaku as the director of Ninja Scroll, along with adapting several American franchises like Batman, X-Men, and The Matrix. He even went on to do a feature-length Highlander, which his appreciation for the original live-action movie was on full display in this 1988 OVA. Demon City Shinjuku was a sci-fi horror novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi who also wrote the source material for Kawajiri's similar anime of Wicked City which came out a year prior, even though this outing tones down on the sex and violence. The anime dub was done by Manga Entertainment's British studios, so there is a gratuitous amount of overused cursing in it to try and appeal to edgy genxers.

In an alternate history, a corrupted psychic uses his teachings to open up the doorway to Hell from the Shinjuku section of Tokyo. The evil Rebi Ra defeats his spiritual brother in arms Genichirou in an epic battle, leaving the entire area a wasteland filled with demons. A decade passes with the rest of world achieving peace, now lead by a "World President" who gets caught in a trap by Raban Ran, although his original psychic teacher manages to save the President by staving off the trap. This leaves no one left to challenge Raban's final act, so Genichirou's surviving son Kyoyo is sent to confront him armed only with a wooden sword and a moderate amount of training in the school of demon slaying. Kyoyo now has to deal with the remaining local killers still hanging around Shinjuku, along with taking care of the President's useless daughter in one big escort mission right out of a video game.

You can see a fair amount of what would influence Kawajiri's work in Ninja Scroll what with a lone swordsmen side-scrolling through a hazardous landscape battling a variety of superhuman adversaries. The story is stilted and wonky, suffering from serious pacing, although the selling point is the electrifying action scenes. The anime has achieved a level of popularity among American otaku as a cult classic, mostly because of its screenings on network TV in the 90s, as well as having its own English-language RPG. It might not be a keeper for your personal library, even though it could fill up an evening of retro anime watching.

MISC. MANGA, *Seraphim: 266613336 Wings

Despite being written by Ghost In The Shell director Mamoru Oshi and drawn by Satoshi Kon who created Perfect Blue, you would think that a titles like Seraphim: 266613336 Wings would have garnered more attention. This manga from the 90s went on for a good while during its original Japanese run, despite the fact that it was never completed largely due to a difference of opinion between the two creators. It is difficult to recognize it from either Oshi or Kon's future works, even though it combines science-fiction and Christian lore years before Evangelion had a crack at it.

In a dark future, a sickness called the Angel Plague has brought entire nations to a halt, causing global catastrophes and social unrest for years. The World Health Organization send in a mysterious girl to be escorted by a trio of specialists named after the Three Wise Men(one of which happens to be a dog)and investigate the source of the plague. What follows is a serios look into how religious dogma can affect the mankind by turning the world into a dystopian wasteland.

One of the main things holding this manga back is that it keeps shifting to flashbacks during the first few chapters with no context allowing the reader to know when that portion of the story is taking place. There are a number of parts where the narrative will go off on a tangent focusing on the individual characters' motivations instead of sticking to the main premise. The entire but incom]nplete series is currently available through Dark Horse Comics, so it might be worth a read if you are a steadfast manga historian.

What to say to silent/faceless Facebook Group admins...

 

OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Spirit Of Wonder: The Scientific Boys Club

A second anime of Spirit Of Wonder was made nearly a decade after the original OVA one-shot, but this time as a 2-episode series, each one split up into two-separate parts. Still produced by Ajia-do Animation Works, the anime is still based on Kenji Tsuruta's anthology manga which is a sci-fi romantic comedy.

The series is split into a 2-part story of The Scientific Boys Club which is set in the same world as Miss China from the first OVA. This spinoff has a trio of eccentric old amateur scientists who decide to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their club by planning an expedition to Mars based on the works of their idol, astronomer Percival Lowell who believed the red planet had canals and that there was still life there. The SBC gets help from their youngest member, who happens to be married to one of the club founder's daughter who they keep bugging for her expertise on calculations, even though she wants to live the life of an average housewife. The crew manages to create their own space zeppelin that rides the mistaken ether streams between Earth and Mars, although they are underwhelmed to discover there are no canals there or any sign of life.

The other two segments of the OVA series returns first to a short of Miss China who has begun to slowly shrink thanks to Dr. Breckenridge's latest invention. Jim is able to restore China to her height, but only resulting in China growing so big she tears the roof off of her restaurant. The second installment takes place sometime afterwards with Breckenridge using his space reflector telescope to project the surface of Mars, but because the planet is so far away its all blurry. That doesn't stop China from dreaming up an intoxicated-fueled 3D mirage where she is karate chopping a Godzilla-sized Martian monster. There are plenty of callbacks to the prior OVA, even though they never show the ring around the Earth that was made in the original story.

The quality of animation has gone up for the production company in the OVA series in turn from the 90s one-shot, including some impressive CGI. The only down point is a majority of viewers might be put off by the Miss China segments if they haven't seen the original OVA. This also has a completely separate dub as it was released through Bandai instead of Animeigo, but the acting is still on an exceptional level. There is also lots more fanservice which is a bit of a detour from the prior family-friendlier outing.

OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Spirit Of Wonder: Miss China's Ring

Kenji Tsuruta created a near decade run of his title, Spirit Of Wonder, which is a sci-fi romantic comedy set in a dieselpunk variation of our world. In 1992, Ajia-do Animation Works produced a one-shot OVA based on one of the manga's chapters that was labeled in English as Miss China's Ring, even though the genuine title was Melancholy Of China decades before Haruhi Suzimiya was even thought up.

Set in an alternate 1800s in a place called Prince Of Wales Island, the young entrepreneur China runs a restaurant named Tenkai, which also doubles as the residence for a pair of eccentric scientists, the rent-dodging Dr. Breckenridge and his assistant Jim who China seems to have a thing for. Breckenridge's latest invention is the Space Reflex Telescope which creates a 3D reflection of anything its aimed at, including the moon which Jim turns into the world's biggest birthday card for China. Jim takes it a step further by convincing China to use her "butt-kicking power" to smash a reflection of the moon, causing it to turn into a Saturn ring around the Earth, even though this would probably cause unheard of natural disasters in the real world.

The OVA is just brimming with charm which is its most memorable feature. The cute relationship between the jealous China and clueless Jim are typical of 90s anime, plus mixing this with a mad scientist scheme creates a heartwarming story. There are some animation glitches here and there, but the lovable plot and outstanding dub by Animeigo harness the sentimental otaku in all of us.

ANI-MOVIES, *A Thousand And One Nights

Conviently premiering in the summer of 69, the first of what would be labeled the Animerama trilogy, A Thousand And One Nights by Mushi Productions is considered as being the first animated movie for mature audiences. Creator Osamu Tezuka had an equally big enough catalog of adult material compared to his all ages works like Astro Boy or Kimba, and this feature showcases exactly how adult his aesthetics could get. Inspired by the Arabian Nights, this was psychedelic trip that closed out the 60s in the best possible way. An explosive creation combining the best of animation quality available at the time with a jazzy musical score.

Water merchant Aldin heads to Baghdad to make some coins and comes to free the luscious slave girl Mirium. The two have one the first animated sex scenes in the palace of a rich voyeur which gets raided by the forty thieves who secretly work for the prime minister and his sneaky blue-skinned right hand Sabaik. Aldin manages to escape, not knowing that Mirium died giving birth to his daughter Jalis which Sabaik adopts. Aldin finds the thieves' secret cave along with the leader's daughter Madia who takes off with takes off with Aldin on a flying hobby horse. They land on an island filled with nude nymphs that prompts Aldin to part ways with Madia, although he changes his mind about staying with the naked ladies as he is shocked to discover they are really a tribe of snake-women. Aldin then comes across a magical boat that can conjure up nearly anything he wants, to which the story fast forwards 15 years where he now goes by the name Sinbad. His daughter Jalis has fallen in love with the shepherd Aslan thanks to a rendezvous due to a bickering pair of imps. Aldin returns to Baghdad as a rich merchant and becomes the new sultan after winning a drawn-out competition proving that he has the bigger treasure. As the new sultan, "Sindbad" starts going mad with power by commanding his own version of the Tower of Babel to be constructed, making the citizens in resent their ruler, who also tries to woo Jalis totally unaware that she is his daughter. Jalis is reunited with Aslan just before she unknowingly commits incest, which takes Aldin being abdicated after his past is revealed but manages to escape beheading as the huge tower crumbles down providing a distraction, and the now ex-sultan goes back to living as a poor man wandering the desert.

Obviously not intended for children, this anime take on the classic tales is in reality a lost classic. Discotek Media should be praised for not only restoring the original Japanese edition but also the shortened European dub. The movie is a literal carpet ride of comedy, carnal action, and cryptic imagery providing a perfect time capsule that leads into the trippy anime of the 70s.

ANI-MOVIES, *The Bad Guys

Lupin the 3rd meets BNA are what you get in this funny animal crime comedy. Taking break from ogres and dragons, Dreamworks decided to take Aaron Blabey ongoing graphic novel series The Bad Guys and make it into a major release. Although Universal played it safe by not releasing a metric ton of merchandise tied to its release, it did pay off by making it one of the biggest selling animated films of the year. It's a bizarre blending of Looney Tunes physics and action-comedy.

Set in a version of the human world where regular animals exist as well as anthropomorphic talking animals who wear clothes. You don't see to many of the talking kinds outside of the main cast, which mostly consists of the titular Bad Guys, a gang of thieves that have a panache for grand heists. There's the leader Wolf(supposed to be the genuine "Big Bad" one), vault-buster Snake, hacker spider Webs, flatulent crazy thug Piranha, and the sizeable Shark as the resident master of disguise. The criminal quintet is constantly taunting the police, including their hot-tempered female chief. The Bad Guys' latest caper involves stealing the valuable Golden Dolphin statue which is being presented to resident philanthropist guinea pig, Professor Marmalade, at an awards gala, although they end up getting caught. Our villains are given a temporary pardon by the fox governor and put in the care of Marmalade who vows to turn the Bad Guys into good guys. From here are a series of deceptions, betrayals, redemptions, and crazy car chases making for a fantastic cartoon frenzy.

Pierre Perifel hit the ground running in this as The Bad Guys was his first directorial debut, and Etan Cohen wrote an impressive screenplay, aside from the fact that there is the standard amount of fart jokes in it. If you are tired of cliched heist movies, then you will probably enjoy this which is set up to parody the genre, but as an all-ages feature. The character dynamics, brilliant voice acting, smooth animation, and cartoon action makes for a splendid experience for movie buffs and lovers of animation.

"Scooby-Doo Where Are You" was all about draft dodging!

ANI-MOVIES, *The Spine Of Night

Horror movie writer-turned animator Philip Gellat had worked on Netflix's Love, Death And Robots animated anthology, and developed a full-length feature in the spirit of that TV series. Along with Morgan Galen King, he took the concept of Ralph Bakshi's earlier works like The Lord Of The Rings plus Fire And Ice into a new adult dark fantasy which similar to the Netflix series is a selection of short stories connected to a central theme. Shot entirely in the nearly lost craft of rotoscoping, The Spine Of Night has the feel of a Frank Frazetta painting brought to life.

The swamp witch Tzod was killed centuries ago by a selfish prince, and her necklace of magic flowers called the Bloom was taken away by Ghar-Sul, a scholar who uses the flowers enchanted properties to greatly extend his lifespan. Ghar-Sul eventually took control of his fellow scholars, and their collected knowledge allowed the now unkillable magic user to form his own empire throughout the ages. Tzod is resurrected by a lost fragment of the Bloom to seek out the flower's original source, which she tracks to a large skull at the top of a mountain maintained by a withered guardian who tells her the Bloom is the last fragments of power left over from a race of gods that early mankind killed. A daring team of flying assassins manage to infiltrate Ghar-Sul's empire in an effort to kill him, which instead leads to the last of his Bloom supply. Noticing the last embers of the Bloom's light where he meets once again with Tzod, Ghar-Sul has a final battle with the swamp witch now taking up the task of the fallen guardian.

This movie is what Masters Of The Universe fans pictured their favorite toyline would be before the campy TV series put the barbaric fantasy on training wheels, except this is clearly not meant for younger viewers. Nudity, gore, and questionable drug use make The Spine Of Night a seriously mature feature. It is sure to make old school animation geeks filled with nostalgia with the more realistic animated motions and scenes of sheer bloody violence.

ANI-MOVIES, *Gantz: O

Gantz was a popular manga that got adapted into an anime TV series that didn't complete the original story, plus a 2-part live-action movie franchise along with a TV tie-in special. The appeal of the manga was reimagined into a full-length CGI animated film that takes the basic premise of one of it's story arcs and opens the world up to view it as one long video game. Alot of the manga's backstory is put on hold to set the stage for a more action centered production.

Well meaning teenager Kato gets killed trying try to stop a subway slasher which has him waking up in a room with several people in skintight black outfits. A large black ball in the room referred to as Gantz grabs people moments from their deaths to take part in monster slaying missions as bizarre yokai are attacking Osaka. Given his own power suit and laser guns, Kato is sent with three others from Tokyo to help the Osaka division of Gantz during a demonic invasion. Monsters of all kinds like cyclopses, tengu, giant feiry wheels, and a kaiju that has the Gantz using their own invisible giant robot. The Osaka and Tokyo team have trouble working together, with Kato making peace with the bouncy Yamasaki who quickly takes a liking to him despite the fact she is in her mid-20s with a son. The unnamed big boss demon proves to be especially difficult to kill with several of both teams getting killed off trying to keep it down despite how many times they cut it up, fire lasers at it, and crush it with a kinetic energy hammer gun. Kato gains enough points during this mission to win his freedom from Gantz service, but instead uses his bonus to resurrect Yamasaki who died in the final fight. It's revealed that Kato had previously been a Gantz player that had his memory wiped after an already successful tour as a Gantz soldier.

Gantz: O is a decent enough intro to the original manga's premise, making it more appealing to casual movie watchers without being bogged down with alot of the negative aspects that made the anime TV series appealing to gritty teenage audiences. The fan service and levels of violence of the source material are diminished to show the movie as a positive action-adventure epic. The CGI is effective, notably in the outstanding fight sequences. You might get the same feel out of playing a standard combat game, but the movie is a compelling enough thrill ride for a single sit.

ANI-MOVIES, *Green Lantern: Beware My Power

 

Meant to be the 5th chapter of the "Tomorrowverse"(4th if you count The Long Halloween as a single feature), Beware My Power is in fact a direct continuation of the DC Showcase: Adam Strange short from two years prior. The second human Green Lantern takes the spotlight in this newly expanded world which includes the already formed Justice League and an established interstellar history. This acts as a serious cosmic odyssey to the DC animated library.

Former marine John Stewart is suffering from PTSD after his last Middle East tour and gets a visit by the last known Guardian of the Universe who gives him missing Green Lantern Hal Jordan's power ring before he passes away. John has the ring take him to the Justice League's Watchtower satellite where he's introduced to members of the current roster, including Green Arrow. The Emerald Archer goes with the new Green Lantern in the Guardian's ship to the Lantern homeworld of Oa which is loaded with corpses of probably the entire Lantern Corps and the Guardians. Once there, the green team is attacked by Shayera Hol, a Hawkgirl from the planet of Thanagar that believes their warring neighbor world of Rann were behind the slaughter on Oa. The three heroes combine their efforts and travel to a war-torn planet where a rogue teleporting zeta beam drops Adam Strange straight from his Showcase adventure of busting giant alien bugs. The new fantastic four realize that some outside factor is manipulating the Rann and Thanagar empires into a war, which is revealed to be ex-Green Lantern Sinestro now using a yellow power ring and leading a team of space terrorists. John has to now use his newfound powers and responsibilities to help repair the damage caused by Sinestro's forces and his hidden benefactor.

Beware My Power opens up a new area of the Tomorrowverse only slightly hinted to in Superman: Man Of Tomorrow helping bring about the space opera this franchise needed. The animation is refined, most notably in the star battles and the power ring constructs. It leaves you wondering if there is a lingering connection between this timeline and the previous DCAU and hoping to see the full new Justice League in an upcoming adventure. The feature's only downside is that it sidelines the title character for other people on the DC Comics roster.

ANI-MOVIES, *A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman

Even though there are some live-action clips shown throughout the production, A Liar's Autobiography is a love letter to deceased Monty Python member, Graham Chapman. The comic actor passed away in 1989 in his late forties, but prior to his death he wrote a sensationalized version of his life up until that point, which he also performed the audiobook of. This movie takes the original audio tracks and mixes in portions of Graham's life with animation from 14 different studios bringing a new dimension to the story. Written by Chapman's life-partner David Sherlock, the feature has input from most of the surviving Pythoners, including a bizarre voice over by Cameron Diaz as Sigmund Freud. This could be viewed as an animated anthology, even though all the segments fit together in a single narrative.

The movie begins with Graham Chapman trying to remember a line from a Oscar Wilde sketch Monty Python did live. He then spends the rest of the of the film going over parts of his life from going on boring vacations with his parents, attending college, and joining his school's drama club. This leads to him meeting up with John Cleese, where the two of them went on to do material for British entertainer David Frost, and eventually their hooking up with the rest of Monty Python which became one of the world's hugest comedy troupe. A good portion of the movie then reflects on how Graham handled the success Python brought him, as well as him coming to terms with his sexuality and alcoholism. The movie does a great job handling how Graham's life as being openly gay was in fact a positive thing in his life. The film goes back and forth between reality and fictional accounts like how reading the Biggles adventure books as a child helped him navigate his own personal outlook on the world.

A Liar's Autobiography is a delightful insight into the tragically short life of one of the greatest comic minds of all time. The entire feature has more dark tones to it than you might realize but done in a comedic manner. The voice overs by the remaining Python team make for a fine extended cast, but what really sells it is Graham's narration with the eclectic animation. If you were ever a member of the Dead Parrots Society, then you can't miss this necessary look in one of its founding members.

DC Comics fans to WB on Batgirl

 

MISC. MANGA, *Amethyst: Princess Of Gemworld

Before Sailor Moon or She-Ra, Amethyst was the original magical princess/superhero! Premiering in 1983, Amethyst: Princess Of Gemworld would have made for an amazing Saturday morning cartoon series rivaling any 80s toy franchise. Usually taking place in the DC Comics Universe, the character would regularly meet up with characters like Superman, or as a member of Justice League Dark and Young Justice, although her adventures regularly happened in their own separate reality. She even had her own anime-styled mini-series screened on DC Nation. Hoping to appeal to a more modern audience without the decades of backstory, DC decided to release a one-shot graphic novel retelling the character's origin but geared towards younger readers.

Princess Amaya resides in the fairyland of Amethyst on the enchanted planet of Gemworld. After an accident involving her kingdom's keystone results in her younger brother Quartz getting into trouble, resulting in Amaya getting a time out as a regular girl on Earth with her guardian Citrina. Although her punishment was only supposed to last a week, the two end up getting stuck on Earth for three years, completely forgetting their lives on Gemworld. One day, Amaya uses a pendant containing a piece of the keystone to fend off some pesky bullies, which leads Prince Topaz from Gemworld to open a portal which brings the wayward princess and her schoolmate Autumn back to the magical realm. Amaya's memories come back upon her return, and discovers her family has gone missing, all while an indestructible monster known as Flaw rampages throughout the lands. The princess heads off to resolve this mystery along with her newfound powers and fighting skills.

Where most of the original interpretations of Princess Amethyst usually had the character in Arthurian or Tolkienesque fantasy adventure, but while focusing on her duality as a magical girl living a civilian identity on Earth, this new paperback is a self-contained story with a more diversified cast trying to lure fans of Amphibia or The Owl House. It makes for a great all-ages publication, which will hopefully add some new blood to the fan-favorite franchise.

OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Doomed Megalopolis

Hiroshi Aramata created the popular fictional novel series in Japan, Teito Monogatari, which was later adapted into two live-action movies. The twelve-volume epic blends in Japanese history with dark fantasy to create a story taking place in an alternate timeline, similar to steampunk. Studio Madhouse turned the first third of the original source material into a 4-episode OVA series, although it takes a pervy turn trying to appeal to the more ecchi fans. Streamline Pictures licensed it for English on VHS releases, and then later collected on DVD by ADV Films.

Set in 1908, the evil sorcerer Yasunori Kato, of whom the character of M. Bison was largely modeled after, plots to destroy Tokyo by attempting to rise the spirit of the city's founder Masakado which has been resting in the middle of town. He tries to do this by using the latent psychic powers of the traumatized girl Yukari. After failing to get her power to awaken Masakado, he waits until 1923 when her daughter Yukiko becomes the instrument of his new plan to use her power to once again being unable to wrangle Masakado's spirit into his service, leading to the Great Kanto earthquake. Fast forwarding to 1927, Kato shifts his scheme by awaking a feng shui dragon lying beneath Tokyo. The local heroic scientists and psychics counterattack with everything from an excavating robot to a powerful miko named Keiko who is blessed by Masakado's spirit to finally stop Kato.

The original source material has the story continue in a parallel history all the way into the 1990s where the villain of Kato constantly returns to torment Tokyo like some kind of recurring comic book supervillain, of which movies like The Great Yokai War carry on the character's diabolical crusade. Madhouse did a premium job in their attention to detail, although their diverting into a mature horror with scenes replicating Legend Of The Overfiend make this an anime not intended for young viewers in any way. Experienced otaku can see how anime like Tokyo Babylon and Sakura Wars were inspired by this from mixing in Japanese folklore with urban fantasy.

ANI-MOVIES, *The Princess And The Pilot

Koroku Inumura's light novel series was transformed into a manga, and then this 2011 anime feature film. It was a joint effort with Madhouse and TMS Entertainment, which most of their works Americans should be familiar with. The story is firmly established as a love letter to the works of Hiyao Miyazaki mixing in 20th Century aerial adventures with a parallel universe.

Set in an alternative reality, the kingdom of Levamme is at war with an enemy empire, prompting their princess Juana to be promised as a bride for the prince of an allied nation. After Levamme's king is killed in an attack, Juana has a mission to be married to her fiance still fighting in the war on another side of the world. Charles is a lower class citizen whose mother was a maid in Juana's service as a child, and now he is the most skilled fighter in the Levamme air force. The underprivileged pilot is assigned to fly Princess Juana to rendezvous with her future husband, although their secret mission is compromised as they are constantly hunted by enemy airships. Juana and Charles and learn of each other's past on their journey and grow closer after seeking cover on a small island. Ultimately, they realize their responsibilities outweigh their personal feelings as they part ways going to their chosen destinies.

This dieselpunk fantasy is ripe with anime cliches, although the relationship between the titular princess and pilot is so charming that it makes you forget a majority of the movie tropes. There is no English dub available at this time, which might be a turnoff for watchers not comfortable with subtitles. The original light novel also had a spinoff set in the same universe titled The Pilot's Love Song which was eventually adapted into a limited anime TV series that you might also want to check out.

R.I.P., Larry Storch

MISC. MANGA, *Captain Harlock: Space Captain-Dimensional Voyage

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the OG anime man's man, Dimensional Voyage is a manga reboot of Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Leiji Matsumoto returns to write the new take, but with artwork being supplied by Koichi Shimahoshi. It is still set in the wonky timeline of the Leijiverse, which also includes titles like Space Battleship Yamato and Galaxy Express 999.

Set in the very distant future, Earth has been invaded by various aliens, decimated in human wars, and run by dystopian governments. The current Prime Minister of Earth is a self-absorbed oaf more interested in his golf game than how humanity is suffering. The alien empire of Mazon ruled by Queen Raflesia is planning yet another takeover of Earth as they see it as their prophesized holy land. Outlaw pirate Harlock leads the crew of the starship Arcadia plan on confronting the Mazon forces and their double agent Paphio posing as the Prime Minister's assistant. The Mazons assassinate the scientist Dr. Daiba who threatens to expose their invasion, leaving Daiba's son Tadashi to join Harlock in his new crusade.

Dimensional Voyage is a new look at the Captain Harlock franchise, although trying to figure where in the Leijiverse's history is slightly hard to put a pin in. Shimahoshi's artwork does provide the character a fresh boost for new millennial otaku, although the original series does still hold its own separate charm to it despite the updated look.

ANI-MOVIES, *Over The Moon

As the last production written by the late Audrey Wells, Over The Moon is a Chinese represented CGI animated movie centering on family and fairy tales. Former Disney animator Glen Keane directed this direct-to-streaming feature which has been presented with a record setting list of accolades.

In modern day China, young Fei Fei is infatuated with the legend of the moon goddess Chang'e who awaits the return of her deceased mortal lover Hou Yi. When her mother passes away, Fei Fei helps her father, even though four years later she becomes resistant to the inclusion of her possible future stepmother, along with her younger son Chin who is enthusiastic about making Fei Fei his stepsister. Fei Fei happens to be a dreamer, but a profoundly intelligent student, and combines both her passions to create a spaceship to take her to the moon, mostly to get proof that Chang'e is really up there, all in an effort to have her father not to lose faith in her mother's possible return. She happens to make a fully-functioning rocket based on electromagnetic train tracks, but not without Chin tagging along nearly killing them both after launch. Fortunately, they both get beamed up to the moon, and lead to Chang'e thanks to a pair of flying lions. The moon goddess is the only humanoid ruling over a race called Lunarians who appear to be made entirely of gummy candy. Chang'e gives a showstopper of an intro, and promises to give Fei Fei a photo of herself to prove to her father, but only if she brings her the gift she senses which the moon goddess can use to be reunited with Hou Yi. Fei Fei returns to her wrecked ship, but runs across the totally inserted to be annoying exiled Lunarian, a long-tounged rodent named Gobi. The chattering comic relief helps Fei Fei get the prize in question from some greedy "biker chicks"(actual chickens on lunar motorcycles), which is half of an amulet her wouldbe stepmother happened to sneak in. Not to give away the conclusion, but it greatly contends with the acceptence of mortality and how to move on after a cathartic tragedy.

Over The Moon is deep into Chinese folklore and its effects on family traditions. Dreamworks' founded Pearl Studio did an astounding job with the look of the luminescent moonscape is truly breathtaking taking the viewer into a completely different realm, similar to when Dorothy first arrives in technicolor Oz. Aside from some hit-or-miss musical numbers, it is an all-ages animated extravaganza that makes for a great watching experience with the kids.

ANI-MOVIES, *Batman: The Long Halloween-Part 2

Batman: The Long Halloween-Part 2 wraps up the other two-thirds of the 90s comic book, although leaving out whole characters and aspects from the adaptation. One thing is removing Riddler altogether after he played a significant supporting role in the original source material. Despite this though, it does bring the story to a mostly satisfying conclusion, while at the same time adding its own notes to the Batman lore.

Also included with the feature is another DC Showcase short of former Charlton Comics title character, Blue Beetle. This Silver Age version of the original Golden Age hero takes the extra step and has the story take place during the 60s, and the best part is that it's done in the style of cartoons that came out at the time. Acting as an homage to the 60s animated versions of Spider-Man and Batman. It opens up with a snappy full chorus theme song, and Blue Beetle teams up with The Question to stop the colorful Doctor Spectro who has hypnotized the heroes Captain Atom and Nightshade into his latest crazy caper. The brilliant in the short lies in its way of spoofing corny cartoon plots, and the constant animation flubs that were made back then, like Blue Beetle's outfit suddenly changing color schemes in some shots, or the repeat animation of certain movements.

The main feature continues several months later with Bruce Wayne being enthralled by Poison Ivy signing over heaps of cash into Falcone's pocket. Catwoman had previously figured out Batman's identity and frees him from Ivy's control. Scarecrow then breaks out thanks to Falcone to help the mobster spread fear over Gotham, while he along with Mad Hatter carry out the boss' heists as well. Rival mobster Sal Maroni has his father murdered by the Holiday killer, which leads him to get in Harvey Dent's good gracious by testifying against Falcone. The whole thing was a ruse though as Maroni throws acid on Dent in court, leaving the D.A. with a scarred face. The now Two-Faced Harvey meets up with the hulking Solomon Grundy in the sewers, all while Batman's trail seems to point to Dent being Holiday since the beginning. On Halloween, Two-Face and Grundy bust most of the other crazies out of Arkham Asylum to takeover Gotham by rubbing Falcone with his remaining gangsters. Batman arrives to stop the villains, with Falcone dying realizing that Catwoman was his daughter. Two-Face surrenders to Batman claiming he did all the Holiday murders. Batman however puts the pieces together and realized that the original killings were in fact done by Harvey's wife Gilda who wanted revengs on Falcone from her first being wed to his son Alberto with their aborted child. The movie concludes with Flash and Green Arrow at Wayne Manor to see about Batman joining their upcoming Justice League.

Part 2 does add its own mark to the DC Universe by altering the ending, to which the original comic was recently retconned with its own new conclusion. There is still much left out from the source material and considering that fact that this project was broken up into two full-length features that they could have covered it all. The dub is agreeable though with Jansen Ackles as Batman from formerly playing the titles character in Under The Red Hood, Alastair Duncan returning as Alfred who previously played him in The Batman 2000s animated series, Troy Baker is back as Joker, plus the late Naya Rivera doing a great job in her final role as Catwoman. No word yet if Warner Bros. is planning on combining both films into a single feature like they did with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, but both films are great separately on their own.

ANI-MOVIES, *Batman: The Long Halloween-Part 1

Taking place in the what has been labeled as the "Tomorrowverse", DC's new line of animated movies hase the Dark Knight's premiere in it as a two-part story based on the hit 90s maxi-series, Batman: The Long Halloween. Part 1 comes with a DC Showcase bonus of The Losers based on the original 60s comics and not the Vertigo remake. Both features are done in the same style recently done in Superman: Man Of Tomorrow.

The Losers short is set during World War II with an elite U.S. military team given the nickname of "The Losers" due to all their deadly missions, making them a protoype to DC's original Suicide Squad. The team gets sent to a hidden island to shut down an operation run by the Red Chinese forces who are using a time portal to harness energy from the past, but also allowing herds of dinosaurs to run loose all over the place. The opening looks like something out of a Tarentino flick, and the rest mixes in elements of Predator and Jurassic Park into an orgy of bullets and blood sure to thrill any Dino Crisis fan. Like the Sgt. Rock Showcase short, The Losers takes a standard soldier story and cranks it up to a weird war epic.

The first half of The Long Halloween takes place in modern day, but at the early part of Batman's career. Gotham City is still largely in the pocket of mafia don Carmine Falcone. On Halloween night, his nephew Johnny is mysteriously killed before he was going to testify against Falcone for D.A. Harvey Dent. Batman, Commissioner Gordon, along with Dent form a secret trinity bent on bringing down Falcone, and revealing the identity of the killer referred to as Holiday as the murderer carries on their personal quest by terminating a gang of Falcone's associates on Thanksgiving. Catwoman shows great interest in this caper too as she leads Batman to a warehouse full of the mob's hard cash. The serial killings ruffles the feathers of a certain homicidal clown as the Joker busts out of Arkham to show Gotham who is the real top dog of maniacs in town. On Christmas Eve, after Joker invades Falcone's home, Holiday arrives to assassinate one of the mob boss' bodyguards. A week later on New Year's Eve, Joker is still loose and planning on dropping off some deadly gas amongst Gotham's festivities. Batman manages to stop his nemesis, but then believes he has finally uncovered Holiday's identity. The caped crusader confronts Falcone's son Alberto as the likely suspect, but Holiday arrives to debunk that theory by shooting Alberto and escaping. The movie concludes during Alberto's funeral where Falcone' introduces Bruce Wayne to Poison Ivy.

The movie takes a hard turn from the original source material as it was actually Alberto who did the majority of killings as Holiday, leaving new viewers guessing as to where Part 2 is going to lead. It is refreshing to see Batman having to become more of a detective at the dawn of his crimefighting campaign, an element that was a major plotpoint in the recent live-action, The Batman, which was largely influenced by The Long Halloween. It was a better idea to split this story into two installments to be able to give a full narration of the rich intriguing mystery.

ANI-MOVIE, *Megazone 23: Part 1 & 2

One of the more unusual experiments in the 80s anime boom was the Megazone 23 anime franchinse. The first two movies were theatrically released through AIC and Tatsunoko, but had completely different character designs between the year-long premiere of each one, and the third chapter was actually an OVA taking place centuries later. Each part of the trilogy has at least two seperate English dubs provided by American and British production companies, with the most infamous being Robotech: The Movie which tried making it a midquel to the Macross Saga before Carl Macek created Robotech II: The Sentinels to which he claimed that the Megazone 23 treatement was one of the worst things he was ever involved in since it didn't get a theatrical showing. Megazone 23 however acted as the template for several future sci-fi works of innocents trapped in an artificial world, so if it weren't for this anime you might not have Dark City or The Matrix. The purpose of this review is to go over both parts 1 and 2 as its an ongoing narrative carries over from one movie to the other.

Taking place 500 years in the future, world wars cause humanity to abandonned Earth, and split its warring factions into two seperate city-sized starships called Megazones. The one called Megazone 23 has the majority of its inhabitants believing that they are all existing in Tokyo during the mid-1980s. Acting as the main computer program known as Bahamut runs not only the simulation of 20th Century Earth but also the higher functions of the ship they are one. Shogo is a punk that comes across a transforming motorcycle robot connected to Bahamut's artificial idol EVE that reveals the illusion he live in, prompting him to try and stop Megazone's secret leaders from creating a new totalitarian regime as they are planning on confronting the rival invading Megazone. The first movie ends with Shogo ultimately failing in his mission, but surviving in the second installment by raising an underground army of bikers with bazookas bent on taking down their fascist overlordseaders. All this while both Megazone ships are on a course toward Earth where the defense program known as ADAM awaits to lay final judgement on the last living human civilizations.

The difference of styles between both parts of this series is nearly staggering, where as the characters in Part 1 has them with spiky hair and pastel-colored hair, the look for Part 2 was slightly more realistic with completely altered haircuts, making it very difficult to tell the few returning cast members from the previous chapter. The dubs seperated between the original international editions and the ADV Films redub are up to the individual watcher to determine which is better, although the ADV dub makes it easier to tell the difference between the returning characters in Part 2 after their stark redrawing. Animego currently has a collected edition of the entire anime trilogy, including both dubs of Part 1 and 2 in one convenient package.

ANI-MOVIES, *In This Corner Of The World

Where anime movies like Grave Of The Fireflies and Rail Of The Star presented how tragic World War II was for the average citizens of Japan, the manga In This Corner Of The World by Fumiyo Kono takes a slice of life look during this turbulent age. Kono had first written a manga taking place a decade after the WWII, which was multiplied for this title that was adapted into an animated film by MAPPA, and directed by Sunao Katabuchi who previously headed up Mai Mai Miracle. The movie was crowdfunded by Japanese donators that it more than went over the initial budget, so much so that after its initial 2016 release that it was given an extended edition in 2019 which made it the longest anime movie of all time.

Set in the early 1940s of the now abandoned town of Eba near Hiroshima, Suzu is a genuinely happy girl living with her family, including her older brother and younger sister. Her brother eventually goes to join the military, along her crush on local boy Tetsu. When she reaches 18, Suzu is engaged to Shusaku, and joins his family living in the city of Kure near a naval base. She helps out with Shusaku's family at their home, even though her bossy sister-in-law Keiko moves in after her husband dies, but Suzu's niece Harumi brings her joy. Suzu's married life is hard for her adjust to at first considering how much of a daydreamer she can be, usually applying her imagination into a skill of drawing sketches. Suzu does eventually come to love her husband, despite how the plagues of the Pacific War prey upon those living near the naval base. When Suzu is watching Harumi while Keiko is visiting her in-laws, a delayed bomb goes off killing Harumi, and Suzu looses her arm in the explosion. After suffering from her injury, Suzu plans to visit her family, however Hiroshima is attacked, leaving most of Eba largely in tatters, and her surviving younger sister suffering from radioactivity. Aside from giving into depression given the circumstances, Suzu eventually gets back together with Shusaku, and adopt a child orphaned from the war. The closing credits show Suzu raising her new daughter in the rebuilt area of Hiroshima.

In This Corner Of The World isn't fishing for sympathy of Japan's roll in WWII, but shines the light on how the events made victims out of everyone living and dying through this point in history. The plot of the original edition is the only one currently available in English, so there is a significant amount of material not covered from adapting the manga. The theatrical release does have numerous time skips, which makes it difficult to follow the narrative, especially if your watching it streaming without subtitles. The other setback concerning the story is how the characters are hard to tell apart with similar designs, plus how its tough to figure out some of the characters' ages throughout the duration of the film. There is little CGI being used in this production, relying largely on hand drawn animation, which is pure quality worthy of Studio Ghibli. The movie is released through Shout Factory, along with some assistance by Funimation, so the dub is considerably good, but the soundtrack is stunning, making for a memorable viewing experience. This is one of those few anime movies that is perfect for non-otaku to enjoy.