MISC. MANGA, *.Hack//Legend Of The Twilight

As part of the triple-pronged hit of the anime TV series and video games, this .Hack chapter was actually the first one to be released in Japan, or at least as part of a monthly manga publication magazine. Legend Of The Twilight is in fact a sequal to .Hack//Sign, the RPG, and the underhyped OVA, Liminality, taking place four years after the apparant threat to the virtual world of The World has passed.

Here, Shugo and his twin sister Rena have won the character avatars of original .hackers Kite and Black Rose, meaning that their online selves resemble those of the playable characters from the RPG, accept slightly younger looking. Once online, Shugo dies during a quest, but is brought back thanks to Aura, who is an AI that exists within The World's mainframe. She grants Shugo a bracelet which has the same abilities that Kite's did, accept this one can actually be seen as a real wearable item. This attracts the attention of a young rare item hunter named Mirielle, who is really the 4-year old daughter of one of the original .hackers. They also befriend an American player named Hotaru, and Ouka, a female werewolf who fights barehanded. Shugo also attracts the attention of Balmung, who was a key player in the video games, but now is a system administrator for CC Corp who runs The World. Shugo later runs into Zefie, a young AI who turns out to be Aura's "daughter". Shugo and the others then set out to find a way of reuniting Zefie with her mother, despite that fact that Zefie is selfish, pushy, and clings to Shugo like a monkey. However, the Cobalt Knight Brigade, who are an official group of player thugs for CC Corp, like a Nazi version of the Crimson Knights, learn of Zefie's existance and plan to wipe her out. After capturing Shugo and his party, they lock them up. But Zefie's abilbity to manipulate the world Neo-style allows them to escape and seek out Aura.

The manga follows a different approach than the anime based on it. In the .Hack//Legend TV series, Zefie isn't in it at all, and Shugo's party has to take on a sort of anti-Aura and her group of hacking followers from destroying The World. The manga goes on for two regular-sized volumes, and then one double-sized third volume complete with bonus chapters. Rei Izumi's artwork is great though and really brings the story to life offline. This is for real fans who've played all four video games, and seen both prior anime series. It might be a little hard for others to integrate themselves in the .Hack universe though.

ANI-MOVIES, *Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone

Since the original TV series and movies left most of the average otaku with a serious WTF taste in their mouth, director Hideaki Anno decided to do a Star Wars: Special Edition take on the Neon Genesis: Evangelion saga, except this time it's a whole remake of the story. This was the first a four-part movie series which will retell the story but add several new elements to it. Although it might not seem like it in this first film, as it's mostly a newly scripted adaptation of Eps. 1-6 of the TV series.

It begins during the 20-teens, some years after what was called the Second Impact which destroyed Antarctica by a monster classified as an Angel. This caused a large portion of the world's population to be killed, so in order to prevent a possible Third Impact a special organization called NERV is put together to protect the Second Angel called Lillith underneath an underground base in a geo-front. When a new Angel appears, NERV springs into action to prevent it from coming in contact with Lillith which could cause Third Impact and end the world. Gendo Ikari, the head of NERV, gets his unwilling son Shinji to pilot their ultimate weapon, Evangelion Unit 01. The Evas are giant mechanical humanoids that can be operated only by a select group of fourteen-year-olds. Shinji manages to take out the one Angel and starts to settle into his new life in the city of Tokyo-3 where NERV headquarters is. He moves in with the sexy captain Misato and her pet penguin, although his school life is a little harsh. The arrival of another Angel breaks Shinji in with some new friends though. As he starts to learn more about the pilot of the prototype Unit 00, the enigmatic Rei Ayanami, the next Angel attacks which proves to be more of a problem. With the combined efforts of the Japanese government and Rei's near sacrificing herself, Shinji manages to snipe the Angel's ass away. The film ends with the character of Karou(who doesn't show up in the TV series until near the end)awakening on the moon and talking to the head of SEELE, the secret cabal that actual commands NERV.

Now, this first movie seems like the other three flicks will be also just rewrites of the original story. However, the recently released second movie actually takes a very different turn with the introduction of new Eva Units and new pilots. Plus, major changes in the characters, like Asuka is now a captain, and a slightly different take on Rei's origins. The story folds out a little better in this movie than it did in the first few TV episodes, aside from no explanation given as to why Shinji got beaten up by Toji at school. However, a lot of positive factors were added to it, like Gendo's planning in advance for Rei and Shinji to develop a relationship, and the revelation of Lillith in NERV very early on which is something that unknown even to Misato until much later in the TV series. The animation is of course seriously upgraded and makes a real difference in the theatrical quality. I have the feeling that despite this film seems like a retread of the old show, that when it's compared to the other three movies after they're released it will look like a more fitting beginning to this tetralogy. But only time will tell that.

R.I.P. Masako Ikeda. The Original Maetel.

 

ANI-MOVIES, *The Adventures Of Prince Achmed (Centennial Celebration)

Lotte Reiniger directed several silent animated movies in her career, but one of the few to not have been lost to time is the oldest surviving full-length animated film, The Adventures Of Prince Achmed. This features silhouette animation which gives off the appearance of a totally black appearance of all the characters and parts of the background using cutout figures shot frame-by-frame. Reininger had already done a few shorts based on fairy tales such as Cinderella, but for this film she went above and beyond the normal scope by merging three stories from Arabian Nights into a single plot using her own personal style of animation inspired by Javanese wayang puppetry. When the film was released in 1926 it didn't get a warm reception, but when it premiered in France it was considered ahead of its time with its romantic and sometimes arousing movement plus its poetic storytelling. Considering the film didn't even have a distributor and was denied an initial theatrical release in Germany, is still managed to gain a wide reputation thanks to a privately funded screening including filmmakers like Fritz Lang. The movie went through a restoration in the late 90s which helped reinvite it to a whole new century.

An evil Sorcerer tries to win the heart of the lovely Princess Dinarzade by offering her father the Caliph a mechanical flying horse. Prince Achmed is having none of his sister marrying a shifty sorcerer and accidentally launches the horse far and away. Achmed ends up in the islands of Wak Wak ruled by the fairy queen Peri Banu who he comes across taking a bath, and unlike most chivalrous princes he ends up kidnapping her on the flying horse taking her to China. After saving Peri Banu from marrying the fool of an emperor thanks again to the Sorcerer, the genie woman returns Achmed's fondness only to be captured by the demons of Wak Wak who are cross with their lovestruck leader. Achmed gets help from a Fire Witch who is the Sorcerer's enemy and they happen to run into the young lad Aladdin who stops the plot to tell his backstory of how he found a magic lamp with multiple spirits in it to grant him wishes as he tried to marry Dinarzade. The Sorcerer stole the lamp which the rescuers need to enter the sealed off realm of Wak Wak, so the Fire Witch ultimately defeats him and reclaims the magic lamp. Achmed and his allies unleash the spirits of the lamp to repel the demon horde and save Peri Banu. They use Aladdin's enchanted castle to fly back to the Caliph's kingdom where both the Prince and Princess are wed to their soulmates.

The Adventures Of Prince Achmed is considered to be Lotte Reiniger's greatest works even at the time it was release since most of her other films are considered lost. Most filmgoers consider Disney's Snow White to be the first animated feature film, but Reiniger had Uncle Walt beat by more than a decade. This movie's influence is seriously underappreciated as both a relic of cinematic history and a visually enchanting adventure, so since it's in the public domain there are several formats to watch it on.

ANI-MOVIES: *The Story Of Hong Gil-Dong

The Story Of Hong Gil-Dong was the first full-length animated feature from South Korea. This 1967 movie was done by Seki Productions who up until then handled the Korean release of various Disney films. The film was directed by Shin Dong-heon along with his brother, Shin Dong-won who also created a comic titled Hong Gil-dong The Hero based on the 16th Century Korean novel about the country's first known superhero figure. Hong Gil-Dong was the Korean equivalent of Robin Hood but with Dragonball levels of martial arts skills. The Story Of Hong Gil-Dong was a huge success in its home country and led to Korea becoming its own small empire of successful animated movies such as The Golden Iron Man and Lightning Atom. Granted, this was before Korea became infamous for making anime knockoffs like Johnny Destiny: Space Ninja. There is no dub of this particular movie, and most streamed versions of this is subtitled with closed captions, but it is possible to find a version that doesn't just present text for what kind of music is playing in the background.

Hong Gil-Dong is the bastard son of a nobleman who fathered her with one of his concubines and the boy lives with his father in his estate. One of the royal ladies makes the nobleman think Gil-Dong will bring a prophesized doom upon their house, so he is cast out. For the next few years, Hong Gil-Dong spends his time fighting injustice at a nearby kingdom along with his newly acquired sidekick Chadol Bawi and he embarrassed the evil magistrate by beating up his entire army with his inherited noble strength. Gil-Dong then takes a few years to learn awesome sword fighting from a local wizard who teaches him how to ride on clouds similar to Goku. Afterwards, Gil-Dong joins the ranks of the rebel leader Long Beard as they plan to kill the evil magistrate. The royal minister takes offense of this and holds Gil-Dong's father and mother hostage because apparently the nobleman's adultery was public knowledge at this point. Gil-Dong along with Long Beard's forces free his parents and defy the evil minister and hopefully living ever after.

This movie has some rough animation in it reflecting on American cartoons of the 40s such as Popeye and Looney Tunes with some repetitive sequences and running cycles, but for being Korea's first big animated production it works out fairly well for a country just getting their feet wet in the industry. Even though the movie is a little over an hour long, you can tell the creators would pad it out with some of Chadol Bawi's sidekick buffoonery. You can find this on several streaming channels as well as DVD and Blu-Ray, but again your mileage will vary with the quality of subtitles.

ANI-MOVIES, *Panda And The Magic Serpent

The White Snake Enchantress was the first feature-length anime movie done entirely in color as well as Toei Animation's premiere motion picture in 1958. It was released in America under the title Panda And The Magic Serpent with one of the most questionable English dubs of all time. Even though it was a Japanese production, the original source material was inspired by one of China's Four Great Folktales which has traditionally been used as the inspiration for various operas, plus as a live-action movie by Toho two years prior to the anime. The tale has been retold so many times that it's difficult to say whether or not there is an actual antagonist in it or just a supernatural love story as it became more romanticized over the years. Panda And The Magic Serpent was officially the first anime movie to be shown in American theaters within months of two other releases, Magic Boy plus Alakazam The Great, and the dub had abnormal dialogue inserted into it with scenes sometime just using the Japanese language track while also keeping the music numbers undubbed with only the narrator translating what the lyrics were saying in a truly routine manner, which considering the original film had a cast made entirety of two actors, it becomes understandable how unprepared America was for formatting anime to English audiences, especially with the rushed pacing. A great chunk of the movie is either funny animal schtick or the two main leads fawning over each other, and the dub gives such a rapid exposition that's it's hard to clarify the plot.

Xu Xian is a young man who as a boy had a white snake for a pet. Years later, the snake is transformed into a human named Bai-Niang with miraculous powers who along with her fish-turned-lady-in-waiting Xiaoqing try to win the favor of her former owner. Xu Xian and Bai-Niang try to establish their relationship, but because of the hijinks of Xu Xian's panda and red panda sidekicks he ends imprisoned for looting the main treasury. A monk mistakes Bai-Niang for being an evil spirit, so he tries to cast her away only for her to renounce her immortality and powers to gain the Flower of Life to save Xu Xian. After some epic magical showdowns and help from the panda and his newly acquired street gang, the monk realizes that Bai-Niang is benevolent who reunites with Xu Xian making for a happy ending.

The movie's director Taiji Yabushita went on to helm several Toei animated films, and Americans will recognize the western influences in his style, especially with the anthropomorphic antics of the animal characters. Most other adaptations of The White Snake legend had a better grasp on the mythological lore whereas this anime version suffers from filling out the run time to over an hour long. If you consider yourself a pioneer in anime then Panda And The Magic Serpent is largely mandatory, although aside from its cemented place in history the film isn't a mainstay for standard otaku.

ANI-MOVIES, *The Princess And The Goblin

Even though there had already been a segment of Fractured Fairy Tales that covered the George Macdonald's novel The Princess And The Goblin, Hungarian director Jozsef Gemes and his Pannonia Film Studio did their own feature-length animated movie in 1991 produced by Welsh TV network S4C making it the first ever cartoon movie done in Wales. It got a British dub in 1992 which fit in as Disney's renaissance was chugging on well giving it some leeway since it was a princess fairy tale. The film didn't fair to well in American theaters since it was released at the same time as The Lion King and only got a minimum amount of praise because they gave away a free phone card for kids to use in an emergency. The animation for the early 90s is mildly conspicuous, but nothing all that breathtaking except possibly the unique backgrounds. The main selling point was the English cast with the late comedian Rik Mayall playing the titular goblin, although if you're a regular of British animation, you'll notice it's pretty much a copy of David Jason's original incarnation of Count Duckula with a Daffy Duck lisp, so it's sort of a waist of Mayall's talent.

Taking place in a castle near a mountain mine, Princess Irene gets lost from her guardian and cornered by some dark creatures only to be saved by the miner boy Curdie who scares the monsters away with singing. Curdie finds out there are goblins living underground near the mines and are planning on flooding them out. The goblin prince Froglip wants to capture Irene and make her his bride to get back at humans for forcing them underground years ago for not being nice, but Curdie is imprisoned by the goblins when they find him. Irene gets some help from the spirit of her great-great-grandmother who she was named after and receives a magic ring which will lead her to free Curdie due to an invisible thread. The goblins attack the castle leaving Curdie to save Irene from Froglip just as the flood intended for the mines ends up a wrecking most of the castle instead which washes all the goblins away.

The Princess And The Goblin is a serviceable movie for children with decent storytelling, just not all that gripping. The design and strange antics of the goblins are jovial enough going the route that you might not see in your average Looney Tunes, although it seems some of the animators had a bizarre fetish for the loathsome goblin queen who is the fiercest fighter out of the whole lot. There are times especially near the end when you can tell the quality of animation was slipping possibly because of budget issues. You're not really missing out on giving this particular movie a pass, so don't worry if you can't find a copy of the old VHS or the DVD release as its not regularly available on streaming.