ANI-MOVIES, *Sailor Moon Cosmos

Sailor Moon Eternal was a 2-part movie that continued the story first started in Sailor Moon Crystal for what would have been the Super S story arc. The final season originally titled Sailor Stars was also made into a 2-part movie adaptation called Sailor Moon Cosmos. This rounds up the series conclusion, but unlike the 90s TV adaptation, this version sticks closer to the original manga. Premiering in theaters in 2023, both of these movies were exclusively licensed to Netflix streaming with no known physical release in America. The major divide between Eternal and Cosmos is that the prior movies managed to cover most of the events of the story arc in a timely manner, whereas Cosmos tries to dump the entire lore of the finale into a rushed two-part production when a full trilogy would have more sufficient, or at least making each movie longer than a mere 80 minutes.

Taking place a few months after Eternal, a "boy band" called The Three Lights show up and start going to the same school as most of the other Sailor Guardians. Of course, these idol singers are secretly aliens, and Sailor Guardians to boot, even though no one seems to bring up the fact that they're guys who transform into women to fight evil. Usagi and her crew have a new enemy to deal with, Shadow Galactica, a malevolent organization that forces girls from all over the galaxy to become evil guardians called Sailor Animamates. They hunt down good Sailor Guardians and immediately murder them by taking their Sailor Crystals which is basically their soul. Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus all eventually get taken out along with Mamoru, even though Usagi doesn't remember his death at first. The four extra Sailor Guardians equally get killed, leaving Usagi alone with new Sailor Starlights and the princess they protect, Princess Kakyuu. Instead of Chibiusa, a younger girl from the future named Chibi-Chibi shows up to help, even though she usually just says her own name like a Pokemon. Sailor Moon and the remaining Guardians then head to Shadow Galactica's base in the middle of the Galaxy Cauldron, a massive interdimensional vortex where all life in the galaxy came from. The Animamates are under the control of Sailor Galaxia, a powerful Sailor Guardian chosen by the living essence of Chaos to act as its avatar. Galaxia plans to betray Chaos and steal the power of the collected Sailor Crysals for herself, even though Chaos is revealed to be the source of all the other enemies that Sailor Moon fought in the previous story arcs. Chibiusa and the Sailor Quartet show up from the future just to see the Starlights and Kakyuu literally get dusted by Galaxia's remaining lackies. It's left to just Sailor Moon and Galaxia squaring off at the base of Chaos' threshold in an attempt to obtain Usagi's Silver Moon Crystal which will allow the dark forces to spread all over the universe. Of course, Sailor Moon defeats Chaos after Galaxia switches sides, leaving everyone who was killed to be revived like they never even died in the first place. They finally have Usagi and Mamoru get hitched in a flash-forward scene, even with all the other Sailor Guardians not bothering to get boyfriends(or girlfriends)of their own.

Sailor Moon Cosmos is a somewhat fitting finale to the Sailor Moon Crystal retelling of the original manga. No one going into this would bother watching a 2-part movie without seeing the previous anime installments, but still rewarding for old fans and new. The manga ending was even more convoluted than how it was adapted for the 90s anime, so seeing the entire conclusion sandwiched into a pair of movies can give you serious tonal whiplash.

MISC. MANGA, *She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power: Legend Of The Fire Princess.

Even though it wasn't released until just prior to the final season of the series, Legend Of The Fire Princess takes place sometime just after the beginning of Season 2 of She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power. This original graphic novel is supposedly canon to the show, but that could change in possible future productions. The book was written by D.G. Gigi and drawn by Paulina Ganucheau who also provided artwork for Zodiac Starforce and Another Castle, so the artist already had some experience with magical girl characters.

Angella sends Adora and the Princess Alliance out to find the missing Spirit Ember which is a missing element that could shift the tide between them and the Horde. Hordak sends Catra and Scorpia to secure the Spirit Ember too, and it becomes a clash between old friends and enemies. The main draw of the book is the backstory involving the Fire Princess herself who became obsessed with her powerful talisman, so much so that her girlfriend cheated on her, leading the hot-tempered princess to scorch her entire kingdom to ash.

There are some good character moments between the main She-Ra cast, including Catra and Scorpia's blooming camaraderie, even though there isn't too much development outside from the already established relationships from the TV series. The art is exceptional, not treading too far out from the original character models. If you're a She-Ra fan, you'll probably find this satisfying, but the gaping hole in it is the reader wanting to know more about the title Fire Princess and her tragic tale which could have been an entire book on its own.

ANI-MOVIES, *Blade Of The Phantom Master

A Korean-Japanese manga series titled New Royal Secret Agent got an anime adaptation halfway through its run. For some reason, when ADV Films released it into English they called it Blade Of The Phantom Master which is really moronic because the titular "Phantom Master"(which they're never referred to)doesn't use a blade at all but an endless supply of firearms. ADV had a habit of retitling anime releasess to fit a broader audience, but this time it was just downright stupid. Youn In-wan was the original author with Yang Kyung-il supplying the decent art for the manga, even though the anime adaption isn't really a film in the traditional sense but more like the first few episodes from a cancelled TV series strung together in a compilation film. Anyone who's seen MST3K will know what I'm talking about. The movie is literally split into two separate halves, each one its own episode. The story is set in a slightly post-apocalyptic chanbara fantasy where the main character is the only one using modern weapons while everyone else in it uses either swords or sorcery.

In a world modeled after feudal Korea, the kingdom of Jushin has fallen leaving its straggling knights known as the Angyo Onshi to carry on what justice they could find. The last known agent of this order is Mun-su who carries an entire arsenal of guns and explosives underneath his clothes, along with the power to create illusion clones and to summon up an entire army of jester soldiers to wipe out any trouble he comes across. The first part of the film has Mun-su taking down a despotic lord who was holding a beautiful girl named Mon-Ryong who was brainwashed into being an assassin. Mun-su frees Mon-Ryong and takes her on as his secret bodyguard. The second part of the movie is longer where Mun-su tries to liberate an island of undead tortured souls from the grip of a nasty necromancer who turned the entire population into zombies.

Blade Of The Phantom Master is a profoundly misleading title to a production that was clearly not intended into be a theatrical film. It might have made for a decent OVA series, however this fails completely at being a full-length movie. There is some mildly fair animation in it, but it's easy to see how they pulled along with feature with endless scenes of the "Phantom Master" just wandering around the countryside. The first few minutes even has him hoofing it through the desert nearly dying of thirst. You can skip this unless you feel like filling in a long afternoon of nothing.

MISC. MANGA, *Kitaro

Originally titled GeGeGe No Kitaro, or Hakaba Kitaro, this manga is one of the longest running comics in Japanese publishing. Kitaro first saw print in 1960 by Akuma-kun creator Shigeru Mizuki. Long before Cat Eyed Boy, Kitaro was one of Japan's original monster kid titles. It was also one of the first manga to focus solely on yokai which are Japanese spirits. Comedy/horror at the time in America was limited to sitcoms like The Addams Family or The Munsters, but yokai are more mythological in nature, and Kitaro shows a lighter side of what are thought of as everyday spirits working in tandem with the living world. Where Pokemon and Yokai Watch turned the idea of capturing yokai to be part of cockfighting matches, Kitaro blazed the trail for the whole concept, but as a humorous dark comedy.

Kitaro is the last remnant of a yokai clan called the Ghost Tribe. He was born in a graveyard from the shriveled bodies of his monster parents and was raised by a pair of humans. Kitaro looks like a withered young lad with a missing left eye, but his hair usually covers up the empty socket. He is followed by the still living eyeball of his deceased father acting as his Jiminy Cricket. Kitaro regularly acts as a liasion between yokai and humans solving problems and mending fences. His origin shifts from his initial upbringing to already being a supernatural go-between with established relationships with fellow yokai and troublesome spiritualists. Kitaro's earlier incarnation had him being more of pesky troublemaker than an emissary of the yokai but acts of aggression by invading Western demons shape him into more of a peacekeeper.

Kitaro has a rich history which only got released officially into English within the last decade by Drawn And Quarterly. The publishing company does an admirable job translating the manga, although they made it a little difficult to decipher the standard readout of the earlier chapters. Kitaro has also had its 2018 anime adaptation released in English with moderate success, but the manga is the true buried treasure. Give the Silver Age comic a look and crack open a long reclusive title that deserves its day in the sun.

R.I.P. Rachel Lillis

 

MISC. MANGA, *Shuna's Journey

Way back in 1983, Studio Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki created a one-shot graphic novel based on an old tale from Tibet about a wandering prince. The entire book was entirely illustrated in watercolors and titled Shuna's Journey. Miyazaki planned to turn the story into an animated feature, but not finding any outlet for it he decided to release it as a manga instead. Ideas and characters from this went on to influence future Miyazaki projects, especially Princess Mononoke, as well as Tales From Earthsea which was directed by his son Goro Miyazaki.

Shuna is the prince of a small mountain village whose residents are starving because of a low harvest. An old man rambles into town claiming to be a prince himself and shows Shuna some fresh grain that he claims to have found in a valley in the west. The prince dies of exhaustion, which leads to Shuna determined to find this mystical land and bring some of its harvest back to his hungry subjects. Our young adventurer mounts up his elk friend Yakkul to seek out this hidden land. Shuna's quest has him coming among slave traders and freeing a pair of sisters. The lad does finally locate the enchanted land with bountiful grain which is inhabited by giant insects and plant golems which might be recycled human spirits. Shuna does get some samples of grain and tries to head back, but he gets chased down by the magic folk of this hidden realm and falls into the sea. He washes up in a village with the sisters he rescued, one of which marries Shuna, and the three of them eventually head back to Shuna's land to feed his malnourished tribe.

Shuna's Journey is a visually outstanding manga, better in its visuals than the actual story, which might explain why Miyazaki wasn't able to pitch it as an anime. First Second Books did an impressive job translating the long-forgotten manga, although they should have put a little more effort in making the text slightly more readable as it is sometimes difficult to make out. The hardcover offering is worthy of your permanent physical manga library.

MISC. MANGA, *The Dragon Prince: Through The Moon

The first graphic novel that is considered canon with The Dragon Prince animated series, Through The Moon takes place a little while after the end of Book Three(Season 3), and the first story arc. Writer Peter Wartman already had already worked on a similar series when he wrote for the Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novels, and artist Xanthe Bouma later went on to draw the YA series of Dungeon Club, so both creators were perfect enough to handle this continuation of the TV series. There was a three-year gap between Book Three and Four which lead to the shock that there was a 2-year time skip from each season, so this graphic novel set up a load of events that would shape The Mystery Of Aaravos story arc.

Callum, Ezra, Soren, and Rayla travel to the mountain of Cursed Caldera to return the remaining phoenix feather of Phoe-Phoe who burned out transporting Ezra during Book Three. Once at the mountain, Team Zym meets up with Moonshadow Elf mage Lujanne who was the mistress of illusions that the gang met at the end of Book One. The at least twice-divorced mage was now dating a local human craftsman named Allen who only had one scene during the first season, and if you wanted to find out about how the two of them met up you should have watched the closing credits of certain episodes which show behind the scenes bonus material. Phoe-Phoe gets reincarnated as a new hatchling while Ezra plans to restore the Moonhenge site so that Rayla kind find out if her parents are still alive or not. After quickly rebuilding the remains of the water-filled portal, Rayla dips inside and looks around the spirit world as the spirits of her deceased comrades depart. Rayla then sees an image of Viren still alive inside a giant cocoon just as Callum pulls her out of the water, bringing her back to consciousness. Rayla decides she is going to hunt down Viren and find out what happened to her parents, but Callum insists on coming with her. Rayla agrees, but she goes off on her own early leaving Callum with the most heartbreaking Dear John letter of all time that you had to read online to find about.

Through The Moon perpetuates the satisfying climax that Book Three left off. The story focuses more on the characters and the budding romance that has become "Rayllum". The plot ties well into the overall Dragon Prince saga and welcomes first time watchers into the fold. It's mainly a great story on its own but is more steered towards already existing fans of the Netflix fantasy series.

MISC. MANGA, *The Dragon Prince: Bloodmoon Huntress

Being the second graphic novel based on the Netflix high fantasy series, The Dragon Prince: Bloodmoon Huntress takes place chronologically before the first volume as its all happens years prior to the first TV season, also known as Book One. Writer Nicole Andelfinger has already written for existing franchises like Power Rangers, Dark Crystal, and Steven Universe, and artist Felia Hanakata went on to draw for the third Dragon Prince graphic novel. Set in the past, we learn more of Rayla's origin when she was a young elf after her parents left. This comic sets up events that would play out later in the TV series, especially in Book Five.

Tasked with guarding the Dragon Queen, Rayla's mother and father had to leave the Moonshadow Elf village Silvergrove, along with their daughter in the care of their best friends, Runaan and his husband Ethari. Rayla eventually learns that Runaan is in reality a trained assassin and discovers how much effort goes into training to be one. She also befriends a Skywing Elf boy named Suroh whose parents have been captured by a Kim'dael, an ancient Moonshadow Elf who founded the Order of the Blood Moon. Kim'dael uses the blood of sacrifices to prolong her life, and her latest attempt to consume some blood will help her come out of her latest little dirt nap. Rayla and her surrogate fathers manage to free Suroh which set back Kim'dael's plans for another few years.

Bloodmoon Huntress is a great look into Rayla's earlier years and how this event helps shape her into the fearless warrior that has helped save the day dozens of times throughout the course of The Dragon Prince TV series. You can also see how Runaan's tutelage would have an effect on Rayla and the bond she formed with her two other fathers. There is attractive artwork and a great focus on the characters we've only just gotten to know briefly in their animated adventures. Read this before you start binging episodes of the awesome otherworldly saga.

ANI-MOVIES, *Modest Heroes: Ponoc Short Films Theater

Of what is supposed to be the first in an ongoing line of anthology movies, Modest Heroes is part of the Ponoc Short Films Theater series, even though there hasn't been another one done since 2018. Studio Ponoc was founded in 2015 by former Ghibli producer Yoshiaki Nishimura. They started out doing the single feature-length animated film titled May And The Witch's Flower based on a book with a Harry Potter vibe that came out years before J.K. Rowling even churned out her saga. Modest Heroes was their next theatrical release in 2018 before their second full-length anime movie The Imaginary in 2023. The anthology collection was distributed in Japan by Disney, but the American physical release was handled by Shout! Factory and streamed on Netflix. This movie has a trio of separate stories written by Akihiko Yamashita, Yoshiyuki Momose and Hiromasa Yonebayashi, each one deals with the theme of struggling in the face of adversity.

The opening chapter is Kanini And Kanino about a family of crabs who here appear as tiny humans with pincer spears. They are constantly trying to survive in their world of giant river fish. A pair of siblings have to stick with their father while their mother is away giving birth to a new clutter. All the dialogue is done in a made-up language where the characters speak only their names, similar to Pokemon. It's difficult to tell if some of the water scenes from surface were actually animated or live action, that's how good the quality of this is.

The next segment is Life Ain't Gonna Lose which is a slice-of-life story about a young boy named Shun who is lethally allergic to eggs, so much so that he gets sent to the hospital several times throughout the course of the short. Shun's mother can be overprotective of her son, but even she is subject to a momentary lapse of attention when Shun might accidently eat something like ice cream or cookies while she's training to be a professional dancer. Shun realizes that even though he is young and has a long road ahead of him getting used to a life under these limitations, he resolves to not let it bring him down and continue the fight.

The final story is Invisible about a literal invisible man. He appears like an invisible person wearing everyday work clothes including glasses. Whether or not he is physically invisible or just metaphorically is a little up in the air as no one seems to notice him, not even at his office job. Our transparent loner puts it all on the line to save the life of a baby in a carriage that he somehow knows might get hit by a speeding truck, even with him temporarily gaining the power of flight. It's possible that he's a ghost, or just someone that goes completely unnoticed by society, but he means well and also finds the inner strength to see what tomorrow will bring.

Modest Heroes is a great tomb of tales up there with other anthology movies like Robot Carnival or Memories. The dub in the second and third chapters is fair, even though the made-up language in the opener might confuse someone into thinking there is something wrong with the subtitles. The entire collection is less than an hour, so it makes for a fine selection as a sort of between meal snack during your next anime binge marathon.